Wuthering Heights And Power Of Love Essays - British Films

Wuthering Heights And Power Of Love Many readers argue that Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is anything but a romance. Although it does not follow the conventional form of the Victorian Romance novels, it can be argued that it is one of the greatest love stories of all time. The traditional forms of love may not be represented in this story, but one can not argue that love is the predominant theme throughout the book. What else but love could possibly drive the characters to the ends which they accomplish. The most controversial and the predominant love represented in this novel is that of ?spiritual love.? This form of love is the one shared between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw Linton. This bond is expressed by Catherine when she tells Nelly, ?I can not express it; but surely you and every body have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and, if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger....Nelly, I am Heathcliff .? (page 81) It may be hard for most people to understand their bond, as very few people ever experience a love of this type during their lifetime. The only comparisons that may be offered for an attempt at understanding may perhaps be the bond felt by someone regarding their first love. Although this relationship may end, a special connection will always be felt for this person, and the love that was felt will never be forgotten. As many state, there will always be a special place in their heart for this person. Another example may be the love a parent feels for a child. Although this is not a romantic love, it is a love that is unconditional and timeless. Catherine and Heathcliff, through their own actions, are never able to truly act on their love for one another, and this tragedy is what allows us to experience the timeless classic of Wuthering Heights. With her marriage to Edgar Linton, Catherine makes it impossible for her and Heathcliff to ever be joined together. Although her actions seem selfish, she sees this as the only way that she can help raise Heathcliff from the clutches of her brother Hindley. Heathcliff, unfortunately, never understands her actions for what they truly are, and chaos results. This impeded love serves as the catalyst throughout the novel, bringing with it tragedy and revenge. Heathcliff is driven to reek havoc on all of those who he views as wronging him in some form - except of course for Catherine. Everything in the story happens through Heathcliff, and results from the distortion of his personality because of this thwarted love. As long as he has Catherine, he can stand anything, but without her all of his emotions turn to hate. Some may questions whether or not Catherine loves Edgar Linton before she marries him. The only explanation that may be offered is that if she does love him, this love can only be defined as superficial. Catherine is unable to ever feel anything more spiritual for Edgar, as this part of herself is reserved for Heathcliff alone. Catherine expresses this emotion when she tells Nelly, ?My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees - my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath - a source of little visible delight but necessary.? (page 82) She realizes that her love for Heathcliff is far more important than what she feels for Edgar, but Edgar offers her a civilized, socially acceptable, and materialistic advantage. She knows that marrying Heathcliff would cause them both a lifetime of misery, as they would live as beggars. What Catherine does not realize is that by denying herself a union with Heathcliff results in a tragedy deeper than she can comprehend. After her marriage to Edgar, and the return of Heathcliff; Catherine is torn apart spiritually , mentally and emotionally when she realizes what she has done. She realizes that it is impossible for her to love Heathcliff and remain with Edgar and seeks release through death. At this point Catherine acknowledges that the only way her

Wage Disparity across Gender, Race, and Ethnicity

Wage Disparity across Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Introduction Wage disparity is used to refer to the differences in earning for two different groups of people, working in similar set up or their wages are arbitrarily different in the labour market. Wage disparity is mostly used in relation to describing the uneven spread of income across gender, race, and ethnic groups, which can lead to social inequalities and other problems in the workplace especially when the disparity is much pronounced.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Wage Disparity across Gender, Race, and Ethnicity specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Various research studies have been undertaken on the wage disparities by many researchers to examine various parameters of wage inequalities since they contribute a lot to the labor-market inequalities. Majority of the studies relating to wage disparities are quantitative in nature and involve measurements and comparison of wages and salaries. These studie s are mainly intersectional, trying to explain the wage inequalities using survey data to evaluate the differences based on gender, social status, and racial/ethnic groupings. Wage disparities exist due to a variety of factors and the leading contributor to these wage gaps is the fact that many women and racial discriminated people are still secluded in the low paying occupations, with more than half of the all women workers holding sales, office administration entry-level jobs, and service jobs. In addition, most female dominated jobs are low paying compared to male dominated jobs (Howard, 2004). The issue of privileges also appears to affect wage disparity in the work place. Privileges refer favors that