Life And Work Of George Gershwin Music Essay

Life And Work Of George Gershwin Music Essay The name of George Gershwin linked one of the most interesting periods of music history of the United States. One hundred years after his birth, George Gershwin is the most widely remembered of the songwriters who dominated African popular music between the end of World War I and the rise of rock-and-roll (Teachout 46). George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. His parents were immigrants from Russia. He did not receive systematic music education and began to study to play the piano with the help of a famous music teacher Hambitzer in 14 years old. Then, already a famous author, he took lessons in composition and harmony. Since 1913 he worked as a pianist-accompanist at the music store and began to write songs in the style of I. Berlin (1888-1989) and D. Kern (1885-1945). Soon he achieved a success in musicals. Many of the songs from the musicals have become extremely popular with the crowds. The most popular musicals written by Gershwin are the following ones: Ladies, please, Funny Face, Crazy and many of his songs. The real fame came to Gershwin in 1924, after writing Rhapsody in blue for the piano and orchestra, performed by the author with the orchestra conducted by P. Whiteman. Thus, in this paper we are going to discuss and examine biographical information about this composer, to explore musical styles and forms which he is famous for, and to describe one of the major works of George Gershwin that is called Rhapsody in blue. Biographical information about George Gershwin Gershwin was born on September 26, 1898 in New Yorks block of Brooklyn. He was a son of Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a native of St. Petersburg. The real name of the famous composer was Jacob Gershowitz. Since childhood, absorbing jazz culture (they say, that Gershwinhas heard jazz music at age 6), he was a lover of jazz concerts. In 12 years old, George began to learn to play the piano himself. Much later, as a famous composer, Gershwin has never ceased to learn, and improve his technique. During these lessons, he became acquainted with unique American composers of those years Henry Cowell, Wallingford Constantine Rieggerand Russian Professor Joseph Schillinger (Joseph was famous for the fact that he approached to the process of composing music with a mathematical position, trying to develop a universal algorithm). In 1914, Gershwin began to play music professionally, working as an accompanist in the company of Jerome Remick. Two years later, the first authors work of George Gershwin was presented to the audience. Despite the fact that this work had not much success with the crowds, some well-known and famous Broadway producers and directors paid attention to a talented composer. For example, Sigmund Romberg happily included music of Gershwin in his operetta The Passing Show of 1916. In those years, Gershwin, playing the piano and mastering harmony and orchestration, earned extra money as a pianist in different restaurants. In 1918-1919, on Broadway there were a lot of works of Gershwin: Swanee entered the musical Sinbad and had a resounding success in the performance of Al Jolson. In 1919, a famous performance La, La Lucille was entirely based on the works of Gershwin. In 1920-1924, George Gershwin created several dozens of works for George Whites Scandals, and in 1922, he even wrote a real opera, which was named Blue Monday (also known as 135th Street). After the premiere, he was invited by Whiteman to a jazz band as a composer. George wrote especially for Whiteman a real pearl of his work Rhapsody in Blue. In 1924, Gershwin created his famous musical Lady, Be Good! that had much success and brought a composer the first wide popularity on Broadway. In this performance, Gershwin first worked with his brother Ira Gershwin, who wrote all the lyrics. The next decade, this creative union was one of the most productive and popular unions on Broadway. The most successful show was Of Thee I Sing, 1931.They r eceived the Pulitzer Prize, first awarded to a musical performance, for this show. The most extensive and ambitious work in the biography of George Gershwin was a folk opera Porgy and Bess, 1935, staged on the novel by Edwin DuBose Heyward, who took part in writing the libretto for that opera. According to Crawford, Gershwins Porgy and Bess (libretto by DuBose Heyward with help from Ira Gershwin)-the stage work that has come to at the Great American Opera tag (minus Kahns stenographers and subways) perhaps better than any other-opened in New York (697).In early 1937,Gershwin was diagnosed with symptoms of a brain tumor. Gershwin was placed in Leben-Clinic, where he died on July 11, 1937in Los Angeles without regaining consciousness after cancer surgery to remove a tumor. Musical styles and forms of Gershwins masterpieces The musical styles and forms of Gershwins works are well-known and can be characterized as dynamic contrast images, humor or satirical grotesque combinations of traditional African-American folk and jazz music with the principles of symphonism. The melodies of Gershwins songs are