Charles Danna Essays - Film, Culture, Literature, American Children

Charles Danna Professor Kimberly Martin March 2, 2017 The Crucible - A Metaphor ? In writing the Crucible, Arthur Miller is thought to have used the fear of witches in Salem, Massachusetts as a metaphor for societies' fears of communism in 1950's America. In the crucible Mr. Miller wanted to demonstrate that the attitudes of citizens and actions of the committee ran by Senator Joseph McCarthy were as absurd and irrational as those of the people of Salem, Massachusetts. Mr. Miller uses the puritan setting of centuries before to provide a certain disconnect between the events and the feelings and emotions they incite. Three Centuries later, Americans in the 50's understood that witchcraft was not a viable threat to the country or its people, just as we understand now that Communism was never the threat to our society, it was the fear of communism and the actions made out of that fear that were hazardous. So is the crucible a subtle attack on McCarthy and his minions? Anticommunism sentiments were so high that if Miller's piece would have been a contemporary play about what was going on at the time surely his career would most likely have been over. Who knows if that was the only possible consequence. Now to the irony of the play. It cleverly undermines several of McCarthy's main policies. The baseless and somewhat ridiculous hysterical accusations made by a group of young girls is such a great way to mock what was actually happening at the time in the 1950's. The play is also about a peoples basic right to think for themselves and not have to conform to every popular ideology of the time. The martyrs of both time periods were the people who chose not to obey the pressures of society. "Being a witch" in this play is simply a substitute for "being a communist". Ironically the hero in this story is the man who holds his ground and stands up against the leaders of Salem just like all the heroes who were persecuted for nothing in the 1950's by senator McCarthy and his band of lunatics. Salem, Massachusetts was a puritan village led by Matthew Parris, being the villages spiritual leader he had plenty of clout and control over the day to day operations of Salem. We don't know much about Salem but we do know that it is far from a picturesque version of puritanism. It seems that there are disagreements and bickering going on all over the place even though from the outside everything seems to be running along perfectly. Might Miller be suggesting that although America looks so strong and mighty from the outside that she had plenty of problems going on within. The growing of the "witchhunt" is shown by the progression of the allegations the children are making against the townspeople. In the beginning the accusations they make are against the lower class of townspeople, or people no one cared about so there was no problem believing these people were witches. The problems really expanded when people started to notice how easy these allegations were turning in to arrest/conviction/death sentence. Once noticed, anyone with any disagreement or grudge or basically any reason to seek revenge on someone else would just accuse that person of being a witch and their problem would be solved. I think Miller uses these situations to show that this is what he thought that Senator McCarthy and his committee were doing, preying on innocent American citizens in order to increase their own standing and influence within the government. It wasn't just McCarthy and his committee, in Hollywood accusations of communism flew wildly between stars looking to get a head of one another by any means necessary. One famous actor, Charlie Chaplin, left the country at the time just so he wouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing. Miller's primary objective was Senator McCarthy. He wanted desperately to tell the world what a monster the senator truly was without any risk to himself. Who better to play the senator then a young girl, Abigail Williams. Abigail was the ringleader of the group of children driving this whole situation further and further into oblivion. A clever trick Miller

JAMES DEAN CAUGHT IN THE GENERATION GAP IN REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE essays

