Explication Essays - Writers, Igbo People, Fiction, Dead Mens Path

Explication Essays - Writers, Igbo People, Fiction, Dead Mens Path Elisha Wallace ENGL 104, Sophomore Seminar I Explication The short story titled "Dead Men's Path" written by Chinua Achebe is about a man filled with hope trying to build a school which was once a ruin into a modern place of education. Even though he seemed to have good intentions his arrogance led him to fail and the short story ended with the school back to its unkempt state. The writer uses the priests dialogue to portray the theme of balance. My explication will be on the last six paragraphs of this short story in which Mr. Obi speaks to the priest and ignores his wise advice. This plot is a traditional "old versus new" where tradition goes head to head against modernization. In the end they realize that balance and a sense of understanding is what they need for peace. Mr. Obi is the new and young headmaster of Ndume school. He has a lot of ideas and changes he wants to make in order to elevate not only the school but the students as well. "Obi accepted this responsibility with enthusiasm. He had many wonderful ideas and this was an opportunity to put them into practice" (Kennedy and Gioia 187). One day Obi sees a woman crossing through the flowers in the compound and is informed that the village people cross through the compound to get to the burial. He blocks off the pathway and is quickly confronted by the priest. The priest is polite but firm in his opinion with Obi. He asks Obi for peace and balance in the hopes that Mr. Obi will open back up the pathway. But Obi is stubborn and insists that the village men and woman create a new way around th e school. "... I would suggest your constructing another path, skirting our premises I don't suppose the ancestors will find the little detour too burdensome" (Kennedy and Gioia 189). From this quote we can also see that Obi has a slight attitude and arrogance with his response to the old and wise priest. He is firm in his belief that the pathway is not of importance. A while later a young village woman dies and as a result the school is completely trashed and the protagonist, Obi, is left with a terrible review of his school. The setting of this short story contributed a great deal in developing the plot. The village is inferred to be small and tight knit with a strong sense of community. This helps readers understand why a large amount of the older village men and women are upset at Obi for blocking away the path to the burial. When the young woman dies it seems like effort of the community is what destroyed the school. "The beautiful hedges were torn up not just near the path but right around the school, the flowers trampled to death and one of the school buildings pulled down" (Kennedy and Gioia 189) "Dead Men's Path" is in third person omniscient. We can see that because the author uses words like he/she. This short story is omniscient because in one part of the story we can see the wife's point of view and how she thinks of her husband but the entire passage is usually in Mr. Obi's point of view. "He was stoop-shouldered and looked frail. But he sometimes surprised people with sudden bursts of physical energy" (Kennedy and Gioia 187). With this quote we get to see into the mind of the wife for just a moment. To find any symbols in this passage you really had to look deep and take everything as an interpretation of something else. I took the title, "The Dead Men's Path" as an object of symbolism. Not to describe the literal pathway to the burial ground but the path that Mr. Obi had chosen. The priest tried to show him the philosophy of balance. The philosophy of balance is an idea that shows up in many religions. It is the idea that you have to have a sense of balance in the world. Whether is be good and evil, right and wrong, or just simply up and down (Darren "The philosophy of balance").

