Since southern plantation

African Americans keenly engaged in the cause of American independence, fought courageously in the early conflicts with the British. Though the revolution liberated some African Americans and set the country on a path toward the elimination of slavery, political adjustment to plantation owners prevented release for many African Americans in the south for another 90 years.A Negro was among the first martyrs in the wave of patriotism. African Americans fought at the battles of Lexington and Concord. One of the last men injured in the battle as the British runaway to Boston was a Negro, Prince Estabrook, from West Lexington.In the next 2 months, Peter Salem and other 20 African Americans were in the ranks, when the British attacked an American site outside Boston in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Congress required support from the South if the colonies were to triumph in their independence war against England.Since southern plantation owners desired to keep their slaves, they were scared to give arms to African Americans. (Lawler, 2002)On March 5, 1770, Crispus Attucks along with several other patriots from Boston objected to the British restricting the civil liberties in their Massachusetts colony.Attucks and his fellows were shot and killed during a fight with British soldiers. More than 5,000 African Americans later took up the cause and fight for America’s independence. Unluckily, independence for most African Americans would have to wait. (Owens, 2002)Congress commanded all African Americans to be terminated from the army, but African American veterans requested directly to George Washington. Washington took up their cause with John Hancock, the then president of the Continental Congress. African Americans serving in the army were permitted to stay, but new hiring was prohibited.Though the Declaration of Independence affirms that â€Å"all men were created equal,† many African Americans shortly observed more prospects on the British side. The Britis h governor of Virginia assured instant independence and income to any Negro who would join the Royal army.The devotions of African Americans were a grave concern for the American leaders for the reason that African Americans were around twenty percent out of the two-million colonial population. With the British army already in obvious majority, the American troops, and hiring hard for the patriots, the northern colonies before long began to recruit African Americans.Rhode Island formed a regiment almost completely of African Americans. As the battle continued, colonies which were far south like for instance Virginia and Maryland were enlisting free African Americans for the independence war.As the war stretched out into the South, Congress realized it needed to enlist slaves as soldiers. It suggested paying South Carolina slave owners $1,000 for male slaves. The South Carolina Assembly warned to leave the war, ending the plan in the southernmost colonies.Enlistment of African Americ ans to the American independence continued further north, but the patriots were comparatively less triumphant than the British.The proposal of instant independence completed by Virginia’s inauspicious loyalist governor was eventually made by the British all through the colonies. Slaves joined the British in immense quantity. (Owens, 2002)The fate of the loyalist African Americans varied considerably. Several became the creators of the British colony of Sierra Leone in West Africa.Although the British proposed slaves a better deal, many African Americans continued serving on the American side. African Americans had been in the labor force on ships and at seaports for long. A large number of troops of African Americans combating on the American side were brought to the continent by the French.The actual role of African Americans in the revolution is hard to quantify. Pennsylvania, in 1780, became the first colony to pass a law against slavery. Vermont ruled out slavery and Conn ecticut and Rhode Island passed steady liberation laws. The international slave trade was abolished in 1808. (Lawler, 2002)A bang in cotton production stretched the slave economy in the lower part of Mississippi Valley. Slave nations were cautious to organize at least half the political influence in the national government, jamming any federal progress in opposition to slavery until the Civil War.Thousands of African American Soldiers from 13 colonies battled in the Continental militia throughout America’s war for independence from Great Britain. African American Soldiers exchanged blows in every major fight of the war, usually in included units.A noteworthy exemption was the 1st Rhode Island Regiment which was first all-African American unit. In 1778 the regiment overpowered three attacks by the British all through the mà ªlà ©e for Rhode Island and later on in 1781 they contributed in the conquest at Yorktown.In the year 1778, they brawled in the combat of Rhode Island on the Island of Aquidneck. They effectively held their line for four hours against British-Hessian attacks, allowing the whole American Army to run away.The regiment saw additional service during the Revolutionary War, including Yorktown. Unluckily, these Negro soldiers did not receive any reimbursement for their service after the conflicts.Several Americans recognized the paradox of slave African Americans fighting under the flag of the Declaration of Independence. Slave labour created the great export crops of the South like for instance indigo, tobacco, naval stores and rice. Who could forecast what escape from the British Empire might indicate for Negro people in America?Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s British governor, swiftly saw the susceptibility of the South's slaveholders. Dunmore and the British were soon debarred from Virginia, but the panorama of previous fortified slaves combating beside the British must have struck trepidation into cultivation experts across the South. (Owens, 2002)ConclusionAn approximated 5,000 African American soldiers served the patriot side during the Revolutionary War. Vigilant contrasts between muster rolls and church, census, and other accounts have lately assisted to recognize many African American soldiers. The employment of African Americans as soldiers was circumvented by General Washington and the parliament early in the warfare. The panorama of fortified slave rebellions confirmed more intimidating to the white society rather than British redcoats.General Washington permitted the recruitment of free African Americans with â€Å"prior military experience† in January 1776, and expanded the enlistment conditions to all free African Americans in January 1777 in order to help fill up the worn-out ranks of the Continental Army. Because the states continuously were unsuccessful to meet their allocation of manpower for the army, Congress approved the enlistment of all African Americans, free and slave, in 1777.Out of all the southern nations, only Maryland allowed African Americans to hire. In 1779, Congress proposed slave masters in South Carolina and Georgia $1,000 for every slave they gave to the army, but the parliaments of both states declined the proposal. Thus, the North holds the highest number of African American soldiers in the American army. (Owens, 2002)The Revolution modified lives of some African Americans, though nothing approaching full equality. The brave martial service of African Americans and the ground-breaking character eliminated slavery in New England almost instantly. Many of the founders hoped that slavery would ultimately vanish from the American SouthReferencesLawler, Edward, Jr., â€Å"Letters recognize those who served George Washington in Philly as distinct individuals,† Philadelphia Inquirer, August 28, 2002Owens, Robert M., â€Å"Jean Baptiste Ducoigne, the Kaskaskias, and the Limits of Thomas Jefferson’s Friendships,† Journal of Illinois Hi story, 5:2 (Summer 2002), 109-136

Mozart: Symphony #33 in B Flat, Allegro Assai Analysis

E- Essay II Mozart: Symphony #33 In B Flat, K 319 – 1. Allegro Assai Form Analysis – Sonata Form (Time)::(Form)::(2 or 3 reasons for placing division here) EXPOSITION 0. 00::Theme 1::MELODY: Light, simple, sequencing and repetition; TEXTURE: light to suddenly heavy; DYNAMICS: Contrast from piano to Subito forte; HARMONY: Major with short minor excerpts 1:35::Bridge:: MELODY: Modulates, very short; TEXTURE:: Continues to go from light to heavy 2:05::Theme II::MELODY: New darker melody; TEXTURE: Thicker texture, more action; HARMONY: Minor and moves to Major; 2:19::CADENCE: Ends in a V to I CadenceDEVELOPMENT 2:29::Development: MELODY: Playful, thematic development of T1, passed around the orchestra; TEXTURE: Light, gradually gets thicker and very heavy; HARMONY; Major, modulates constantly in instrumental sections 3:28::CADENCE: V to I: End in Development melody 1†² RECAPITULATION :44::Theme 1::MELODY: Repeat of Theme 1; TEXTURE: Almost identical to beginning HARMON Y: Major with short Minor Excerpts 5:16::Bridge::MELODY: Repeat of Bride 1; TEXTURE: Light to Heavy contrast 5:47::Theme II::Melody: Repeat of Theme II; TEXTURE: Continues to go from Light to Heavy 5:57::Closing Theme: MELODY: New Material Based on end of Theme II; Texture Similar Textures with contrast from light to heavy ending in light 6:22:: Final Cadenza Ending in a Major key transition from V to IThis Piece by Mozart is one of 41 that he wrote and is a Prime example of typical Sonata Form. I thought this was interesting when I found out how â€Å"correct† this piece was in following the form because of Mozart's Background. Knowing of his childish innovative nature I would have predicted a slight distancing from the normal form. But aspects within the piece such as the bridge constantly being traded between parts and modulating helps show Mozart's struggle with himself and his employers.Mozart's dedication to his music is what kept him going but restrained him at the sam e time, for he knew of his talents. This can be seen with the constant sudden switching between light and peaceful melodies to sudden heavy and almost forceful textures of the same melody. This really can let one see the internal struggle he had between his music and the outside world, and both the peace and stress it caused him.

Characteristics of each of the 5 kingdoms and their meanings Essay Example for Free (#5)

Characteristics of each of the 5 kingdoms and their meanings Essay Every living creature on Earth belongs to a kingdom. Scientists debate how many kingdoms there are, but most agree there are five. Here is how the five kingdoms are organized. Monera Monera are single-celled organisms that don’t have a nucleus. Bacteria make up the entire kingdom. There are more forms of bacteria than any other organism on Earth. Some bacteria are beneficial to us, such as the ones found in yogurt. Others can cause us to get sick. Protists are mostly single-celled organisms that have a nucleus. They usually live in water. Some protists move around, while others stay in one place. Examples of protists include some algae, paramecium, and amoeba. Fungi are usually motionless organisms that absorb nutrients for survival. They include mushrooms, molds, and yeasts. Plants Plants contain chlorophyll, a green pigment necessary for photosynthesis, a process in which plants convert energy from sunlight into food. Their cell walls are made sturdy by a material called cellulose, and they are fixed in one place. Plants are divided into two groups: flower- and fruit-producing plants and those that don’t produce flowers or fruits. They include garden flowers, agricultural crops, grasses, shrubs, ferns, mosses, and conifers. Animals are the most complex organisms on Earth. Animals are multi-celled organisms, eat food for survival, and have nervous systems. They are divided into vertebrates and invertebrates and include mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish. Actually, there are now six kingdoms. The five kingdom was during the 1969 and it included all the bacterias within one group. The five kingdom system is as follows: 1. Monera: Bacteria. They are prokaryotic and unicellular. They are mobile. 2. protista: Protists. They are eukaryotic. Either autotrophic, heterotrophic, or even mixotrophic. They live live as unicellular, multicellular, or even as a colony. Some are mobile while some are sessile. 3. animalia: Animals. Eukaryotic and are heterotrophic. They are all multicellular and are mobile. 4. plantae: Plants. Eukaryotic and mostly autotrophic (some parasitic plants are heterotrophic). They are multicellular and sessile. 5. fungi: Mushrooms, fungus, etc. Eukaryotic and heterotrophic. They are multicellular and sessile Characteristics of each of the 5 kingdoms and their meanings. (2016, Nov 13). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

A small high quality restaurant Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

A small high quality restaurant - Assignment Example This paper is a business report to the owners of a small high quality restaurant on how Internet Technologies (E-business) and Information Systems (IS) could enhance their business operations. The current global market is largely driven by advanced technologies like internet technologies (E-business) and Information Systems. These have been very instrumental in effective marketing, advertising, customer retention and capturing new markets. The effect of this is that those-businesses which only utilize very basic computer facilities are greatly disadvantaged. This is because their business operations cannot be able to match with those of similar enterprises which utilize E-business and IS. This therefore necessitates the adoption of such technologies and strategies in order to match up with the existing business trends and competition levels. Amor (1999) explains e-business as the conduction of business over the internet. The-business functions performed over the internet include buying, selling, collaborating with business partners and servicing customers. Such a strategy is very timely for businesses considering the increased access to the internet by many people for various reasons including search for the best eating places. This can apply both to the local as well as international customers for example tourists or people who travel for business purposes. E-business is about the application of ICT to support the-business activities of an organization or enterprise. Beynon-Davies (2004) states that the use of ICT enables the external activities of a business to be performed more effectively. It also fosters the relationship of a business with other businesses, individual and groups. According to Kalakota and Andrew (1997) the processes used in e-business enable-businesses to link their internal data processing with the external ones in a more efficient and flexible manner. With e-business, customers are allowed to pay for their goods using cheques. This

Attitude Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Attitude Theories - Essay Example 22). Katz emphasizes that when attitude is spoken out in the form of words, it becomes an opinion, which may not always be interpreted in the true spirit because the second person can not see the fundamental attitude that caused the opinion. For example, if someone says, â€Å"You look healthier than before†. We might not understand if he means to appreciate the other person’s health or just make him conscious by calling him fat. Kelman, on the other hand, speaks about opinion change which indirectly causes a modification of the original attitude. Kelman explains the phenomenon of opinion change with respect to three qualitative variables which are compliance, internalization and identification which are essentially a means of social influence on the attitude of the individual. Katz has adopted a functional approach towards the definition of attitude in contrast to Kelman, who has explained how social influence can induce changes in the behavioral constructs of people. Katz has identified two ways in which attitude functions to cause human reaction to the surroundings – a rational attitude that induces optimism in human approach towards the analysis of and reaction to the matters and an irrational attitude that misleads people and causes them to respond irrationally landing them in trouble. â€Å"The functions are those of adjustment, egodefense, value expression and knowledge.† (Fones, p. 23). On the other hand, the â€Å"compliance† referred to by Kelman is essentially an acceptance of the propositions of others in a hope to achieve a certain expected outcome. â€Å"Identification† means the modification of attitude in an attempt to make it compatible with that of the group to gain a sense of identity and affiliation with that group. â€Å"Internalization causes people to accept other’s opinion because they feel that the proposed opinions reaffirm their basic thoughts and values. Both Katz and Kelman have been quite

