Stand Up And Fight Essay Example For Students

Stand Up And Fight Essay I have a right to be angry. I grew up in Mobile, AL. When I was young, this place was almost all White. Everywhere I went I saw only my own people. I could ride my bicycle anywhere without fear. There were no gangs, or drugs, or drive-by shootings, or anything. The kind of guys we were afraid of in school would be total wimps today. That country felt like home. It was a home. All that is gone now. As I drive through the town where I grew up, half the cars have foreigners in them. The other half have aging Whites. The houses have fences around their front yards, with spiked arrowheads on top. On the street corners there are mini-malls with strange writing on the signs, in Chinese or Arabic or God knows what. I recently saw something that made me ill. An old man was walking down the street. He had a long flowing gray beard, and a turban, and the whole bit. He must have been from India. I thought, what the hell is he doing here in my country ? Why doesnt he stay in his own country ? He has his own homeland to live in. I do not want him here. Once, I went into Pep Boys. Behind me, I heard two voices talking in some strange garbled language that I had never heard before. I turned around and it was two White kids. I think they must have been from Eastern Europe. I felt ill. Now even the Whites are strangers. That affected more than all the rest. I do not want to live in a place where everyone is a FREAK ! I want to live in a place where I have some grounding. I do not want to live in a place where everything is always in flux. I want to live in a home. I do not want to live here anymore. All of this is being done to us. What we want counts for nothing. We live in a phony republic. The people here have about as much power as a student body government. This reminds me of what happens to European countries when they lose a war. Provinces along the border are split off and given to other countries. Foreigners move in, and the people are oppressed and become second class citizens. California and the whole West Coast are being turned over to Mexico and Asia as settlement colonies. The Southwest is being turned over to Mexico. Florida has been turned over to Cuba. Our country is being carved up, just as if we had lost a war and been occupied. When Clinton was in office he was a shitty leader. He went around the country making speeches on how its a good thing that Whites are being exterminated from the country. The Republicans are little better. They are mostly wanna-be Democrats. I want to fight this thing, but I dont know how to do it. I think only a few people even care. If I had the power in my hands, I would set things right.

Marxist Theory Essays (5467 words) - Marxist Theory,

Marxist Theory Introduction to Marxist theory on history Historical Materialism: the marxist view of history The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed stood in constant opposition to each other, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large or in the mutual ruin of the contending classes. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: The Communist Manifesto Section A: How society works 1. Making sense of history: looking behind the 'story' The ruling class portrays history as the doings of "great men", the role of governors and explorers, lists of wars and invasions and other "important events". History in school books is like a story - a succession of events without any general pattern. Marxists say that in order to make sense of the story of history - what people, famous or not, actually did - we have to understand the overall economic and social context to show why they acted in the way they did. Take for example the American Civil War of 1861-65. What do most people know about this war? Northern Americans, the Union, fought against the Southern Confederates; Bluecoats fought Greycoats. Why? Most people would say, well, it was about slavery. The Union president, Abraham Lincoln, was against slavery, while the southerners were in favour of it. That's the myth; the northerners fighting slavery out of the goodness of their hearts. But Marxists would say there was a lot more to it than that. In fact the northern industrialists behind the Union were in bitter conflict with the big southern farmers who owned the slaves; most of these industrialists were racists and not very sympathetic to black slaves. The basic causes of the war were in this economic conflict between the to different sections of the US ruling class. Let's take the example of the English civil war of 1641-49. Most people know it was cavaliers against roundheads, parliament versus the crown, Oliver Cromwell versus Charles 1. But why? Who did parliament represent - whose interests? And who backed the king, and why? When we investigate this, we find that different class forces were involved. So, a Marxist analysis of the English civil war would try to explain the story of the war in terms of the class interests involved. This method of looking at things to discover the real class and social interests involved in events, of course is relevant to more contemporary events. Why did the US president George Bush start the Gulf war? To defend plucky little Kuwait against the monster Saddam? Marxists say no, this was just the propaganda; Bush started the war to defend the economic and political interests of the US, including the oil supplies from the area. Another example of how we try to look behind the surface events at the real story. So this is the first idea: Historical materialism is about discovering the class interests which determine how people act in history. Now read the following quote about the English civil war from someone who fought in it, and think how it relates to what we have discussed so far: "A very great part of the knights and gentlemen of England ... adhered to the King. And most of the tenants of these gentlemen, and also most of the poorest of the people, whom the others call the rabble, did follow the gentry and ere for the king. On the Parliament's side were (besides themselves) the smaller part of the gentry in most of the counties, and the greatest part of the tradesmen and freeholders and the middle sort of men, especially in those corporations and counties which depend on such manufactures". (Colonel Baxter: Autobiography) What Baxter is saying here is that the conflict was between the king and the aristocracy (supported by those most dependent on them) on the one hand: and the rising middle classes on the other. This of course is exactly the Marxist explanation of the Civil War. (See Christopher Hill: 'The English Revolution 1640'). 2. Different types of society The type of society we have now - capitalism - only started to come into existence about 350 years ago, first in Holland and England. But human society existed for hundreds of thousands of years before that. In societies before capitalism, the way people lived was different to what we know now. Before capitalism, in Western

