Reading Disability

A reading disability is a type of learning disability caused by neurological factors that affect the ability of a child to read normally (Safford, 2006). Reading disabilities impair the ability of a person to read according to the expected level.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Reading Disability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A reading disability is also referred to as dyslexia and can affect any child including those with normal levels of intelligence. Children with reading disabilities are faced with a lot of challenges when it comes to learning (Safford, 2006). Children with reading disabilities have persistent difficulties when it comes to using their decoding strategies and therefore completely rely on their whole memory for reading. This affects their fluency in reading and consequently their understanding of text becomes very difficult. Children with reading disabilities read slowly due to their difficu lties with spelling and phonological processing. The visual and verbal response of children with reading disability is also very poor and in the process affects their manipulation of sounds (Hatcher, 1999). The reading accuracy and comprehension of children is normally impaired by the reading disability and therefore affecting their academic life. Students with reading disabilities should be given extra time to complete assignments and examinations. Reading disabilities can be partially inherited or can be caused by physical damage to the brain (Hatcher, 1999). According to research findings, reading disabilities can be caused by gene mutations that lead to writing and reading deficits. Children with visual problems tend to experience reading disorders in many occasions compared to those without visual problems (Hatcher, 1999). The nervous system of a person is very important in coordinating the brain and visual processes.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In case any of the brain and visual processes is interfered with, children are bound to have difficulties with their reading abilities. Children with language deficits may also experience difficulties when reading (Konza, 2006). Neurological difficulties and the impairment of sensory nerves are among the physiological factors that cause reading impairments (Konza, 2006). The reading success of parents is a fundamental hereditary factor that can cause reading disabilities. The intellectual environment created by parents plays a significant role in determining whether their children experience reading disabilities or not (Konza, 2006). Phonological processing and word recognition are in most cases influenced by genetics. Racial identification and other socioeconomic factors can influence the reading abilities of a child. The learning strategies used by learning institutions can also affect the ability of children to read and comprehend information (Torgesen, 2002). Regular practice is needed for students to sharpen and perfect their reading skills. Children with reading disabilities have certain characteristics that distinguish them from normal children (Torgesen, 2002). Identification of single words is the first difficulty that children with reading difficulties experience. Children with reading disabilities also find it difficult to understand rhymes and other sounds in words. This group of students also experience difficulties with spelling and comprehension of reading materials (Torgesen, 2002). Children with reading disabilities are always unable to read at a faster rate whether silently or orally. Children with reading disabilities may omit or substitute words when reading. The spoken language of children with reading disabilities is normally delayed and their written expression is also very poor. Reading disabilities makes children to be mixed up when it comes to directions and oppos ites. Decoding syllables is among the major challenges of children with reading disabilities (Konza, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Reading Disability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Reversal of words is a common characteristic of children with reading disabilities. Associating syllables with specific sounds is another problem for children with reading disabilities. The functioning of brain hemispheres affects the reading speed of children. It is important to evaluate the reading abilities of children on a regular basis in order to diagnose any kind of reading disabilities as early as possible (Malmquist, 1958). It is important to consider the fact that reading disabilities are not related to low intelligence. The languages spoken at school and the child’s home are among the things considered when evaluating a child’s reading abilities. Cultural factors and educational opportunities also i nfluence the reading abilities of children. It is possible for a child to compensate for a reading disorder through early intervention (Malmquist, 1958). The severity of a reading disability and the kind of help they receive determine whether the case can be improved or not. The self-esteem of children with reading disabilities is normally very low and the situation can become worse if teachers and the immediate family do not offer their support towards improving the child’s condition. It is possible to overcome a reading disorder if the condition is detected before the child reaches grade three (Konza, 2006). Children with reading disabilities may lack interest in learning activities which leads to poor academic performance. One of the best interventions for children with reading disabilities is to improve their word recognition skills (Konza, 2006). It is important for students with reading disabilities to learn how to recognize real words as the first step towards improvin g their reading abilities (Hatcher, 1999). Teachers should help this group of students to improve their word recognition skills to supplement their sound recognition skills. Phonemic awareness, word attack skills, phonics and decoding are some of the areas that this type of intervention aims at improving (Hatcher, 1999). Teachers and other professionals use direct instructions as the best method of teaching children with reading disabilities word recognition skills.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Direct instructions involve repetition practices that ensure that the children completely perfect their word recognition skills. Regular practice is the key to improving word recognition skills for children with reading disabilities (Safford, 2006). The instructional components of improving word recognition skills include sequencing, segmentation and advanced organizers. The sequencing component involves breaking down reading tasks. This helps in matching students with the level of their reading disability. The teachers arrange for short sessions where students are able to read, review and underline new words in a passage. The second instructional component under this intervention is segmentation where the various skills being taught to students are broken down into segments for quick understanding of the reading tasks. Advanced organizers enable students to get familiar with the learning instructions in advance before the actual lessons (Safford, 2006). It is essential to improve t he comprehension skills of students as they learn how to recognize words. The reading program of children with reading disabilities should be constantly evaluated to ensure the programs deliver the expected results. Children with reading disabilities encounter a lot of challenges and should therefore be given some special attention when it comes to school assignments and examinations (Safford, 2006). It is important to accommodate this group of students for them to feel loved and appreciated. Students with reading disabilities can not compete at the same level with normal students. Their reading speed is slow and this should be compensated by allowing them some extra time to complete their assignments and examinations (Konza, 2006). The level of reading disability should be used to determine the amount of extra time that children with reading disabilities should be added. It would be very unfair and inhuman to expect children with reading disabilities to compete at the same level wi th normal children. According to research findings, children with visual problems have high chances of encountering problems in their reading. The extra time enables children with reading disabilities to understand questions at their speed and be able to answerer them according to their level (Konza, 2006). Children with reading disabilities end up not completing their assignments and examinations in a case where they are not given some extra time. Their reading and writing speed is very slow and therefore can not allow them to finish their assignments and examinations within the normal time (Konza, 2006). In conclusion, reading disabilities are a reality and parents in collaboration with teachers should look for ways of ensuring that children with this kind of disability are given enough support (Torgesen, 2002). Genetic and physiological factors are among the major causes of reading disabilities among children. It is important for parents and teachers to detect any kind of reading disabilities as early as possible so that proper measures can be taken to prevent the situation from getting worse. Helping students with reading disabilities to perfect their word recognition skills is among the basic interventions for children with reading disabilities (Torgesen, 2002). Children with reading disabilities should be given extra time in order to complete assignments and examinations because they can not compete at the same level with normal children (Hatcher, 1999). Accommodating children with reading disabilities helps in improving their self-esteem and academic performance. References Hatcher, P. (1999). Phonemes, rhymes, and intelligence as predictors of children’s responsiveness to remedial reading instruction: Evidence from a longitudinal intervention study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 72(2), 130-153. Konza, D. (2006). Teaching students with reading difficulties. New York, NY: Cengage Learning Australia. Malmquist, E. (1958). Factors relate d to reading disabilities in the first grade of elementary school. New York, NY: Almqvsit Wiksell. Safford, P. (2006). Children with disabilities in America: A historical handbook and guide. New York, NY: Greenwood Publishing Group. Torgesen, J. (2002). The prevention of reading difficulties. Journal of School Psychology, 40(1), 7-26. This essay on Reading Disability was written and submitted by user Bryant B. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Whats Love Got to Do With It

