Mini-Analysis Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mini-Analysis - Research Paper Example This is because as college men, it is important that students will be offered every available opportunity to engage in learning (Vianden, 2009). By exploring the college men’s perceptions about interacting with faculty beyond the classroom, it is becomes possible to understand ways in which this form of learning oriented interaction can be improved. It is therefore important that the questions are well diversified to identify key factors that hinder out-of-class interaction because until such factors are known, it will be difficult to try to improve interaction outside the classroom. The qualitative methodology used in the study was basic interpretive qualitative study. According to the researcher in the study, â€Å"such a design is utilized when researchers are interested in exploring and understanding participants’ perspectives and perceptions† (p. 227). Meanwhile, the researcher’s approach was to undertake a qualitative research. The rationale for selecting basic interpretive qualitative study can be said to be directly linked with the definition given to qualitative research by Diriwà ¤chter & Valsiner (2006). This is because qualitative method was noted to be suitable when a researcher seeks to develop deeper understanding about a given topic and understand how people make meaning of experiences related to the topic. As part of the basic interpretive qualitative study, the researcher used in-depth interview as the major approach to data collection. This approach was helpful in ensuring that the researcher could collect very detailed qualitative opinions and ideas of respondents concerning the topic at hand. Having said this, the researcher could still have used a focus group method to gain even more data than was gathered. Specifically, focus group would have made it possible to collect behavioral data that would have been very important for understanding the issue and for decision making purposes (Seidman, 2013). The writing presented in the

Controversy in the movie The Birth of a Nation and how it effected Essay

Controversy in the movie The Birth of a Nation and how it effected Jazz and blues for that time period - Essay Example The movie was in controversy even during its making and Griffith could release it after he took permission from the court. The NAACP even managed to have some of the movie's harshest scenes deleted particularly a scene proposing that blacks be sent back to Africa to keep the nation free from these violent and brutish forces (africanamericans.com par 5). The Birth of a Nation: Scenes that provoked protests: The controversial scenes from movie have incited racial crimes, protests and till date the screening of movie faces difficulties. The scene where a former black slave crudely proposes Fiona, A white girl and daughter of Cameron family. She turns down the proposal and runs into the forest. Gus pursues her and when the girl is trapped, seeing no way out she jumps to death to avoid being raped. The Klansmen search Gus, lynch him and leave the corpse at the doorstep of Silas Lynch. The Blacks are shown as violent, sexual miscreants in the movie, which enraged people. In yet another scene The Mulatto leader, Silas Lynch, who was governor to South, forces Elsie, the daughter of his mentor Austin Stoneman, to marry him. He traps her on her refusal and when Klansmen come to know his designs they ride to rescue her. Incidentally the rescue of Elsie is the highlight of movie as well. Here two sequences run parallel viz. Klansmen riding to rescue the girl and Lynch's military searching for Cameron boys and other Klansmen. There are other scenes where the whites of north are sheltered for 'Aryan Birthright' by Whites of south though they had been enemies earlier in the civil war (in Birth of a Nation by Griffith). The portrayal of the Klan in the movie also created a firestorm of controversy. In the movie, they are the heroes, saving their community from the violent, bloodthirsty Negroes. The movie is accused of reactivating the dormant Klan. The movie ends with the suppression of the black threat to white society by the glorified Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Which helped to subside some of America's fears about the rise of defiant, strong and sexual black men and the repeal of laws forbidding interracial marriage. The 'birth' (Shortened from full name of the movie) made many critics to Griffith's work so he made a sequel, almost equally magnificent four story epic about human intolerance titled Intolerance (1916). A group of i ndependent black filmmakers replied with director Emmett J. Scott's The Birth of a Race in 1919, A film to counterbalance the impact of Griffith's masterpiece, to show a more positive image of African-Americans, but it could not attract much public attention. Instead, black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux's first film, the feature-length The Homesteader (1919), and Within Our Gates (1919) proved more effective in rectifying the black image projected in Griffith's film (Dirk par 8). The controversies about 'The Birth of a Nation': In its absolutely idolized presentation of the KKK as heroes and Southern blacks as antisocial elements threatening to destroy the society by their violent behavior. Blacks were shown as villains and rapists. The

