Industrial V.S. Pastoral Essay Example for Free

Industrial V.S. Pastoral Essay No other book has ever made me want to be a farmer more (or at all) than The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. No other book has placed such a dark cloud of doom and gloom over such a seemingly simple topic such as food production. I’m of course not talking about two identical models. One model is of industrial agriculture contrasted by pastoral agriculture. In his research Michael Pollan visited farms of both styles, got to know the onsite operations, followed the food to its ultimate destination, and finally ate a meal created with the very ingredients he spent a week investigating. Michael describes the farm owned by George Naylor, which is of the industrial model, as being fairly easy in terms of manual labor but extremely difficult in the detective work. Detective work usually isn’t something that gets brought up often when talking about farms; here it is referring to the journalistic tracking that Michael Pollan had to do with Mr. Naylor’s staple crop corn. The difficulty in following a bushel of corn from the Naylor farm is his corn, along with the majority of corn grown in the U. S. will eventually wind up in practically everything we eat and use. He does a fabulous job of painting a picture of this river of corn and how it ebbs and flows throughout our lives eroding any dietary connection we once might have had to nature. Nature is after all a system based on diversity and here we see an entire nation built on and fueled by a single plant. The carbon in our flesh has even been tested and the findings were we are, after water, predominately corn. I was starting to think that there were too many chapters in this book about corn! It just kept going and going but once I realized how much it is entwined in our lives and how perhaps this is the only account of someone illuminating that truth it started to seem necessary. As those carbon tests showed we are what we eat, Pollan shows in his book we are what we eat eats. Just as diversity is the spice of life in an ecosystem so too is it necessary for the physical health of animals. We humans know that very well and apply it readily to our own diets but what happens when we don’t allow nature to run its course in the meals of our meals? The nutritional content suffers immensely; to the point where our entire notion of healthy foods is skewed. An example used by Pollan is our idea of the nutritional content in red meat and fish. It is considered self-evident that an excess of red meat will cause all sorts of health problems. Likewise it is pretty well known that most fish, especially salmon, is rich in the good omega 3 fats and should be a staple of our diets. Omega 3 fats are produced in the leaves of plants while omega 6 fats are produced in the seeds of plants. If a cow was grass fed he would produce a healthier steak than the fillet of a farm raised salmon. This is because that salmon is most likely raised on corn. One would think that the flip side of this coin would be an organic farm. Well that same person would probably be very shocked to read what Michael Pollan had to say about organic. People might even feel duped by places like Whole Foods. As it is described in the book organic should realistically be read â€Å"industrial organic† for the farms and slaughterhouses are hardly different at all. In fact, instead of steering it onto a whole new track the organic rules and regulations only make it that much harder to run a traditional industrial operation. What the author shows as the antithesis to industrial is pastoral. In this section he visits the polyface farm of Joel Salatin which is reminiscent of a farm you might find in the movie Babe. It is actually a huge relief to read about because up to this point in the book you are starting to question if this kind of farm even exists. In this parallel universe monoculture is a filthy word and the practices found in industrial food production are nothing short of reprehensible. This model mimics nature therefore it is complex and interdependent; each and every plant and animal are so entwined in each other’s existence it really begs the question ‘what came first the chicken or the egg? ’ But that is the whole point of polyface farming. Only through diversity (and remaining in the local market) can sustainable agriculture be achieved. Or put another way, all of our environmental/agricultural problems start from attempting to create a monoculture ecosystem. Ruminants graze the grass chewing about ? of the blade while simultaneously dropping cow pies. The bottom part of the grass that cows do not eat is favored by the chickens that follow in the hoof prints before them. Around this time the cow patties start to grow ripe with larvae which become extra protein for the chickens. While the chickens scratch around the cow dung they consequently spread the manure for the farmer. This is only a small piece of the pie in terms of the interactions between all species that live and work on polyface. This is also one of the cycles of nature that if left to its own devises extinguishes the farmers need for pesticides and other harmful chemicals. Salatin could be seen as the conductor while all the other organisms of the farm are the musicians and the instruments; he sees how nature works and makes sure all the conditions are perfect and helps nature along. With his many inventions and quirky optimistic attitude one can’t help but picture a cartoon character. Several times throughout the reading I was reminded of the industrial revolution; and not just because the industrial food chain was born out of it. I found it interesting how the industrial food chain resembled the industrial revolution in conditions only. It was bleak, mechanical, and the conditions the animals are kept in are just horrible and unsanitary. The mass wave of human innovation and change that came out of the industrial revolution is absent from that food system but are absolutely present at polyface. Obviously this is just one farm so the analogy might be weak but I feel the conditions of this one farm, if recreated and multiplied, could produce some amazing ideas and inspire positive change.

The Characteristics Of Childrens Learning Styles

The Characteristics Of Childrens Learning Styles CHAPTER I The background and main characteristics of childrens learning style 1.1 The characteristic of teaching young learners The concept of learning is influenced by the psychological study of the learning process and is widely interpreted in the popular use. The psychological concept extends quite far and includes all parts of childrens development, from language acquisition to social roles and changes in their personality. Language teaching can be widely interpreted as all activities intended to facilitate and cause language learning. At the beginning of learning the new language, the learners knowledge has none or hardly any associations with the language, it is as an infant learning its first language. The lack of contact with the language and the lack of a safe reference system can give the learner an intellectual and emotional shock which can discourage from further learning. Thus, the task for the teacher is to overcome childrens disorientation which characterises the beginnings of learning, build up and associate a system of positive attitudes and feelings with the language: that is, being able to reply spontaneously and to think in the second language. In teaching of the second language, certain social strategy is also needed, so that children should feel a need of imitation and acquire the second language in the same way as their first one. (H.H. Stern Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching:397-400) Childrens world is based on games and having fun and the same should apply to their learning. Children should not be aware of learning, neither lexicon nor grammar, but the teacher can easily use these facts to teach the foreign language through games, stories and songs. In teachers work with young learners, it is important to teach them according to psychological and pedagogical rules. The amount of material which the learners can remember depends on teaching techniques and the way the material is drilled. It is important to remember that lack of stress in learning makes it more efficient and easier to use in real situations. What is more, only friendly attitude of the teacher towards a learner, teachers willingness for learning and using all methods of relaxation can protect a child from being discourages and shy in learning and using the foreign language. Any good associations with parts of the material can cause that vocabulary or grammar will be better and longer remembered. It is also important that childrens concentration span is quite short and it is crucial to use any procedures which can make the learner able to longer concentration. Student should be also involved and interested in the lesson (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 145-150). Childrens learning is based on imitation and having fun rather than on their awareness of learning. Imitation is the easiest way of introducing new vocabulary and its aim is to lead to correct articulation and intonation of sounds and their memorization. In teaching young learners, intonation exercises are especially useful because of childrens flexibility of larynx which disappears with time. In terms of imitation exercises, the teacher should pay attention to learners reactions determined by their age. Furthermore , the teacher should change the techniques of teaching to avoid learners getting bored (WoÃ… ºnicki, T./ Zawadzka, E. 1979: 60). Most activities for children should consist of movement and involve their senses. The teacher needs many objects, visuals and pictures to work with, and to create a possibility to use all of the schools surroundings. It is also important for the teacher to let the pupils play with the language, talk to themselves as much as it is possible, use songs, rhymes and tell stories. As a matter of fact, the teacher should let pupils talk even nonsense to enable them to experiment with the language. The basic principle in teaching a language is a variety of activities, pace, organisation, voice and face expressions. Nevertheless, routines in the classroom are also essential so that the children can know the rules, be able to use the mark system and complete tasks. Using familiar situations or activities creates the atmosphere of safety, especially for the shy learners. Another important criteria in making teaching a language efficient is the classroom atmosphere. During the lesson, there is s upposed to be room for shared experiences, group work, pair work; what is more, rewards and prizes should be avoided. It is much more useful for the teacher to make notes about each pupil regularly in case the teacher would like to inform the pupils parents about their progress (W. A. Scott Teaching English to Children:5-7). 