Explore public relations practice in Business in China Essay

Explore public relations practice in Business in China - Essay Example China has enjoyed political stability resulting from minimal opposition from citizens and legitimate governance. Historically, China has remained intact for around 5000 years hence high levels of developments achieved. The prolonged existence of stability is due to achievement in building healthy public relations between the citizens. There is widespread interdependence of all the people of China whereby there is communal responsibility rather than individual. This means that most of the roles are collective and focus on the success of the whole country rather than individuals (Shandwick, 2004). Like other countries of the world, China experiences cases of violence due to rising conflicting ideas among the leaders. A single party known as â€Å"The Communist Party of China† (CPC) governs China. The party provides leadership to the country’s 22 provinces, 5 sovereign regions and 4 directly governed municipalities. There are two other notable governing regions Hong Kong and Macau, which are also under CPC. The capital city for China is Beijing. China’s landscape is not favorable for traditional agricultural practices because most of the land lies in the desert. The terrain in general is rugged and hilly. The land proximity forced most of the Chinese to practice peasant farming for survival (Culbertson, 2006). The practice of peasant farming ended in 1970’s as an initiative by Mao Tse-tung to change Chinese Society. Mao suggested adoption of Western technology to end poverty. Adoptions of western technology and public relations have improved the economy of China to the present state. The purpose of this essay is to address the bond between the Chinese culture and public relations. This addresses the people of China way of life and their relationship. Another focus is the impact of media in promoting public relations in the country, and impacts of public relations to business development in the country (Culbertson, 2006). Finally, the essay

Apple Store Building for the Photoshop Project Essay

Apple Store Building for the Photoshop Project - Essay Example For my Photoshop project, I decided to explain or even define what Apple is today. I think that for the past couple of years, they have significantly evolved into something much more interesting than their circumstance a decade ago when Apple is merely all about the "mac". For this purpose, I used three photographs: a photo of the Apple Store in New York; a photo of Steve Jobs; and, a photo of myself. I have edited these three materials in order to be integrated into one seamless poster of an important artifact of the twenty-first century.As previously mentioned, Apple has undergone a significant transformation, significantly changing its focus since the 1990s. For years, the organization has been steadfast and determined to uphold its core value as represented in the "mac" computer, including its own operating system. In this period, Apple has built a cult following, who were rapidly consuming each release of the "mac" hardware and the OSX platform. In the past years, however, Apple has diversified into several other products, particularly in mobile devices. Because of this, it has achieved a significant amount of mainstream success. It has perfected a unique formula for its products, which is composed of a tightly controlled ecosystem and extremely beautiful and user-friendly interfaces for its devices. I would like to capture this essence, first and foremost. In order to do this, I selected the Apple Store in New York. This particular image impressed me because it has several elements, which I think is representative of this aspect of the Apple brand. If one looks at the image, the Apple Store, resplendent in glass and steel is surrounded by buildings, dimmed by the night setting. Two of these building were prominently shown flanking the Apple glass box. On the left is a classically designed building, while on the right, stood a modernist concrete structure. For me, the tableaux can tell us two things if one follows the photographic principles especially tha t about semiotic codes. First is that Apple is not afraid to be different as demonstrated in the way the store was uniquely designed. It celebrated its uniqueness that is why it leads to innovation. Secondly, Apple is becoming more open to the idea of mass culture and it is starting to go mainstream. But, this is being done, on its own terms.

