History Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History Today - Essay Example The causal ordering follows to provide modal categories for the factual propositions. In this system the logical contradiction is resolved by ordering the factual propositions. These will be according to the causal categories. 1 The counterfactual cause involves the unconventional views from the point of Niall Ferguson a Scottish Historian. These views are regarding the imperialism and the origins of conflict in the twentieth century. He is a specialist in financial and economic history. His recent publication is ‘The War of the World† in 2006. He has become historian inspired by AJP Taylor. Ferguson’s significance lies in his well versed nature in economic matters as he was in history matters. He wrote a book named cash nexus arguing that the money makes the world go around is wrong and proved that the human actins are more important for history to go around. He feels that the US is not sufficiently in the affairs of the world. In his books Colossus and Empire, he shows potential virtues of US when compared to British Empire. He also analyzed the World War I that generated much controversy. In that he suggested that it could have been more beneficial to Europe if Britain has stayed out o f the war by Germany making a win. 2 2.1Fergusson’s Significance: He is considered as a leading champion of counterfactual history that involves the counterfactual cause. It is because he likes to imagine alternative outcomes as a way of stressing the contingency aspects in the history. According to his counterfactual causal analysis of history, the great forces are not only responsible for the history and in fact the individual’s doings pre determine the course of history. He argues that the world is neither progressing nor regressing. His view is that the actions of individuals will determine the better or worse world. His book the war of the world explains the violent 20th century. According to his argument the economic volatility, ethnic

Intercultural communication (Porter, Samovar, and Penington) Essay

Intercultural communication (Porter, Samovar, and Penington) - Essay Example It was a friendly dig at each other's culture. Culture is the way we live, the air we breathe, the thoughts we think, the clothes we put on, the glasses we wear and look through (Monippally 2001, p 44-45). Culture is what shapes our perception. It is defined as the complex system of values, traits, morals and customs shared by a society. From 1967 to 1973, while working at IBM as a psychologist, collected and analyzed data from over 100,000 individuals from 50 countries and 3 regions. From the initial results, Hofstede developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions to assist in differentiating cultures: Power Distance1, Individualism2, Masculinity3 and Uncertainty Avoidance4. Hofstede added a fifth Dimension after conducting an additional international study with a survey instrument developed with Chinese employees and managers. That dimension, based on Confucian dynamism, is Long-Term Orientation5 and was applied to 23 countries. These five Hofstede Dimensions can also be found to correlate with other country (See figure 1) and cultural paradigms (Geert Hofstede, 2003). people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of "yes" varies from "maybe, I'll consider it" to "definitely so," with many shades in between. Another major aspect of communication style is the degree of importance given to non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication includes not only facial expressions and gestures; it also involves seating arrangements, personal distance, and sense of time. In addition, different norms regarding the appropriate degree of assertiveness in communicating can add to cultural misunderstandings. For instance, some white Americans typically consider raised voices to be a sign that a fight has begun, while some black, Jewish and Italian Americans often feel that an increase in volume is a sign of an exciting conversation among friend s. Thus, some white Americans may react with greater alarm to a loud discussion than would members of some American ethnic or non-white racial groups. 2. Different Attitudes Towards Conflict: Some cultures view conflict as a positive thing, while others view it as something to be avoided. In the U.S., conflict is not usually desirable; but people often are encouraged to

Tobacco Targeting Children Essay Example for Free