1.2 Theory of language acquisition in the early age From around 1975, â€Å"language acquisition† is contrasted with language learning. The American applied linguist Krashen uses the word â€Å"acquisition† to describe learning of the second language which is analogous to the way in which a child learns â€Å"naturally† his or her first language and does not focus on the linguistic form. The disadvantage of Krashens terminology is that it is contrasted with psychological terms. Krashen differentiates between â€Å"acquisition† and â€Å"learning†, as learning for him is more or less conscious. It is a very valuable distinction but it implies a constraint on the use of the term â€Å"learning†, and frequently deliberately limits it to the school-like learning (H.H. Stern Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching: 18-20). In the light of an early start of language learning, Anderson claims that the way a person acquires mother tongue still remains a riddle. Between birth and the fifth year of life, children develop their ability to speak. Children in the first stage observe adults behaviour and any noises they produce. After some time, they start understand the meaning of such noises without seeing adults movements. The next step is imitation of sounds and (partially) a creation of their own ones. Consequently, children find out that they can control adults behaviour by making certain sounds. Lonnerberg mentions that only 10% of childrens utterings is like adults ones and that 90% of such utterings is their own language production. As far as it is concerned, childrens language acquisition is a dispute between an innate, individual parole and the langue created and used by the society (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 22-23). 1.2.1 A critical age for foreign language learning Regarding the age of the earliest acquisition and learning point as birth, the best moment to start teaching a child the second foreign language is the age of 4-5. This is because of childrens flexible larynx which allows for nearly ideal imitation of sounds and the most efficient brain which all together create a great opportunity for language acquisition. Nevertheless, only until the age of 12-13, children keep their flexibility and natural readiness for language acquisition. Lenneberg shows through extended case studies the stages of physiological maturity processes taking place in the brains hemispheres (especially the left one), which is dominant. What is more, if it happens that the left hemisphere is damaged before the age of 12-13, it is possible that the right hemisphere takes over the domination and speech problems can be reduced. In addition, after this age such a process is almost impossible (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 28-29). 1.2.2 Childrens second language acquisition The phenomenon of mother tongue acquisition is interesting for linguists, psychologists, neuropsychologists and even neurophysiologists. Furthermore, it is connected with natural bilingualism which occurs when a child learns, in a natural way, the second language. The process of the second language acquisition in natural conditions is quite similar to the first language acquisition or even identical. The only difference between those two is the fact that the second language is assimilated later and is based on experience and knowledge of the first one and, as a result, the whole process happens faster and more effectively (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 18). Chomsky(1964) claimed â€Å" it is a common observation that a young child of immigrant parents may learn a second language in the street, with amazing rapidity, and that this speech may be completely fluent and correct to the last allophone, while the subtleties that become second nature to the child may elude his parents despite motivation and continued practice† (BrzeziÅ„ski 1987: 8). The first international meeting connected with childrens acquisition and its use in teaching foreign languages took place in Hamburg in 1961. Participant tried to find out if it is right to introduce foreign languages in the primary schools, if it is true that children learn better than teenagers and adults and which techniques are supposed to be used in teaching them. After four years, the second meeting took place and the first answers were given. During many decades, lots of contrary opinions developed. As early as 1967, Corder points out: â€Å"It still remains to be shown that the process of learning second language is of fundamentally different nature from the process of primary acquisition†. On the other hand, in 1972, Moulton stresses that in teaching a foreign language to young children it is possible to adopt some methods and intuition procedures, used by a child during mother tongue acquisition, and weave them into learning of the foreign language (BrzeziÅ„ski 19 87: 8). 1.2.3 Factors of efficient language learning In 1960s, the matter of teaching a foreign language during the early age was a topic of many discussions. After the war, in many methodological books it was said that children can easily absorb, imitate and produce the new language. Learning of languages in the early age is connected with the habit of repeating words and sentences in a foreign language and acquisition of language material with the help of various memory techniques. The technique of frequent repetition of the material, as the main key to learning a language, is also supported by many psychologists such as Watson and Thorndike. In many psychological books, it is easy to find many completely different definitions of habit. According to â€Å"MaÅ‚y sÅ‚ownik psychologiczny†, habit is well-practised through numerous repetitions: actions which are done always in the same way and automatically. This definition can bring one to a wrong opinion that one should always react in the same way. Lado definites habit as fluency in using units and models of a particular language in answering while attention is not paid to units but to content. There are many more definitions of habit written by A. Szulc, Lompscher or Rubinsztejn, but all these definitions come down to the conclusion that the habit is way of mechanic, unconscious repetition and conscious production leading to the conscious process where consciousness is removed so long as the automatic element is eliminated. In this case, the fact that the process of repetition is the most important comes from the opinion of psychologists based on the theory that acquiring the mother tongue comes from the imitation of adults. There are also certain reasons directly influencing and shaping the process of learning and its efficiency:  · age - ­ after the age of 10, language acquisition ease diminishes. Childrens minds lose their flexibility and it is not that easy to acquire a language. Younger learners have better and more specific memory but have less ability to learn and need more repetitions. Children are more willing to imitate but have a very short concentration span. Their mechanical memory is better than that of the adults, and their short memory is more dynamic and more effective. The older the child, the more specific the way of learning is. Older children have their own range of memory, their long-term memory is more developed and more logic. They can focus more easily and have wider general knowledge. Being more mature, having better learning techniques and better motivation, the young and adults can easily make up this matters, which children can reach thanks to their imitating skills and more flexible minds.  · attitude in learning, there are many elements which have influence on better acquisition or learning, but attitude is one of the most important because it stimulates brain to better work and makes memory work more efficiently. What is more, the lack of motivation can cause that person who is not interested in the topic or in learning itself will not remember anything.  · previous experience connected with the material that has to be learned the more experience the learner has, the easier and more efficient learning is for him or her.  · material and content there are some units of material which are more difficult to understand or remember, for example, sentences which have lots of information. Also, the size of the material, the length of sentences, the kind of material (Passive Voice sentences are harder to remember and require longer time to learn than Active Voice sentences) significantly influence the effectiveness of the learning process.  · way of learning Humans use mechanical or logical memory while the logical one is more preferred and a part of material learned in a logical way is not only easier to reconstruct, but also stays longer in human memory. Certain researches show that talking in a foreign language is not only a simple reproduction of material that was learned. A learner should pay attention to very basic patterns which can be modified and updated with new vocabulary and structures. Mechanical memorising of sentences can be even a quite dangerous and tricky factor because certain language elements occur in a particular arrangement, in a way they were learned and drilled by exercises.  · number of exercises and repetitions Psychological research shows that the long term memory is extended in proportion to the learning time. What is more, overlearning is a very important element in the memorizing process. The higher the level of overlearning, the slower is the process of forgetting. Yet, the level of overlearning is reached individually after each learner performs a number of repetitions. At the same time, mindless repetitions cannot be treated as overlearning.  · time spent on learning It is important how long and how often repetitions and exercises are done. Frequent and short exercises are more efficient than rare and long ones (WoÃ… ºnicki, T./ Zawadzka, E. 1979: 30-40). 1.3 The characteristic of childrens memory Learning styles are various ways of learning. They involve education methods, characteristic for an individual, which are used by the individual to learn best. The alleged basis and efficacy for these proposals have been extensively criticized. Learning styles depend on individual preferences, and, according to Nail Fleming, such styles may be divided into four categories. The fist group is made of visual learners, who, as the term suggestsplies, receive most information visually. These learners have a tendency to do well at public schools because most of what they are taught is presented through visual teaching tools. They do well with visual aids like pictures. For visual learners, the easiest way to learn is watching and calling up visuals in their minds to remember what they studied in the past. They have a tendency toward appreciating arts: crafts, painting or drama. They tend to be creative and imaginative. The second group are auditory learnerswho tend to learn better through listening. They listen to instructions and follow them in such a way that they can gather large amounts of information and deal with it. Auditory learners are very good at listening to lectures and conversations for a longer time without getting bored. They are more concentrated than visual learners and may be more discerning and attentive in the class. They prefer to study with music in the background. These students may also be creative and imaginative. They are good at listening to information and reproducing it in their individual ways. Students with another style known as kinesthetic learning might be mistaken for too active in the classroom. They do not like waiting for information. They prefer to find things out for themselves without any prompts. They are the explorers who want to make new discoveries. They are quick to learn new things and do not mind being left on their own with a particular toy to find out how it works. They can be successful in practical tasks, such as carpentry and design. These children prefer doing rather than thinking. Homeschooling might be a better for these learners because regular classroom activities might not be interesting enough for them. The forth group consists of logical learners who think in a conceptual manner. They explore patterns and like to know how things work. They often ask questions and are good at puzzles, math problems, strategy games and computers. They understand abstract concepts faster than others. These students prefer inventing and building their own contraptions, for example, with toys (http://www.ehow.com/info_7881656_inventory-learning-styles-child.html#ixzz1MXMcJS9C). 1.3.1 Initial memorisation According to many researches, children have lots of problems when trying to remember and repeat parts of material or longer sentences. In a situation when a group of kindergarten children was asked to remember and repeat, they were passive and even did not take any action to do so. 8-year-old children are a slightly better and show some will to do what they were asked, although only the 10-year-old children and older pupils are able to deal with efficient memorization, data processing and are even able to organise new information to remember it better. According to this research, one can observe that at the beginning children can use only simple techniques and just after some time those techniques develop, become more complicated and fitted to individual preferences and styles. This fact is quite disturbing because during the very early school-years children are often required to remember mane, sometimes even complicated information like lyrics, grammar rules or definitions. On the o ther hand, children can easily learn their mother tongue, they widen their knowledge about society or nature quite fast. Children are often able to repeat the dialogue of their parents even if they seem not interested in it. In their first years, they are not aware of how their memory works. The flash memory term became very popular according to the discovered phenomena that some people have perfect perception and prefer things they saw rather than those which they listened to. It is a very important fact that children use flash memory in a metaphorical way because they mechanically transfer the received information to their memory. Everything seen by people is remembered for a very short time in their operation memory. For a long-term memorisation, it is useful to include various visual aids in the teaching process. Children are able to remember not only pictures but also many details from such pictures. However, sometimes a picture shown to a child may be slightly different, may h ave different colours or shapes (especially of those elements which amazed the child). Autistic children have a very efficient flash memory and after a few seconds they are able to memorise very complicated and detailed pictures; what is more, they do so without much effort. From the previously discussed research, one can deduct that only from the age of ten children can consciously memorise some facts for a longer time. More effective memory depends on which study techniques the child uses. Those study strategies consist of certain elements like: the level of consciousness and awareness of the aim the child is learning for and willingness the child hasmemorisation strategy effort used to learn a specific part of the material Sometimes it is very hard to prove which element from the ones mentioned above is used. It can be even said that children create memorization strategies in internalisation. Before a child creates its own technique of learning, a child cannot achieve better results in learning but when those strategies are already created, the child knows how to study to achieve his or her aim. Then, the process of memorisation becomes faster, easier and more efficient. After some time, children not only know how to learn faster but also can understand more and do this more freely. Nevertheless, at the age of six it is still very complicated for the young learner to organise material which has to be learnt, and this is why children start to repeat. Only nine-year-old children are consciously able to group certain pictures into categories to achieve better memorisation. To sum up, one can easily say that children develop their memorisation skills according to their age and in this process children reme mber those things which they pay attention to but it is short memory and at the same time hard memory which are used. Sensitivity on keeping memory on the alert and reaction do not depend on where this new information comes from (society, nature or their own body) but in case of children it is mainly automatically received and processed by their brain. This process happens quickly and almost without any effort and the teacher cannot see those processes and cannot stop or modify them. This process can be only stopped and controlled, but then it works much slower and requires some effort. What is more, a child has to be conscious of information and has to recognise it. To distinguish between automatic and controlled memorisation, one can distinguish three levels of the automatisation processes: the first level is dominated by the automatic use of information (also without paying attention) the second level is partially automatic when attention is not focused on information the third level is only rarely automatic but full attention is needed in this case ( E. Gruszczyk- KolczyÅ„ska, Ewa ZieliÅ„ska Wspomaganie dzieci w rozwoju zdolnoÅ›ci do skupiania uwagi i zapamiÄ™tywania WSiP Warszawa 2005: 52-68). 1.4 The theory how media influence children Media themselves may introduce lots of positive things but also the negative ones into the human life, shape attitudes and mentality of the young people. Furthermore, especially children may be easily influenced by commercials. Media contents are brought to people through the Internet, radio or television, and such media information consists of specific stimuli which affect brain, senses and create or change attitudes and ways of looking at the reality. The good side of the media is the fact that it is created for peoples development, making life more convenient, introducing social and personal values and causing that long distances are easier to overcome. As a result, even such aspects as education or culture are closer to various and separated nations. On the other hand, mass media become a kind of of a boundary or a cage in which a person is isolated from the others, as it may create a situation of misunderstanding and limit of ones social life which is then substituted with cyber space. Needless to say, the mass media caused radical reorganisation of the social life. In terms of education and upbringing of young generation, the media are creating new types of personalities, a sort of a new civilisation. This new generation of media-people is an inextricable part of the modern life, and can be source of many good, positive and improving aspects as well as bad, demoralising, violent and the ones encouraging unacceptable deviations. 