Things Fall Apart :: essays research papers

Things Fall Apart Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe definitely has a fitting title. It explains how two cultures with different ideas and beliefs can clash and be intolerant towards one another. Most of the theme is developed through the plot of the story and through a man and his struggle against fear and anger (the main character, Okonkwo). Throughout the book he tries to resolve the problems that develop all around him and within himself. As the story progresses, conflict overwhelms him and leads to his downfall and the downfall of the Ibo culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One part of the book that shows how the title is developed is when Okonkwo's character is introduced and explained to the reader. The author tells how he is shameful of his father and that he is belligerent and cold-hearted. Pointing out these flaws in Okonkwo's character seems to foreshadow his downfall. Since Okonkwo probably represents the 'intolerant culture';, that culture's downfall is also foreshadowed. Later more obvious instances occur. Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, who is like a son to him. His decision of killing the boy is definitely unreasonable, and he only acts on what he was told was right. Just like the rest of the clan he follows these customs that seem immoral and unjust to other cultures. In another part of the story, Okonkwo is banished from his fatherland. This incident is the first where he is punished greatly for his actions. It marks a turning point in Okonkwo's downfall, and therefore the downfall of the traditional culture that he stands for. His hopes and aspirations are almost forgotten while he is away from Umuofia, and he desperately tries to regain his status when he returns. During this period of time, Okonkwo also discovers that his son has converted to his enemy's ways and beliefs. He abandons his son, and doesn't want to be his father any longer. This shows that his relationships with family and other people are beginning to 'fall apart';. The most obvious development of the theme and title takes place at the end of the book, when the final clash of cultures occurs.

Writing Response to Freedom Writers

People spend a good portion of their lives learning. We all sit in classrooms, we observe, we listen, and while there is someone there for us, someone to shed light on, to teach, and to guide. There is without a doubt that teachers are an important part of a someone's life, whether a child or a young adult, teachers are always there. A teacher has an impact on the person a child becomes, and also the person a child strives to be. The movie Freedom Writer is an inspiring story that throughout the film, Mrs.Erin Gruwell managed to be different as a commendable teacher, careless of the difficulties that surround her learning environment. She was fresh-faced, idealist and was ready to take on the world as she steps inside Wilson High School for her first day of teaching. Her class, a diverse group of racially charged teenagers from different walks of life (African Americans, Latinos, Asians, juvenile delinquents, gang members, and underprivileged students from poor neighborhoods) hopes f or nothing more than to make it through the day.More and more, teachers are becoming a crucial influence in children’s lives. It stands to reason that a teacher’s personality and teaching style can have an impact on children’s academic performance and general development. Mrs. Gruwell illustrated this beautifully in the film, in the beginning of the movie, her class hated each other and the understanding that they are simply being warehoused in the educational system until they are old enough to disappear. Despite her students' persistent refusal to participate in class, Mrs.Gruwell tries several means to engage them on a daily basis. However, at first, Mrs. Gruwell was timid and obviously new at her job, the kids caught onto that right away and had no respect for her. To break the ice, Mrs. Gruwell wanted to connect with them and brought music in that all of them would know and can relate to, but that didn’t do much. She took another step and moved the s tudent’s seats in the classroom because they all segregated themselves in racial groups, this definitely caused tension throughout the room and the students took it out on each other.One of the students drew an offensive picture of another student and passed it around class, this made Mrs. Gruwell furious and explained that it starts with a drawing like this, and then some kid dies in a drive-by, never even knowing what hit him. She then told the students about how the Jews went through the very same thing and they are amateurs compared to the most famous gang, the Nazis. This really opened the students’ eyes and they started to respect Mrs. Gruwell little by little. Mrs.Gruwell thought one more ice breaker would be good to show them that they are all the same and to bring them together. She put a line of duct tape in the middle of the room and asked the students various questions and if it related to them they had to step on the line. One of the questions she asked wa s if the students knew anyone that died from gang related violence and most of the students stepped onto the line. That line represented the students coming together because in reality they are all the same. Mrs. Gruwell literally threw her life away to help those kids out.While she was having problems with her personal life, she took on the responsibility of having three jobs to afford to give her students the best education, whether it was books, school trips and more. One of the books that she bought for her students was The Diary of Anne Frank, it would be a good idea for the students to read literature from another kind of ghetto and with these simple tools she opens her students' eyes to the experiences of those suffering bigotry throughout the world and the struggles of those outside their own communities.But then reality steps in to focus when a racially motivated gang shooting witnessed by a girl in Mrs. Gruwell's class became the most unsuspectingly vigorous teaching aid. It sparked a transformation in the classroom, compelled them to listen and forced her to take off her idealistic blinders. Knowing that every one of her students has a story to tell, Mrs. Gruwell encourages them to keep a daily journal (which she bought for them) of their thoughts and experiences.After sharing their stories with one another, the students see their shared experience for the first time and open up to the idea that there are possibilities in life outside of making it to the age of eighteen. A teacher plays a great role in developing a student‘s character. It is very difficult, because character is formed not only in the classroom. Despite the fact, the classroom climate influenced by a teacher has a major impact on the students’ motivation, attitude towards learning and character development. Mrs.Gruwell’s students could see how passionate she was to see them succeed and they got more comfortable and actually wanted to learn. One of her students ask ed if they could meet with Holocaust survivors and she agreed and got them to come, however, that wasn’t enough for her students, they wanted more. Mrs. Gruwell had the kids write a letter to the woman who hid Anne Frank in the attic and the students got really excited and couldn’t wait. Even after that her students wanted more, they wanted to make a difference, be heard, leave something behind and they soon did.Mrs. Gruwell made their journals that they were writing into a book ,The Freedom Writers Diary. Lastly the children who grew up in more affluent neighborhoods often do better in school but the poorer the neighborhood on an average have higher crime rates, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. Mrs. Gruwell experience verbally and visually how her students neighborhood affected them in such a degree. Surely there was nothing she could do to prevent such thing to happen but the only thing she did was to provide them respect, loyalty, dreams and trust overall. Mrs.Gruw ell had faith on her students that no matter what is your social position, or education or where you grew up, what matter is you maintain respect and love and faith in those in need. She finally grew a tough skin and took charge instead of letting them walk all over her, which is how she succeeded in getting their attention. Once she got them to focus on what really mattered and to understand that each clique had some common ground, they hit the ground running and the rest was history. She successfully turned the classroom into a safe haven in the crazy high school they attended.A teacher is like a sculptor, they mold a personality out of a child like a sculptor creates a beautiful statue out of clay. So a teacher has the greatest impact on student‘s character, knowledge, values and this affect can go on for years even after they are not in contact with one another. Being very knowledgeable will not immediately qualify as a good teacher. What is more important, is the attitude and the skill of being able to transfer the lessons effectively to the students. Teaching requires dedication and selflessness to be able to impart your learning and knowledge to the students.

