The special education process Essay Example for Free

The special education process Essay The purpose of descriptive, qualitative study will be to discover how parents and teachers of special education students see their roles in the special education process. The study also will seek to assess the level of participation of the parents and teachers of students with special needs. The questions that will be specifically posed for the study are: a) What is the extent of parental involvement (participation) in the education of their children in special education self-contained programs? b) Is there a significant difference between the perceptions of teachers and the perceptions of parents concerning their role and their importance of parental involvement for special education students in self-contained programs? The school district was selected based on its location, size and diversity. The school district was selected based on: 1) high incidence of special needs students, 2) racial composition of students in self-contained program and 3) racial composition of teaching staff. The population was multicultural being primarily composed of African-American, White, Hispanic, and Asian parents and teachers. The study was conducted through teacher and parent questionnaires which were specifically developed by the researcher for this study. The survey questionnaire was developed as a result of many discussions pertaining to parents’ and educators’ feelings about parental involvement in the special education process of their children. Two 25 item questionnaires (one for the parent and one for the special education teacher) served as instruments to compare the perceptions of parents and special education teachers. The 25 item questionnaires helped ascertain how often parents participate in the various parental involvement opportunities in the school, determine parents’ level of understanding of parental involvement, measure the parents satisfaction with their current involvement, and get the respondents’ opinions regarding the effectiveness of parental involvement in the education of the children. The primary source of data was collected through parent and teacher survey questionnaires within the school district. Each questionnaire and corresponding teacher or parent was assigned a number for tracking and confidentiality purposes. The anonymity of each survey participant was guaranteed because participant’s names were not placed on the instrument. Data collection entailed the use of self-administered survey questionnaires that were distributed by mail. Mailed surveys were utilized because they provided the most cost effective method of gathering data. Participating parents and teachers were given instrument packages with self-explanatory directions; they were asked to complete the questionnaires independently and return them. Participants were given two weeks to complete the 25 item questionnaire. At the end of the two weeks, a follow up call or letter was made to parents. Questionnaires completed by the parents of 22 students in self contained were analyzed in relation to the special education teachers’ responses. A survey instrument was used to assess the perceptions the parents of children in self contained program on parental involvement in the education of their special needs children. Teachers were given a similar author-developed questionnaire to determine teacher’s thoughts about the parental involvement of the parents of their students in self contained program. Participation was on a voluntary basis. The data for this study was collected through two questionnaires using a parallel sample. The parallel populations were: 1) parents who have children enrolled in special education program (self-contained) and 2) special education teachers. Variables considered were race, age, parents’ income, parent marital status, and parent educational level. Teachers’ variables include age, marital status, race, and teaching experience The nature and extent of parental involvement by parents of special needs children and teachers in self-contained classrooms were examined. The study was intended to provide information on the differences between parents and school teachers perceptions of involvement in the special education process. The data will be presented as a summation of teachers’ and parents’ response to the questionnaires. The responses of the two groups were transcribed and analyzed using a description of results. The responses of the two groups were also compared on their perceptions of parent involvement. All data received through special education teacher and parent questionnaires were reviewed and analyzed through a detailed description of teacher and parent responses

How Sustainable Is Tescos Strategic Position?

How Sustainable Is Tescos Strategic Position? Jack Cohen, Tescos founder, began as a barrow boy. In 1947, he established one of the first pilot self-service stores in St. Albans in Hertfordshire (Bowlby, 2001, p7-18). Tesco is presently the biggest retailer in the United Kingdom with revenues in 2009 clocking $96,210 million. One third of the entire national food expenditure in the UK occurs at Tescos (Tesco, 2009, p1). The supermarket business in the UK is experiencing difficult times in the wake of the economic downturn. Tesco states that its UK sales growth was nearly flat during the previous quarter, even as it battled declining food prices (BBC, 2010). A supermarket chief who declined to be named stated that a bloodbath might be looming and thousands of jobs might be threatened (Finch Wood, 2010, p1). A fresh generation of supermarket chiefs is taking over the running of the  £130 billion UK retail sector at this uncertain juncture (Finch Wood, 2010). Sir Terry Leahy, Tescos Chairman, will retire in March 2011, after directing the retailer for 14 long years. He will be succeeded by Philip Clarke, currently in charge of Tescos Asian and European business (Telegraph, 2010). Sir Leahys departure proclamation came mere weeks after new chiefs had taken over at competitors Asda and Morrisons (Finch Wood, 2010, p1). This study aims to analyse various important strategy models to understand the strategic position of Tesco, its key external drivers of change, and how it adds value. The study also examines the sustainability of Tescos strategic position. 2. Analysis The retailing business, both non-food and food, is going through a crisis (Finch Wood, 2010). The Like-for-like turnover for Tesco, excluding new store openings and petrol, increased 1.1 percent in the quarter to 30May (BBC, 2010, p1). The growth figure reduced to only 0.1 percent after factoring in the reinstatement of VAT to 17.5 percent; post its temporary cut (BBC, 2010, p1). Company sources said that the 30 percent increase in fuel prices over last year had reduced customer spends on other goods (BBC, 2010, p1). Richard Hunter, Head of UK Equities in Hargreaves Lansdowne Stockbrokers observed that imminent government belt-tightening measures would make it even harder for Tesco customers (BBC, 2010, p1). He added that the company is now exerting itself to achieve the type of progress customarily expected of it by the markets. Sir Terrys looming retirement has exacerbated uncertainty further, even as Tescos competitors continue to threaten its market domination (BBC, 2010, p1). 2.1. Tescos Strategic Position Johnson Scholes, in Exploring Corporate Strategy, (2002), defined strategy thus: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves competitive advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment and to fulfil stakeholders expectations (Stirr, 2003, p1). Michael Porters Generic Strategies model (1985) categorises 3 generic strategies into (a) cost leadership (b) differentiation and (c) market segmentation. Porter argues that a successful company needs to practice one of the 3 strategies. It must not get stuck in the middle between the two fundamental generators of competitive advantage, namely low prices and differentiation (Referaty, 2010, p1). He also recommends that companies with high market share should adopt cost leadership strategies to become profitable, even as companies with low market shares should target profitability through market segmentation or differentiation (Referaty, 2010, p1). Tescos strategies do not however appear to be influenced by Porters model. Whilst the company has over 30% market share in UKs grocery retailing, it does not offer discount shopping. It is also not the cheapest amongst major supermarket chains. It furthermore offers customers options of Tesco Finest and Tesco basic foodstuffs (Referaty, 2010, p1). Empirical evidence suggests that several companies adopt both low-cost and differentiation strategies (Referaty, 2010, p1). Tesco utilises low costs to offer superior differentiation and subsequently reinvests the returns to reduce the costs even more. It also strategically works towards differentiating through its community building approach (Referaty, 2010, p1). Tescos customers cannot be categorised into distinct social groups. Offering both cheap and expensive merchandise, it provides goods for customers with thin budgets and also for those with more purchasing power (Referaty, 2010, p1). Whilst this approach challenges Porters requirements for successful strategies, it seems to be functioning in Tescos favour (Referaty, 2010, p1). Cliff Bowmans Strategy Clock helps in the examination of a companys competitive position, compared to the offerings of competitors (E-fost, 2010, p1). Bowman, like Porter, believes that competitive advantage emanates, either from cost leadership or from differentiation advantage (E-fost, 2010, p1). Bowman however differs from Porter in some ways. Whilst agreeing with the concept of cost leadership he feels such tenets to be too general and brings in more detailed combinations of perceived added value and price. Bowman suggests the active consideration of eight core strategic alternatives (E-fost, 2010, p1). Table 1 below illustrates the eight alternatives Table 1: Bowmans Strategy Clock (Zanthus.com, p1) Bowmans eight alternatives comprise of (a) low price / low added value, which is liable to be segment specific (b) low price, which carries the danger of price war and small margins or