Example Exam Paper

CONFIDENTIAL LG/OCT2008/BEL311 UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA FINAL EXAMINATION COURSE COURSE CODE EXAMINATION TIME ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES BEL311 OCTOBER 2008 3 HOURS INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES 1. 2. This question paper consists of two (2) parts : PART A (13 Questions) PART B (1 Question) Answer ALL questions from all parts in the Question Paper. 3. Fill in the details below : UiTM STUDENT CARD NO. PROGRAMME/ CODE PART ENGLISH LANGUAGE GROUP NAME OF LECTURER 4. 5. You are allowed to bring in your English-English dictionary.Please check to make sure that this examination pack consists of: i) the Question Paper DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO This examination paper consists of 13 printed pages  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 2 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 PART A: READING COMPREHENSION (20 MARKS) Read the following articles and answer all the questions that follow. Article 1 – Spare the Rod? I Schools in Europe and the United Kingdom st opped using the cane to discipline delinquent youngsters following protests from parents and politicians more than 16 years ago.In Malaysia, however, the practice has never left the school grounds. Caning has always been legal in Malaysian schools. The Education Ordinance 1957 (Amended 1959) allows corporal punishments, such as caning, to be meted out by school authorities, but only to schoolboys. An Education Ministry directive issued in 1994 listed eight offences that could warrant caning: truancy, involvement in criminal activities, obscene and impolite behaviour, loitering, dishonesty, dirty appearance and vandalism. 5 IIA probe on human rights awareness among secondary school teachers, students and administrators conducted by researchers from local universities engaged by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (or SUHAKAM, its Malay acronym) revealed the regular use of the cane in schools. What the inquiry found was a gross breach of a child's rights committed by teachers and administrators alike. In their findings, out of the 5,754 students who participated in the survey, about 52 per cent of the students surveyed agreed that caning commonly happened in their schools.It took place more often in rural schools than urban ones and almost 80 per cent of the cases occurred at technical schools. 10 15 III Understandably, SUHAKAM is disheartened by the findings of its study. Commissioner and education working group chairman, Professor Chiam Heng Keng said that while SUHAKAM understands the need to discipline and punish wrongdoers, it maintains that caning is not the best corrective measure. She further added that caning only tells the child to stop whatever he has done. In other words, it does not address the underlying problem. She stressed that teachers must work with parents to get to the root of the problem.She added that harsh punishments tend to reinforce a child's negative attitudes. However, 20 25  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL C ONFIDENTIAL 3 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 she cautioned that we should not confuse upholding the rights of the child with indulging the child. IV Although many experts argue that caning is outdated, even primitive, many educators defended it as a way to stem rising violence in schools. Eighty per cent of teachers agreed that persistent troublemakers in school should be caned. The SUHAKAM probe found that 79. 5 per cent of teachers and 71. per cent of administrators agreed that persistent offenders should be caned though Malaysia had signed the Declaration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1995. In addition, they also revealed that girls were not spared the rod. Almost seven per cent of female respondents from girl schools had reported this. Under the present Child Act 2001, only boys between the ages of 10 and 18 may be subjected to corporal punishment. 30 35 V Last October, the Ministry of Education allowed teachers other than 40 headmasters, principals and those involved in disciplining students to use the cane.The decision followed the rise in cases of assault on teachers and gangsterism in schools. It was recommended that only certain teachers be empowered to cane students. Ideally, they should have at least 10 years of teaching experience and be married with children. 45 VI The secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, Lok Yim Pheng, admitted that there are other ways of disciplining a student. These include imposing fines, sending students to detention class and making parents sign a pledge to ensure that their children do not misbehave.However, if push comes to shove, then principals and headmasters should use the rod professionally and with compassion. She reiterated that even so, caning should be the penalty of last resort, reserved for absolute hardcore cases and should never be done publicly. 50 The Star, July 15, 2007  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 4 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 QUESTION 1 State whether the following statements are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). a) Caning troublemakers in school is considered a form of maltreatment by most teachers. In the survey carried out by SUHAKAM, both boys and girls were caned.When it comes to caning, the Education Ordinance 1957 clearly contradicts the Child Act 2001. More than half of the respondents in the survey had been caned by their teachers before. (2 marks) QUESTION 2 What do the following words mean as used in the passage? a) ‘breach' (line 14) b) ‘disheartened' (line 20) c) ‘underlying' (line 25) d) ‘stem'(line 31) ___ _ _ _ _ (2 marks) QUESTION 3 Circle your answer for the question below. According to teachers, the following are reasons they support caning in schools except a) Students who repeatedly cause trouble should be caned. b) Caning is one way to prevent violence in schools. ) Caning reduces assault cases and gangsterism in schools. d) Caning has the least negative effect on students. (1 ma rk) b) c) d)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 5 LG/OCT 2008/BEL311 QUESTION 4 Why is caning not the best corrective measure according to SUHAKAM? Give two (2) reasons. (1 mark) QUESTION 5 According to Professor Chiam Heng Keng, what is the best way to overcome discipline problems in schools? (1 mark) QUESTION 6 What is the main idea of paragraph VI? (1 mark)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi IMARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 6 LG/OCT2008/BEL311QUESTION 7 According to the secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, only â€Å"if push comes to shove, then teachers and headmasters should use the rod professionally and with compassion† (lines 49-51). Under what conditions did she recommend this? List two (2) conditions. (2 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 7 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 Article 2 – Caning Does More Harm Than Good I The Women's Centre for Change Penang (WCC) notes with gr eat concern the recent proposal to extend caning as a method to handle discipline problems involving schoolgirls.We caution against the use of the cane on children regardless of gender. II The caning of a child is in direct contravention of the Convention on the Rights of The Child (CRC), of which Malaysia is a signatory. Caning contravenes Article 19 of the CRC. Under the article, the governments must protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for his or her care. Furthermore, corporal punishment is a form of child abuse. There is no evidence to suggest that this method can improve a child's learning ability. 5 10 III Caning may not be the most effective way to deal with problems of indiscipline.While it may bring about the immediate compliance of the child, the issues of physical harm as well as emotional damage to the child need to be taken into consideration. Corporal punishment can lead to increased antisocial behaviour, aggression and chr onic defiance. Furthermore, inflicting severe punishment and using mental humiliation on children have adverse effects such as loss of selfesteem and personality changes with ramifications on adult life. The use of the cane can be abused, especially when frustrations are vented. However, teachers who are fed up with the rising cases of indiscipline in schools may say caning is justified. 0 15 IV The social consequence of caning is that it sends a clear message that violence is an acceptable form of behaviour in society, that is, it is all right to use violence and inflict pain to teach a child something. This goes against all efforts to reduce the level of violence in our society. V Caning may seem to be a quick fix solution to misbehaviour, but it fails to address the root causes of the problem. The causes involve an inability to fit into a rigid, examination-orientated education system, the negative effects of 25  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 8 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 overty, the need to challenge boundaries, insufficient guidance from the home, dysfunctional family situations, negative influences from the neighbourhood environment, among others. 30 VI WCC would therefore urge the Ministry of Education to: 1. Work with other agencies and community groups, for example those dealing with the health, welfare and rights of the child, so as to provide support where needed, to both students and school authorities; 2. Consult with experts in various fields to work out alternative forms of discipline which include behaviour modification programmes that help enhance positive behaviour of students; 5 3. Support school teachers by reducing the number of students per class, having teacher assistants, providing skills training in class control and handling difficult students, having access to highly trained counselors and child psychologists; 40 4. Have a more balanced education system which moves away from an over-emphasis on examinations towards a more holistic education which cultivates the child's other potentials. Prema E. Devaraj, Programme Director, Women's Centre for Change, Penang. The Star, December 3, 2007  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARACONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 9 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 QUESTION 8 What does Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of The Child state? (1 mark) QUESTION 9 Caning as a measure of instilling discipline among students can lead to emotional damage. List four (4) kinds of damage. (2 marks) QUESTION 10 â€Å"The social consequence of caning is that it sends a clear message that violence is an acceptable form of behaviour in society, that is, it is all right to use violence and inflict pain to teach a child something. † (lines 21-23) What does Prema Devaraj mean by the above sentence? 2 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 10 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 QUESTION 11 How can the â€Å"negative influences from the neighbourhood environment† (lines 29-30) cause students to misbehave in school? (2 marks) QUESTION 12 List two (2) recommendations made by the Women's Centre for Change to the Ministry of Education on how to help teachers in the classroom. (1 mark) QUESTION 13 The education system should move away from an over-emphasis on examinations and become more holistic in order to develop the students' other potentials or talents.State two (2) ways the education system can develop the students' other potentials or talents. (2 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 11 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 PART B : WRITING (20 MARKS) QUESTION 1 You are a school counselor and you are asked to give a talk to a group of teachers. Based on these two articles â€Å"Spare the Rod? † and â€Å"Caning Does More Harm Than Good†, you have developed the following opinion about the issue: â€Å"Caning should not be allowed in schools today† Using the information from the two articles, write a spe ech of about 300 words to support your opinion.Include three main ideas with supporting details for your talk. (You must use information that you have gathered from reading the two articles but marks will be deducted if you copy sentences from the articles). In-text citations and proper acknowledgement of references used must also be included.  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 12 LG/OCT 2008/BEL311  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 13 LG/OCT 2008/BEL311 END OF QUESTION PAPER  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL

