Thursday, August 15, 2019

Noise vs Music

Was there a time in your life when you grew to dislike certain favorites? Like when you were a child you favored three spoonful of sugar over a half spoonful sugar for coffee? Or a time when you liked wearing your hair long and then soon came to like short ones, only to realize you like wearing your hair long once more? Our preferences changes from time to time – just as how our moods changes whenever we are in different situations. We think, decide and changes our mind. In everything we do, there’s this constant thing we create – change. How can we say that a certain sound may also be both to a certain listener? Remember that we perceive sounds by our auditory senses – our ears. We hear sounds every second of our life, a constant thing, but what we want to hear changes from time to time. Say we want to listen to a genre of techno music at this moment; for the meantime, this is what we call as our music. And just as how we perceive this certain genre as our music, any time of the day or year, this too can also become a noise for us should we soon dislike listening to it. The same goes to other people out there. A change in mood and likes in things especially on sounds they perceive changes. A student preparing for his examination the following day would prefer mellow-toned songs to soothe and relax his mind to study while at the same time hating the noise he hears on the other side of the room his brother is listening to – a music for him. Keep in mind how unique each person is, their personalities may be alike in some ways, but they will never be the same in everything. Two people may like similar genres but there too is a genre where one may call it music while the other noise to his ears. So don’t wonder whenever a friend of yours comes to dislike certain music, food, or anything. Nothing is permanent. Their view in things differs from time to time as well and will definitely be different from you.

A Compare/Contrast of Monet’s Grainstack(Sunset) and van Gogh’s The Sower

In this essay I will compare and contrast two paintings. The first is Grainstack (Sunset), painted by Claude Monet in 1891. The second is The Sower, which was painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1888. Both paintings were painted around the same time and are very similar in style and subject, but their differences illustrate the change that was happening from the Impressionist to the Post-Impressionist movement. Just beginning with the obvious, both Monet and van Gogh used the same medium, oil on canvas. Both Grainstack and The Sower were paintings of the outdoors around sunset, focusing on the way that the setting sun played with the colors of the environment. They are representational artworks, portraying natural objects in recognizable form, although Monet’s Grainstack is more naturalistic than van Gogh’s Sower. When Monet painted Grainstack, he was experimenting with perceptual color. The idea of the Impressionist movement was to objectively record nature as it was seen by the painter, focusing on the effects of color and light. He painted Grainstack the way he saw it; not the actual color that we know it was, but the colors that the sunset made it appear. Van Gogh, at the beginning of the Post-Impressionist movement, was not merely trying to paint what he saw, but wanted to express emotion in the colors and lines. He was initially drawn to the subject matter by the contrasting colors of the sky and the field, how the contrast of the violet shadows on the field and the yellow sun in the sky almost irritated the eye. Where Monet painted what he saw, van Gogh changed and softened the image so as to portray the emotion in the contrasting colors while still making the painting pleasing to the eye. This became a recurring theme for van Gogh, as can be seen in The Night Cafe, which he painted very soon after The Sower. In both Grainstack and The Sower, the artists use a technique very similar to pointillism. They paint with visible brushstrokes, using colors that blend together to create the images that the artists wish us to see. However, where Monet uses smaller, thinner strokes to create a more streamlined image; van Gogh is more loose and free with his brush strokes, conveying emotion in the broad, expressive lines. This is another example of the transition from Impressionism to Post-Impressionism. The way that Monet and van Gogh approached these two paintings are slightly different. The focal point of Grainstack is the actual haystack. Its lines lead you toward the center of the page, but the main focus is the haystack, sitting off to the side. This gives it a slightly unbalanced feel. In The Sower, van Gogh achieves an asymmetrical balance by countering the visual weight of the farmer on the right, with the path, the birds and the house, all leading the eye to the left and back into the contrasting colors of the environment. While these two paintings may not seem very different at first glance, once you delve into them a little deeper, their differences almost outweigh their similarities. Painted right on the cusp of the transition from Impressionism to Post-Impressionism, these two paintings illustrate the slowly changing style of the period. Their color, line, and subject matter make Grainstack and The Sower perfect examples of the embodiment of their respective movements, and the subtle changes in style that were occurring. References: Doyle, Marc; Art Movements Timeline; The Art Industri Group Van der Wolk, J.; Vincent Van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings; 1990

