Critical Thinking Assignment Polio Crusade Reflection

Critical Thinking Polio Crusade Reflection - Assignment Example The couple should understand that vaccines are safe and only cause minor reactions such as a sore arm once administered to the baby. The couple should also understand that there is more harm likely to occur to a child due to vaccine-preventable disease than by the vaccine itself. For example, failure to give the child polio vaccine will make the baby prone to polio with severe consequences such as paralysis. Therefore, the benefits of vaccines are far more. Moreover, I would like to remind the couple that although polio is almost eradicated in our country, there are still risks. The World health Organization notes that causative agents of some of the eliminated conditions continue to occur in some parts of the world. This means people especially children are vulnerable to causative agents at any time. Hence, the couple should not view disease as something of the past. Lastly, I would like the couple to understand that there has been no established fact that the vaccine causes autism. Studies conducted in the past linking vaccine to autisms have been dismissed. I chose chickenpox as the disease to reflect on various issues raised. It is one of the contagious diseases. The causative agent is varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The condition is easily spread from one person to the other. It is spread to a person that have never had an infection or the person that have not received chickenpox vaccine. It is commonly spread in the air through coughing or sneezing. The virus can also be spread by coming into contact with the chickenpox blisters. There are various signs and symptoms of the disease. The main symptom is a rash that gets itchy. There are also blisters with fluid that later transforms into scabs. The rash first appears on the face, chest, and back. However, the rash later spreads to other parts of the body such as mouth and genital area. The other symptoms include fever, lack of appetite, and headache. There are drugs

How Psychological Research Has Helped in the Understanding of Criminal Behaviour Essay Example for Free

How Psychological Research Has Helped in the Understanding of Criminal Behaviour Essay Albert Bandura created the bobo doll experiment in 1961, the aim of this experiment was to show that if children where witnesses to aggressive displays by an adult of some sort they would imitate this behaviour when given an opportunity. The tested group contained 36 young girls and 36 young boys all aged between 4 and 5 years which was then divided into 3 groups of 24 – the aggressive condition, the non aggressive condition and the control group. The first group involved the children watching aggressive models, where the children where then subdivided by sex of the role model they were exposed to. The second group involved the children watched non aggressive models, where the children were also subdivided by the sex of the role model which they were exposed to. This left the two conditioned groups subdivided into eight experimental groups each containing 6 subjects. They were 6 boys with the same sex model, 6 boys with opposite model, 6 girls with the same sex model and 6 girls with the opposite model. With 3 different groups, Bandura had created a complicated design for the study which resulted in 3 independent variables; the conditions the children were exposed to, the sex of the child and the sex of the role model. Each child was then tested individually and the findings where then recorded. The experiment was done in an artificial environment and the researcher manipulated the independent variables into the conditions. In stage one of the experiment, the children were brought into the experimental room by the examiner. The room was set out as a nursery play room since that was the appropriate setting for the age of the children. One corner of the room had been arranged as a child’s play area consisting of a small table and chair and picture stickers. In the opposite corner of the room was where the adult models would be followed by a small table and chair, tinker toy set and a five foot bobo doll. In the aggressive condition the model began by playing with the tinker toy set but after a couple minutes the model turned its attention to the bobo doll and was aggressive towards the doll in a very distinctive way. Were as in the non aggressive condition the model ignored the bobo doll and played with the tinker toys in a gentle manner. After 10 minutes the children where then taken into new room. In stage two of the experiment the children were brought into a room with relativity attractive toys. In this room the children were to be subjected to mild aggression arousal. Once the children started to play with the toys, the experimenter took them off the children claiming they had been reserved for the other children. The children were then taken into the last and final room for stage three of the experiment. In this room the children were told they could play with any toys in there, the toys in stage three consisted of both non aggressive and aggressive toys. The children were kept in the room for 20 minutes where observations were made through a one way mirror by judges. With the observation and findings of this experiment, three measures of imitation were obtained. For this study the observers’ looked specifically for responses from the children that were very similar to the display by the adult model. They included; imitation of physical aggression, imitation of verbal aggression and imitation of non verbal aggression. With these observations, the researchers were able to consider which children imitate the models, which models the children imitated and whether the children showed a general increase of aggressive behaviour. The main findings of this study were that the children in aggressive model condition made more aggressive responses than the children in the non aggressive condition. They also found that the boys made more aggressive responses than girls, as well as the sex of the children being more aggressive if the model was of the same sex. These findings support Bandura’s social learning theory that children learn social behaviour through observation learning, which children learn through imitation. This study has helped in the understanding of criminal behaviour as children learn through imitation and the environment which they grow up in have an effect on their behaviour. If a child has been brought up around abuse, criminal activity or consistent aggression then the child is most likely to offend by imitating their role model which could be a parent, sibling or even just a role model which they look up to. Philip Zimbardo (1971) Stanford prison experiment – Dr Philip Zimbardo created the Stanford prison experiment in 1971, the aim of this experiment was to find out the psychological effects of prison life, and to what extent can moral people be seduced to act immorally. The study consisted of 24 students selected out of 75, the roles of these 24 men were randomly assigned, 12 to play prison guards and 12 to play prisoners. The prison set up was built inside the Stanford’s psychological department, doors where taken of laboratory rooms and replaced with steel bars in order to create cells. At the end of the corridor was the small opening which became the solitary confinement for the ‘bad prisoners’. Throughout the prison there were no windows or clocks to judge the passage in time, which resulted in time distorting experiences. After only a few hours, the participants adapted to their roles well beyond expectations, the officers starting displaying authorisation and subject some of the prisoners to