Designing a plan for collaboration Research Proposal

Designing a plan for collaboration - Research Proposal Example This demographic data is vital to the proposed collaborative plan as social status and lifestyle characteristics will impact the level of community involvement in the proposed collaborative program development and implementation. Reno maintains considerable volumes of city services designed to facilitate a higher quality of living for its citizens and improve the development capacity of the city. Some of these services related to community function include recreation facilities, the Neil Road Recreation Center, Summer Discovery Youth Camps, and the Community Assistance Center offering shelter and counseling facilities for disadvantaged or at risk citizens (reno.gov). These services are supported by the City Council, the Civil Service Commission, and the Recreation and Parks Commission (reno.gov). Coupled with the high presence of community-minded services is the Neighborhood Advisory Board designed to act as a forum for citizens to lodge complaints or propose suggestions on improving lifestyle in Reno (reno.gov). Active involvement of citizens in improvement objectives are welcomed and required in order for the collaborative program to find ultimate success. High instances of school violence and gang presence in Reno have created considerable community-level problems and impact the city budget significantly. It is proposed for Reno city officials to collaborate with the Washoe County School District, an organization that maintains a very low drop-out ratio in grades 9-12 that is far below the national average (education.com, 2008). Coupled with collaboration between the Regional Gang Unit, affiliated non-profits, and direct community involvement, a plan has been developed to prevent school violence and provide services to reduce gang presence in Reno. There are currently no services in place to provide this support for school and gang-related delinquency and this impacts budget and community lifestyle due to its neglect

The Use of Anabolic Steroids in Society Today Essay -- Papers Sports A

The Use of Anabolic Steroids in Society Today The use of steroids in our society today is very common, that is with prescription. But that is not the kind of steroids I am talking about, I am talking about Anabolic Steroids. Anabolic steroids are a very sensitive issue in the world of sports today. Even though the side effects are life threatening, men and woman alike continue to submit their bodies to this illegal drug. Anabolic steroids are taken either through pills or injected directly into the blood stream with a needle. In 1994, 1,084,000 Americans, or 0.5 percent of the adult population, said that they had use anabolic steroids, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Under Federal Law it is illegal to possess or distribute anabolic steroids for nonmedical uses. However, heavy demand has generated a black market with estimated sales of up to $400 million a year, according to a NIDA Research Report, Anabolic Steroids: A Threat to Body and Mind (NIDA July/August1997). Anabolic steroids are drugs derived from the male hormone testosterone. They promote muscle growth and increase lean body mass. Although anabolic steroids have many approved medical uses, some athletes and others seeking to improve performance and physical appearance abuse them. These nonmedical uses are illegal and carry many health hazards. There are many signs that one can look for in a person who is suspected of using Anabolic Steroids. There is dramatic gain in weight and muscle mass over a short period of time (NIDA September1997). Another is severe acne. Others could be water retention, baldness or hair loss, even in the worst cases severe and sometimes violent mo... ...nry no knows steroids are not worth the risk. â€Å"I am here to tell people and especially young people that yes it can happen and yes it will happen to you† (Mask p.1-2) Bibliography: References Anabolic Steroid Use. (1997, September). NIDA Capsule Series, http://www.drug- abuse.com/information/anabolicsteroid/steroid1.html. Questions and Answers About Anabolic Steroids. (1997, July/August). vol.12, http://www.nida.hih.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol12N4QASteroids.html Mask, Dr. Allen. (1996, July). Steroid Abuse (9 paragraphs). WRAL OnLine. Ullis, Dr. Karlis. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1999; 283: 0209-1. King DS. Effect of oral androstenedione on serum testosterone and adaptations to resistance training in young men: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1999; 281: 2020-2028.