Relationships in Beloved by Toni Morrison Essays

Relationships in Beloved by Toni Morrison Essays Relationships in Beloved by Toni Morrison Essay Relationships in Beloved by Toni Morrison Essay Essay Topic: Beloved The novel Beloved is based on a true story of an Afro-American Slave who murders her daughter in order to spare her a life in slavery. In this response paper I will discuss the morality and justifying of such an act, which the mother believed to be an act of â€Å"motherly love and protection. Further I will point out how Beloved, as the incarnation of the dead daughter, affects each member of this family. First of all, Beloved as a novel, definitely contains supernatural elements. Beloved as the person, is to be seen as a â€Å"personal ghost† of Sethe who never manages to find closure and peace after murdering her own child. Actually, it is more than remarkable, that she indeed tried to kill all her four children and luckily succeeded only with one. The fact, that this act never gave her peace, makes her human but also fragile and vulnerable. Beloved represents her past, both the capture in slavery and her desperate act of killing her children. While Beloved seems to be needy, parasitic and malevolent, it is probably God?s attempt to make Sethe and the others deal with their past. Sethe?s past is one of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Such a trauma does not disappear but continues to live on with you and haunt you until you don’t find the power to deal with it and close with it. As a result, Sethe tries to avoid everything what could remind her of her past. Furth er Sethe is captured in a dangerous devotion to her children, which resulted from the murder of her elder daughter and the isolation of her younger daughter. Thus Sethe lives in a permanent guilt towards her children and assumes sacrifying her life and satisfying every need of Beloved would release her of her guilt. Denver instead, her younger daughter, lives with a fear of the outside world and spends hours alone at home. Since she has a very close relationship to her mother, she feels threatened when her mother pays more attention to Paul D or Beloved. It is inter

CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTARY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTARY - Essay Example Numerous naturalists and every living creatures common sense entitlement activists acknowledge Disney for raising their sympathy toward the earth (Van Riper 181). Anyhow, this gratefulness has not been conveyed in a quality free bundle. From the beginning, Disneys tendency movies have upheld the idea that the characteristic worlds boss quality lies in the benefit that modern culture can remove from it. At first, this backing took the type of straightforward paeans to the honorability of logging, mining and urban improvement. Presently, in the midst of the expanding commodification of everything from tribal myth to basmati rice, the worth removed from nature is the privilege to characterize nature. Disney desires that privilege and will pick up it at our hazard. Very little other than insight into the past recognizes the organizations initial work from its ancestors and rivals. Where nature showed up, it was in its customary part of the destructive danger, or as humanoid cartoon creatures (Van Riper 148). It was not until Bambi (1942) that Disney discovered the structure on which his later nature works would hang. Instead of living clearly human lives, wearing garments, managing a furrow or in charge of a steamboat, the creatures in Bambi were far closer to the genuine article. They were not people; that part was saved for the films scalawag. They were, notwithstanding, individuals. So that the passing of Bambis mom because of the Hunter is plainly killed. Bambi was the model for Disneys later nature work, most outstandingly the Genuine Life Adventures, a progression of what were inexactly alluded to as documentaries, set in environments from the Sonoran Desert to the Canadian tundra (Van Riper 166) Winged Migration (2001) is an outwardly staggering "narrative enterprise" that takes a few groups of feathered creatures on their occasional transitory excursions. Despite the fact that the

