Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Which learning style the teachers should use to teach language

Knowing pupils manner is really of import. That because it helps pupils to be active scholars. This survey purpose is to hold a deep expression in pupils ‘ manner in ADU and which manner they prefer much. Besides, which larning manner the instructors should utilize to learn linguistic communication and is at that place a different between the three manners of larning. Study was conducted in 20 respondents from Abu Dhabi University. The perusing of consequences indicated that pupils prefer to utilize ocular manner much more than others manner.IntroductionLearners have different manners, attitudes, behaviours, ideas, and positions. Everyone acts harmonizing to his ain character. Besides, every scholar has his ain manner to stand for or derive information. There are three manners that scholars use to derive information ; they are ocular, audile and tactile. Learners have different ways to derive information, some scholars prefer to analyze entirely and others prefer to analyze in groups. Otherwise, instructors need to be familiar with pupils ‘ manners because cognizing pupils ‘ manners will do occupation of the instructor more comfy. Besides, it will raise the pupils ‘ public presentation inside the category room.Statement of jobWhich manner is the best 1 for ADU pupils?Statement of intentDetermine pupils ‘ manners and happen suited ways to do pupils derive information easy and profit from their teachers.2Leaning manners definitionEveryone has his ain manner to show or get informations. Learning manners can be defined as several attacks or ways of acquisition. Besides, it can be described as an single behaviour, activities and qualities that appear on the scholar character when procedure of acquisition is happening. Actually, it is a sort of techniques that enables the scholar to larn in a best manner. ( Wikipedi a, 2009 ) Peoples have different manners of thought and different ways of stand foring information. The word manner is used in linguistic communication to depict differences between people. Style can be described as single qualities, activities and behaviour that appear on the scholar character during larning procedure. Style has a major influence in different parts on human character such as personality, behaviour, knowledge, perceptual experience, larning and motive. I think that the scholar himself can determine his ain manner. For illustration, if the scholar has a weak personality ; he will non pull off to show his thoughts and take part with the other scholars. However, if the scholar has a strong personality ; he will be successful in his acquisition trip. Students with strong personality show high attending to linguistic communication. ( Robert, 2000 ) When I move to the college, I see different sorts of pupils ; they are from India, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Oman etc. Each one has his ain manners ; some of them like to analyze in groups and other like to analyze entirely. Otherwise ; larning manners can be different from individual to individual.Types of acquisition mannersIn this life, there are a batch of differences ; people have different attitudes, behaviour, intelligence and different manners. In larning, we have different types of acquisition manners. There are three types of acquisition manners, ocular, audile, and tactile or kinaesthetic.Ocular mannerLearners who use this sort of manner ; they normally learn information or information through seeing things. They prefer teacher who uses the chalkboard or the projector to3present the chief points or the one who gives an lineation about the talk. Besides, they prefer to analyze entirely by themselves in a quite room. These scholars frequently see information in their heads when they are seeking to retrieve something. Besides, they need to see the organic structure linguistic communication of the instructor and follow facial looks. In add-on, they prefer to put at the forepart of the category and avoid obstructors ( e.g. pupils head ) . Al thought, these scholars tend to utilize images more and depend on ocular show such as diagrams, picture, chart, and press release. Besides, these scholars use their ain imaginativeness to show their feeling like picture and other humanistic disciplines. In add-on, to be able to get information ; they draw symbols and images on cards to remember information when they need it. Besides, they use colour pens to foreground chief thoughts. Furthermore, ocular scholars use diagrams and graphs to ease callback. ( Suzanne, 2000 )Auditory mannerLearners who use this type of manner ; they normally depe nd on hearing to get information. They learn best through listening to others, treatment, and verbal talks. Auditory scholars realize or gain significance of address through listening to tone of voice, pitch and velocity of the talker. Sometimes written information may hold small intending if they hear it. Besides, these scholars may get or profit from reading texts aloud and utilizing tape recording equipment. In add-on, audile scholars prefer to take part and interact with other scholars ; they normally pay more attending for the talker whether the instructor or a spouse. When analyzing, seek to happen for yourself an stray room where you wo n't trouble oneselfing anyone and read your notes or text edition aloud. Besides, you can utilize tape recording equipment to enter your talks. Al though, holding talks on a tape record enable you to fix for tests in a nice and easy manner. ( Shannon, 2006-2010 )Tactile or kinaesthetic mannerTactile scholars learn information or information if they are physically engaged. These scholars learn best by following the teacher motion inside the schoolroom. Tactile learners seem more active to follow the instructor organic structure linguistic communication. Besides, these scholars seem more active in they classroom, they set at the forepart seats and they take note4without taking attention to grammatical errors. When analyzing, set at the forepart seats and take notes without taking attention of grammatical errors or composing uncomplete sentences. Besides you can pull images or charts to assist you retrieve information. ( corina,1999-2010 )Taxonomy of acquisition mannersLearners use different ways to larn about any topic. Harmonizing to several psychologists, there are seven specific types of acquisition manners. In instruction, instructors should find type of scholars that they have and select the best manner which suite their scholars demands. Linguistic: in this type, the scholars prefer to read, compose and state narratives. They show a high degree of memorising topographic points, informations, and names, and are ever surprising you in their ways of happening the information. Besides, they have a strong ability to remember information you have told them, word by word. These pupils learn best through visual perception, stating and hearing. Otherwise teacher should courage them to be more originative by assisting them to compose down words, phrases and promoting them to portion their thoughts with other spouses. ( Stacy, 2001 ) Logical: scholars are obsessed of mathematical jobs. They like to work out jobs particularly if they are related to math. These pupils develop logical thought. Their chief issues are how things work, why things relate to one another and why things are here. This type of pupils learn best by analysing, differentiate and happening relationships between things. ( Stacy, 2001 ) Teacher should courage and assist them by demoing them how to happen relationships between things. For illustration, what is the consequence of pollution? Some pupils may happen that it has a negative consequence on human being wellness and other may state it has a negative consequence on animate beings etc. By demoing them how to happen relationships between things ; they will catch linguistic communication and they will be originative. Spatial: these are the imaginers. They spend their clip in woolgathering, watching others and remaining off from existent life. This type of pupils likes to work with colourss, images and usage head oculus.5If you feel that they are less motivated, you can inquire them to pull a image and so inquire them to speak about it. You will recognize that they are more take parting with you, because image for them is everything. Teacher should courage their artistic abilities and allows them to show their feels, ideas, and thoughts by demoing them how to make that. ( Stacy, 2001 ) Musical: if you notice that you have a pupil, who likes to sing all the clip, so this pupil is a musical scholar. This type of scholar love everything relates to music, they prefer to hear music while walking, analyzing and eating etc†¦ Besides, this type of scholars is good in detecting pitches, beat, and inside informations. ( Stacy, 2001 ) As I said before, they like to larn best through beat so teacher should accommodate his method of learning with their manner. For illustration, while reading any transition, he can set a vocal for them. This type of pupils needs the instructor to utilize techniques which are related to music. For illustration, to trip their memories, he can inquire them to compose a vocal about the lesson. However, music should non be devouring clip talk or that will convey bad effects. Bodily: this type of scholars depends on organic structure to catch the linguistic communication. They like to walk around the category, analyze everything and they use body linguistic communication to show their thoughts, ideas and feelings. They prefer to play any sort of athletics instead than sit down and read a book. ( Stacy, 2001 ) Teacher should maintain them active all the clip by playing with them word games, have spelling lesson during football. Besides, he can take them to nature to larn about geographics. Interpersonal: we can depict these scholars as a group of custodies that work together to finish a given undertaking. These scholars have ability to run in any societal state of affairs. They are more tended to hold a batch of friends and conveying them place. Besides, they prefer to work in group inside the category room and have unlimited patient for the others. ( Stacy, 2001 ) Teachers should courage their love for people and assist them to be with different types of people. However, parents should follow them carefully because they may6face people that have different civilizations, attitudes, behaviours and thoughts. And conflict civilizations may do some jobs for these scholars. Intrapersonal: are those pupils who prefer to work entirely and like rather topographic points to analyze in. They prefer to work on their ain involvement and normally they have a deeper apprehension for themselves. Besides, intrapersonal scholars tend to remain a manner from groups and wish do their best entirely. Teachers should follow them and support because they may perpetrate errors in any clip. ( Stacy, 2001 )Kolb acquisition mannerKolb divided procedure of tilting into four stairss ; the first procedure is cyclical procedure. It begins with concrete experience ; the whole procedure is based on experience. The 2nd measure is brooding observation, seeing experience from different positions. The 3rd measure is abstract conceptualisation, planing generalisations that submergence observations into sound theories. The concluding 1 is active experimentation where scholar uses these generalisations as theories to prove new state of affairss. Kolb believes that larning procedure is ba sed through experiment. He says that the whole acquisition procedure consist of four phases: experiencing, reflecting, believing and moving. The scholar receives information and attempts to prove every individual portion. Then, think about the information and eventually seek to move on the information. ( scott,2000 )Literature reappraisalSeveral surveies have been conducted on groups of kids. These kids groups include Native American, Alaskan Eskimo and Mexican- American kids. Surveies showed that certain groups have strong ocular perceptual experience in comparing to auditory, tactile or kinaesthetic manners. ( Swanson, 1995 ) Another survey was conducted on kids from different civilizations to find their acquisition manners ; these kids are from African- American, Mexican- American and Greek- American. Study showed that Grecian American kids like to utilize audile manner and both African American and Mexican- American kids like to utilize haptic manner. ( Swanson, 1995 )7Methodology:In this undertaking I made questionnaire, in order to cognize sentiments ‘ of pupils and about my inquiries or jobs. Then, I distributed those inquiries on 20 pupils from Abu Dhabi University ; they are taking different classs such as Muslim civilization, professional moralss and others. Their ages are from 18 to twenty six. After that, I collected them and started to analyse them. Finally, I compare between informations which I found in articles and informations in inquiries.Finding consequencesAs you know my research negotiations about the three types of acquisition manners which are ocular, audile and haptic. I am certain that now you are known about these three types and what are the significances of these types. Some pupils have their ain manners to larn. They may concentrate on ocular instead than auditory which I observed on my study. Other pupils have abilities to larn by audile manner instead than ocular manner when they learn. Some pupils get these types and they use ocular, audile and haptic to larn better. They normally like to alter their manners of larning. They use all these three types to larn better and do learning procedure more utile and apprehensible. I distributed study for 15 male and 5 female pupils in ADU. This study includes 15 inquiries that let me cognize their acquisition manners. These inquiries have four picks and each pupils select one or two. Before I collected their replies to analysis, I noticed that most of pupils in ADU use ocular manners of acquisition. This chart clarifies the consequence that I collected from my study8From this chart, you can see that larning manners of pupils at ADU divide into three types of larning manners as followers: Ocular manner: Auditory manner: Haptic manner: First, most of pupils at ADU use ocular manners of larning. I collected 181 points that 16 pupils selected from the different picks. In ocular manner, when pupils spell the word, they try to see it. When they talk, they dislike listening for long clip because they feel board. So they like to see images, waies, postings, diagrams etc to cognize thoughts, topographic points, etc. Besides, when they meet person once more, they merely retrieve faces instead than names. I found most of pupils at ADU like to larn through visual perception, pulling, utilizing graphs, and reading written direction that came with the plan. In add-on, they like to larn from books that has real-life narratives, experiences and illustrations. Besides, these pupils like to seek in web sites that have interesting written descriptions, lists, accounts, design and ocular characteristics. When they do something new at work, they like to see presentations, slides, or postings. Second, some pupils use audile manner to larn at ADU. I collected 86 points that 4 pupils selected. These pupils like to hold feedback from person who talks it through with them if they have finished a competition or trial and would wish some feedback. Besides, they would speak about, or set up a talk for them about for illustration,9Parkss or wildlife militias, when a group of tourers want to larn about the Parkss in their countries. In add-on, if the pupils want to larn a new plan, accomplishment or game on a computing machine, they would speak with people who know about the plan. These pupils prefer a instructor or a presenter who uses inquiry and reply, talk, group treatment, or guest talkers. Besides, if they are utilizing a book, Cadmium or web site to larn how to take exposures with your new digital camera, they would wish to hold a opportunity to inquire inquiries and speak about the camera and its characteristics. In add-on, they like web sites that have audio channels where I can hear music, wireless plans or interviews. When pupils do something new, they prefer verbal instructions or speaking about it with person else. Third, the survey shows that most pupils do non utilize haptic manner to larn at ADU. I did non roll up any point for this manner ; this shows that pupils do non like to seek or touch things that would assist them to larn. These pupils do non like to utilize the controls or keyboard when they want to larn a new plan, accomplishment or game on a computing machine. Besides, if they find person who want to travel to airport, town centre or railroad station ; they do non wish to travel with him. In add-on, if they have a job with their articulatio genus ; they would non prefer that the physician usage a fictile theoretical account of a articulatio genus to demo what was incorrect. In add-on, the ground of disfavor tactile manner is non known. There are several grounds that show why pupils do non like haptic manner in ADU ; one of the chief grounds is their ages. Adults do non like to play or touch things because they show a polite character. Besides, clip can deter pupils to utilize tactile ; as we know grownups do non hold clip for these little issues. Table of the consequences:Types of acquisition manners.ocularAuditoryTactileNumber of pupils16 4 0Percentage84.2 % 15.8 % 0 % 10DiscussionThe pervious surveies showed that pupils prefer to utilize ocular manner. Otherwise, do we hold to concentrate on ocular manner more? Each manner has its ain features ; we can non divide the three manners. Other surveies showed that larning manners are different from one civilization to another. Otherwise, these differences are natural but we can give some tips to raise pupils ‘ public presentation. I think we have to do a balance between the three manners. We should do the pupils love to utilize the other two manners by demoing them tips and bids.DecisionLearning manner is the manner of thought of a individual to derive information from environing. Each scholar has its ain manner to derive information. There are three types of larning manner ocular, audile and haptic. In ocular acquisition manner a scholar learns through sing the graph, notes, diagram, and image to derive information. In audile learning manner a scholar learns through listening to other people. Las t in haptic larning manner a scholar learns through touching things. The survey shows that most of the scholars use ocular acquisition manner to derive information, nevertheless we can non divide the other two acquisition manners because the three acquisition manners are related to each other. In decision, I would wish to state that all the three acquisition manner are of import for larning procedure, instructor or teacher should cognize every single scholar manner.RecommendationsTeachersProvide online study for the pupils, in order to cognize pupils larning manners Design activities to promote the usage of auditory and tactile manners Supply one talk at least in every class for pupils to give them tips for analyzing11Course of study interior decoratorsDesign course of studies with more focal point to images, graphs, diagrams etc†¦ Design course of studies that focus on ocular, audile and haptic mannersStudentsDesign box suggestions Design postings which show the importance of larning manners. Corporate with teachers to find acquisition manners12

