English 106

March 21, 2011

 

Lens Project

Splash Mountain is a Disney attraction based on the film Song of the South. The ride is based on Brier Rabbit, who leaves his humble home to look for his laughing place but has to run away from Brier Fox and Brier Bear, who want to eat him up. All the characters and the songs in the attraction are from this 1946 film According to Bakhtin “Carnival brings together, unifies, weds together, and combines the sacred with the profane, the lofty with the low, the great with the insignificant the wise with the stupid” (251). Bakhtin gives a coalescence description of the carnival setting elegance, which through analyzing, can be used as a lens to understand a carnival atmosphere in Disney vacation experience of the splash water mountain. The main point about a carnival atmosphere is the togetherness of people irrespective of their social differences, which Disney aims to achieve through its vacation attractions such as Splash Mountain that provides a different kind of environment and joyous experiences.

The attraction involves people getting aboard log boats that take one through caves, swamps, bayous and some drops, and towards the climax, 52 foot drop where the rabbit falls into the patch The riders, who are the spectators, are not subdivided as all come together in the attraction. According to Bakhtin, “Carnival is a pageant without footlights and without a division into performers and spectators. In carnival everyone is an active participant, everyone communes in the carnival act. Carnival is not contemplated, and, strictly speaking, not even performed; its participants live in it, they live by its laws as long as those laws are in effect; that is, they live a carnivalistic life,” (250). Disney has been able to achieve this through ensuring that the experience feels real and the spectators literary live in the mountain. From this attraction, people, irrespective of age, color of skin, or culture, are put together on log boats to go through an experience where none of these factors are considered, hence, every body feels equal, which according to Bakhtin, it is the carnival mood (251), where people put side their differences to embrace togetherness.

Carnivalistic life allows all people to interact; those who have statuses are de-crowned while those who are despised are crowned. This is demonstrated within the part where Disney does not recognize the status of its customers, rather, they are treated the same in the mountain experience, where those with a status come together with those who do not have one in the log boats. However, it is important to note that Bakhtin argues that “And he who is crowned is the antipode of a real king, a slave or a jester; this act, as it were, opens and sanctifies the inside-out world of carnival” (Bakhtin 252). That is what happens in the carnival society where we have crowning and de-crowning rituals. This is exemplary of carnival, which is termed as a place for strengthening relationships across all people who on a normal occasion were alienated from each other due to unbreakable hierarchical barriers. In the Disney attraction, de-crowning and crowning is not emphasized as Disney seeks to bring people together but their status is not considered, neither do they use any kind of language that suggest satire on its customers, rather, people only come together. However, people who might not meet in the society due to hierarchical social barriers can meet here and have an enjoyable moment. This is the main ideas of a carnival, where people do not have a chance of meeting in their daily lives come together to interact.

In Splash Mountain, the spectators are in a strange feeling where they are put in suspense by the music that is played, and a strange feeling that detach them from their usual activities. This creates a new environment in which all the riders reveal another side of human nature, where they show expressions of fear, which is shown by the pictures taken of them during the ride. According to Bakhtin, ”Eccentricity is a special category of the carnival sense of the world, organically connected with the category of familiar contact; it permits –in concretely sensuous form – the latent sides of human nature to reveal and express themselves” (Bakhtin 251). This has been emphasized in the attraction where passengers traveling in the log are able to detach themselves from what they are used to, and thus let out a carnival mood. This allows them to relate freely with each other regardless of any restrictions since it is a new environment where the person next to you does not matter who he or she is. Songs such as ‘How Do You Do’, which are sung by frogs and geese among other animals are not meant for a specific clientele, but instead, can relate to all the riders regardless of their social class, age, and education among other differences. This way, Disney is able to make the riders forget their problems and focus on one agenda, which helps achieve a carnival mood.

Although in a carnival environment all are supposed to be equal, the splash mountain does not prove this where the main story is about the brier rabbit that is running away from the brier fox and the brier bear, since this indicates two types of classes, where the rabbit is the hunted by the predators. According to Bakhtin, “In the carnival, social hierarchies of everyday life—their solemnities and pieties and etiquettes, as well as all ready-made truths—are profaned and overturned by normally suppressed voices and energies. Thus, fools become wise, kings become beggars; opposites are mingled fact and fantasy, heaven and hell” (254). For the passengers, this quote holds true, while the story does not since the rabbit and the predators do not come together in harmony as Bakhnit suggests when he says that opposite facts are mingled. In the story, the Fox traps the Rabbit, although rabbit outsmarts him and manages to escape after tricking him, this is not supposed to exist in a carnival as all are supposed to come together harmoniously. The two characters, the fox and the bear are the opposite of the rabbit, and when they are not in harmony, it illustrates an anti-carnival environment, as well as the fight between the fox and the bear with the alligator.

A carnival entails that the foolish will become wise while beggars become kings. This happens in the ride, where Fox and Bear think that they are wiser than Rabbit but instead they are tricked by Rabbit, as he tells them to throw him down the briar patch, but this is where the rabbit was born and raised. He knew he would be able to survive in the patch, and he managed to trick the fox and the bear. At the end, the fox and the bear are in the position the rabbit was when they have to fight off a hungry alligator from eating them, just as rabbit had to trick them to survive. This would serve to teach the fox and the bear how it feels to be in the shoes of the rabbit. It also served to illustrate the point that beggars would become kings and vice verse, since the fox and the bear were now begging for their life through fighting the alligator. As the log drops to mimic the Rabbit’s fall, in the patch, the passengers’ are splashed with water, which acts to make the journey real. the fox and bear then have to fight off the alligator which provides a lesson to the passengers, as they learned to look at the world from another person’s view, and hence a feeling of togetherness was achieved, which is a depiction of a carnival atmosphere. This experience makes all the people aboard equal for they have to behave in the same way.

From the Splash Mountain, one can assume a carnival environment implies just people being together and it does not matter who sat in which log, since people who are closely related may want to share the same log other than with others. This is to mean that if people closely related sat together, as long as they are in the same place, it remains to be carnival, and not sitting in a mixed way, in the log remains carnival. The attraction uses rhetoric techniques such as repeated words in the music to convince people more, and making the experience look real such as the log boats falling in the patch to illustrate the rabbit falling, which has been used to modify the perception of the people towards the rabbit and the characters involved in the story.

