Evolution Of The American Television Family Essays - Roseanne

Evolution Of The American Television Family Television is not just a form of entertainment, but it is an excellent form of study of society's view concerning its families. This study focuses on the history of television beginning in the early 1950s and will run through present day. It examines the use of racial, ethnic and sexual stereotypes to characterize the players of these shows. The examples assist in tracing what has happened to the depiction of the American family on prime time television. It reveals the change of the standards employed by network television as disclosed to the American public. Finally, I will propose the question of which is the influential entity, television or the viewing audience. The Goldbergs, which was originally a radio show, became the first popular family series. It became a weekly TV series in 1949, revealing to Americans a working class Jewish family who resided in a small apartment in the Bronx. The show, while warm and humorous, confronted delicate social issues, such as sensitivity due to the Second World War. It is an excellent example of an ethnic family's status in society. A classic among classics, I Love Lucy appeared on television on October 15, 1951, (http://www.nick-at-nite.com/tvretro/shows/ilovelucy/index.tin). The series' premise focused on the antics of a nonsensical wife who beguiles her easily angered husband. The series created the men-versus-women standard on television, (such as what we see between Dan and Roseanne on Roseanne today), that still predominates today. One circumstance that led TV executives to seriously challenge the show's impending success was the use of Lucille Ball's real-life Cuban husband, Desi Arnaz. The ?mixed-marriage? status was a questionable concept that worried the administrators. The situation prevailed; its episodes routinely attracted over two-thirds of the television audience. Leave it to Beaver, the definitive 1950's household comedy, focused on life through the eyes of an adolescent boy, Beaver. Beaver was a typically disorderly youngster. His brother Wally, just entering his teens, was beginning to discover the opposite sex. The relationship that existed between the boys and their parents, Ward and June, was impeccable. A situation never developed that damaged the kinship beyond restoration. The parents exhibited perfect attributes that no real man and wife could attain. The children bestowed unnatural virtues. The program became popular with Americans but it did not realistically portray America's family status. In 1974, a series developed by Garry Marshal entitled Happy Days issued popularity to this era. The Cunningham family was the primary family featured on the program. The view of the American family modified little when the sixties arrived. Leave it to Beaver dominated television through 1963. In 1961, the ?Dick Van Dyke Show? aided in reinforcing the flawless family image. Some viewers thought Rob and Laura Petire were visibly similar to the first family, John and Jackie Kennedy. The highly successful series Bewitched further developed the perception of an immaculate suburbia. The identical condition developed by the Ward and Petire families was operative in the Stephens family. Each television household featured a working father, affectionate mother, and attentive children. Each family was a middle-class family and all financially secure. They each resided in secure households, which were in carefree urban areas. The morality displayed between the parents was commendable and sacred. The finest depiction of the American family living in the 1960s came twenty years later. The Wonder Years, which debuted on January 31, 1988, exhibited the best portraiture of a middle-class family in distinction to the 1960s. The Arnold family featured a struggling urban household. The parents were both conventional and, in the case of the father, emotionally distant. Kevin's, the teen-aged hero, growing pains mirrored those of America itself. The end of the 1960s witnessed a drastic altercation in America's culture. Television's reflection of society had begun to mature. A solitary bed replaced the twin beds customarily utilized in the depiction of bedrooms. The relationship shared between parents and their children possessed increased difficulty. ?The Brady Bunch? challenged the accepted family structure as it pertained to television. Televisions first ?blended family? was introduced. The program contested certain typical regulations while practicing others. The face of television changed forever in the fall of 1971. Norman Lear's All in the Family brought a sense of harsh reality to television which

Ft. Laramie essays

Ft. Laramie essays We are now on the Platte, 100 miles from Fort Laramie. Our journey so far, has been pleasant. The water for a part of the way has been mediocre, but at no time have the cattle suffered for it. Wood is now very in short supply, but buffalo chips are excellent; they fire up quick and retain heat amazingly. More than half of the immigrants ran out of supplies and had to live on beef, but as it happened we had plenty of flour and bacon to last us through. But worse than all this, sickness and death attended us the rest of the way. We feel no fear of Indians. The cattle graze quietly around our encampment unmolested. Two or three men will go hunting twenty miles out from camp. Our wagons have not needed much repair. The road is nothing more than a graveyard. Travel 28 miles today. When we started this morning there were two large droves of cattle and about 50 wagons ahead of us, and we either had to stay poking behind them in the dust or hurry up and drive past them. It was no fool of a job to be mixed up with several hundred head of cattle, and only one road to travel in, and the drovers threatening to drive their cattle over you if you attempted to pass them. They even took out their pistols. My husband came up just as one man held his pistol at Frank and saw what the fuss was and said, boys, follow me, and he drove our team out of the road entirely, and the cattle seemed to understand it all, for they went into the trot most of the way. The rest of the boys followed with their teams and the rest of the stock. I had quite a rough ride to be sure, but was glad to get away from such unruly set, which we did by noon. The head teamster done his best by whipping and hollowing to his cattle. He found it no use and got up into his wa gon to take it easy. We left some swearing men behind us. We drove a good ways ahead and stopped to rest the cattle and eat some dinner. We had buffalo steaks broiled upon them that...