Fantasy in 20th Century Children’s Literature

Most critics agree that children’s literature is a diverse paradoxical area of study combining different literary genres. Like the concept of childhood, children’s literature is a social and cultural concept that evolves over time. Since the fourteenth century, children’s literature has gone through different literary periods each defined by its own divisions and genres. Many children’s novels, such as J. M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy, and C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe were published in the twentieth century and became classics. These books were marked with an increased diversity of literary genres such as mystery and fantasy literature. Fantasy literature has been a dominant literary genre in twentieth century children’s literature, particularly in Barrie’s and Lewis’s novels. In general, as a genre, fantasy literature integrates imaginative elements that shift away from reality into a secondary world . Fantasy literature in the twentieth century, namely in Barrie’s Peter and Wendy and Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wadrobe serves to help children develop vast imagination, and through imagination it allows children to understand and resolve real-world social issues. Doubtless, most people would be able to name some of the features of fantasy literature. Richard Mathews in his book Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination describes fantasy as a distinct literary genre that may be best thought of as a â€Å"fiction that elicits wonder through elements of the supernatural or impossible† (Matthews 2). Fantasy literature assumes the existence of supernatural elements within the framework of a certain text. These supernatural elements can exist in many locations throughout the text: they may be buried in, or leak into the apparent real world setting, the case of the boy character Peter Pan and his fairy Tinker Bell in Barrie’s Peter and Wendy. Supernatural elements may also appear in a secondary world where characters are drawn into a world with such fantastical elements. Narnia in Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is an example of such setting. The fictional realm of Narnia contains various mythical creatures, and magical occurrences. Narnian inhabitants such as Tumnus and the White Witch are themselves supernatural creatures with unusual traits often seen in European mythology and preceding British fairy tales. Fantasy literature can be categorized into two main sub-genres; high fantasy, which consists of a distinct entirely fictional secondary world, and low fantasy, characterized by being set in the real or primary world with the inclusion of supernatural elements. In almost all cases, supernatural elements shift events away from reality. The secondary world operates according to its own rules and altered laws of reality, different in many ways from those in the primary world. Fantasy and supernatural occurrences in the secondary world are depicted as being â€Å"natural† within its boundaries. This feature is important in keeping the secondary world internally consistent. To maintain this inner uniformity, fantasy in this modified world must be realistic. Improbable fantastical events must appear probable within the framework of rules and laws in the secondary world. As Aristotle puts it, â€Å"you can have a text that is improbable with reality as long as it is consistent. As long as the improbable is consistent, then fantasy is realistic†. Probable fantasy in the imaginative world is hence an essential prerequisite for Fantasy literature. The secondary imaginative world and the fantastical events that contain within play an important role in shaping the way Fantasy literature elicits a child reader response. Perhaps one of the most recognized characteristics of Fantasy literature is its appeal to imagination. Fantasy stretches the imagination, enforces creative thinking and encourages dreams. Through the use of the supernatural elements in the secondary world, children travel on a journey fueled by imagination and inventive creation. The way Fantasy literature is received by children audience has a direct effect on the ideas and responses it elicits on them. The act of reading fantasy requires the use of the imagination. In this sense, a great deal of interplay between the writer and reader is present. Because the role of imagination is so important, children readers have much to contribute as they read fantasy. In general, the writer provides the setting, characters, plot and other elements, but the children readers add their imagination to whatever the text allows. It is when children enter this secondary world, engaging with its characters and events that they become part of the story. They feel a sense of pride when characters rise to goodness and a sense of disappointment when the characters fail. Their sense of self and identity is fully shared with the characters as they live the experiences of the fantasy story. Take Barrie’s Neverland for example, a world without esponsibilities, filled with unlimited possibilities – seemingly all wishes of children come true. Neverland is a space where restrictive parents are absent, school is unheard of, and playtime is only interrupted by self-imagined meals (Barrie 113). At first glance, the ideal place to be as a child. Children readily associate with Neverland, this utopian world where everything is made possible stimulates their imagination. They imagine how seawaters are inhabited with mermaids, the endless fights with pirates, and the magic of fairy filling up woods (Barrie 116). Children create their own Neverland using their own imagination. An interesting point to note is that even the story characters themselves in Peter and Wendy imagined their own Neverland. For Michael and John, Neverland was a dream, the extraordinary world they dreamed about when they were asleep and the place where they desired to live in real life. John’s Neverland for instance, â€Å"had a lagoon with flamingos flying over it at which John was shooting, while Michael, who was very small, had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it† (Barrie 74). Barrie’s story itself reflects a prime example of uncorrupted imagination through the child’s interactions with the text. Barrie carefully explains that the Neverlands are located within the children’s minds, and although every Neverland is always more or less an island, each one will be uniquely individual. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lewis creates Narnia and supernatural Narnian creatures to provoke wonder and imagination in the minds of children. Narnia offers children a separate world where they escape to allowing them to paint their own images of this far secondary world. Lewis further creates heroines, who are gifted in imagination and who readily accept Narnia, the fantasy world, as a valid reality. One of the heroines, Lucy, goes into an enormous wardrobe and suddenly finds herself in this imaginary world, Narnia. Lucy felt a â€Å"little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well† (Lewis 9). She later meets Mr. Tumnus, a Faun who asks her how she came to Narnia. Lucy, so puzzled, asks him: â€Å"Narnia? What’s that? † (Lewis 11). Right from the start, Lewis engages children in this imaginative world. By showing Lucy’s vast imagination and acceptance of Narnia, children readers extend their imagination accordingly, and view this secondary world as a valid reality. The heroines explore the new worlds of Narnia without hesitation. In Lewis’s book, the Pevensie siblings go through the Wardrobe to leave the primary world and enter into the secondary world, Narnia. The Wardrobe in the story functions as a portal between the two worlds. After reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, every child is left imagining the sight of wardrobes. This common and tangible object that most children had in their rooms during the time Lewis wrote his book opened a gateway of wonder, imagination and curiosity for the secondary world. It is very interesting how Lewis takes ordinary familiar ingredients and transforms it in a certain way which fascinates children and stretches their imagination. Imagination is very important in allowing the child resolve real world issues. Fantasy literature, through the imagination elicited within its context plays a central role in promoting the idea of a capable wise child. Adults like to view children as innocent, unable to comprehend surround real life situations. Warner in Little Angels, Little Monsters refers to Kipling’s unforgettable vivid Mowgli, and J. M Barrie’s Peter Pan, the boy who would never grow. Both examples reveal the depth of adult investment in a utopian childhood image (Warner 134). Heywood, in Some Themes in the Cultural History of Childhood, refers to the ideal innocent child incapable of solving real world problems, as part of the nineteenth and twentieth century British culture (Heywood 34). Certainly, many other authors of the twentieth ce ntury including Barrie and Lewis tried to convey the image of the innocent powerless child, unable to comprehend universal situations. This ideal image of childhood is seen in Barrie’s Peter Pan, as the boy who is â€Å"suspended in a state of perpetual childhood†, refusing to grow up (Cuthew 43). This eternal childhood is supported by Neverland, the secondary world where such attitude is cherished. Although this idea of innocent child is deeply integrated in the works of Barrie and Lewis, but without doubt, fantasy in both of Barrie’s and Lewis’s texts serves to promote a whole different role of the child. The secondary world, Narnia, provides a setting where children deal with issues universal to humankind and ones specifically associated with childhood and adolescence. Both Lewis’s and Barrie’s child protagonists are faced with numerous epic challenges, journey and battles in the imaginary world. By using fantasy, and placing this struggle in a secondary fantasy world, children’s actions and decisions are given adult proportions and importance, whilst the safety remains in the known world to which they will return. As Zipes states, by using fantasy, the child understands universal situations in a complex, â€Å"adult-life† manner (Zipes 178). Warner believes adults see it as their task to socialize children and teach them how to work on real life issues (Warner 139). In some cases even, children â€Å"outsmart adults (Warner 137). Warner further mentions Novalis who stresses on the importance of fantasy literature in creating an â€Å"intimate connection† between children and a wonderful, â€Å"free-floating world† of imagination (Warner 135). Novalis insists that the observable, active fantasy-life displayed by childrens books gives children access to a world of wisdom. For him, through myth and fairy tale, a child is seen as a â€Å"good deal cleverer and wiser than an adult†. Spielberg’s children characters in E. T and Back to the Future fiction films are prime examples of such children. Twentieth century fantasy literature particular to children's authors such as Barrie and Lewis, enforces imagination to deal with universal social issues. The fantasy world contained within Barrie’s and Lewis’s texts allows children to rely on an imaginary world that will offer them order and meaning. In both Peter an d Wendy and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the child protagonists, Peter Pan and the Pevensie children are sent on a fantasy adventure and they encounter various challenges. Through their experiences, these child characters drive children to rely on their own imagination and creativity to solve problems around them. In bother novels, child protagonists are virtual role models for the child reader and so their actions and the way they deal with real life issues carry great relevance to the child reader. By allowing children make their own decisions, children are given agency and added responsibility. Children learn to use their own imagination and gain insight on how things should operate without adult rules hanging over their heads. In Barrie’s book, the story character, Peter and Wendy go on a journey to Neverland, a world where restrictive parents are absent. Peter and Wendy face different challenges. Wendy mothers the Lost Boys; Peter has various encounters with Hook. In both cases, these two child figures are left without adult guidance. Despite the lack of parental rule, these children characters manage to face difficulties and apply their insight to solve problems that come across in Neverland. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe reflects another important example of children’s ability to comprehend certain moral and social issues without adult guidance. In Lewis’s book, Edmund, the third oldest Pevensie child learns the importance of honesty and trust, and the severity of lying. When he is given Turkish delight the first time, he directly falls under the White Witch’s trap and agrees to bring back his siblings to her. All he wants is to â€Å"shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat† (Lewis 38). Upon Edmunds betrayal to his siblings, Lucy notices the change of Edmund, because Edmund’s face is â€Å"flushed and strange† (Lewis 42) and he looks â€Å"awful† (Lewis 44). This quotation indicates that a treacherous person has a different appearance. Without explicitly saying to the child, â€Å"you should not lie†, fantasy and fairy tales allow children to see the bonuses and consequences of virtues followed and disobeyed. Through fantasy, children are also allowed to come to their own consensus of the binaries of good and evil, right and wrong without having parents guide them through the entire learning process. Fantasy gives children the freedom to create their own set of morals through stories, characters and imaginative places. Take Lewis’s treatment of the concepts of good and evil in Narnia. The Pevensie children are set on an adventure taking them into the fantasy world that is equipped with ideal tools for exploring good and evil. In this fantasy world, the children protagonists are offered many chances to use their own judgment in differentiating right from wrong. Lewis uses this secondary world to allow children see extremes of good and evil. On one hand, Lewis shows the White Witch, the evil queen of Narnia. She seems to abuse her evil powers and carries a wand that can turn creatures into stones. On the other hand, Lewis shows Aslan, the king and God of Narnia. Aslan is a noble lion who sacrifices his life so that the Witch will spare Edmund. Not only does Lewis place his setting in a fantasy world, but he also takes advantage of fantastic creatures to stimulate the child reader’s sense of dread and imagination. These extreme Narnian characters offer two opposite extreme measures of good and evil for which children can compare to. By looking at real world issues, the child is able to deal with situations of good and evil the same way they were played out in the imaginary world. The child is better able to understand his or her position in the world in relation to those around. Allowing the child to judge the good and evil can arguably be seen as means of socialization, a way of opening the child’s eyes to their surrounding society. Through eliciting imagination in children, twentieth century Fantasy literature has also highlighted social values of its period. Even in fantasy when authors write adventures taking place in a secondary world, it is quite difficult to escape certain institutions and values which make our society function. Twentieth century Fantasy literature carried many adult social messages to children. As Henry Jenkins mentions in Introduction: Childhood Innocence and Other Modern Myths, children’s social learning is shaped both by â€Å"adult desires and childhood fantasies† (Jenkins 25). Warner further adds on the topic by saying that in society there is a deep involvement of adults in shaping children. As members of a functional society, how we treat children â€Å"really tests who were are and fundamentally conveys who we hope to be† (Warner, 137). British writers made comments on society and British life through children’s fantasy books. For example, Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe mentions the Beaver family in Narnia. The Beaver family can be seen to function on the stereotypical model of a twentieth century British family. In one example, Mr. Beaver rushes out in the cold with Peter to provide food for the family, meanwhile â€Å"the girls were helping Mrs Beaver to fill the kettle and cut the bread† (Lewis 69). It can be argued that through Narnia, Lewis reflects the British life in the twentieth century where men spend long hours working away form home whereas mothers shield the home from the corruptions of the outside world (Jenkins, 7). It is now agreed that twentieth century Fantasy literature is vital in the child’s development of imagination. Although children’s minds are less developed than adults’, their ability to imagine is far greater. Fantasy stories not only allow children to imagine other worlds, they let children create those worlds. Barrie and Lewis wrote for children in a sense that they used simpler language and fantastical settings. These authors tried to fully engage children readers with texts. But, not for a moment did they underestimate the child’s ability to comprehend greater universal and social problems such as the arguments between siblings, the struggle to fight temptation and make the right decision, the importance of imagination in providing children with self-guidance and the ability of evaluating good and evil in society. Twentieth century British authors such as Barrie and Lewis also used Fantasy literature to comment on social issues of that period and reflect certain values of society. In twentieth century children’s literature, fantasy is not used to deceive but to enlighten.