Summary of â€Å"Love† Article In his July 27, 2001 article from The Washington Post called â€Å"What’s Love Got to Do With It?† William Raspberry expresses his concerns to a survey report he reads about college students’ promiscuity. Raspberry’s article includes comparison between dating in his youth and dating today, or lack thereof. His writing tells how he is worried about the nation’s youth, but mostly about young women and their stance on what he referred to throughout the article as â€Å"hooking up.† There are four major problems that Raspberry cites in his article. The first one he talks about is how women take a hook-up differently than men, hoping a permanent relationship will sprout up from it. This is an example of how the ideal of sexual equality has taken a step back, according to Raspberry. The second problem with hook-ups is that they eliminate the courting process. Raspberry refers back to his youth when the norm of dating was taking a young woma n out to dinner or a movie and paying for it. He even says that a man’s romantic spirit has died away and it has left women to be the more confused gender. The third case he makes is the bad influence of coed dormitories. Quoting the author of the report, Raspberry says that coed dorms encourage â€Å"casual sex and the opposite, joined-at-the-hip relationships.† The last subject he talks about is the role alcohol plays, saying that it lowers inhibitions and the amount of guilt the morning after. Raspberry certainly shows his conservative vantage point.... Free Essays on What's Love Got to Do With It Free Essays on What's Love Got to Do With It Summary of â€Å"Love† Article In his July 27, 2001 article from The Washington Post called â€Å"What’s Love Got to Do With It?† William Raspberry expresses his concerns to a survey report he reads about college students’ promiscuity. Raspberry’s article includes comparison between dating in his youth and dating today, or lack thereof. His writing tells how he is worried about the nation’s youth, but mostly about young women and their stance on what he referred to throughout the article as â€Å"hooking up.† There are four major problems that Raspberry cites in his article. The first one he talks about is how women take a hook-up differently than men, hoping a permanent relationship will sprout up from it. This is an example of how the ideal of sexual equality has taken a step back, according to Raspberry. The second problem with hook-ups is that they eliminate the courting process. Raspberry refers back to his youth when the norm of dating was taking a young woma n out to dinner or a movie and paying for it. He even says that a man’s romantic spirit has died away and it has left women to be the more confused gender. The third case he makes is the bad influence of coed dormitories. Quoting the author of the report, Raspberry says that coed dorms encourage â€Å"casual sex and the opposite, joined-at-the-hip relationships.† The last subject he talks about is the role alcohol plays, saying that it lowers inhibitions and the amount of guilt the morning after. Raspberry certainly shows his conservative vantage point....

The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses

The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses The Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses By Mark Nichol An essential, or restrictive, clause is a part of a sentence that provides integral context for the reader. A nonessential, or nonrestrictive, clause is parenthetical, presenting additional information that is not necessary for reader comprehension. Writers are, with increasing frequency, neglecting to appreciate the distinction, thereby undermining the effectiveness of the language they use. The following sentences illustrate how this carelessness (or ignorance) adversely affects meaning. Discussion and revision of each sentence responds to the fact that each of the following sentences erroneously treats optional material as required content. 1. Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative political activist who devoted much of her energy in the 1970s to stopping the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment that would have banned discrimination on the basis of sex in the United States, has died. The phrase â€Å"The Equal Rights Amendment that would have banned discrimination . . .† implies that more than one such amendment was proposed and that this one in particular, and no others, was intended to ban the specified discrimination. However, â€Å"would have banned . . . United States† is helpful but nonessential information about the one and only amendment, and that phrase should be included parenthetically: â€Å"Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative political activist who devoted much of her energy in the 1970s to stopping the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have banned discrimination on the basis of sex in the United States, has died.† 2. Smith was referring to the Columbian mammoth which roamed the continent of North America before migrating to the Channel Islands. The sentence seems to imply that more than one species of Columbian mammoth existed, and that the one in question was native to North America but ended up on adjacent islands (with which substituting for the preferred pronoun that). However, the phrase â€Å"which roamed the continent of North America before migrating to the Channel Islands† is additional information attached to the main clause, â€Å"Smith was referring to the Columbian mammoth,† so it should be set off with a comma: â€Å"Smith was referring to the Columbian mammoth, which roamed the continent of North America before migrating to the Channel Islands.† 3. The two dwarf planets are in the asteroid belt that’s littered with rocky debris from the formation of the sun and planets some 4.5 billion years ago. The implication here is that more than one asteroid belt exists, and the one under discussion is littered with the described rocky debris; one or more others, presumably, has no such detritus. But the part of the sentence that follows â€Å"asteroid belt† is nonessential information that should be appended to the main clause parenthetically, with a comma separating the two sentence segments: â€Å"The two dwarf planets are in the asteroid belt, which is littered with rocky debris from the formation of the sun and planets some 4.5 billion years ago.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidCapitalization Rules for the Names of Games90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†

Book Review of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Essay

Book Review of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example It did end as he was able to catch a great marlin but as he was going home, sharks attacked and ate his prized fish. He arrived at his home exhausted with what’s left of the marlin, its skeleton, mostly its backbone. At the first read, The Old Man and The Sea was like a simple story about an old man struggle to end his unlucky streak in fishing. And it did end when he caught the marlin though he lost it to the sharks as he was going home. But The Old Man and The Sea was not a simple story. In fact, when you read it several times, you would always find something new with it. The story could be about old age. It could also be about man versus nature. It could also be about social expectations and discrimination. It depends on your perspective how you would interpret the meaning of the symbols Hemingway used in the story. The Old Man and The Sea has a lot of references to the rituals that our society follows. The hopes and dreams of individuals are influenced by the belief in a r eligion and luck. This is shown through the story by telling us how Santiago had precise actions before going fishing. His methods of preparing himself with battling the ocean and the fish that he was to catch indicated a great influence of religious practices. Even in the course of battling with the marlin, Santiago showed us how he was influenced by religion and rituals. He regarded the marlin as human, someone who can understand him. This was seen when he talks to the fish while it resisted Santiago’s tug. Religion had taught us to respect every living being. And this was what he did even when he knew he would eventually kill the fish. He respected the fish by talking to it. He did not bastardize its body. In fact, he tried to save it from being eaten whole by the sharks. When the fish circled around the boat and indicated its weakness, Santiago felt the strength come out of him as he pulled the fish into boat. This showed us that, although it was a hard feat, Santiago was prepared to do it, for the sake of proving to himself and to everyone else back at home that he was not an unlucky one anymore. And even if he was unable to bring the whole fish home intact, he was able to regain the respect of the community for bringing home the largest fish ever caught by a villager. This stressed how one’s status in the community is influenced by the perspectives of other people. Before catching the marlin, Santiago was taught to be an unlucky one. Parents feared their sons would catch his â€Å"sickness† (as the unlucky one), and this might bring them bad luck as well. He was also not fully accepted because of his Cuban descent and even more because he was old. The story also showed us that fishing is not a simple job. It was something that you need to be prepared for. Hemingway used simple words in this short story. It seemed like he wanted to make sure that the people reading this story would really understand what it means when they become of a ge, and when they become older. The story was simply constructed. It did not go in circles and it was linear. It also did not suggest how you would understand the story. Rather, it presented ideas and facts through the way Hemingway constructed the story. Aside from the rich images and allusions, Hemingway also made sure that the narrative modes are shifting. When you look at the first and last part of the story, you would notice that it is in the third person view, someone who did not dwell on Santiago’

