Mock Business Plan - Crossfit - 5933 Words

VALLEY CROSSFIT Chris Chapple Business Plan MG 530 4/30/2012 Table of Contents: 1. Executive Summary a. Mission Statement b. Company Information c. Service d. Financial Information e. Future Plans 2. Description of the Business f. Nature of the Business g. Target Market h. How Product/Services Meet Needs 3. Competitive Analysis i. CrossFit Gyms j. Other Gyms 4. Industry Description and Outlook 5. Marketing Plan k. Market Penetration Strategy l. Growth Strategy m. Communication Strategy 6. Financial Plan n. Start-Up Costs o. Continual Costs p. Revenue 7. Critical Risk Factors Executive Summary Mission Statement: Valley†¦show more content†¦He has defined fitness in a meaningful, measurable way; increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. CrossFit itself is defined as that which optimizes fitness through constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity. CrossFit is also the community that arises when people do these workouts together. In fact, the communal aspect of CrossFit is a key component of why it’s so effective. Today, CrossFit provides accredited training seminars throughout the world. They publish several websites providing extensive free content including workouts, training and support for becoming fit, as well as a growing Journal of extended instruction. They have a worldwide network of more than 5,500 affiliated gyms and more than 35,000 accredited CrossFit Level 1 trainers. They have also created the Sport of Fitness, known as the CrossFit Games, where we crown the Fittest Man and Woman on Earth. Financial information: Valley CrossFit will be providing a group training service with future plans to expand into merchandising and supplement sales. Initial start-up costs will include $1000 to become CrossFit Level 1 Certified or a ‘coach’ and a $3000 affiliation fee. This will give Valley CrossFit access to the CrossFit name and brand for marketing purposes. Once approved, I will then have to create a website that is approved by CrossFit headquarters. The other major

The Memoir Wild By Cheryl Strayed - 1226 Words

The memoir Wild, by Cheryl Strayed focused on a woman whose whole life was in turmoil. From the passing of her mother to the divorce of her husband, Cheryl lost sight of her values and viewed her life as one ruined by failure and loss. In desperate need of something new to believe in, Cheryl decided to begin the journey with herself by taking an epic journey on the Pacific Crest Trail. Her beliefs and values transform over the journey from the victim of a bad situation to her belief in herself, rebirth and forgiveness. It is hard to imagine what it is like to lose everything, and Cheryl was not accepting her new reality. At the start of her memoir she viewed herself as the victim, along with the fact that she wished she had, â€Å"A father who loved you as a father should [that] was greater than his parts† (133). Her biological father was a really father in name only, and he was extremely vicious and abusive to the children and their mother. When a stepfather, Eddie came into the family, he was by no means a good father, however in comparison to their biological father Eddie was an amazing man. After her mother’s death, Eddie tried to move on and Cheryl was upset because she expected more from him. She wanted him to be there for her. She cannot imagine a good father because both men fell short of her expectations of what a father should do. In this painful time, Cheryl longed to find a way to run from all her problems: â€Å"[a] place where there was no pain, where it wasShow MoreRelatedFeminist Perspective Wild By Cheryl Strayed1261 Words   |  6 PagesFeminist Perspective Theory in Wild by Cheryl Strayed. â€Å"Wild† is a memoir by American author, Cheryl Strayed, documenting her journey of self-discovery as she traverses along the Pacific Crest Trail. In the book Cheryl documents her own personal journey in 1995 after her mother’s death, the book was published in 2012. This paper seeks to explicate the feminists’ perspective in the book, through analysing events, occurrence and thoughts as documented by the author. At the age of 22 Cheryl’s motherRead MoreThe Death Of A Loved One1668 Words   |  7 Pagesdeath of a loved one is not something that is easy to live through. For Cheryl Strayed that was no different, but Strayed used it as her driving force at a chance to pursue her dreams as well as an opportunity make her grieving heard. She battle with the death of her mother as well as her whole life being turned upside down as acknowledged in, â€Å"I’d find my strength again, far from everything that had made my life ridiculous† (Strayed 57). One thing that did not change throughout it all was that she stillRead MoreSummary Of A Memoir Of Survival 1352 Words   |  6 PagesA Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Mary Jordan (Viking, 2015), chronicles the kidnapping of two women by the infamous Cleveland school-bus driver Ariel Castrol with their abductions, captivity and dramatic escapes. The book is currently #352 on Amazon. The shocking s tory ends as these heroic women escape but in Masquerade the torture continues through even after Rani divorces the maniac who had kidnapped her children and turned them against her. Just as Memoir speaksRead MoreHow Background and Upbringing Effect a Child, Especially in Wild by Strayed and The Other West Moore by Moore1545 Words   |  7 PagesIn the first few pages of Wild, it describes the present being of strayed but is quickly followed by flashbacks to her past. These flashbacks are a reminder of how the story has reached the point where it opened, on the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT). This book is more than a memoir recounting just her hike up the western coast; it is a story of her life’s journey. It explains how who she presently is directly determined by who she used to be. Each step on the trail is another step forward in her growthRead MorePsychology At Columbus High School1908 Words   |  8 Pageswas Cheryl Strayed’s journey to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in her memoir, Wild. I had asked around my school to see if anyone else could volunteer with me; however, with the camp falling on a holiday, the majority of my friends had already made plans to go out of town. I came up with every excuse to refuse the call to the camp, but I felt so compelled to learn more about the program. Despite having to volunteer all by myself, I decided it was the right thing to do. In the beginning, Strayed was