are allowed to certain people or a particular person and are not allowed to other people in set up such as a work place. These privileges are earned through achievement or are allowed to a certain grouping of people within most organizational structures. In workplace, some organiza tion members are allowed some privileges based not on merit, but on their ascribed status due to their association with certain groupings such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, and physical ability and this status is mostly influenced by external factors that are beyond the person’s immediate control (Karsten, 2006, P.254).Advertising Looking for research paper on labor law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These unearned privileges have been shown to play a role in contributing to wage gaps among employees of the same level or in work of equivalent magnitude. Wage disparity due to any form of discrimination against certain groups in the workplace are common recipe for hatred, tensions, low level of motivation among workers and reduced productivity of the entire organization. In this research paper, issues of unearned privileges will only be discussed in the context of race and gender. This research paper seeks to explore the issues of wage disparity across gender, race, and ethnicity in the American workplace set up. In the next sections of this paper, the following two relationships will be explored based on studies carried on them: Wage disparity and gender Wage disparity and race/ethnicity issues Wage disparity and gender Since time in memorial, there have been noticeable salary gaps between the two genders in majority of the existing occupations. Although there have been some level of salary parity between male and female in professional occupations, the level of wages gaps are still high between the two groups. Studies have clearly revealed that, generally, men earn higher salaries than women even when at the same job group and mostly female dominated jobs are low paying compared to male dominated jobs, which pay better wages and salaries. According to the analysis carried on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data in 1998, it was revealed that gender salary dispar ities continue to persist. In this case, â€Å"the median weekly pay of full-time working women being 75 percent of the median pay for men in 1996; though women began closing the wage gap in 1980s, the earning for women in salaried full-time year-round positions reached 71 percent of men’s earnings in 1991 after a long stagnation period† (Gibelman, 2003,P.25). One of the contributing factors to low earning among the women is the occupation choices they make. Generally, women are more tied with family obligations such as looking after the children. Though men are increasing being more involved in child upbringing, this area of family life is still considered female oriented. In order to cope with family obligations and work necessities, many women tend to work in part time jobs, which mostly pay lowly and lead to low pay increments; with studies showing that in 2002, 32 percent of women compared to 10.8 percent of men worked part-time, thus the income disparity pitied w omen against the men (Anon, 2003).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Wage Disparity across Gender, Race, and Ethnicity specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other factors that may limit women’s choice include â€Å"lack of affordable child care, a spouse’s unwillingness to share family responsibility, lack of flexible working schedule, and lack of well paying part-time jobs, which cause women to drop out of the workforce for longer periods than men, hence eventually they losing their career momentum and needed experience leading them to end up in jobs that pay less† (Howard, 2004, P.19). A women choice is just one of the many complex factors that are put forward by scholars in trying to explain the continued wage disparity between men and women. The position of authority at work is always associated with better pay and room for advancement in ones career path. Research on authority at work pla ce mainly relate to its attainment and returns associated with the authority. Several studies conducted by sociologist and economist have concluded that women are less likely to ascend to positions with much decision-making power and they receive lower authority returns than men. Thus, women reap little authority returns from education and experience compared to men, even though education produces a lot of positive results for women at lowest levels of authority, while for men education enable them to reap more benefits at highest levels of authority (Romero, Margolis, 2005, P. 175). Between the male and female dominated occupations, gender seems to play a significant role in determining the occupants of the position of authority in the workplace. Several research studies have revealed that jobs dominated by women are mostly characterized by lower level of authority, with male dominated jobs experiencing little authority gaps between the two groups. However, in jobs with many women , there is reduced room for progress for both men and women, though men are more likely to climb to decision-making authority in that set up (Romero, Margolis, 2005, P. 175). The level authority thus has also contributed to the wage disparity between male and female employees of same qualifications. After many studies being undertaken, still the wage disparity between men and women cannot be completely explained or be solved in most of occupations.Advertising Looking for research paper on labor law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to the analysis conducted by the General Accounting Office study, after taking care of all major factors that affect wage gap, majority of women earned 80 percent of