Negotiating Identity: The Frontier in Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville :: Moby Dick Essays

Written during a period of American history characterized by great expansionism, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick may be read as a reflection upon both the rapidly changing geographical frontiers of America, and the accompanying shift of social, political, religious and cultural boundaries. The Pequod's world is governed by laws other than those of the American mainland. Figuratively situated at the frontier of the New World, the ship evokes the mythic American pioneer with the independent spirit, aggression and courage to wrench a nation from the wilderness. Melville lays out a version of the frontier myth that sees redefinition of national identity in terms of man confronting his other, reaffirming the self, and - through Ishmael's survival and narration - returning to civilization having defined what he is not.. Captain Ahab and his obsessive quest for the white whale symbolize in its most extreme form, an American desire to face the wild unknown and to promote national ascendancy thro ugh the confrontation. This paper will examine the seductive but limited conditions under which claims to define American-ness are able to be made in Moby-Dick, through interrogating the way in which the crew's desires are subsumed into Ahab's private vendetta. The notion of the frontier as a place of infinite possibility, where power relations are renegotiated, even as are geographical limits, goes some way towards explaining why, despite Ahab's disregard for his men's well-being, they agree to follow him down his tragic path. Both the license that Ahab's position gives him to compel them into action, and his ability to tap the crew's own belief in the power of the mythical American capacity for self-reinvention, indicate the potential for unbridled violence in the search for the self. Crucially, this highlights the discrepancy between America's claims of its own democracy, liberty and equality, and its national enthusiasm for imperialist conquest and its tolerance of slavery. The pervasiveness of the mythological connection between American self-invention and aggression, is underlined by Slotkin in his claim that the first colonists saw in America an opportunity to regenerate their fortunes, their spirits, and the power of their church and nation; but the means to that regeneration ultimately became the means of violence, and the myth of regeneration through violence became the structuring metaphor of the American experience. (Slotkin, 5) Renowned for the risk it involved, and for the physical demands it made on the sailors, whaling invites many comparisons with both the pioneer's intrepid conquest of the western wilderness, and the march of soldiers into war.

Business System Integration and Consultancy

â€Å"Abstract Customer relationship direction ( CRM ) is a combination of people, procedures and engineering that seeks to understand a company ‘s customers.†The faculty â€Å"Business System Integration and Consultancy† was one I had been looking frontward to of all time since I decided to fall in the class. The chance of holding existent clip experience of being a adviser and transporting out a undertaking was truly appealing. Over the class of the faculty, the assorted facets of consultancy and undertaking execution were introduced under the umbrella of a consultancy undertaking. My essay covers the assorted phases that I went through as a portion of my group, the alterations I would do if I were to travel through the procedure once more and the accomplishments I gained by undergoing the faculty. The essay is loosely divided into two subdivisions. The first subdivision covers the procedure of system integrating I would follow. This covers the phases like Request for Information and Request for Proposal which covers the execution scheme. The 2nd subdivision high spots the personal acquisition.THE PROCESS OF SYSTEM INTEGRATIONThe faculty took us through assorted phases of system integrating get downing from the client seting up petition for information. If the procedure was to be repeated, there is a series of alterations and betterments that could be incorporated into the same. These have been detailed below.The Request for Information ( RFI )S Daellenbach and Sally J Davenport suggest that organisations enter into confederation based on properties of organisation and its representatives instead than the property of the future confederation relationship ( Establishing Trust during the Formation of Technology Alliances ‘ , Journal of Technology Transfer, 29 ( 2 ) , 2004:1 87 ) . The RFI phase is the platform to demo the clients the credibleness and eligibility of the company in taking up the undertaking ( mention of where you got the info from ) . It is of import to affect the client ; demo them that you have the capableness and besides set up trust. For this it is indispensable to demo partnership by seting the logo of Aluxtel and ICG together. The presentation would cover the accomplishments, the strengths, the services offered and relevant experience of