Paulo Freire and Revolutionary Education Essay Example for Free

Paulo Freire and Revolutionary Education Essay In reading Paulo Freire’s inspiring and idealistic book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, first published in 1970, the question arises is whether such a radically transformed educational system is even possible. According the person I interviewed, a professor with many years of teaching experience in many countries, the answer is not particularly optimistic. Paolo Freire’s radical and humanistic view of education is light year’s removed from what actually takes place in most classrooms around the world. At the lower levels, education often amounts to little more than rote memorization to prepare for standardized tests, with administrators mainly concerned that their ‘numbers’ look good. Higher education has devolved into career training for big business interests, and frankly has become a business itself. Virtually none of the creativity, humanization or liberation that Freire writes about so eloquently really exists in most educational systems around the world, which simply turn out more cogs for the machinery. There may be a few truly creative and humanistic teachers, although they usually end up frustrated, burned out and cynical because of the nature of the system itself. For Freire, the worst form of teaching is the banking concept of education, in which students are passive and alienated note takers of any information the teacher provides. This has been the normal type of education system in most of the world throughout history, mirroring the authoritarian and paternalistic socio-economic relationships in the world outside the classroom. In fact, the schools and universities are preparing students to take their place in the system without questioning it. Freire claims that teachers can either work â€Å"for the liberation of the people—their humanization—or for their domestication, their domination. † They can either create an education system in which all persons in the classroom are â€Å"simultaneously teachers and learners†, realizing that â€Å"knowledge emerges only through invention and reinvention, through the restless, impertinent, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world†, or simply uphold the status quo (Freire 72). He also insists that â€Å"the teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thoughts on them† (Freire 77). Ruling elites merely want to use the education system as part of the apparatus of â€Å"domination and repression†, to maintain order, but real education should be revolutionary and deliberately set out to â€Å"transform† the world (Freire 79-80). Are there teachers who actually believe in this radical mission for education? Is it even possible within the present system? How long does it take for teachers who were once young and idealistic to become disillusioned? The following are excerpts from an interview with ‘Dr. W. ’a university professor who has taught in various countries around the world for twenty-two years: Question: Have you ever read Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed? Dr. W: Yes, parts of it. Over the years, I’d say I’ve become fairly familiar with his general theories. Question: Do you regard the educational systems you have seen as oppressive? Dr. W: I have experienced many educational systems around the world, including a number that I would regard as extremely oppressive. For example, I’ve taught in Asian and Middle Eastern countries where primary and secondary school teachers regularly slap, punch and beat students†¦hit them with sticks and so on. For the most part, those systems are based on rote memorization as Freire described, and the students are not even allowed to question the teacher: they are strictly passive. Mainly, the students are just being prepared for standardized tests, not to develop creativity or imagination, and this becomes very clear when they reach the university level. At that point, they have become used to treating teachers like little tin gods, although I suppose it prepares them for the kind of bureaucratic and managerial salaried positions most of them will be expected to fill in society. Question: Isn’t that also the case with the American education system? Isn’t it mostly geared toward jobs in the capitalist economy? Dr. W. : Absolutely. The American education system is also a class system, and this is already the case in primary and secondary schools. My first job was as a student teacher in a high school in New York. The kids from working class backgrounds were generally tracked into ‘general† classes† that were not preparing them for higher education, while those from the middle class were. I’ll never forget the first class I ever taught, with a group of sullen, nonresponsive working class kids, stuck in a basement classroom that did not even have windows, taught by people who didn’t much care whether they learned anything or not. These kids knew it, too. They were not dumb, although the system certainly treated them that way. They knew they were being prepared for jobs as mechanics and cashiers. And this was not an inner city school, though, where the American class and caste system reveals itself at its most brutal. Question: Caste system? Dr. W. : Yes, in the United States, we have a long history of education segregated by color, with the worst schools always being reserved for minority groups. Compare any inner city public school system today with those in the white suburbs, or with expensive private schools for the upper classes, and you will see the difference in about two seconds. For the poor and minority groups in the inner cities, the teachers and facilities are much worse than in the suburbs, as is the housing, health care, nutrition and so on. Conditions in these ghettoized schools and neighborhoods are not all that much better from those in developing countries†¦the types of places Freire was talking about in his books. In those countries, the oppression is very real indeed, and the students are being prepared for lives as peasants, workers or simply part of the marginalized economy and society, like kids in America’s inner city schools. Those institutions are programmed for failure. Question: But you never taught in inner city schools like those? I mean the types of schools that are like jails, with cops on duty, metal detectors and things like that? Dr. W. : No, my career has been mostly at the university level, and the students I’ve had were relatively privileged by the standards of this world—middle class or upper class. In the Middle East, I taught students from royalty and the aristocracy who had huge allowances every month, and