what men earned in 2000, and the evaluation was unable to account for the remaining 20 percent earning gap, even if the other factors contributing to discrimination which can cause wage gap were considered (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2003). Further, studies have shown that wage disparity between men and women are historical in that, even in situations where men and women occupy same job group and work in similar conditions they still exist. According to studies carried on wage disparities in the profession of social workers, the salaries of social workers who are members of NASW supported the historic trend in wage gaps, since in 1995, still the gaps existed with the median income of female respondents being $ 34,135 and $ 37,503 for male respondents (Gibelman Schervish, 1997). Wage disparity and race/et hnicity issues The Civil Rights Act clearly prohibits discrimination of employees by the employers based on race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and background. Though these laws are there to protect the employees against racial discrimination, up to date studies show that there are significant wage gaps between the whites and the African Americans and other minority groups. Researchers have mainly identified two factors that they have based their arguments in, trying to explain the continuing wage disparity between the two groups. These two factors include racial discrimination and level of expertise between the two groups at their workplaces. The issue of racial discrimination in the work place is still common, with some employers acknowledging that they practice it. According to studies carried out by Kirschenman and Neckerman (1991), it was revealed that several of Chicago employers they involved in the study discriminated against the African Americans and workers from the inner city, and around 74 percent of the employers had negative attitudes towards the African American young men (Coleman, 2003, p.894). Through studies involving use regression method, researchers have been able to show that wage gaps among different race groups in a workplace can mainly be attributed to discrimination rather than lack of skills. According to Coleman (2003), the African American men and women still face more discrimination in wage increment and promotion than whites after all factors have been accounted for, and they also earn less compared to the whites working in the same organization, implying that racial discrimination continues to exist in the workplaces. According to the regressions studies carried out by Mason to evaluate the lack of skills issue in relation to wage gaps, he found out that â€Å"whites received larger returns on job tenure than blacks or Latinos; white Latinos, whether immigrant or native, have higher wages than nonwhite Latinos, i mmigrant or native† (Mason, 1999). The race factor in wage disparity is not a gender issue, but rather, it ascribed by the discrimination that exist among the groups that are working in the same workplace. Browne and Misra, while conducting studies to determine earnings gap based on race and gender found out that, â€Å"White women earn more than most Latino men, and Asian women earn more than White women and African American men† (Romero, Margolis, 2005, P. 171). Several studies have been conducted to evaluate how job mobility may affect wage gaps among the different groups yielding varied results. One of the profound studies is the research that was carried out by Alon and Tienda to determine how young women’s job mobility affects racial and ethnic wage growth gaps. They found out that African American and Hispanic women experienced less job mobility compared to the white women. Secondly, the unskilled women who made several job changes in the first four post school years had better wage returns, but beyond that, the returns dwindled. Lastly, the job changes do not appear to improve wage growth for the skilled women (Alon Tienda, 2005). This study, coupled with other studies, indicates that job mobility can cause wage disparity among different group, especially in unskilled sectors were mobility appear to favor Whites against other groups. Recommendations Wage disparity across gender, race, and ethnicity has been one of the predominant social problems facing our society since ancient times. Though eliminating wage disparity across these areas is quite difficult to achieve, significantly reducing these disparity can be achieved through various remedies. The following recommendations can significantly help in reducing wage gaps brought about by gender, race, and ethnicity issues. First, the government, the civil societies, and other stakeholders should press the congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act bill that has been pending many ye ars. The Civil Rights Act outlaws various form of discrimination but still it lack some provision that would tackle issues of all forms of discrimination appropriately. This bill would ensure that women get equal pay they deserve for the equal job they do. They â€Å"put gender-based wage discrimination on par with other forms of wage discrimination, such as that based on race, by allowing women to sue for compensatory and punitive damages, rather than just for back pay; Limit the legitimate reasons employers can give in court for wage disparities; and, Prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss their wages† (Hall, 2010). This bill will empower legal and organizational mechanisms for addressing wage disparity across gender, race, and ethnicity, something that will enable workers to earn what they rightfully deserve, enhancing their economic security, and gradually aiding the country’s economic recovery. Secondly, the government and the community at large should empower existing or come up with programs that can enlighten people