Bakhtin put emphasis on the conditions, which should be fulfilled for the carnivalistic life to occur. He alleges that it all begins with the change of people’s mindsets about specific ideologies. People should free themselves from social hierarchies’ bondage; abandon their cultures’ cocoons, which hinder them from discovering their inner ability, which is essential in understanding each other (251). The Disney works succeed in the implementation of profanation-diluted sense alongside parody presentation. The splash mountain attraction brings out a unique life experience that puts people’s feet in other people’s shoes, which foster understanding to sow a seed of love for all humankind. People from all kinds of social classes come together in a way that makes them forget their social background and interact without any discrimination, regardless of the differences among people, which has made it possible for Disney to achieve a carnival atmosphere. Moreover, the choices they make, such as the music and the theme are well incorporated to fit all finds of people. Through the Bakhnit article on carnival and carnivalesque, one can easily understand how Disney has been able to achieve a carnival mood in their vacation attractions.

 

Work Cited:

Bakhtin, Mikhail. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. New York, NY: Prentice Hall. 1998. Print.

 

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Bullying

“Many of school teens experience problems that remain secretive and never blow up to be solved. In schools, these problems occur in terms of harassment and unfair treatment. About 80 percent of school teens or students are bulled by their older colleagues or teachers based on physical power or social standing of an individual (Lyness, 2010). Thousands of teens and kids wake up every day anxious to attend school and experience most of the terrifying day’s activities. According to statistics about 40 percent of the acts are out of victimization and bullying (Ericson, 2001). Moreover, out of the 40 percent around 15-20% percent suffer enduring bulling and victimization. Actually, as noted by Pepler, & Craig, (2000) most of teens bullying practices upset their education life or their adaptive progress in schools. In modern life, bullying is a problem that need be solved with appropriate measures and approaches. In some instances, it has been observed that bullying effects end up prolonged. Interceding will help the victims adapt to learning environment or move them to a positive attitude in life (Lyness, 2010). Everybody in schools’ category ranging from students, teachers, and parents to school administrations are worried on the increasing cases of bullying. It’s with great concern that most cases go unattended leaving victims on a severe end. Usually, bullying occurs when one person uses more and inappropriate power to harass an individual either physically or on social approaches (Lyness, 2010).

Bullying differ from one category of teens, schools and the status of individuals. Some people especially older teens view the act of bullying as a way of developing and making their young colleagues grow. Others view the act as making them popular, remain tough and possess power to rule over others. In fact, bullying or victimizing behavior leave observes mouth agape. This is because reasons or the purpose of bullying or the effects of the act have never being understood. Many of bullied teens have complained that, there has never been a reason to been bullied by their age group. In most of the cases, students/teens argue that, bulling is based on some characteristics or social standings they possess within the age groups. Perhaps most causes can be seen based on sex/gender, skin color, physical abnormalities, their body size, names, parents, social status among others. Particularly, bullying occurs to individual because of the inability to fight back or do things to reiterate back.

All in all, bullying is harmful in one way or the other. In fact, bullying can be harmful to all the parties including families or erode schools reputations. Bully teens understand the act as a process of making their friends fit or stick in the environment. Some of the consequences or effects of bulling include loneliness, terror, isolation, torment, and unhappiness to name but a few (Lyness, 2010). In many instances, bullied teens or the victims feel frustrated, sick, lose self-confidence in learning and some quit school or transfer. Studies done in schools indicate that the victims of the act are at a risk to mental health problems that include stress, frustration and depression (Lyness, 2010). This further causes timidity to parents and the school administration. In addition, teens may find difficult to accompany others for lunch, walk, or play. Though coping with the act is difficult, one should understand he/she is not the problem, but the bully is the problem.  Bulled teens have a right to remain safe, confident, happy, and protected at all cost.

              Bullies are also at a risk of becoming a trouble to the society. Studies usually show that criminal records of individual are correlated to the teenage life behaviors. Once a bully, the behavior recuperates in future and one becomes a criminal. As suggested by Pepler, & Craig, (2000) out of 4 elementary school bullies 1 of them will have a criminal record at nearly 30 years of age. Also, some bullies are rejected by their friend as they grow up. This drastically translates to other effects of rejection, lose their colleagues, or fail in their careers. In addition, the bullies may continue the problem throughout adulthood life, has negative reputation, or early life aggression. As noted by Ericson (2001), within communities or societies, there are numerous examples that bullies try to imitate as role models. Some are like politicians, wars films, movies or games that make bullies increase aggression ending up bullying others.

              The vice is violence and it’s against human rights. For this purpose, the issue need be addressed appropriately and with deep concern at family, society, school and government levels.

Before trying to solve the problem, it is important to understand that most school staffs and parents are involved in tolerating the issue. School staffs are usually unaware of the extent of the vice in their institutions. As reported by Ericson, (2001) survey report, 42% of bullies and 46% of victims report to their teachers on the vice. This prompts the teacher to solve and talk about the issues to both bully and the victim. Conversely, staffs and parents may encourage the vice in one way or the other. Teachers or staffs, mostly encourage bullying by perceiving it as normal to teens, or when children are left to solve problems. In some cases the victims may provoke the bullying attack by teasing and fighting back leaving no harm on both parties. I believe bullying must be tackled from a logical approach. For the purpose of intervening or ending the issue in schools, and among teens, actions must be taken from all ranks. Essentially, interceding in the problem need all institutions and participants in interventions to focus on the vice beyond the victim and bully. The logic approach must include parties such as age mates, schools, parents, government and the community (Ericson, 2001).  Moreover, bullying has an effect on bullies, victims, school staffs, parents, peer relationships, and community at large. Therefore, systematic principles need to be developed to solve the vice successfully. Changing the attitude and behaviors can be a cornerstone to addressing the vice (Ericson, 2001). Leadership may play a crucial role in solving and interceding on the problem from all perspectives. Thus, behavior changes are pronounced to be effective. This will change school learning and interaction climate, and also reduce antisocial attitudes and behaviors”.

