Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Music Of The Worlds Peoples 3rd Ed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Music Of The Worlds Peoples 3rd Ed - Essay Example The people of the Baaka used music to maintain their culture. To them, music formed a means through which they communicated to the gods and their ancestors. That way, music enhanced their spirituality (Titon et al., 2009). Among the uses of music in the Baaka culture are initiation rituals, healing rituals, and entertainment. Among the instruments the Baaka people use in their music include the harp-zither, cylindrical drums, lamellaphones, the arched harp, and rattles. Others include the musical bow, flute, and water drums. Being a hunting community, the Baraka's music usually revolved around hunting. For example, the molimo ceremony involved a lot of mimicking the sounds of wild animals. 3. Ewe Music Culture and the Agbekor The Agbekor is a West African type of music that involves singing and drumming. It originated as a war dance among the Ewe-speaking people. The music involves a percussion ensemble accompanied by a chorus of singers. The lead drumming is a complex ensemble of dr ums, bells, and rattles. That gives it a rich polyrhythmic texture. According to legend, Agbekor developed from hunters who observed monkeys in the forest. The monkeys would beat drums with sticks and dance. The hunters developed customs and could play the different instrument during certain times. Through performing the monkey dance during some of their hunting rituals, other people were able to learn the dance and later founded it as a proper dance. Originally, the Ewe performed the Agbekor as a war dance.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Different Kinds of Joy Essay Example for Free

Different Kinds of Joy Essay The pursuit of happiness is a reoccurring theme in numerous novels. In the novel, Their Eye’s Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, what brings happiness differs to each character. To the main character Janie, happiness is found in love, but to her grandmother Nanny, happiness is found in security. At first, Janie does what Nanny wills her to. At the age of 16, Janie marries into security. She is safe, but unhappy. Still yearning for love, Janie runs away with Mr. Starks. With Starks, Janie is once again safe, but unhappy. Starks then passes away, and Janie finds her true love, Tea Cake. Through Tea Cake Janie re-realizes her dream of love and abandons Nanny’s dream of security, she descends into the muck with Tea Cake, learning to love life too. To find happiness, Janie has to step down from her pedestal and into the muck. Hurston efficiently uses this reverse metaphor to convey that happiness comes from mutual love, and that this can be found anywhere, even from the muck of society. Nanny’s ideals in life and Janie’s are different. To â€Å"take a stand on high ground† (p16) is the ideal for Nanny. Nanny wants Janie to marry into security. With security, Janie could be safe from the abuse that her grandmother and mother had experienced. At first, this is what Janie does even though it is not what she wants. She wants to be in love, â€Å"to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom! With kissing bees and singing of the beginning of the world! † (p11). When Janie finds this, she realizes what Nanny’s dream had done to her. She realizes that her dreams had been â€Å"pinched it in to [into] such a little bit of a thing that she could tie her grandmother’s neck tight enough to choke her† (p89). With this realization, Janie’s dream rekindles. She realizes that mutual love, him loving her, and her â€Å"wants (wanting) to want him†, is all she needs to find love in life and herself. Janie’s search for love ends with Tea Cake. Janie and Tea Cake are at opposite ends of the social spectrum when they meet. Janie is known as Mrs. Mayor Starks, while Tea Cake is known as a â€Å"player. † Even though Tea Cake can offer her no security, he can offer her love and acceptance. When first meeting, Tea Cake asks Janie to play checkers. Janie â€Å"found (finds) herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted (wants) her to play. Somebody thought (finds) it natural for her to play† (p96). Tea Cake sees Janie as woman, not a trophy wife. And because of this, Janie sees Tea Cake as a lover, not a lowlife. Once Janie is able to love Tea Cake, she learns to love the muck as well. Janie thinks, â€Å"if people think de same they can make it all right. So in the beginnin’ new thoughts had tuh be thought, and new words said† (p115). Janie has to experience new things with Tea Cake, like the muck, in order to love and understand him even more. Once she accepts the muck, she becomes a part of it. Sometimes Janie would think of the old days in the big white house and the store and laugh to herself† (p134). This is because like Tea Cake, the muck accepts her. â€Å"Only here, she could listen and laugh and even talk sometimes herself if she wanted to† (p134). Being in the muck is like being in love, except with place, and eventually with life. Even though the muck has no riches and is the lowest aspect in society, it doesn’t matter to Janie. In the muck, Janie is poor but she is accepted. Janie is loved, and Janie is happy. Janie has a dream of love and happiness, but her grandmother also has a dream of security. At first Nanny’s dreams overpowered her own, leading Janie into a secure but loveless marriage. Janie then becomes Mrs. Mayor Starks, which Nanny would have loved, but joy still eludes her. To find this joy, Janie has to find love. Then Tea Cake appears in her life, becoming her one and only. He gives her what she wants, a mutual love. Janie then moves to the muck with Tea Cake and learns to work. She is no longer Mrs. Mayor Starks, she is Janie. In the muck, she learns that love is trust and acceptance. She learns to find love in everything, even herself. Janie is now truly happy. Even in the lowest part of society.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Philosophy of Education: Herbert Marcuse