humiliation and torture whilst the prisoners developed passive attitudes towards the guards and accepted the physical abuse that was given to them. On the second day with surprise an unexpected rebellion broke out, reinforcement was called and more guards where to be on duty however the prisoners refused to leave their cells, barricading themselves in. This early in to the experiment the prisoners had already felt a loss of identity to the extent they started to refer to themselves as their inmate number rather than name. Even Dr Zimbardo himself started to lose sight of his role in the experiment believing he was in fact a ‘prison superintendent’ rather than a psychologist. Due to the extent of the rebellion the guards were forced to show more authority over them which led to the creation of the ‘privileged cell’. In order to break down the ‘superior’ inmates the guards placed the good prisoners in the privileged cell for a few hours, then placed the good prisoners back into the bad cells causing confusion within the inmates, breaking the trust and isolating them. Within a week the study was abandoned as the experiment was no longer a simple simulation, instead the guards saw the prisoners as troublemakers they were made out to be. In response to this they began stepping up control, surveillance and aggression whilst the prisoner started breaking down emotionally being unable to handle the situation anymore. From the observations and information given by Dr Zimbardo’s reports, this study has helped in the understanding of criminal behaviour as it relates to imitation and conformity. The guards imitated the behaviour of real guards adapting the role quiet quickly. The prisoners also adapted the role quickly falling into depression and conforming to each other. This also helps how a person mental state can change their behaviour, with the prisoners they soon became depressed and mentally unstable, and this shows that when put into a certain disciplinary situation the mind adapts causing them to act immorally. Solomon Ashce (1951) Conformity experiment- Solomon Ashce conducted the conformity experiment in 1951. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the extent of social pressure from a majority group can affect a person to conform. For this experiment Ashe used a lab experiment. Ashe used 8 participants for this experiment, 7 confederates and 1 naive participant. The 7 confederates had previously agreed to what their responses would be when presented with the line task. However the real participant had no knowledge of this and was led to believe that the other 7 participants were also real. With this experiment each person had to state aloud which line was most like the target line, (A, B or C). The answer was always an obvious one. The real participant always gave his or her answer last in order to see if they conformed or not. In some trials, the confederates gave the wrong answer whereas in some they gave the correct obvious answer. In the experiment there was 18 trials altogether and the confederates gave the wrong answer 12 out of the total 18. Ashce main observation was to find out if the real participant would end up conforming based on the majority views given by the other 7 participants. The results were then drawn up and out of the 18 trails, around 75% of the trials the real participant conformed even though he or she knew the answers were wrong. From the observations, this study has helped in the understanding of criminal behaviour as it explains that criminals may have previously been highly exposed to such aggressive behaviour causing them to conform. This shows that publicly any source of aggressive behaviour or criminal activity can lead to conformity causing more criminal behaviour. Anderson and Dill (2000) – Violence in video games study- Both Anderson and Dill conducted the relation between violence and video games study in 2000. The aim of this study was to find out how violent video games relate to aggressive behaviour. Their first study consisted of 227 students which were given a questionnaire in order to get data on their aggressive behaviour patterns. This study looked at the long-term exposure to video games and what effect it has on aggression towards people. The findings of the first study relating to the questionnaire came back with positive relations between the violence portrayed in video games and aggressive behaviour. The second study which Anderson and Dill conducted was to approach the impact that video games have on aggressive thoughts, social view and mood of a person. This study consisted of 210 students which were given a choice of 2 video games a non violent game ‘Myst’ or a violent interactive video game ‘Wolfstein 3D’. With the non violent game the objective was to travel the island of Myst, finding clues and making your own ending depending on the journey you took. With the violent game the objective was to eliminate the enemy ‘Adolf Hitler’ choosing your own hero and variety of weapons. With each game the students were allocated 3 slots for a period of 15minutes each. The findings of this study concluded Anderson and Dills knowledge and opinions that those exposed to the violent video game gained more aggressive behaviour than those who were not exposed to violence. From the observations, this study has helped in the understanding of criminal behaviour as it states that playing video games may increase aggressive behaviour because the violent acts are continually repeated throughout the game. Video games also encourage players to identify and interact through role play of their favourite characters causing them to imitate the character they are playing. Referring to first person in a game, it causes lead players to make their own decisions in the game affecting the actions of the character. Anderson and Dills studies show that after a limited amount of time playing violent video games, a player can start to automatically prime aggressive thoughts which can lead to aggressive behaviour. This shows that continually playing violent video games can affect a person’s thought patters leading to automatic aggressive behaviour through imitation of their favourite characters which could lead to criminal activity. Jahoda name study (1954)- Jahoda created the name study or as it is also called the self fulfilling prophecy. Jahoda studied the Ashanti tribe people who gave their boys ‘soul names’ depending on what day of the week they were born. For example, boys born a Monday were expected to be peaceful and full of good, whereas boys born on Wednesday which were called ‘Kwaku’ were expected to be aggressive and quick tempered. Jahoda found that when looking at prison and court records 13. 5% of boys that had been referred to court to court where from boys that were born on Wednesday, yet they were responsible for over 22% of violent crimes which was significantly higher than would be expected and shows that Wednesdays boys tended to live up to their reputation. However as for the boys born on Monday, they found that only 6. 9% of all juvenile cases where of minor offences. This implies that stereotypes of the boys behaviours depending on which day of the week they were born caused them to live up to expectations of their names. Jahoda concluded from all this that there was indeed nothing magical about the day of the week the boys were born on but of effect of expectations has on a person’s behaviour. From the observations and findings, this study has helped in the understanding of criminal behaviour as it links to the effect of rehabilitation and the study of the self fulfilling prophecy. If the offenders have the expectation that they should behave in such a way, rehabilitation may be more difficult. Overall the psychological theory of criminal behaviour suggests that negative expectations cause curtain’s to behave towards others in a specific way because their stereotypes – self fulfilling prophecy. Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) – Self fulfilling prophecy- Both Rosenthal and Jacobson also conducted a self fulfilling prophecy study and the way that people behave according to profiling or being stereotyped in 1968. Their study was conducted on students in a classroom which was also known as the ‘Pygmalion in the classroom’. The students were then put into groups of what the students think they will achieve, where they were then treated in a way that their ability group could achieve. All students completed an IQ test before the study. The findings of this study concluded Rosenthal and Jacobson’s theory that when people are put into groups or have been stereotyped into a group can cause people’s behaviour to change as they will live up to the expectations of the stereotype. The findings found were that after two years the students that were put into the group for higher levels achieved higher than the other students in any other group. These students were known to have been given additional feedback and extra attention so the finding expected had were correct. From the findings, this study has helped in the understanding of criminal behaviour as it shows that when categorised into a stereotype, people soon learn to live up to that expectation, behaving in a certain way. This also has an impact on a person’s self esteem, causing them to act undesirably and maybe even lead them to turn to crime. Eden (1990) – Self fulfilling prophecy- Eden also conducted the self fulfilling prophecy study in 1990, this study explains why some people turn to crime due to the way they have been stereotyped or labelled into a certain group. For this study, Eden looked at the training of 1000 Israeli soldiers and had them organised into 29 platoons. Some platoon trainers were told their groups were above the average potential but other trainers were told nothing. The findings of this study showed that after 10 weeks the performance of all soldiers were assessed and was found that on both the written exam and weapon test, the soldiers who had been told they were above the average potential did overall better than others, even though all soldiers were at an average level. These findings concluded Eden’s expectations that when labelled into a certain group, a person can adjust to behave according to expectations within the labelled group. This study has helped in understanding of criminal behaviour as it shows the stereotypes and labelled groups can influence a person’s self esteem leading them to behave in a certain way and if the stereotype is negative it can cause a person to turn to crime. Sheehan (1983) – TV violence and aggression Sheehan conducted the TV violence and aggression study in 1983. This study consisted of a group of middle class children aged between 5 and 10 to help find the link between children’s TV viewing and aggressive behaviour. Throughout the study data was gathered about the participants’ parents and the researchers also asked about the children’s aggressive fantasies to whether it would physically injure a person. Sheehan found that there were correlations between viewing violence and peer rated correlations for children that were aged between 8 and 10, with the correlations being stronger for the boys than the girls. The results were recorded by looking whether the child injured of irritated another person. These findings can relate to the social learning theory as he found that boys were more likely to imitate male models but overall looking at the data Sheehan collected, those who watched violent TV and films became more aggressive towards others than those who did not. This study has helped in understanding of criminal behaviour as it shows that continuously watching violent and aggressive TV programmes can affect a person’s thought patterns leading to automatic aggressive behaviour and imitation of their favourite characters which could lead to criminal activity.

A Web-Based application for Patients and Caregivers

A Web-Based application for Patients and Caregivers 1. The Reminiscence system Based on our findings in the pilot study (Sarne-Fleischmann and Tractinsky, 2008), a new Flash web-based application was developed to enable independent use and administration for both patients and caregivers by including two main components in the structure. The front-end component supports the patient’s interaction with the system during the therapeutic sessions. The back-end component facilitates the addition, update, and management of content. This component was designed for the use of caregivers and family. The application was developed by an experienced subcontractor according to a detailed design and the specifications provided. Great emphasis was placed on the system’s design and on simplicity of use, given the specific characteristics and limitations of the target users. Features included a very simple interface (offering the user a limited number of options in order to avoid cognitive overload); minimizing visual distractions on the display; avoiding the use of animations or competing stimuli at any given time; using subtle graphics through calming color schemes; and using a touch screen for all required interactions to support the most natural interaction style. The new systems hierarchy included only three levels to support simple and intuitive flow: Login – Entering the system by identifying the patient. Select Album – Selecting the required album from up to six albums presented. Album View – Watching the media files associated with the selected album. The navigation between the three levels is done hierarchically and is bi-directional. The reminiscence system has two different interfaces: Hebrew and English. The two interfaces are separated (each is accessible via a different link) so there is no option of switching to a different language while interacting with the system. A usability evaluation was conducted prior to the commencement of the evaluation study, in order to evaluate the appropriateness of the new system for the target audience (Sarne-Fleischmann, Tractinsky, Dwolatzky and Rief, 2011). The usability evaluation included three Alzheimers patients, who were asked to use the system in separate sessions, while being observed and interviewed regarding their mental model of interacting with the system. Based on the usability evaluations results, several modifications were made to further improve the system. 