What does gender or race have to do with it Freedom Writers and the Essay

What does gender or race have to do with it Freedom Writers and the American Education System - Essay Example More often not, these films feature an inspiring teacher, which may or may not be relevant to reality depending on which school you attended. Films that illustrate education also often combat issues of race and gender, which come into play in many schoolyards across the world, with problems of language and communication at the forefront of this fight. The film Freedom Writers, released in 2007, illustrates the American school system by being based on a true story, whilst employing a number of stereotypes and Hollywood norms to make the film appeal to the intended audience. Freedom Writers is a tale of a young teacher who comes to work at a school which has just recently brought in a integration plan on the back of the Los Angeles Riots in 1992. This teacher, Erin Gruwell, struggles initially to cope with the racial segregation at the school, as well as the violence between the groups. One day, Gruwell finds a racist drawing by one of the students and uses this to illustrate the probl ems of the Holocaust, which opens the eyes of the students and allows them to see that racism and other discrimination can lead to destructive acts. Gruwell continues on in this path, by inviting Holocaust survivors to the class, as well as encouraging her class to raise the funds to bring the woman that sheltered Anne Frank in the war to their school. Gruwell encourages the class to write their own diaries, like Anne Frank, and complies them into book form, eventually having the success that she desired by preparing a number of her students for attending college. Although some of the information here may be fictional or using Hollywood hyperbole, some interesting points about the American education system were raised. The purpose of this essay is to explore the stereotyping and struggles of the racial groups portrayed in Freedom Writers, and how the film highlights racial discrimination issues and how these affect schools across the United States. The American education system is p ortrayed as place that should inspire students in their learning, encouraging them to make the right decisions and go to college, despite the initial fears and anxieties of the classroom. The inspiration may not be accurate for many, but the difficulties are, which are what makes Freedom Writers such a useful learning tool for exploring both discrimination and American educational philosophies. Intended Audience It is difficult to identify a specific intended audience for this film, although it is useful for any analysis to do so. Using mainstream actors such as Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey, as well as the large Hollywood budget, show that the film was intended for mainstream audiences who may have been unfamiliar with Erin Gruwell and her work as a teacher. The idea came from a documentary about Gruwell (The Freedom Writers & Gruwell, 2006), which did not hit mainstream audiences and therefore the film aimed to illustrate her story but with a number of Hollywood-style attribute s to further bolster the decision to release the story to mainstream audiences as a release. Freedom Writers promotional poster (LaGravenese, 2007) As with any education-based transformation Bildungsroman film, part of the intended audience includes young adults from the demographic of the film. This is particularly evident in Freedom Writers, as there are a number of slang terms used throughout the film that are used for comedic effect in one particularly memorable scene. Swank apologises for her â€Å"badness† (LaGravenese, 2007), which the students find hilarious because it has a completely different meaning in their language. Obviously, this scene (and other

USA World Bank Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

USA World Bank - Case Study Example USA World Bank has been a very successful firm, both for consumers and small businesses domestically and internationally. Like all companies, it needs to come up with new and exciting products for its customers so that they remain committed to the company. The Board of Directors wants the company to launch just one product each year. This one product can focus on the consumer side or the small business owner side. However this can result in conflicting ideas internally and as well as with conflicting customers. It is the decision of the president and vice president to come up with the new product and launch it in the current time frame.Each year Managers at USA World Bank are required to launch a new product for their bank. This has become the tradition that the president and vice president of New Product Development brainstorm and then create an idea for the product and then present it to the Board of Directors for approval. In recent years the all the new products launched have bee n marginally successful therefore there is increased pressure on the president and vice president this year to deliver the goods. Without concurrent launching of new products, USA World Bank feels that it would lose its market share and its huge customer base to other new and agile banks. [3]Like any company UWB, wants to maximize its profitability while satisfying its customer needs. It takes into consideration the customer requirements and prioritizes the needs to identify which customers its product will be targeted towards. The Company faces a dilemma in this scenario whether to launch a Consumer Product or a Small business Owner product. Catering to one or the other will create a bad reputation from the other side. The second stakeholders are the general consumers. They have the right to purchase the product from UWB and to be or not to be a part of the company. They want to maximize the utility they get on purchasing the products from the company. Their interests clash with the interest of the Small Business Owner Card holders and they are given higher priority. The third stakeholders are Small Business Owners for whom a different kind of card is being sought to be produced. They have the right to purchase the product from UWB and to be or not to be a part of the company. They want to maximize the utility they get on purchasing the products from the company. Their interests clash with the interest of the general consumers because they are given lesser priority. [1] Problem Statement USA World Bank will cater to all customers to increase market share and market value by building close customer relationships. End-State Vision USA World Bank will add value to its customer base by offering affordable products and incentives to increase its market share. Alternative Solutions Alternative solutions are generated from the problem at hand. Mary Monroe wants to go ahead with the Consumer product while Jim and executives emphasize for the Small Business Owner product. Brian is confused whether to go for both products or simply do more research to find out which one is more feasible. Here is the list of alternate solutions Launch General Consumer Product Launch Small Business Owner Product Launch Both Products These alternatives are included in the secondary alternatives as the company wants to launch the product this year without any delays. Delay launching product until further research studies are not completed Don't launch any product this year Analysis of Alternative Solutions There are 4 different goals that have been identified for USA World Bank from this scenario. The cost is not considered that important like Brian Allen said therefore it is assigned a rating of 2. A