Finding a similarity between an ancient area and a contemporary area Essay

Finding a similarity between an ancient area and a contemporary area - Essay Example The Architectural designs of Angkor Wat are so unique in style and definition. The site plan itself is difficult to comprehend, it looks like a special combination of the temple mountains, a standard design for the empire’s temples and concentric galleries’. It looks like a representation of a mountain that had five peaks at the central quincunx towers, the home of the gods, the walls and the moat on the other hand definitely express the mountain ranges and oceans. There is a strict order of hierarchy in the temple; access is very exclusive and only the laity can be able to access the lower levels of the temple. The plan of the church is one of the prime examples of the Khmer architectures. The visible areas of the block indicate the sandstone blocks, laterite seems to have been used on the outer walls and some hidden structural parts of the walls. There is a very close association in the architecture of Angkor Wat, it has a level of perfection in its monuments and scul ptures with finely divided elements and arrangements; all proportional to their precise order. They express the power, unity and style in the design. The Temple has integrated decoration on the walls of the galleries’ that bear a series of large scenes that probably depicts the people episodes in the Hindu epics. Some of the episodes include the Battle of Lanka, the battle of Kurukshetra, the churning of the sea and others in the main galleries’. The design architecture is a smooth and polished marble that has been put together in very tight joints of mortise and the tenon joints while others have dovetail and gravity. It is a wonderful sight to behold. Access to the temple was that of very high security it has a very thick wall that is about 4.2 m high. It has an apron of about 30 m apart and a moat that is more than 150m wide. It has only specific access points by an earth

Personal statement for communication major Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For communication major - Personal Statement Example Yet my parents could understand what I was trying to say in my child-speak way. Then as I grew older, I began to notice the way that people are always interconnected and talking to each other. Communication has become a vital tool in the existence of mankind. In fact, it seems that without the interconnectivity that technology and communication allows us to have, our evolution as a people would come to a standstill. One would be hard pressed to imagine a word without communication. Even the deaf, mute, and the blind have their own methods by which they communicate with each other and those around. It is this fascination and simple understanding of how communication works for us as a society that led to my continuously increasing interest in the field of communication. Communication is the most important tool that we have as a people in terms of creating a bond and fostering understanding of people across the borders of countries. It is what unites us as the people of this planet. Due to the existence of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram, and the like, communication has come to the forefront of the consciousness of the people. This instant method of connecting with each other has served to bring communication to higher levels of use and existence. These days, one will be hard pressed to find somebody who does not have an international base of friends due to the network that these communication channels allow us to create based upon shared interests and other criteria. The world has become a better place because of evolution of our communication skills and gadgets. People easily connect and find common ground with each other these days because the internet has allowed people who communicate in various languages. In fact, I have often said that communication, just like any other spoken language on this planet, is a living, breathing, and evolving thing. Communication has in effect, taken on a life of its own and we owe

China's energy technology and how it affects the United States Research Paper

China's energy technology and how it affects the United States - Research Paper Example The Chinese economy have shown remarkable strength and resiliency throughout the economic crisis and has likewise shown significant strength when recovery started to set in. However, the United States remain shackled down by systemic risks since the crisis basically crippled the banking sector of the US. Among the positive contributors to the resiliency of the Chinese economy was the strong domestic demand that has been instrumental in ensuring consumption and therefore economic growth. This has been brought about by the fact that China has the highest population in the world which the Central Intelligence Agency (2011) estimates to about 1.3 billion. On the other end, the United States has over .3 billion which places it at the third spot over the world. Looking at the population alone, it is easy to surmise that these countries are also the most voracious