Nihonium Facts - Element 113 or Nh

Nihonium Facts - Element 113 or Nh Nihonium is a radioactive synthetic element with the symbol Nh and atomic number 113. Because of its position on the periodic table, the element is expected to be a solid metal at room temperature. The discovery of element 113 was made official in 2016. To date, few atoms of the element have been produced, so little is known about its properties. Nihonium Basic Facts Symbol: Nh Atomic Number: 113 Element Classification: Metal Phase: probably solid Discovered By: Yuri Oganessian et al., Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia (2004). Confirmation in 2012 by Japan. Nihonium Physical Data Atomic Weight: [286] Source: Scientists used a cyclotron to fire a rare calcium isotope at an americium target. Element 115 (moscovium) was created when the calcium and americium nuclei fused. The moscovium persisted for less than one-tenth of a second before decaying into element 113 (nihonium), which persisted for over a second. Name Origin: Scientists at Japans RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science proposed the element name. The name comes from the Japanese name for Japan (nihon) together with the -ium element suffix that is used for metals. Electronic Configuration: [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p1 Element Group: group 13, boron group, p-block element Element Period: period 7 Melting Point:  700  K  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(430  Ã‚ °C, ​810  Ã‚ °F)  (predicted) Boiling Point:  1430  K ​(1130  Ã‚ °C, ​2070  Ã‚ °F)  (predicted) Density:  16  g/cm3  (predicted near room temperature) Heat of Fusion: 7.61 kJ/mol (predicted) Heat of Vaporization: 139 kJ/mol (predicted) Oxidation States:  Ã¢Ë†â€™1,  1,  3, 5  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(predicted) Atomic Radius: 170 picometers Isotopes: There are no known natural isotopes of nihonium. Radioactive isotopes have been produced by fusing atomic nuclei or else from the decay of heavier elements. Isotopes have atomic masses 278 and 282-286. All known isotopes decay via alpha decay. Toxicity: There is no known or expected biological role for element 113 in organisms. Its radioactivity makes it toxic.

The Difference in Nonverbal Behaviors and How It Changes In Different Article

The Difference in Nonverbal Behaviors and How It Changes In Different Stages of A Relationship - Article Example Through the research, it was found that both language and nonverbal communication are equally important for romantic relationships. However, the nature of nonverbal relationships changes with the passage of time for both genders. Women tend to be more inclined towards nonverbal cues in relationships as compared to men. The researchers studied the responses of 145 participants and found women to be more relationship-oriented than their male counterparts. The study also helped in knowing that nonverbal communication is on high end in case of more involved romantic partners. Casual daters have been found less inclined towards nonverbal cues as compared to married and long term relationship couples. Although this study is very useful, interesting, and informative, yet is has some limitations, such as, lack of involvement of people of higher age groups and inaccuracy or invalidity of the filled questionnaires as the researchers did not go in direct contact with the research participants. However, apart from these few limitations, the study seems to be very useful for people in romantic relationships as they can know where their relationship lies and how should they progress with their relationships in different stages of the romantic relationship. There were three main research questions used by the researchers. One of them was aimed towards knowing the differences between women and men and the way they respond to the nonverbal questionnaire. The second research question was aimed towards knowing the variations between the responses of research participants in five differences stages of the romantic relationship. The third question was aimed towards knowing the differences in affectionate communication in the five stages of the relationship. The research questions created by the researchers for the study were able to retrieve a good level of detail about the

Professional Educators Making A Difference Essay - 1

Professional Educators Making A Difference - Essay Example The professional educators are therefore bringing about a much needed difference not only within their own lives but also within the entities of the ones who are studying under them or with them. Their excellence is being continuously supplemented and the credit for the same goes on to their shoulders and the institutions which are making professional education a possibility without any doubt (Mearman, 2006). The professional educators are bringing about a difference within adult education which was not experienced in the past. There is a definitive difference that is being seen with their measures and the studies that they have undertaken (Ramey, 2011). The on-the-job training as well as the in-school training has brought dividends to just about anyone who is related with the field of professional education in one or the other capacity (Buchen, 2005). This will essentially be the cornerstone of bringing new possibilities within professional education and hence people at large will b e benefited because of the varied realms of professional education all said and done. Ramey, Craig T. The Dosage of Professional Development for Early Childhood Professionals: How the Amount and Density of Professional Development may Influence its Effectiveness. Advances in Early Education and Day Care, 15,