Journeys End by R.C. Sherriff Essay Example for Free

Journeys End by R.C. Sherriff Essay How does R.C Sherriff present life in the trenches for the soldiers or World War 1 and the conditions they had to endure? In the play Journeys End by R.C. Sherriff, he describes many conditions that the soldiers had to endure. Life in the trenches was bad, but the men who were signing up for the war were told that it was all a big game, a walk in the park. However, when they got there they got a shock. R.C. Sherriff wanted to tell them all to know the truth about the war. First he starts the play by describing the living conditions: [A pale glimmer of the moonlight shines down the narrow steps into one corner of the dugout.] The words narrow and corner show that they live in a small, narrow and cramped place. Not only was it cramped but it was muddy, cold and wet, and it would be very uncomfortable. If the moonlight can come into the dugout and hit onto a corner of the wall, shows that it is very small and with a company of soldiers living their then that will make it even tighter and there wouldnt be much privacy. The soldiers had to sleep in their uniforms to stay warm, and incase there was an attack at any point, then they would be ready at a moments notice. [As he carefully turns his sock this way and that feeling it against his face to see if its dry,] Having it on constantly would cause moist to appear in the boots and any crevices in the body so they had to stay as clean as possible. But when they took off their boots, because they had them on for a long time, often their toes would come off as well. When reading this, I thought about how uncomfortable they must feel, and this same message would be out to all other readers, and would put people off from going to war. As well as the cramped, cold and wet conditions, they had to put up with little rations of food that tasted horrible, but on occasions, a nice piece of chicken. These are the men that are fighting for our countries, and our lives, and all they get is a small ration and a cheer up from the next poor sap who has to suffer: Trotter: Whats this? Maison: Meat sir. Trotter: I know that. What sort? Maison: Sort of cutlet, sir. The words sort of cutlet shows that the food that they get is low quality, a sort of meat that not good enough to be actual cutlet, and its not good enough to feed the British Army. They are being fed the bare essentials, and if they got any less then I think that they would die from malnutrition. This would also put people off from going to war, because they know that if they are not going to be treated accordingly, and not like animals, then they wont go to war. If the soldiers werent worrying about their food, then they were definitely worrying about the war itself. Many men went mad because of the loud crashes of the bombs and the constant rattle of the guns, some soldiers were so afraid of the war, and because they were told that it was a game, then they would make up conditions so that they didnt have to fight: I dont think that I can manage any supper tonight, Stanhope. Its this beastly neuralgia. It seems to be right inside this eye. The beastly pain gets worse every day. The words beastly pain and worse shows that the conditions were so bad, that Hibbert would pretend that he had neuralgia so that he could be sent home. There were many men out in the war who didnt want to be there, but had to go, and they would try anything to get home. Some soldiers, because of the pressure to go out and fight, they would kill themselves, but this was rare. Along with the pressure of war, they had to deal with other things that affected the mind, like sleep and other peoples thoughts. When they didnt get enough sleep they would get agitated and would spend days without sleep, and if they got on the wrong side of someone, then this would agitate them more, and could lead to outburst at the smallest things: Stanhope: Sit down. Raleigh: Its all right, thanks. Stanhope (Suddenly shouting) Sit down! Stanhope had not slept for days and just the little thing of Raleigh getting on the wrong side of him made him snap. R.C. Sherriff shows that Stanhope is angry in the stage directions: (Suddenly shouting). He gives the reader the impression that Raleigh, because he is the newest, that he doesnt fit in with the rest of the group, that what he is doing is wrong, because he doesnt know any better. Because of this Stanhope gets very angry very quickly. All of these are ways of showing the conditions in which the men had to face during the war. Not only was it the war itself but the pressure of being in a cramped environment, with lots of other men, in the cold and dirt, with little food. R.C. Sherriff brings to the readers what the conditions of war are really like.