Facebook Influence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Facebook Influence - Research Paper Example und to have an influence on the personality, as people have learnt to share the happenings of their life, their state of mind, mood swings and vent out their stress and hard feelings, without having to wait for a live audience or an opportune time. Spending time on Facebook is also found to be a way of overcoming the shyness and inhibitions posed by direct communication methods. It is a way of opening up a person’s personality, making him/her more socially overt and expressive. This is done to the extent of revealing private information, but for the widely published consequences of disclosing such data (Aral, and Walker 337-41). An analysis of the site brought forth the proposition that female users are more influenced by it and consider Facebook an essential part of their daily routine as compared to their male counterparts. The social well-being of women is influenced by the usage of Facebook, as they feel more related to their distant friends and relatives through the site. This is all the more true in case of people in single and divorced status. Another vital observation on the influence of Facebook is that it is leading to a wave of networked progression of culture, interactions and connections (Aral, and Walker 337-41). These factors are in turn making way for a certain amount of uniformity among the users, as social networking has become a vehicle for dissemination of behavioral modes and

The End of Art Essay Example for Free

The End of Art Essay The end of art is not the death of art, but the wholesale elimination of what used to be considered art and its replacement by a new concept: pluralism. When art has exhausted itself and this concept has been brought into the forefront of the consciousness, this awareness signals the end of art. Art is no longer art in the traditional sense (having a manifesto-aesthetically pleasing, etc. ) because the accessibility to art and to create art has allowed the masses to be exposed to it and to manipulate it. As Danto says any â€Å"art† made after Andy Warhol in the 1960s is not attached to any manifesto, and the art that is produced after the end of art is consider pluralism and cultural artifacts. A shift from the artwork itself evoking an emotional response is no longer relevant. The criterion for which art must stand up to be is gone. Simply, essentially philosophy becomes more important than the art itself. As shown by Hegel, â€Å"We have gone beyond just the emotional response to art, our ideas about the art, our judgments about the art is not for creating art again, but understanding the philosophy behind it. As with Modernism which pushed art to its limit, â€Å"The age of Manifestos is what it took to be philosophy into the heart of artistic production†¦discovery of that philosophical truth† (Danto, 30). An example of common manifesto of the college dorm room: The lava lamp, the Salvador Dali poster, the futon, the psychedelic trinkets overall the place individually, but now it has combined separate manifestos into one manifesto together. What the artist has created become less about the physicality of it and about the philosophy and the idea behind it. He takes the idea that there are no more criterion to what makes â€Å"art† art, that anything can be art, and thus the term â€Å"art† becomes meaningless and needs a new term: pluralism. The freedom that anyone can create something and it may possibly be considered pluralism or a cultural artifact has democratized the whole process and eliminated the critics, the middlemen, in the process. The consumer and the creator are brought together, and the critic is left looking for work. What is considered art is determined by a group of individuals who are involved in the arts either academically, critically, an artist, buyers, sellers, etc. Danto believes that art critics decide what is considered art and then art is assigned a worth. I disagree with Danto. The art critic is obsolete because if anything can be â€Å"art† then there is no real authority on what is art (pluralism) in the post historical phase? What self-respecting art critic would stake his or her reputation on say, beanie babies? But people pay thousands of dollars for something that in an earlier age could only be described as art. It is not that people will not make art, but that â€Å"pluralism† cannot be held up against the traditional criteria of the past historical art, as shown, â€Å"Not that art died or that painters stopped painting, but that the history of art, structured narratively, had come to an end† (Danto, 125). The modernism movement in which art shifted from being about making interpretations of the world to a search for internal meaning. â€Å"Artists were no longer concerned to imitate reality, but to give objective expression to the feelings reality elicited in them† (Danto, 65). Hegel’s idea that art had ended was not accepted widely during his time because much more artwork and the furthering of art would continue for some time. The imitation of reality through painting was mastered when we shifted from the mimesis paradigm in which painting reality as accurately as possible was the goal. The camera was the nail in the coffin. (Danto, 25) Realism was out a job. So what do you do when you don’t have a job? Become a philosopher! Modernism reflects the only thing that taking a brush loaded with paint to a canvas had left to do: make a closing statement. Danto’s claim is fitting because there has not been anything new presented in the ‘artworld’, since Warhol’s paintings, but what about technology. Graphic design was innovative, but is it pluralism or technology? Does technology further pluralism or destroy it? What does Danto mean by the master narrative of history, and how does this explain the end of art? The end of a certain narrative of art and of history as discussed by Danto from the 1400s up until the 1960s had â€Å"progressing innovative development, in which it is only possible when art is preserved, to which the artists can compare their own representations and transform his or her on work beyond the art of their predecessors† (Danto, 66). The imitation of life and reality, in painting, was essential to the furthering of the discipline. The categorical story of painting’s progression, and therefore art’s progression, from classical to medieval to romanticism to renaissance to impressionism, and so on exposed in each period (which is only possible because of history) a new innovation, a new way of representing reality and non-realities. With paintings on the caves to the two dimensional arts to the advent of the camera/photograph which culminated the west’s goal to attain perfection or at least represent reality as closely to the actual object of which it was representing. The master narrative which can only be recognized and understood after enough time has passed is Danto’s idea (Hegel) that the story of Western art and the characteristics of that story include aesthetics, beauty, skill and a certain meaning or statement (manifesto) behind it are rendered meaningless. As Danto describes, â€Å"the master narrative of the history of artin the West but by the end not in the West aloneis that there is an era of imitation, followed by an era of ideology, followed by our post-historical era in which, with qualification, anything goes. . . In our narrative, at first only mimesis was art, then several things were art but each tried to extinguish its competitors, and then, finally, it became apparent that there were no stylistic or philosophical constraints. There is no special way works of art have to be. And that is the present and, I should say, the final moment in the master narrative. It is the end of the story(Danto, 47). This story that Danto says has come to an conclusion. The narrative that art should be beautiful or have a struggle or have a certain technique to it no longer applies. Modern art has culminated in its conclusion. This challenged our ideas of painting, instead of painting objects or the external world to painting a surface or idea, â€Å"They were thinking of Robert Ryman’s more or less all-white paintings, or perhaps the aggressive monotonous stripe paintings of the French artist Daniel Buren (Danto, 4). This shows that art (painting) had become completely exhausted externally and all that was left to discover was the internal. The shift in the master narrative for art from realism to abstract (ideas) was essentially depicting the external world to the internal world of the self (or artist). It became about how the artist’s ideas, about emotions and other realities. The master narrative of art has lost its capacity to continue to further art’s progression, it is like the scriptures of the bible, where it is detached and ironic from current times and the individual. What once existed only for the select few is now an egalitarian experiment, thus so no one save the authoritarian longing for the days when he could tyrannically rule over the masses should mourn the end of art. The view that only the select few, the artists, the critics, the buyers, the sellers have reign over the realm of the culturally significant and beautiful ended. 3. How does the development of pop art and music reflect the answers given in previous questions? According to Danto, Pop-art brought about the end of art. Essentially by taking a common object (artifact) or sound or concept that is familiar or well known to people and putting it in a different circumstance thus making it foreign or unfamiliar. Art (pluralism) is stuck in the cyclical loop that just keeps manipulating the familiar making it unfamiliar thus making familiar again. Danto believes that all that is left are the philosophical ideas. This goes back to the idea. The idea is what motivates the art. As with Josef Albers picture, â€Å"Study in Green†, was a new idea at the time, however anybody can do that now. Once something new has been created then it is done and if another creates a similar piece it will not be original art and it will be considered ‘esque’ of the original artist. With the advent of pop art which turns ordinary objects into art, than all things become art rendering the term â€Å"art† meaningless as a term for defining. Warhol said everything can be art; therefore there is beauty in everything. â€Å"The great traditional paradigm of the visual arts had been, in fact, that of mimesis, which served the theoretical purposes of art admirably for several centuries†¦to extirpate competing paradigms (Danto, 29). It was believed that modernism would continue to carry art further. This was not the case. Roy Lichtenstein’s famous comic-book style paintings were not just brute copies, but much detail and intention went into his paintings, however this is the end. One cannot tell the difference between the actual object and the art that it is representing, in which reality and art imploded in on each other. Once Pop-art hit into mainstream through consumerism and once again the idea of taking a popular object and making it unfamiliar. Andy Warhol broke down elitism of high art/low art dichotomy and made it accessible to all. This allowed for more creativity with applying ideas to different mediums. Danto’s idea that we are currently in a state of a cyclical familiarity-unfamiliarity can be shown often times in individual musicians/artists progression, such as Bjork. The progression of Bjork’s pop music in early recordings to currently, with combinations of genres and possibly unclassified types of composition, in which she fuses two or more mechanical instruments together with technology like micro-controllers and turns it into music. However this does not mean that it is unintentional or lacking complex structure. As shown with early electronic music, such as, Xenakis’s â€Å"Chrome† in which he recorded the crackling of a fire in a fireplace, and he was the first to do it. He took something that is common and made it uncommon. Also, it was considered new music because there is no reference point. Unlike music of today where almost everything is piggy-backed on something else it can leave a feeling that music is homogenous. With the term of â€Å"selling-out† it does not just relate to selling to advertisers, or changing the essence of the music, but even getting popular is considered a form of selling out, for one to be artistic one must stay in obscurity. I believe there still is underground music because as long as there is radio and the big wigs determine who is important/big, there will be big acts and small acts. However, it does not seem likely this will last regardless of how many downloaders are sued. We are currently in a story-less moment in history. There are no definitive criteria, no manifesto, and no parameters. We are in an exciting time where anything can be art (pluralism) and anyone can be an artist. We make look back at this time and it will be labeled post-historical, but for now we are in a time of great change in art and thus so in society.