Personal Development As A First Line Manager Assignment

Personal Development As A First Line Manager - Assignment Example The plan enables an individual to align his/her personal goals with the organizational goals. This assists the individual in improving his/her work performance. Thus this personal development benefits the organization by improving its performance in the short term as well as in the long-term (The Keynote Project, 2002). The personal development goals will indirectly lead to the fulfillment of the goals set by the school. The personal goals I have set for achieving are related to the improvement of my work performance. The objective of acquiring event management skills helps them acquire skills that would enable me to efficiently manage and arrange school events. Thus meeting the organization's objective of providing good quality educational service of which such entertainment is a part. Also implementing and learning how to manage the Inventory control system named jump-stock would assist me in taking care of canteen inventory and other school supplies inventory (Burg, 2013). This ef ficient and faster management of inventory will assist the organization in running its operations most effectively. Therefore, providing high quality educational service with added school facilities and attracting more customers leading to increasing sales. Improving time management skills, stress management and financial skills will assist me in carrying out my responsibilities effectively. Financial skill would help me identify if there had been any glitches in the financial records of the facilities. Time management could help me complete work responsibilities before time and with highest work quality. Stress management could assist me in handling difficult situations with intelligence and thus help the organization run its operations most effectively. I plan to enhance these skills by taking a Stress Management training Diploma Course offered by The Stress Consultancy and Open Learning Institute (Stress Management Training, n.d.). Writing and speaking skills and improving relati ons with subordinates pertains to enhancing communication skills. The former will aid in becoming proficient in speaking and writing, thus helping in getting the message across within or outside school effectively. The latter would support in developing friendly relations with subordinates and detecting any conflicts/issues with them and taking an immediate action. This leads to increased motivation among employees and increased efficiency in school facilities provision. So effective communication helps the organization achieve high sales, lower cost, higher profitability and high quality service objectives. Learning how to operate knowledge management system also brings company to achieving the same objectives mentioned above. This is because knowing how to use and implement this system in facilities department could help in better decision-making. I identified numerous learning and development opportunities that would assist in achieving my personal development goals. The reason i s the nature of the goals themselves. All the goals could be achieved either by taking the relevant courses online or attending workshops, keeping a log and relevant notes from these courses/workshops. Learning from all these relevant courses and workshops is essential in acquiring the relevant skills since they add value to my work at school as Facilities Manager Assistant. These courses would help me move forward with my plan and thus enhance my work performance for my and company's benefit. I will review the progress of my plan on monthly basis. This will enable me to see how far along have I achieved my objectives. If needed, I will be able to

ECT170 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ECT170 - Essay Example The internet is the central source of data among the external sources. The inputs of an MIS include scheduled reports produced periodically such as weekly or monthly, demand reports, produced, to provide certain information upon request. There are several characteristics of an MIS. One characteristic is that it provides reports with fixed and standard form as well as producing both soft and hard copies of the reports. It also uses internal data stored in a computer system allow users to develop customs report. The MIS requires user requests for reports developed by systems personnel (Stair and Reynolds 303). MIS can be divided along functional lines. Financial management information systems provide financial information to executives. Some financial MIS subsystems and outputs include profit/loss and costs systems, auditing and management of funds. Manufacturing MIS subsystems and outputs include monitoring and controlling the flow of materials, design and engineering, inventory control, process control and quality control. Marketing MIS supports product development, pricing and its distribution. Marketing functions are increasingly being performed on the internet. The subsystems involved include marketing research, product development, product pricing, sales analysis and advertising. The human resource MIS are concerned with issues related to previous, current and potential employees. Its subsystems include human resource planning, personnel selection, training and skills inventory, scheduling and job placement as well as salary administration (Stair and Reynolds 305). Decision support systems (DCCs) are used when the problem is unstructured. These systems’ performance is a function of decision quality and problem complexity. The problem complexity depends on how hard the problem is to solve. The DCC provides rapid access to information and can handle

Operations of Smart Agent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Operations of Smart Agent - Essay Example The user of this Smartagent has all the necessary information to make informed decisions on the given apartment. For instance, the apartment seeker is able to view the exterior decoration and general environment of an apartment that fits a given feature. The steps followed to achieve this step are simple as shown below. Just access the app and sign in with important features desired in the apartment, search for the location and the immediate environment. Search for the social amenities and other important infrastructures. Basically the amenities available for access include supermarkets, Gyms, Saloon among others. After one is satisfied, one need to follow the given legal agreement procedure and submit the completed form to the stated address. A complex password and security question should be used to protect one from fraud or exposing personal information. Payment must be made to given account with intensive security backup that constitute signing deposit slip. There is a well-structured database on which all the information and available vacancies can be accessed with genuine

Marketing Concepts & Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Concepts & Strategies - Essay Example This is a good start to my career, as I will learn a lot in regards to the finance function. In addition, I will have worked for small companies and increased my expertise and skills. Lastly, to become a financial controller is one of my short-term goals that I will be fulfilling. Firstly, marketing is the creative side, whereby ideas and passion drive what a person believes. In addition, marketing helps an organization acquire and keep profitable customers. On the other hand, finance focuses and evaluates the benefits and rewards that are worthy of the business (Blythe, p. 8). The marketing knowledge will help a financial controller provides the financial results of a business. This includes the marketing expenditure in the organization. It involves the budget in which the marketing team needs to carry out promotional activities, training and sales conferences. Moreover, through financial statements that are prepared by the finance department, it is possible to know how much the marketing team spends over a certain period. In addition, it will help them understand and know whether the Return on Investment is positive or not. Through the marketing programs that aid in increasing sales, the financial controller can monitor the trends of sales and expense trend s in the business. The financial controller can advise on the most important expenditures that an organization can make, especially on areas of marketing and advertising. The possession of marketing knowledge helps a financial controller together with the marketing team to prepare budgets. Such budgets entail the expenditures in marketing campaigns and promotional activities (Blythe, p. 24). The financial controller can also measure the marketing departments to adhere to the limits in budgets and the efficiency of the budgets that the marketing department has used. Some of the examples that apply are as follows. When computing marketing ratio analysis, the financial controller works closely with

Area of knowledge Essay Example for Free

Area of knowledge Essay It can certainly be argued that though language and emotion play vital roles within any area of knowledge, it is within history that it manifests itself the clearest. History as an area of knowledge presents an opportunity to explore the implications of both language and emotion, and their effect on interpreting history. The understanding of such information is integral to resolving one of the key knowledge issues regarding history: the question of whether it is possible to attain or communicate knowledge through history that is free from filters and biases. The answer to this question is crucial to the further comprehension of what is history as a whole. But before examining language and emotion in the context of history, it is important to define what exactly these words are describing, and understand the values and limitations of both of these ways of knowing separately. Language is defined as a rule-governed, intended form of communication and is one of the main ways of attaining information of the external. It is useful for conveying concepts that are intangible, such as that of history. However, it is merely a tool, a vehicle by which information can travel, and is subject to ambiguity, vagueness, and bias. Emotion as a way of knowing is often defined as a mechanism which gives intuition and helps decision making, but is also commonly cited as an obstruction to knowledge. These two ways of knowing have a great impact upon the acquisition of knowledge in history. One could argue that without language, there would be no history or historical knowledge. Such a bold statement can be made for a variety of reasons, one being primarily that unlike emotion and sense perception, two others way of knowing, language is the most able tool in the transfer of knowledge across time. And unlike reason, language can qualitatively describe as well as outline the experiences of individuals in a way that reason cannot fully emulate. One does not need to be (or rather, cannot be) at the decisive Battle of Iwo Jima to know there was an Allied victory, knowledge that sense perception and emotion could not derive. The utility of language is that it enables us acquire knowledge of the external efficiently. This is not to say that language is the perfect mechanism for knowledge transfer in history. As stated above, language is a tool that, once interpreted, will lead to biases as both the sender and receivers paradigm will contribute to a certain predisposition regarding any topic spoken. It allows us to label and generalize, to set up a conceptual framework based on relativity. Arbitrary time frames can be set up within history, such as Before Common Era, which when considered seem quite useful in that it allows for quick citation, but is also perplexing. How exactly did people define the Common Era? To refer to a date in relation to the death of one man allows us to further question why this particular man was chosen. Again this ties into the bias with language, as anyone referencing BCE is undoubtedly predisposed towards Western thinking. Even I retain these biases as well, always confused momentarily whenever I am exposed to the time frame established in Thai culture, such as 2553 (which is coincidentally also referenced to the death of another man). It appears that although language can and does lead to historical knowledge in methods that other ways of knowing cannot, language can never lead to truly objective information precisely for the same reason that it is useful: it is all relative to the paradigm which one is under. The impact of labeling and generalizations also touches upon the realm of emotion and its effects upon history. The age-old adage proclaims that history is written by the victors1 and the victors will more often than not think positively about themselves but not of their opponents. For example, during my Thai history class, my teacher will go at great lengths to explain the courageous nature of the Thai people and the savagery of the Burmese for invading our land, and yet do a complete about face and call the occupation of Malaysia and Cambodia as a noble conquest. This invocation of pride and patriotism is a variety of emotion known as nationalism. And it is this nationalism, or a similar emotional feeling of loyalty, that has fueled much of current history. If language is the tool with which we talk about history, emotion is what caused us to talk about it in the first place. The statement that is being suggested is that the course of human civilization for the past ten thousand years can be charted with the emotions, on the basis that humans are not perfectly rational. Emotional attachments to kingdoms, countries, or governments caused many to go to war; scientific advances were fueled by the undying joy associated with innovation; Adam Smith proposed capitalism to compensate for the inherent greed within us all. Indeed, a more specific event would be the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001AD. The attack upon the US caused uproar, an escalation of foreign policy security, and a worsening of relations with the Middle East. The many religious motives for such an event leave no doubt that it was based off of emotion, but it remains unclear what the main cause was for. Again, it appears that to mark history as objective facts becomes increasingly hard as the subjective emotions that one has muddle the cause for events. One cannot state that a certain event in history occurred because of another singular event; rather, one must say that it was the amalgamation of these that caused any event. In essence, it appears that emotion and language both play a key role in history, one for it and one about it. However, it seems that these two ways of knowing interact with history in such a way as to make the objective deduction of historical knowledge difficult. Though one can argue that the imposition of conceptual frameworks and the emotionally fuelled decisions are not mutually exclusive with an objective history, it remains that within any human society there will exist a paradigm, a filter, a bias. And in these items will lay prejudice. A quote by Friedrich Nietzche summarizes this: To the extent that man has for long ages believed in the concepts and names of things as in aeternae veritates he has appropriated to himself that pride by which he raised himself above the animal: he really thought that in language he possessed knowledge of the world. We may pride ourselves on being more civilized than animals and for having language, but it is foolish to assume that with only these tools that we have gained any knowledge of the world apart from our own.

Common Law and Equity Essay

Common Law and Equity Essay Common law originally developed under the inquisitorial system in England during the 12th and 13th centuries,[11] as the collective judicial decisions that were based in tradition, custom and precedent Equity is designed from the English law system and its role as a common law, as the common law was created and analysed the basis of equity was brought up and is now used in the royal courts, the story of Equity brings us back to the days of 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded England, he found that there was no single system of common law but rather a system where the local courts based rulings of traditional courts, such as Shires, Boroughs and Hundreds, and applied local rules and customs to the cases. These were openly known as the customary laws which later on became the foundations for the common law. William I using subtle tactics gained control of the country and then introduced the feudal system, where all land belonged to the King and where he would grant areas of land to those people who supported him and were willing to help him. He made himself available to any landlord who had a dispute or problem and who could not get redress from his lord. This idea of applying directly to the King became known as the â€Å"Kings Justice† and became available to everyone. This Kings Justice was administered by the â€Å"Curia Regis† (Kings Court), which was a body of advisers to the King. The Curia Regis would apply a system of rules which applied to whole country thus it became known as the ‘common law which applied in a series of Royal Courts which were erected as time came to pass. At first people recognised that this law was indeed fair and with it being common to England was just. However, later problems were found with this law; two in specific: The fact that there were only one remedy available, damages soon became a problem. Damage being money ordered to be paid as compensation for injury or loss. It soon became a common issue that remedy was not always the appropriate form of remedy and this would have no significant concluding impact within cases. The other major issue was that a civil action, legal action to protect a private civil right or to compel a civil remedy, could only be started with a writ. A writ was a document on which was written why and what the legal basis the person was being sued. Circumstances arose that when a problem was not covered by the writ, this meant making a new document every time one arose, however this was stopped in the 13th century. This meant if your case was already not under a writ it was not carried forward. People found themselves very frustrated under this common law, where they found they may have had to settle for remedies they did not want or their case was sometimes found not even actually taken to the courts as it was not under the ‘writ. As the public became dissatisfied with the system they began to petition to the King, as the â€Å"foundation of justice† for a remedy. The King took note of the petition, which resulted in the case being taken up by the Chancellor when people found that the ‘common law would not help them with their cases. Asif Laher Gradually, over the years he built up a large body of principles, which he had gathered from cases which he had dealt with in which he decided what he thought was fair. These principles together then formed a law; ‘Equity. Equity can be simply thought of as ‘fairness and was a very powerful source of law as it overcame any problems with the common law, because of the right justification it was thought to give. It gave people a ‘safety valve allowing them to seek different appropriate remedies and even actually be given a case when common law did not. However, the law of equity would have been useless to this day if the dispute between the two would have not been resolved. Because of the conflict, a decision to resolve the two was finally made in 1616 when it was referred to King James. The dispute between the two systems was eventually resolved as a result of the Earl of Oxfords Case 1616; the outcome of this case was that if the two were to be in conflict and may contradict each other â€Å"equity would prevail.† The outcome was important as equity would have been worthless as it could not fill in the gaps of the common law unless it was dominant. Common law could just override equity if common law is more important, equity would have been powerless. After many years had gone by the judicature act 1873-1875 came into place. Before this common law and equity had separate courts. The judicature acts did not fuse the common law together, however, did fuse the administration. This is significant due to the established court structure we have today, provided that equity and common law could only be administrated by all courts and that there would no longer be different procedures for seeking common law and equitable remedies. In conclusion they were joined into one High Court, they are still separate laws which have different principles, common law being the major law, and equity brought into cases when needed. Because of the fact that they have different principles and were not fused together when the administration were, they are referred to as ‘The Twin Pillars