2. Methods 2.1 Patient sample The participants of this study were older subjects with cognitive impairment or dementia who resided in the community and regularly attended an adult daycare center at least twice a week. The inclusion and exclusion criteria are described in Table 1. Table 1: Inclusion and exclusion criteria Inclusion criteria Exclusion criteria (1) Age – above sixty years old (5) Psychiatric disease (2) Cognitive impairment – mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia (MMSE score of 14-26) not associated with a known medical condition (such as stroke, vitamin deficiencies, impaired thyroid function, among others) (6) Significant visual or auditory impairments or any other impairment which may prevent the participant from using either of the two computerized interventions (3) English / Hebrew / Russian speakers (7) Inability to understand the questions presented in the Savion software program, or inability to communicate coherently as required for the performance of reminiscence therapy. (4) Have close relatives who could act as informants Due to the diverse symptoms of MCI and dementia, and in order to maintain a certain level of homogeneity, the age criterion (1) was determined in order to exclude cases of early onset dementia. In order to encourage the inclusion of subjects with an organic etiology for their cognitive impairment, participants with psychiatric disease (5) were excluded from the study. The language criterion (3) was based on the availability of these interfaces in the two computer systems. Due to the requirements of the screening tools, crucial information regarding the functional capabilities of the participants were to be obtained from a family informant (4). Moreover, the periodic evaluations included the impressions of family members who serve as the participants main caregivers. Each competent participant, as confirmed by an independent geriatrician, was asked to provide written informed consent prior to participation in the study. For those patients who were not competent, the legal guardian was required to provide informed consent. Subjects without a legal guardian who were determined not to be competent were not enrolled in the study. After providing informed consent, the participants medical files were reviewed in order to ensure that they conform with inclusion and exclusion criteria, and that their cognitive impairment was not the result of an associated medical condition (such as stroke, vitamin deficiencies, impaired thyroid function, among others). In addition, the participants underwent a preliminary assessment in order to determine the stage of their illness. The assessment included cognitive and functional evaluations using the following instruments: Mini-Mental State Examination for cognitive screening (Folstein et al., 1975). Clock Drawing test (Freedman et al., 1994) and CogSym questionnaire for cognitive screening (Memory Clinic, Mental Health Center, Beersheva). The latter is a numerical scale based on 10 questions used for elucidating cognitive symptoms, and is completed both by subjects and by informants. Lawton and Brody’s Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) for assessing functional capabilities (Lawton et al., 1969). This questionnaire is directed at the participants informant. Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale as a global measure rating the severity of dementia (Morris, 1993). This questionnaire includes two parts: the first is directed at the informant and the second at the participant, comparing the latters response to that of the informant. Short version (15 questions) of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) as a screening instrument for depression (Yesavage et al., 1983). All questionnaires directed to informants were administered by face-to-face or telephone interviews with first-degree relatives of the participants. All other scales were administered by face-to-face interviews with the participants during morning hours at the adult daycare centers. At the end of the screening process, the results of all evaluations were reviewed by a physician specializing in the treatment of cognitive syndromes, and the cognitive diagnosis was determined to be either MCI or dementia based on accepted criteria. 2.2 Design At the completion of screening, subjects were assigned randomly to one of three groups: Personal reminiscence therapy intervention (using the computerized reminiscence system with personal contents for each participant). Cognitive training intervention (using the Savion computerized cognitive training system). Control group which continued usual activities in the adult daycare center. The usual activities of all participants at the daycare centers and at their homes were not controlled. The purpose of randomization was to assure as much as possible that baseline characteristics of the participants of the three groups were similar. Randomization was stratified according to the daycare center, and to the severity of cognitive impairment (with CDR scores of 0.5 and 1 representing a milder degree of cognitive impairment, and CDR scores of 2 and 3 representing more severe impairment), see Figure 5. Figure 5. Randomization of participants in each day care center 2.3 Procedure Both those participants receiving reminiscence therapy as well as those using the cognitive training program participated in two sessions a week, each of 30-minutes duration, over a period of three months. The treatments were conducted in a quiet room at the adult daycare centers in the morning hours, and supervised by a trained mediator. At the end of each session, the mediator provided a short description of the interaction, relating to the course of the session and to special occurrences. 2.4 Measurements The following describes the measurements that were employed in the study. All assessments were performed at baseline (T0), at one month (T1) and at 3 months (T3). Responses from subjects relatives were obtained by face-to-face or telephone interviews. The name of the subjects relatives was provided by the staff of the adult day-care centers. 2.4.1 Cognitive function assessment In order to evaluate the efficacy of each of the interventions as compared to controls with regard to cognitive function, the subjects’ cognitive function was measured by the Mindstreams computerized assessment battery (Dwolatzky et al., 2003; Dwolatzky et al., 2010). The Moderate-Severe Impairment Battery was administered. This tool takes about 20 minutes to administer and tests the following cognitive domains: Orientation to time and place Language skills Memory Nonverbal memory Delayed nonverbal memory Executive function Similarities and judgment Reality testing Go-NoGo basic test Spatial orientation At the end of the test, data is uploaded to a server, scores are provided for all of the individual test components, and in addition a global score index is calculated for the test. A summary score for each domain (including the global score) reflects the level of accuracy, ranging between 0-100 (with 100 being the highest level of accuracy). 2.4.2 Patients’ psychological/ behavioral well-being Behavioral outcomes were assessed using the NPI Neuropsychiatric Inventory (Cummings et al., 1994), which was completed by the subjects first-degree relative. This tool includes 12 areas, each relating to the presence of a particular behavior, its frequency, severity and the level of caregiver distress. A total score is calculated according to the frequency and severity, and ranges between 0-144 (a higher score reflecting a higher level of symptomatology). Psychological well-being was assessed using the QoL-AD instrument (Logsdon et al., 1999), and a general question from the Will to Live questionnaire was administered (Carmel, 2007). The QoL-AD instrument obtains responses regarding the subjects quality of life both from the subject and the relative, and includes 13 items rated on a four-point scale. Total score of the instrument ranges between 13-52 (a higher score reflecting better quality of life). The Will to Live questionnaire was rated by the subject, and ranges between 0-5 ( a higher score reflecting a greater will to live). The Will to Live was measured by the question: If you could describe your will-to-live on a scale from 0-5, would you say that it is: 5=very strong, 4=strong, 3=intermediate, 2=weak, 1=very weak, and 0=no will to live?. The Will to Live is associated with the psychosocial indicators of well being rather than with the respondents health status (Carmel, 2001). 2.4.3 Caregiver burden For the assessment of caregiver burden and psychological morbidity, the short version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (Bedard et al., 2001) was used. This questionnaire was administered to the subjects first-degree relatives, and ranges between 0-48 (a higher score reflecting a higher level of burden).