JAMES DEAN CAUGHT IN THE GENERATION GAP IN REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE essays According to actor Jim Backus, "We started out making a routine program picture in black and white (that) was going to be. . . about teenage kids that I thought was going to be a sort of Ozzie and Harriet with venom. Then the reports started coming in on East of Eden, and they (the studio) knew they had a star on their hands" (Alexander, 56). Since Backus was signed by Warner Brothers to star in Rebel Without A Cause as the father to James Dean, his comment on the film as being something similar to Ozzie and Harriet "with venom" should be viewed as highly accurate, for in Nicholas Ray's American masterpiece, the presence of "venom" is easily sensed, due to the various cultural/societal conflicts that erupt between the two opposing sides, being the teenagers and their older superiors. James Dean, in the role of Jim, the non-conformist "rebel" son of Backus, seems to provide most of the conflict through what is now generally described as the "generation gap" which was linked to many social problems in the 1950's when Rebel Without a Cause was in production. Set in the city of Los Angeles, Rebel Without a Cause, considered by many critics as a classic example of American cinema, explores the lives of three teenagers caught within the "generation gap"Jim (James Dean), Judy (Natalie Wood), and John (Sal Mineo), nicknamed Plato. Underneath a rather straightforward story about a clash between mixed-up but sensitive teenagers and their mutual alienation from their parents, Rebel Without a Cause contains many of the traits that often contribute to youthful confusion, such as excesses in material comfort, inadequate and incapable fathers and an alarming desire for an early death. In this regard alone, the film was tragically prophetic for the next two generations of American 2 slipped from mild ...

Social Capital Creation and Sustainable Relationship among Stakeholder Dissertation

Social Capital Creation and Sustainable Relationship among Stakeholder in Construction Business in Thailand - Dissertation Example The other objective of this study is related to the creation of sustainable relationships in between the stakeholders of the organisations operating its business in the construction industrial sector of Thailand. Hence, the previous works related to the importance of such kind of stakeholder relationships in organisations can prove to be very much helpful in conducting the present research study. In addition to this, various kinds of business relationships that can be found in an organisation with special reference to cultural relationship traits found in Southeast Asian nations and Thailand will also be discussed here. This research study will try to build a model related to social capital possessed by companies operating in the construction industry of Thailand which can prove to be advantageous for the related companies in Thailand. Therefore, this literature review will give insights to some of the existing theories and models related to social capital. All these facts will help to attain the research objectives of this study utilizing the literature review as discussed in this section. 2.2 The Importance of Social Capital Many empirical studies have been conducted regarding the importance of social capital and have been mentioned in the existing literature by different authors. A wide range of socio-economic phenomenon related to the importance of social capital can be found in many of the existing literature presented by various authors (Durlauf, 2002, pp. 1-31; Krishna, 2001, pp 71-93). Research on social capital has resulted in various theoretical debates and different empirical investigations being conducted. This again has resulted in giving a stimulus towards reconsidering facts related to human relations, organisational forms for developmental performance and life quality, networks, etc. The importance of theory related to social capital is observable because of the application of the concept of social capital in various fields and its widespread in terest amongst different organisations and its stakeholders. The existing studies and literature gives way to ample evidences regarding the political, social and economic implications of social capital. However, according to Halpern et al. (2002), there are ambiguities or misspecifications related to the models or equations that have been utilized to measure the impacts of social capital. Thus, the social and economic outcomes that arise based on the empirical evidence related to the importance and significance of social capital need to be dealt with caution. Without having a rigorous method formulated for the purpose of measuring the importance of social culture, it is not clear as to how those benefits associated with social capital can be tested or ascertained (Halpern, 2001, pp. 236-251). However, it can be found as a surprising fact that the

Christian Ethics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Christian Ethics - Research Paper Example Consequently, the organization implemented the policy of organizing morning prayers for all workers before the start of operations thereby ensuring that the spirit of evil desires and impurity are put at bay through prayers. The policy is successful since nearly all the workers in my organization are religious with most being of Christian faith. Â  In order to ensure that my organization implements better ethical practices at the workplace, I would recommend for gradual implementation of the ethical practices. First, all the workers need to be informed of the intention of introducing the ethical practices in the organization. Secondly, the workers should have a say or decide on the practices they feel should be implemented, and this requires brainstorming, soberness, understanding, and sacrifices. This is helpful since it ensures that workers play a role in the creation and implementation of policies and ethical practices that will affect their lives while serving in the organization. When workers accept the anticipated ethical practices, they feel bound by their decisions and, therefore, strive to abide by them. Such decisions will serve as guidance to their relations at the workplace and to some extent their daily lives since they spend most of their time.

