The Effects Of Concussions On The Football Field - 1553 Words

A strong willed linebacker accelerates down the football field. He eyes up his opponent- the running back- both men lower their heads, bracing for impact, while helmets crunch, fans roar. Immediately after connecting, the running back s head feels undeniably different, but at this point in the game, it would cost the team playoff contention if they lose. This man is young, rich, and famous, but little does he know that each concussion he gets brings him one step closer to his own grave. Multiple concussions relating to sports leads to early onset Dementia and CTE, loss of life, changes in how games are played, lawsuits, and even more unsettling concussion facts and statistics. Jessica Firger writes â€Å"In many circumstances--if not most-- frequent blows to the head have effects that may last a lifetime, a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).† This disease causes a variety of psychiatric, and neurological symptoms including memory loss, depression, anxie ty, aggression and dementia (Firger). None of the blows have to result in unconsciousness, in fact, most people diagnosed have never had severe brain trauma or concussions (NFL Concussions Fast). Early studies found a disease in correlation to boxing, a condition called dementia pugilistica, or â€Å"punch-drunk syndrome† (Alzheimer’s and Dementia). Studies for dementia pugilistica began in 1929, outlining the symptoms as memory loss, confusion, dizziness, and personality changes. (Alzheimer’s and Dementia).Show MoreRelatedPlaying A Traumatic Brain Injury Essay1558 Words   |  7 PagesFootball players risk their lives every time they walk onto the field. Although, some players do not see the risk, because no one has informed them of the consequence. They are not aware that their next football game might be their last game or that their small headache could, in fact, be the beginning of a traumatic brain injury. The coaches are fixated on winning the game an d they lose focus of their main priority, their players safety. Due to their lack of knowledge, the players do not receiveRead MoreViolence Is The Athletic Roots Of The United States Of America s Pastime1288 Words   |  6 Pagesin the NFL Football is the athletic roots of the United States of America’s pastime. It’s part of the culture and history of this nation. It helped shape the way Americans watch sports today. But in today’s world the game has changed. It is changing this nation, and these players, both on and off the field. Concussions, on the field, have become a major commodity, and it raises the question of if it is really worth the risks of what can become of head injuries. Off of the field, there is alsoRead MorePersuasive Essay On Concussions1679 Words   |  7 Pagesprevent so called concussions in the sport of football. They have not had huge success but have had little gain in ways to help prevent them. The NFL has been the target for the cause of concussions. Even though it is the players who cause them on one another. Concussions can be very minor to very severe. Although there is no cure for concussions scientist believe they will eventually find a way to cure them. Concussions in football are starting to be seen more often. Concussions are the swellingRead MoreConcussions On The National Football League1549 Words   |  7 PagesThe National Football League, more commonly known as the NFL, has had growing cases of retired players that suffer from mental trauma or mental diseases from concussions. A concussion is a short loss of brain function following a direct or indirect force to the head. Concussions are extremely difficult to diagnose because the damage is seemingly invisible to the naked eye. Although the damages may not be present, the effects are long lasting. Concussions are plaguing retired NFL players and affectingRead MoreFootball is Dangerous?1211 Words   |  5 PagesProfessor Larsen Football Head Football is an all American sport that has led to the downfall of many great athletes who have suffered from the sport in a psychological and physical manner. Football is a dangerous sport that is only played by one country, the U.S.A. Realistically, banning the sport is almost near impossible, but there should be regulations to the sport if that people would have to meet in order to insure safety and knowledgeable facts about the sport. Football is not meant forRead MoreThe s Death, Concussion Protocol Has Been Raised Hugely By The Nfl932 Words   |  4 PagesSince Seau’s death, concussion protocol has been raised hugely by the NFL. First and foremost, the NFL now has an â€Å"eye in the sky† for each NFL game that is played. A certified athletic trainer now watches every single play from a press box that’s just above field level. This allows players to have more reassured safety when taking big hits. If there is even a thought of something that these medical trainers’ thinks look serious, they radio in a signal to the medical staff on the field. This is especiallyRead MoreNfl s New York Giants And San 49ers1651 Words   |  7 Pagesthat vicious, helmet-to-helmet hits are simply â€Å"part of the game† (Battista). For many years, this view, in which concussions are actually considered to be good in the way that they show one’s toughness and dedication to football, has been shared by many players and coaches throughout the league. The generally short length of the effects of concussions (or at least the immediate effects) and the frequency at which they happen have contributed to this dangerously careless perception of the ailment,Read MoreConcussions And Its Effect On Children1309 Words   |  6 PagesConcussions: According to the department of Orthopedic Surgery, at Wayne State University, â€Å"Youth football programs across the United States represent an at-risk population of approximately 3.5 million athletes for sports related concussions† (Buzas 1). Despite these risks, it is easy for some parents get involved in the game and overlook the danger that their children are in. There are parents who do not realize the severity of effects a concussion can have, as there are parents who do not knowRead MoreAbstract. Concussion In Schools And The Nfl Are A Problem.They1630 Words   |  7 Pages ABSTRACT Concussion in schools and the NFL are a problem. They can be life-altering injuries, and they have been around for years before anyone became aware of how dangerous they can be. Ever since the discovery of football many athletes have gotten their â€Å"bell rung† and doing damage to their brain with no knowledge of it. It has been recently that there has been more talk of understanding how severe concussions can be. Many think it is not a big deal but itRead MoreIs Football A Dangerous Sport?940 Words   |  4 PagesFootball can be a very dangerous sport. And although those who play the game believe that they are being protected by the helmets that they wear, the truth is that this may not be the case. In a recent study released by the American Academy of Neurology it has been found that â€Å"protection against concussion and complications of brain injury is especially important for young players, including elementary and middle school, high school and college athlete s, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible

The Outbreak of Natural Philosophy from Religion Essay

The Outbreak of Natural philosophy from Religion Science was not as prominent as it is now before, some people rejected science and all it had to offer for a long time. This was primarily because of the fact that people did not want to change their belief, not only theirs but their previous generations had believed in this also. This religious dogma they had believed in all their life, it was not until about the scientific revolution in the 16th century that science was widely accepted by all. Thales and his students although wrong were the ones who directed speculative thoughts and also started the process that brought physics, chemistry and other sciences. They were part of the first set of philosophers who started to†¦show more content†¦These ideas although they were wrong are what made the human mind break out from its one sided thinking in the belief of a divine body that was the cause of everything that happened in the natural world. The method they adopted was close study through the use of experiments and all other research methods to fully understand a situation. Religion is the belief or faith without reason of a divine body that governs the natural order of the world. In the past it was believed that the divine body was the cause of everything that happened in the natural world, like diseases, natural disasters the rain and every other thing that happened in the world. The two most renowned religions are Christianity and Islam, Christianity was one of the first major religions of the world and at a point it played a major part in the politics of the world. There were a few battles that went on between the Christianity and Islam, these battles were caused by territorial battles, differences in belief and conversion of pagans to a particular religion. Christianity dominated as the major religion for a long time in the past, old rulers used to kill pagans or followers of other religions. The ruling in the past was if a king or the ruler of a c ity were to be a follower of a particular religion all of the people under him had to convert to that religion. The religious ideas of the past were not gotten from the use ofShow MoreRelatedJohn Locke : The Most Influential Philosophical And Political Thinker917 Words   |  4 Pagesinfluence his philosophies, and these ideas had much significance in regards to the Enlightenment. Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, Somerset (John Locke 9: 478). Early on came the outbreak of the English Civil War. Anglican and possessing Puritan sympathies, Locke’s father fought with the parliamentary forces against the royalist cavaliers. Locke became a factor in the English Restoration after the conflict: a defender of the rights of the people. 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For example, a natural polio infection can cause permanent paralysis. Vaccination can help prevent the disease without havin g any after-complications. Opponents also believe that government shouldn’tRead MorePythagoras s Influence On The Founding Of Calculus1707 Words   |  7 Pagesworld, visiting Egypt and Greece, and possibly India, and in 520 BC he returned Samos. Around 530 BC, he moves to Croton, in Magna Graecia, and there he established some kind of school or guild. Pythagoras made influential contributions to philosophy and religion in the late 6th century BC. He is often revered as a great mathematician and scientist and is best known for the Pythagorean theorem which relates the two sides of a triangle to the hypotenuse using the formula a squared plus b squared equalsRead MoreDoes God Really Exists? 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What Extent May the Role of Women in Popular Music Be Considered as Stereotypical free essay sample

