EDUCATION WELFARE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EDUCATION WELFARE - Essay Example It is common for these kinds of families to collapse, with spouses being left as single-parents. This is precisely what Childers’ describes in her book. While Childers is between the age of 10 and 16, she describes the tough circumstances in which she lives. Childers is the eldest of 7 children, and she is often left in charge of them when her mother wanders away. At home, they do not have a telephone, and there is often no electricity too. They also went to bed to bed hungry. Childers often regrets what she has experienced. The 1960s was a period when non-whites were locked in a struggle to attain equal social rights. However, this did not mean that whites were well off, as many of them lived at or below the poverty line. The United States was increasingly engaging in war in Vietnam, and this put a strain on the economy. Yet, there was some form of welfare to rely on. Amid getting an education through welfare, Childers experienced poverty, violence, neglect and shame. While these are experiences that one may not be able to recount calmly, she succeeds in doing so with honesty and grace. It is here that it is noteworthy to mention that she looks back at her dreadful past as though she appreciates what she has been through. Perhaps, these were hard lessons that taught her well. Childers was not alone in her battle, as her family fought for survival. However, it is her recount of prevailing over unwanted pregnancies and cruel boyfriends that impresses us. She managed to keep her education going despite her struggles outside and within the home. While they lived in bleak conditions, Childers and her sister, Joan, had come to realize one important thing. They knew that they must break the cycle of poverty, and they could do this by getting educated. At home, she had to contend with single mother who was an alcoholic. While she describes how much she

Why Do I Need This Scholarship Essay Example for Free

Why Do I Need This Scholarship Essay My name is , and currently I am a senior at . After high school I plan to go to college and major in Nursing and minor in Physical Therapy. Throughout my life there have been a number of people giving me advice, but the one person that stuck on me the most is Minister George M. Howard Jr. my youth minister. This man has been like a father to me knowing that he will always be there when I need lifts my spirit. Minister George M. Howard Jr. told me that â€Å"It’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows you because there will always be someone watching you†. See more: how to write a winning scholarship essay My dreams and aspirations are to be so successful so that I’m not dependent on anyone else. Ever since I was little I have wanted to be in charge of everyone and everything. To in charge, I first have to obtain the knowledge and in order to do that I have to go to college. I have seen so many people become dependent on others as well as the emptiness in the lives of people who can only do one thing well and I don’t want that happening to me. I plan to work and study hard, make good grades and become the head nurse in the biggest hospital. However, with my new-goal oriented mind, I realize that I am working towards my Nursing degree and my successful future. I finally understand that my least favorite subject will greatly contribute to my ultimate goal of living a rewarding life and fulfilling my career goals. I know that the courses will be challenging, but I am willing to do what it takes to achieve my ultimate goal. Now my appreciation of those classes is stronger than ever because those classes are what will prepare me for my college education. The colleges that I have chosen will not only provide me with hands-on training, but it will also teach me real life skills and communication.

