Biography of Andres Bonifacio

Andres Bonifacio (1863-1897), a Philippine revolutionary hero, founded the Katipunan, a secret society which spearheaded the uprising against the Spanish and laid the groundwork for the first Philippine Republic. Andres Bonifacio was born in Tondo, Manila, on Nov. 30, 1863. He grew up in the slums and knew from practical experience the actual conditions of the class struggle in his society. Orphaned early, he interrupted his primary schooling in order to earn a living as a craftsman and then as clerk-messenger and agent of foreign commercial firms in Manila.Absorbing the teachings of classic rationalism from the works of Jose Rizal, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Eugene Sue's The Wandering Jew, books on the French Revolution, and the lives of the presidents of the United States, Bonifacio acquired an understanding of the dynamics of the socio-historical process. This led him to join the Liga Filipina, which Rizal organized in 1892 for the purpose of uniting and intensifying the nation alist movement for reforms.When the Liga was dissolved upon the arrest and banishment of Rizal, Bonifacio formed the Katipunan in 1892 and thus provided the rallying point for the people's agitation for freedom, independence, and equality. The Katipunan patterned its initiation rites after the Masonry, but its ideological principles derived from the French Revolution and can be judged radical in its materialistic-historical orientation. The Katipunan exalted work as the source of all value.It directed attention to the unjust class structure of the colonial system, the increased exploitation of the indigenous population, and consequently the need to affirm the collective strength of the working masses in order to destroy the iniquitous system. When the society was discovered on Aug. 19, 1896, it had about 10,000 members. On August 23 Bonifacio and his followers assembled at Balintawak and agreed to begin the armed struggle.Two days later the first skirmish took place and a reign of t error by the Spaniards soon followed. Conflict split the rebels into the two groups of Magdiwang and Magdalo in Cavite, on Luzon. Bonifacio was invited to mediate, only to be rebuffed by the clannish middle class of Cavite. Judging Bonifacio's plans as divisive and harmful to unity, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the elected president of the provisional revolutionary government, ordered the arrest, trial, and execution for â€Å"treason and sedition† of Bonifacio and his brothers.On May 10, 1897, Bonifacio was executed. Contrary to the popular view, the cause of Bonifacio's tragic death at the hands of other Filipino rebels cannot be solely attributed to his own personal pride. Rather, the correlation of class forces and the adventurist tendency of Bonifacio's group led to his isolation and subsequently to Aguinaldo's compromises with the American military invaders.

A Synopsis of the Movie Fight Club Essay

The movie begins as Jack, the protagonist, is trapped in a state of insomnia by his job at calculating the cost of recalling a faulty car as opposed to paying court settlements to the relatives of the people killed by that car. He then recommends the one that seems less expensive. While he tries to argue with a doctor about how he can start sleeping, the doctor happens to make a sarcastic remark about how if he wants to see real pain he should go to a support group for men with testicular cancer. Jack takes this remark literally. It is there that he meets Bob, whom I shall describe shortly. Anywhere, he begins to find the support groups addictive, and attends more and more of them, and finds that they allow him to sleep. Soon after in the movie we find Jack meeting Tyler Durden on a plane trip, and when his apartment later explodes Jack meets Tyler Durden in a bar. Having agreed to let Jack stay at his house, Tyler asks Jack to punch him. He tells Jack this will make him feel that hi s life was indeed exciting, and Jack obliges. They begin to fight, and others begin to stand around, wanting to join as well. They gather together, protesting amongst themselves that society was trying to turn them into wimpy and uniform machines and preventing them from feeling like real people, constantly telling them that they need to buy all sorts of stuff that they only need because the advertisements said they did. Pretty soon there are weekly gatherings of these men, waiting for a chance to fight one another, and then they move into the basement of a local bar. More and more men begin to attend Fight Club with the express agreement that they would not mention it, and rumors begin to circulate of Clubs in other cities. Gradually Durden begins to make the Club more involved, giving out â€Å"homework assignments† such as to start a fight with a stranger and lose. Thus Jack finds himself watching as Durden institutes Project Mayhem, an outward attempt at changing society based on widespread attacks on coffee franchises and corporate artwork. Finally Durden plots to blow up ten major credit card companies, with the intent that to erase everyone’s debt would create chaos, and allow society to re- organize itself from that chaos. Many critics of the movie found it to portray antisocial behaviors as a valid way of expressing oneself. (Particularly if only the beginning and middle of thi s movie are looked at.) They argue that its violence is there merely to draw an audience. This is supported by numerous instances of young men and boys vandalizing cars as was done in the movie or forming clubs of their own. Therefore many say that the movie succeeds in condoning what the ending condemns. They say that it promotes violence by making it seem so attractive in muck of the movie, regardless of the conclusion. With this argument in mind, we shall proceed with our analysis of the movie itself. One of the principal themes in Fight Club is its treatment of violence and its relationship with masculinity. The men in the film are portrayed as confronting a society which gives them little meaning and refuses to give them what they feel to be a birthright, a meaningful, productive place in society. Tyler Durden, the leader of Fight Club and the manifestation of the angry, alienated, and purposeless feeling, articulates this, â€Å"We’re the middle children of history, with no special purpose or place. We don’t have a great war in our generation, or a great depression. The great depression is our lives. The great war is a spiritual war. We have been raised by television to believe that we’ll be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars–but we won’t And we’re learning that fact. And we’re very, very, pissed off.† The men in this movie, having their traditional masculine role of breadwinner seemingly denied by feminism and left with meaningless corporate jobs compensate for this loss of masculinity and control by re-affirming their masculinity for themselves through the only masculine behavior they still can do: fighting. According to Jackson Katz: One way that the system allows working class men (of various races) the opportunity for what Brod refers to as â€Å"masculine identity validation† is through the use of their body as an instrument of power, dominance, and control. For working-class males, who have less access to more abstract forms of masculinity-validating power (economic power, workplace authority), the physical body and its potential for violence provide a concrete means of achieving and asserting â€Å"manhood†. Bob also fits this description of fighting as compensation for that sense of paralysis preventing men from being either a crucial part of society or being able to change it so that one can be. Through a combination of the treatment for testicular cancer and of increased estrogen as a result of his steroid use while a body-builder which Bob was left with unusually large breasts and left him with very little perception or himself as masculine or valuable to anyone. However, Bob later appears in the movie as a member of Fight Club, where he finds that once again he can act â€Å"like a man† and feel as if his masculinity is validated. Jack finds Durden’s assertions that the men in their generation have no other wa y to express their individuality or to free themselves from materialism than to fight each other, and to use their fighting as a method of filling the void left by the removal of worthy roles for men in society. In the beginning of the film Jack is using mail-order catalogs, becoming so obsessed with buying whatever he sees advertised in them that his orders become an end to themselves. I would flip and wonder, â€Å"What kind of dining room set ‘defines’ me as a person?† He became so obsessed with obtaining what he saw in the catalogs that he filled up his apartment with furniture and all sorts of other stuff he didn’t need. This seems also to address the increasing assertion by advertisements that you can be defined and given a soul by acquiring products. Durden also spoke of this sort of cycle: â€Å"Look at the guys in fight club. The strongest and smartest men who have ever lived — and they’re pumping gas and waiting tables; or they’re slaves with white collars. Advertising has them chasing cars and clothes. A whole generation working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy shit they don’t really need.† He was alluding to the shackles that a culture based on acquisition has on its members, and inviting these members (namely men) to throw off the shackles and prove that they didn’t need a better dining room set to define them. All they needed, he assured them, was to fight, and would show their humanity and masculinity through that. During another one of his outcries about the male relationship with society, Durden once came upon a designer clothing billboard featuring a muscular man in jeans and no shirt, and criticized it much like various critics of ads which use unrealistic shows of feminine beauty to sell products asked, â€Å"Is this what a real man looks like?† After smearing it with blood, he proclaims, â€Å"Guys packing into the gyms, all trying to look like what Calvin Klein says. Fight club isn’t about looking good.† Susan Faludi, author of Stiffed: the Betrayal of the American Man† calls this sort of â€Å"ornamental masculinity† a major factor in the â€Å"Angry White Male† mentality: The more I consider what men have lost–a useful role in public life, a way of earning a decent living, respectful treatment in the culture–the more it seems to me that men are falling into a status oddly similar to that of women at midcentury. The ’50s housewife, stripped of her connections to a wider world and invited to fill the void with shopping and the ornamental display of her ultrafeminity, could be said to have morphed into the ’90s man, stripped of his connections and invited to fill the void with consumption and a gym-bred display of his ultramasculinity. The empty compensations of a â€Å"feminine mystique† and transforming into the empty compensations of a masculine mystique. Douglas Rushkoff gives his account of the switch from a linear and continuous world to one that was non-linear and discontinuous. Before this switch, middle-class men were seen as valuable and benevolent authority figures who were a pillar of society and who always succeeded in bringing home food for the table because his work paid relatively well. The society felt that there was value also in acquiring as many new and technologically advanced possessions as possible, which allowed for the men to ensure that their wives would find it enjoyable to expend all of their energy at home, cooking and vacuuming and buying better things for cooking and vacuuming. In this way men were given the great majority of political power and respect. However, the awareness of the corruption in politicians’ lives from Watergate, the national confusion after a country was able to watch Kennedy assassinated on TV, and possibly the most lasting of all, the first time that ordinary citizens were able to see combat in Vietnam on the nightly news, creating a much more suspicious outlook on the government and military, caused society to become discontinuous. The former male status symbol was gone along with continuity, replaced by gender equality which prevented men from using the feminine mystique to their advantage, making them less likely to have a dependent wife and family. They lacked that meaning which they had when they were providing for their offspring and mate, to put it in a biological concept, so their motivation to work was largely gone, with consumerism alone unable to fill the void. Their power having toppled, the male now tried to fill this void and prove that he indeed was still a man for society. Consumerism was unable to do that anymore, and so the male body itself, as Jackson Katz said, became the tool. This is shown by the film, in which Tyler Durden attempts to destroy the discontinuous society which tells him that he should not have this total control. This is shown by his completely anti-feminist outlook, particularly his meaningless sexual relationship with Marla Singer. â€Å"Except for their humping, Tyler and Marla were never in the same room†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jack relates. Tyler also describes a generation of unaggressive men â€Å"raised by their mothers†, that characterized his peers who grew up in a time of increased divorce rates and in turn grew up without fathers. â€Å"The last thing we need is another woman.† He gives reason to his masochistic fights and burns by saying that you could create pain for yourself, thereby â€Å"hitting bottom†. He describes it not as a painful and agonizing experience, but a turning point, where you are going to feel excellent after having your teeth knocked out no matter how bad your station in life is. And so Durden’s scheme to create chaos which would then begin society anew, Rushkoff would say, actually was showing that he was trying to mold society around himself. Meanwhile Jack in the end renounces Tyler’s ideas of violent upheaval, instead deciding that he would accept society as discontinuous and use its discontinuity as part of his life. This film therefore shows the advantage in not letting what happens matter to you such as it would in a linear world. Edward Herman’s perceptions of the film would be those of contradiction, largely centering around the fact that the movie is marketed and designed to make a profit, yet at the same time it criticizes the idea that you need to buy what society tells you to buy and that material goods are unnecessary to life. He might postulate that the companies had realized that a capitalistic message promoting conformity doesn’t sell, and instead used and anti-capitalistic message of being skeptical of what society and everyone else tells you to make an even greater profit (much like Sprite’s paradoxical campaign which made fun of soft drink ads, then told people to buy Sprite). he would observe in short not that corporations indeed rejected themselves, but that they now make themselves even more effective by letting people pay to watch them pretend to do so. My own impressions of the movie are that along with its messages on corporations and their relationship with the identity crisis in American men is that it also offered a lot of information on the ultimate problem with taking violence as a way of demonstrating masculinity. This is especially apparent with Bob, who, managed to rediscover his manhood in Fight Club and in Project Mayhem, but was also killed while part of the latter. Fol lowing his death, he is spoken of by his comrades as if he had never been human. This is saying that to become part of violence unquestionably despite perceived acceptance and purpose is to swap one form of denial of yourself for another. Bibliography. Katz, Jackson/ authority on phenomenon of violence and its link to masculinity and cultural trends creating this phenomenon/ Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity This article discussed the use of violence by white men as a tool to regain power they feel to be lost to other groups. Discusses overuse of portrayals of violence and its symbols in advertising. Faludi, Susan/ author of Backlash and Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, a contributing editor for Newsweek, â€Å"The Betrayal of the American Man, At Ground Zero of the Masculinity Crisis, The Ornamental Culture, Beyond the Politics of Confrontation† Newsweek, (09-13-99) â€Å"It’s ‘Thelma and Louise’ for Guys†, Newsweek (10-25-99) These articles discuss how men have reacted to the identity crisis from their loss of job status and expresses that much of it comes from a modern image of manhood impossible to attain and in the latter relates such phenomena to the film . Fletcher, Kim, â€Å"Male Fantasies† The Spectator (11-20-99) Much like Faludi in that it concludes that film is the result of male feelings of inadequacy in modern culture addressing the question of how to react. Rushkoff, Douglas/ author of Media Virus and Playing the Future among others content take from excerpts of Playing the Future This book describes the cultural evolution caused by the digital age and resulting in adopting non-linear thought and in chaos mathematics. Herman, Edward/ linguistics professor at MIT, comrade of Noam Chomsky â€Å"The Propaganda Model Revisited† from Capitalism and the Information Age This essay enlightens as to the role producers’ and reporters’ personal biases and more particularly of their desire for profit plays in how the media portrays certain events or whether they even mention certain events at all. Braun, Bill, â€Å"Auto dealership vandal released after finishing ‘bootcamp'†, World Staff Writer final home edition (date not given) This, among other articles, outlined or mentioned the violent and anti-social effects that the film seemed to have on the younger adults and adolescents, such as forming their own little fight clubs or vandalism. Uhls, Jim Fight Club screenplay available at http://geocities.com/scifiscripts/scripts/fight_- club_shoot.txt