This runs along with the often-held opinion that if you are an attractive female musician, you are unintelligent: discussing Shakira, Jones (2012) states that â€Å"If you are blonde, pretty and a pop star, especially if you are a pop star who also knows how to belly dance, the chances are you’re stupid. † Women have historically been viewed as the inferior sex and many female artists and songwriters are not doing a great deal to help counter this opinion. One example of this is Taylor Swift, one of the most successful young country singers. Her self penned songs are â€Å" known to re? ect her thoughts and feelings at a point in time. Yet, the underlying message (from the gender studies perspectives) in her songs (and music videos) generally point men superior to women; women as the inferior gender. † (Myidisorgange; 2011) Even in classical music, this inferior stereotype is present. In her book Feminine Endings, McClary outlines the Masculine and Feminine Cadence: â€Å"A cadence or ending is called â€Å"masculine† if the ? nal chord of a phrase or section occurs on a strong beat and â€Å"feminine† is it is postponed to fall on a weak beat. † (McClary; 1991; p9) If women are writing song lyrics which support the inferior stereotype, and classical music de? itions are also supporting the inferior stereotype, there is perhaps little hope for change. This essay will discuss to what extent women in popular music have conformed to the stereotypes outlined above. It will consider : why female musicians are under represented; what women have done to promote their place in music; and what women are doing to conform to the stereotype. It will feature example of female musicians and performers who both conform and do not conform to the stereotypes, and will discuss whether, if we look past the external image, these performers are actually stereotypical â€Å"material girls†. Throughout music history, women have been notoriously under represented in the music world, particularly in the ? eld of popular music. The ? rst section of this essay will discuss: whether the music industry presents equal opportunities for both genders; the way in which each gender is perceived through media and press coverage; why the majority of notable women in the music business are of a young age; and obstacles faced by women in bands. Music education is taught in schools from the early years, and both genders are presented with equal opportunities to develop musical ability and talent. This equality is continued through secondary school and in most cases onto further education. Drawing from my own experiences: my high school jazz band had an almost equal ratio of male to female musicians, the same applied to my Popular Music HNC (10 males and 8 females). If we consider the fact that there appears to be equal opportunities for men and women to study, train and develop as performers at school and university then why is it an industry which is predominantly male driven? Bjorck (2011; p8) gives her views on this: â€Å" he conclusion must be that men’s outnumbering women in such practices re? ects either greater interest or greater capabilities among men compared to women. † Women are most speci? cally under represented when it comes to playing instruments in bands. â€Å" women are in a de? nite minority in all positions, except for that of a vocalist. † (Bjorck; 2011; p10) To add to this point, there are many who believe that the presence of a fe male musician, particularly in a rock band, makes fans confused and unsettled. Avdeeff (2006) explains this by stating that; â€Å"Women ho enter the realm of rock music challenge traditional notions of rock authenticity, which is often de? ned as white, male and heterosexual, and can create unease among its fans and other rock musicians. † This is an issue which women in the music industry have always been presented with and is quite often not helped by the way women are portrayed in the press and media. The most common point of discussion when female musicians and artists appear in the media is their sexuality, this is something which will be discussed later in this essay. The struggle which they have faced in gaining status in the music industry is also often heavily covered by the media, as well as invasions into their private lives: be it comments on their relationships; social lives and partying habits; or image. This is a stark contrast to the way male musicians are portrayed. Bjorck (2006; p11) highlights this contrast by discussing the ‘ heroic language used to describe male musicians in the written media. † There is also the general consensus that women who make a name for themselves in the industry at a young age cannot sustain this career for the rest of their lives. Avdeeff (2006) offers the opinion that; ‘Pop music, unlike rock, is associated more with young females, than with adult women. It is a genre that provides models through which young girls can explore their freedom before â€Å"joining the real world† and participating in traditionally feminine roles, such as marriage and motherhood. † This explains why the majority of active female musicians are of a fairly young age. Clearly the negative connotations surrounding female musicians and the negative press they receive is one reason why they are the under represented gender in the music industry. To expand on the discussion of female musicians, playing in a rock band is not generally seen as an acceptable career path. In her book Feminine Endings, McClary (1991; p150) quotes David Lee Roth when asked the question; â€Å"What if a little girl picked up a guitar and said ‘I wanna be a rock star. ’ Nine times out of ten her parents would never allow her to do it. † He then goes on to explain that the lack of female guitarists is not linked to the ability to play the instrument, but because they are discouraged from it and steered towards other outlets. Although this is an extremely misogynistic view on the part of the parents, it is perhaps discouraged due to the dif? culties faced by female musicians. Fournet (2010) states that â€Å"Groce and Cooper (1990) demonstrate the sexual harassment, unequal pay and lack of musical appreciation local female musicians experience † It is therefore no surprise than women are discouraged from entering and are therefore under represented in the music industry. This under representation of women, the way in which their sexuality is used to portray them, and the misogynistic views surrounding women in popular music are all proof that the stereotypes outlined in the introduction is still being conformed to in parts of the industry. The next point of discussion is how women have promoted themselves and made a name for themselves in the music industry by looking at: women making breakthroughs in music awards and music charts; and how women have established themselves as artists and whether they have done this by conforming or not to the stereotypes. In 1987 Whitey Houston released her self-titled second album. This was the ? rst album by a female artist to debut at number 1 on the USA Billboard 200 charts. â€Å"Released when she was 22, Whitney Houston was the best-selling album by a female artist in the 1980s, with more than 9 million copies sold on its way to becoming the best-selling debut ever by a female artist. † (Kaufman; 2012) At this time this was an incredible breakthrough for a female artist and paved the way for women to follow in her footsteps, gaining con? dence from her success. Houston clearly beat several male artists to the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart, which completely shatters the stereotype of women being the inferior gender. Another example of women breaking the gender barriers in the music industry is Rachel Portman who won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Emma in 1996. â€Å"After becoming the ? rst female composer to win an Academy Award (for the 1996 ? lm Emma), Rachel Portman has suddenly received the recognition in America that she has truly deserved. † (Filmtracks. com) For a female composer to win an award as prestigious as this, and previously only won my men, is a signi? ant development in the crushing of the inferior stereotype. Breaking onto the music scene and selling records is something which women have clearly been able to achieve, otherwise we would have no female pop-stars. However many female artists of today were thrust into the public eye at a very young age and have been over sexualised from the beginni ng of their careers. Levande (2008) lends us the information that â€Å"The music industry is obsessed with advertising the teenage of the female pop-star coupled with a sexually charged picture of her. †. She uses examples of artists such as: Britney Spears, who’s career began on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club; Lindsay Lohan; Joss Stone; and Jessica Simpson, all of whom where teenagers when their music careers began and were very much marketed as sex symbols. You only need to watch Britney’s video for Hit Me Baby One More Time to realise this is the case. (http:// www. youtube. com/watch? v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4) Other artists who did not start out their careers in the same way as the aforementioned young ladies, have altered themselves to conform to the ‘sex symbol’ stereotype. Examples of these women include Miley Cyrus who started life as the fresh faced ‘Hannah Montana’ on the Disney Channel and is now known for her scantily clad videos and the ‘stripper pole incident’ at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. â€Å" teen queen Cyrus in short shorts perched atop a long staff sticking out of an ice cream cart looking suspiciously like a stripper pole. † (Deggans; 2009). Nelly Furtado began her career as a folk/pop singer, however has transitioned into much more of a stereotypically sexualised artist. Levande (2008) writes that â€Å"She ? w like a bird from folk/pop into a more hip-hop-produced album called â€Å"Loose†, with her ? rst singled titled â€Å"Promiscuous†. †. This is proof that women are being moulded to conform to ? t the stereotype of female pop-starts today. One that focuses on image, sexuality, and entertaining men and not on the talents, ambitions and achievements of these ladies. The ? nal po int which this essay is going to discuss is why women are conforming to these stereotypes. There have always been negative connotations surrounding the music industry’s inappropriate use of sex to sell records. Feminists are of the belief that women should not have to be scantily clad and writhing around to sell their records, nor should their records need to contain lyrics which degrade women as a whole gender or make them out to be inferior in any way. However, there are many who are of the opinion that there is nothing damaging about female artists using sex to sell their records and promote themselves. Witherspoon consolidates this point in his discussion of female pop-star Rihanna; â€Å"Regardless of the jaw-dropping moments, Rihanna still manages to pro? t with massive commercial appeal. (Witherspoon; 2011) Clearly in Rihanna’s case, using selling sex to sell records and conforming to the stereotype, has boosted her career. From the beginning of her career Rihanna has used her image and her sex symbol status to advance in the music industry. In 2006 the video for â€Å"SOS† was released and features the artist dancing on a beach in a bikini. The lack of clothing and pr omiscuity has been a common occurrence throughout Rihanna’s career with some more recent examples including: the theme of BDSM which is heavily present in her â€Å"SM† video; the controversy surrounding Rihanna dancing topless in a ? ld during the video shoot for â€Å"We Found Love†; and her song â€Å"Rude Boy† which contains the lyrics â€Å"come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up. † Despite being overly sexual in the way in which she presents herself, Rihanna’s sex symbol image has not hindered her from chart topping success, gaining advertising campaigns with the likes of Emporio Armani, and most recently clinching a lead role in the blockbuster movie Battleship. This is an example of a women who very clearly conforms to the material girl stereotype, and is furthering her career by using it. When you think of female empowerment and independent women in the music industry, Beyonce is the name which springs to mind. Having been talked about as the most successful female artist of all time. â€Å"Beyonce is undoubtedly one of the biggest pop stars of all time. As the front woman of the trio Destinys Child, she stood out even then with her immense talent and grace. Four solo albums later, Beyonce is the epitome of superstar. † (Ruhinda; 2012). However Beyonce is no stranger to using sex to sell her records. The video for â€Å"Single Ladies†, which features the singer in a skimpy leotard, was opping charts as the most searched video on the internet shortly after its release in 2009 and now has over 200 million hits on youtube. (http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=4m1EFMoRFvY ) Her now famous ‘booty shake’ which ? rst hit the scene in her video for â€Å"Crazy In Love† is one of the artist’s most famous associations. Although Beyonce mos t de? nitely conforms to the stereotype and uses sex to sell her records, it has not taken away from her â€Å"girl-power† message, her multitude of female followers or her unbeatable success. To counter the two examples of artists made above, Adele is someone who has not sexualised her image in order to sell her records. The singer nearly always appears dressed head to toe in black, in an extremely class and elegant fashion. This has forced the listener to focus on Adele’s songwriting skills and music rather than on the way she looks. In her article, Topping explains that Richard Russell, founder of the record label which Adele currently belongs to, is of the opinion that she possesses â€Å" the potential to change the way women are seen in the industry by focusing on her music rather than her sexuality. (Topping; 2011). The fact that Adele has managed to be so unbelievably successful without conforming to a speci? c image and stereotype is something which has made the music industry take a step back and look at their female artists. Following in her footsteps and taking a leaf out of her more conservative image which forces listeners to focus on the music have b een the likes of Birdie and Gabrielle Aplin. There is clearly a following of women who are not conforming to the stereotype, and still gaining huge success in their music. To summarise the points made in this essay, although the majority of high pro? e women in the music industry clearly are conforming to the stereotypes of being a sex symbol, and several to the stereotype of women as the inferior gender, is has not hindered the success of these women and in most cases is not affecting the way in which the public perceives them. Women are clearly under-represented in music due to the media’s representation of female musicians and the fact that many women are discouraged from entering the industry due to the amount of sexuality expected of them and the harassment which they can experience. However, this has not stopped women from using this ‘sex symbol’ image to promote themselves in the music industry and to further their careers. There have been women, such as Whitney Houston, Rachel Portman and Adele, who have countered the inferior gender stereotype and have achieved greatness when competing against men and in the case of Adele, using no sex to sell records. I believe the main point which has been made in this essay is that although selling with sex can be seen as a negative aspect of the music industry, female artists are happy to do so, and it has not hindered, and if anything it has furthered their careers. I also do not believe that behind the external image of these women, are women who are unintelligent or â€Å"stupid† (Jones; 2012) To conclude this essay, I would like to quote Madonna, the original â€Å"Material Girl†: â€Å"People have this idea, she says, that if you’re sexual and beautiful and provocative, then there’s nothing else you could possibly offer. People have always had that image about women. And while it might have seemed like I was behaving in a stereotypical way, at the same time, I was also masterminding it. I was in control of everything I was doing, and I think that when people realised that, it confused them. It’s not like I was saying, ‘Don’t pay attention to the clothes – to the lingerie – I’m wearing. ’ Actually, the fact that I was wearing those clothes was meant to drive home the point that you can be sexy and strong at the same time. In a way, it was necessary to wear the clothes. (Gilmore; 1987) This is undeniable proof that the ladies of the music world, although appearing to be â€Å"Material Girls†, are in face intelligent, empowered young ladies who are in control of their careers and are thoroughly enjoying what they are doing. Bibliography AllMusic (2012) Whitney Houston Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic. [online] Available at: http://www. allmusic. com/artist/whitney-houston-mn0000820434 [Accessed: 5 Jan 2013]. Avdeeff, M. (2006) From Girl Next Door to Sex Symbol: Representations of Women in the Popular Music Press. B. Mus. Augustana University College. Bjorck, C. (2011) Freedom, Constraint, or Both? Readings on Popular Music and Gender. Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 10 (2), p. 8-26. En. wikipedia. rg (1960) Rachel Portman Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Rachel_Portman [Accessed: 6 Jan 2013]. Filmtracks. com (1960) Filmtracks: Rachel Portman. [online] Available at: http:// www.? lmtracks. com/composers/portman. shtml [Accessed: 27 December 2012]. Gilmore, M. (1987) The Madonna Mystique. Rolling Stone, Iss. 508 p. 87. Jones, L. (2010) Shakira: Shaking up the pop-star stereotype. Daily Mail, [online] 17 January. Available at: http://www. dailymail. co. k/home/you/article-1242633/Shakirashaking-pop-star-stereotype. html [Accessed: 23 December 2012]. MCCLARY, S. (1991). Feminine endings: music, gender, and sexuality. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. MTV (2012) Whitney Houstons Musical Legacy, By The Numbers. [online] Available at: http://www. mtv. com/news/articles/1679039/whitney-houston-musical-legacy. jhtml [Accessed: 23 December 2012]. Myidisorgange (2011) Taylor Swift Reinforces Gender Stereotypes. Gender Studies, [blog] 12 February, Available at: http://sc2220. wetpaint. om/page/Taylor+Swift+Reinforces +Gender+Stereotypes [Accessed: 23 December 2012]. Nasseri, J. (n. d. ) Femininity and the Music Industry. Academia, [blog] n/a, Available at: http://www. academia. edu/236882/Femininity_and_The_Music_Industry [Accessed: 6 January 2013]. Nigeria710 (2012) The Reconstruction of Women in the Music Industry. Feminist Theory S12: Imagine Otherwise, [blog] April 19, Available at: htt p:// pittfemtheorys12. wordpress. com/2012/04/19/the-reconstruction-of-women-in-the-musicindustry/ [Accessed: 5 January 2013].