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

The policy of the United States

This essay will generate the ideas of the role between border security and counter terrorism. The subcategories that will be discussed along side this theory are the lack of border security, both south of the United States and north. The policy of the United States toward immigration will also give the paper a close-up of the harm illegal aliens who are not apprehended will do, not only to the status of the economy but to national terrorism . In the emergence of a lax border security, finally, the issue of this juxtaposed with the opportunity that exists for terrorists to exploit will also be developed in the paper.In order for a more substantial argument to evolve in this paper a brief history with terrorism and border control will be argued as well as the history of the US Patriot Act and other issues in the past with the United States concerning immigration, illegal aliens, and terrorists. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there have been many changes in the ways the United States government functions. The first act of alteration to the normal code of conduct was the drafting and passage of the USA PATRIOT Act.There are many who see this act as a bold defense against the fear of terrorism for the American public, however, a growing number of people see the changes in American governmental policy and overall attitude towards enemies and allies alike as an affront against proper American values and freedom. As Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter explain, there is a distinct politic to the notion of terrorism. However, these tactics are not always effective. There are many events of terrorism in the world each year, yet only a handful are regarded with any merit.According to Kydd and Walter, through a well argued and insightful article, it is â€Å"the trust between groups† that must be destroyed for an extremist attack to be successful. This is the motivation behind the response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. On December 6, 2001, then Attorney General John Ashcroft addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee in praise of this act, and it’s restructuring of the NSA, CIA and FBI. (Ashcroft 524) His rhetoric was patriotic and concise, and his views of the USA PATRIOT act and its changes seemed sincere.This was supported with the passage of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, which paved the road for the Patriot act itself. Eric Rosand wrote about the resolution in 2003. His response to its necessity was one of sympathy to the government, for having to face such a difficult challenge. However, not everyone who has commented on the alterations of the US governmental policy has done so with such reverence. David Cole compared the investigations into possible terrorist cells in the United States, to the â€Å"Palmer Raids† of 1919 – where, following a series of bombings, J.Edgar Hoover led a series of â€Å"round ups† of immigrants across the country and held them without trial or charge in â€Å"unconscionable conditions, interrogated incommunicado and in some cases tortured†. (529) This attitude has spread throughout the country, as the appearance of indecency has flooded the government’s handling of the terrorists investigations. Mary Jacoby brings up the question of the legal definition of â€Å"Detainee†. This is in response to the holding of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.The prisoners of this facility have been acquired from around the world – from the war in Afghanistan, and from arrests done in dozens of countries around the world. However, the problem arises when the soldiers fighting for the Afghan military are brought in as detainees, rather than prisoners of war. While the Guantanamo prison has its apologists, such as Charles Krauthammer – who states that freeing of these men would be â€Å"lunacy† (537) – the fact remains, that in strict terms, the United States is in br eech of the Geneva Convention by holding POWs.The United States government however sees this detention as necessary. The United States also enlists other tactics involving border control. The United States since September 11 has kept a more watchful eye on the Mexican border to ensure that large trucks are not passing the borders which could hold weapons, but this seems to be the only action officials and military are taking in regards to border control according to Zagorin (2004) in The Mexican Border Will Get a Closer Look.In this article Zagorin is hard pressed to find any true action the US is taking in regards to border control and Zagorin sites many examples of how Mexico is making its own efforts to decrease the chances al-Qaeda terrorists coming into the country or leaving the country, â€Å"The Mexicans will also focus on flight schools and aviation facilities on their side of the frontier. †¦another episode has some senior U. S.officials worried; the theft of a crop- duster aircraft south of San Diego, apparently by three men from southern Mexico who assaulted a watchman and then flew off in a southerly direction†¦ a senior U. S. law-enforcement official notes that crop dusters can be sued to disperse toxic substance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (19). In contrast to the underlying belief of the lax nature in Zagorin’s article Andreas (2003) holds a very different opinion in his article Perspective.This article gives details about the before and after September 11 border security in the United States dealing with both the Mexican and Canadian border. Prior to September 11 the United States focused its energy on deterring the flow of drugs between the borders. Thus the model by which the United States is equipped in handling border security in regards to terrorism is very juvenile in design because their previous focus has been on migrant workers and masses of illegal immigrants rather than to search a crowd and discover a few terrorists (4).Another i ssue that arises in the approach of the Mexican border is that the south border of the United States received much more attention than the Canadian border, â€Å"†¦only 334 agents were assigned to the 5,525-mile northern border compared with over 9,000 agents stationed at the 2,062-mile southern edge† (4), however, since September 11 there are an equal amount of agents patrolling both borders. Under the Patriot Act, as stated previously, the number of agents present in the Canadian border has tripled in a response to September 11.In an effort to stop terrorism, the US coastguard now stops every boat crossing the Great Lakes as well as escorts large tankers. Thus, Andreas states that these new border securities have merely taken the old ideas of drug trafficking measures and applied them to terrorism which makes for an increase of difficulty in border control (Andreas, 5). Fernando Reinares noted in his article, The Empire Rarely Strikes Back, that after â€Å"more than 2400 acts of terrorism against American citizens and interests† there have been only â€Å"three occasions of overt military response†.(Reinares 92) However, because of the incredible size and depth of impact of the September 11th attacks, war became unavoidable. There did arise a problem with the military action, however, as a growing public opinion seemed to point the target ast Islam itself, rather than just Al-Qaeda. This prompted the United States to â€Å"enlist the help of as many Islamic nations as possible† to counter act this perception. (Aretxega 143)This coalition of Islamic nations does nothing to counteract the rise in racial profiling within the United States. Sherry Colb wrote about the foreseen changes in American law enforcement following the September 11th attacks. Her article articulated the problem of racial profiling and its consequences. Cold notes that â€Å"real numbers do not support profiling†. (539) However this does not stop th e utilization of profiling in airports, or in traffic stops. However, this too has its supporters, from such sources as law professor Roger Clegg.His response to the topic of racial profiling is one of acceptance and justification. â€Å"So what? † (Clegg 542) Clegg asks of the act of profiling. However his racial make-up lends itself easily to such opinions, as an educated white male is rarely confronted for being white, educated or male. But profiling at the borders is the number one cause by which patrols see fit to apprehend an individual since they fit the profile and the Patriot Act backs up the idea of border security no matter what the cost.The changes in the United States since September 2001 have been many and wide in scope, however there is little agreement as to whether these changes are for the better – or even legal. As illustrated in these articles, the several aspects of governmental policy that have been affected by these attacks have been met with acc eptance and praise, as well as contempt and ridicule – with communicative and sincere arguments on both sides. Though, despite the eloquent nature of the arguments, they do not dissuade one from his or her own opinion.It is the learned set of moral values that create one’s opinion of the new America. The issue of border control seems increasingly to be an issue of economics and as much as the United States focuses its attention on increasing patrol, it is also obstructing trade between countries and so the lax behavior or approach in certain instances of policing and allowing immigrants to cross borders presents to the theorist that increased border control does not necessarily lead to a more protected country.In Kiely’s (2006) article GOP View, she states that the United States is more focused on illegal immigration than terrorism and using terrorism as a guise by which to exert an autocratic policing style which does not give rights to immigrants, â€Å"A bil l the House passed in December called for making illegal immigration a felony offense, punishable by at least a year in jail†¦Under the law, people who cross the border without permission are already guilty of a criminal misdemeanor.But people who enter the country legally and then overstay their visas—as many as 40% of the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, according to Sensenrenner—are guilty of a civil violation† (1). Thus it becomes apparent that the United States is focusing more attention on illegal immigration than on terrorism since all of their efforts are geared toward this goal. Since the United States has merely adapted their approach to finding terrorists in the same fashion by which they find illegal immigrants there seems to exist a very unreliable system.The terrorists that entered the country each had different ways to travel, false papers of identification and would have been apprehended if the border security had not been as lax as they had been and since their approach to border control has not changed dramatically as a system, but merely as having more patrols and policing the gate is left open for terrorism, as The US 9/11 Commission on Border Control (2004), states, â€Å"We found that as many as 15 of the 19 hijackers were potentially vulnerable to interception by border authorities.Analyzing their characteristic travel documents and travel patterns could have allowed authorities to intercept 4 of the 15 hijackers and more effective use of information available in U. S. government databases could have identified up to 3 hijackers† (570).Since these hijackers could have been apprehended but were not, and the government has only increased the number of patrols on the either border and not per se the system by which illegal immigrants are apprehended it stands to reason that the government is not altogether prepared or establishing a methodology in apprehending terrorists, they are mere ly cracking down by using brute force without strategy,Looking back, we can also see that the routine operations of our immigration laws—that is, aspects of those laws not specifically aimed at protecting against terrorism—inevitably shaped al Qaeda’s planning and opportunities. Because they were deemed not to be bona fide tourists or students as they claimed, five conspirators that we know of tried to get visas and failed, and one was denied entry by an inspector.We also found that had the immigration system set a higher bar for determining whether individuals are who or what they claim to be—and ensuring consequences for violations—it could potentially have excluded, removed, or come into further contact with several hijackers who did not appear to meet the terms for admitting short-term visitors (570). Thus, the article emphasized the lack of a system in uncovering terrorism as part of border security. Aristotle was partial to pluralism. He did place his faith in the idea that humans ‘aped’ reality and copy what they are witnessing, and thus making reality a reserved, unattainable subject.A person’s personal truth, through the philosophy of pluralism and Aristotle, has a background involving historical context and empirical evidence wherein truth can be extrapolated. Aristotle believed that pluralism dealt more with a person’s culture than with a vast array of immitigable scenarios. For Aristotle, pluralism, and not unity allowed for change in the universe, and in this avenue of discourse Aristotle presented the concept of both motion and rest existing in the world in simultaneous reality, â€Å"†¦it is not the case that all things are at rest or in motion sometimes and nothing for ever; for there is something which always moves the things that are in motion, and the first mover is itself unmoved [Ibid. , 29-32, p. 751]. † Therefore, life, reality, self exist on a plane where the poss ibility of truth is represented in many. Thus, the United States’ approach to terrorism is found to be understood as the common good for everyone as opposed to the common good based on one man.This is shown in the allowance of holding foreigners in prisons without trial in order to gain information from them, and even in some cases indulging in torture in order to protect the greater good as is stated in Aristotle’s logos. In the reality that existed for Aristotle through the philosophy concept of pluralism, empirical facts were the focus, goal and reality which human beings base their existence. In this existence, it is not necessary for a common laborer to delve into the meanderings of the Ideal Good possibly having relevance for anyone besides a philosopher.The absolute idea for Aristotle was not found in abstract concepts but rather in empirical multiplicity and continuous transformation of facts based on frame of reference, history, and culture. It is through thes e fundamental approaches that human beings come to know their own truth instead of delving into the misrepresentation of Forms given through Plato’s unity, â€Å"Pythagoreans say that things exist by ‘imitation’ of numbers, and Plato says they exist by participation, changing the name.But what the participation or the imitation of the Forms could be they left an open question [Ibid. , ll-14, p. 7O1]. † The interaction of Forms and human beings in the universe is the core concept on the philosophy of pluralism, as Aristotle states, â€Å"Platonists speak as if the One were homogeneous like fire or water; if this is so, the numbers will not be substances.Evidently, if there is a One-itself, and this is a first principle, ‘One’ is being used in more than one sense; for otherwise the theory is impossible [Ibid. , 992a 7-10, p. 7O9]. † Through metaphysics Aristotle suggests that existence is not reliant upon numbers, reasons, or Forms alone, but only that the realistic forms are primary, which is the approach the United States government is taking in regards to counter-terrorism. The number one priority of preventing terrorism is to prevent terrorist travel.This tactic however has not been seriously employed with regards to border security and finding and preventing terrorism since the focus, as previously stated, is more about finding terrorists, not finding the means by which they are mobile. One system that has not be utilized in border security is the means by which to detect whether documentation is authentic since terrorists have system by which they infiltrate a country. Their travel channels should be found and exploited, but no real clause in the Patriot Act has been given or stated.Terrorists establish themselves in the United States through their travel channels by which there is a paper trail of documents; therefore, the Patriot Act, and NAFTA should not only be focusing their efforts at the borders where t he terrorists may or may not be traveling but the government should also be wary of terrorist activity already transpiring inside the country, as The US 9/11 Commission on Border Control, â€Å"Each of these checkpoints or portals is a screening-a chance to establish that people are who they say they are and are seeking access for their stated purpose, to intercept identifiable suspects, and to take effective action† (571). This paper has shown that although the United States is refocusing efforts on border control their methodology has not been new in design as counter terrorism efforts call for, but instead the United States seems to have merely increased the number of patrols across the border and not changed the system by which they seek out terrorists.In the information presented in this paper it gave different avenues by which the United States could be making a better effort to fight terrorism by simply having a different strategy on terrorism inclusive of finding thei r travel channels and relying on identification and false passports. The United States approach to border control, since they are using the same system now as prior to September 11 have not changed how they approach terrorists and their apprehension thus leaving room for terrorists to take advantage of this lax method and exploit it. Bibliography Andreas, Peter. (2003 3rd Quarter). Perspective. Regional Review. Vol. 13, Issue 2, p3-7. Aretxaga, Begona. (Winter 2001). Terror as Thrill: First Thoughts on the ‘War on Terrorism’. Anthropological Quarterly. Vol. 75, No. 1, p138-150. Kiely, Kathy. (13 April 2006).GOP View: Illegal Immigration Won’t be Felony. USA Today. Kydd, Andrew; Walter, Barbara. (Spring 2002). Sabotaging the Peace: The Politics of Extremist Violence. International Organization. Vol. 56, No. 2, p263-296. Reinares, Fernando. (Jan-Feb 2002). The Empire Rarely Strikes Back. Foreign Policy. No. 128. P. 92-94. Rosand, Eric. (April 2003). Security Counci l Resolution 1373, the Counter-Terrorism Committee, and the Fight against Terrorism. The American Journal of International Law. Vol. 97, No. 2, p333-341. The US 9/11 Commission on Border Control. (2004). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. p569-574. Zagorin, Adam. (22 November 2004). Bordering On Nukes? Time. Vol. 164 Issue 21, p19.