energy consumers in the world. However, the recent acceleration of the Chinese economy has prompted the government to be more se rious in tackling the energy demand of the country. This is a basic necessity since this is a basic requirement for continued economic growth. Hence, it has been a pressing concern for the Chinese to improve their capability to power their economy which includes renewable energy sources from the sun and the wind. Likewise, this has been instrumental in pushing China past the United States in terms of energy consumption (IEA, 2010). Main Body Economic recovery and Energy Sustainability The recovery of the global economy has been coupled by the increased arousal to the reality of global warming. Likewise, the fact that fossil fuels will eventually run out has been increasingly gaining traction on economic, social, political and even in military dialogues worldwide. As a matter of fact, world leaders have inked the Copenhagen agreement in order to lessen emissions from green house gases (World Energy Outlook, 2010). This is a significant agreement since the environmental symptoms of gl obal warming has been growing more severe. Likewise, in order to ensure economic growth and stability, countries would do well to veer away from the traditional power source of fossil fuels. This has significantly boosted demand for renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind energy. More so, the economic growth of China has necessitated additional power producing capabilities. Over the last generation, China has increased its power output by about 53 gigawatts (gw) per year (Campbell 2011). Given the high population and the increasing investments to further grow their economy, China has really stepped up its efforts and investments in renewable energy. According to Wong (2010), China has been significantly pouring funds for renewable energy. Basically, the Chinese hopes to be ahead of the curve when it comes to generating new ways to harness renewable energy as well as to be able to make it available for consumption and actually making its economy able to utilize it. Furt hermore, China has significantly moved away from the coal dependent economy that is, although growing industrially, manufactures only low value goods that are mainly dependent on labor. Nowadays, despite still being a predominantly agricultural economy, China has been re-cast as an advanced economy with an increasingly sophisticated economy coupled by the

Rap To Teach English As Second Language

Rap To Teach English As Second Language Introduction Music is part of popular culture. Language teachers have been integrated music and language learning in the classroom for many years. For example, using the song Yesterday from the Beatles to teach past tense. If music and songs can help learning English as a second language, English teachers in Hong Kong should be encouraged to use rap songs as a tool to teach English as a second language in the classroom. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, rap is a style of popular music developed by New York Blacks in the 1970s in which words are spoken rhythmically and often in rhyming sentences over an instrumental backing. In the early 1770s, Clive Campbell (Kool DJ Herc), a Jamaican immigrant, introduced the sound system from reggae music (Njubi, 2001). By combining the English sound system and other African-American linguistic features, rap has become a unique voice for the African Americans. When we talk about rap songs, we must mention hip-hop culture. Hip-hop is a cultural movement originated from the Bronx (a poor gang-oriented neighborhood) in New York City during the 1970s by African American. Njubi stated that hip-hop is clearly one of the most significant youth cultures as it has influenced what young people wear, how they talk and even the way they walk. It has also received significant attention from scholars and politicians. Hip-hop has been a major literacy force for over twenty years (Morris, 2002) because it has created rap as an important music genre. English teachers around the world are trying to use rap as an educational tool to promote English (Pennycook, 2003) because of its fast spoken lyrics. However, many teachers in Hong Kong are reluctant to use rap songs in the classroom because most of them think the lyrics either violent or sexual, and some think the materials are too black or Americanized (Low, 2009). In the following, we will discuss how rap songs can be an effective language learning tool to motivate students in learning English as well as increase their awareness of cultural differences. Why do we use rap songs for language teaching and learning? Music is accessible because of the technology such as iTunes and iPod. Since 1937, using folk, classical and pop music to teach English as a second language has been documented by educators in various professional journals (Sposet, 2008). Through music, students can improve their speaking skills, learning and understanding grammar, enhance their writing skills and increase their culture awareness (Peregoy and Boyle 2008; Saricoban and Metin 2000; Iwasaki, 2009). Woodall and