The Piano Lesson Essay Research Paper The free essay sample

The Piano Lesson Essay, Research Paper The Lesson of the Piano Lesson To a individual such as myself I tend to believe that freedom is in the head and non every bit much a physical thing. Chiefly because you can be shackled and imprisoned but they can neer take away your dreams, hopes, ideas and aspirations. Those will ever stay with you no affair what occurs to an person. With that said it can be said that Boy Charles did give his life for nil, since we are all free in head we need non the things of our past to state us who we are or to give us way in life. On the dark of the Fourth of July, 1911 is a dark that neer should hold occurred in which the release of the piano from the custodies of a white slave proprietor cost the life of Boy Charles. We will write a custom essay sample on The Piano Lesson Essay Research Paper The or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All that was lost for a piano seems worthless to me. The Piano had merely sentimental value to Boy Charles and in the terminal he is the 1 who would non be able to bask it. He claimed it told his household history but it is he who could hold passed down the household history through word of oral cavity. Boy Charles should hold realized he had the best of both universes when he decided to steal that piano he was free in head and organic structure non merely one or the other. He wa s a free black adult male free to make what of all time he wanted in life whether it be to get down a household or move to the North where chances where greater. He came to the uneventful decision that in order to be free he needed the piano, which he did non since we are populating records of the past non a carven piano. The subject of this novel seems to demo the complexness of African American attitudes in the way of their yesteryear but they must look to their hereafter in order to progress and non maintain looking back The piano seems to function as a symbol for the bequest of their yesteryear, which brought the characters of this play to this point in their lives. So it seems that Boy Charles life was possibly non in vena but without his forfeit it seems that his household may hold neer left the South in order to prosecute a better life in Pittsburgh and have hope for the hereafter. So at that place seems to be valid points to Boy Charles actions but in the terminal it seems he should hold chosen to go forth the piano and get away the South with his life and freedom. There are more of import things than pride in the universe such as household and God. In which both of these can assist you have a brighter hereafter and do something of yourself, which is more than a piano could of all time make.

Comparative Correlative - Definition and Examples

Comparative Correlative s In grammar, a comparative correlative is a minor sentence pattern containing two corresponding phrases or clauses, each one headed by the and expressing a comparative: the X-er . . . the X-er or the X-er . . . the Y-er. The comparative correlative is also known as the correlative construction, the conditional comparative, or the the . . . the construction. Grammatically, the comparative correlative is a type of paired construction; rhetorically, the comparative correlative is often (but not always) a type of parison. Common Comparative Correlative Expressions The greater the risk, the greater the return.The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.(American football coach Vince Lombardi)The deeper our sorrows, the louder well singLife is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.(Maya Angelou, Wouldnt Take Nothing for My Journey Now. Random House, 1993)The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have.(William Hazlitt, The Spirit of the Age, 1825)The older the men are here, the more likely it is that they are wearing suits and ties.(John McPhee, Giving Good Weight. Giving Good Weight. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979)The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.(Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars, 1977)The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.(Seneca)The greater your achievements, the less satisfactory your personal and domestic life will be.(Saul Bellow, More Die of Heartbreak. William Morrow, 1987) The more you pay attention to the richness of the world, the more you allow your interest to be absorbed by things outside of you, the more interesting a person you will become. And the more you pay attention to the world outside you, the more it gives back: by a kind of miracle, it will become a more interesting place.(Barbara Baig, How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play. Writers Digest Books, 2010) 'The More the Merrier' This construction - schematically [the X-er the Y-er] - is commonly referred to as the correlative construction (Culicover 1999: 83-5); Culicover and Jackendoff 1999; Fillmore, Kay, and OConnor 1988). It conveys that any increase (or decrease) in the value of X is associated with, and may even be construed as the cause of, an increase (or decrease) in the value of Y. A notable feature of the construction is the fact that the word the which features in it is not a determiner and is therefore not to be identified with the definite article the. Some instantiations of the construction: (16a) The more I know the more I worry.(16b) The less they have to say the more they talk.(16c) The bigger they are the harder they fall.(16d) The earlier you start the more you chance you have of being successful.(16e) The bigger the risk the bigger the payout.(16f) The less said the better. It is also worth noting that although the correlative construction is highly unusual, given the general principles of English syntax, it is not totally isolated from the rest of the language. There are, in fact, quite a few bipartite expressions in which the first element is presented as the cause, precondition, or explanation for the second. Like the correlative construction, these expressions lack a finite verb. Here are some examples: (17a) Garbage in, garbage out.(17b) Out of the frying pan (and) into the fire.(17c) Easy come, easy go.(17d) Cold hands, warm heart.(17e) Once bitten, twice shy.(17f) Out of sight, out of mind.(17g) Once a whinger, always a whinger.*(17h) One for me (and) one for you.(17i) First come, first served.(17j) Nothing ventured, nothing gained. * This expression instantiates the construction [ONCE A N, ALWAYS A N]. Examples from the BNC [British National Corpus] include once a Catholic, always a Catholic; once a Russian, always a Russian; once a misfit, always a misfit; once a dealer, always a dealer. The construction conveys that a person is not able to change their personality or their entrenched behaviour.(John R. Taylor, The Mental Corpus: How Language is Represented in the Mind. Oxford University Press, 2012) The . . . the (129) The more John eats the less he wants.This construction . . . is composed of two phrases, each of which expresses a comparative. Both may be of the form the more XP... , in which case the first is interpreted as a subordinate clause and the second as a main clause. Or, the first clause can simply contain a comparative, e.g. John wants less, in which case the first clause is interpreted as the main clause and the second is interpreted as a subordinate clause.Of particular relevance to the present discussion is the fact that the internal structure of the more . . . is sui generis, in the sense that the learner must simply acquire the knowledge that an expression of this form can be used in the way that we have described. As shown by Culicover and Jackendoff (1998), the more functions as an operator that binds a variable, and the chain that is formed is subject to the usual locality constraints. The form the more . . . must be initial in the clause, and cannot pied pipe a preposit ion...(Peter W. Culicover, Syntactic Nuts: Hard Cases, Syntactic Theory, and Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press, 1999) The Little Word 'the' (6) The more a student studies, the better grades she will receive.In English, both the first phrase and the second phrase obligatorily begin with the little word the. The unacceptability of (7a) is due to the absence of the in the first clause, in (7b) in the second clause, in (7c), the absence of the in both clauses unsurprisingly also results in unacceptability. (7a) * More a student studies, the better grades she will receive.(7b) * The more a student studies, better grades she will receive.(7c) * More a student studies, better grades she will receive. (Ronald P. Leow, Little Words: Their History, Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Acquisition. Georgetown University Press, 2009)

Denouement 101 Definition and Must-Know Tips (With Examples!)