Huck Finn Vs. 19th Cevtury Ethnics Essay -- essays research papers

Ninetieth Century Morals vs. Huck’s Conscience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sometimes making a stand for what is right, especially when it is totally against the customary beliefs of society, can never be an easy accomplishment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel, The Adventures Huckleberry Finn by, Mark Twain, the main character Huck, encounters many situations involving a question of morality. Considering the traditional protocol of his society, Huck must choose between his conscience or public ethics. In many cases Huck goes with his conscience, which always proves to be proper selection. Ironically, what Huck believes in, unapproved of in the ninetieth century, is the basis of accepted beliefs in our modern world. Huck lives with the guilt that all his choices could be considered immoral based on his society; yet, really his beliefs could be just in comparison to man’s conscience. Three of the major instances in the novel when Huck’s beliefs contrast those of the ninetieth century are when he questions the outcome of Jim, when he tries to comprehend the concept of the feud, and when he must decide whether to save the men on the Sir Walter Scott.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Huck’s choices concerning Jim’s life can be thought to be the moral and proper choices, Huck is pounded by his society’s teachings the Black men are property. When Huck first escapes from Pap and sets up camp on Jackson Island, he finds Jim has also found refuge there from the widow and Mrs. Watson. Huck is stunned at first when Jim tells him he escaped, because Huck knows that Mrs. Watson owns Jim, which makes him her rightful property. â€Å"People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum,†(Twain 43) Huck knows that if he helped Jim that would make him an abolitionist, which could not be accepted role in the ninetieth century. Huck decides that he would help Jim escape, as he would never return to the town so it wouldn’t matter if he took Jim with him. After a long raft-ride, Huck and Jim are finally about to reach Cairo, which on their arrival would make Jim free. With the smell of freedom, Jim rambles on about how he would buy his wife and then steal his children. This sets off a spark in Huck, igniting his conscience and making him very uneasy. Huck couldn’t believe that Jim would steal property... ... of truth and intelligence, and one that should be entrusted in every person’s soul no matter if they are living in the Ninetieth century or today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This combination of the three instances shows the dramatic difference between Huck’s conscience and the standard customs of the Ninetieth century. Huck showed great maturity and integrity in standing up for what he believed was the right choice. Although he believed his choices were immoral or unethical, we now know that it was quite the opposite, as the moral standards of this time were in essence the unethical choices and Huck’s were the proper choices. Huck could see the importance of friendship over possessions, and risked his life saving a run-away slave because of the uncomfortable emptiness he would experience had he turned in Jim. This portrayal of childhood knowledge can be examined in today’s society also. People grow to be prejudiced against certain types of people, just as Huck was as he was growing up. Luckily, Huck overcame this inborn prejudice by examining what really counts in life, and this is a lesson that everyone, from previous societies to today, needs to listen to.

Narrative Essay :: Personal Narrative

MY BEAUTIFUL PARROT AND MY TROUBLED ROOSTER I remember when I was ten years old, and my dad used to tell me how attractive parrots were. But I argued with him that roosters were more beautiful than parrots because I had never seen a parrot before. I remember Dad when he brought me a parrot in a cage and said to me it was the one that he believed to be the most attractive bird in the world. I looked at him and turned around and stared at the parrot because I was amazed. Since that day I have become convinced that parrots have many qualities, which make them superior to roosters. Parrots are more attractive than roosters. They have bright red or orange hood bills and colorful feathers, with pointed tails and dark black clawed feet. Its eyes are bright with a delightful look. Looking at a parrot is like looking at a rainbow that has many different bright colors, while rooster have fat reddish combs that look like roses that have withered. Its feathers have dull color that does not stand out. Their feet claws are dark brown like mud. Even though roosters have spangled feathers that are white with dark tips, still it is a common color. Parrots are also more intelligent than roosters. This parrot that I saw is only attractive, but intelligent. He can be tamed and imitate word and actions. Also he has the ability to mimic human speech. I remember my sister when she got into trouble at school, annd my mom was very upset with her, so she scolded her. After she had scolded her our parrot began teasing her with words that my mom said so she got really mad and left to her room. From that day till now my sister thought of our parrot as a stupid bird, but I thought of him as an intelligent bird. My rooster; however, on the other hand, had poor abilities and performed simple acts. One morning my dad tried to tame my rooster and make him catch a grasshopper, yet he caught our cat’s tail, so she screamed and chased him. My rooster was terrified, so he hid under the bushes for two days. Finally, parrots have better temperament than roosters. They’re sensitive and enjoyable. My mom enjoys cooking while our parrot sings the alphabet, and when she forgets the food timing on the oven, he reminds her.

Essays --

â€Å"Nurses eat their young.† It is an aged saying in nursing which describes the hazing and lateral violence which frequently occurs in the workplace. The victims of this bullying are usually new graduate nurses or nursing students. New graduates start their careers at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole; spending much of their time trying to learn the ropes and gaining experience as nurses. To the more experienced nurses they may appear to be easy targets with their â€Å"deer in the headlights† faces; believing the newbies are too frightened to fight back. Certain nursing schools, which will remain anonymous, use similar boot camp- like mentality while training their student nurses. The students at these schools remain fearful of their nursing instructors at all times. This instinct is required to survive their harsh reality of nursing boot camp. These students remain fidgety throughout their time in nursing school and this same shell-shocked behavior carries ov er to the early months or even years of their nursing careers. Nursing is supposed to be a field of compassion, the general belief being that most nurses are compassionate, caring human beings. So why are new nurses being hazed instead of nurtured by more experienced nurses and nursing instructors? Does this hazing really exist? If so, why? Is there anything being done to stop this lateral violence subjected upon new graduates? Is there more that can be done to prevent future victimization of new graduate nurses? To investigate these questions a preliminary interview and survey of several new graduate nurses, younger nurses with 2-8 years of experience, highly experienced nurses with 15 or more years of nursing experience, as well as nursing instructors and nursing precept... ...Most nurses chose the field because they are compassionate people and may need to remind themselves they were once new graduate nurses. Another remedy may call for older, savvier nurses, to stick up and defend the new nurses who are being picked on. Even with all the efforts suggested, â€Å"Nurses eating their young† will take time to cure and future study of other possible remedies towards lateral violence will be required. Whether if it is due to stress, burnout, attempt to educate newer nurses, or someone just trying to build their own confidence; these behaviors have existed for many years. It is an obvious problem with documented detrimental effects on young nurses. A true solution will only arise through continued education on the subject, greater enforcements, a little bit of self-reflection, and combined efforts from ALL medical staff members and school staff.

Holy Sonnet Xii Essay

John Donne is widely known to incorporate or allude to various religious symbols and concepts throughout his poems. His poem â€Å"Holy Sonnet XII: Why Are We† questions the concept of creation, humankind and all elements, exploring the ideas of the original sin and God’s relationship with man and nature. The poem also explored the concepts of human supremacy over nature. Through several language devices such as metaphors, rhyme and rhythm, repetition and tone, Donne attempts to understand the Creator’s motives for creating humans and the various elements present in the world. Donne also employed rhetoric to convince and demonstrate to readers mankind’s dominance over nature and natural elements. Donne employed an inquiring even a perplexed-sounding tone to his poem to imply a sense of injustice within the Creator. This sense of injustice revolved around subjecting animals, who are â€Å"simple, and further from corruption† and more powerful, for the convenience of man, who is corrupt and is â€Å"worse than† the animals: â€Å"Why are wee by all creatures waited on? †¦ Why brook’st thou, ignorant horse, subjection† With the inquiring tone, Donne attempted to reveal the Creator to be someone prejudiced, where he is previously believed to be all just and fair. Donne implied an idea of favouritism in the last few lines of the stanza: â€Å"You have not sinn’d, nor need to be timorous †¦ For us, his Creatures, and his foes, hath dyed.† In these lines, Donne alluded to the dying of Jesus on the Cross, suggesting that the Creator died only for humans and not for the other animals. Donne perceived this act to be unfair as humans have sinned greatly, whereas animals are more pure and have not sinned. He also alludes to the fact that the Creator had created animals and other elements of nature solely for human’s use: â€Å"Why doe the prodigal elements supply†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This action of alluding to the Creator in a rather indignant manner, questioning the Creator’s motives, is recurring through many of Donne’s poems, such as in The Flea. Throughout the poem, Donne continually diminishes the human race to be corrupt and sinful, comparing this nature with the pure, uncorrupted and simple nature of the animals and other elements of creation. By incorporating the questioning tone, readers may be more convinced of the â€Å"prejudiced† motives of the Creator, that He may not appear as just as he is said to be. The poem also explored the relationship of the Creator, sin and all the other creations through the rhyming scheme of the poem. Contrary to popular belief, Donne presented the Creator to have no correlations with sin and creations, implying that the Creator is simply a distant being. This idea was revealed in the rhyming couplet at the end of the poem: â€Å"But their Creator, whom sin, nor nature tyed, / For us, his Creatures, and his foes, hath dyed.† The rhyming couplet portrayed the Creator to have no ties with sin or nature, thus why He died for humankind. The final couplet also answers several questions and result in more ideas regarding creation and human’s relationship with the Creator: these questions include the reasoning to human dominancy and the concept of original sin, and again, favouritism. As the final couplet suggests that the Creator is distant to all other elements and creations but humankind, it also suggests that God is closer to humankind, having died to save them from their sins, thus why they appear as dominant. It also suggests that animals and other elements were created for the benefit and convenience of the human race. The concept of original sin is proposed throughout the poem at the moments Donne implied the corruption and sinning of humankind: â€Å"†¦being more pure than I, / Simple and further from corruption †¦ weaker I am, woe is mee, and worse than you / You have not sinn’d†. The concept is also implied through the querying tone and repetitive use of â€Å"why†, as Donne questioned why the Creator died for humankind, who have greatly sinned since the beginning, but subjugated animals, who are pure and not corrupt, and other resources to man’s convenience. Favouritism is also implied in the final lines as it appears that the Creator had only died for one of his Creations and not all: â€Å"For us, his Creatures, and his foes, hath dyed†. This final lines, particularly in the use of the collective word â€Å"us†, the human supremacy and separation of humans from animals become evident. As Donne used the word â€Å"us† to refer solely to humankind, it creates a sense of distance from the animals, as if the other elements were not a part of God’s creations and that humans were the Creator’s only â€Å"creatures†. The central idea of the poem, animal subjection to humans, was explored through the questioning tone but also the metaphors employed throughout the poem. In the opening line of the poem, Donne clearly presented the idea of human supremacy, stating that it is humans who are â€Å"waited on† by all other creatures, through his question. This idea of supremacy is further emphasised in the next question, â€Å"Why doe the prodigal elements supply / Life and food to mee, being more pure than I, / Simply and further from corruption?†. In this questions, it is implied that creatures seemed to have been created to prodigally supply humankind with life and food, despite humankind being closer to corruption than the animals. Through this next question, Donne creates the idea of animal constraint and the animal’s inferior nature. In the next lines, Donne implies of the stealth and strength of the animals compared to the humans, â€Å"Why brook’st thou, ignorant horse, subjection? / Why dost thou bull, and bore so seelily / Dissemble weaknesse, and by one mans stroke die, whose whole kinde you might swallow and feed upon?† The particular use of â€Å"ignorant horse† presents two meanings: the first is the literal meaning, a description of a horse as being ignorant, oblivious of man’s power over them, while the second meaning may be metaphorical. The word â€Å"horse† may refer to human race and the ignorance may be stemmed from the fact that humans believe themselves to be superior over all other creations, where in truth, they are actually weaker. In the questions presented in the poem up to this point, despite their subjects being human supremacy and animal inferiority, Donne throughout implied the better power and nature of the animals: he portrayed the strength of the animals but also presented their sinless and pure nature. By portraying animals in this light, Donne attempts for his readers to view animals as not a race inferior to humans but as a race mightier and stronger than humans. This implication may stem from Donne’s belief that it is more correct for the animals to dominate humans as humans have sinn’d and are corrupted, and therefore are not deserving of all the â€Å"prodigal elements† supplied by the other creations. By presenting the human race to be unjustly dominant, and as the animals and other elements enslaved to humans, Donne attempted to evoke a piteous feeling towards the animals from readers. Through the questioning tone and metaphors employed throughout the poem, Donne revealed that man is not as superior as first deemed and that animals are actually more stronger than what is perceived, therefore man should not be subjecting the animals and other creations for their benefit and use. Donne employed a combination of language devices such as conceit, tone, rhyme scheme and metaphors throughout the poem to explore the concept of creation and human supremacy over animals as well as the original sin and the Creator’s relationship with sin, nature and humankind. Through the inquiring tone of the poem, Donne attempted to understand the motives of the Creator, but also convince the readers of the unjust nature of the Creator.