My Turn at Bat :: English Literature

My Turn at Bat Book Review My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life, written in 1969, could be the name of any number of hitters that have played the game of baseball. It could even be a metaphor for something that doesn’t even relate to the game of baseball. But that’s not the case here, this book is about, arguably the greatest hitter to ever play the game. This book is about the only player to ever hit .400. The only man to be inducted into seven different hall of fames. This book tells the story of Ted Williams through his eyes, the way he lived on and off the field. The author John Underwood does a good job in terms of letting the reader get a first person point of view when it comes to the life of this Boston Red Sox legend. The book first starts out with Ted Williams stating that, â€Å"I’m glad it’s over†, he then goes on to explain what he means by this. Williams says that he is so grateful for what baseball has done for him as a person but he was glad to be out of the game as a player. He tells the reader through out the book that if he could go back to when he was 18 or 19 years of age he wouldn’t do it because knowing now what was in store for him. He says that he had to deal with so much physical pain, the weight of the world being on his shoulders, and last but certainly not least the Boston reporters. At that point in his life, Ted Williams had finished playing Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox and moved on to managing the Washington Senators, a move that he wasn’t all that comfortable with, but was willing to try. This book is a constant one-way conversation with the reader. It seems that is just the way Williams wanted it to be, just so he could tell the story without any interruptions. Williams’s talks about how he always wanted to be the greatest hitter of all time through out the book. He says that a man needs to have a goal for a day, a lifetime and his was to hear people say, â€Å"there goes Ted Williams the greatest hitter of all time†. Williams also talks about how his 22 years of playing the game were the best years of his life but they were also some of the unhappiest. Through out his time as a professional ball player, he felt that people didn’t like him,

English Lesson Plan for First Year

Respond In various ways that show understanding of the essay. 4. Involve themselves actively In classroom discussions. 5. Contribute substantially and productively in a group work. 6. Write a short letter empowering Filipinos. 8. Act out a short visualized scene in the essay. 9. Give helpful advice to someone in need. 10. Make a four-line stanza expressing what they've learned today. II. Subject Matter and Materials Philippine Literature (Essay) Selection: â€Å"I'm Glad I'm A Little Guy' by Carols P. Ormolu Reference: Afro-Asian Voices by Damming-Bilateral, et. Al. (up. 9-10) Online Source: http://books. Google. Com/Materials for the teacher: Picture of Carols P. Ormolu Visual aids Materials for Group Dynamics: Strips of paper for task-distribution 1/8 illustration board Rubrics Procedure Ill. A. Preliminary Activities 1 . Prayer 2. Checking of Attendance 3. Declaration of the assignment given before B. Clearance of Difficulties (Vocabulary Development) Pick out from the neighborin g words the clue or clues that signal meaning to the underlined word or group of words in each number: 1 . The little fellow is generally underrated in the beginning. Because he is small, little is expected of him. 2. Even at home, I'm a little fellow.My four sons all look down on me from a vantage of two or three inches. 3. It is the duty of the little Davis here to fling pebbles of truth between the eyes of blustering Goliath – and make them behave. 4. My small stature has often been made conspicuous in my relations with famous people. During the World War II, I was at the side of General MacArthur who towered eight inches above me. 5. My wife said, â€Å"l prefer to glow faintly in my husband's shadow. † An acquaintance Jested that this didn't leave her much room to glow in. Answers: 2. Vantage – advantageous position 3. Blustering – loud-mouthed 4. Conspicuous – obvious/noticeable .Jesting – Joking B. Motivation Allow the students to arr ange these Jumbled words into a sentence. (Answer: One's physical appearance is not a hindrance to one's success. ) Guide Questions: 1. Do you have physical weaknesses (height, your looks, figure, etc. )? 2. How do you manage/deal with them? D. Background of the Author 1. Show the picture of Carols P. Ormolu. 2. Ask the students regarding what they know about him. 3. Stress the basic facts about him as stated below: E. Discussion 1 . Why does Carols Ormolu find himself in a heated debate with Mr†¦ Fishiness? 2. How does Mr†¦ Fishiness behave during the situation? . Is it right for him to humiliate one who is small in stature? Why or why not? 4. Does C. Ormolu ever feel conscious of his height? Justify your answer. 5. Ormolu gives the advantages of being a small fellow. Name some of these. 6. Do you approve of Ormolu's reaction to Mr†¦ Fishiness's remark? Explain your answer. 7. Explain what Ormolu means when he says, â€Å"It is the duty of the little Davis here to f ling pebbles of truth between the eyes of blustering Goliath – and make them behave. † 8. Filipinos are often looked down upon not only because they are small but also show greatness? Defend your answer. F.Enrichment: Group Dynamics! NOTE: Write the tasks of each group in a slip of paper beforehand including the rubric on which they will be evaluated. 1 . Group the students into five (5). 2. Distribute the slips of paper accordingly. 3. Remind them that the duration to accomplish the task given is eight to ten (8-10) minutes. 4. Each group will present their output to the class in random using â€Å"draw lets. † Group A. Pretend that you are a Filipino delegate who was present in the United Nations session in Paris. Write a short letter to Mr†¦ Fishiness stating your opinion of his remark to Carols Ormolu and your reasons.Have one or two group preservative's present your work. Group B. Create a slogan/motto empowering Filipinos who are often looked down upon because of our smallness or brown complexion. Have one or two group representative's to present your work. Group C. Act out the heated debate between Carols Ormolu and Mr†¦ Fishiness. ALL members of the group should participate. Group D. Imagine that you are a DC in a radio station giving advice to your listeners. One said, â€Å"Dear DC, I need your advice. I'm an athlete so I'm a really tall woman with a muscular build. But this caused my friends to make fun of me saying I look like a keeper or baklava.

