Philip Levine Essays - Margaret, , Term Papers

Philip Levine White never thought she would be a famous photographer. In 1921, when Margaret was 17, she went to college to study herpetology, or the study of snakes and reptiles. That same year her father died leaving her family with little money. To stay in college Margaret got a job taking and selling pictures of the college campus using her father's broken camera. That summer she got a job as the photographer and counselor at a summer camp. Even though she liked taking pictures, for Margaret, photography was still a hobby. But architects and other photographers were impressed with her photographs and encouraged her to use her talent. When she graduated in 1927, Margaret turned down a position at the Museum of Natural History and went to Cleveland to open her own photography studio. Margaret had courage and talent from the beginning. At first she did advertising work for schools and other businesses but never stopped working on her artistic skills. For example, as she was walking by she noticed a preacher speaking in a square with only a group of pigeons to hear. Margaret wanted to take his picture but she didn't have her camera with her. She ran into a camera store and asked to rent or borrow a camera. The picture became one of her first works of art and the owner of the store became one of her best friends. One of Margaret's early dreams was to photograph the inside of a steel mill but women weren't allowed inside. Being a woman didn't stop her and the pictures were a success. Her shots were published in magazines all over the country and got Margaret her first big job, at Fortune magazine in New York. With Margaret's photos Fortune became one of the leading photography magazines. The magazine had also made her a star but Margaret still kept her studio, which had grown to a staff of eight and moved to the Chrysler building. In 1930 Fortune sent Margaret on one of her biggest assignments, to Germany to capture foreign industry. Curious about the Soviet Union she wanted to extend her trip but very few foreigners were allowed into the country. As she once said, "nothing attracts me like a closed door." Margaret never gave up and, after impressing Russian officials with her portfolio, was admitted into the country. She made a total of three trips and gained a reputation for being and expert on Russian industry. In 1931 she wrote her first book, Eyes on Russia. During World War II Margaret was sent Europe to cover the war. She got pictures of her own ship being torpedoed and became the first woman in a bomber. She also went with General Patton's troops to be one of the firsts to photograph a concentration camp. When she returned to the U.S. she wrote another book about the war, Purple Heart Valley. In 1950 Margaret was awarded an American Women of Achievement award but only seven years later she would no longer be able to hold a camera. She was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease but at first refused to believe the diagnosis. Margaret Bourke- White died in 1971, at 67 years old. Margaret was one of the greatest photographers but also one of the greatest women. She paved the way for many women in all professions, not just photographers, with her courage and determination.

Jasper Johns essays

Jasper Johns essays Born on May 15, 1930 in Augusta Georgia, Jasper Johns is one of the most renowned American pop artists of his era. He spent much of his early life stationed in Japan with the United States Army. Later, he became a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Johns first major piece was a painting he did in 1954 entitled Flag (Jasper Johns 1). It is simply a reproduction of the American flag on canvas. Much of his early work was of plain, flat symbols. He did so because he found that he did not have to design them...they were things the mind already knows. That gave [him] room to work on other levels (Crichton 1). The painting to be discussed in this paper is one of his simple works as mentioned above. It is entitled Target with Four Faces, and it was completed in 1955. Target with Four Faces is mainly a design piece. It is made up of sharp curves and lines. Most of the lines are thick, others are horizontal as well. The circles of the target in the lower half are practically perfect around. He uses several shapes in his work, including rectangles and squares (in the plaster faces up top) and circles (in the target). The color group used in Target with Four Faces is that of the triadic group, specifically the primary colors. The target and the background are made up of solid reds, yellows, and blues. Various surfaces can be found in Jasper Johns piece. The canvas used gives it somewhat of a rough texture, while the wood towards the top give it a smooth texture. The only objects seen in this work other than the main target are the plaster faces lined up at the top of the canvas. Other than those, there really are no other objects. With the basic facts represented, the next thing to look at is the design of Target with Four Faces. Since it is a simple piece, it has symmetrical balance for the most part. The four faces at the top are symmetrical, a ...