The Plains Indians Were Cruel, Blood-Thirsty and Uncivilised

It Is the story of all that is holy and good to tell and of us two legged sharing it with the four legged ND the wings of the air – all green things; for these are the children of one mother and their father is one spirit† Initially out first impression of the plains Indians from simply this source, is that they are peace loving, good natured folk with pure hearts and love and respect for all creatures, we find them referring to all creatures as equal.This In one way makes them appear more civilized from their white American brothers, as we know that the Americans did not believe that humans were equal to plants or animals. These beliefs of the plains Indians give us a first impression that causes us to disagree with the initial question. From source five on page thirteen, Black Elk describes his vision, this is probably where we, as historians may choose to question their level of civilization compared to the white American folk, and even us.We In the 21st century certa inly do not go about searching for visions and neither did the white Americans. So does this cause me to question how classed the plains Indians actually were? To be perfectly honest, no it does not. I believe it is just like if one were to question the religion of another person, the Indians did not quest for scions and talk to spirits because they were less developed and/or less civilized than us or the white Americans, it was simple their tradition and belief, much like Islamic belief In the teachings of Muhammad.This life of conversing with spirits and questing for visions suited them perfectly and does not change my opinions on them so far. Perhaps the second thing we encounter In this unit Is the various rituals and dances the plains Indians took part in, at first this does not seem to strange as it is another one of their beliefs and traditions, however after we have studied these in ore detail we might be somewhat shocked to learn the details of a few dances in particular, o ne of these dances (the sun dance) is considered rather horrific and brutal In my opinion.The sun dance involves an Indian brave, having gashes cut Into his back, and ropes latched onto the flesh Inside and hung from a tree, this young brave would then partake in dancing and praying to the great spirit (known as Waken Tank). This is one of the things that greatly shocked the white American people, to them it was considered horrific and taboo, they thought such beliefs of the plains Indians were ludicrous, and caused their opinions of the tribes to waiver, and think them bloodthirsty and immoral. Studying the tribes, I can say I agree.This was Just but another one of the Indians' traditions, they knew In their hearts that good would a bloodthirsty act, perhaps it was interpreted so by the white American people, but to the Indians it was Just a perfectly normal and customary tradition that bore no maliciousness or anything considered (to them) bloodthirsty. Moving on, we began to stud y in detail how the plains Indians hunted and gathered food, namely in the form f hunting buffalo. The main way, in which the Indians hunted buffalo was on horseback, using bows and arrows in order to kill the game and being back the carcasses for food, and many other uses.This would seem normal to them, however to the white Americans it could be somewhat frowned upon and seen as uncivilized, again I disagree. When the Americans learned that the buffalo was used for more than Just meat one can imagine their reaction, they were not used to such treatment of animals, normally the American people would Just take the meat and possibly the did. However the plains Indians used almost every single part of the beast, including many of the organs and bones.Naturally the Americans who would obviously be afraid of their cultural differences saw this as ‘bloodthirsty when of course the Indians were Just being practical, rather than uncivilized. I can empathic why the Americans might have thought the way they did though, I mean wouldn't you be surprised if your neighbor started using dung as a form of fuel for their car? Continuing on to another significant point of reference was the family life of the lain Indians; this is probably where the white American folk acquired all their assumptions of the plains Indians.To being with, the Americans probably frowned upon the fact that the Indians were always moving, I can understand why as the American people were probably settles, happy and content with where they lived, however the plains Indians always being on the move might have caused them to seem somewhat homeless, like a vagrant on the streets to the Americans perhaps? I disagree with this because I believe that the plains Indians thought the whole plains s their homes, not Just one little settlement.Source nine on page twenty five, an extract from a book by George Cattail explains that women who are giving birth pass through the painful process with ease, although there is little evidence to show this, perhaps this was also thought uncivilized by the American folk, this might be because the women, who were simple giving birth with no huge amount of suffering, leads us to believe they encounter such labor in daily life, or have adapted to such conditions, the Americans clearly could not cope with child birth in the same way that he Indian women could so they may have thought that their lives were a lot more physical, stressful and tiring compared to theirs. This however is not true in my opinion because the Indians Just went about their lives in the way that they did, and this somewhat of an adaptation was a mere side effect of their nomadic lives (being on horseback often).Another reason that causes me to disagree with the statement is the way that children are treated, it is said on page twenty five that the children of the tribe were very rarely misbehaved, and were taught to respect all living things ND elders from birth. They were also ra rely punished, and in extreme cases they merely had cold water thrown on them. This seems a lot less harsh than the way modern man deals with children and also the how the American folk did too. This is another reason that makes the Indians seem more civilized in a way, as their children seemed to be a lot better behaved, despite being breast fed for longer. Moving on to and cruel.The whit American folk would care for their elders, put them in homes so they could be treated to help them live longer and keep them happy. However old people often were Just left behind when they became too weak to travel, to die on their own. Or some even went off to die by themselves. This I must admit seems rather cruel, but it was usually by the elder's choice and so it does not seem as bad as it initially seems to be. Widows also, seemed to be dealt with in a strange manner compared to today, when a brave was killed in battle, the widow would soon be married to another man, to keep the woman protect ed, and also so more children could be conceived.Moving on once more, I think that in terms of how law and order ere kept, the Indians were a lot less organized, however this worked for them very well. In source two on page twenty nine, we find that the Comanche tribe elect chief in a very unconventional way, it is said â€Å"No one made him such; he Just got that way'. This suggests that the actual chief of the tribe was not selected because of diplomatic, politic or people skills, he Just simply seemed a goof man for the Job. This would give an impression of uncivilized behavior toward said white Americans, but once again, to them it seemed normal and thought well of. As we move on to talk bout battles, this is probably where all the accusations of blood thirst and cruelty matter most.The Indians had very different beliefs and ideas about battles and bravery, the most prominent example of this is of course, ‘scalping. Scalping is the art of literally, cutting off an enemy's scalp in the midst of battle, now this seems very harsh at first look, the poor victim doesn't necessarily have to be dead to receive this treatment, so why does it happen? What makes these people so cruel? Is it because they are indeed, bloodthirsty and malicious? After careful study of various source, I o not believe so. Although to the victim, and to the historian who observes this act for the first time, it seems that this is simple bloodless in the heat of battle, the plains Indians have very different reasons for this treatment.You see, within a tribe there are various ranks of men, these ranks are determined by how brave the particular warrior performs in battle, to touch and enemy, to steal a horse, to kill a man is all counted toward the Indians honor, to bring back an enemy scalp is not a thirst for blood or an act of cruelty, it is a prize of honor, and proof to the tribe that the airier is skilled in battle. These scalps are dried out and hung, or used to adorn the warr ior's body to show what a skilled warrior he was. However as white Americans believed bravery was achieved by simply standing and fighting until you died for your country, naturally this reaction was probably one of fear, and perhaps disbelief.These accusations of being uncivilized and cruel are by no means true in my opinion, I believe it is down to ignorance of the white Americans who observed the Indians, it is not that they are bloodthirsty, but the clash and blatant differences in the cultures ads the more ‘civilized' in to believing so. If one was in a situation where you Were' in one of these Indian tribes, you would by no means think you are bloodthirsty, uncivilized and cruel. So to conclude, I disagree with this earlier statement because I believe the Indians were Just behaving in a way which seemed normal to them, and I strongly think that the Indians did not believe that they were cruel. Which I believe is what matters most. These rituals and battle procedures were important, spiritual and normal to them, and that in my eyes does not make them bloodthirsty or malicious in

Learning Chinese: A fashionable trend Essay

Learning mandarin has caught the attention of millions of people, emerging as a new must have language in many Asian countries, Europe and the USA, having many desperately trying to master one of the world’s hardest languages. Mandarin is seen as a key skill for people hitching their futures to China’s economic rise, bringing huge benefits and advantages. Since English is spoken so universally, it no longer offers companies and employees the edge it once did. As China is rising, the world is embracing Mandarin, where it is spoken by one out of every six people on earth. In South Korea, there was an increase of 66% over the past five years of students learning the Chinese language. Japanese secondary schools have also been offering mandarin courses, the most taught foreign language after English. Moreover, Thailand’s Ministry of Education has decided to include Mandarin education in all high schools starting 2008, and later on planning to expand it to junior high and elementary. Chinese is daunting to learn for many, because of the tones used in speech, and the thousands of characters that must be memorized to be considered literate. Nevertheless, this has created a flourish in language centers, educational programs and improvement of electronic dictionaries teaching mandarin, as several countries such as the U.S just don’t have enough trained mandarin teachers. â€Å"The level of interest is high, but the level of expertise is low,† says Scott Mc Ginnis, an academic adviser at the Defense language Institute in Washington. The Chinese language was once discriminated against during the Cold War, being considered the language of the enemy. Right wing governments in Asian countries feared their regime would be toppled by the spread of communism. However, there are no longer any prejudices against the language, and even considered fashionable. Many teenagers have used pop icons as an inspiration for learning the Chinese language, in hopes of decoding what is said during popular watched soaps and songs lyrics. â€Å"Since Chinese is the language spoken by the largest population, in addition to many markets which have flourished in China, learning Mandarin would be a great benefit, since its is expected for China to become a hub for the future economy,† commented Yeh, a Taiwanese 8th grader, fortunately having Chinese as her mother tongue.image00.png As China’s economic clout grows, learning Mandarin offers a strategic advantage such as reducing misunderstandings. Even though many predict it wouldn’t overtake English as the common language, mastering the language would provide an edge in the 21st century. America Losing Its Dominanceimage01.png The U.S has steadily begun to lose its dominance in areas such as science, and innovation against Europe and Asian countries such as Japan, China, Singapore and Taiwan. Foreign advances in science often exceed America’s, as industrializing countries are catching up aggressively. David Baltimore, president of the California Institute of Technology and a 1975 Nobel laureate in Medicine, puts it bluntly: â€Å"We can’t hope to keep intact our standard of living, our national security, our way of life, if Americans aren’t competitive in science. Period.† European scientists have been making vast achievements, such as detecting methane in the atmosphere of planet Mars. In addition, Asia has been growing technology and innovative wise, seeing output number of papers skyrocketing to a peak. The stance that America has in the scientific world is being shaken, competed and rivaled by foreigners. Even though many say President Bush is to blame by failing to provide enough money for research, the charge has been denied, stating that research budgets during the Bush administrations have been higher than ever before. image02.png The numbers of doctorates and scientists have been falling drastically these previous years according to Dr. Hicks of Georgia Tech. Scientific papers have been falling by 10% due to rising foreign competition, and also a brain drain crisis. The number of doctoral students from China, India and Taiwan planning to stay in the United States began to fall by the hundreds, returning to their own countries. These numbers are significant since researchers from foreign countries account for more than a quarter of industrial patents awarded each year in the U.S. â€Å"After the September 11 crisis, and tightening security on visas, I no longer want to go to the U.S for higher education as it is complicated, and would rather go elsewhere†. Taiwan and Singapore are surging way ahead of the U.S in electronics, and China rapidly growing on medical apparatus. These cause fewer skilled jobs in America, and a decrease of discoveries and innovations. Several private groups in Washington have begun to promote industrial vigor, and agitate for action in order for the U.S to have a place in the scientific society. Since science and technology are key to economic growth and prosperity, Jennifer Bond, the U.S. council’s vice president for international affairs stated, â€Å"They’re [foreign countries] catching up to us,† warning Americans not to â€Å"rest on our laurels.†

How do family traditions and cultural legacies contribute to and/or inhibit an individuals self-identity? Essay

Are Test Scores a Good Indication of a School’s Competency? Ever studied for a test and still manage to receive a failing score? It happens to almost all of us. Schools may effectively or ineffectively design study material for a chapter, but to me it does not have a big effect of the overall resulting test scores. A high grade average depends on the students’ method of studying and comprehension, the way that the instructor teaches the material, and the way that the test it produced. On numerous occasions, students have reviewed specific test material and gained plenty of confidence for success, but failed with the most horrifying score of their life. On the other hand, some students may choose to cram as much as they can right before taking the test and excel. Every student has a different level of comprehension; some may learn faster than others, or be a different type of learner. Normally, students will be informed of an approaching test, this way each student know to more attentive during class time and while studying. The amount of tine that one has to prepare for an upcoming test varies. That length of time may be brief or extended. Because of the fact that every student is different, the time they may require to study effectively varies. I personally need about a week’s worth of study time to retain most of the appropriate information. Some may only need a few days. This can sometimes be a reflection of the way the material has been taught to a stud ent. For effective education retention, a study plan must be well-organized and taught thoroughly. Some instructors become lackadaisical causing the students to not be fully prepared for a final test while depending solely on that professor’s teachings. No matter how organized and thorough a lesson plan is designed, if the material is not taught right, the scores will not be right. Students should not depend only on the professor. They should combine what is taught to the with their own study method so that they can comprehend. A lot of times, students will believe that attending class and paying attention is enough which is false. They can be taught one way and be tested on it the subject in another form. Often times, students may say, â€Å"that had nothing to do with what I studied  all week for.† From my past experiences, I would study diligently for a test and find that the test asks questions that were not given examples of in the study material. That has to be one of the most frustrating things for a student. If schools were to have tests contain more of what was taught to the students, there would be a higher test grade scale. By this I mean that tests should ask similar questions that the homework asks or that were given in examples. I am sure that many can relate to a test asking questions that they have never seen. To sum it all up, the end result of a test depends on how much effort is put forth from the student, the student’s comprehension level, and the effectiveness of the instructor’s teaching method. There may be an A student who experiences test anxiety, this can cause low testing scores. There may be a student who cheats, of course, this mainly results in higher scores. There also may be a student who just happens to be a great test taker. Test scores are not a good indication of a schools competency.