Athenian Democracy 4 Essay

Who really made our type of government? We surely didn’t. It was amazingly the people of Athens. It started in 508 BC and is still around as we use it. It remains a unique and intriguing experiment in direct democracy where the people do not elect representatives to vote on their behalf but vote on legislation and executive bills in their own right Participation was not at all open, but the in-group of participants was constituted with no reference to economic class and they participated on a scale that was truly phenomenal. The public opinion of voters was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters. Only adult male Athenian citizens who had completed their military training as ephebes had the right to vote in Athens. We have had that and many other laws changed around the government. In our government every few years the people vote on new people to represent them, hence the name â€Å"Representative† Democracy. However the Athenian people also voted on some of their leaders but that was done in the Agora, which is where every male land owner who is over the age of twenty would meet. This meeting was called the assembly. The assembly could be best related to our State Representatives. Then just above them was the council of 500, who monitored the assembly and gave them topics to discuss, as well as bills to vote on. Above the council of 500 come the Magistrates. The Magistrates job can be best described as the â€Å"Police in the Government. † Their job is to ensure that all the laws are being followed and act accordingly when they are not. The Magistrates, despite the amount of power that they hold, are still not the highest government official in the Athenian democracy, after them comes the Council of the 10 Generals. The Council of 10 Generals was in charge of the military. The Athens didn’t start by being a democratic city. It was started by Cleisthenes whose reforms turned Athens from an oligarchy (government by the few) to a democracy (government of the people). The key to Athenian democracy was Cleisthenes redrawing of the social-political landscape of Athens and Attica. The chief magistrate of the city was often called the Archon eponymous or ruler. His responsibilities included conducting investigations of legal cases, in particular those that involved the state. He was responsible for protecting the orphans and heiresses with no family and to appoint the choregos who was in charge of organizing the religious festivals. The move towards democracy reflects other changes in society. In the prehistoric period, throughout Greece, aristocratic families have provided the main fighting force, as cavalry. In the seventh century the Greek city-states develop the new military idea of the heavily armed soldier, the hoplite. A remorseless phalanx of hoplites becomes as effective on the battlefield as the tank in modern times. These soldiers provide their own weapons and armor, but this is expensive. Several of the Greek oligarchies, including that of Athens in the sixth century, reflect the power of this middle class of citizens. A strategic change of direction by Athens, early in the fifth century, gives these poorer citizens a new power. The military effort is diverted into building up an Athenian navy. Triremes, the fast warships of the time, need men to row them. Suddenly every citizen has a part to play, and the crews of a fleet of warships have a self-evident political strength. A more radical democracy, introduced by Pericles in 462, is almost an inevitable result. Approximately one hundred officials out of a thousand were elected rather than chosen by lot. There were two main categories in this group: those required to handle large sums of money, and the 10 generals, the strategy. One reason that financial officials were elected was that any money embezzled could be recovered from their estates; election in general strongly favored the rich, but in this case wealth was virtually a prerequisite. Generals were elected not only because their role required expert knowledge but also because they needed to be people with experience and contacts in the wider Greek world where wars were fought. In the fifth century BC, principally as seen through the figure of Pericles, the generals could be among the most powerful people in the polis. Yet in the case of Pericles, it is wrong to see his power as coming from his long series of annual generalships (each year along with nine others). His office holding was rather an expression and a result of the influence he wielded. That influence was based on his relation with the assembly, a relation that first lay simply in the right of any citizen to stand and speak before the people. Under the fourth century version of democracy the roles of general and of key political speaker in the assembly tended to be filled by different persons. In part this was a consequence of the increasingly specialized forms of warfare practiced in the later period. Elected officials too were subject to review before holding office and scrutiny after office. They too could be removed from office any time the assembly met. In one case from the fifth century BC the 10 treasurers of the Delian league (the Hellenotamiai) were accused at their scrutinies of misappropriation of funds. Put on trial, they were condemned and executed one by one until before the trial of the tenth and last an error of accounting was discovered, allowing him to go free.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership Essay

Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership - Essay Example nternal efforts to sustain competitive advantages through the process of innovation which serves to change the balance of competitive dominance in an established industry. This report aims to identify the corporate entrepreneurship behaviours at the Sony Corporation, a multi-national firm operating in the consumer electronics industry; a highly saturated competitive environment. Utilising a mixed methodology of secondary and primary research, this study undertakes a qualitative analysis of CE activities (or lack thereof) at the identified corporation to determine entrepreneurial behavioural impact on strategic initiatives, innovation, organisational structure and culture at the firm. A general qualitative analysis of the firm’s current competitive advantages and competitive market position is inclusive in the research. It is assumed that Sony Corporation, a company with a rich history of operations established in 1946, maintains significant entrepreneurial behaviour internally. Upon Sony’s establishment, the business only maintained $530 in available capital and maintained a workforce of only eight employees (Abiko 1966). With such a limited volume of available resources, Sony was able to convince Bell Labs to license the new innovation, the transistor, which ultimately led to Sony being a pioneering market entrant for launch of the first transistor radio. It is unlikely that Sony maintained limited entrepreneurial behaviours in its long history, an assumption based on a rich history of being a market innovator in many different product categories. This assumption will be tested utilising research on the firm. During the 1970s, Sony’s most important market, the United States, maintained a very negative perception regarding the quality of Japanese-made products. However, Sony continued to outperform many American-produced products in the consumer electronics industry which radically changed U.S. consumer perceptions of the made in Japan label (Lohr 1983).

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Apocalypse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apocalypse - Essay Example The film has its direction of Edgar Wright. The story is about a man who is attempting to get focus on his life and deal with a bigger issue of dealing with the rising of the Zombie Apocalypse. The film depicts the current cultural phenomenon in Hollywood and around the world as we will see when comparing and contrasting the two films. The antagonists in both the "Blade Runner" and "Shaun of the Dead" depict human-like characteristic in their physical form but are still monsters. The stories are science fiction that depicts the robot apocalypse and a zombie apocalypse. They are both set in the future. The changes that modernity brought into the world and advancement in technology is what led to the making of the two films. "Shaun of the Dead" shows anxiety through the spread of viral capitalism around the world. The zombie apocalypse leads to denial of the people to ever go back to normalcy (Wright, 2004). "Blade Runner" also has a form of denial when the cooperations that comes up with replicants who do not want to go back to humans. It is because the replicants are more human than human beings (Scott, 1982). It shows how the future people are satisfied with the apocalypse of either zombies or genetically engineered replicants. There is a fear among the human race about a possible apocalypse as we see the making of the two films. The human beings in both films defend themselves from the unwanted creatures that have invaded the earth. â€Å"Shaun from the dead† has the people from the bar defend themselves after the return of the zombies to haunt them. The zombies feed on human beings thus the rise of the zombies means the end of the human population (Wright, 2004). The replicants from â€Å"Blade Runner† are also created to finish the human population as they are superior to human beings. The humans must, therefore, fight against the robots before the monsters lead to their end. We see the fight between human beings and the replicants from the film (Scott,

Saturday, July 27, 2019

A Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisational Behaviour Theories Essay

A Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisational Behaviour Theories - Essay Example As such, this essay seeks to critically analyse the influence of HRM practices and organisational behaviour on the performance of the individuals as well as the organization as a whole. The essay starts by explaining the meaning of the key term, organizational behaviour and this will be followed by the evaluation of various factors that can affect the performance of the employees. The last part of the paper will summarize the main points discussed. Basically, organisational behaviour can be summed up as the study of what people do in an organization and how that behaviour affects the performance of the organization (Robbins, 1993). Organisational behaviour is specifically concerned with employment related situations and it emphasizes on aspects such as work, productivity, human performance and management. As such, there is a correlation between organisational behaviour and HRM given that these are employee oriented. In order for the workers to put optimum performance in their operati ons, it is imperative that the leadership of the organization put some measures that are meant to ensure that they are satisfied with their work. This leads to improvement in their performance which ultimately leads to the productivity of the organization as a whole.... Leadership is generally defined as â€Å"the social process of influencing people to work voluntarily, enthusiastically and persistently towards a purposeful group or organisational goal,† (Werner, 2007, p.36). A leader often adds an inspirational and emotional dimension to the organization through creating a shared vision among the members and inspiring people within that particular organization to be passionate towards the achievement of the vision and set goals. It can be noted that change is also inevitable in organisations hence there is need for the HRM to take a holistic approach in anticipating such changes. Given the complexity of the changing human resources management landscape, the leader has to be better positioned to engage the employees through working with them such that they will be in a better position to put optimum performance in their operations. The human resources managers as leaders play a great role in anticipating both internal as well as external fac tors that can affect the operations of the employees. More often than not, certain changes are viewed with mixed reactions by the members of the organisation hence there is need to first identify the aspects that can immediately affect the performance of the workers. Internally, there may be need for the managers to change the roles played by the employees but this strategy requires them to take into consideration the needs of the workers. Individuals in an organization have different needs and aspirations to fulfil hence their efforts have to be catered for by the management (Robbins, 1993). Some situations can emerge within the organization where there will be need to move away from traditional ways of doing