unique for their combinations of identity and almost complete dissolution of African-American melodies and harmonies. Sometimes, his music is influenced by cantorial singing, though the Jewish theme is virtually absent in his work. It is interesting to know that Gershwin not only composed and created light music. By 1919, he wrote a string quartet that was called Lullaby. This composition represented a very high-style opus, written in the genre of light blues, but it had a resemblance to elegant music of Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky. Gershwin joined the classic means with intonations of jazz in the opera music. All compositions and works that were written by Gershwin, permeated by a common idea to make music accessible to everyone, do not break away from everyday life, do not turn away from the sound arrogant streets, dancing, do not erect the adamantine walls between classical and popular music. This idea led George Gershwin to the creation of his works included in a music custom all over the world, which raised American music to the level of classics. Rhapsody in Blue Rhapsody in Blue is one of the most famous and successful works of George Gershwin. Rhapsody was first performed by the author on February 12, 1924 in New York, accompanied by the orchestra of Paul Wightman. This work was ordered by Wightman on January 5, 1923, as an experiment to create a new musical style that combines jazz and classical music. Initially, that product was called An American Rhapsody. The well-known name of this work was suggested by the composers brother Ira Gershwin, after visiting an art exhibition of James McNeill Whistler. Rhapsody in Blue became a masterpiece of classical music and jazz, and, in various interpretations, played by musicians in different fields of music. This composition that includes elements of jazz, the Negro folk music and light music are combined with a brilliant piano writing in the style of Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff. This work was a kind of bridge between the so-called light and academic music. Rhapsody is one of the most freque ntly performed concertos for the piano and orchestra (along with the concerts by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) and the repertoire of the finest pianists in the world. Music is characterized by vivid signs of early American jazz: a syncopated rhythm, a sense of improvisation, etc. However, the development of the main themes goes on within the strict framework of sonata form, the author uses a classic orchestra, and solo piano reminds a romantic style of Liszt and Rachmaninoff. In this musical composition, the themes are based on the blues scale that consists of major and minor thirds and lowered sevenths. There are significant differences in presentation styles of each theme. The harmonic structure of this composition is difficult to express and analyze. One thing can be said that the piece of Rhapsody begins and consequently ends in B flat. Different contemporary styles and jazz are present in this masterpiece. The tempos of Rhapsody in Blue vary directly and widely. There is an extreme use of rubato in a lot of places throughout this composition. According to Howard, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Rhapsody is irresistible still, with its syncopated rhythmic vibrancy, its abandoned, impudent flair that tells more about the roaring twenties than could a thousand words, and its genuine melodic beauty colored a deep, jazzy blue by the flatted sevenths and thirds that had their origins in the Negro slave songs (par. 3).In addition, Schiff stated that Rhapsody in Blue is an enduring monument to the love affair of Americans and people around the world with the African-American idiom that became the most influential language of twentieth-century music (3). Conclusion Taking the above-stated information into consideration, it is possible to draw a conclusion that George Gershwin was one of the most famous and talented American composers in the first half of the XX century. In his work, he has managed to combine seemingly incompatible phenomena: the European late romantic music, jazz and pop. The composers creative experience is unique and no one could repeat it exactly. However, a style found by Gershwin (a combination of different spheres of music), proved to be fruitful and prosperous for American culture and led to wonderful phenomena, such as musicals of Leonard Bernstein. Many critics noted that Gershwin mixed folk and classical music. However, it was a common thing for a lot of great composers. Music of ordinary people finds its place in symphonic music with the majestic compositions. Gershwins creativity is distinguished by a great emotional and original melodic, harmonic and rhythmic language, enriched with folk motifs of African-American songs. Harmony and characteristic rhythms of swing and jazz were influenced by the music of George Gershwin. Despite ingenious rhythms and beautiful lyrical melody, his music arises primarily from his own harmonic structure. After Gershwin, the development of jazz can be mostly attributed to the expansion and complication of harmony.