ICG in the country of client demand. It would besides showcase the of import old and current partnerships of the company ; for this I would utilize Son of the spouse companies. The presentation should non give so much information that the client misses the indispensable points. ICG ab initio had 19 slides which were cut down to 14 during the RFI phase. Another facet I would make otherwise, was sing an question by the client about employee turnover ratio. ICG had divulged that information to Aluxtel but I subsequently found out that such inside informations are seldom let out by a company and about ne'er during RFI phase. Meeting with the client is besides a really important facet. Survey by Katz and Kahn suggest that appraisal of trust is likely to be based ab initio on the interpersonal interactions ( 1978 ) . It is hence of import to subscribe the â€Å"psychological contracts† with the client.The Request for Proposal ( RFP )This phase required us to showcase the program to turn to the client ‘s demand. The important facet to this was to pull out the right information from the client through the series of meetings we had. The process adopted consisted of three stairss – analysing the organisation & A ; understanding demands, explicating execution scheme and measuring the undertaking execution.Procedure and TechnologyMeasure 1: Analyzing organisation & A ; Understanding RequirementsThe key to acquiring information from the clients as pointed by the facult y leaders is to inquire an unfastened ended inquiry which leaves the client to speak more than you. The effectual direction of information has a important function to play in CRM. Information is critical for merchandise tailoring, service invention, amalgamate positions of clients, and ciphering client life-time value ( Peppard, 2000 ) . The initial negotiations were non really fruitful, due to inexperience and nervousnesss. The attendant meetings yielded more information ; the last meeting had been more focussed in footings of the inquiries and yielded specific concerns of the client sing cost decrease and organisational restructuring. This helped ICG modify the program to run into the client ‘s specific involvements. The information was used to transport out analysis utilizing techniques like SWOT analysis, stakeholder analysis and plague analysis. I would follow this as it greatly helped in analysing the consequence of the undertaking on assorted facets of the organisation. Measure 2: Execution SchemeThe scheme should provide to three chief facets viz. people, procedure and engineering. The thought is that a new procedure is to be designed by integrating engineering to give the company the competitory advantage. The focal point nevertheless needs to be on the demands of the company and non engineering. Technology should ever be the facilitator. This fact is confirmed by Rigby and Ledingham who say that directors should non be distracted by the CRM package but should concentrate on what demands it should provide to ( 2004 ) . I steadfastly adhere to this school of idea and believe that doing engineering the chief drive force behind determinations can do concerns to lose focal point on their nucleus competences, unless the nucleus competence is engineering itself. The chief facet to be considered in the instance of Aluxtel is the presence of silo systems. Migrating the information into a individual database would greatly cut down call clip and better client satisfaction. However this should non impact the normal concern operations. Bearing these factors in head a information migration program has to be devised. The information migration would besides function as an chance to transport out informations cleansing. In 2001, Gartner analysts Scott Nelson and Jennifer Kirkby reported that disregarding informations quality is the figure one ground for CRM undertaking failures ( Power, 2009:40 ) . The information of Aluxtel could be largely cleansed by automatic methods but required manual cleaning every bit good. The challenge with manual cleaning is the clip it consumes and the human resource required from an already overladen Aluxtel staff. From the interactions with the faculty leaders, it was concluded that cent per centum clean information is a rareness. Therefore I believe that automatic cleaning would do as an immediate demand. The information from silo systems could be integrated into a separate individual database and it can undergo the manual cleaning. This method has its pros and cons. Since the undertaking will be implemented in a phased mode, the above scheme would intend keeping bequest and new database till the undertaking goes unrecorded in all the offices. However it besides provides a autumn back mechanism to the bequest database in instance of any issue. The new system can take a few months to settle, where the staff and the clients become familiar with the system. The Information and Technology ( IT ) staff on which the burden is lesser than sales/marketing staff can transport out the manual cleaning. [ Refer appendix for informations migration diagram ] The client today takes certain services for granted, chief being