The Rough Sea :: Creative Writing Sailing Essays

The Rough Sea The small whitecaps lapped against the starboard side and then retreated. It had been rough since the start and would be until they reached the breakwater in the harbor. Bob, finishing pulling on the ropes to raise the masts, turned towards the wheel and slowly turned around the rocks. He moved to the back of the boat and sat on the place where the lifejackets were kept. Near the masts Frank rocked up and down and up with the waves. It was a feeling like no other to him; the fact that the gentle movements could turn rough at any time gave him so much pleasure from the start of the ride to the finish. He loved to sail out as far as he could go before he got tired from the rocking motion and had to stop going farther. He loved trying to venture farther and farther out each time before he had to turn back; his favorite part was the rough sea where the waves were rougher and rougher as he kept going. A sudden gust made him think about turning back, but he knew that they had gone too far to turn back, and he knew he had to keep going until the waves had reached their peaks. Then they passed a part of the water where the waves suddenly stopped and quickly gave way to a very calm feeling inside of him so that he could relax and recollect the ride so far º. "That was a real surprise, wasn't it, Rob?" Frank said. "It got me, too. I wasn't ready for it, and it jumped me." "Yep. Almost fell over when we hit it," Bob called back to his friend, now near the bow of the boat. "How's the water look over there?" "Pretty good, but it looks like there're some rough caps ahead." They braced themselves as they passed over the rough caps, slowly moving around the biggest ones so that the craft wouldn't capsize. Bob kept a strong hold on the wheel and made sure that they would stand the waves. On the horizon they could see the buildings of the town. The sky had started to get dark. Both of them hoped it would not start to rain until they were in the harbor. They could see the light starting to come from the breakwater lighthouse. "Great day for sailing," Bob said to Frank.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER THREE