Friday, July 26, 2019

The Gay Pride Parade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Gay Pride Parade - Essay Example Thus, to commemorate the Stonewall riots, the LGBT community in New York organized for an annual event that would be held on every last Saturday of June, both in New York and also in different parts of the USA, as a reminder that the gay people also have their rights. The result of this initial LGBT initiative of 1969 has been the establishment and proliferation of the Gay Pride Parade worldwide, a movement that has become so big, that it has caught the attention of the world as the most attended and active rights advocacy events of the modern day (Eisenbach, 2006). Thus, while the Gay Pride Parades have managed to achieve the objectives of the LGBT community in a successful and highly unanticipated manner, the questions that this success raises is; what has been the function of the Gay Pride Parades in changing the public opinion? The fact that the Gay Pride Parades globally have turned out to be the most pompous and colorful events of the 21st century can no longer be doubted, while the fact that these events have attracted millions of people; both gay and non-gay members of the society is also unarguable (Alessandra, 2000). Thus, considering the fact that the gay community was treated with resentment, hostility and even contempt in the 1950s and the 1960s, there is no doubt that the public opinion on the LGBT community globally is changing. Additionally, the fact that the societal perception of the LGBT community has changed is easily demonstrated by the fact that the Gay Pride Parades have been held even in the most conservative parts of the world, where such events are unlikely to have any support, or at least to be even allowed. Uganda is a country in Africa that is known to be vocal in voicing its resistance against the gay rights, through establishing legislations that have offered strict punishment, s uch as death penalties, for the LGBT

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Samsung Group (FINAL) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Samsung Group (FINAL) - Assignment Example Data Collection Method 8 Data collection process for the project 8 G. References 10 A. Background & Rationale Profile of the Organization Samsung is one of the leading electronic organizations around the globe. The organization introduced huge range of products in global market. Therefore, it is easy and convenient to conduct a research study on Samsung. This study will highlight various aspects of Samsung Electronics’ global value chain. Samsung Group is a South Korea based multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Seoul. The organization was founded in the year 1938 by Lee Byung-Chul (Peng, 2012). Over the next few decades the organization diversified into textiles, food processing, retail, securities and insurance industries. Electronic goods, semi conductors and mobile phones are Samsung’s key sources of income for the company (Chang, 2011). In terms of revenue, Samsung was recognized as the largest information technology company in the year 2012. In addit ion, Samsung Heavy Industries was considered the second largest shipbuilder around the globe measured by 2010 revenue. Presently the organization has more than 1000 business entities around the globe. ... This report will focus on two divisions of Samsung Electronics, such as connected media development and mobile media. The study will outline the innovation opportunities for the global organizations by determining the entry points in the organizational structure of Samsung Electronics. Moreover, the study will reveal how the global organizations can engage themselves in several stages of the value chain of Samsung Electronics. B. Research Need and Importance Management Problems Samsung has faced several problems regarding excessive localization. Huge localization had resulted more decentralized structure. It was very disappointing for Samsung group. The global operation of Samsung was not profitable at one point of time. In the year 1998, the organization closed down its few of the electronics factories due to lack of adequate decision making process of regional headquarters (Chang, 2011). Moreover, the organization implemented integration strategy for its employees, but the employee s of Samsung Group rejected this integration strategy. Moreover, the organization faced several labor problems in China. Negative publicity in the blogging community created huge challenge for Samsung in the year 2012. Samsung group is one of the leading mobile phone manufacturers in the world. An ongoing copyright dispute with Apple Inc. over some smart phone technologies affected the brand image of Samsung Group. The organization faced several legal and ethical issues due to the inadequate working condition in the Chinese manufacturing plants. Marketing Research Problems Marketing research activity is time consuming and expensive. Therefore, it is important for the organization to do effective real time research. However, Samsung group has identified

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Business Ethics Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Ethics Assignment - Essay Example The amount of fast food advertising the children are exposed to everyday affects their diet to a great extent. This issue is very pressing as recently the world has witnessed the effects of fast food consumption on their health. In order to calculate the effects of fast-food on the health of people, 3301 black and white adults were interviewed. They were asked to give information about their diets, physical bodily activity and other life style factors. The results showed that those who had fast-food more than twice a week were more likely to gain an extra 10 pounds and has two times greater increase in insulin resistance. (Garner, 2005) The amount of youngsters in the United States who are obese, have type 2 diabetes, and are at the risk of obesity is pressing. (McGinnis et al., 2006) Overweight and obese adults suffer from type 2 diabetes and this is usually linked to other illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. (Diabetes in children increasing with fast food lifestyle, 2002) A new study by University of California Los Angeles researchers found that advanced heart failure patients with diabetes who are treated with insulin have a death rate four times higher than when treated with oral medications. (Gardner, 2005) In 1960's the number of obese children was approximately 5 percent and in 2002 it increased to 16 percent. This means that the number has tripled in the past forty years. The statistics show how serious a matter this is and why this should be a nationwide concern. 9 million children from the United States are obese and what is worse is that another 15 percent of the children are at risk. (McGinnis et al., 2006) Another very shocking statistic is $100 billion is spent on health-care costs every year. (Gardner, 2005) According to Schlosser, among toddlers in the United States, 21 percent which makes up roughly one-fifth of all the American toddlers, are eating French-fries every day. (Tablac, 2003) The present diet of the children is extremely high in calories, fat, and sugar and is not healthy at the same time. (McGinnis et al., 2006) Fast food is often called unsafe food because of richness in salt and sugar. (Thimphu, 2007) The effects of this unhealthy diet also include diseases later in life including heart failures, diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis. It is now the responsibility of parents, health officials, governments and businesses to realize the magnitude of this problem. They should do something about it so that the children will have a safe healthy future. The diet of these children should change. They should have more intakes of vitamins, fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products. (McGinnis et al., 2006) According to Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number one health problem in the United States is not SARS. It is obesity that is becoming the number one health problem. (Ruskin, 2003) The Role of MarketingNow the question is how does this work How is marketing of fast food so persuasive that it changes the way people eat. These people include the growing population of both the developed and the developing countries. The marketing of fast food includes its four P's: Price, Promotion, Product, and Placement. Mediums like magazines, television,

Dysfunctional Family as Portrayed in Hollywood Movies Essay

Dysfunctional Family as Portrayed in Hollywood Movies - Essay Example These movies’ mainly highlight those characters who are little different from others or rather behave in a strange manner. These characters are mainly dealt with, in a humorous way  which evokes laughter as well as makes it worth watching, as after all providing entertainment is one of the main goals of the film industry. These movies mainly centre on the fact how the life of these characters act as a hindrance to the growth of their families and in the process becomes the main subject of such movies. We can discuss the portrayal of these Dysfunctional  families in Hollywood Movies with reference to few of its remarkable presentations. This film is one of the most famous works of Wes Andersen. The whole storyline revolves around a dysfunctional family. Gene Hackman is one of that Royal Tenenbauam who was the father of three children but was unaware of the fact as to how to raise them in a proper manner. However the three children achieved success in their life mainly due to a lady called Mrs. T. Anjelica Houston has played this role in this movie. However though they are successful they are to some extent neurotic. In the movie we find certain phases which evoke hilarity. Bill Murray is shown as a confused husband and also confusion seems to be there regarding the fact whether Danny Glover is Mrs. Tenenbaum’s fiancà © or not. Royal, one of the main characters of this movie is shown to be a person who in his old age is seeking for attention from his family. This expectation of his however never materializes as his children are busier with their personal life and his wife Mrs. T is also planning to get remar ried. He however manages to get the attention of one of the clans but that too for a few days. It is regarded as one of the brilliant films of Mr. Andersen and his rise as a mainstream director from being just an independent director proves it. (The Royal Tenenbaums) This is a film

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Unit 8 Discussion Family & Domestic Violence Research Paper

Unit 8 Discussion Family & Domestic Violence - Research Paper Example Such laws simply increase the rates of the population that repeats the offensive practices. Such arrests do increase and escalate the probability of retaliation by the abusers having a history of violence, or to the unemployed victims with minimal losses during the arrest period. The policies fail to empower the survivors through discouraging them from police involvement. They results into ultimate increase in the number of women arrested, and sometimes cases of dual arrest, where the survivor and offender are taken to custody. The state will hence lay the blame game on the offender rather than victim. The laws are not well applicable, fails to implement the criminal justice law and discourage women from reporting any future violence act. Therefore, they fail to provide the ideal security to the victims undergoing through domestic violence. The specialized domestic violence courts response to domestic violence and other forms of sexual assault. Their core goal is to improve the safety of all the victims of domestic injustice and the sexually vulnerable people. They aim at enhancing accountability in the field of domestic violence, ensuring that there is justice and the rights of the victims are promoted. They do facilitate decision-making and conflict resolution in families. The courts do offer intensive domestic violence advantages. They ensure that the cases are coordinated well and ideal processes. They do promote a lot of confidence in the community since there is an accountability pattern. The court systems play the advocacy to the rights of the populations. The judges have an opportunity to deal with great different case of domestic violence. One shortcoming of the Court system is the violation of privacy of the parties involved. All the family conflicts are allayed in