What would you get rid of to improve life

What would you get rid of to improve life in the 21 st century? BY Anna3201 In today's world, there are many things that we are not happy. The whole time we complain about something, what worries us. However, when a good think about it, we see that we spoil ourselves this world. Often, the inventions and strenuous effort take control of everything around you. The question is: what would I get rid of to improve life in the 21st century? For me the worst things in the world are violence so that is the first thing which I would get rid of to improve life.Violence is everywhere: at home, at school, at work. It is behaviour that demeans limited freedom, violates the rights and causes mental and physical suffering of another person. Contractor makes it a pleasure. Why? How can you derive satisfaction from observing someone's pain and fear? How abnormal tear brings Joy? Is it human? No! Such a person should not be called human. The physical and psychological violence we face every day. Some times we do not realize when we are its witnesses.Reflecting for a moment, we can see how often we see that someone is bullied, teased. Sometimes simply unpleasant word for someone can make him suffer. The person most wronged no one to turn to for fear of ridicule. Physical abuse often affects the most vulnerable, who do not stick to a particular group, because they are easier to hurt them. The perpetrators know that they go unpunished, so often for a very long period of time persecute people. Physical abuse has many forms from teasing to serious or even beat kicks. This makes physical pain.I think it is worth considering whether in the same way it hurts psychological violence? , In this case the victims are weaker, but they can also be good students, and ordinary people are shy. Easily to heart them because of their nature they annot defend itself against such aggression. Emotional abuse often takes the form of name-calling, ridicule. In my view, the two forms of violence hurt the same way. One undermines the body – one in mind. Both are Just as harmful as the other person stripped of dignity. Therefore, we always react seeing the hurt the other person.No condones the violence and think about how we would feel if someone behaved similarly in relation to us. Person who was bullied and teased as a child can have mental health problems in a present life. People, who have experienced violence in childhood, often do the same thing with your children or other people in heir present life. Violence is first step to a crime; people who use violence feel themselves unpunished and feel themselves believe they can do anything. This leads them to next crimes. Without violence in the world there would be no crime in the world.Violence and criminality leads to the fact that people are becoming more aggressive so it leads to the wars in the world. We know, for example, that Hitler had as a child was abused, humiliated and mocked by his father, without the slightest pr otection from the mother. The real source of his hatred thus becomes obvious. But lso many other dictators such as Mao, Stalin, or Ceausescu have experienced violence in their childhood. So without violence would not to be wars on the world. Violence is the beginning of all evil in the world. ne thing which I would get rid otto improve lite is stimulants There are many types of stimulants; they are alcohol, tobacco (cigarettes), drugs, and even coffee, tea, cola, and chocolate. In the last four, there can be no true physical dependence. These substances, however, operate on the pleasure centres in the brain, which can cause partial dependence on them, but typically psychological. The most dangerous of stimulants are certainly drugs. The most common of these are: natural marijuana, hashish and cocaine or synthetic amphetamine, LSD, ecstasy, heroin.For these heavier drugs addiction can occur even after a single ingestion. Drug use often has a very negative effect, leads to fatal car a ccidents, beatings, murders or suicides. Drugs damage internal organs and systems, especially the nervous system. This leads to the degeneration of physical and mental body. Addiction is unable to perform basic activities of daily living and reduced to the constant search for the next portion of timulants. The problem of drug addicts is also moving HIV causes AIDS, a fatal disease. Alcoholism is one of the most common addictions.He is considered the disease. Binge drinking significantly reduces mental and physical. In extreme cases leads to damage to the liver, heart and stomach as well as mental diseases. Alcoholism is a serious problem in pathological families. Children from such homes often have depression and psychological trauma. Another well-known tobacco is a drug contained in cigarettes. Adults reach for the cigarettes to be de-stress, relax or simply out of boredom or for the company. After smoking a cigarette, some feel a recovery and improves their concentration.These fee lings, however, are short-lived. Chronic cigarette smoking is the reason for a number of diseases, including lung cancer which in most cases leads to death. As you can see, not only strong stimulants like drugs, but these are less harmful to humans. I think that violence and stimulants are the worst things in our world and it's Just I would like to be excluded from the 21st century. Violence and stimulants are the beginning of all evil in the world. Without those things our life would be better. World would be more beautiful.

Grandfathers Funeral at Age 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Grandfathers Funeral at Age 6 - Essay Example Hearing about how good he was made me appreciate the new side of him and really wished I had gotten his better side when he was living. Age 6, father argued that although I was still young, I was old enough to attend my grandfather’s funeral. At the age of six, my grandfather passed away after suffering from pulmonary fibrosis. Grandfather got sick 3 months ago and went quickly perhaps because of his old age. I was really tensed when it came to family viewing. I wondered how hyperactive I was and how the experience of the funeral could have appeared for me. However, I felt that it was significant to celebrate grandfather’s life because he was a very important figure in my life. This was actually part of family life and being that I was part of the family, my father thought it wise to include everyone. It made a lot of sense celebrating the life of someone who had a great effect on the family. He had achieved several things in his life and he told me many stories before his death. I was personally touched and felt that attending the funeral would be the final way of saying bye to him. He handled himself in a wise manner. I so much felt that I lost something precious in my life. People were mourning and my parents talked less about the old man. Various people shared great things grandfather did during his lifetime. Interestingly, no one talked of another part of grandfather and this made me think that he must have been a man of the people who never committed sin. The whole experience was quite humbling and I thought about how cool my grandfather was. Pictures on the walls showed a smiling old man who supposedly loved everyone. I felt he was the happiest man I ever set my life on. Grandfather understood and comforted me most of the times and I wondered if I would ever get such kind of a person in life. Saying goodbye to grandfather was crucial and sheltering from the lifecycle event such as death could definitely lead to fear.  

Impact of print media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Impact of print media - Essay Example Media can promote democracy. In fact, media can be an important incubator of dissent and principled opposition to the military regime (Tironi and Sunkel 2000). How audience is targeted. A clearly defined target audience is important in any media such as print. Targeting an audience as a concept is best explained by examples. Consider the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA), a social justice organization achieving equality and acceptance for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual (GLTB) people ("We are" 2007). For their primary target audience, they have the "moveable middle," or heterosexuals whose opinions can be "moved" toward the positive through education. This group had conducted research beforehand and knew too well that a greater percentage of well educated people, females and higher income people, will be less prejudiced against homosexual people. They also learned that the general heterosexual population is extremely under-educated as regards GLBT people. Finally, they also came to know that heterosexuals are largely unaware of the lack of civil rights GLBT people experience, and are exposed largely to stereotypes and myths about them. Heterosexuals then became their primary target audience. ... Their energy, they decided, is to be saved for those who will listen ("We are" 2007). In targeting audience, therefore, research is needed where time, money, and effort could be used most efficiently. AFFA had to consider if the people who will be exposed to the message are above average in terms of education and income when placing media. If positive, they can become the best target market for change in attitudes about GLBT issues. They had to conduct a survey toward this objective to be able to get reliable data. In some media campaigns, a secondary target audience may also be obtained. The AFFA, for example, has the GLBT community being exposed to their message as secondary target audience, the purpose of which is to instill confidence and self-esteem. The objective of media campaign at times dictates choice of the primary target group. For example, to change sex selective behaviour, the target group should be those who seek the services to determine the sex of the fetus and later to abort it ("Sex Selection" 2007). It was found out that it is not effective to target medical practitioners who supply their services exclusively through mass media. Instead, the young unmarried women are best the target audience as they are the most open to questioning inherited values and behaviors, display the greatest conflict with choices forced upon them, and express discomfort with practices of sex selection. Mostly, they appear to be the most amenable to behaviour change ("Sex Selection 2007). In both instances mentioned here, the common denominator for target audience appears to be those most responsive to behavior change. What research literature says is first considered, then, time, money and effort are spent in planning the most efficient way how