Corlath stared at his horses black-tipped ears. The Hillfolk passed through the gate of the Residency and Corlath lifted his gaze to rake angrily across the dusty station street, the little dun-colored houses and shops, the small straggly trees. At a slight shift in his rider's weight the red horse turned off the road. The harsh clatter of hooves on the packed-dirt road changed to the duller sound of struck sand. He could hear his men turning off the road behind him; he shook his head in a futile attempt to clear a little space for thought amid the anger, and leaned back in his saddle, and the horse's pace slowed. There was no sense in charging across the desert at midday; it was hard on the horses. The six riders closed up behind him; the two who came forward to ride at his side stole quick looks at him as they came near, and looked away again as quickly. Outlanders! Involuntarily his hands, resting lightly on his thighs, curled into fists. He should have known better than even to try to talk to them. His father had warned him, years ago. But that was before the Northerners had come so near. Corlath blinked. The heat of his own anger was hard to contain when there wasn't some use he could put it to; anger was splendidly useful on the battlefield, but he was not facing any regiments just now that could be tangled in their own feet and knocked over in companies. Much as he would like, for example, to set fire to the big stupid house – an absurd building for the desert: it must be the sort of thing they lived in in their own country – and watch it crash down around the ears of the big soft creature who called himself commissioner †¦ but spite was for children, and he had been king for thirteen years, and he bit down on his anger and held it. He remembered when he was young and before the full flowering of his kelar, of the terrible strength known ironically as the â€Å"Gift,† his father had told him that it would often be like this: â€Å"We aren't really much good, except as battle machines, and even there our usefulness is limited. You'll curse it, often enough, far more often than you'll be glad of it, but there you are.† He sighed, and looked wryly at his son. â€Å"They say that back in the Great Days it was different, that men were made big enough to hold it – and had wit enough to understand it. It was Lady Aerin, the story goes, that first knew her Gift and broke it to her will, but that was long ago, and we're smaller now.† Corlath had said, hesitantly: â€Å"They say also that the Gift was once good for other things: healing and calming and taming.† His father nodded sadly. â€Å"Yes; perhaps it once was; but no more. Luthe knows, if he will tell you, for he has the old kelar, and who his parents are even he has forgotten; but Luthe is himself. You and I are of duller blood. â€Å"And it is duller blood that has brought us to what we are, what we remain – what remains to us. Avoid the Outlanders, if you can. They can't, or won't, understand us; they don't recognize horses from oxen, and will try to put the yoke on you that they have hung on the rest of our land. But their strength is the strength of numbers and of stubbornness and persistence; do not underestimate it.† He could see his father standing in one of the inner courtyards of the City in the mountains, staring at one of the fountains, water running shining over the colored stones of the Hills, talking half to himself. Then the picture faded, blotted out in another swift sweep of anger; and he found himself looking at the girl again, the girl he had seen standing in front of the Outlander house. What had she to do with anything? He frowned, and his horse's ears and black mane reappeared before him. He looked up; it was still a long ride to their camp. He had not, somehow, wished to sleep too near the Outlanders; it was not that he suspected deliberate treachery, but that the air that hung over an Outlander station sent bad dreams to Hillfolk. His anger kicked him again like a spurred heel; he flinched. It had a life of its own, the Gift, damn it. What indecipherable object did it desire of him this time? He knew by now that the idiosyncrasies of kings, and others whose blood carried much kelar, were viewed with more alarm by the victims themselves than by their friends and subjects. Not that the alarm did any good. If one was king, one could not explain away one's more impenetrable actions by saying that one just couldn't help it. Woven into his anger there was a pattern. Occasionally he understood it. He waited, gritting his teeth; and he saw the girl again. This time, as long as she was there, he looked at her. When he had seen her first, at the foot of the steps, just a few minutes ago, he had been surprised into looking at her. He knew what his glance could do when he was angry, and tried to be careful about whom it rested on, and for how long. But this girl had, unfortunately for her, somehow caught his attention, and he had looked longer than he meant. She was tall, as tall as most men, tall even by Outlander standards. Her hair was yellow, the color of sun on sand, and almost as bright. His people, the Hillfolk, were usually smaller than the Outlanders, and dark of skin and hair. But it wasn't her size or her coloring that held him beyond the first startled flick of notice; nor was it her beauty. There was too much strength in that face and in the long bones of the body for beauty. Something about the quietness of her, perhaps? Or her self-contained straightness; something about the way her eyes met his, with more thought behind them than the usual half-hypnotized, half-fearful look he had learned to expect if he held anyone's gaze too long – even when his kelar was quiet. Something, he thought suddenly, like the controlled straightness he himself had learned, knowing well what could happen if he relaxed. But that was nonsense. She was an Outlander. While there were still wild sports among his own people, where a few drops of royal blood from many generations past would suddenly burst into full kelar in the veins of some quiet family's child, there had never yet been an Outlander with any Gift to contain. This train of thought took him far enough from the center of anger that he had begun to relax a little; his hands uncurled, and the black mane swept against his fingers. He looked ahead; he knew, although he could not yet see it, that his camp lay just beyond this next bit of what looked like flat bare impartial desert and was in fact a little rise in the land, enough of a buffer from sand and storm to allow a small well of sweet water, with a little grass and low scrub, to live behind a protecting shoulder. As he looked out across his desert, almost calm again, or at least finding the beginnings of calm, the kelar suddenly produced a picture of Sir Charles' foolish white face anxiously saying, â€Å"My dear sir – hmm – Your Majesty† and explaining why he could not help him. The picture was thrust before his eyes, and he took his breath in sharply between his teeth. Having caught his attention, the single-minded kelar snatched Sir Charles away and presented him with the girl again. What about her? he shouted silently, but there was no answer. It was rare that the Gift ever made it easy for him by explaining what it wanted. Sometimes he never did find out, and was left to muddle through like any other mortal – with the added disadvantage of inscrutable messages banging inside his skull. His patience gave way; he leaned forward in the saddle, and the big stallion leaped into a gallop. The six riders, who knew their king's moods, and hadn't been very happy at their reception at the Outlanders' hands themselves, let him go. He swerved away from the line that would take him directly to the camp. The man on the golden dun, who had been riding on the king's right, soothed his mount with one hand. â€Å"Nay, we do not follow him this time.† The man at his left glanced across at him and nodded briefly. â€Å"May the Just and Glorious be with him.† The youngest of the riders snorted with laughter, although it was not pleasant laughter. â€Å"May the Just and Glorious be with all of us. Damn the Outlanders!† The man on the dun frowned and said, â€Å"Innath, watch your tongue.† â€Å"I am watching it, my friend,† replied Innath. â€Å"You may be glad you cannot hear what I am thinking.† The king had disappeared in the heat glaze rising from the sand by the time the little group topped the rise and saw the pale tents of their camp before them, and resigned themselves to telling those who awaited them what had occurred during the meeting with the Outlanders. Harry blinked and recognized the boy at her elbow. â€Å"Thank you,† she said absently, and he led the pony away, looking anxiously over his shoulder at the way the desert men had gone, and evidently grateful to be leaving himself. She shaded her eyes with her hand a moment, which only served to throw the fire of her headache into greater relief. She looked up at the men on the verandah and saw them moving uncertainly, as if they were waking up, still half under the influence of unpleasant dreams. She felt the same way. Her shoulder creaked when she dropped her arm again. At least it will be a little cooler inside, she thought, and made her way up the steps. Cassie and Beth, their mounts led away after Harry's, followed her. Luncheon was a quiet meal. All those who had played a part in the morning's performance were there. Rather, Harry thought, as if we can't quite bring ourselves to separate yet, not because we have any particular reason to cling to one another's company. As if we'd just been through †¦ something †¦ together, and are afraid of the dark. Her headache began to subside with the second glass of lemonade and she thought suddenly: I don't even remember what the man looks like. I stared at him the entire time, and I can't remember – except the height of him, and the scarlet sash, and those yellow eyes. The yellow eyes reminded her of her headache, and she focused her thoughts on the food on her plate, and her gaze on the glacial paleness of the lemonade pitcher. It was after the meal had been cleared away – and still no one made any move to go – that Jack Dedham cleared his throat in a businesslike manner and said: â€Å"We didn't know what to expect, but by the way we're all sitting around and avoiding one another's eyes – † Harry raised hers, and Jack smiled at her briefly – â€Å"we don't have any idea what to do with what we've got.† Sir Charles, still without looking up, said, as if speaking his thoughts aloud: â€Å"What was it, Jack, that you said to him – just at the end?† Harry still had her eyes on Dedham, and while his voice as he answered carried just the right inflection, his face did not match it: â€Å"It's an old catch-phrase of sorts, on the let-us-be-friends-and-not-part-in-anger-even-though-we-feel-like-it order. It dates from the days of the civil war, I think – before we arrived, anyway.† â€Å"It's in the Old Tongue,† said Sir Charles. â€Å"I didn't realize you knew it.† Again Dedham's eyes suggested something other than what he said: â€Å"I don't. As I said, it's a catch-phrase. A lot of ritual greetings are in the Old Tongue, although almost nobody knows what they mean any more.† Peterson said: â€Å"Good for you, Jack. My brain wasn't functioning at all after the morning we'd spent. Perhaps you just deflected him from writing off the Outlanders altogether.† Harry, watching, saw the same something in Peterson's face that she had wondered at in Dedham's. Sir Charles shrugged and the tension was broken. â€Å"I hope so. I will clutch at any straw.† He paused. â€Å"It did not go well at all.† The slow headshakes Dedham and Peterson gave this comment said much louder than words could how great an understatement this was. â€Å"He won't be back,† continued Sir Charles. There was the grim silence of agreement, and then Peterson added: â€Å"But I don't think he is going to run to the Northerners to make an alliance, either.† Sir Charles looked up at last. â€Å"You think not?† Peterson shook his head: a quick decided jerk. â€Å"No. He would not have listened to Jack at the end, then, if he had meant to go to our enemies.† Jack said, with what Harry recognized as well-controlled impatience, â€Å"The Hillfolk will never ally with the Northerners. They consider them inimical by blood, by heritage – by everything they believe in. They would be declaring themselves not of the Hills if they went to the North.† Sir Charles ran his hand through his white hair, sighed, and said: â€Å"You know these people better than I, and I will take your word for it, since I can do nothing else.† He paused. â€Å"I will have to write a report of this meeting, of course; and I do not at all know what I will say.