A New Intervention to Reduce Anhedonia in Schizophrenia Free Essays

Meta-analyses of cognitive behavioral therapy for positive symptoms of schizophrenia have demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing hallucinations or delusions. In schizophrenia â€Å"negative symptoms’ refer to a reduction of normal functioning, and it encompasses apathy, anhedonia, flat effect, avolition, social withdrawal, and, sometimes, psychomotor retardation. The purpose of this study is the idea that Anhedonia is a challenging symptom of schizophrenia and remains largely recalcitrant to current pharmacological treatments. We will write a custom essay sample on A New Intervention to Reduce Anhedonia in Schizophrenia or any similar topic only for you Order Now The goal of this exploratory pilot study was to assess if a cognitive-sensory intervention could improve anticipatory pleasure. Results show that the patients improved on the anticipatory scale of the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale. Daily activities of the patients were also increased. In nursing research, it has been shown that the sense of mastery is negatively correlated with negative symptoms or even with the fact of being left alone. Two research questions were addressed in a sample of five participants. Does cognitive-sensory training in anticipatory pleasure in persons with schizophrenia? Does cognitive-sensory training in anticipatory pleasure lead to an increase in the number and complexity of daily activities performed by persons with schizophrenia? They did not expect that anticipatory pleasure cognitive skills training would directly improve consummatory pleasure. If persons with schizophrenia show a deficit in their ability to anticipate pleasure rather than consummatory pleasure, then it becomes possible to consider cognitive training might help these individuals anticipate pleasure from foreseeable, future activities. I feel the author did a good job using literature to support their predictions and I was convinced by their argument. The author used well supporting concepts to prove their points as they discussed theories about Anticipatory Pleasure Skills Training: A New Intervention to Reduce Anhedonia in Schizophrenia. I particularly liked the idea that they did a two year comprehensive program including assertive community treatment, social skills training, and multifamily therapy groups that led to significantly less positive and negative symptoms, less comorbid substance buse, and significantly greater satisfaction with treatment. The author thought a more specific and symptom-centered approach because they felt it might lead to specific improvement in a shorter period of time. This symptom-specific strategy has been used in other studies for positive symptoms, allowing the development of successful specific therapeutic techniques. The case studies presented in this article highlight the use of this specific symptom approach for Anhedonia. Anhedonia has been defined as a reduction in the ability to experience pleasure. It has been regarded as a core clinical feature of schizophrenia. Research has produced a paradoxical set of findings, raising questions about its nature. Individuals with schizophrenia typically report experiencing lower levels of pleasure in their daily lives than non-patients on self-report measures of trait social and physical Anhedonia. Anticipatory pleasure is linked to motivational processes that promote goal-directed behaviors; consummatory pleasure is associated with satiety. The Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale is a trait measure of pleasure that distinguishes between â€Å"momentary pleasure† and â€Å"anticipation of future pleasure activities. The illumination of a new way of conceptualizing Anhedonia in schizophrenia permits redefinition and calibration of the symptom complex as a target for treatment. If persons with schizophrenia show a deficit in their ability to anticipate pleasure rather than consummatory pleasure, then it becomes possible to consider that cognitive training might help these individuals anticipate pl easure from foreseeable, future activities. Greater ability to anticipate pleasure would lead to a meaningful increase in spontaneous daily activities performed. Five participants were included in this pilot study. The participants were recruited from the regular clinical practices of the authors. The first and second authors were working in a mobile team of a community psychiatry outpatient service. The different members of this team worked as clinical case managers and were specialized in engaging difficult-to-reach patients in a comprehensive recovery program including therapeutic, occupational, and vocational services. The third author was working in a nursing home for psychiatric patients. The intervention was proposed to the patient when Anhedonia was reported as a challenging behavior impeding improvement in the care of the patient. To be included, participants had to be on a moderate dose of maintenance antipsychotic medication, with stable dosage for at least the past 3 months, and not be suffering from a major depression (score less than 12 on the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia [CDSS]). As the intervention was delivered in the routine care, signed informed consent to use the gathered data was obtained retrospectively for patients 1, 2, and 3. The internal review board of the nursing home approved the study, and patients 4 and 5 signed the informed consent form before their participation in the study. The participants were four men and one woman. All participants met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision) criteria for schizophrenia (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Diagnosis was obtained at the referral time with discussion with the referring psychiatrist. Participant 1 left school by the age of 16 and had no further education or training. He had been housebound for 3 years except during acute somatic or psychiatric care. Participants 2 and 3 were working part time in competitive employment. Participants 1 and 2 lived at home with their parents; participant 3 lived alone in her own apartment. Participants 4 and 5 had been institutionalized in a nursing home for 14 years and 30 years, respectively, and did not work. Participants 1, 4, and 5 had a history of alcohol abuse. Participant 1 used cannabis when friends visited him at home. The intervention is a cognitive-sensory intervention that aims at increasing anticipatory pleasure. Participants are trained in state of relaxation to anticipate pleasure from potential enjoyable activities and to get the sensation of the pleasure in their bodies. The different steps of the program are described below. 1. Building the rationale for the intervention. The rationale is built by asking questions to participants in order to elicit the importance of being able to anticipate pleasure from future activities, and the links between desire and motivation. Examples of these questions are: How do you prompt yourself to engage in activities? What makes an activity more or less attractive? What are your criteria to assess if the effort to engage in an activity is worthwhile? 2. List of pleasant activities. The therapist and the patient will list past enjoyable activities that the person would like to resume, actual activities that the person would like to increase, and novel activities associated with new roles that the person would like to assume. For example, a participant who wants to be closer to his/her sister could engage in the activity of preparing a dinner for his/her sister and her boyfriend. . Classifying activities according to their difficulty. These listed activities are then classified according to the difficulty and complexity of the task. The classification is done from easy-to-do to difficult-to-do. Examples of simple activities are (a) going to the corner of the street and having a kebab, (b) taking a walk with a good friend, (c) taking a shower, etc. Complex activities related to social or professional roles are split in smaller reachable units before engaging in a more challenging activity. For example, going to the stadium to support one’s favorite hockey team could be split in a more achievable goal such as inviting a friend to watch one’s team on TV if going to a crowded sports arena is an obstacle to engaging in the activity. 4. Anticipating pleasure. During the first sessions, the therapist uses standardized material to teach the anticipatory skills. The material is composed of attractive picture-viewing activities such as biting an appetizing apple, drinking a frothy coffee presented in a lovely cup, or walking in a beautiful park. In subsequent sessions, the training focuses on the activities listed with the patient. At the beginning of each session, as patients may be â€Å"contaminated† by co-occurring unpleasant emotions (Horan, Green, Kring, Nuechterlein, 2006), the therapist will start with a mindfulness or relaxation exercise to help the patient be in a comfortable, pleasant emotional state. Then, the patient is asked to imagine doing the chosen activity. The therapist guides the patient to imagine the sensations linked to the activity through the senses involved (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste). The patient is invited to remember past positive experiences of the activity (e. g. , Imagine that you are smelling the odor of the best kebab you have ever eaten . . . Feel the smell of the grilled meat in your nose . . . Concentrate on this odor . . . Try to feel it as vividly as possible). The patient is asked to anticipate pleasant emotions (e. g. , Feel the sensations associated with the joy of being with your friend . . . You told me that this friend is funny . . . Imagine the sensations that go with laughing. Scan your body and remember how it is to laugh . . . ). According to the anticipated activity, the patient may be guided to anticipate the feeling of accomplishment (e. g. , Feel the contentment of getting out of the shower. . . How is it to feel clean and fresh? Try to get this feeling fully . . . Anticipate the sensation of reward. . . How is it? ). If the patient shows difficulty in imagining sensations and feelings, pictures can be presented. Patients have to assess their desire to perform the activity on a 5-point scale before and after each exercise. 5. Prescribing homework exercises. As participants develop anticipatory pleasure skills, the therapist prescribes homework exercises. After participants accomplish single activities in daily living, more difficult activities are trained. Participant 1 received 10 hours of training at home, aimed at giving him the desire to go outside. Participants 2 and 3 received, respectively, 25 hours and 20 hours of training at the therapist’s office. Participants 4 and 5 received 11 sessions of 1. 5 hours of training each in a weekly group session. Instruments: The therapists have administrated the instruments as clinical tools to assess anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, time budget, negative symptoms, and depression. The TEPS. The TEPS measures momentary pleasure and pleasure in anticipation of future activities. It is an 18-item self-report measure of trait, and anticipatory (10 items) and consummatory (8 items) pleasure (Gard et al. , 2006). The validation of the French version of the TEPS shows psychometric characteristics similar to the original version (Favrod et al. , 2009) with a satisfactory internal and external validity. The mean theoretical range of the two scales goes from 1 to 6; higher scores indicate more pleasure. The scale was administrated in pretests and posttests. The Time Budget Measure: The measure developed by Jolley et al. (2005, 2006) takes the form of a weekly diary completed retrospectively during a structured interview with the participant. In completing the measure, interviewers probe for activities, degree of independence in activities, and number and nature of social contacts. They also check that the week is a typical or average week, and, if not, complete the time budget on a different occasion to assess an average week. Each day is divided into four time blocks (morning, lunchtime, afternoon, evening). Each time period or block is then rated from 0 to 4 as below: 0 = nothing – lying, thinking, sleeping, sitting, etc. , 1 = predominantly passive activity (e. g. , watching TV, listening to the radio), 2 = an independent activity requiring some planning and motivation, but relatively simple or brief (e. g. , a walk to the local shops to get cigarettes, tidying room, washing up, preparing a simple meal for oneself), 3 = several two-rated activities completely filling a time period, sounding ‘busy’, or a more complex and demanding, but unvaried or shorter activity (e. g. a visit involving public transport, prolonged social contact with others), and 4 = time period filled with a variety of demanding independent activities requiring significant motivation and planning, and with some variation in tasks (e. g. , work, a course of study, a trip out requiring organization). When more than one activity is present, the highest scoring activity is rated. There are 28 time blo cks for the week, and the total possible score ranges from 0 to 112. The time budget was not used for the patients in the nursing home because the time-budget of these patients depended on the institutional routine. The week assessed should be a typical or average week, and if not, the time budget is completed in relation to a week chosen to be more representative. Time budget has a satisfactory criterion and construct validity, and shows good inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability (Jolley et al. , 2005, 2006). In the present study, the participants were interviewed on their time budget starting from the day before the assessment meeting until 7 days before this meeting. The time budget was assessed in pretests and posttests. The CDSS. The CDSS was used to assess depressive symptoms (Addington, Addington, Maticka-Tyndale, Joyce, 1992). The CDSS is a largely validated interview-based measure that has been shown to assess depression rather than positive, negative, or extrapyramidal symptoms (Addington, Addington, Maticka-Tyndale, 1993, 1994; Addington et al. , 1992). The scale is validated in French (Lan?on, Auquier, Reine, Bernard, Toumi, 2000; Lan?on, Auquier, Reine, Toumi, Addington, 1999). The CDSS was administrated in pretest only to assess the severity of depression. Depression defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition, Text Revision) criteria for major depressive episode corresponds to a mean score of 11. 8 (standard deviation [SD] = 3. 8) on the CDSS (Kim et al. , 2006). The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms Anhedonia/ Asociality. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) assesses five symptom complexes to obtain clinical ratings of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. They are affective blunting, alogia (impoverished thinking), avolition/apathy, anhedonia /asociality, and disturbance of attention. The final symptom complexes seem to have less obvious relevance to negative symptoms compared with the other four complexes. Assessments are conducted on a 6-point scale (0 = not at all to 5 = severe; Andreasen, 1989). The SANS is a valid instrument (Peralta Cuesta, 1995); however, interrater reliability is reduced when clinicians use it in comparison to highly trained research assistants (Norman, Malia, Cortese, Diaz, 1996). In the present study, only the anhedonia /asociality scale of the SANS was administrated in the pretest to assess the severity of Anhedonia. I feel the researchers can test their predictions using these methods because of what lengths they went to in presenting their techniques. They incorporated a lot of various useful ideas when testing their participants. Many angles were used to go into full detail in what steps were taken to evaluate each participant in this study. The authors I feel gave a very detail analysis of each step that was taken as to not leave out any variables in each case scenario. A cognitive-sensory training package focusing on anticipating future pleasant feelings about performing activities appears to improve anticipatory pleasure as measured by the TEPS. The high RCI indicates that the posttest scores of the anticipatory pleasure scale are reflecting important change for the five participants. These results, although preliminary, are very interesting because Anhedonia remains a particularly challenging symptom. Our second question related to whether an increase in anticipatory pleasure would be accompanied by an increase in daily activities. Concurrently, change in anticipatory pleasure, as measured by the scale, was accompanied by an increase in activity for the three participants for whom it was possible to fulfill the time budget. Participant 4 had been ritually visiting his mother once a week for years before training. At the end of the training, the nursing home team observed that the patient had added in every week a new spontaneous activity such as going to town to do shopping, planning a little trip, or spontaneously organizing an appointment with the hairdresser outside of the nursing home. Participant 5 had been accomplishing five household chores a day for many years and did not change his program at the end of the training. The participant had been institutionalized for a great part of his life. In previous work, we found a significant negative correlation between anticipatory pleasure and the avolition/apathy of the SANS (Favrod et al. , 2009). This correlation was lower than the one with the Anhedonia/asociality scale of the SANS, indicating a weaker link between these two variables. Apathy and avolition are probably associated with anticipatory pleasure. However, several other variables may affect activity and willingness, such as planning skills, motor skills, reinforcements provided by the environment, etc. The results indicated that the training did not seem to improve consummatory pleasure as a consequence of an increase in anticipatory pleasure. The lack of follow-up assessment did not allow observation of an eventual delay for improvement in consummatory pleasure as a consequence of improvement of anticipatory pleasure and engagement in new activities. Another explanation could be that both kinds of pleasure have some independence between them. Anticipatory pleasure is linked to motivational processes and consummatory pleasure with satiety processes. I feel the researchers did a very good job in describing every detail of their research. My reaction to this article is that I think Pleasure Skills Training can really help people with schizophrenia if done properly over an extended period of time under the right conditions. I as well sense that the article does contribute something interesting and important to the field. Individuals with schizophrenia already have a hard enough time in life and to go on living without experiencing a sense of pleasure is disheartening. This study shows that people living with schizophrenia if trained with the right circumstances can eventually learn how to experience pleasure. I felt this article was presented well and easy to read with what was presented. Going through this article it was clear where each step was and what was going on. The authors used wording appropriate to this article without using too much technical jargon where it was not needed. The readability for me was quite familiar because I have had to do assignments like this before. I think when any author presents an empirical article to the world where others besides advanced Psychologists read it; they indeed try and make it easily readable so that their ideas presented get across in the best way possible. How to cite A New Intervention to Reduce Anhedonia in Schizophrenia, Papers