Philosophy of Education: Herbert Marcuse Joseph Cunningham Praxis Exiled: Herbert Marcuse and the One Dimensional University,  Journal of Philosophy of Education Vol 47 No 4 2013 Cunninghams exploration of Herbert Marcuse positions him at the centre of the revolutionary student movements of the 1960s. Higher education could at that time be seen as a place which was shielded to some extent from the pacifying tendencies within advanced capitalist labour. Of all the theories which emerged out of the influential Frankfurt School, Marcuses was perhaps the one theory which could more easily beapplied in practice because it narrowed Marxist critique to analyse the extent to which advanced capitalisms influence penetrated inwardly. Cunningham encapsulates this by stating, gendered rhetoric aside, One Dimensional Man, is about you and your life. However, Cunningham argues that it was never Marcuses intention to develop his theory, whilst navel gazing inside an ivory tower. Rather critical theory in education should move students to pierce through the institutional walls and function as actualised praxis, the congruence of theory and action. Cunningham uses Marcuses own words from 1968, By its own inner dynamic, education thus leads beyond the classroom, beyond the university, into the political dimension and in to the moral, instinctual dimension (his italics). An inner revolution is a precursor to outer revolution and dialectical critique is the key to the liberation which will nurture that inner revolution. Marcuse looked beyond labour itself to find the causes of what he thought was creating a one dimensional society: he argued that technology, the media and a converging standardisation of values coupled with an unending stream of must have commodities combine to attack an individuals authenticity. Reason is usurped by technological rationality and our critical senses are dulled, making us, as Marcuse argued, disinterested in or even hostile to dissent. Cunningham carefully traces how the ripe revolutionary potential of the 1960s has come under the control of capital, as Marcuse predicted might be the case. I can see how the growing corporatisation of higher education, of which Marcuse was aware in 1960, has indeed spread tentacles across the sector. The perceived waste of human capital in the liberal arts has been either recycled into more useful courses or disposed of. Cunninghams view is that, as Marcuse predicted, the drive to develop online education can arguably be seen as another route to seal the packaging of educational content as a product for students as consumers, so much so that the consumer and campus culture are indistinguishable. The halcyon days of free education have been replaced by a narrowing of access due to lack of means. Cunninghams conclusion is bleak but understandable: even though critical theory is still taught, it is largely devoid of praxis and often delivered online in digitally standardised curricula. Marcuse would find it empty of the dynamic which he felt it had the potential to bring to student life. Like Marcuse, however, Cunningham sees some evidence of counterculture: citing the Occupy Movement as one candle in the darkness of the pervasive atmosphere which is antithetical to critical thought. Self-exile beckons for those who, like Marcuse before them, seek to step outside to look within with fresh eyes. There are indicators everywhere we look of the dominant capitalist culture which makes us so wrapped up in our daily existence and desire for material goods that we fail to see the possibility of any other existence. Indeed, we are led to crave the same dimension. Marcuses One Dimension flattens our capacity for imagining another kind of existence and suppresses our instinctive desires. Whether it is the subliminal appeal of an advertising jingle or the promise of a higher salary if we put all our energies into STEM, we are persuaded that our present should be used to build our future. However the vision is as narrow as a tunnel. The light at the end is that of unexamined material prosperity: there are few unexpected rays lighting the corners of our imagination to help us to reach out to change our perspective. After all, evidence of a different light source might encourage us to look for another way out. Word count: 663 References Brookfield, S. (2005). The Power of Critical Thinking for Adult Learning and Teaching. Maidenhead: OUP. Graham, A. (n.d.). Liberation Powerpoint Class notes Jan 2017. WIT. Marcuse. (1967). Liberation from the Affluent Society (1967) . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQLpqno6J_g Accessed 14/12/2106