† Beth and Cassie and Harry were all biting their tongues to keep from asking any questions that might call attention to their interested presence and cause the conversation to be adjourned till the men retired to some official inner sanctum where the fascinating subject could be pursued in private. Therefore they were both delighted and alarmed when Lady Amelia asked: â€Å"But, Charles, what happened?† Sir Charles seemed to focus his gaze with some difficulty on the apprehensive face of his wife; then his eyes moved over the table and the girls knew that they had been noticed again. They held their breaths. â€Å"Mmm,† said Sir Charles, and there was a silence while the tips of Beth's ears turned pink with not breathing. â€Å"It hurts nothing but our pride to tell you,† Dedham said at last. â€Å"He was here less than two hours; rode up out of nowhere, as far as we could tell – we thought we were keeping watch so we'd have some warning of his arrival.† The girls' eyes were riveted on Dedham's face, or they might have exchanged glances. â€Å"He strode up to the front door as if he were walking through his own courtyard; fortunately, we had seen them when they entered the gates in front here and were more or less collected to greet him; and your man, Charles, had the sense to throw open the door before we found out whether or not he would have walked right through it. â€Å"I suppose the first calamity was that we understood each other's languages so poorly. Corlath spoke no Homelander at all – although, frankly, I don't guarantee that that means he couldn't.† Peterson grunted. â€Å"You noticed it too, did you? One of the men he had with him did the translating, such as it was; and Peterson and I tried to talk Darian – â€Å" â€Å"We did talk Darian,† Peterson put in. â€Å"I know Darian almost as well as I know Homelander – as do you, Jack, you're just more modest about it – and I've managed to make myself understood to Darians from all sorts of odd corners of this oversized administration – including a few Free Hillfolk.† Harry thought: And the Hill-king stopped dead, as angry as he was, when Dedham addressed him in the Old Tongue? â€Å"In all events,† Dedham went on, â€Å"we didn't seem able to make ourselves understood too readily to Corlath.† â€Å"And his translator translated no faster than he had to, I thought,† Peterson put in. Dedham smiled a little. â€Å"Ah, your pride's been bent out of shape. Be fair.† Peterson answered his smile, but said obstinately, â€Å"I'm sure of it.† â€Å"You may be right.† Dedham paused. â€Å"It wouldn't surprise me; it gave them time to look at us a little without seeming to.† â€Å"A little!† Sir Charles broke out. â€Å"Man, they were here less than two hours! How can they – he – conclude anything about us in so little time? He gave us no chance.† The tension returned. Dedham said cautiously: â€Å"I daresay he thought he was giving us a chance.† â€Å"I am not happy with any man so hasty,† said Sir Charles sadly; and the pompous ridiculousness of his words was belied by his tired and worried face. His wife touched his hand where she sat on his right, and he turned to her and smiled. He looked around the table; both Peterson and Dedham avoided his gaze. He said, lightly, almost gaily, â€Å"It's simple enough. He wants arms, men, companies, regiments – help to close the mountain passes. He, it would appear, does not like the idea of the Northerners pouring through his country.† â€Å"Which is reasonable,† said Dedham carefully. â€Å"His country would be turned into a battlefield, between the Northerners and †¦ us. There aren't enough Hillfolk to engage the Northerners for any length of time. His country would be overrun, perhaps destroyed, in the process. Or at least annexed by the victor,† he added under his breath. â€Å"We couldn't possibly do as he asked,† Sir Charles said, lapsing back to speaking his thoughts aloud. â€Å"We aren't even sure what the Northerners mean toward us at present.† Peterson said shortly: â€Å"The Hillfolk's attitude toward the North being what it is, I feel certain that Corlath's spy system is a good one.† â€Å"We offered cooperation,† Sir Charles said. â€Å"Capitulation, you mean,† Peterson replied in his blunt way. â€Å"His.† Sir Charles frowned. â€Å"If he would agree to put himself and his people entirely under our administration – â€Å" â€Å"Now, Bob,† Dedham said. â€Å"That's what it amounts to,† Peterson said. â€Å"He should give up his country's freedom – that they've hung on to, despite us, all these years – â€Å" â€Å"It is not unusual that a smaller country should put itself under the protection of a larger, when the situation demands it,† Sir Charles said stiffly. Before Peterson had a chance to reply, Dedham put in hastily: â€Å"What it comes down to is that he is too proud to hear our terms, and we are – er – we cannot risk giving – lending – him troops on his terms.† â€Å"The Queen and Council would be most displeased with us if we precipitated an unnecessary war,† said Sir Charles in his best commissioner's voice, and Peterson grunted. â€Å"We know nothing about the man,† Sir Charles continued plaintively. â€Å"We know that he wants to keep the Northerners out of Daria,† Peterson muttered; but Dedham moved in his chair in a gesture Harry correctly translated as bestowing a swift kick on Peterson's ankle; and Peterson subsided. â€Å"And he would not stay to parley,† Dedham finished. â€Å"And here we are, feeling as if we'd all been hit in the head.† Corlath paced up and down the length of his tent as his Riders gathered. He paused at one end of the tent and stared at the close-woven horsehair. The wall moved, for the desert wind was never still. There were so few of the Hillfolk left; in spite of the small hidden tribes who had come out of their fastnesses to pledge to Damar's black-and-white banner after generations of isolation. Corlath had worked hard to reunite the Free that remained – but for what, when one thought of the thousands of Northerners, and eventually the thousands of Outlanders who would meet them? – for the Outlanders would learn soon enough about the Northerners' plans for southern conquest. Between them they would tear his country to shreds. His people would fight; he knew with a sad sore pride that they would hold on till the last of them was killed, if it came to that. At best they would be able to continue to live in the Hills: in small secret pockets of their Hills, hiding in caves and gathe ring food in the darkness, slipping away like mice in the shadows, avoiding those who held their land, claimed it and ruled it. The old Damar, before the civil wars, before the Outlanders, was only a wistful legend to his people now; how much less it would be when there were only a few handfuls of the Free living like beggars or robbers in their own Hills. But he could not submit them to the Outlanders' †¦ practical benevolence, he called it after a moment's struggle with himself. For his army to be commanded by Outlander generals †¦ The corners of his mouth turned up. There was some bitter humor in the idea of the pragmatic Outlanders caught in a storm of kelar from both their allies and their opponents. He sighed. Even if by some miracle the Outlanders had agreed to help him, they would have refused to accept the kelar protection necessary – they didn't believe kelar existed. It was a pity there was no non-fatal way to prove to them otherwise. He thought of the man who had spoken to him last, the grey-haired man. There had almost been a belief in him – belief in the ways of the Hills, that Corlath had read in his face; they might have been able to speak together. That man spoke the Hill tongue understandably at least – although he may not have known quite what he was offering in his few words of the Old Tongue. Poor Forloy: the only one of his Riders who knew even as much of the Outlander tongue as Corlath did. As an unwelcome envoy in a state far more powerful than his own, he had felt the need of even the few minutes a translator might buy him, to watch the faces of those he wished to convince. Why wasn't there some other way? For a moment the heavy cloth before him took on a tint of gold; the gold framed what might have been a face, and pale eyes looked at him – She's nothing to do with this. He turned away abruptly and found his Riders all seated, watching him, waiting. â€Å"You already know – it is no good.† They bowed their heads once in acknowledgment, but there was no surprise on their faces. â€Å"There never was much chance – † He broke off as one of his audience dropped his head a little farther than the seriousness of the occasion demanded, and added, â€Å"Very well, Faran, there wasn't any chance.† Faran looked up, and saw the dawn of a smile on his king's face, the nearest thing to a smile anyone had seen on the king's face for days past. â€Å"No chance,† Corlath repeated. â€Å"But I felt, um, obliged to try.† He looked up at the ceiling for a minute. â€Å"At least it's all over now,† he said. Now that any chance of outside assistance had been eliminated, it was time to turn to how best to guard their mountains alone. The Northerners had tried to break through the mountains before, for they had always been greedy and fond of war; but while they were cunning, they were also treacherous, and trusted nobody because they knew they themselves were not to be trusted. For many years this had been a safeguard to the Hillfolk, because the Northerners could not band together long enough or in great enough numbers to be a major threat to their neighbors. But in the last quarter-century a strong man had arisen from the ranks of the petty generals: a strong man with a little non-human blood in him, which granted him a ruthlessness beyond even the common grain of Northern malice; and from whatever source he drew his power, he was also a great magician, with skills enough to bring all the bands that prowled the Northlands, human and non-human alike, under his command. His name was Thurra. Corlath knew, dispassionately, that Thurra's empire would not last; his son, or at most his son's son, would fail, and the Northerners break up and return to their smaller, nastier internecine quarrels. Corlath's father, and then Corlath, had watched Thurra's rise through their spies, and Corlath knew or could guess something of the cost of the power he chose to wield, and so knew that Thurra would not himself live much longer than an ordinary man. Since the Hill-kings lived long, it might be within Corlath's own lifetime that, even if the Northerners won the coming war, he would be able to lead his people in a successful rebellion; but by then there might not be enough of the country left to rebel, or to live off of after the rebellion was finished. Not much more than five hundred years ago – in Aerin's day – the desert his tent was pitched on had been meadow and forest. The last level arable land his people had left to them was the plain before the great gap in the mo untains where the Northern army would come. Sir Charles might beg off now while the Northerners had not yet attacked any Outlander-held lands. But once they had cut through the Hillfolk they would certainly try to seize what more they could. The entire Darian continent might fall into the mad eager hands of Thurra and his mob, many of them less human than he; and then the Outlanders would know more than they wished of wizardry. And if the Outlanders won? Corlath did not know how many troops the Outlanders had to throw into the battle, once the battle was engaged; they would learn, terribly, of kelar at Thurra's hands. But even kelar was limited at last; and the Outlanders were stubborn, and, in their stubbornness, courageous; often they were stupid, oftener ineffectual, and they believed nothing they could not see with their eyes. But they did try hard, by their lights, and they were often kind. If the Outlanders won, they would send doctors and farmers and seeds and plows and bricklayers, and within a generation his people would be as faceless as the rest of the Outlander Darians. And the Outlanders were very able administrators, by sheer brute persistence. What they once got their hands on, they held. There would be no rebellion that Corlath would ever see. It was not pleasant to hope for a Northern victory. His Riders knew most of this, even if they did not see it with the dire clarity Corlath was forced to; and it provided a background to Corlath's orders now. King's Riders were not given to arguing with their king; but Corlath was an informal man, except occasionally when he was in the grip of his Gift and couldn't listen very well to anything else, and usually encouraged conversation. But this afternoon the Riders were a silent group, and Corlath, when he came to the end of what he had to say, simply stopped speaking. Corlath's surprise was no less than that of his men as he heard himself say: â€Å"One last thing. I'm going back to the Outlander town. The girl – the girl with the yellow hair. She comes with us.†