in Asia I once taught students who arrived in limos with their own drivers. I wouldn’t say that they were exactly the oppressed masses Freire was describing. On the other hand, I taught at a university in the former Soviet Union were about 60% of the students were on scholarships and came from fairly modest backgrounds. A lot of people had also been hit hard by the collapse of the economy when the Soviet Union ended. We even had a former brain surgeon who ended up working as a janitor at the university, earning about $150 a month. The whole medical and public education system was so far gone that she could make more money that way. Question: So you basically see the education system as being unequal, designed to keep people in their place generation after generation? Dr. W. : Yes, that’s been mostly my experience. I think it’s designed to insure that the children of the owners and the ruling class will stay at the same level as their parents, while the children of the middle class will continue to manage and administer the system for them, and the children of workers will continue to be mostly worker bees, although a few might be allowed up into the middle class. Question: So in all your years of experience, you never experienced education as being liberating in the way Freire describes? Dr. W. : Absolutely never. The system is set up to do the opposite and it will usually weed out teachers who do not conform to its requirements, unless they are protected by tenure. Most teachers just go along and get along, never rocking the boat because they are relatively powerless themselves and just need the paycheck. Moreover, parents of middle class and upper class students do not want anyone to be liberated, but expect their children to conform to the system—to insure that the family maintains its class position. Question: So given this reality, is there any way you can imagine that a truly liberating education system might be established? Dr. W. (laughs): I think to do what Freire was talking about would require a revolution. Clearly, then, Dr. W. was a case of someone who had become cynical about the education system after long years of experience. He admitted that he had once been young and idealistic and might even have believed some of Freire’s ideas, but over the years he had found that there was really no meaningful way to put them into practice under the current system. In addition, he thought that most students simply went along with this system because that was what their parents expected, especially when they were paying private schools and universities to provide certain services. They were most definitely not interested in making students more humanistic, rebellious or questioning of authority, but only to prepare them for careers and to ‘get ahead’ in life. Only in rare cases in American history, such as the 1960s during the era of the Vietnam War, counterculture and civil rights movements did students actually come to question the dominant values of society on a mass scale. That has most certainly not been the case in recent decades, at least not in the United States, nor in most other countries that Dr. W. had experienced. He had come to regard education as a business, run by bureaucrats and entrepreneurs for a profit rather than to encourage critical thinking or humanistic values among the students. Only occasionally would rebels and nonconformists challenge this system, except in very unusual historical circumstances. WORKS CITED Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy on the Oppressed. NY: Continuum, 2000. Interview with ‘Dr. W. ’ by author, February 4, 2010.

John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men Coursework Essay Example for Free

John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Coursework Essay Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck set in California near Soledad in the 1930s on two men called George and Lennie who travel together from ranch to ranch trying to make their life like the American Dream what Lennie shares with George. During this time there was a depression in America, which meant unemployment and Racism was high so men had to go to different ranches. Racism and bad employment at this time in the United States was called The Great Depression. After The Great Depression, World War 2 had started and John Steinbeck decided to write the book Of Mice and Men what was influenced also by a poet called Robert Burns who was Scottish and also had released a book in the past. Later Of Mice And Men was published in 1937. The American Dream in the U.S.A is thought to be for any American to go through hard work and courage to achieve the goal of their life leading them to success. Lennie and Georges Dream was to own a farm house with lots of chickens and rabbits. The American Depression what had been the harshest depression ever what was from 1929 leading to 1939. This Depression started in North America what went on to Europe and other areas of the world. Although it was started in the united states because of the fast economic growth, it lead the whole world to a disaster. This was originally started because of over production in agriculture what lead to rising debt with farmers. The ranch where Lennie and George end up working for was near Soledad, which is south east of Salinas, Weed was nearby. Soledad what meant lonely was an ideal setting to the story for people who could translate Soledad into English. All of the ranchers with them are lonely with no family and never have anything to look forward to just their daily routines and also just thinking of The American Dream. After the ranchers do their routines the only kind of entertainment what they do is play cards. The ranchers belong to no one what everyone knows Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world . . . They got no family. This also adds to the fact that the ranchers are missing out from a lot in their lifes as they have no family or friends to share their fun with and they have no life only sadness. Ranchers dont seem happy as they never have any fun entertaining things to look forward to like normal people so they just carry on with their lives in loneliness and misery. George Milton who is a small and intelligent man with sharp feutures. He is Lennies carer as he always has to take care of him and be beside him through everything as he is, his only friend. After Georges aunty died he had to look after Lennie as he was the only one he could talk to, but got fed up as Lennie talked like a child. Even though George leads Lennie out of problems what he gets him self into accidentally he loves him a lot but doesnt like to show it. Lennie Small