Essay on Describe and Analyse the External Environment of...

The external environment is the external context within which an organisation exists and operates.1 One of the ways in which the external environment can be analysed is by assessing the impact of politics, the economy, social factors and technological factors (P.E.S.T. analysis). The organisations are affected either generally or immediately by the external environment. The immediate factors, also referred to as the operational environment, include aspects such as suppliers, financial institutions, customers and labour markets. The general features, or the contextual environment, comprise of the economic, political, legal and technological influences, for example. The political environment has an affect on businesses because†¦show more content†¦The government has to control inflation because unemployment can be caused, because firms have to reduce costs and reducing staff is an easy way to do this and effective for luxury good companies because demand will be less so theref ore they will not have to produce as much, hence not as many staff will be required. Unemployment therefore needs reducing because as ‘Phillips Curve suggests inflation is higher when unemployment is high. International trade is affected because foreign countries will receive a less favourable exchange rate and they may therefore reduce trade with UK companies, which again affects their profits. The government can use contractionary policy to reduce inflation and this reduces demand. They can increase taxation, reduce government spending or do both. By doing both they are relating to Fiscal policy and by taking in more money than they spending, for example on unemployment benefits, they reduce consumer power and therefore aggregate demand will fall. This therefore slows down the economy and makes it more stable. A recession would have the opposite effect to inflation of there being a larger supply than demand, which results in lower priced goods. For example the pound would be worth more and consumers would have a larger disposable income to spend on luxury goods and services. This would be tackled in the opposite way to inflation by the governmentShow MoreRelatedDescribe The Strategic Management Process1200 Words   |  5 PagesDescribe the strategic management process. What does it mean to manage strategically? 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