Mahatma Gandhi Essay

Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Style The Father of the Nation is now being held up as the master strategist, an exemplary leader, and someone whose ideas and tactics corporate India can emulate. Gandhi reinvented the rules of the game to deal with a situation where all the available existing methods had failed. He broke tradition. He understood that you cannot fight the British with force. So he decided to change the game in a fundamentally different way. He unleashed the power of ordinary people, inspired women and men in the country to fight under a unifying goal. Resource constraint did not bother him. That was the motivation. Gandhi’s leadership style is being termed as ‘follower-centric’ and one that took into account existing conditions before determining the strategy. Gandhi advocated having leadership styles that were dependent on the circumstances. When Gandhi was in South Africa, he launched his protests in a suit and a tie. But when he came back to India, he thought of  khadi  (handspun and hand-woven cloth) and launched non-violent protests on a greater scale, It shows that Gandhi’s leadership style was situational leadership style. A Quote from the book: Count your chickens before they hatch by Arindam Chaudhuri â€Å"Mahatma Gandhi’s example to me is a perfect case of adopting styles to suit the culture. The country today stands divided on whether what he did was good or bad†¦ I just know one thing: there was never a leader before him nor one after him who could unite us all and bring us out in the streets to demand for what was rightfully ours. To me, he is the greatest leader  our land has ever seen. It is ‘Theory ‘I’ management’ at its practical best: productively and intelligently utilizing whatever the resource you are endowed with,† says Chaudari.

Guilded Age Presidents essays

Guilded Age Presidents essays Some presidents names you can recognize right away while others you may never have heard of. Rutherford B Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison are all largely indistinguishable presidents that reigned in the last half of the nineteenth century. They are known as the lost presidents. While nothing monumental happened during their presidencies, they still contributed to the growth and success of the United States, some more than others though, and I found it difficult to rank them due to their low profiles. I chose Grover Cleveland as having the best overall performance out of the presidents of this time for many reasons. First, because he was the only president to serve two non consecutive terms and that says to me he was well liked by the people. If he was president in 1885-1889 and then again in 1893-1897 that shows that people missed his leadership and re-elected in 1893. Secondly, he used his veto power 584 times. He was not afraid to go against the popular vote and against the people if he did not believe in it. Cleveland also went against strong railroads and took back land that did not belong to them. Finally and most importantly, the reason I chose Cleveland first was because he maintained the treasury gold reserve during the depression. Grover Cleveland was the back bone of the Monitory System, which is still in use today. Who knows where we would be if he did not keep it strong. My second choice was Benjamin Harris. I chose him to be second because he signed the Sherman Antitrust Act which protects against companies forming monopolies. Although I am not a business expert, I know that forming Monopolies can make a business too strong and powerful. For example, companies like Microsoft are always being accused of being a monopoly. The Sherman Antitrust Act or variations of it are still being used today and without it companies would have the ability to change pri...