Tobacco Targeting Children Essay Tobacco is one of the main products that affect our children today. Companies that distribute these products do not think about who is getting affected by their product, but think about the profit they will make from selling their product. Big companies like Philip Morris who sell Marlboro, Basic, Virginia Slim and many other types of tobacco target young adults. Gene Emery quoted the amount spent on tobacco advertising is targeting youngsters. Some points Gene Emery presents are quiet different than what I believe. From working at my previous store that I owned in Sacramento, during these eight years, I didnt recognize some of the points Gene Emery brings out. Gene Emery suggests that they found the amount spent to advertise three brands popular with young people- Camel, Marlboro and Newport- in youth-oriented magazines increased immediately. The first point I would like to point out is that Gene Emery targets young people and also said that brands for adult-oriented products like Basic, Winston or Virginia Slims spend less money on advertising because they target only adults. He says that certain products are for young people while some are for adults. The way he presented his idea was false because from my past experience, I have realized that Newport cigarettes targets African Americans, Marlboro targets originally Asians, Camel cigarettes targets construction workers, Virginia Slim targets women and Basic targets the less fortunate who cant buy Marlboro. Dont get me wrong that I am defend the tobacco companies, I am actually against this. Philip Morris spend more money on ads for Marlboro than Basic because Marlboro is more popular and brings in more profit than Basic does. When we deal with children, we have to be cautious about everything we do. Some adults who smoke, do not realize that their children are getting affected by them. Gene Emery believes that the advertising is to blame. I am agreeing with him, but we should not also forget the family actions in front of their children. In order to prevent our children to smoke, we should start at home. The parents have a great responsibility to act right in front of their kids like put out the cigarette they see their child coming through the door or to try to even stop smoking. I was raised with a family that does not smoke. We are eight girls and one boy and still none of us smoke till now because my family knew how to act and set the perfect role model for us. I am trying to do the same thing for my two boys. I tell them that smoking is awful and it makes you sick and die and whenever they see somebody smoking they say that this person is stupid because he is hurting himself. The laws in this country protects our children; in order for oneself to buy any tobacco, they have to be 18 years of age or older. There is also an agreement to stop promoting cigarettes to children. This agreement was passed in 1998. Attached to this paper is the lawsuit to control tobacco companies. Also, attached to this paper is an article that differs the US laws with other country like Australia and Britain. In my country, the government supports tobacco companies. Ads are placed everywhere about tobaccos, places like TVs, radios, in the street, magazine covers and they also made candys for kids that looks like cigarettes. I believe that the American children are lucky to have such great laws to protect them and that anybody can sue them if something went wrong. Difficult as it may be for tobacco control advocates to demand accountability, tobacco control programs will not survive if the nongovernmental organizations that care about the program will not protect it. The preservation of the intent and spirit of these programs will not occur simply because an initiative is approved by the voters. This approval is a powerful force, but it must be used effectively by those who accept the responsibility for defending the public interest. Exercising oversight over the elected and appointed officials who had authority over the tobacco control program was even more challenging for the public health groups than getting the program enacted. In the years immediately following an election or legislative action to create a tobacco control program, the effort to keep the will of the voters before the Legislature is not difficult, since both the press and the public are likely to be paying attention. But voter approval is likely to become less obvious and thus less powerful over time, and tobacco control advocates need to seek ways to keep the public informed and involved on the tobacco issue. If advocates instead retreat to playing only the insider political game, they will probably fail. They must be willing to withstand and embrace the controversy that the tobacco industry and its allies will generate. Appendix B Important California Tobacco Control Events April 1977 Berkeley passes an indoor air ordinance. November 1978 Proposition 5 (statewide initiative covering clean indoor air and Research Accounts until 1996, passes. SB 493 sought to issues) is defeated. November 1980 Proposition 10 (statewide initiative covering clean indoor air issues) is defeated. December 1980 Californians for Nonsmokers Rights forms to pass local clean indoor air ordinances. November 1983 Proposition P (San Francisco referendum) is defeated; smoke-free workplace law remains on the books. November 1988 Proposition 99 (statewide initiative) passes.