about their rights, offer career mentoring, and improve the financial literacy of all workers. These would be powerful tools in ensuring that workers are able to advocate for equal pay for equal job, making right career choices or move, and investing in what they earn for their future and that of the country. Thirdly, professional bodies should regularly sponsor and organize forums involving all stakeholders from local to national level, to discuss and evaluate the gender-related issues and to formulate ways of eliminating wage disparities in the work place (Gibelman, 2003, P.28). Lastly, the government should encourage more women to venture in male dominated careers such as engineering, architecture, in efforts to earn better pay and bridge the wage gaps between the two genders. Conclusion Government through it programs for monitoring wage discrimination and other form of employment discrimination s hould be conducting several checks in all workplaces and ensure that these vices are eliminated and these programs should always be on going to ensure that wage discriminations has been eliminated and it does not resurface. Wage disparity being a social problem all the involved parties’ i.e. employers, employees, government, professional bodies and the community should cultivating a culture of continued engagement among all the parties to ensure that issues of wage disparity are addressed in all places. Since wage disparities cannot be accounted by the differences in skills, all organizations embrace proper unbiased performance appraisal systems for their employees, which will reward only the deserving individuals rather than an ascribed group of individuals due to their association References Alon, S. Tienda, M. (2005). Job Mobility and Early Career Wage Growth of White, African-American, and Hispanic Women. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 86, p1196-1217, 22p. Web. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?sid=c13d14f7-7172-43ff-b532-ac7b6b12113c%40sessionmgr12vid=5hid=8bquery=%28Wage+disparity+AND+race%29bdata=JmRiPWE5aCZ0eXBlPTAmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl Anon. (2003). Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2002, 2003. U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Coleman, M.G. (2003). Job Skill and Black Male Wage Discrimination. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 84(4), p892-906, 15p. Blackwell Publishing Limited. Web. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?sid=c13d14f7-7172-43ff-b532-ac7b6b12113c%40sessionmgr12vid=5hid=8bquery=%28Wage+disparity+AND+race%29bdata=JmRiPWE5aCZ0eXBlPTAmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl Gibelman, M. (2003). So How Far Have We Come? Pestilent and Persistent Gender Gap in Pay. Social Work, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p22-32, 11p. Web. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6hid=107sid=b8090b34-58ce-4b49-af0f-7d94d348e019%40sessionmgr113 Gibelman, M. Schervish, P.H. (1997). Who are we: A s econd look. Washington, DC: NASW Press. Hall, M. (2010). Obama to Push Congress on Pay-Fairness Bill. USA Today, 07/20/2010. Web. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4hid=11sid=c5748f62-cf47-4269-bf0a-647c6e945307%40sessionmgr11bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9hAN=J0E079739590910 Howard, L. (2004). Wage disparity: still a concern? Tennessee Economic Council on Women. Web. Retrieved from http://frank.mtsu.edu/~berc/tnbiz/women/pdfs/wages.pdf Karsten, M. F. (2006). Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Workplace [Three Volumes] [3 Volumes]: Issues and Challenges for Todays Organizations. USA. Greenwood Publishing Group. Web. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=qkfbPOLDKeoCpg=PA285dq=Wage+disparity+across+gender,+race,+and+ethnicitycd=1#v=onepageqf=false Mason, P. L. (1999). Male Interracial Wage Differentials: Competing Explanations. Cambridge. Journal of Economics, Vol. 23, p261–299. Romero, M. Margolis, E., 2005. The Blackwell companion to social inequalities. NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. U.S. General Accounting Office. (2003). Women’s Earnings: Work Patterns Partially Explain Difference between Men’s and Women’s Earnings. Web. Retrieved from gao.gov/.

Case study on Biochemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study on Biochemistry - Essay Example When the cycle is incomplete, and the product is not formed, the function of the organism cannot properly take place. Without enzymes, the reactions needed for biological processes of the body would take at a slower rate or fail to take place. This is detrimental to the well-being of the organism involved. One of the most important enzymatic actions is the breakdown of fructose. This is a simple sugar found in some of foods such as fruit and honey. This is essential as it plays an immense role in supply of energy for the body. However, fructose is not a direct source of energy, but enzymes are required to breakdown fructose into a reliable energy. After eating, catabolism of fructose takes place through fructolysis. The process begins with the enzyme fructokinase and produces fructose 1-phosphate as a product. The second step is enhanced by aldose. This enzyme breaks down fructose 1-phosphate into two products: dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and glyceraldehydes. The products enter the process of glycolysis to ensure the body gets its energy requirement and extra glucose. The absence of enzymes necessary for the breakdown of fructose leads to poor response of the body with repeated ingestion of foods containing fructose (NLM, 2011). Explain how a deficiency in aldolase B can be responsible for hereditary fructose intolerance. Aldolase B plays a significant role in the breakdown of fructose. The absence of the enzyme leads to