organisations to be cost leaders, (c) hybrid options with lower cost base and reinvestment in differentiation and low price (d) differentiation alternative with / without a price premium that is able to bear price premium or yield market share benefits (e) focused differentiation, yielding perceived added value to specific segments (f) increased price / standard product, which could lead to risks of losing market share (g) increased price / low values, which is feasible in a monopoly situation, and (h) low value / standard price, resulting in loss of market share (E-fost, 2010, p1). Tesco has a firm and deep based strategy for growth, which works towards reinforcig its core UK operations and its the growth thrust in fresh markets (Quick facts, 2009, p1). The fundamental tenet of its strategy, formulated in 1997, concerns the expansion of business scope to permit delivery of robust and sustained long-term growth (Quick facts, 2009, p1). Such expansion is realised by pursuing existing Tesco customers and making them customers of various other UK Tesco businesses like non-food, telecommunications, and financial services (Quick facts, 2009, p1). The companys strategy has five objectives, viz (a) to be successful in its global retail business (b) to develop its mainstay UK business, (c) to be equally strong in non-food and food sectors (d) to expand other retailing and financial services, and (e) to position community at the heart of its strategy (Tesco plc, 2009, p1). Sir Terry said that when I became CEO I had a plan to build Tesco around its customers, to make it number one in the UK and to find new long-term growth in non-food, in services and international expansion. It has taken 14 years but that strategy has become a firm reality now and so I feel my work is almost complete (Telegraph, 2010, p1). 2.2. Key External Drivers PESTLE analysis helps in the analysis of the external macro environment within which a business functions (Rapdbi, 2010, p1). The understanding of opportunities or threats within the big picture environment in which a company operates helps in exploiting opportunities and minimising threats (Rapdbi, 2010, p1). It is a valuable tool for understanding the relationship between market growth or decline and the potential, position, and direction of a company or its business (Rapdbi, 2010, p1). PESTEEL is another extension of the same model and is an acronym for the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental, educational and legal dimensions that need to be analyses to evaluate the market for the strategic plans of organisations or businesses (Rapdbi, 2010, p1). These factors are briefly discussed as under. Tescos operations are often influenced by political conditions and developments within and outside the UK (Docstoc, 2010, p1). The company might for example have to respond to British and Columbian politics to protect its coffee supply (321books, 2010, p1). Recession has caused unemployment levels in the UK to rocket to 28.93million. Adverse economic conditions can affect consumer spending, as well as impact prices, costs, profits, demand and supply. UK retail turnover, for instance, reduced 0.7% during January 2010 in relation to the January 2009 numbers on a like-for-like basis. Sales in 2009 had increased 1.1% (KPMG, 2010, p1). Sociological factors can also greatly influence Tescos operations. Such factors are immense and can range from immigration to changes in fashion and consumer behaviour (321books, 2010, p1). British consumers have, experts state, turned into one stop shoppers urging chains to stock ever increasing ranges and varieties of goods (Docstoc, 2010, p1). Tesco makes use of technology to drive its business. It uses forecasted weather patterns to estimate demand and sales of its products and services. Their software, developed after 3 years of research, can indicate changes in sales that can occur because of a degree rise in temperature rise or an extra hour of sunshine (Swaminathan, 2009, p1). Technology also facilitates services like Tesco.com and self-checkout facilities (Docstoc, 2010, p1). Tescos environmental policy has resulted in adoption of measures to lower carbon emissions. The company aims to attain a 30 percent decline in the carbon impact on it entire supply chain by 2020; the overall objective is to become a zero carbon group by 2050 (Tescoplc.com [Press release, 2009]) (Docstoc, 2010, p1). Increasing educational levels affect organisations. Higher educational levels facilitate people to receive higher incomes. Increases in incomes also generate opportunities for procurement and sales of additional goods and services (Referenceforbusiness.com, 2010, p1). Tesco is also subject to various government policies and national legislatives, especially in areas of health, safety and labour. Failure in adhering to these can have a direct affect on its performance (Docstoc, 2010, p1). Porters Five Forces analysis for companies involves the evaluation of the external environment vis-a-vis the industry structure. The five forces comprise of barriers to entry, buyer power, consumer power, the threat of substitutes, and the degree of rivalry. Such assessments help firms to formulate approaches for exploitation of opportunities and protection from threats. Companies can thus accomplish competitive positioning and achieve differential advantage over the goods and services of their market rivals (Referaty, 2010, p1). The supermarket retail industry has very high barriers to entry. High capital requirements create major entry barriers for prospective firms. The need to achieve scale economies and high quality and specialised logistics also constitute difficult entry barriers. Tesco and other major supermarket chains have the financial and operational strength to buy and handle enormous volumes of merchandise, which helps them in pricing of products and satisfaction of various customer needs (Referaty, 2010, p1). New firms also need to contend with the loyalties developed by existing firms, such barriers being evinced by the failure of discount stores like Lidl or Aldi that been unsuccessful in not growing up to become major contenders in the retail market (Referaty, 2010, p1). Customers have options of shopping from diverse supermarket chains that compete on price and various promotions. Suppliers can wield considerable influence when they are in positions to claim price premium and also when the final merchandise on offer can be impacted by their quality and their delivery schedules. Tesco prefers to use a number of smaller suppliers rather than one big supplier. This increases its bargaining power and provides the company with the option of switching suppliers, if market and operational conditions so demand (Referaty, 2010, p1). The threat of substitutes plays an important role in assessment of competitiveness. Companies need to examine the tendency and chance of customers to switch to substitutes. They need to for example, in the case of an obsolescence threat, keep competition at bay by making their goods and services more attractive. Tesco, for instance, offers merchandise price check facility on its website, thus enabling customers to view substitutes by themselves (Referaty, 2010, p1). The extent of competitive rivalry depends upon the competitiveness of market participants. With all four major retail players aiming for a higher market share, the supermarket space in the UK is particularly competitive (Referaty, 2010, p1). Porters Five Forces, therefore, is a bottom line method of company analysis, from its own perspective. Essentially if goods or services cannot be differentiated, then competition mainly becomes price-based, and customer loyalty is difficult to ensure (Referaty, 2010, p1). 2.3. Tescos Value Addition Michael Porter advanced his theory on Value Chain Analysis in 1985 in response to criticism on the inadequacies of the Five Forces framework in implementation methodology that connected internal capabilities with opportunities in the competitive landscape (Provenmodels, 2010, p1). This framework centres on industry attractiveness being a causal factor in the earnings potential of all organisations in a particular industry. Considerable differences in performance occur between organisations operating within an industry (Provenmodels, 2010, p1). Value Chain Analysis can assist in identifying an organisations core competencies and differentiating the activities that give rise to competitive advantage. An organisations cost structure can be segregated by this method into discrete functions or processes on the presumption that the cost drivers for each of such activities work differently (Provenmodels, 2010, p1). Porter was able to compress an activity-based cost scrutiny into a standard template comprising of five primary and four support activities (Provenmodels, 2010, p1). These nine activities are categorised under two primary and support activity group areas. The primary activities comprise of (a) inbound logistics, comprising of materials handling, warehousin g, transportation and inventory control (b)operations, including machine operating, testing, assembly, packaging and maintenance (c) outbound logistics of warehousing, order processing, transportation and distribution (d) marketing and sales, comprising of promotion, advertising pricing, selling and channel management, and (e) services, including installation, spare part management and servicing (Provenmodels, 2010). The other support activities encompass (a) firm infrastructure, including general management, finance, planning, legal and investor relations (b) human resource management, encompassing education, recruitment, promotion and reward systems (c) technology development, including research development, product and process development and IT, and (d) procurement, comprising of purchase of raw materials and supplier contract negotiations (Provenmodels, 2010, p1). Attempts to engage in Value Chain Analysis of Tesco reveal various primary variables that can add or deplete value to the organisation (Docstoc, 2010, p1). In terms of primary variables, inbound logistics have an essential significance in the generation of the value chain since they offer the initial prospect to create value. Tesco has sophisticated and ever-improving inward logistics that strive to improve the level of in-store consumer choices (Docstoc, 2010, p1). The effectiveness of Tescos distribution system could be improved. The quality control system should also be administered more proficiently by the organisation to reduce customers being burdened with the cost of losses (Docstoc, 2010, p1). Service orientation lies at the core of Tescos operations. Services that need to be diligently administered include 24*7 activities and various store management functions involving opening and closing stores, shelf maintenance, and stock replenishment (Docstoc, 2010, p1). With regard to outbound logistics, value addition for Tesco can come about from reaching the goods to the customer, improving customer service, and implementing a customer friendly trolley service (Docstoc, 2010, p1). Tescos marketing and sales activity is represented by its distinct Clubcard. The card is instrumental in giving discounts, providing customer loyalty offers, and selling health, wellness, and environmentally friendly merchandise. It carries Tescos advertisements and the latest promotions on deploying recycled goods for assisting Tesco in becoming carbon free by 2050 (Docstoc, 2010, p1). 