A Second Chance Essay

It was my chance to prove myself; I was about to go out there and audition for a talent show through singing and playing the piano. I was so sure that I would do it, since I knew the judges personally and they were already aware that I had the talent. I haven’t actually practiced the song as much as I was supposed to, but I was certain that I would know it properly since I have practiced before several times. I was waiting for my turn, and while I was waiting, I was starting to get nervous and tense about the whole thing. When I was up, I took a deep breath and started playing the song. The first thing I did wrong was mix up the notes. The first time was excused as it was thought to be normal and that everyone makes mistakes. The second time was also excused, the third, the fourth.. It was starting to get irritating. Other than the note mix up, when I started to sing, my voice went too high and I started to get out of breath. In addition to this, I forgot and mixed all the lyrics of the song. This made me stop in the middle of the song excusing myself for all the mistakes that I’ve done. Since the judges were my friends, they were totally understandable; they realized that I was nervous and that I am good at this, despite my failed efforts. This made me feel miserable. I have failed to preform something I have known and been playing for almost a year. I couldn’t sing the song without making a word mixup every now and then. I informed the judges the next day that I would like to audition again, and this time I was going to do it right. The minute I told them I was going to audition again, I went home searching for a completely different song to preform, and this time I was going to focus on singing it only. I found the perfect song, and once I did I started practicing on it. I have noticed that the last time I auditioned, I was nervous when my turn was up, so I decided to ask different people I knew to hear me out, and anytime I would get nervous I would randomly start singing, to try and overcome my fear of preforming in front of a crowd. When the day of my second audition finally arrived, I was assured that I would do it this time, given the fact that I have practiced beforehand and tried to overcome my fear. The minute I preformed, I felt a tinge of nervousness, but then It was like I was preforming to myself, not scared at all. I was confident enough and because of this I did a good job and the judges loved it. This made me realize that once you set your mind on something, even if you fail it once, you can always achieve it. If you have the will to do it, you will succeed. The second thing I realized was that you should always, ALWAYS make sure you are prepared for any situation that may arise, even if you think you know how to handle it. After all, practice makes perfect. This has made me believe that I should never give up on where I want to study, and even if I don’t get accepted the first time, I can work harder and apply again, I have nothing to loose. I should believe in myself and prepare myself for what’s ahead and will hopefully succeed. A Second Chance Essay In Harold Ramis’s film, â€Å"Groundhog Day† and Franz Kafka’s story, â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, both main characters are faced with a life-changing event because of the way they live their lives. In Groundhog Day the main character Phil is an arrogant, sarcastic weatherman absorbed in his own discomforts, without hope, and cut off from other people. He is forced to relive the same day, groundhogs day, over and over again. In â€Å"The Metamorphosis the main character is Gregor Samsa, a man who spends his time working to pay off a debt for his father. Gregor wakes up to find that he has turned into a beetle. Throughout these two works the main characters try to go back to living their life as before not realizing that this is their second chance at life to make things right. Phil manages to do so only by breaking through and becoming a person of intimacy, creativity and compassion which sets him free from his exile of living in the same day over and over again. As for Gregor, going from someone everyone depends on to something no one wants to care for, he doesn’t get a chance to have everything go back to normal. He dies and his family, for once, is relieved. Groundhog Day lets us experience what it would be like to make a breakthrough like this in our own lives. The movie shows us a character that is like the worst in ourselves. Like us, he finds himself in an inexplicable situation, something like fate. But, unlike us, he gets the luxury of being stuck in the same day until he gets it right. Where most of us go semi-automatically through most of our days, he is forced to stop and treat each day like a world onto itself, and decide how to use it. In the end, he undergoes a breakthrough to a more authentic self in which intimacy, creativity and compassion come naturally – a self that was trapped inside him and that could only be freed by trapping him. Like many of the heroes of fiction, he can only escape his exile from himself by being exiled in a situation not of his choosing. This movie hits on a message that is commonly found elsewhere and that appears to express an essential truth. When we get beyond denial and resentment over the conditions of life and death, and accept our situation, it tells us, then life ceases to be a problem and we can become authentic and compassionate. Phil makes two such breakthroughs: first he accepts being condemned to being stuck in the same day, then he accepts the fact that everyone else is condemned to die. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation is kind of an extended metaphor. He deeply resented having to support his family. Desiring to be in turn nurtured by them, he becomes a parasite. The complete dependence of Gregor’s family and employer on him, then, is seen as an ironic foil to the reality of Gregor’s anatomical transformation into a parasite. The Metamorphosis is not upon Gregor, but on his family, as they abandon their dependence on him and learn to be self-sufficient. One interpretation of the story holds that the title applies equally to Gregor’s sister Grete: she passes from girlhood to young womanhood during the course of the narrative. Another view of Gregor’s transformation is that it is an extended metaphor, carried from abstract concept to concrete reality: trapped in a meaningless job and isolated from the human beings around him, Gregor is thought of as an insect by himself and by others, so he becomes one only to die, and relieving the family of having to take care of him. Fiction allows us to identify with and play characters who find their true selves, putting us in touch with the universal human nature in each of us. The ability to watch and play the role of fictional characters makes the fiction more interesting and expands our vision of possible ways of being. But, one way or