Contrasts between the Movie Rambo II and the book In Pharaoh's Army by Essay

Contrasts between the Movie Rambo II and the book In Pharaoh's Army by Tobias Wolff - Essay Example On the other hand, Wolff, in his book, does not try to portray himself as a wartime hero. Instead, he tries to narrate the details of his experiences in an objective fashion. Wolff takes the readers to a journey to Vietnam through naturalistic, old-fashioned methods. Wolff tells the story of his decision in joining the army as well as his Southeast Asian tour of duty. He was sent back home after one year. However, after reading the book, one could say that the book’s title has nothing much to do with the specific emotional gravity of the Vietnam War no matter how evocative the book’s title might sound. Personally speaking, it is a story that talks about the coming-of-age of an individual that could easily happen even in non-Vietnam specific wartime setting. To better understand the vast differences of the book and the movie to the historical event, one should first learn the emotions that filled America during the post-Vietnam era. It has taken several years before the Americans were able to start to accept the consequences of the Vietnam War. The U.S. legacy lingers on at the mental hospitals, drug treatment clinics, shelters for the homeless, and the rural wilds where some war veterans escaped to in order to avoid the realities of going back to their native land. These are apart from the generation of limbless and maimed civilians and the Vietnamese landscape poisoned with munitions, mines, defoliants. Aside from the negative consequences to the Vietnamese landscape, the Vietnam War left a deep scar in the cultural landscape of the Americans. It can be seen in several expressions and outlets such as underground press, anti-war songs, fiction, and films (Kellner 161-3). To link these statements above to the context of the movie Rambo, one can begin by looking at how Rambo is transformed into a superhero rescuer of