2.4. Unique Resources and Capabilities All organisational resources are not essential for an organisations competitiveness. The resources that do not help in building competitive advantage constitute threshold resources (Lioukas Voudouris, 2010, p1). Unique resources on the other hand are those which are not easily obtained by the competitors and can help development of competitive advantage (Lioukas Voudouris, 2010, p1). The same argument holds good for capabilities, which are obtained over time through application of resources and knowledge collation. DQE (Design, Quality and Environment) aims to develop unique capabilities and unique resources, which can help in building the foundation of competitive sustainability and competitive advantage (Lioukas Voudouris, 2010, p1). Table 2, provided below, illustrates the permutations of the unique resources and capabilities in forming the foundations of competitive advantages. Table 2: Unique resources capabilities: The base of competitive advantage (Lioukas Voudouris, 2010, p1). The strategy of sustainability entails all characteristics of strategy and incorporates elements of strategy formulation, strategy definition and execution, as also the issue of strategic options (Stirr, 2003, p1). Strategic position is generated by the inter-relatedness of activities (Stirr, 2003, p1). Organisations that really comprehend strategic positioning are experienced in activity mapping. They recognise their core competencies and frequently plot their own and their competitors activity network in order to assess the sustainability of their own strategic position (Stirr, 2003, p1). Any organisation can replicate a particular competitive activity. Discrete activities per se do not generate a strategic position (Stirr, 2003, p1). It is the grouping of activities that an organisation selects to execute for every strategic function (be it marketing, finance, operations and human resources), and the manner wherein such activities are supported and interconnected by business processes and systems, that lead to the building of a strategic position. The extent of interconnectedness and support of these activities determines the degree of sustainability of an organisations strategic position (Stirr, 2003, p1). Organisational strategies relating to marketing, finance, operations and human resources are sustained by internal business systems. These refer to the intricate combination of policies, procedures, hardware, software, budgeting, control mechanisms, et al, which facilitate the optimal flow of data and information through the entire organisation as it tries to provide for the requirements of its customers. An organisation that does not have a lucid strategic position will be transparently riddled with backlogs, omissions and breakdowns within its business systems (Stirr, 2003, p1). Business systems also focus on the means by which core competencies satisfy customer needs. It is through such systems that organisations leverage their entire accessible wherewithal on their customer requirements, build unique activity networks, remove waste through the entire organisation, and curtail their costs to the maximum possible extent. Conclusion: How sustainable is Tescos strategic position? The analysis of the diverse strategy models during the course of this study highlights the significance of strategy in garnering competitive advantages. The key external and internal drivers that compel continuous changes have also been examined. It has also been examined how core resources and competencies need to be utilised effectively and continuously to keep renewing drivers of growth. Activities or strategies per se neither generate competitive advantage nor sustainability. Enterprises that build a sustainable strategic position achieve it through the development of a number of distinct core competencies and by carrying out activities, (which stem from these competencies) that meet customer requirements (Stirr, 2003, p1).Organisations construct sustainable strategic positions by integrating their marketing, finance, operations, and human resource planning functions. They vigilantly review all the activities carried out by every functional sphere to ensure utmost integration (Stirr, 2003, p1). Strategy drives the scale and direction achievable by organisations in the long term and helps organisations in accomplishing competitive advantages through the arrangement of resources in a dynamic and aggressive changing environment to fully satisfy stakeholder expectations (Stirr, 2003, p1). The foregoing analysis reveals how Tesco actively and persistently works in different areas of strategy formulation to achieve competitive advantage and value addition. Tesco strives for sustainability though the deployment of its core resources and integration of all its functions across the board. This renders it with sustainable competitive advantages through the construction of high entry barriers in different operational areas. Such barriers keep new competition from getting and existing competition from achieving parity. The sustainability of Tescos strategic position is also evidenced by its purposeful aim to be a carbon free global organization by 2050.

Looking At The Storys Behind Indian Art Cultural Studies Essay

Looking At The Storys Behind Indian Art Cultural Studies Essay I intend to do research on the Indian folk art forms, their styles, different symbols and forms as well as the context and cultural backgrounds. I will focus on MDAHUBANI PAINTINGS, a folk art originated from North India. This research will help me understand the characteristics of these art forms, which will inspire my animation story and visual style. The story of Indian art is also the story of one of the oldest and most resilient cultures on earth. Throughout its history, Indian art has combined local tradition with outside influences, and has evolved along with a civilization, which has been remarkably innovative in all areas. As in every culture, art has been a mirror of Indias fascinating history from the beginning, reflecting religious beliefs, political events, and social customs. Especially in folk arts we find a compelling and beautiful record of centuries of Indian culture. Introduction to Indian Folk Arts The somewhat lesser-known traditions of Indian painting are the so-called folk paintings dating back to a period that may be referred to as timeless. These are living traditions, intrinsically linked with the regional historic-cultural settings from which they arise. It has an age-old heritage that can be traced back to the beginning of civilization on this subcontinent [1]. It began with cave paintings, with the natural dyes so strong that they can still be seen today on the walls of the caves after centuries. The folk and tribal painting come from the remote rural and tribal regions. Sometimes the artists of these rustic works are not even educated. They lack the basic means to attend schools, and as they are gifted with such beautiful mean of expression by nature. The various painting forms coming from these regions began not just as a painting but also as a religious and social ritual performed daily. It began with painting the walls and floor of mud houses. They hide the belief that this purified the ambience and pleased the deities. Various religious and symbols were therefore seen within the painting. The term folk paintings here encompasses pictures made in Indian villages by both men and women, for ornamentation of their abodes, portrayals of their gods and for their various rituals; and, by local professional painters or artisans for use of the local people. All these paintings were produced in a variety of styles and themes. History, sociology and geography infused the painting of each region with local flavor. Their style and quality depended on the materials available in the place in which they were executed, these very factors that helps to identify the region. Folk art may be defined as the art created among groups that exist within the framework of existing society, but, for geographical and cultural reasons, are largely separated from the sophisticated and cultural reasons, and the developments of their time. As a result, they produce distinctive styles and objects for local needs and tastes. In folk tradition, art is nourishment to the daily life of the people. Whether he is a TAMILNADU (an Indian state) [2] potter who creates a massive terracotta AIYANAR (example in Appendix. Pic.1) or a MADHYA PRADESH (an Indian state) [2] tribal who creates PITHORA painting (example in Appendix. Pic.2), at the moment of creation, the poverty-stricken, illiterate folk, becomes a master-crafts-man who can create marvelous plastic and visual forms with a creative genius handed over to him by generations. Topography and geography too have control over the medium of art. In the case of UTTAR PRADESH (an Indian state) [2], we can find folk paintings on the walls of the houses. Whereas in ASSAM (an Indian state) [2], one cannot find wall paintings because