1.4.1 Media in education The fact of striving for more effective ways of teaching is a main subject of many modern researches. Nowadays, in order to achieve the goal it is natural to use the most entertaining and universal tools like the Internet and other mass media. Thanks to these tools, learning can be more pleasant and successful for the learners and also easier and less effort-requiring for the teachers. More and more modern teaching techniques make education up-to-date and allow for leaving (old) traditional methods in education and introduce the modern model of integration of education with entertainment. In this context, education becomes a product, (almost a technological device), a source of educational tools and an incentive for the unconscious learning. Media may be easily and freely used not only in school teaching but also in private, out-school or even global, social, personal and cultural training. They can provide news, information and educational content using all possible multilingual tools. What is more, this kind of instrument has certain aspects which are singled out by Henryk GrudzieÅ„ in his work Media jako skÅ‚adnik procesu dydaktyczno-wychowawczego: direct influence this means that especially television programs and films immediately influence their audience (human emotions and intellect) building-up influence means building up information, associations and feelings connected with films or TV programs which cause some changes in the human psyche subconscious influence similar to the one above, but the audience is not conscious of changes in its attitudes because at the beginning the audience refuses the given way of thinking due to its unsuitable content and after some time its resistance disappears. Media also have a tremendous influence on the lifestyle of the young people, and they affect lots of spheres of young peoples lives, for example: the effect on the way that somebody behaves (making decisions, aggressive behaviour, social actions etc.) the effect on the level of knowledge (level of information, range of knowledge, level of communication skills etc.) the influence on attitude (believes, religion, judging of other people, etc.) the influence on physical fitness (damaging of senses, lack of motion, addiction) The processes mentioned above depend on many conditions such as age, psyche, actual situation in ones life, level of knowledge, weather, place of receiving such information or influences, company or gender. For example, the most influential may be a film watched in a cinema where the level of focus is very high, a bit weaker may be television and the weakest the radio. 1.4.2 The Internet in childrens education Nobody can deny that modern technology has changed and revolutionized education. Teachers have also quickly adjusted their teaching methods in a response to new technology because gadgets in the classroom can create a more interesting, interactive and entertaining environment. If schools strive to keep up with technological trends, then the learning that takes place there becomes more relevant and meaningful for the learners. The Internet and computer knowledge and literacy of major software programs is no longer reserved only for higher educational systems or special trade schools in the modern society. ( http://www.ehow.com/about_5410187_uses-modern-technology-classroom-teaching.html#ixzz1Iai4xP5X) Many children, when going to school, deal with individual difficulties on the basis of their opportunities. Nowadays, from the very early age, children get used to computers, the Internet and other modern technologies. The access and the use of the Internet fulfil many of the aims of education. What is more, it broadens childrens mind horizons, gives them a sense responsibility, builds up their self-esteem and develops their autonomy. A big advantage of the Web is its easy access and lack of duty to have a face-to-face contact. The author of the book Special educational needs and the Internet: issues for the inclusive classroom Chris Abbott claims that there are four principles and each one proves that websites and the Internet have become an influential tool for teaching as the pupils are: Informed The Internet is a source of information and news used in topic work, planning visits, web sites pictures of classmates work, connection with other pupils even outside the school, village or town and also link with past friends. Involved In the virtual tour, in preparing material, in creating and sharing their ideas; in group with the integrated activities where physical presence is not significant. Empowered enabling access for children with any physical difficulties, various tools, e-mails Recognised pictures on websites of the children and their work, whiles of the school council meeting, aiding successes and building self-esteem. (111-112) The Internet has a large part to play in the future education of the young people. In this book, the author included many useful tips when using computers in teaching young learners. For example, the page a teacher wants to use should be put on the screen before children come into the classroom. What is very important, computers should be set in a way so that the children cannot open unauthorized sites and also it is important to remind the children of behaving in a good way to prevent the pupils from running to get to the computers first. It is also useful to create a list of computer room rules. Wherever possible, there should be no more than three pupils per one computer. If children cannot see the screen, they may quickly lose interest in their school work and may not be willing to learn. All these elements can make children more concentrated and make learning more effective (C. Abbott Special educational needs and the Internet: issues for the inclusive classroom New York 2002).

The International Tourist Destination Tourism Essay

The International Tourist Destination Tourism Essay Tourism can be traced back to centuries but because the elements of the product and conditions of the market place have changed so enormously in the last few decades there has been a corresponding requirement for a change in the business methods. This has led to the use of tourism marketing. Tourism industry over the last few years has had an accelerated growth. Destinations come in all shapes and sizes and can be found in variety of geographical settings such as in urban, rural and coastal environment. Destinations can be a collection of countries or a district state, county or coastline. They can often be viewed in both a supply or demand context. Destinations are subject to artificial divides that ignore the needs of the consumer and the expectations of the tourist.The supply sided definition of destination is a well-defined geographical area which is understood by its visitor as a unique entity with a political and legislative framework for tourism marketing and planning. (Buhalis, 2000) whereas the demand sided definition is a place towards which people travel and where they choose to stay for a while in order to experience certain features or characteristics. (Buhalis, 2000) This paper presents a theoretical framework of disaster management in a destination with the marketing strategies in tourism. The first part of the essay would discuss on general views on destinations, marketing strategies and disasters. The second part concentrates on marketing strategies of Kerala as a destination and how marketing strategies can be used to mitigate negative impacts of disasters in a destination. Introduction All destinations have similar characteristics. The success of a tourist destination depends on the quality of the basic essentials they offer to tourists namely attractions, amenities and accessibility (Holloway and Taylor 2006).Each and every organization has to operate within a market environment. This environment is made up of different levels of influence that will affect the opportunities and the marketing decisions that need to be made. The conditions affecting competition and rivalry in company markets, the values of stakeholder groups, the political, social, economic, social and technological changes of the wider environment. For a destination to be successful and stay ahead in the industry, the officials and stakeholders must develop and implement new strategies. As per Johnsons and Scholes (1993) strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term; ideally which matches its resources to its changing environment and in different markets, customers or clients so as to meet the stakeholders expectations. Different travel companies have similar marketing strategies for a destination. Any company in-order to form a marketing strategy has to first understand the particular destinations strengths, weakness, opportunities available and threats. When talking about managing and marketing a tourist destination it is very important to keep in mind the 15 Cs framework namely; Complexity, Control, Change, Crisis, Communication, Complacency, Customers, Culture, Competition, Commodification, Creativity, Channels, Cyberspace, Consolidation, Collaboration (Fyall et all). Marketing Mix To make a successful marketing strategy one has to understand the 4 Ps of marketing mix namely product, price, promotion and place. Kotler and Armstrong (2005) indicate that marketing mix is one of the key concepts in modern marketing theory. They defined marketing mix as the step of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. Firstly we would have a look at the 4 Ps of marketing mix. Product The effectiveness of planning the marketing mix depends as much on the ability to select the right target market as on the skill in devising a product offer. It is really difficult to talk about a product (destination) as one complete entity hence to understand a product in a better way McCarthy (1978) divided it into four different levels namely the core product, the facilitating product, supporting product and the augmented product. Along with it comes, services offered and the quality of the product which differs according to the product and customer/guests expectation. It is very important for an organisation to decide on the range of products to be offered to a particular target market. Brand name also plays a major role in the marketing of a product, a customer/guest travelling to a place may differ in terms of preference, necessities. Apart from the customers point of view for a destination for which customers are willing to pay high amounts it is very important to maintain th e standards of services and fulfil customers basic necessities. People often purchase a familiar brand as they are comfortable with familiar things. There are assumptions made by customers that a familiar brand would be reliable and of reasonable quality. An unknown brand often has limited chances. (Aaker, 1991: 19) Price The pricing policy selected for a product (destination) is often directly related to the performance of its future demand. Pricing decisions is often considered the hardest part of the marketing mix strategy. Promotion It is a very important activity that tourists organisations or tourists board perform in order to influence potential customers. It is also important to influence trade contacts such as retail agents, suppliers and opinion formers such as journalists and travel critics. Advertising plays a major role in terms of promotion as it helps is changing attitudes and builds an image in