The Benefits of My Fantasy Football League Essay Example for Free

The Benefits of My Fantasy Football League Essay The difference between knowledge and intellect is remarkable, yet many times these words are used interchangeably. Knowledge refers to facts on a given subject; intellect refers to a person’s perspective, how they view, analyze, and interpret their environment . Unlike I.Q., intellect can and should be taught to our students, but instead our current schooling system is focused on ensuring students memorize the facts required to pass an exam. In his essay, â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism†, Gerald Graff explores the limits current education standards impose on our youth’s development. Graff presents the idea that perhaps the subjects that we normally associate with â€Å"anti-intellectualism† are just as capable of being subject of critical thought as Shakespeare’s plays. â€Å"Real intellectuals turn any subject, however lightweight it may seem, into grist for their mill through the thoughtful questions they bring to it† (Graff, 381). This idea is central to understanding the rest of Graff’s argument. If no subject is more deserving than another, then every subject—sports to science—should be utilized in the classroom as learning tools. Young students are motivated in complicated ways. The things that interest them are normally not academic texts of Plato or George Orwell. The author himself identified himself as a person who â€Å"hated books and cared only for sports† (Graff, 381). The only readings that interested him were sports novels and magazines. Over time, Graff developed the idea that his love for sports was not actually anti-intellectual as he had previously assumed, but was as intellectual as his university studies. He claims that had his teachers utilized his love for the workings of the sports world as an outlet to spark academic discussion and thought, he would have earned a stronger education. While Graff was postponing his English homework to have a debate with his best friend about who was the best pitcher in the 50s, he was practicing the skills that would later allow him to become a successful professor at the University of Illinois. Engaging in heated debates about baseball gave Graff opportunities to practice forming coherent arguments supported with evidence he had to collect and analyze while at the same time perfecting his conversation skills and logical thought patterns. What is the goal of elementary education if not to teach one how to learn and think? Sure, one needs to know their multiplication tables and Presidents, but the curriculum should be designed to teach students how to educate themselves in order to think critically about their world. The first step in education, according to Graff, should be providing the pupil with a topic they are interested in. Doing so gives students a bridge from their social life into the academic world and will yield students that are more interested and involved in their studies. Graff acknowledges that there are limits to this approach just like any other. A quote from his peer, Ned Laff, summarizes the challenge in education. â€Å"[The challenge] is not simply to exploit students’ nonacademic interests, but to get them to see those interests through academic eyes† (Graff, 385). Being a cognoscenti on the top songs of the decade is not enough, one should be able draw relationships between the trends of the songs in order to come to a general conclusion or theory that is applicable to other areas of life. Graff is careful to not belittle the classic academic texts and subjects. He claims that educators should use the topics their students are interested in as a gateway to more challenging topics. If one can teach a student to think critically about the implications of performance enhancing drugs in today’s athletes, then the hard part in education is complete. Once a student knows how to think critically, they can apply that technique to whatever subject they want to study for the rest of their life. It gives the power and responsibility of teaching to the student themselves. Graff ends his argument by appealing to the readers logic. Suppose he is wrong, and allowing trending topics in the classroom does not in fact motivate the student to become a student of the world. What does the educator stand to lose in trying? Even if all they ever are interested in studying are the current stats of the Baltimore Ravens, â€Å"they are more literate and reflective than they would be otherwise† (Graff, 386). I believe Graff presented a strong and valid argument worthy of discussion. I am able to relate on many levels with Graff. Often I find myself more interested in my fantasy football team than my college courses. Previously, I had assumed time spent on fantasy football was time wasted, but this essay has allowed me to develop a different perspective. In order to have a successful team, I had to decide what players would complement each other; this required close analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Memorizing and studying stats has allowed me to develop my statistical analysis skills, a skill that otherwise would be left unrefined. After each season, game, play, I have to reevaluate my thoughts on a player in order to take into account the new information. It has taught me that the greatest players make the same amount of novel mistakes as the worst players but repeat their errors only a fraction as often. If more of my teachers had exploited my love of sports earlier in my education, I might have a more accurate idea of my academic capabilities. Although I agree with the central tenets of Graff’s argument, I think he is overly critical and general of today’s educators. There are teachers who exploit every opportunity to intrigue their students, and they deserve to be acknowledged in any argument critiquing the current education system. These are teachers who go beyond the status quo of â€Å"teaching to the exam.† They are the educators who attempt to instill in their students a passion to learn, explore, and test the boundaries of their mind. It is also important to elaborate on my use of the word â€Å"teacher.† A teacher is not restricted to the classroom, but I have extended the term to encompass all one’s advisors, especially a child’s parents. I believe Graff would agree with my statement that a child’s parent plays a vital and irreplaceable role in the education of a child. Rather than discourage discussion of the popular topics, parents can facilitate classroom learning through critical discussion of subjects directly related to the youth’s life. â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism† details a not so unique argument in a way that is easy for the general public to sympathize with. It provides people with a justification for their â€Å"guilty pleasures† and encourages a more critical mindset no matter what you are doing. I would recommend the article to my peers, teachers, and teammates alike. Works Cited Graff, Gerald. â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism.† They say I say. Eds. Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., and Durst, R.. New York City: W. W. Norton Company, 2012. 380-386.

