The Truth About Ballet free essay sample

The bloody Band-Aids, knotted lamb’s wool, rosin stained pointe shoes, twinkling tiaras, overused nail clippers, pristine tutus, ripped tights, dirty canvas slippers, salty sweat and tears: these are the coals of my heart. Dancing is the flame. Maybe it’s an addiction, maybe it’s a necessity, but no matter what it is, it is my passion. Nothing compares to the feeling of lacing up a pointe shoe, adorning a neat bun, fluffing a tutu, stretching one last stretch, taking a deep breath then stepping into the spotlight. A dancer’s final moments in the wing never change, yet somehow they are never the same. The adrenaline rush pushes her to dance differently than she has in any rehearsal. She can feel the friendly admiration each pair of eyes generates, creating an echoing eerie yet energetic silence. The stares permeate the skin and flow into the bloodstream, heart and body. We will write a custom essay sample on The Truth About Ballet or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Grande jetes are more extended, the developpes higher, every pirouette quicker, and each port de bras more fluid. Together the movements depict an ever escalating story like never before. A spectator witnesses a miracle every time a dancer takes the stage. The years of training, the hours of rehearsal, the passion developed by a devoted individual are displayed in a perfectly unique sequence. The choreography tells the story of star crossed lovers or lovers denied or sugar plum fairies dancing in one’s head. Every story, even the darkest one, is told in the most elegant fashion. The art is breathtaking and fascinating, yet also extraordinarily deceptive. The blistered toes, the deformed body, the strict teachers, the painful stretches, and the perseverance of a determined dancer make the passion so unbelievable. The hard work that goes into learning the basic technique makes filling the movement with individual flair rewarding. A dancer pours all she has into the movemen t, making even the most mundane movements distinctively hers. Devoting one’s self to the painful hobby, ballet, in the hopes of expressing one’s emotions through dance, is a challenge many do not take. The determination of a dancer overpowers the suffering that grace necessitates, and makes every step magical. The dancer hides the pain, learns to live with it, and dances from the heart. The strict perseverance ballet dictates makes the action more than an ordinary hobby; ballet evolves into a lifestyle. It is common to see a ballerina dance down the aisles of Shop Rite, mark steps while sitting in class, penchee when picking objects up or use the excuse â€Å"Sorry, I have rehearsal.† Ballet technique may only be â€Å"taught† in the studio, but the passion that validates the technique is learned and integrated outside of rehearsals. However, the daily life of a ballerina is nothing compared to performance day. Performance provides a sensation of pure em powerment and freedom. As a dancer steps off the stage, her heart pounding and a satisfied smile on her face, she knows this is why she endured the intense classes; this is why I persevered this feeling of perfection that flows through my veins.

Erin Brokovich-what a life essays

Erin Brokovich-what a life essays Characters: Ed Masry, (MASRYS FIRM) George, Donna Jensen (sick woman that Erin helps), Matthew, Katie, baby-(her kids) Themes: Stereotypes, Acceptance, community, growth/development of characters, courage, decision, determination, empowerment, endurance, integrity/honour, overcoming obstacles, perception of women. Theresa Dallavale: Okay, look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here Erin Brockovich: That's all you got, lady. Two wrong feet. In fucking ugly shoes. Erin Brockovich: For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up. Ed Masry: What makes you think you can just walk in there and take whatever you want? Erin Brockovich: They're called boobs, Ed. Ed Masry: In a law firm you may want to re-think your wardrobe a little. Erin Brockovich: Well as long as I have one ass instead of two I'll wear what I like if that's alright with you? You might want to re-think those ties. Erin Brockovich: Look I don't know shit about shit but I know right from wrong! Well, seeing as I have no formal legal training and Ed here was losing all faith in the system I simply went out and performed sexual favors. 635 blow jobs in 5 days! I'm really quite tired! Im smart, hardworking, and Ill do anything, and Im not leaving here without a job...dont make me beg. ED: Youre emotional, youre erratic, you make this personal, and it isnt! Erin: That is my work, my sweat, my time away from my kids! If that isnt personal then I dont know what is! -Erin has a lack of maturity. She has been treated badly in the past, and so now her attitude allows her to get what she wants. She is determined. -Erin lacks respect for herself when promoting her own ends-she dresses provocatively, is rude and immature. She is simple an ...