Deception Point Page 97

Rachel inserted the entire stack into the hydrolab's fax machine. Knowing only a few fax numbers by heart, she had limited choices, but she had already made up her mind who would be receiving these pages and her note. Holding her breath, she carefully typed in the person's fax number. She pressed â€Å"send,† praying she had chosen the recipient wisely. The fax machine beeped. ERROR: NO DIAL TONE Rachel had expected this. The Goya's communications were still being jammed. She stood waiting and watching the machine, hoping it functioned like hers at home. Come on! After five seconds, the machine beeped again. REDIALING†¦ Yes! Rachel watched the machine lock into an endless loop. ERROR: NO DIAL TONE REDIALING†¦ ERROR: NO DIAL TONE REDIALING†¦ Leaving the fax machine in search of a dial tone, Rachel dashed out of the hydrolab just as helicopter blades thundered overhead. 119 One hundred and sixty miles away from the Goya, Gabrielle Ashe was staring at Senator Sexton's computer screen in mute astonishment. Her suspicions had been right. But she had never imagined how right. She was looking at digital scans of dozens of bank checks written to Sexton from private space companies and deposited in numbered accounts in the Cayman Islands. The smallest check Gabrielle saw was for fifteen thousand dollars. Several were upward of half a million dollars. Small potatoes, Sexton had told her. All the donations are under the two-thousand-dollar cap. Obviously Sexton had been lying all along. Gabrielle was looking at illegal campaign financing on an enormous scale. The pangs of betrayal and disillusionment settled hard now in her heart. He lied. She felt stupid. She felt dirty. But most of all she felt mad. Gabrielle sat alone in the darkness, realizing she had no idea what to do next. 120 Above the Goya, as the Kiowa banked over the stern deck, Delta-One gazed down, his eyes fixating on an utterly unexpected vision. Michael Tolland was standing on deck beside a small submersible. Dangling in the sub's robotic arms, as if in the clutches of a giant insect, hung Delta-Two, struggling in vain to free himself from two enormous claws. What in the name of God!? Equally as shocking an image, Rachel Sexton had just arrived on deck, taking up a position over a bound and bleeding man at the foot of the submersible. The man could only be Delta-Three. Rachel held one of the Delta Force's machine guns on him and stared up at the chopper as if daring them to attack. Delta-One felt momentarily disoriented, unable to fathom how this possibly could have happened. The Delta Force's errors on the ice shelf earlier had been a rare but explainable occurrence. This, however, was unimaginable. Delta-One's humiliation would have been excruciating enough under normal circumstances. But tonight his shame was magnified by the presence of another individual riding with him inside the chopper, a person whose presence here was highly unconventional. The controller. Following the Delta's kill at the FDR Memorial, the controller had ordered Delta-One to fly to a deserted public park not far from the White House. On the controller's command, Delta-One had set down on a grassy knoll among some trees just as the controller, having parked nearby, strode out of the darkness and boarded the Kiowa. They were all en route again in a matter of seconds. Although a controller's direct involvement in mission operations was rare, Delta-One could hardly complain. The controller, distressed by the way the Delta Force had handled the kills on the Milne Ice Shelf and fearing increasing suspicions and scrutiny from a number of parties, had informed Delta-One that the final phase of the operation would be overseen in person. Now the controller was riding shotgun, witnessing in person a failure the likes of which Delta-One had never endured. This must end. Now. The controller gazed down from the Kiowa at the deck of the Goya and wondered how this could possibly have happened. Nothing had gone properly-the suspicions about the meteorite, the failed Delta kills on the ice shelf, the necessity of the high-profile kill at the FDR. â€Å"Controller,† Delta-One stammered, his tone one of stunned disgrace as he looked at the situation on the deck of the Goya. â€Å"I cannot imagine†¦ â€Å" Nor can I, the controller thought. Their quarry had obviously been grossly underestimated. The controller looked down at Rachel Sexton, who stared up blankly at the chopper's reflective windshield and raised a CrypTalk device to her mouth. When her synthesized voice crackled inside the Kiowa, the controller expected her to demand that the chopper back off or extinguish the jamming system so Tolland could call for help. But the words Rachel Sexton spoke were far more chilling. â€Å"You're too late,† she said. â€Å"We're not the only ones who know.† The words echoed for a moment inside the chopper. Although the claim seemed far-fetched, the faintest possibility of truth gave the controller pause. The success of the entire project required the elimination of all those who knew the truth, and as bloody as the containment had turned out to be, the controller had to be certain this was the conclusion. Someone else knows†¦ Considering Rachel Sexton's reputation for following strict protocol of classified data, the controller found it very hard to believe that she would have decided to share this with an outside source. Rachel was on the CrypTalk again. â€Å"Back off and we'll spare your men. Come any closer and they die. Either way, the truth comes out. Cut your losses. Back off.† â€Å"You're bluffing,† the controller said, knowing the voice Rachel Sexton was hearing was an androgynous robotic tone. â€Å"You have told no one.† â€Å"Are you ready to take that chance?† Rachel fired back. â€Å"I couldn't get through to William Pickering earlier, so I got spooked and took out some insurance.† The controller frowned. It was plausible. â€Å"They're not buying it,† Rachel said, glancing at Tolland. The soldier in the claws gave a pained smirk. â€Å"Your gun is empty, and the chopper's going to blow you to hell. You're both going to die. Your only hope is to let us go.† Like hell, Rachel thought, trying to assess their next move. She looked at the bound and gagged man who lay at her feet directly in front of the sub. He looked delirious from loss of blood. She crouched beside him, looking into the man's hard eyes. â€Å"I'm going to take off your gag and hold the CrypTalk; you're going to convince the helicopter to back off. Is that clear?† The man nodded earnestly. Rachel pulled out the man's gag. The soldier spat a wad of bloody saliva up into Rachel's face. â€Å"Bitch,† he hissed, coughing. â€Å"I'm going to watch you die. They're going to kill you like a pig, and I'm going to enjoy every minute.† Rachel wiped the hot saliva from her face as she felt Tolland's hands lifting her away, pulling her back, steadying her as he took her machine gun. She could feel in his trembling touch that something inside him had just snapped. Tolland walked to a control panel a few yards away, put his hand on a lever, and locked eyes with the man lying on the deck. â€Å"Strike two,† Tolland said. â€Å"And on my ship, that's all you get.† With a resolute rage, Tolland yanked down on the lever. A huge trapdoor in the deck beneath the Triton fell open like the floor of a gallows. The bound soldier gave a short howl of fear and then disappeared, plummeting through the hole. He fell thirty feet to the ocean below. The splash was crimson. The sharks were on him instantly. The controller shook with rage, looking down from the Kiowa at what was left of Delta-Three's body drifting out from under the boat on the strong current. The illuminated water was pink. Several fish fought over something that looked like an arm.