Effectiveness Impact of Journal Clubs in Medicine

Effectiveness Impact of Journal Clubs in Medicine Abstract Background: Journal clubs` emerging goals are now considered to be teaching critical appraisal skills and learning how to use evidence based medicine in practice. Although journal clubs are well accredited, designing the right format to keep members stimulated and educated remains a great challenge. Methods: We conducted journal club structure modifications in internal medicine residency program of a university affiliated hospital. Initially group-based sessions identified feasible changes and baseline data concerning residents` knowledge of evidence based medicine (EBM) was collected by a questionnaire. Modifications implemented and a second set of group discussions and data collection took place after 12 months. Results: Total number of 78 residents participated. The most important identified changes were schedule adjustments and setting new goals regarding EBM, medical statistics and critical appraisal teaching. Group discussion showed increased satisfaction and questionnaire assessments showed significant improvement in residents` knowledge of EBM. Conclusions: Redesigning journal clubs with emphasis on regularity and setting new horizons basically improves their effectiveness. Assigning entire sessions to augment participants` skills in new areas of knowledge is a unique way to fit journal clubs as a novel and innovative teaching practice. Practice Points Journal clubs are connecting bridges between knowledge and practice. Journal clubs have gradually evolved to be a teaching tool in modern medicine. Considering growing popularity of evidence based medicine, journal clubs can be a way to introduce this discipline into educational programs. Redesigning old journal club structure is somehow necessary to better keep up with growing knowledge of medicine. Furnishing journal clubs with innovative methods might be a reasonable way of reform. Introduction The earliest reference to the origin of the phrase journal club is in memoirs and letters of Sir James Paget, describing a small room near St. Bartholomews Hospital in London in the period 1835-1854 in which pupils met and read journals (Paget 1901). More than a century has passed since Sir William Osler started the first recorded journal club in North America in 1875 as a way of sharing periodicals he could not afford individually and later established a club at Johns Hopkins University to review the latest medical research (Alguire 1998; Sleeman 1990). Today’s journal clubs have evolved a great deal and are found in nearly every medical school and residency training program in almost all fields of medicine (Valentini Daniels 1997; Sidorov 1995; Green 1999). Traditionally journal clubs are educational meetings in which a group of individuals meet to discuss and critically evaluate the current articles in the scientific literature (Mcleod et al. 2010; SVN Research Committee 2009). The major aim of journal clubs was to keep their attendees up to date with the latest medical literature (Valentini Daniels 1997; Forsen 2003; Goodfellow 2004). Gradually they have become a means for teaching critical appraisal skills, improving biostatistical knowledge, getting familiar with epidemiologic methods and most recently promoting the practice of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) (Valentini Daniels 1997; SVN Research Committee 2009; Woods Winkel 1982). Critical appraisal skills and basing clinical decisions on the best published evidence available (i.e. EBM) have become an important facet in clinical medicine and are part of core general competencies required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in all residency programs (ACGME 2009; Yew Reid 2008; Carpenter et al. 2010). In the ensuing years, EBM has enjoyed widespread popularity. Today’s journal clubs are effectively assisting practitioners translate knowledge into practice and serve as an excellent bridge between research and clinical work. While journal club has been a mainstay in postgraduate medical education for many years, several authors have pointed out the diversity of its format (Alguire 1998; Sidorov 1995; Ebbert et al. 2001). The desirability of journal clubs in internal medicine has been reinforced by accreditation requirements that mandate residents` participation in journal clubs. Although the goals and purposes of journal clubs are well established, selecting the right format and setting to keep members stimulated and educated remains a great challenge (Kelly Cronin 2010; Hartzell et al. 2009). With the growing appreciation of evidence based medicine (EBM) and its widespread application in clinical decision making, we thought of revising and implementing possible modifications in our journal club structure to improve quality of sessions and weigh their effects on our journal club program. Methods We conducted revision program into our journal club structure involving internal medicine residents attending the internal medicine residency program in a teaching university affiliated hospital. The modification process consisted of several steps. First we conducted group-based discussion sessions with participation of two clinical experts, two research experts, the program manager and chief resident. Group discussion primarily consisted of brain storming, reviewing similar works and their outcomes and sharing experiences. Five such meetings were held with main purpose of gauging current program features and identifying possible essential changes required to improve the program. Findings of these sessions then were shared with residents` delegates, 2 residents from each year, through three separate sessions. Identified feasible modifications were finally determined out of group-based discussions and implemented to make a new journal club structure. The group-based discussion took place for the second time, 12 months after executing alterations. Group participants were the same. This time the group assessed different aspects of changes made including residents` attendance, residents` satisfaction