`` Dangerous Minds Arizon Banning Of Mexican American...

In Curtis Acosta’s article, â€Å"Dangerous Minds In Tucson: The Banning of Mexican American Studies and Critical Thinking In Arizona†, he explains about the injustice surrounding the banning of his Mexican American studies program (MAS) in Tuscon, Arizona. Acosta main argument was that the politicians in Arizona are taking away the chance for America’s youth, particularly the minorities, of becoming significant contributors to society. In contrast, one of the politicians (Tom Horne) who was influential in banning the ethnic studies program, wrote a letter, â€Å"An Open Letter to the Citizens of Tucson†, explaining why he felt the ethnic studies program should be terminated. Horne believed that the curriculum being taught was a violation of the Constitution. The debate was to find better ways to educate our students whether it was through critical pedagogy or individualism. A teacher should focus on developing students critical thinking skills and ethica l standards, as Acosta does by connecting to students personal lives, teaching students’ compassion and understanding, and keeping the class engaged. A key component in teaching students critical thinking is being able to engage students in the active process of learning, and one can accomplish this through teaching the class by involving relevant topics that students can relate to. This is a main aspect of Acosta’s critical pedagogy curriculum which involves having the student participate in the academic experience. Acosta shows

Life Is Beautiful (Film) -Speech Free Essays

Good morning everyone. My name is Joshua Orefice, in the early part of my childhood life is beautiful, living in Arezzo, Italy with my loving mother and father, Guido and Dora, but things take a turn for the worst with the occupation of my hometown by German forces. On my fifth birthday my Mother, Father, Uncle Eliseo and myself were forced onto a train bound for a concentration camp. We will write a custom essay sample on Life Is Beautiful (Film) -Speech or any similar topic only for you Order Now At the time I was confused, unaware of the true nature of the camp and completely oblivious to the vile actions that really occurred at this place of death. In order to protect me from a world that was not fit for five year old boy, my father had to think fast on his feet to turn the hard truth into a mere game. In the camp, my father would hide me from the Nazi guards, sneak me food and would always try to humour me. In an attempt to keep up me spirits, He convinced me that the camp was just a game, in which the first person to get 1,000 points wins a  tank. He told me that if I cried, said that I was hungry or complained about missing my mother, I would lose points, while if I was quiet and remained hidden from the camp guards I would earn points. In a similar fashion he also convinced my young self that the guards are also a part of the game and that were angry because they want the tank for themselves. My father maintained this story right up to the end of his life, and as the Americans advance on the camp and their tanks come closer to rolling over the hill, my father was forced to make the greatest sacrifice in order to ensure my safety and that I can be again reunited with my mother. Despite him knowing that his death was inevitable, at our final moment he still upheld his positive attitude and protected from the evils of mankind. From this journey I can now look back on what my father taught me, that love, family and imagination can conquer all. Life is beautiful. How to cite Life Is Beautiful (Film) -Speech, Essay examples

What Setting Ttells Us Essay Example For Students

What Setting Ttells Us? Essay What Setting Tells Us In William Faulkners A Rose for Emily, the narrator carefully describes the house that Miss Emily lives in. This description helps us picture a decaying Mississippi town in the post-Civil War South. We also learn about Miss Emilys resistance to change. It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emilys house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumpsan eyesore among eyesores. We will write a custom essay on What Setting Ttells Us? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Later we enter the house itself and, eventually, end up inside one particular room. The physical details of the setting become linked with the values, ideals, and attitudes of that place in different times. Setting can add an important dimension of meaning, reflecting character and embodying theme. Notice how the details of the setting provide the clues for solving the murder in A Jury of Her Peers. As a result, they illuminate the deeper meaning of the story.