Cross Cultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cross Cultural Communication - Essay Example Brandl, J. and Neyer, A. 2009. APPLYING COGNITIVE ADJUSTMENT THEORY TO CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING FOR GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS. Human Resource Management, 48 (3), 341-353 Anxiety and uncertainty in global virtual teams can be overcome when feeling of mutual trust is developed among the members, according to Brandl and Neyer. The type of cross-cultural training can influence cognitive adjustments in virtual teams. Training should equip the team members to deal with uncertainties instead of enforcing ready-made concepts of culture. Horak, S. 2010. Does The Individual’s Culture Play A Role In The Value Perception Of Members Of Small Multinational Teams? Business and Economics Journal. Horak investigated and found that the culturally influenced work values at country level as discovered by Hofstede do not play a significant role in small multicultural teams. Students being young and dynamic adapt to an international environment and respond positively to convergence of cultures. Kirkman, BD, and Shapiro, DL. 1996. THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL CULTURE ON EMPLOYEE RESISTANCE TO TEAMS: TOWARD A MODEL OF GLOBALIZED SELF-MANAGING WORK TEAM EFFECTIVENESS. Academy of Management Proceedings, 53-59 Kirkman and Shapiro evaluated the impact of national cultures on self-managed working teams (SMWT) and found that national cultures can create different conceptualizations of organizational justice. Moreover, members of SMWT may require different forms of compensation, appraisals, and decision-making structures to reduce resistance due to differences in perceptions of fairness. Mockaitis, AI., Rose, EL. and Zettining, P. 2007. THE DETERMINANTS OF TRUST IN MULTICULTURAL GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS. Academy of Management Proceedings, Mockaitis, Rose and Zettining focused on the development of trust in multicultural virtual global teams and found that national culture, conflict, task interdependence, and communication play a vital role. However, diversity – cultural or demographic – has minor relationship in the development of trust. Cultural diversity is not a barrier to trust. Newell, S., David, G. and Chand, D. 2007. An Analysis of Trust Among Globally Distributed Work Teams in an Organizational Setting. Knowledge and Process Management, 14 (3), 158-168 Newell, David and Chand analyzed trust among IT work teams based on the Newell and Swan threefold typology of trust and found that due to situational factors and socio-psychological dynamics, and ‘Us versus them’ attitude undermines the development of trust. Relationship management can minimize the impact of an inter-group perspective. Puck, J., Rygl, D. and Kittler, M. 2006. Cultural antecedents and performance consequences of open communication and knowledge transfer in multicultural process-innovation teams. Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, 3 (2), 223-241 Puck, Rygl and Kittler evaluated the performance of process-innovation teams necessary in the ever--changing bus iness environment. The study found that national cultural diversity had no significance on intra-team communication and knowledge transfer but both these elements have significant influence on different measures of performance as performance is perceived differently by team members. Sivakumar, K. and Nakata, C. 2003. Designing global new product teams - Optimizing the effects of national culture on new product development. International Marketing Review, 20 (4), 397-445 Since cultural diversity has both positive and negative impact on global new product teams (GNPT), Sivakumar and Nakata developed a framework containing four factors that would