an online service. It enormously adds to the convenience factor of the client. Bearing this in head, a web portal is a necessity. Peppers and Rogers depict how web sites help in retaining clients by offering services in traditionally impossible ways [ 2000 ] . The presence of a amalgamate database would intend that investing required for this would be minimum. Besides, presenting an IVR system with an machine-controlled confirmation service would greatly cut down call clip and the incommodiousness caused to clients by perennial confirmation questions. The following facet of the scheme is to look at cost decrease and organisational restructuring. For a apparatus that involves client naming in for questions, it is instead unneeded to hold four different offices for call centres. Integrating them would greatly cut down disposal and care costs. I would lodge to the recommendation made to unify Milton Keynes office with Birmingham office. There have been instances of companies Virgin, Bata etc switching central offices without impacting their concern. The cost decrease it would convey greatly justifies this move. An facet I would wish to convey about if I do this undertaking once more is affecting clients in make up one's minding other alterations to be brought about since CRM is a client centric undertaking. Random calls could be made to the clients asking about the alterations they would wish to see in the procedure. Optimizing client relationships requires a complete apprehension of all clients ; profitable every bit good as non-profitable, and so to form concern procedures to handle clients separately based on their demands and their values ( Renner, 2000 ) . This reinforces the advantages to be gained by utilizing the client profiling. One point that was missed out, as pointed out by Mr. Gary was the hazard analysis. Possible hazards such as undertaking failure, unequal return on investing, unplanned undertaking budget alterations, unhappy clients, loss of employee assurance, and recreation of cardinal direction clip and resources must be good thought out ( Schweigert, 2000 ) . Identifying the hazards involved and accordingly mapping the ways to extenuate these hazards would be a great confidence to the client and will besides guarantee better opportunities of forestalling a undertaking failure.Measure 3: Appraisal and ControlArgyris and Schon describe the spread between ‘intent ‘ and realisation as the major challenge in strategic direction theory ( 1996 ) . It is of import that the undertaking is invariably reviewed and assessed to do certain its on the right class and it adheres to the program set out. The steps taken by ICG were really good in run intoing this demand. A steering commission and a fol low up commission would guarantee that undertaking stuck to its program. The undertaking had a stage â€Å"controlling† every bit good for the intent.PeoplesExecution of endeavor engineering, such as CRM and ERP, requires alterations to organisational civilization ( Al-Mashari & A ; Zairi, 2000 ) . It is hence of import to fix the people involved for the alteration and do certain they are motivated to encompass the alteration. Most jobs in CRM execution are non proficient. [ Schwartz et Al, 2002 ] identifies organisational alteration as a major challenge for CRM executions. Analyzing the execution scheme, it is clear that the alteration is huge and there is a really valid demand to look into the people aspect. The first thing to make would be to affect the senior direction in the procedure of fixing the staff for the alteration. Cap Gemini and IDC found that top direction and selling and gross revenues direction are by and large the instigators of a corporate CRM undertaking ( 1999 ) . Besides developing Sessionss will be conducted to do them recognize the benefits of the new system and to besides guarantee their credence. Their feedbacks at assorted phases can guarantee that the undertaking is on path and these stairss would besides guarantee their ownership in the undertaking. A major issue to be considered is the resettlement of people in Milton Keynes to Birmingham and besides from the different call centres to the integrated call Centre. There is likely to be opposition in this respect. This issue was non discussed decently in ICG ‘s proposal. I believe that a little hiking in wage is justified to actuate people for the alteration. This would n't be a load on the company sing the effectual outgo cut. Besides a publicity would be a large psychological motive for the staff even if the salary rise associated with the publicity is minimum.Personal LearningThe faculty helped in understanding the constructs of consultancy and how to be professional in the work that you do. It familiarized me with the assorted phases involved in a undertaking and how to undertake each of them. It is most of import to hold a holistic position sing all possible facets. Initially, the focal point had merely been on planing a CRM system. But as the class progressed, I learne d to look at the chances for organisational restructuring and investigation for ways to transfuse process optimisation and cost