A Sociological Perspective Of Structural Functionalism

A Sociological Perspective Of Structural Functionalism The criminal behaviour of Robert Pickton can be examined through the sociological feminist perspective. There are numerous factors throughout Picktons life that could have served significantly towards his deviant behaviour. The feeling of male dominance could have led the man to express his anger and superiority on the opposite sex. As a result, this unacceptable behaviour raises confliction between the two genders; this exemplifies a feminist theory of female oppression. Throughout his youthful year, Pickton may have encountered neglect from a female figure, which could have played an influence on the behaviourism of this serial killer. For example, hostile affection from a mother may have caused Pickton to bottle up his anger to the point where he used criminal acts as a release in his elder years. These later acts could be a mirror reflection to the actions of his mother therefore causing him to avenge his past experiences by murdering as many other women as possible. Taking a look at the Marxist Feminism theory can also serve in sociologically analyzing the behaviour of Robert Pickton. This theory examines the lack of balance in terms of men and women in an economic outlook. Stereotypical roles and class hierarchies divide the two sexes; for example, women are to take on the housewives roles whereas men are more of the working money makers. Pickton may have based his attacks on a lower class level than he assumed himself to be in. He was a farmer who produced and well as distributed food to others, yet due to the fact that many of the women were prostitutes and drug addicts (CBC News), Pickton clearly picked on this class for a reason. Perhaps he felt that this specific target group was helpless, and had a negative effect on the world. The imbalanced regard to class groups may have numbed Picktons feelings of guilt or awareness to the fact that he was murdering countless women uncontrollably. Robert Picktons choice of targeting a specific group o f women, let alone women in general, goes to show the sociological perspective of feminism in this case. Psychological Perspective: Psychoanalysis Thorough psychological analysis of his thinking process, consisting of both his conscious and unconscious mind, can help with focusing on the psychoanalysis of Picktons behaviour. The Id, according to Freud, is driven solely by impulses. In the case of Pickton, the impulse was sexual, seeing as the women he murdered were all sex workers. It is only fair to assume that he resorted to these specific women for a specific reason, to satisfy his needs. His sexual impulses led to his Id satisfying them. There is also a chance that Pickton was experiencing internal conflict which led to the outcomes of his decided behaviour. The Id has no care for reality, or the needs of anyone else, merely its own satisfaction. To continue the analysis of Picktons behaviour, we must now take a look at his ego. Considering an ego develops through experience, it is possible that Picktons uncontrollable urge to kill women was a result from being neglected in his early years by a motherly figure. Being motivated by unconscious conflicts, Picktons ego weakened as his unresolved mental struggle in regards to hatred of an important motherly figure from his youth may have caused his murderous acts. He may have been battling for acceptance or love and lost, hence why afterwards he probably felt in need of retribution against his mothers rejection. The feeling of betrayal or rejection by a female likely outsourced Picktons jealous rage. Picktons super-ego, alike to his ego, can also be seen as weak. This murderers conscious had to have been aware that his acts were wrong and socially unacceptable; he chose to disregard the difference between right and wrong as still act out in a poor manner. Additionally, Picktons sense of childhood rejection may have caused him to lose trust and view the world as an undependably hopeless place. This mistrust has a direct correlation and affect to his social interaction and his personality. His criminal acts were a mean of expressing the unconscious conflicts that have not been resolved. His superegos failure to develop is largely due to his inability to identify with his parental figure as well as lack of internalization of parental and social norms, values and morals. Without a fully developed superego, Pickton was missing his conscience and had no empathy for others. The ids domination of his superego caused it to weaken and easily influence him toward urging violent criminal beh aviour. Freudians would characterize Picktons behaviour by having a weak ego, absent super-ego and a strong id. Anthropologic Perspective: Sociocultural Anthropology Inside on Robert Picktons social life can give us an anthropological insight in terms of his behaviour. Going back a few years, it seems as though Roberts relationships and social interaction were not fully developed. Being rejected in an attempt to build social interactions could definitely have caused Pickton to feel inferior. As this feeling of rejection continued, it developed into anger which he then chose to release through attacking the initial source of it all, women. Due to the womens clear inability to defend themselves, Pickton matured a sense of superiority which built motivation to continue his attacks. Growing up, Pickton may have been exposed to excessive amounts of media violence which may have played a toll on his later behaviour. Media has become one of the most powerful weapons in the world. Since society as a whole is our means of expression, Pickton probably became a victim of conformity. The battle of conformity may seem impossible to conquer; it is a battle that will murder an individuals qualities, and the only way to triumph it is through conscious awareness of its outcome. It is evident that this man is not intact with his conscious, meaning he is either prone to making bad decisions by disregarding their consequences or he was never given taught any better. Examining Picktons targets, female prostitutes, may correlate with his values, morals and also the economic inequalities of women in the society he grew up in. Seeing as his outlook of women was already poor, prostitution may have been another concern of his. Pickton worked on his farm, meaning he performed physical labour in order to earn his living. On the other hand, prostitution in the view of Pickton may have been a career that earned a living off of pleasure rather than pain; this might have been an unfair and morally unacceptable way to earn a living in the eyes of this murderer. From this, the man may have not felt any sympathy for these women, so he decided to indulge his guilt-free attitude in the killing of a specifically characterized group of targets. Hypothesis for Research of a Serial Killer To understand the reason for a serial killers motives, we must investigate the conscious and unconscious mind by taking a look at the id, ego, and superego. This will help to determine the driving principle of the criminal, the pleasure they were seeking, their ability to differentiate between right and wrong, and the power and development of the id, ego and superego. Feminists would examine the perspective of women and their rights within a society, particularly one dominated by men. Social systems, structures and issues in relevance to women will be put to the grand focus. Structural functionalists regard crime as a necessary and constant part of society. In a given society, the majority of people identify, acknowledge and adhere to a shared set of moral guidelines and rules through legal punishment and public offense. Crime is crucial to society because it sets the legal system and develops a shared set of moral guidelines. A drastic increase in criminal behaviour loses peoples trust and cohesion. Yet, unusual decreases in crime sets the impression that people have no individuality or freedom, as well as do not share moral guidelines to differentiate between right and wrong. Therefore, the stability of a crime rate has a direct relation to the health of a society. We must also take a look at the survival of society and how criminals become outcasts to the structural norms. Ones inability to recognize their place in society, creating an uncertain status, may cause them to deviate from what is acceptable socially. When conducting research on a serial killer, one must explore and gain insight on the psychoanalytic, feminist, and functionalist perspectives. The collaboration of these perspectives will allow for a thorough understanding in terms of a criminals urge for multiple killings.