othello review Essay -- essays research papers

Shakespeare has produced an incredibly large library of work, including 38 plays and countless sonnets. His plays are divided into four main sections: the Histories, the Tragedies, the Comedies, and the Romances. Othello falls under Tragedy, as it ends with the death of numerous characters, including the principals. Shakespeare's work has been produced since the Renaissance in all artistic mediums from the original theater to opera, symphony, film, and ballet. It has also been consistently revisited countless times by the same artistic medium because it is said to be timeless. Othello's main topics are love, murder, jealousy, miscommunication, chastity, history, and even magic. The play encompasses the classic elements of Shakespeare's tragedies, pulling in a bit of history and military strategy. It opens in Venice, a widely known city of artistic and military strength and moves to Cyprus, a small island in the Mediterranean. The majority of the play takes place in Cyprus, where the typical Shakespearean motifs of miscommunication and vengeance for disloyalty are explored. Many of Shakespeare's comedies and romances focus around this problem of communication between lovers and friends. Othello, however, takes this quandary to the tragic level, as he presents intricate plots of revenge and primitive murder on the basis of unfaithfulness. This play attacks many serious issues, often ignored during the times. The title character is a Moor, an outsider, someone differentiated b...

American who art thou?

â€Å"I have lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans† laments Tamenund (Cooper 382) in the book Last of the Mohicans. The death of Uncas and Cora marks the end of the Mohican people. Chingachgook indeed outlived Uncas his son but he is now childless and his people will now pass into legend and song. Ironically, the people described by Cooper in his book are Mohicans (Britanica). But their names rightly belong to another tribe known as the Mohegan (Britanica). The adventures of Uncas shed light on the true meaning of American. An American is a truly difficult to define creature. The US constitution defines as; All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (Section 1) US citizenship, for those who are not born with it, is surprisingly hard to acquire. Yet thousands of people from the third-world will try every year to gain entry. America is believed to be the land of milk and honey. Millions more would attempt to enter if they only had the means. All seek the freedom and liberty promised by the Statute of Liberty to the Huddled masses. Those who are not Natural Born American Citizens can aspire to receive visa to work in the States. If fortune smiles upon them they can be granted citizenship after proving themselves to be good law abiding people. This also in tales absorbing American Values and ethics although compared to other nations America has a high tolerance for those who thing out of the box and the non-conformists. Media can often be used to reinforce or even create a new identity for a people. For example, Nazi propaganda transformed the innocent Jews into the demons who were behind all the ills of the world. The book last of the Mohicans and the movie last of the Dogmen are examples, of how media can be used to form a country’s sense of identity. In the movie Last of the Dogmen, Lewis Gates pursues escaped convicts into the Montana countryside. All he recovers are a few scraps of cloth, some blood and an old fashioned Indian arrow. Despite the doubts of scientist, Gates believed that the there is a lost Indian tribe somewhere out there. Working on a hunch the Indian arrow leads him down a trail of pursuit of a lost tribe of Dog Soldiers. He eventually encounters the Dog soldiers and they believe him to be their foe. Upon his escape he essays to protect them from being discovered and polluted by civilization. In the movie the American was defined as a Native American, one of the Dog Soldiers whose ancestors once roamed the plains of America free and untamed by today’s mores. The noble savage is worthy of protection from the corrupting influence of mainstream society. By comparison the Last of the Mohicans is about a Mohican caught in the French-English war in Canada. The French are trying to overwhelm Fort William Henry with the aid of the Hurons and the Iroquis. Hawkeye is given the task of escorting the commanders two daughters to safety past the Indians. On the road they encounter Chingachgook and Uncas the last of the Mohicans in the region. The plot of Hawkeye’s guide is soon exposed the guide betrays the company and the two Mohicans agree to be their guides. In the forest, Hawkeye, the Mohicans and their charges face many perils including many Indians who are haunting the woods in search of them. One of the members of the group is wounded by a sniper and they are soon immobilized. The group hides in a cave but a flushed out by a much larger party of Hurons. Now prisoners of the Hurons they are granted a chance at freedom if Cora would but consider to marry Magua. Haughty Cora refuses and soon the enraged Magua decides that the entire party