decrease. The experience of working with clip restraints in a really competitory environment has made me confident to take on the universe of confer withing. As for the soft accomplishments, I was a portion of all the meetings with the client and besides handled the RFI presentation and the concluding presentation. It made me confident to talk in forepart of honored persons. The meetings helped me understand the elusive niceties of constructing a resonance by conversation and gestures. I was besides introduced to the art of inquiring the right sort of inquiries to pull out inside informations from the client. The procedure of working in a group besides was a really fulfilling experience. The work was by and large divided among the members and each member came prepared with the subject. This was followed by treatments and encephalon storming about the assorted subjects. This ensured proper analysis of all the subjects and deep apprehension about the same. It besides made certain that everyone in the group was cognizant of all the facets of our proposal. This was highlighted by the fact that during the reappraisal session by the panel after our concluding presentation, all the members answered to the questions.BibliographyAl-Mashari, M. and Zairi, M. ( 2000 ) , â€Å" The effectual application of SAP R/3: a proposed theoretical account of best pattern † , Logistics Information Management, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 156-66. Argyris, C and Schon, D ( 1996 ) Organizational larning II: Theory, Method and Practise. Chen, J.I & A ; Popvich.K, 2003. â€Å"Understanding client relationship direction ( CRM ) : Peoples, procedure and technology† in Business Process Management Journal. Vol 9 Daellenbach, S. & A ; Davenport, J. 2004. â€Å"Establishing trust during the formation of engineering alliances† in Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol: 29 ( 2 ) Finnigan D.J & A ; Willcocks, L.P, ( 2007 ) , Implementing CRM: From engineering to Knowledge Peppard, J. ( 2000 ) , â€Å" Customer relationship direction ( CRM ) in fiscal services † , European Management diary, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 312-27. Peppers, D. and Rogers, four ( 2000 ) , â€Å" Successful Web sites † , DMReview.Com, 4 February. Power.D, 2009. â€Å"Data Quality and MDM ; A information quality mentality additions MDM plan success† in Information Management. Vol 19 ( 2 ) . Renner, D. ( 2000 ) , â€Å" Customer relationship direction: a new arm in your competitory armory † , Siebel Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 2. Rigby, D.K. and Ledingham, D ( 2004 ) CRM done right. Harvard Business Review, 82 ( 11 ) , 118-129 Shwartz, M. , Schliebs, O. and Wyssusek, B. ( 2002 ) Concentrating the Customer: A Critical Approach towards Design and Use of Data Warehousing in Corporate CRM. DMDW Workshop at CAISE, Toronto. Schweigert, D. ( 2000 ) , â€Å" Balancing idealistic V realistic procedures † , in Proceedings of DCI Customer Relationship Management Conference, Boston, MA, 27-29 June

Famous Quotes About Dance

Dancing is an expression of your soul. You dont need to know complicated steps to dance. You dont have to sashay across the  room  or spin your partner with finesse. If you enjoy dancing, you will be able to find your feet. Dance to the rhythm of your heart, and you will feel happy, guaranteed. It doesnt matter whether you like jazz or waltz, jive or salsa. What matters is that your (literally) heart loves to dance. Dancing is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise. But dancing also helps the release of endorphins, the so-called happiness hormone. As  Dave Barry  said, Nobody cares if you cant dance well. Just get up and dance.   Even if the only time you can dance is when no ones watching (possibly the best time of all), these quotes can inspire you to let yourself feel the freedom of dance whether in your living room or on the dance floor.   Alice Abrams In life as in dance: grace glides on blistered feet. Albert Einstein Dancers are athletes of God. Voltaire Let us read and let us dance, two amusements that will never do any harm to the world. Jerome Robbins Dance is like life, it exists as youre flitting through it, and when its over, its done. Martha Graham Dance is the hidden language of the soul. Maya Angelou Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances. George Carlin Those who dance are considered insane by those who cant hear the music. Friedrich Nietzsche He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying. Vince Lombardi The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. Its your mind you have to convince. Ginger Rogers I do everything the man does, only backward and in high heels! Edward Lear And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon. Oprah Winfrey Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes and dance. Merce Cunningham You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive. Agnes de Mille To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on Earth, and it is yours for the taking. Martha Graham Nobody cares if you cant dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.