is large and has a shapeless face. He drags his feet when he walks, and lets his arms hang. He has a childs brain as he doesnt really remember anything and looks up to Lennie as he leads him in the right way and always helps him in bad situations. Lennie in the story gets compared to an animal more than a human as he is a really big man who is mentally retarded Dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. George and Lennie relation differs from the other ranchers as they travel together where ever they go and are not lonely as the other ranchers as they have got each other. Crooks is an old black man, he is called this because he has a crooked back he is the stable worker, with a personality just like Candys. Crooks doesnt like company like candy and also wants to live for George and Lennies dream. He has a small place where he lives by himself because of his color as he can not stay in the bunk-house. Lennie gets along with crooks more than anyone else as their resemblances are the same. Crooks is one individual who spends most of his time reading and is a fairly clever person, he lives in a small space, with no one with him. He is segregated because of his color. Crooks said, long as you wont get out and leave me alone. He is not allowed in the bunk-house to play cards as the other ranchers say he stinks, but he tells Lennie You all stink to me Candy is an old man with one arm who works as a swamper. Candy had an old dog but agreed to kill it as the entire ranch workers were complaining that it smelt we cant sleep with him stinkin around in here. Candy is very attached to his dog which he had since it was a pup, and was the only thing he could really talk to. When he hears about George and Lennies dream of getting their own place, he asks them to take him with them and offers them his savings to help. He offers his money to them as he doesnt have any other family to share his savings with. Candy becomes very happy, as he thinks he will not be lonely again, but these dreams are broken in the end. Curley the bosses son who was a welt weight boxer. He is short and wanted to prove that he wasnt a laboring man. He acts as he is superior to anyone else in the ranch. He goes around like he is the boss but no one dares to go up to him as he is a strong boxer. Curley is quite a violent man and in the story he ends up getting in to a fight because he thought that Lennie was laughing at him No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. Curleys wife who is always left lonely and no-one respects her, Curley never pays attention to her She is forced to flirt with other ranchers to get attention however, she does not get it as everyone knows Curley will be furious if he finds out and any one who will try it with Curleys wife will get into very big trouble with the boss. She is one of the loneliest people in the story as everyone neglects her and never pays attention to her so she is forgotten out from everyone else. Even though she dresses up like a tart she doesnt achieve anything wit the other ranchers. Even when she tells Curley I never get to talk to nobody, I get awful lonely she still gets neglected. The people who are most lonely in the story are Candy, Crook and Curleys wife. Candy is lonely because, he has no family or friends. His only friend was his dog who he could talk to. Ive had his since he was a pup. This shows that the main people who are lonely are really different from normal people as they never have anything to look out for. George and Lennies relation is very strong unique friendship as none of the other ranchers travel with anyone else or share experiences traveling together or either copeing with life together. They are good friends because they share the same dream of owning a farm. George wanted to be his own boss. Lennie wanted, to pet animals all day long and they both believed that it will come true and even when George has doubts he encourages Lennie. They both know how important they are to each other and Lennie likes it when George tells him that I got you and you got me. They both look out for each other as they depend on one and other, they havent got no one else like friend or family Ranchers are loneliest guys in the world they got no family. In the end George has to kill Lennie to save him from being killed by the other ranchers what would have been twice as bad seeing a close friend die. The American Dream was something what George and Lennie truly believed in. Without the dream no one would have nothing to look forward to but George and Lennie were well in way of thinking about their future. This was their main objective through out the story of owning a big farm together even crooks and candy got involved in with the dream John Steinbeck wanted each characters individual self to have some thing to look forward to in their up and coming life. To the end of the story Lennie goes to the place where George told him to go if he got into any trouble near by the river. Then Lennie began to think and imagined a rabbit who told him that George would get rid of him because, he is sick of him. And when George comes to the place where he had told Lennie to wait Lennie asks that if he would leave him and George replies back no. Then Lennie decides to leave but George says no and reminds him of the Dream they had planned of them two owning a farm with Furry rabbits and lots of land. But then George tells Lennie to look across the river and Shoots him with the gun to the back of his head. Slim guesses what had happened and reassures George that it had to be done in the end for the best. This was very important for George to do as he can live a life where he doesnt have to look out for some-one else rather than him self. But also George will become really lonely without Lennie besides him and also their Dream of being together in a big farm had been destroyed. But now George can settle down and think about how he is going to go on with the rest of his life and what job to do without him keeping to move. The thing that has died with Lennie is everything that George and Lennie had. George had done everything for Lennie and could take no more. He had protected him so much an always encouraged him to the max. George killed Lennie as a good friend to save him from harsh misery. The theme of loneliness in this book is important If the characters in the book werent lonely then they wouldnt have done the things that they did and so there wouldnt have been the same. Curleys wife and Lennie die because of loneliness which causes George to be even more lonely. If Curleys wife hadnt been lonely she wouldnt have started the conversation with Lennie which caused her death.