Monday, July 22, 2019

Should College Have One Attendance Policy Essay Example for Free

Should College Have One Attendance Policy Essay The college should have one attendance policy for all departments. Attendance policy is strange things, and perhaps the strangest thing about them is how often they completely differ from one another. There is no college – wide attendance policy that students must follow, but many departments create their own. Some departments have strict attendance policies, but many times the policy is whatever the professor feels like. I think the college should adopt a more uniform attendance policy for several reasons. First of all, the lack of uniformity can be mind – boggling for student. Attendance policy varies a lot between professors. Some professors don’t enforce these policies; many make up their own and put it in their syllabus. It’s not uncommon for a gen-ed to have a strict attendance policy while an important course for student’s major has a very lenient one. It’s obviously more important that the student attend the major course, but he or she only faces consequences if the gen-ed is missed. Second of all, many department policies are not enforced by professors. This is worse than not having a policy in the first place. How are students supposed to take showing up to class seriously if their teachers don’t? Another reason, attendance policies do not do a good job of reflecting the importance of a class. Furthermore the inconsistent attitudes professors have towards them are confusing to student. Therefore, when faces with so many varying opinions on the importance or unimportance of attendance policies, students lose the basic point. However, every student should attend all classes. Not only are professor there to teach you in the first place, you paid to learn. Not going to class is essentially throwing money away while pretending to be a student. In short, attendance policy at college should be changed in order to be more consistent. Either do away with policies altogether and let the students face the long-term consequences of their actions, or find a policy every professor in the department will stand behind and enforce.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The rapid evolution of rock music