References

Ericson, N. (2001). “Addressing the Problem of Juvenile Bullying.” Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200127.pdf

Pepler, D. J. & Craig, W. (2000). “Making a Difference in Bullying.” LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution. Retrieved from http://www.melissainstitute.org/documents/MakingADifference.pdf

Lyness, D. (2010). Dealing with bullying. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/bullies.html#

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Review of the movie: glory (1989 film)

Overview

Glory (1989 film) is a historical war drama on civil war and establishment of the first all-black regiment to battle for the North, 54 Massachusetts voluntary infantry.  It is produced by Freddie Fields and directed by Edward Zwick. It is starred by Denzel Washington, acting as trip, Cary Elwes Rawlins acting as Cabot Forbes, Matthew Broderick trip acting as Robert Gould Shaw and Morgan Freeman Sharts as John Rawlins. Its production was facilitated by Tri-Star pictures as well as Freddie Fields productions although Tri-Star Pictures distributed it in the American theatres and in home-media format by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It has won several awards such as the Academy Award.

Plot

From the movie, Captain Robert Shaw has been wounded and is being unconscious in the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862 where the union suffers great losses. He is however aroused by John Rawlins who is a black union gravedigger and admitted to a field hospital where he is informed of passage of Emancipation Proclamation by president Lincoln meant to liberalize Southern slaves. He is awarded a leave where he joins his family in Boston and encounters Frederick Douglass who offers a promotion as a Colonel at the age of twenty-five. He is supposed to head the first black regiment in the union. After the promotion, Colonel Shaw requests Major Cabot Forbes to become second-in-command. The regiment is joined by more troops such as Thomas Searles, Trip, Jupiter Sharts and Rawlins. They are recruited under high practice and discipline with the help of Sergeant Major Mulcahy.

The federal army officer takes the leadership of the black troops to resist racial prejudice from union and confederate forces. He prepares the fellow soldiers to battle against racial prejudice in his federal army and from his enemies who are meant to kill black soldier.  Although the civil war was geared at freeing the enslaved blacks, it is ironic how the black soldiers are denied their due respect in the army and are offered positions to do shoddy jobs. Shaw is informed of plans of the confederate to execute all black troops and his army does not back off, instead, they courageously remain consolidated ready for action. It dawns to Shaw that his regiment is utilized for manual labor due to racial prejudice and decides to face up to his commanders Charles Garrison Harker  and James  Montgomery, who mostly engage in profiteering and corrupt deals in the war. For his regiment to be enlisted in the combat he warns to inform the War Department of these deals but his demands are met.

Shaw volunteers in July 1863 for the 54th regiment of Massachusetts to repel the confederates at Ft. Wagner, which is a risky exercise that may cost him his life. The black regiment reflects valor and respect in the course of the war and especially in the bloody assault or Ft. Wagner as some like Thomas being wounded but remaining in the battle. As he volunteer in the battle, Shawn is shot and dies, leaving Forbes and Rawlins to manage the regiment. The troop kills many southern troops. The two together with Thomas are shot and die and half the troops are left dead as the Confederate win. They bury the regiment’s casualties in a mass grave. This courage led to establishment of several other black regiments, which aided in union’s victory at the conclusion of the civil war.

The emancipation proclamation on September of 1862 aimed at liberating slaves of the south and by the conclusion of the war, black’s participation in the union army was paramount since they composed ten percent of all the Union forces and comprising over three thousand, two hundred and twenty two casualties. The encounters that these soldiers went through have been censored by most historians but the film is a tribute to the powerful and brave black troops during the civil war. Racist indignities are revealed underwent by black soldiers, which included less earnings and delays from being given provisions as compared to the whites.

The movie’s ‘Take away’

The American civil war has been neglected by historians unlike the WWII and Vietnam War. However, the film has facilitated the legacy as it talks about the civil war where all- black union soldiers have to liberate the enslaved blacks who have been owned as properties especially in the South. These soldiers however, have been abandoned as part of the historical civil war.the movie talks about the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, made up of black soldiers to resist prejudice and liberalize the enslaved blacks. the movie has been extracted from the novels ‘lay this laurel’ written by Lincoln Kirstein, ‘one gallant rush’ authored by Peter Burchand as well as various letters written by a real historical figure, Col. Robert Gould Shaw. Col. Shaw was the commander of the all-black 54th regiment of the Massachusetts volunteers, which was meant to evaluate the potential of black troops in the army. Shaw, a Boston Brahman had powerful abolitionist attitudes as the son of a popular abolitionist. In the movie, Shaw is faced with a difficult task of implementing his orders, as being resisted by such people as Trip although they respect him afterwards because of courageously fighting the war.

The glory celebrates black’s mass courage that has been ignored in the history of the civil war due to racism. Its filming is taken particularly in Massachusetts & Georgia. Glory comprises the initial ‘glorious’ American movie regarding the civil war, although it has bits of fiction to shed light on the glorious historical event. The scenes of the film however, might be historically and politically incorrect, as they have been incorporated to exaggerate the situation.

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Computer Architecture Assignment

Introduction

Cloud computing technology refers to an Information Technology infrastructure, which is independent on the location; this is achieved using shared servers over the network that provides resources, required data and software and their associative services upon request. Cloud computing represents an integration of the concepts of virtualization, utility computing and an IT architecture that is purely service oriented. The end users of cloud computing have no control over the IT infrastructure within thecomputing grid that supports them. The basic underlying requirement for successful implementation of cloud computing is the internet, since it serves as a delivery model for the required services and data. An important concept of cloud computing is its scalability and variability (Gillam 23). Cloud computing maximizes on the concept of ease of access of the internet to provide reliable access to central virtualized resources to a number of users supported in the cloud. A typical cloud-computing model can be used to provide access to resources online through platforms such as web services or web based applications. However, the application and the data are stored in a remote server. Most of the cloud computing IT infrastructures comprises of data, applications and services, which are delivered through cloud computing centers that serve as access points for the users of the system. The allocation of resources and the services usually vary in accordance with the computing needs of the users.