Postmodernism, Hyperreality and the Hegemony of Spectacle in New Hollywood Essay

After the screening of The Matrix on its first release, a dear cousin of mine, film connoisseur and avid fan of classical movies, spontaneously made the following comment: â€Å"This is an entirely new cinema to me! † If anything, The Matrix is a clear marker of cultural change. A film with state-of-the-art production values like this is bound to elicit in us the belated realization of how slow our response has been to the cultural products of an entirely transformed film industry, that of New Hollywood. My cousin’s casual and unwitting remark reflects the embarrassment felt by both professional critic and layman alike in coping with contemporary movies, especially when we still tend to approach New Hollywood products with the standards of the Old Hollywood cinema. Because of our adherence to tradition, we still tend to look for those classical values of â€Å"development†, â€Å"coherence† and â€Å"unity† in narratives only to find with disappointment that narrative plots become thinner, that characters are reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes and that action is carried through by loosely-linked sequences, built around spectacular stunts, dazzling stars and special effects. Narrative complexity is sacrificed on the altar of spectacle† (Buckland 166) as today’s blockbusters turn out to be nothing but calculated exercises in profit-making, all high-concept, high-gloss and pure show. Similar cries of warning about the loss of narrative integrity to cinematic spectacle have been voiced at different periods, usually at times of crisis or change in the history of the American cinema. One could cite, for example, Bazin’s disdain at the â€Å"displacement of classicism† by the baroque style, marking the end of the pure phase of classical cinema. His coined term, â€Å"superwestern, †designates the â€Å"emergence of a new kind of western† (Kramer 290), that, according to Bazin, â€Å"would be ashamed to be just itself, and looks for some additional interest to justify its existence—an aesthetic, sociological, moral, psychological, political, or erotic interest† (150-1). Similarly, in 1957 Manny Farber, taking his cue from Bazin’s superwestern, laments the â€Å"disappearance of this [classical] roduction system and the closing of action-oriented neighborhood theaters in the 1950s†. He claims that directors like Howard Hawks â€Å"who had flourished in ‘a factory of unpretentious picture-making’ were pushed towards artistic self-consciousness, thematic seriousness, and big-budget spectacle â€Å"(Kramer 293, emphasis added). A decade later, Pauline Kael too expresses her fears at the disintegration of filmic narrative which she attributes to the abrasion of traditional film production in general. She laments not only the emphasis on â€Å"technique† â€Å"purely visual content,† and â€Å"open-ended, elaborate interpretations† of the experimental and innovative art film of the New American Cinema, but as Kramer puts it, she was equally critical of the experiences facilitated by Hollywood’s mainstream releases. The lack of concern for coherent storytelling on the part of producers and directors in charge of the volatile and overblown process of filmmaking was matched by the audience’s enthusiastic response to spectacular attractions and shock effects, irrespective of their degree of narrative motivation. 296) Voices of dissatisfaction were heard at another major turn in the history of Hollywood, that is in the late 1970s, when the â€Å"unprecedented box-office success of Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977), signaled Hollywood’s aesthetic, cultural and industrial re-orientation towards movies with more emphasis on special effects and cin ematic spectacle† (Kramer 301). Unlike the classical movies produced on the assembly line under the studio regime (films that respected narrative integrity and refined story ideas into the classical three-act of exposition, complication and resolution), the products of New Hollywood, says critic Richard Schickel, seem â€Å"to have lost or abandoned the art of narrative†¦. [Filmmakers] are generally not refining stories at all, they are spicing up ‘concepts’ (as they like to call them), refining gimmicks, making sure there are no complexities to fur our tongue when it comes time to spread the word of mouth†(3). Contemporary cinema has come to depend so much on shrewd marketing and advertising strategies that its pictures, as Mark Crispin Miller points out, â€Å"like TV ads, †¦ aspire to a total ‘look’ and seem more designed than directed† (49). The difficulty that critics nowadays face with films like The Matrix and the new situation in Hollywood, is not only unlike the layman’s inability to assess â€Å"any recent Hollywood film as a discreet textual artifact that is either ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than the artifact produced under the studio regime,† Cook and Bernink note (99). It has also to do with regarding â€Å"the textual form of recent Hollywood as expressive of changed production circumstances that lead to a different kind of textual artifact†(ibid. ). In other words, as we move on in our globalized, high-tech age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to regard any single movie as a self-contained, autonomous text. On the contrary, as Eileen Meehan contends, it has become imperative to look upon any New Hollywood mainstream release â€Å"always and simultaneously as text and commodity, intertext and product line† (31). In order to revise our critical standards and respond effectively to the new status of the contemporary Hollywood movie, we need to grasp the dramatic changes that the American film industry has undergone in the post-classical period, which started right after World War II and culminated to a point of radical transformation in the post-1975 period, which has eventually come to best warrant the term New Hollywood. These changes have been lucidly described in a number of historiographic studies (Ray 1985, Balio 1985, 1990, Schatz 1983, 1993, Gomery 1986, Bernardoni 1991, Corrigan 1991, Hillier 1992, Wasko 1994, Kramer 1998, Neale and Smith 1998, Cook and Bernink 1999) which collectively shed ample light on the completely new situation defining New Hollywood. What has drastically changed is both the ways movies are made and the ways in which Hollywood has been doing business. After the government’s dismantling of the