The rapid evolution of rock music Rock Music its Rapid Evolution Introduction Music has been with man since the dawn of time. Every beat or sound can some way be considered as a form of music. Dating back to early man music could have been something as simple as the soothing sound of a waterfall or a tree swaying with the wind or a wild animal running through a forest. Today music is so diversified and so engrained in our lives that practically every child or teenager even an adult has a vast list of songs that they might listen to on their mp3 players. There are many varied branches of music existing today. These branches have now expanded to encompass everything from the tribal beats to anything that comes out of a synthesizer. And although we find music in many forms today, Im sure the purists would disagree with what the youth of today call great music. Now-a-days it seems the search is on for the â€Å"in music†. Music thats making everybody feel good now and which is discarded in a heartbeat once something better comes along. So what is it that has made rock music go so steady all these years? The reason why I have chosen Rock music for my seminar paper topic is that, I truly am very passionate about this genre of music. Rock Music or Rock as it is so called is vastly misunderstood by people, most of whom simply associate it with negative stereotypes like drug addiction, alcoholism, violence, sexual abuse, demonic control and other vices. One cannot blame people for having such misconceptions about Rock since over the years many of the famous Rock artists have come to be known mainly for their drug addiction and other outrageous behaviour under the influence of alcohol and chemical substances. However it is important to understand that one must separate the artist from his music and not pass unnecessary judgment on the music just based on the vices of the artist. Another misconception is that rock is only drums and guitar, when that is only the public face of Rock. There is a host of other instruments that are key elements to rock music as a whole, other than just guitar and percussion. Rock Music History Origins I would now like to begin with the History of Rock music. Where did it originate? What are its roots? How has it evolved along the years? What is the scenario at present? There are several views as to where exactly the Rock genre got up and going. And many believe that Rock originated in the west with the dawn of Rock Roll by Elvis Presley. However that is far from the case. It all started off during the post-war urbanization of America. The popular music of the late 1940s included country music, folk music, the blues, rhythm and blues (known as RB), jazz and classical music. Basically rock music hails from a blend of various popular music genres at that time in the United States of America. Rock music started off in the late 1940s when people wanted to move out from the slow beat jazz music and the slow electrified blues music to a much faster beat rhythm filled tune at that time. The rock sound is believed to have primarily originated with the guitar. It is believed that the existing guitar tunes used in blues music was soon blending in with other forms of music like jazz, classical music, folk music and other popular forms of music existing back then. All this led to the birth of Rock music as a separate genre of music which back then came to be known as Rock n Roll towards the early 1950s. Around that time i.e. the late 1940s to the early 1950s Rhythm and Blues (RB) musicians mainly concentrated on the black audience. However later onwards musicians started playing for a multi-racial audience. These musicians also targeted the newer forms or blends of music towards this audience. Later on these same fast beat blends of RB and the blues etc came to be coined as ‘Rock n Roll. â€Å"It is believed that in 1951 in a town in Cleveland, Ohio in USA a musician by the name of Alan Freed is said to have began playing a new form of RB music for a multi-racial audience is believed to have first used the phrase ‘Rock ‘N Roll to describe his music.† Source: Icons of Rock Scott Schinder with Andy Schwartz Encyclopaedia Britannica Rock Music. Rock Music Evolution Rock music is believed to be one of those genres of music that has evolved very rapidly over the past 50 to 60 years. Its rapid evolution has been witnessed mainly over the last 50 years. It all started with good old Rock n Roll in the 1950s. This later evolved in the 1960s which was considered as a Golden Era for Rock music. Rock took a totally different turn with the British invasion of rock by the Beatles. This was later followed by what came to be known as Surf music in America which was a mix of the catchy rock n roll n the hip and happening Beatles music. The Beatles music also led to a new form of music that was called as the hippy and psychedelic rock music. In the 1970s which came to be known as the memorable years evolved different forms of rock music such as Hard Rock, Punk Rock also Pop Rock. The 1980s witnessed a change in the band members hair styles. This era also was famous for what was called as hair bands. It included styles of rock such as punk rock funk rock. It led to the evolution of Heavy Metal. Bands used to wear tight leather pants and sported insane long hairdos. The 1990s showed a completely new and insane evolution of rock. It gave newer forms of rock such as Grunge Rock Alternative Rock. It gave the revolutionary guitar distortion feedback. Many of the genres from the 1950s onwards till the 1999s are still well known today. Most of the bands in those eras are still popular today. Many of todays bands still play the different styles of rock music. Some of them even make remakes of those songs using modern day styles and instruments. The later half of 2000 also witness something that very well came to be known as fusion music. It involved bringing together classical music (Western or Indian) and blending it in with modern day rock music. This style today is very popular especially in our country among our Indian youth that have blended the Indian classical instruments very smoothly with instruments like the guitar, keyboard, percussion, etc. The 1950s The 1950s gave rise to the Youth culture. It faced problems such as racial tensions the advent of the Cold War. This first saw the advent of Rock n Roll with great artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Shadows, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Bill Haley the Comets, Gene Vincent, the Everly Brothers, and Carl Perkins, among many others. These were considered to be the first wave of Rock n Rollers. Rock and roll in its earliest stage could have been described as just blues with a few electric guitar tunes attached to it. In its purest form, Rock Roll was as simple as three chords, a strong yet insistent guitar back beat, and a catchy melody. Early rock roll was drawn from sources primarily including blues, RB, and country, but also gospel, traditional pop, jazz, and folk. These genres were combined together in a simple, blues-based song structure that was fast, danceable, and catchy. Rockabilly emerged in the mid1950s. It is simply a mix of rock and roll, country music, blues, and a little jazz too. It was a fundamental music genre of the 50s. The fathers or founders of Rock n Roll came t be known as Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard Chuck Berry. Their music revolutionized the music industry and later gave way to new forms of rock music in the decades to follow. Even in todays times their music is still very popular. Rockabilly was popularized by white singers like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins Jerry Lee Lewis who mainly concentrated on the country roots of the music. The Popular hits recorded around that time were Thats All Right (Mama) Elvis Presley, Heartbreak Hotel Elvis Presley, Rock Around the Clock Bill Haley the Comets, Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash, Blue Suede Shoes Carl Perkins. Another popular form of Rock n Roll in the 1950s was called the ‘Doo Wop. It emphasized on multi-part vocal harmonies and meaningless backing lyrics supported with light instrumentation. Its origins were African American vocal groups like the Inkspots the Mill Brothers. Famous bands of this form of music were The Orioles, The Ravens and The Clovers, that used a strong element of traditional gospel music in their songs. The great hits included â€Å"The Great Pretender† The Platters, â€Å"Yakety Yak† The Coasters â€Å"Yes Sir, Thats my Baby† The Clovers along with many others. Later on during the 1950s Elvis Presley came to be known as the King of Rock n Roll. Even today he is still remembered as ‘The King. The decline of Rock n Roll was witnessed during the early 1960s with the death of famous musicians like Buddy Holy and Richie Valens in a plane crash; the departure of Elvis Presley for the army, the retirement of Little Richard to become a preacher, prosecutions of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and the breaking of the payola scandal. All of the above incidents gave a sensation that the rock and roll era has come to an end. However during its decline rock n roll witnessed a feminine side with an introduction of love ballads targeted to a female audience the rise of girl groups like The Crystals and The Shirelles. All the events that occurred in the 1950s eventually led to what came to be known as Surf Music, Garage Rock the Twist dance craze. However the major event that was a hit in the 1960s was that of the rise of British Rock n Roll with the emergence of The Beatles which was greatly influenced by the Americas 1950s Rock n Roll. The 1960s The 1960s witnessed many events like that of the Vietnam War, Civil Rights War, Surf Music, Hippie culture, The San Francisco Scene, The Music of Protests the birth of Heavy Metal. Similarly Rock n Roll in the 1960s went through 4 phases or parts. These parts are as follows: Part I The Beatles The British Invasion Part II Motown Music Part III Classic Rock: The Sounds of the 1960s Part IV Message Music Before 1963 i.e. 1961 onwards America witnessed the rise of Surf Music a form of Rock n Roll. This music was pioneered by Duane Eddy, Link Wray, and The Ventures that added distinctive wet reverb style rapid alternate picking to the music. One of the famous hits was Lets Go Trippin in 1961 and this launched the surf music craze. The all time favourite band of this era is The Beach Boys. Part I The Beatles The British Invasion During this decade i.e. post 1963 America along with the rest of the world witnessed what came to be known only as ‘The British Invasion. During the 1960s the most well know and world renowned band of the British invasion was the one and only Beatles. The Beatles till today are considered to be the all time success stories of the 1960s. The main reason why the Beatles are considered one of the best and most influential rock bands of all time is the because they took what Elvis and other Rock n Roll artists created in the 1950s and transformed it into a whole new different thing. Hence this era is known as one that gave birth to a new age of Rock. The Beatlemania had begun with its first single hit song in 1962 â€Å"Love Me Do† in Great Britain. Along with the Rock n Roll of the 1950s the Beatles popularized new genres of rock music ranging from ranging from folk rock to psychedelic pop. The Beatles were so influential during the 1960s that their progressive ideals were considered to be social cultural revolutions. Other great hits of the Beatles include â€Å"I Wanna Hold Your Hand† which sold 2.6 million copies in the United States in just two weeks. The Beatles came out with many hits during this era such as â€Å"She Loves You†, â€Å"Please Please Me†, etc. Other emerging bands in this era included The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones greatest hit during this period was â€Å"Honky Tonk Woman† Part II Motown Music Motown was a Detroit based record company that was founded by Berry Gordy who was a one-time assembly line worker at Ford Motors. It became the most successful black owned record company by 1963. Motown had a number of vocal groups, songwriters musicians. The music recorded was known for its tight orchestrations and catchy lyrics. The music was based on the injustice to the black community during the Civil War. The Motown greats were The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves the Vandellas and Diana Ross The Supremes. Part III Classic Rock: The Sounds of the 1960s This era witnessed what was known as the Hippe culture. Their main chant was ‘Make Love Not War. Peace was their underlying theme. The Beatles is one of the famous bands that transitioned during this phase in terms of their look and music. Other artist that came to existence were Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Steppenwolf, Simon Garfunkel, Mamas and the Pappas and Lovin Spoonful. The famous concert of this era was The Woodstock. This was a concert for promoting peace, love brotherhood. Artists like Jimi Hendrix rocked the concert. Part IV Message Music Most themes found in rock and roll during this era dealt with