American Court System: Design and Functions

American Court System: Design and Functions In the United States, in keeping with our bicameral system of government, we have a dual court system consisting of State and Federal courts. While each system is self-contained it is possible, though infrequent, for questions of State law to finish at the United States Supreme Court. The systems and functions of the state and federal courts roughly mirror each other. The state courts system serves both trial and appellate functions and in turn, the federal court system serves these purposes at the federal level. The Federal Courts may be divided into Article III courts, and non-Article III courts. Article III courts were established by/under Article III of the United States Constitution. The Court of International Trade, District Courts (94 in 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico), Courts of Appeals (12 geographic-based and another for the Federal Circuit), and the U.S. Supreme Court are all Article III courts. Non-Article III courts include Bankruptcy Courts, Tax Court, decisions by U.S. Magistrate Judges and Administrative Law judges (ALS) in various federal agencies. United States District Courts are trial courts of original jurisdiction for federal cases with mandatory appellant jurisdiction over rulings by non-Article III courts. They adjudicate all federal crimes as well as some civil law cases. All federal felony cases are the responsibility of U.S. Magistrate judges. State Courts vary considerably from state to state. In a broad sense, they all follow the pattern, in ascending order, of state minor trial courts, state major trial courts, state intermediate appellate courts, state high courts of last resort (also known as state supreme courts), and the United States Supreme Court. State minor trial courts include Municipal courts, Justice of the Peace courts and Magisterial District Courts. These courts serve as original jurisdiction courts for misdemeanor cases, both civil and criminal traffic violations and small civil claims. State major trial courts, which may also be known as Superior Courts, Courts of common pleas and District courts, are trial courts of general jurisdiction. They are often arranged by county or groups of counties, to hear felonies and some civil cases. They sometimes have jurisdiction over minor trial courts. State Intermediate Appellate Courts are used in forty out of fifty states. They have mandatory jurisdiction over rulings by the states major trial courts. It is rare for criminal appellants to win on appeal here. State high courts of last resort have both mandatory and discretionary jurisdiction over decisions by lower state courts. This court is a major policy maker for the state due to its position as the final decider on matters of state law. The United States Supreme Court (the High Court of Last Resort in the United States) is arguably the most powerful court in the world. It has absolute control over the cases it hears via its discretionary appellate jurisdiction over decisions made by the U.S. Courts of Appeals. It has jurisdiction over the highest state courts when a question of federal law, to include federal constitutional law, is at issue. Typically, less than a third of the cases heard by the countrys highest court are criminal cases. There are eight courts in the state of Alabama and three Federal districts. Alabama Court of the Judiciary oversees judicial officers and is assembled to hear complaints of the Judicial Inquiry Commission. Alabama Probate Courts deal with matters of probate and the governance of estates. Municipal courts in Alabama handle violations of city ordinances. District courts may be either criminal or civil. District civil courts handle small claims suits. District criminal courts handle state law violations, felonies, and misdemeanors. They can also accept a guilty plea in felony cases. Alabama Circuit Courts are state trial courts of general jurisdiction and have jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal cases. The Alabama Court of Criminal appeals presides over appeals in criminal cases. Civil appeals are the domain of the Alabama Court of Civil appeals. At the top of the hierarchy is the Alabama Supreme Court, the states court of last resort. District courts in Alabama are in the 11th Circ uit. They trial courts of original jurisdiction over federal cases. A criminal case that goes to trial may end up using trial, appellant and supreme courts. This basic structure and sequence is the same in both state and federal courts. Trial courts of general jurisdiction hear felonies and non-small claims civil cases. They may also have appellate jurisdiction over a states minor trial courts. A case may end at this level if the defendant is convicted and does not appeal, or if he is found innocent. Appellate courts have jurisdiction over decisions made by the major trial courts. Appellate courts do not rule on guilt or innocence but rather on whether the trial was conducted properly. It is rare for a defendant to win at the appellate level. If the decision of the appellate court is challenged the case will proceed to the State Supreme court, also known as the State court of last resort. Typically, the State Supreme Court hears only a few criminal cases annually. In order to move ahead to the United States Supreme Court, a case must include a questi on of federal law or federal constitutional law. All states do not have the same court design. Part of the purpose of a dual court system is to allow states the freedom to govern themselves and to be separate and independent of the federal government. This being the case, each state has developed its own court system and terminologies that serve the people of that state. While the overall structures of the court of one state may be similar to another/others, the fact that each state has its own unique laws guarantees variations in their court systems.