What Is a Religious Sect

A sect is a religious group that is a subset of a religion or denomination. Sects typically share the same beliefs as the religion that is their foundation but will have marked differences in some areas. Sects Versus Cults The terms sects and cults are often used interchangeably, but this is incorrect. Cults are small, extreme groups, and are often marked by corrupt leaders, and intense, manipulative, or unethical practices. Sects are not cults, in most circumstances. They are just religious offshoots of other groups. But because of how often the two terms are confused, many people who belong to sects describe themselves as being part of a small denomination, to avoid negative stigma. Examples of Religious Sects In history, religious sects have been the cause of new movements and radical changes. For example, one early sect of Judaism was the Nazarenes. This group was reportedly made up of Jesus apostles after his death. While they were a Jewish sect, the Nazarenes were the foundation of Christianity. Today, sects are still prominent. One of the most well-known is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly referred to as Mormons. The Mormon sect eventually evolved into its own denomination of Christianity and continues to increase in followers. Sects are often subsets of religions due to their perceived need for reform. As the sect grows, it becomes more established, builds a congregation, and becomes more accepted into the mainstream. At that point, it becomes a denomination. Modern Christian Sects Christianity has the largest number of sects. In the past, Christians associated sects with heresy and blasphemous beliefs, but in recent years, sects have become more respected for their beliefs. A Christian sect is recognized as separate from the core religion over certain beliefs and practices. Within the Catholic Church, there are many sects that operate separately but still consider themselves Catholic: Community of the Lady of All Nations: Founded in 1971, this sect believes that its founder, Marie Paule Giguere, is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary. This differs from the Catholic belief that reincarnation is not possible and that Mary was assumed into heaven.  Palmarian Catholic Church: The Palmarian Catholic Church does not recognize the current papacy as valid and infallible, splitting with the Roman Catholic Church. They have not recognized the authority of the Pope since the death of Pope Paul VI in 1978. Modern Islamic Sects Islam also has a number of religious sects that deviate from Islams traditional teachings. There are two core groups, but each one has several sub-sects as well: Sunni Islam: Sunni Islam is the largest Muslim sect, and differs from other groups in the matter of the prophet Muhammads successor.Shia Islam: Shia Islam believes that Muhammad did appoint a successor, in stark contrast to the Sunnis.   While sects are often used to describe extreme religious views, many sects are peaceful and simply differ with a denomination over some particular issues. As time passes, many become accepted as mainstream denominations.

Impact of Religion on Youth - 4279 Words

Introduction The impact that religion has exerted on mankind’s history is phenomenal, even in the twenty first century, perceptions are beguiled more by religion than any other factor. Too many policies, political associations, economic stances and military actions are dictated to a large extent by religion for anyone to take it lightly. This holds much greater significance for the people of the subcontinent than other places, save a few exceptions. Whether this was due to the success of the â€Å"Divide and Rule† policy of the British Raj, or the prevalent conflicting nature of the different tenets of the respective sects, the subcontinent was divided on the basis of ideological differences. The vehicle of transformation is the†¦show more content†¦This is too low a percentage of the muslims taking into account the possibility of distortion as they claim The Holy Quran to be the one true source of their religion. Considering the fact that the proportion of muslims in our vast population is almost 90% (89.7% according to the Bangladesh Census 2001), this is bad news as Islamic tenets can be portrayed as commands for intolerance and interpreted wrongly this manifests as extremism.61% of the respondents said that the depth of their learning is limited to what is taught in the school curriculum and portrayed in the media. This is a good way to learn but not as effective as one pursuing the religion on his or her own and from the authentic base of the religion. Considering something as mind numbingly powerful as religion, it should be pursued from its original source and left to one’s own faculties for deciphering, otherwise the true meaning is never grasped. Second hand information based religion leads to an extrinsic state of belief as opposed to the very beneficial intrinsic sense of belief, which is when one builds a personal relation with God. According to Hills and Francis (2002), eminent psychologists