various forms of obscenity :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to narrow down the focus of my research, this paper will briefly discuss what is considered obscene and the different ways in which obscenity will manifest itself. Obscenity law aims at punishment for thoughts provoked or preventing the formation of certain thoughts, typically, erotic ones in the minds of willing viewers but not for overt acts, nor for antisocial conduct. Although the United States Constitution protects the freedom of speech, the First Amendment was not intended to protect every utterance. In addition, many United States Supreme Court cases have consistently held that there are narrow categories of speech that are not protected by the First Amendment. These include obscenity, child pornography, inciting to riot, libel, false advertising, perjury, contempt of court, harassment, threats, copyright infringement and invasion of privacy. Thus, obscenity is not protected speech but a crime. Although the definition of obscenity is not sufficiently clear, the United States Supreme Court provided a workable attempt in defining what is obscene. In 1973, in the landmark case of Miller v. California the Court held that before any material can be determined obscene, a three-prong test must be met: 1) determine whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find the work taken as a whole appealing to prurient interests; 2) whether the work describes in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and 3) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. Further, obscenity can manifest itself in different forms. It can manifest itself in conduct, pictorial representation of conduct, and in the written and oral description of conduct, with each method of expression presenting its own problems. These manifestations are more commonly seen in the literary form; speech; motion picture; artistic work; and now internet pornography. In determining whether a book is obscene, the Miller test tells us that the material must be considered as a whole and not judged by its vulgar and indecent paragraphs alone. In addition, a book may be indecent and obscene, no matter how humorous, or satirical.

Essay --

Pain is one of the most powerful human motivators. People will say anything to make it stop because it hurts. And when used specifically to derive information our federal government can make it hurt a lot. No one should ever have to be put through the type of pain that is specifically engineered to hit your pain threshold, engineered to cause you to fear your interrogator, engineered to make you talk. The practice of enhanced interrogation should not be used under any circumstances because it is illegal under international law, it’s not always effective, and it’s inhumane. What is enhanced interrogation? In simple terms it’s when an interrogator uses techniques that are specifically designed to cause you a.) either so much pain that you break down and tell the interrogator what they want to know or b.) you fear pain and your interrogator so much that you readily give them the information that they seek. So, what techniques does the American government use to derive information from it’s prisoners? Some techniques that they have used are sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, solitary confinement, mock execution, medical experimentation, learned helplessness, intimidation by dogs, confinement in a box with insects, and waterboarding. â€Å"The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’s stance on torture is ‘No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war or an emergency may be invoked as j ustification for torture [or enhanced interrogations], which inflict pain and suffering and most UN scholars consider to qualify as torture under international law.† (Dinan) However under international law it is ... ... they will never be normal again.(Stephens) This is a list of just a few of the techniques and their described effects that our own government and foreign governments use. The effects are cruel and long-lasting and they stick with you for a long time, not to mention the immediate effects of fear and pain from thing such as being waterboarded. It’s cruel and inhumane and illegal. All in all enhanced interrogation doesn’t get you anymore and it’s just plain cruel. There are many better alternatives to torturing the information out of someone. The more peaceful route should always be taken. If we don’t want our own citizens undergoing the same stuff that we put the citizens of foreign countries through than we should never ever do that to them. It goes back to the most basic rule of all time. The Golden Rule â€Å"Do unto others what you would have them do unto you†

Purpose of Education

John Travolta Earl Sullivan Writing 121 28 February 2013 The Right Path When I first started school I did not understand the purpose of my education. I saw it as another thing I was forced to do. All children are forced to go to school and I think that because we have no choice our childhood image of education ends up blurry. Generally when people are forced to do something against their will they develop a lack of motivation for the activity. I think this explains why many kids in elementary schools have decided that school is a waste of time and that they don’t enjoy it.Since children are required to attend school up until age 16 in the U. S. many kids don’t realize how lucky they are to be participating in a free education. Young people in other parts of the Earth have to pay thousands of dollars if they want to become educated. These people pay for their education because they understand how much it can positively benefit their lives. I wish I had learned earlier th at education is the most important tool for survival. In Earl Shorris’ article entitled â€Å"In the Hands of the