Zeimbroski (2002) stated that music plays an important role in language and literacy development because students can learn grammatical structure and develop natural responses and speech through songs. According to Schoepp (2000), the repetitive nature of many rap songs can help English learners to get familiar with new words and phrases as they can rhyme and sing along. Many rap songs, just like folk songs, follow a repeated verse and rhyme, and that makes them easy to follow (Saricoban and Metin, 2000). For teenagers, it is important to improve their listening and speaking skills, as well as their attention span and memory (Hilll-Clarke and Robinson 2003). Mithen (2006) stated that all individuals have a capacity to acquire language and are born with a basic instinct to appreciate music. Iwasaki (2009) also agreed that music is a powerful medium to motivate students to learn a second or foreign language. When students listen to songs and sing along, the experience is enjoyable and stress-free, it can help second language learners to acquire the language more naturally and effectively. Perry (2004) also agreed with linguist Geneva Smitherman that rap lyrics are usually humorous, ironic, punning, teachy but not preachy. If according to Abbotts (2002) theory, repetition can help build language and fluency, then rap songs can definitely help stimulate second language learning because of its repetitive format. Also, by using the chorus in the rap songs, it can help students to learn syntax and lexical items easily and apply them in their daily conversations. Using music to enhance our memory and learning Mithen summed up three similarities between music and language : MUSIC LANGUAGE lyrics words singing speaking rhythm and melody intonation and stress time Lake (2002) found out language and music are closely tied together in the brain by pitch, rhythm and syntactical phrasing. When students understand the connections, they can acquire, process and produce English naturally. Neurologists have found musical and language processing in the same area of the brain (Maess Koelsch, 2001). To illustrate the strong connection between music and learning, Strickland (2005) conducted a very interesting and valid experiment. He asked a group of students if they could remember the words in ten poems. Then, he asked how many words they could remember in ten songs. Without much surprise, there were more hands go up the second time. It clearly proved that music has played a very important and memorable role in language learning. Medina (2002) agreed that we have good memory with music because all those repetitive words and rhythm stay in our head even after the English lesson. When we add rhythm and melody into language, it will help us to transfer words into long-term memory. Medina concluded that it is impossible to acquire language without memory. Using rap to teach poems and pronunciations According to Renegade (2002), the strongest poetic influence on rap is popular poems with four bears per line, for example, Eenie meenie, mynie moe, Catch a tiger by the toe. With all those rhyming, cross-rhyming, metaphor, symbolism and simile, rap can be a preferred literacy teaching tool to teach English as a second language. Renegade noticed rap lyrics are written according to highly structured rules. There are two forms of rap lyrics: Rhyme and rap song. A rhyme is a single long stanza, often a narrative and the writer can write as many as he / she wants, whereas a rap song borrows its structure from a popular song with repeating chorus in between. Renegade also observed that rappers have been using rap as a poetic tool because it has a strong emphasis on assonance, consonance, and combinations with end rhyme. Rappers like to use simile, metaphor, invention and reinvention of words to spark off new interest in poetry. In other words, using low culture to teach high culture. In 2002 and 2004, Low worked with a creative writing teacher to develop and teach spoken word poetry curriculum. The initial curriculum was only a seven-week program but in 2004, it became a long-term course. Low concluded the success of the program as a literacy of LIVING experience because students were able to use rap as a platform to speak inside and outside the classroom. Strickland also agreed that students are natural poets, and poetry is meant to be performed. Lake observed a strong connection between intonation and music. He noticed students interested in symbols and images, and that means they are more likely to be stimulated by audio or visual. He compared words, feeling, pitch and stress with musical expression. He concluded that speech without music is like language without heart because both music and language express emotions and convey messages. Through rap songs, students can learn pronunciation, intonation, stress, accent, pitch, tone, melody, rhyme, rhythm and fluency. Students who enjoy singing, chanting, lip syncing or mouthing along can improve their pronunciation skills and practice linking and reduction when speaking English Using rap to enhance reading and writing skills To be a good rapper, one must be able to use his / her voice