The Changed Face of the New Colossus in the New Millennium Essay

The Changed Face of the New Colossus in the New Millennium - Essay Example been affected by these immigrations This essay shall envisage finding the answer to these questions, and shall compare the trends as described in three articles by Portes and Rumbaut (1996), Reed Ueda (1994), George J. Sanchez (1993) as a part of the analysis. It shall be argued that, there are clear differences in the emerging immigration patterns of present day, from the early immigrations in the nineteenth century; and discuss briefly, some of the factors like 1) Economic 2) Opportunities/aspirations 3) Cultural and Educational Background of immigrants, with a special mention on the Mexican immigration, shall conclude with a note on the shortcomings as well as the significance of such analysis. The 'old' and the 'new' immigration: Portes and Rumbaut (1996) have given one of the best classifications of immigrant patterns. Classified as 'old inflow' and 'new inflow' immigration, the former has taken place in the late nineteenth century and the latter in early twentieth century-the "contemporary immigration". There are unmistakable differences in the pattern and people, between the two. The "old immigration overwhelmingly European and white, but the present inflow is to a large extent non-white and comes from the countries of the Third World" (Portes and Rumbaut, 1996:404). The authors have given four classifications of immigrants: 1) Labor Immigrants: who were largely low-skilled, low literacy and who willingly accepted low-paid jobs, and were in great demand in the industrial, manufacture-oriented America. Coming in from Mexico, Jamaica, and the Caribbean etc. this group of immigrants constituted both legal and illegal. The employers had to pay far less wages to this divers e, non-white ethnic groups, and for the employee the approximate earning of $4.25 per hour was six times higher then the wages in Mexico and other such 'sending countries' (Portes and Rumbaut, 1996:406-9). 2) Professional Immigrants: This group is the opposite of the former. The immigrants of this group were highly educated and brainy; "labeled as the 'brain-drain' in the countries of their origin" this group did not take up menial jobs in the U.S. (Portes and Rumbaut, 1996:412-13). They were particularly of Asian Origin, with Chinese, Philippinos, Indians, and Taiwanese, and significantly large numbers. The one exception was the British, who also were a part of this group. After the passing of new provisions under the Immigration Act of 1990, in the year 1992, the number of Visas granted to this group tripled (Portes and Rumbaut, 1996:411). It is significant that this group opted for immigration probably because of the better opportunities available to them in their host country, w hich they perceived to be in proportion to their education levels. The earnings, especially of the Indians, were among the highest in 1990. They were perceived in a positive light, generally, since they rarely were considered a problematic community or manifested any signs of "tightly-knit ethnic community" (Portes and Rumbaut, 1996:411-12). 3) Entrepreneurial Immigrants: Immigrants from Korea, Cuba, Jews and Japanese belong to this group, predominantly. They enter with small entrepreneurship businesses and as their business expands they bring in others of their community to man their expanding set-up. Thus, their concentration as a strongly-knit ethnic