Study of alberto Giacometti

Study of alberto Giacometti When working on Units 1 and 2 I was drawn to the human body and this was shown in my work. The human body has always been an interest so this is why I decided to study portraits for Unit 3. There were several things about portraits that interested me. First of all the idea of drawing/painting a portrait of someone and getting it to resemble that person was an exciting idea for me. At a younger age I was interested in getting a likeness of the models I would draw. I wanted to develop that ability. In the past when I had drawn from life I had only used pencil. By choosing this as my theme I knew this would give me the chance to draw portraits using other media. The first artist who helped me start this project was Pablo Picasso. I spent much time studying Picasso by looking at his different periods. I started with his African inspired work. However it wasnt until I studied his Rose and Blue Period that I really became interested in portraits. It was this era of his work that inspired me to study portraits. His works in the Blue Period captured my imagination. I feel they are powerful in capturing mood and emotion through Picassos use of colour, realism etc. This was something that pushed me in the direction of portraiture. I wanted to capture mood and emotion in my portraits. He was the inspiration that led me to study other artists including Giacometti and Lucian Freud. I studied artists which had relevance to my work and to the themes I wanted to explore. Alberto Giacometti: The first artist which I studied was Giacometti. The son of a painter, Alberto Giacometti was born in Stampa on October 10th 1901. He began to draw and model at an early age and in 1919 he enrolled at the École des Arts-et-Mà ©tiers in Geneva. He travelled in Italy in 1920-1921. He studied with the sculptor Émile Antoine Bourdelle at the Acadà ©mie de la Grande Chaumià ©re in Paris from 1922-1925. After sharing a studio in Paris with his brother Diego from 1925-1927, Giacometti set up his own. He would often use his brother Diego as a model. I studied his portrait of Jean Genet. Giacomettis technique with line drawing and gesture was something I wanted to explore through my own work. Another painting which reminded me of his style was a portrait of Giacometti. I chose this portrait because of the artists style in gesture drawing. I was interested by his ability to capture his models expressions through line and gesture drawing. I used this technique in my initial sketches in order to feel my way around the subject. Something that I found very interesting was choice in colour. The colours he uses in this particular portrait are all very warm (consisting of different shades of browns). They give a feeling of warmth and comfort yet the expression on the models face appears quite sad and cold. I found this to be somewhat of a paradox. This use of expressive colour I found very exciting and was a concept that led to more research for my project. I decided to paint a self portrait keeping these paints in mind. It led to the creation of a self portrait in this style using similar colours too. One technique the artist has used that I tried to show in my work was the layering of paint thickly. I felt this added volume and history to the portrait. Giacometti uses strong and thick layers of paint in order to emphasise the contrast between light and dark. He paints a dark figure on light background. I found the texture of the brush strokes very interesting but also hard to create in my own work. Giacometti usually focused on sculptures of the human body and for one of many portraits he created, this one shows how skilful he was at creating figures. I think the main aspect, of his paintings I have studied, that captures my interest is his style of painting. He uses free brush strokes and brush strokes which are applied like the crosshatching pencil strokes in a drawing. The shapes he creates with these brush strokes I think are most effective. I have tried to use mark making in my own work in this way. Francis Bacon: Having completed my self portrait I began to feel that it would be a good idea to try and capture expression in my work. I was interested in Francis Bacons expressions that he created in his models faces. Often distorting the faces, Bacons portraits and self portraits push the boundaries in portrait painting. The mood in his paintings is often sombre. Bacon uses dark colours such as dark green, blue and black. Much of his work conveys feelings of suffering and despair. His work is similar to that of cubist style painting and reminds me of Picassos work, such as the Demoiselles dAvignon, in particular the facial expressions of the figures. I studied The Screaming Pope. Bacon completed this painting after being inspired by Velazquezs portrait of Pope Innocent X in 1953. Bacon creates a claustrophobic and nightmarish scene. The figure of the pope is ghost-like. He looks dead or like he is dying. There is a haunted feel about the painting. The screaming face of the pope and the strokes down the painting adds to the horror of the image. One can almost hear his cries. I am not sure why Bacon decided to create such a horrific image of a religious figure who is seen by many as someone holy and graceful. Bacon may be expressing his feeling toward religion or to the concept of the pope. The fact that Bacon was a catholic who later