The Role of the Colonies in the British Mercantilist System Essay - 1

The Role of the Colonies in the British Mercantilist System - Essay Example With King James II, British colonies turned into a source of profit and power for the British Empire. King James II attempted to create a centrally managed Atlantic Empire (Henretta & Brody 93). Though the Glorious Revolution weakened royal grip on power, King James II put forth the foundations of mercantilism, such as the need to expand economically in order to be a glorious empire. British colonies thus served to improve British economic status among other monarchies and independent states and towns in Europe. Mercantilism was a policy promoting self sufficiency among countries of the day (Nettels 105). According to Nettels, â€Å"[t]he policy aimed to gain for the nation a high degree of security or self-sufficiency, especially as regards food supply, raw materials needed for essential industries, and the sinews of war† (105). With this goal in mind, the British aristocracy pursued colonies which could produce sugar, tobacco and other food products. In exchange, they were r equired to buy English manufactured goods, or use the English merchants as intermediaries (Henretta & Brody 69). This practice was prescribed by the Staple Act of 1663, according to which colonial planters bought most of the needed manufactured goods from England (Nettels 109). England prohibited trade with other European countries, as it could not impose favorable terms of trade (Nettels 105). English government designed laws that would keep colonies dependent upon English economy (108).  

Communication etiquette in business Research Paper

Communication etiquette in business - Research Paper Example Communication in business is an everyday activity that takes many forms. â€Å"The nature of communication employed has an acceptable conducts and demeanors that are deemed appropriate in the corporate world†. In addition, communication etiquette provides rubrics of behavior which guide communication and civilized interaction among employees in a business setup. It is important to note that business persons who obey these guidelines realize success in their business. Research shows a powerful correlation between appropriate etiquette and corporate success. This paper reviews various business etiquettes while giving examples of how proper communication should be conducted in a business environment. The manner and speed at which communication in a business environment is conducted has undergone drastic dynamics in the last few decades mainly because of technological advances. For this reason, the manner and style of communication have taken different dimensions causing a collisi on between private and official communications. Forms of Business Communication Much of communication in business is verbal communication. This occurs where an individual conveys a spoken message to the receiver. The second form of communication is written communication where an individual either sends an email or a letter to a different correspondent or a group of persons. The third form of communication is the body language. Body language plays a crucial role in adding meaning to messages conveyed through other modes of communication. It is therefore important that a communicator fully understands the unwritten ethnic decorum pertaining communication in order to build strong and effective interpersonal skills. â€Å"All these forms of communication have an attached standard or decorum that separates an ethically communicated message from unethically communicated one† (Seth & Adhikari, 2010). For instance, business partners or customers etiquette will go a long way in maintaining good interpersonal relationships while boosting the company’s brand name. All the emails sent to the company need to be responded to with the urgency they deserve. This is particularly important as it builds trust and respect on the part of the respondent. However, this does not mean that calls should form a major part of distraction in business. In fact, to maintain focus in business, making and answering phone calls should have designated times unless the call is urgent. Proper Communication Practices in Businesses It is imperative to note that an effective, precise and clear communication in business is an important ingredient in promoting positive impressions that would eventually lead to success in business. It also promotes productivity among employees of an organization. On the contrast, use of improper communication taints the business reputation. The question that every communicator should ask is whether the communication decorum that he/she uses is acceptable or not. A matter such as text abbreviation while writing an e-mail, receiving and making frequent phone calls in a business or staff meeting is a common behavior nowadays. Some of the challenging areas of business communication include: listening, appreciation, communication clarity and details and keeping promises. It is important to note that communication is a process whose practice is dictated by specific protocols

Presenting for the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Presenting for the Future - Essay Example Immigration accountability requires earnest action beyond executive orders unleashed by President Obama. The remedy will stabilize immigration procedures, boost tax, and offer fight illegal crossing at national borders. Organizational influences immigration through the structure in place. An organization structure for example within United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will influence ethical behavior of the staff working in various departments. An immigration system that has rigid and hierarchical structure will limit the capacity of employees towards implementing reforms in the documentation process. An autonomous decision-making process will result in a department that offers employees relevant experience and moral development in handling immigration dilemmas. Flexible structure allows immigration departments to make high-level decisions irrespective of their level to realize the sound and ethical practices; hence, the need for such a structure. An organization that handles immigration should hire employees legally. The human resource department will be charged with implementing immigration policies and reforms if it adopts a legal process to acquire employee fit for the job. Compliance in a public office is essential as opposed to labor costs that will be saved after hiring unqualified employees. Decentralization and ad hoc structure defines the human resource department of USCIS. The structure has hampered efforts to modernize immigration procedures and match the economic and national security agendas. The department has shielded efficient transformation initiatives that have the potential to heal the immigration wound. Restructuring of USCIS human resource department has paved way for critical immigration practices entrusted with the organization. Structure does not foster anti-fraud and homeland security measures as required by state and federal governments. Department of Homeland

The importance of communication skills to midwifery practice Essay

The importance of communication skills to midwifery practice - Essay Example Research emphasises the need to see interpersonal communication through interrelationships which develop taking into account the issues of power and diversity, and good communication likewise flourish through and revolve around the emotional dimensions of care work. Chant et al. (2001) indicated that in general in the care practices, effective communication skills on the part of the practitioner leads to greater satisfaction out of care. basically, patient satisfaction leads to compliance, which in turn minimises complaint rates, emotional and psychological distress (Chant et al. 2001). An effective communication to any patient on the part of the care giver induces many favourable changes in the client that may be conducive to positive health. Rogers et al. (1999) indicated that communicated patients are "better educated and empowered to participate in their own health decisions and as a result will make shared decisions" (p.175). These principles are also applicable in midwifery practice, where the definition of communication is same as elsewhere in the care professions. Communication means exchange of information, ideas, or feelings, which can be complex in the sense that this is a broad term indicating both verbal and nonverbal communication s. These become more complex in the healthcare settings due to the very nature of the interactions being complex, charged with emotions, and related to very personal feelings and situations. All these may affect the process of communication, and knowledge, training, and practice on communication skills is thus necessary to effect a clinically effective interpersonal communication, specially between the provider and the recipient. It has been estimated that communication skills and relationships are important parameters of healthcare services, and the practice of midwifery is not an exception to that. By the term relationships, it is meant interrelationships between the care

Sample Quality Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sample Quality - Article Example It lowers the cost of carrying out a research, enables faster collection of data, improves the quality of the data, and ensures homogeneity and accuracy of results. This paper will analyze sample quality in the listed articles. In doing this, paper will seek to define the population in each case and quote the sampling method used. It will also explain the choice of the sample and state who participated in the study. It will equally seek to qualify the research to other populations. In deducing, the sampling method used, it will be necessary to define the various sampling methods that we have. Random sampling involves the random selection of sample from the population. In cluster sampling, selection of samples is in clusters close to each other like households in the same estate. Quota sampling involves selection of samples nonrandom according to a fixed quota. Snowball sampling involves the identifying of samples that meet the criteria for inclusion in a study. Purposive sampling involves sampling with a  purpose  in mind.  Availability sampling involves using just the available samples (Trochim Web). In the article by Scott et.al, the population was all Canadian elderly patients with anxiety disorders and clinically significant anxiety symptoms. Quota sampling method selected a sample of 36,984 adults aged 55 years and above who participated in the Canadian Community Health Survey in 2008. The selection of the people in the sample was because they suitably represented the target population.  The actual participants in the study were 12,792 individuals, living in Canada (Scott et.al 792). The researchers cannot generalize it to other populations because the analysis focused on adults aged 55 years and above which are usually the minority in any society. In the Yang et.al study, population was all adolescents 6 months after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. Quota sampling selected a sample of 2,463 middle schools and grade 10 students. Their selection was

Article summary Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summary - Article Example Four experiments were performed. The first experiment was to predict that the Ss who had acquired precondition information would be able to comprehend the passage with no trouble and will be able to recall it easily as opposed to Ss who had not received the prerequisite information and would find it difficult to comprehend and recall. The sentences of the passage consisted of normal English. Experiments II, III, IV were same as the first experiment in that comprehension rating and recall tasks followed the acquisition phase consisting of a single auditory presentation material. Dependent variable in this study is nature of passages and materials used for experiment. Independent variable was the memory nature of the subjects. The experiments discovered that presentation of suitable semantic background had a noticeable outcome on both comprehension ratings and recall. It was found out that every Ss most probably knew the lexical meanings of the words and were eminent with sentence structures that were used in the passage. The results for experiments were tabled and it was discovered that a background of knowledge before is useful for easy comprehension and recall of a passage. However, prior knowledge to a situation is not a guarantee that it will be useful for comprehension. This article states that exposure of children to film-mediated violent models would raise the likelihood of Ss belligerence to consequent frustration. Three experiments were performed to proof the hypothesis. Three different groups were used in the experiments. Most researches on the topic have paid attention majorly on the drive plummeting purpose of dream. In the study, three varied experiments were performed to come up with conclusions. The subjects for the experiment were 48 boys and 48 girls who had been enrolled in Stanford Nursery school. Their mean age was 51 months. Two adults consisting of both sex served as models for

The strength of opposition to impact the New Deal in the period 1933-1937 Essay Example for Free