Community Initiatives of Pfizer Company Term Paper

Community Initiatives of Pfizer Company - Term Paper Example Pfizer is among the leaders of the global pharmaceutical markets. It owes its success to the continuous investments in learning and innovation and to the development of sophisticated medical products that meet the changing needs of consumers. Thousands of researchers and professionals in various fields dream of being employed by Pfizer – the company that has proved to be an example of excellent employment opportunities and career prospects. However, Pfizer is not simply a prospective employer but is the company that cares a lot about communities, for which it works. Community programs are among the basic aspects of the company’s corporate performance. Pfizer invests significant resources in the development and implementation of various community program solutions. Although community programs are an essential element of the company’s corporate social responsibility, Pfizer should be more careful with its community program expenses, not to sacrifice other, no less important employment and corporate programs. Pfizer, Inc. is well-known as one of the most prominent leaders of the global pharmaceutical market. Founded in 1849, Pfizer currently resides in Brooklyn, New York and holds its headquarters in New York City. Today, Pfizer employs more than 100,000 people, of which more than 10,000 are medical researchers.1 The company comprises around 70 manufacturing and 50 distribution centers around the world, but the main Pfizer facilities are located in the United States.2 The company operates in almost 200 countries and its net income in 2005 exceeded $8 billion.3 Today, Pfizer is a publicly traded company, and its stakeholders include medical researchers, medical professionals, and individuals. Pfizer operates through the Board of Directors, which comprises 14 members, with 11 of them being independent.4

Indoctrination of children to child soldiers Essay

Indoctrination of children to child soldiers - Essay Example The use of children as soldiers has become a global problem today that requires urgent solution. Post notes that the use of children as militia has rapidly increased since the end of the cold war in 1990sThe increase is mainly attributed to the intra-state conflicts witnessed in various countries around the world particularly in developing countries.Estimates show that more than 300,000 children used as soldiers in 36 conflicts across the globe (Singer 6). At the same time, reports indicate that National Military and rebels groups are both recruiting children as soldiers in armed conflicts. The most recent involvement of children in armed conflict has been witnessed in countries such as Afghanistan, Burundi, Uganda, Congo DRC, Angola, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Rwanda, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan and Sierra Leon just to name but a few (O'Neill par.2). Findings indicate that some of the children participating in these armed conflicts were forced to participate while others volunt arily joined the fray as an escape means from social problems such as poverty and abuse, or as revenge against their families. However, the daunting statistics show that most of these children become victims of the war itself. This paper seeks to explore how children are indoctrinated to become child soldiers. The use of children as soldiers in armed conflicts has rapidly increased over the last ten years. Most of these children have been subjected to all sorts of dehumanizing atrocities. Tiefenbrun notes that these children are often abducted from their homes by armed militias, tortured and indoctrinated with intimidation and coaxed to take mind-altering drugs, threaten with dire consequences such as death or dismemberment (423). Others are forced to return to their villages to witness or participate in the killing of their friends and family members who fail to comply with the commander’s directives. The abducted children are also forced to watch how children who attempt es cape or disobey commander’s directives are punished. Tiefenbrun claims that child soldiers are normally brainwashed meticulously and brutally until their morals and ethics becomes completely distorted to the extent that they are made to believe that doing evil is luxurious (423). For Example, a twenty-year old Colombian who happened to have been indoctrinated to become a soldier stated that, once a child is introduced into the paramilitary, his or her first duty is to kill. According to the child, commanders tell the children being recruited that they are to engage in killing (Chancellor Par.8). As a result, they are trained how to kill. This implies being given someone to kill by either chopping off hands or head or jabbing with a knife. This directive must be followed even if it means killing a friend or a family member. Tiefenbrun noted that brainwashing is normally accompanied by desensitization of children to the sight and commission of murder and other forms of atrociti es (424). Children who dare escape are boiled a live according to a report. The boiled body of the murdered child soldier is used as a meal for the other child soldiers, who are forced to eat the human flesh as part of their training, according to Tiefenbrun (424). Child soldiers who have managed to escape reveals that they were being forced to beat dead bodies of a captured escapee. Additionally, they are forced to smear themselves with the blood of the murdered escapee. According to Beah, rebels ensure that child soldiers remain obedient through frequent beatings, death threats, and threats against retaliation against the family members of the children on training as child soldiers (22). Despite boys being the main targets of rebels for recruitment as a child soldier, girl child are also victims. Tiefenbrun observed that 40% of child soldiers worldwide are girls who are abducted and indoctrinated to child soldiers (424). Report indicates that young girls make up a third of child