to write, have good memory and reinvent rhymes spontaneously. Rap music encourages teenagers to write because it reflected the writers inner speech and images in their mind. For example, in Lows spoken word poetry school project, students in the class were able to write powerful and thoughtful poetry for the first time because they were inspired by rap. A lot of students in Hong Kong hate writing because expressing themselves in a second language is already difficult, and writing in a second language is even more challenging. Students need to have a reason to write, and that reason will become their motivation. Alvermann, Hagood and Williams (2001) shared a case of a 14-year-old Grade 8 / F. 2) African American boy who scored the lowest on the districts standardized reading test. The school boy loves rap, so Williams asked him to write to him about his favorite rap artist. The boy wanted to have more factual information about his favorite rap artist. Williams agreed to help the boy with his project, and he asked the boy to e-mail him regularly and keep him informed of his findings. The boy demonstrated that he was a capable reader because he searched for specific information through different websites, and he was a capable writer because he used popular culture texts in his writing. Instead of just giving information to the school boy, Williams guided him throughout the project and made him an independent learner, and enhance both of his reading and writing skills, not to mention giving him a higher self-esteem and more self-confidence. Iwasaki (2009) stated that rap songs have natural language and it can help students to process the meaning of words under an authentic environment. In Weinsteins (2008) study, she found many teenaged students have demonstrated sophisticated understanding of literary features through rap, for example, figurative language. Rap can help students, especially the social marginalized ones to write lyrics that can reflect social, economic and racial problems. Teenagers enjoy writing lyrics for rap because it is a channel for them to prove and establish their identity, an outlet for them to express their anger and frustrations about school, community, social norms, confusion and desire. Lake suggested that students are already heavily exposed to popular culture and music of their first language, it is likely that they are going to be curious about the popular culture and music of their second or foreign language as well. The purpose of writing for teenagers should not be just classroom based, it should be included a great variety and popular culture related topics. Despite worrying about low test scores, teenagers will be more willing and eager to try because when they see the purpose, they can produce quality work and invest their time in it. Through rap songs, teachers can further illustrate and explain grammatical structures to students. Based on Schoepps observation, songs can help students to develop a natural ability to use the target language in the right situation. When students are exposed to repetitive phrases in the right context, they can remember the language and apply it automatically. Using rap to help student to communicate with the world Iwasaki noticed that while students are gaining linguistic knowledge through rap songs, they are gaining the cultural knowledge at the same time as well. The lyrics always tell us something about the history, culture, thinking and attitude of a society. As Pennycook concluded that rap is a global phenomenon involving language use. Pennycook noticed rap has always helped the spread of English globally, especially to countries where English is a foreign language, like Japan and Korea. Mitchell (2001:1-2) argued that hip-hop and rap only belong to African-American culture. In fact, it has brought youth from around the world closer. It is not about where one comes from or which social class one belongs to, but what one can do with the language. Iwasaki believes culture, like music and language, develops and changes. Therefore, popular culture is a channel for the mass to express themselves and for those who want to release pressure from the society. Allowing students to expose to both mass and popular culture will help them to develop cultural awareness of others and their own. Pennycook argues despite the lyrics in rap contains highly controversial topics and expressions, it also communicates meaning on a global scale. Rap is not just about the blacks in the U.S. but a common language shared by a lot of Asian countries like Japan, Korea and even Hong Kong. s we are all going global, our ability to communicate and knowing each others language and music will help us to understand each others customs and traditions much better and faster, thus, avoid conflicts and misunderstanding. Based on the evidence above, few would agree with Schumanns hypothesis in 1976 that the greater the social distance between two cultures, the more difficulty the learner would have in acquiring the target language. Negative impression towards rap A lot of English teachers are reluctant to incorporate rap in their class because when they think of