Devising As A Journey Of Exploration And Discovery Theatre Essay

Devising As A Journey Of Exploration And Discovery Theatre Essay Devising is a very fluid form of theatre. Taking inspirations from anywhere and everywhere, a devised performance can be in any form and on any topic. This style is in direct contrast to scripted theatre, where a text is laying out the plot, direction, characters and details of the final performance. Although there is freedom for a personal interpretation of the overall view and form of the piece, the rehearsals and performances are confined by what has already been decided by the playwright. But devising is unlimited, in which a company can produce a performance on any theme or topic, taking ideas from any part of life and producing something new and fresh †¦the precise nature of the end product [of devised theatre] is unknown. In conventional theatre, however, everyone knows the production is, for example, Shakespeares Hamlet from the outset. (Oddey, 7) An example of a devising piece is the recent Fairytale Mash-Up which I was involved in as an actor. For this our original stimulus was a collection of short fairytale stories, some of which were familiar and others were unknown to the group. On reading the stories we found them to be surprisingly gruesome, which was something that is not necessarily picked up when a fairytale is heard as a child, such as the butcher cutting off the girls feet in Red Shoes. This was an unexpected twist and was the main basis of the beginning of our idea, as we decided from the very start that the Fairy Godmother would be dead, and therefore would not make all dreams come true as is usually expected of this character. Already we had a new interpretation of a classic idea, but our own input had discovered a new alternative. As oak trees grow from small acorns (Greet, Why Devise) and all ideas must stem from somewhere, the actors within a devising group are responsible with feeding new ideas into the group to create more diversity within the piece. Through this an actor has the power to get what they individually want from the piece and therefore it becomes more personal for the actors. It becomes their piece in a deeper way than, for example, a Chekhov play would, as it is inspired by their own ideas and experiences. In the Mash-Up I personally wanted something from it, having not attempted a murder mystery before and having not explored the true possibilities within comedic theatre. Devising allows us, as actors, to explore ourselves, our possibilities and our limitations. Sarah Kane believed that if something could be imagined then there was a way of reproducing it on a stage, and with this in mind an actor can explore distant memories and fantastical stories in aid of a devised performance. As every human is unique and no two people have the same experiences, a devised company has a whole variety of stimulus that is previously unseen and unexplored by a public audience. In this, the not knowing is clear, as at the start of development of a piece nobody knows what will be their influences and stimuli, and this creates a feeling of excitement and in return provides energy for the piece. This, as a result, means inevitably every devised piece will always be original due to the fact that a different group of actors will provide different motivations, due to the contrasting relationships within the group. In the 1960s a group was formed called the People Show and their performances relied on the differences and conflict between individual artists within the group, which changed with every new shows situation, conditions and circumstances. Every show was a unique devising performance. (Oddey, 5-6) This company is an ideal representation of a devising company, as they are described as a group of individual artists in collaboration with each other, taking risks, having a sense of unknown at the start of the devising process (Oddey, 6). It is this risk-taking that is important to devising, as people need to lose their inhibitions for true inspiration and new ideas to form. Having worked with members of my group before there were connections for some, but others were new relationships that had to be built during the development process. A benefit of this was that fresh eyes on an actor would see a talent within them that had maybe not been explored before, that their closer friends would have overlooked as being too obvious. In this risks were taken, not all of which were successes but by doing rehearsals we allowed the freedom and non-judgement of an idea so that even if only a tiny aspect of it was used later, we made it so that actors would not fear having ideas rejected within the group. One of the main techniques within devising is improvisation, which in reality is the basis of most devised work. This is a spontaneous activity, and therefore allows freedom, as an actor is not tied down by any limits, there is no final destination laid out in advance and there is limited if any direction made. The actor can be in the moment, without having to concern his thoughts with the next moment: Nothing is fixed and absolute, it is in flux, what will the next moment be? (Bentley, 78) In improvisation the next moment is not important, it is about focusing on the current and feeling free to explore in the present without fear of the future. Not all improvisation goes well, and more than often it takes more than several tries to find something worth anything, which is why continued improvisation is vital for discovering new things, because if a company always goes with the first idea they limit themselves greatly where they should be free to pick and choose from many ideas. Addit ionally a benefit of devised work is that even a concept that has been weeks in processing can be dropped if needed something that is not so possible within scripted work. In our piece we swapped and changed characters as we felt needed one member was set to be the Fairy