Government Spending on Military vs Education

Government Spending on Military vs Education Evaluate the idea the government should spend less money on war and their military and other areas such as health and education. In every country, usually government takes very important decisions, sometimes which are very useful for the country to improve or increase their business and some of them, decisions create some serious problems, which have very bad impact on country development. The overall development of a country depends on ample of factors like, the country should be self sufficient in various factors like health care of people, education, safety and security of people. So somewhere government spends more money on education health system programs as they reckon and some other seem that it is better to spend money on their military and defence system rather than the education and health system, because they seem if government have strong defence military then they do not have any war problem and any other serious problems. Firstly, education plays a very vital role in the development of any country ,  which tells the right or wrong decision in our daily lives. Education also  requires equal attention because the present era is the era of technology from  the birth of a baby to cremation, there is technology. the proper use of  technological equipments and appliances require knowledge which can be  gained by educational ways. With the help of education, people go much better prepared to prevent disease and to use new health and safety services effectively. For instance, young people who have done or completed primary education are less than half as likely to contract HIV as those with little or no schooling. If mothers are educated then their children have more healthier children. So education is essential for overall development of  personality of a person and it is pivotal for inculcating good moral and  ethical values in the individuals so that people and their respective country can  flourish and climb up the ladder of success. Besides this, education helps in  sharpening the faculties(physical and mental) of and individual. Education is the  third eye of an individual because it acts as a beacon of light to enlighten the  path of individuals life. Moreover life without education is just like a ship  without sailor. Educated people can mould the countrys future because it  teaches the basic principles of living in the society. Education always brings  more opportunities for a youngsters and everyone learn lot of new skills  through education, so education makes a difference in life. But it does not  mean that only education is the most important part for a country and  government spend more money on it, also it means government also take care  about the education, because it is the part of our daily lives. Gignoux A (2002)  Secondly, also the proper maintenance of health of people should be given  paramount importance as an adage goes, h ealth is wealth. If citizens of a  country are healthy, then the country automatically advances on the road of  success because of increased productivity of citizens. Better health is central  to human happiness and well-being. It also makes an important contribution  to economic progress, usually healthy populations live longer than others, are more productive, and save more. For example, investments in roads can improveaccess to health services, inflation targets can constrain health spending and civil service reform can create more opportunities or limits to hiring more health workers. Health is the physical, psychological, intellectual and spiritual well being of a person and not merely the absence of disease. Every country nowadays aims to provide best medical services to the people as technology has given birth to many diagnostic as well as treatment alternatives. As prevention is better than cure so a government should give priority to primary prevention than secondar y prevention because according to World Health Organization a medicine can not cure one problem rather creating more problems . Government should spend a more from of its budget on maintaining health of people. If people are healthy, then economy of country will increase drastically. Health can be flourished by proper sanitation amenities, clean drinking water, closed sewerage system and so on. Apart from it, health  check up should be conducted in schools. Moreover nutritional programs like mid day meal programs should be implemented properly. Several surveys related to health should be conducted. So health education camps should be organised by government, so that people can acquire knowledge about various diseases and how to prevent such disorders. For instance, healthy students can take more advantages in the class, because they learn very quickly and always remain active in the class, but on the flip side, unhealthy students can not afford so much information and get new ski lls and similarly, companies or industries usually invest more in the market, if they have strong, healthier and educated workforces. So it means, if have a improved disease environment, it also support the development in almost every sector. So government also spend more money on health and physical fitness of people, because health is the prominent issue in the progress of developing countries. On the flip side, military, paramilitary and police play pivotal role in maintaining law and order in the society as well as for establishing peace. The government of a country spend huge sum of money for the advancement of this sector. Preparing