Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Mencap Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mencap - Essay Example Background/history Mencap began in 1953 by a group of parents and carrier from Leeds (UK) who saw the urgency to respond to the plight of children with special needs. During this period, Leeds and even the entire Uk hosted very few support services for people with special needs. Such is the case that parents who gave birth to babies with disability were often asked to surrender them to particular institutions and forget them completely; painful words for any parent. Consequently, many babies were left to suffer such a fate. Tired of this disgrace, parents with special kids, living within Leeds, began holding meetings in their houses and later formed a committee to serve the Leeds society. This committee named National Society of Parents of Backward Children became functional on 8 April 1953, immediately after its inauguration (Mencap, 2013). The inaugural meeting took place at Leeds Museum and was attended by squire Holye , the then Executive Officer of Leeds Health Department(its former name). In 1956, the organization changed its name to Leeds and District Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and later took the name Leeds Mencap Organisation structure (local&international) The day-to-day running of Mencap depends entirely on six important groups of people. This includes 1) The members 2) The board of trustees 3) The staff 4) Districts 5) Regional and country committees 6) National assembly members

Friday, October 25, 2019

Roman Gladiators Essay examples -- Roman History

Gladiator Gladiatorial events were a token of the Roman civilization. A brutal form of sacrifice adapted from the earlier civilization of Etruscans, who believed when a person dies, his spirit relies on a blood sacrifice to survive in the afterlife. The first event to take place in Rome was in 264 BC, when Decimus Brutus held a sacrifice to honor his dead father (Roman Gladiator). Soon after these events became an undeniable part of the Romans lives, used for political power and general entertainment. A gladiators life was far from easy. Most were slaves, prisoners of war, or hardened criminals, therefore they were not free men. Often times they were trained and forced to take part in the events, hoping for their freedom if they were to conquer their grim fate and survived for a few years (wik). This was depicted in the most recent movie GLADIATOR. In this film Russel Crowe ‘Maximus' starts out as an army general under Marcus Aurelius, until Commudus murders his own father out of spite for his fathers loyalty to Maximus and not him. He then inherits the title of king, and condemns Maximus to a gruesome fate as a slave/gladiator. Though this doesn't sound like the ideal life, to some at the time is was an appealing, so much so that some free men degraded themselves so they could battle in the games. Was it for basic living? Possibly but more than likely it was for the Fame and Prestige of a Gladiator. These free men were known as Professional gladiators. Training was hard for these great warriors, they often trained at special gladiator schools, the largest of which was connected to the great Coliseum by underground passages. Here they learned how to fight skillfully with swords, daggers, nets, chains, and an... ...m. This huge circular arena was the pinnacle of the Roman Gladiatorial games, and though it isn't fully intact, it is a great reminder of ancient culture. Though today these games seem inhumane and unnecessary, to their ancient culture it was a vacation from everyday stress. Even the Emperor was said to understand that though money and grain would satisfy and individual, large spectacles were necessary for the ‘contentment of the masses' (wes civ). Works Cited 1. Gladiator. Dreamworks Video. 2005. Directed by Ridley Scott. 2. Gladiators. Wikepedia, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator 3. Jackson J. Spielvogel. Western Civilization Third Edition, A Brief History volume 1: to 1715. 2005 Belmont CA. Wadsworth Publishing 4. The Roman Gladiator. Classics Technology Center. 2005. http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/gladiator1.html

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Linkage Of Art History And Information Technology Essay