Denouement 101 Definition and Musts!) What is a Denouement? The denouement in the plot of a fictional work refers to the final moments of the story - the closing scenes and sigh of relief after the climax. It's the last stage in the narrative arc of Freytag's Pyramid, following the exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action.Of course, all books end - but a denouement purposefully provides some degree of resolution and fulfills the author's promises to the reader. If you're using the three-act structure to write a climax and then immediately jump 50 years into the future to detail an entirely new plot, only to end on a sudden cliffhanger - well, a denouement that is not. (More on cliffhangers later). What is a denouement? And how do you write one? Find the answers here! With this in mind, we can see the denouement in action when the Capulets and Montagues find Romeo and Juliet’s dead bodies, realize how their actions contributed to the tragedy at hand, and decide to try and make peace. Or Nick Carraway trying and failing to plan Gatsby’s funeral, and then reflecting on his summer in West Egg with one of literature’s most quoted closing lines: â€Å"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.†Alright, now that we all know how to define denouement, let’s start writing one.How to write a denouementBecause all stories have to end at some point, a denouement is universal to every story structure. Individual readers will, naturally, have their own definition of a "satisfying ending" but it usually combines the feeling that you reached a natural conclusion and the wistful hope that you could also know what comes next.Here are a few things to keep in mind while writing your denouement so that it achieves both those feelings. The Hero's Journey: an Author's Guide to Plotting Read post PRO-TIP:  If you're curious about how the denouement figures into narrative structures outside of the three-act structure, we recommend that you read about the Hero's Journey or Dan Harmon's Story Circle.Fire all your fictional â€Å"guns†Most of us have heard of Chekhov’s Gun - the rule that if you let readers know that something is significant, you eventually have to explain why. An unfired gun is therefore an unfulfilled promise. class=tm-tweet-clear> class=tm-click-to-tweet> class=tm-ctt-text>4 tips for writing your novel's 'beginning of the end' - the denouement. class=tm-ctt-tip>This doesn’t mean that you now have to go back through your novel, make a note of every promise you made readers, and then dump the explanations into the denouement. The closing of a story is a place to follow through on the important promises you made to readers - the ones that will add to their understanding of the story. If you have lots of other tiny guns that you haven’t yet fired by the denouement, it probably means you should remove them.That said, you don't necessarily want to over-explain everything. Which brings us to our next point†¦Tie off loose ends - for the most partSome genres come with the expectation of a particular kind of story-ending. Romance novels, for example, typically conclude with a â€Å"Happily Ever After,† where all remaining questions are addressed and we have a complete picture of the characters and their lives moving forward. What is the Narrative Arc? A Guide to Storytelling Through Story Structure Read post Mystery novels also tend to tie up most loose ends - or all the ones that pertain to the mystery at hand, at least. The narrative arc usually reaches its climactic peak when the clues scattered throughout the story suddenly click together in the detective’s mind and they identify the guilty party. After, during the denouement, the rest of the major characters are often gathered round so that the detective can explain to them (and readers) how they cracked the case, and tie up loose ends. A denouement should tie off loose ends but still leave some things in the air. Find out how. While some stories that end by wrapping all their threads into a bow can be satisfying, it can also sometimes feel a little contrived and jolt readers out of the narrative. If you’re not writing a book that specifically needs to resolve all of its uncertainties, you might be better off writing a denouement that achieves the above point of fulfilling promises, but that also leaves a few lingering questions in the characters’ minds - that feeling that there’s still more that could be said. How to End a Story: Tips from Top Editors Read post To see how some famous authors ended their stories, go here.Leave something up in the airIn the novel The Fault in Our Stars, protagonist Hazel Grace talks about her favorite book, a fictional work called An Imperial Affliction. It is revealed that the book ends in the middle of a sentence, and the fates of the characters are left completely up in the air.The abrupt ending gives Hazel pause, and she concludes that the unorthodox conclusion is meant to reflect the uncertainty of death. Hazel reading An Imperial Affliction - and probably frustrated by it's open end (image: 20th Century Fox)Now, this is an extreme way to go about leaving lingering questions in your readers’ minds - one that is sure to frustrate many of them.However, if you want readers to reflect on your story after the final words, you should end your novel in such a way that implies the characters’ lives will continue. You can do this by nudging at potential future events or by demonstrating that while major arcs have been resolved, there are minor conflicts that have yet to be worked out. These are the kinds of endings that leave readers with a sense of longing to know what’s yet to come.Underscore the themeMany fables, such as Aesop’s The Tortoise and The Hair, end by stating the moral: â€Å"The race is not always to the swift.† What is the Theme of Your Story? A Guide for Authors Read post Unless you’re writing an anthology of parables, you probably don’t want to spoon-feed your readers this way. However, the denouement can be a great place to give a final, subtle, nod to your novel’s theme or motifs. Just make sure you’re not being repetitive or heavy-handed. Instead, offer insight that gives readers a final thought to chew on. Not all books need to overtly state their theme at the end.These are the main functions of a denouement, and if you can incorporate these elements into your story’s end, readers are sure to close your book with a satisfied sigh. Next up are a few bonus tips to keep in mind and pitfalls to avoid.Additional tipsDO†¦ show the effects of the character’s inner journeyMost novels feature some kind of â€Å"character vs self† conflict - whether it’s the main conflict of the story, as with Mrs. Dalloway, or a sub-conflict that mirrors a character’s external conflict. It’s their internal conflict that drives the character arc - the inner journey that unfolds over the course of the plot. Don't bail your characters out in the denouement. More tips for ending your story inside! How to Create a Character Profile: the Ultimate Guide (with Template) Read post Just as the narrative arc comes to a head at the climax, so will the character arc. Readers will, therefore, want to know what effect the climax has had on the character and their journey. Character development should continue into the denouement, and we should get a sense of how the events of the story have impacted them.DON’T... bail your plot/characters outA Series of Unfortunate Events is known for exaggerating and parodying tropes and storytelling gaffs. The first installment of the series concludes with the antagonist - Count Olaf - escaping arrest when one of his associates simply turns a light off so that Olaf can escape.While author Lemony Snicket presents readers with this ending in a self-aware, tongue-in-cheek manner, such an ending would is an example of a writer cop out: a denouement that undermines all of the preceding plot and character development.Writer cop outs usually involve a conflict resolution that’s contrived, unbelievable, and not in tune wit h the rest of the story.DO†¦ show, don’t tellIt’s one thing to have a detective list all the clues and rule out all the suspects at the end of a novel. But most novels shouldn’t end with a big speech that explains all of the different aspects of the story. A far more compelling ending is one that shows the appropriate resolution, as opposed to stating it. Check out our new guide for more tips to nail the â€Å"Show, Don’t Tell† rule. class=tm-tweet-clear> class=tm-click-to-tweet> class=tm-ctt-text>We all know the wistful feeling of ending a novel. Find out how to write your own. class=tm-ctt-tip>DON’T†¦ forget to release the tensionAuthors write the story and readers are just along for the ride, right? Wrong. If a story is written well, readers become invested participants in the journey your story unfolds. This is one of the denouement’s most important functions: giving your readers a chance to breathe after the climax, and to see the view from the top of the mountain they’ve just spent pages hiking.DO†¦ think carefully about using cliffhangersThere’s nothing more frustrating than reading through hundreds of pages of a story, only to find it's totally open-ended. And yet, there’s nothing more exciting than starting a second or third novel in a series, keenly anticipating answers that the previous book didn’t supply. Gone Girl ended on a cliffhanger that left many readers fuming.That’s why, if you’re not writing a series, you should approach cliffhangers with caution. Many feel that to end a novel on sudden plot-twist or without any sense of resolution whatsoever is to betray your readers’ trust. So if your stand-alone novel just has to end on a cliffhanger, make sure you lay adequate groundwork and foreshadowing through the story so that readers are caught off-guard - but not left feeling like the rug has been swept out from under them. In other words, your cliffhanger should leave readers speculating, not consternating.Denouement examplesRead on for examples of denouements from famous novels that hit all the marks of a well-written denouement - but be warned: spoilers ahead.Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieThough the ending of this classic mystery novel answers all the logistical questions of how Cassetti was murdered, the denouement of Murder on the Orient Express doesn’t end on a note of total resolution. It closes with a moral debate: who should be condemned for this crime? In the end, while Poirot feels the murder was justified, there is still a question that hangs in the air: is the law absolute? And if not, where does it fade? Poirot does not seem to reach a conclusion that wholly satisfies this ethical quandary in the denouement. Hence, even though the mystery   reaches a satisfying close, the novel ends on an ellipsis that allows us to reflect on its themes.PRO-TIP: Mysteries in general are great examples of denouements. To see what we mean, you can't go wrong reading more classic works of Agatha Christie. Or if you lean more toward the cozy side,  check out these nine great cozy mystery books!To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeSometimes a denouement echoes the climax as a way of hitting one final nail on the head of theme - without having to overtly state it. Bob Ewell attacking Scout and Jem in To Kill a Mockingbi rd is an example of this: it’s an outcome of the climax that occurs in the denouement and is what really drives Scout’s character development home. The denouement of To Kill a Mockingbird completes Scout's character development in the novel (image: Universal Pictures)In the aftermath of the attack, Scout realizes that Boo Radley saved her and her brother’s life. For the first time, she sees him as a human being rather than the subject of a ghoulish local legend. She also backs up Heck Tate’s decision to report Bob Ewell’s death as an accident in order to spare the already-taunted Boo from the publicity of a trial. Both of these actions and realizations signify Scout’s final steps towards acquiring a more â€Å"adult† and complete moral perspective - one Atticus has been encouraging for the duration of the book. This moral perspective includes the recognition that the human experience is comprised of experiences with both â€Å"good† and â€Å"evil,† and that people have the choice to live consciously without becoming cynical losing hope in human kindness. How to write a denouement that leaves readers wondering: "what could happen next?"   class=tm-ctt-tip>As you can see, the denouement doesn’t need to include fireworks - or even answers to every question a novel poses. Stories where everything works out and everyone rides off into the sunset can feel rather contrived or like a harsh yank from the stories world into reality. Use your denouement to fulfill your promises to your readers but to also leave a small kernel of wondering: what could happen next?Do you have examples of favorite (or most frustrating!) denouements? Perhaps you're currently working on the end of your own novel and have tips for, or questions about, getting it right. Leave any thoughts in the comments below!