another, it must lead us back to our true selves, the universal, moral being we all are, which is as real as the physical world is real. Groundhog Day symbolizes just this since Phil treats his life as a game only when he is in despair. Once he has a sense of hope, he becomes more authentic and discovers himself. As for The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s state before he turned into a bug contrasts with the family’s state after the got jobs and began working. I guess Kafka is trying to say that we shouldn’t work like bugs for others leaving out time for ourselves as Gregor had but instead work for ourselves with pride and dignity as the family did at the end of the story. A Second Chance Essay Three years ago, my cousin Wael, aged 17, died next to me in a car accident. It was a very beautiful evening, I just got off work and was excited to go home and drive my new Nissan 350Z my boyfriend just got me. As I arrived to my house, Wael was waiting for me. I hadn’t seen him over a week or so, and the excitement to see him was killing me. I wanted to go out for a drive to catch up, as well as test drive the new car. We were out driving for about twenty minutes or so; we told each other stories and just laughed until we couldn’t breathe any longer. At a point, he kept asking me to let him drive my car. This car was probably every teenagers dream. I didn’t want to at first, because my boyfriend had asked me to please not let anyone else drive it. I couldn’t say no to Wael. He was my everything; we always did things with each other, and for each other. I finally gave up, parked at a random store and switched seats with him. The fun then really began. We drove everywhere; we drove past my house, past our high school and finally went on this road called Hillcrest Road. This road is known for how small and narrow it is, and its big bumpy hills. We both knew what was about to happened. We were about to have the best time. He got in it, stepped on the gas as hard as he could, and the car speed off. We were screaming with laughter from how fast the car was going, and how much fun it was to feel like we were flying in the air. Finally we made it at the end of the road. I was glad that was over with, because in my head I kept thinking,† please don’t scratch up the car.† He wasn’t done, he asked me, â€Å"one more time please?† I gave up arguing with him, and agreed. This time around he put his whole weight on the gas pedal and took off as fast as he could. We were laughing, screaming, and looking at each other as we were flying in the air. There was a moment when the car flew af ter the hill and started to drift to the left. I got scared and asked him to stay in the lane. I think he freaked out and didn’t know how to handle the car. He made a mistake by hitting the break while we were flying instead of hitting the break when we landed. The two front wheels locked and as soon as it hit the concrete ground, everything started moving in slow motion. I could feel the car sliding off the road and going towards a white fence. I don’t remember what happened after that hit because it happened so fast. I can recall waking up with glass pocking the soles of my feet, blood dripping down my neck; it was so wet and gushy. I was so sore and in so much pain. I looked over to my shoulder to see if my cousin is still there, but all I see is blood dripping down his nose and I tried to wake him up. I was screaming at him â€Å"Please wake up, please.† When he couldn’t respond to me I tried to get out the car even though opening the door was very hard. Everything was blurry and every muscle in my body was aching. I was told, I just passed out on the ground while I was trying to walk to a house to get help. Eventually, someone called 911 and the ambulance and care flight came for both of us. I was taken on the ambulance to be treated for severe head injuries, while they were working on getting Wael out of the crushed car. I have been hit in the head by the fences we ran into, and had lost too much blood. Wael was pronounced dead due to internal bleeding. When I eventually woke up in the hospital, I heard all the crying and screaming, and that’s when I knew someone died. I couldn’t understand who, I mean it wasn’t me because I was still here. I kept telling myself this is just a dream; I will wake up soon, but I never woke up. That person who died was my cousin. I couldn’t cry, I was numb, I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t understand what had just happened. I just couldn’t believe it, no way. We were just having so much fun a couple hours ago it seemed. I guess bad news spreads faster than good news, because the next morning I was surrounded by people who I knew as well as I didn’t know. It was variety of people from friends, police officers and even family members from all over that I haven’t seen in years. That’s when it hit me, that my cousin is gone forever. I cried and cried myself to sleep. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, and the nightmares kept getting worse as the days went on. All of my family hated me because they blamed me for his death. I developed very bad depression, I stopped talking to everyone, I got angry fast and I felt lonely. I had nothing going for myself. I felt like I lost everyone who I once loved, or at least those who loved me. One day my mom begged me to go get help, or just get out and do something with myself. I had to do something about this; it had been way too long. I had suffered enough, I grieved for way to long and that’s when I came to the conclusion that God has a plan for me and this is why he is still keeping me around. God gave me a second chance, he wants me to do something with myself. I believe everyone deserves second chance in life. It doesn’t matter if it a big mistake or a small mistake. Walking around with grudges won’t solve anything. Obviously when I was walking around grieving it didn’t do me any good. I blamed God, I blamed my boyfriend for getting me that car, and I took it hard on myself because I willingly handed the vehicle to my cousin. This world is filled with good and bad things. It’s sad to say that it took a car accident and losing the closest person I had ever had to make me realize this. Wael might be gone but he will never be forgotten. I feel like he begged me to drive the car for a reason. It me who was supposed to be killed, but God took him before me. I believe everyone deserves a second chance just like God gave me another chance. I felt like I died and came back. As long as I am alive I can survive anything, and I know I have a purpose in life. My life did change dramatically; I can’t say I am the same person I used to be. My family went from hating me to being the closest people I have in my life; I went from doing nothing for myself to enrolling at Kettering Medical College. Life can be cruel and destructive, but God gave me a second chance at life for a good reason. This I must believe.