The strength of opposition to impact the New Deal in the period 1933-1937 Essay The New Deal had serious competition, which was fundamental towards the New Deal particularly in the period of 1933-1937 in numerous ways. There were alternatives which factored towards helping the economy providing radical yet simplistic reforms, several pressure groups also hindered the success of the New Deal, it was scrutinized by both sides of the political spectrum where Hugh Brogan claims the Left for not doing enough1 this is true, certain left wing activists such as Francis Townsend2, Father Coughlin3 and Huey Long4 did not enhance their potential to cause everlasting impact. He also claims the right for doing too much5 this can be interpreted differently, but I partially agree that the Liberty League tried to prevent the success of the New Deal as business leaders were not going to help him6 this suggests the Right aimed to hinder rather than help the New Deal. The strength of opposition had potential to cause serious impact, this varied as some more than others contributed. It is unclear how opposition enforced certain policies, but they certainly cause change to some extent, where many were able to prosper, as it was clear that society needs reform7. Politically there was enough opposition to create severe importance however there were also other schemes that contributed to impacting the New Deal, but I believe due to the New Deals success in the beginning created no opportunity for oppositional groups to contribute any significance, no matter how strong they were to influence the New Deal. From the Left, many activists had their own ideologies and beliefs, many like Huey Long, Francis Townsend and Father Coughlin believed the New Deal were not going far enough which Coughlin envisaged, yet he initially stated the New Deal is Christs Deal8 however he turned against the New Deal because Roosevelt failed to carry on his radical reforms, which should not be underestimated as Roosevelt was afraid of Coughlins influence9 his sheer strength alone was enough to cause change, he had influenced 40 million Americans listening to his radio sermons, this was more popular than FDRs fireside chats10 his significance was minor however he did prove to be a threat, but It is evident that Coughlin could not of done much to impact the New Deal because it seems his polices were vague11 his inconsistency of ideologies proved to be his downfall, when attacking the New Deal he believed it was a communist conspiracy, yet he too fought for similar polices which I believe worsened his credibilit y, overall his authority and strength did impact the economy, his significance undoubtedly was there yet lost popularity consequently losing his radio program, but he was too radical to have any importance towards the New Deal his radical style seemed to alienate his audience12 this again was another reason why he could not generate enough support to overwhelm the New Deal, numerous historians such as . Evidently Townsend was different from conventional opponents of the New Deal, he wanted to improve the New Deal13 this was successful as he implemented many ways that prolonged the New Deal becoming more effective. Clearly suggests that Townsends ideas influenced Roosevelts thinking of the New Deal14 Pennington believed that Townsend proved to be beneficial, similar to Coughlin he too had support of 5 million members, but in my view he was inadequate, yes he helped pass through the Social Security Act, which incorporated the Old Age Revolving Pensions however it was not received by elderly people15 which undermines his impact of the New Deal. His significance is questionable, but he provided alternatives that contributed towards helping the economy. Lastly from the left, and definitely perceived to be the biggest threat to the New Deal was Huey Long, like Coughlin was an early supporter of the New Deal16, he was otherwise known as the Kingfish17 who consisted the characteristics of intelligent, avaricious and cynical18 he too was a strident critic19 of the New Deal, he pinpointed certain aspects which help provide solutions towards the economy. He proved to be influential which his Share Our Wealth Scheme showing creative methods of financing public works in Louisiana20 I believe it is considered to appeal to mainly the poor, but Roosevelt acknowledged this, I assume Roosevelt used Longs ideas compared to Townsend and Coughlin as he proved that policies actually worked thus most of his policies would have been employed in the New Deal. However he too seemed inadequate, as, he was not offered a federal post21 which suggests his contribution to the New Deal would have been minute. His significance in Louisiana was successful however it is questionable if his ideas would be embraced on a national level; I firmly believe his policies would not have been favorable, as it is evident because the 1936 election provided a strong belief in capitalism with 27 million Americans behind Roosevelt also it was suggested that it was highly improbable22 that he would of beaten Roosevelt in 1936 election this highlights his weaknesses when facing the New Deal, was not able to generate enough support which was also another problem with many opponents of the New Deal. Certainly from the Left they had much in common23 they all disliked Roosevelt, this was stated by Badger which I to some extent agree yet it is deemed that they all addressed the real problems and the real Deals failings which supports the assertion of opposition being beneficial, highlighting the failures of the New Deal, clearly Roosevelt would have been aware of this, it is thought of the Left advocating simple solutions24 however their solutions did not bring the results25, it was possible for Long to Capitalize support from Coughlin and Townsend, crushing Roosevelt and the New Deal the picture source26 strengthens Badgers assertion that the New Deal was often flawed because of the cost but as the New Deal provided many Left wing polices, it only enhanced the New Deal evidently showing more organisation and impact covering most aspects of America thus shunning any credit from opposition, it is evidently shown resulting from the second New Deal with the Social Security Act, Rural electrification27 and also National Labour Relations Act consequently quietening opposition of the New Deal. It is clear that they were too radical to go beyond the New Deal; it must also be considered that the New Deal created 6 million Jobs, yet 11 million were still unemployed, this was where the Left incorporated their radical views, yet they were often flawed which prevented their success. The Left did have more significance compared to the right as certain movements and parties helped the New Deal in many aspects, which Clements pinpointed Governor Floyd B Olson of Minnesota, led the Farmer-Labour Party introducing many radical economic reforms but similar to Long, they both died which their policies died with them as well. Picture Source 128 portrays Roosevelts success of the New Deal by focusing on the forgotten man, where he utters Yes, You Remembered Me29 this clearly indicates all opposition were all insufficient to help, clearly his success preventing opposition to generate any momentum to play down the New Deal, also Amity Shales suggests opposition proved shrill and marginal he also claims that from the Liberty League to Father Coughlin proved to have no such impact, but I believe he underestimated the potential that they created, they could of generated a superior strength, during the period of political change, during a period where Hitler was able to be dictator of Germany, opposition, especially from the Left could easily of overhauled Roosevelt and the New Deal. Certainly there were creative ways of tackling the Depression; however the New Deal was superior during a time of confusion and despair. The New Deal from face value looked turn things around, and certainly they provided stability and prosperity. Establishing authority in which opposition found hard to compete with. All opposition clearly impacted the New Deal in some way, but I truly believe that the Republican Party proved to be the biggest threat of all, as they created different ways of restraining the new Deal success, they also link with the Supreme Court surprisingly the most significant opposition came within Roosevelts government, as it was mostly dominated by republican judges, they were striking down some of the New Deals Measures30 they clearly impacted the New Deal, however unlike the Left it did not necessarily benefit New Dealers, it can be seen as restraining the success of the New Deal as they declared 11 out of 16 of the alphabet agencies were unconstitutional31. Roosevelt believed the Supreme Court hindered rather than help the New Deal, Roosevelt tried to use a notion of court packing32 where judges over 70 should retire, however this backfired, arguably worsening his reputation, which reflected towards the New Deal badly, also considered to be the darkest moment33 of FDRs campaign, yet it is suggested that Roosevelt responded with compromise34 based on the context of the supreme court it clearly shows no compromise towards the Republican judges but its impact is shown however their contribution was . Roosevelt did handle his opponents effectively, it is claimed that FDR would take the fire out of opposing arguments35 by cooperation, which he successfully did with Townsend and Long, however there were times where he failed to understand the strength of opposition when it comes towards the Supreme Court, he was ambitious to limit their power however he did underestimate the strength In which they condemned Roosevelts actions. The strongest opposition from the Left would be Huey Long, yet from the right it would be the Liberty League, In conclusion opposition to the New Deal was significant; they demonstrated a variety of alternatives which challenged the New Deal. Both sides of opposition certainly contributed to influence the New Deal, but I believe Bibliography 1) Kathryn Cooper 2) Anthony Badger 3) Clements 4) The Roosevelts Presence 5) Joanne de Pennington 6) The New Deal-Americas Response to the New Deal 7) The USA 1917-45 Doug and Susan Willoughby 8) Franklin D Roosevelt Profiles in Power Patrick Renshaw 9) The presidency of Franklin D Roosevelt by George Mc Jimsey 10) The forgotten Man- Amity Shlaes-picture source 11) The survival of Democracy Alonzo L Hamby 12) The Limits of Liberty- American History 13) Hugh Brogan, The penguin History of the United States of America 14) Chris Rone AQA history USA 15) The FDR years On Roosevelt and his Legacy. 1 Hugh Brogan The penguin History Of United History of United States America p560 2 Francis Townsend focused on boosting the economy by raising pensions over 60s 3 Charles Coughlin a Canadian priest who broadcasted popular sermons 4 Huey Long, Governor of Louisiana, Launched Share Our Wealth Campaign 5 Hugh Brogan The penguin History Of United History of United States America p560 6 Hugh Brogan The penguin History Of United History of United States America p560 7 Joanne de Pennington p128-129 8 Susan and Doug Willoughby p139 9 Peter Clements prosperity Depression and the New Deal the USA 1890-1954 p146-150 10 Susan and Doug Willoughby p139 11 The Era of Franklin D.Roosevelt, 1932-1945: A Brief History with Documents 12 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 13 Susan and Doug Willoughby p139 14 Joanne de Pennington p128-129 15 Susan and Doug Willoughby p139 16 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 17 He was called the Kingfish from the radio show of Amos and Andy 18 The survival of Democracy-Alonzo L. Hamby FDR and the world in crisis p262-263 19 The survival of Democracy-Alonzo L. Hamby FDR and the world in crisis p262-263 20 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 21 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 22 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/New_Deal_opposition.htm 23 Anthony Badger The New Deal p292-294 24 Anthony Badger The New Deal p292-294 25 Anthony Badger The New Deal p292-294 26 http://resources.dynamic-learning.co.uk/Titles/MWH_2/e2de78b5-0012-4643-933a-ef 27 Joanne De Penningtonp128-129 28 The Forgotten Man- Amity Shales Picture Source 29 The Forgotten Man- Amity Shales Picture Source 30 Limits of Liberty American History 1607-1980 p462-463 31 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/New_Deal_opposition.htm 32 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 33 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 34 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm 35 http://www.dtman.com/steve_private/school/newdeal.htm

Environmental Problems Linked To Developing Transport Systems Environmental Sciences Essay