Cloud computing can be viewed to be an integration of the various computing approaches such as utility computing,  grid computing, client server computing  and the service oriented computing model (Velte and Elsenpeter 58). A more simplified approach to cloud computing is the mail servers; an end user does not really need a mail application to access his or her mail, all one needs is an internet connection and tools such as web browsers and web based applications. In such a kind of computing architecture, the user does not need to have the software; rather he enjoys the benefits of using a leased application. The underlying principle is that the end user needs only to use the application rather than having it and the required hardware. The infrastructure of cloud computing can be classified into three fundamental categories: applications or software layer, the platforms service and the infrastructure layers; which are generally referred to as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. Every component of the cloud-computing model serves a different purpose (Gillam 45).

A practical example of a cloud computing architecture is the web mail applications. In this context, the user can use the mails services without having the mail service application installed on his computer. For instance, the user only requires an internet connection and an updated web browser to access the mail services. The web bail application is also regarded as a cloud computing architecture due to the fact that it supports cloud storage. Data on the mail is stored in the mail servers whereby the user can access them irrespective of the location. The cloud computing architecture under the web mail is predetermined by two significant characteristics of the cloud-computing platform, mainly the hiding of the underlying complexity of the application and online access to the data and mail application. In addition, access to the application and data is independent of the location of the user. Therefore, a web mail application service can be viewed as a simplified approach to cloud computing (Velte and Elsenpeter 89).

Works cited

Gillam, Lee. Cloud Computing: Principles, Systems and Applications. London: Springer, 2010.

Velte, Toby and Robert Elsenpeter. Cloud Computing: A Practical Approach. New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2009.

 

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Cold War

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Introduction

            During the era of Cold War, many nations in the world interpreted it as aspects of international politics to prove the superiority of a country. Cold War between Soviet Union Republic and United States brought to halt world international relations. The war was based by propaganda information coming from the two countries. The ideology was to use large amount of dollars to prove military, political and economic superiority. Due to the hatred between the Soviet Union and the United States, the only two countries largely affected were the Vietnam republic and Korea.  Historians suggest two conflicting origin and causes of Cold War. Some historians especially in 1960’s suggested that Cold War originated from United States international relations policies. Others suggest conflicts were caused by Soviet Union political and economic influence that triggered United States to reiterate with post World War II policies. Generally, all historians agree that Cold War originated from mistrust and misunderstanding that existed between United States and the Soviet Union. This paper will focus on the origin and causes of cold war.

Cold war

United States policy maker, George Kennan, was the first man to give interpretation of the Cold War origin (Roark et al 15). Kennan argued that Soviet Union republic was not trustworthy in dealing with the capitalism and focused to transform other countries to communism. Soviet Union is the oldest socialist country and Kennan through Churchill, the then U.S president, believed that Soviet had plans to destroy capitalism. In addition, the country needed to expand its empire due to insecurity caused by the World War II. Based on the Soviet’s strategies, United States had to bring forth retaliatory policies (Roark et al 33). Policies targeted Soviet Union not to be allowed to expand empire and gain any momentums that equally would threaten superiority of United States. According to Roark et al 33, interpretations of the Cold War form significant bases to understand the origin and the development of this historical event.  Cold War is usually perceived as a base used by United States to fight communist and socialist, develop democratizations, and build up regime change (Roark et al 33). Some of major activities that triggered Cold War and the Vietnam War were partial information, propaganda, and military emissary. Soviet Union was accused by United States and their allies as being aggravated by considerations of politics, which lacked idealism, fidelity and was insincere in policymaking (Roark et al 400).

However, Cold War was characterized by bloodless conflicts between United States and Soviet Union, where neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Korea were adversely affected (Roark et al 446). In addition, there were short term and long-term implications in the United States and abroad. United States used large part of it National Gross Product to fund military. Soviet Union was also spending a significant percentage of Gross Domestic Product on military expenditures. The end of Cold War made United States to be a powerful economy, with political and military prowess. The conflict left millions of rivalry countries like Vietnam and Korea citizens dead. During the war, countries like Russian and Korea employed many youths in from country’s population as military. Many youths were left unemployed by the end of cold war, which was a long-term effect to the economies. Living standards in United States and other countries was unacceptable (Roark et al 501). The bequests of cold war continue to configure today in international affairs and the recognition of United States as world’s super power country. Cold War underpinned social and economic tension that caused great depression in the year 1982.  In fact, Cold War led to economic depression that further caused collapse of the Soviet Union (Roark et al 503). Cold War also caused increase in ethnicity and civil racism between the communist countries and the capitalistic nations. In other countries, for example European countries, the end of Cold War caused spontaneous economic growth. Ending of conflict also facilitated reconciliation and termination of differences between United States allies and Soviet Union proxies.

Conclusion

United States perceived Cold War as a project to win over socialist economies and become super power economy. The reality of Cold War is much more complex since both sides together with the supporting proxies suffered severe economic and financial downturn. The cause and the origin of Cold War are based on Soviet Union ideology to spread the communism structure worldwide. Another major cause was that, Soviet Union feared the atomic weapons possessed by United States. This caused further fear between both countries and thus triggered Cold War. In addition, the U.S president and Soviet Union leader had personal hatred towards each other. Conversely, Cold War was evitable by Soviet Union and the United States continuing their friendly wartime (WWII) relations. It is suggested that the Cold War could only be avoided by United States allowing Soviet Union in charge of another states such as Viet num (Roark et al 566).

 

Work cited

Roark, J. L., Johnson, M. P., Cohen, P. C., Stage, S., & Hartmann, S. M. The American Promise,             Volume II: From 1865: A History of the United States. Bedford/St. Martin’s. New York.          2008. Print.