accumulation of fructose-1-phosphate in the liver cells (NLM, 2011). The accumulation of this substance is toxic, and overtime leads to the death of liver cells (Breakspear Medical Group Ltd, n.d.). Additionally, fructose-1-phosphate fails to release the phosphate group required for repeated ATP production and control of stored sugar (NLM, 2011). Several defects arise due to death of liver cells and low number of phosphate groups. They include hypoglycemia, liver abnormalities, and other forms of hereditary fructose intolerance (NLM, 2011 ). Provide clearly labeled diagrams to demonstrate: Diagram lock and key models of enzymatic activity. Diagram showing how enzymes function as a lock and key. Diagram the effect of enzymes on activation energy. Discuss the specific substrate acted on by aldolase B. Enzymes are usually specific in nature. They only act to a unique substrate. Aldolase B also demonstrates this uniqueness. Fructose-1-phosphate (F1P) is acted upon by aldolase B. This is the only enzyme that binds on F1P as its substrate. The breakdown leads to the formation of two products that are further metabolized to produce glucose, lactate and uric acid (NLM, 2011). Explain the role of aldolase B in the breakdown of fructose. Aldose B plays an essential role in the breakdown of fructose. The enzyme breaks down fructose-1-phosphate into dihydrooxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and glyceraldehydes (NLM, 2011). The two products enter the process of glycolisis to answer to body requirements for energy, or increased level of glucose. B. Case two Explain what would happen to the amount of energy available to a cell if the entire Cori cycle occurred and remained within that single cell (i.e., a muscle cell). In the skeletal muscles, there are few mitochondria, and yet they consume a lot of energy. This leads to depletion of oxygen and the muscles are forced to operate without oxygen. The Cori cycle is essential as it links this process with gluconeogenesis in the liver. This means that the lactate produced by the muscle cells travels through the blood into the liver

Proof read Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Proof read - Essay Example 3 Opportunity This report was designed to enhance the understanding of the benefits of donating recycled electronics or â€Å"e-waste† through Free Geek. It seeks to answer the following questions: Why is it necessary to recycle e-waste? What is Free Geek and how does it promote environmental sustainability and education? How can Intel’s donations to Free Geek benefit the e-waste problem locally and globally? What benefits can Intel expect if they donate to Free Geek? Background Over the last couple of decades, Intel has been a leader in technology, advancing not only technology, but the way the world interacts with it. Intel is at the forefront of the computer chip manufacturing industry and is possibly the most influential technology companies in the past century. Intel’s leadership and influence has set standards for similar companies for the betterment of the environment. Free Geek, a local non-profit organization in Portland Oregon, describes itself in the c ompany’s mission statement as an organization that firmly believes that recycling is best done through â€Å"reuse†. Owing to this philosophy, the company refurbishes whatever it can and gives it back to the community â€Å"with a new lease on life†. This way the stuff doesn’t get thrown into the garbage or used for landfills to filter toxins from the soil nor is it dumped to developing countries to be disassembled by young ones. The company makes sure that all electronic materials that are not reused are recycled in a responsible manner within the confines of North America. Imagine the possibilities if two forward thinking companies worked together with a common goal for the greater good of all humanity.   This report shall shed light on the downfalls of e-waste, the benefits of cooperation, and the positives of donation.   While e-waste is a global calamity, this report shall focus on a smaller scale, primarily the United States.    Discussion of Findings Hazards and Effects of E-waste E-waste has many negative effects on the livelihood of humans, animals and their natural habitats. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are a component of e-waste that is used as flame retardants in plastics in high tech electronics. This chemical compound is synthetic and is not a product of nature. It mainly includes bromine with some amounts of chlorine, fluorine, iodine and astatine. This compound works by releasing bromine atoms that depletes the surrounding oxygen in the air. PBDEs are toxic in that they are responsible for the disruption of thyroid hormones, deficits in neurodevelopment and cancer (Hooper and McDonald). These PBDEs have been detected in marine mammals everywhere from the Baltic Sea to the Great Lakes and are found in humans in the United States at higher levels than anywhere else in the world (Grossman 113). Since only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled in the U.S. it is questionable where the rest goes (U.S Environmental Protecti on Agency). â€Å"On the outskirts of Ghana’s biggest city sits a smoldering wasteland, a slum carved into the banks of the Korle Lagoon, one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth† (WGBH Educational Foundation). Exported e-waste has a huge impact in a lot of developing countries. These developing countries offer a very inexpensive recycling service although most workers work in extremely unsafe environments. Tests revealed the presence of purely acidic soil near some of the work areas having a pH level of 0 (Grossman 187). Impact of Corporate Recycling of

The Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti Essay Example for Free

The Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti Essay Dear , When this letter reaches your hand, I hope you’re in the best of health mentally and physically. As for myself I’m blessed and can’t complain. The baby is doing fine, albeit being a little under the weather. I have been studying and swamped with schoolwork, trying to complete all of my final assignments for this semester. I had to write and share with you my wonderful experience. After providing you with many exciting detail you are going to want to experience this for yourself. In a recent visit to Florence, Italy, I had the chance to visit the Museo dellOpera del Duomo, where a lot of masterpieces from great masters were on display. It would be too lengthy for me to describe them all to you, so Ill focus on one works of art that has caught my interest. This piece is called The Gates of Paradise, and was created by Lorenzo Ghiberti from 1425 to 1452, a period of twenty-seven years. Well, you may wonder why it took such a long time for that piece of art to be completed. As I have seen in the exhibition, the work was intricate, which obviously requires time to make. Ghiberti was born in 1378, whose father was an artist and a goldsmith. His sculptures were usually coated in bronze or gold, a skill he obviously learned from his father. Being an artist of the early Renaissance period, he was revered in his lifetime. Like other artists of his era, he showed artistic freedom and individualism in his work. During the Renaissance, artists were prone to portray figures imbibing the Greek ideals of perfection. Florence then, his birthplace, was the center of culture and politics in Europe, until the end of the seventeenth century. You have to understand that during this time, religious art was in vogue, funded by patrons such as the Medici family, who paid high commissions to sculptors and painters, encouraging artistic culture to flourish. Some scholars think that this religious fascination stemmed from the societys realization regarding life and death as a result of the Black plague that badly hit Florence in the late fourteenth century. Ghiberti won a competition in 1401, when he was twenty five, which made him famous. In this competition he made twenty-eight sets of panels, made in bronze, for the cathedral in Florence, where each panel depicted scenes from the New Testament. The work was completed in twenty-one years. After completing this work, he was commissioned to do another doorway for the church. This time, he made ten panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament. Being highly gifted in sculpting and metalworking, his works show vividness and durableness. The famous Michelangelo Buonarotti called the doorways, Gates of Paradise. In these panels, these scenes from the Old Testament include: The Creation of Eve, Noah and his family, Moses receiving the Law from God in Mt. Sinai, David beheads Goliath, The Creation, and The Fall and Banishment. The artist prepared the main panels using the wax casting process, a technique thats not used nowadays. The modeling of each panel was in wax, and then covered with plaster and clay jacket. After the panels were covered, Ghiberti baked the panels to melt the wax, leaving a mold for bronze to be poured. Once the bronze cooled off, the plaster and clay were removed. Then, each panel was cleaned and the finer details were worked on using metal tools. It took Ghiberti years to complete the fine details found in the panels. Once the main frames were complete, Ghiberti next worked on the fire-gilding method, which was dangerous for it involved a gold-mercury amalgam. The process involved applying the amalgam to each panel. Mercury fumes, which are toxic, dissolved in the air by heating, in order to leave the gold on the surfaces. In 1452, the completed doors were installed, and they stood for five centuries until World War II. During the Second World War, Nazi officials in Italy coveted the artworks found in Florence. They asked for the sculptures, paintings, and other works of art to be transferred and become part of their private collection. Fortunately, somebody thought of hiding the Gates of Paradise in a railway tunnel in the South of Florence. After the war, the doors were recovered and some artists made replicas. These replicas were sold to the Grace Cathedral after the liberation in 1944. The originals were placed in the 1980s in the Duomo museum for restoration and safekeeping after flooding in Florence destroyed some of the panels. Florence is not the city it once was during the Renaissance. Times have changed, and artistic culture has given way to industrialization and modernization. But Florence still remains a beautiful place with a rich history and a collection of thousands of arts from great masters who once lived and breathed in the city. Well, thats all I can share with you. Nothing compares to seeing the actual masterpieces in person. Hope you could come with me on my next Italian tour. Ciao! Sincerely. Reference The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghibertis Renaissance Masterpiece. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from: http://www. metmuseum. org/special/gates_paradise/ghiberti_images. asp

Matriarchal Figures in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde a