rap, they will have all these negative images villains, gangsters, low culture, low education, guns, drugs, blood, violence, sex, materials and bling bling. They do not know how and where to find the GOOD rap songs with positive meaning. Weinstein (2006) criticized the highly sexual nature of many popular rap songs often gives damaging images of black men and women. The music videos always emphasizes on violence and drugs which also reinforce stereotypes of Blacks and Black youths where they are seen as dangerous, immoral and anti-social. However, Iwasaki argued that any music-based lesson could become a disaster without any thoughtful selection and preparation. Same for Kolozes argument, people wrote songs about drugs, life in the ghetto, rebellion and sex in popular songs since the 1950s. Iwasaki urged teachers to actually make use of those discussions to enhance students critical thinking while acquiring a second language. According to her theory, without general culture knowledge and some social and political awareness, one would find it difficult to participate in common and meaningful topics that a second or foreign language can offer. Some teachers may think some rap songs are inappropriate for classroom use, but the massive influence of rap and hip-hop music around the world has to be considered and noticed. Just like all other popular culture and media, it has its positive and negative influence. Lake also agreed that it would be a foolish if teachers do not use music to take advantage of the positive influence of music as a teaching tool. Selecting a rap with a positive message and the right attitude can enhance English learning as well as social awareness. English teachers need to realize that each rap has a message to spread out. As Music in a universal language, most raps are trying to solve race, class and religion problems that face by the youth (Njubi, 2001). For example, Where is the Love? by Black Eyed Peas. The rap is about the U.S. after the 911 tragedy and calling for U.S. army withdrawal from Iraq. The rap song was the longest-serving British No. 1 in five years and the best selling record of 2003 in the U.K. The group performed the song at the 2004 Grammy Awards, where it was nominated for The Record Of The Year (Wikipedia). This rap was so popular and moved so many people around the world because it is a social-conscious rap. It focused on upright and political awareness. Despite social and political implications, raps do give a voice to young people and inspire them. Teachers should involve their students in the selection process because when they hear something they can relate to, it will motivate them to learn. Challenges The arguments for incorporating popular culture into traditional curriculum are quite compelling and have generated a lot of noises and controversies. A lot of teachers and educators are filled with confusions and anxiety. Morrell (2002) understands teachers feeling daunting about using popular culture because of a lack of understanding. Rap has always been controversial because it is the rappers are expressing opposing views to the dominant culture. By helping students to understand the content can help them to make a meaningful connection between language and culture. Allowing students to be exposed to both mass and popular culture will allow them to think about their own cultural beliefs. School education should incorporate elements and materials from popular culture. Just like what Itoi and Inose (2008) mentioned that teachers should encourage students to think critically around their surroundings and become an independent thinkers. Students can gain insights about the songs by understanding or implying what they hear. Situations in songs are usually open to interpretation, so students can exercise their imagination and express their opinions freely. Conclusion It is the teachers ultimate goal to inspire students to develop their sills and interest in English DURING and AFTER class. Music is one way to create memorable lessons and spark curiosity beyond formal language lessons. Music is a highly relevant source of language outside the classroom. Integrating music into teenagers everyday activities promotes literacy development, particularly for English learners. It is a way for students to experience rich and complex language in a relaxing and entertaining way. A learning environment filled with music will generate interest, encourage creativity and positive learning attitude. Plato once said, Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Activity 1 Where is the love? by Black Eyed Peas Total class time : 60 minutes Warm up (12 mins) Use the rap song Where is the Love? (not the whole song, just the first part from Whats wrong with the world, mama? to Where is the love, the love, the love? Teacher will pre-teach and elicit some of the key words in the song. For example, addicted, trauma, terrorism, race, meditate, suffering, etc. through pictures and images Teacher play the song for the FIRST TIME, ask students to stand up every time when they hear a NEGATIVE WORD (either it is a verb, noun or adjective). For