and the content of new sessions. Furthermore we measured the residents` existing knowledge of EBM by a self-reported questionnaire, designed and internally validated by the discussion group. The questionnaire consisted of three questions to assess three fields: residents` knowledge of statistical significance, their acquaintance with evidence rating and their familiarity with study design. Possible answers were as â€Å"No familiarity†, â€Å"Fair familiarity†, â€Å"Good familiarity† and â€Å"Excellent familiarity†. In order to facilitate further comparison, the first two answers were classified as cluster 1 (limited knowledge) and the two remaining answers as cluster 2 (acceptable knowledge); therefore making comparison between two clusters. Each resident was given the questionnaire before applying changes and again 12 months after running the new program. Residents` responses were also discussed in the second set of group discussion. The results were collected anonymously and data was then imported to Excel software (2010, Microsoft) for examination. We specified the distribution of answers in each cluster before and after modifications and calculated the absolute difference between them using descriptive statistics. Results Seventy-eight internal medicine residents (43 Female, 35 Male) were included into the survey. An almost even participation was observed among residents from all years of internal medicine training. Results of this study can be divided into two phases; before applying changes and after implementing modifications. Phase I Founded on the primary group-based discussions, the acknowledged key points for developing our new journal club structure encompassed program and schedule modification, adding motives, defining new goals, content revision and implementing feedback mechanisms from which, content revision was considered the most critical one. The main aspects of modifications made are explained in details. Our new schedule was designed as weekly sessions on Thursdays (the day before weekend in our country). We planned the sessions to be held from 7 to 8 in the morning (Breakfast time) and on the day with minimal educational and clinical workload to assure maximal attendance. To ensure the regularity and predictability of our program, we already scheduled the sessions for the next entire year. Holidays, exam days and residents` rotations were carefully noticed in planning the journal club calendar and the presenter for each session was specified at the beginning of the educational year. Furthermore we changed the place to a bigger room with better facilities. Also we decided to provide a mini breakfast meal during all sessions as a potential incentive that can increase participants` interest. Defining new objectives was also emphasized by group members. Therefore, we set our new goals not only to keep updated with medical literature and review the current literature, but also to introduce medical statistics to residents, encourage arguments and develop critical appraisal skills and understanding EBM. We changed the composition of our journal club participants to include relevant attending physicians, medical statisticians and experts in EBM and critical thinking as well as internal medicine residents from all levels. In order to achieve the broad goal spectrum, our reformed program consisted of two different types of sessions. Three sessions of each month were dedicated to presenting review articles and discussion about the main topic (analogous with former program). The last week of the month was devoted to evidence based journal clubs in which an original article was presented to the audience and 2 to 3 relevant articles or guidelines were also considered. The main focus of these sessions was to discuss the methodology and to point out statistical points through which critical appraisal skills were practiced and evaluation of the quality and validity of the results taught. Both types of sessions were moderated by an attending physician with experience in medical research and education background. Review article journal clubs were presented by a second year internal medicine resident employing slideshows; hence each resident was provided the opportunity to benefit from this chance at least twice a year. Evidence based journal clubs were presented by senior residents familiar with medical research and statistics and with acceptable teaching skills. These sessions were supervised by a team (at least 2 persons) of expert physicians in EBM and critical thinking skill. A support committee consisting of two senior internal medicine residents, journal club moderator and an EBM expert was formed for evaluating and choosing articles for presentation. The responsible resident had to provide up to 5 papers to the committee, who would then return one or two of them for presentation. The major selection criteria were relevancy and novelty of the topic and being in accordance with the interests of the participants. The other thing considered especially for articles to be presented in EBM sessions was being somehow controversial regarding the methodology or conclusion. At the end of each session a brief explanation was provided including critical points and a conclusion. For EBM sessions the strength and limitations of the article were also emphasized, inspiring the participants to involve in this process valuable in didactic endeavors. The conclusion of each session was then uploaded in the departmental forum of residents and interns for more discussion. Sometimes, a practical question was also provided in order to ascertain that residents have got the point correctly. Phase II Second phase results are described after 12 months of running the new program. Group-based discussion findings for new schedule clearly showed increased attendance and residents were more satisfied with the fixed and pre-defined sessions. Nonetheless we noticed that providing food was not of residents` concerns. Definition of new objectives for journal club sessions persuaded residents to participate more. Experts in