Restless Poor† he explains that rich people have been educated by the humanities and the poor people in his class weren’t.Shorris believes that with education in the humanities the students in his class will begin to understand that learning is their best tool for survival, not guns or knives. The purpose of education is surrounded by the need for survival. Over the course of human history many new practices of medicine have been developed. It is essential that people be educated in how to stop bleeding from a wound or how to give someone the heimlich maneuver. If for whatever reason humans need to gather food in the wilderness it is important to know which food is okay to eat and which is poisonous.Many people who are not educated develop obesity because they don’t care about the information they might have heard about the risks of eating unh ealthy items like fast food and products containing high fructose corn syrup. Shorris believes that education is essential for helping people get out of poverty. Shorris explains that people who are educated in the humanities have gained leverage over the people who haven’t. I mean that with education in the humanities the people in his class were able to become political.Political in this context means understanding how to communicate with other people for mutual or singular benefit. The people with political minds know how to communicate during an interview so they have a much higher chance of receiving that job. Learning how to be political can help a students experience in school. These students are not embarrassed to ask questions when they don’t understand assignments. I think that Shorris is teaching his readers how to have the confidence to ask teachers, adults, and peers questions.With the ability to ask questions people are able to learn more from their educa tors because when people are first introduced to a new concept it is difficult to completely understand the idea. The only way to fully comprehend is by asking the right questions. Shorris teaches us that education should be the key to getting out of an impoverished lifestyle. From learning how to ask questions lifelong learners are able to learn even more from their education. Asking questions can clarify understanding and help people understand the full concept.I agree that education should be used as a way to escape from poverty. The only problem with education being an escape route from poverty is that it takes a lot of time and effort before people see any results. Some people in poverty might not see any changes in their lives, money wise, until much later after they graduate from college. Since many teenagers don’t want to wait ten or fifteen years until they graduate from college they turn to gang life. They see gang life as a way to be able to support themselves and their family quickly.The problem with gang life is that the members become trapped by a surround of force. This means that once they are a gang member they have a rough time quitting their gang and adjusting back to civilian life. This is unlike the force that Shorris speaks about relating to being poor because many gang members have lives of luxury. It is related to Shorris’ idea because I imagine that being in a gang is like being on another planet. The gang members see no alternative lifestyle to gangs because many of them will be killed if they try to leave.If gang members leave their gangs they don’t know any alternative to making money besides crime and they have trouble fitting back into society. If they managed to collect any profit from drug money they won’t be able to use most of it because it will be linked to a drug organization. Even though gang life may seem like a shortcut to a rich lifestyle, it will actually take much longer than an education be cause of the dirty money, chances of a prison sentence, and the high risk of death.With an education, people are able to learn about the world and what it takes to be wealthy without the risk of a person overdosing on heroin that you sold them. For example one might learn in school about non-profit organizations and devote their lives to helping other people get on the right path to success. Earl Shorris made an effort to recruit top notch teachers for his Clemente Classroom. His class was well organized but without great teachers he feared that his students would not benefit from the teaching.He was very fortunate that these teachers decided to volunteer their time. Carol Stevens talks very critically of educational institutions in her article entitled â€Å"Formulating new criteria for teacher candidate selection† because of their lack of teaching the correct methods that best help students. She complains that institutions develop requirements that makes them look better in the public eye, instead they need to develop curriculums that focus on proper techniques that can help individual students more than the collective group.Stevens is focusing on a rush of new teachers being hired in the year 2000, but her article can relate to any hiring process that teaching administrators go through. It is important that we have some of our brightest minds in our country being teachers. A sad fact is that a majority of our very intelligent citizens do not pursue a teaching career because of the low wages. Since we don’t have the smartest of smart being enrolled in teacher education programs at universities, Stevens writes that our programs need to be even more precise so that our incoming teachers fully understand how to positively change their student’s lives.When it boils down to the, basics it is the teacher’s responsibility to educate their students. Whether a teacher succeeds or fails at making a difference depends on the techniques they learned in college. An incorrect teaching method would be an educator who treats their students like they are fused together