Godmother before this was changed weeks in, but it was discovered that this actually allowed the original actor to experience more, having been able to try out more than one character until she found one that would fit with what she wanted out of the devising experience. Additionally, original characters like a reclusive genie were dropped as we felt necessary, and in early stages we were regularly swapping characters until we found an option that gave everyone the best opportunities for themselves and for the group. WE toyed with the idea of simply picking out characters from a hat then performing as them or producing still images without discussing it, but this became more complicated as some were drawn more to a certain character and struggled with more obscure options. As time went on and the piece became more complex and structured, one group member produced poems which acted as monologues for all the different characters, so in time we found ourselves structuring scenes around these poems as more were produced. It was quite interesting combining improvisation with scripted work, as we could improvise and develop until we found a place where the poem fit, and once it was done we would improvise the end of the scene as well. This meant that we could feel sure that the scene would have a point but we would still have the freedom to play around the set information. Additionally, as all the scenes were flashbacks for various murder suspects, there was no set order for them to be in, so this also added the opportunity to play with different orders to study the flow of energy from one to another before finding the right arrangement. Oddey says how thinking on your feet allows the individual to respond to new ideas or thoughts spontaneously, to sense and react to others so that the interaction or combined operation often produces unknown or unseen fresh material. This is not to underestimate the value of or importance of group discussion, but to point out the danger of becoming preoccupied with talking (155) and this is definitely a significant point. In our group we found that discussion was best left until after trying out some free improvisation and even then it needed to be brief otherwise it became compressing. We gave ourselves strict time limits and this meant that there wasnt time to talk and added concentrated energy into a moment, which often created new and exciting results. Devising is also about exploring how common ideas and regular day-to-day things can be flipped on their head and transformed into brand new perspectives, thereby challenging our preconceptions. (DV8, Artistic Policy) Theatres priority is to get a message across or to make an audience feel something particular, and more than often this is done through opening their eyes to the obvious but unexpected. This is the use of the known rather than the not known but has just as much if not more of an impact on viewers. The forgotten and the ignored are just as important as the undiscovered and in fact these things make it more personal and an actors own memories or feelings have a real power to shape plot or characters. Additionally, using influences from outside of theatre is very important and often not considered. For Frantic Assembly neither of its artistic directors has a formal background in drama, theatre or dance. In creating work, the company relies on influences that lie, for the mo st part, outside the realm of theatre and its regular forms and practise. (Frantic, †¦uk/p110.html) For our work we were inspired greatly by the 2001 film Shrek and used nursery rhymes for development in one scene. By looking further than common theatre techniques and looking outside the box, we found more options for variety within the piece. The physical company DV8s focus of the creative approach is on reinventing†¦ with meaning, particularly where this has been lost through formalised techniques (Artistic Policy). Another skill in devising is the use of play and re-exploring our childish minds, though not pretending to play as a child, but rediscovering the intensity of focus we experience as children (Greet, Why Devise), as this removes inhibitions and helps to reintroduce the more fantastical creative imaginations we once had. Consequently it makes actors less fearful of bad ideas and therefore less afraid to be more outrageous and experimental. One can then look beyond self-perceived limitations (Frantic, †¦uk/p106.html) and find a more energetic side, which means that physical theatre is achieved much more easily. Even closing ones eyes makes judgement less threatening which provides opportunity for even more exploration. In devising, the aim is to produce brand new theatre that has not been seen before. We found in our company that we often did not know what would happen next; in fact the murderer was not decided until well into the rehearsal process. It made no sense to know the end before the beginning or middle, so we did not rush this decision. Our piece was not a search for knowledge, but for the unknown. (Barba, 5), so knowing the ending would have confined us and limited exploration, constantly distracted by the final message of the piece. Even if two companies did a performance of The Caucasian Chalk Circle for example, completely uninfluenced by each other, they would still be telling the same story. This is why for our piece we used well-known characters but then added a twist, such as Cinderella actually being an obsessive cleaner. By exploring all of our different possibilities we did discover new opportunities and new perspectives on theatre as a whole. The real discovery, however, comes at the end, when we watch it back and see what we have achieved from scratch, and finally acknowledge and notice how our own input has provided a brand new interpretation: Now we have made a journey in our own home. True travellers know this experience very well: the unknown world is discovered when one returns. (Barba, 146)