To what extent does prejudice affect Essay Example for Free

To what extent does prejudice affect Essay Prejudice and Racism are very closely related to each other in our society. To stereotype someone is when we apply a series of traits to them based on one trait that resembles their identity in a particular group. Some examples to stereotyping would be Asians are hardworking and studious, black people steal a lot, and many others. This very closely relates with the definition of prejudice. Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Most of the people who judge people on their particular culture using stereotypes do not actually have an experience of seeing or experiencing that particular stereotype. They are basing it off of knowledge they have received or came across from other people. Very few actually have experiences of encountering the stereotypical character of a certain group and use their experience to conceive and judge the people of that certain group. We tend to categorize ourselves in different groups whether it is through cultural differences, race differences, or difference in interest. Why do people who have prejudices tend to stereotype? These people tend to divide people into different categories of â€Å"them†. They classify these people as different. Although grouping ourselves is a nature of human kind, groups of different goals, interest, race or culture tend to prejudice using stereotypes of other groups. Is it impossible for us to reduce social prejudice? Prejudice and stereotyping will always exist in parallel with these things. Instead of trying to totally get rid of prejudice and stereotyping, it is more progressive and effective to try reducing it. Given that our world is diverse and multi ethnic, it is important to understand ways to reduce social prejudice. An approach about prejudice was made by Sherif in 1966 who believed that prejudice arises out of conflict between two groups however they do not automatically lead to prejudice, but depends on the situation and relationship involved among the groups. Sheriff also claimed that prejudice can be often seen when two groups want to achieve the same goal but only one can have it, causing them to be hostile and abusive against each other. This is the Realistic Conflict Theory. Sherif conducted a study to prove this theory and this was know as the ‘Robber’s Cave’ Study. This accurately displayed how competition and conflict between two groups can cause negative stereotyping and aggressive manners towards the out-group. Another example of Sheriff’s claim would be the study done by Dollard (1938) who found out that prejudice against German immigrant increased slowly in the US towns, as jobs were harder to get. This research study proves Sherif’s claim of prejudice being built on depending on the situation and relationship between the two groups. In this case the Germans and U. S citizens had a sense of competition over jobs, leading them to have a rivalry relationship and ultimately causing prejudice against each other. ( AS Psychology). Agreeing, but also opposing to this Tajfel (1971) argued that competition is not a likely condition for group-to-group conflict. He does not completely disagree about competition being one of the reasons for prejudice among groups, but more strongly argues that the existence of an opposing group itself produces prejudice among the groups. He also argued that in-group favoritism was present in groups and called all of these behaviors the Social Identity Theory. An example of favoritism explained in the Social Identity Theory is that two opposing groups, Man U and Liverpool would more likely help people wearing the same color uniforms if they are injured – Levine et al (2005). ( AS Psychology) In the 1950’s, American psychologist Gordon Willard Allport introduced the Intergroup-contact hypothesis. The intergroup –Contact Hypothesis considered of one having the opportunity to communicate with others. Through this communication they are able to understand and appreciate different points of views involving their way of life. Alport thought that issues of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination commonly occur between rival groups. Alport’s proposal was that properly managed contact between the groups should reduce these problems and lead to better interactions. (Psychology Today) In Robert S. Feldman’s Social Psychology, the book states that prejudice will reduce only under certain conditions. Decades of research by psychologists lead to the discovery of three conditions. The contact needs to occur between people of relatively equal status, the contact must be close and personal; goals that they are seeking must be common goals. Through frequent contact of each other in a relationship where the status is equal, prejudice can be reduced in certain ways. Personal relationships are another key of reducing prejudice in society. By forming personal relationships, people can find out that some of the prejudices and stereotypes they had of a certain group may not be true. But this condition may vary for the opponent may have the stereotypical characteristics of that certain group. Lastly prejudice can be reduced through seeking common goals. As a community, once a goal is set and achieved, the achievements are shared among those inside the community. This develops a form of bonding and grouping within the group as well, making it questionable if this is a true way of getting rid of prejudice and stereotyping since it is creating a new social identity. (Jiskha) In January 3, 2011, a more recent research on how to overcome prejudices was announced by Rodolfo Mendoza- Denton from the University of California, Berkley. Although many of Rodolfo’s ideas were similar to that of the solutions mentioned in Robert S. Feldman’s Social Psycygology, there were some significant concepts that Rodolfo had found out. One of his concepts consists of the common in-group identity model, which shows that humans are able to recategorize themselves according to interests, features, or characteristics that they share. Once they have recategorized themselves, they are more tightly bonded and understand each other within the people inside the group even though they might have been people from two different groups that once were prejudice and hostile to each other. Another major difference from Rodolfo’s solution and Feldman’s solution is that Rodolfo claims that the behavior of humans in a neutral state is critical in the effect of prejudice towards each other. To reduce prejudice among groups, Rodolfo suggested that approaching other groups in a different manner will greatly affect the presence of prejudice in two opposing groups. If approached in a manner of trying to get along, it is hard for prejudice to happen in the contact of the two groups. But by raising awareness of the stereotypes and having a negative view of the opposing group from the beginning, prejudice and stereotyping is likely to be present in this situation. (Greater Good) Work Cited (Psychology Today) Chen Ph. D, Lisa. The Psychology of Prejudice and Racism. Psychology Today . Sussex Publishers, LLC, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. http://www. psychologytoday. com/blog/handy-psychology-answers/201101/the-psychology-prejudice-and-racism. (Jiskha) David A. Gershaw, Ph. D. Homework Help: Social Studies: Psychology: Reducing Prejudice. Jiskha Homework Help. David A. Gershaw, Ph. D. , n. d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. ( AS Psychology) GROSS, R. (1999) Key Studies in Psychology, 3rd Edition. London: Hodder and Stoughton BANYARD, P. AND GRAYSON, A. (2000) Introducing Psychological Research; Seventy Studies that Shape Psychology, 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan (Greater Good) Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton. Greater Good. The Top 10 Strategies for Reducing Prejudice. University of California Berkeley, 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