the customers mind. Sales promotion is another method which adds value to the product. Another method of promotion is personal selling where in a direct contact with the customer is established. However there is a growing use of sponsorship and direct marketing which many organisations are using. Place/Distribution Tourism is an intangible product hence no transfer of ownership takes place only services are rented or consumed. A distribution system is the mix of channels used to gain access, or means by which a tourism service is made available to the potential consumers of the product. There has been a constant growth in the central reservation system and the global distribution system which has shrunk the world and has got the customer closer to the product. However later on Booms and Bitner (1981) argued that the marketing mix of four Ps is not comprehensive enough for the tourism and hospitality industry, so they addedthree more clauses which are people, physical evidence and process. Tourism as an industry is not only affected by disasters but also is a cause for disasters which in turn affect the tourists flow. Impacts of Tourism Economic Impact of Tourism Tourism has been traditionally viewed as a great force in promoting understanding among nations and within the national boundaries facilitating emotional integration. However, its economic importance is less commonly understood. It is only in the recent years, in particular the latter half of the 20th century that tourism has been accepted as an important catalyst for economic development. It is in terms of its contribution to employment generation, foreign exchange earnings, income generation and output growth that tourism has significant impact on the economy. [ Indira Gandhi National Open University] (IGNOU 2002) Environmental Impact of Tourism Different kinds of tourism activities affect the natural and built environment. There is a complex interaction between tourism and the environment. Many studies have shown that tourism has an immense impact on the physical environment, and that little has been done to remedy or control the assault on the ecology. This is especially distressing in view of the fact that a major part of tourism depends on nature: mountains, beaches, deserts, forests, wildlife, water bodies and the like. [ Indira Gandhi National Open University] (IGNOU 2002) Socio-cultural Impact of Tourism Among the most debated issues pertaining to tourism are those related to the effects that tourists and the industry have on societies and cultures of local communities. A general argument is that tourism contributes to international understanding and harmony. On the contrary, it has severely affected indigenous customs and ways of life in certain cases. Tourists are seldom well prepared for an international encounter which is vastly different from their own. Their knowledge, in most cases, is cursory, that is glamorised images from glossy travel brochures, movies and similar material. [ Indira Gandhi National Open University] (IGNOU 2002) Disaster Disaster is a calamitous event which often leads to great damages which can be physical (affecting the nature and life) or can affect the business environment. (Oxford dictionary). Disasters are of two types namely Natural and Man-made disasters. Tourism has frequently been subjected to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes for example Hurricane Katrina on the north central Gulf Coast of the USA in 2005, the tsunami in 2004 off the coast of Indonesia and earthquakes in Taiwan in 1999 and San Francisco in 1989. The immediate effect leads to destruction of the tourist infrastructure and fall in customer demands. In addition to direct effect, destinations may suffer long term damage by perceptions in travel-risk. The earths climate has drastically changed in recent times and is predicted to change in the future. Directly and indirectly tourism is influencing the climate by about 80% (Gossling et al., 2005). Tourism is not only susceptible to natural disasters it is also affected by man-made disasters, such as outbreak of war, political unrest, terrorism for example political unrest in Libya, Terrorism attacks in Mumbai, India in 2007. Tourists generally perceive acts of terrorism to be higher risk than natural disasters when travelling. The perception of travel related risks have has changed during recent times as a result of change in the magnitude and frequency of the attacks. Kerala a major tourist destination in India Kerala, Gods own country is one of the favourite destinations for tourists in the world. It is situated on the south-western part of India with a coastline of 580km. It is famous for eco-tourism initiatives and growing at a rate of 13.31%. In the year 2008, 23.57% of total tourists were from United Kingdom, France and Germany. USA accounted for 8.72% of total tourists visiting Kerala in the year 2008. Kerala became 50 must see places in the lifetime to visit (National Geographic Travel, 2004) and also awarded in super brand award for 101 strongest brands in India by super brands India in the Year 2007. Tourism has emerged as the major revenue generating business to government of Kerala which has contributed almost 8% of the total employment directly and indirectly. The most important turning point in the state of Kerala was the private-public partnership to promote tourism in Kerala. Marketing of Kerala as a destination Backwater is the major tourist attraction of Kerala, however enjoying beaches with Ayurvedha is also one of the major attractions for tourists today. The government of Kerala is now trying to brand the medical tourism initiative which is turning out to be a great success as loads of people from many different countries are travelling to Kerala for better health care. There is also an emphasis on traditional art forms like Kathakali, Theyyam, etc which are pulling interests of travellers interested in arts. Kerala tourism is focussed more towards mass media advertisements and PR activities which help in attracting many tourists. Kerala also in terms of pricing is considered in a few of the cheap places for tourists in India. Hence it is very clear that the 4 Ps of marketing mix Place, Product, Price, Promotions. Kerala as a destination is influenced by natural and man-made disasters both. It has been observed that over the past three decades the predominant style of tourism in the region has been based almost exclusively on the attraction of the climate and of beaches. International visitors simply like visiting the beach and visit the back waters, the government has had an economic commitment to make to satisfying international demand by providing a coastal tourism product (UNECLAC, 2003). However the coastal range is prone to direct and immediate risk as when we look back from the year 2000 there has been a lot of natural disasters such as Hurricanes, storms, Tsunami, Floods, etc. Similarly when we look at the man-made disasters the Indian Sub continent is very prone to it from the Kargil war in 1999 to different terrorism attacks in Parliament building (New delhi) in 2001 and the Taj Hotel bombing (Mumbai) in 2008 or be it the global recession. All these affect the tourist flow in a particular destination. Strengths and Weakness There are a few weakness and many strengths of the above mentioned marketing strategy done by the government of Kerala. Firstly we would discuss weaknesses of the strategy followed by the strengths. Weaknesses There is an inadequate infrastructure to match the expectations of the tourist who travel to Kerala which means limited number of hotels, restaurants and limited space. The government has tough airline policies such as keeping in mind Kerala does not have an international airport as one of the major generator of tourist revenue. There is no proper waste management system which can become cause for many natural disasters. There is a shortage of funds available for growth of tourism which can often lead to exploitation of tourists and can lead to many other man-made disasters which is very common in Goa now-a-days. Strengths One good thing about the government of Kerala is that they are smooth operators of law and order which helps in confronting any man-made disaster to happen. The people of Kerala are involved by the government in the tourism industry which leads to broader thinking and leads to development of knowledge of disaster management in the people. The quality of life also improves of the local people, it is also noted that Kerala is the only society in the world which has 100% literacy rate. The current marketing strategy promotes Kerala as a destination and has made such an image even if there is a miss happening in the country, tourists would still flow in considering Keralas law and order being so rigid. In case of any natural disaster it is very obvious that it is a destination that can recover in one single days time. Even during the Tsunami, Kerala recovered itself very easily whereas other destinations adjoining Kerala took time to recover from the shock. Conclusion Kerala tourism is one of the super brand in the world of tourism. But the government is currently focussing on mass media tools although it is being properly put together but the government should focus more on direct marketing as the major revenue generator is the domestic market. Direct marketing can be considered to be more effective for brand building and very cost efficient as compared to mass media promotions. Word of mouth is being considered one of the most important tool of marketing now-a-days. Apart from these strategies the government also can conduct events based campaigns keeping in mind the various festivals in the state itself like Pongal, famous boat race. Furthermore it can also be recommended that encouraging local people to participate in decision-making process, training the guides and the local people, appreciate people of different profession and allocate special areas for the peaceful co-existence, maintaining the control on the prices of goods and quality of services. The government should take extra steps and encourage private investors to invest and promote tourism in a destination which would in turn lead to improvements in the infrastructure of the destination which is one of the most important thing for a destination in order to attract more tourists.