Good and Evil in the novel Maestro Essay Example For Students

Good and Evil in the novel Maestro Essay The novel of Maestro reflect many aspects of mankind which are both good and evil. The effects of evil can be seen in the character of Keller; after he has seen what cruelty human beings are capable of he becomes very pessimistic about humanity. He had underestimated the extent of evil and even the music he loves becomes a weapon of evil, which was used against him and so it subsequently becomes his enemy. As we grow up the world around us contains both good and evil, therefore as we follow Paul’s youth we can also see through him both good and evil revealed in the society around him. The Holocaust was a turning point in Keller’s life. He used to be like Paul, insensitive, arrogant and felt invulnerable. He had felt optimistic about the safety of his family. He tells Paul that in one’s own familiar home â€Å"it is more difficult to see evil.† (p. 50). He blames himself for the death of his family because he realizes that he was blinded by his own arrogance, this experience makes him teach Paul â€Å"human limitations† and to be rational. He always dies down Paul’s confidence. Keller also constantly reminds himself of the stupidity, greed and failure of the human race by keeping a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings. He now keeps all his feelings suppressed because he now sees his former feelings of invulnerability and optimism as unwise or even criminal. He believes these large amounts of emotions and feelings of invulnerability and arrogance can be used as a tool for evil to play upon. In this novel it shows that beauty is capable of covering the evil or worthlessness that lies beneath. The maestro distrusts the beautiful city of Vienna because of its violent history and the bitterness it reminds him of. He disassociates himself from Austria, his birth place, and strongly shows that he doesn’t want to go there again. â€Å"Nothing, dear lady, could make me homesick.† (p.45). When Paul’s mother talks about the beauty of Vienna and its architecture, Keller continuously referred to how they were used militarily â€Å"Of course. An excellent city for military pomp and processions.† (p.45), and endlessly associated all beauties with the more evil darker side’ â€Å"movie-set architecture†¦ornamental facades. Hiding the hypocrisy within†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Keller can clearly see the evil and ugliness beneath all the beauty and he is very bitter about it.Keller knows what is important is what is underneath those beautiful facades; the hi storical reality, not the architectural illusion and he attempts to teach Paul this. Music is beautiful, but it was used as a tool by evil. For that reason, Keller felt very betrayed by his much-loved music. Hitler had used music as a part of propaganda to sway people into believing the party’s policies. Keller is especially reactive to Wagner because that composer’s songs were what were used the most for propaganda. It is sad to know that such a great composer like Wagner was also very anti-Semitic. This just shows that beautiful things can be used for good and for bad. Power and leadership can also be used to obtain good or bad results. Having power gives a person a chance to do some good things for society. However, like Hitler when he had too much power he misused it and this resulted in the deaths of sixty million people. There needs to be a balance power and its limitations. The novel of Maestro reflects the society around us and man’s capacity for good and evil. Beautiful things can be used as a tool by the evil and attractive external appearance can hide what ugliness is really underneath. There needs to be a balance between good and evil, or everyone will be effected. .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 , .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .postImageUrl , .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 , .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:hover , .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:visited , .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:active { border:0!important; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:active , .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96 .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u63c1bd9966bc438f53d125a334028e96:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Congenital Heart Defects and Diabetes EssayBibliography:

There Are Many Labels, Names And Categories That Essays

There are many labels, names and categories that have been assigned or given to lesbians. What is"lesbian"? Is it a certain type of woman? Does one lesbian have an identical feature or character as another lesbian? Does a lesbian have something extra or something missing from heterosexual women? This notion that we can classify a human being by their sexual preference is absolutely ludicrous and unsubstantiated! Women are just that, women. Sexual attraction to humans, be it the same sex or not, is not a concrete science that can allow society to label women. The choice of heterosexuality may not truly be a choice. In a recent survey of women, 57% stated that heterosexuality was not something that was considered and then chosen. For these women, there was no decision to be made regarding their sexual preference (Marrow, 1997). This is an interesting figure when you consider of those above women, some admitted to having sexual encounters with other women. I believe the choice is heavily tied to our culture, family values, and surroundings. If all of the fish are swimming upstream, why would you want to go against your group and swim downstream? Within the lesbian community, Ponse (1978) makes reference to two groups. There are many lesbians that claim to have been "born" lesbian. To expand on this subject, one would say these women never questioned their sexual attraction. From day one, they were attracted to other women. Although this is referred to as a primary lesbian, I don't believe it alleviates any of the stigmas or gives any more comfort or ease to the woman. The elective lesbian is seen as having "elected" to be lesbian. These are women who have experienced heterosexual relations and have decided that they prefer the same sex. This may appear as a choice, but it is far from that. The environment or family setting may have driven these women to repress their true desires out of fear of rejection. They may also simply be confused and needed to try one way to better understand the other way (Golden, 1999). Among lesbian relationships, we find the data to be similar to heterosexual women. This makes sense and gives more bearing to the thought that women are women. Lesbian couples, like their heterosexual couples, prefer monogamous relationships when in a deep and caring relationship. Lesbian couples appear to want and most importantly, expect the same things from a relationship as a heterosexual woman (Garnets, 2000). Commitment, support, and family values. There are those that will claim lesbian couples cannot possibly have or want family values since they are not themselves a true family. This is a comical statement to me when we consider it is men who have defined "family values" throughout the years. It is obvious that there are differing opinions regarding lesbians. Their life style, their beliefs and their choices have all been analyzed, scrutinized and classified, but to the result of what? Does a woman's sexual preference affect anyone but that person? Then why is our society so intent on labeling, understanding and discriminating against lesbians? Could it be that anger is a concealment of personal repressed sexual preferences? The time has come for humans to act like humans and treat our species the same, regardless of sexual preference. After all, sexual preference does not impact intellect levels, work ethics, or honesty in a person. I believe those traits are more important to understand then why a woman wants to be with another woman. References 1. Marrow, J. (1997), Changing Positions, Women Speak Out on Sex and Desire, Chp. 3, 59-99. 2. Ponse, B. (1978), Identities in the Lesbian World. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. 3. Golden, C. (1999), Diversity and Variability in Women's Sexual Identities. Readings in the Psychology of Women, Reading 2, 179-189. 4. Garnets, L. (2000), Life as a Lesbian: What Does Gend

Faithful, Firm and True Book Critique

Faithful, Firm and True Book Critique Free Online Research Papers Dr. Titus Brown is a History professor at Florida AM University located in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a graduate of Albany State University in Albany, Georgia. He is the author of many books including the wonderful Faithful, Firm and True. Faithful, Firm and True gives the readers a detailed look at how formal and organized education was created in the South for free blacks. Assuming Dr. Brown did extensive research to basically travel back in the past to gain knowledge on the inception of something so historical and life changing in society. The question being answered here is how was an education system formed for African Americans, what were the trials and tribulations of the establishment for formal education for African Americans and what was the success of it. And Dr. Brown answered these questions thoroughly in Faithful, Firm and True highlighting the education system in Macon, Georgia and the establishment of Lewis and Ballard High Schools. To illustrate the foundation of formal and organized education for African Americans in the South, Dr. Brown presents the Freedmen’s Bureau and its efforts, accomplishments and failures. In the book, Dr. Brown provides recollections of individuals who were educators during this time. The era is during the Reconstruction, post-Civil War. He mentions one educator’s experience, William Cole. According to Dr. Brown, â€Å"Cole and other teachers were promised pay of twenty-five dollars per month plus a special allowance of thirty cents per day for rations. After working for four months, Cole wrote Superintendent Eberhart complaining that the teachers â€Å"have received but two months pay without the stipulated amount for rations†.† Dr. Brown proceeds to add Cole stating that, â€Å"Parents of the students paid nothing, â€Å"as they were not able to pay to have their children taught.† Moreover, inadequate funds prevented the school from obtaining unif orm textbooks for students.† Lastly Dr. Brown lets it be known that â€Å"Cole’s class purchased its own books at a â€Å"very high price†.† This was merely one the problems that posed during this period. White men ran the country and not much effort was put forward in the education of blacks. It was a system of oppression, one we still see today. To obtain work for money, one most likely had to be educated, with no resources for education, one was left uneducated and unable to obtain work, so they most likely had to return a pseudo form of slavery in order to survive after being legally emancipated. Dr. Brown makes it clear that it was a struggle for blacks to obtain education. The reader learns that many schools geared for African American education were in the basements of churches and most likely solely funded by clergy and church members who had children enrolled. The Freedmen’s Bureau and Freedmen’s Aid Commission alike were enacted for the advancements of African Americans. They worked hard at sticking to their word but as one can read, they often failed. The Freedmen’s Bureau and other organizations were typically ran by Republican politicians but once terrorist groups like the KKK rose to power and started terrorizing individuals like those associated with the Freedmen’s Bureau and African Americans, they began to back away. Eventually, these initiatives were closed down and people of power backed out assuming there will be no end to the violence and opposition basically leaving the individuals they intended to help to fend for themselves. This brought upon the establishment of the AMA, the American Missionary Association. The AMA used the four schools already established in Macon and saw that additional schools were opened such as those in the outbuilding in the Lincoln Home Yard and a room in the Freedmenâ₠¬â„¢s Hospital. The AMA also oversaw the proposal of the first school building in Macon, Georgia. Enrollment dropped when a tuition fee was announced but the individuals in the system raised $1,500 to help and enrollment rose. The school system endured many rise and falls in its establishment but that never stopped production. Dr. Brown’s argument of the hardships that were endured in the establishment of the education system of African Americans is valid and persuasive, in the sense that reader was thoroughly educated and able to understand and maybe empathize with this struggle and the end feeling of accomplishment. In the end we see clearly that Ballard students were well educated and advanced on to other positions, mostly of leadership and also giving back by educating others as they were educated. The reader is able to grasp something so simple as, Hard Work does pay off. Research Papers on Faithful, Firm and True Book CritiqueStandardized Testing19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHip-Hop is ArtBringing Democracy to AfricaBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyResearch Process Part OneCapital PunishmentQuebec and Canada