as one person. Educators like this don’t think about individual students and different methods of teaching. A poor educator will teach one method to the whole class and be surprised when numerous students don’t understand the concepts.Due to poor teacher training a teacher might believe that the problem lies in their student’s intelligence instead of their teaching methods. It t is an educators job to teach the students that education is a key part of survival. It should not be forgotten that no matter how great of an education a teacher has or the advanced teaching methods they use, students in their class will not learn anything if they don’t listen and work hard. It is also every individual’s responsibility to understand that we will not learn if we are not motivated to absorb information.Stevens argues that school distric ts hiring teachers, and institutions accepting people as education majors have different requirements for being accepted and she says this is a problem because they are viewed as dangers to the overall skill of teachers in America. If we have teachers that aren’t prepared to be teachers then no student will be able to see what education can do for them. Education is supposed to be a ticket to survival. That ticket will not help you if the pilot does not know the proper way to fly the plane.Education should be a key to survival for us and Stevens goes one step further into this theory by making the point that America needs more higher quality teachers if we want our educational system to play an even bigger role in helping our citizens find success. Stevens does not like how only forty-three states in America require potential teachers to take a licensing test. She wants all fifty states to require a test so incoming teachers can prove the knowledge they’ve learned. Ste vens believes that teachers are the main people who have the responsibility of educating us and that it is their duty to properly educate us.She believes that an important method of educating students is being able to communicate verbally with them. I think that verbal communication is important because face to face conversations gives students an opportunity to be more personal with their teachers and once a more personal relationship is created, a student will have ask more questions and become motivated to listen to what their teachers have to say. Stevens discusses the advantages of having an organized lesson plan. Without a termly lesson plan a teacher will not be able to properly educate their students because they didn’t plan their class time correctly.With a lack of time, the students will not have a chance to fully understand the more complicated ideas in the classroom. Stevens believes that education needs to be appropriate for age and grade level. This is a problem that many new educators encounter during their first few years of teaching especially if they have chosen to be an elementary teacher or middle school teacher. Proper teaching instruction must be developed by teachers so that the age level they are teaching is able to understand what is going on.If teachers know how to become more personal with their students, have organized lesson plans and use those lesson plans for the age group they are teaching, then education becomes a ticket to survival for their students. With these proper teaching methods the students will be able learn at a good rate and become successful productive members of society. Shorris had great teachers in his Clemente Class and I think if he accepted worse teachers half of the original sixteen people who graduated from the class would have failed the class.I think that recruiting great teachers into that field of employment will help our intelligence as a nation because I believe that a student can become motiva ted to learn with the help of an educator who invests their time in their students life. I remember in fourth grade I didn’t have very much motivation to excel but when I got to fifth grade a great teacher named Mrs. Kenyon helped me become a better student by being strict. She was strict meaning she cared if we didn’t do our work, she wanted us to excel.She brought out the best student in me by making me work really hard to get the good grades that I wanted. I carried this work ethic through middle school, and picked it back up in college when I began understanding how important my education was. Mrs. Kenyon taught me that education is my ticket to survival, my shot at a life with endless opportunities. If Mrs. Kenyon hadn’t been taught how to communicate with her fifth grade students so well over the course of her life I don’t think that I would have been able to pick up the pieces of my life that I broke during high school.When I had motivation to beco me educated, I was able to realize how much potential I had. She showed me how much potential I have as a student and as a person. Now in my college days I am learning many things from my new teachers. I don’t think I would understand these great college facts if I hadn’t learned about the knowledgeable rewards I receive when I work hard on my school work. Mrs. Kenyon taught me about the rewards because she learned how to be a great teacher in school. I believe Mrs. Kenyon is the teacher that Carol Stevens is drawing a picture of in her article. Purpose of Education John Travolta Earl Sullivan Writing 121 28 February 2013 The Right Path When I first started school I did not understand the purpose of my education. I saw it as another thing I was forced to do. All children are forced to go to school and I think that because we have no choice our childhood image of education ends up blurry. Generally when people are forced to do something against their will they develop a lack of motivation for the activity. I think this explains why many kids in elementary schools have decided that school is a