came out as homosexual, perhaps he was suffering from quiet retribution. He may also have been challenging the status of the pope, shocking the public. Bacon had asthma as well as allergies to horses and dogs. During his attacks, he was given morphine, a strong drug, which may explain some of the creative expression in his work which have the quality of drug hallucinations. I am interested in this portrait; the colours convey a sense of horror. The use of purple and gold compliment each other very well but also signify riches and royalty. The black shadows in the background may represent growing shadows around the figure. The use of these colours and the dark aggressive feeling Bacon creates are very effective. When looking at the painting one can almost feel shivers down ones spine. The fact that you can see through the figures robes and that no legs are visible adds to the horror of this painting. After studying this painting I felt compelled to create a piece aiming to capture emotion in a similar way. I wanted to capture the expression in my portrait as Bacon did. I did another self portrait however this one differed from the first. I used different shades of blue acrylic paint. I did not however paint the whole face. Focusing from the nose down to the neck I painted a piece in which my mouth was wide open. I did this to try and capture a similar atmosphere which Bacon captured in The Screaming Pope. By focussing on the shapes created by the lips and cheeks, I was pleased with the result. However I think that perhaps the texture of the hardboard breaks up the brush strokes and makes the brush marks difficult to see. Lucian Freud: When it came to studying Lucian Freud I was amazed by the way he creates skin texture. One of his finest pieces of work was his self portrait entitled Reflection. Portraits and nudes are Freuds specialties and with this piece it is clear to see why. The thing I found most fascinating about this piece of art is the texture of the flesh. Freud seems to capture the raw and ugly nature of the human flesh. In this self portrait Freud has successfully captured every wrinkle and crevice on the face. He uses strong contrast in shadow and highlights and this is something I took into consideration with future paintings. His brushstrokes are carefully applied to create an accurate portrait, whereas Giacomettis portraits and figure drawings have a more abstract quality. Lucian Freuds portraits are so realistic that they become almost surreal. Freud captures every shadow and highlight in a meticulous manner and I was interested in achieving something similar in my own work. There is a strong significance about the colours and paint he uses: I want paint to work as flesh my portraits to be of people, not like them. Not having the look of the sitter, being them as far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does. www.about.com/painting Freud uses a granular pigment called cremnitz white to achieve his unique painting of the flesh. I mixed sand with paint to give more texture to my paint to imitate the texture. I thoroughly enjoyed working with it. I felt it added character to the portrait and made the texture of the skin far more interesting. I found the texture of the hair quite intriguing. I liked the rough and coarse look Freud creates and it was an option to try and achieve a similar look when painting my models hair. However the hair was probably the thing I had most trouble with. I struggled with texture and colour. Perhaps I should have spent more time studying how artists paint hair put it into practice before applying it to a large portrait. The expression in Freuds self portrait is interesting in relation to what it is I am trying to achieve in my work. I have looked closely at the forehead: the lines created from the artists frown. This was something else that I wanted to achieve in my own work. Final Pieces Self Portrait: This portrait was inspired by the portrait of Giacometti which I studied. Using similar colours I attempted to get that similarity to his work. For a first attempt I do not believe I achieved this. I did however succeed in getting a self portrait to actually look like me. This was a great boost of confidence for a first self portrait. From this piece I learned that I should create the background and plan it at the early stages of the portrait. I learned that the background is just as important as the face when creating mood or atmosphere. Oil Pastels on Brown Paper: This was the first time I used oil pastels for a large piece. My aim was to try and set a mood of strong emotion, so I went for feelings of anger and rage. This idea was inspired from paintings from artists such as Picasso and Bacon who use colour to manipulate the mood of their work. I used a strong red to achieve this, combined with black for shadows, orange for mediums and yellow and white for highlights. I drew from life. While looking in a mirror I tried to draw myself with an expression of anger. From this piece I learned how effective colour is in a portrait. For example I could have used a different colour other than red and a different feeling of emotion may have been evoked. Open Mouth Acrylic on hardboard: The aim with this piece was to capture emotion, a feeling of pain, fear or shock. I thought the use of different shades of blue would emphasise these feelings. This was influenced by works from Francis Bacon. The emotion