Innovation to Sustainability of Google Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Innovation to Sustainability of Google - Essay Example This discussion stresses that  the other innovation by Google is the sorting of junk from important material and organizes it to help you spotlight on the messages that matter. And it allows a user of Gmail through your computer's microphone and speakers to call anyone with a phone at the lowest costs. The news in the air is that Google will soon disclose its new innovation which is named as Nexus 7. It is a tablet of the price same as the Kindle Fire and it pretty much has the same capabilities. Google has planned not to stop innovating new products and in upcoming years more such mind bobbling gadgets will surely rule the minds of the people.This paper highlights that  Google is on the watch out for its third most important commercial hit after proper research and marketing. The main element of innovation is their far-reaching and forceful usage of data and testing for supporting thoughts. Google spotlight more on analytics and data goes far away from that of most business and still it is contained by contact of most organization for adopting an analytics driven advancement to assessing innovation. Google make use of prediction markets proposes that it has elevated place and significance on the intelligence and beliefs of employees. Google Inc. is an American international corporation which provides Internet associated products and services, together with internet search, cloud computing, software and marketing technologies. 2.4 People Google really value their people and appreciate them for their working. They hire individuals who are smart and focused. They always favour abilities of individuals as opposed to their experiences. The company is always in search of people from all walks of life. They support multicultural environment and favours multi languages reflecting the global audiences. They have maintained an open culture environment in which every person feels comfortable in sharing ideas and opinions. Their entire organizational culture supports and encourages interaction between Googlers within and across teams which endorses a culture of growing. 3. Process 3.1 Search Google Glass is one of the most revolutionary products of the current century. It is a major breakthrough in the modern technological world of today and is years ahead and far more advanced than smart phones. While using similar features that are used in most of the latest smart phones like the iPhone or Samsung S3, Google Glass is a pair of glasses that features a heads up display which has a 720p camera built into it along with a microphone and an earpiece. It is the next leap into the world of hands free communication. Thus with the Google Glass, Google brings the augmented fantasy from science fiction novels and

Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us Essay

Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us - Essay Example Bee venom is also referred to as apitoxin or bee sting venom. Scientifically, it is also known by such names as apis venenum and apitoxine among others (Stearns, 2012). As the name suggests, bee venom is a product of bees. As a matter of fact, it is the venom that makes it painful when a person is stung by bees. Nonetheless, bee venom should not be confused with honey, bee pollen or royal jelly. Basically, bee venom is a major product of the bees. These insects use it as a defense mechanism or a weapon to protect their territory. This article reveals that bee venom is not only feared but also does magic within human body. Bee venom contains some wonderful substances. In fact, it contains up to forty pharmacologically active ingredients. Some of them include mellitin, apamin, adolapin, dopamine and others. Each of these active substances has a different effect on our bodies. This means that once a bee stings a person, the pain dies after about one hour, and the venom left behind begin s to do wonders. Of course, the introduction (actual insertion of the bee sting into human body) is painful and feared by almost everyone. On the other hand, bee venom can be used to combat a number of ailments including insomnia, headache, inflammation, osteoarthritis, skin problems and others. In fact, it has been said that when a person has severe headache, he or she could have a quick relief via a bee sting. This practice is normally referred to as BVT (bee venom therapy). Astonishingly, bee venom has recently been found to contain a key ingredient that destroys HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Perhaps, this is a breakthrough, especially considering that HIV/AIDS has continually killed millions of people without cure (Saini & Peterson, 1999). Bee venom has not only been shown to destroy HIV cells, but it also does so without harming other cells. This is very important in treatment of any other disease because the aim is not just to kill the bacteria but also to protect other body cells. Researchers have loaded the toxin (referred to as melittin) onto nanoparticles styled with bumpers that normal cells bounced off unaffected. According to the researchers, HIV cells are small enough and can fit between bumpers. This means that they can make contact with the surface of the nanoparticles where bee venom awaits (ScienceDaily, 2013). Consequently, melittin on these nanoparticles fuses with viral envelopes and ruptures them. Of course, this strips the virus’s shell thereby killing it. The difference between the bee venom technique and existing HIV treatment drugs is that the latter techniques attempt to slow down the virus’s ability to duplicate. It is worth noting that the virus has also evolved to evade most of these anti-HIV drugs. What is more, bee venom ingredients (in particular melittin) attack the virus’ natural structure. There is theoretically no mechanism to grow adaptive evasion responses to this. Altogether, ingredients found in bee venom are strategically placed to destroy HIV. The bee venom antiviral therapy has propositions for areas rampant with HIV. For instance, it can be used by women together with vaginal preventative gel. This prevents the initial infection. In addition, treatments could be devised for drug resistant HIV. Such treatments can be delivered intravenously, potentially clearing the blood of the virus. Let us not forget the possibility for this type of treatment being applicable for couples in

Teacher-Student Physical Distance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Teacher-Student Physical Distance - Essay Example An art classroom is much more spatial than a normal classroom. The walls of classrooms were usually in light colors, with windows to allow enough sunlight. The posters on the walls were made of attractive colors and were arranged in a manner that is pleasant to look upon. Yes, there were differences, but there were also similarities. So I wondered, what were the reasons that classroom set-up was arranged in a particular manner? Does it influence the students’ learning? How? In particular, is the distance between the instructor and the student important? How does it affect the learning of the students? When the reasons for these set-ups are understood, then more individuals will support it – especially if it means learning efficiency. The mentors will employ this knowledge seeing that this will aid them in their endeavors to pass on knowledge to their students. Learners will also appreciate this, knowing that this will aid in them in gaining knowledge – the primar y reason why they study. LITERATURE REVIEW It has been well documented in literature that human emotions play a significant role in the way we live. We experience emotions in all of our activities, making these emotions sometimes control the activities that we engage in (Shan 142). As Shan (142) have said, â€Å"pleasant emotional experience can contribute to active and positive imitation and repetition, accompanied by pleasure, satisfaction and love etc., while the unpleasant one can cause people to behave negatively, leading to anger, complaints, hate, etc.† Since learning is also an activity that we do, emotions are therefore also important in the learning process. Classroom instruction is a communication process between the teacher and the students. Since emotions are involved here, the instructor’s emotions will affect the students just as the students’ will affect the instructor (Shan, 143). Astleitner (128) argued that influencing emotions during classroo m instruction is important as this will affect the learning of the students. The Fear Envy Anger Sympathy Pleasure or FEASP Theory is an approach that integrates emotions into classroom instruction (Astleitner 128; Astleitner, Hurek and Sztejnberg 63) saying that positive feelings (sympathy and pleasure) should be cultivated in the instructional design and conversely, avoid the negative emotions (fear, envy, anger). When Simon A. Lei (128) reviewed the literature about the effects of the physical design of a classroom to the learning of the students, he found a similar basic foundation. Though students learn in various ways, what remained the same was the fact that classrooms must be designed in such a way that positive feelings should be cultivated to empower both educators and learners. Then the various ways that students learn in the classroom will be facilitated. Seven physical attributes of a classroom that have a profound impact to student learning were identified by Lei (128- 129). First was the size of a room which could be small or large depending on the number of students on the class. Second was the furniture arrangement which could either be flexible or attached to the floor. Third was technology system arrangement in the classroom; if a modern technology was available there and where it was located. Fourth was lighting in the room; the intensity of light, its source, and if a multiple light settings were present. Fifth was the

Disciplinary Rhetoric Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Disciplinary Rhetoric - Essay Example which outlines the differences between the treatment of lepers in Medieval Christian and Medieval Islamic society. Based on these three articles, several features of the writing of Medieval history stand out. These features are: knowledge tends to be fairly specialized, with all authors having a general idea of the overall history of the middle ages but a much more intensive focus on a small part of that history, reliance on written primary sources, heavy use of conjecture to compensate for the paucity of written primary sources, and an odd mixture of clear and simple writing with little assumption of former knowledge and use of specialized writing, making this writing both accessible and inaccessible to a layman simultaneously. One of the first things that becomes apparent in studies of medieval history is that an incredibly accessible writing style, which assumes very little previous knowledge in the field, seems to be very highly regarded. For instance, even though one would assum e that a basic overview of the process of the Norman Conquest of England, one of the defining features of Medieval History, would be known by anyone who would bother reading an academic article on the subject, James MacGregor opens his article by explaining that â€Å"after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror consolidated his authority over England by rewarding his companions with lands in his newly won kingdom† (MacGregor, 219). This structure is paralleled in Chevedden’s article, which explains the beginning of the First Crusade, a subject that most medievalists would probably not need explained (Chevedden, 183). These authors go even further than to explain the basic underpinnings of the history they are discussing, by for instance always ensuring that the identity of every person discussed is explained. When referring to â€Å"Ali, ibn Tahir al-Sulami,† Chevedden does not simply assume that anyone who would be reading his article would know that perso n because they were important in the field of medieval history, but explains that he was â€Å"a legal scholar and preacher at the great Mosque of Damascus [†¦] six years after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099† (Chevedden, 184). Likewise, Dols in his article on Leprosy in Islam explains details about individuals who suffered from the disease, where they were placed in their society, and what their role was in history (Dols, 892). Medievalists seem to go to great lengths to avoid assuming prior knowledge on the part of their readers about specifics of the history they discuss. They outline major events, names and places before going on to deeper analysis, which makes their writing incredibly accessible. This is probably done because Medieval History is such a wide-spread and diverse field, covering many different nations and time periods, so even experts might not have details on another expert’

Obesity Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Obesity - Dissertation Example Obesity is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as a condition of increased body weight that is caused by an excessive accumulation of fat. Obesity has also been termed the new â€Å"epidemic† in both adults and children. In 1998 the World Health Organization (WHO) designated obesity as a global epidemic (Anrig, 2003). Healthcare professionals can measure the percent of body fat in children by using Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is calculated from a person’s height and weight and provides a reasonable indicator of body fatness and weight categories that may lead to health problems. Establishing healthy habits in youth can help prevent many health problems later on in life which will drastically reduce the costs of healthcare. For this reason many public health professionals are interested in working with school systems to reach children in school settings. If we look back over the past 50 years we can see dramatic changes in the way children play, eat meals, and soc ialize. Today lifestyles are busier but less active. (See table 1 in appendix A). Since 1950, the amount of nutritional information available to the public has roughly doubled every seven years. In the years between 1950 and 2000, â€Å"obesity rose by 214% until today, where 64.5 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as being overweight or obese† (Weiss, n.d.). Even though technology has taken away the need for most physical activity, there must be steps taken to provide cost effective solutions and provide a healthier lifestyle for children that will lead to healthy adults. The good news is that schools nationwide are becoming aware of this epidemic and are working with health professionals by taking steps to provide a healthy lifestyle for children. Schools can play an important role in improving the health of children and the adults they will become. Children generally attend school 5 days a week throughout the calendar year. During childhood and adolescent years habits develop that determine physical activity and eating habits. These health habits will determine the development of such diseases as cardiovascular, cancer and diabetes which are now major causes of premature death and disabilities in the United States and the Western World. Public Health professionals are very interested in funding school based programs that can provide a foundation for lifelong healthy behaviors and greatly reduce the burden of these preventable health conditions for both individuals and society as a whole. There is largely an unmet need for effective school-based programs that promote healthy behaviors. It has not been an easy task engaging these partnerships for many reasons, one being funding. With the embracing of these school based programs by public health professionals, it is imperative that these programs be rigorously evaluated to show effectiveness. To be considered effective these programs must undergo systematic measurement and an alysis using solid research methods and study designs. The Center for Disease Control’

Personality Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personality Development - Essay Example In hoarding we see people who see the entire world as a possession that they must acquire, while the marketing orientation includes those who mold themselves to what they feel society’s image of them is, they dislike anything old and crave anything new. These are closely related to Horney’s moving against people orientation, where we see the need for power, control, and recognition They also are similar to Horney’s moving away from people orientation, which includes the need of autonomy, the need for perfection, the need of self sufficiency, and the need to feel better than others. Like all of Horney’s orientations, moving toward people is also fraught with needs: the need to be loved, the need to gain the approval of others, and the need to please others. Fromm’s last orientation, necrophilous, deals mainly with death and destruction, something that Horney does not touch on. Fromm’s one orientation that is positive is the productive one, whe re people continually learn to relate to the world and others in it, and learn to truly love, and have no fear of acceptance.