from Oxford Brookes University, the difference between these two forms of religious practice have implications for future research and for the interpretation of all research on religious practice. There is a substantial difference betweenShow MoreRelatedThe Impact Of Religion On Youth And Youth1518 Words   |  7 PagesReligiously Organized Groups in Universities from a Youth Perspective Although how youth associate religion has been discussed in literature to a varying degree, this literature review will mainly focus on four major themes found in the relevant peer reviewed articles of recent studies. Those themes are, impact of religion on youth, youth and organized religious groups, religious groups and social capital and religious involvement of youth in university context. While literature presents the aboveRead MoreChallenges facing youths today1513 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Challenges Facing the Youth in Today’s Society Most of the problems facing today’s youth are not restricted to any one ethnic or religious group, but affect young people generally. Most discussions on youth have focussed on issues such as drug abuse, crime, violence, sexuality and poverty. In addition to these, today’s youth are afflicted by new challenges. These include: 1. An Identity Crisis: Who am I? 2. Lack of self confidence and low self esteem: I am worthless 3. A sense of hopelessness:Read MoreReligion and its Effect on Society and Individuals Essay1603 Words   |  7 Pagesof life have also changed. However, the one aspect of life that has stayed constant has been religion. The impact of a constant religious opinion on a changing society has detrimental and benign effects on the populace of such a society. Religion was partly created in an effort to answer the questions that couldn’t be answered in any other way; to provide an explanation for the unexplainable. Each religion in turn has it’s own version of a higher being in which to believe. Giving this higher beingRead MoreUse Of Offensiveness And Offensive Advertising On The Arab World Muslim Dominated Country1634 Words   |  7 Pagesnature of offensiveness and offensive advertising from the viewpoint of the millennial youth in Egypt (an Arab world Muslim dominated country). It aims to understand what these youth reflections on religiosity are and whether they affects their views on what is considered to be offensive in advertising. The problem of offensive advertising and religiosity is that they are highly subjective issues where even youth that come from the same culture, demographics and ideologies could have very varied identificationsRead MoreBlood Transfusion Should Not Be Banned From A Lighter Sentence952 Word s   |  4 PagesOn one hand, it can be said that Jadine Russell effectively killed herself by not accepting blood transfusion as it is against her religion to do so. On the other, she would not have had to make such a decision if it was not for the Keith Cook, who got in an accident with her while under the influence of alcohol. However, just as Russell may have lived if she was not faced with the choice of refusing the transfusion, Cook could have hit someone else who would not have died because they acceptedRead MoreEssay about Religion in the World897 Words   |  4 PagesReligion is intertwined with culture, economics, politics, and modern social relationships on every dimension. Whether you attend a cathedral, a synagogue, or a mosque, habitually, intermittently, or abstain entirely, you simply cannot escape religion. Culture and religion share a symbiotic relationship influencing clothes, hair, attitudes, tradition, child rearing, how we pray, when we pray, how often we pray, and what we wear when we pray. In the IslÄ mic faith the custom of a woman coveringRead MoreThank You For Your Letter Concerning The Content Of The1237 Words   |  5 PagesThank you for your letter concerning the content of the current 11SOR program. Your worries about contemporary spirituality being taught in year 11 Study of Religion is understandable, but the focus on modern, contemporary spirituality expressed through video games is necessary and important for your child’s education. This is because some claim that it is possible to have spiritual experiences in video games and therefore it is important that SOR students can evaluate these themes in the lightRead MoreThe relationship between morality and religiosity978 Words   |  4 Pagesmorals possibly does not always believe in a religion. Understanding this concept could be difficult if one does not realize what it means to have good morals. Morality is the distinction of knowing between right and wrong, good and bad. This judgment happens in everyday activities and can be as small as a little white lie or as big as killing someone. Studies show different ways of one’s morality forming. One way, researchers believe, is from one’s religion and what one believes in. If one is a ChristianRead MoreHow Alcohol Consumption Is Culture1237 Words   |  5 Pagesdifficulties with unemployment, past experiences and such contribute to ones behaviour. In past