in some of his paintings such as The Screaming Pope appealed to me and I wanted to portray that emotion through my work. However, I decided to take a different approach. Rather than painting my whole face I focused only on the bottom half, from the end of the nose down to the chin. My intention was to capture the emotion from just the open mouth, as I felt that is where most of the strong feelings of emotion exist in Bacons The Screaming Pope. Eyes can often show a persons true feelings, so I wanted achieve this without painting the eyes. The recycling of the hardboard was chosen to give myself experience working with other material. I used the rough side of the board to add texture and to give the piece some more character. In all I felt I had successfully created feelings such as pain and fear through not just my use of a cold colour like blue, but by focusing on the wide open mouth. Portrait of Brother: On A3 paper, I drew a portrait of my brother in pencil, from life. Before this I had practiced drawing portraits in pencil from photographs. This was to prepare me for drawing from life. I wanted to get an idea of shading, proportion, texture, etc. It was a challenge drawing from life as I was quite comfortable with drawing from photographs, however I needed to take that step in order to develop my skills in drawing portraits. Looking at the portrait now I see it lacks in volume. An obvious problem was that I only had a 4B and 6B pencil, so I learned the importance of having different grades of pencils. The portrait required more time in capturing the highlights and shadows. I also had a slight problem with measurements, as the eyes were a little out of proportion. I learned to spend more time in studying shading and to be stricter with my measurements. After drawing this portrait I then photocopied it. Working with the photocopies I tried to capture mood atmosphere by adding colour. I used blue oil pastels in the picture which ultimately led to a colder mood. I also tried to get a different effect. After colouring the picture I scrunched up the paper into a ball and dampened it with water. This then led to cracks on the page which I felt added to the mood, perhaps suggesting a mood of feeling cold and broken, etc. I then used a photocopy to draw it in a larger scale and with different material. Drawing on a sheet of brown paper larger than A2 I used chalk pastels with colours like orange, yellow and blue to try and get different effects. However I soon learned that there is a right way and a wrong way to use brown paper. I used the smoother side of the sheet which led to problems. It proved very difficult to work with as the chalk did not stick well. Portrait of Mother Pencil Charcoal: with this piece I drew my mother from life at a profile view. This was the first time I had drew someone at this angle, so I was interested to see how it would compare with my previous portraits. I used pencils grading from 2B up to 6B. I also used a rubber for the strong highlights that appeared on her hair. I found it challenging doing a profile view. I found that I had to be much more aware of the measurements from the ear to the eye and from the eye to the bridge of the nose. This was quite a challenge but I feel I was quite successful in getting the measurements quite accurate. I achieved a likeness in the drawing to my mothers face so this I felt was an achievement. I then moved on to a bigger piece using this drawing as a guide. On A2 grey card, I created a charcoal copy of the drawing. First however, because of our schools lack of resources, I was restricted to using a sheet of card, which was of poor quality. It had a shiny texture that did no agree with the charcoal. To solve this problem I mixed grey paint with sand. This changed the colour of the sheet but also made it rougher to allow the charcoal to stick. My measurements were a little off this time leading to a failure in getting a likeness to the model. I used the black of the charcoal for the dark shadings, the grey pain acted as a medium and I used white chalk for the highlights. From this I learned that it is possible to create better textures with the use of substances such as sand mixed with paint. I also learned that I have to be even stricter with my measurements as the charcoal piece was less accurate in comparison to the pencil drawing. Portrait of Tom: I drew a classmate from life using charcoal. When drawing this I wanted to explore different effects from light. I did it in a dark room with one office lamp. I feel I was quite successful in getting a likeness. My proportion has become more accurate. I then painted a final piece from this charcoal drawing. This I found a challenge as it is the largest portrait I have done yet. My aim was to get a Lucian Freud look and feel to it. I painted on the background first as I had learned from the past that it was easier to work in this progression. I painted thick brush strokes to create texture. I used shades of cream and pink for the skin colour. Then for the highlights I mixed sand with paint to give more texture to my paint to imitate the texture of Freuds cremnitz. I enjoyed working with this as it created an unusual and interesting texture. It proved to be effective in contrasting the highlights with shadows. The size was important as I wanted to experience with working on something large scale also I felt it would have a larger impact.