In-House Versus Outsourcing Approaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

In-House Versus Outsourcing Approaches - Essay Example However, Kamarazaly (2007, p.4) argues that decisions on choosing between outsourcing and in-house should not be based solely on financial evaluation.Comparison of In-House and Outsourcing Approaches Nxt is involved in the business of delivering parcels and it consists of two companies with NXT Services specializing in non-secure items while Nxt Secure deals with secure items. Moreover, the organization sub-contracts other courier companies to deliver 75 percent of all items at a fixed charge. Upon delivery, courier companies have to give feedback to Nxt which in turn scans the feedback to the customer to confirm the delivery. Presently, the company is facing several hurdles in its operations which can be rectified innovation and implementation of modern information technology systems. Nxt currently relies on externally sourced PostCode Address File, hand signed documents upon delivery of items and the driver's information to know the exact place that they are. This has led to variou s problems such as delayed delivery of items, drivers diverting from the route thereby increasing the operational cost and the hand signatures delay the confirmation of delivery. As noted by Zizakovic (2004, p.1), there comes a time when the present process cannot continue for long and the available system starts to show some weakness signals the time for making a decision to build a new system, consequently, the organization has to decide whether to build it in-house or outsource. Nxt has come to this point; the organization has a project support office that can lead the way in building a new system or they can source from a third party. Nxt wants to implement a GPS system that will monitor and relay back information on the exact position of the vehicle in real time. The telemetry system allows the sharing of information and will relay to the hub data on stoppage of the vehicles, detect any problems in the route and thereby facilitate the making of decisions and also improve the se curity of the driver when traveling alone. Moreover, the company is also contemplating investing in PDAs which will help customers to electronically sign on receipt of items thereby dealing with the problem of delayed signatures which are used to monitor performance. PDAs if adopted will also help in identifying new markets and save time used in the delivery. Despite the great potential that implementation of these technologies will have in streamlining the operations of Nxt; the organizations face financial constraints and the fact that it has never been involved in the implementation of such a huge project.

My experience as a mechanical engineer and my thoughts and how to Assignment

My experience as a mechanical engineer and my thoughts and how to handle the career - Assignment Example But that happens to be just the first step. The field of Mechanical Engineering is so diverse and dynamic with the rapid advancement of technology that one constantly needs to upgrade one’s skills as a Mechanical Engineer. Strengths As a Mechanical Engineer, one gets to work in a variety of settings. This not only builds knowledge but also expands one’s social network with other professionals from his/her field. As a licensed professional Mechanical Engineer, one can review the design drawings and has the authority to sign them off. One gets the opportunity to supervise and manage a diverse team. With experience, a Mechanical Engineer gets more and more skilled and independent. Becoming a Professional Engineer enables one to establish one’s own design and consultancy firm. Weaknesses Mechanical Engineering is a very vast field comprising numerous subjects. Although the knowledge is infinite, yet one’s ability to learn and really master an area of Mechanica l Engineering is limited by a number of constraints including time, type and nature of job, and responsibilities outside the work. Once I entered my professional career as a Mechanical Engineer after getting my degree, my skills developed in a specific field of Mechanical Engineering. ... One can have ten years of experience as a Mechanical Engineer and yet be no different than a fresh university graduate if one switches to an area of Mechanical Engineering that one has not had a prior experience in. Opportunities One thing that I love about Mechanical Engineering is that the scope of this field of engineering is very large. Mechanical Engineers have opportunities waiting for them in every part of the world in general and in the advanced countries in particular. The technological advancement is an opportunity to enhance one’s engineering skills. The contemporary organizations encourage innovation as a means to find the solutions of problems. The changes that have taken place in the curriculum of Mechanical Engineering are another opportunity. Computerized training is an essential part of the latest curriculum of Mechanical Engineering in a vast majority of the engineering colleges around the world. Competence in the use of softwares and their knowledge is what provides the Mechanical Engineers with an edge in the market in the present age. Challenges The field of Mechanical Engineering is quite dynamic. The pace of technological advancement has increased over the past few decades. Many industries are employing latest technology using complex systems. A major threat in the field of Mechanical Engineering is collapse of the motor vehicle industries that has created a void in the employment opportunities for the Mechanical Engineers. In addition to that, the global financial crisis that started in 2008 has posed numerous challenges to the engineering fraternity. Many Mechanical Engineers have lost their jobs as a result of downsizing attempts made by their companies which has lowered the morale of the engineers. The