the military for security of people is imperative but to use that military forces for attacking other countries is totally devastating. Whenever a  country attacks other country, then the military force of that should be strong enough to oppose the attacking military forces. In the present scenario, the adage tooth for tooth and nail for nail prevails. So every country usually spend huge amount of money on strengthening its military so that the opponents malicious actions can be deterred. Recently in Iraq the ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq) militant group spread violence and killed many innocent people because this group wants to make Iraq a Muslim country. So in order to crash the malicious connotations of such groups, the military force of a country should be powerful. In order to grab such violence the govt. of every country tries to strengthen the military forces. Moreover the military helps the citizens in case of natural disasters like flood, tsunami. But according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the World military expenditure in 2012 is estimated to have reached $1.756 trillion. This is a 0.4 per cent decline in real terms than in 2011 — the first fall since 1998. The total is still higher than in any year between the end of World War II and 2010. This corresponds to 2.5 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP), or approximately $249 for each person in the world. Now a days, almost every country have a nuclear bomb, so if any country do not have a anti-nuclear defence mechanism, then it would be repeat, which was happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. That is why most of the countries spend lot of money on their military and some on new technology, because by using new tech nology, they seem that they can face any war of any country. So some countries still have so much expenditure  on their military services and on their new weapons to protect the country people rather than the other areas like health and education. In conclusion, it can be seen that Education enlightens each and every sphere of life, so government should provide free of cost education at least up to primary level. Apart from it, scholarships should be given to students to promote the  interest towards studies. Developed countries should give fee concession to the students. Also government should give proper attention towards military. Although there are many organizations like W.H.O, UNICEF, which work for maintaining universal brotherhood and peace, still the fear of attack by other countries prevail, due to which the government gives attention towards military development and to equip it with modern techniques like novel equipments, vehicles weapons and so on. So health, education and military or new technology are the main part of any country, so every country government should firstly see their weakness and spend more money on it. . [1] [1] Gignoux A (2002), Center For Global Development, retrieved on March 2002 from http://www.cgdev.org/files/2844_file_EDUCATON1.pdf Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (2013), Military Expenditure, retrieved on 22 February, 2009 from http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending World Health Organization ( 2008 ), Health and Development, retrieved on 2-4 September from http://www.who.int/hdp/en/

Dissolution Versus Debauchery in Sonnet 96 Essay -- Sonnet essays

Dissolution Versus Debauchery in Sonnet 96      Ã‚  Ã‚   The sonnets of William Shakespeare chronicle the conflicts of love and lust between the blond young man and the dark-haired lady. In Sonnet 96, Shakespeare acts as an apologist on behalf of the blond young man as he concludes his discourse on the young man's character." Here the poet presents a picture of the young man as a misguided youth caught up in youthful indiscretion, rather than a rapacious beast prowling for prey. Shakespeare illustrates the inherent differences between dissolution and debauchery as he declares that upon first glance all is not as it appears; therefore, the young man's character must be examined in greater detail. Endeavoring to engender empathy for the blond young man, the poet elucidates the young man's strengths while emending his weaknesses. However, it is the rising meter of iambic pentameter throughout the entire sonnet that sets a steady rhythm suggesting all is well there is no cause for alarm.    The initial quatrain of Sonnet 96 opens the debate on dissolution and debauchery, implying youthful indiscretion is the young man's only serious flaw. The first two lines of the sonnet begin in the same way, with parallel sentence structure and alliteration "Some say," which is deceptive, as the remainder of both lines one and two are contradictory. In line 1, the poet chides the young man, telling him some people see his bad behavior as a result of youth and immaturity, though there are others who believe his bad behavior is indicative of his inherent moral corruption." However, in line 2, the poet dismisses the concerns found in line 1 by characterizing the young man's youthful dalliances as a special privilege of one ... ... greatness!"    The couplet, which should allow the poet to resolve any doubts regarding the young man's character, instead brings up more questions." The (b) rhyme of the first quatrain is found in the couplet with the words "sort" (13) and "report" (14)." Why would the poet return to the quatrain of contradiction when he is so close to restoring the young man's good name?" This exact couplet is found in "Sonnet 37," leaving one to wonder if this couplet belongs here at all." Does the poet truly believe his own supposition that the young man is only a dissolute youth, or does he question the true moral character of the friend he loves?"    