research, the earlier the initiation, the more chance of drinking Pettigrew Donovan (2003 ,p.30). It has also been mentioned that binge drinking in the youth community has been linked with alcohol abuse. What role does the media play?. Young form of interaction is associated with media. Individuals are engaged in movies, tv, and music. Australian Bureau of statistics found 93% of 15-17 year olds travelledRead MoreThe Klux Klan And Kkk Klan1122 Words   |  5 Pagesto convey. Although the KKK used to be known for their violence, the KKK KKK is knowing for condemning violence. The group now usually has little to no impact in the communities due to their shrinking numbers and prevention intervention social workers throughout the states have had on the group to mitigate their impact through educating the youth on hate. Although the KKK KKK is growing smaller and not as violent the KKK KKK is still a well known hate group that operates in several communities throughout

A Life

A Life-Changing Event Essay Most news stories one hears just goes in one ear and out the other. It may resonate with some for a few minutes where that person feels devastated from the world producing cruel events. But, for something to change your opinion and you learn from mistakes, you have to endure the action and realize how it affects you and the surrounding people. Typically, most news revolves around negative stories and that is why that reaction stays with you for a few seconds. There is so much negative going on it is tough to remember all of it. When going on with life these news stories continually accumulate but not one time have I actually understood that anything similar could happen to me. One of these events did not happen to me personally, but someone in my community in the same age group was affected. His name was Francis Duddy, a junior who attended Donovan Catholic. On February 8th, 2014 he was killed in a drunken driving accident by his best friend Connor Hanifin. I did not hold a personal relationship with either of these fellow high school students; but I was attending the same party they were. There was no doubt that Nanling was a good place for traveling during the spring season. We planned to go to the top of Nanling in order to enjoy the wonderful view. We hired a local driver to take us up to the top. Before going up Nanling, the driver asked us to make a mental preparation, because we would have a very tough process. What does he mean by that? ,  I asked myself. Anyway, I was curious and excited of it. We were on a minibus and it headed to the top of the mountain. The road was tough and narrow like a snake that was coiling up. The mountain rolled up like that all the way to the top. The minibus drove on such a road that make me feel like it was off-track and at any second would drop from the edge of the road. That was what the driver was talking about! Oh my goodness! I couldnt help holding my breath. My right hand was covering my left hand, and I was praying to God that bless us with arriving safely to the top. I was struggling with myself to calm down. In the meanwhile, my mom had already been uncomfortable because of the carsickness. I turned around holding my mothers hand and I comforted my mother and talked to her, Well be fine, mom. And we will enjoy the wonderful view on the top. Try to think about the moment when we get to the top. We are standing on the top of the highest mountain. All of the beautiful views will be absorbed by our eyes. We will suck the fresh air and enjoy the comfortable spring wind. What a wonderful moment we are going to spend! Just hold on ten more minutes. The happiness is coming. You can do it. And we all can do it!  . We were shaking in the minibus the entire time because of the tough road. There was no doubt that it was making us even more nervous. But fortunately, we finally arrived safely to the top. And we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, we were stocked by our views. The mountain was very quiet and spring was brushing over the place. The peach blossom in the branches were shyly flashing a light red, a great temptation, like love was covered on the branches flashing shining colors. When the breeze contacted with my face, like my mothers hand gently touching my face. I liked that feeling, with coolness and so relaxing. Looking toward the distance, the hills rose straight up from the ground as if they were waving at us. They seemed to welcome us. Nearby was a green forest. A clear river looked liked a snake was wriggling in the forest. Those big trees just liked green umbrellas protecting the earth from the sunshine. We did enjoy a wonderful view on the top of Nanling! This trip was breathtaking and exciting, wasnt it? When we were on the minibus, nobody knew if we would arrive safely to the top or drop down. We were suffered by our fear and nervousness. If we give up and return, we could not enjoy such a wonderful view at the top. But we didnt. We all defeated our fear and nervousness. We tasted the sweet after the bitter. It was such an unknown experience that make me still remember it clearly.