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Persuasive speech about Bilingual Education (5-7min)

Introduction

The recent trends associated with globalization require effective communication skills in order for a person to live comfortably in a given place. This implies the significance of knowing more than one language. For communication to be effective, one must understand and give appropriate feedback to the sender. As such, there is need to know more than one language to overcome the setbacks associated with language misunderstandings. Language is one of the most vital elements of effective communication, as result, it is important not only for a person to perfect his/her natural language, but also have knowledge about second language.  Speaking first language only is a great disadvantage with the recent diversification of culture witnessed in the United States. On the other hand, knowing more languages beyond the first language is somewhat a form of culture diversity embracement in the United States. With the United States becoming of the most diverse countries in the world that willingly accepts immigrants, it is important for students to learn a second language other than English (Mantero 85).

Students who know more than one language have reported higher amazing performance in learning compared to monolingual students. Consequently, they have dissimilar and flexible intelligence. The diverse thinking provides the first point of a thought. Generally, they have a wider perception of an idea compared to students who only have knowledge of first language only. This ability makes them understand things differently and better during learning process (Staffan 45).

Bilingual speakers have wider knowledge about a language, a case referred to as metalingualistic awareness. They can recognize and illustrate the features of a language. As such, they know how words work in different languages, thus they can differentiate two languages. At phonological level, they can reveal grammatical mistakes. For a bilingual speaker he must understand how the two different languages work and different from one another. As a result, they have a choice on which language to use. This brings in what is language sensitivity. Bilingual speakers know when and how to use a language to pass information. Consequently, they are receptive to the requests of their respondents (Brown 120).

Being a bilingual speaker is an advantage in career search. The recent career trends can results to postings in places where there are no native speakers; as a result, career aspirants who know more than one language have high chances of being given the job in such situations. There are jobs that require one to master a second language. At workplaces, cashiers can use a second language depending on the customer’s language. A basic fact is that having a resume indicating a person’s ability to speak more than one language puts that person in position to get the job compared to people who can only speak English. This is similar to a translator who needs to know and master at least two languages to work efficiently. Other jobs that need bilingual ability include interpreter, foreign language teacher and waiters working in foreign hotels. Due to its tremendous effect on businesses, it has been allowed in workplaces and some employees have taken into account the issue. When picking those to grant jobs, they consider bilinguals first.  An example is Canada whose first move was to give a provision in its constitution (Mantero 89).

In conclusion, a second language is necessary in today’s world of diverse culture, verified by the advantages that outweigh its disadvantages. As such, it should be encouraged in educational institutions and workplaces. It is predictable that literacy level will increase and businesses will expand creating more employment, if it will be considered as modern tool of communication. Generally, having knowledge of second languages is becoming a communication requirement in the present way of lifestyle witnessed in the United States, as evident by the increasing acceptance of immigrants who speak English as a second language or have no prior knowledge of English (Brown 45).

 

Works Cited

Brown, James. An investigation of second language task-based performance assessments. New      York: Natl Foreign Lg Resource Ctr, 2002.

Mantero, Miguel. Identity and second language learning: culture, inquiry, and dialogic activity      in educational contexts. New Jersey: IAP, 2007.

Staffan, Anderson. Growing up with two languages: a practical guide. New York: Routledge,      2004.

 

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How Jewish was Jesus?

Jesus was Jewish since he was born one, led a Jewish lifestyle and attended the synagogue for his teachings and scriptural quests. Additionally, Jesus was referred to as Rabbi, which was a Jewish term for a great teacher. All the same, Jesus was not like any other Jew since he is regarded by Christians as a Son of God who came to save the world. The Jews rejected Jesus and continue to, since he is disregarded as the messiah. However, Jesus was not only sent for the Jews but for all mankind, meant to accomplish the new covenant. However, when he was crucified and later resurrected, and ascended to later send the Holy Spirit, the Jews were most of his followers who even debated on whether to become circumcised or eat particular foods, an occurrence similar to the Jewish period (Brown, 2008). The messianic concept is another phenomenon that qualifies Jesus as a Jew. Jesus is however, not awarded much regards in Jewish history due to his claim of the messianic eagerly awaited for but which he failed to qualify for due to his lack of fulfillment of the messianic prophesies. He is seen as a false messiah in the Jewish history, just like Simon bar Kochba, who almost led to destruction of Judaism (Brown, 2008).

The Jewish view regarding Jesus is that he led a normal Jewish life such as preaching when the Roman reign was in place.  He taught the fellow Jews and even used illustrations that they were familiar with in his teachings and having themes which emphasized the gentile’s acceptance in the new kingdom. Therefore like any other religious Jew, Jesus was executed as a result of being opposed to the Roman authorities. Most importantly, Jesus had been greatly influenced by Israel traditions aware of the need for purity for the Jews. He was aware of the Jewish scripture and used imagery from the scriptures in his teachings such as the Mustard seed. His miracles were also very contextual such as the wedding at Cana of Galilee where he turned water into wine for people to celebrate (Freyne, 2005). Jesus was born by Jews, Mary and Joseph in Galilee, which is located in the Jewish region. He interacted with Jews in his daily life as disciples and audience. He went to synagogue for worship and used Jewish scriptures to teach not to mention his participation in Jewish festivals and pilgrimages such as one in the Jerusalem temple. His life, birth, language (Aramaic and Greek common in Galilee), teachings and death are Jewish as revealed by the gospel books of Mathew, Mark Luke and John.

Jesus is so attached to the first century Jewish practices regarding religion such as the Sabbath observance in the synagogues and his observance of the Passover in Jerusalem, which emphasize his attachment to the Jewish values. During his time, he adhered to Judaism and never identified himself with other religious groups such as the Pharisees as well as the Seducees but he in fact condemned them just like Jews of his time did. He refers to Jews as the children of Israel in his teachings and regarded as the king of the Jews, who was a descendant of David as genealogically traced. He is also referred to as son of David who would establish an everlasting dynasty (Freyne, 2005).

However, he is not perceived much as a Jew but as he is not portrayed as being from another background but that of the Jews. His originality was obvious but as a retrospect, he is not seen as a Jew but as a person who established Christianity.

 

References

Brown, M. L. (2008). Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: New Testament Objections. Grand   Rapids, MI: Baker publishing Group.

