Abstract This paper examines the position that the premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, holds in the political fabric of Ontario as well as within the national political structure. The paper points out that McGuinty has been premier since 2003 and is largely considered to be a moderate fiscal conservative, although he is a political liberal in most other respects. It holds that one of his top priorities upon becoming premier was to attract further international investment into the province as a way to spur economic growth. The paper also points out that another chief objective of McGuinty's leadership has been a balanced budget by 2009. Additionally, the paper notes that McGuinty's politically liberal positions include support of abortion rights for women and unequivocal support for same sex couples, which led to the passage of legislation in Ontario that ensured legal status for such couples. Lastly, the paper addresses the McGuinty administration's focus on the "MoveOntario" project, which targeted a $1.2 billion investment in provincial transportation infrastructure.
Outline:
Overview
Provincial Jurisdiction
Responsibilities Outcome
Municipal Amalgamation
From the Paper "The concept of provincial jurisdiction in Ontario was considerably undermined by the Harris Tory government that preceded McGuinty's government. The Tory government began passing in the mid and late 1990s a series of laws which removed substantial powers of jurisdiction from the local municipalities and placed them largely within the jurisprudence of provincial control. Provincial jurisdiction over municipalities was first undermined by the Schedule M within the Savings and Restructuring Act in 1997 which gave the province's minister of municipal affairs the authority to designate a commissioner who could actually restructure municipalities if they could not agree to boundaries or other issues among themselves. This law removed the entire process of municipal compromise from the municipalities themselves and awarded it to the provincial authorities."
Abstract This paper discusses the book "In Pedagogy Matters: Standards for Effective Teaching Practice" by Stephanie Dalton in which she outlines five standards for pedagogy.
Outline:
The Impact of the ISSLC Standards
Componants of Pedagogy
Components of Pedagogy - Instruction, Motivation and Student Success
From the Paper "Better learning is based on better teaching. Teachers have a huge impact on student achievement and as such are central to educational reform. Unfortunately this emphasis has not always been evident. (Dalton, 1998, p. 4) Dalton quotes Nel Noddings, "...reform continues to focus on what students need to learn but ignores teachers' struggle with how to help them learn it." (Dalton, 1998, p.4) (These were prophetic words almost half a decade before "No Child Left Behind!) Teachers need to know how to help students learn, as our old assumptions about how this occurs no longer work.
"Many minority and low-income groups have had few language, literacy, or cultural resources in their families or communities that prepared them for success in U.S. schools" (Dalton p. 4). If, she writes, we believe that "all" students can and should learn, then teachers need greater skill than we assumed they did in the past. (Dalton, 1998, p. 5) Teachers today can't simply lecture or pour knowledge into their students; they must be able to effectively introduce a content topic, encourage questions, involve students in content activities, and continually assess their progress. (Dalton 1998, p. 8)"
Abstract This paper examines Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun", a book which attempted to enable its readers to understand the horrors of war. The main character, Joe, who is completely crippled, unable to speak, hear, see, or move, is analyzed by the author who discusses how his thoughts are all he has to live for. The paper also looks at how war is romanticized by people, but in reality, is sheer hell.
From the Paper "Joe is crippled by an artillery shell which takes out his face and all of his limbs. He can not speak, move, see, hear, taste, or smell. Amazingly kept alive by doctors, he is essentially a piece of meat which can think. There are several specific messages which Trumbo strongly asserts in his novel: the idiocy of regimentalism and nationalism; that we can not comprehend what it is like to be a casualty, dead or alive; that war is terribly brutal and dehumanizing, and therefore unnatural; and that it is always the little guy who fights the rich man's wars. Trumbo's sentiment is reflective of the pacifism of the interwar period, and which led to appeasement towards Hitler until his invasion of Poland."
Abstract This paper examines how in the two novels "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo and "Little Big Man" by Thomas Berger, individuals are changed greatly by war. It discusses how although both novels show war as a foolish endeavor which no one really wins, the authors treat war in different ways. It analyzes how Berger includes scenes of battle in his book, while Trumbo concentrates on the aftermath of war in the form of one blinded and crippled individual whose outer life has been taken completely from him, leaving him only an inner life of memory and immediate sensation. It also looks at how Berger presents his images of war in a comic manner, highlighting the foolishness and insanity of war through exaggeration and in his choice of details and how Trumbo's entire book represents the futility of war and the horror for those who are wounded.
From the Paper "Jack Crabb changes in various ways throughout the novel, shifting his personality to fit into the different worlds he finds himself in, first a settler, then an Indian, then a cavalry soldier, and always a man seeking to keep ahead of his fate. For Jack, war has different faces, depending on which side he is on at the time. This fact alone shows how war changes him, for he becomes what others want him to be. When with the Indians, he is told, "My son, those are white people that we are going to destroy" (Berger 91). When he is with the cavalry, he hears similar sentiment about how they are going to kill the Indian. For the real effect of war on the human psyche, there is Custer, who seems to be veering into insanity as he continues his campaign. War itself is depicted as insane, and it is not surprising that some of the warriors are as well, especially a committed leader like Custer."