Process Essay - How to Win an Argument :: Expository Process Essays

Process Essay - How to Win an Argument To win an argument one must keep in mind the following factors: Is the argument worth fighting? Do you have the proper background to win the argument? Who is your opponent? And finally, do I have the proper argumentative behavior. Before getting involved in an argument, you must decide whether or not it is even worth fighting. Does the subject at hand have any interest to you, does it make a difference if you win or lose. An argument about Jackie Gleson's weight at death, or the amount of torque output in a 1976 Ford Pinto, probably doesn't make much difference to anyone and isn't very interesting. Not getting involved is probably the best way to go. However if the argument will decide who gets the best parking spot at school, or whether you have one week or one month to write an essay, you may want to consider getting into the dispute. If fighting arguments is just an â€Å"ego boost† or hobby, then disregard the above. The next item to take into consideration is your background on the topic. You should never enter an argument you have no information about, because it will only end in â€Å"your mother is a .....† insults. In a factual argument, it is helpful if the truth is on your side, but as we've learned from our politicians, it is not necessary. However, if the truth does eventually get out you may end up looking like a fool. In a multi-sided argument, an argument which is not dealing in absolute truths, but rather different opinions, it is preferable to believe in the side you for which you are arguing, but isn't necessary if your background is strong enough. In simpler terms, don't get into an argument you know â€Å"nothin† about. It is important to know with whom you are arguing. If you are in a relationship (guy - girl), and you are the guy, give up now you can't win. The laws of nature are against you. If you are the girl in the relationship, you don't need advise. It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong you've won. Just act upset or let out a few tears and he'll crumble. However if you are involved in a same sex, or non relationship bound, argument the game plan is much different. You must have background information, as discussed earlier, as well as a knowledge of your opponent. If he has no insight into the subject and you do, then the upper hand is yours.

Response to the Story “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self”

â€Å"Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self† written by Alice Walker, is a gentle and easy to understand story. It is not that the story is a boring and no highlight. When reading the book, it’s like I am hearing my friend’s story. Alice’s emotion changed totally different before and after the â€Å"accident†. Before the accident, she described herself as if she was the most beautiful and intelligent girl in the world. When Alice was only two and a half years old, when her father was chosen which kids to take with him to the fair, she knew that it would definitely be her, because she was the â€Å"prettiest†.When she six years old, she learned by heart the longest Easter speech. In her beautiful dress, Alice rose to give a speech in a â€Å"great wave of love and pride and expectation†. People praised her to be the cutest things and she was proud about that. The way Alice described herself and how other people applauded and admired her show a very confident and sometime a bit of haughty in her. Two years later, Alice was an eight years old tomboy. Like almost other kids, she was trying to follow whatever her older brothers do. But because she is a girl, so instead of getting a gun, she could only play with her bow and arrow.This is the turning point of the story, when the â€Å"accident† happed and completely changed Alice’s life. She was shot in the eye by the BB gun of her brothers. The doctor said that Alice would likely to be blind, not only one but both eyes. She was terrified but what she care the most is not about whether she could see or not. It is her beautiful that she cared about. She scared how people would look at â€Å"the glop of whitish scar† on her eyes. She was no longer the prettiest and the cutest girl. For six years, Alice did not raise her head and stare at anyone.The scare took everything from her: her beauty, her pride and her person from inside. Alice asked her mo ther and sister whether she changed. What does she really mean by the word â€Å"change†? Her beauty or her personality? The answer was â€Å"no† but this was because Alice’s mother and sister did not want to hurt her or because they really thought that she had never changed? What they saw in her is her personality not her appearance. However, Alice at that time was only a little girl. I do not expect she will care or think deeper about things and people around her.The eight years old girl only cared that people would never admire or applauded her again. To the little Alice, beauty was too important. She hated her eyes, she abused it every night and she â€Å"praised for beauty†. Six years later, Alice was lucky enough to find a good doctor and got her glop removed. This event, on more time, change her life or in another word, her attitude toward life. Alice moved from a closed person who only saw the world with black color into a positive and active pers on. She won the boyfriend of her dream, made plenty of friends and got extremely good result in study.The appearance was no longer important to Alice. She talked about her beautiful classmate with a sarcastic voice â€Å"Ironically, the girl who was voted the most beautiful in our class (and was) was later shot twice through the chest by a male companion, using a â€Å"real† gun, while she was pregnant† Nineteen years later since the â€Å"accident†, Alice was no more a little girl; she had a little daughter named Rebecca. Still, deep inside her, the scare that her different eyes would make her little baby felt ashamed and she prepared herself for that.But no, Rebecca did not scare of her mom. Instead, the baby saw a whole world in that eye. She saw her mother eye as the most wonderful thing on earth. This totally pulled Alice out of the past. She was no more afraid of her difference. She understand that the most cherish thing of a person is not the out-side app earance but it is the beautiful personal inside. Again, Alice saw herself as a beautiful, whole and free person. The story ended with a happy ending that Alice finally found herself and gained back her confident.However, I question myself that what if, Alice was never found such a good doctor, and the scare would never be removed. Will she change? Will she realizes that the inner personality is the most important? Apparently from the story that Alice only changed when she got some part of her beauty back. Maybe because at that time she was just a small girl who did not understand much about life and what is the true value of it. If the scar still there, maybe she would change someday when she grew up and maybe she would never change.