Freyne, S. (2005). Jesus, a Jewish Galilean: A New Reading of The Jesus-Story. London: T&T      Clark International.

 

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Global History

The modern world has developed gradually through a process that involved individual steps or corporate contributions. This period is characterized by events that these individuals or corporate efforts performed in order to improve and make history of the global development. As a way of improving, certain events that happened brought negative or positive effect that contributed also to the advancement ideas. Therefore, the modern world has developed through a series of events.

The introduction of the colonial era was an event that contributed to development of the modern world. This was done through the creation of a centralized from of governance that craved for recognition in the world. “This created a notion that kingdoms had to be recognized according to their power of influence both in military and also in their financial status” (Irwin 132).

Urbanization was also an event that occurred in the east part of the world and thus enhancing modernization. This involved the movement of people from rural area to the urban in search for employment opportunities. Consequently, “there was increased population in the urban areas that also resulted to development of urban centers” (Rushing 23). This was because other activities such as agriculture were not productive for they only produced seasonally hence income was not consistent.

The Transformation of the western territories in the 17^th century contributed to the organized military groupings that were aimed at resisting oppression. Many Russian kingdoms faced a lot of resistance from groups that desired for changes. Therefore, “this transformation was vital step for the awakening of the people” (Gruchaman 78).

The “industrial revolution in 1850 was also an event that brought the modernization because there was growth in technology and in economy” (Hamen 98). The introduction of these industries also was the key result for the urbanization because many industries were located in the urban areas.

The introduction of trade activities in 1745 influenced many of the activities that led to the global transformation. The batter trade system enhanced the exchange of goods with other goods in order to satisfy human wants. Consequently, “the continuation of trade activities facilitated the introduction of currency that aided as a form of exchange in trade” (Mommsen 111).

The European revolution of the 18^th century both in the industrial and political sector brought about an improvement in the social technological aspects of life. In other words, new improved devices and tools were produced. In addition, “new weaponry for fighting was manufactured thus facilitating security for the then government” (Moore 200).

Events such as colonization and trade activities geared for the introduction of western civilization. “This act involved the transfer of knowledge from the knowledged to the illiterate” (Power 105). Thus, education was another major event that led to the development of the modern world.

Religion was also another factor of development that in conjunction with education were major contributors in the global revolution. Religion brought a lot of controversy in the social life setup of the people. Thus, “there was erosion of the social cultures which were replaced by the religion teachings” (Clarke 56).

In the 19^th century, “the imperialism and creation of empires in the European nations geared for the formation of new forms of governance” (Deckard 65). The empires that had been formed craved to be the world’s super powers hence having the ability to control the world activities. This also involved both the industrial and colonial powers that each state possessed.

The revolution of America in 1812 brought changes in the political and social sector in the continent. This encompassed the abolition of the slave trade, which was facilitated by many nationalist. “The American destiny was defined through the civil war that had occurred” (Puls 67). Thus, the economic and political changes in America had a great influence on all other nations of the world.

  

Works Cited

Clarke, Peter. The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2009. Print

Deckard, Sharae. Paradise Discourse, Imperialism, and Globalization: Exploiting Eden. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Gruchaman, Bohdan. Polish Western Territories. Poznan: Instytut Zachodni, 1959. Print.

Hamen, Susan. Industrial Revolution. Vero Beach, Fla: Rourke Pub, 2010. Print.

Irwin, Geoffrey. The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonisation of the Pacific. New York: Cambridge, 1992. Print.

Moore, R I. The First European Revolution, C. 970-1215. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000. Print.

Mommsen, Wolfgang and Hans-Gerhard Husung. The Development of Trade Unionism in Great Britain and Germany, 1880-1914. London: German Historical Institute, 1985. Print.

Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Print.

Power, Edward. Main Currents in the History of Education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970. Print

Rushing, Wanda. Urbanization. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010. Print

 

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The Holocaust Industry Book by Norman Finkelstein

Introduction

The Holocaust Industry authored by Norman Finkelstein is a provocative case study. He maintains that the American Jewish foundations utilize some aspects of Nazi Holocaust to benefit politically and financially and at the same time, facilitate Israel’s interests.  The Nazi constantly face accusations of afflicting one of the devastating experiences in Europe through causing many deaths. As a result, Germany has been regarded as monstrous and has been subject to financial extortion which is the taxpayer’s money and could be used in infrastructural development instead of enriching people’s pockets. The contemporary Germany has continued to atone for the flaws that the Nazi regime inflicted in terms of finances and moral extortion. This has led to the German leaders to show their deep regrets thus, they have born the overall burden of the past experiences, through continued negotiations with Jewish institutions for compensations to be done. The Germans feel that it was a big mistake for those who supported Hitler at the time but since they have all died and unreasonably disgraced. Consequently, the current German as a nation is newly born, with high moral standards and has no relations at all with the Nazi’s history. As a result, Norman Finkelstein asserts that the Holocaust Industry has led to the corruption of the Jewish culture as well as the genuine memory of the Holocaust (Dean 76).

Finkelstein’s Critique of the Holocaust Industry

 Finkelstein’s parents had survived the Holocaust after their incarceration in the concentration camps. According to him, his memory of the Nazi Holocaust is as a result of his parent’s encounters in the Warsaw ghetto where members of other families were being exterminated by the Nazi. He had a disturbing childhood with no one to enquire of his parent’s suffering in the concentration camps. He maintains that postwar Americans were less concerned of the Nazi Holocaust, instead the Jews paid more emphasis on being incorporated in the American lifestyles instead of considering their dreadful encounters, which scattered them as an ethnic group and victimized them. The Holocaust Industry reveals the anguish regarding the experiences that Jews underwent during the Second World War, which victimized Israel. Ideologically, the holocaust industry represents the Nazi holocaust but, “the current campaign of the Holocaust Industry to extort money from Europe in the name of ‘needy Holocaust victims’ has shrunk the moral status of martyrdom to that of a Monte Carlo casino” (Finkelstein 8).