Only Parents Can Stop the Violence Essay -- Media Television TV Essays

Only Parents Can Stop the Violence In today’s society there is a debate going on about whether or not violence has an effect on young children and teenagers. On one hand there are people saying that violence on television has no effect on children. On the other hand it is very easy to prove that television violence has a direct effect on children. There are many studies that show how obvious the impact of television is on the way children act. Children and teens watch a lot of television from their young years until they graduate high school. One study shows that kids will watch 18,000 hours of television by the time they graduate high school(Kalin). This is 5,000 more hours than they spend at school. So the impact that television has is very great, considering how much time kids spend watching it. It is easy to see how kids are influenced by violent television shows because even at an early age they are mimicking violence. Carla Kalin observed her kindergartners acting out violence on each other in her first year of teaching. One kid from another class shot his younger brother in the stomach three times. The next year a first grader was suspended for bringing a knife to school and using it to threaten children on the playground(Kalin). After researching what was causing these youngsters to act so violently, Ms. Kalin came to the conclusion that television programs served as a springboard for violent and aggres sive behavior(Kalin). This is very understandable considering how many violent television shows are airing during the times that children watch TV. â€Å"Approximately ninety percent of the time, children watch programs which are not specifically designed for them at all†(Kalin). Ms. Kalin decided... ... and more intense, but it is up to the parent to monitor what their child is watching. I do agree that violent television shows promote violence in kids, but I also think that parents are responsible for their children’s actions. Parents can take advantage of things like the V-chip to control what their kids are watching. If parents would step up and simply take responsibility for their kids, then I believe that the violence that is happening today would decrease dramatically. Works Cited Children and TV Violence. 23, February 2000. Kalin, Carla. Television, Violence, and Children. 15, February 2000. Banta, Mary Ann. The V-Chip Story. 17, February 2000.

Phonics †Word Identification Essay

1. Identification of Student Prerequisite Skills Needed for Lesson: (4 minutes) a. The teacher begins the lesson by asking her students to think about strategies that they use to read and spell bigger words. The students are prompted to write one of these strategies on a sticky note and to compare strategies with their pod. b. After reviewing strategies as a class, the teacher writes the following objective on the board: i. Given a set of letter cards, and verbal directions from the teacher, students will spell and write down multisyllabic words for their weekly spelling list. c. Before passing out materials, the teacher engages the class in a discussion to focuses the on the term multisyllabic, and especially the pre-fix â€Å"multi†. 2. Presentation of New Information or Modeling: (7 minutes) a. Parent volunteers help pass out â€Å"letter cards† to each student, and all  students are prompted to keep letter cards in the envelope until the activity begins. b. The teacher tells the students about the contents of the envelope and its purpose. Next, the teacher asks the students to open their envelopes. c. As a modeling exercise, the teacher reads the following directions: i. â€Å"As a class, we will now spell the word â€Å"ate† using three letters from our envelope.† d. She models how she would arrange the letters in the correct order (a-t-e) underneath the document camera for all students to see. She has the students do the same, as she roams the room to informally check their understanding of directions. She prompts those who finish early to attempt to construct other words using the same three letters. (tea, eat, tee, etc.) 3. Guided Practice: (10 – 15 minutes) *As students finish up the modeling exercise, the teacher gains student attention by clapping three times. She prompts students to open their spelling notebook and then she gives her first direction for guided practice: â€Å"Students, our first multisyllabic word that we are going to construct is a five letter, two syllable word: â€Å"pizza†. Before you arrange your letters please attempt to spell â€Å"pizza† in your spelling notebook. Once you have it written down in your spelling journal, please construct the word using your letter cards. When you have finished, please put your pencil down, and your thumb up. Remember to keep your answer a secret from your neighbors†¦We will reveal our answers at the same time. *After all students finish, a volunteer arranges the letters â€Å"p-i-z-z-a† underneath the document camera. Students who misspelled the given word are prompted to correct the word in their spelling notebook. As more words are introduced, the parent volunteers line up the completed words on the chalkboard ledge. Students are prompted to discuss patterns among their new spelling words (prefix, suffix, vowel combinations, etc.). After all words are shown on the chalkboard ledge, the class discusses these patterns. This is repeated in the culminating activity, as well. *Lastly, students check their answer with a neighbor to ensure proper understanding. -The teacher roams the room, checking for student understanding. -The same directions are repeated for the following words: lastly, general, mostly, optional, directly, moral, and anticipation. 4. Independent Student Practice: When students finish their guided practice work, they are prompted to pair up, grab a computer, and log in to their accounts on spellingcity.com *After logging in, students are prompted to take turns typing their new spelling words into a new list. This list should be saved as â€Å"making words list† on their account. *When finished with the list entry, students are prompted to play a game or activity related to their list. Examples of games and activities include: 1. Test Me (orally given by computer generated voice) 2. Hang Mouse (similar to Hang Man, but with words from the new list) 5. Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event: After comparing/reviewing spelling patterns among their new words, students are prompted to write down two challenge words to add to their list at a later time. These words must be at least three syllables and 8-12 letters long. Pedagogical Strategy (or Strategies): – direct instruction – modeling of desired behavior – partner work (checking for partner’s correct spelling) Differentiated Instruction: Gifted/accelerated learners: *These students are given a separate (and more challenging) list of words. They can also help check the work of the other students at their pod. Student Assessment/Rubrics: *informal assessment performed by teacher during guided practice *results from â€Å"Test Me† and other games/activities are sent to the teacher’s spellingcity.com account and this data is used to modify instruction.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Essay