Works Cited Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 96." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eds. M. H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000. 1: 1031-32.          Dissolution Versus Debauchery in Sonnet 96 Essay -- Sonnet essays Dissolution Versus Debauchery in Sonnet 96      Ã‚  Ã‚   The sonnets of William Shakespeare chronicle the conflicts of love and lust between the blond young man and the dark-haired lady. In Sonnet 96, Shakespeare acts as an apologist on behalf of the blond young man as he concludes his discourse on the young man's character." Here the poet presents a picture of the young man as a misguided youth caught up in youthful indiscretion, rather than a rapacious beast prowling for prey. Shakespeare illustrates the inherent differences between dissolution and debauchery as he declares that upon first glance all is not as it appears; therefore, the young man's character must be examined in greater detail. Endeavoring to engender empathy for the blond young man, the poet elucidates the young man's strengths while emending his weaknesses. However, it is the rising meter of iambic pentameter throughout the entire sonnet that sets a steady rhythm suggesting all is well there is no cause for alarm.    The initial quatrain of Sonnet 96 opens the debate on dissolution and debauchery, implying youthful indiscretion is the young man's only serious flaw. The first two lines of the sonnet begin in the same way, with parallel sentence structure and alliteration "Some say," which is deceptive, as the remainder of both lines one and two are contradictory. In line 1, the poet chides the young man, telling him some people see his bad behavior as a result of youth and immaturity, though there are others who believe his bad behavior is indicative of his inherent moral corruption." However, in line 2, the poet dismisses the concerns found in line 1 by characterizing the young man's youthful dalliances as a special privilege of one ... ... greatness!"    The couplet, which should allow the poet to resolve any doubts regarding the young man's character, instead brings up more questions." The (b) rhyme of the first quatrain is found in the couplet with the words "sort" (13) and "report" (14)." Why would the poet return to the quatrain of contradiction when he is so close to restoring the young man's good name?" This exact couplet is found in "Sonnet 37," leaving one to wonder if this couplet belongs here at all." Does the poet truly believe his own supposition that the young man is only a dissolute youth, or does he question the true moral character of the friend he loves?"    Works Cited Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 96." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eds. M. H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000. 1: 1031-32.         

Why the Makah Indians Hunt Whales Essay -- essays research papers fc

Why the Makah Indians hunt whales: â€Å"Whales provide us with the food for our bodies, bones for our tools and implements and spirits for our souls.† â€Å"We haven’t hunted the whale for 70 years but have hunted them in our hearts and in our minds.† â€Å"Whales are a central focus of our culture today as they have been from the beginning of time.† This has been a tradition of the Makah Indians for more than 2000 years. They had to stop in 1926 due to the scarcity of gray whales. But their abundance now makes it possible to resume their ancient practice of the hunt. They have had an intensification of interest in there own history and culture since the archeological dig at their village of Ozette in 1970, which uncovered thousands of artifacts bearing witness to their whaling tradition. Whaling and whales have remained central to Makah culture. They are in their songs, dances, designs, and basketry. Their social structure is based on traditional whaling families. The conduct of a whale hunt requires rituals and ceremonies, which are deeply spiritual. And they believe hunting imposes a purpose and a discipline, which they believe, will benefit their entire community, especially the young, whom the Makahs believe to be suffering from lack of self-discipline and pride. Why the Makahs have they right to hunt gray whales: Before entering into negotiations with the Makah for cessions of their extensive lands on the Olympic peninsula in 1855, the United States government was fully aware that the Makahs lived primarily on whale, seal and fish. When the United States Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens, arrived at Neah bay in December of 1855 to enter into negotiations with the Makah leaders, he was met with strong declarations from them that in exchange for ceding Makah lands to the United States they would be allowed to hunt whale. They demanded guarantees of their rights on the ocean and specifically, of the right to take whale. The treaty minutes show Governor Stevens saying to the Makahs: â€Å"The Great Father knows what whalers you are--- how you go far to sea to take whale. Far from wanting to stop you, he will help you – sending implements and barrels to try the oil.