American culture Essay Example for Free

American culture Essay The arts, more than other features of culture, provide avenues for the expression of imagination and personal vision. They offer a range of emotional and intellectual pleasures to consumers of art and are an important way in which a culture represents itself. There has long been a Western tradition distinguishing those arts that appeal to the multitude, such as popular music, from those—such as classical orchestral music—normally available to the elite of learning and taste. Popular art forms are usually seen as more representative American products. In the United States in the recent past, there has been a blending of popular and elite art forms, as all the arts experienced a period of remarkable cross-fertilization. Because popular art forms are so widely distributed, arts of all kinds have prospered. The arts in the United States express the many faces and the enormous creative range of the American people. Especially since World War II, American innovations and the immense energy displayed in literature, dance, and music have made American cultural works world famous. Arts in the United States have become internationally prominent in ways that are unparalleled in history. American art forms during the second half of the 20th century often defined the styles and qualities that the rest of the world emulated. At the end of the 20th century, American art was considered equal in quality and vitality to art produced in the rest of the world. Throughout the 20th century, American arts have grown to incorporate new visions and voices. Much of this new artistic energy came in the wake of America’s emergence as a superpower after World War II. But it was also due to the growth of New York City as an important center for publishing and the arts, and the immigration of artists and intellectuals fleeing fascism in Europe before and during the war. An outpouring of talent also followed the civil rights and protest movements of the 1960s, as cultural discrimination against blacks, women, and other groups diminished. American arts flourish in many places and receive support from private foundations, large corporations, local governments, federal agencies, museums, galleries, and individuals. What is considered worthy of support often depends on definitions of quality and of what constitutes art. This is a tricky subject when the popular arts are increasingly incorporated into the domain of the fine arts and new forms such as performance art and conceptual art appear. As a result, defining what is art affects what students are taught about past traditions (for example, Native American tent paintings, oral traditions, and slave narratives) and what is produced in the future. While some practitioners, such as studio artists, are more vulnerable to these definitions because they depend on financial support to exercise their talents, others, such as poets and photographers, are less immediately constrained. Artists operate in a world where those who theorize and critique their work have taken on an increasingly important role. Audiences are influenced by a variety of intermediaries—critics, the schools, foundations that offer grants, the National Endowment for the Arts, gallery owners, publishers, and theater producers. In some areas, such as the performing arts, popular audiences may ultimately define success. In other arts, such as painting and sculpture, success is far more dependent on critics and a few, often wealthy, art collectors. Writers depend on publishers and on the public for their success. Unlike their predecessors, who relied on formal criteria and appealed to aesthetic judgments, critics at the end of the 20th century leaned more toward popular tastes, taking into account groups previously ignored and valuing the merger of popular and elite forms. These critics often relied less on aesthetic judgments than on social measures and were eager to place artistic productions in the context of the time and social conditions in which they were created. Whereas earlier critics attempted to create an American tradition of high art, later critics used art as a means to give power and approval to nonelite groups who were previously not considered worthy of including in the nation’s artistic heritage. Not so long ago, culture and the arts were assumed to be an unalterable inheritance—the accumulated wisdom and highest forms of achievement that were established in the past. In the 20th century generally, and certainly since World War II, artists have been boldly destroying older traditions in sculpture, painting, dance, music, and literature. The arts have changed rapidly, with one movement replacing another in quick succession. a) Visual arts. The visual arts have traditionally included forms of expression that appeal to the eyes through painted surfaces, and to the sense of space through carved or molded materials. In the 19th century, photographs were added to the paintings, drawings, and sculpture that make up the visual arts. The visual arts were further augmented in the 20th century by the addition of other materials, such as found objects. These changes were accompanied by a profound alteration in tastes, as earlier emphasis on realistic representation of people, objects, and landscapes made way for a greater range of imaginative forms. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American art was considered inferior to European art. Despite noted American painters such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, and John Marin, American visual arts barely had an international presence. American art began to flourish during the Great Depression of the 1930s as New Deal government programs provided support to artists along with other sectors of the population. Artists connected with each other and developed a sense of common purpose through programs of the Public Works Administration, such as the Federal Art Project, as well as programs sponsored by the Treasury Department. Most of the art of the period, including painting, photography, and mural work, focused on the plight of the American people during the depression, and most artists painted real people in difficult circumstances. Artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Ben Shahn expressed the suffering of ordinary people through their representations of struggling farmers and workers. While artists such as Benton and Grant Wood focused on rural life, many painters of the 1930s and 1940s depicted the multicultural life of the American city. Jacob Lawrence, for example, re-created the history and lives of African Americans. Other artists, such as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, tried to use human figures to describe emotional states such as loneliness and despair. Abstract Expressionism. Shortly after World War II, American art began to garner worldwide attention and admiration. This change was due to the innovative fervor of abstract expressionism in the 1950s and to subsequent modern art movements and artists. The abstract expressionists of the mid-20th century broke from the realist and figurative tradition set in the 1930s. They emphasized their connection to international artistic visions rather than the particularities of people and place, and most abstract expressionists did not paint human figures (although artist Willem de Kooning did portrayals of women). Color, shape, and movement dominated the canvases of abstract expressionists. Some artists broke with the Western art tradition by adopting innovative painting styles—during the 1950s Jackson Pollock painted by dripping paint on canvases without the use of brushes, while the paintings of Mark Rothko often consisted of large patches of color that seem to vibrate. Abstract expressionists felt alienated from their surrounding culture and used art to challenge society’s conventions. The work of each artist was quite individual and distinctive, but all the artists identified with the radicalism of artistic creativity. The artists were eager to challenge conventions and limits on expression in order to redefine the nature of art. Their radicalism came from liberating themselves from the confining artistic traditions of the past. The most notable activity took place in New York City, which became one of the world’s most important art centers during the second half of the 20th century. The radical fervor and inventiveness of the abstract expressionists, their frequent association with each other in New York City’s Greenwich Village, and the support of a group of gallery owners and dealers turned them into an artistic movement. Also known as the New York School, the participants included Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, and Arshile Gorky, in addition to Rothko and Pollock. The members of the New York School came from diverse backgrounds such as the American Midwest and Northwest, Armenia, and Russia, bringing an international flavor to the group and its artistic visions. They hoped to appeal to art audiences everywhere, regardless of culture, and they felt connected to the radical innovations introduced earlier in the 20th century by European artists such as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp. Some of the artists—Hans Hofmann, Gorky, Rothko, and de Kooning—were not born in the United States, but all the artists saw themselves as part of an international creative movement and an aesthetic rebellion. As artists felt released from the boundaries and conventions of the past and free to emphasize expressiveness and innovation, the abstract expressionists gave way to other innovative styles in American art. Beginning in the 1930s Joseph Cornell created hundreds of boxed assemblages, usually from found objects, with each based on a single theme to create a mood of contemplation and sometimes of reverence. Cornells boxes exemplify the modern fascination with individual vision, art that breaks down boundaries between forms such as painting and sculpture, and the use of everyday objects toward a new end. Other artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg, combined disparate objects to create large, collage-like sculptures known as combines in the 1950s. Jasper Johns, a painter, sculptor, and printmaker, recreated countless familiar objects, most memorably the American flag. The most prominent American artistic style to follow abstract expressionism was the pop art movement that began in the 1950s. Pop art attempted to connect traditional art and popular culture by using images from mass culture. To shake viewers out of their preconceived notions about art, sculptor Claes Oldenburg used everyday objects such as pillows and beds to create witty, soft sculptures. Roy Lichtenstein took this a step further by elevating the techniques of commercial art, notably cartooning, into fine art worthy of galleries and museums. Lichtensteins large, blown-up cartoons fill the surface of his canvases with grainy black dots and question the existence of a distinct realm of high art. These artists tried to make their audiences see ordinary objects in a refreshing new way, thereby breaking down the conventions that formerly defined what was worthy of artistic representation. Probably the best-known pop artist, and a leader in the movement, was Andy Warhol, whose images of a Campbell’s soup can and of the actress Marilyn Monroe explicitly eroded the boundaries between the art world and mass culture. Warhol also cultivated his status as a celebrity. He worked in film as a director and producer to break down the boundaries between traditional and popular art. Unlike the abstract expressionists, whose conceptual works were often difficult to understand, Andy Warhols pictures, and his own face, were instantly recognizable. Conceptual art, as it came to be known in the 1960s, like its predecessors, sought to break free of traditional artistic associations. In conceptual art, as practiced by Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth, concept takes precedent over actual object, by stimulating thought rather than following an art tradition based on conventional standards of beauty and artisanship. Modern artists changed the meaning of traditional visual arts and brought a new imaginative dimension to ordinary experience. Art was no longer viewed as separate and distinct, housed in museums as part of a historical inheritance, but as a continuous creative process. This emphasis on constant change, as well as on the ordinary and mundane, reflected a distinctly American democratizing perspective. Viewing art in this way removed the emphasis from technique and polished performance, and many modern artworks and experiences became more about expressing ideas than about perfecting finished products. Photography. Photography is probably the most democratic modern art form because it can be, and is, practiced by most Americans. Since 1888, when George Eastman developed the Kodak camera that allowed anyone to take pictures, photography has struggled to be recognized as a fine art form. In the early part of the 20th century, photographer, editor, and artistic impresario Alfred Stieglitz established 291, a gallery in New York City, with fellow photographer Edward Steichen, to showcase the works of photographers and painters. They also published a magazine called Camera Work to increase awareness about photographic art. In the United States, photographic art had to compete with the widely available commercial photography in news and fashion magazines. By the 1950s the tradition of photojournalism, which presented news stories primarily with photographs, had produced many outstanding works. In 1955 Steichen, who was director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, called attention to this work in an exhibition called The Family of Man. Throughout the 20th century, most professional photographers earned their living as portraitists or photojournalists, not as artists. One of the most important exceptions was Ansel Adams, who took majestic photographs of the Western American landscape. Adams used his art to stimulate social awareness and to support the conservation cause of the Sierra Club. He helped found the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in 1940, and six years later helped establish the photography department at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco (now the San Francisco Art Institute). He also held annual photography workshops at Yosemite National Park from 1955 to 1981 and wrote a series of influential books on photographic technique. Adamss elegant landscape photography was only one small stream in a growing current of interest in photography as an art form. Early in the 20th century, teacher-turned-photographer Lewis Hine established a documentary tradition in photography by capturing actual people, places, and events. Hine photographed urban conditions and workers, including child laborers. Along with their artistic value, the photographs often implicitly called for social reform. In the 1930s and 1940s, photographers joined with other depression-era artists supported by the federal government to create a hotographic record of rural America. Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein, among others, produced memorable and widely reproduced portraits of rural poverty and American distress during the Great Depression and during the dust storms of the period. In 1959, after touring the United States for two years, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank published The Americans, one of the landmarks of document ary photography. His photographs of everyday life in America introduced viewers to a depressing, and often depressed, America that existed in the midst of prosperity and world power. Photographers continued to search for new photographic viewpoints. This search was perhaps most disturbingly embodied in the work of Diane Arbus. Her photos of mental patients and her surreal depictions of Americans altered the viewer’s relationship to the photograph. Arbus emphasized artistic alienation and forced viewers to stare at images that often made them uncomfortable, thus changing the meaning of the ordinary reality that photographs are meant to capture. American photography continues to flourish. The many variants of art photography and socially conscious documentary photography are widely available in galleries, books, and magazines. A host of other visual arts thrive, although they are far less connected to traditional fine arts than photography. Decorative arts include, but are not limited to, art glass, furniture, jewelry, pottery, metalwork, and quilts. Often exhibited in craft galleries and studios, these decorative arts rely on ideals of beauty in shape and color as well as an appreciation of well-executed crafts. Some of these forms are also developed commercially. The decorative arts provide a wide range of opportunity for creative expression and have become a means for Americans to actively participate in art and to purchase art for their homes that is more affordable than works produced by many contemporary fine artists. 4. Performing arts As in other cultural spheres, the performing arts in the United States in the 20th century increasingly blended traditional and popular art forms. The classical performing arts—music, opera, dance, and theater—were not a widespread feature of American culture in the first half of the 20th century. These arts were generally imported from or strongly influenced by Europe and were mainly appreciated by the wealthy and well educated. Traditional art usually referred to classical forms in ballet and opera, orchestral or chamber music, and serious drama. The distinctions between traditional music and popular music were firmly drawn in most areas. During the 20th century, the American performing arts began to incorporate wider groups of people. The African American community produced great musicians who became widely known around the country. Jazz and blues singers such as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday spread their sounds to black and white audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, the swing music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller adapted jazz to make a unique American music that was popular around the country. The American performing arts also blended Latin American influences beginning in the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1940, Latin American dances, such as the tango from Argentina and the rumba from Cuba, were introduced into the United States. In the 1940s a fusion of Latin and jazz elements was stimulated first by the Afro-Cuban mambo and later on by the Brazilian bossa nova. Throughout the 20th century, dynamic classical institutions in the United States attracted international talent. Noted Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine established the short-lived American Ballet Company in the 1930s; later he founded the company that in the 1940s would become the New York City Ballet. The American Ballet Theatre, also established during the 1940s, brought in non-American dancers as well. By the 1970s this company had attracted Soviet defector Mikhail Baryshnikov, an internationally acclaimed dancer who served as the company’s artistic director during the 1980s. In classical music, influential Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who composed symphonies using innovative musical styles, moved to the United States in 1939. German-born pianist, composer, and conductor Andre Previn, who started out as a jazz pianist in the 1940s, went on to conduct a number of distinguished American symphony orchestras. Another Soviet, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, became conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D. C. , in 1977. Some of the most innovative artists in the first half of the 20th century successfully incorporated new forms into classical traditions. Composers George Gershwin and Aaron Copland, and dancer Isadora Duncan were notable examples. Gershwin combined jazz and spiritual music with classical in popular works such as Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935). Copland developed a unique style that was influenced by jazz and American folk music. Early in the century, Duncan redefined dance along more expressive and free-form lines. Some artists in music and dance, such as composer John Cage and dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, were even more experimental. During the 1930s Cage worked with electronically produced sounds and sounds made with everyday objects such as pots and pans. He even invented a new kind of piano. During the late 1930s, avant-garde choreographer Cunningham began to collaborate with Cage on a number of projects. Perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most popular, American innovation was the Broadway musical, which also became a movie staple. Beginning in the 1920s, the Broadway musical combined music, dance, and dramatic performance in ways that surpassed the older vaudeville shows and musical revues but without being as complex as European grand opera. By the 1960s, this American musical tradition was well established and had produced extraordinary works by important musicians and lyricists such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, and Oscar Hammerstein II. These productions required an immense effort to coordinate music, drama, and dance. Because of this, the musical became the incubator of an American modern dance tradition that produced some of Americas greatest choreographers, among them Jerome Robbins, Gene Kelly, and Bob Fosse. In the 1940s and 1950s the American musical tradition was so dynamic that it attracted outstanding classically trained musicians such as Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein composed the music for West Side Story, an updated version of Romeo and Juliet set in New York that became an instant classic in 1957. The following year, Bernstein became the first American-born conductor to lead a major American orchestra, the New York Philharmonic. He was an international sensation who traveled the world as an ambassador of the American style of conducting. He brought the art of classical music to the public, especially through his Young Peoples Concerts, television shows that were seen around the world. Bernstein used the many facets of the musical tradition as a force for change in the music world and as a way of bringing attention to American innovation. In many ways, Bernstein embodied a transformation of American music that began in the 1960s. The changes that took place during the 1960s and 1970s resulted from a significant increase in funding for the arts and their increased availability to larger audiences. New York City, the American center for art performances, experienced an artistic explosion in the 1960s and 1970s. Experimental off-Broadway theaters opened, new ballet companies were established that often emphasized modern forms or blended modern with classical (Martha Graham was an especially important influence), and an experimental music scene developed that included composers such as Philip Glass and performance groups such as the Guarneri String Quartet. Dramatic innovation also continued to expand with the works of playwrights such as Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, and David Mamet. As the variety of performances expanded, so did the serious crossover between traditional and popular music forms. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, an expanded repertoire of traditional arts was being conveyed to new audiences. Popular music and jazz could be heard in formal settings such as Carnegie Hall, which had once been restricted to classical music, while the Brooklyn Academy of Music became a venue for experimental music, exotic and ethnic dance presentations, and traditional productions of grand opera. Innovative producer Joseph Papp had been staging Shakespeare in Central Park since the 1950s. Boston conductor Arthur Fiedler was playing a mixed repertoire of classical and popular favorites to large audiences, often outdoors, with the Boston Pops Orchestra. By the mid-1970s the United States had several world-class symphony orchestras, including those in Chicago; New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even grand opera was affected. Once a specialized taste that often required extensive knowledge, opera in the United States increased in popularity as the roster of respected institutions grew to include companies in Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. American composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass began composing modern operas in a new minimalist style during the 1970s and 1980s. The crossover in tastes also influenced the Broadway musical, probably Americas most durable music form. Starting in the 1960s, rock music became an ingredient in musical productions such as Hair (1967). By the 1990s, it had become an even stronger presence in musicals such as Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (1996), which used African American music and dance traditions, and Rent (1996) a modern, rock version of the classic opera La Boheme. This updating of the musical opened the theater to new ethnic audiences who had not previously attended Broadway shows, as well as to young audiences who had been raised on rock music. Performances of all kinds have become more available across the country. This is due to both the sheer increase in the number of performance groups as well as to advances in transportation. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the number of major American symphonies doubled, the number of resident theaters increased fourfold, and the number of dance companies increased tenfold. At the same time, planes made it easier for artists to travel. Artists and companies regularly tour, and they expand the audiences for individual artists such as performance artist Laurie Anderson and opera singer Jessye Norman, for musical groups such as the Juilliard Quartet, and for dance troupes such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Full-scale theater productions and musicals first presented on Broadway now reach cities across the country. The United States, once a provincial outpost with a limited European tradition in performance, has become a flourishing center for the performing arts. . Arts and letters The arts, more than other features of culture, provide avenues for the expression of imagination and personal vision. They offer a range of emotional and intellectual pleasures to consumers of art and are an important way in which a culture represents itself. There has long been a Western tradition distinguishing those arts that appeal to the multitude, such as popul ar music, from those—such as classical orchestral music—normally available to the elite of learning and taste. Popular art forms are usually seen as more representative American products. In the United States in the recent past, there has been a blending of popular and elite art forms, as all the arts experienced a period of remarkable cross-fertilization. Because popular art forms are so widely distributed, arts of all kinds have prospered. The arts in the United States express the many faces and the enormous creative range of the American people. Especially since World War II, American innovations and the immense energy displayed in literature, dance, and music have made American cultural works world famous. Arts in the United States have become internationally prominent in ways that are unparalleled in history. American art forms during the second half of the 20th century often defined the styles and qualities that the rest of the world emulated. At the end of the 20th century, American art was considered equal in quality and vitality to art produced in the rest of the world. Throughout the 20th century, American arts have grown to incorporate new visions and voices. Much of this new artistic energy came in the wake of America’s emergence as a superpower after World War II. But it was also due to the growth of New York City as an important center for publishing and the arts, and the immigration of artists and intellectuals fleeing fascism in Europe before and during the war. An outpouring of talent also followed the civil rights and protest movements of the 1960s, as cultural discrimination against blacks, women, and other groups diminished. American arts flourish in many places and receive support from private foundations, large corporations, local governments, federal agencies, museums, galleries, and individuals. What is considered worthy of support often depends on definitions of quality and of what constitutes art. This is a tricky subject when the popular arts are increasingly incorporated into the domain of the fine arts and new forms such as performance art and conceptual art appear. As a result, defining what is art affects what students are taught about past traditions (for example, Native American tent paintings, oral traditions, and slave narratives) and what is produced in the future. While some practitioners, such as studio artists, are more vulnerable to these definitions because they depend on financial support to exercise their talents, others, such as poets and photographers, are less immediately constrained. Artists operate in a world where those who theorize and critique their work have taken on an increasingly important role. Audiences are influenced by a variety of intermediaries—critics, the schools, foundations that offer grants, the National Endowment for the Arts, gallery owners, publishers, and theater producers. In some areas, such as the performing arts, popular audiences may ultimately define success. In other arts, such as painting and sculpture, success is far more dependent on critics and a few, often wealthy, art collectors. Writers depend on publishers and on the public for their success. Unlike their predecessors, who relied on formal criteria and appealed to aesthetic judgments, critics at the end of the 20th century leaned more toward popular tastes, taking into account groups previously ignored and valuing the merger of popular and elite forms. These critics ften relied less on aesthetic judgments than on social measures and were eager to place artistic productions in the context of the time and social conditions in which they were created. Whereas earlier critics attempted to create an American tradition of high art, later critics used art as a means to give power and approval to nonelite groups who were previously not considered worthy of including in the nation’s artisti c heritage. Not so long ago, culture and the arts were assumed to be an unalterable inheritance—the accumulated wisdom and highest forms of achievement that were established in the past. In the 20th century generally, and certainly since World War II, artists have been boldly destroying older traditions in sculpture, painting, dance, music, and literature. The arts have changed rapidly, with one movement replacing another in quick succession. a) Visual arts. The visual arts have traditionally included forms of expression that appeal to the eyes through painted surfaces, and to the sense of space through carved or molded materials. In the 19th century, photographs were added to the paintings, drawings, and sculpture that make up the visual arts. The visual arts were further augmented in the 20th century by the addition of other materials, such as found objects. These changes were accompanied by a profound alteration in tastes, as earlier emphasis on realistic representation of people, objects, and landscapes made way for a greater range of imaginative forms. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American art was considered inferior to European art. Despite noted American painters such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, and John Marin, American visual arts barely had an international presence. American art began to flourish during the Great Depression of the 1930s as New Deal government programs provided support to artists along with other sectors of the population. Artists connected with each other and developed a sense of common purpose through programs of the Public Works Administration, such as the Federal Art Project, as well as programs sponsored by the Treasury Department. Most of the art of the period, including painting, photography, and mural work, focused on the plight of the American people during the depression, and most artists painted real people in difficult circumstances. Artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Ben Shahn expressed the suffering of ordinary people through their representations of struggling farmers and workers. While artists such as Benton and Grant Wood focused on rural life, many painters of the 1930s and 1940s depicted the multicultural life of the American city. Jacob Lawrence, for example, re-created the history and lives of African Americans. Other artists, such as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, tried to use human figures to describe emotional states such as loneliness and despair. Abstract Expressionism. Shortly after World War II, American art began to garner worldwide attention and admiration. This change was due to the innovative fervor of abstract expressionism in the 1950s and to subsequent modern art movements and artists. The abstract expressionists of the mid-20th century broke from the realist and figurative tradition set in the 1930s. They emphasized their connection to international artistic visions rather than the particularities of people and place, and most abstract expressionists did not paint human figures (although artist Willem de Kooning did portrayals of women). Color, shape, and movement dominated the canvases of abstract expressionists. Some artists broke with the Western art tradition by adopting innovative painting styles—during the 1950s Jackson Pollock painted by dripping paint on canvases without the use of brushes, while the paintings of Mark Rothko often consisted of large patches of color that seem to vibrate. Abstract expressionists felt alienated from their surrounding culture and used art to challenge society’s conventions. The work of each artist was quite individual and distinctive, but all the artists identified with the radicalism of artistic creativity. The artists were eager to challenge conventions and limits on expression in order to redefine the nature of art. Their radicalism came from liberating themselves from the confining artistic traditions of the past. The most notable activity took place in New York City, which became one of the world’s most important art centers during the second half of the 20th century. The radical fervor and inventiveness of the abstract expressionists, their frequent association with each other in New York City’s Greenwich Village, and the support of a group of gallery owners and dealers turned them into an artistic movement. Also known as the New York School, the participants included Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, and Arshile Gorky, in addition to Rothko and Pollock. The members of the New York School came from diverse backgrounds such as the American Midwest and Northwest, Armenia, and Russia, bringing an international flavor to the group and its artistic visions. They hoped to appeal to art audiences everywhere, regardless of culture, and they felt connected to the radical innovations introduced earlier in the 20th century by European artists such as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp. Some of the artists—Hans Hofmann, Gorky, Rothko, and de Kooning—were not born in the United States, but all the artists saw themselves as part of an international creative movement and an aesthetic rebellion. As artists felt released from the boundaries and conventions of the past and free to emphasize expressiveness and innovation, the abstract expressionists gave way to other innovative styles in American art. Beginning in the 1930s Joseph Cornell created hundreds of boxed assemblages, usually from found objects, with each based on a single theme to create a mood of contemplation and sometimes of reverence. Cornells boxes exemplify the modern fascination with individual vision, art that breaks down boundaries between forms such as painting and sculpture, and the use of everyday objects toward a new end. Other artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg, combined disparate objects to create large, collage-like sculptures known as combines in the 1950s. Jasper Johns, a painter, sculptor, and printmaker, recreated countless familiar objects, most memorably the American flag. The most prominent American artistic style to follow abstract expressionism was the pop art movement that began in the 1950s. Pop art attempted to connect traditional art and popular culture by using images from mass culture. To shake viewers out of their preconceived notions about art, sculptor Claes Oldenburg used everyday objects such as pillows and beds to create witty, soft sculptures. Roy Lichtenstein took this a step further by elevating the techniques of commercial art, notably cartooning, into fine art worthy of galleries and museums. Lichtensteins large, blown-up cartoons fill the surface of his canvases with grainy black dots and question the existence of a distinct realm of high art. These artists tried to make their audiences see ordinary objects in a refreshing new way, thereby breaking down the conventions that formerly defined what was worthy of artistic representation. Probably the best-known pop artist, and a leader in the movement, was Andy Warhol, whose images of a Campbell’s soup can and of the actress Marilyn Monroe explicitly eroded the boundaries between the art world and mass culture. Warhol also cultivated his status as a celebrity. He worked in film as a director and producer to break down the boundaries between traditional and opular art. Unlike the abstract expressionists, whose conceptual works were often difficult to understand, Andy Warhols pictures, and his own face, were instantly recognizable. Conceptual art, as it came to be known in the 1960s, like its predecessors, sought to break free of traditional artistic associations. In conceptual art, as practiced by Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth, concept takes precedent over actual object, by stimulating thought rather than following an art tradition based on conventional standards of beauty and artisanship. Modern artists changed the meaning of traditional visual arts and brought a new imaginative dimension to ordinary experience. Art was no longer viewed as separate and distinct, housed in museums as part of a historical inheritance, but as a continuous creative process. This emphasis on constant change, as well as on the ordinary and mundane, reflected a distinctly American democratizing perspective. Viewing art in this way removed the emphasis from technique and polished performance, and many modern artworks and experiences became more about expressing ideas than about perfecting finished products. Photography. Photography is probably the most democratic modern art form because it can be, and is, practiced by most Americans. Since 1888, when George Eastman developed the Kodak camera that allowed anyone to take pictures, photography has struggled to be recognized as a fine art form. In the early part of the 20th century, photographer, editor, and artistic impresario Alfred Stieglitz established 291, a gallery in New York City, with fellow photographer Edward Steichen, to showcase the works of photographers and painters. They also published a magazine called Camera Work to increase awareness about photographic art. In the United States, photographic art had to compete with the widely available commercial photography in news and fashion magazines. By the 1950s the tradition of photojournalism, which presented news stories primarily with photographs, had produced many outstanding works. In 1955 Steichen, who was director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, called attention to this work in an exhibition called The Family of Man. Throughout the 20th century, most professional photographers earned their living as portraitists or photojournalists, not as artists. One of the most important exceptions was Ansel Adams, who took majestic photographs of the Western American landscape. Adams used his art to stimulate social awareness and to support the conservation cause of the Sierra Club. He helped found the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in 1940, and six years later helped establish the photography department at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco (now the San Francisco Art Institute). He also held annual photography workshops at Yosemite National Park from 1955 to 1981 and wrote a series of influential books on photographic technique. Adamss elegant landscape photography was only one small stream in a growing current of interest in photography as an art form. Early in the 20th century, teacher-turned-photographer Lewis Hine established a documentary tradition in photography by capturing actual people, places, and events. Hine photographed urban conditions and workers, including child laborers. Along with their artistic value, the photographs often implicitly called for social reform. In the 1930s and 1940s, photographers joined with other depression-era artists supported by the federal government to create a photographic record of rural America. Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein, among others, produced memorable and widely reproduced portraits of rural poverty and American distress during the Great Depression and during the dust storms of the period. In 1959, after touring the United States for two years, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank published The Americans, one of the landmarks of documentary photography. His photographs of everyday life in America introduced viewers to a depressing, and often depressed, America that existed in the midst of prosperity and world power. Photographers continued to search for new photographic viewpoints. This search was perhaps most disturbingly embodied in the work of Diane Arbus. Her photos of mental patients and her surreal depictions of Americans altered the viewer’s relationship to the photograph. Arbus emphasized artistic alienation and forced viewers to stare at images that often made them uncomfortable, thus changing the meaning of the ordinary reality that photographs are meant to capture. American photography continues to flourish. The many variants of art photography and socially conscious documentary photography are widely available in galleries, books, and magazines. A host of other visual arts thrive, although they are far less connected to traditional fine arts than photography. Decorative arts include, but are not limited to, art glass, furniture, jewelry, pottery, metalwork, and quilts. Often exhibited in craft galleries and studios, these decorative arts rely on ideals of beauty in shape and color as well as an appreciation of well-executed crafts. Some of these forms are also developed commercially. The decorative arts provide a wide range of opportunity for creative expression and have become a means for Americans to actively participate in art and to purchase art for their homes that is more affordable than works produced by many contemporary fine artists. . Performing arts As in other cultural spheres, the performing arts in the United States in the 20th century increasingly blended traditional and popular art forms. The classical performing arts—music, opera, dance, and theater—were not a widespread feature of American culture in the first half of the 20th century. These arts were generally imported from or strongly influenced by Europe and were mainly appreciated by the wealthy and well educated. Traditional art usually referred to classical forms in ballet and opera, orchestral or chamber music, and serious drama. The distinctions between traditional music and popular music were firmly drawn in most areas. During the 20th century, the American performing arts began to incorporate wider groups of people. The African American community produced great musicians who became widely known around the country. Jazz and blues singers such as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday spread their sounds to black and white audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, the swing music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller adapted jazz to make a unique American music that was popular around the country. The American performing arts also blended Latin American influences beginning in the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1940, Latin American dances, such as the tango from Argentina and the rumba from Cuba, were introduced into the United States. In the 1940s a fusion of Latin and jazz elements was stimulated first by the Afro-Cuban mambo and later on by the Brazilian bossa nova. Throughout the 20th century, dynamic classical institutions in the United States attracted international talent. Noted Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine established the short-lived American Ballet Company in the 1930s; later he founded the company that in the 1940s would become the New York City Ballet. The American Ballet Theatre, also established during the 1940s, brought in non-American dancers as well. By the 1970s this company had attracted Soviet defector Mikhail Baryshnikov, an internationally acclaimed dancer who served as the company’s artistic director during the 1980s. In classical music, influential Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who composed symphonies using innovative musical styles, moved to the United States in 1939. German-born pianist, composer, and conductor Andre Previn, who started out as a jazz pianist in the 1940s, went on to conduct a number of distinguished American symphony orchestras. Another Soviet, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, became conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D. C. , in 1977. Some of the most innovative artists in the first half of the 20th century successfully incorporated new forms into classical traditions. Composers George Gershwin and Aaron Copland, and dancer Isadora Duncan were notable examples. Gershwin combined jazz and spiritual music with classical in popular works such as Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935). Copland developed a unique style that was influenced by jazz and American folk music. Early in the century, Duncan redefined dance along more expressive and free-form lines. Some artists in music and dance, such as composer John Cage and dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, were even more experimental. During the 1930s Cage worked with electronically produced sounds and sounds made with everyday objects such as pots and pans. He even invented a new kind of piano. During the late 1930s, avant-garde choreographer Cunningham began to collaborate with Cage on a number of projects. Perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most popular, American innovation was the Broadway musical, which also became a movie staple. Beginning in the 1920s, the Broadway musical combined music, dance, and dramatic performance in ways that surpassed the older vaudeville shows and musical revues but without being as complex as European grand opera. By the 1960s, this American musical tradition was well established and had produced extraordinary works by important musicians and lyricists such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, and Oscar Hammerstein II. These productions required an immense effort to coordinate music, drama, and dance. Because of this, the musical became the incubator of an American modern dance tradition that produced some of Americas greatest choreographers, among them Jerome Robbins, Gene Kelly, and Bob Fosse. In the 1940s and 1950s the American musical tradition was so dynamic that it attracted outstanding classically trained musicians such as Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein composed the music for West Side Story, an updated version of Romeo and Juliet set in New York that became an instant classic in 1957. The following year, Bernstein became the first American-born conductor to lead a major American orchestra, the New York Philharmonic. He was an international sensation who traveled the world as an ambassador of the American style of conducting. He brought the art of classical music to the public, especially through his Young Peoples Concerts, television shows that were seen around the world. Bernstein used the many facets of the musical tradition as a force for change in the music world and as a way of bringing attention to American innovation. In many ways, Bernstein embodied a transformation of American music that began in the 1960s. The changes that took place during the 1960s and 1970s resulted from a significant increase in funding for the arts and their increased availability to larger audiences. New York City, the American center for art performances, experienced an artistic explosion in the 1960s and 1970s. Experimental off-Broadway theaters opened, new ballet companies were established that often emphasized modern forms or blended modern with classical (Martha Graham was an especially important influence), and an experimental music scene developed that included composers such as Philip Glass and performance groups such as the Guarneri String Quartet. Dramatic innovation also continued to expand with the works of playwrights such as Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, and David Mamet. As the variety of performances expanded, so did the serious crossover between traditional and popular music forms. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, an expanded repertoire of traditional arts was being conveyed to new audiences. Popular music and jazz could be heard in formal settings such as Carnegie Hall, which had once been restricted to classical music, while the Brooklyn Academy of Music became a venue for experimental music, exotic and ethnic dance presentations, and traditional productions of grand opera. Innovative producer Joseph Papp had been staging Shakespeare in Central Park since the 1950s. Boston conductor Arthur Fiedler was playing a mixed repertoire of classical and popular favorites to large audiences, often outdoors, with the Boston Pops Orchestra. By the mid-1970s the United States had several world-class symphony orchestras, including those in Chicago; New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even grand opera was affected. Once a specialized taste that often required extensive knowledge, opera in the United States increased in popularity as the roster of respected institutions grew to include companies in Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. American composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass began composing modern operas in a new minimalist style during the 1970s and 1980s. The crossover in tastes also influenced the Broadway musical, probably Americas most durable music form. Starting in the 1960s, rock music became an ingredient in musical productions such as Hair (1967). By the 1990s, it had become an even stronger presence in musicals such as Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (1996), which used African American music and dance traditions, and Rent (1996) a modern, rock version of the classic opera La Boheme. This updating of the musical opened the theater to new ethnic audiences who had not previously attended Broadway shows, as well as to young audiences who had been raised on rock music. Performances of all kinds have become more available across the country. This is due to both the sheer increase in the number of performance groups as well as to advances in transportation. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the number of major American symphonies doubled, the number of resident theaters increased fourfold, and the number of dance companies increased tenfold. At the same time, planes made it easier for artists to travel. Artists and companies regularly tour, and they expand the audiences for individual artists such as performance artist Laurie Anderson and opera singer Jessye Norman, for musical groups such as the Juilliard Quartet, and for dance troupes such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Full-scale theater productions and musicals first presented on Broadway now reach cities across the country. The United States, once a provincial outpost with a limited European tradition in performance, has become a flourishing center for the performing arts.