Environmental Problems Linked To Developing Transport Systems Environmental Sciences Essay Throughout the rapidly developing world, convenient transport system led peoples meeting become more and more time-saving and comfortable. However, the gradually developing transport system has brought kinds of problems which are well worth for peoples greatest attention. There have an increasing focus on the environmental problems caused by the developing transport system. With these serious problems come a range of questions on peoples daily travel. Many people worry about the living surrounding which influenced by surface transport system. In this essay, I will analysis the environment effect caused by developing transport system, and effective mitigation measures have used to solve these questions. The surface transport system have consists defined to an extensive network of buses, cars, trams, trolleybuses and trains. Accompany with quick development of cities, transport system is expanding cover all over the cities to benefit for peoples daily lives during the same time. Mineta (2002) stated that transportation is essential to Americas security, economic prosperity and quality of life and surface transport system has supported the nations strong economic performance, and the evolution of world trade. There are widely held concerned that the developing of transport system has many benefits on humans lives. When people living in large cities, well established rail systems have significantly higher per capita transit ridership, lower average ,lower annual mileage, less traffic congestion, lower traffic death rates, lower consumer by this transportation ,therefore rail transit systems provide economic, social and environmental benefits to peoples lives stated by Litman(2010). Transport is part of peoples live, therefore, government should develop sustainable Transport which includes walking, cycling, public transport, car clubs, car sharing, eco-driving and low carbon vehicles. The purpose of develop sustainable transport is to reduce the problems which bring to environment and society caused by travelling, and supports economic growth. During the same time, sustainable transport will reduce car emissions that contribute to air pollution problems and global warming. This indicates that sustainable transport systems provide economic, social and environmental benefits, and these benefits tend to increase as a system expands and developed. Although developing transport system brings kinds of benefit to us, the negative aspects which caused cannot be ignored also. To date there has been agreement that no other machine has had a harmful effect on our environment than develop roads and increasing number of cars have brought to us. This is because people create the environment for living, but we have to repair our environment for cars and roads. The most serious problem caused by dramatically rising of expanding travel roads, highways, tunnels, overhead viaducts and the number of cars were environmental pollution in the crowded cities. There are kinds of surrounding contaminative problems, which have explicit relationship with the developing surface transport system. This can be divided into many points: noise pollution; air pollution; global warming; road danger; dissolving the cities; energy use. Noise seems to be one of the serious problem, there are many of America dwellers are exposed to noise so loud it has the potential to degrade hearing capacity over time stated by Orlando (2007). It is general that traffic noise thorough streets make people feel depressed and uncomfortable when they stay at home. Therefore, to protect residents from this trouble, it is vital to maintain the noise level at an appropriate degree. Furthermore, air pollution caused by surface transport system not only leads to serious health problem to human, but owing to the acid rain, which damage forests, buildings and water. It is definitely a complex problem in a crowded city. Air pollution  often  choked cities, because of so many a utomobiles emerge creating pollution. There is a body of opinion that global warming is the one of the greatest dangers which people will face during a long time. The developing transport system, which were remains one of the main growing sources of greenhouse emissions. It was also leads to serious climate problems. The  climate crisis is extremely dangerous, and it is a true planetary emergency, Gore (2006) stated. Global temperature is rising constantly, which leads to the world climate become imbalance. Throughout the developing transport system, the crowd city has expanded under unsustainable methods to fit all residents requirement. Many people claimed that the crowded city as essentially anti-human. Therefore, it is necessary for government and organization to take mitigation measures to develop a sustainable surface transport system to deal with the environmental problems. In order to mitigate the noise problem, government installs some noise barriers and does some noise insulation works to reduce the noise effect of transport projects. Governments have to support the sustainable transport. Take the Australian government for examples, it is engaging with most areas to support various approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public transport system in urban centers. Government should also ask for public idea for the important issue, because environmental problem concerns everyone. The Australian Transport Council and the Environment Protection and Heritage Council Vehic le Fuel Efficiency Working Group (2008), with support from the Australian Government, have handout a paper to ask the public opinions for car Fuel Efficiencies, it is a potential measures to encourage people to use fuel efficient, it will cause low carbon emission. Furthermore, government set up greenhouse gas reduced program project which include change national travel behavior. Governments also should encourage residents to use public transports for reduce car exhaust, greenhouse emissions and it was also save money on fuel cost. Governments needs to increase its investments in protect our living surroundings. For the other thing, government must have a sustainable urban and transport planning to meet for the increasing number of residents and cars. In the transport development plans, in order to avoiding the types of protection natural source, water sources and other environmental factors, make a sustainable transport planning, environmental planning, urban development planning a nd other contradiction between environment and cities make transport planning more scientific and sustainable. Take Singapores sustainable transport planning for example, there are several improvements which made in Singapore to have people adopt more sustainable modes of transportation. First of all, the public transport system is rapid reaching peoples requirement. During the population increases, the public transport network still keeping at the same rate with the population. There are effort have been set out to improving the expanding transport system and the frequency of public transport, such as buses and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) trains. For the environment, Electric vehicles also have been introduced into Singapore for the advantage of having zero emission, therefore it will not bring environmental pollution stated by Shaw (2010). Furthermore, the Singapore environment council improves people consciousness to use green technologies in transportation and promotes the walking and cycling lifestyle. Therefore, Singapore balanced success in developing transport system and environment in s ustainable development methods. To summarize, surface transport system has significant support for economic development and it offers a wide range of benefits to people lives. However, transport system is still making noise pollution, air pollution and other environmental problems to cities Andersson (2005) . There are several reasons for that current transport systems are not sustainable. First of all, petroleum source reserves are finite and petroleum emission influence urban air quality, it also brings a range of environment problems. Secondly, numerous transport facilities make cities crowded and detrimental environment. For the others, increasing number of cars and transport system make urban sprawl. Although governments have take serious measures to deal with the problems, it still existing and have detrimental effect to people during the developing cities. In order to solve this problem, government and individual have to improve their consciousness to use public transport. It will reduce the environmental ef fect caused by car emission and make a better living surrounding to residents. Furthermore, a healthy lifestyle, such as walking and cycling should be encouraged also.