Huckleberry Finn - A Racist Novel? There is a major argument among literary critics whether Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is or is not a racist novel. The question boils down to the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and to the way he is treated by Huck and other characters. The use of the word "nigger" is also a point raised by some critics, who feel that Twain uses the word too much and too loosely. Mark Twain never presents Jim in a negative light. He does not show Jim as a drunkard, as a mean person or as a cheat. This is in contrast to the way Huck's (white) father is depicted, whom Twain describes using all of the above characterizations and more. We see Jim as a good friend, a man devoted to his family and loyal to his companions. He is, however, very naive and superstitious. Some critics say that Twain is implying that all blacks have these qualities. When Jim turns to his magic hairball for answers about the future, we see that he does believe in some foolish things. But all the same, he is visited by both blacks and whites to use the hairball's powers. This type of naivete was abundant at the time and found among all races-the result of a lack of proper education. So the depiction of Jim is not negative in the sense that Jim is stupid and inferior, and in this aspect of the story clearly there is no racism intended. It is next necessary to analyze the way white characters treat Jim throughout the book. Note that what the author felt is not the way most characters act around Jim, and his feelings are probably only shown through Huck. In the South during that period, black people were treated as less than humans, and Twain needed to portray this. The examples of the way Jim is denigrated: by being locked up, having to hide his face in the daytime and how he is generally derided, are necessary for historical accuracy. So, Mark Twain had to display Jim's treatment in this manner, even if it is not the way he felt. Huck, however, does not treat Jim as most whites do. Huck looks at Jim as a friend, and by the end of their journey, disagrees with society's notion that blacks are inferior. There are two main examples of this in the story.