Philosophy of human nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philosophy of human nature - Essay Example Humans are the only beings who realize their mortality and are able to make a death the most sensational topic for discussions. Inevitability of own death is accepted by people not as an abstract verity but something that is able to bring the biggest emotional shock and touch the deepest feelings of personal inner world. To find the answers on the questions of life sense and existence of life after death, mythology, religion, philosophy and even art present numerous arguments to support both sides of the coin. The theme of life and death is everlasting and essential for the spiritual culture of humanity in all its manifestations. This permanent philosophical matter is widely covered in print and broadcasting media. Reflecting about possibility and existence of eternal life is intriguing, first of all, because we do not know the exact explanation with the lack of doubts in its veracity. Everything that is unconceivable and unknown causes interest and stimulates imagination. The proble m of death and everything that concerns it has been mentioned since ancient times by Plato. Humanity may have a great hope for the existence of life after death; however, there is no any certainty or scientific proof for conjecture. The only thing left is to make assumptions, which are able to form person’s belief and positive attitude or distrust and rejection. The discussion of death may cause various reactions including even groundless prejudices and undisguised fear. However, among respectable scientists, there are a lot of optimists who present persuasive arguments to believe that after death human’s soul does not disappear. One of such literary works that stimulates thinking process and force people to review own opinions is the article of Andrew Dell’Olio, who claims that near-death experience (NDE) is a valid ground to believe in eternal life. Due to the stories of people who have experienced near-death, it has been concluded that when a person dies, the brain still remains its activity and consciousness; otherwise it is hard to explain how people who return to life remember everything that has happened in addition to the new visions that they have seen during the death of the body. According to the statistics, the number of clinical deaths increases because of the technological development and innovations implemented to the medical services, which help to revive a person after death. Therefore, today there are more and more people who have had NDE and based on their memories and feelings some significant conclusions can be made. Despite ambiguity of philosophers’ attitude, Dell’Olio tries to find out whether there is a rational basis to believe that NDEs prove the eternal life. It is evident that studies on the matter of near-death should take into account such factors as mind and body illnesses of the patient and the nature of personal identity. In spite of the fact that life after death is genuinely philosophical i ssue, it is fair to admit that there is a tendency of philosophers to ignore this question mostly because of its over popularity and urgency. Materialists consider that NDE does not represent any interest for philosophy simply because it is only hallucinations, which are caused by the decrease of brain’s activity. Basing his argument on the religious aspects, Dell’

The Language of Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Language of Fashion - Essay Example The paper "The Language of Fashion" talks about the language of the fashion and describes the portrait of The Arnolfini Wedding. The two people in the portrait are richly dressed up, despite the season their outer garments shows the linings of fur and laces. These furs appear of expensive variety. The man in the picture is shown wearing a hat of plaited straw dyed black. The tabard, he is wearing is faded purple and underneath he wears doublet of patterned material probably silk damask. The women dress is equally immaculate with elaborate dagging (cloth folded and sewn together, then cut and frayed decoratively) on her sleeves and long train. Her blue under dress is also trimmed with white fur. The renaissance women have special love for jewels and gems but the lady in the portrait is adorning only a plain gold chain with plain gold earrings. A look at the room shows pristine interiors, another sign of wealth on display, the brass chandelier is huge and elaborate .The convex mirror a t the back with the wooden frame and scenes of The Passion appears to be larger than the usual mirrors used during the age, another sign of wealth. A further sign of luxury appears in the bed linings and hangings. The chair and the table placed against the wall shows exquisite carvings. The oriental carpet on the floor also represents the rich taste of this merchant. It is not unusual to see this limitless display of wealth among the rich middle class of that time. The rich style and fashion is evident.

The Effects of Class Size on Academic Achievement Essay

The Effects of Class Size on Academic Achievement - Essay Example According to the study the number of teachers employed would also increase necessitating more income, hence reducing teacher-to-student ratio. Dynarsky, Hyman, & Schanzenbach, states that reduction in the class size increases the rate of class attendance by the students. The higher the number of students that attend classes, the higher the academic achievement since many students would eventually graduate and move to the next level. This increment in academic achievement was more significant in some courses that experience high dropouts such as engineering, mathematics, technology, economics, and business studies. From this study it is clear that smaller class size ensures better and closer relationship between the students and the teachers. This close relationship ensures proper understanding of the syllabus for the students, hence better academic achievement, and it also increases students’ understanding in the studies. Small class size has more influence on the academic achievement of young children who may not be able to learn on their own and constantly require teachers’ guidance. Teachers also finds it much easier to understand better and to recognize their students’ strength and weakness and work towards improving their academic achievement. Moreover, large class size, especially in high school has an advantage in being lively owing to there being diverse characters full of fun, high energy, and always exciting. The class is never boring and seems to be a motivation with many students willing to participate. It eventually encourages both teachers and students always to attend classes and hence reducing absenteeism

Preformance Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Preformance Appraisal - Essay Example The book covers crucial elements of an effective performance review such as clear job expectations, training, and the establishment of performance-based rewards. This book provides useful information for understanding and developing effective performance appraisal systems, thus remain very crucial for every management scholar as well as practicing managers. This book outlines performance appraisal system aimed at enabling managers to appraise their employees effectively. The book identifies setting task objectives, documentation of employee performance, training employees, creating feedback mechanism and developing performance-reward system as some of the most crucial elements of an effective appraisal system. The book thus remains crucial for providing indispensible information about performance appraisal. In this book, Sims explores organisational performance in the dimension of employees. The author identifies employees as the main driver of organisational success. Sims proceed to explore performance appraisal as a means of boosting employee performance identifying specific elements of effective appraisal system that can ensure high level of employee performance and hence the performance of the overall

Symbolism in Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death Essay

Symbolism in Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death - Essay Example Some people would stop reading a cruel story if the writer does not cover his story using symbolic language. In this essay, I intend to illustrate various instances of symbolism portrayed in Allan’s â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†. A reader of Poe story would ponder about the symbolic language from the time that he or she reads the title of the story. â€Å"The Masque of Red Death†, this title illustrate that Poe has used color to symbolize events in his story. In addition, the name used in the title has a symbolic meaning to reader. Since this is the title of the story and the reader is yet to explore the content of the story. He or she will develop great interest in the story in order to know the deeper meaning of the story and the symbols used by the writer of the story. Poe’s story has three distinct instances in which applications of symbolism appear. The main occurrences are name, number, and color. Poe used color to symbolize emotions, attitude, or feelings of the occurrences in the story. For example, in the story the writer talks of black chamber, which symbolizes death. The writer mentions six other chambers which he gives various colors to illustrate various meaning to the story. ... The red color frightened many characters in the story. The characters tried their best to keep off from the red color because they felt they would bleed to death. It is also important to note that Poe symbolism of color illustrated different moods and meaning to the story. Prince, the chief character in Poe’s story ran through the six chambers at different instances. Notably, each of the six chambers had different colors. This illustrated different moods, which the prince acquired in the story. Human emotions in the story appear to the reader using color. When the prince entered each room, he changed his emotions. It is arguable that in the story, Poe successfully used color to illustrate various stages in life. Red color portrayed a terminal disease, which would eventually lead to the death of the prince as illustrated in the black room. Characters in the story feared red color because they knew it represented a terminal illness that would wipe them from earth. Poe uses numbe r in the story to influence the emotions of the reader. Seven appears as a holy number associated with wonders of the world. Determination of evil in the story is clear as it struggles to destroy the holy number. Probably, the plague of red death occurred in the seventh chamber. In the story, characters are vigilant when it comes to observations of numbers because they knew that each number had a symbolic meaning. As the clock tickled, the characters in the story observed the number that the clock pointed. A change of emotions is evident in their faces in each number that the clock points. At 12 midnight, sad mood engulf the room because red death occurred at this hour. Evidently, life would be good for the characters, as long as the clock hand does not