â€Å"vertically-integrated† studio system, the industry turned to producing and selling motion pictures on a film-by-film basis, resulting in the shift of power from studio heads to deal-makers (agents), in the rise of independent producers/directors, and in a more competitive and fragmented movie marketplace (Schatz 9). To the rise of TV and the emergence of other competing media technologies (VCRs, Cable and Satellite TV) Hollywood responded with a re-orientation towards blockbuster movies, â€Å"these high-cost, high-tech, high-stakes, multi-purpose entertainment machines that breed music videos and soundtrack albums, TV series and videocassettes, video games and theme park rides, novelizations and comic books† (Schatz 9). Despite the â€Å"increasingly fragmented but ever more expanding entertainment industry – with its demographics and target audiences, its diversified multimedia conglomerates, its global(ized) markets and new delivery systems†, the calculated blockbuster, as New Hollywood’s feature film, remains the driving force of the industry (ibid. ). This is testified by the monumental success of the blockbuster at the box-office. Schatz cites Variety’s commissioned study of the industry’s all-time commercial hits, in which only 2 movies of the classical period appear to have reached the top, whereas â€Å"90 of the top 100 hits have been produced since 1970, and all of the top 20 since Jaws in 1975†(9). The big-budget, all-star, spectacular hits of the late fifties and early sixties (such as The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, Cleopatra, or Dr. Zhivago) have some sizable profits to show for (all in the vicinity of $25-to $50 million). By the standards of their age, they were considered colossal box-office successes; however, by today’s standards they seem quite puny contestants to the post-75 era of super-blockbusters which generate record-setting grosses, well beyond the $100 million barrier (always in constant dollars). And such a figure applies only to theatrical rentals, which accounts just for a percentage of the total revenue of a movie which also finds outlets in ancillary markets. he industry’s spectacular growth and expansion (its horizontal integration) is to a great extent owing to the take-over of the majors (Paramount, Fox, Columbia, MCA/Universal) by huge media empires (Warner/Time Communications, Murdoch’s News Corporations, Sony, Matsushita, respectively) forming multimedia conglomerates with diverse interests in the domestic and the global market, with holdings in movies, TV production, cable, records, book and magazine publications, video games, theme parks, consumer electron ics (both software and hardware). These huge corporations provide financial muscle for the multi-million production budgets of the blockbusters (since the production costs have themselves sky-rocketed), but also market muscle for promotion. Marketing and advertising strategies have been the key to the unprecedented success of the New Hollywood movie since Jaws: through pre-selling, usually cashing in on the popularity of a novel published prior to production, a movie becomes a media â€Å"event† by heavy advertising on prime-time TV and the press, as well as by the massive simultaneous release in thousands of mall-based multiplex theaters. Calculated blockbuster productions are carefully designed to ensure the greatest potential profit not only through extended theatrical rental (sequels, re-issues, remakes, director’s cut), but also though capitalization in ancillary markets: soon the movie will come out on videocassette, audio-cassette, novel, computer game, and the increasingly popular since the mid-nineties, DVD, let alone an extended market career through by-products ranging from the CD movie soundtrack to T-shirts and toys, which contribute to the impressive surge in profits. It becomes obvious thus why contemporary movies cannot be conceived of as individual entities and cannot be separately examined from their economic intertext that renders them part (or rather the driving belt) of a larger entertainment machine and advertising campaign. Expensive blockbusters, which in the early days of the post-classical period were the exception and now, as Schatz states, have become the rule, â€Å"are the central output of modern Hollywood. But what, aside from costs, are their dominant characteristics? How are they able to attract, engage and entertain millions of people? asks Warren Buckland (166). The blockbuster syndrome has also changed the movies’ mode of address. Designed around a main idea, what is called â€Å"high concept†, a blockbuster becomes increasingly plot-driven, increasingly visceral, kinetic, fast-paced, increasingly reliant on special effects, increasingly â€Å"fantastic† (and thus apolitical), and increasingly targeted at younger audiences. And significantly enough, the lack of complex characters or plot [as for example] in Star Wars opens the film to other possibilities, notably its amalgamation of genre conventions and its elaborate play of cinematic references. But while these movies enjoy a great popularity among younger audiences, as their huge box-office success indicates, the loss of narrative integrity to spectacle, and the sense of escapism and triviality usually associated with high-gloss, star glamour and dumb show, has driven most academics or old-cinema cinephiles to summarily shun or dismiss blockbusters as merely calculated exercises in shameless profiteering. Warren Buckland thinks that these arguments about the loss of narrative potential in the contemporary feature film are overstated and attempts to reverse the â€Å"unhelpful and hostile evaluative stance† (167) of the critics towards the blockbuster. Focusing on a typical action-adventure blockbuster, Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Arc heproposes adopting an analytical and descriptive approach to these films, an approach dubbed by Bordwell and Thompson â€Å"historical oetics. † Part of the argument he makes is that â€Å"historical poetics† can account for the popularity of movies with such a broad appeal (and allows us to take them seriously as aesthetic, cultural objects) â€Å"especially because movies are examined in terms of their individuality, including their response to their historical moment, in which style and composition respond to the historical questions posed in the culture in which the film is made† (168-169). In other words, the issue is not so much about the so-called