Public Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Public Health - Essay Example The initiative was to provide good sanitation and reduces cases of mortality and morbidity causes by infectious diseases in major cities and areas inhabited by population with lower living standards. The term was also used in 19th century when epidemiologist John Snow realised that the outbreak of infectious diseases such as cholera was a result of environment. He pointed out that the water pump in London town contributed to cholera outbreak and closing it will be solution (Turnock, 2008). Based on the definition of public health, it requires different aspects to be achieved so as to accomplish its meaning. Some of the aspects underlined in the definition of public health are prevention of diseases, prolonging life and promotion of health and efficiency. This is done through education, control of infectious diseases, providing information to the population on maintenance of personal hygiene and management and development of health facilities to assist in provision of healthcare (Turnock 2008). Studying public health is significant to the country and population in general. Studying provides a clear path in tackling complex issues relating to healthcare such as provision of accessible services, control of infectious diseases, and reduction of environmental hazards, curb issues of drug and substance abuse and violence. Studying of the subjects provide an opportunity to specialize in different fields. Additionally, it integrates different professionals such as journalists, teachers, environmentalist, scientist and attorneys working together to provide a safe environment and improve health. Study provides an opportunity to serve local, national and international population (Turnock 2008). United States more of their budget on health issues than any other country in the world. Based on 2004 studies, U.S. per-capita spending was $ 6096. This is double that of Canada which was at

The Effect of Social Class on Educational Choices Essay

The Effect of Social Class on Educational Choices - Essay Example As the first step in this direction the neoliberal thought process regarding the issue and the idea of marketization, in particular, will be considered. Secondly, the essay will also look at the different ways by which the working class is affected by their educational choices. In this regard, my area of focus will be to observe how the working class parents view the different choices presented to them and also on the presence of any barriers that are likely to stop them from making the right choices for their child’s education. The third part of this essay will also see how the various choices affect the middle class. In section four this essay will investigate the implications of choice and its effect on social class as a whole. In the final section, the main argument of how choice is affected by social class will be presented along with supporting evidence. The 1988 Education Reform Act on the educational policy aimed to create a system of open enrolment and local management. Through this act, schools had to admit and enroll children whose parents had applied to the school. This resulted in schools operating as a quasi-market (Rikowski, 2007). However, the birth of Neoliberalism, from the liberal movements of the 1960s, had a profound effect on educational institutions including schools, colleges, and universities. The conservative government that Thatcher and John Major were leading introduced the idea of choice and more specifically the ‘parental choice’. Schools which have a clear market competition system provide solid evidence for this ground. Neo-liberal thinkers believe in product testing as they consider it to be very crucial and argue that it is the only way by which people can confirm whether the product would work or not. Thatcher and her team compared the way supermarkets convinced their customers to buy their p roduct to the case in schools.  

Australia's immigration policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Australia's immigration policies - Essay Example Ten percent or 4,000 of the annual migrants to Australia are carriers of hepatitis B virus, said Professor Boughton in 1988 (hepatitis vaccine researcher) (Daily Telegraph 1988, as cited in McCormack 2003). Syphilis has drastically increased due to migration since the 1960s (McCormack 2003). Leprosy- and tuberculosis-afflicted migrants also passed undetected during screening according to the Australian Health and Medical Research Council in 1987 (McCormack 2003). These cases of infectious disease carrying migrants and refugees alarm the government as mentioned in the Medical Journal of Australia (McCormack 2003). Dr. Rouch (Victoria Chief Health Officer) reported that 10 African migrants in Victoria were later discovered to have AIDS in 1989 (McCormack 2003). Cases of migrants bringing in diseases with them pose a grave concern for the government. Diagnosis, treatment and indirect cost (e.g. lost productivity, premature death) of the country for Hepatitis B is more than $50 million annually, as reported by Mr. Paul Gross (Director, Institute of Health Economics and Technology Assessment) in 1987 (McCormack 2003). The government is partly to blame for being lax in the screening process. But once discovered, the government resorts to deportation of immigrants instead of providing them with the necessary treatment. In the past, 19 Chinese (should be 20 but one escaped) with leprosy in Little Bay Lazarette hospital (Sydney) were shipped back to Hong Kong (The Age, 1896, as cited in McCormack 2003).