Community Initiatives of Pfizer Company Term Paper

Community Initiatives of Pfizer Company - Term Paper Example Pfizer is among the leaders of the global pharmaceutical markets. It owes its success to the continuous investments in learning and innovation and to the development of sophisticated medical products that meet the changing needs of consumers. Thousands of researchers and professionals in various fields dream of being employed by Pfizer – the company that has proved to be an example of excellent employment opportunities and career prospects. However, Pfizer is not simply a prospective employer but is the company that cares a lot about communities, for which it works. Community programs are among the basic aspects of the company’s corporate performance. Pfizer invests significant resources in the development and implementation of various community program solutions. Although community programs are an essential element of the company’s corporate social responsibility, Pfizer should be more careful with its community program expenses, not to sacrifice other, no less important employment and corporate programs. Pfizer, Inc. is well-known as one of the most prominent leaders of the global pharmaceutical market. Founded in 1849, Pfizer currently resides in Brooklyn, New York and holds its headquarters in New York City. Today, Pfizer employs more than 100,000 people, of which more than 10,000 are medical researchers.1 The company comprises around 70 manufacturing and 50 distribution centers around the world, but the main Pfizer facilities are located in the United States.2 The company operates in almost 200 countries and its net income in 2005 exceeded $8 billion.3 Today, Pfizer is a publicly traded company, and its stakeholders include medical researchers, medical professionals, and individuals. Pfizer operates through the Board of Directors, which comprises 14 members, with 11 of them being independent.4

Mendelian Law and Inheritance of Anthocyanin Term Paper - 1

Mendelian Law and Inheritance of Anthocyanin - Term Paper Example distance was measured to be 14.5 inches between the LED light and the bottom where the watering trays were placed; the light was 3 inches above the growing plants. On the 14th day of the experiment, observations on the newly grown plants with purple roots were noted. On the 21st day, grown flowers were made to cross-pollinate with an approximately 19 cm thin soft brush by holding the flower gently with the tips of two fingers, and lightly transfer pollen from one plant to another. The light was still available for the growing plants, but it stopped getting water. The plants kept on growing over the 28th day and 35th day. On the 42nd day, some leaves started changing color to yellow and more seedpods were growing. Keeping in mind plants stopped being watered. Day 49, the flowers started to drop off and the leaves changed to yellow and the plants were still not watered to ensure the pods got dry. Then started the harvesting and germination process of the  seeds by breaking the seedpods after pulling them out of the plants, then collecting the seeds, and then counting them, which came to a total of 1481 seed for the entire class. Afterward, F2 seeds were spread in a 51cmÃâ€"24.5cm plastic tray with soaked tissue ready to germinate. There were no holes in the tray, and it was covered with a clear plastic lid. A week after spreading the F2 seed in the moist plastic tray, purple and green plants have grown. Seeds were separated into two categories; green plants and purple plants. After separating the green from the purple plants, they were counted individually. The total number of purple plants was 780 while the green once were 323. Since there are two categories being tested, the purple and green plants, this means the degree of freedom is equivalent to (df) = 1. In the Observed (1) row, the results show 780 for the purple plants and 323 for the green plants. The Expected results (2), were 780 for purple and 267 for green. The Deviation (3) row was calculated by