Multicultural Education Essay -- Educating Culture Essays

Multicultural Education History/Past Challenges: One of the major goals of the American school system is to provide all children with equal educational opportunity. However, with regard to minority students, meeting this particular objective has presented a real challenge to educators as they have been confronted with the task of reshaping education in the multilingual, multicultural society that characterizes the United States. Many significant events contributed to the need of school reform. The Civil Rights movement launched by African Americans in the 1960’s, which resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, triggered major social changes in the direction of equality and justice for all. Consequently, the US Department of Education was charged â€Å"†¦to conduct a survey on availability of equal educational opportunity and to provide technical and financial assistance to school boards in carrying out plans for the desegregation of public schools† (Zephir,1999:136). Changing immigration patterns also occurring since the 1960’s brought educational issues to the forefront of discussion. In 1968, the first Bilingual Education act was passed in an attempt â€Å"†¦to provide short-term help to school districts with high concentrations of students from low income homes who had limited English-speaking ability† (Millward,1999:47). Moreover, in 1974, the Sup reme Court ruled in Lau vs. Nichols (a class action suit brought on behalf of Chinese-speaking children in San Francisco) that English-limited children who were being taught in English â€Å"†¦were certain to find their classroom experiences totally incomprehensible and in no way meaningful† (Stevens,1999:108). In consequence, schools were instructed to give special help to non-English-speaking students in order to guarantee their equality under the law with students who spoke English as their first language. In short, the social movement of the 1960’s gave rise to major educational changes; and it was in that context that the concept of ‘multicultural education’ originated. The 1980’s saw the emergence of a body of scholarship on multicultural education by progressive education activists and researchers who refused to allow schools to address their concerns by simply adding token programs and special units on famous women or famous people of color. James Banks, one of the pioneers of multicul... ...ristics. A list of guidelines have been established by Kellough & Roberts (1998:27-28) for teaching students of diverse backgrounds: 1. Build the learning around the students’ individual learning styles. 2. Communicate positively with every student and with the student’s parent/guardians, learning as much as you can about the student and the student’s culture, and encouraging family members to participate in the student’s learning. 3. Establish a classroom climate in which each student feels he or she can learn and wants to learn. 4. Hold and maintain high expectations for each student 5. Personalize learning for each student; much like is done in the use of the IEP with special needs learners. 6. Plan for and use all learning modalities (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic). 7. Use cooperative learning. In summary, multicultural education strives for equity regardless of race, gender, culture, or national origin. Both school and society shape students’ lives. So, in order to be successful, multicultural education encompasses both the effort to create more equitable schools and the involvement of teachers and students in the creation of a more equitable society. Multicultural Education Essay -- Educating Culture Essays Multicultural Education History/Past Challenges: One of the major goals of the American school system is to provide all children with equal educational opportunity. However, with regard to minority students, meeting this particular objective has presented a real challenge to educators as they have been confronted with the task of reshaping education in the multilingual, multicultural society that characterizes the United States. Many significant events contributed to the need of school reform. The Civil Rights movement launched by African Americans in the 1960’s, which resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, triggered major social changes in the direction of equality and justice for all. Consequently, the US Department of Education was charged â€Å"†¦to conduct a survey on availability of equal educational opportunity and to provide technical and financial assistance to school boards in carrying out plans for the desegregation of public schools† (Zephir,1999:136). Changing immigration patterns also occurring since the 1960’s brought educational issues to the forefront of discussion. In 1968, the first Bilingual Education act was passed in an attempt â€Å"†¦to provide short-term help to school districts with high concentrations of students from low income homes who had limited English-speaking ability† (Millward,1999:47). Moreover, in 1974, the Sup reme Court ruled in Lau vs. Nichols (a class action suit brought on behalf of Chinese-speaking children in San Francisco) that English-limited children who were being taught in English â€Å"†¦were certain to find their classroom experiences totally incomprehensible and in no way meaningful† (Stevens,1999:108). In consequence, schools were instructed to give special help to non-English-speaking students in order to guarantee their equality under the law with students who spoke English as their first language. In short, the social movement of the 1960’s gave rise to major educational changes; and it was in that context that the concept of ‘multicultural education’ originated. The 1980’s saw the emergence of a body of scholarship on multicultural education by progressive education activists and researchers who refused to allow schools to address their concerns by simply adding token programs and special units on famous women or famous people of color. James Banks, one of the pioneers of multicul... ...ristics. A list of guidelines have been established by Kellough & Roberts (1998:27-28) for teaching students of diverse backgrounds: 1. Build the learning around the students’ individual learning styles. 2. Communicate positively with every student and with the student’s parent/guardians, learning as much as you can about the student and the student’s culture, and encouraging family members to participate in the student’s learning. 3. Establish a classroom climate in which each student feels he or she can learn and wants to learn. 4. Hold and maintain high expectations for each student 5. Personalize learning for each student; much like is done in the use of the IEP with special needs learners. 6. Plan for and use all learning modalities (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic). 7. Use cooperative learning. In summary, multicultural education strives for equity regardless of race, gender, culture, or national origin. Both school and society shape students’ lives. So, in order to be successful, multicultural education encompasses both the effort to create more equitable schools and the involvement of teachers and students in the creation of a more equitable society.

Nazi-Soviet Pact and Appeasement Essay -- Papers

Nazi-Soviet Pact and Appeasement The Nazi-Soviet was a non-aggression pact signed by the foreign ministers of Germany and Russia on 23 August 1939. When Germany and Russia reached this promise not to fight each other, they made a secret pact to invade and divide Polandand give the Baltic States to Russia. By signing the Pact, Germany was able to invade Poland from the west and the Soviet Union gained the eastern half of Poland as well as the Baltic States as well as gaining time to prepare for war against Germany. Why was the signing of the Pact a surprise? The signing of the pact was a total surprise because everyone knew that Fascist Germany and the Communist Soviet Union were political enemies. In addition Hitler had sworn for years that he was the mortal enemy of Bolshevism, so it was not surprising that the Pact came as a shock. During 1939 Stalin had invited Britain to discuss a possible alliance against Germany to prevent Hitler from carrying out his plans. At first Britain had refused tal...