the group-based discussions were also satisfied with the new content of sessions and monthly devoting an entire session to EBM and teaching statistical points and critical thinking. Regarding questionnaire assessment, final results showed that in the field of â€Å"evidence rating knowledge†, the number of residents in cluster 1 reduced from 51 to 17 and accordingly the number of residents in cluster 2 increased from 27 to 61 (43.6% absolute change regarding the total number of participants; P Similarly, before-after comparison for the field of â€Å"statistical significance acquaintance† revealed the absolute change to be 23.1%; i.e. the residents` acquaintance with concept of statistical significance was noticeably augmented, changing from limited knowledge to acceptable knowledge, in 18 residents (P Discussion Our conventional journal club structure first started in internal medicine department of Shariati hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences in year 2007. Since then it was running in a small room and on a weekly basis with focus on review article presentation only. Participants were mainly residents, internal medicine interns and medical students and presenters of sessions were selected from first year residents. There are considerable studies describing journal clubs conducted in different settings and for different health providers; yet there appear to be no ‘Gold Standard’ approach for conducting a journal club or assessing its effectiveness. It is therefore an ongoing challenge in designing effective journal club format that assists the participants to translate journal club activities into evidence based practice (Deenadayalan et al. 2008). As residency programs deal with work hour restrictions and implement competency educations (Hatala et al. 2006; Goroll et al. 2004), they need to undergo intense reassessment and possible remodeling to determine if they are meeting their goals. Our questionnaire survey showed that our reformed program made significant change in residents` knowledge and the number of residents significantly shifted from low knowledge to acceptable knowledge. We postulated that holding journal clubs on a regular basis is necessary to achieve continuous educational progress and gradually obtain the desired improvement in residents` competency which is in accordance to most previous studies (Deenadayalan et al. 2008 ). Regularity of sessions basically show the importance of this type of learning, as a new method of education is being introduced to the learners (residents). On the other hand, disorderliness might suggest that the program is not so useful and coordinators are not sure of its value, which in turn will dissuade participants from joining and following the schedule. Pre-defining the whole schedule would be a great way in achieving this goal. Although fixed schedule might seems impractical for many institutes but authors assumed that accurately considering some fine points such as work hour’s prerequisites before scheduling the program may be helpful. In addition, this would assist participants to adjust their time and for presenter to know their schedule and being prepared for that. Regarding best frequency, according to most of studies reporting this, it seems that monthly period is endorsed (Letterie Morgenstern 2000; Burstein et al. 1996). Our reformed structure had a weekly basis, though our new EBM sessions were held monthly, not to shrink residents` enthusiasm for participating in these educational gatherings. Some studies have shown that timing of journal clubs might be of importance considering attendance, especially when they were coincided with meal times (Bazarian et al. 1999; Langkamp et al. 1992). While they advised provision of food as a way to increase attendance, our group-based discussions and residents feedbacks did not show such relation. This might be due to . Authors believed that forward movement without adding new goals and/or lacking enough motivation would not be successful in improving participants` competency. Increasing knowledge of medical statistics and understanding EBM were the primary new objectives of our program which is demonstrated to be well achieved regarding our survey. Participants of journal clubs must be in accordance to the aims and contents of the program. Similar to Hartzell (2009), authors think that inviting attending physicians and involving senior residents may contribute to fulfillment of journal club objectives. This composition would facilitate the arguments and give space for better discussion and reaching a practical point. Assigning an entire separate session to introduction of this new area would also be of great benefit, since innovative thinking and learning new skills necessitates more time. New educational goals for residency programs now include conduction of problem oriented sessions, evidence based journal clubs and also experiencing critical appraisal. Considering that almost all of medical education programs have introduced journal clubs as a routine in their curricula, we thought of it as a useful tool to familiarize our residents with better interpreting medical literature, critical thinking and evidence based medicine. This approach has been supported by previous researches (Hatala et al. 2006; Ghali et al. 2000). Although this survey showed promising results and improvement in residents` knowledge and participation, our results are far from perfect. Yet we must increase our efforts to recognize subtle obstacles and further improve effectiveness of journal club. Conclusion In conclusion, journal clubs are of great value in today`s medical education addressing both clinical practice and evidence based learning improvement. Yet there is no gold standard to achieve the best result with this regard. We have enjoyed revolutionizing our traditional structure of journal clubs and furnishing it with novel objectives and construction and noticed significant improvement in attendance and competency of our internal medicine residents. Declaration of interest The authors report no declarations of interest.