What do Happiness Studies Study Does Happiness Change After Major Life Essay

What do Happiness Studies Study Does Happiness Change After Major Life Events - Essay Example He also went furhter in dissecting the etymology of the word â€Å"happiness† by tracing to its root word â€Å"hap†, meaning chance and luck whether it is good and bad in his effort to find the true meaning of happiness. The other study of Lucas that our set point of well being or our normal selves is predominantly biologically determined and our response and how we adapt to happiness life changing events in life fluctuates around that levels but will ultimately settle back to this normal state of well being. Griffin in his study about happines begun by assigning a value at the beginning of his argument particularly when Griffin cited eudaimonia† referring to â€Å"having a good guardian spirit† because that defined the trajectory of his argument. He begun associating martyrdom with happiness and formulating imaginary mathematical equation that being â€Å"happy now† and â€Å"more happy instances† vis-a-vis lesser unhappy instances would net to a happy life that made the paper problematic. The analysis was quite simplistic particularly when Griffin added Hume’s standard of taste because it required putting standard to happiness that can be likened to the concept of right and wrong in being happy. Any modern student of philosophy can refute this argument because we already know that there is no universal formula or standard of happiness. What makes one elated with happiness may be a casual circumstance to another. The bottomline is, what makes one happy will not necessarily make another happy. This test can easily be applied to refute the paper’s argument by also using one of Griffin’s example which is the woman from India who is â€Å"badly oppressed and what from the outside looks like a miserable existence† (2007:141) and might be content with small improvement of which such contentment, Griffin argued, would not necessarily mean she has a â€Å"happy life†. The trouble with Griffin ’s line of argument in this example is he already put a qualifier in the his hypothesis by framing it as â€Å"pathetically content with a small improvement in what from the outside looks like a miserable existence† (141). There was already a value judgment in the hypothesis which was supposed to be in the conditional because it is yet to be argued. Such, the conclusion is certain to arrive that she will not be happy because the line of reasoning did not provide room for refutation. It can be contended however that the woman, as opposed to the paper’s contention, is happy to the slightest improvement that will come in her life and not necessarily pathetic as what Griffin has framed. With how Griffin framed his words, it seem that he has not experienced poverty because it became an automatic reaction to him to say that a poor woman despite being content of having little will still be unhappy. It is like refuting his own argument because in his words, Griffin also mentioned that â€Å"one’s life is happy if one is content that life has brought one much of what one regards as important† (2007:140). Perhaps in his value system, slight improvement is not significant to be considered important but for those who were already exasperated with poverty, a moment of relief and the slightest of improvement is already bliss. Griffin is arguing from the point of view of a rich man who has not sufferred deprivation of his basic need such that, the provision of basic material