Information Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Information Policy - Essay Example Additionally, the release of sensitive information by websites has serious harm than good. Websites such as WikiLeaks expose highly sensitive information that was not availed to the public previously. The release of documents detailing killings of unreported Afghan civilians by WikiLeaks website. Equally, the release of records showing NATO’s concerns that the intelligence agency of Pakistan’s ISI is assisting Taliban in Afghanistan can lead to adverse political effects. It is clear that the majority of civilian do not pay attention to these released information; instead, terrorist groups and other governments use this information to inflict pain on civilians. Further, NSA’s bulk surveillance programs curb terrorism. Despite Section 215 of the U.S. Telephone Record’s program only disrupting one terror plot in the United States, we cannot rule its efforts since this helped prevent loss of life in some part of the world. Finally, the release of controversial documents like NSA documents by Edward Snowden usually end up being reported unresponsive ly by journalists thus threatening the security of the globe (Mueller, 2010). The benefits of free, limited internet access for people who previously had no internet connection cannot measure the availability of open, unregulated internet access for a limited few in that society. The provision of free, limited internet access to people violates their freedom by restricting the contents that they can view. The fact that the contents that these people view are restricted, overshadows the benefits associated with the free, limited internet access provided to them. Availability of open, unregulated internet access for a limited few is beneficial. These enable the few people to access freely all the information they want that they can pass to the larger society lacking internet access. Facebook’s Internet.org project may affect people’s freedom of

Compare and Contrast Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Compare and Contrast Research Methods - Essay Example Panel survey is referred to as a longitudinal study because under this study data is not collected over a single point in time but over a stretched period (Marsden & Wright, 2010). Panel survey is unique form of study considering the fact that it utilizes the same sample population over a period. This means that time is an important factor when analyzing panel survey because it is the major distinctive factor from other forms of research methods and approaches. Nichols (2009) elucidates the sample population, which the respondent visit regularly for the purpose collecting data is usually referred to as Panel. It is not worth that unlike other form of surveys panel survey often involves a small sample to lessen the burden of follow-ups. The focus of panel survey is usually people with unifying attribute in a particular period (Amico, 2009). This may include people living condition, students of a particular class or individuals born in the same era. Panel survey has been associated wit h a wide range of advantages beginning with the fact that it involves regularly repeated interviews thus providing accurately fresh data over time. Another major advantage is the fact that Panel survey does not only focus on the simple association between variables but also offers a deep insight to causality. Panel survey is certainly one of the few research methods that can be used to track process and events (Lynn, 2009). For instance, panel survey can be used to track poverty dynamics of particular households over time. The same case can apply to tracking exposures to unemployment over time in the society. Panel surveys are broad and detailed taking into consideration that they engage regular follow-ups, which gives the researcher a perfect opportunity for gathering detailed information about the subjects, compared to cross sectional research methods. Despite the widely traded advantages of panel survey, it is noteworthy that this form of research method also comes with a wide ra nge of short backs. The fact that this form of research method involves follows makes it one of the most expensive methods of gathering data inform of time consumption and cost (Yang, Zhao, & Dhar, 2010). Follow up rate is also another major challenge that researcher have to experience during panel surveys considering that they are difficult to sustain owing to the duration of time involved. There is less representation in panel survey compared to traditional sample survey techniques. Because of the cost involved, most researchers are often influenced into using a small sample size when carrying out Panel survey. This is quite disadvantageous owing to the fact that the surveyor may not get the exact representation of the population. Attrition of panel members is another challenge that pane survey tend to face (Lee, 2007). It is common knowledge that panel survey normally involves gathering data from same participants over a period and such conduct may be weary to the participants an d as such drop out of the study. Finally, panel survey can be difficult to conduct considering the complexes of making follow-ups over time. Focus group Focus group just like other significant research methods such as Questionnaire-Based surveys, Case Studies, Experimental Methods, Textual analysis has a wide range of similarities as well as dissimilarities associated

Milk and Ice Cream Essay Example for Free

Milk and Ice Cream Essay Don’t you think you should get kids to try more fruits and vegetables, especially since the new MyPlate guidelines say that half of their plate should be fruits and vegetables? Child obesity is a huge problem today and one of the best ways to counter this is to make vegetables more attractive to kids. That is why we developed a way to tempt fussy children: vegetable ice cream. Can you use the fact that people will eat just about anything if it is in ice cream form? The Ice Greens come in broccoli, lettuce, and malunggay flavors. This may sound unappetizing, but once you taste it, you might change your mind especially if you’re health conscious. This would even fit in the summer season because of the chills it brings on the summer breeze. OBJECTIVE —This Investigatory project aims to find ways to encourage children to eat bland vegetables by blending it into one of their favorite desserts: the ice cream. It is known that children naturally dislikes vegetables but by imbuing the nutritional value of vegetables into their favorable dessert, the researchers conducted experiments on how effective it is. —This is also to make vegetables appetizing and appealing to the eyes of the children. Basic Ingredients: concentrated soymilk malunggay fresh leaves banana fruit (any table-type) sugar (condensed milk or honey) soybean oil or virgin coconut oil So with the above ingredients, let’s all experiment. Go, go, go! 2 cups milk 2 cups heavy cream 2 eggs, beaten 1 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup puree bananas 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream, eggs, sugar and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Refrigerate the mixture until cool. Combine the cooled custard with the bananas, vanilla and nutmeg. Pour into freezer container. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

A Positive View on Social Media and Facebook Essay Example for Free

A Positive View on Social Media and Facebook Essay Over one billion people worldwide use or have a profile on some sort of social media. Facebook is one form of social media that leads the charge. Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows users to locate and reunite with old friends, join groups of members that share your same interests, do research, and entertain themselves through the use of a variety of applications embedded within the website. Every so often we feel the urge to locate old friends that we have not been in touch with in a long time. We just type in their name and see what comes up. One day my wife looked up an old friend of mine, Paul Z. and found a man about the right age. She thought at first it was someone else because with age we all look different. Looking back at her was an older man with grey hair and a beard, something that neither Paul nor I had the last time we had seen each other. So she started to go through pictures and started seeing familiar faces, pictures from the past that was our past too. She immediately requested that they become â€Å"friends† on Facebook knowing that this was our friend from years ago. The request was accepted and our friendship was reunited again. After Facebook and my wife reunited two old friends I started to look at Facebook for other ideas on who to try and communicate with. Old classmates came to mind and it just so happens that Facebook provides a tool for reuniting classmates on the website. After about ten minutes or so of answering a few simple questions about where I went to school and when, I logged off and went about my business. About two or three days later I started getting responses. At first I didn’t recognize anybody, but then after a little research, yearbooks mostly, I started to recognize some of the names and memories followed. I have since been in touch with a couple of classmates from as far back as second and third grade, an amazing feat since second and third grade was in 1966 and 1967. I now get invitations to class reunions and other events that I never had before. Although I haven’t attended one yet, maybe someday I will. Another part of Facebook that I thoroughly enjoy, are all the groups that are available to join and hang out with. The Navy is just one of the many groups that I belong to. There I get to chat and share the many memories I have from my time in the service. Some are really great, like the time I got to ride a camel in front of the main Pyramid in Egypt, except when it spit on me, that wasn’t fun. Or the time I rode a Gondola in Venice down the waterways. And some not so great, like 1991 in the Persian Gulf or rescuing refugees off the coast of Haiti. But all are memories I love to share with old shipmates and Facebook makes it possible. Genealogy is a subject that has interested me for years. One of the greatest challenges I have found, is how to quickly and accurately research the information I need on members of my family. I even subscribed to an online genealogy website. Where, for $30.00 per month, I could do all the research I wanted. This soon became more than I could fit into my budget, so I started to look for another way. I saw an advertisement on Facebook for a new application called â€Å"Family Tree†, an online web app that allows family members to input their own family information and merge it into an existing family tree. It also allows each family member to visit and update their own part of the tree as often as they like. I signed up and started to enter information about my own immediate family and forwarded requests for other members of my family to join. The response was amazing. To date my family has placed 1,288 entries into the family tree and it continues to grow every day. Although groups, family history research, locating long lost friends takes up a lot of time, I still try to find ways to amuse myself on the computer. Facebook can do that too. There are literally hundreds of games that you can play either by yourself or with family and friends. CityVille 2 is the one that I am currently involved in socially. I haven’t started any individual games yet, but I will eventually. Games are not the only forms of entertainment provided by Facebook. The posts that all of my friends place on the site can be hilarious. I am constantly looking at all of the photos and videos that have been posted and at times they can be pretty entertaining as well. All things considered, there are many ways to communicate with family, friends and classmates. Newer forms of social media, like Facebook give us a significantly more effective and in most cases, less expensive way to stay in touch with the people that mean the most to us. It can also provide tools for exploring new and exciting ways to entertain ourselves, research your family history by starting a family tree, or join a group that shares your interests. The opportunities are endless.