Odysseus and Penelopes Suffering - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 687 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/04/01 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Odyssey Essay Did you like this example? The book The Odyssey, by Gareth Hinds, is about Odysseus and how he battles mythical creatures and faces the anger of the gods. His wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, avoid many suitors contending to marry Penelope try to take Ithacas throne until Odysseus returns home. The Odyssey ends when Odysseus wins a contest to prove his who he really is and takes back the throne of Ithaca again. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Odysseus and Penelopes Suffering" essay for you Create order One of the main themes that comes up throughout the story is suffering. Types of suffering that come up are personal suffering, suffering you share with other people, and finally how those problems are resolved in the end. Personal suffering in this book is usually caused by wars or other depressing events. One example in this book is when Odysseus spent a long time looking for his family. This clearly had a big impact on his journey. He did everything for his family and to try to get to them but in the story, it clearly shows that he was suffering because of the way he missed them and how long it took him to find them. Between Telemachus, Odysseus and Penelope, the stress in all of them tested and affected their mental strength while being sorrowful because they were being separated from each other. When Odysseus left for the war, Penelope stayed at home with Telemachus. After many years passed by, people thought Odysseus was dead and a new kind of pain and suffering both Telemachus and Penelopes life was created because of that. Because of this, suitors harshly ravaged their house and this caused her a lot of pain for many years. Penelope wished for Odysseus to one day come back home, but after many years of hoping, it seemed like it would never come true. This same kind of hardship that Penelope experienced was also shared with Telemachus in a very similar way. He was always looking to find a way of his father to come home but he would never come back. In the book, there were many wars of different kinds, some of which involved violent wars and lots of killing but also wars within yourself and other people. The wars affected the story greatly because it showed how it impacted people greatly. One example of this affecting people is when Odysseus was away and is trapped on Calypsos island. Once Calypso lets him leave the island, he goes on many adventures that cause many members of his crew getting killed. Odysseus feels like it is his fault that they have died because he was the one that brought them along on the journey. He thinks deeply about what is going on and how it would have been if they werent with him. Before much of the misfortunes of them getting killed, Odysseus and his crew get stranded with a lady that poisons them but then Odysseus gets them out of the poison. While they were there, they were out of worries that they would get killed in any place they walked. In the end, all of these problems were eventually solved, and characters attitudes were clear to change when they did. When Odysseus returned home, Penelopes problems with the suitors got resolved. When he got there, he took back her hand and the throne of Ithaca again. She no longer had to deal with them fighting over who would marry her or who would take the throne. Even though nothing can change the grief of the loss of a loved one from the war, a lot of the depression from the crew stopped because they no longer had to live with the worry of getting killed overnight or Odysseus not coming back home. To conclude, The Odyssey can teach us many things about suffering and the ways people suffer. Even though problems may be hard on you and other people, most times they can be resolved, just like they were with Odysseus and Penelope. Penelope didnt have to worry about many problems when Odysseus came home and Odysseus didnt have to worry about someone taking the throne while he wasnt at home.