Kate Chopins novella, The Awakening Essay -- English Literature

Kate Chopin's novella, The Awakening In Kate Chopin's novella, The Awakening, the reader is introduced into a society that is strictly male-dominated where women fill in the stereotypical role of watching the children, cooking, cleaning and keeping up appearances. Writers often highlight the values of a certain society by introducing a character who is alienated from their culture by a trait such as gender, race or creed. In Chopin's Awakening, the reader meets Edna Pontellier, a married woman who attempts to overcome her "fate", to avoid the stereotypical role of a woman in her era, and in doing so she reveals the surrounding society's assumption and moral values about women of Edna's time. Edna helps to reveal the assumptions of her society. The people surrounding her each day, particularly women, assume their roles as "housewives"; while the men are free to leave the house, go out at night, gamble, drink and work. Edna surprises her associates when she takes up painting, which represents a working job and independence for Edna. Leonce does not appreciate this. The reader sees how he assumes what she should be doing from this quote on page 57: "Mr.Pontellier had been a rather courteous husband so long as he met a certain tacit submissiveness in his wife. But her new and unexpected line of conduct completely bewildered him. ... Then her absolute disregard for her duties as a wife angered him." Leonce says himself, "It seems to me the utmost folly for a woman at the head of a household, and the mother of children, to spend in an atelier [meaning a studio for painting] days which would be better employed contriving for the comfort of her family." This quote is rather symbolic as it uses the word "emplo... ...men surrounding her succumb to in life. By defying these "laws" Edna makes clear the morals that all the other women value; the satisfaction of their husband, the acceptance of society, and the conformity to stereotypical roles of a woman. In The Awakening, Edna is used as a tool to emphasize the surrounding society's assumptions of a woman and the morals that they value. Often, a character is set apart from their culture for this sole purpose, to stress a point the author wants to make. In this case, Chopin wants to show the reader how male dominated society has been, how quickly women succumb to their "roles", and how easily people can be shaped to consider a different and all too meaningless set of morals. Edna is strategically alienated in the novella so as the reader can discover society's assumptions and moral values of the era and up until today.

Why Should Students Study Shakespeare In School? Essay -- essays resea

Simply stated, students should study Shakespeare's works in school because of the incredible value within them. In addition to exposing students to a multitude of literary techniques, Shakespeare's plays challenge the student with difficult language and style, express a profound knowledge of human behavior and offer insight into the world around us.William Shakespeare is recognized by much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists. The intricate meanings, extensive vocabulary, and powerful imagery contained within his works demonstrate the phenomenal story telling ability of the English playwright. "Shakespeare's use of poetry within his plays to express the deepest levels of human motivation in individual, social and universal situations is considered one of the greatest accomplishments in literary history." School programs offer students the opportunity to study Shakespeare at length and provoke a greater appreciation of his literary ability. Analyzing his work enab les students to recognize, understand and respect the playwright's true genius.Evident in Shakespeare's plays is the broad use of irony, imagery, rhythm and other literary devices. Through these devices, he establishes atmosphere and character, and intrigue. Exposure to these devices provides students with a broad knowledge of literary style and technique, while serving to develop and improve writing skills. Also, because much of the modern literary ideas and writings allude to and can be traced...

sop for cass Essay -- essays research papers

I am applying for admission to the MSc. program in Mathematical Trading and Finance because I want a career in the area of mathematical finance. In particular, I am interested in the application of mathematical methods to the various areas of finance. In order to gain an appreciation of these and related issues, it is essential for me to have a strong grounding in the areas of advanced mathematics as well as to gain a Finance perspective. I believe that my educational background has instilled in me the qualities required to meet the rigor of this demanding profession. Graduation in Engineering has provided a strong foundation in Mathematics and Computer Programming. During the course of my Engineering education I took up a project with Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), India’s premier centre for atomic research. This project of developing the software for processing reactor data, requiring extensive use of C programming language and Unix, for the first time gave me a real world experience of programming. This association helped a lot in consolidating my programming skills, especially in C language. Thus, it inculcated in me problem solving and analytical abilities. After completing my graduate degree, I joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asia’s largest software firm as an Assistant Systems Engineer. After a 3 month intensive training in software methodology and management skills, I joined a team which was building a Trading System for a Stock Exchange...