Incidents in the life of a slave girl (1861) by Harriet jacobs Essay

Incidents in the life of a slave girl (1861) by Harriet jacobs - Essay Example The major source of encouragement to such individuals was the dream of establishing families of their own in freedom. A major hindrance was imposed upon the slaves if they already had children or families while under the rule of their slave masters or holders. In Linda’s case, her grandmother was a source of empowerment in her life, acting as both her father and mother. Her free grandmother, who was always there for her and her brother Benjamin reinforced Linda’s economic needs and emotional support (Jacobs 4). In the story, Linda talks of her grandmother endless stream of support and refuge that indebts her to her grandmother. Linda’s grandmother is also her personal confidant to whom she tells all her secrets and dreams. As such, Linda respects her grandmother so much that she does not tell her of the struggle against advances from Dr. Flint, and this marks the first conflict between the two. Since her childhood, Linda’s grandmother was always encouragin g her to assert her sexuality in order to avoid further slavery. This is an effort to pull her out of enslavement. Nevertheless, Linda faces many challenges while maintaining her sexuality, including the advances from Dr. Flint (Jacobs 21). Ultimately, she goes against her grandmother’s wishes and gives herself to Mr. Sands. This move, which she considers as triumph over her master, will have a negative impact on her relationship with her grandmother. Her grandmother is not happy after Linda confesses to her not only because of the importance of gaining freedom by maintaining her purity, but also because of societal values. Both the whites and the slaves held the institution of marriage in high regard. Another reason was the fact that children of slaves were to follow their mother step of servitude. Despite her grandmother’s empowerment, she also acts as a hindrance in her quest to obtain freedom. The relationship between Linda and her grandmother suffer a major blow a s her grandmother does not approve of her path to freedom. Linda’s intimate relationship with Mr. Sands is completely unacceptable before her grandmother’s opinion. Linda eventually has two children with Mr. Sands, who tend to delay her escape mission to freedom. Linda eventually considers another strategy: hiding until Dr. Flint becomes discouraged and sells her and her children to another slave master. In her plan to escape with Mr. Sands, her grandmother discourages her by a mother’s guilt, telling her not to trust the man but rather stick to her kids. She goes ahead to tell her that a woman who leaves her children loses her respect. This persuasion by her grandmother is a dilemma in her escape plan, which might secure the safety of her children and herself. Linda’s grandmother continues to instill the fears of her being a bad mother by relating to her children, Ben and Ellen, like a mother. Her loyalty to her grandmother and the natural fear of forsak ing her kids continues to hinder her escape plans, but not until the safety of Ben and Ellen threatened. Linda views their proposed move to plantations as slaves revive her escape plans. She acknowledges that the slaves in plantation are subject to harsh conditions than those in serving in the urban. The thought of her children suffering cruel treatment and conditions in the plantations forces her to flee disregarding her grandmother feelings and opinions. Linda places her children’s safety before the wishes of her grandmother, opting to remaining hidden in her grandmother’

Management - Cultural Communications Assignment

Management - Cultural Communications - Assignment Example U.S. Business Communication Protocols In the United States, when someone is involved in business, there are certain protocols that are expected to be followed. The United States is an individualist society which basically means that individual is more important than the group. Because of this, many businesses are organized so that the individual must do their own work, unless there is a team. Of course, if there is a team, each individual on the team is expected to do their own work. In the United States, time is considered very important and people are expected to be punctual when approaching their jobs and/or meetings. Americans also expect that people who are â€Å"on time† are more reputable than those who are late. They also decide that people who use time well are more reliable and people who can be counted on, then those who do not use time well (â€Å"USA-Language†, n.d.). In most cases, business meets begin with a strong handshake, a smile and saying â€Å"hel lo† and people begin a meeting promptly on time whenever possible. Also, business people are expected to maintain eye contact and first names are used. Business dress can vary depending on where the individual is located, the season, and the industry the individual works within. Also, business cards are exchanged and business cards are carried in a wallet or a purse. Challenges that Protocols Create Across Culture There are many challenges that come into play when Americans interact with other cultures. LeBaron (2003) suggests that mis-communication is very easy to do when people do not understand each other’s differences in four areas: â€Å"Time and space, face and personal responsibly, face and face-saving and nonverbal communication† (p. 2). Time and Space As stated before, time is very important to most Americans and time is synonymous with progress. Americans see a monochromic time approach which makes time linear and focuses on one event or interaction bet ween people or events once at time. In Eastern cultures, as an example, time is fluid and there is no beginning or starting point. They believe in a â€Å"polychonous† system (LeBaron, 2003, p. 3) that one may find that people talk together, all at once, with several conversations going on at the same time. In business, when people are negotiating terms of a contract or conflict arises, people in monochromic time systems can become very impatient if they do not understand polychonous systems (LeBaron, 2003). Fate and Personal Responsibility Many Americans believe that they have the choice of forging their own destinies and they are confident that they can conquer anything. If an individual has something, they perceive as failure, they are often told that they just have to try again. In this environment, â€Å"action, efficacy, and achievement† are more important than anything else (LeBaron, 2003, p. 4). In many other cultures (Native American, Chinese) there can be res pect for everything in the world. In other words, they believe that there is a â€Å"natural order of things† (LeBaron, 2003, p. 4) that needs to be followed. When these two cultures class, the first may see the second as lazy or think they are dishonest. The second person, who believes in a natural order of things, may see the first person as arrogant or pushy. Face and Face Saving Face, according to LeBaron (2003) is often considered as the way that an individual seems

Nazi Germany and Virginia Holocaust Museum Essay Example for Free

Nazi Germany and Virginia Holocaust Museum Essay In this paper, I articulate my experience at the Virginia Holocaust museum, paying particular attention to my emotional and cognitive reactions. As a student of social work, I benefit from knowledge of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, which I employ in reflecting upon the dichotomization and construction of the other that fueled the Nazi intolerance towards Jews and other ethnically diverse populations and led to their genocide. By examining the current genocide in the South Sudan, I highlight commonalities between the Holocaust and the modern plight of marginalized South Sudanese populations. Finally, I utilize the NASW ethical principles of Social Justice and Dignity and Worth of the Person to imagine how I would have reacted, as a social worker, to the Holocaust. Through this process of reflection, I gain insight into the mechanisms of intolerance and better position myself to be a positive change agent. Keywords: dichotomization, ethics, genocide, holocaust, Nazi, social work, Sudan Examining the Holocaust from a Social Worker’s Perspective Introduction The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon my experience at the Virginia Holocaust Museum on September 11, 2012. By providing a detailed and thoughtful examination of one of the most shameful chapters in human history, the Virginia Holocaust Museum elicits a strong emotional and cognitive reaction. As a student of social work and an active participant in the current political landscape, I am able to use current events and my understanding of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics as a lens in which to examine the atrocities of the Holocaust. By understanding the threads of intolerance that connect the Holocaust to the current genocide in the Sudan and applying the NASW ethical principles of social justice and the dignity and worth of the person, I am able to gain a richer understanding of the Holocaust and the millions of lives it affected. My Experience Growing up in the Virginia public school system, impersonal statistics and broad textbook generalities taught me about the Holocaust in history class. While I remember feeling unsettled and recognizing in some undefinable way that this event was truly terrible, the emotional weight of sadness and terror that the Holocaust commands did not truly sink in until my family brought me to visit the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. Walking slowly through the exhibits, I recall vividly the feeling that I was being turned inside out, my emotional nerve endings exposed to the pain and depravity of the collective nightmare of 11 million individuals. This was a profound experience for my young mind. The question â€Å"How could this happen? † tattooed itself on my consciousness and never received a truly satisfying answer. This question took on a renewed resonance as I took part in a School of Social Work fieldtrip to the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Returning for another in-depth look at the Holocaust, this time as an adult with infinitely more life experience, I again found myself emotionally raw. From the moment we arrived our docent, John Hagadorn, began immersing us in the facts and contextual details of the Holocaust. John overwhelmed us with the blunt statistics, sharing about the 6 million Jews and 5 million Czechs, Hungarians, Gypsies, LGBT and disabled persons who were systematically destroyed before the Allied forces of Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States were able to intervene. Hearing these numbers and the multitude of groups affected, I was struck by the Nazi’s tendency to aggregate, or lump together, different groups that did not meet the German’s ethnocentric, heteronormative, and physicalist perspectives (Rosenblum Travis, 2012). After aggregating these groups, the Nazi’s were able to dichotomize, or set themselves apart from these groups and declare them non-German and impure, their very existence in opposition to Nazi ideals (Rosenblum Travis, 2012). Despite knowing that racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism were forces at play in the everyday German culture of the time, I find it hard to imagine that even the most relentless socialization could lead a human being to actively participate in or take a passive (but complicit) part in the extermination of millions of people based upon arbitrary differences. I know that fairness requires that I acknowledge istorical and cultural relativism when examining the Holocaust. However, as a person benefiting from an upbringing rich in openness and respect for the innate worth of all living beings, it is difficult for me to understand how so many Germans could let such atrocities culminate in the destruction of 11 million lives, and even help to perpetuate those atrocities. After being emotionally primed by the facts about the massive populations affected by the Nazi’s racist, ethnocentric, sexist, heteronormative, and physicalist campaign of hatred, I was profoundly affected by the photographs of the personal lives destroyed. From the moment we began the tour in the â€Å"Liberation† section, photograph after photograph of decimated humans greeted me with a palpable sense of sadness. Seeing the glassy eyed, hollow cheeked portraits of Jewish men, women and children reduced to emaciated skeletons gave me an entirely new perspective on human suffering. I imagine the slow, methodical torture of feeling my body wither away, day after day, and the madness of feeling powerless to feed my family or myself. Our docent, John Hagadorn, reminded us that even the most oppressive cultures often recognize children as especially vulnerable and spare them some of the abuses that adults endure. This was not the case in Nazi Germany and the photographs of children wounded and disfigured by â€Å"medical experiments† involving chemical burns, skin grafts, and â€Å"exploratory surgeries† made my stomach curdle. The replication of the experimental chamber the Nazis employed to test high altitude oxygen deprivation on concentration camp prisoners was especially gruesome. Imagining the terror and agony of the victims who endured this torture gave me a deeper understanding of the depth of dehumanization the Nazis felt for Jews. The photograph that stood out the most for me included no terrorized faces or emaciated bodies, but was simply a huge crate filled with wedding rings. With tens of thousands of rings piled atop one another, I could imagine all the families destroyed by this evil. I imagined the love that united untold couples, the dreams of children, homes, and experiences shared that were shattered. I thought of the stories created through a lifetime of shared love and humanity, destroyed before ever being written. As I imagined my parent’s wedding bands in that crate, I felt an overwhelming emptiness. I realized that mine and my sisters lives and all the moments of joy and love we have shared as a family would have been snuffed out before ever having the chance to flourish, all based on some arbitrary distinction of race, ethnicity or religious affiliation. Today’s Issues Sadly, the systematic genocide of the Holocaust is not an isolated incident in human history. Since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps in Poland in 1945, intolerant despots have carried out numerous other genocidal campaigns in Rwanda, Bosnia and Iraq. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, today one of the largest genocidal and humanitarian crises of the 21st century continues to unfold in the Sudan, with over two million civilians murdered and four million displaced (United states holocaust, 2012). According to the Virginia Holocaust Museum, since taking power of the Sudanese government in 1989, Omar al-Bashir has recruited Arab tribal militias, or Janjaweed, to eliminate the ethnic Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribal groups (2012). These Nuba mountain ethnic groups and any civilians who represent a perceived threat to Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP) continue to be targets of aerial bombing, mass starvation and displacement, torture, rape, and enslavement (United states holocaust, 2012). Just as the Nazis used the ethnic variance of Jews, Czechs, Hungarians and other â€Å"Non Aryan† populations as the basis for violence and oppression, the NCP based their current violence in South Sudan upon perceived ethnic differences. While the Nazis dichotomized anyone who did not fit their definition of the German race, the NCP continues to dichotomize the Nuba, Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa populations because of their ethnic differences. By employing this process of dichotomization, both the Nazis and the NCP are able to marginalize entire populations and construct them as â€Å"others† who are distinctly different and â€Å"in opposition to the dominant group† (Rosenblum Travis, 2012). This extreme process of othering plants the seeds of intolerance and hatred that later manifest as systematic violence, as the current rape, displacement and murder of millions in South Sudan illustrates. NASW Code of Ethics Social Justice  The NASW Code of ethics defines the principle of Social Justice as â€Å"challeng[ing] social injustice† and â€Å"pursu[ing] social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people† (NASW Delegate Assembly, 2008). When considering the Holocaust there are abundant opportunities to apply the principle of social justice. As a social worker, I would have had an ethical responsibility to take action to relieve the suffering of the Holocaust victims. The Nazis systematically oppressed the Jewish, Czech, Hungarian, disabled, and LGBT populations in horrific ways. Had I been a social worker at the time, I would have made it my priority to encourage social change by educating anyone I could about the violence and oppression that decimated these vulnerable populations. By spreading knowledge and encouraging others to raise their awareness of the suffering in Nazi Germany, I could have organized rallies and campaigns designed to apply pressure to our government to intervene earlier. I could have encouraged sensitivity to these diverse cultures by constructing a dialogue about diversity and challenging apathetic civilians to challenge themselves to empathize with these oppressed groups and imagine themselves as victims. Dignity and Worth of the Person The NASW Code of Ethics describes the principle of Dignity and Worth of the Person as â€Å"respect[ing] the inherent dignity and worth of the person† and â€Å"treat[ing] each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity† (NASW Delegate Assembly, 2008). The very foundation of the Holocaust and the genocide of 11 million individuals was a lack of respect for cultural and ethnic diversity. The Nazi regime targeted anyone who did not meet its narrow perception of the â€Å"pure† German race. The Nazis considered any physical or mental divergence from the Nazi racial, ethnic, heteronormative, and physicalist norms a threat. Had I been a social worker at the time, it would have been my obligation to resist these oppressive views and aid marginalized people in any way that I could. By encouraging others to recognize the innate value of all human beings and the arbitrary nature of racial and ethnic distinctions, I could have assisted others in achieving a more empathetic awareness that could serve as motivation to take action to end Nazi oppression. Conclusion The Holocaust remains one of the darkest, most disturbing scars upon modern human history. Examining the mechanisms of intolerance that fueled the decimation of over 11 million lives allows me insight into the subversive nature of evil. These mechanisms of socialization, dichotomization, and the various ways in which human beings construct differences in others must be understood if such evil is to be prevented in the future. Unfortunately, as in the case of the Sudan and other marginalized regions of the world, these mechanisms are still fueling the widespread oppression of entire populations. By raising my awareness of historical and modern oppression and endeavoring to embody the NASW ethical principles like social justice and the dignity and worth of the person, I can better position myself to be an active change agent and a better human being.