Culture and Formation of Culture Essay Example for Free

Culture and Formation of Culture Essay The word culture can be referred to the behavior of the human beings specifically with the objects, things and commodities around them and these objects are used as an essential part of this behavior. In this sense it is only the ability of the mankind to create a culture. And culture itself will include all the norms and behaviors of human beings like language, customs, beliefs, religions, tool, techniques, arts, rituals, ceremonies and common practice of every day life. There are numerous definitions of culture and every anthropologist has a different view about it. Some has defined culture as â€Å"learned behavior† or â€Å"ideas in mind† or â€Å"a logical construct†, but the most favored definition is that culture is â€Å"the abstraction from behavior† (Culture). Certeau (xi) states that Culture is the combination of every day practices of the societies. But instead of making the unit force an individual he has taken a more economist perspective and regarded them as â€Å"consumers† (Certeau, xi). While John Fiske produced a two economic theory and regards culture as a parallel economy against the financial economy and has named it as â€Å"cultural economy† (Fiske, 538). As every economy has a capital the cultural economy’s capital consists of pleasure and meanings (Fiske, 541). Frederick Engels while speaking in the context of history defines culture as â€Å"traditions, which haunt human minds† (Engels, 10). Speaking conclusively culture is not only behavior neither an action, but it is the combination of abstraction and behavior or a behavior explicating a concept. Formation of Culture: According the theory of evolution, the advancement of the human behavior from natural to learned and freely variable behavior, the particulars of which have the tendency to be transferred to the next generation and has the ability to evolve into a system of things. Thus culture is a man made environment brought into existence by the human ability to symbol. When a culture is established then it has a life of its own. It is a range of things and events in a cause and effect relationship (Culture). Different theorists have argued about the formation of culture in their own specific way and style. According to Bourdieu â€Å"cultural needs are the product of upbringing and education† (Bourdieu, 42). He initially states that the production of cultural goods as well as the description of different ways of appropriating these goods as work of arts as well as providing social conditions, which are considered legitimate (Bourdieu, 42). He further emphasis that all social practices, which are the core of any culture, are traced back to education or social origin (Bourdieu, 42). On the other hand Fiske says that culture is the opposite force developed in response to the producers of consumer goods. He states that culture is the parellel economic system, which runs in response to the financial economic system. According to him it’s capital is meanings and pleasure (Fiske, 538). This is a more economic perspective of rather than the anthropological perspective. Theodor Adorno while discussing the evolution of popular music culture states that the popular music culture and its hold on the masses is because of the urge to distract the individuals from the current realities to the world of fantasy, and popular music has the ability to distract the listener from it (Adorno, 80,81). Thus according to him a culture evolves as a reaction of the current cultural norms. That is the main reason that the popular culture did not evolved before the industrial revolution. Social Relations: Social relations are the behaviors of different social groups related to and in response of each other. Thus speaking about the ruling class, which is also regarded as the elite class or aristocracy is the social group, which has the means of production at its disposal Thus the ruling ideas and concepts are the expressions of dominant material relationships (Marx Engels, 8). According to Marx and Engels the historically speaking the relationship of the individual and the ruling class are reflected by the dominance of ideas and concepts during the dominance of that ruling class. For instance during the dominion of the aristocracy the concepts of loyalty and honor were dominant, while during the dominion of the bourgeoisie the concepts of equality and freedom were dominant (Marx and Engels, 8). The relation between the ruling class and the lower class has two ways. Either it leads or it dominates. The first relation is with its allies while the second is with its enemies (Gramsci, 12) Thus the social relations between the aristocracy has two conditions. If the aristocracy has friendly terms with the lower class, the lower class will follow accordingly under its leadership. But if the lower class does not consent the way the ruling class leads it will refuse to follow. As a result the ruling class will try to dominate the lower class in order to maintain its status. Marx has regarded the aristocracy as the material forces of production, which sometimes come into conflict with the property relations that is the lower class and results in the social revolution (Marx, 9). Engels says that the economic political and traditional i. e cultural factors are interrelated and they in combination play the determined role in the formation of history. Thus history is the product of the combine efforts of the economical, political and demographical factors. Thus one can very easily find the social relation between the economy, politics and cultural norms. Works Cited Adorno, Theodor W. â€Å"On Popular Music† Studies in Philosophy and Social Sciences. 1941. Bourdieu, Pierre. â€Å"Distinction and The Aristocracy of Culture†. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. 1984, Routledge, London. Certeau, Michel de. â€Å"The Practice of Every Day Life† 1984, Berkley University California Press. â€Å"Culture. † Encyclop? dia Britannica. 2007. Encyclop? dia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD 8 May, 2007. Fiske, John. â€Å"The Popular Economy† Television Culture. 1987, Routledge, London. Gramsci, Antonio. â€Å"Hegomony, Intellectuals and the State† Princeton Notebooks, Lawrence Wishart, London. Marx, Karl. â€Å"Base Superstructure† A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. 1976, Foreign Languages Press, Peking. Marx, Karl Engels, Federick. â€Å"Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas† The German Ideology. 1970, Lawrence Wishart, London. Marx, Karl Engels. â€Å"A Letter to Joseph Bloch† Selected Letters. 1977, Foreign Languages Press, Peking.

Essay --

Have you ever seen commercials on television advertising allergy medications? The advertisement explains that taking the medication can cause abnormal sleep patterns, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itching, watery eyes, rashes, and headaches. A conclusion could be made that the side effects of the product would be much worse than the allergy problem. However, people still buy the product. The lengths an average person will go in order to get a quick fix is amazing. It is this way of thinking that makes tanning beds so popular. Over the last decade, cancer causing tanning beds have given self-image issues to people across the world. For, example a self proclaimed â€Å"child of the 70’s†, Donna Moncivaiz soaked in the sun whenever possible. As an adult she graduated to tanning beds and allowed her teenaged children use them also. Two years ago 51 year old Donna was diagnosed with melanoma. She had lost her gallbladder. Her daughter has also been diagnosed with an early stag e of melanoma. Donna states â€Å"If I had known what I know now, it never would have happened.† Many people will do things that will make you think that tanning is something they need to survive like spending millions of dollars in a life time for tanning beds, ending up becoming addicted to it, as well as they could get many types of skin cancers later on in life. All these things just for something that can hurt you in your life time and can kill you as well. So why even start? So why do people go tanning? Many people go tanning to get the feeling of beauty. In society today, having a tan is thought to be one of the most attractive and appealing senses to the opposite sex. Unfortunately, tanning beds are used most frequently among teenagers. This is especially harmful bec... ... cause death to someone. Skin cancers are separated into two categories. First one is malignant melanomas and non melanoma. The first is basal cell carcinoma; basal cell carcinoma begins in the lowest layer of the epidermis, the basal cell layer. Basal cell cancer accounts for 75% of all skin cancers. This type of skin cancer tends to be slow growing and is usually is found in areas that are highly exposed to sunlight, such as the head or neck. People with lighter skin are more likely to get basal cell cancer than are dark skinned people. The second type is called squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma accounts for 20% of all skin cancers, and penetrates the skin more than basal cell would, therefore, is considered to be more harmful. The growth of a squamous cell is more quicker than a basal cell. It can spread to the lymph nodes, arms, neck, and the head.