René Descartes Essay

Philosophy begins as an art of wondering. This art of wondering, leads man into asking a number of questions about himself and the world around him. Variations in philosophical thoughts as result questions posed by man, help in modification of philosophy. The purpose of this essay therefore, is to do a comparative analysis of Sophie’s World by Josteen Gaarder with three philosophical texts: George Berkeley’s Treatise on Human Knowledge, John Locke’s Essay on Human Understanding and Rene Descartes’ Passions of the Soul. We shall also show the roles of authors and texts in Philosophy. TREATISE ON HUMAN KNOWLEDGE VERSUS SOPHIE’S WORLD One of the outstanding efforts of Berkeley in this work was to show that the world exists as it does because of the ideas perceived by the mind of God and as such, existence of things depends on their perception through the senses. Likewise in Sophie’s World, Aristotle through his belief showed a similarity with Berkeley’s stance in this text Treatise of Human Understanding. For Aristotle, highest degree of reality is what we perceive with our senses. Berkeley also said that existence is the state of being perceived by a perceiver, but on the contrary, Descartes in Sophie’s World believed that he exists because he thinks. It furthermore means that his existence depends on his ability to think. He used such words like cogito ergo sum (latin) and je pense, donc je suis (French) all meaning `I think therefore I am` to illuminate his thesis on this. Plato while stressing the sovereignty of reason in Sophie’s World said that the reason can only give us the true reality of things and as such contradicted the empiricist approach of Berkeley. ESSAY ON HUMAN UNDERSTANDING VERSUS SOPHIE’S WORLD John Locke illuminated in this work that idea is derived from experience of sensation or reflection, just like it reflected in Sophie’s World in which his fellow empiricists likewise stressed the inevitability of experience as the source of true knowledge. David Hume in particular established that man has two types of perceptions, namely: impressions and ideas. By `impressions` he means the external sensations of reality. By `ideas` he means the recollections of such impressions. Aristotle the trail blazer of empiricism, in alignment with the empiricists believed our reason to be completely empty until we have sensed something. John Locke in this book made an attempt to refute the notion of `innate ideas` by proving that it does not exist, whereas in Sophie’s World, philosopher like Plato believed in an innate idea, an external world of ideas outside of the natural world. Descartes even believed that the idea of God is innate. PASSIONS OF THE SOUL VERSUS SOPHIE’S WORLD Descartes defined passions of the soul as a mental state or thought that arises as a direct result of brain activity and such passions can move us to action. He also suggested that one needs to learn to control one’s passions, for they can move one to perform vicious acts. Benedict Spinosa in Sophie’s World, suggested that we must free ourselves from our feelings and passions only then shall we find happiness. Conversely, also in Sophie’s World, the Epicureans through the teachings of Aristippus believed that the aim of life is to attain the highest possible pleasure or passions and by so doing, they contradict Descartes belief. AN EYE ON THE ROLES OF AUTHORS AND TEXTS IN PHILOSOPHY Authors in philosophy play incredible roles in modification of philosophy through their texts. There various attempts to answer the underlying questions of nature and man have led to the developments of dialectical methods like thesis, antithesis and synthesis used in philosophy today. An eye on the three authors and philosophers: Descartes, Berkeley and Locke whose works where compared with Sophie’s World above showed the vital role they played in philosophy. While Descartes was a rationalist, Berkeley and Locke were empiricists, but through their texts, they contributed in `epistemology` or theory of knowledge. CONCLUSION Having done these comparisons, we can see the successful deduction of similarities and differences between the Sophie’s World and three aforementioned philosophical texts. I attest that Sophie’s World is necessary philosophical paraphernalia needed by a neophyte in Philosophy as seen from its versatility in the course of this comparison done, and also how it covered aspects of history of Philosophy in such a sublime manner. POPE JOHN PAUL II MAJOR SEMINARY OKPUNO, AWKA NAME: UMENABA BENJAMIN C COURSE: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY COURSE CODE: PHIL 101 REG NO: PJPS/NAU/013/O69 LECTURER: REV. FR DR. AUGUSTINE OBUROTA TOPIC: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOPHIE’S WORLD WITH THREE PHILOSOPHY TEXTS WITH AN EYE ON ROLES OF AUTHORS AND TEXTS IN PHILOSOPHY DATE: 28TH NOVEMBER, 2012 OUTLINES INTRODUCTION TREATISE ON HUMAN KNOWLEDGE VERSUS SOPHIE’S WORLD ESSAY ON HUMAN UNDERSTANDING VERSUS SOPHIE’S WORLD PASSIONS OF THE SOUL VERSUS SOPHIE’S WORLD AN EYE ON THE ROLES OF AUTHORS AND TEXTS IN PHILOSOPHY CONCLUSION.