Matriarchal Figures in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Persuasion by Jane Austen ‘A dominant female member of the family’[1] is often described as a matriarch. Lady Bracknell in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and Lady Russell in ‘Persuasion’ fulfill this role therefore can be described as matriarchs, and as such they play vital roles. They affect the lives of Gwendolen and Anne, by imposing their beliefs on them. Although Lady Russell is not related to any of the characters in ‘Persuasion’, after Anne’s mother died Lady Russell took on the role of her mother. Lady Russell has some control over Anne, as Anne ‘had always loved and relied on’ her and cannot believe she would ‘be continually advising her in vain’. The matriarchs are pivotal as they are the prime reasons for the plots’ complications; Lady Bracknell tries to prevent two potential marriages between Jack and Gwendolen, and Algernon and Cecily, and she is the reason Jack finds out about his family connections. Lady Russell persuades Anne not to marry Wentworth causing eight years of heartache and misery, as she was wrongly persuaded. She induces further complications by trying to persuade Anne to marry William Walter Elliot, when Anne and Wentworth meet again. Lady Bracknell’s importance is enhanced because she overshadows her husband, which is true to her matriarch ways, and he occupies a subordinate position. Lady Bracknell has taken the opposite role to that which society accepted in the 1890’s, her husband stays at home, while she goes to social gatherings. Her husband’s role is summed up in Gwendolen’s speech to Cecily about her father. ‘The home seems to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly, once a m... ...y say that Anne should marry for money ‘she deprecated the connexion [to Wentworth] in every light’, and only approves of alliances with men with money, such as Charles Musgrove and William Walter Elliot. The matriarchs actions and advice to women would be ‘don’t marry for money, but go where money is’[8]. [1] The Pocket Oxford Dictionary [2] York Advanced Notes ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ [3] Richard Foster , Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance of Being Earnest [4] Inside the House of Fiction, ‘Jane Austen’s Cover Story’ [5] Dan Rebellato, Drama Classics Series, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ [6] York Notes Advanced – ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ [7] Richard Foster , Wilde as Parodist: A Second Look at The Importance of Being Earnest [8] Juliet McMaster , Alfred Lord Tennyson as quoted in ‘Class’

Students will float to the mark you set

Rose's thesis states that â€Å"Students will float to the mark you set. † † Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools. Some serious programs succeed in doing that, and through exceptional teachers – like Mr. Gross in Horace's Compromise – students learn to develop hypotheses and trouble shoot, reason through a problem, and communicate effectively – the true job skills. The vocational track, however, is most often a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected.† Rose attempts to persuade his readers by showing how dysfunctional the vocational students are and how mediocre or unchallenging their studies are. He also persuades the readers by exemplifying the instructor's poor attempts to care about the quality of learning the vocational education students are receiving. His argument is that the instructors are not inventive in their teaching methods and do not work hard at education through use of their imaginations. â€Å"The teachers have no idea of how to engage the imaginations of kids who were at the bottom of the pond.† I agree with Rose's point stating that † You're defined by your school as â€Å"slow†; you're placed in a curriculum that isn't designed to liberate you but to occupy you, or, if you're lucky, train you, though the training is for work the society does not esteem.† This seems to be the norm at all schools. But, I think at all levels, be it high school or college, the instructors teaching these types of programs should be trained to use more imaginative methods of teaching the vocational level students. Obviously, these students each learn at a different pace, but their minds still need to be challenged. They should receive education that stimulates their minds so they do not lose interest. The vocational education system is used as simply as Rose put it, as a â€Å"dumping ground for the disaffected.† I also understand the point Rose made referring to the fact that if a student is trained in a mediocre way he will do nothing but turn into a mediocre student. Resulting in boredom, indifference, tuning out, ignorance, and finally a lack of job skills society deems necessary. I think Rose was correct in the comment â€Å"Champion the average.† Although that is assuming that every vocational student has the courage to rely on his/her own good sense and put the fear behind him or her. Only most of them lack the courage or self-esteem to stand up for themselves, be it only in their own mind. Moreover, many would not take themselves seriously if they did so. Students Will Float to the Mark You Set Mike Rose is a professor in the School of Education at UCLA , earned multiple awards during his career ; Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English, the American Educational Research Association's Distinguished Lectureship, UCLA’s Distinguished Teaching Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Grawemeyer Award in Education, and the Commonwealth Club of California Award for Literary Excellence in Nonfiction. As a child Rose grew up in a poor family in Los Angeles, during his high school years he was placed on vocational classes on accident, by mixed up test scores from another student with the same last name. In the essay â€Å"I Just Wanna Be Average† by Mike Rose, he describes his observations with his students and teachers during his accidentally placed vocational classes, the teachers were showing no interest in teaching and his class mates were not showing any interest in their education, Rose implies in his essay â€Å"The vocational track, however, is most often a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected† (Rose 13) Rose shows how the school system has written off students who have potential, his analysis of the school system