Thomas Hobbes State of Nature

Thomas Hobbes’ â€Å"State of Nature† argument: Morality as a prerequisite for peaceful social co-existence I have chosen to write about what Thomas Hobbes’ calls â€Å"The State of Nature† and how morality is needed in order to maintain peace among different societies. I will begin by briefly describing â€Å"The State of Nature† argument and illuminate some of the basic features within this theoretical situation. Then, through the use of excerpts from Hobbes’ book The Leviathan I will give specific facts regarding the conditions of human life as expressed within the state of nature.Next, I will demonstrate how these specific facts caused Hobbes’ to conclude that human life within the state of nature will be ruled by constant fear of other people, otherwise known as the â€Å"state of war†. I will then offer solutions for individuals to escape such an unpleasant situation because the majority of humans would find that life unde r constant fear of being harmed is unacceptable. Next, I will discuss James Rachels’ beliefs concerning the two fundamental conditions that would ultimately allow people to escape the state of nature by enabling individuals to work together.Lastly, I will explain why by putting these two fundamental conditions in place it amounts to an agreement, known as the social contract, between people to obey the basic rules of morality; I will also define the term social contract. The state of nature argument suggests that people would naturally do whatever was necessary to obtain their wants and desires without considering the consequences of their actions; there are no innate moral values that control people’s actions nor is there pure good or evil.Hobbes’ writes that morality solves the issue of societies’ tendency of self-interest and is needed in order to promote a healthy, peaceful environment for all people (Rachels, 80). Hobbes’ believed that life in this manner would be short, hard, and nasty. He dreaded a life in which there would be â€Å"no industry, no society, no commodities, no letters, no arts, and no account of time† (Rachels, 81/Excerpt from The Leviathan). There are four basic facts about life which according to Hobbes’ would make life awful; they are the equality of need, scarcity, the essential equality of human power, and limited altruism (Rachels, 81).More specifically, these four facts highlight that all humans require the same basic things in order to survive such as food and shelter however the world is not equipped with the proper amount of these needed resources to supply all beings with and no one individual is entitled to a larger share of these goods than another human being because everyone is capable of being overpowered or outsmarted; lastly, this poses an issue because everyone will put the needs of themselves above others in times of conflict so all human beings must be able to stand up for themselves.No one person is ever more powerful than another human being however a person’s desire to power others poses a major concern; Hobbes’ believes that human life within the state of nature will be ruled by constant fear of others. Hobbes’ states that the worst result, stemming, of the state of nature argument is the â€Å"continual fear and danger of violent death† (Rachels, 81/Excerpt from The Leviathan). Hobbes maintained that the constant back-and-forth mediation between the emotion of fear and the emotion of hope is the defining principle of all human actions. Either fear or hope is present at all times in all people.In a famous passage of Leviathan, Hobbes states that the worst aspect of the state of nature is the â€Å"continual fear and danger of violent death. † In the state of nature, as Hobbes depicts it, humans intuitively desire to obtain as much power and â€Å"good† as they can, and there are no laws preventing the m from harming or killing others to attain what they desire. Thus, the state of nature is a state of constant war, wherein humans live in perpetual fear of one another. This fear, in combination with their faculties of reason, impels men to follow the fundamental law of nature and seek peace among each other.Peace is attained only by coming together to forge a social contract, whereby men consent to being ruled in a commonwealth governed by one supreme authority. Fear creates the chaos endemic to the state of nature, and fear upholds the peaceful order of the civil commonwealth. The contract that creates the commonwealth is forged because of people’s fear, and it is enforced by fear. Because the sovereign at the commonwealth’s head holds the power to bodily punish anyone who breaks the contract, the natural fear of such harm compels subjects to uphold the contract and submit to the sovereign’s will.