death of narrative—because narrative is still alive and well—but the emergence of a new kind of narrative, whose meaning is conveyed not through traditional narration but by emphasis on spectacle and the visual impact of the pictures which provide additional narrative pleasure and have changed the patterns of viewer response. Thus Buckland’s concluding remark that â€Å"it is perhaps time to stop condemning the New Hollywood blockbuster and to start, instead, to understand it,† carries more merit than we have been ready to admit. My intention in this essay is to extend the argument about the narrative/ spectacle issue in the direction suggested by Buckland, but within a wider, cultural perspective. The supremacy of the visual and the spectacular over traditional narration in the textual form of contemporary movies is not only expressive of the changed production values and the text’s signifying practices; it is also reflective of the changed cultural patterns and lifestyle habits in postmodernity. Classical cinema favored traditional storytelling because it provided a univocal interpretation of life and reflected a uniformity in entertainment habits: cinema was the predominant form of entertainment, as â€Å"the movies attracted 83 cents of every U. S. dollar spent on recreation† (Ray 26). Its nineties counterpart, with its emphasis on the sensational and the spectacular, on episodic action and generic diversification, is a postmodern cinema entertaining the possibility of multiple signification and the hyperreality of the visual, subject to an increasing commodified experience. As Anne Friedberg puts it, â€Å"today the culture industry takes on different forms: Domestic electronics (fax, modems, cable television) follow the interactive model of dialogic telephone communications. The personal computer turns the home user into a desktop publisher, the microwave turns every cook into an instant gourmet, the Walkman transforms each listener into a radio programmer. Both production and reception have been individualized; the culture industry no longer speaks in a univocal, monolithic voice. 189) This proliferation of entertainment venues offered to the individual points to a general malaise often regarded as the central feature of postmodernism, what Featherstone terms â€Å"the fragmentation and overproduction of culture—the key-feature of consumer culture† (76). As Jameson says, â€Å"in postmodern culture, ‘culture’ itself has become a product in its own right; the market has become a substitute for itself and fully as much a commodity as any of the items it includes within itself† (1991 x). In the â€Å"cultural logics of late capitalism,† Jameson’s code-phrase for postmodernity, what is commodified is not simply the image, which has acquired central role in contemporary culture but lived experience itself. As Guy Debord diagnoses in The Society of the Spectacle, â€Å"everything that was lived directly has moved away into a representation (1983 np). Baudrillard, as Friedberg notes, also talks about â€Å"the same phenomenon—representation of the thing replacing the thing—and extends it into a mise-en- abime of the ‘hyperreal,’ where signs refer only to signs. Hyperreality is not just an inverted relation of sign and signifier, but one of receding reference, a deterrence operation in the signifying chain†(178). A part in this process of the commodification of the sign and the derealization of the real has been played by media technologies, especially electronics, as Vivian Sobchack points out: The postmodern and electronic â€Å"instant† †¦ constitutes a form of absolute presence (one abstracted from the continuity that gives meaning to the system past/present/future) and changes the nature of the space it occupies. Without the temporal emphases of historical consciousness and personal history, space becomes abstract, ungrounded, flat—a site for play and display rather than an invested situation in which action â€Å"counts† rather than computes. Such a superficial space can no longer hold the spectator/ user’s interest, but has to stimulate it constantly in the same way a video game does. Its flatness—a function of its lack of temporal thickness and bodily investment—has to attract spectator interest at the surface. †¦ In an important sense, electronic space disembodies.

Exercise and Physical Activity Essay

Exercise and Physical Activity Essay Exercise and Physical Activity Essay Consumer Fitness Workout Log You will need to document six hours (or 360 minutes) to include a variety of physical activity. A variety of physical activity can be defined as a minimum of three different activities. Students are expected to log activities multiple times per week for each week enrolled in the HOPE course. You cannot complete and receive credit for HOPE course if you do not complete each of the topic workout logs. Please save this document to your computer. (You will need to add the necessary rows to the table below until you have a total of 360 minutes of physical activity.) Make sure you complete the entire Workout log, including the Reflections and the Fitness Test Comparisons. Student Name: Toni Randall As you complete your physical activities in this topic, you will be â€Å"field testing† a product of your choice and reflecting upon whether or not this product actually helped you to achieve the goal you thought that it would. (Note: Field testing products should not include products such as diet pills, vitamin water, or other ingested substances without the direct supervision of your physician.) Please define a measurable physical activity goal related to a specific area of fitness you think this product will improve that relates to improving your performance in a specific activity. Goal: I aspire to _do better in my workouts________________________________ no later than ____oct 6________. (worth 20 points) Examples: I aspire to drink at least 20 ounces of water from my XYZ Water Bottle during each of my workouts no later than May 20th, 2009. I believe that my XYZ Water Bottle will help me stay better hydrated during my workouts. †¨ Date Warm-up Physical Activity Intensity (Light, Medium, or High) Cool-Down Minutes 4/22/09 Walking Jogging Medium Quadriceps, hamstring, and calf stretches 50 9/12/13 Stretching safely Running High Calf 10 9/14/13 Jump jacks cheering Light butterflies 40 9/16/13 squats basketball High jogging 70 9/18/13 running walking Light Sit ups 30 9/19/13 Push -ups Lifting weights Medium planks 25