Rosa Lee Cunningham Case Study

Rosa Lee Cunningham Case Study Rosa Lee Cunningham is a Black American woman who has lived a pathetic life being a victim of extreme poverty, child abuse and deprivation of love and nurturance from her mother. The traumatic experiences in her life has led to her addiction to a lifestyle that further degrades her as a person instead of rising from her unfortunate situation. From childhood, she has learned the harsh reality that black girls needed to be trained to care for the family and household while black boys are pampered. Rosa Lee underwent hard labor for the family under the watchful eye of her severely harsh mother, Rosetta. Education was not given a priority in Rosa Lees growing years. Her mother would prefer that work and chores were done well and schooling was not as important, as she inculcated to Rosa Lee that she would never amount to something more than engaging in domestic work. Rosa Lee felt deprived of play in her childhood, as she needed to chop wood, carry heavy things, scrub a room spotless and cater to her familys every need. As an adult, being overly clean with the house became her way of coping with stress. Rosa Lee craved for her mothers approval. Her attempts to be close to her mother were often met with hostility. When she learned to shoplift nice things to offer her mother, she would be reprimanded, but later, as her mother would inspect the merchandize, would throw her arms around her with appreciation. Such acts of intimacy were short-lived, as Rosetta did not hesitate to inflict physical harm at Rosa Lee whenever she displeased her. On the other hand, her father, Earl Wright, an alcoholic had better regard for her and indulged her with whatever coins he can spare for her whenever he was drunk. In school, Rosa Lee felt that her poverty was holding her back from becoming what she was destined to be. In her puberty, she noticed that other children had nice clothes while she wore rags. At this age, the need to belong and be noticed by other children becomes very strong. Her first shoplifting episode was borne out of this desire to be upgraded in terms of fashion. From then on, stealing became a way of life, and she became better and better at it until such time when she managed to subtly slip merchandize in her waiting bag or under her skirt. Rosa Lee fared poorly in school, not realizing that she was a slow learner until she had the unfortunate episode of being thrown out of a class with a teacher she admired. With Mrs. Whitehead, she felt that she was learning, and enjoyed her teaching strategies. However, when she was caught in her class, she was instructed to join another class which Rosa Lee wanted to escape from in the first place. This prompted her to become truant in school. Since she never took school seriously after Mrs. Whitehead, she did not develop her literacy skills to the fullest. This lack of reading skills proved to be disadvantageous to her. Her misdemeanors have brought her to troublesome situations, leading to an early pregnancy at age thirteen. She had to stop schooling to have her first born which her mother cared for. Soon after, she found herself pregnant again, and again and again, making her a mother of multiple children before she reached her twentieth birthday. Her promiscuous behavior is a desperate call for help to be released from her mothers clutches. Once, she succeeded in having a man marry her only because he was threatened by Rosetta, but a few months later, Rosa Lee found herself back in her mothers house as she had no other way to go because her husband beat her. To feed her children, she had to resort to prostitution and selling illegal drugs. She always justified such ways of generating income as means of survival for her eight children. Her steady income came in the way of welfare checks which her mother had full control of. Rosettas idea of child-rearing was to Rosa Lee, inappropriate. The noble cause of setting the children on the straight path (ex. that stealing is bad) is often implemented by violent acts. Such beatings or harsh cursing became a staple situation in Rosa Lees household. The traumatic events and painful feelings that come of it made Rosa Lee vow that she would never do harm to her own children. Because Rosa Lee had no credible role model for morality, she set her own standards, which unfortunately were easily bent. She herself taught her children to steal clothes so they had something nice to wear or other things so they had something to sell to buy food. Later on, she would involve her children and grandchildren in the drug trade because policemen dont usually go after young children. She never expected that they would get hurt in the process, but failed to consider that she was putting them at high risk. When Rosa Lee eventually became a drug addict herself, it became so natural to her and her children to share the illegal drug use. Their joint drug sessions impressed upon the children her tolerance of such a habit, making it convenient for them to justify it and even depend on their mother to supply it or money to get it from their drug dealers. This series of substance abuse shared by Rosa Lee and her six children merited them jail sentences and even acquiring the HIV virus for Rosa Lee and her two children she shared needles with. It is pathetic that Rosa Lee and her children do not learn from the consequences of engaging in their drug habit, since upon release from jail, they are soon at it again. Even the threat of the AIDS disease did not deter them from continued pursuit of the next high. Waking up to a painful reality of poverty and hopelessness after the high has worn off, her children merely exist. They do not have the drive to go out and make something of themselves to live normal lives. Instead of being employed in a decent job, they would rather depend on Rosa Lee who pushes herself to do what she does best selling drugs and shoplifting just so her children are fed, housed and even given money to get their drugs. For Rosa Lee, this is her way of showing love for them. Prolonged use of dangerous drugs, and her high level of stress have resulted in some physical illnesses in Rosa Lee as manifested by seizures, memory lapses and stomach pain. To manage it, she has been receiving her daily dose of Methadone at the community clinic. However, at times, such symptoms become too much to bear and she ends up confined in the hospital. This paper attempts to analyze Rosa Lees psychological profile and diagnose her psychological situation using a multiaxial evaluation from the data gathered from her life story by Leon Dash and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Axis I: Substance Abuse/ Dependence Rosa Lees manifested symptoms may be diagnosed as Substance Abuse/Dependence. Under DSM-IV-TR (text revision of 2002). Following are the usual behaviors exhibited by substance abusers/ dependents: SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Manifests one or more of the following behavior:ÂÂ   Failure to fulfill major obligations: Rosa Lee has been habitually tardy in settling her bills, resulting in cut-off of services. She is unable to manage her finances, as she misappropriates her budget to her and her childrens drug supply instead of food for everybody or payment of utilities. Use when physically hazardous: In spite of the threat of her HIV virus turning into a full-blast AIDS disease, or simply when she knows that her physical condition makes drug use lethal for her, Rosa Lee continues to indulge in drugs. Recurrent legal problems: Rosa Lee has been arrested several times for shoplifting or busted for selling or using drugs. Recurrent social or interpersonal problems: Rosa Lee is unable to control her childrens addictive behavior. She continually supports their drug habit by handing them the money to buy drugs and then tries to save them whenever they get in trouble associated with their drug use. Personally, she is frustrated with how they treat her but she seems helpless as she keeps her feelings usually bottled up inside and occasionally pushed to the limit. Since she has vowed never to be like her abusive mother to her children, she instead indulges their whims even if it brings disastrous results for them. With SUBSTANCE ABUSE the user has a choice: he/she uses in spite of illegal, unsafe consequences, or inappropriateness of the drinking/drugging experience. (DSM-IV-TR, 2002). With Rosa Lees history of drug use, she continues to use drugs despite her awareness of its consequences to herself or her family. SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE (ADDICTION/ALCOHOLISM) Manifests three or more of the following behavior: Tolerance: Rosa Lee tolerates the consequences that follow her drug use pain, inability to function normally, even her childrens seemingly abusive behavior towards her. Withdrawal: Rosa Lees body responses to drug use withdrawal are usually associated to how she takes medication to control the accumulated and related symptoms that the use of dangerous drugs have caused. Since her reading skills are inadequate, she is not accurate in following the dosage of the prescribed medication, causing her body to react with seizures, memory lapses, etc. Large amounts over a long period: Rosa Lees intake of drugs/ illegal substances depends on its availability. The more drugs available for the taking, the more she can consume. This has gone on for most of her adult life. Unsuccessful efforts to cut down: Despite her numerous attempts/ announcements to stop and reform her life by avoiding drugs, she would usually fall back into the drug habit. Time spent in obtaining the substance replaces social, occupational or recreational activities: Rosa Lees numerous commitments have usually been missed due to her drug problem. Continued use despite adverse consequences: Rosa Lee has gotten herself in dire circumstances because of her substance abuse/ dependency. Her repetitive confinements in the hospital, the threat of AIDS, the risk of being hurt by drug dealers may force her to stop using drugs, but when a stressful event comes to her life, or when her defenses are down, she would weakly give in to the temptation of taking drugs when it presents itself. Axis II: ÂÂ  Developmental Disorders/ Personality Disorders From the data gathered, Rosa Lee seems to present a number of developmental disorders. From childhood, it was shown that she was a slow learner and her inadequate literacy skills has led her to troublesome consequences (e.g. misreading prescribed dosages of medication has caused her aggravated physical illnesses; her lack of understanding of simple systems such as billing or legal consequences has pushed her further in deeper problems). Her poverty and feelings of deprivation has pushed Rosa Lee to impulsively steal from stores. Gaining approval from her family members due to the merchandise she has stolen has become the reward for this inappropriate behavior. Her usual excuse for it is just trying to survive, a rationalization she has passed on to her children and grandchildren. Rosa Lee shows some obsessive-compulsive behaviors when she is stressed. She cleans her house in earnest to the point that it is spotless. Axis III: Physical Conditions Rosa Lees prolonged substance abuse/ dependency has caused her a lot of physical illnesses such as memory loss, body pains, seizures, general malaise and most of all, HIV from sharing needles when injecting dangerous substances to the body. Such illnesses has made Rosa Lee progressively weaker physically confining her to her bed whenever these attack. Axis IV: Severity of Psychosocial Stressors The prominence of her mothers role in her life has greatly affected the formation of her character and personality. Rosa Lee was terribly afraid of her exploitative and cruel mother who forced her to do things against her will. She was physically and verbally abused. In spite of this, Rosa craved for her love and affection. When she already felt suffocated of her mothers hold on her and her life, she found ways to get away from her such as getting pregnant and marrying early, which backfired and led her back to her mother. Being a breadwinner of the family (both her own children and her mother and siblings) pushed Rosa Lee to work harder at acquiring income to support them all. In spite of this, she felt unappreciated and taken advantage of, but she passively accepted her fate. Continuously supporting her children even in their adulthood was also a strong psychosocial stressor for Rosa Lee, as they were very much dependent on her that they even expect her to save them from the detrimental consequences such as bailing them out of jail, covering for their transgressions and taking their place to suffer the consequences of their own misdemeanors. Rosa Lees idea of maternal love is just to give and to give, as her selfish and inconsiderate children continually take and take, giving their mother nothing in return. The environment where she lives in is another source of stress for Rosa Lee, as it eggs on her continuous engagement in the drug trade. If she or any of her children is guilty of crossing anyone, the threat of harm becomes prevalent. Axis V: Highest Level of Functioning Upon the thorough and keen reporting of Leon Dash, Rosa Lee has been portrayed as a street-smart woman who is truly a survivor in the context of her personal situation. She knows how to manipulate the sentiments of judges or other people who easily fall for her deceptive demeanor. She manages to acquire the necessary income for her family to survive in dire circumstances. When things are carefully explained to her and made sure that she understood the consequences of her behavior, Rosa Lee does the necessary action to normalize her life and become drug-free for a certain period of time. Her weak will may be made stronger with careful scaffolding of reminders and even threats to her safety. She also needs to be prodded to assert herself when it comes to her children who control her emotionally by pushing the right buttons. Proposed Treatment Plan In coming up with an appropriate treatment plan for Rosa Lee, many factors are to be considered. Like in most cases, treatment needs to combine psychological therapy with the treatment of the physical addiction. Before any treatment plan is attempted, Rosa Lees intrinsic desire to be reformed must be expressed. The decision to be healed of her addiction should help her commit to being cooperative with the concrete vision that she will indeed be free from the bondage of the addiction. To cleanse her body of the chemicals she has ingested, Rosa Lee needs to go through medical detoxification. While detoxification alone is rarely sufficient to help addicts achieve long-term abstinence, for some individuals it is a strongly indicated precursor to effective drug addiction treatment. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.). As it is, Rosa Lee has been taking her doses of Methadone, a drug that helps her in stabilizing her life and reducing her illicit drug use. Her treatment plan must likewise include treatment and management of her HIV positive state to prevent it from becoming a full-blast AIDS disease. Priority should be helping Rosa Lee regain her physical vigor and feisty spirit. Since her immediate environment is one factor that encourages her addiction, she must be moved to a less threatening environment that promotes well-being. Being in a stress-free environment greatly helps in achieving peace. A conducive environment also facilitates deep introspection and coming up with an action plan to pursue a drug-free and positive lifestyle after the treatment process. The most important element in the treatment plan is Rosa Lees psychological therapy. Managing the effects of her trauma from childhood entails getting to the root of it. Therapy must include her revisiting of the past and steps to achieve closure from the psychological pain inflicted by her overpowering mother and the prejudicial socio-cultural environment that exploited her dignity as a person. Family therapy is essential in the healing of Rosa Lees affliction. Since the dysfunctional members are likewise culprits in encouraging Rosa Lees addiction, they themselves must undergo psychological therapy not only for her but also for their own good. In doing so, an empowered sense of self and responsibility is hoped to be developed. Psychotherapy will help in treating Rosa Lees emotional wounds. The need to understand why things turned out the way they are should be met so the individual is equipped to resolve the situation and move on. One example is for Rosa Lee to understand the dynamics she shared with her mother and how she should manage the strong feelings her painful relationship still brings about. Being able to manage it will help her in dealing with stressful situations associated with her mother. Rosa Lees strengths should be used in the treatment plan. Among these are her deep love for her family and her creative and critical thinking abilities. In helping her understand how her dysfunctional behavior puts her children and grandchildren at risk may help her shift her paradigm on love. Encouraging her to be strong in denying her children the whims which may bring them harm by using tough love may be effective in likewise strengthening her character. She may find it very difficult at first considering giving in to all her childrens whims has been her parenting style for a long time and her way of showing love for them, but eventually, as she reaps the fruits of her sacrifice, she will eventually be accustomed to it. Her creative and critical thinking skills may be called upon whenever she feels tempted to relapse into her addiction after treatment. She may find ways and means to avoid anything that would trigger her urges to take illicit drugs like old co-drug dependent friends, drug dealers, or even places she associates with her former life in the drug trade. In the book, there were frequent references to the power of religion over her. This may mean that Rosa Lee finds it important. Being exposed to the teachings of her chosen religion may help her acquire proper understanding of moral values. It would be ideal if religion and spirituality would be her substitute for the ultimate high she is perennially in search of. Even at a late age, she may still be given tutorial sessions on developing literacy skills. Not only will she learn to read and write, but her confidence and self-esteem will be improved, giving her hope for a better future. Vocational rehabilitation such as engaging in arts and crafts, gardening, cooking, etc. will not only keep her mind off her addiction but also equip her with more skills. Such skills will help her find appropriate, decent and gainful employment to start her off in her reformed life. Rosa Lee is also recommended to get into assertiveness training to enable her to non-defensively express her emotions. This will help her not to be easily taken advantage of people, especially her family members who are always out to get a cut of her welfare checks. She will likewise be empowered to think of herself positively, and even contest the societal norms and beliefs she grew up on, which were partly responsible in lowering her self-esteem. An effective treatment plan attempts to administer to her medical, psychological, vocational, social, and even legal needs. Rosa Lee had left a lot of pending legal cases, and these need to be resolved or if need be, she should be amenable to face the verdict responsibly. As Rosa Lee gets better in her treatment plan, consistent monitoring of her progress must be assessed continually and modified as necessary to ensure that the plan meets her changing needs. Recovery from drug addiction can be a long-term process and frequently requires multiple episodes of treatment. As with other chronic illnesses, relapses to drug use can occur during or after successful treatment episodes. Addicted individuals may require prolonged treatment and multiple episodes of treatment to achieve long-term abstinence and fully restored functioning. Participation in self-help support programs during and following treatment often is helpful in maintaining abstinence. (National Institute on Drug Abuse). The complications in Rosa Lees life have contributed to the state she is currently in. Like a pack of a wrongly- knitted ball of yarn, her treatment plan should carefully release the knots to unravel the strands so a more accurate weave may be started and completed before she finally expires. No matter how unfortunate one lives his life, there is always hope for change. In Rosa Lees case, if she is determined to turn her life around, no one can stop her from achieving the happiness and fulfillment a clean life and amend her ways and teachings she has previously imparted to her children and grandchildren. She will continue to carry the burden of being responsible for her family being the matriarch, but change needs to begin with her. Hopefully, positive change will rub off on her children and grandchildren. Only then could a trans-generational woundedness begin to heal, as she may be the first real credible role-model they can ever have.