should just die. At that very moment, the Mohicans and Hawkeye attack rescuing the captives and slaughtering the Hurons. Magua escapes but the captives are now safe. Eventually they stop at an old building where a lot of Mohicans died and where Chingachgook and Hawkeye fought together. Soon they are finally within the fort’s walls and are safe. In the fort, Duncan wonders how the fort can hold off so many attackers. Their only hope is for Webb to arrive with reinforcements. Duncan is sent as an emissary to the French commander Montcalm. All this succeeds in doing is letting Duncan know that the Frech are aware of the dire plight of the English Fort. The commanders, Montcalm and Munro eventually meet and Montcalm hands Munro a letter detailing how Webb is unable to send reinforcement. He asks the English to surrender. Munro naturally abhors surrender, but upon hearing the generous terms offered by the Frenchman agrees to sign a treaty. Peace it seems is achieved. But not all are pleased with the accord. Magua is indignant in claiming that his warriors will have no scalps while the white men become friends. While the English are fleeing from Fort William Henry the Hurons attack killing many innocent people. Cora is found by Magua and again he asks for her to be his wife but again she refused. So Magua captures Alice instead. A rescue effort goes horribly wrong when Duncan, Uncas and Hawkeye go to the Huron Village. Uncas is caught and is at the mercy of the Huron. This time the rescue goes well as Duncan is able to rescue Uncas. After a side-trip among the Delaware who are overjoyed at seeing Uncas, a Mohican. Uncas prepares his forces to attack the Hurons. In the battle that follows Magua is killed, Cora is also killed but ere the battle is ended Uncas too dies. Oddly, enough Cooper’s view of Mohican Indian is wildly at variance with the movie version. Cooper’s Mohicans are musket carrying warrior who could fight equally well as the Europeans they traveled with. By comparison   Wyeth portrays Uncas with a dagger, a tomahawk, and a bow and arrow-weapons of precolonial warfare and the customary attributes of an Indian brave. Cooper’s Uncas suggests the complexity of the character's position as a conventionally educated, English-speaking American Indian, Wyeth generalizes and romanticizes the Indian hero's appearance. Wyeth’s version simply conforms to his understanding of American Indians, which was tightly bound to the ideal of an untamed wilderness. Hawkeye is the book’s consummate American, he is the friend of Chingchagook. In chapter three of the Indian’s struggle for identity is first given shape. He was of unmixed blood and his tribe is the grandfather of nations. In the past his people fought the Iroquis, who were now mercenaries at the employ of the French, However, now the tribe is depleted and only Uncas his son remains of the Mohicans. Uncas and Chingchagook are firmly with the English as they are prepared to die fighting the Iroquis. Also in this chapter is the interplay of ideas and beliefs between Chingchagook and Hawkeye. This would later be an important ideal of Americans. The free exchange of ideas and belief or the so called Marketplace of ideas. Another example of the struggle was the discrimination Cora Munro suffered as opposed to the respect that Alice Munro received. Both were the daughters of a prominent military commander but because of Cora’s skin color and heritage she is looked down upon. Although later in the story she would fall in love with Uncas. An American is one who can identify with the values and morals of the American people in General. It is the question of what those values are that is problematic. One of the first defining events of being an American was Declaration of independence. As written by Thomas Jefferson the American people believed that â€Å"All men are created free and equal under God†. Previous to the declaration, Americans were still very much under the heel of the primitive feudal system they inherited from the British. The King, three thousand miles away ruled their lives by fiat. His lords and nobles ran roughshod over his subjects. This same struggle for equality is seen when Chingchagook and Hawkeye are discussing the differences between the English and the Mohicans. Another related event was the Civil war. The ideal of free and equal was put to the test. Till then it was a hypocrisy, the US claimed that its people lived in equality. Yet in the Southern States nearly 1/3 of all people were slaves who had no civil and political rights. The black man was a slave unfitting even of the title man, he toiled in the cotton plantations endlessly providing wealth for the arrogant white masters. Tens of Thousands would die before the African-American could take part and received citizenship in the country. An example, of this discrimination is when Cora rejects Magua’s offer to be his wife. In exchange for the freedom of the thralls. Still Cora refuses because even if she was a Quadroon she still held herself better than the filthy Indian Magua. However, even with the Emancipation declaration, the â€Å"black man† was still relegated to a second class citizen. It was not until