specifies multiple reasons for the failure of students that go through high school misunderstood from their difficulties learning, it showed that the students were lacking the effort to learn. In Rose’s essay he talks about one of his classmates Ken Harvey, he describes this open conversation in this classroom, the topic was about working hard and being an over achiever, when in it was Harvey’s turn to talk he answered â€Å"I wanna be average†. Ken Harvey’s â€Å"I just wanna be average† quote immediately picked up Rose’s attention! He later goes revealing how this student was gasping for air in their educational environment, as Rose Mentions in the book â€Å"No matter how bad the school, you’re going to encounter notions that don’t fit with the assumption and beliefs that you grew up with- maybe you’ll hear these dissonant notions from teachers, maybe from other students, and maybe you’ll read them† (Mike Rose 14) Since the vocational track is the dumping ground for those students who can’t make it, Harvey was discouraged because in his school he was labeled â€Å"slow†, as that could’ve lowered his morale, Harvey was rotecting himself from the pressure of school by defying himself as a regular person, and it doesn’t help that the fact that the teachers in the vocational track did nothing to help motivate the student. Rose states that ther e was hardly any who worked hard at their education, however Brother Slattery used his stern voice and his weekly quizzes to engage the imagination of those kids who were at the â€Å"bottom of the pond†. One of my academic weak points is algebraic related activity , during my Senior year I was taking a junior math class Algebra 3-4, my first period class that I would get through in the morning, me a morning person? I would show up half asleep, if I stayed awake I was zoning out. The high school that I graduated from had the block schedule system so the classes would have been two hours and thirty minutes long, I dreaded the block schedule system especially when I had Algebra, as furthermore it would feel like an eternity. I’ve spent a good 75% doing something else that would contradict my learning, doodling on my notes or socializing with the people around me. Every time we would learn a new course I tried to give my full attention to the lesson because it would almost be like a fresh start but in the end it would ended up with me not fully understanding the lesson, so a new course would come up this pattern would repeat itself, so I would get a little frustrated every time that would develop. It got to the point where the requirements of the new course would require the information from the previous course to learn it, that’s how I got stuck along with the interest to care anymore. Unfortunately that type of not caring was labeled as â€Å"Senioritis† it happens to every Senior they say, but I wasn’t going to blame it on â€Å"Senioritis† because I have experience that similar uninteresting feeling for my education before my Senior year. I can’t remember the name of my Algebra 3-4 teacher but I do remember a friend that I made there who sat next to me, his name was Adam he seemed very brilliant and strong academically but he wasn’t so good with the ladies. My algebra teacher never took the time to grade our homework, what she would do was make the student plus the person sitting next to you grade each other’s homework, she would put out the answers on her white board, as she would expect every student to grade the other students homework. Adam and I had an alliance with each other, as we took advantage of that situation, I would scratch his back and he would scratch mine by writing the correct answers down or just filling out the homework right there, sometimes I didn’t even take the time to do my homework I would let Adam fill out the paper for me. Adam continued to perfectly learn in that class he would sometimes end up with one or two mistakes in his homework, but he really wanted straight A’s, I would correct his mistakes for him as he would do the same for me. That homework grading system seemed to me as a huge flaw for her students learning, if she took the time to look at our answers, study our equations that we wrote down she could’ve traced the mistake, point it out, ask why we messed up and showed us the correct way to solve the problem I think that would’ve helped some people out. So the fourth quarter finally arrives, my Algebra 3-4 grades are on the edge of failing, my counselor advocated that I should stay after school with a tutor, which I hated the fact that I had to stay after school for more math, which the thought in my mind was â€Å"I’m not going to learn anything and just waste time†, that was quite the opposite of what was going to happened, I met a tall man with glasses always seemed full of energy, I think his name was Larry (I can’t remember names). Every day after school I would meet up with Larry in a classroom with a few other kids from every type of different math class ranging from basic math to trigonometry, Larry would sit down and help every single student one by one, he seemed like he was vey content teacher, every time Larry would sit next to me I would actually learn or understand all this gibberish that we call algebra, he would approach me with a different attitude way different compared to my Algebra teacher. Now when I think about that situation I was in, I would sit in my first period class for 2 hours and 30 minutes while having difficulties understanding, but now in my tutoring class I would only sit for 45 minutes and everything seemed clear to me. The situation that those students from Rose’s essay they’re intelligence are not limited, a bad teacher can make school such a frustrating experience student won’t learn much, understanding t a teacher’s teaching style can sometimes not w ork with the students.