Friday, October 25, 2019

Physics of Fireworks Essay -- physics firework fireworks

After black powder was discovered by the Chinese in the 9th Century, the relatively short history of fireworks began with this explosive chemical composition. Black powder is made up of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal (KNO3); in the correct amounts, this combination has very explosive results. The use of black powder sprung forth the evolution of muskets, rockets, and fireworks. Although history has shown that the development of black powder muskets into modern day guns, artillery, and weapons of mass destruction have changed the face of the earth, taken many lives, and changed the outcome of many wars, black powder is also used in many rituals and celebrations. While traveling the globe, Marco Polo, fascinated by this black powder, brought it back to the West were it soon caught on. In Rome, King Charles V used fireworks to celebrate a victory. The fireworks were developed and made by his â€Å"fire workers† who made leaps and bounds with the projectiles and rocket shape of the fireworks. These elaborate demonstrations of fire soon spread through Europe and pleased many spectators of the King and Queens Court. In the middle ages, Italy and Germany took their displays to another level, incorporating different colors and effects. In Italy, the firework displays were used to accentuation buildings and structures, while in Germany, the focus was more on the fireworks themselves. The name "green men" was coined on account of the people who would cover themselves in leaves to protect their body from sparks and ashes as they launched fireworks from their hands. As music grew and became a large part of society, the incorporation of music and firework displays became inseparable. The most infamous of all fireworks displays, f... ...ich ended up missing his head, but tearing the front of the coat. Anyone who has ever felt the material on a fire coat can tell you that it would be very difficult to do damage like that to fire coat in a split second. Bibliography Lancaster, Ronald, and Butler, Roy E.A., and Lancaster, J. Mark, and Shimizu, Takeo. Fireworks Principles and Practice. New York: Ticknor, 2002. Pihko, Petri. â€Å"Pyrotechnics – The Art of Fire.† 1998. Online posting. Pihko, Petri. 12 April 2003. http://cc.oulu.fi/~kempmp/pyro.html ProQuest Information and Learning Company. â€Å"Physics of Fireworks.† 2003. Online posting. Bigchalk – The Education Network. 12 April 2003. www.bigchalk.com Russell, Michael S. The Chemistry of Fireworks. York, ME: Stenhouse, 2000. â€Å"The Physics of Colored Fireworks.† 1998. Online posting. 12 April 2003. http://cc.oulu.fi/~kempmp/pyro.html

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Key Differences Between Nature And Nurture Theories Psychology Essay