Martin Luther King Jr. came forth daring violence and persecution in order end the discrimination and bigotry that plagued African Americans in the south. The struggle for equality can also been seen in the desire of Magua to be wed to Cora where Cora constantly refuses him because of his inferior stock. In the past, there were laws in place, particularly in the south, which prevented a black person from marrying a white person. Manifest Destiny, that doctrine that said that America should expand to the Pacific and beyond was another important even that helped change the American Identity. The Expansion to the west would come at the expense of Mexicans and Indians who would lose their lands. In that point of history a great influx of Irish, Germans and other European immigrants came to America to seek the freedom promised by the Statute of liberty. They were soon welded into the American people and brought their work ethic and industry to the increase the vigor of the rising Hercules that was the Union. The World Wars are another defining event in American History because the US having gained prominence among nations was now ready to take its place among the stars. America sent legions of its finest youths to go forth and fight in Europe and Asia for the defense of the weak and innocent against those who would oppress them. The same way Uncas was willing to endanger himself for the sake of foreigners he barely knew. The American identity remains vague and hard to define. Literature and other media can help express and expound it. But ultimately it must shine forth from the heart of every American Citizen. Simply, put an American is one who lives and breathes the American ideals. In a sense Hawkeye was an American because he respected the views of those who were not in concurrence with his. He also fought hard for the protection of the weak and innocent. Finally, he was a true friend to his allies. Works Cited Cooper, James The Last of the Mohicans. Edwards Brothers Inc 2006 Ed â€Å":Mohican† (history), Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Mohicans. (Last accessed 11 Dec 2007) â€Å"Mohegan † (history), Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Mahican. (Last accessed 11 Dec 2007) U.S. Constitution. Micheals, Joel B â€Å"The Last of the Dogmen† 8 Sept 1995 WYETH'S NOBLE SAVAGE Sep/Oct 2007. Vol. 28, Iss. 5; pg. 23, 1 pgs

Essay about A dollar a day language analysis - 926 Words

â€Å"A Dollar a Day†- Language Analysis Recently, in the Daily Telegraph Angus McDonald wrote an opinion piece about how Indian children are being exploited for cheap labour and how the government is not dealing with the problem as Angus believes they are accountable for the responsibility. This issue has recently blown up in the media, due to the recent information about the average day of a child labour living in India. Angus McDonald uses emotive language, logical evidence, case studies , appeals to a sense of justice and a photograph, along with an alarmist tone to convey the message that the government need to step up and stop child labour. Angus McDonald uses emotive language to make the reader empathise with the†¦show more content†¦The use of his case study of Manu gives the issue a small scope on the problem but as we read through the article, Angus McDonald zooms out and looks at the broader topic. This small scope case study shows us the problem at its roots, then when Angus zooms out and shows us the broader issue of the government not controlling child labour problems efficiently, we feel informed of the matter and connecting to the whole issue because of this case study. The alarmist tone pulls information together nicely with the case study as it gives a real sense of urgency to the issue and this makes the reader side with the writer almost instantly. Angus McDonald uses logical evidence and case studies to push forward that Indian child labourers are being exploited and the government need to be doing more to help. The writer uses the appeal to sense of justice language device, to arouse anger at the people taking advantage of these children and to make the reader feel as though the Justice Department of India are doing an inadequate job. Angus McDonald goes out of his way to make the criminals mentioned in his article look even worse then what they are. He uses the criminal’s mistreatment of the children to evoke a sense of injustice in the reader by writing sentences such as â€Å"a life of servitude† and â€Å"[a child’s] living nightmare†. These phrases make the reader feel great anger towards the criminals, butShow MoreRelatedSWOT Analysis: Mc Donald’s India Essay1322 Words   |  6 PagesSWOT Analysis: Mc Donald’s India SWOT Analysis: A SWOT analysis is commonly used in marketing and business in general as a method of identifying opposition for a new venture or strategy. Short for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that may affect any new proposed actions. Here we represent our proposed venture’s SWOT analysis report. STRENGTHS: †¢ Good Taste: The fast food chain is operating in many diverse cultures where tastes in food are extremely different than those of US orRead MoreThe Deceptive Language Game Played by Politics and Government692 Words   |  3 Pages â€Å"Language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.