Concept of Time Portrayed in Art

Concept of Time Portrayed in Art Time is a determinant concept in forms of art where motion is a key factor in order for a narrative to be explored as it occurs, such as in video art, performance, and theatre. The concept of time is also an important parameter for a two-dimensional artwork, which can comprise time through movement or as a snapshot. On the basis of the above syllogism, this essay will determine the nature of time, through the moment, as a still/snapshot in a static artwork and as a sequence in forms of art such as performance. The concept of capturing time in art comprised subjects for contemporary artists such as demonstrated by Christiane Baumgartner and Marina Abramovic, whose works will be explored through this essay: how do two antithetical mediums, namely; printmaking and performance, deal with this same theme and what are the results of the two visual languages that arise in depicting the sense of time? The antithesis of time itself is not only a parameter which is reflected in the mediums themseleves, but also in the content. In other words, the antithesis is also portrayed on a theoretical level. While Christiane Baumgartner uses the illusion of the motion continuity and thus the illusion of time by freezing it, Marina Abramovic deals with the actual and real aspect of time by extending the duration of an occurrence. Hence, there is a differentiated perspective in depicting and presenting the real time and the illusion of it, with time consisting of a weaving of reality and deception. Introduction The issue of time comprises a parameter which, beside the natural sciences was also the object of research by predominately philosophy and anthropology and thereby the extension the art itself, as art was considered to be an essential cultural characteristic. In this essay, the concept of time will be presented via the perspective of perceiving time through the antitheses outlined above. Initially, time should be divided into two categories; such as in the philosophical and sociological frameworks; namely in its real form and in its non-real form that is not quite so obvious. For instance, acquirable time the procedure of measuring time periods, is completely different from the procedure of perceiving time as a representative of or bearer of consciousness. The existence and at the same time the non-existence (lack of obviousness) of time is an object of research for the artists so as to define the sense of time passing via numerous optical dimensions. The model of perceiving time is formed every time by the aesthetic view of the artist. Philosophy and sociology in many cases are related to the artists point of view and thus an interactive relationship in shaping or reconstructing thoughts, which include the phenomenon of time is developed. The contrariety in the approach on the other hand does not create gaps between the aspects of time but they assist in developing depth and assiduous assortment in determining time. However, the contrariety approach comprises a method of analysis; thus, within such a framework regarding contrariety in the perspective of the concept of time, art presents a visual codex and visual symbols and hence the antithesis in approaching and perceiving time can be comprehended. One very good example is the concept of the time sense as it is understood by most people, specifically time or, the symbol that represents time; the clock is an invention that accommodates humans to divide or to plan their everyday lives. On the other hand, there is an application of the above syllogism which is not an invention of the human civilisation but underlies biological or natural laws which is the concept of human age that accompanies human beings during their entire lives. These two antithetical examples could be characterized as external and internal time. The first one is determined by the sound that is produced by the second-hand and the other by the heartbeat. The parameter of their antithesis, however, does not preclude their interaction, but rather it is a matter of visual perspective of their characteristics (Rudolf Arnheim, Art and visual perception: a psychology of the creative eye, University of California Press, 2004). Time has had a significant influence in the world of visual arts. Artists have depicted various symbols for time in order to express its impact as a philosophical question that is reflected in the human existence, or important events in history in order to represent the passing of time. The antithesis will be the main subject of interest in this research and stillness-movement, internal-external time, and fluidity-futility will be some of the main points for analysis. The expressions of time concepts differ from artist to artist due to the different perspective each of them uses. Salvador Dali (1904-1989), the Spanish surrealist painter of the 20th century, created in 1931 the work The persistence of memory. Time is the theme here, from the melting watches to the decay implied by the swarming ants. The title of the painting suggests memorys ability to remain intact as time decays around it. Dali painted this work with the most imperialist fury of precision and the only nod to the real are the distant landscape golden cliffs in Catalonia, where he lived. (Alkis Xaralampidis, Art in 20th century, volume II, 1993). Furthermore, Fransis Alys (born 1959), a Belgian artist who lives and works in Mexico City, in his documented video performance Paradox of praxis I (Sometimes doing something leads to nothing) deals with the concept of time in a different way from surrealism. Alys in this work expresses the futility of time and effort. The artist pushes a large block of ice through the streets of Mexico City for six or seven hours until it melts. It is a film about transformation, but it is also about the futility of human endeavor. It is an epic kind of uselessness that turns his apparently meaningless effort into an almost heroic event; nothing to something. The subtitle of the work is ultimately an idea which speaks to the frustrated efforts of everyday Mexico City residents to improve their living conditions. (Mark Godfrey and Klaus Biensenbach, Fransis Alys: A story of deception, 2010). Performance too, which is very much related to the concept of time because of its nature, has presented a number of works which deal with the sense of time. As a time-based art primarily and by extension a media-based one owns its nature The work of Christiane Baumgartner Christiane Baumgartner was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1967. Her work deals mainly with specific aspects of time concepts; speed and standstill. The images are taken from her own video stills and the chosen format is that of monumental woodcut, mainly black and white. Her aim is to combine in a way two mediums; a traditional, printmaking, with a contemporary one, video art. As the artists herself states: Its about bringing together the different mediums of the video still and the woodcut, about combining the first and the latest reproduction techniques to produce an image (Catalogue Alan Cristea gallery, London 2011). What her subjects often deal with is the movement between figuration and abstraction and the space between with speed and the passage of time recurring themes throughout her work. What she is mostly interested in is the shifting within the woodcut and the way it changes the image and becomes a blurred, non-figurative image (Catalogue Alan Cristea gallery, London 2011). For instance, in 1 Sekunde (fig. 3) the image disappears at points and becomes blurred through the representation of speed. Other digital images are taken at a very low resolution, 3 dpi, and as a result the printmaking effect creates an abstract image, as occurs in Deutscher Wald (fig. 4). Speed, both in terms of subject matter and technique is something she has always been interested in. Many of her works are images taken from highways or tunnels because their inherent movement has been something that attracts her. Through this rationale are made works such as Lisbon II (fig. 5) or Solaris I (fig. 6). Technically, the final work is the result of a procedure that takes significant time. The first step is to film the subject in which she is interested in and afterwards, she selects an image from the film which she thinks is the appropriate for cutting. The main point is to figure out which image I will end up bringing into the world. I will devote so much time to making it and give it so much significance in terms of scale, that I have to choose it very carefully. The fact that I am using a technique in which it will be reproduced more than once further influence my decision. (Catalogue Alan Cristea gallery, London 2011) Her main subject of interest is urban development and how life is affected by the environment. This material world was produced for humans, but at the same time has made life become an aspect in which a main point is speed. Cars, computers, busy highways, and people running, are the common images that exist in big cities. That is why in her work bridges, tunnels, and roads appear so frequently. In a world which is governed by speed, Baumgartner tries to slow down the way information is processed, to better reflect the way people live nowadays. There is so much movement in our physical lives than 20 years ago. But also the time of information and communication has speed up in an extreme way. Because we are expecting such quick responses to our communications we miss the time for the thinking process and also to really prioritize. (philagrafika, blog, http://philagrafika.blogspot.com/2009/05/interview-christiane-baumgartner.html) By choosing woodcut as a medium of expression, she asserts that is it her way of representing the contemporary situation. Her prints, which take a long time to make, effectively slow down time by extending the moment of the constitution of the image from a brief second, which in this case is the video still, to entire months, until the final work is ready. Baumgartner has created a visual language which needs to be viewed from a certain distance from the work so the image can be revealed. This language is consisted of horizontal lines which cut the subject in pieces so as to produce the illusion of movement and speed. When the viewer stands close to the work what he or she observes is actually thick and thin linear forms that reflect the virtuosity of the printmaker at a technical level. However, when the viewer keeps a distance from the artwork, then the entire theme is revealed. Specifically, the motifs assist the observer to comprehend the utility of the medium in relation to the forms in presenting the illusion of movement and thus, time itself. The visual language that is used makes the work of Christiane Baumgartner representative of the contemporary point of view in depicting motion and time. This is a very common perspective not only in fine art but also in contemporary media and video art. The work of the artist is the result of the contemporary perspective in depicting issues and concepts of time, through a more simplified aesthetic. The simplicity in using the medium and by extension, the thematic development in a composition also reflects the will of the artist to establish a relationship between the steady artwork and the viewer. In other words, she is trying to make the visual ability of the viewer actively participate mentally in the world she reconstructs. Hence, the concept of time is a parameter that connects the artist and artwork with the visual and mental ability of the observer. This is a conceptual tool in order for the artwork to communicate the illusion of motion portrayed to real time. This kind of reality is a vital factor for human beings because it produces subconscious images and memories. Due to the fact that Christiane Baumgartners works deal with the conceptual aspect of time in unreal time, she contributes to perceiving this issue from a point of view that functions as an antithesis. In a two-dimensional space she creates the illusion of a three-dimensional theme and in the end she also adds a fourth dimension (time), so as to reveal both the theoretical background of the concept and the sociological extension of it as it is formed in the contemporary life. The social character of Christiane Baumgartners artwork reflects in a way the contemporary model of life. Although the real time remains the same, the contemporary life in the modern societies goes faster. The human itself has created the speed in order to compress life inside the urban environment. Time compresses a contemporary citizen like motion in art is displayed through compression of lines. If a viewer observes the rush hour in a city then he or she will realise how in a mental form, motion is similar or equal to time. Namely, a passing person is a parabolic symbol of passing time. This is why the immediacy of the medium is related to the complexity passing time. The steadiness or the immobility that the medium itself includes is altered by the motion that is depicted. In the same logic, the steadiness or the immobility of environment is altered by human motion itself. All these examples reflect the antithetical nature in perceiving time. In one print of Christiane Baumgartne r a close observation will be a starting point to perceive moving time in a still depiction while she underlines the fact that she uses a slow medium like woodcut to express a fast idea. The work of Marina Abramovic Performance art contrasts to the above perspective regarding time via a static or still medium. Performance is a branch of artistic expression whose basic elements that create its nature are time and space, the presence of which along with the active involvement of the artist and essentially, the audiences presence or interaction is vital. Performance as a visual art incorporates the characteristic of time as a dynamic aspect of its nature. Thus, the medium itself includes the reality of the duration of time as an important parameter which is used extensively by the performance artists. It is like a tool for the performer in depicting the issue or the concept of his interest by using his or her presence. Marina Abramovic, born in 1946 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, has been a representative artist since the 1970s, the starting point for her career in performing arts. Her work of this type of expression indicates her perspectives of many aspects of her personal experiences but mainly her intellectual enquiries. In many of her performances there are references to the concept of time regardless of the fact that time itself is included in the medium. For instance, in the Relation in movement (1977) Abramovic and Ulay moved in a circle direction repeatedly by driving around a square in Paris for hours. They kept driving until it got dark. The only existing lights were those of the car. There was continuity and duration to this action until the next morning. The couple had different tasks to accomplish; Ulay followed the back wheel and Abramovic loudly stated the number of the accomplished rounds. Additionally, the next morning revealed the black marks that the wheels had created in the ground a nd they tried to follow those marks. Another significant point which is not a usual one was the lack of audience. Only passers-by witnessed the event. The main idea of the performance was to present the repeated movement in physical and mental level. Namely, they presented in a symbolic way the minds circles around an idea or thought. The concept of time enters this performance as an idea that is divided into two subcategories: the obvious time that comprises the duration of the night that the performance took place, and the time which was emphasised every time Abramovic shouted the number of laps completed. In the first case, the artists dealt with time as a frame to present their performance which was main aspect of the length of the performance. In the second case, time took the form of the space and the movement together. In other words the artists defined on the basis of both space and movement the nature of time. Each lap comprised the value of time according to their perspective. The symbolism is still the same, but the gravity of the importance in perceiving time is not solid and this was determined by the artists. Marina A bramovic and Ulay on the basis of relation in movement developed another performance of relevance to the present research, entitled Relation in Time (1977). In Relation in time a static situation is described. The couple Abramovic and Ulay are sitting facing back to each other with their hair tied together as a symbol of their connection. The duration of their performance lasted 16 hours in a gallery without any audience and only during the 17th and hour were the audience allowed to watch the performance. The couple was still sitting motionless for this final hour. During all this time there were only few changes in their presence. According to Lilian Haberer their shared plait, their external connection, their umbilical cord, works loose as the hours pass. She continues in the same sense to explain that there is a contrast to the outward connectedness in their inward separateness, their different feelings (Lilian Haberer, Collection: Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany). Abramovic and Ulays approach is revealing because of the fact that time takes the form of destruction, ruination, spoilage and damage. As an example of this destructive operation of time, the couple presents the human relationship which is the main subject of their performance. The direct reference to the ugly face of time in the human life represents the inner fear of all human beings. This type of continuity causes the objects and the living creatures to age and become old. The relationships and the parameters that enrich them are also under the fear of spoilage. The old man as a symbol of the age of time has now given its place to the more conceptual ones. Like Abramovic and Ulay present, time is not an annoying feeling. The impact of time in living creatures as a natural procedure leads them to fall despite its ugliness. It is as natural as death itself in a symbolic or literal way. In the case of Abramovic, time no longer leads down a threatening path of aging, death and ending: it is reproducible (Klaus Biesenbach, Marina Abramovic: The artist is present) This approach concerning time also involves sociological and philosophical understandings. If we consider the philosophical nature of time as a route to death or a procedure that leads human beings to physical and mental decay, then it is a rational conclusion that it also affects human social unity. With sociological determination, this model of understanding time has a significant behavioral impact. This syllogism transforms the concept of time from an ordinary system of measuring into a system of interpreting life. The performance reveals these parameters and gives multiple dimensions in interpreting the inner intellectual process of social life as a diachronic phenomenon. The perspective that is created makes the viewer redefine his or her position in the society. Admittedly, this rationale is a main idea in many performances produced by Abramovic and the personal experiences make the philosophical inquires more obvious via art. In her latest performance at MoMA The artist is Present Abramovic performed the longest work in her performing career. She sat motionless for more than 700 hours in total, seven hours every day the museum was open, for more than 3 months. In this performance she was sitting silent and motionless at a table in the museums atrium inviting visitors to sit silently across from her for how long they chose to, making the performance interactive and becoming in this way participants in the artwork. She will not talk or respond to any of the participants, but their involvement in the process is essential and fundamental element for the work to be completed. The artist is present is one of her most representative time based works as it deals with the long duration and the passing time remaining motionless and speechless. Most of her works contain a kind of mystic energy from which she derives great power in order to concentrate and remain motionless. In Nightsea Crossing she describes staring into Ulays eyes and from a certain moment on seeing only a blue, blind, empty screen in front of her, like the length of her arm, to achieve an empty timeless stare. (Klaus Biesenbach, Marina Abramovic: The artist is present) The artist is present features, according to Biesenbach, as many of her works do, in the endless act of sitting, which is a central aspect to her art. Biesenbach continues: in contemporary times sitting has taken the form of political protest (Klaus Biesenbach, Marina Abramovic: The artist is present). Durational sitting is the principal of The artist is Present which finds Abramovic sitting at a table and waiting for the visitors to get involved in the occurrence. The table here has a symbolic and a parabolic meaning. It functions as a stage and at the same time refers to another motif in her work, which considers images from the ritual daily familial gathering during mealtimes and the routine of a motionless life as time passes and its marks become obvious. The main idea in this last performance is the impact of time in the contemporary life. How much time one disposes in order to participate in the artwork is a personal decision and it depends on the way people nowadays divide time. In a world that is governed by speed, every moment is important. Hence, how willing is each of us to let time pass by is a matter that Abramovics performance deals with. Abramovic says you have to give me your time in order to see the workà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Klaus Biesenbach, Marina Abramovic: The artist is present) and this is true in any aspect of contemporary life; we have to give time in order to do anything. Biesenbach underlines that while there is no empirical duration established for MoMAs visitors, the moment one sits in the chair, he or she participates in an unspoken agreement with the artist to enter into another perspective (Klaus Biesenbach, Marina Abramovic: The artist is present)