† He went on to promise U.S. assistance in promoting Makah whaling commerce. He then presented a treaty containing the specific guarantee of the United States securing the right of the Makahs to contin... ...hey should rise to a â€Å"higher† level of culture by not whaling. Whether or not you like what they are doing or not you should respect their culture and their traditions. The Makahs are just trying to keep their culture alive. Bibliography: â€Å"Makah Indians may become pirate whaling nation.† www.eye.net/news/enviro/1995/env0803.htm â€Å"Whales die, a culture lives.† www.seattle-times.com/extra/browse/html/altwhal_101396.html â€Å"An open letter to the public from the President of the Makah Whaling Commission.† www.Conbio.rice.edu/nae/docs/makaheditorial.html â€Å"Makah whaling: questions and answers.† www.makah.com/whales.htm â€Å"Edsanders.com – Politics – The new bigots.† www.edwanders.com/pol.bigots.htm â€Å"Treaty of Neah Bay, 1855.† www.nwifc.wa.gov/tribes/treaties/neahbay.htm â€Å"U.S. Indians plea to kill whale.† www.whale.wheelock.edu/archives/whalenet96/0247.html â€Å"Makah management plan for the Makah treaty Gray whale hunting for the years 1998 - 2002.† www.nwifc.wa.gov/whaling/whaleplan.html â€Å"How this happened – the Treaty.† www.seashepherd.org/wh/us/mktreaty.html â€Å"Indian tribe gets OK to resume whaling.† www.japan.cnn.com/earth/9710/23/whales.indian.tribe/index.html

Absurdity and Satire in The Importance of Being Earnest Essay -- Impor

Absurdity and Satire in The Importance of Being Earnest In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, much is made of societal expectations, protocols, as well as the inversions of these expectations. A character, Jack Worthing, adopts an alter ego when going into town to avoid keeping up with the serious and morally upright behaviour that is expected of him as guardian to his eighteen-year-old ward, Cecily. Another character, Algernon Moncrieff, makes up an invalid friend Bunbury whose grave health conditions provide him with the excuse to escape to the country as and when he pleases. Both Jack and Algernon are admired by two young ladies who erroneously believe the men's names to be Ernest, and who adore the men for this very reason. In relating the story of mix-ups and mistaken identities, the ideals and manners of the Victorian society are satirized in a comedy where the characters "treat all the trivial things of life seriously and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality" (Wilde back cover), in the word s of the author himself. Act 1 JACK. [Nervously.] Miss Fairfax, ever since I met you I have admired you more than any girl . . . I have ever met since . . . I met you. GWENDOLEN. Yes, I am quite well aware of the fact. And I often wish that in public, at any rate, you had been more demonstrative. For me you have always had an irresistible fascination. Even before I met you I was far from indifferent to you. [JACK looks at her in amazement.] We live, as I hope you know, Mr Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits, I am told; and my ideal has always been to love some one of the nam... ... play is "to ridicule the vicious and the foolish" and "to expose the reigning Follies in such a manner, that men shall laugh themselves out of them before they feel they are touch'd" (qtd Rose 81). Indeed, it is precisely through the use of such absurdity that The Importance of Being Earnest successfully pokes fun at the audience without them getting offended, since the sting of the criticism is cushioned by the detachment that the viewers feel from such ludicrousness in the play. Works Cited Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Montgomery, Martin et. al. "Irony." Ways of Reading. Advanced Reading Skills for Students of English Literature. London: Routledge, 2000. Rose, Margaret. Parody: Ancient, Modern, and Post-Modern. Cambridge: CUP, 1993. Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. London: Penguin, 1994.

Idiolect: Drum Kit and Lebanese Roots

‘Though you might say that the way you speak is a very personal thing, and that you have your own ‘idiolect’, the way you speak is actually more determined by other people than by yourself. ’ How has you idiolect been affected? Everyone’s idiolect is influenced by many factors throughout their life, school, media, peers and many more. An idiolect is the way one speaks the vocabulary they use; the accent they have, the dialect they adopted. An idiolect is for one individual, it is unique, and no two people in the world have the exact same idiolect. My idiolect began to be affected and form the day I was able to speak. My mother gave birth to me in Toronto, Canada. Therefore, being born in Toronto the ’typical’ Canadian accent was adopted straight away. Using words like ‘aye’ and ‘no problem’ in a discussion with friends was a habit, even from a very early age. These words were adopted by hearing them in my school, friends and my cousin, who speaks in a semi-Canadian accent. Another major aspect that majorly affected the way I speak was my mother and father. Being born by Lebanese roots, most people including my mother thought I would take up Arabic as my mother tongue, however it was English. Having this difference from my mother and father affected my idiolect the day I was born and still affects me today. My mother speaks Arabic and English, but her main language is Arabic. Speaking English, from my perspective, was due to be born in a non-Arab country. Saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ to a teacher in school instead of ‘Salam’ was due to the majority of the country spoke English. Arabic became less useful living in Canada and English became necessary. One of the biggest factors that affected my idiolect was moving from Canada to Bahrain. Bahrain in some ways was closer to my