† George Orwell’s quote from his book: â€Å"Politics and the English Language†, points now more than ever, of what has become a serious dilemma within our society: the corruption of honesty, and the curbing of clear thinking which is achieved through the use of subliminal images and deceptive language in order to support the agendas of multi-billion dollar corporations ownRead MoreSuccessful Users And Leaders Of Big Data1144 Words   |  5 Pagescompetitive. Following are some of the companies who have performed much better, even in the recession era, in their verticals by leverage Big Data. UPS: UPS tracks data on 16.3 million packages per day for 8.8 million customers, with an average of 39.5 million tracking requests from customers per day. The company stores over 16 petabytes of data coming from telematics sensors in over 46,000 vehicles. UPS tracks delivery truck data around their speed, direction, braking, and drive train performanceRead MoreIn Zimbabwe we can see large pyramids these large pyramids are all called the â€Å"Great Zimbabwe† or1500 Words   |  6 Pagesnot live in cities mainly hunted animals for their food or gathered fruits. The history of the San people is documented on thousands of rock paintings, these rock painting are as old as 30,000 years old. A few San people can still be found to this day, they are located close to the Kalahari Desert areas of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. (Sibusisiwe Mubi) Europeans started entering Zimbabwe through Christian missionaries who befriended the people of Zimbabwe starting 1858. The missionaries wereRead MoreAptitude Test1726 Words   |  7 PagesGraduate Diploma in Systems Analysis Page 1 of 7 Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis (GDipSA) Aptitude Test Sample All GDipSA applicants are required to sit for the aptitude test. This is a test to measure your aptitudes for learning and performing the job of computer programming and systems analysis. There are four parts to the test and each part will be timed separately – Diagram Ability, Reasoning, Number Ability, and English Language Ability. It is designed to test your problem-solvingRead MoreAnalysis Of Gene Weingarten s Pearls Before Breakfast1029 Words   |  5 Pagesthat donations make their day and they come to know at the end of the day that how many spectators did observe them. However, I argue that people shouldn’t build an invisible wall between stage and street artists by ignoring artistic languages, disliking of physical appearances, and focusing on price tags rather than originality of artistic work. I believe that besides world’s different languages there are also some other languages that don’t require words. These languages come from humans’ sensesRead MoreThe Lowering Ages of Students Who Study Abroad Essay1554 Words   |  7 Pagesare 229,300 Chinese students who chose to study abroad in 2010. That data means people who went to study abroad exceed 30 percentages than the previous year. (Lin 1) A statistics showed Chinese spent 10 billion CNY, which equals about 1.5 billion dollars on study abroad every year. What makes people curious is that students who study as high school students or undergraduate students occupied a huge part. This phenomenon is totally different from ten years ago. Before that time, most of students whoRead MoreLeslie Savan’s Essay798 Words   |  4 PagesEng. 102 Analysis Essay October 25, 2010 Stolen Treasure In Leslie Savan’s essay, â€Å"What’s Black, Then White, and Said All Over?,† Savan talks about the â€Å"hidden costs†(381) and benefits of the black language in America. When observing this economic and psychological boundary its clear that African American people went through lots of pain and suffering when creating trendy words and sayings. This is important to African Americans because most people do not understand that these words have nowRead MoreGraduation Speech : Minimum Verbal Autistic Students760 Words   |  4 Pageshaving very significant needs, including academic, social and interpersonal development, physical development, and management needs. Many of the students identify as having severe difficulties with language and social skills as well. In the classroom, there was a class schedule posted with pictures for the day, as well as the week. Desks were arranged in a circle rather than a row. One student used an I-pad as their augmented device, another student relied mostly on PECS, and the other remaining fourRead MoreThe Three Core Philosophies Of The Black Nationalism Movement1220 Words   |  5 Pagesto the black community to come to self-realization and uplift themselves. In his speech, the noted civil rights leader presents the three core philosophies of Black Nationalism: political, economic and social. This essay will provide an in-depth analysis of the three core philosophies of the Black Nationalism Movement and assess how these same issues affect us today. Malcolm delivered his Ballot to the Bullet speech on the heels of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous I have a dream speech and the Supreme