Job versus Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Job versus Business - Essay Example Risk in establishing a business is just as great as are the opportunities associated with it. It is quite normal for a business to bring results contrary to the expectations of the owner. Success of a business fundamentally depends upon an individual’s luck. Nevertheless, if risks have been adequately assessed and catered for in the start and the business owner is able to make informed decisions as per the need of the hour, business provides an individual with much more benefits than job. A businessman does not wake up in the morning because he/she will be fined if he/she gets late or does not reach the office in time. Instead, the businessman feels a sense of responsibility to wake up and reach the office in time so that activities go as per the schedule. There is a great difference between the two conditions. In the former, there is fear of accountability whereas in the latter, there is sense of responsibility. Ownership of a business enables an individual to live the life o f a king whereas in a job, an individual’s condition is hardly different from a servant in practical terms. While running a business, one establishes one’s own rules for the others to follow, whereas in the job, one has to follow the rules established by the employer whether or not one finds them right. In the capacity of the owner of a business, one takes decisions that affect others while in the job, others’ decisions affect one. Lack of decision making power in the job does not provide an individual with sufficient room for intellectual growth in the profession. â€Å"You want to leave your mark on the world and change something. Running your own business enables you to do this to a greater extent than you could as an employee† (Robert Ashton, 2010). In addition to that, one can also decide to get rid of bad employees in the business but not in the job. A lot of women employees have to continue working for salary with the colleagues who harass them sex ually (Chaudhuri, 2006). They are not in the position to expel such colleagues from job because they are not business owners. The biggest advantage that business offers in comparison to the job is that it provides an individual with the opportunity to gain maximum benefit of his/her efforts. One may have to exert many times more in the job as compared to the exertion in a business, and yet, the reward in the job is many times less than what one gets in a business. In an attempt to impress the employer so that he would make slight addition to the current salary of the worker, the worker tends to work beyond the official duty hours and yet, there is little realization on the part of the employer in a vast majority of cases. Even if the employer does realize, there is little guarantee that he will appreciate the worker in terms of increment in the salary. After a whole year of extra work, the worker may have a 2 to 5 per cent increment in the salary upon the review of performance. On t he other hand, all profit made from the business becomes the property of the businessman. After one project, when the salaries of all staff have been paid, the business owner is left with an amount that he/she can not assemble after several projects as an employee. In addition to that, there is no retiring in business unlike job. â€Å"Let's say you join a company, degree in hand, at entry level. You move up the ladder for fifteen, twenty, even twenty-five years. Now you're a

Truth in painting - The kinds of meaning Assignment

Truth in painting - The kinds of meaning - Assignment Example The purpose of the paper "Truth in painting - The kinds of meaning" is to determine the kinds of meaning made possible by perspective in paintings. The perspectival systems which developed during the following period of Renaissance brought about a contrasting portrayal of space along with the â€Å"illusionistic presentation of objects†. The modern concept of perspective is considered to be a formal and defined branch of mathematics, emerging from Cartesian and Euclidean geometry. It is stated to be â€Å"meaningless† since this perspective refers to equations, and geometric functions such as lines, angles and points. The second perspective has great meaning, encompassing subjectivity, eternity and other concepts, as evidenced in various academic domains. This perspective which Elkins terms as â€Å"metaphorical perspective† is not in a complicated graphic or related to equations. It is the common type of perspective with which people view the world, and understa nd themselves as viewing subjects. The most common manifestation is the linear perspective. In this type, â€Å"all parallel lines or surface edges converge on one, two or three vanishing points located with reference to the eye-level of the viewer†. Linear perspective clearly defines a physical point of view, showing the â€Å"location, vantage and orientation of the viewer†. Linear perspective is one of the significant innovations of European art, with a great impact on the visual arts in the west from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Perspective provides perception.

Write-Up on the Negotiation of Teachers’ Association with Board of Education Essay Example for Free

Write-Up on the Negotiation of Teachers’ Association with Board of Education Essay Negotiation is a process of entering into dialogues which are intended (i) to resolve disputes, (ii) to produce an agreement upon courses of action, (iii) to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or (iv) to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The essence of negotiation in this case therefore is to bargain for individual or collective advantage.   We, the Teachers’ Association appeared before the Board of Education for a negotiation on workload and benefits and this write-up presents the salient points discussed and finalized during the negotiation process. 1. Workload Workload section is usually a less important area that our association would care to negotiate. Therefore we agreed for the proposal of 51 layoffs at Day 1 on the hope of getting a better deal in other terms of negotiation. It was our thinking that normally teachers will be required to work extra hours so that they can take better care of students as it was expected of us. Therefore, it is thought reasonable to accept their proposal of increasing 55 minutes of working per day. Similarly we accepted their offer of reduction in â€Å"prep† time so that teachers will be able to adjust their own time efficiently. Thus we can say that the negotiation process for issues relating to workload went on very well without any hard arguments or hesitation on either side. Although we were made to give up on some points, the Board of Education was ready to accept our offers on duty-free time and emergency assignments by Board. Our strategy in this section was to align our interests with those of the Board so that we both could figure out the best ways to achieve best results. We understood their true interest in changing the teacher/student ratio from 32:1 to 37:1 so that they could solve their primary problem. During the negotiation in this area, both the Teachers’ Association and the Board of Education were very much willing to work together. It was not the case that the other party in the process of integrating the strategies expected big and very important concessions from our side. 2. Benefits As compared to the workload section, the negotiation process for the benefits section was tougher. In fact it was necessary to have two short breaks during the negotiation to clear the air as there were heated arguments and discussions. The Teachers’ Association was looking for good results out of this negotiation to make teachers feel better and to bring more actual calculated cost benefits to the teachers for their hard work. We also knew that the concession from our side will pay off the deficits from the side of the Board of Education. The Board even though tried to solve their main problem, was not willing to accept our proposals without arguments. They presented their arguments and points very strongly. Therefore we had to adopt an assertive strategy to strongly present our proposals. We stood our ground and presented our standpoints more strongly and at no point of time we were willing to accept their offer. Although, it took more than 30 minutes for reaching an agreement, finally they accepted all of our proposals except the offer on childbirth leave. To reach an agreement on the childbirth leave, the Board of education had to reveal their bottom line with cost calculation. On the basis of the exact data of the costs required to fulfill the childbirth leave benefit, both the sides could find an agreeable point. In the whole negotiation process the Teachers’ Association showed the Board the precise interests of our side with an assertive strategy and the Board of Education extended their cooperation with their honesty.