The Intervention On the Acropolis In the Modern Era Essay Example for Free

The Intervention On the Acropolis In the Modern Era Essay The Acropolis has stood as witness to the making of history in the West, from the flourishing of Athenian culture in the times of Socrates, to the contemporary metropolis that hosted the recent Olympics games. It is a great monument because it is a symbol of Greek culture that belongs not only to the Greeks, but to all who share in a common world history in the West.   The Acropolis is at the same time a universal cultural symbol, and a national symbol of Greek national identity. As such, the Acropolis bears the marks of centuries of history – political interventions, economic and social forces, that have shaped it throughout history and time. Hellenism is not what it used to be back in classical times.   For one, it is not as well respected.   Like the Acropolis, Hellenic culture seems to lie in ruins, and is most in need of preservation.   The transformation of Hellenic culture from the most dominant cultural force felt throughout the world (since perhaps the American entertainment industry) to a historically past, however well spent, is the result of the influence of foreign countries exercised upon the Greek psyche. The Acropolis is considered to be the embodiment of a Greek heritage and identity; this is why the Greeks consider the integrity of the Acropolis so crucial and urge the restitution of the antiquities.   But the Acropolis is present only as a ghost of it’s former glory, and in pieces with much of its original physique now gone missing.   Whatever it is to be Greek today, if the Acropolis is the symbol we take it to be, it cannot be to be complete and whole, but to be lost (at least in some part) to the memory of a lost past. The attempt to make a claim on the past, to take back the idea of Hellenism for the future is a constant struggle of repatriation, and leads to the following paradox: on the one hand Hellenism is praised for its global/ecumenical character, transcending national borders, while on the other its (local) contenders claim it back, trying to draw borders and to retrench their territory. (The Acropolis, 85) Hellas is universal and global, and it belongs to all of us in the West, but because of this is it lost 9at least a little bit) to the Greeks themselves.   To take it back for themselves would also be to destroy its prominence on the stage of world history.   So the Greeks, in an attempt to gather an identity into and for themselves must go out into the world that is not so foreign to them and claim all of it as Greek.   We in the west, we are all Greeks in some way, and the Greeks are the epitome of Western culture. The continuation of the Greek political and cultural line is important to the modern Greek people. An example of this can be found in The Acropolis, where modern Greeks are questioned about whether they are the descendants of the ancient Greeks. (The Acropolis, 37) In one sense, calling themselves inheritors of the ancient Greeks is degrading in that it reduces them to the past, and levels down their future.   In another sense, it is powerful claim to make.   Some Greeks express their desire for changing their national name from Greece and Greeks to their ancient Greek names Hellas and Hellenes. They emphasize the importance that names play in systems in kinship: Hellas is conceived as surname while Greece is conceived as nickname. (The Acropolis, 93)   The name change would represent their connection to Hellenism, as Hellas represents the classic global character of Hellenism, whereas Greece is seen as contemporary name that looses much of this universal import. Thus, in order to restore the classical Hellenism, some Greeks argue that the more Ancient Hellas is now appropriate. Another example in this same vein, some Greeks have argued that the sculpture named ‘Elgin’ displayed in the British Museum should be re-named ‘Parthenon marbles’ (The Acropolis, 99), as the marbles are considered as sacred rocks and the heritage of Greece which strongly represent the Greek identity. It seems like the Greeks are always making a point of remarking when Britain has taken their antiquities, identifying Lord Elgin as the staue’s ‘thief’. It is in this sense that naming the marbles ‘Elgin’ is the same as stealing and degrading Hellenism, and alonmg with this aslo Greek dignity. No doubt, these antiquities are considered to be national treasures, and are irreplaceable and inalienable; even making use of the logo of the antiquities for advertisements is disfavored. For example, Coca-Cola had to replace the shape of the Doric columns of the Parthenon on its soda bottles and advertisements, in order to undo harm it had done to the Greek image in using this image for commercial purposes. By using the image in this way, Coca-Cola denigrated the Acropolis as a national symbol to be used by the Greeks, and this act was perceived as disrespectful to the Greeks and their nationhood. This advertisement is but one example of how widely Americanization and globalization has gone in spreading Hellenism – as well as the worth and value of the Parthenon as a symbol for the perfect marriage of grace and power. But it also illustrates the contradiction at the heart of the contemporary Greeks culture – on the one hand, happy about the power and universality of the Parthenon to convey its symbol (used by such a well-established company for advertisement because of its powerful attraction); but on the other hand, the fact that its use as such degrades the meanings and cultural values that the Acropolis represents for the Greek peoples in particular. In brief, the message is that culture is not derived from the spirit of Hellenism, but from its commodification, now as a symbol for American global culture, and to new power of America on today’s world stage. Another example is that of the American fashion designer Calvin Klein who proposed to present its new jeans series at the Herodeion. Because the Herodeion is a scared place suitable for ‘classic’ arts such as opera, drama, and since the fashion show is considered lower as a ‘commercial’ venture, some deamed it improper for the site. In the end, the critique of both Coca-Cola and Calin Klein can be seen to be shortsighted because those who make it tend to see the use of Greek cultural symbols for commercial interest and economic profit as only degrading, instead of realizing that these companies are also publicizing the spirit of Hellenism through their products (albeit unintentianally).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To sum up, the necessity of bringing back the Acropolis and the other antiquities are important for the Greeks, but how they do it becomes problematic – a careful balancing act beteween bringing back a grand national identity to Greece, while also reviving the spirit of Hellenism for future generations. The past of the Acropolis lay behind us, but the future of what this symbol will become still lays ahead. Bibliography Yalouri, E. (2001), The Acropolis: Global Fame, Local Claim, Oxford: Berg, 37-99.