The Basics of Telescopes

The Basics of Telescopes Sooner or later, every stargazer decides its time to be buying a telescope. Its an exciting next step to further exploration of the cosmos. However, as with any other major purchase, theres a lot to learn about these universe exploration engines, ranging from power to price. The first thing a user wants to do is figure out their observational goals. Are they interested in planetary observing? Deep-sky exploration? Astrophotography? A little of everything? How much money do they want to spend? Knowing the answer to those questions will help narrow down a telescope choice. Telescopes come in three basic designs: refractor, reflector, and catadioptric, plus some variations on each of the types. Each has its pluses and minuses, and of course, each type can cost a little or a lot depending on the quality of the optics and the accessories needed.   Refractors and How They Work A refractor is a telescope that uses two lenses to deliver a view of a celestial object. At one end (the one farther away from the viewer), it has a large lens, called the objective lens or object glass. On the other end is the lens the user looks through. It is called the ocular or eyepiece. They work together to deliver the sky view. The objective collects light and focuses it as a sharp image. This image gets magnified and is what the stargazer sees through the ocular. This eyepiece is adjusted by sliding it in and out of the telescope body to focus the image. Reflectors and How They Work A reflector works a bit differently. Light is gathered at the bottom of the scope by a concave mirror, called the primary. The primary has a parabolic shape. There are several ways the primary can focus the light, and how it is done determines the type of reflecting telescope. Many observatory telescopes, such as Gemini in Hawaii or the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope  use a photographic plate to focus the image. Called the prime focus position, the plate is located near the top of the scope. Other such scopes use a secondary mirror, placed in a similar position as the photographic plate, to reflect the image back down the body of the scope, where it is viewed through a hole in the primary mirror. This is known as a Cassegrain focus.   Newtonians and How They Work Then, theres the Newtonian, a kind of reflecting telescope. It got its name when  Sir Isaac Newton dreamed up the basic design. In a Newtonian telescope, a flat mirror is placed at an angle in the same position as the secondary mirror in a Cassegrain. This secondary mirror focuses the image into an eyepiece located in the side of the tube, near the top of the scope. Catadioptric Telescopes Finally, there are catadioptric telescopes, which combine elements of refractors and reflectors in their design. The first such telescope was created by German astronomer Bernhard Schmidt in 1930. It used a primary mirror at the back of the telescope with a glass corrector plate in the front of the telescope, which was designed to remove spherical aberration. In the original telescope, photographic film was placed at the prime focus. There were no secondary mirror or eyepieces. The descendant of that original design, called the Schmidt-Cassegrain design, is the most popular type of telescope. Invented in the 1960s, it has a secondary mirror that bounces light through a hole in the primary mirror to an eyepiece. The second style of catadioptric telescope was invented by a Russian astronomer, D. Maksutov. (A Dutch astronomer, A. Bouwers, created a similar design in 1941, before Maksutov.) In the Maksutov telescope, a more spherical corrector lens than in the Schmidt is utilized. Otherwise, the designs are quite similar. Today’s models are known as Maksutov –Cassegrain. Refractor Telescope Advantages and Disadvantages After initial alignment, which is necessary to have the optics work well together, refractor optics are resistant to misalignment. The glass surfaces are sealed inside the tube and rarely need cleaning. The sealing also minimizes effects from air currents that can muddy the view. This is one way that users can get steady sharp views of the sky. Disadvantages include a number of possible aberrations of the lenses. Also, since lenses need to be edge supported, this limits the size of any refractor. Reflector Telescope Advantages and Disadvantages Reflectors do not suffer from chromatic aberration. Their mirrors are easier to build without defects than lenses are since only one side of a mirror is used. Also, because the support for a mirror is from the back, very large mirrors can be built, making larger scopes. The disadvantages include ease of misalignment, the need for frequent cleaning, and possible spherical aberration, which is a defect in the actual lens that can blur the view. Once a user has a basic understanding of the types of scopes on the market, they can focus on getting the right-sized one to view their favorite targets with. They can learn more about some mid-range-priced telescopes on the market. It never hurts to browse the marketplace and learn more about specific instruments.  And, the best way to sample different telescopes is to go to a star party and ask other scope owners if theyre willing to let someone take a look through their instruments. Its an easy way to compare and contrast the view through different instruments. Edited and updated by  Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sociocultural influences on conflict resolution and post-war Research Paper

Sociocultural influences on conflict resolution and post-war reconstruction - Research Paper Example A good example is the United States election and especially the 2008 elections that pitted president Obama against senator McCain2. The nation has found itself in a reconstruction program in both Afghanistan and Iraq in the aftermath of its anti-terrorism missions in the said countries. Elsewhere, there have been various peace-building projects, national building programs, political mediations and other post war and conflict reconstruction programs that are being undertaken by international bodies like the United Nations and other regional or supranational agencies. However, such efforts have not always been smooth and have been met with a lot of challenges both of logistical and ideological nature. The ever-changing global environment that has meant that the approach for conflict resolution and reconstruction has had to be varied has further compounded this situation. A major driver of this dynamism has been the constantly shifting international relations3 in what has been summed up by many scholars and foreign policy analysts as the â€Å"clash of civilizations†4. This paper will closely examine one of the major factors that has influenced post war and conflict reconstruction in the world today – socio cultural constructs. ... However, other nation building programs in the world shall also be mentioned for the purposes of providing a clearer picture of how socio cultural factors have been a major influence on post war reconstruction and conflict resolution. Most conflicts in the world have been down to the strategies that have been involved. By looking at the socio-cultural influences on nation building efforts, this paper will enable the appropriate formulation of strategies to tackle the dynamism in the global environment that has been largely pushed by this factor. With rising clamor for democracy among nations that were formerly communist in nature, there have been numerous conflicts that have come with such adjustments and this has sometimes led to intra and international tensions that have resulted into conflicts. The Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts These two countries have seen a lot of instability that dates back to a century with Afghanistan facing a larger share of this conflict. To begin, the U.S – Iraqi conflict dates back in the year 19905 when the country’s tyrannical forces led an invasion on its neighbor, Kuwait. The United States was at the forefront of resolving this conflict by demanding an immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops from the Kuwaiti soil. President George H Bush decided to use military intervention after diplomatic efforts from the United Nations did not bear any fruit and this worked. Regardless of the intervention, internal conditions in the Saddam Hussein led state was worsening. There were concerns by the international community that the regime was oppressing the minority, developing both biological and mechanical weapons among other violations of human rights and