Each Individuals Outlook on Life and How Its Formed :: essays research papers

Humdrum Conundrum: Does or does it not make sense to insist that how each person sees things depends entirely on that persons unique time, place, and subjective judgement? on their cultural background? I would like to point out that this paper is written assuming there is an absolute reality...and there is actually a table sitting there, and it is not just a figment of our imagination, as it were. Pardon the assumption, I have to have somewhere to work from. â€Å"Did You Just See That?† I believe it makes perfect sense to insist how someone sees something depends entirely on his or her point of view. A great modern philosopher, Bertrand Russell’s, idea of appearance and reality explains that perception of a table and its distribution of colors, shape, and sense, vary with each point of view. Commenting on the distribution of color, Russell states that, "It follows that if several people are looking at the table at the same moment, no two of them will see exactly the same distribution of colors, because no two can see it from exactly the same point of view, and any change in the point of view makes some change in the way the light is reflected." What one person sees the table as green, one might see as red at another viewpoint. And what might seem to have color is actually colorless in the dark. What one might perceive as being rectangle, may look oval in another view. What may sense the table to be hard by a touch of the fingertips may be soft by the touch of the cheek. Determining hardness of the table depends on pressure applied and judge of the sensation. No assumptions can be absolutely true because there is no determining factor in choosing the right angle to look at or sense the table. There are no determining factors in which angle or measurement is better to judge than the other in sense of color, shape, and feel of an object. So, depending on an individual’s point of reference, or point of view, will alter their sense of perception of any object, thing, or mass. It is the same idea with a photograph. Depending on the lighting, time of day, and position the picture was taken from, a table can be made to look like any number of things. If it is night, the table may look like a darker lump against a dark backdrop.

Behavioural Finance Essay

Hypothesis and the extent to which they can be explained by behavioural finance theories Finance that is based on rational and logical theories, such as the  capital asset pricing model  (CAPM) and the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). These theories assume that people, for the most part, behave rationally and predictably. The Efficient market hypothesis assumes that financial markets incorporate all public information and assets that share prices reflect all relevant to the firm information (Fama, 1970). Relevant information includes past information, publicly available information and private information. Efficient market is divided into three categories. Weak form efficiency is when stock prices reflect only the past information, semi-strong form is when past information and all publicly available information is reflected and strong form is when all the past, publicly available and information only available to company insiders is reflected on the stock prices. However, there are some anomalies and behaviors that couldn’t be explained by EMH. Market participants often behaved very unpredictably. However there is a new study called behavioral finance that is trying to explain all these anomalies. Behavioral finance studies the irrational behavior of the investors. Weber (1999) makes the following observation: ‘Behavioral Finance closely combines individual behavior and market phenomena and uses the knowledge taken from both the psychological field and financial theory’. Behavioral finance attempts to identify the behavioral biases commonly exhibited by investors and also provides strategies to overcome them. Some of the main problems with EMH may be cause by heuristic responses to new information, psychological anchors, overconfidence, social fads, framing and regret avoidance and herd behavior. Overconfidence: According to Nevins (2004), overconfidence suggests that investors overestimate their ability to predict market events, and because of their overconfidence they often take risks without receiving commensurate returns. Odean (1998) finds that investors tend to overestimate their ability, unrealistically optimistic about future events, too positive on self-evaluations, over-weight attention getting information that is consistent with their existing beliefs, and over-estimate the precision of their own private information. Overconfidence about private signals causes overreaction and hence phenomena like the book/market effect and long-run reversals whereas self-attribution maintains overconfidence and allows prices to continue to overreact, creating momentum. In the longer-run there is reversal as prices revert to fundamentals. Psychological Anchors, Overreaction: Good news should raise a business’ share price accordingly, and that gain in share price should not decline if no new information has been released since. Reality, however, tends to contradict this theory. Oftentimes, participants in the stock market predictably overreact to new information, creating a larger-than-appropriate effect on a security’s price. Furthermore, it also appears that this price surge is not a permanent trend – although the price change is usually sudden and sizable, the surge erodes over time. Heuristic responses to new information: Availability heuristic is used to evaluate the frequency or likelihood of an event on the basis of how quickly instances or associations come to mind. When examples or associations are easily brought to mind, this fact leads to an overestimation of the frequency or likelihood of this event. Example: People are overestimating the divorce rate if they can quickly find examples of divorced friends. People tend to be biased by information that is easier to recall. They are swayed by information that is vivid, well-publicized, or recent. People also tend to be biased by examples that they can easily retrieve. ( Tversky and Kahneman, 1974) Confirmation bias  is a cognitive bias whereby one tends to notice and look for information that confirms one’s existing beliefs, whilst ignoring anything that contradicts those beliefs. It is a type of selective thinking. The reason for overconfidence may also have to do with hindsight bias, a tendency to think that one would have known actual events were coming before they happened, had one been present then or had reason to pay attention. Hindsight bias encourages a view of the world as more predictable than it really is (Shiller, 2000). This is the characteristic of investors, when looking back, seeing events that took place in the past as having been more predictable than they seemed before they happened. Likewise, things that didn’t happen seem, with hindsight, much less likely to have happened than they did beforehand. Self-attribution bias occurs when people attribute successful outcomes to their own skill but blame unsuccessful outcomes on bad luck (Shefrin, 1999). Availability bias is the availability deviation is a general rule or a mental shortcut which lets people guess the probability of a result and to what percent it may appear in their daily life. Those who commit such a deviation consider the easily recalled events more probable than those they can hardly imagine or perceive. Availability bias declares the person’s tendency toward deciding and judging based on available and easily accessible data (Tversky and Kahneman, 1982). Herd behavior which is the tendency for individuals to mimic the actions (rational or irrational) of a larger group. Blackmore (1991) states ‘Within an hour of birth , humans engage in imitation’. There are a couple of reasons why herd behavior happens. It’s unlikely that a large group could be wrong. After all, even if you are convinced that a particular idea or course or action is irrational or incorrect, you might still follow the herd, believing they know something that you don’t. Recency bias is the tendency for people to place greater importance on more recent data or experience. This is the problem of putting too much weight on current events or data and not enough weight on past, historic trends. Many investors expect the market to continue rising in a current bull market; likewise, these same investors often expect a current bear market to get worse. Recency is shown in momentum investing when investors buy â€Å"hot† stocks simply on the basis of their recent strong performance. Kahneman and Tversky (1973) find that people usually forecast future uncertain events by focusing on recent history and pay less attention to the possibility that such short history could be generated by chance. It is believed the net effect of the gains and losses involved with each choice are combined to present an overall evaluation of whether a choice is desirable. However, research has found that we don’t actually process information in such a rational way. In 1979, Kahneman and Tversky presented an idea called  prospect theory, which contends that people value gains and losses differently, and, as such, will base decisions on perceived gains rather than perceived losses. Thus, if a person were given two equal choices, one expressed in terms of possible gains and the other in possible losses, people would choose the former – even when they achieve the same economic end result. Regret avoidance is the tendency to avoid actions that could create discomfort over prior decisions, even though those actions may be in the individual’s best interest. Researchers have argued that one of the reasons that investors are reluctant to sell losing positions is because to do so is to admit a bad decision. This reluctance can be linked to both regret avoidance and belief perseverance. To avoid the stress associated with admitting a mistake, the investor holds onto the losing position and hopes for a recovery. According to prospect theory, losses have more emotional impact than an equivalent amount of gains. Prospect theory also explains the occurrence of the disposition effect, which is the tendency for investors to hold on to losing stocks for too long and sell winning stocks too soon. The most logical course of action would be to hold on to winning stocks in order to further gains and to sell losing stocks in order to prevent escalating losses. The flip side of the coin is investors that hold on to losing stocks for too long. Investors are willing to assume a higher level of risk in order to avoid the negative utility of a prospective loss. Unfortunately, many of the losing stocks never recover, and the losses incurred continued to mount, with often disastrous results. The January-Effect is where the average monthly return for small firms is consistently higher in January than any other month of the year; in the UK this is observed in April. This contradicts with EMH, as EMH predicts that stocks should move at a random walk. January returns are greatest due to yearend tax loss selling of shares disproportionally (Branch 1977). Another anomaly of this type is the Weekend-Effect, where Fama (1980) found that returns on Mondays tend to be negative if compared to any other week day, but this has disappeared in the UK by the 1990s. Some theories that explain the effect attribute the tendency for companies to release bad news on Friday after the markets close to depressed stock prices on Monday. Others state that the  weekend effect might be linked to short selling, which would affect stocks with high short interest positions. Alternatively, the effect could simply be a result of traders’ fading optimism between Friday and Monday. Index effect is a phenomenon where the addition to, or deletion from, a stock index causes a change in the price, trading volume, volatility or operating performance of the stock concerned. A stock entering an index will automatically receive increased demand from institutional investors – principally index tracker funds and exchange trade funds (ETFs) – while a deleted stock will experience reduced demand. The fact that a stock jumps in value upon inclusion is once again clear evidence of mispricing: the price of the share changes even though its fundamental value does not. Another anomaly is P/E effect from CAPM model; portfolios with low P/E ratios outperform those with high. The low price-earnings ratio effect occurs because stocks with low price-earnings ratios are often  undervalued and their prices eventually rise because investors become pessimistic about their returns after a bad series of earning or bad news. A company with high price to earning tends to overvalued (De Bondt and Thaler, 1985). Winner-Loser anomaly De Bondt and Thaler (1985) found that shares which initially earn extreme positive return (winners) or extreme negative returns (losers) experience extended reversals in their performance over long horizons. De Bondt and Thaler (1985) suggested the overreaction hypothesis as an explanation of their result. This hypothesis claims that the market overreacts to information. That is, the market overweights the most recent information and underweights earlier information. However, this phenomenon is reversed when it is recognized that the market’s expectations were indeed an overreaction to the information released. This hypothesis also offers an explanation of the P/E effect. Fama and French (1992) showed that a powerful predictor of returns across securities is the ratio of the book value of the firm’s equity to the market value of equity. After controlling for the size and book-to-market effects, beta seemed to have no power to explain average security returns. One explanation is that investors overreact to growth aspects for growth stocks, and value stocks are therefore undervalued. According to some academics, the ratio of market value to book value itself is a risk measure, and therefore the larger returns generated by low MV/BV stocks are simply a compensation for risk. Low MV/BV stocks are often those in some financial distress. All of these anomalies may be explained by behavioral finance. Behavioural finance is the study of the influence of psychology on the behavior of financial practitioners and the subsequent effect on markets. Behavioural finance is of interest because it helps explain why and how markets might be inefficient. There are series of  behavioural biases  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ strange twists in human nature that cause us to act irrationally and against our own interests. On the other hand all of these anomalies may instead be an artifact of data mining. After all, if one reruns the computer database of past returns over and over and examines stock returns along enough dimensions, simple chance will cause some criteria to appear to predict returns. May be this is why some anomalies appear to be lost at some point of time e. g. the weekend effect during the 90s.