Medieval Chivalry Essay -- essays research papers fc

Western Civilization Medieval Chivalry and Knighthood During medieval times knighthood was a class culture, cherished and jealousy guarded by the knightly caste. Knight had the honor of defending the king as well as their country. On the bloody fields of battle a code of chivalry evolved that tempered anger and fury with mercy. It created ways of turning the grim business of fighting into something tolerable, perhaps even acceptable. Chivalry was not only looked upon as a code for war; it was looked upon as a setting for stories of love and romance. Chivalry meant a higher social status as well as recognition. Chivalry as we know it denotes the ideals and practices considered suitable to be a noble. Over time chivalry has been used as the primal word to describe the attitude and actions of men towards women. "The word itself is reminiscent of the milieu in which the ideas connected with it took shape-the aristocratic society of mediaeval France dominated by mounted warriors or chevaliers." From as early as the eleventh century several different sets of ideas represented different standards of chivalric behavior. Over the next four hundred years the concepts of Hanuka, 2 The ideal nobleman developed by and for the feudal class under the influence of changing environments, ideas, political views and economies. The concept of being born into a certain class in society was a great part of medieval life. This concept of the class system was based on the land ownership and duties that were owed to other people. The knights were the military supporters of the feudal lords. The knight fought for his lord and if necessary died for him. However, the feudal inheritance was provided only for the eldest son. Younger sons therefore tended to the church or joined groups of knight lacking land. They worked and did their jobs waiting for the opportunity to marry into an estate. There were three methods of becoming a knight. "The most common involved the King or tenant-in-chief conferring the title, known as 'dubbing'. The second method involved religion, the soon to be knight kept a night vigil with his arms on the altar in front of him. He then took a purifying bath, heard Mass and had his spurs put on it. The dubbing then followed with a formal sermon and a sword. The third method involved the readings of a service Benedictio Novi Militis. Hanuka, 3... ...; Works Cited Barber, Richard. The Knight and Chivalry. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970. Boutlon, Jonathan Dacre. The Knights of the Crown. Great Britain: The Boydell Press, 1987. Cabell, James Branch. Chivalry. New York and London: 1909. Davis, William Stearns, Life on a Mediaeval Barony. New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1923. Harper-Bill and Harvey, Christopher and Ruth. Medieval Knighthood IV. Rochester: The Boydell Press, 1992. Lang, Lloyd and Jennifer. Medieval Britain: The Age of Chivalry. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. Morgan, Gwendolyn A. Medieval Ballads. New York: Peter Lang, 1996. Painter, Sydney. French Chivalry: Chivalry Ideas and Practices and Mediaeval France. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1985. Ramsey, Lee C. Chivalric Romances: Popular Literature in Medieval England. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983. Wood, Charles T. The Age of Chivalry. New York: Universe Books, 1970. Young, Alan. Tudor and Jacobean Tournaments. London: George Phillips, 1987. British Orders and Awards. London: Kaye and Ward, 1968.