Lyrics in Rap Music

Lyrics in Rap Music In this essay I am going to discuss and take an in-depth look at the topic of the role and importance of the lyrics in rap music, which are often violent, sexually explicit and sexist in content. In order to understand the role these lyrics play in rap music, it is necessary to consider the musical style that goes with them and even the hip-hop culture that gave us rap music. This culture, including rap music, originated in the USA, but its appeal has become international. In the first introductory section I will analyse the terms rap music and rapper, and I will briefly discuss the origins of rap music. This section will introduce some important artists in the genre, mentioning their backgrounds and especially how they started their careers as rappers. Usually rappers begin singing in the streets, which might be a way of trying to escape from their difficult lives. Nonetheless in their lyrics they describe what could be taken as the real facts of such lives. So one question is: do their lyrics consist of violence, sex and sexism because this is an accurate reflection of the typical experiences of their own lives? What made them sing such songs? In order to be able to answer this question, I will include some simple lyrics as examples of some typical rap songs. Then, in the second part of the essay I will focus on the listeners and how rap music influences them. Overall, my intention is to discover exactly what is the significance of the lyrics in rap music within the context of this musical style as a whole. Generally the term rap refers to a street poetry, using slang language and phrases to express the singers feelings and show to the audience their point of view about life. Rap music therefore refers to the musical style in which such poetry is performed, which is very rhythmical usually without much accompaniment. The people that perform and usually also compose this poetry are rappers. The rappers in their music usually talk about the realities of their lives and their social environments; such realities include racism or the difference between male and female, violent events and feelings, and sexual attraction and activity, in other words everything that they have experienced, lived through and seen for themselves. But why is this? Why do they emphasize such aspects of their lives and not others? This relates to another question: is rap music intended as pure entertainment or is it more a music of social protest? The reason that I chose to work on this topic is that I find music in general and especially rap music really interesting. I myself play guitar and piano. For performance, I like songs with clear melody that can be easily performed and played on piano and guitar. However, I do not like mainstream pop music, which is mostly written to formulas with clichà © lyrics. Rap music is something very different, something I have never tried to perform or to explore, so in this essay I am trying to get to know it better, including its history, and also to share with readers my research. CHAPTER ONE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LYRICS OF RAP MUSIC Rap music became widely known in the U.S.A. in the nineteen eighties, as a reaction against the disco music of the seventies. It was then and it remains today a predominantly black or African-American style of music, in which the lyrics are very important. This can be seen in the following summary of the history of rap: Rap evolved from African people in general and black people born in the U.S. in particular. Its origins can be traced to West Africa where tribesmen held men of words in high regard. Later when slaves were brought to the New World, the captives mixed American music with the beats they remembered from Africa. Another origin of rap is a form of Jamaican folk stories called toasts. These are narrative poems that tell stories in rhyme. Over a hundred years later, rapping was a street art. Just as doo-wop in the 1950s, rap began in inner-city schoolyards and street corners in the 1970s. Early raps were boastful tales, and put-downs directed at other rappers. This music style was slowly growing in popularity among black teens in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. As early as 1974 neighborhood block parties in New York featured early forms of rapping. But it wasnt until the commercial success of Rappers Delight by the Sugar Hill Gang in 1979 that major record labels took not ice of this explosive new sound. However, although the lyrics are particularly important in rap, many would say that the essence of rap is in its beat. For example, William Eric Perkins says, the foundation of rap music is the beat. The beat is the structure around which the lyrics are developed, and samples of selected phrases from previously recorded music, jingles, solos, and so on play second fiddle. In rap vernacular, those with the dope beats produce the deffest raps. Of course rap was and still is mainly a young persons type of music, and both the performers and the audience were and are youthful. Young people are often rebellious in spirit, and music is one of their main ways of expressing their rebelliousness: Rap music has stampeded through America like no other form of music since the creation of rock music in the 1960s. Like other popular styles, it has a history that is closely aligned with the rebellious attitude of its young creators; youth who rejected the contemporary music prevalent during the late 1970s (disco). However, rap is not only a rebellion against early forms of music and the lifestyles associated with them. Sometimes it is also music of social protest. At least, it is very realistic and the opposite of escapist. Mostly rap music is a means of expression. It is music of the street. In their lyrics rappers express their fears for their community, the reality of their lives, and they describe both the positive and negative sides of everyday life. Some artists come from environments that are impoverished and unhealthy, so music gives them a way of coping with reality, their violent and hard life. In this way they find a kind of shelter in their songs even though these songs describe their life and how hard it is. Thus they express their feelings through their music. Rap music differs from the other kinds of music, because of the great emphasis it puts on the words and lyrics. As said above, it is a kind of street poetry. This emphasis on words is because the songs are about real life. The rappers delivery is more like rhythmical speech than actual singing, although there is also a kind of very simple melody. The lyrics are not simple love songs, but reflect the complexity of reality. Eminem, the famous white rapper, who has had quite a hard life, is a good example of the way rappers make their actual lives the source of their songs. Shortly after he was born, his father abandoned him and until age twelve he and his mother lived in public housing. As a teenager he became interested in rap music, something that caused him to abandon school in the ninth grade and start performing with groups. The lyrics of Eminem have been criticized for being violent and offensive towards other celebrities. For example: Sometimes I just feel like my father, I hate to be bothered With all of this nonsense its constant And, Oh, its his lyrical content the song Guilty Conscience has gotten such rotten responses And all of this controversy circles me And it seems like the media immediately Points a finger at me (finger at me).. So I point one back at em, but not the index or pinkie Or the ring or the thumb, its the one you put up When you dont give a fuck, when you wont just put up With the bullshit they pull, cause they full of shit too When a dudes gettin bullied and shoots up his school And they blame it on Marilyn (on Marilyn) and the heroin Where were the parents at? And look where its at Middle America, now its a tragedy Now its so sad to see, an upper class ci-ty Havin this happenin (this happenin).. Then attack Eminem cause I rap this way (rap this way).. But Im glad cause they feed me the fuel that I need for the fire To burn and its burnin and I have returned There is a kind of aggression behind these lyrics which also allows the audience to identify with the anti-establishment attitude. They are also typical in the way they relate many different things together, including events in the news such as high school shootings, drug use, the media, middle America, and so on. Another famous rapper is a twenty-six year-old, Curtis James Jackson III, known as 50 cent. 50 cent is an American rapper who has lived a hard life. Curtis James Jackson III grew up without a father and was raised by his mother. His mother was only fifteen years old when she gave birth to him. He was born in South Jamaica. His mother who was a drug dealer died at twenty-three years old, leaving an eight year old boy who was raised by his grandparents. In early teenage he was dealing drugs, until he was arrested. He continued selling and hiding drugs, a fact that brought many problems and he was arrested a second time. However when he stopped he devoted himself to his career as a rap singer. Something that increased his popularity was his collaboration with Eminem. It is common and quite usual that rappers use violence and sexism in their lyrics. As mentioned above, violence is a means of expression of physical force either against ourselves or others and especially the weaker ones, while sexism is an attitude and belief of a person, usually male, that he is superior to or stronger that others, usually female. Sometimes a sexist attitude is communicated in lyrics that are sexually explicit. It is possible that the rapper did not deliberately intend to be sexist in the defined sense, but this is just part of his assumptions and his intention to be as realistic as possible. For example, the song called  «Candy Shop » by 50 cent is all about sexual activity and is apparently addressed to a girl, at least at the beginning, rather than to the audience itself (as in Eminems song above). However a little later the pronoun you is dropped and replaced by she as though 50 cent is now sharing his sexual experiences with his audience. Give it to me baby, nice and slow Climb on top, ride like you in the rodeo You aint never heard a sound like this before Cause I aint never put it down like this before Soon as I come through the door she get to pulling on my zipper Its like its a race who can get undressed quicker Isnt it ironic how erotic it is to watch em in thongs Had me thinking bout that ass after Im gone I touch the right spot at the right time Lights on or lights off, she like it from behind So seductive, you should see the way she wind Her hips in slow-mo on the floor when we grind As Long as she aint stopping, homie I aint stopping Dripping wet with sweat man its on and popping All my champagne campaign, bottle after bottle its on And we gon sip til every bubble in every bottle is gone Here we can easily understand the sexual innuendo. Whether it is actually sexist or not is a matter of opinion, probably the singer believes that it is just about the two sexes that want to have a bit of fun. Niggaz With Attitude (N.W.A), a five member band whose lyrics are openly violent (and refer to guns), are much more politically motivated. They have attacked even the police and FBI. Moreover the N.W.A has given to rap music its criminal image and raises the whole question of authenticity. This band has captured the essence of young black male rage. You dont really think youre gonna get away do you? We havent spotted them yet But theyre somewhere in the immediate vicinity. A 100 Miles and Runnin. MC Ren I hold the gun and You want me to kill a mutherfucker and its done in. Since Im stereotyped to kill and destruct Is one of the main reasons I dont give a fuck. Chances are usually not good Cause I freeze with my hands on a hot hood. And gettin jacked by the you-know-who. When in a black and white the capacity is two. Were not alone, were three more brothers, I mean street-brothers. Now wearin my dyes, cause Im not stupid, mutherfuckers. Theyre out to take our heads for what we said in the past. Point blank They can kizz my black azz. I didnt stutter when I said Fuck Tha Police. Cause its hard for a nigga to get peace. Now its broken and cant be fixed. Cause police and little black niggers dont mix so Now Im creepin through the fall. Runnin like a team. Well, see, I might have slayed yall. So for now pack the gun and Hold it in the air. Cause MC Ren has a 100 Miles of Runnin These lyrics express not only a lot of violence and rebelliousness, but also they use a typical kind of black slang. This is an expression of identity. As the song continues, it brings in the FBI as a way of proudly suggesting that N.W.A. is really important, or dangerous. The lyrics even comment sarcastically on how some of the enemies of black people are wearin our T-shirts! Runnin like a nigga I hate to lose. Show me on the news but I hate to be abused. I know it was a set-up. So now Im gonna get up. Even if the FBI wants me to shut up. But Ive got 10 000 niggas strong. They got everybody singin my Fuck Tha Police song. And while they treat my group like dirt, Their whole fuckin family is wearin our T-shirts. So Imma run til I cant run no more. Cause its time for MC Ren to settle the score. I got a urge to kick down doors. (The complete lyrics of this song are included in the Appendix.) This band is considered as one of the most violent bands in the decade of the eighties. Their lyrics were showing and describing a criminal life and a strong opposition to the police. Even the name of this band is openly aggressive using the N-word (which is taboo for white people) and the word attitude in a sense which means aggressive or rebellious. This allows young black people in the audience to identify strongly with the band, because it seems to represent black people standing up for themselves and asserting their power. Although this is not political in the sense that the Black Power movement was, nonetheless it is openly rebellious, and extremely realistic. CHAPTER TWO: HOW RAP AFFECTS ITS AUDIENCE Hip-hop [the term for the youth culture that includes rap music] is and will always be a culture of the African-American minority. But it has become an international language. So who are typical listeners to rap? Although rap is liked and appreciated by many people, it seems mainly intended for young black males. So do black females like it for the same kinds of reason? What about young white people (male and female)? What about older people? To what extent does the appeal of rap change from group to group? It is obviously difficult to answer these questions without carrying out wide research. However, the last question above matters because, as was seen in the last chapter, rap lyrics are important and express the experiences of rappers quite realistically, and it is possible that listeners with the same kinds of social experience will respond to rap more completely. For example, if we imagine a rich forty-five year old white woman living in St. Petersburg, the typical rap lyrics may not be so important to her as to a black eighteen year-old living in Harlem, New York. But here we have to remember an important point that was made by W. E. Perkins quoted in Chapter One: in rap, he says, The beat is the structure around which the lyrics are developed, and samples of selected phrases from previously recorded music, jingles, solos, and so on play second fiddle (see note 2, page 5 above). Probably it is this beat and also the possibilities of expressive dancing that go with it that makes ra p so widely popular. However, rap cannot be really rap without the lyrics playing a big part. So we can ask: when people choose to listen to rap music, what exactly is it that they identify with rap? Is it simply the musical style, fast rhythmical speaking with a very basic melody, or is it something else, the spirit of this kind of music? Someone who likes rap might turn on the TV and hear a rap song advertising, for example, breakfast cereal, but certainly they would not consider this to be real rap. For a song to be real rap it is not enough to imitate the musical style, but the lyrics must also be about the kinds of things that rappers sing about. These lyrics need to be realistic and unsentimental. This implies that people who are drawn to real rap are interested in the picture of life that it communicates and not just in the beat, even if they do not share that kind of life themselves. Of course they also enjoy the musical style, but this is most likely because that musical style is very effective in communicating what the lyrics say. It is also very energetic, and in performance is accompanied by a certain style of movement. Young people love to express themselves through dancing. However, dancing itself is not a socially meaningless kind of expression. Typical rap dancing is both masculine and African in spirit. Katrina Hazzard-Donald says, I was ambivalent about the hip hop phenomenon [which includes rap] until I noticed the dancing that accompanied the rapping; It was energetic, athletic, and noticeably male dominated, using a very African movement vocabularyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Like most African dance styles, these [styles] exhibit angularity, asymmetry, polyrhythmic sensitivity, derision themes, segmentation and delineation of body parts, earth-centeredness and percussive performance. Thus this kind of dancing is also an expression of the culture of the intended rap audience, young black males, not of their poverty or of crime or drug use, but their African roots. For them this dancing is a way to celebrate their identity. Other kinds of audiences can try to imitate this style of dancing but it will never mean the same thing to them, even if they really love it. What in my opinion makes rap widely popular, especially amongst young people, is its energy. For some types of audience, this energy is a kind of social rebellion. Rebellion is usually not explicit in the lyrics, but in the attitude of the performers (as the name of N.W.A, Niggas With Attitude, says). Through this, black listeners gain a sense of confidence, even power, and of pride in their identity. ANALYSIS Rap, as was said above, is part of hip hop culture. According to Katrina Hazzard-Donald, Hip hop appears at the crucial juncture of postindustrial stagnation, increased family dissolution, and a weakened struggle for black economic and political rights. Might one expect the pressures of mutually antagonistic social forces such as high unemployment, heightened job competition, and expectations of conspicuous consumption to influence both the popular expressive culture and the culture-creating apparatus of the community? I say yes. It is no coincidence that many youth of the hip hop generation have never known the relative security that some of their parents and even grandparents knew. This quotation says that the general economic and social situation affects a cultural expression like rap music. Therefore we can also assume that rap music reflects the general economic and social situation. It was shown in Chapter One that the lyrics of rap are often about violence or poverty, trouble with the police, and so on the kind of the things the rappers and their main intended audience meet in their every day lives. In Chapter Two it was seen that the style of dance is also an important part of the appeal of rap. Probably this dance style also expresses the socio-economic situation, but in a much more indirect way than the lyrics do. It can be argued that it is the rap dance style that makes rap more positive and optimistic in spirit than the lyrics on their own suggest it would be. Therefore, while it is true that rap lyrics, consisting of violence, sex and sexism, are an accurate reflection of the typical experiences of the rappers own lives, the audience experiences this realism in relation to a whole musical style that expresses energy and a sense of identity, especially African roots. It is both these elements together that make up the great appeal of rap. According to Anthony Bozza,  Hip-hop, in comparison to other African-American musical traditions blues, jazz and rock and roll has remained truest to its roots for the thirty years it has existed. It is possibly the most potent, least altered African-American cultural expression in history. Hip-hop has evolved technically, but its basic theme has survived: self-improvement with style. The earliest rap records, like those released a week ago, were about getting money, living better, having a party, having sex, defying mainstream society, and looking really good while you do ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Rap broadcast inner-city realities and established rebel stance that no hardship would keep the minorities who pioneered hip-hop from living, to the fullest, on their own terms. While this message of rap is probably strongest and most meaningful for young black people, and perhaps also for the youth of other relatively poor minority groups such as Hispanics in the USA, it is also easy to see how it makes rap music attractive to young people in general. CONCLUSION In conclusion, we have seen that violence, sexism and sexually explicit language do exist in the lyrics of rap music, and that this is part of the realistic use of inner-city realities, as Bozza calls them. However, to understand the role these lyrics play in rap music it has been necessary to understand their context, especially rap dancing and the wider hip-hop culture. In this context such lyrics are part of what Bozza calls the rebel stance. What attracts young people to rap is not the lyrics in themselves but the whole image that rap creates, as well as its sense of energy and identity.