love and relationships gone wrong. It followed the war on Vietnam the various protests being undertaken. The music was an attempt to reflect upon the events occurring at that time like the civil rights movement, the growing unrest over the war in Vietnam, and the rise of feminism. The message within the song focused on peace. Many songs received substantial airplay and became anthems at concerts, rallies, and demonstrations. The Message through Folk Music The Message through Rock Music The most well known artists to emerge from the folk tradition include Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, and the trio known as Peter, Paul, and Mary. In 1965, an artist, Barry McGuire hit the charts with a song that reflected the growing turmoil in the world. Other popular hippy and psychedelic bands such as Pink Floyd, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and others began to rule the world. These bands gave rise to the counterculture movement, trendsetters, with their drug induced lyrics and hypnotic melodies. Other genres of rock began to emerge such as progressive rock which is experimenting with other instruments other than guitar, bass and drums. This was popularized by Pink Floyd. Folk rock was popularized by Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin. The 1960s ultimately gave birth to heavy metal which is a thick, heavy, and highly amplified genre of rock mainly popularized by Black Sabbath. The world was just now beginning to witness the tremendous power impact rock really had on society. The 1970s In the 1970s the Vietnam War had ended, the protests stopped people began to settle down. Along with that, the music too did settle down. The world witnessed the split of the Beatles also the death of John Lennon. The 70s rock music brought different cultures and audiences closer together than ever before. Rock music began to branch out into new genres like Hard Rock, Heavy Metal Punk Rock. Led Zeppelin became extremely popular with its perfect blend of Hard Rock Blues music that they could call its own. In this era bands and artists such as David Bowie, Yes, The Eagles, and Queen became very influential. Towards the late 70s the world also witnessed the rise of Punk Rock. The founding fathers of punk were The Ramones. They combined anarchism and teenage rage with rock and roll and this came to be known as Punk Rock. Other bands such as The Sex Pistols and The Clash helped popularize and redefine punk rock. This new, powerful and intense genre of music influenced many bands of the future. The 1980s And then came the 1980s. Rock Music revolutionized itself in a way that everyone wanted to be part of the upcoming scene. The music took a different turn, more in terms of punk rock, new wave, heartland rock and alternative rock. Most people would think of the 80s as all about big hairdos and androgyny. The gay activists took to in a big way in this decade. People started embracing the opposite sex and everyone had colour in everything they did or wore. This inspired the rock music scene greatly. The eighties saw everything from enthusiasm to neon pink socks, worn by men. Creativity was expressed so greatly in the 1980s and artists wore their individuality with pride. The 1980s music scene is possibly considered as one of the strangest times in the evolution of rock music. Music artists were doing everything, a mix of bubblegum pop, sentimental forever ballads to thumping electric beats and even the hardest rock metal. This decade practically saw it all. Artist such as Bruce Springsteen, Guns and Roses, Van Halen, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and Motley Crue can best be remembered for their power ballads and great guitar solos. A new genre of music called as ‘New wave also emerged from punk, funk, and disco. It was made popular by artists such as Divo, The B-52s, Talking Heads, and Blondie. Indie rock or Alternative rock as it is well known began to emerge in the late 1980s with artists such as U2, R.E.M., The Cure, The Smiths, and Sonic Youth were very popular with college students. Punk also became more popular with bands such as Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys. This was also the time of producers. Theyre importance grew and artists took notice that a good producer could take their records to the market. Then came the advent of having soundtracks in movies. Record companies realized the economics in placing a song in a movie, the response was tremendous. Regardless of the variety, the music is the eighties was a big hit, it still is. And thats because the music spoke the minds of the people, it made no apologies, one could identify with a slow ballad by Phil Collins in the afternoon and put up their black leather jacket, rocking to Iron Maiden by night time, you dint have to apologize to anyone. Freedom of expression, experimenting and lyrics became an integral part of the eighties. And that is precisely the reason why the eighties they say will never die. The 1990s The early 90s was known as the era of grunge and alternative rock. Nirvana came to be known as the most popular grunge band of the 90s. Grunge music can be described as dirty guitar, strong guitar riffs with distortion and feedback. It consisted of dark lyrics and expressed teenage angst. Popular grunge and alternative bands were Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Janes Addiction and Alice in Chains. A more iconic scene was that of the emergence of female artists. Women were becoming much less dependent on men, and less oriented towards having a family-based future. They were daughters of women who fought for equal rights and they expressed it- in the form of words and notes. The magazine, Billboard brought about the commercial success of the music industry. It changed the way it ranked singles and albums of artists by tallying actual sales at retail stores instead of using the industry-manipulated word of mouth. Rock suddenly beat pop in terms of sales, and minority genres such as country and hip-hop began to enter the charts. This led the industry to invest more in these minority genres. The 1990s proved that music was for the listener and that the idea behind music was to view the artist as a whole, his production, his team, his lyrics, his image, his music video and his personality. Everyone had a favorite type of music and a favorite genre, a favorite artist and a favorite album. You couldnt help it- there were so many choices by this time. 2000 Present Alternative rock even today is one of the popular and broadest genre of rock music. Emo, is a new sub genre of rock that consists of intense emotional lyrics with hardcore punk roots. It was popularized by bands like From First to Last, The Used, Brand New and softer bands such as Dashboard Confessional and Bright Eyes which can also be described as indie. The word indie actually stands for independent and refers to bands that are part of an independent record label. However, today indie has a whole new meaning. Indie can be described as mainly underground and softer version of alternative rock. Popular indie bands include Death Cab for Cutie, The Strokes, Elliott Smith, The Decemberists, The Arcade Fire, The Postal Service a few others. Heavy metal has now reached an extremely new level. Sub-genres of heavy metal like black metal, death metal and thrash metal which is very loud, aggressive and fast entered the industry. Popular hardcore metal bands include Slipknot, As I Lay Dying, Korn, Norma Jean and Cannibal Corpse. Alternative rock has now become an all time hit with bands such as Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chevelle, Coldplay, and the Foo Fighters. Pop rock is another popular genre. It is rock mixed with a more mainstream approach and popular lyrics. Pop rock bands include Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, Ashlee Simpson, Avril Lavigne, and others. Another form of music that came about was the rap rock. They symbolized the fusion of the raw, street music and hard rock pelting beats. It was an instant hit with the fans of both the genres. Examples of such were Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Faith no More, Rage Against the Machine, etc Rock Music in the Indian Scenario Rock music caught on in India during the mid 70s. I remember hearing stories of my father and his brothers in small time bands playing the good oldies like Elvis Presley, The Carpenters, The Beatles, The Shadows, Bob Dylan and other artists on their guitars. These were many such small groups which were mainly Catholics that played all the dance numbers mainly for weddings the Christmas dance. These were the jive the twist numbers that people used to love to dance to back in the day. Towards the 80s artists like Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits Jethro Tull became quiet popular. People used to purchase these music cassettes and listen to this kind of music on their audio cassette players Sony Walkman. That however was a very long time ago. Things soon changed with the Gulf War of 1991 opening the gates to media in India. MTV was one of the channels that were beamed, along with CNN. Apart from Pop music what caught on quickly was rock. However, as an audience, the numbers in India were still minimal. It was only bands like Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and U2 that caught the fancy of many people. To a large extent, rock began and ended with Deep Purples Highway Star. The love for rock only meant name-dropping and wanting to sound fashionably rebellious. All that changed quickly changed to from the year 2000 onwards. Hard rock quickly caught on along with its counterpart Heavy Metal and is literally worshipped in many engineering colleges all over India. Many groups have been formed in various areas where the rock scene is still alive. These include Goa, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune Delhi. Many popular India bands hail from these areas and have composed pretty famous hits that are well known to the Indian Rockers. Many engineering colleges still pay tribute to Rock by hosting Rock shows where fans from various parts of the country rush to gather head bang in harmony. The first rock band in India to become famous was Indus Creed. Famous Indian rock bands of today include bands like Zero, Pentagram, Parikrama, Them Clones and various others. One happening rock shows of Mumbai used to be the Independence Rock gig at Rang Bhavan popularly known as I-Rock which used to be packed and crowded as it was very popular and had bands playing from all over the country. Off late the popularity of i-rock has died down due to the change in date and venue due to certain restrictions. Another new genre of rock music that has probably evolved in India is Fusion rock which involves blending Indian classical instruments with that of the electric guitar, keyboard drums. This is something that is definitely coming up in the country with rock songs in Hindi rather than English and even in Hinglish. I still feel that there is very poor liberalization for Rock music in our country but as time passes by things will definitely seem to be getting better. One evident fact is Channel Vs ‘Launch Pad that takes place every year that hunts to find the Countries most popular and best Rock band. Along with Channel V, MTV has also started something called as Rock on Desi Beats that hunts for fusion rock bands of the country and popularizes the best. Another evident fact that rock music is catching up quickly was the launch of the movie ‘Rock On directed by starring Farhan Akhtar. Conclusion Hence I strongly believe that Rock music with its legendary History can never die out. It will always be a part of culture and will always be know as that which shapes culture strongly affects society. It is finally meant for people to understand that Rock is just about the music and the passion it drives in the youth. It should not be stereotyped with drug abuse alcoholism other vices. For this to happen it is the people that must change their ways and also it is essential for the famous artists to set a better example as they owe it to their fans as much as they owe it to the music. Another important factor is that although opportunities in the country for Rock music are very low it is extremely tough to become big, society must encourage the youngsters that have a passion for this music. Bibliography Internet References * http://www.warr.org/roots.html (Wilson and Alroys Record Reviews) * http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html (American Culture History) * http://www.spinner.com/2009/09/30/70s-music/ * http://www.cracked.com/article_15636_the-10-most-terrifyingly-inspirational-80s-songs.html * http://www.scaruffi.com/ (Rock Music Resources) * http://www.allmusic.com/ (Articles on various Artists) * http://www.britannica.com/ (Encyclopedia Britannica) * http://www.encyclopedia.com/ * http://www.mid-day.com/ (Articles on Indian Rock bands) Book Journal References * Icons of Rock (An Encyclopedia of the Legends who changed Music Forever) Scott Schinder with Andy Schwartz * Why 1955? Explaining the Advent of Rock Music Richard A. Peterson * Inside Rock Music Vance Ferrell