Lebanese roots and in others very different. Moving to Bahrain, my mother put me in a British curriculum school. Therefore most teachers, students and parents spoke in a British accent. This began to creep into my idiolect, after being surrounded by people speaking in a British accent; I adopted and exchanged words in my idiolect. Using words like ‘mate’ to refer to friend and using the very British ‘No worries’ instead of the Canadian ‘No problem’ when responding to somebody saying thank you when opening the door. My Canadian accent was weekend and a weak British accent was taken in. Another factor that affected my accent was my peers. At the ages of eight, nine and ten, my friends and peers began to use and adopt slang. Words like ‘Hey bro’ to greet a friend in the morning and ‘dude’ instead of calling them by there name at break, were used regularly. The reason why, at the time, I used slang was to fit in, to feel part of a group and to be seen as ‘cool’. Of course at the time I didn’t realize but these few words would affect my idiolect majorly. These words began to be used unconsciously, I stopped using the to seem cool and I began to use it for another reason. Words like ‘brosef’ when talking to my best friend in city centre and ‘chill’ when telling him to relax and calm down about being late going home. These words aloud me to make a brotherly bond with friends, it aloud it and me to seem close allowed me to judge a situation and affect it with using only a word or phrase. It allowed my friends to seem included and part of a group. However at the same time, I realized slang could only be used in situations that it seems appropriate, and once again this affected my idiolect in different situations. I realized that slang could only be used informally and when it is approved. For example greeting Mr. Wilson, I would usually say ‘Good morning sir’ instead of the slang phrase ‘Hey bro’. This is because Mr. Wilson and I are on unfamiliar terms and (in the situation) Mr. Wilson is in a higher and more powerful position than I. Therefore I address in a formal and respectful way. ‘Good morning’ shows the formal greeting and ‘sir’ shows I want to respect him. Another factor that affected my idiolect was when I began to play drums. At the age of 10, I began to play the drum set and found a particular passion and interest for music. This is when my semantic field on drums began, words like ‘Aux snare’ and ‘Splash’ entered my idiolect. The reason why I began to build a semantic field on drumming and music was due to the interest and need for it. It would be very difficult to buy a drum from a drum shop without a semantic field. Another use for a semantic field on drums was to allow me to be able to be taught drums, being able to understand the teacher easy and understand everything he said made it very easy to be taught and progress my skills in drumming. An example of this is when I went to a drum shop and attempted to buy a drum. On entering I asked the shopkeeper, ‘Hi, I was wondering do you have an Aux snare 13. 5 inch and if you could find am Evans blackhead for it that would be great. ’ The shop keeper replied by saying ‘okay umm, well we got a normal 13. 5 not aux but if you use a key to really put crack on it it’ll sound the same and yah we got a Blackhead for it. ’ In this scenario it would be near to impossible to explain what I need and understand what he said. The beautiful thing about having a semantic field on drums is I am able to use it worldwide because it is understood worldwide. Another moment that my idiolect changes is when I begin to change register. I use a higher register when speaking formally, especially when speaking to strangers. For example, when asking for directions in Awali, I used a much higher register then I was with my friend, who was in the car with me. ‘Excuse me sir, would u mind if you could point in the right direction to Riffa Views? Using excuse me showed I wanted to be polite, this is because I am the stranger and I are on unfamiliar terms. This is a very big contrast to the sentence I used before with my friend. ‘Dude, we’re lost, what bout we ask for directions, he seems cool’. This is showing my low register I used with my friend, I can use low register since it is not a formal event, and he knows me very well. Another aspect that affected my idiolect is when I began code switchi ng. I code switch between mainly English and Arabic, this is due to my Lebanese roots, in Lebanon and to Lebanese it is natural and normal sentence. I code switch a lot with my mother. For example when I was asking her if I could go to my friends. ‘Keefeek mama, feae rooh to Alex’s for the day? ’ My sentence began in Arabic and ended in English. Code switching allows me to have a bond with somebody. It makes the conversation more secretive and allows to people to have a bond between one another. Using code switching with my mom, I use the beginning in Arabic since it is a very cheerful way to greet her and allow her to feel more close to her Lebanese roots. Ending it in English makes it feel more to the point and it shows that I was not looking for a conversation and only to ask her a question. In conclusion, my idiolect has been affected by eight main factors. Each one affecting my idiolect and molding it into what it is today. Each one affecting it in a different way and each one having a different impact, these points have shown that even if your idiolect is your own, factors out of your control have affected it and shaped it. Therefore your idiolect is determined more by other people then by yourself.