most of the walls of the house are built with cane or bamboo. The folk and tribal traditions, consider all materials available in day-to-day life are worthy of serving as a medium of expression. In this regard, artist-writer, HAKU SHAH writ es, When a tribal touches a blade of grass, gourd or bead, fiber, twig, grain, pin, plastic button, conch shell, feather, leaf of flower, he sees through it, smells it, hears it, and therein starts the ritual of being with it [3]. Each part of the country with its own trees and plants, birds and animals, hills and dales has inspired Indian folk artists to have multiple metaphors, series of symbols and innumerable images to build a rich treasure-house of art. The following are the common stylistic characters in folk-art: Preference for simple outline and choice of typically representational lines; A simplification of colors and volumes so that shading is eliminated; Stylization of motifs to create decorative elements; and Repetition of lines, of entire figures, of dots for intensive or rhythmical purposes. Following is the list of some of the main folk arts from different parts of India Madhubani Painting Folk art of Madhubani from the Mithila region [2] of north India. There are different styles developed by different castes of the region. (Examples in Appendix Pic.16a 16h) Thanka Painting Combining the magnificent beauty with spiritual vision, Tankha is painting solely dedicated to Buddha and his teachings. These represent how the Buddhists see the universe. It is generally in eight layers with the upper most layers or part depicting a deity. The rest seven are the various elements of the universe like, fire, earth, space, water and air. Colorful and geometrical, these are many a time seen as the basis of temple architecture. These paintings are done with dedication, concentration, and passion and also with the deep religious feeling of doing something directly related with the supreme power. (Example in Appendix Pic.3a, 3b) Patachitra Painting Indian art Patachitra is a pre-Islamic form of religious art. It comes from the eastern Indian state Orissa [2]. Hindu gods and goddesses and other mythological scenes are painted on a leather-like surface made of several layers of old cotton glued together. (Example in Appendix Pic.4a, 4b) Kalamkari Painting Kalamkari Literally meaning pen-work, it is the religious painting on cloth with blocks and wax resist, from the temple town of KALAHASTHI in southeast ANDHRA PRADESH [2]. (Example in Appendix Pic.5a, 5b) Warli Painting Warli is a tribal community from MAHARASHTRA, India [2]. They have made a significant contribution to the heritage of Indian tribal art. Done by both men and women, these art works show their dedication to the nature and the superpower. (Example in Appendix Pic.6a, 6b) Gond Painting Tribal painting, Gond is a freehand expression of the Gond tribes of MADHYA PRADESH, India [2]. Painted freehand, these two dimensional paintings reflect their perception of life. The third dimension, the depth is always lacking in these paintings reflecting the simplicity of the artist. Sometimes these paintings also tell how colorful their imagination can be. They put colors to the blandest creations of the nature at times. (Example in Appendix Pic.7a, 7b) Batik Painting Batik, wax resist painting from WEST BENGAL, India [2]. Meaning wax-painting in Javanese, it originated in Indonesia and later revived in WEST BENGAL, India. The creativity of the talented dyers has given it a fresh new definition. The principle of batik is a simple one, wax or a similarly resistant substance such as rice paste is used to create patterns or motifs on cloth before it is dyed or colored in some way. When the wax is finally ready to be removed, the untouched cloth beneath it stands out as the original color of the cloth. (Example in Appendix Pic.8a, 8b) Miniature Painting Folk art miniature paintings inspired by the graceful romantic life style of the Mughals [4]. These paintings show one moment at a time and in minute details. The love scenes, the court scenes, various solitary women, animals, flowers all were closely observed and reproduced simultaneously. (Example in Appendix Pic.9a, 9b) Santhal Art The Santhal tribe, one of the famous tribes belonging to the Bihar state of India [2], has a typical style of painting, known as Santhal paintings. The bodies of the various forms that they paint are seldom or perhaps never in one shade, they are always striped, dotted or filled with any other geometrical pattern. They are done on a handmade paper with poster colors. The topics are selected from the natural surroundings or just from the happenings of their day-to-day lives. (Example in Appendix Pic.10a, 10b) Phad Art RAJASHTAN, an Indian state [2], the land of colors is known for Phad painting, which is done on cloth. This type of painting is mainly found in the BHILWARA district. The main theme of these paintings is the depiction of local deities and their stories, and legends of erstwhile local rulers. Phad is a type of scroll painting. These paintings are created while using bright and subtle colors. (Example in Appendix Pic.11a, 11b) Yantra Tantra art or yantra is used as an instrument or medium of focus on a deity while meditating. It is used while performing religious ceremonies. It is a graphical representation of geometrical or abstract images such as triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons or circles. (Example in Appendix Pic.12a, 12b) Chittara Chittara, meaning picture is an expression of the village artists of KARNATAKA India [2]. Chittara is done on handmade paper. This paper is coated with mud first and then the desired color of the background is given to it by various colors extracted from the natural objects. The color red is procured by grinding a special red stone, the color black is procured by grinding burnt rice and soaking it in water for few days, mud and rice paste gives white. (Example in Appendix Pic.13a, 13b) Introduction to MADHUBANI Paintings Painting is generally done by folk artists or classical artists in three ways: wall-painting (BHITTI-CITRA), canvas-painting (PATA-CHITRA) and floor-painting (ARIPANA). Of these the wall-painting and the floor-painting are very popular in MITHILA region [2]. The Wall-painting or mural paintings, popularly known as MITHILA painting or MADHUBANI painting. MADHUBANI, literally meaning from the forest of honey is the name of the village from where comes the MADHUBANI paintings. Situated in the interior of northern India, this art is the expression of creativity in the day-to-day life of the local people. Done mainly by the females of the family, this art is regarded as a part of daily ritual. Initially all vegetable dyes were used for the paintings but today they have access to the variety of poster colors to cater to their needs and to enable them for more experiments with colors. The estimated date cant be traced back to the actual era that brought MADHUBANI art in to existence. It is however centuries old art that is associated with the normal lives of the villagers. In that region it is believed that every morning the worshipped deity comes invisibly to the household to bless the members of the family and also to bring more prosperity. So this art started as a welcome painting for deities. It started from the entrance floor and the exterior of the house. Passed from mothers to their daughters, the art of MADHUBANI has constantly been improving in its quality. As this tradition was initialized with a purpose of decorating the exterior of the house, the walls and the floor always served as the canvas. Floor-painting (ARIPANA) The art of ARIPANA or floor-painting has been handed down from generation to generation. There is not a single house in MITHILA in which ceremonies are held without ARIPANA. The women of MITHILA specialize in drawing circular patterns of designs with a white liquid paste made of ground rice mixed with water. Sometimes vermilion is also applied, besides white, red, green, yellow and black colors. In various ARIPANA designs, they have the images of gods and goddess painted on different shapes and forms with multiple colors, reflecting the artists originality and imagination. ARIPANA is an indigenous word, which means the art of drawing embankment or wall. The word is derived from ALIMPANA or ALEPANA (of Sanskrit origin) and though grammatically correct, it falsifies the real origin of the word [5]. (Example of ARIPANA art in Appendix. Pic.14a, 14b) The land and people North of the river Ganges, in the state of BIHAR [2] lies a land called MITHILA, shaded by old mango groves and watered by melt water rivers of NEPAL [2] (Indian neighbor country) and the Himalayas. MITHILA has played a noteworthy part in the political and cultural life of ancient India. It is a land full of the beauty of landscape in sharp contrast to the ugliness of poverty in which its people, most of whom are talented painters, live, who accept their fate, good or bad, and paint for painting sake. It is said that altogether MITHILA was the home where the enlightened and the learned might always find a generous patron, peace and safety, where courts were devoted to learning and culture and where poets and philosophers lived in honor and affluence. Even though women in the villages around MADHUBANI have been practicing their folk art for centuries, the world at large has come to know about these women and to consider them to be artists only in the last forty years. Even now, most of their work remains anonymous. The women, most of them illiterate, are reluctant to consider themselves individual producers of works of art and only a few of them mark the paintings with their own name. Among the first modern outsiders to document the tradition of MADHUBANI painting were William and Mildred Archer. Mr. Archer was a British civil servant assigned to the district during the colonial era (till 1947). The Archers obtained some drawings on paper that the women painters were using as aids to memory. Works that the Archers collected went to the India Records Office in London (now part of the British Library) where a small number of specialists could study them as creative instances of Indias folk art [6]. The women painters