Free Essays - Anthem :: Anthem Essays

Anthem is a story of man’s struggle to be free and to fight the masses of conformity.   It tells of human nature and the want to gain all the knowledge that one could possibly attain.   Man loses his safe haven and his security when he lets this lust for knowledge overpower him and lets it be seen by others. He becomes vulnerable Like Johann Faust, Prometheus sells his life for wisdom.   Unlike Faust, however, Prometheus is expelled from his society but gains his freedom of individuality and his freedom of knowledge and the ability to understand.   In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea sin against society to become singular and understanding much like Adam and Eve’s sin against God when they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge to gain wisdom; as a result, they can be compared to each other by there desire for learning and by their damnation.   An anthem is a sacred composition set to words from the Bible.   This may have significance with the title that Ayn Rand has given the book by paralleling the story of Prometheus and Gaea to that of Adam and Eve.   In the bible, Adam and Eve were given everything that they needed by God with the one exception of not to eat from a specific tree.   They were told by the devil that this tree was the tree of knowledge and to eat of it would give them knowledge equal to God’s.   In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea are told that they have everything that they will ever need or desire by the council.   They are forbidden to gain knowledge that is not permitted by the council but only to do as they are told.   Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the pursuit of knowledge and ate of the tree in order to gain equality to God.   When they did this God found out and so condemned them and punished them for all eternity.   God banished them from paradise in the Garden of Eden.   A dam and Eve were no longer given anything as they were in the garden but instead were forced to suffer and survive on their own.   In Anthem, Prometheus and Gaea go against the will of the council and Prometheus yearns to gain knowledge that he realizes is being hidden from him. Prometheus hides his studies at first but then wants to share them with the council for the betterment of society but is instead condemned.

Language Acquisition :: essays research papers fc

CONTENT Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦......†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 Main body 1. Language acquisition †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.†¦.......†¦Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4 2. The stages of language acquisition †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....†¦......†¦..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5 2.1. The prelinguistic stage †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.........†¦...........†¦Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7 2.2. Babbling †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦........†¦...........†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7 2.3. One-word utterances †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦....†¦...........†¦Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  9 2.4. Two-word utterances †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..............†¦..†¦....   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  10 2.5. Telegraphic speech †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦........†¦...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  13 2.6. Language learning during the pre-school period †¦..  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  16 3. The critical period †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.......†¦   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  17 4. The summary of behaviours to expect of children with normally developing speech and language †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  19 5. The language acquisition cannot be sped up †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  20 6. Tips to help develop speech communication in a child †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  22 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  24 Bibliography †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  25 INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children’s acquisition of language has long been considered one of the uniquely defining characteristics of human behaviour.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Still today, it is the commonly held belief that children acquire their mother tongue through imitation of the parents, caregivers or the people in their environment. Linguists too had the same conviction until 1957, when a then relatively unknown man, A. Noam Chomsky, propounded his theory that the capacity to acquire language is in fact innate. This revolutionized the study of language acquisition, and after a brief period of controversy upon the publication of his book, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, in 1964, his theories are now generally accepted as largely true. As a consequence, he was responsible for the emergence of a new field during the 1960s, Developmental Psycholinguistics, which deals with children’s first language acquisition. He was not the first to question our hitherto mute acceptance of a debatable concept – long before, Plato wondered how children could possibly acquire so complex a skill as language with so little experience of life. Experiments have clearly identified an ability to discern syntactical nuances in very young infants, although they are still at the pre-linguistic stage. Children of three, however, are able to manipulate very complicated syntactical sentences, although they are unable to tie their own shoelaces, for example. Indeed, language is not a skill such as many others, like learning to drive or perform mathematical operations – it cannot be taught as such in these early stages. Rather, it is the acquisition of language which fascinates linguists today, and how it is possible. Noam Chomsky turned the world’s eyes to this enigmatic question at a time when it was assumed to have a deceptively simple explanation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Further in this term-paper I am going to describe the stages in child language acquistion starting from the very birth of an infant till the onset of puberty. LANGUAGE ACQUISTION There are many facts that are intriguing about the language.