Role of Women in Forest Management

————————————————- Cudia, Jane Victoria A. February 23, 2011 2007-15891Soc Sci 180 Role of Women in Forest Management Increasingly, the role of indigenous peoples in forest management and conservation had been recognized on the international level. Even if forest management and conservation had been an indigenous practice since time immemorial, recognition of indigenous peoples roles started only three or four decades ago. However, indigenous peoples as protectors of the environment are taken as a whole disregarding the contribution of roles and differences as contributing factors to the continuous practice of forest management and conservation. In terms of IP roles in forest management and conservation, gender is a very important thing to consider. Given an indigenous social and political context, the management of forests is communal. In general, forest management is primarily the domain of men. Women’s participation on the other hand primarily lies in forest protection because there is an intimate relationship between IP women and the forest (Caguioa, 2011). However, problem lies in the lack of recognition in national policies as to the roles of IP women in forest management and conservation. The pine forest of Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province is a communal forest shared by different communities managed mostly by indigenous peoples. For the people of Brgy. Agawa, the forest or langdas is the source of livelihood and a place where their unique culture thrive, one of the major features of indigenous peoples. In terms of livelihood, the langdas is the source of wild fruits and animals, lumber, and firewood. In the indigenous law they practice, selling of pine lumber is prohibited. Also, outsiders are prohibited from getting anything from the langdas making the practice sustainable. In terms of tradition and culture, they believe that there are spirits guarding the rivers and forests. This is one of the reasons why indigenous peoples do not exploit the forest resources. Also, they manage the forest in a sustainable way because of the belief that their ancestors, who were buried in sacred places, mingle with their affairs. The role of women in environment protection, forest management, and conservation is very significant. Two of the key informants of the study conducted by Caguioa (2011) and her colleagues are old women who spent most of their life living in the area. The people of Brgy. Agawa, has a history of resistance in protecting the langdas and the environment. One sign of protest they had done before was the exposure of older women’s breast to oppose people who wanted to operate saw mills in the area back in the 1940s. In response to the secret resin tapping activities done to pine trees that operated during the 1970s, women of Besao secretly removed the plastic catchers and burned all of it. In general, women of Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province show their protest in the regional and national level in opposition of road construction, mining, and logging projects that will ruin the langdas. Amidst globalization, vulgar consumerism, high demands from the market, and laws that treat us all equals [sometimes even without regard to culture], the people of Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province especially women managed the forest in a sustainable way. Following their traditions and belief systems, they had managed to conserve the forest by following natural mechanisms to restore the forest. Given the resources and knowledge systems we have as members of the dominant and so called â€Å"developed† society, we should devise forest management and conservation mechanisms that are easy and applicable. However, due to a market-driven economy we engage in, we have no control over our resources anymore. The working mechanism that works today is â€Å"what the market demands, the market gets† even at the expense of the environment and the people who manages to protect and conserve the forest. Forest management, although primarily dominated by men, it should be the domain of all even if there are differences in gender. As seen in the case of Brgy. Agawa, Mt. Province, women had great contributions in forest management and conservation. It all goes down to this: in effective forest management and conservation, gender roles and differences have a lot to offer. Reference: Caguioa, M. C. (2011). Panagsalaknib ti Langdas: Role of Indigenous Women in Forest Management in Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province from the Global Lecture Series on Indigenous Peoples’ Studies (University of the Philippines Baguio).