Animal Testing Should be Reduced :: Animal Testing

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The common belief is that animal testing has accelerated science and medicine a great deal, but the truth is simple: animal experimentation has not cured a single disease. People have been misled into believing that animal experimentation is responsible for many â€Å"miracle cures† and â€Å"medical breakthroughs† for decades. The reason is very straightforward: animals differ from humans greatly—too much to be able to have accurate results from experiments. The only progress with infectious disease made in the 20th century was made through improved nutrition, hygiene, and public sanitation. This is not a result of animal research. In response, many ask this question: what about the polio vaccine? Was it not developed through animal testing? This is one of the biggest lies ever spread throughout the public. The polio vaccine had many problems and did nothing to stop the disease. It was released in the 50’s, a time when polio was alrea dy declining because natural infectious microorganisms have a specific life cycle; they grow and reach a peak—at that point, they start to die off. What proves this is the fact that in areas in the U.S. and in other countries where neither the vaccine nor any other medical help was given, polio died off at the same rate as the places without medical help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Here is my question to all those pro animal testers out there: if animal testing is so safe, why is it that the FDA is forced to take thousands of pharmaceutical drugs off the shelves after they have been proven â€Å"safe† after animal experimentation? In response, someone may say something such as this: animal testing is better than nothing; besides, they are just beings that do not think or reason. It is true that the main difference between humans and other animals is our ability to think and reason. However, what about those who are mentally challenged? Surely, some animals are smarter than some humans are. Surely there are some humans who cannot think or reason; yet, these people are treated in a special way.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Animals are constantly being tortured while scientists and test conductors claim that the animals are not in pain and given painkillers. However, this is not true. Most tests do cause pain. If you think about it, how can tests trying to see if make-up irritates the eye, not be painful? In addition, these animals are not given anesthetics prior to tests nor any painkillers administered to ease the pain afterward in fear that these drugs may cause inaccurate results in tests.

The Office Of Tomorrow :: Technology Predicting Business Office Essays

The Office of Tomorrow   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In an increasing number of companies, traditional office space is giving way to community areas and empty chairs as employees work from home, from their cars or from virtually anywhere. Advanced technologies and progressive HR strategies make these alternative offices possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Imagine it's 2 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon. Inside the dining room of many nationwide offices, Joe Smith, manager of HR, is downing a sandwich and soda while wading through phone and E-mail messages. In front of him is a computer—equipped with a fax-modem—is plugged into a special port on the dining table. The contents of his briefcase are spread on the table. As he sifts through a stack of paperwork and types responses into the computer, he periodically picks up a cordless phone and places a call to a colleague or associate. As he talks, he sometimes wanders across the room.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To be sure, this isn't your ordinary corporate environment. Smith doesn't have a permanent desk or workspace, nor his own telephone. When he enters the ad agency's building, he checks out a portable Macintosh computer and a cordless phone and heads off to whatever nook or cranny he chooses. It might be the company library, or a common area under a bright window. It could even be the dining room or Student Union, which houses punching bags, televisions and a pool table. Wherever he goes, a network forwards mail and phone pages to him and a computer routes calls, faxes and E-mail messages to his assigned extension. He simply logs onto the firm's computer system and accesses his security-protected files.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He is not tethered to a specific work area nor forced to function in any predefined way. Joe Smith spends mornings, and even sometimes an entire day, connected from home via sophisticated voicemail and E-mail systems, as well as a pager. His work is process and task-oriented. As long as he gets everything done, that's what counts. Ultimately, his productivity is greater and his job- satisfaction level is higher. And for somebody trying to get in touch with him, it's easy. Nobody can tell that Joe might be in his car or sitting at home reading a stack of resumes in his pajamas. The call gets forwarded to him wherever he's working.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You've just entered the vast frontier of the virtual office—a universe in which leading-edge technology and new concepts redefine work and job functions by enabling employees to work from virtually anywhere. The concept allows a growing number of companies to change their workplaces in ways never considered just a few years ago. They're scrapping assigned desks and

Early School Leavers Essay

Why do student dropout of school? Do you know why students drop out of school? Nowadays students usually drop out of school, to get a career. More than before job seekers are looking for people who have finished high school (at least). The fact that students drop out of school is caused for different reasons. There are three main causes why students drop out of school: they can’t afford tuition, they prefer to work, and they fail the course. Family problems are one cause. If parents are divorced, no-one may be taking responsibility for the child. If parents are uneducated, there may be little encouragement to do homework or to stay in school. Financial factors are also important. Some students want to work in order to support their families. In contrast, others may have family businesses and not see any benefit in obtaining a high school certificates. Perhaps the main reason why students drop out is for academic reasons. For many students, school is stifling and boring. The curriculum does not challenge them or grab their attention and they are unable to be creative. Others have learning difficulties that need specialist help. New Zealand has the second-worst drop-out rate in the developed world. It shows that 26. 9 per cent of New Zealanders aged 15 to 19 are not in education. More than a quarter of Kiwi teenagers quit school early. Many students fail to complete their basic schooling. This can cause serious problems for the individual, their families and the country. In this opinion, I will examine the reasons why students leave school early, and suggest some possible solutions. I both agree and disagree with the reasons presented here. The paper said one of the main reasons is that students drop out because they PERCEIVE that classes are boring. The truth is that many classes ARE extremely dull, due to poor lesson-planning and unmotivated, apathetic teachers. Demonizing the students’ perception of the classes is nothing more than a tactful yet deceptive approach at the internal shortcomings of the educational bureaucracy. Instead of engaging work and active intellectual discussion/debate, students are forced to jump through the hoops of pointless busy work and futile self-help/self-awareness assignments such as this one. Student disinterest and apathy are products of a stagnant and stifling environment. Dropout rates, I personally believe, would be exponentially lowered if educators took a less bureaucratic approach at student achievement. You can’t have a successful one size fits all plan that will actually end up working. The theories of Dr. Howard Gardner attest to this by outlining the many different ways that people can think. Standards written by left-brain officials cannot work for predominantly right-brain students. For years in this school system my creativity and viewpoints have improve in some classes, but for the most part have been stifled by teachers not willing to either put forth the effort necessary to facilitate such individuality or that are simply opposed to any unorthodox thinking or changes in practice. In an environment where the students are not the â€Å"customers† and when individuality is squelched in the name of following senseless, regimented practices, the students are done a great disservice. I am committed to graduate ONLY because I know that I must do so to get anywhere in life. I am frustrated, dissatisfied, and stifled by MANY of the practices employed in many classes I have this year and have had in the past within the school system. Many who read what I have written here will look down on my views, because they will [see] them as â€Å"rocking the boat,† something that I believe it is safe to say is frowned upon here as a general rule. There is a quote by John Locke that says, â€Å"New opinions are always suspected and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not common. There is such logic in this and the sad thing is that my ideas (in this respect) are neither new nor radical, only despised because they require energetic commitment to be put into practice. It saddens me deeply that the school boasts of a forward-thinking, cutting-edge, technologically-cantered, example-setting school system, when in reality these claims are only partially true. Money is NOT the issue. I am so fed up with the excuse of lack of funding bein g used to excuse time-wasting, needless activities! An engaging, entertaining, worthwhile class can be executed with nothing more than a committed instructor and engaged students . I am not referring to some ideal, yet non-existent classroom setting. My PHYSICS class this year has been absolutely enthralling EVEN THOUGH some of the required, yet frustrating practices have been implemented in her class on a regular basis. At the end of the day, those who come to school with a genuine DESIRE to take something away from the experience do so; and those who have no drive do not do so, REGARDLESSS of the implementation of the practices put into place in hopes of improving student achievement. The problem with these types of measures is that they focus solely on boosting TEST SCORES. THIS IS NOT THE PROPER APPROACH! (Standardized tests are 9 times out of 10 are a very poor representation of student UNDERSTANDING. Simple memorization is not adequate education! I can memorize scores of random information and then ace a test over it, but all that proves is that I have a good memory. Memory is of importance, there is no doubt of this, but equally, it is NOT the main goal. A deep understanding of the material is vastly more instrumental in the students gaining REAL-WORLD understanding. It is no wonder to me why so many graduates/dropouts here go into construction/metalworking, etc. These are the only classes many individuals find worthwhile because they are the few classes offered that provide hands-on experience that guarantee understanding through practice, not simple words. I guarantee you I can read an instructional book on how to do just about ANYTHING, and then write extensively on how to do it, but that writing is no proof whatsoever that I actually understand how to perform said task or that I am physically capable of doing the activity in a real-world setting. I have a lot more that I could say but basically all I’m trying to get across is that the entire focus in this school is wrong and that is one of the main reasons for teenage dropouts here. As can be seen, there is no one solution to the problem of school drop-outs. Educational authorities, parents and schools need to work closely together to find the reason for each student’s decision to leave school, and to try to do as much as possible to encourage them to stay in the system.