Foreshadowing in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men Essay

The word foreshadow is a literary term used to describe how the author discreetly gives clues to the reader of the events later to occur. The touching realistic fiction novelette Of Mice and Men is written by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie, two men who have become close friends over time, travel together to a ranch to pursue their dream as a team. George is considered to be Lennie’s caretaker, for Lennie is mentally challenged. Throughout the novelette Of Mice and Men, foreshadowing takes a considerable role in the most important chapters of George and Lennie’s journey together. The events that develop foreshadow other events that will echo the primary event in a distinctive way. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing and other literary elements as the structure of his many literary works of art. The three events that foreshadow the future are George telling Lennie to return to the river if trouble occurs, Candy having to kill his dog, and a heron killing a snake. In the beginning, when George and Lennie are at the river, George tells Lennie to return to that exact location to silently hide in the brush and wait for him if he gets in any trouble. Lennie has done bad things in the past, and George wants to make sure that Lennie has somewhere to go that’s out of harm’s way. â€Å" ‘Lennie – if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush’ † (15). In the past, Lennie has gotten into trouble while working on a ranch, and both George and Lennie didn’t have anywhere to go. George knows that Lennie is bound to have history repeat itself, and make the same mistakes, so he tells Lennie to remember where the river is located. George’s action foreshadows that later on, Lennie will have to return to the river. George makes sure that he can get Lennie away from any danger that can harm him, but would also know where heà ¢â‚¬â„¢d be. As the story progresses, Candy tells George that he should have shot his dog himself instead of a stranger, because he knew the dog the best and his moment of lacking authority allowed him to regret his decision. Candy has had his dog since it was just a puppy, so he has a strong connection with his dog. Carlson thinks the dog is smelly, ancient, and becoming more and more useless everyday, so he convinces Candy to allow him to shoot his dog. â€Å" ‘I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t have ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog’ † (61). When Candy confides in George, he admits that he is in the wrong when he decides to allow a complete stranger kill his dog instead of doing it himself. Candy, wanting to have shot his dog himself, foreshadows how George will feel about how Lennie will be disciplined. Although Candy didn’t have the strength to kill his own dog, George realizes that he’s strong enough to discipline Lennie i n a fair and painless way. Lastly, when Lennie is hiding in the brush at the river, a water snake is killed by a motionless heron off in the distance. The water snake was gliding on the river and is unaware of the heron that was standing still awaiting its arrival. â€Å" A water snake glided smoothly up the pool . . . and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak glanced down and plucked it out by the head . . .† (99). The snake was gracefully moving across the water, and swims to its death, negligent of its future. When Lennie is killed, he is looking at the scenery of the mountains and at the river imaging his and George’s dream, completely unaware of George, standing behind him with a gun. In the end, both Lennie and the snake met their fate of death. Overall, Steinbeck’s usage of foreshadow is applied to show how life’s events are clues to the future. George wants to protect Lennie, but he also wants to make sure that Lennie has a safe place to run to. Candy fails to accomplish a difficult task and helps George to identify if he’ll have the strength to do what is right or not. Death meets Lennie and the snake face to face unexpectedly. In life, has the reader ever looked at a painting and thought, â€Å"What did every brush stroke accomplish?† The creator of a work of art wants the viewer to see their artwork as a whole, but to view the specifics that created the image as desired. Each brush stroke accomplishes forcing mankind to experience various emotions, memories, inspirations, and an understanding of the meaning the piece was supposed to contain. A single brushstroke can foretell what the future may hold, although it’s not always distinct.

Elvis Presley had a big impact on music in the USA in 1956

1. Elvis Presley had a big impact on music in the USA in 1956. This is shown as the writer compliments Presley and talks very positive about his career. The article illustrates just how successful his career was. It tells us that he sold a vast number of records and that he was a top earner for his record company, RCA. It also tells us he had six hit singles in the company's list of top 25 best selling singles, and compliments Presley by referring to him as a â€Å"winner† and â€Å"amazing†. The writer also displays a sarcastic tone as he refers to Presley as â€Å"HOT AS A $1 PISTOL†. This comment could be taken as a flattering remark, or a slight on Presley's talent. Its insulting aspect would be the fact that the writer could be calling Presley cheap and simple, and like a $1 Pistol after a few good shots would be useless. Another slur on Presley's ability is the fact the writer refers to him as a â€Å"country warbler†, implying that he cannot sing and his words are indistinguishable. This article was written for an American music magazine called â€Å"Billboard†. This shows that Presley must have had some impact as he was popular enough to be featured in magazines and was regarded as a celebrity. This article is a primary source of evidence of Presley's impact from 3rd March 1956. 2. The evidence in Sources C and D disagree with the evidence in Source B, which is very biased. Source B shows you all negative opinions of Presley from several newspapers. Each article describes that Presley has no singing ability and says that he â€Å"caterwauls†, meaning he sounds like a cat wailing. The New York Times goes as far to say that Presley has â€Å"no singing ability†. All refer to his appearance on the Milton Berle Show. These newspaper articles show us the opinions of the establishment, especially that of newspaper columnists. Also, the majority of the newspaper's audience were adults, and many thought that Presley was corrupting their children's minds. Source C disagrees with these opinions, and is an extract from â€Å"Variety†, an American television and radio magazine in June 1956. This extract tells us that Presley's appearance on the Milton Berle Show was most welcomed by the viewing public. It tells us that Milton Berle was both â€Å"relaxed† and â€Å"more effective† when ending his show, showing that he welcomed and enjoyed Presley's appearance. Another argument that shows Source C disagrees with Source B is that it tells us that the â€Å"Milton Berle show topped Phil Silver's Sergeant Bilko in the ratings for the first time all season†. This proves that many people watched Presley in preference to other channels, and his appearance on the Milton Berle show caused it to defeat Sergeant Bilko, which was a very popular show at the time. However, Sources B and C come from two different publications with two different intentions. The newspapers would appeal to adults, and a way of selling more newspapers would be to condemn Presley. Many adults would buy the newspaper if they agreed to its views. â€Å"Variety† would appeal to teenagers as it was a music magazine, and a way that they could earn more profit would be to write about Presley, and be in favour of him. Source D could either agree or disagree with the evidence in Source B. The crowd in this photo both look very excited and all seem to be enjoying themselves on the photograph. Presley does not seem to be in any act of vulgarity, yet you cannot tell, since it is only a still picture. However, it was discovered that Colonel Parker, Presley's manager, paid teenage girls to scream and even faint during Presley's performances, so the credibility of the photograph can be questioned. The only thing that the photograph supports is the statement from Source B in the New York Journal that â€Å"it has caused the most heated reaction† and this is plain to see from the photograph. 3. These sources clearly show the Presley's impact in the 1950s. All of the sources are extremely useful as they highlight the different opinions of Presley from different groups of people. Source E contains three sources that all illustrate the negative impact Presley had. Source E ( i ) is a statement from Congressman Emmanuel Cellar. He claims that Presley's â€Å"animal gyrations violate all I know to be in good taste†. This obviously shows that Cellar did not like Presley. One of the reasons he may make this statement is because he wants to appeal to adults. The simple reason is that he sees the adults as one thing; voters. If he can appeal to the adults and give them what they want, many will support and vote for him, as he is a politician. Racism and prejudice can also be detected in his statement, as he says â€Å"the coloured people†. He refers to them as though they are an object, something lower and less important than he is. He also mention that Rock and Roll provides talent for â€Å"then coloured people†, implying that this is all that they are good for, and have no real place in the American society. Source E ( ii ) is a statement from a member of the Ku Klux Klan. This member says that they have set up a committee to get rid of the â€Å"cannibalistic, negro-loving rock and roller†, obviously referring to Presley. This statement shoes us the views of many racists at the time. He uses the word â€Å"cannibalistic† to describe that they thought Presley was some sort of evil trying to convert teenagers to black music and â€Å"drag them to the same level†. The Ku Klux Klan saw people of other races as some sort of enemy, and anybody who mixed with, or was friends with people from other races were also the enemy. This can account for why the Ku Klux