Astrology, Our World, Our Adventure :: essays research papers fc

(Insert Name) (Insert Class) (Insert Date Due)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Astrology, Our World, Our Adventure†¦   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Astrology, and the wonders of the solar system†¦ Astrology is not just about the stars; it’s about the stars, constellations, the nine planets, meteors and asteroids, the sun, moons, and the constellations. The solar system is very complex, yet it has many extraordinary objects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are four different types of stars: Protostars, Bright Stars, Red Giants, and White Dwarfs. Protostars are stars that are just in the verge of being born. They are glowing clouds of interstellar dust and gas. Causing the protostar to collapse, gravity pulls on every atom moving them towards the center. Over a period of twenty million years the star begins to form, and in 10 million years after the pocket of gas formed, a star is born. The second types of stars, Bright Stars, are formed when the new star has completed about 35 million years of its life cycle. A star’s life cycle is a lot like a human’s, except a star’s years are in millions. When a star is about 10 million years old, it is in the same stage as a regular human-for instance in 10 million years a star is in the same stage as a human that is about twenty. The birth and death of stars are also called Stellar Evolution. A Bright star occurs when nuclear fusion doubles the star i n size. The third types of stars, Red Giants, are made because the outward flow of the star’s core energy stops. Gravity then steps in, squeezing the star making it decrease in size. The core’s heat increases and it starts releasing small amounts of energy, the energy holds a large amount of hydrogen gas. The star then begins to grow larger, but it does not get brighter. As a result of the sudden and quick temperature-drop, the star’s color changes from blue-white to a red. In groups called Globular Clusters (groups of up to one million stars that move through space), are where most of the Red Giants have been found. In the fourth types of stars, White Dwarfs, the star begins cooling off; and as a result of that, the outer gas layer spreads out. The star’s temperature drops again, making the gas layer spread out even more. Eventually, the outer layer spreads out so far, it separates from the star. Then, a Planetary Nebula (cloud of glowing atoms), moves i n all directions.

Lessons Learned Paper

Lessons Learned Paper Na’Kisha Sherrard, MS University of Phoenix Lessons Learned Paper Connecting with a group of doctoral students for the first residency is very frightening. Several students admitted to having feelings of misperception, worry, or uncertainty. Meeting someone new is certainly not comfortable, however the expectations and anxiety of a doctoral program is sufficient for someone to ask why one would choose to undertake a huge venture. This residency has motivated me to endure in my program. There were several eye-openers that revealed development and improvement as a doctoral student.In the last five days, various lessons and experiences were taught and learned but the most important lessons for me include the learning team experiences, scholarly writing, and reflection on the lessons learned. Learning Teams During this residency experience, I acquired a lot about learning teams. In my academic and professional experience, I have been a part of numerous teams. I have had some bad encounters with teams during my duration with the University of Phoenix and presumed that the team experiences at residency would be similar.I definitely applied my situatedness but I understand now a cohort of different personalities can form a successful team where all opinions are heard, all ideas count, all contribute and all appear to demonstrate an authentic interest for one another. Dr. Sally played a major role in team experience. She encouraged an atmosphere of empathy, hope, and interest. She was our main supporter. I appreciate and value the honest disposition Dr. Sally showed. Her charisma made us feel we belonged to the team.We completed several team assignments that allowed us to develop our learning team skills. We had various chances to work in learning teams. We reviewed course articles, course competencies, and were given several activities to develop team organization. We presented assignments on thinking models, constructing meaning, team pre sentations, and scholarly writing. The diverse assignments and activities we had in addition to the combined efforts of Dr. Sally and the students have made me reevaluate the idea of working with a learning team in my classes to come.While are listening to other doctoral students in a learning team communicate what they got from learning; I was able to get another viewpoint that also gets me thinking. My brain absorbed more information from listening to other student’s views. Understanding from other students also makes me try to pay attention to my lessons in a manner I would not have thought of without getting reactions from my learning team. I will be unbiased in the future and not believe that I will experience a negative encounter with a learning team experiences.I will guarantee to show encouraging traits of a team player and stay helpful. Individuals provided with new information and abilities are supposed to not only better themselves but to be instantaneously inspire d to change the world (Mezirow, 1990, 47). I am excited about my next learning team experience and look forward to making a difference. Scholarly Writing There was so much knowledge gained about scholarly writing and what it includes. These past five days has strengthened what I previously understood about this subject.Throughout several assignments we have did in class, I learned that scholarly writing must be involved. There are certain parts of scholarly writing that are not flexible. Scholarly writing must be written in third person, written for a reason, cannot be prejudged, avoid suppositions and be backs by evidences, theories, and data. I also learned new terminologies that have to do with writing such as anthropomorphism. Trustworthy sources must be used in scholarly writing. I learned a great deal about the choice of sources to use and about scholarly writing.The constructing meaning assignment helped reinforce the importance for trustworthy and legitimate sources in schol arly writing. I believe the assignment we accomplished personally where we had to select and analyze an article helped show how significant it is to use the correct sources. The resources used can also be deceiving and seem to be qualified, but may only be just an opinion of that author. To avoid this, we must use scholarly, peer-reviewed articles to back up our statements. One of my ultimate disappointments as a college and graduate scholar is not putting more importance on learning to become a critical writer.Although I think I obtained a great knowledge from awesome universities, this is one subject where I was dissatisfied with myself and the instructors. I desire that they would have held me responsible to being a critical writer. I would definitely tell an individual that is looking into pursing their doctoral degree, if writing is a weakness you should be not embarrassed. It is better to be mindful of this task and do all that can be done to improve it as early as possible. S earch for assistance immediately to learn to write appropriately and it will help throughout one’s education and career.With all the information I obtained about scholarly writing, I plan to use it to numerous types of writing I will do in the future. I can use this knowledge I acquired on this subject for different types of writings at the scholarly level during my studies at the university and beyond, upcoming course assignments, discussion replies, spoken conversations on the subject and my dissertation process. I can give this knowledge to my colleagues and well as other doctoral students to help advance their writing. I can also use what I acquired when I begin my study process whether it is on quantitative or qualitative study.Reflection One of the most valuable topics I learned was reflection. Reflection is scholarly and emotional activities in which a person engages to discover their encounters in order to guide new perceptions and gratitude (Mezirow, 1990). I also le arned the variations amongst critical reflection and reflection. The process of critical reflection covers three points: discovering suppositions that motivate views and behaviors, examining the precision and rationality in how we tie suppositions with our encounters of realism, recreating suppositions to make them more general and encompassing (Mezirow, 1990).During the different course activities we completed, I learned the value of reflection. This residency offered several chances for the students to reflect on what was learned. There were several practices used to promote reflection during this experience at residency. Our nightly journals were just one of the ways we could reflect on what was covered every day and focused on what we learned on each subject, how we can use what we acquired, what we learned about ourselves and how the class information and encounters have shaped our means of reflecting.This was not the only way of reflection we practiced during the residency. We encountered other types of reflection that inspired the practice of critical thinking. The residency essentially began with a type of reflection on why we were personally here and out purpose statements. We integrated reflection methods as we finished our reviews of the articles and talked about how we will use what we absorbed on writing assignments in the future. We also learned to reflect as a team. The comments we gave other teams was a type of reflection.We were able to help enrich their presentations while reflecting on methods we can individually advance personally and on a team. I can definitely foresee myself encompassing the lessons I learned on reflection. Dr. Sally made a recommendation to start journaling and I plan to apply the practice of journaling my reflections. I intend to use my critical thinking skills and reflection while working in teams and at work. Previously, I felt that reflections were strained when I finished my weekly summaries in previous courses, how ever I do understand the significance of reflections.This valuable practice will continue to develop me as a scholar, practitioner and leader and improve me be self-conscious so I can supportively touch others around me. â€Å"The processes of writing and reflection can help to clarify some of the whirling and unfocused thoughts that sometimes get in the way of more productive thinking† (Wellington et. all, 2005, p. 36). Conclusion Year One Residency was very gratifying. I have developed resourcefully and individually because of this knowledge. Although, when I arrived I was unsure of what to expect, I was relieved rather quickly.I met some awesome doctoral students and gained a great deal of knowledge that I can apply to my everyday life. This has been a rewarding and I am excited about Year Two Residency. References Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to transformative and emancipatory learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Wellington, J. , Bathmaker, A. , Hunt, C. , McCulloch, G. , & Sikes, P. (2005). Succeeding with your doctorate. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.

buy custom Evidence-Based Practice in Teaching BSN Students

buy custom Evidence-Based Practice in Teaching BSN Students Faculty Awareness about Evidence-Based Practice General Definition of Statement Evidence-based practice (EBP) has a varied definition in nursing practice, but according to Prior, Wilkinson, and Neville (2010) it generally means the integration of the best research evidence compounded with clinical expertise and patient values in the society. On the other hand, Van Schoonhoven defines the concept as the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the best current evidence which is available in the decision-making process. The decisions made should be applicable to the individual patients; above all the optimality of the evidences is core (Herdman NANDA international, 2011). Evidence-based learning process depicts that learning is a form of partnership whereby the faculty, the patients and the students interact. The role of the faculty or instructors is to assist the learners in the clarification of some of the concepts, problem identification and solving as well as the development of personal strengths that are necessary for competence in the nursing practice ( Lippincott Wilkins, 2009).