Humor as a Form of Cultural Expression Essay -- Culture

Humor as a Form of Cultural Expression How can one look at a culture and understand its origins, its values, its accomplishments and failures? Through art, poetry, or other literary, or scientific advances? Maybe even in its political standpoints? All of these methods are acceptable. There is one I did not mention in the above list however. It can be considered trivial by some, but I think it is also important. Perhaps we can understand a culture by its humor. Even on the surface the jokes of a country generally reflect its habitat, attitude, and its people. In the US for instance, most jokes you hear on late-night television would probably be political ones, bashing this political figure or the next. Why is this so? Perhaps because Americans have strong feelings about the politics in their country, and have the right of free speech. Because of the former the jokes come about, and because of the latter they are aired on national television. As for reflecting the environment, another popular collection of American jokes usually starts with the words â€Å"A guy walks into a bar ...† Just by looking at this â€Å"prefix† we can see that many Americans spend a lot of time in bars. Thus we see the usual â€Å"environment† of all important occurrences in the daily life of an American. In the USSR, most jokes would take place in a store or marketplace, because that is where people spent most of their time -- waiting in line s. A joke is as much of a national expression as folk stories, tales and legends. Except those three talk about past times, and the joke is current. I originally come from the former Soviet Union, and there the joke was an even more popular media than television, art or books. It was not censored by the government, whi... ...es in both cultures. For example : â€Å"In the meat department of a supermarket, a customer is asking : ‘Don’t you have any fish?’ The reply is : ‘No. We don’t have any meat. They don’t have fish in aisle 7’.† This type of joke would not travel very far in the US because not many people would understand it. It was much more effective when there actually was no fish or meat in the stores at the time I heard it. You wouldn’t have this problem in the US (unless there was some terrible war or another such calamity). This joke never came about in the US. It (hopefully) never will. What’s more, it doesn’t catch on, because it takes special conditions to understand this type of sarcasm. They are funny. At times also sad. But jokes have to get credit for the benefit, and insight they can provide. We cannot overlook them. But on the other hand, don’t take it too seriously.

What I Have Learned in This Course

I have learned a great deal in this course in relation to writing argumentative essays. There is much research involved, as well as objectivity to the position taken on a particular subject. These are, what I have learned, to be the two most important factors in the preparation for a paper. A writer must look at all possible arguments to support his or her position and make this very concise in the thesis statement in the first paragraph of the work. Similarly, one must look at any counterarguments that could arise from the thesis and explore these, as well. All of this research must be done before the paper is written and woven in the supporting paragraphs in the piece. Of equal importance is taking a professional stance on the position/thesis and not an emotionally-driven stance. Using â€Å"I† statements is unacceptable, such as stating â€Å"I think that this is the best policy†¦ †, for instance. Conclusions must come from extensive data review and demonstrate an extremely objective, yet clear stance on the subject from beginning to end. All supporting paragraphs, after the introductory paragraph, that includes the thesis and main points that support it, should be filled with explanatory data to provide cause for the writer’s position. After these arguments (supported by other research) are presented, then counterarguments should be noted. Having not only an literature review before beginning a paper, but, also, an outline with supporting arguments for the position and counter claims to the position with a response to them will make this portion of the argumentative paper easier and is extremely beneficial to the first draft of the work. It is standard in a shorter essay to use four supporting paragraphs that all flow consistently from paragraph to paragraph and a conclusion that does not introduce new facts, but highlights the importance of the writer’s previous information in this final paragraph. This final paragraph should not simply reiterate everything that is already written, but restate the main points and help further support the important stance taken on an issue. This â€Å"wrap-up† of the paper should leave no doubt in the reader’s mind as to exactly what the writer intends the reader to absorb and the importance of the issue to that reader. If further writing and research on the subject is planned, the final paragraph should indicate this. As many times, a short argumentative essay may evolve into a larger research project. After compiling the research, the outline, and then the first draft of the essay, a writer must then review the work and make any needed changes to the paper. Grammatical errors should be corrected, as well as any language that is unclear and may confuse the reader. These essays must be very precise and to the point, so they may involve more than one revision to make a great final paper. I have, also, learned to ask for help involving feedback and constructive criticism, to help understand how another person views my essay. I have learned so much in this class involving this topic and realize that if I follow these â€Å"rules† of writing I can create a great paper. It was hard for me personally, to ask for help, but learned that that is one of the best ways to learn more about how to be a better writer, listener, and student.