Nature/Nurture I will be looking at the effects of Eminem’s life and relating it to nature or nurture. This debate has been around a long time. Gesell developed the maturation theory which is based on the nature side of the debate he believed that development was a result of maturation for example; learning to walk and puberty. Nature Nature refers to the characteristics we have due to our genetics and what biological traits we inherit. Physical similarities are usually inherited from your parents such as eye color and pigment of skin. This is due to nature. Certain illnesses can also be linked to nature such as breast cancer, this can be linked to family members. This will decrease the life expectancy of the person. It can also be said that we inherit our intellect for example, how intelligent and smart we are. It is said that if our parents are intelligent individuals we may too have the potential to be intelligent as this has been passed down in our genes. It is also the same as having a low IQ. We can also inherit personality traits due to nature, this can be either a calm and shy personality or an angry and violent one. It is thought that a child who has anger management issues or issues with violence may not always be acting as a result of growing up in that environment, this could be inherited through their genes passed down from one or both parents. Nurture Nurture refers to the environment that a person has grown up in. this is strongly linked to seeing your parents or other family members acting a certain way and copying it. It is said that children behave in a particular way as they have witnessed this going on around them. An example of this would be if they had grown up in violence they may learn this type of behavior and act upon it. They may not have grown up in a violent home but they may surround themselves with friends or a particular environment where violence is accepted and modeled. Maturation theory The maturation theory was first introduced by American Professor Dr. Arnold Gesell, the maturation theory refers to the physical and the mental growth of individuals, this growth is determined by Biology, genes, and the environment. Gesell declared that all children go through the same stages of development in the same sequence but each child will move through these stages at their own rate. Gesell believed that a child’s growth and development are influenced by both the environment that surrounds them and the person genes. He largely focused on the child’s physiological development. He called this process maturation which was mainly made up of and controlled by genes. According to Gesell, the rate that children develop is down to the growth of the child’s nervous system. As the nervous system grows, their minds develop and their behavior will change. Biological programming Biological programming is your genetics. Genes provide the instructions for structuring amino acids. Our body shape, size, behavior all depend on the interaction