Fall of Chinas Qing Dynasty Causes and Consequences

When the last Chinese dynasty—the Qing dynasty —fell in 1911–1912, it marked the end of the nations incredibly long imperial history. That history stretched back at least as far as 221 BCE when Qin Shi Huangdi first united China into a single empire. During much of that time, China was the single, undisputed superpower in East Asia, with neighboring lands such as Korea, Vietnam, and an often-reluctant Japan trailing in its cultural wake. After more than 2,000 years, though, Chinese imperial power under the last Chinese dynasty was about to collapse for good. Key Takeaways: Collapse of the Qing The Qing dynasty promoted itself as a conquering force, ruling China for 268 years before collapsing in 1911–1912. The elites self-proclaimed position as outsiders contributed to their eventual demise.  A major contribution to the downfall of the last dynasty were external forces, in the form of new Western technologies, as well as a gross miscalculation on the part of the Qing as to the strength of European and Asian imperialistic ambitions.  A second major contributor was internal turmoil, expressed in a series of devastating rebellions beginning in 1794 with the White Lotus rebellion, and ending with the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 and Wuchang Uprising of 1911–1912. The ethnic Manchu rulers of Chinas Qing dynasty reigned over the Middle Kingdom beginning in 1644 CE, when they defeated the last of the Ming, up until 1912. What brought about the collapse of this once-mighty empire, ushering in the modern era in China? As you might expect, the collapse of Chinas Qing dynasty was a long and complex process. Qing rule gradually collapsed during the second half of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th, due to a complicated interplay between internal and external factors. Murmurs of Dissent The Qings were from Manchuria, and they established their dynasty as a conquering force of the Ming dynasty by non-Chinese outsiders, maintaining that identity and organization throughout their 268-year reign. In particular, the court marked itself off from its subjects in certain religious, linguistic, ritual, and social characteristics, always presenting themselves as outside conquerors. Social uprisings against the Qing began with the White Lotus uprising in 1796–1820. The Qing had forbidden agriculture in the northern regions, which were left to the Mongol pastoralists, but the introduction of new world crops such as potato and maize opened the northern region plains farming. At the same time, technologies for treating contagious diseases such as smallpox, and the extensive use of fertilizers and irrigation techniques were also imported from the West. White Lotus Rebellion As a result of such technological improvements, the Chinese population exploded, increasing from 140 million in 1741 to 310 million in 1794; and by 1840, the population in Qing dynasty China was over 410 million people. At first, farmers in regions adjacent to Mongolia worked for the Mongols, but eventually, the people in the overcrowded Hubei and Hunan provinces flowed out and into the region. Soon the new migrants began to outnumber the indigenous people, and conflict over local leadership grew and grew strong. The White Lotus rebellion began when large groups of Chinese rioted in 1794. Eventually, the rebellion was crushed by the Qing elites; but the White Lotus organization remained secret and intact, and advocated for the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Imperial Mistakes   Another major contributing factor to the downfall of the Qing dynasty was European imperialism and Chinas gross miscalculation of the power and ruthlessness of the British crown. By the mid-19th century, the Qing dynasty had been in power for over a century, and the elites and many of their subjects felt they had a heavenly mandate to remain in power. One of the tools they used to stay in power was a very strict restriction on trade. The Qing believed that the way to avoid the errors of the White Lotus rebellion was to clamp down on foreign influence. The British under Queen Victoria were a huge market for Chinese teas, but the Qing refused to engage in trade negotiations, rather demanding that Britain pay for the tea in gold and silver. Instead, Britain began a lucrative, illicit trade in opium, traded from British imperial India into Canton, far from Beijing. The Chinese authorities burned 20,000 bales of opium, and the British retaliated with a devastating invasion of mainland China, in two wars known as the Opium Wars of 1839–42 and 1856–60. Completely unprepared for such an onslaught, the Qing dynasty lost, and Britain imposed unequal treaties and took control of the Hong Kong region, along with millions of pounds of silver to compensate the British for the lost opium. This humiliation showed all of Chinas subjects, neighbors, and tributaries that the once-mighty China was now weak and vulnerable. Deepening Weaknesses With its weaknesses exposed, China began to lose power over its peripheral regions. France seized Southeast Asia, creating its colony of French Indochina. Japan stripped away Taiwan, took effective control of Korea (formerly a Chinese tributary) following the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895–96, and also imposed unequal trade demands in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki. By 1900, foreign powers including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan had established spheres of influence along Chinas coastal