in MADHUBANI lived in a closed society and were unwilling to paint openly. Eventually due to a drought (1966-68) in the surrounding areas of MITHILA that resulted in severe economic crisis women began to commercialize their art. The All India Handicrafts Board [7] encouraged the women artists to produce their paintings on handmade paper for commercial sale. The government of India, the state government of Bihar and the regional craft guilds has all come in together to initiate the productions and marketing for these women painters. This sudden change in the form of art and its presentation has enabled the world to discover a new form of art with an enviable linkage to the lives of women [8]. The Style of painting This style of painting belongs to North Bihar. In keeping with the tradition under which it began, the style is replete with symbols of fertility like the lotus plant, the bamboo grove, birds, fish, etc. in union. The art shifted to drawing paper in the 1960s, and this brought with it a new freedom and creativity. Paper is movable and economically feasible too. Figures from nature mythology are adapted to suit this style. The themes designs widely painted are the worship of Hindu deities such as KRISHNA, RAMA, SIVA, DURGA, LAKSHMI, SARASWATI, Sun and Moon, TULSI (basil) plant, court scenes, wedding scenes, social happenings around them, etc. Floral, animal and bird motifs, geometrical designs are used to fill up all the gaps. There is hardly any empty space in this style. The skill is handed down the generations, and hence the traditional designs and patterns are widely maintained. One of the main features of MITHILA paintings is simplicity. All that is required for the artist is a suitable surface, ordinary paints, and local brushes. Preliminary sketching is hardly required in MITHILA paintings because the outlines are developed in a single sweep of the brush. Tools Used No sophisticated tools are needed in MADHUBANI paintings. Artists are still unacquainted with the modern brush. The traditional brush is made from a bamboo-twig by wrapping the twig up with a piece of cloth or by having its end frayed in such a way that the fiber looks like a bundle of hair. Color Scheme The artists prepare the colors. Black is obtained by mixing soot with cow dung; yellow from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the KUSUM flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple tree; white from rice powder; orange from PALASHA flowers. The raw materials were mixed with goats milk and juice from bean plants. Today green, blue, red and orange have been added to these colors. The colors are applied flat with no shading. There is normally a double line drawn for the outlines, with the gap between the lines filled by cross or straight tiny lines. In the linear painting, no colors are applied. Only the outlines are drawn. Some villages only produce black ink drawings. Other villages use pink, yellow, blue, red and parrot green, each paint mixed with the traditional goats milk. Impact of Hindu religion and mythology in Indian folk arts Hinduism Religion has been a definitive influence on Indian Art. Hindu Paintings featuring Hindu gods, Hindu goddesses, and the various Hindu pantheons are one of the most prominent symbols of Indian and Hindu Art. Hindu god/goddess in branding In India, manufacturers try to affect the psyche of consumer, by branding an item with the names and images of Hindu deities. They bring the premium image of a God and His virtues and associate them to their product, thus exploiting the mass recognition of well-established imagery of the God to boost product branding. The beauty of this strategy lies in the fact that the companies using Gods images do not have to be concerned about any kind of intellectual property issues like copyright, thus enjoying an immense credibility just by virtue of having connected their name to a venerated name. This kind of branding shows the popularity of god/goddess images in India and the corporate/legal freedom of their use. Manufacturers use images and names of Hindu Gods on product labels and promotion materials to attract buyers attention. Even in America some of the phone card companies like MCI, which target Indian consumers, print Gods images on its international phone cards and sometimes even t he phone card itself is named after a God. In India the largest group of advertisers are the food marketers, followed by marketers of drugs and cosmetics, soaps, automobiles, tobacco, appliances, and oil products. All of these companies somehow associate their products virtues with the virtues of a God and try to sell it to the consumer, who can very well relate to the image presented. For instance, Indian jewelers use image and name of Goddess LAXMI, who is considered the ruler of all material wealth extensively. One of the most famous names among jewelry shops in India is: Maha Laxmi Jewelers. (Examples of some Ads and products in Appendix. Pic.17a 17j) Forms and symbols in MADHUBANI Paintings The motifs of the designs include conventionalized flora and fauna, circles in series, spiral or curvilinear devices, series of short lines, foot-points of fragmentary (imaginative) pictures illustrating legends and stories, giving glimpses of environmental and natural life. While the religious paintings include various gods and goddess, the secular and decorative paintings contain various symbols of prosperity and fertility such as elephant, horse, fish, lion, parrot, turtle, bamboo, lotus, flower, PURAINA leaves, PANA, creepers, SWASTIKA etc. Besides, we also come across in these paintings aspects of agricultural animal life, which plays an important role in the rural economy of MITHILA. The animal, in fact, is a duplicate representation of energy and character of God. Thus, the subject matter generally falls into two groups: (1) A series of heavenly forms. (2) A series of strictly selected vegetables and animal forms. For different occasions, they have different forms and symbols attached to these paintings. Wedding Paintings At weddings, the following objects the sun and moon, a bamboo-tree, a circle of lotuses, parrots, turtle and fish come into prominence. These paintings draw their themes mostly from the PURANAS and epics. The most prominent image looming largest on the walls are the bamboo-tree and the ring of lotus, the KAMALAVANA or PURAINA. The focus is on fertility, and the marvelously intricate diagrams of the KAMALAVANA, the PURAINA and the forest of bamboos are, as pointed out by Archer, MANDALAS and diagrams of the generative organs. The lotus circle is not only a lotus but also the symbol of the brides sex, while the bamboo-tree is a bamboo, it also represents the phallus. (Although sometimes it is said that the women artists iconize the husbands patrilineage as a stand of bamboo.) In other words, lotus is a female and bamboo is a male. According to Archer, the latent symbolism reaches its height in the many paintings in which the bamboo-tree is depicted not as aloof and apart but as driven through the center of a clinging circle [9]. There are also minor symbols of parrots, turtles, fish, sun and the moon. In Indian context, the parrots symbolize the lovebirds and they feature constantly as images of the bride and bridegroom in folk songs and poetry. Turtles also have a significant place because they associate water with all its beneficent power with marriage, their strange shape being diagrammatic of the lovers union and their head and tail emerging from the shell looks like the exact counterparts of the bamboo plunging in the lotus. Then, there are fishes which are emblems of fertility and, finally we have sun and moon who are inserted because of their life-giving qualities. (Example of marriage art known as KOHBAR in Appendix. Pic.16a 16h) About the MADHUBANI painting Artists: Baua Devi Baua Devi is one of the most respected artists in the MITHILA community, and certainly the most successful. She lives in JITWARPUR, the village where she was born. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout India as well as the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris and at the MITHILA Museum in Tokamachi, Japan [10]. Also, at the MATRIX show at UC Berkeley Art Museum, 1997 [11] included two mural-scale paintings by Baua Devi, one depicting the life of KRISHNA, the other, a festival around a pond in a Mithila village. The scope of MADHUBANI paintings, its popularity in India and in other parts of the world MADHUBANI Painting has lately received much attention and popularity. There are quite a few websites devoted to MADHUBANI painting. I simply would like to add that the credit for bringing recent and massive popularity to this art form goes, in large measure, to the Lalit Narayan Mishra. In his capacity as the Minister for Railways in Mrs. Indira Gandhis cabinet, reproductions of these paintings adorned the coaches of many fast and super-fast trains. [12] Copies of the paintings became a hot-selling item for both native and foreign travelers. The reproductions could be found in plenty, for instance, among the hawkers in the bustling street side market along the JANPATH in New Delhi, India a must for the foreign tourist! Credit is due also to Mr. Bhaskar Kulkarni, erstwhile member of the Indian Handicrafts Federation. He was the first to organize an exhibition of this school of paintings at New Delhi in 1967 [13]. This brought instant international recognition. Folk art is having a tr easure house of symbolic language to contribute as a gift to Modern art. Folk in a sense carries the connotation of anonymity, collective wisdom, spontaneity and simplicity. With the development of Anthropology a new awareness has come into understanding the primitive and folk traditions. Anthropology has proved that regionalism in art is not against internationalism. [14] Conclusion MADHUBANI paintings are popular because of their tribal motifs and use of bright earthy colors. I would like to explore how these unique features of folk art could be successfully translated into the form of Animation. Based on my research I have these findings about MADHUBANI PAINTINGS characteristics: -The figures are recognizable by a face in profile while the rest of the body faces the front. -The