Planning a Classroom for Preschool Children

Planning a Classroom for Preschool Children Brandy McCauley Plan and Grade levels addressed Preschool: The purpose of this early education program is to promote an environment and atmosphere appropriate for a childs development. Preschool/General Subject 18-22 Students I have a wide varied of students. English speaker, Spanish Speakers, new your children and southern children,, My approach to classroom management is to have a fun, safe, and healthy learning environment for my children. I have found that when you include your children in decisions, it teaches them to make the better choice than to misbehave and be disciplined. Classroom rules should be created by the educator and the students in the classroom on the first day of school. Some teachers set their own rules for the kids to follow, but it is good if the children are involved in making the rules. If the rules were agreed upon by everybody in the class, each of them will feel the responsibility of their own actions. Carrying out the rules daily is necessary for them to be reminded and their obedience to the rules to be established. It is important that the rules be set in their hearts and minds and this will be achieved by applying it daily until it becomes a part of their daily routine in the classroom. Create and follow a daily classroom schedule. When children get use to a schedule they know what is coming next and can prepare themselves for the next step. When I can organize my classroom and make my material easily accessible for myself and the children in class, I am able to prepare and gather my materials for that day in a timely manner. Expecting preschoolers to sit diligently and wait for me to cut out patterns and collect supplies for an art activity is not going to happen. I have learned from previous experiences and I will have an emergency activity planned and ready. That way if something comes up I am ready to handle it. Having all of your materials prepped and ready to go will prevent the kids in my class from getting bored and acting up. This will allow transition time to run smoothly. Providing simple activities such as games, stories, songs, and coloring sheets will reduce mayhem. Rules and Expectations In my classroom, my children and I sit down at the beginning of the year and brainstorm to create a set of rules that we agree upon and expectations that we all can accomplish. Hands are for helping-we use loving touches. Keeping hands to your self is always nice. Cleaning up our toys is fun to do. Washing our hands- keeps germs away. Stop, Look, and Listen to your teacher. (Keeping rules positive encourage children to be positive) Roles students have in the classroom I have a bulletin board in my classroom that has daily responsibilities. Line leader, helper for paper towels, crayons, and activity books. The children take their colored Velcro butterfly and put them under the one that they want to take their turn at. Each week every child gets to do at least one responsibility, this also helps with taking turns. This is good for all children because it helps them to develop responsibilities and helps them develop self-esteem and awareness of themselves and others. The idea for a print rich environment is for children to be engaged in significant learning, either alone or with their peers. When children work in centers they learn and develop new skills such as, the ability to share with peers and engaging with each other by developing better knowledge of the spoken and written language. â€Å"Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources† (ISTE, 2.C). Roles you play in the classroom The teacher must be hands-on in her approach to efficient instruction, classroom supervision, and positive performance. As the teacher, I will be actively moving around the room, helping, correcting, answering, encouraging, smiling, correcting, caring, and showing children steps, procedures, and lessons. Implementation plan: My classroom arrangement and order Effective management of classrooms should use these procedures so that the children can function in class properly. â€Å"Learning occurs only when students are actively engaged and in control of their own learning.† (Wong, 2009, p167). â€Å"If a classroom is not properly organized to support the type of schedule and activities a teacher has planned, it can impede the functioning of the day as well as limit what and how students learn. However, a well-arranged classroom environment is one way to more effectively manage instruction because it triggers fewer behavior problems and establishes a climate conducive to learning.†(Weinstein, 1992). The materials and equipment available for young childrens use should reflect their ethnic backgrounds, cultural families, and communities. Recordings, books, posters, recipes, signs, and dress-up clothes and props reflect these diverse children backgrounds and home languages. These materials match the individual, group association a nd developmental skills and interests of the children. Creative room arrangement promotes a childs positive self-image and encourages a wide variety of age appropriate activities. Organized centers help children develop a sense of play, responsibility, and cleanup procedures. Children want sufficient indoor space so that they can play and learn in a safe loving environment. Appropriate furnishings need to meet the demands of their daily schedules. It is important to keep children’s arts, crafts, stories, and doodles at their eye level so that they can see it on display everyday and this can create and promote positive feelings and self esteem. This work being on display for everyone to see can promote good valued and appreciated greater esteem in them self..All of the needs described above provides an environment that supports developmentally appropriate practices. My children are able to choose their centers with their butterflies. Each child has color coded butterflies that match their cubbyholes, jacket rack, table and chair an d a Velcro butterfly that they can attach to the center or activity they have chosen for that time frame. This is how my children choose between their centers and learn to make decisions from a variety of choices. It’s important that I choose names for the interest areas that make sense to children and are easy for them to identify. All of my areas are appropriate for my two, three, and four year olds. â€Å"Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness†. (ISTE,1.A). This area is specifically designed to support language development because children can communicate their ideas to others vocally, or visually on the paper or board. The activity or experience that the children can specifically be engaged in block construction of different types while developing language skills by communicating with teachers and peers. While discovering this area they can also use the poster cues and print rich environment to enhance vocabulary. The role of the teacher will be to assist in providing and developing conversation while building. The effectiveness of this area on language development will be assessed on the amount of interactions between children. The art/easel area is set up with three easels in a circle with posters on the surrounding walls. The area supports language development by encouraging the children to show their work and discuss what their drawings. The posters and wall art provide inspiration to the children and their imaginations. The childr en can specifically be engaged in activities designed to encourage language and communication while in the middle of creative and imaginative artwork. The role of the teacher will be to encourage children to take in their surroundings to develop emotional ties to their artwork and in return communication to others will be enhanced. The effectiveness of this area on language development is determined by an explanation of their work. The learning area is set up with a few different components, including an alphabet tree, a kidney table with label rich environment, a learning wall that has daily routines, rules, calendar, weather, and white board, along with carpet squares so that each child has their own space to sit. This area supports language development because as a class, the information on the wall is provided and reviewed along with adding letters to the tree as they are discovered. The experience that the children can specifically be engaged in considers the educational learni ng activities that allow children knowledge of letters, months, weather, etc. When discovering all of the previously mentioned lessons, children can communicate with each other. The role of the teacher will be to facilitate the discovering process. The effectiveness of this area on language development will be accessed by listening to the children teach each other and communicate what they have been reviewing. My classroom walking paths allow children and adults to move comfortably throughout the room. The pathways are defined with the layout equipment. In my classroom I have 6 centers set up and during the morning play, the children can choose from 3. During the evening play they have a choice of the other 3. I have designed several different play centers. The kitchen center has a wooden, three piece set that is durable and safe for children to lean on and play with. The block center has both foam and wooden blocks. It also has large legos so that the children are given the opportunity to learn to put all types of blocks together or build things with. The next center is family living, where I have a child size church jacket, a dress, an apron, and career sets, such as medical kit, vet supplies, teaching clip board, a construction hat, and an army hat. Also in that area is baby dolls and stuffed animals. I have a center for matchbox cars, which includes many cars, a race track, wooden traf fic signs, a garage, and a neighborhood rug to play on. I have a center designed for science that includes dinosaurs, plastic animals, classroom board books, large magnets, and oil and water bottles. My last center is my lounge area. I have a child-sized plastic pool with pillows that include a shelf with puppets, books, and stuffies. All of my areas are appropriate for my two, three, and four year olds. The materials that I have placed in my early childhood program have been chosen carefully to ensure that they are developmentally appropriate and that they support young children’s interests, cultural backgrounds, and their developmental stages and abilities. By creating and implementing a learning environment means careful planning for the start of the school year. The learning environment must be envisioned in both a physical space and a cognitive space. My program is designed to provide a positive experience to all children and their families, where their economic, cultural, and educational diversity is valued. Classroom Layout References Decker, C., Decker, J., Freeman, N., and Knorpf, H. (2009). Planning and administering early childhood programs (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE Standards Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Puckett, K (2013). Differentiating Instruction: A Practical Guide. Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA. Read, M. A., Sugawara, A. I., Brandt, J. A. (1999). Impact of space and color in the physical environment on preschool childrens cooperative behavior. Environment Behavior, 31(3), 413-428. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00139169921972173 Weinstein, C. S. (1992). Designing the instructional environment: Focus on seating. Retrieved from: http://education.odu.edu/esse/docs/classroomenvironments.pdf Wong, H. K., Wong, R. T. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.