Biology Coursework: Effect of Sugar Solution on Potato Chips Essay

Planning Before planning the experiment, I will research osmosis, so that I can make predictions. This will help me to discover how to make this investigation fair and safe. Planning ahead will help me find out the order in which to carry out the experiment. This should lead me to good results at the end of the experiment. Hypothesis Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. When a potato is placed in water, the cells will expand by gaining weight depending on the concentration levels of the solution. When the concentration of the water is lower, more water molecules are allowed to pass through the potato cell. This causes the potato to gain weight and expand. If the concentration levels of the solution are higher, the cells will lose water and cause the potato to lose weight and therefore shrink. Prediction I predict that when the lower the concentration of sugar solution in the water, the more the potato will expand by osmosis. When the concentration of water is identical to the concentration of the potato cell, there will be no increase or decrease in weight. This is because the amount going into the cell will be the same as the amount going out. As soon as the water concentration becomes higher, the cells will shrink because more water will be leaving the cell than entering it. In distilled water alone, I predict that the water in the potato will be more concentrated. Because of this, the water should transfer from the solution to the potato, and the potato will gain weight. In the 0.2 molar solutions, the substances will be very similar in concentration. There should be little change to the size and weight of the potato. When the potato is placed in 0.4 molar solutions, the substances will still be very similar but the concentration of the water solution should be slightly greater to that of the potato. This will cause the potato to shrink slightly. As the molar solutions get higher, the water will transfer more and more from the potato to the water solution, therefore decreasing its size and weight. The most extreme shrinking should occur when the potato is placed in 1.0 molar solution, as here the difference in the water concentration is at its largest. Safety I will be using a very sharp knife, which could injure someone if it is not handled properly. And I will also be careful that the solutions do not get into my body internally as I am not fully aware of the damage it could cause. Method I will cut chips from the same potato because different potatoes may act differently and affect the results. I will cut them 15mm long exactly with square ends 5mm wide and 2mm thick. I will use a chopping and knife for this. They all need to be exactly the same size to ensure that it is a fair test. I will weigh the chips to ensure that they are the same size and weight. This will also give us a measurement to compare them to afterwards. I will use three identical potato chips in each solution. This is because the experiment may not go to plan. If we have three chips, an average can be taken at the end of the experiment to obtain more accurate results. The three potatoes will be placed in 6 different solutions, 1.0 being the strongest and distilled water being the weakest. The solutions I will use are as follows: 0.0 (Distilled water) 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 The boiling tubes will be placed in a rack with an equal amount of molar solution. This is because identical solutions are needed for it to be a fair test. The potatoes will be covered with the solutions, if not the water will not be able to pass in and out and the potatoes would dry out. The solutions will all need to be the same temperature and the chips will need to remain in the test tube for the same length of time. The length of time I have chosen to keep the potatoes in the solution is 5 minutes. This should be enough time for the osmosis to take affect. When the potatoes are removed from the solution, the osmosis stops. I will then dry the potatoes using a paper towel being careful so that none of the potatoes fall apart. I will place them into sets of three depending on when which solution they were placed in and weigh and measure them. To get the most accurate results, I will take the average reading of the three pieces. I will then analyse my results and see if they match my prediction.