areas. There the foreign powers essentially controlled trade and the military, although technically they remained part of Qing China. The balance of power had tipped decidedly away from the imperial court and toward the foreign powers. The Boxer Rebellion   Within China, dissent grew, and the empire began to crumble from within. Ordinary Han Chinese felt little loyalty to the Qing rulers, who still presented themselves as conquering Manchus from the north. The calamitous Opium Wars seemed to prove that the alien ruling dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven and needed to be overthrown. In response, the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi clamped down hard on reformers. Rather than following the path of Japans Meiji Restoration and modernizing the country, Cixi purged her court of modernizers. When Chinese peasants raised a huge antiforeigner movement in 1900, called the Boxer Rebellion, they initially opposed both the Qing ruling family and the European powers (plus Japan). Eventually, the Qing armies and the peasants united, but they were unable to defeat the foreign powers. This signaled the beginning of the end for the Qing dynasty. The Last Days of the Last Dynasty Strong rebel leaders began to have major impacts on the ability of the Qing to rule. In 1896, Yan Fu translated Herbert Spencers treatises on social Darwinism. Others began to openly call for the overthrow of the existing regime and replace it with a constitutional rule. Sun Yat-Sen emerged as Chinas first professional revolutionary, having gained an international reputation by being abducted by Qing agents in the Chinese Embassy in London in 1896. One Qing response was to suppress the word revolution by banning it from their world-history textbooks. The French Revolution was now the French rebellion or chaos, but in fact, the existence of leased territories and foreign concessions provided plenty of fuel and varying degrees of safety for radical opponents. The crippled Qing dynasty clung to power for another decade, behind the walls of the Forbidden City, but the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 put the final nail in the coffin when 18 provinces voted to secede from the Qing dynasty. The Last Emperor, 6-year-old Puyi, formally abdicated the throne on Feb. 12, 1912, ending not only the Qing dynasty but Chinas millennia-long imperial period. Sun Yat-Sen was elected the first president of China, and the Republican era of China had begun. Sources   Borjigin, Burensain. The Complex Structure of Ethnic Conflict in the Frontier: Through the Debates Around the Jindandao Incident in 1891. Inner Asia, vol. 6, no.1, 2004, pp. 41–60. Print.Dabringhaus, Sabine. The Monarch and Inner/Outer Court Dualism in Late Imperial China. Royal Courts in Dynastic States and Empires. A Global Perspective. Boston: Brill, 2011, pp. 265–87. Print.Leese, Daniel. Revolution: Conceptualizing Political and Social Change in the Late Qing Dynasty. Oriens Extremus, vol. 51, 2012, pp. 25–61. Print.Li, Dan, and Nan Li. Moving to the Right Place at the Right Time: Economic Effects on Migrants of the Manchuria Plague of 1910–11. Explorations in Economic History, vol. 63, 2017, pp. 91–106. Print.Tsang, Steve. A Modern History of Hong Kong. London: I.B. Tauris Co. Ltd., 2007. Print.Sng, Tuan-Hwee. Size and Dynastic Decline: The Principal-Agent Problem in Late Imperial China, 1700–1850. Explorations in Economic History, vol. 54, 2014, pp. 107–27. Print.

Women Roles in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sir Gawain

Men are said to be the head of the household and are usually the breadwinners with their main role consisting of providing for their families. On the other hand, as stated in the comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, women act as the neck of the household, therefore they have the ability to turn the â€Å"head†, or their husbands, in any direction they choose. Women had no ways of expressing their feelings directly in society, but instead expressed them through manipulation of their husbands. The ladies in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exercise control in many momentous situations that if had not gone their way could’ve completely changed the ending of the game. For example, Morgana Le fay, an evil but extremely clever sorceress, had power over†¦show more content†¦Gerald Morgan seems to support this belief in â€Å"Medieval Misogyny and Gawain’s Outburst against Women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† when he says â€Å"Indeed the difference of s ex is not a source of defect at all, but is required for the perfection of the species† (Morgan 20). Morgan makes an interesting point in his belief that women are required for the perfection of the species because they take on the roles that men do not. Currently ,women are breaking free from this secondary status and are taking on the roles of breadwinner and mother successfully, not needing a man to tell them otherwise. As a result, its unnecessary for women to resort to manipulation to express their desires as women in medieval history had to. Women had several manipulation strategies. From the chivalric tendencies of knights to women’s seductive tactics; manipulation was somewhat simple. Gawain’s respectful and chivalric actions empower many women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, especially Lady Bercilak. He states â€Å"This is my duty, now and forever, / to serve you, lady† (SGGK 1547-48). Gawain admits to Lady Bercilak that he will do anything she pleases and is submitting to her influence. Gawain later finds out that Lady Bercilak was a part of Morgana’s game and compares his foolishness to biblical characters who, like him, encountered problems with women such as David and