waste of time and that they don’t enjoy it.Since children are required to attend school up until age 16 in the U. S. many kids don’t realize how lucky they are to be participating in a free education. Young people in other parts of the Earth have to pay thousands of dollars if they want to become educated. These people pay for their education because they understand how much it can positively benefit their lives. I wish I had learned earlier th at education is the most important tool for survival. In Earl Shorris’ article entitled â€Å"In the Hands of the Restless Poor† he explains that rich people have been educated by the humanities and the poor people in his class weren’t.Shorris believes that with education in the humanities the students in his class will begin to understand that learning is their best tool for survival, not guns or knives. The purpose of education is surrounded by the need for survival. Over the course of human history many new practices of medicine have been developed. It is essential that people be educated in how to stop bleeding from a wound or how to give someone the heimlich maneuver. If for whatever reason humans need to gather food in the wilderness it is important to know which food is okay to eat and which is poisonous.Many people who are not educated develop obesity because they don’t care about the information they might have heard about the risks of eating unh ealthy items like fast food and products containing high fructose corn syrup. Shorris believes that education is essential for helping people get out of poverty. Shorris explains that people who are educated in the humanities have gained leverage over the people who haven’t. I mean that with education in the humanities the people in his class were able to become political.Political in this context means understanding how to communicate with other people for mutual or singular benefit. The people with political minds know how to communicate during an interview so they have a much higher chance of receiving that job. Learning how to be political can help a students experience in school. These students are not embarrassed to ask questions when they don’t understand assignments. I think that Shorris is teaching his readers how to have the confidence to ask teachers, adults, and peers questions.With the ability to ask questions people are able to learn more from their educa tors because when people are first introduced to a new concept it is difficult to completely understand the idea. The only way to fully comprehend is by asking the right questions. Shorris teaches us that education should be the key to getting out of an impoverished lifestyle. From learning how to ask questions lifelong learners are able to learn even more from their education. Asking questions can clarify understanding and help people understand the full concept.I agree that education should be used as a way to escape from poverty. The only problem with education being an escape route from poverty is that it takes a lot of time and effort before people see any results. Some people in poverty might not see any changes in their lives, money wise, until much later after they graduate from college. Since many teenagers don’t want to wait ten or fifteen years until they graduate from college they turn to gang life. They see gang life as a way to be able to support themselves and their family quickly.The problem with gang life is that the members become trapped by a surround of force. This means that once they are a gang member they have a rough time quitting their gang and adjusting back to civilian life. This is unlike the force that Shorris speaks about relating to being poor because many gang members have lives of luxury. It is related to Shorris’ idea because I imagine that being in a gang is like being on another planet. The gang members see no alternative lifestyle to gangs because many of them will be killed if they try to leave.If gang members leave their gangs they don’t know any alternative to making money besides crime and they have trouble fitting back into society. If they managed to collect any profit from drug money they won’t be able to use most of it because it will be linked to a drug organization. Even though gang life may seem like a shortcut to a rich lifestyle, it will actually take much longer than an education be cause of the dirty money, chances of a prison sentence, and the high risk of death.With an education, people are able to learn about the world and what it takes to be wealthy without the risk of a person overdosing on heroin that you sold them. For example one might learn in school about non-profit organizations and devote their lives to helping other people get on the right path to success. Earl Shorris made an effort to recruit top notch teachers for his Clemente Classroom. His class was well organized but without great teachers he feared that his students would not benefit from the teaching.He was very fortunate that these teachers decided to volunteer their time. Carol Stevens talks very critically of educational institutions in her article entitled â€Å"Formulating new criteria for teacher candidate selection† because of their lack of teaching the correct methods that best help students. She complains that institutions develop requirements that makes them look better in the public eye, instead they need to develop curriculums that focus on proper techniques that can help individual students more than the collective group.Stevens is focusing on a rush of new teachers being hired in the year 2000, but her article can relate to any hiring process that teaching administrators go through. It is important that we have some of our brightest minds in our country being teachers. A sad fact is that a majority of our very intelligent citizens do not pursue a teaching career because of the low wages. Since we