Compulsive gambling Essay

More than 5 million Americans are pathological, compulsive and problem gamblers, and another 15 million are at risk of becoming just like them. A common definition of problem gambling is: a progressive disorder characterized by a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling and irrational thinking and behavior despite the consequences. When gambling interferes with any one’s life, it can be categorize as an addiction or disease, just like alcohol and drug addiction is categorize as a disease. A study conducted for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that 20 million American have or could develop gambling problems. Also they have estimated those 1. 8 million American adults as well as up to 1. 1 million American adolescents age 12 through 17 engage in severe â€Å"pathological† gambling each year. As legalize gambling has become more common in the United States; problems have sprung up as well. That negative influence is becoming more apparent as gambling is more widely available. It is becoming increasingly easy to gamble in the United States particularly in the last 10 years, and problems with gambling are much more common now than they ever were. Studies show that for every dollar gambling produces for a regional economy, three dollars are lost because of the economic and social cost of gambling. The study has also said that if the government legalizes more gambling, taxpayers will lose money, whether they gamble or not. The gambling industry believes it is just selling an innocent form of family entertainment, but they don’t mention how much the players lose or how gambling encourages addictive behavior or the enormous costs it creates for the rest of society. It has been said that, gamblers with higher counts of gambling symptoms will have higher rates of problem. There many consequences associated with compulsive, pathological and problem gamblers. Examples of such consequences include job and financial problems, divorce, poor health, and criminal involvement. These addictions are the lifeblood of the gambling industry, said an economist from the University of Illinois by name Earl Grinols. He researches and found out, that casinos earn more than half their revenues from compulsive, pathological, and problem gamblers. â€Å"The casino industry is heavily dependent on the revenues of psychologically sick people†, says Grinols. Millions of families are paying a heavy price, not just financially, but also strains in family and marital relationship. Family members of compulsive and pathological gamblers are hurt by their disease, mainly because an emotional withdrawal occurs, which leads to separation.