example, trauma, terrorism, discriminate, hate, killing, dying, hurt, sufferingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Task 1 (3 mins.) Play the song once (the selected part), ask students to identify the rap part and the chorus part Task 2 (5 mins.) Put students into 2 groups Ask both groups to come out to the whiteboard (2 whiteboards in the classroom) and when they listen to the words that rhyme, they have to write down on the whiteboard. For example, mama, drama and trauma/discriminate, hate, demonstrate, yeah/dying/cryingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Task 3 (5 mins.) Ask students to go to their computer Ask students to go the internet and search for the lyrics Ask students to copy and paste that file to a word document Ask students to underline all the rhyme words as they listen to it again Task 4 (5 mins.) Put students into 4 groups Play the song 2 times to the whole class Ask students to RAP along as much as possible (turn down the volume) Give each group 5 minutes to rehearse Task 5 (15 mins.) Tell students they can look at the lyrics from the computer screen and do a group rapping in front of the class The audience (other groups) have to watch and hold up their hip-hop cap afterwards if they like it. Teacher will count the number of hip-hop caps and write the result on the whiteboard and see which group is the audiences favorite No formal assessment is needed at this stage as this practice is to help the slower and quiet / shy students to build up their confidence. However, teacher will ask students randomly and see what and why they like or do not like about certain groups performance. Post class activity : A group project Time given: 10 days Teacher will spend 10 to 15 minutes explaining this group project Students need to work in a group of 4 Students need to find a controversial social or political topic in Hong Kong through the South China Morning Post or other English news media on the internet Students need to express their opinions about that topic by writing new lyrics that will fit into the rap song of their choice The rap song must be either from the U.S. or Hong Kong Students need to perform and record their NEW RAP and post it on YouTube. Students must provide a YouTube link of the original rap song with their own YouTube video A VERY useful Reference for students : http://blog.mtviggy.com/2010/03/24/top-10-canto-hip-hop-and-rap-songs/ Students need to vote for their favorite GROUP, favorite LYRICS, favorite RAP performance through the school intranet Activity 2 An Interview with your favorite rapper Lead in / Warm up Ask students if they know any local rapper Ask students who is (are) their favorite(s) Stage 1 Ask students to work in pairs (provided they like the same rapper) or individually to draft an e-mail to rappers like MC Jin, Famers, LMF, 24 Herbs, and invite them for an interview which will be conducted by the students Ask students to go online and look for more information about their favorite rapper Ask students to produce the first draft Stage 2 Ask students to produce the second draft based on the teachers advice and comments through e-mail Ask students to work in a group of 3s and prepare a list of questions as an attachment with their e-mail to IMPRESS the rappers so they WILL BE MORE EAGER to say yes to the interview Stage 3 Ask students to produce the FINAL draft Ask students to search from the internet and find out the management company or the record company of the artist that they would like to interview Ask students to send their request to those rappers Facebook accounts and blogs as well Students must send their e-mail through the teachers school e-mail account the teacher needs to have direct control of what goes out and comes in Stage 4 Peer assessment Teacher will ask students to vote and pick the 10 BEST interviewing questions through the school intranet Assessment for activity 1 (post class activity) The group project Peer assessment Instruction : Just put a Æ’Â ¼ in the box for the comment that you agree Questions What do you think, (name of the audience) ? Did you like our topic? Yes, its a hot topic and I can relate to it! Its a typical one! Sorryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it doesnt interest me at all! Did our new lyrics get your attention? Did we bring out a clear message? Yes, very interesting and I wanted to know more! Not really! Sorry but I dont understand what you guys were trying to say! Whats the message? Did we write our new lyrics with the correct grammar? Yes! I think so! May be a few mistakes! Full of grammatical mistakes! Did we have the right pronunciation? Yes! Most of them! No! Was our rap clear and easy to follow? Yes! Most of them! No! Did our new lyrics rhyme with the tune? Yes! Absolutely! Most of them! No! Not at all!!! Did we rap with the right beat? Yes, I wanted to rap along with you guys too! You guys were off a little but it was still alright! Sorry! You guys couldnt catch the beat at all! Did we rap loud and clear enough? Yes! I couldnt hear some of them. Sorry, you guys were just mumbling! Teacher assessment Group members : ______________________________________________ 5=Totally agree 4=Agree 3=Average 2=Disagree 1=Totally disagree 1. An interesting topic which everybody in Hong Kong can relate to. 2. The contents of the rap showed your group had a good understanding of the topic. 