According To CNN’s view on Finkelstein thought, they asserts that “the avalanche of books, movies, Holocaust memorials, university chairs, high school courses — and most recently the “shakedown” of Swiss banks and German insurance companies on the issue of reparations for Jewish wartime victims — is all part of a corrupt “Holocaust industry” (Ross pr.3).  These public policies are essential to prevent critical discussions meant to dissipate holocaust funding. Holocaust has thus been utilized as a proprietary trademark or right for a historical event that is not unique in any way and whose defense is aggressive. This label has been opposed to be applied in extensive atrocities such as the killings of Kosovo in order to safeguard the brand. Finkelstein terms Elie Wiesel, as Mr. Holocaust himself since he was the one who initiated the application of the term for Jewish experience. He as a result amassed wealth due to that information and in discussion it (Finkelstein 45).

The European Jews suffered a lot in nineteen thirties, which earned them the holocaust label, which continue to evoke memories regarding Nazi oppressors and has developed into an ideology. The holocaust industry has therefore thrived as a moral capital that emanated from the Nazi holocausts and this has created a market from the Jewish holocaust survivors. Frankenstein maintains that holocaust industry is “a tribute not to Jewish suffering but to Jewish aggrandizement” (Finkelstein 8) while illustrating instances of economic exploitation referring to the industry as an “outright extortion racket” (Finkelstein 89). The united state has played a crucial role in facilitating extortion, which has ensured its existence due to its international bullying thus making it a less desirable target of extortion as compared to Swiss (Rosenfeld 51). Finkelstein utilizes a historical approach rather than an economic one.

Various things were modified including the U.S foreign policy and its concern in the Middle East starting the Six Day War in 1967 and shifted attention to Israel facilitated by Jewish groups meant to secure their financial interest. The holocaust propaganda, which morally blackmail people with memories of a recurrence of death camps, is a past event that should be forgotten. According to Finkelstein, the holocaust industry is focused on cold cash. He asserts that “The drive for reparations, headed up by organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Jewish Material Claims Conference, constitutes nothing less than a “double shakedown” under the guise of recovering assets belonging to and otherwise compensating Jewish victims and survivors of the Nazis. Employing the services of politically connected lawyers like former Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger” (Ross pr.7). The organization’s main aim is to benefit themselves through exaggerations of Jewish survivors and politically threatening the European government. These funds they receive do not benefit the victims but fills the pockets of the so called ‘institutes’ ‘Holocaust education’ as well as ‘memorials.’  Reparations are major aspect that is handled by Finkelstein (Ross pr.7).

Holocaust revisionists take advantage of the Jews genocide during the WWII to make their contributions to the current political situations. Finkelstein illustrates the possibility of keeping separate the current political realities from holocaust facts, which has overburdens the United States symbolic structure (Kwiet &Matthäus 37). He has categorized his book into three parts. In Chapter 1: Capitalizing the Holocaust he talks of discovering the Holocaust. Here, he discusses the reason to the popularity of the holocaust in the U.S in 1980s. “War against the Jews” was emphasized more in the U.S. resulting to an optical illusion imported or enhanced as an ideology, which rhymed with American political interests and not to create memory for Jews.

In Chapter 2: Hoaxers, Hucksters and History he becomes a critique of holocaust abusers in the contemporary society. He maintains that two issues arose i.e. the holocaust being a unique idea and as a peak of anti-Semitic European trend which took two millennia or irrational gentile abhorrence towards Jews. The Zionist origin of the idea is true as Jews could never be assimilated thus anti-Semitism could be curbed through establishing a Jewish state. He asserts that “the Holocaust dogma of eternal Gentile hatred has served both to justify the necessity of a Jewish state and to account for the hostility directed at Israel” (Finkelstein 50). As a result, the Jews were unsafe amid the gentiles and therefore a Jewish state would prove essential. He says that the holocaust studies “replete with nonsense, if not sheer fraud” (Finkelstein 55). Its uniqueness is not justifiable since whatever Jews underwent in WWII is similar to other instances of inhumanity such as bombing. Israel has thus made moral and monetary demands from the western nations for the unique experience that demands unique compensation. Therefore Finkelstein maintains that “Rationally comprehending the Holocaust amounts, in this view, to denying it. For rationality denies the Holocaust’s uniqueness and mystery” (Finkelstein 45).

In Chapter 3: The Double Shakedown he maintains that American Jewish Agencies aim at taking reparations from the western nations. Referring to his parents as polish Jewish survivors he is aware of the distribution of holocaust reparations from 1950s. Claims Conference for instance receives the finances, which has gone ahead to use the funds to meet its interests and never pays the survivors.  He asserts that Jews who survived the holocaust have been overstated from close to a hundred thousand in 1945 to about a million today changing the definitions of survivor victims while undeserved people gained and not the actual survivors.

In my opinion, Finkelstein is reasonable to question authenticity of claims that have been kept burning by holocaust revisionists these memories of such a historical account have been tarnished by vulgarity, politics, pretense as well as greediness. They have kept the business alive as exposed by the author. However, he fails to acknowledge the evils of Swiss and German institutions such as concealing Jewish bank accounts and slavery, which resulted to current desires for reparations. Although the reparations may not reach the supposed people there might be falsehoods in stating that Jewish institutions, often swindles the survivors. The delay in funds may be due to the U.S courts’ failure to timely draft distribution procedures  since the Claims Conference maintains that it continue to disburse the funds for instance 220 million dollars in 1999 (Ross pr. 10).

Conclusion

The Germans have been placed the entire burden of the holocaust as a way to punish and destroy them. This is attained through the savage plot meant to starve the citizens economically, politically and socially through implementation of extorting aspect of the holocaust industry.  The motive is to destroy the Germans by creating a means of a world scandal even when they have shown deep regret and pity for what occurred. This however, does not justify the genocide that Germans facilitated but the big questions lies on why they have to pay for indemnifications while other nations are still perpetrating moral degradation inform of genocide and yet, they go free.