Urban Pattern Essay Example

Urban Pattern Essay Example Urban Pattern Essay Urban Pattern Essay Settlements of any size and type can always be formally synthesized by their patterns, so it means pattern identify the settlements. Town houses in gridiron blocks, high-rise office structures, academic campuses, suburban estates, and highway retail sprawl are good examples. Urban form, then, is a result of the bringing together of many elements in a composite totality:the urban pattern. Patterns are the outstanding formal features of urban areas. A pattern can be defined as an elaboration of form that results from a composition of parts. Thus, patterns assume complex characteristics based on their formal elaboration; they also assume some degree of universality, since the total pattern can be represented by a sector. For example, an identifiable area in a city, or village can be best understood through a typical sector showing circulation, buildings, and open spaces; this typical sector ‘represents’ the formal characteristics found throughout the area and thus acquires some ‘universality. ’ Patterns have the potential of carrying powerful formal syntheses or visual codes over a geographic space. Formally, cities have a greater similarity to rugs and carpets than to other design products, with intricate motifs covering thier surfaces and various combinations of patterns complementing one another. Patterns are the physical expression of an underlying, continous formal system. Their visual essence lies in the complexity of a number of interrelated motifs, rather than in the total composition, since patterns are fragments or parts of a continuum and not totalities. Patterns can be conceptualized as models of field designs that can be extended over geographic space. They are reflecting the impact of a society on the earth, through the imposition of their cultural artifacts of shelter and movement. Clearly, urban patterns do change from one sector of a city to another, according to location in the city and time of development. The commercial high-rise pattern of down-town merges with the dense residential pattern of town houses-two patterns resulting from different land uses and accessibility at different locations. The tight pattern that originated in preautomobile times contrasts with the open pattern typical of the automobile era-two patterns resulting from two periods of development. In this way, an urban area is truly a tapestry of patterns, each corresponding to specific morphological factors-location, technology, culture, and so on. Furthermore, patterns tend not to reflect the will of a single designer, but rather composite wills-like the inherited wills involved in the traditional design of carpets or the pluralistic wills that have shaped so many human habitats. Indeed, patterns are true community forms. URBAN DUALITIES How is one to gain an initial formal understanding of urban patterns? Quite often, complex forms can first be grasped through the identification of their range of formal outcomes. Let us identify the ‘formal extremes’ that patterns can take, which we shall call dualities because they tend to appear as nominal opposites. Urban patterns, complex community forms that they are, can be conceptually understood through a series of dualities. The world is full of dualities. I have selected three dualities for examination here, not only for their descriptive duality, but because of their operational value for designers :unbuilt space versus built form, continuous events versus discrete events, and repetitive elements versus unique elements. Unbuilt space-built form duality This duality recognizes that urban patterns integrate built structures enclosing space for some use together with unbuilt areas used as open space or circulation. It provides the basic gestalt of urban areas, with figure-and-background images. Spatial concepts and definitions, environmental qualities, microclimate and health conditions, and other aspects of urban life can be thrown into relief by examining this relatively simple duality of unbuilt space versus built form. This dualit is related to the distinction between public and private realms in cities. Although most unbuilt space-open space and circulation-can be considered public, some open space can be private, as in institutional or residential courtyards. Also, enclosed space can be public or enjoy some sort of semipublic status, as in the case of churches, museums, department stores, and even street-covered arcades. Between enclosed buildings and open spaces there are many intermadiate possibilities: buildings lacking one wall, suh as Greek stoas; buildings with a roof supported by free standing columns, such as the arcades of Bologna; a space open to the sky and surrounded by walls, such as a stadium; a plaza with a few vertical elements, suh as San Marco. Continuous-discrete events duality This duality recognizes that urban patterns are made up of two quantitatively different kinds of elements: Some are interconnected and extend virtually over the whole area; others are discrete. This gometric difference is extended to implicit qualitative differences in the two types of events. The first can be characterized as continuous forms-networks-and the second as sets of discrete forms aggregated within or adjacent to the networks-infillings. Communities are structured by continuous networks within which an infill of discrete events takes place. The combination of networks and infillings results in a total pattern. Urban networks are identified primarily with transportation and other city infrastructures, which by nature must be continuous throughout the pattern. Streets, roads, avenues, boulevards, canals, highways, aqueducts, rail lines, and high-tension lines are all continuous networks that structure urban areas in one way or another, and in so doing they have more than just a utilitarian function; they become outstanding visual elements of the urban pattern. Buildings have occasion-ally played the same role, ranging from defensive walls in the Middle Ages to the megastructures of the 1960s. But in most cases, buildings, from cathedrals to houses, garages to skyscrapers, as well as most open space, are all infillings within the network structure, defining the three-dimensional architectural quality of a place. The interface areas between networks and infillings costitute the most alive zones of the man-made environment. Human beings are not truly participants in community life until they are on foot; the interface between transportation and networks infillings is the place where people shift from being passive riders to being active pedestrians. For this reason, the design of these interfaces-subway stations, but stops, train terminals, garages, sidewalks, and docks-is critical for the vitality of social and economic life in urban areas, as well as for their aesthetic expression. The dictinction between continuous and discrete events is not absolute, however. Size and scale may affect this distinction since what appears to be discrete on a metropolitan scale may seem continuous on a neighborhood scale. For example, rows of party-wall town houses, which are discrete elements on urban scale, can be seen as continuous events on an neighborhood scale. Repetetive-unique events duality This duality recognizes that urban patterns are made up largely of a limited number of relatively undifferentiated types of elements that repeat and combine. It implies that the image of a city can be created by the visual repetition of undifferentiated elements as well as by unique elements. Notre Dame de Paris is a powerful image and symbol for that city, but the repetetive elements of the city`s urban pattern-apartment buildings, hotels, and offices-represent it as much as does its unique cathedral. Repetetive elemets are the true urban form givers, sheltering the community`s activities and expressing its way of life and culture. Unique elements are the expresion of either a very specialized activity or, more likely, the apex and more symbolic layers of the community hierarchy. Human habitats and workplaces are repetetive elements, but temples, palaces, town halls, parliaments, universities, opera houses, and museums are unique and higly visible in each community. In preindustrial traditional societies, repetetive buildings such as dwellings vary according to regions, whereas unique buildings are universal. Repetetive buildings, although roughly the same within an urban area, tend to change drastically among regions and cultures; unique buildings, although special in their urban area, tend to repeat themselves across regions and even cultures. The wide regional variety of human dwelling types found in the cities, towns, and villages of Europe stands in contrast to the minor stylistic variations of similar unique buildings-for example, Gothic churches-that exist across the continient. The attachment of repetetive elements to land and local culture, which become regional expressions, as well as the universal character of unique elements, are critical to the understanding of community forms. Probably no other duality has been so misunderstood. To consider an obvious example, skyscrapers built in downtown areas for the purpose of housing the managerial activities of corporations often indulge the egocentric corporate identity. A corporate workplace is a repetetive building type making up the majority of downtown urban patterns; it is not meant to be unique. Whenever the design of skyscrapers becomes a competition among corporations, the result is pointless escalation, confusion, and the breakdown of the urban pattern. Combination of dualities Dualities represent ranges of formal outcomes in urban patterns, taken one parameter at a time. In reality, patterns synthesize the various dualities in a single form. The following are possible combinations and examples: Unbuilt space, continuos, repetetiveUrban streets Unbuilt space, continuous, uniqueIstiklal streetts Unbuilt space, discrete, repetetiveNeighborhood plazas Unbuilt space, discrete, uniquePiazza Ortakoy Built form, continuous, repetetiveArcades Built form, continuous, uniqueDefense walls Built form, discrete, repetetiveOffice buildings Built form, discrete, uniqueBlue Mosque PATTERN ANALYSIS Urban design has a long tradition of borrowing from the past, one of that continues today as neotraditional designers look nostalgically back to the towns as an alternative to conventional development. Breaking down the analysis into layers facilitates comparison on each dimension. The five layers are: 1-Built form: Showing the footprints of all structures and the resulting grain and pattern of development. 2-Land use: Patterns showing the location and density of housing, as well as retail, office, industrial, and civic activity. 3-Public open space: Including parks, plazas, walkways, and water bodies. 4-Circulation system: Including vehicular roads, alleys, parking lots, and bicycle and pedestrian paths. 5-Pedestrian access: Showing areas with one quarter and one half mile access from a central point in the development, such as a local community or shopping center. In addition to studying the form and pattern of the developments, the analysis examines the character of public streets and public spaces; adequecy of the transportation system and the accesibility of the development to jobs, services, recreation, and schools; livability for children, teens, and elderly; and market success. URBAN TYPOLOGIES Urban patterns are formed by repetetive elements within which unique elements occur. These patterns have strong similarities and can be grouped conceptually into what we call typologies. The many similarities among certain urban structures, facilities, and spaces suggest a ‘family resemblance’ among them. This family resemblance can be found among network elements such as streets and infill elements such as buildings, among unbuilt spaces such as plazas and built forms such as urban blocks, and even among unique buildings and spaces. Some typologies are universal, others are bounded by culture. In other words, all elements in urban patterns can be, to various degrees, typical. Some definitions are in order. ‘Type’ is defined as the general form, structure, or character distinguishing a particular kind, group, or class of objects. ‘Prototype’ and ‘archetype’ are practically interchangeable concepts, indicating the first or primary type of any thing. ‘Stereotype’ is defined as something continued or constantly repeated without change. The definition of ‘type’ is based on the recognition of the essence of an object as well as on the possibility of reproducing that essence in another object. The essence of a typology is made up of a combination of key characteristics of the elements in the typology, as well as by the range of variations that the elements can experience without losing their affiliation with the typology. I am talking deliberatily about essence and not standards, a type witout the of catalogue models. Thus, any and all specific designs of a type must be variations,options, and interpretations of that type, with perhaps a few of them being closer than the others to the ideal. Urban types sre basically types of spatial organizations in settlements. However, additional cultural factors introduce the aspect of style. Gridiron blocks with row houses, central plazas, and roadside developments are ubiquitous patterns, for instance, are typical of baroque urbanism. How do typologies come into being? The concept is simple: Built elements that face the same (or very similar) sets of requirements and constraints will, in end up generating one typology as the best solution to these conditions. It is possible to imagine more than one good solution, but since human behavior tends to follow early successes, the result is often that a single typology emerges as the dominant one. In the development of a typology, several periods can be distinguished. At a given point, socioeconomic, cultural, and technological conditions may all come together to foster a new typology. For example, the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent development of industrial corporations led to the creation of large pools of adminisrative personel working together in central cities served by streetcards and, later, subway systems. The introduction of iron and, eventually, steel structures, as well as the invention of the elevator, made it possible to build tight clusters of high-rise office buildings in central buildings. Later, the development of air- conditioning systems eliminated the constrains on the size of those buildings imposed by the need for natural ventilation. Common determinants that affect a typology include the physical urban structure, municipal services, zoning and codes, technology, financial and tax structures, alternative investments, cultural beliefs, microclimate, and many others. Specific project requirements that affect a typology include the program-which is itself biased by cultural beliefs-the organization of the development entity, land and construction costs, demand markets, soil conditions, competition, and others. Technology, economic systems, social instutions-in a word, culture-are the social factors that, together with natural factors (such as microclimate, soil, and bodies of water), shape the patterns of human settlements. Technology, especially since the nineteenth century, has had an increasingly important effect in the shaping of urban typologies, including the critical areas of urban transportation- public transit, commuter rail, buses, and trolleys, as well as private automobiles along with highways and parking garages-building structures, mechanical systems, vertical circulation, instant communications, and,most recently, information processing. But quite often, built types herald later technological advance; some of the first skyscrapers in Chicago were built with load-bearing masonry walls. Culture is the prime mover in the development of urban typologies. Technology, as one of the cultural components of society. The central city skyscraper, for example, is a product of both technology and a cultural trend that encourages certain patterns of social behavior and, ultimately, certain events. Tall office buildings exist, in part, because there is a pervasive trend toward concentrating greater economic power in fewer corporations, which cluster together with other financial institutions and use their headquarters to project a corporate image. Cultural factors have always affected urban typologies. In the Middle ages, the high cost of transportation, the uncertainty of life beyond defensive walls, growing trade opportunities within a feudalistic system, and the universal institution of the churc led to the generic mediaval urban typology. It was a tightly clustered pattern, with market place and trade streets, often two centers of power (political and religious), and social institutions such as a hospital, asylum, orphanage and school near the church. Culture, building program, and technology shape typologies. Often, old types built for some specific users can be successfully adapted to other users, indicating that programs and types are not locked in a one-to-one relationship; instead, programs determine types through cultural interpretations. The basilica of Hagia Sophia, built by Constantine to be the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, was taken by the Turks and immediately converted to the Mosque of Istanbul, after which all other Turkish mosques have been patterned. The basilicas, in turn, were adapted from a Roman type of legal court building by early Christians, who used them as temples. Are these cases of cultural lag or adaptation, of program or type flexibility, or something different? One of the main roles of typologies may be to shape cultural symbols. Both the Byzantines and the Turks needed impressive halls to exhibit the religious glory of their empires: Hagia Sophia, the most unique element in the pattern. One of the trends most damaging to environmental richness is the cultural homogenization of urban typologies in many areas of the world. This phenomenon is well known to travelers, who find that hotels built in recent decades do not reflect regional differences, so that one cannot tell whether one is in Cairo, New York, Singapore, or Mexico, unless one leaves the hotel. Technology, of course, makes possible large climate-controlled shells anywhere, but it is the cultural dependency of many Third World countries that bears a major responsibility for this environmental impoverishment. Typically, human habitas have been rooted in the land and the local culture. Universality was restricted to the apex of the community hierarchy. It is only now that we see repetetive elements such as office buildings being elevated to the status of the universal, betraying their transnational character. As already mentioned, some typologies are local, while others are universal. The wide difference in the residential typologies of human habitats indicates that local conditions impose heavy constraints on people: Microclimate, defense, construction materials, and topography account for the majority of the differences among habitat typologies. Climate and culture can be overcome by technology. Thus homogenity, with its by- products of anonymity, gigantism, and lack of meaning, pervades urban areas in many countries. Cultural homogenity is a result of the increasing absorption of the world in the markets of the industrialized countries –primarily the United States- and the reshaping of regions and local cultures to fit the needs of the world economic metropolis. This reshaping includes the manipulation of what is considered the ‘good life’ and thus the generation of ‘perceived needs’ by local markets (and cultures). Arround the world, the good life is seen as benefiting from the replacement of local goods with foreign ones, like collage of Coca Cola and hamburgers, blue jeans and permanent press, Chevrolets and highways, glass skyscrapers and suburban developments-the glutton`s paradise. Local production is eliminated, local lifestyles are forgotten. And in the process regions become ‘culturally addicted’ to expensive, and often wasteful, foreign technologies and capital. By focusing on the right combination of localism and universality, designers will be able to produce far more responsive designers and also to (re)create new urban typologies suitable to time and place.