3. The organization of the rap was clear and easy to follow. 4. The lyrics were expressive and creative. 5. The lyrics were well written. 6. The lyrics and tune went well together. 7. Your group had good pronunciation when rapping. 8. Your group used correct grammar when writing the lyrics. 9. All of you were very fluent and smooth with your rap. 10. It was a very enjoyable performance. TOTAL SCORE Assessment for activity 2 Writing an e-mail to your favorite rapper Teacher assessment Name of student : ______________________________________________ 5=Totally agree 4=Agree 3=Average 2=Disagree 1=Totally disagree 1. Your e-mail had an appropriate and easy to understand subject. 2. Your e-mail had greeting, introduction, body and closure. 3. The organization of your e-mail was clear and easy to follow. 4. You made your request clear and precise. 5. Your e-mail showed the importance of this matter. 6. Your e-mail supported with good reasons and it can persuade the reader to act according to your request 7. The spelling, punctuation and grammar of your e-mail were accurate. 8. Your e-mail was polite and sincere. 9. Your e-mail content fulfilled all the requirements stated. TOTAL SCORE Lyrics Where is the love? by Black Eyed Peas Whats wrong with the world, mama People livin like they aint got no mamas I think the whole world addicted to the drama Only attracted to things thatll bring you trauma Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism But we still got terrorists here livin In the USA, the big CIA The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK But if you only have love for your own race Then you only leave space to discriminate And to discriminate only generates hate And when you hate then youre bound to get irate, yeah Madness is what you demonstrate And thats exactly how anger works and operates Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight Take control of your mind and meditate Let your soul gravitate to the love, yall, yall People killin, people dyin Children hurt and you hear them cryin Can you practice what you preach And would you turn the other cheek Father, Father, Father help us Send some guidance from above Cause people got me, got me questionin Where is the love (Love) Where is the love (The love) Where is the love (The love) Where is the love The love, the love

The Successes and Failures of the Zapatista Movement Essay -- Autonomy

The Successes and Failures of the Zapatista Movement On January 1, 2004, over one thousand people in the mountain hamlet of Oventic, Chiapas, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) rebellion with song and dance. Thus, it seems a fitting time to take stock of the successes and failures of the Zapatista movement in the context of its original goals. While the EZLN has been able to establish thirty eight autonomous indigenous communities in Chiapas, it has failed to weaken the Mexican government's commitment to neo-liberal economic policies. In the following pages, we will explore those factors which enabled the Zapatistas to establish regions of autonomy and extrapolate from Theotonio Dos Santos' understanding of the effects of reliance on foreign capital and Nora Hamilton's analysis of the 'limits to state autonomy' to rationalize the failure of the Zapatista's broader vision of social justice. In a letter to President Zedillo in 1994, Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN demanded ?democracy, liberty and justice? for all Mexicans. These nationalist ideals were supplemented by practical demands to meet the needs of the impoverished and exploited indigenous peoples of Mexico. In 1993, the EZLN promoted an indigenous struggle ?for work, land, housing, food, health care, education, independence, freedom, democracy, justice and peace. We declare that we will not stop fighting until the basic demands of our people have been met by forming a government of our country that is free and democratic.? By the late nineties, the struggle for indigenous autonomy had become ?the central basis of the Zapatista movement.? Since 1994, the Zapatistas have made significant gains... ...94. ?Over 20,000 Zapatistas take San Cristobal.? http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/mexico/2003/0103 take_san_cristobal.htm. 2/22/04 Pastor, Jr., Kevin, and Carol Wise. ?Mexican-Style Neoliberalism: State Policy and Distributional Stress.? in The Post NAFTA Political Economy: Mexico and the Western Hemisphere, Carol Wise, ed. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. ?Plan Puebla-Panama.? Nafinsa Securities, Inc. http://www.nafinsa.com/planpueblapanama.htm. 3/17/04 Ross, John. ?The Zapatistas at Ten.? NACLA, Vol. xxxvii, No. 3, November/December, 2003: pp. 11-16. Trudeau, Robert. Guatemalan Politics: The Popular Struggle for Democracy. Boulder: L. Rienner, 1993. ?Zapatista movement marks 10th anniversary.? http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/ 01/01/mexico.zapatista.anniversary.ap/. 2/22/04.