A Study on Gardners theories on Intelligence

Intelligence can be defined in many different signifiers. Many theoreticians have non been able to put out the construct of intelligence to an exact definition. However, this is non the instance for certain theoretician. Harmonizing to Gardner, intelligence is â€Å" is a sort of substance, of â€Å" material † , that different people have in different grades, like cholesterin or blood sugar † . Gardner was non the lone theoretician that has laid this construct out. Kowalski and Westen were besides able to specify intelligence in their text edition. Harmonizing to them, intelligence refers to the application of cognitive accomplishments and cognition to larn, solves jobs, and obtains terminals that are valued by an person or civilization. † They besides believed that intelligence plays a major function in civilization, in that, each civilization has its ain patterns that help persons like us recognize which rational qualities are socially accepted ( Kowalski & A ; Westen, 2009, p. 265 ) . Although the many theories about intelligence are present, Gardner has the most effectual and modern one. In the early 1980 ‘s, he introduced his theory of multiple intelligence where his end was to interrupt down the construct of intelligence. Dr. Gardner has written many books about his multiple intelligence theory, nevertheless he placed more attending to one called â€Å" Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences † . In this book he tries to exemplify the fact that people posses eight different intelligences, stating that persons have higher intelligences in some countries and lower intelligences in others. He believed that people can make better when the work that needs to be done is extremely correlated to the country in where persons posses the higher intelligence. The eight intelligences that Gardner provinces are displaced as the followers: â€Å" musical, bodily/kinesthetic ( which is how we control our organic structure motions ) , spacial ( the ability to make mental images ) , lingual or verbal, logical/mathematical, naturalist, intrapersonal ( being able to understand oneself ) , and interpersonal ( 1s behavior in societal state of affairss ) † ( Kowalski & A ; Westen, 2009, p. 279 ) . Identifying the assorted types of Gardner ‘s intelligences has helped me detect that the theory greatly affects my personal success. Not merely is this true for my ain success, but, many of these intelligences can impact everyone ‘s day-to-day lives. For me, the most of import intelligences that have helped me win in the yesteryear are lingual, logical/mathematical, and interpersonal. These intelligences that I posses, I would see them to be my strengths. Bing able to pass on good with others, being able to analyse and theorize thoughts, and playing an important function in certain state of affairss all have played a major function in my ability to win. In the undermentioned analysis of intelligences, we will be speaking about merely three of these eight intelligences and how they can impact my personal success in life. Having these qualities has built a get downing point in my life and it will go on to assist me make my long term ends every bit good as my short ends such as having my Bachelor ‘s grade. The first intelligence that is most of import to me in my ain success in life is the Linguistics. Linguisticss can run anyplace from being able to utilize a linguistic communication decently to complicated grammar. Harmonizing to Gardner, linguistics besides involves being cognizant of speech production and composing a linguistic communication, being able to larn multiple linguistic communications, and the contents of the linguistic communication and being able to use them to existent life state of affairss so one can win. The lingual attack besides states that one should hold the ability to talk efficaciously so that one can show him/herself. Language can besides be used to retrieve certain information and utilize the information for future mentions. Public talkers, attorneys/law enforcement, writers, and other professional linguist, are harmonizing to Gardner, genitive of this type of intelligence at higher degrees than others. Mathematicss and logical thought go manus in manus, in that, both involve abstract thought every bit good as being able to ground both inductively and deductively. Peoples who posses this type of intelligence, like me, normally try to happen logic in about every undertaking that needs to be completed. For illustration, if a professor shows me a math job, I normally look at it a few times and reappraisal in my caput what I have learned so far in how to travel about work outing the job. In this instance I am believing in a logical manner because logics, for me, are being able to interrupt down big constituents to smaller 1s so that one can finish a undertaking easier. This intelligence besides involves how much of a job one can work out, being able to finish mathematical operations, and besides analyzing consequences utilizing scientific attacks. When Gardner talks about this peculiar type of intelligence, he states that one has the ability to see forms and think in a logical mode. Thi s type of intelligence is of import in my personal success because it has helped me, and still does, in being able to go through a math or scientific discipline category without holding to fight. The last type of intelligence that plays a function in accomplishing my ends is intrapersonal. To me, holding this intelligence is a privilege because I enjoy being able to work in groups and doing new friends. When run intoing new people being interpersonal aids me in placing and understand others motivations and intent. It helps me as a pupil because it allows me to work efficaciously with other pupils during group documents or undertakings. It besides helps me understand what the other individual wants and what the cardinal incentive that is maintaining my group together. My personal belief about this peculiar intelligence is that it can avoid differences among a group of persons because they would be able to understand one another and in the occupation industry, particularly these yearss, it is really of import that one learns how to get by with other employees. Peoples working in retail normally have a stronger interpersonal intelligence along with instructors and political figu res. My personal success is my cardinal incentive. Personally my sentiment about Gardner is that he was right about his theory of multiple intelligences because even though he stated each person is different in what type of intelligences he/she possesses, he besides stated that an person ‘s civilization affects our intelligence. Turning up in a society where math and scientific discipline was a large issue, my intelligence in those countries is much higher than it is in something like humanistic disciplines.