Homers Odyssey Essays

Homers Odyssey Essays Homers Odyssey Paper Homers Odyssey Paper Penelope says â€Å"my heart moves my like never before† this is an typical move by Athene, she indiscreetly places feels and thoughts into the mind of mortals to lead them to carry out tasks or undertakings she deems important, this is a very typical move by Athene. Throughout the Odysseys Athenes interactions with mortal is not very direct, she appears in dreams, thoughts or in the guise of a mortal (Odysseus and Telemachus interaction with her sometimes proving an exception). Telemachuss first meeting with Athene she is in the guise of a foreign prince whilst she appears to Nausciaa in a dream and she takes the semblance of a young girl when helping Odysseus find the palace of Aknioos and Arete. This sort of interaction is typical , she is helping her hero’s to their goal without being too brash or obvious. One significant exception is Athenes conversation with Odysseus after his arrival on Ithaca – the two speak to each other almost as equals showing each mutual respect and friendship The reasoning behind Athenes actions may be two fold, firstly a story where a god/dess who simply gives the protagonist what they desire isnt particularly exciting. Secondly Athenes actions may be due to the relationship the gods have with mortals and each other. Odysseus is hated by Poseidon , Athenes uncle – if she were to openly assist Odysseus she runs the risk of enraging her uncle further. Instead Athene uses her cunning and intelligence to help Odysseus instead, she requests Zeuss help in assisting Odysseus whilst Poseidon is away in Ethiopia. This is typical of Athene throughout the Odyssey she acts discreetly and in-directly to ensure she gets the results she wants using her renowned intelligence and craft.

Marriage Gone Wrong Spills Over to WorkView in a new window Assignment

Marriage Gone Wrong Spills Over to WorkView in a new window - Assignment Example ording to the US employment and labour laws, external harassment of an employee, not only possesses a security threat to him or her but to the whole company employees (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman). Thus, it is would be prudent for the company to develop human resource policies (protocols) that could be useful in handling situations like this. These policies are expected to be in compliance with the federal laws and the state laws of the particular state in concern. Some of the policies that could be applied in this particular situation include: As the employee in this situation had clearly put it to her supervisor, the situation in this case is personal. The simplest way to tackle this issue is for the employer to personally talk with the employee. To achieve this, a trusted member of the management team, like her supervisor, could be invited to the meeting in order for her to talk freely without feeling that her personal boundaries, as well as her constitutional rights, are being violated. Through this, the employer may be able to understand her attitude in the workplace and even officially refer her to relevant authorities who handle matrimonial issues. However, this protocol proves less effective especially given the fact that the husband’s audience in the meeting is not guaranteed. In order to avoid unnecessary chaos in the workplace, the supervisor, having been informed of the situation, should immediately alert the security department of the company of this employee’s situation. It is usual that some employees in a company usually feel demystified in the company to the extent that they feel their personal issues may not be addressed. This could be a reason as to why the employee, in this situation, felt that her supervisor should not bother telling anyone of her problem. However, her confrontation with the husband could generate a general disturbance to the company that could lead to even the arrest of the employer on allegations of improper security

Some academics and opinion leaders have considered 'gatewatching' and Essay

Some academics and opinion leaders have considered 'gatewatching' and 'produsage' the driving forces of Web 2.0. With re - Essay Example (What Is Web 2.0) Many academicians all over the world have started doing an in depth analysis on the concept of the Web 2.0 and have found that ‘gatewatching’ and ‘produsage’ have become the driving forces of this web generated collection of applications. These terms have been further explained within this paper with respect to other spheres like technological convergence, collective intelligence and democratization and how this has helped to further propagate the practice of making use of the Web 2.0. Gatewatching is basically a term used to refer to the process whereby which people tend to post different interesting stories and pieces of news all over the internet. This is all furnished from time to time on different websites and people can gain access to the same through search engines by typing in keywords. It is a very helpful and integral part of Web 2.0 because it has helped a large number of people in searching and finding information as per their n eeds with respect to reliable sources all over the internet. This is a practice that has been followed in the field of citizen journalism as well. It is also known as ‘gatekeeping’ news because anyone can post absolutely anything with respect to any topic of concern and that is why it has helped in creating a number of controversies all over the world as well. For example, in recent news, the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange was arrested for having leaked out vital information and news stories through such ways of citizen journalism; Wikileaks is a website whereby which news and stories are posted anonymously by reporters and people all over the world. Anyone can come ahead and submit information of importance to other people, and once it has been verified by the department at the website, it is published for the public in order to read and verify details regarding a certain topic at hand. (Gatewatching and Citizen Journalism) There are a number of communities and g roups that carry out gatewatching as well, instead of individual people having to submit their information elsewhere on to different websites. They help to offer a much better perspective along with a forum of discussion from people all around the world as to whatever has been happening or whatever has been posted. Axel Bruns, along with two other of his co workers, began the Gatewatching blog where the website is run with the help of information that they receive from all over the world with respect to important events happening in Australia, and now recently, everywhere. They have also, through the website, tried to promote the concept of citizen journalism, by taking on the task of reporting important events taking place during the Australian elections from the late 2008 and onwards. Such websites are very informative and provide opinions with respect to whatever has been happening, for the benefit of the common people who might not be aware of what has been going on in the news in their surroundings. They help people formulate their own opinions and not get swayed by a certain stance on a certain subject of matter or interest. Thus, it does help a great in bringing about democracy within a country. In countries like China where the government will even take the required steps, like it

Evidence and Practice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Evidence and Practice - Assignment Example ic change process, the issue of employee’s participation has been stipulated to have a number of positive results, effective responses and success achievement in the change implementation process. Thus, it is crucial to involve teams and individuals to ensure a successful change process (Weber, Reichert, & Rinderle-Ma, 2008). In response to this, my practice change that I would like to initiate and implement in my workplace that is in the operating room as an operating room nurse is in the reduction of infection prevention specifically by limiting the number of people in the room during surgical operations. Health care practitioners have a responsibility of enhancing the care of the patients through quality care and safe delivery (Howard & Hanssen, 2007). Often in the operating room do you find many students and health care personnel when an operation is ongoing, and this puts the patients at a risk of acquiring infections, as they are very susceptible. The operating room should be free from disease causing organism and in achieving this, there should be a limited numbers of personnel as well as limited movements to limit bacteria spread (Hurlbert & Garrett, 2009). In attaining my stipulated change process, I will encounter resistance from my own healthcare practitioners and I will encounter it through e ducation on the importance and standards of infection prevention in the operating room (Hon, Bloom, & Crant, 2011). To ensure success, I will involve individuals and team members. Weber, B., Reichert, M., & Rinderle-Ma, S. (2008). Change patterns and change support features–enhancing flexibility in process-aware information systems. Data & Knowledge Engineering, 66, 438–466.

The Mass Media and Social Construction Essay Example for Free

The Mass Media and Social Construction Essay The mass media industry is implicated in social construction. There are Ways of Seeing which serve state-corporate interests at the expense of the interests of the people. This is because there is a direct relationship between the mainstream press and the political economy of state-corporate capitalism in the construction of the false reality. The system of capitalism heavily indoctrinates the population through the mainstream press. The mass media fulfils this duty, because it is owned and controlled by the corporate class. In other words, economics and media are inter-linked. Herman and Chomsky provide evidence for this reality in Manufacturing Consent. (Herman and Chomsky) They show how the mainstream press is run by the political economy and how the viewer is made into a pawn. The two authors build a propaganda model in which they reveal how the U.S. government exploits the media to enforce control over the people. The mass media, therefore, is a corporate tool that is used to indoctrinate the population. The viewer is told what kind of desire he should have. If a person watches the media carefully, he will be able to see that certain programs have hidden messages and assumptions that reveal a certain bias against certain groups. Even the language that is used is based on certain premises that the corporate order wants people to think is normal. Yet all of these messages shape values. To a large extent, this process is about how people give approval to their own domination without even knowing it. Herman and Chomsky reveal how the language of the U.S. mass media is actually very limited. The parameters of debate are very narrow. What this basically means is that people think they are having a free-for-all discussion, but in fact it is the negation of discussion. Herman and Chomsky demonstrate how the marketplace and the economics of publishing try to shape the news we receive. A certain message is sent out that tries to limit the way people think about things. In this way, people are brainwashed. Thus, the corporate-run media basically shapes the desires and opinions of  the majority of people. This is because producers and advertisers have an interest in reinforcing certain ideologies. This is, therefore, a political battle. Economic elites retain their power by shaping and moulding social reality through the means of mass media. As Chomsky and Herman reveal, for example, American media employs a double standard in the ways it treats the crimes committed by enemy countries and the crimes committed by friendly countries. (Chomsky, pp.30-33) This serves a certain political agenda. Thus, it becomes clear that there is a direct relationship between the mainstream press and the political economy of state-corporate capitalism in the construction of social reality. The system of capitalism hides behind the scenes of this manipulation, but it is really pulling the strings. There is a propaganda model which we are a part of. The mass media serves as a corporate tool in this manipulation of what we are. That is why John Berger has told us about his issue of Ways of Seeing. (Berger) It turns out that what we see is not necessarily what we are seeing. Berger makes an important point when he says that publicity falsely proposes that purchases of things will change the consumer. Yet we know that this is a lie. Nonetheless, people but into the lie of advertising. People are simply led to believe that they are making a choice, when in fact all that is happening is the negation of choice. This is where Bergers point also becomes relevant, since Berger shows how advertising promises to change the consumer. But only sameness results. Thus, he r reveals that advertising actually steals something from the consumer and then sells it back at a certain price. Berger writes that, The spectator-buyer is meant to envy as she will become if she buys the product. She is meant to imagine herself transformed by the product into an object of envy for others, an envy which will then justify her loving herself. (Berger, p.134) This is the way that people are made to believe that they simply have to be consumers in order to be accepted by the society in which they live. If they do not buy what they are told, and if they do not want to own certain things, then they are simply not a part of the society that is deemed to be normal. In this way, we see how the mass media industry is  implicated in social construction. There are Ways of Seeing which serve state-corporate interests at the expense of true freedom for people. Works Cited Berger, John. Ways of Seeing (Pelican) Herman and Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent (Pantheon)