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Mans Inhumanity

Over the centuries, nothing has caused more pain and suffering for man than man himself. Through war, hate crimes, and random acts of violence, the fear of the different and unknown has made itself known in human nature. The novel Night, the movie Schindler's List and the article A Tortured Legacy are all examples of this. Through the suffering of the Jews at the hands of the Germans, there is no clearer example of man's inhumanity to man. The holocaust was far more than a tragedy; it is something you simply cannot describe with words. The sheer evil and hate that took place in the 1940's really simplifies what man can be like when he's at his weakest and lowest point of existence. Through the merciless slaughtering and torturing of the Jewish people, the Germans showed to the whole world what it's like to be inhuman; to be an animal. In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, Hitler’s main goal was to make the Jews feel inhuman; he was very successful in this. The Jews were tortured everyday for no reason at all other than for the SS officers’ own amusement. The SS officers treated the men as if they were animals, making them fight for food. Women, babies, old, sick, and handicapped were put into the crematoriums as soon as they arrived at the camps. They killed people for no reason, with no remorse whatsoever. Torture, being treated like animals, and being burned alive or killed were all things that led to the Jews feeling as if they were not human. Torture played a very big part in the Jews feeling inhuman. The SS officers beat the Jews very often, many times for no reason. Eliezer talks about how â€Å"one day when Idek was venting his fury, I happened to cross his path. He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me upagain, crushing me with ever more violent blows, until I was covered in blood. † (Wiesel 53). When his father was on the verge of dying he was calling out to Eliezer, he was told to shut up by one of the officers. He kept yelling, and then he was beat repeatedly for talking. He then fell unconscious and died soon after. Many people inside the camps were tortured very badly, and often. All of the Jews were treated like animals, which led to them feeling inhuman. When on the cattle cars, they would pass through German towns. One time â€Å" a worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs. The workers watched the spectacle with great interest. † (Wiesel 100). The conditions on the cattle cars were horrible. Sometimes one hundred people would be squeezed into one car like animals. When people would die inside the cattle cars they would throw them out of the cars, sometimes without even being†¦

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Instructional Design and Program Evaluation Essay

Instructional Design and Program Evaluation - Essay Example A review of the literature in online learning revealed critical strategies for effective teaching practices (Palloff & Pratt, 1999 & 2000; Graham, C., Kursat. C., Byung-Ro, L., et al.   2001; Lewis, L., Farris, E., Snow, K., & Levine, D. 1999; Candiotti & Clarke, 1998; Schrum & Berge, 1998; Ladon, E. H., 2002). According to the literature, an effective instructor should focus on many factors in order to create a successful online learning environment. The following are instructor characteristics that are synthesized from the aforementioned scholars: accept the value of facilitated learning as equal to that of the traditional model; demonstrate a broad base of life experiences in addition to academic credentials; possess characteristics of openness, concern, flexibility, and sincerity; feel comfortable communicating in writing; want to introduce critical thinking into the learning process; possess the appropriate credentials to teach the subject matter; be experienced and well train ed in online learning; demonstrate a very rich, active, respectful and responsive style of communication; provide a safe climate; invite input regarding the goals and agenda of the course; establish a sense of community among the learners; keep students aware of where they stand with respect to the course evaluation process; assess student learning without using tests requiring memorization; be online nearly every day; create places in an online environment where students can ask for help.... Revisions, however, are limited to delivery method and teaching strategies. The below, reviewing empirical and theoretical literature on online learning, contains a set of recommendations designed to enhance the learning experience and facilitate student's understanding. 3 Online Learning A review of the literature in online learning revealed critical strategies for effective teaching practices (Palloff & Pratt, 1999 & 2000; Graham, C., Kursat. C., Byung-Ro, L., et al. 2001; Lewis, L., Farris, E., Snow, K., & Levine, D. 1999; Candiotti & Clarke, 1998; Schrum & Berge, 1998; Ladon, E. H., 2002). According to the literature, an effective instructor should focus on many factors in order to create a successful online learning environment. The following are instructor characteristics that are synthesized from the aforementioned scholars: accept the value of facilitated learning as equal to that of the traditional model; demonstrate a broad base of life experiences in addition to academic credentials; possess characteristics of openness, concern, flexibility, and sincerity; feel comfortable communicating in writing; want to introduce critical thinking into the learning process; possess the appropriate credentials to teach the subject matter; be experienced and well trained i n online learning; demonstrate a very rich, active, respectful and responsive style of communication; provide a safe climate; invite input regarding the goals and agenda of the course; establish a sense of community among the learners; keep students aware of where they stand with respect to the course evaluation process; assess student learning without using tests requiring memorization; be online nearly every day; provide two types