20th Century Art free essay sample

Art in the 20th Century In the first half of the 20th century, the world was in complete upheaval. Between 1900 and 1945, there were two global wars, and people everywhere saw the rise in Communism, Fascism, Nazism, and the Great Depression (Gardner 724). In this time, there was an extreme change in art; artists questioned the meaning, purpose, form, and overall traditional outlook on the arts. These painters and sculptors explored the boundaries of art and they openly rejected classical, academic, and conventional examples of what art was supposed to be (Video Notes). At this time in history, ocial, political, and economic terms were being reshaped and redefined, and the artistic world followed suit. There were many different artistic movements that were sparked by the chaos and instability of the world before World War II. These include, but are not limited to Fauvism, Cubism, and Dadaism (Gardner 724). Fauvism refers to wild beasts (artists/fauves), a name given by a critic, who expressed whatever they wanted to however they wanted to. Cubism emerged with Pablo Picassos Les Demoiselles dAvignon, which was a painting that presented a radical new way to represent form and space. This particular painting had fgures that were inspired by the rediscovery of primitive art (with African and ancient Iberian influence). Picasso experimented with visual expression, and he took a dramatic departure from careful representation of a visual reality. It seems as though the fgures in his paintings were put onto canvas as he thought them, not in a rational or organized way (Video Notes). As a result of WWI, Dadaism also hit the artistic world. Dada was a massive movement and response to the corruption and homicide that was going on in the war. The Dadaists had a particular attitude and mind set, rather than a specific style. They believed that Enlightenment and reason had produced global devastation, and they turned away from logic to prize the irrational (Video Notes). Critics thought this movement to be outwardly absurd. But, the Dadaists were successful in relaying their message of confusion and pessimism in regards to the war. They had disdain for convention and tradition, and this fostered a serious examination of the basic premises and rules of art. An example of a Dada artist and piece is Marcel Duchamp and his Fountain. Duchamp took a ready made sculpture, (a urinal), and tried to force iewers to see a new light on the object (Gardner 745). This was outrageous, of course, in the eyes of critics. But Duchamp was able to aggressively challenge artistic conventions and boundaries by signing his name to artworks that were everyday objects. These three movements are only a handful that tried to bring out the irrational in art. These movements influenced others, and led to more expressive art that could test the meaning and definition of what art was supposed to be. The second World War left an intense mark on the latter half of the 20th century. Even though the global war ended, there was not global peace. There was upheaval in the cultural sphere of the world, and tradition was shattered by rebels all around. The youth questioned the status quo, and broke free from the mainstream social standards by supporting unconventional dress, manners, and habits (Gardner 788). There was a new spirit of rebellion in the air, which resulted in a sexual revolution, the use/abuse ot drugs, rock and roll music, and a rejection ot sexism and racism. The war had created a pervasive sense of despair, disillusionment, and skepticism, which was an ideal subject and form for the artists of that time. Many cynics in Europe found their voices in Existentialism, which was a philosophy asserting the absurdity of human existence and the impossibility of achieving certitude (Gardner 789). Many of the people who embraced Existentialism also started to question the existence of God. This social ideal reflected itself in the art found in postwar expressionism, especially in Europe. The artists showed despair, brutality, roughness, and pessimism in their art (Gardner 789). From this new-found expressionism came abstract art. Abstract art explicates the state of mind of the artist, and is purposed to trike emotional chords in the viewer (Gardner 790). A well known abstract artist that came from this time was Jackson Pollock. In his painting, Number 1, Pollock rhythmically dripped, splattered, dribbled, flung, and poured paint onto a vast canvas. It was a spontaneous, but accordingly, choreographed art where Pollock emphasized the creative aspects of abstract art. The term was coined action art, because Pollock actively applied paint to the canvas with more than Just a paint brush. He fully immersed himself into his paintings, and was able to completely express himself. This was true abstract art, and had come a long way from the traditional, organized, and precise paintings of Raphael and Michelangelo. There was also a social-economic change in the 20th century. In the Renaissance and other art movements, artists were given patronage by high-class citizens and churches. Art then was created for a purpose, whether it was to promote a King or to tell a Bible story on a church wall. As the century changed, economic ability changed, and middle-class people were now able to buy and sponsor art (Video Notes). This created a dynamic change in the status quo of art, because before it was only for the ich. Now, middle-class art lovers could enjoy high-quality art in their own living room. The subject of art changed from informative and propaganda to expression and interest. It also started a new way to view art. Museums and Art Clubs emerged, and people openly interpreted and critiqued art. This was influenced by the new time and thinking: that traditional aspects in art should be questioned. In the later quarter of the 20th century, social and political movements formed, and art was created to support those movements. Some of these movements fought or things like equality between races, womens rights, and environmental protection. There were also significant gains in artistic mediums as video, photography, multimedia art, ceramics, etc. filled the artists time and energy. The world was in revolution and change, and art followed the example. Where art was once planned, beautiful, and religious; it became rugged, different, and abstractly subjective by the end of the 20th century. It is interesting to note how art changes with time, especially with social, political, and economic changes. It seems as though art went through its own Existential Crisis in the 20th century.