Antz vs. Communist Russia essays

Antz vs. Communist Russia essays The life of an ant in the movie Antz, is very similar to that of a Russian citizen under Stalins rule. Of course the economy of the ants is a command economy, and everyone has to work towards the good of the colony. When Stalin came to power in Russia, Lenin had already introduced communism, and he wanted to install that more securely, but communism was already present in Russia. Antz is an example of the perfect command economy. Everyone has their jobs and functions, and everyone works toward the common good. Although the movie does not show us how the ants obtain their food, and that was one of the major problems in the Russian command economy. Because of this, the two economies are also considerably different. But the major ideals of the communist economy are the same. As the movie is shown from a workers point of view, I believe that Russians in communist Russia felt the same way as Zee, the main character in the movie. I think so, but that side of Russian citizens is rarely shown throughout history, because although they had the right of free speech, it was very restricted. Russians would never speak out against anyone of authority, because they knew that there would be consequences. Listening to Zee gave me a lot more insight to what the life of a Russian citizen under Stalins rule must have been like. When Stalin thought that anyone posed as a threat to him or the countrys development, he had a way of dealing with it. In Antz we only see them punished when they arent working, or lipping off their supervisor, and their rations are taken away. Communist Russia had the secret police. Russians lived in constant fear of being taken away or killed. One way the movie and Russia during Stalins rule are similar, was that all food was rationed. Russia didnt exactly ration food, but they only had so much, and gave it only to those who co ...