Monday, August 12, 2019

Historical & Contextual Studies in Fashion Essay - 1

Historical & Contextual Studies in Fashion - Essay Example For women, the corset was worn to support the breasts and to develop a curved figure, narrowing the waist. In 1500s, the corset was introduced in France by Catherine de Medici. At that time, the corset was worn as an undergarment. It was a tight elongated bodice worn by Women of the French court in the 16th century (Davies, 1982). In this period, the women of the French court embraced the corset because it was considered as a necessary garment for the beauty of a female figure (Tortora and Eubank, 1989). It was worn with a farthingale in order to hold out the skirt and form a stiff cone. The corsets in this historical context also turned the upper part of a human torso into an inverted cone shape (V&A, 2015). The corset was also made of shoulder strap and had flaps at the waist. In order to form a good shape for the woman body, the corset flattened the bust. As a result, it pushed up the breasts. The corsets were made of layered fabric fastened with glue and tightly laced (Tortora and Eubank, 1989). A busk was used to stiffen the forefront of the bodice. It was made of wood, metal, whalebone, ivory or metal (V&A, 2015). The steel busk of the corset was spoon-shaped, and was wider at the bottom than at the top in order to exert pressure on the abdomen (Davies, 1982). This shape made the corset wearable and more restricting in order to tighten the waist. During the Victorian era, the busk was made of steel. As fashion changed, the corset also changed. In 1870s, the corset changed it shape, becoming longer so that it can cause the fashionable long and slender silhouette (Takeda and Spilker, 2010). The corsets also became more rigid in order to hide the layers of the underwear. They were heavily boned, and were cut from different pieces and toughened with leather. Whalebone was used because it was strong and flexible, achieving the shape of the corset and the body

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Methods - Assignment Example There are other scholars with similar contribution (e.g., Fearon 1998; Lake and Rothchild 1996). A contention by (Saun and Tirone 2011) is that democratic transitioning develops an environment that easily encourages the rise of conflicts through the induction of exclusionary polarization and nationalism in the society. Significant exceptions towards the democratization-conflict tendency emerge in such countries as Tanzania, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Kenya, all having experienced a democratic move within 20 years period without encountering much civil conflict. The authors argue that the key factor that â€Å"shelters† such democratizing states from violence comes from the democratization aid (Saun and Tirone 2011). The proposition by Snyder (2000) regarding instability indicates that in the initial phases of democratization are favored by two conditions via which civil conflict may emerge: there is the exploitation of rising nationalism by political elites, in the name of achieving their selfish ends and, therefore, creating society divisions, and that there is a general weakness on the side of central government in preventing the polarizing tactics of elites. (Saun and Tirone 2011) proposes that the assistance programs of democracy can potentially provide a restrictive force regarding the danger of politically initiated domestic violence; notably, even when a state lacks strong institutions, which would help, manage democratization, democracy aid can potentially provide an external source of stability, strength, and state credibility to ease the transition. The role played by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) when Indonesia underwent the transition. Ideally, Indonesia attained democracy in 1999 from the Suharto’s regime (Saun and Tirone 2011). Some of the specific ideas developed as measurable and testable variables can be identified from the literature

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Organizational culture is fundamentally about symbolic meaning and as Essay - 6

Organizational culture is fundamentally about symbolic meaning and as such cannot be managed. Discuss - Essay Example The reason for such is that once a given culture is introduced into an organization, it ceases to become part of the manageable aspect of the organization but becomes a self regulatory aspect which anybody who joins the system in any rank automatically becomes assimilated into. This is the trend in most organizations. The following discourse mainly focuses on organizational cultures in view of their symbolic meanings and the implications they have on managements. The standards adopted or entrenched in the cultural domain of an organization are very important determinants in its productivity and overall performance. The quality of the customer care service, for instance, is one of the symbolic natures of the organizational attitude since this is the point of the first interaction between a client and the organization’s staff. It is imperative to note that even the quality of the products, levels of safety, and environmental care policies are basis of a firm’s tradition t hat can hardly be altered through the management process. This extends to the marketing mix techniques of a firm, methods of value creation, and the desire to develop new products in the market. The organization must also have a predetermined management structure. It is important to note that the culture of an organization is the symbol of its identity. Consequently, it is not easy to be changed by emerging management dynamics. It is a tradition that gradually grows with the company and ends up defining its overall operational discourse. This simply means that even if a new person is recruited into the firm in any position, one would be compelled to do things in line with the path of action already created. The tradition of an organization also looks like a template onto which all the guidelines towards the anticipated behaviors judged against. It is worth noting that an organization is just like any other social entity with many people working towards achieving a specific goal just like in the rest of the society. In that respect, it can be compared to the general society where, in most cases, the norms are not written anywhere but generations change without manipulating any aspect of the age old traditions. Besides, every generation is always compelled to conform to the dictates of existing norms. The way each organization runs its activities is always unique. This even includes such aspects as public perception of the organization which end up defining the organizational culture. These features are always based on beliefs, attitudes, and customs of the organization. They must always be adhered to for smooth working relations and comfortable working environments. This is not an issue of an overnight arrangement but it is built over a long period of time until it becomes the basis of all the policies of the organization which even the top managers cannot deviate from through any managerial action. The organizational culture is simply a platform on which a man agement tests and implements organizational policies. Take the case of the social standard of top brass managers and how they relate to other employees or members of the public; this is likely to give the true picture of a company (Woodside, 2010). The behavioral conduct of the organizatio