face has one very large eye and a bumpy sort of nose coming out of the forehead. -The figure outlines are drawn as a double line with diagonal hatching between them. -The borders are highly decorated either geometrically or with ornate floral patterns. -Clothing also is highly decorated with geometrical, floral or even animal patterns. -The drawings of animals are easily recognized for what they are, but again tend to be very stylized. -The forms and symbols in these paintings have their own significance and different forms and symbols are used on different occasions. -There could be different interpretations of symbols and its uses. -These paintings have a limited number of colors and each color has its own meaning. Artists prepare the colors applied. -The artist uses traditional brushes (made from a bamboo-twig) for drawing. With time medium has changed. Originally these paintings were done on walls in villages. Later, the artists successfully transferred their techniques of wall painting to the medium of paper. Now most of the artists use watercolors and handmade papers. At the same time they maintain the characteristics and style of paintings although the medium has changed. In order to create a new source of non-agricultural income, different organizations encourages the artists to produce their traditional paintings on handmade paper for commercial sale. This way now it also widely spread. Even in the more recent work on paper, the themes are normally the Hindu Gods and Goddesses and stories from Hindu mythology. They exhibit their paintings throughout India as well as different parts of the world. Now with the advent of digital tools like Macromedia Flash, which can produce the similar kind of drawings using different combinations of pencil and brush strokes. Use of digital tools also makes these dr awings faster and more effectively as these paintings has lots of repetitive patterns. So we can say, transferring the techniques of wall painting to the medium of paper gained these paintings more popularity and recognition. Same way I strongly feel that when these styles and characteristics of MADHUBANI paintings will be transformed into digital medium, such as animation, it will take the paintings to the next level, where these folk art styles will be used by more and more digital artists from India and all over the world. End Notes [1] Based on the art history timeline the art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC . However based on the recent findings, An archaeological site off Indias western coast may be up to 9,000 years old. The revelation comes about 18 months after acoustic images from the sea-bed suggested the presence of built-up structures resembling the ancient Harappan civilization, which dates back around 4,000 years. . [2] States from India. Map of India Appendix Pic.15 [3] Thakur, Upendra, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1982. [4] Roy, The Bratas of Bengal, The RANGOLI or ARIPANA, KOLAM or MURGGY, as it is known in Bombay (now Mumbai), TAMILNADU and ANDHRA, is a pleasing decoration of the ground. [5] The Mughals ruled in India from 1526 to 1857. The Mughal period can be called a classical age in northern India. In this cultural development, the Indian traditions were amalgamated with the Turko-Iranian culture, brought to the country by the Mughals. [6] Gene R. Thursby, University of Florida . [7] Ministry of Textiles (Govt of India) [8] Madhubani Painting Workshop Brochure. . [9] Archer, W.G., MADHUBANI Paintings. Mumbai, 1998. [10] The Mithila Museum in Tokamachi, Japan. . [The Mithila Museum is housed in a converted schoolhouse in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, situated in Japans snow country. Here approximately 850 Mithila paintings, more than 300 paintings that the Mithila artists created in Japan, Warli paintings by an aboriginal group in India, and Indian teracotta statues and figurines, are exhibited on a permanent basis.] [11] Baua Devi and the Art of Mithila. . MATRIX: August 15 through October 26, 1997 at the UC Berkeley Art Museum. [This is the first United States exhibition of paintings on paper by the Indian artist Baua Devi. The exhibition also includes a selection of works by other artists from the Mithila region of northeastern India. Baua Devis paintings explore an array of personal and mythological themes. An image, which she has come to adopt as her own is the nag kanya, or snake maiden, a creature with the torso and head of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a snake. The nag kanya resembles the snake goddess Manasa, whose attributes echo those of the key Hindu god Shiva. The nag kanya also derives from the real snakes that occupy the watery region where Baua Devi lives.] [12] Railways in North Bihar. . [13] Mr. Bhaskar Kulkarni. . [14] The Art of Folk Tradition. . References Thakur, Upendra, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, n.d. Thakur, Upendra, History of MITHILA. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, n.d. Jain, Jyotindra, Ganga Devi: Tradition and Expression in Mithila Painting. Ahmedabad, India: Mapin Publishing Pvt Ltd., 1997. [A fine book on a leading artist who practiced what is sometimes called the Kayastha style of MADHUBANI painting.] Vequaud, Yves, The Women Painters of Mithila. London: Thames and Hudson, 1977. [A book that contributed to and then reflected the worldwide popularity of MADHUBANI painting.] Osaki, Norio, MADHUBANI Paintings. Kyoto Shoin, 1998. Shearer, Alistair. The Hindu Vision: Forms of the Formless. Thames Hudson, 1993. Aldred, Gavin. Indian Firework Art. Trafalgar Square, 2000 Prakash, K. Authentic Folk Designs from India. New Delhi: Dover Pubns, 1995. Dawson, Barry. Street Graphics India. Thames Hudson, 2001. Archer, W.G., MADHUBANI Paintings. Mumbai, 1998. Anand, Mulk Raj, MADHUBANI Painting. New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 1984. Online exhibit of MADHUBANI Paintings. . About an Artist.. The MAITHILI BRAHMANS: An Online Ethnography.. Marketing God: About religious content on Indian television.

Jazz Report Essay -- essays research papers

I attended the University Symphony Orchestra's "An Evening of Handel, Schubert, and Haydn" on Thursday, September 30, 2003 in the Daniel Recital Hall. The hall was much more crowded than I expected. At the beginning of the concert, the orchestra was seated on the stage; the men wore tuxedos, and the women wore black dresses or pants. The concertmaster came out to tune the orchestra, and then the conductor made his entrance and gave a brief description of the piece that was about to be played. George Frideric Handel's Overture to Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed during the Baroque era. It has a homophonic texture and its genre is a suite. There is a wide variety of instruments (aerophones, chordophones, and membranophones) used in this piece. Among the wind instruments (woodwinds and brass) heard were bassoon, oboe, French horn, and trumpet. The strings played included the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Finally, the percussion instrument used for this piece was the timpani. This movement is broken down into four sections by tempo: Adagio, Allegro, Lentement, and Allegro. The Adagio section begins with a slow introduction at a mezzoforte dynamic. This section is in a major key and set in quadruple meter. It has a wide range and an ascending melody. There are brief cadences and the section grows in a crescendo. The loudness and energy of this section holds the attention of the listener and creates a proud and joyful mood. The Allegro section begins...

Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace Essay -- Literary

Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario, and since then she has lived in various places such as Boston, London, France, Italy, Germany, and Alabama. She currently resides in Toronto. Atwood has written numerous poems, novels, short stories, children’s books, magazine articles, and works of nonfiction. She has also written three television scripts, and she has edited anthologies. Some of her well-known novels include The Handmaid’s Tale, Cat’s Eye, The Robber Bride, and Alias Grace ("Atwood"). Alias Grace is a fictional work based on the true story of Grace Marks, a servant who was accused of murdering her employer and his mistress in Canada in 1843. Grace was a servant in the home of Thomas Kinnear, whose housekeeper and mistress was Nancy Montgomery. When Thomas and Nancy were found murdered, Grace and James McDermott, another servant, were arrested for the crime, and James was hanged. Grace was imprisoned for several years during which people who believed her to be innocent petitioned for her release, which finally occurred in 1872. Atwood’s novel is a blend of fact and fiction in which writers who wrote about Grace during her life are quoted. The story revolves around repressed memories, a common theme in Atwood’s novels. Grace is the only living witness to the murders of Thomas and Nancy, but she claims that she does not remember exactly what happened. Whether she was involved in the murders or the helpless victim of James McDermott is a mystery. Most of the action in the novel occurs during Grace’s imprisonment. She tells her life story to Simon Jordan, a doctor who visits her with the goal of restoring her memory and learning what really happened. In additi... ...possessed by the spirit of her friend Mary Whitney. As in much of twentieth century literature, no definite answers are given, and the reader is left to draw her own conclusions. Atwood’s ambiguity is similar to that of James Joyce’s in "The Dead" and Franz Kafka’s in "The Metamorphosis." In these and other twentieth century works, there are more questions raised than answers given. There is no known solution to the real mystery of Grace Marks, and Atwood leaves the solution to her character’s mystery to the reader’s interpretation. Clues are scattered throughout the novel, and any answer is possible. One can accept the spiritual answer that arises during the hypnotism or choose a more realistic interpretation. It is up to the reader to decide. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. The Margaret Atwood Information Web Site. 21 Apr. 1999. .