The Characteristics Of Culture Theology Religion Essay

The Characteristics Of Culture Theology Religion Essay Biologically speaking, we humans are social beings. We need our parents to be born, and once that happens; even though we are considered single individuals with a brain and mind that let us think and learn, we do not isolate ourselves from the rest of the people. On the contrary, all we do is to follow our peers. We gather in groups, and these groups constitute subgroups again. This is the basic method we follow to successfully organise and build up our social structure to satisfy our several needs. The first of these groups is our family, and from here we span to neighbourhoods; communities of different kinds, that we joined based on a particular interest, such as: religious, sports, academic, musical, labour, political, ideological, etc. These groups grow in number to form states and then countries or nations. All these people together establish a society. Societies differ from one another and every single one of them is unique, particular and characterised for a distinctive feature that we call culture. Culture is that complex absoluteness that we learn day by day. It is everything with which we fill and give sense to our existence. The way we wear, think, believe, act, speak, perceive are all framed and shaped by the ideas, concepts, values that are part of a specific culture. Through culture we learn to adapt ourselves in this physical world, manipulating the available resources for our own welfare and we also shape our behaviour to avoid a social chaos. Concepts of Culture Culture is neither natural nor artificial. It stems from neither genetics nor rational thought, for it is made up of rules of conduct, which were not invented and whose function is generally not understood by the people who obey them. Some of these rules are residues of traditions acquired in the different types of social structure through which each human group has passed. Other rules have been consciously accepted or modified for the sake of specific goals. Yet there is no doubt that, between the instincts inherited from our genotype and the rules inspired by reason, the mass of unconscious rules remains more important and more effective; because reason itself is a product rather than a cause of cultural evolution. Claude LÃ ©vi-Strauss, 1983. Culture means the whole complex of traditional behavior which has been developed by the human race and is successively learnt by each generation. A culture is less precise. It can mean the forms of traditional behavior which are characteristic of a given society, or of a group of societies, or of a certain race, or of a certain area, or of a certain period of time. Margaret Mead, 1937. Culture is the integral whole consisting of implements and consumers goods, of constitutional charters for the various social groupings, of human ideas and crafts, beliefs and customs. Whether we consider a very simple or primitive culture or an extremely complex and developed one, we are confronted by a vast apparatus, partly material, partly human, and partly spiritual, by which man is able to cope with the concrete specific problems that face him. Bronislaw Malinowski, 1944. Culture embraces all the manifestations of social behavior of a community, the reactions of the individual as affected by the habits of the groups in which he lives, and the product of human activities as determined by these habits. Franz Boas, 1930. Characteristics of Culture Culture is learnt: as soon as we are in contact with other members of our culture, we start learning all about it; therefore, we can assume that culture is learnt rather than inherited biologically. A human being will learn the culture of the society where he is raised; thus, a person that is born in Australia would not practise the same culture if he had been born in Poland. In this context we are different from animals since they are biologically built in a way that they will know how to behave and act naturally even if they grew in isolation. Culture is shared: if culture is learnt, we can state that it is also shared. We share all knowledge among the members of the same society. This way we pass on the standards of our culture along years keeping it alive. As we are social beings, we have a high tendency of sharing and this feature let us improve as a whole. By sharing we provide the necessary tools that are used for a gentle adaptation in all stages and environments we go through in our lives. Culture is integrated: culture itself is not a single unit. It is a complex whole in which every feature that characterizes it has an important role that makes that culture distinctive and peculiar. All these features function integrated and not separately from one another. This way when a feature changes, it affects to the whole system making it also swift. Culture is dynamic: there are some reasons such as: population growth, technological innovation, environmental crisis, intrusion of outsiders, modification of behaviour, etc; that have made cultures change. That is why cultures must be flexible and dynamic in order to adapt constantly to the new changes and avoid repression of his members. Culture is based on symbols: culture has been transmitted among its members along the years through a set of different symbols. Symbols are then the instrument used to pass on culture and keep it alive from generation to generation, and language is the most important one. Functions of Culture According to Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 1942) the function of culture is to fulfill certain biological and psychological needs people share. Cultures are expected to fulfill certain functions in order to lead a society successfully and some of them might me: Guarantee the biological continuity of its members. Provide practical means to pass on knowledge among members. Meet the psychological and emotional needs of its members. Being flexible enough in order to survive the increasing shifting conditions. Offer strategies for the rational production and distribution of goods and services considered necessary for life. Provide an organised and diverse social structure so that all its members can fit in it and also understand the world in their own means. Facilitate social interactions among its members and offer reasonable ways to avoid or resolve conflicts that might rise within the group as well as with outsiders. Allow human beings to adapt the environment to their own purposes. Social interactions do not refer to only relationships among human beings but also and deeply with nature. The survival of all cultures depends on the way they use and treat nature. A well-working culture is the one that satisfies the different groups within the society as equally as possible; thus, its individual members can all have access to the resources available in the community and achieve their personal and collective goals. This will avoid the members to feel unsafe and unattached; therefore, they will not easily fall into anti-social behaviours, such as: violence, crime, suicide, depression, abuse of drugs, etc. Enculturation and Acculturation Every single culture is learnt by their members and transmitted from person to person and from generation to generation to avoid its absolute disappearance. The most important instrument used to carry this out is language. The process of passing on knowledge among people is what we call enculturation. This process is vital to guarantee the survival of the culture, but it is also significant to do it in the most smoothly manner to avoid any disruption among members and also among the features of the culture being transmitted. Enculturation let us understand the past so that we can make a better sense of the present and therefore plan a more sustainable future for the welfare of our species. This process also gives us the opportunity to find out more about ourselves; our ancestors and origin; where the way we think and perceive the world, our values and beliefs come from. When enculturation is carried out in the proper manner, the members of all cultures grow up closer to their past, revitalizing the core values that make their cultures unique and distinct from all others. They also grow up in an environment characterized by the deep pride of belonging to one particular culture and behave with strong ideas of maintaining their culture alive; albeit the irrevocable changes they must go through. There is also another phenomenon that cultures might experience, consisting on the absorption of one culture over another one, called acculturation. This usually happens when industrialized or capital societies influence highly over traditional small societies to the point of modifying them completely. Once they are in contact, the former shapes and converts the latter one. The small society adopts the culture of the powerful one as the final outcome. This process is similar to that of colonization. It is especially more noticeable now that we live in a globalized world; where the small societies are usually the most affected ones. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism There is generally a bad habit of criticising other peoples behaviour but most of all to judge the way other cultures function. When we find ourselves interacting with people from other cultures, or simply see it on the media; we get surprised by the different manners they behave, think and express in similar situations. There is nothing wrong with comparing cultures, in fact, this way we learn more about others and value ours, too. We must keep in mind that when comparing, we should adopt an unbiased position in order to understand the best way possible why other people do things in the way they do, and avoid unsupported preconceptions. The term that refers to what it is mentioned in the paragraph above is ethnocentrism: the belief that the way that ones own culture functions is the only proper and correct one, while all others are wrong. In order to avoid making fast judgements or simply incorrect conclusions; anthropologists, when studying cultures, always put into practice what they call cultural relativism which is the idea that we must suspend or postpone judgement of other peoples practices until we acquire a full understanding of the culture in which we are interested; so as to understand them in their own cultural terms. It is important to clarify that in this process what it is done is to put off ones judgement towards another culture, it is neither precipitated nor cancelled. Through cultural relativism it is possible to hold our judgements and perceptions about the culture being observed to the last stage; in order to take down accurate data and keep valid records; furthermore, avoid preconceptions influenced by ethnocentrism. Conclusion Along history not only humans have changed, but also the way we live. In our search for a better and more comfortable world for us to inhabit; we have made an irrational and abusive use of natural resources. We have damaged nature to such extreme points to threaten our own survival. Most of the societies around the world, influenced by the western fashion have turned into very consumerist ones; the ideas and values that used to grasp societies together are now stirring political discomfort and creating social inequality because the leaders and members of our societies are more tented to achieve personal and individual profits at any cost to work collectively so that every member can accomplish his personal and collective needs. The process of changing is unstoppable; everything needs to keep changing constantly to stay alive; therefore a culture that does not adjust its features simple disappears. The most important affected feature of a culture is its language. Language is that particular faculty that differentiates us from animals and makes us a unique and rational species. Through language we humans are able to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas and most importantly to transmit our culture from one generation into another one, assuring its survival along years. Many languages have already disappeared, mainly as a result of the process of acculturation; and with the languages, also ways of thinking, expressing, seeing, perceiving are gone. This way the world becomes small and intrinsic, losing authenticity and variety provided for the distinct and diverse manners of receiving, understanding, analyzing, shaping and living this world. For a culture to survive is not enough to shift. It should do it in a way that it can guarantee that its members will satisfy their biological and social needs; thus, the whole society will feel competent and safe; therefore, it will behave proudly and mutually to keep it alive.