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Irrational Nature of Love

â€Å"Love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit,this quote from the Merchant of Venice describes the four lovers' dilemmas in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Nevertheless, in A Midsummer Night's Dream this statement not only applies to the true love between original couples Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, but also the æ  »alse love between Titania and Bottom and Lysander and Helena. As the story progresses in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream, it becomes increasingly obvious that not only is love irrational, it is a catalyst for disorder, and in the end, love may turn out to be only a fanciful illusion.There is a fine line between love and mania. Though many of the characters' actions indicate that they lean toward mania, the play ultimately ends with a happy ending for the characters, as well as a presumably happy marriage. Nevertheless, if what those characters felt was love, then love is an unhealthy obsession. Helena's obsession with Demetrius might be the most obvious example. In Act II scene i lines 203-10 Helena reveals her feelings towards Demetrius with this soliloquy: I am your spaniel; and DemetriusThe more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you. What worser place can I beg in your love, — And yet a place of high respect with me, — Than to be used as you use your dog?(2.1.203-10)Rather than a confession of love, this speech seems more like the pleading from a frequent victim of domestic abuse who is begging her partner to come back to her. Demoting oneself to a dog, welcoming abuse and neglect and enjoying every moment of this treatment is definitely not what is considered to be the norm, even when it's love.After Helena's madness there is Titania, the Fairy Queen, who falls in love with a commoner named Nick Bottom who has the head of an ass. Forgetting her social status, reput ation and pride, Titania becomes completely smitten with Bottom and orders her servants to attend on him. However Bottom, though he does enjoy the various benefits that comes with being the lover of the Fairy Queen, never has any choice in the matter.After Titania first met Bottom she says: ?ut of this wood do not desire to go: Thou shalt remain here whether thou wilt or no. 3. 1. 152-53) In most cases, when attempting to win the affections of another person, one would usually refrain from abusing one's position of power and force the other person into staying with them for presumably the rest of their lives. However, Titania is so in love with Bottom that she cannot be concerned with sentiments of common sense and her partner's wellbeing, which inadvertently makes her love irrational.Finally there is Demetrius whose obsession with Hermia caused him to abandon his current relationship, which caused his former lover, Helena, to become an emotional wreck, and subsequently sour the rel ationship between Hermia and Lysander. One can notice from the examples from above that of all the crazy self-destructive and/or selfish acts committed in the name of love, non of them have started with the purpose of making either recipient or benefactor of that act happy.Instead it was only done for love and that alone is its purpose and cause. As love is the motivation behind most, if not all, of the characters' actions it is more than likely that love is the direct or indirect cause of all of the chaos and bedlam in the play. First there is Demetrius who broke off a presumably happy and stable relationship with Helena to pursue Hermia, as proven by the quote spoken by Helena: or ere Demetrius look'd upon Hermia's eyne, he hail'd down oaths that he was only mine1. 1.242-43)Not only did Demetrius ruin his own relationship with Helena, he also used his connection with Egeus, Hermia's father, to separate Lysander and Hermia, putting their love in danger of falling apart as well. In an attempt to preserve their love, Lysander and Hermia decide to elope and escape ?he peril of the Athenian law4. 1. 153) Before leaving, they reveal their plans to the lonely and unloved Helena, who desperately craves Demetrius' love and approval and betrays her friends' trust and tells Demetrius of the lovers flight.In order to be with or to pursue their beloveds all four lovers left behind the order of Athens and escaped into the magical forest. After falling prey to Puck's antics the lover's relationships with each other are tore apart. Though it was ?rue lovethat had caused the lover's to go against order it was also the only thing that is keeping the lovers' from descending into chaos and disorder themselves. However, when that ?rue loveis replaced with the ?alse loveproduced by magical flower, whatever fragile bond that is holding the lovers together falls apart immediately.Ironically it is love that has ruined the four lovers' relationships with each other. Though there is a happy ending for the four lovers' in A Midsummer Night's Dream, there is a possibility that the love between the lovers is not real and their marriages would end horribly. Though Demetrius did have a past fling with Helena, what caused him to desire Helena's hand in marriage near the end of the play may not necessarily be the rekindling of that old flame, but rather the effect of the magical flower.It is also important to remember that a few scenes ago Helena had also rejected Demetrius proclamations of love despite of what she said at the beginning of the play. This further proves that Helena's love for Demetrius is merely obsession. Helena pursues Demetrius due to her memories of their past relationship, however as those memories age, Helena subconsciously begins to distort them. In order to justify her relentless and most likely futile attempts to win Demetrius' love, Helena's memories take on a more rose-coloured hue.It is very likely that Demetrius' biggest selling point was t hat he was ?ard to get However, when Demetrius begins to reciprocate he lost his only asset, and Helena is both shocked and repulsed. Managing to convince herself that it was all a joke played to mock her, Helena is able to continue her elaborate fantasy. But, when it turns out that Demetrius was actually in love with Helena and wishes to marry her, Helena, due her previous actions, is forced to accept his proposal, lest she desires to appear fickle and shallow.Lysander and Hermia would be considered to be the most traditional pair of lovers in the entire play. However, that all changed when Lysander betrays Hermia and falls in love with Helena. Forgetting his vows and the reason he even came into the forest in the first place, Lysander, along with Demetrius, becomes blind with passion and lust towards Helena and aggression towards each other. Finally there is Titania and Bottom whose love is only possible with the power of the magical flower, as shown by Titania's line: ?ow came th ese things to pass? O, how mine eyes do loathe his visage now! (4. 1.78-79)Without the aid of the fairies it would've been very likely that the four lover's would stay in the forest lost and loveless forever. With every example of love in the play being a form of ?alse love A Midsummer Night's Dream could not be considered as a romantic-comedy but rather social commentary on the irrational and self-destructive nature of love. With their inane deeds done in the name of love the four lovers doomed themselves to an unhappy marriage. Much like Theseus and Hippolyta union for the peace and prosperity of their respective nations, the lovers' marriage ends up being done out necessity rather than love.