The History and Love Story of the Taj Mahal

The History and Love Story of the Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal is a beautiful, white-marble mausoleum built by Mughul emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Located on the southern bank of the Yamuna River near Agra, India, the Taj Mahal took 22 years to build, finally being completed in 1653. The Taj Mahal, considered one of the New Wonders of the World, astounds every visitor not only for its symmetry and structural beauty, but also for its intricate calligraphy, inlaid flowers made of gemstones, and magnificent garden. The Love Story It was in 1607, that Shah Jahan, grandson of Akbar the Great, first met his beloved. At the time, he was not yet the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire. Sixteen-year-old, Prince Khurram, as he was then called, flitted around the royal bazaar, flirting with the girls from high-ranking families that staffed the booths.   At one of these booths, Prince Khurram met 15-year-old Arjumand Banu Baygam, whose father was soon to be the prime minister and whose aunt was married to Prince Khurram’s father. Although it was love at first sight, the two were not allowed to marry right away. First, Prince Khurram had to marry Kandahari Begum. (He would later marry a third wife as well.) On March 27, 1612, Prince Khurram and his beloved, whom he gave the name Mumtaz Mahal (â€Å"chosen one of the palace†), were married. Mumtaz Mahal was not only beautiful, she was smart and tender-hearted. The public was enamored with her, in part because Mumtaz Mahal cared for the people, diligently making lists of widows and orphans to make sure they received food and money. The couple had 14 children together, but only seven lived past infancy. It was the birth of the 14th child that was to kill Mumtaz Mahal. The Death of Mumtaz Mahal In 1631, three years into Shah Jahan’s reign, there was a rebellion underway, led by Khan Jahan Lodi. Shah Jahan had taken his military out to the Deccan, about 400 miles from Agra, in order to crush the usurper. As usual, Mumtaz Mahal, who was always by Shah Jahan’s side, accompanied him, despite being heavily pregnant. On June 16, 1631, Mumtaz Mahal, in an elaborately decorated tent, gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the middle of the encampment. At first, all seemed to be well, but it was soon discovered that Mumtaz Mahal was dying. As soon as Shah Jahan received news of his wife’s condition, he rushed to her side. In the early morning hours of June 17, 1631, Mumtaz Mahal died in his arms. Reports say that in Shah Jahan’s anguish, he went to his own tent and cried for eight days. Upon emerging, some say he had aged, now sporting white hair and needing glasses. Mumtaz Mahal was buried right away, according to Islamic tradition, near the encampment at Burbanpur. Her body, however, was not to stay there long. Plans for the Taj Mahal In December 1631, when the feud with Khan Jahan Lodi was won, Shah Jahan had the remains of Mumtaz Mahal dug up and brought 435 miles (700 km) to Agra. The return of Mumtaz Mahal was a grand procession, with thousands of soldiers accompanying the body and mourners lining the route. When the remains of Mumtaz Mahal reached Agra on January 8, 1632, they were temporarily buried on land donated by nobleman Raja Jai Singh, near where the Taj Mahal was to be built. Shah Jahan, filled with grief, had decided to pour that emotion into an elaborate, exquisite, expensive mausoleum that would rival all those that had come before it. (It was also to be unique, being the first large mausoleum dedicated to a woman.) Although no one, main architect for the Taj Mahal is known, it is believed that Shah Jahan, who was already passionate about architecture, worked on the plans himself with the input and aid of a number of the best architects of his time. The plan was that the Taj Mahal (â€Å"the crown of the region†) would represent heaven (Jannah) on Earth. No expense was spared to make this happen. Building the Taj Mahal At the time, the Mughal Empire was one of the richest in the world and thus Shah Jahan had the means to pay for this huge venture. With the plans made, Shah Jahan wanted the Taj Mahal to be grand, but also, built quickly. To speed production, an estimated 20,000 workers were brought in and housed nearby in a newly built town for them called Mumtazabad. These workers included both skilled and unskilled craftsmen. At first, builders worked on the foundation and then on the giant, 624-foot-long plinth (base). On this plinth was to sit the Taj Mahal building as well as the two matching, red sandstone buildings (the mosque and the guest house) that flank the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal building, sitting on a second plinth, was to be an octagonal structure, first constructed of brick and then covered in white marble. Like in most large projects, the builders created a scaffolding to build higher; however, what was unusual was that the scaffolding for this project was built of bricks. No one has yet figured out why. The white marble was incredibly heavy and quarried in Makrana, 200 miles away. Reportedly, it took 1,000 elephants and an untold number of oxen to drag the marble to the Taj Mahal building site. For the heavy marble pieces to reach the higher spaces of the Taj Mahal, a giant, 10-mile-long, earthen ramp was built. The very top of the Taj Mahal is topped with a huge, double-shell dome that reaches to 240 feet and is also covered in white marble. Four thin, white-marble minarets stand tall at the corners of the second plinth, surrounding the mausoleum. Calligraphy and Inlaid Flowers Most pictures of the Taj Mahal show only a large, white, lovely building. What these photos miss is the intricacies that can only be seen up close. It is these details that make the Taj Mahal astoundingly feminine and opulent. On the mosque, guest house, and the large main gate at the southern end of the Taj Mahal complex appear passages from the Quran (often spelled Koran), the holy book of Islam, written in calligraphy. Shah Jahan hired Amanat Khan, a master calligrapher, to work on the inlaid verses. Masterfully done, the finished verses from the Quran, inlaid with black marble, look soft and gentle. Although made of stone, the curves make it look almost hand-written. The 22 passages from the Quran were reportedly chosen by Amanat Khan himself. Interestingly, Amanat Khan was the only person who Shah Jahan allowed to sign his work on the Taj Mahal. Almost more amazing than the calligraphy is the exquisite inlaid flowers found throughout the Taj Mahal complex. In a process known as parchin kari, highly-skilled stone cutters cut intricate floral designs into the white marble and then inlaid precious and semi-precious stones to form interwoven vines and flowers. The 43 different kinds of precious and semi-precious stones used for these flowers came from around the world, including lapis lazuli from Sri Lanka, jade from China, malachite from Russia, and turquoise from Tibet. The Garden As in many religions, Islam holds the image of Paradise as a garden; thus, the garden at the Taj Mahal was an integral part of the plan to make it heaven on Earth. The Taj Mahal’s garden, which is situated to the south of the mausoleum, has four quadrants, divided by four â€Å"rivers† of water (another important Islamic image of Paradise), which gather at a central pool. The gardens and â€Å"rivers† were supplied with water from the Yamuna River by a complex, underground water system. Unfortunately, no records have survived telling us what plants were originally planted in the Taj Mahal’s garden. The End of Shah Jahan Shah Jahan stayed in deep mourning for two years but even after that, the death of Mumtaz Mahal still deeply affected him. That is perhaps why the third of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan’s four sons, Aurangzeb, was able to successfully kill off his three brothers and imprison his father. In 1658, after 30 years as emperor, Shah Jahan was usurped and placed in the luxurious Red Fort in Agra. Not able to leave but with most of his usual luxuries, Shah Jahan spent his last eight years staring out a window, looking at his beloved’s Taj Mahal. When Shah Jahan died on January 22, 1666, Aurangzeb had his father buried with Mumtaz Mahal in the crypt beneath the Taj Mahal. On the main floor of the Taj Mahal, above the crypt, now sits two cenotaphs (empty, public tombs). The one in the center of the room belongs to Mumtaz Mahal and the one just to the west is for Shah Jahan. Surrounding the cenotaphs is a delicately-carved, lacy, marble screen. (Originally it had been a gold screen but Shah Jahan had that replaced so that thieves would not be too tempted.) The Taj Mahal in Ruins Shah Jahan had enough wealth in his coffers to support the Taj Mahal and its mighty maintenance costs, but over the centuries, the Mughal Empire lost its riches and the Taj Mahal fell into disrepair. By the 1800s, the British ousted the Mughals and took over India. To many, the Taj Mahal was beautiful and so they cut gemstones from the walls, stole the silver candlesticks and doors, and even tried to sell the white marble overseas. It was Lord Curzon, the British viceroy of India, who put a stop to all that. Rather than looting the Taj Mahal, Curzon worked to restore it. The Taj Mahal Now The Taj Mahal has once again become a magnificent place, with 2.5 million people visiting it each year. Visitors can visit during the daytime, where the color of the white marble seems to change depending on the time of the day. Once a month, visitors have the opportunity to make a short visit during a full moon, to see how the Taj Mahal seems to glow from within in the moonlight.   In 1983, the Taj Mahal was placed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO, but it now suffers from pollutants from nearby factories and from the humidity from the breath of its visitors.   Sources DuTemple, Lesley A. The Taj Mahal. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2003.Harpur, James and Jennifer Westwood. The Atlas of Legendary Places. New York: Weidenfeld Nicolson, 1989.Ingpen, Robert and Philip Wilkinson. Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places: The Life and Legends of Ancient Sites Around the World. New York: Barnes Noble Books, 1999.