IT Enters a New Learning Environment Essay Example for Free

IT Enters a New Learning Environment Essay It is most helpful to see useful models of school learning that is ideal to achieving instructional goals through preferred application of educational technology. These are the models of Meaningful Learning, Discovery learning, Generative Learning and Constructivism. Meaningful Learning If the traditional learning environment gives stress focus to rote learning and simple memorization, meaningful learning gives focus to new experience departs from that is related to what the learners already knows. New experience departs from the learning of a sequence of words but attention to meaning. It assumes that: ââ€"  Students already have some knowledge that is relevant to new learning. ââ€"  Students are wiling to perform class work to find connections between what they already know and what they can learn. In the learning process, the learner is encouraged to recognize relevant personal experiences. A reward structure is set so that the learner will have both interest and confidence, and this incentive system sets a positive environment to learning. Facts that are subsequently assimilated are subjected to the learner’s understanding and application. In the classroom, hands-on activities are introduced so as to simulate learning in everyday living. Discovery Learning Discovery learning is differentiated from reception learning in which ideas are presented directly to student in a well-organized way, such as through a detailed set of instructions to complete an experiment task. To make a contrast, in discovery learning student from tasks to uncover what is to be learned. New ideas and new decision are generated in the learning process, regardless of the need to move on and depart from organized setoff activities previously set. In discovery learning, it is important that the student become personally engaged and not subjected by the teacher to procedures he/she is not allowed to depart from. In applying technology, the computer can present a tutorial process by which the learner is presented key concept and the rules of learning in a direct manner for receptive learning. But the computer has other uses rather than delivering tutorials. In a computer simulation process, for example, the learner himself is made to identify key concept by interacting with a responsive virtual environment. Generative Learning In generative learning, we have active learners who attend to learning events and generate meaning from this experience and draw inferences thereby creating a personal model or explanation to the new experience in the context of existing knowledge. Generative learning is viewed as different from the simple process of storing information. Motivation and responsibility are seen to be crucial to this domain of learning. The area of language comprehension offers examples of this type of generative learning activities, such as in writing paragraph summaries, developing answers and questions, drawing pictures, creating paragraph titles, organizing ideas/concepts, and others. In sum, generative learning gives emphasis to what can be done with pieces of information, not only on access to them. Constructivism In constructivism, the learner builds a personal understanding through appropriate learning activities and a good learning environment. The most accepted principles constructivism’s are: ââ€"  Learning consists in what a person can actively assemble for himself and not what he can receive passively. ââ€"  the role of learning is to help the individual live/adapt to his personal world. These two principles in turn lead to three practical implications: ââ€"  the learner is directly responsible for learning. He creates personal understanding and transforms information into knowledge. The teacher plays an indirect role by modeling effective learning, assisting, facilitating and encouraging learners. ââ€"  the context of meaningful learning consists in the learner â€Å"connecting† his school activity with real life. ââ€"  the purpose of education is the acquisition of practical and personal knowledge, not abstract or universal truths. To review, there are common t hemes to these four learning domains. They are given below: Learners ââ€"  are active, purposeful learners. ââ€"  set personal goals and strategies to achieve these goals. ââ€"  make their learning experience meaningful and relevant to their lives. ââ€"  seek to build an understanding of their personal worlds so they can work/live productively. ââ€"  build on what they already know in order to interpret and respond to new experiences. LB#6: IT Enters a New Learning Environment. Effective teachers best interact with students in innovative learning activities, while integrating technology to the teaching-learning process. In Meaningful learning * Students already have some knowledge that is relevant to new learning * Students are willing to perform class work to find connections between what they already know and what they can learn. In Discovery learning Ideas are presented directly to students in a well-organized way, such as through a detailed set of instructions to complete an experiment or task. In applying technology, the computer can preset a tutorial process by which the learner is presented key concepts and the rules of learning in a direct manner for receptive learning. In Generative Learning Active learners who attend to learning events and generate meaning from this experience and draw inferences thereby creating a personal model or explanation to the new experience in the context of existing knowledge.Motivation and responsibility are seen to be crucial to this domain of learning. In Constructivism The learner builders a personal understanding through appropriate learning activities and a good learning environment. Learners: are active, purposeful learners. Set personal goals and strategies to achieve these goals. Make their learning experience meaningful and relevant to their lives. Seek to build an understanding of their personal worlds so they can work/live productively. Build on what they already know in order to interpret and respond to new experiences.

Scuba :: essays research papers

Scuba diving is an activity enjoyed by people all over the world. Scientists use it to study underwater life, police use it to train in case of emergencies, and many others do it just for fun. What many people don't know, though, is that scuba diving would be impossible without physics. Pressure, buoyancy, and force are big parts of diving. Pressure, the weight pushing on something, is a vital part of scuba diving. As a diver sinks deeper into the water, the pressure pushing on the person's lungs pushes harder. This can be very dangerous to a person's safety. While the water is pushing on the outside of the lungs, pressure in the inside of the lungs is pushing out. If this pressure isn't the same as the weight from the water pushing on the lungs, the diver could have breathing problems and possibly die. To equalize these two pressures, modern scuba gear is equipped with a device attached to the air hose called a demand regulator that controls the flow of air getting to the lungs, changing the pressure inside. Buoyancy, how easily a person sinks or floats, is definitely a huge part of scuba diving. It determines how deep a person stays underwater. To control this, divers wear weights and inflatable neckwear called buoyancy compensators. Depending on how many weights a person is wearing; they sink to a certain depth and stay there. The more weights, the farther down they go. The buoyancy compensator, once inflated, rises the person back up to the surface. The more accessories, such as weights, a person wears, the lighter they feel in water and the easier they sink. All kinds of forces can be associated with scuba diving. For instance, when a diver kicks his fins to move, he is applying a force on the water behind him. In turn, the water is applying a force back on him, causing him to move. Pressure is a force that pushes on a diver's lungs, air tank, and everything else in the water.