Educating Rita and the Allegory of the Cave Essay

The film â€Å"Educating Rita† and the essay â€Å"the Allegory of the Cave† are based on philosophical ideas and problems connected with personal development, education and understanding of the good life. ‘Educating Rita† and the essay â€Å"the Allegory of the Cave’ portray personal development of people and importance of education, persistence and hard work crucial for success and self-determination. Thesis Both works portrays that only self-improvements and education combined with personal values will create a unique personality able to obtain social status and understand the world. Educating Rita’ and ‘the Allegory of the Cave’ discuss the role of persistence and hard work in education and learning. In the film, the main heroin would not be able to achieve success and change her personality without diligence and great desire to archive this success. Similar to the film, Plato portrays that persistence and desire to learn something new drive the personality. Thus, both works show that learning differences arise from different motives and personal traits, different goals and life expectations of the characters. Socrates questions: â€Å"And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them? (Plato). In this case, thinking and analysis are the main tools which help the student to learn and develop new knowledge. For learners, one of the first and most basic steps to master new knowledge is to develop strong skills through practice and cramming. The works portray that a unique personality is coined by education and learning, knowledge sharing and continuous practice. ‘Educating Rita’ portrays that learning ensures that the knowledge is generated and perceived currently. ‘Educating Rita’ portrays that every person can improve her knowledge and receives good education in spite of her class location and background. Similar to the film’s theme, Plato says: â€Å"Whereas our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already† (Plato). It is important to note that in contrast to many other students who work hard for many years but fail to achieve their dream, the film and Plato’s essay describe that learning can shape any personality in a short period of time, but he/she needs long-life learning and education in order to to keep abreast of time and expend his/her knowledge. Both works, â€Å"Educating Rita† and â€Å"the Allegory of the Cave† discuss the important role of teacher and mentor in education and self-development. The role of the teacher is to motivate and inspire his pupil. In general terms, motivation in the pupil can be described as the direction and persistence of action. It is concerned with why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others, and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period, and in the face of difficulties and problems. The process of learning is closely connected with self-regulated learning. Plato comments: â€Å"He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold? (Plato). In the film, this process is supported by strong personal commitment to work, life goals and hopes which have not come true. In contrast to ‘the Allegory of the Cave’ in the film motivation is concerned, basically, with why Rita behaves in a certain way. Personal motivation and life goals have a direct and positive impact on her self-direct learning. Her motivation can be describes as urges, aspirations, drives and needs of human beings direct or control or explain their behavior. Symbolically, for prisoners ‘light’ symbolizes ‘truth’ while for Rita ‘education’ becomes the light in her life. In sum, both works describe that our world views depend upon education, learning, and a teacher who supports and guides his pupil. Education is the first major step that increases personal values of everyone and creates new opportunities to succeed on the workplace. Learning is typical for people, because they see persistence and diligence as important qualities of a character and personal traits. Character Sketches Rita (Susan) Rita is a young (about twenty) working class girl (hairdresser) who wants to improve her life and continue education. She is marriage but her husband is constantly against her education. From the start it is clear from her bad grammar that she has a less polished education than the other students. At the start she is simply the instrument of Frank. Later she seems to have some pity for him. One sign of Rita’s development is her growing realization of how Frank cares about her. She is smart, brave and courageous to start a new life. To be so clear about one’s upbringing is a step in overcoming it. At the end of the film she becomes persistent, diligent and hard-working students. A diligent attitude to learning is the best way to prove that hard work and persistence can result in social recognition and high social status. Dr Frank Bryant Frank is a middle aged academician who achieved nothing in his life. He lack money and decides to teach working class students to earn for living. Frank combines the moral and social qualities of a gentleman. He is patient, sympathetic and kind. He inherits honesty; he is a reliable and sensitive, clumsy and inaccurate person. In his love for Rita, he shows that he has none of snobbery or egoism. His tact is evident in his treatment of Rita and in the delicate way he corrects her manners. Frank is, above all, a loyal friend who actively helps Rita in her attempt to change herself. Knowing how to work and motivate his pupils is one of the marks of a true teacher. Frank conforms to this ideal. His fine manners show that he is a gentleman at heart.