Art History at first glance has nothing in connection to Information Technology and so Information Technology has no link in the discipline of history art. I, myself, had not thought that these two entirely different academic discipline have something in common to share even they are quite different from each other. I will begin this paper by giving definitions of these two fields of study. Art history refers to the academic discipline covering the study of history, visual arts, which is study the development of painting, and sculpture arts, humanistic discipline, humanities and liberal arts which are studies to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills. Categorizing changes in art through time and better understand how art shapes is what art history endeavors. In addition, art history also covers the outlooks and creative impulses of the artists. It covers all kind of arts that is extending from the megaliths of Western Europe that the best example of which is the Stonehenge in Britain to the paintings of the Tang dynasty in China. On the other hand, although information technology is hard to define because it is a wide based term and encompasses many areas and I have read many definitions of it, I chose the Information Technology Association of America’s or ITAA’s definition in which they defined information technology as the study, design, development, implementation support and management of any computer based information systems. Visual arts, as I mentioned in the definition of art history above, is covered by the discipline of art history. In connection, visual arts, which language is visual, helps develop the skills and knowledge of people to interpret visual arts using visual languages. The importance of said skill and knowledge that are developed by taking the academic discipline of art history is that you have the ability to dig out meaning from visual environment thus in return coincides with the skill you have learned in information technology. This may sounds illogical but if you think deeper, you will say it is indeed reasonable to claim that there is a linkage between art history and information technology. Just for example are works of architects, film editors, and insurance assessors. In everyday of their lives, they are using their knowledge and skills in information technology and therefore, the skills in extracting meaning from visual environment will surely come to the rescue to help them to be successful on what they are doing. Thus, I reiterate once again that art history has a connection to information technology because both   mentioned skills above, which are skill in using computer database and skill in extracting meaning from visual environment, are both needed in the realm of those jobs. These kinds of job require skill in the scrutiny of visual data, and to build connections and depict incongruent elements together to make a coherent whole. Because art history is actually about engaging people’s imagination, communicating ideas and bringing out emotions and feelings by means of carefully arranged visual cues, it aids information technology in some sense like what I have mentioned above about the aid art history gives in the realm of works of the architects and many others. Other good examples of this are the people who work in advertising agencies, theater, fashion and all other areas of design. These people are in need to fully comprehend and appreciate the manipulation of visual information. Thus, given those examples, studying art history indeed helps broaden and developed a person’s natural ability to create and communicate meaning from almost any visual environment.   Tackling on the other aspects, because art history studies the so-called ‘work of art’ and its other aspects, it is important to note that these works of arts can contain many themes or any themes which can be about many thing or any thing under the sun, and technology is not an exemption for that. There are many people, nowadays, that choose jobs in which they can be called programmers, systems analysts, network service providers, webmasters, information industry moguls and directors of academic computing because this age demands us so. It is true to consider that information and computer literacy, are priceless technical skills but it is also important to bear in our minds that information literacy is a new liberal art. The coverage of knowing how to use the computers and access information to critical reflection of nature of information itself and, its technical infrastructure is also covered by the information literacy and technology. Social, philosophical and even cultural context to the mental framework of educated information-age citizen as the trivium of basic liberal arts, such as grammar, logic and rhetoric, are also essential and are parts of information literacy and technology. Also, it was hoped, because of the facts that not all information can be found in internet, one should know something about its major cultural landmarks. It is also important to consider that one should know the literary monuments of secular, humanistic culture from Shakespeare through his modern novel. All in all, history arts and information technology though they are two different fields of study have a good linkage in one another to further help building the triumph of mankind in acquiring knowledge and skills. References Definition of Information Technology. Ezine Articles. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://ezinearticles.com/?Definition-of-Information-Technology&id=1109986 Department of Art History, Sweet Briar College.1998 February 8.What is Art†¦?†¦What is An Artist?. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/artartists/artartists.html De Sousa, Mike. The Column. The Purpose of Art. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ablestable.com/resources/library/thecolumn/2005/027.htm Graduate Careers. Art History.Retrieved July 23, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/content/view/full/183 Malibu Arts Journal. Art: An Elusive Term. Retrieved July 22, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.malibuartsjournal.com/art/art.html Shapiro, Jeremy J. and Hughes,Shelley K. Hughes (1996). Information Literacy as a Liberal Art. Educom Review Volume 31, Number 2. Retrieved July 23, 2008, from http://net.educause.edu/apps/er/review/reviewArticles/31231.html

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Comparison of Jane Austen’s novels

Question: Does the Igbo culture fall apart solely because of external pressures of European Imperialism and Christianity or are there internal tensions that cause the culture to disintegrate? Answer: In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe explores the struggles between the old traditions of the Igbo community and the effects of Christianity on people of different calibers within that society. He also demonstrates the effects of one society thrust onto another. Before the introduction of Christianity by the white man, the Ibo society has been well-settled, with its own laws and strong religious beliefs. â€Å"The Second Coming† by William Butler Yeats describes a world about to reach yet another transition in its history, one much worse than the prior. Therefore, we observe the white man intruding the African religion which is pregnant with superstitions, and steering them towards destruction in a way that they feel it is a natural process. The Christian religion brings with itself a strong government and peaceful trade. The people become more prosperous and the white men started gaining converts. Specifically, after the church of Mr. Kiaga survives on the Evil Forest for over twenty-eight days, they won a handful more converts. Moreover, for the first time, they comprised of a woman named Nneka, the wife of Amadi. Nneka had suffered a lot on account of bearing twins and then losing them to the Evil Forest due to a perilous custom. Christianity is viewed as a refuge to keep her children. Moreover, Nwoye's feminine curiosity caused him to doubt and wonder about numerous things in Igbo culture that his father would not dwell on for long. These encapsulate the death of Ikemefuna and the abandoning of twins into the bush that cry until they die. Thereby, he sees Christianity as a solution to his problems and he seems to have found peace in leaving his father and the insensitive religion. However, the loss of old traditional values to the new religion leads to a whole new generation being lost as well. Furthermore, the internal conflict within the clan is so immense that it leads Okonkwo to thoughts of violence, destruction and war, which eventually result in the final destruction of his society. Evidence of this is seen when Obreika and Okonkwo are discussing how the white man has destroyed Abame, and how he is now doing so to Umofia, prompting Okonkwo to say, â€Å"Abame people are weak and foolish. Why did they not fight back? †¦We must fight these men and drive them from our land.† The division within the clan among those favouring the traditional and the new has built an animosity. When Okonkwo has thoughts of destroying the white man, it foreshadows a conflict and illustrates how much hatred power and division can cause. The power of internal separation is observed in its greatest advent at the very end. Observing what hatred has brought Okonkwo to, the rest of the clan surrenders to the white man and allows itself to be conquered or pacified as the white man claims. Not only they have the entire legacy of the subjects be eliminated, an entire culture and society as well. This vividly showcases the British policy of â€Å"Divide and Rule.† Nonetheless, it is the internal tensions that fuel disintegration in the Ibo culture. Had they not been disunited by the white man's eloquent oratory, they would have fought for their rights and land. The weak faith in gods and religion that a number of Igbo's possessed, led them to â€Å"accommodate change† and remain ignorant of the manipulative nature of the colonizers. This submissive attitude, an overpowering sense of inferiority coupled with lack of contact with the world outside, paved way for the external pressures i.e., Christianity and imperialism to enforce perennial domination on them.