A Little Piece of Heaven Essay -- Descriptive Essay Examples

A Little Piece of Heaven Teacher's Comment: This essay, which received an "A," is strong because the vivid and careful descriptions enliven a commonplace topic: a simple walk in the woods. The writer creates an effective persona though a flashback to "a corner of captured memories." The writer recreates the child's persona, questioning and then understanding the motives of the counselor who is leading the group. Whenever I am troubled or confused, I always plunder through my mind to a corner of captured memories in my childhood. Here in this corner, tucked safely away from all of the mundane facts and figures, is a place I once visited as a small child. This spot has never failed to create a wealth of wonder and serenity for me. Join me now as I take a journey back through time. The day was an unbelievably hot one for the usual cool summers that North Carolina is so popular for. The dusty, faded-blue van in which my journey began was tightly packed with many eager and sweaty children, all of whom were anxious with anticipation of our day's fieldtrip. We were on our way to a particular stream that is well known in the small town o f Chesswood, which is located deep in the heart of the Carolina mountains. Upon finally reaching our destination, we unglued ourselves from the hot, vinyl seats and tumbled out of the van. I had become extremely hot and my skin was sticky from the sweat and dirt of afternoon play. The camp counselor called for all fourteen of us to line up in single-file and follow her lead. I did not understand why we had to do this, but as we travele d down the path that led to the stream, I began to understand her reasoning. The descending path was very steep and narrow. The sand and un... ... in the air. Among this kaleidoscope of brilliant hues appeared tangy-oranges, fiery-reds, crystal-clear blues, and fresh-greens. As the day came close to an end, the setting sun also displayed a work of art through this tree. The light, that bravely beamed through the V, created a heavenly aura. I felt as if angels were gracefully dancing on the colored droplets of water. The colors had changed somewhat and consisted mostly of a transparent-white mixed with brilliant oranges and yellows. Soon afterward, my little piece of Heaven was broken up by the shouts of our counselor telling us it was time to return to camp. I know I had to physically leave that stream back then, but it has never left my memory. Even though you did not visit that place, it is now in your memory also. I hope you have enjoyed experiencing this little piece of Heaven with me.

Family-Centered Program of Education Essay example -- Education

What happens when you take the children out of the spotlight and focus on children with their families? You will get a family-centered approach to education. The Family-Centered approach believes that family involvement matters for a young child’s cognitive and social development. Family-Centered Program theories and concepts support the early childhood classroom and the child’s family. This can happen only if parents and educators work together to encourage desired behaviors from pre-school-aged children in both the pre-school and the home setting. The first thing that needs to be looked at to understand a child’s development is attachment. Attachment is a lasting emotional relationship that begins at birth and is a lifelong process. The first attachment a child has sets the tone for development as well as provides the basis of all future relationships (Gonzalez-Mena, 2009). Attachment gives infants a sense of well-being which happens when an adult responds sensitively and appropriately to a baby’s needs. Attachment happens in both children and adults. For adults this can happen almost right away from some. Signs that a parent/adult is attached are giving the child a name, buying items that are for the child, recognizing the child as an individual. Babies take longer than adults to show attachment. You can see when a child is attached when a child shows an emotional bond with someone. Not all cultural attachments happen the same ways. Child care caregivers have many of the same qualities that good parents have, so this promotes attachment as well. An infant caregiver needs to be sensitive to each infants needs to respond appropriately. As with parents attachment grows out of sensitivity and once again a synchronous relationshi... ...rk together to encourage attachment, self-help skills, empowerment, pro-social, and self-esteem behaviors from pre-school-aged children in both the pre-school and the home setting. Works Cited Bartlett, K. (2010, September 21). Empowering children with choices. Retrieved from http://theattachedfamily.com/membersonly/?p=2600 Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2009). Child, family, and community, family-centered early care and education. Pearson College Div. Hussey-Gardner, B. (2003). Parenting to make a difference. Retrieved from http://www.parentingme.com/selfhelp.htm Preusse, K. (n.d.). Fostering prosocial behavior in young children. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=566 Sheslow, D. (2008, November). Developing your child's self-esteem. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/self_esteem.html

Gatto’s Against School

â€Å"Gatto’s Against School† In John Taylor Gatto’s â€Å"Against School†, the author describes our educational system, from a teachers’ point of view, as boring. Not only are the students bored, but the teachers are as well. Gatto asserts that, â€Å"Teachers are themselves a product of the same twelve year compulsory school program that so thoroughly bore their students and school personnel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (683). If the teachers aren’t happy with and are bored of the educational system, the students aren’t going to have the want or drive to learn.Students want to be engaged by the teachers. If the material they’re teaching isn’t reacting to the students than maybe it’s time for a change? Like Gatto, I believe that most students only want to learn about something that they have a vested interest in. If they don’ have any interest in it, then of course they are going to be bored. Gatto suggests ways of fixin g the â€Å"boredom† within the student.The author asserts that, â€Å"Instead of receiving schooling that bores them, we encourage the best qualities of youthfulness- curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight-simply by being more flexible on time, texts, and tests, by introducing truly competent adults and giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then† (684). I know from my own experience that if I am challenged, and pushed to take a risk, that you can perform at your very best.If the students have to take a class with boring or dull material, than the teacher cannot expect the students to want to push themselves to do their best. Although our educational system has served us as a nation very well, the author believes that it has failed to prepare people for what lies ahead after schooling. According to Gatto, there are three main purposes for schooling, â€Å"1) To make good people, 2) To mak e good citizens, 3) To make each person his/her best† (685).Gatto believes that these values in and of themselves are not wrong, but that we can’t do enough to achieve them. The author adds the point that, â€Å"The main functions are to hold back and limit progress of the student†. I feel it is not just the educational system but the teaching as well. If there were more competent teachers that understood that the material they are mandated to teach is boring and ineffective, than they should change it, or at the very least suggest a change in material to the head of the department.If one of the purposes of our educational system is to make each person achieve his/her best, than the teachers should strive to make sure the students are getting the best possible product out there. In essence, Gatto’s â€Å"Against School† asserts that our educational system is boring and fails to allow the student to take risks by subjecting the student to the same ma terial that they either already know, or that the teachers themselves are bored with, and or don’t know enough about.After reading this essay, it is hard to disagree with what Gatto states. I believe that changing the material once in a while will allow the student to achieve higher expectations and to help the student to reach his/her personal best. Having competent teachers, will ensure the student has the best subject matter expert to be giving out the material. After all, it’s the student who suffers as he or she is there to gain the knowledge from the teacher; shouldn’t the student get the best? Gatto’s Against School â€Å"Gatto’s Against School† In John Taylor Gatto’s â€Å"Against School†, the author describes our educational system, from a teachers’ point of view, as boring. Not only are the students bored, but the teachers are as well. Gatto asserts that, â€Å"Teachers are themselves a product of the same twelve year compulsory school program that so thoroughly bore their students and school personnel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (683). If the teachers aren’t happy with and are bored of the educational system, the students aren’t going to have the want or drive to learn.Students want to be engaged by the teachers. If the material they’re teaching isn’t reacting to the students than maybe it’s time for a change? Like Gatto, I believe that most students only want to learn about something that they have a vested interest in. If they don’ have any interest in it, then of course they are going to be bored. Gatto suggests ways of fixin g the â€Å"boredom† within the student.The author asserts that, â€Å"Instead of receiving schooling that bores them, we encourage the best qualities of youthfulness- curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight-simply by being more flexible on time, texts, and tests, by introducing truly competent adults and giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then† (684). I know from my own experience that if I am challenged, and pushed to take a risk, that you can perform at your very best.If the students have to take a class with boring or dull material, than the teacher cannot expect the students to want to push themselves to do their best. Although our educational system has served us as a nation very well, the author believes that it has failed to prepare people for what lies ahead after schooling. According to Gatto, there are three main purposes for schooling, â€Å"1) To make good people, 2) To mak e good citizens, 3) To make each person his/her best† (685).Gatto believes that these values in and of themselves are not wrong, but that we can’t do enough to achieve them. The author adds the point that, â€Å"The main functions are to hold back and limit progress of the student†. I feel it is not just the educational system but the teaching as well. If there were more competent teachers that understood that the material they are mandated to teach is boring and ineffective, than they should change it, or at the very least suggest a change in material to the head of the department.If one of the purposes of our educational system is to make each person achieve his/her best, than the teachers should strive to make sure the students are getting the best possible product out there. In essence, Gatto’s â€Å"Against School† asserts that our educational system is boring and fails to allow the student to take risks by subjecting the student to the same ma terial that they either already know, or that the teachers themselves are bored with, and or don’t know enough about.After reading this essay, it is hard to disagree with what Gatto states. I believe that changing the material once in a while will allow the student to achieve higher expectations and to help the student to reach his/her personal best. Having competent teachers, will ensure the student has the best subject matter expert to be giving out the material. After all, it’s the student who suffers as he or she is there to gain the knowledge from the teacher; shouldn’t the student get the best?