Pedro Almodovar Paper Free Essays

Christiaan Respeto Pedro Almodovar Analysis Paper Pedro Almodovar is a Spanish director that is arguably the most influential Spanish filmmaker of his generation. He is known for his bold and risky story plots and characters as well as his openness to sexuality. He is very influenced by the underground lifestyles of individuals and peoples sexuality. We will write a custom essay sample on Pedro Almodovar Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Almodovar’s influences and history undoubtedly show through his career. Pedro was born on September 25, 1949 in Calzada de Calatrava, Spain. He lived in poverty as a child with his mother, father, brother, and two sisters. Pedro spent a lot of his time going to a local theater watching movies from all over the world dubbed in Spanish, which was the mark of passion for film. When Pedro was eight he was put into a Catholic boarding school in Caceres, Extremadura, where there was hope that Pedro would become a priest. After his education Pedro decided to move to Madrid against his family’s wishes to pursue his dream of being a film director. Pedro Supported himself working at a Spain national phone company while making short films on the side. Pedro finally gained recognition with his films â€Å"Pepi, Luci, Bom† and â€Å"Other Girls Like Mom† for their humor and expressive sexuality. Pedro gained international recognition with his film â€Å"Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown† a movie that was widely accepted for its female centered style. Almodovar had many influences in his life especially by other film directors such as Luis Bunuel, Rainer Fassbinder, Alfred Hitchcock, John Waters, Ingmar Bergman, Edgar Neville, Federico Fellini, George Cukor, Luis Garcia Berlanga, and Marco Ferreri. He is very influenced of family and deep close relationships between individuals. Pedro is also influenced by sexuality since many of his stories contained characters that are gay, lesbian, trans-gender, and have strong sexual desire. Women also seem to be a big influence in Almodovar’s films since there are strong female leads and characters in many of his films. The style Almodovar uses in his films is experimenting with elements that are not mainstream in the modern film world. Almodovar is known for films that are bold and risky for they’re expressive sexuality, complex mature narrative, and presenting the underground lifestyle of junkies and crime stricken areas. The narratives in his films are very complex and mature with dark story plots that push the edge of what is accepted in modern cinema. His use of editing in his films however are very mainstream and take the classical Hollywood approach with continuity editing but, at times uses fades and text. Almodovar uses strong female characters as well as characters that are homosexual and bi-sexual. Part 2 All About my Mother Critique ‘All about my Mother ‘ is a film that expresses the power of family and sisterhood. The film tells a very deep and dramatic story with complex characters that really enhance the experience of the film. Through the films editing, cinematography, and character development the film is surely one of Almodovar’s best films. The editing in the film is very classical Hollywood style with the use of continuity editing although when a large amount of time passes large text is displayed on screen to tell the audience exactly how long time has passed. The film also plays around with fades in cool ways such as when Manuela goes to watch the performance of â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire†, Esteban’s notebook is still on screen from the last scene faded in the background as the camera pans to Manuela. The cinematography in the film is very much like a soap opera with a lot of still shots and characters really being the main focus of every shot. The film does like to pan and track characters very often. The cinematography also reminds me of classic Hollywood style which helps push the story in a continuous and satisfying way. Character development is a huge and well executed in this film. Manuela was a character that really developed through the movie. When Esteban dies Manuela is a wreck that couldn’t even speak about her son with others. Over time she starts to heal little by little and tell more about her sons death. For example a great scene where it shows that Manuela developed, as a character was when she meet up with Lola to show him his son from Rosa and talks about their son who passed away. She even goes as far as to show Lola Esteban’s notebook, which she was so protective of. She also parts ways with Esteban’s picture so that Lola may have it. Overall I think this is a great film by Almodovar that kept me compelled to the very end. The film had great use of editing, cinematography, and character development that really pushed the story and experience of the film. Through it’s deep storyline and complex characters this film is definitely something I will not forget. Citation http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pedro_Almod%C3%B3var http://www. helium. com/items/310894-pedro-almodovars-influence-on-filmmaking-today http://www. rottentomatoes. com/celebrity/pedro_almodovar/biography. php http://movies. yahoo. com/person/pedro-almodovar/biography. html How to cite Pedro Almodovar Paper, Essay examples