First Movement From Brandenburg Concerto No 2 By J S Bach

First Movement From Brandenburg Concerto No 2 By J S Bach One of Bachs most celebrated compositions, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 was part of six compositions (known as the Brandenburg Concerti, collectively, though they were mostly musically unrelated) that Bach submitted in March 1721 to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg as a job application of sorts. Bach, in the wake of the death of his wife, was trying to leave his musical position with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-CÃ ¶then. However, the individual composition dates for the Brandenberg Concerti cannot be precisely determined. The only thing that can be said with certainty about their chronology is that they were all composed by March 1721, the date on Bachs autograph copy, (Boyd, 1993) including Concerto No. 2. (Ironically, Bach did not get the job.) This piece is identifiable as being in the style of a Concerto Grosso. Concerto grosso, literally translated as great concert, was a popular compositional/performance style from the Baroque period, which is localized between 1650 and 1750. Generally, a concerte grosso was distinguished by a small set of solo instruments (the concertino) that interacted in a musical duel of sorts with a larger group (the ripieno), one answering the other. The Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 is just such an example, with the trumpet playing the most commonly well-known concertino voice. Concerto No. 2 was written in the key of F major, and scored for the following instruments: trumpet (as alluded to above), flute or recorder (the original instrument used), oboe, and violin from whose ranks came the solo instruments; and the viola, cello, and continuo (most commonly a harpsichord), which together formed the ripieno. The piece is divided into three movements, as follows: 1. Allegro (without tempo indication) 2. Andante 3. Allegro assai We shall focus on the first movement. The trumpet part stands out most notably, as it is written to be performed in the difficult clarion style, in which the trumpeter plays in the very highest registers within the instruments capacity, using only the power of rapid lip movements and precisely controlled breathing to change the instruments pitch. In Bachs time, trumpets did not have valves as they do now. In most contemporary performances, a piccolo trumpet is used to perform the original trumpet part as the piccolo trumpet is tuned higher. Whatever the case, the trumpet part stands out starkly in the texture of the piece, with its aggressive and lively tones soaring over the sonic landscape within this piece as it mirrors the orchestra and flies off on its own fancies. This trumpet part is considered a worthy challenge for any advanced player who dares take it on. Interestingly, in the first movement, it is the uniquely high pitch of the trumpet part, as opposed to the part it is playing, which endows it with its tendency to stand out. The reason for this is that here in the first movement, Bach toys with the expectations of the genre and has written the concierto and ripieno instruments the same or similar parts during a portion of the movement, rendering them in some cases indistinguishable. Melodically speaking, there are basically two repeating themes, or ritornello, upon which each instrument, whether concierto or ripieno, bases its movements. Even when the solo instruments deviate as they should in the genre, they are still riffing, if you will, off the material forming the two-movement foundation. They move off the first theme in pairs, venturing forth into repeating and augmenting the second theme while complimenting the first theme. Both the concierto and ripieno parts contain a large number of notes within most measures, often clusters of sixteenth notes. The net effect is parts and instruments blending together both textually and tonally. Two instruments that might normally be easily discernable from one another instead may be perceived by the inexperienced listener as one unique and different one playing the same rapid-fire series of notes. This sonic clustering, combined with the fact that the particular combination of instruments Bach specified for this particular concerto, makes the piece stand out and accounts in part for its enduring popularity. As far as overall texture in the first movement is concerned, the piece is certainly marked by a busy set of contrapuntal elements. The texture can also be generally described as somewhat generally higher and thinner, if you will, or at least less full-sounding and spread out than some other pieces in the Brandenberg family or other music of the time period. There is a good deal of sonic transparency, or open sonic space, left by the frequent collective high pitching of the concierto instruments, which are clustered together by virtue of the repeating ritornello. The individual instruments popping off their sixteenth-note creates a very unique polyphonic texture, and where the instruments diverge, also creates a nice sense of momentum which is reinforced by the well-organized and (deceptively so) focused harmonic structure of the piece. The harmonic structure of the piece is mainly a showcase of very deliberate and calculated dynamic harmony, intended to use harmonic elements to ensure the piece propels itself consistently forward, both emotionally and structurally. Specifically, Bach employs strong chord progressions, I-IV-V-I progression in many instances, as opposed to, for example, merely oscillating purposelessly between chords, which would have resulted in a lack of direction in the piece. The underlying dynamic harmonics serve to satisfyingly push along the already organically fluid chord progressions Even though the texture of the music is contrapuntal, and the writing is in two parts, the dynamic harmony is nevertheless much in evidence. (Sutcliffe, 1999) This harmonic structure, along with the other standout elements, are a testament to the sharp planning evident in so much of Bachs work. In particular, this first movement in the piece is so sprightly, energetic, and almost manic in some instances that it is easy to forget that the entire Concerto is in fact a tightly written and plotted piece, that simultaneously allows a certain creativity in interpretation which can vary by performance. All in all, the first movement in Concerto No. 2 is not only a time-honored musical standout in its own right, both in structure and difficulty, but an intriguing reflection of the larger musical trends evident in the classical music of the time, and Bachs own life.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Known Unknown :: Poem, Poetry

Man alone wonders at man's achievements, which are nothing. Had neither a wish we in this world to be born Nor we wish to be dead, as we wish to live on If our birth as well as death be not of our wish Why in life a wish and for each a skirmish? Crying arrived you oh! Man, people smiling around So smiling part from earth, crying people sound Mirth and merriment to your people your birth was Grieve them let your end, your life a noble cause mystery, death, unlocks the Creator of universe Still humans opine His very existence diverse Camel unseen, passed we claim, its footprints in the sand The universe does for the imprints of God's existence stand Man's knowledge is so wide, his wisdom so narrow Atom to space conquered but never tomorrow For a great tomorrow, live to eliminate human sorrow The clouds shed to give us a greener tomorrow