Klan wanted to get rid of Presley. Source E ( iii ) is a statement from Billy Graham, an evangelical preacher. He claimed that he â€Å"would not let his daughter cross the street to see Elvis Presley. His statement can represent the views of the church, and also the views of a father, as he speaks of his daughter. His point of view is that Presley was causing teenagers to sin and that Presley promoted juvenile delinquency. Many teenagers idolised Presley and Reverend Albert Carter claimed that he was â€Å"an evil influence on the youth of our society†, and further claimed Rock and Roll would turn teenagers into â€Å"devil-worshipers†. These statements prove that the Church felt that Presley was an atrocity, corrupting the mind of the country's teenagers. It is interesting to note that two of the sources, ( i ) and ( iii ), come from fairly important people in the establishment. One comment is from a politician and the other from a preacher, both respected people. However, these comments had the exact opposite effect of what was intended. Teenagers saw that these respected people did not like this music, and so bought it all the more. This is because teenagers now saw the music that members of the establishment were condemning as rebellious, and so when they bought this music their feelings of rebellion were increased. The comments of Billy Graham and Congressman Emmanuel Cellar had a backlash effect. Source F is proof of Presley's success and popularity during the mid 1950s. In 1955 all songs in the top five list are ballads with Bill Hayes – The Ballad of Davy Crockett at the top. However, next years results are much different. In 1956, Presley takes up four of the top five single spaces, with Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog at the top of the chart. This shows just how quickly Presley became popular, in the space of a year, from being a lorry driver he was now one of the country's most famous people. He had become a sensation in one year. In 1957 Presley occupied three of the five top single spaces, and All Shock Up at the top of the charts. His only rival was Pat Boone, dubbed the acceptable face of Rock and Roll. These results heavily contrast with the evidence from Source E and show that the majority of America's society disagreed with their opinions. However, all evidence from Source E is from adults, racists and members of the establishment. His popularity was mainly with t eenagers and it is them that promoted Presley to the top of these charts. Source F shows Presley's sudden impact on America that occurred almost overnight. 4. By 1958, many attitudes had changed towards Presley, especially of those who were against him. One reason he became more acceptable was because his record company, RCA, was toning down his image. They tried to make him more acceptable to the public by stopping his controversial movements during his performances. His songs were also toned down, his earlier work a lot more energetic than his later work. The reason for this was simple enough; it would create a wider audience and a wider audience would equal more profit for RCA. Another factor that led to Presley becoming more acceptable was when he was conscripted to the army in 1958. In the eyes of the public, Presley willingly joined the army to serve for his country. Many people were surprised that Presley did not try to use his money or influence to ‘buy' his way out of service. People now saw him as a true patriotic hero who would serve and die for his country. Those who once disliked him now regarded him as somebody devoted to his country. However, it was only in the public eye that Presley wanted to conscript. It was one of the last things Presley wanted to do, but this image had to be maintained in order for him to gain popularity. RCA most likely convinced him to do it, as he would not do it of his own free will. For a start, Presley's mother was ill at the time of his conscription. This again could work to his advantage as the public saw him joining the army even though his mother was sick. Another thing Presley was worried about was that his popularity may dwindle while he was conscripted. However, RCA worked around this and released singles and merchandise so that he would not be forgotten while he was in the army. Many politicians saw Presley as an advantage now that he had conscripted. They could now use Presley as a form of propaganda. This is because at that time the Cold War, a state of hostility between two countries without any military action, was occurring between the USA and the Soviet-Union. This was because they disagreed on their social ideology, the Soviet-Union in favour of communism and the USA in favour of democracy. Politicians used this event to promote American democracy and the American Dream, saying â€Å"where else could a nobody like Presley become a somebody so quickly†. At the time the country was swept with anti-communist behaviour and hysteria, and many politicians used this to their advantage. Senator McCarthy was one such person. He got rid of many of his political and social enemies by accusing them of being communists, and having affiliations with communism. Many Americans were convinced by McCarthy that they were surrounded by communists who were plotting to undermine the American way of life. 5. I both agree and disagree partially with this statement. Both Presley's impact and success was the result of these two factors. To begin with, his first television appearance was on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show in 1956, followed by 15 other television appearances in the same year. In 1957, Presley made an appearance on the Milton Berle Show, which Sources B and C relate to. Source B shows us the negative impact Presley had as the New York Times, New York Journal and the Daily News describe Presley as having ‘no singing ability' and giving ‘a display of primitive physical movement† with â€Å"grunt and groan antics†. Source C contradicts these statements. It is an extract from â€Å"Variety†, an American television and radio magazine. It tell us that the â€Å"Milton Berle show topped Phil Silver's Sergeant Bilko in the ratings for the first time all season†. This shows how immensely popular Presley was, as he appeared on television numerous times which just added to his impact in America, whether it was good or bad. Ed Sullivan even stated that â€Å"Elvis was too big not to have on the show†, and he was totally against the idea of Presley appearing on his show. Ed Sullivan, who had declared that Presley was â€Å"not my cup of tea,† bowed to popular pressure and paid him $50,000 for three appearances. This shows the impact Presley had on television in America. Another television appearance that led to his fame and impact was his roles in Hollywood movies. He starred in films such as â€Å"Love Me tender† and â€Å"King Cerole†. These films were often sold out due to their immense popularity, probably not because of Presley's acting talent, just the fact that he starred in it. Many of Presley's fans protested when at the end of â€Å"Love Me Tender†, Presley died, so the end scene was shot again so that he survived. This shows just to what extent producers would go for Presley and his fans, as he had such an impact on television. However, were it not for his singing ability he would not have appeared on television at all, so Presley's musical talent must have also contributed to his impact. Source F shows us just how many people bought his record, so his musical talent must have contributed to his impact. If people only watched him on television for his performances, then why would they go out and buy his music if they did not like it? This must mean that Presley's music must have started Presley's impact. â€Å"Hound Dog† sold 1 million copies in just two weeks after it was released. In fact in 1956 he had four top five singles for that year, and in 1957 he had three top five singles for that year. This source just illustrates how popular Presley's music was on its own. When Presley appeared on television he performed his top songs. Now if nobody was interested in his musical talent, why not just interview him? In 1956 alone Presley sold 12,500,000 singles and 2,750,000 million albums. He sold 1,350,000 copies of â€Å"Heartbreak Hotel†, which was his first gold record. These tremendous figures provide further evidence that his music contributed to his impact. Source A even tells us that â€Å"Presley has six hit singles in the company's hit list of top-25 best sellers†. Presley's musical and television coverage was very important in his career. However, something else caused Presley's impact. Source E shows the political, racist and religious impact that Presley had on society. Source E ( i ) is the statement from Congressman Emmanuel Cellar who says that Rock and Roll should stay with â€Å"the coloured people† but that it is not good enough for the whites. Source E ( ii ) shows the racist reaction of a member of the Ku Klux Klan whose plan is to ‘do away with this cannibalistic, negro-loving rock and roller'. This is a very important impact, no matter how controversial, as it is an impact on a group of people. In Source E ( iii ) the religious reaction is demonstrated when Billy Graham, an evangelical preacher claims he ‘would not let his daughter cross the street to see Elvis'. Another religious reaction is from the Reverend Albert Carter who states â€Å"The effect of rock and roll on young people is to turn them into devil-w orshippers†¦and to stimulate self-expression through sex†¦it is an evil influence on the youth of our society†. This shows us the impact on the religious community. At first the whole idea of Presley was his image of rebelliousness. Although this changed by 1958 when Presley joined the army as shown by source G. This source shows Presley being illustrated as a patriotic hero for his country, and this had a massive impact on both his fans and those who did not like him. He was also made more acceptable as his image was toned down and his songs became much calmer, no longer shouting or brimming with energy, as he had been manufactured by RCA. These points and source of evidence prove my point that it was not just his television appearances or his music that had an impact, but the combination of both of them.