Creativity vs. Psychological Health of Anne Sexton

A number of creative individuals have taken their own lives, including John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, and many other writers. The large number of such cases suggests that there may be a functional relationship between creativity and psychological health. This relationship seems to vary across domains, with the rate of suicide especially high in certain groups of artists. This may suggest that there may be something unique to those domains that either draws suicide-prone persons into the domain or has an impact on the individual such that suicide is considered and often attempted. When the poem writing by Anne Sexton entitled Her Kind you can closely compare how Anne’s mental health affected her poetry and how her poetry affected her mental health. The American Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Anne Sexton took her own life in 1974 via carbon monoxide poisoning before reaching the age of fifty. Her life and work are especially interesting because her poetry was clearly tied to her own psychiatric treatment. She began writing with only moderate formal education (a high school diploma), but after being published she was given honorary degrees from several universities, including Tufts, Radcliffe, and Harvard. Sexton's poems, many dealing with suicide, read together with richly researched recent biography, enhanced by biographer's access to tapes of Sexton's sessions with her psychiatrist and by foreword by that psychiatrist, permit unusual opportunity to understand the interrelationship of her illness, her treatment, and the meaning of suicide in her life. Whatever was on her mind seemed to come out in her poetry whether it was about sex, madness or death. â€Å"Readers tend to be generous in their praise, celebrating the poetry primarily because it so fully and openly reveals Sexton's personal pain† (Anne). Basically, the speaker of â€Å"Her Kind† is outcast because she is powerful. Traditionally, society expects women to lead sheltered lives. Women are to be obedient, quiet, and timid. They are viewed as gentle and kind, not â€Å"dreaming evil† (Line 3, Sexton). The modern, liberated woman completely shatters this tradition by courageously speaking her mind and living an independent life. She is empowered as she seeks education and a stable career instead of a domestic life. Since the modern woman does not fit the traditional label, â€Å"A woman like that is not a woman quite† (Line 6, Sexton). Society would view this line of the poem as a negative slam on the modern woman and paraphrase it by saying, â€Å"She's not quite right in the head; therefore, she does not belong here in civilization. † Anne Sexton was a poet and a woman, but most importantly, she was an outcast. Subjected to nervous breakdowns and admitted to a neuropsychiatry hospital, Sexton must have been all too familiar with the staring eyes and the judging minds of the public. Just being a woman in today's world often can be enough to degrade a person in the public's eye, let alone being labeled as a crazy woman. But Anne Sexton did not let society remain unchallenged in its views. She voiced a different opinion of women through poetry. In Anne Sexton's â€Å"Her Kind† she embraces society's negative stereotype of modern, liberated women and transforms it into a positive image. Two voices, the voice of society and the voice of Anne, duel about the issue of the stereotype of modern women. Like Anne Sexton, the speaker in this poem is an outcast woman. Sexton was born in Massachusetts on November 9, 1928, to Mary Gray Staples and Ralph Churchill Harvey, who were known to drink regularly and sometimes heavily. They were somewhat prominent and quite socially active. Scholars suggest that they may have valued their social engagements over their family responsibilities. There is some evidence that Sexton's mother was jealous about her very early writing (Long). Sexton did not have obvious creative aspirations, but instead seemed to think more about a family of her own. At one point her mother accused her of plagiarism and had that particular writing examined. It was deemed to be original, but many scholars suggest this incident affected Sexton's relationship with her mother. Sexton's aunt on her father's side attempted suicide in early childhood, lived several decades in an apparently stable marriage, and eventually committed suicide just before she turned seventy. The family believes that if her aunt's suicide had any sort of influence on Sexton, it was probably informational (e. g. , the aunt modeling suicide) rather than genetic. Biographers place great emphasis on Sexton's psychiatric treatment, which was significant as evidenced by the content of her poetry. And, it is possible, given her nonconformism that Sexton suffered from a borderline personality disorder. There are reports of her schizophrenic language, for instance, as well as her tendency to enter some sort of trance at the end of her psychiatric treatment sessions. She apparently did not want to end the sessions, perhaps because of emotional and social needs. â€Å"Sexton’s writing seems so personal she is often labeled a ‘confessional’ poet† Anne did not agree with this title and preferred to be called a â€Å"storyteller† (Middlebrook). For instance, in her poem titled â€Å"Her Kind† she writes, â€Å"A woman like that is not a woman, quite. I have been her kind† (Sexton). Many people would automatically assume that Anne was speaking about herself in her poem, especially according to those who believe her poetry is confessional. But in reality, â€Å"she considered the speaking ‘I’ in her poetry as a literary rather than a real identity† (Middlebrook). Not everything she wrote was necessarily about her but rather perhaps a form of therapy. Diane Middlebrook believes Sexton conveys the terms on which she wishes to be understood: not victim, but a witness (Middlebrook). Through reading Anne Sexton’s poem â€Å"Her Kind† we get a better understanding of Anne herself. She was a strong character who used her writing as therapy. Doctors never knew that her writing would have such an impact on the world. She writes specifically in her poem â€Å"Her Kind† about what she went through in society as a woman. Through Anne’s writing it improved her mental health. It was an outlet for her feelings. Her writing was true and honest and something many women would never talk about much less publicly write about. Her mental health inspired her creative writing which in turn helped her mental health to some degree. Her honest writing became her outlet and a way of therapy. Works Cited â€Å"Anne (Harvey) Sexton. † American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Ed. A. Walton Litz. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1981. Literature Resource Center. Gale. University of South Carolina Libraries. 6 Apr. 2009 . George, Diana Hume. â€Å"Oedipus Anne: The Poetry of Anne Sexton. † Oedipus Anne: The Poetry of Anne Sexton. University of Illinois Press, 1987. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski and Roger Matuz. Vol. 53. Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. Literature Resource Center. Gale. University of South Carolina Libraries. 7 Apr. 2009

African American and Their Rights Essay

Since slavery, African Americans have gone through a lot to reach their current state. In the early 20th century, African Americans faced discrimination, isolation, and were segregated according to their skin color. It started when Europeans brought the first Africans to America, and continued throughout the Civil War. The American government made some changes in policies. A variety of leaders shaped the successful struggle toward black equality in America (Bowles, 2011). Ever since slavery begun, African Americans have been determined to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation. Activists such as, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and others, joined together to put an end to segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain civil rights and equality. Slavery had changed dramatically in the late 1600s. About this time the slave trade to American colonies also began increasing to meet the demand for cheap labor. Traders sold slaves to the Northern colonies, but English and other European immigrants satisfied the demand for labor there (Echerd, 2009). Slaves in America came from western and central Africa. African tribes sometimes enslaved those defeated in intertribal wars and sold their captives to European slave traders. The tribes raided villages to obtain slaves to trade for European goods. Slave traders had even offered the Africans guns and other goods for the slaves. Slaves lived a rough, hard life. Cheap labor was a huge part of their lives. They had to work from sunrise to sunset. The work consisted of clearing land, tended to fields of tobacco, rice, and vegetables. They also performed many other tasks that had helped make plantations almost completely self-sufficient. No slaves saw any money for their tasks that they had performed, but they did receive food, clothing, and shelter. The slaves had resided in small one-room huts, which had no windows and the floors were all dirt. Most slaves accepted their living condition, however, they knew no other way of life (Koehler, 2009). However, white Southerners regained control of state governments in the South during the late 1870s, however, and reversed most of the previous gains made by former slaves. For example: segregation. What is segregation? According to Webster’s Dictionary, to segregate is defined as to separate or set apart from others; isolate or to require, often with force, the separation of a specific racial, religious, or other group from the body of society. Segregation has been a part of our American heritage, almost from the moment slaves arrived on the shores of the New World (Bowles, 2011). In 17th century Virginia, the theocratic government feared that racial mixing between freed and enslaved blacks and white indentured servants would become a means to usurp government power. They passed laws in which the color line was clearly defined in any criminal punishments. By treating whites and blacks separately and unequally, these Virginian leaders set up a system of white supremacy that would become an essential component of American slavery. Separation and segregation was the order of the day, with African Americans being forced to ride in separate railroad cars, have their own hotels and courthouses, and even get water out of their own drinking fountains. Their children could not attend the same schools with the White children. To further push the color-line, they then added in segregation with the Jim Crow Laws. This is mainly because the Whites were considered to be superior, and hence were thought to deserve better schools with better facilities. African Americans on the other hand were considered inferior, and hence their children attended low-quality schools that lacked adequate facilities (Sitkoff & Franklin, 2008). The Northern States, which had grew and prospered during the war, believed the former slaves to be equal as any other person. The Southern States, still angry over the loss of the war and their firm belief in White superiority, took a different approach. They created and enforced what were known as the Black Codes. These were legislations passed in Southern states to control labor, migration and other activities of the freed slaves. Black Codes allowed legal marriage, property ownership and limited access to the court systems. It prohibited them from testifying against whites, serving on juries or militias, voting and publicly expressing any form of legal concerns ( www. history. com). Any former slave that did not sign yearly labor