Inovations in Automotive Electronics Research Paper

Inovations in Automotive Electronics - Research Paper Example Other remarkable developments have been the GPS, all-wheel drive, and airbags among others. No doubt, man has made revolutionary innovation over the past decades that have made life easier, convenient, and better. For instance, the automobiles industry has made some amazing progress following their invention in the early 19th century. One of the key factors that have helped automobiles give more security and accommodation, however, is automobile electronics. Automotive electronics are systems found in the vehicle and generated electronically. Such systems include telematics and entertainment systems among other structures. These systems are so many and thus grouped into several categories with regard to their functions, namely, entertainment systems, active safety, driver assistance, engine electronics, passenger comfort, chassis electronics, and transmission electronics. With the advances in electronics innovation, auto producers have possessed the capacity to offer a broad mixture of administrations and accommodations that numerous new car proprietors appreciate (Mitchel l, Borroni-Bird, & Burns, 2010). Automobile electronics have been applied to various car improvements such as the Electronic Fuel Injection to the well-known Global Positioning System (Craughwell, 2012). Driving is more fun and safer than it used to be a hundred years ago since the invention of the automobile. This paper outlines some of the developments that have enhanced the use of automobiles. One of the best developments in automobile electronics innovation is the Electronic Fuel Injection/infusion or EFI for short. This gadget takes the spot of the ordinary carburetor that has been in use since the invention of the motor. The employment of the carburetor was regularly the piece of the motor that serves to dissipate fuel so that it blends with the air for burning. This gives energy to the barrels that help the motor work. A gliding gadget inside of

International Assignments Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

International Assignments - Research Paper Example Cultural training is country-specific as each country has its unique culture. Cultural training covers such aspects of culture as social customs and business etiquette. The second component of pre-departure training is didactic training. Didactic training has been found to be the most common form of cross-cultural training; over two-thirds of multinational corporations offer didactic training through informal briefings of the expatriates before their deployment (Hà ¥nberg & Ãâ€"sterdahl, 2009). It may also take more structured forms such as lectures or informative booklets. This component of training is important as it provides practical information on living and working in the destination country. The content of didactic training is factual information such as shopping and travel. In addition, it may include information that aimed at helping the expatriate adapt to the culture of the host country. The third component of pre-deployment training is training in language skills. Language training entails teaching the expatriate the native or official language of the host country. Whileit may take the expatriate months or years to master the language and be fluent in it, it is important that the expatriate has a basic command of the language (Hà ¥nberg & Ãâ€"sterdahl, 2009). On arriving in their host countries, our expatriates should be able to enter informal conversations, apply common courtesies, and demonstrate empathy for the cultures of their host countries. Language training is important as it will accelerate the ability of the expatriates to adapt to their new cultures. Indeed, language is a major aspect of any culture. As a result, the only way our expatriates can fit into their new cultures is by possessing a basic understanding of the languages of those cultures. The fourth component is interaction training. The organization has deployed expatriates abroad over the years. As a result,