don’t have the smartest of smart being enrolled in teacher education programs at universities, Stevens writes that our programs need to be even more precise so that our incoming teachers fully understand how to positively change their student’s lives.When it boils down to the, basics it is the teacher’s responsibility to educate their students. Whether a teacher succeeds or fails at making a difference depends on the techniques they learned in college. An incorrect teaching method would be an educator who treats their students like they are fused together as one person. Educators like this don’t think about individual students and different methods of teaching. A poor educator will teach one method to the whole class and be surprised when numerous students don’t understand the concepts.Due to poor teacher training a teacher might believe that the problem lies in their student’s intelligence instead of their teaching methods. It t is an educators job to teach the students that education is a key part of survival. It should not be forgotten that no matter how great of an education a teacher has or the advanced teaching methods they use, students in their class will not learn anything if they don’t listen and work hard. It is also every individual’s responsibility to understand that we will not learn if we are not motivated to absorb information.Stevens argues that school distric ts hiring teachers, and institutions accepting people as education majors have different requirements for being accepted and she says this is a problem because they are viewed as dangers to the overall skill of teachers in America. If we have teachers that aren’t prepared to be teachers then no student will be able to see what education can do for them. Education is supposed to be a ticket to survival. That ticket will not help you if the pilot does not know the proper way to fly the plane.Education should be a key to survival for us and Stevens goes one step further into this theory by making the point that America needs more higher quality teachers if we want our educational system to play an even bigger role in helping our citizens find success. Stevens does not like how only forty-three states in America require potential teachers to take a licensing test. She wants all fifty states to require a test so incoming teachers can prove the knowledge they’ve learned. Ste vens believes that teachers are the main people who have the responsibility of educating us and that it is their duty to properly educate us.She believes that an important method of educating students is being able to communicate verbally with them. I think that verbal communication is important because face to face conversations gives students an opportunity to be more personal with their teachers and once a more personal relationship is created, a student will have ask more questions and become motivated to listen to what their teachers have to say. Stevens discusses the advantages of having an organized lesson plan. Without a termly lesson plan a teacher will not be able to properly educate their students because they didn’t plan their class time correctly.With a lack of time, the students will not have a chance to fully understand the more complicated ideas in the classroom. Stevens believes that education needs to be appropriate for age and grade level. This is a problem that many new educators encounter during their first few years of teaching especially if they have chosen to be an elementary teacher or middle school teacher. Proper teaching instruction must be developed by teachers so that the age level they are teaching is able to understand what is going on.If teachers know how to become more personal with their students, have organized lesson plans and use those lesson plans for the age group they are teaching, then education becomes a ticket to survival for their students. With these proper teaching methods the students will be able learn at a good rate and become successful productive members of society. Shorris had great teachers in his Clemente Class and I think if he accepted worse teachers half of the original sixteen people who graduated from the class would have failed the class.I think that recruiting great teachers into that field of employment will help our intelligence as a nation because I believe that a student can become motiva ted to learn with the help of an educator who invests their time in their students life. I remember in fourth grade I didn’t have very much motivation to excel but when I got to fifth grade a great teacher named Mrs. Kenyon helped me become a better student by being strict. She was strict meaning she cared if we didn’t do our work, she wanted us to excel.She brought out the best student in me by making me work really hard to get the good grades that I wanted. I carried this work ethic through middle school, and picked it back up in college when I began understanding how important my education was. Mrs. Kenyon taught me that education is my ticket to survival, my shot at a life with endless opportunities. If Mrs. Kenyon hadn’t been taught how to communicate with her fifth grade students so well over the course of her life I don’t think that I would have been able to pick up the pieces of my life that I broke during high school.When I had motivation to beco me educated, I was able to realize how much potential I had. She showed me how much potential I have as a student and as a person. Now in my college days I am learning many things from my new teachers. I don’t think I would understand these great college facts if I hadn’t learned about the knowledgeable rewards I receive when I work hard on my school work. Mrs. Kenyon taught me about the rewards because she learned how to be a great teacher in school. I believe Mrs. Kenyon is the teacher that Carol Stevens is drawing a picture of in her article.