This highly unpredictable 1993 novel by award-winning Faulks, focuses on the Battle of the Somme, famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops. The scenery is depicted so clearly that the readers will feel as though they are actually there, witnessing the mutilated, grotesque bodies, all as a result of the terrible war. The story begins in the house of Azaire, in France, 1910. 20-year-old Englishman Stephen Wraysford is staying there, whilst learning more about the textiles industry. He falls in love with Isabelle, Monsieur Azaire’s wife, who is 9 years Stephens junior. Despite the age difference they make love copious times, and soon run away together to an alternate part of the country. However, Isabelle falls pregnant and feels pressurised and confused, so escapes to the arms of her elder sister, Jeanne. Stephen returned from work and realised she had gone, without even knowing he was soon to be the father of a young child. After a few days the resilient character realised she was never coming back, and he forgot about his first love almost completely. The next scene takes place during the Battle of the Somme, where Stephen having had good education, was promoted immediately to an officer. He is often referred to as being ‘strange’ by his fellow men, of whom didn’t always look up to the cold-blooded, detached character. Stephen miraculously survives two years of heavy battles, and he becomes possessed by an inexplicably strong will to survive On leave, he discovers Isabelle’s elder sister Jeanne in the town of Amiens, and gradually builds up a relationship with the woman. She explains that Isabelle had returned to Azaire but recently met a German called Max of whom she fell in love with. She agreed to let Stephen visit her, as she was ill after being injured by a shell. The book goes forward in time to 1978, where Stephen’s granddaughter Elizabeth is trying to find out more about her brave grandfather. She makes frequent trips to see a man, Brennan, who fought in the war with Stephen. She had many notebooks that once belonged to Stephen, all written in special code. Elizabeth got a friend to study the books and eventually he cracked the code. Elizabeth thought that Jeanne was her grandmother, but her own mother, Francoise, finally admitted to her that her grandmother was actually Isabelle, the sister of Jeanne. On leaving the war Stephen married Jeanne, and Isabelle and Max both died, leaving the newly wed couple to bring up Francoise. Stephen is an extremely believable character, who had a disappointing upbringing, leaving him to be quite a ‘loner’. He has no friends or family, and doesn’t receive a letter until the very end of the war, which is from Jeanne. At the very end of the war him and Jack Firebrace are trapped underground, and so Stephen makes an explosion to attract the attention of his fellow men. Unfortunately, it is the Germans that hear the noise, and after hours of searching, they discover the man. I found this the most exciting and intriguing part of the book, and was relieved when the Germans embraced Stephen and gave him water to cure his dehydration. It was great hearing the utterances, ‘the war is over’. The title, ‘Birdsong’, doesn’t lead the audience to think it is a war novel, as a birdsong is a sweet, innocent, sound that captures ones heart. However, throughout the novel, Stephen refers to the noises of birds he hears. After making love to Isabelle for the first time, he lies in complete satisfaction listening to the birds. Also, at the end of the war, he returns above ground with some new German friends, to be greeted by the sweet tune of birds. When writing this I believe that Faulks’ intentions were to inform people of what is was like to be a soldier in the Battle of the Somme, and he successfully did so by producing a very accurate account of what it was like. I felt fully the exhaustion and hysteria that the soldiers must have felt and it made me appreciate to some extent just what they went through. This entertaining yet informing book is a classic that I will never forget, although perhaps a bit too long. This gripping, moving revelatory book intrigued me and I particularly recommend it to those that found history lessons tedious, but want to know more about the Battle of the Somme.