Finkelstein has generalized as his disregard of enlightening scholarship of the holocaust scholars is obvious. He is so sentimental about the issue, which makes the reader question his motives, if he desire to be accredited as a son of Jewish survivors. He distastes his fellow Jews apparently pointing that so many of them in America are fake survivors and are responsible for spreading the holocaust propaganda. Therefore, he has earned himself the reputation of being “notorious ideological opponent of the State of Israel” (Finkelstein 65 & 66) but he maintains that “When Jewish elites rob Jewish survivors no ethical issues arise; it’s just about the money” (Finkelstein 87). He takes the issue personally and does not rationally inquire of the issue, whose dogma and rage ironically reflects the burning flames of the holocaust memories, which he criticizes.

 

Works Cited

Dean, Carolyn. The Fragility of Empathy after the Holocaust. New York:  Cornell University        Press. 2004. Print.

Finkelstein, Norman. The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on The Exploitation Of Jewish    Suffering. New York: Verso. 2003. Print.

Kwiet, Konrad and Matthäus, Jürgen. Contemporary Responses to the Holocaust. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. 2004. Print.

Rosenfeld, Alvin. The End of the Holocaust. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.       2011. Print.

Ross, Andrew. “Review: ‘The Holocaust Industry.’” CNN.com Books Reviews, Salon Magazine.   Sept. 2000. April 30, 2011.         <http://edition.cnn.com/2000/books/reviews/09/06/salon.review.holocaust/>

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Admission Essay

Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo is a children’s volume that talks about a young man called Hugo who lived in the streets of the Paris. The survival of this young man depends of the secrets and the ambiguity. However, this life is unveiled by his relationship with a girl who was the owner of the toy booth in the street. The images in the publication are etched with a pencil relying on the creation of light and dark areas in black and white hues to create the narrative’s plot thus explaining the life of the Hugo and Evan Tylor. Selznick infuses the use of words very sparingly in the publication creating an allusion of a still picture film instilling a significant variation in children’s publication. The picture presentations in the book are a reminiscent of earlier film works that lacked both sound and color yet with the use of good camera work in terms of shots and angles, and minimal subtitles, the desired message was succinctly passed along to the audience.

From the text, Selznick uses shades and the creation of light and dark areas to portray contrast in the life of Hugo and Evan Tylor. In addition, it creates the plot for the story this is also evident in the film August Rush. The movie August Rush also has diversity in the shots, angles, shades and lights used in it to create distinct effects of specific scenes that are important in viewing the live perspective of Hugo and Evans Tylor. The film is involves other characters such as characters Louis and Lyla who help in bringing the story of Hugo and Evans Tylor. Lyla is a beautiful and renowned cellist and Louis is a professional bass player in a club. Lyla and Louis fall in love when they meet each other while playing music. The two are forced to separate due to different lives that they lead though they conceive together. Lyla is involved in an accident and gives birth to Evan Tylor who is filed for adoption by his grandfather behind his mother’s back. This action shows the deception that surrounds the birth of the two characters which are Hugo and Evans Tyler.

Both Louis and Lyla give up music and later on, their son finds his way to New York in search of his parents. While in New York, he realizes his talent as a musician though he encounters a few troubles and conmen. He finally runs to church for solace and the church sponsors his tuition in the best music school in New York after noticing his talent in music. Meanwhile, Louis and Lyla begin playing music again and the three meet in a concert where all of them played and reunite. This shows the compatibility concept between Hugo and Evan Tyler in terms of adapting. These events are put together in a classic mix of shots, angles, shades and lights that help the viewer and the director of the movie to express and explain key aspects of the movie.

For instance, the film exhibits a diverse mix of camera shots that has been associated with each character and angles that offer an appreciation of the same with regard to Selznick’s publication. In this way, we are able to determine the resembling character in the pay. This is depicted when a long shot of the city of New York allows the viewer to appreciate the interaction of the water line and the towers before a focus point is achieved. Another example can be seen at the close-up shot of Lyla during her performance on the cello during the concert uses the aspect of lighting to draw the attention to her as the central figure in the performance. Her dressing also draws attention towards her. Lyla is in white attire while the rest of the orchestra members are in black creating contrast (August Rush 2007). An example of a birds eye view perspective is evidenced in the scene where Lyla and Louis sleep together in a couch prior to their son’s conception. Another close up shot is used when the camera zooms in from the middle view and onto Lyla’s stomach to reveal that she is pregnant.

The use of these different shades and camera angles indeed enhance the understanding of the film together with the text since contrast is created and with its clarity is achieved. Selznick’s publication applies the same concepts. The initial chapter begins with the caption ‘The Thief’ and a picture of a glowing full moon probably taken on a close-up shot as it has filled the whole drawing space and parts of it appear to be left out. This creates the effect of drawing attention to the nighttime associated with thieves and the reader knows that the thief is the subject matter. Selznick use of camera spans amazingly transforms the picture work with the subsequent image focusing on sunrise in Paris; the span is indicated by the fact that, in the third picture, the Eiffel Tower appears at the left side of the drawing while in the other picture it is on the right side. This effect gives the idea of the sunrise. Again, the use of the different angles gives difference and clarity to the picture.

The different visual designs and elements used are supplemented by text as used in Selznick’s book to enhance characterization. He uses the text to explain briefly some of the pictures in the book to enhance clarity and make the reader to understand the text better. A close-up image of Hugo is seen from the text during the scene at the shop. Selznick creates this effect to create emphasis on the boy. A section of written words follows and the audience learns that Hugo is the thief referred to in the title of the book and the woman shopkeeper catches him in the act of stealing. The two main characters Hugo and Evan Tylor do not have many similarities and thus a comparison can hardly be drawn from their personalities and the roles they play in both works (Selznick, 2007).

Selznick’s use of filming techniques in the creation of Hugo’s story is commendable as it aids the audience in creating a diverse relationship with the environment, emotions and setting used to enhance the story’s plot. However, these aspects can only be truly appreciated with the knowledge of filming techniques with regard to shots, angles and camera positions, which could have enhanced the plot development and characterization aspect of Evan Tylor and Hugo.

 

Works Cited

August Rush. Dir. Kirsten Sheridan. Odyssey Entertainment, 2007. Film.

Selznick, Brian. The invention of Hugo Cabret: a novel in words and pictures. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2007. Print.

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