Womens Rights :: Politics, Race, Social Issues

The peculiarly passive obsession with security as the ultimate happiness, the compulsive conformity of life styles (engenderedat least in part by the virulent anti-communism of McCarthyismin odd combination with the Eisenhower era's pacifying blandness),and the pervasive apathy of most of the '50s was replaced in the1960s with an extraordinary and even reckless social energy and political activism. First Blacks, then other racial minorities, students, the New Left, peace protesters, and finally women, emerged one by oneas forces demanding social change. Each group became inflamed with a passion for the possible. The momentum of the feminist movement of the earlier decades ofthe 20th century had waned in the post-World War II decades. Thoughwork for women's rights actually continued by core organizations, it had become almost an underground resistance to a nearly overwhelmingly negative media blitz that insisted on proclaiming the death of feminism and on writing its obituary as it celebrated the happy suburban housewife. As early as 1946, Doris Stevens, a long-time militant suffragist with the National Woman's Party, wrote to a friend, wondering "if those who were living at the beginning of the last Dark Ages. . . knew the darkness had descended!"1 However, hope for a revival of feminist momentum in the UnitedStates was stimulated in part by a curious series of events. On August 26, 1957, (the uncelebrated 37th anniversary of the woman's suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution), the Soviet Union announced it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. On October 4, it launched Sputnik I, the first"man-made" space satellite, and on November 3, Sputnik II, which carried a live dog.