Bharatnatyam

Introduction to Semiotics Bharatanatyam A journey from temples to the proscenium An introduction Bharatanatyam is a Sanskrit word, which means the dance of Bharata (India). True to its name, it is one of the oldest and most popular dance forms of India. It originated in the temples of Southern India and was later codified and documented as a performing art by the Tanjore Quartet. It is now the most popular Indian classical dance and is appreciated worldwide. Bharatanatyam is a language in itself. Like Sanskrit language, bharatanatyam follows strict rules and is technically sound. The grammar of the steps is followed rigorously. It is danced to Carnatic music and the mathematical precision of the dance equals the Carnatic music measure of measure. The three significant ingredients of bharatanatyam are: bhava (emotion), raga (music) and taal (rhythm); governed by Bharata muni’s Natya Shastra and Nandikeshwar’s Abhinaya Darpana. Hence, the interpretation BHAva +  RAga (music) +  TAla+  NATYAM(dance) =  Bharatanatyam. The technique and presentation â€Å"Bharatanatyam in its highest moment, is the embodiment of music in a visual form† -Balasaraswati The three major attributes of a Bharatanatyam performance are Nritta (technique), Nritya and Natya (drama). Nritta is pure dance. It is the movement of hands and feet on the rhythm and speed. It is a collage of rhythmic lines, forms and shapes. The movements, mudras or gestures do not signify anything. Then why nritta? Indian music and dance forms are based on the concept of cyclic rhythm or taal. Various musical patterns are woven with the musical notes and rhythmic patterns which can be beautifully executed through nritta. Nritya is interpretative dance. It is used to exhibit the underlying meaning of the song and the emotion attached with it. It is a combination of nritta and abhinaya or expressions. The meaning of the song is expressed systematic gesture language and facial expressions. Natya is equivalent to dance-drama. It is a language of gestures, poses, dialogues and mime. It depicts a story usually from the Indian mythology like Ramayan or Mahabharata. Here, the emphasis is majorly on abhinaya or expression rather than the rhythmic movements. The Abinaya is divided as: Angikabhinaya:  Expression through the limbs and body like the Head, Hands, and Legs. Vachikabhinaya:  Expression through narrations and voice. Aharyabhinaya:  Expression through dress, ornaments and other aids. Satvikabhinaya: Mental expression of feeling and emotion by facial expression and use of eyes. Bharatanatyam: The Journey The journey of bharatnatyam from the temples of south India to the proscenium of the world is a very exciting one. Dasi-attam (Origin and decline) Bharatnatyam as a very ancient and traditional art form has been associated with the temples of South India. It is believed that Bharatnatyam used to be known as the â€Å"temple dance†. Bharatnatyam was also known as the dasi-attam (dance performed by the dasis – the servants of God) or the sadir-attam (court dance). It was choreographed to be performed solo by the devadasis in the temples as an offering to the deities. These women, called devadasis, are said to have devoted their lives to God. They were considered to be united with the Gods. Infact, they were considered so close to the gods and so pure, that a pearl form their necklace was considered auspicious for the mangalsutra of a woman. They performed useful functions at temples like cleaning, lighting lamps, dressing the deities etc. They also sang devotional songs and danced in devotion to the deities. Apart from this, they taught music and dance to young girls. These devadasis were accomplished artistes who could play many musical instruments. They were well versed in Sanskrit and other languages, which helped them to interpret the compositions that they would perform. They were instrumental in developing a tradition of classical music and dance in South India. The devadasis were celibate and were not allowed to have a family as they were considered to be married to the Gods. Therefore, initially most of the dances in Bharatnatyam were choreographed to be in praise of God. Many padams (narrative pieces) depicted the love story of a nayak (hero) and a nayika (heroine). In most cases, the nayak was in the form of Lord Krishna, or Shiva or any other mythological hero. While Shiva was said to be serious, Krishna was full of pathos and love. Thus, the choreographies mainly concentrated on Sringara rasa (love). Gradually the devadasi system started getting plagued with several notorious ills. Around this time, it was customary for the Indian people hailing from royal or aristocratic families to invite a devadasi to a celebration, to sing and dance and perform. The best dancers were invited to the royal courts to perform, in return which they were provided with a shelter. In this period, the position of the devadasis could be compared to that of an apsara (celestial nymph) who danced in the courts of the Gods in order to please them. Eventually, the rich men and the aristocrats attracted the devadasis with good money and luxurious lifestyles and lured them into being their mistresses. The devadasis were easily enticed to the kind of lifestyle offered to them. Thus, the sringara rasa in their choreographies converted into eroticism and they danced merely to appease the rich men. As consequence of which, these devadasis who were held at par with the temple priests lost their respect in the society. By this time, the Europeans had arrived to India. Their advent was like addition of fuel to the fire of the already deteriorating dance form. The Europeans ridiculed this entire system of dancing to please the lords and considered this to be no better than prostitution. Under the British rule, propaganda prevailed to against Indian art, misinterpreting it as crude and immoral. Also other factors like loss of patronage due to the unstable political conditions, lack of recognition in the education system and lack of appreciation as compared to that given to ballet ; played a major role in the set back of the dance form. Due to the degenerated status of the devadasis, the Indian reformers started a movement against the devadasis. Thus the devadasi tradition was banned. The government started working with various non-governmental organizations to help reinstate these women into the society, as well as raise public awareness of the demeaning nature of their life work Thus, the devadasi tradition and with it the performing art (bharatanatyam) took a back seat in the history of Indian art and culture. Revival Against all odds, a few families preserved the knowledge of this dance form. These included individuals from varied backgrounds: Indian freedom fighters, Westerners interested in Indian arts, people outside the  devadasi  class who learnt Bharatanatyam, and  devadasis  themselves. The pioneers in reviving this art for are: E. Krishna Iyer, Rukmini Devi, Balasaraswati etc. Bharatanatyam now attracted young artists from respectable  Brahmin  families. Initially met with shock, their participation ultimately helped to shift public opinion in favor of reviving the art. An association of  devadasis  joined the effort to revive Bharatanatyam. Its ranks included an eventual teacher of Rukmini Devi’s, as well as the family of the legendary dancer Balasaraswati. Rukmini Devi’s debut performance in 1935 was a milestone. Her efforts won over much of the orthodox community of Madras. Her reforms of costume, stage setting, repertoire, introduction of dance drama,musical accompaniment, and thematic content, overcame the objections of conservatives that Bharatanatyam was vulgar. She went on to found the Kalakshetra institute, to which she attracted many great artists and musicians, with whom she trained generations of dancers. Balasaraswati promoted the traditional art of the  devadasis, maintaining that reforms were unnecessary and detracted from the art. Staying true to her  devadasi  lineage, she achieved great renown for her excellence. The renewed awareness of Bharatanatyam in Indian society allowed many nattuvanars  to resume their training activities, and many artists to enter the field of classical dance. Rukmini Devi’s desire to restore the full spiritual potential of the dance motivated reforms that led to what was known as the Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam. Bharatanatyam soon became the most widespread and popular of the Indian classical dance forms. It wasn’t long before it achieved international recognition as one of India’s treasures. Rukmini Devi versus Balasaraswati Differences in the similarity of trying to revive the Indian traditional art form The two towering figures that played a major role in the revival of das-attam as bharatantyam: Tanjore Balasaraswati and Rukmini Devi. Balasaraswati was affiliated with the school known as Tanjore court style while Rukmini devi was associated with a style that she developed at Kalakshetra. By focusing on these two dancers, we can throw light on the historical event of the upgradation of bharatanatyam. They were contemporaries. Balasaraswati gave her first performance in 1925 in a temple and Rukmini Devi gave her first performance in 1935 for the Theosophical Society’s anniversary celebration. Both performed Bharatanatyam regularly on concert stage and considered it a means of salvaging the endangered dance form. In the Indian dance world, both of them are legendary figures. Their names have become synonymous to classicism and traditionalism. Around both of them instructional communities have developed, which led to idea of development of various styles in Bharatnatyam. They led on to take Bharatnatyam on a whole new international level, in their own way. Despite the similarities and the oneness in the agenda of working for the up gradation of the lost dance form, the difference in their ideologies held them in opposition – which has affected the background of Bharatanatyam ever since. Rukmini Devi was a Brahmin who was married to an English Theosophist, George Arundale at the age of sixteen. She came in contact with the famous ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova who accepted her as a student. Pavlova later suggested Rukmini Devi to train in her ‘own dance from’. Following her advice, Rukmini Devi returned to Madras and trained under a traditional guru in the classical dance form, Bharatanatyam. She defied the orthodox custom that upper and middle class girls should not learn dance and set up Kalakshetra to train dancers from the upper and middle class families. The establishment of Kalakshetra played an important role in bringing Bharatanatyam from the temples to the concert stage. Balasaraswati on the other hand hailed from a family of devadasis. She was born in a lineage of women who were associated with the Tanjore music and dance since generations. Her mother and grandmother wanted her to become musician considering the social stigma linked to dance at that time but she decided to become a dancer against all odds. She gave her first performance, arangetram at the temple of Ammanakshi in Kanchipuram, marking the beginning of her legendary career. Rukmini Devi Rukmini Devi entered and Balasaraswati had carved their positions in the world of dance with a radically different perspectives. Rukmini Devi had a very clear goal of purifying the dance form. According to her, the dance form was precious but degraded because its reigns were in the hands of people with ‘ill repute’. She wanted to eradicate the stigma associated with it by passing it on to the hands of people from the upper or middle class. She thought that everything about Bharatnatyam needed to be purified so that it could regain its respectable position in the society. Also, she believed that the main reason for the degradation of this art form was the fact that sringara rasa (love) was the centre of the choreographies. The sringara rasa had led to the degeneration of the art form as introduced eroticism and sexuality in the art to the extent to make it vulgar. â€Å"To depict such things is unthinkable for me†, she said. She was not against the sringara rasa as such (she had performed love poems by jayadeva and kalidasa in her natya), but against the choreographies performed by the devadasi. The actions, mudras and movements included by them in their choreographies had become earthy from beautiful. She strived hard to replace the sringara rasa by bhakti rasa or ‘devotionalism’; devoid of any sexual referrant. Bhakti Rasa Rukmini Devi held Bharatnatyam as a national art form and worked towards its purification and propagating this art form in India and the rest of the world. She established the Kalakshetra – international school of performing arts, to fulfil her goals. Here, students from various upper and middle classes were trained in Bharatnataym and also some other dance forms. She also set up a theatre which gave a platform to her students and also to her innovations in the dance form. Thus, she made reforms to take Bharatnatyam to a whole new international level. Balasaraswati Balsaraswati on the other hand, was very proud of her mother, grandmother and her devadasi ancestors. She was very proud of the achievements of the devadasis in the world of Bharatnatyam. Unlike Devi, she fore grounded the South Indian nativity and stood by the Tamil roots associated with the dance form. She advocated preserving the tradition, and also keeping it in the hands of the  devadasi  community. Her argument was that the art would die if separated from the caste. She believed that Bharatnatyam was in its purest form and it required no modernization or reformation. At many occasions she reprobated efforts to purify the dance form saying. â€Å"Indeed the effort to purify bharatanatyam is like putting gloss on a burnished gold or painting a lotus†. This proves how high Balasaraswati’s respect and love for Bharatanatyam (in its existing form) was. She urged to adhere to the custom of Bharatnatyam being performed in temples and courts. She also urged taking Bharatnatyam on the concert stage. This gave a new dimension to the revival of the dance form. She also defended the maintenance of originality of the dance form, by supporting the long, solo performances being an important component of the dance form. She emphasized the importance of such elements in to context to maintain classicism, integrity and aestheticism of the dance form. She also believed that abiding by the Tanjore Quartet’s format was an important way of honouring the contributions of the court practitioners. Sringara Rasa Balasaraswati was particularly critical of the reformers who believed in transforming the sringara rasa of the form. She was quoted as saying, â€Å"Sringara is bhakti and bhakti is sringara†. She believed that there is an intricate relationship between the expression of love (sringara) and feeling of devotion (bhakti). She believed that sringara is the supreme emotion and that no other emotion could express so beautifully the mystic union of atma (soul) and the paramatma (The almighty). This rasa gives the dancer a wide scope of introducing artistic innovation from within herself. Balasarswati thus, believed that she was entrusted with the task of safeguarding the dance form by not allowing it to be modernized and easily accessible for corruption. In spite of all the discouragement faced from the world, she continued to protect the dance form, the purity and the originality of the dance form. A similarity in the differences In spite of all the difference and such radically opposite perspectives, both Rukmini Devi and Balasaraswati had the same agenda- of saving the dying dance form. They both strived in their own way to protect the dance form and to take it to a whole new level. Their efforts in bringing Bharatnatyam to the concert stage or proscenium against all the opposition and hurdles from the society are commendable. A choreographer should be thankful to the endeavours of these two torchbearers towards the revival of the Bharatnatyam. History was therefore selective. Rukmini Devi and Balasaraswati presented their understandings by emphasizing on some aspects and eschewing the others.