contract with the plantation owners could be arrested and hired out. The Black codes in short allowed for the continued and legal discrimination against the former slaves (www. history. com). Congress quickly responded to these laws in 1866 and seized the initiative in remaking the south. Republicans wanted to ensure that with the remaking the south, freed blacks were made viable members of society. But the strong southern legislatures finally gave in; in 1868 they repealed most of the laws that discriminated against blacks. Things were starting to look up. But by 1877 Democratic parties regained their power of the south and ended reconstruction. In 1882, southern states passed Jim Crow laws that enforced strict segregation between blacks and whites and limited African-American civil rights. This was devastating to the blacks. After all the strides they made were reversed. From holding political offices, the right to vote, and participating as equal members of society was changed. The south gradually reinstated the racially discriminatory laws. The two main goals they wanted these laws to achieve: disenfranchisement and segregation. To take away the power that the blacks had gained, the Democratic Party began to stop Blacks from voting. There were many ways to stop blacks from voting. Some of these things were poll tax, which were fees were charged at voting booths and were expensive for most blacks, and the literacy test. Since teaching blacks were illegal, most adult blacks were former slaves and illiterate. And the other goal, segregation, causes the democrats to create laws that segregated the schools and public facilities. The Northern States, which had grew and prospered during the war, believed the former slaves to be equal as any other person. The Southern States, still angry over the loss of the war and their firm belief in White superiority, took a different approach. They created and enforced what were known as the Black Codes. These were legislations passed in Southern states to control labor, migration and other activities of the freed slaves. Black Codes allowed legal marriage, property ownership and limited access to the court systems. It prohibited them from testifying against whites, serving on juries or militias, voting and publicly expressing any form of legal concerns. Any former slave that did not sign yearly labor contract with the plantation owners could be arrested and hired out. The Black codes in short allowed for the continued and legal discrimination against the former slaves. Just like some African Americans activists fought this segregation, some Whites had some groups of their own to carry the segregation on and on. The Ku Klux Klan was one of them. The Ku Klux Klan, Knights of White Camellia, and other terrorists murdered thousands of blacks and some whites to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. The KKK was founded in 1865 to 1866. They directed their violence towards black landowners, politicians, and community leaders. They also did this to people who supported Republicans or racial equalities (Anti-Defamation League, 2012). After the abolishment of slavery in the U. S. the KKK formed. They hated blacks and would commit crimes against them. Murders, hangings, and lynches are just some of the crimes against the blacks (www. kkk. bz, n. d. ). The Ku Klux Klan claims to be just defending their people like other races do. What is a lynching? Lynching is a form of punishment with no legal permission. Most times lynching occurred against African Americans by hanging them. This was very popular during the Gilded Age after the American Civil War when African Americans were freed from slavery. Many White men would use lynching against Black men for being in a mixed relationship with a White woman. However, because lynching had no legal basis, it was thought to have been a tool that was used against freed slaves that had achieved financial stability and authority in order to remain a White-dominated nation. Lynching was most likely performed by White Supremacy groups like the KKK. Lynching was done by hanging or shooting, or both. However, many were of a more hideous nature. Burning at the stake, maiming, dismemberment, castration, and other brutal methods of physical torture are all part of a lynching. Lynching therefore was a cruel combination of racism and sadism, which was utilized primarily to sustain the caste system in the South. Many white people believed that Negroes could only be controlled by fear. To them, lynching was seen as the most effective means of control. Defending your people is one thing, but to torture another human being is inhuman. The KKK has several stories out there today on how they treated the blacks, whether they did anything wrong or not. For instance, a Louisiana woman is in critical condition after she was set on fire, resulting in burns on roughly 60 percent of her body, and her car appears to have had racial slurs written on it at the time of her attack (Mach, n. d. ). They had even gone as far as church bombings. The KKK launched a bomb into a church during a Sunday service, which left four innocent teenage girls dead. The men responsible hid behind the cloak of secrecy, intimidation and the white robes of the oldest terrorist organization in the world, the Ku Klux Klan (Gado, n. d. ). Therefore, until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, racial discrimination is an issue that was not seriously tackled. The act was a successful result of most wide-ranging civil rights legislation and Civil Rights Movements for close to a century (Finkelman, 2009). The act declared discrimination on the basis of color, race, ethnicity, religion, and many other aspects as unconstitutional. During the critical years from 1954 to 1963, a variety of leaders with different backgrounds, such as lawyers from the NAACP, women sitting on buses, ministers from southern black churches, militants from black power organizations, and youth from colleges had shaped the successful struggle toward black equality in America (Bowles, 2011). In 1896, the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision established that â€Å"separate but equal† facilities for whites and blacks were allowable under the U. S. Constitution. Local governmental officials could designate separate public facilities like drinking fountains, restrooms, and schools. Even courthouses often had separate Bibles according to the defendant’s race. The problem was that separate usually meant unequal, and segregation subverted the freedom of every African American (Sundquist, 1993). Now, it is time for the African- Americans to fight back. The incident that made them want to make a difference was the Rosa Park bus ride. After a long day of work on December 1, 1955, Parks, feet hurt, looked forward to sitting on the bus for her ride home. At the time, there was a city ordinance stating that African Americans had to give up their seats on a train or bus if a white man asked for them. When a white man approached Parks and told her that he wanted her seat, she simply said no. Although she acted as a private citizen, her response was as an informed, committed member of the NAACP movement. The bus driver had asked Parks to move. When she did not, the bus driver said, â€Å"Look, woman, I told you I wanted the seat. Are you going to stand up? † When Parks again said no, the driver threatened, â€Å"If you don’t stand up, I’m going to have you arrested. † She gave no reply but at the next stop, Rosa was arrested (Garrow, 2004). A pastor known as Martin Luther King Jr., organized a boycott, the Montgomery bus boycott. King Jr. took this to a higher level and maintained and organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which coordinated similar bus boycotts in other cities. Shortly after the boycott, King had found a bomb on his porch. King went to Birmingham, Alabama, where he continued his nonviolent protests and marches. However, the police authorized force to disband King’s followers by using electric cattle prods, tear gas, and fire hoses (Bowles, 2011). King was arrested with the others, but upon his release from jail he went to Washington, D. C., where he and demonstrators met at the National Mall and addressed them with his famous â€Å"We Shall Overcome† speech on August 23, 1963. King’s words at the capital that day were a defining moment of the Civil Rights movement. Other demonstrations and civil disobedience campaigns sought to increase African-American voter registration and win better jobs. Malcolm X actively promoted the Black Muslim cause. Even after speaking about non-violence and wanting peace, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The civil rights movement dramatically increased participation of African- American voters in both the South and the North today. By the mid-70s some 4000 African-Americans have been elected to political office at all levels of government. Qualified African-Americans now have a wider range of opportunities than ever before. Whether you are White or African-American, each group has faced its own peculiar challenges on its approach to democracy (Rappaport, 2001). This racism is wrong and unconstitutional. The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery, which some people still went against it. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to the former slaves and forbade states from denying any person life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. The 14th Amendment also guaranteed equal protection of the law for all citizens. The 15th Amendment barred states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude (Hertz, 2009). In a perfect world, everyone would be equal. The color of one’s skin, religious beliefs or sexual preference would mean nothing. We would accept everyone for whom and what they are. We would rejoice in the differences between each other instead of belittling, hating and discriminating against those differences. We don’t however live in a perfect world. We live in a world filled with distrust and hate. If we don’t know or understand it in our society, then it is wrong. It will be discriminated against in one form or another. We as a country have made major strides in overcoming racism, however we still have far to go. In conclusion, African Americans faced isolation, discrimination, and segregation during the post-construction period. Racial discrimination was also prevalent in the military where back soldiers were considered inferior to white soldiers and hence poorly trained and equipped. The issue of racial discrimination, isolation and segregation was not seriously tackled until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted. Civil rights activists such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. organized the famous 1963 protest in Washington that eventually forced President John Kennedy to pass the Act. It is therefore, clear that the journey to end isolation, discrimination, and segregation to attain equality and civil rights has been hard but worthwhile. ? References Bowles, M. (2011). American History 1865- Present End of Isolation. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint. Retrieved at: https://content.ashford. edu/books/AUHIS204. 11. 2 Finkelman, P. (2009) Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896-present, Madison Avenue, New York: Oxford University Press Rappaport, D. (2001). Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sitkoff, H. , & Franklin, J. (2008) The Struggle for Black equality. Hill and Wang Publication http://www. adl. org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default. asp? LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk http://www. history. com/topics/black-codes Civil Rights Act of 1964 http://www. ourdocuments. gov/doc. php? doc=97&page=transcript.