Abstract This paper examines how "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo is about Joe Bonham, a soldier who went to war believing in one thing, and returned a forever-changed man. The paper discusses how the novel is simply an antiwar novel that contains a good many messages. The paper relates that, using everyday language, Trumbo offers the reader a novel rich in symbolism and theme that may cause even the most devoted military person to rethink his or her commitment.
From the Paper "Trumbo gives great insight into the inner working of Joe by giving us his extreme point of view. Trapped within his own thoughts, he rethinks his actions and how naive he was to believe in such a word as "liberty." In the novel, Joe says, " What the hell does liberty mean anyway?...a guy says let's fight for liberty and he can't show you liberty. He can't prove the thing he's talking about so how in hell can he be telling you to fight for it?" Joe is angry, first at himself, and later at the military and the government who trick simple working class fools into fighting for an abstract concept, which has no concrete meaning. Because Joe is on the brink of death, he has nothing to lose by angrily attacking those who made him this way, he has nothing to lose by feeling like he should be the new face of war, and he has nothing to lose by wanting to tell the truth about what he has learned, if only there was a way to get the message outside his head and into the minds of others."
Abstract The paper shows that the symbols of dark and light in Richard Wright's "Native Son" represent both good and bad elements in the book. It discusses how these motifs are hurtful and beneficial simultaneously throughout the novel. It shows, too, how these symbols refer to objects, feelings, people, culture and society.
From the Paper "The light and dark motifs in the novel Native Son, by Richard Wright, are ambivalent and complex. These symbols have both good and bad elements. On the one hand, Bigger Thomas hates what whites have made of his dark skin; he is conditioned to see his blackness in a negative manner. However, he loves the darkness when it offers protection from what whites have caused in Bigger's home, community, and life. The light symbols in this novel represent a sense of power. The whites, in Native Son, are considered to be superior based on the light color of their skin. Light also represents a lack of knowledge of the whites about black society and culture."
From the Paper " This paper is an examination of justice, one of the principles of living outlined by the Bible. Although many religious leaders speak of "the seven principles," the Bible actually does not specify seven distinct standards by which an individual should live. Instead, its writings give examples of a right way of living, and one of the examples that recurs throughout is that of the just life, lived according to the guidelines of the saints, prophets, and disciples of the Old Testament and the New Testament. In contemporary society, two very different individuals embody the principle of justice, one a writer who has dedicated his life to seeing that justice is done, by continually reminding his readers of one of the greatest injustices in history, the other a Forest Service employee, who has put her career on the line in order to do the job she.."
Through his study of gases, John Dalton arrived at some of the most important theoretical concepts in modern chemistry. He established a system whereby relative particle weights can be obtained from available chemical data. In addition, he devised a simple system of rules for chemical combination. Dalton also provided a framework for a system of atomic symbolism. His atomic theory is very useful for explaining a wide variety of physical and chemical phenomena.
Some have called John Dalton the father of the atomic theory of chemistry (1:83). His exact birth date is unknown. By his death in 1844 at the age 78, Dalton had devised some of the most fundamental ideas of modern chemistry (3:984). Indeed, many view the scientist as one of the founders of modern chemistry."
Abstract In Richard Wright's "Native Son", the character of Bigger is at times both a victim and a sacrificial figure. The paper shows that the horrible events of his life are shaped by the hopelessness and racism of his environment. The paper examines how Wright manages to create a form of compassion for Bigger, a man whose life was largely predetermined by his environment. Eventually, Bigger realizes that a violent attack against white society was the only option available to him, in the overwhelming despair and hopelessness of the inner city.
From the Paper "Wright is careful to craft the story so the events of Bigger's life seem almost out of Bigger's control. Bigger Thomas is trapped by the frustration and poverty of his life. Bigger grows up in a society of racism and hopelessness, and ultimately becomes a product of this environment. As Bigger looks back over the course of his life, he eventually decides that lashing out violently against white society was the only possibility that was open to him. Bigger's attorney clearly reflects this belief in his closing statement, where he notes of Bigger, "It was the first full act of his life; it was the most meaningful, exciting and stirring thing that had ever happened to him. He accepted it because it made him free, gave him the possibility of choice, of action, the opportunity to act and to feel that his actions carried weight" (Wright)."
Abstract This paper examines the American curriculum today, noting that it can be viewed as having remained substantially the same in form within, while undergoing enormous pressures to change from without. From such experimental programs as the Dalton Plan, the Winnetka Plan, and the Gary Plan, and from the pioneering work of Francis W. Parker and, notably, John Dewey, which ushered in the "progressive education" of the 1920s and 1930s, American schools, curricula, and teacher training have changed in favor of more flexible and cooperative methods. These new approaches have been pursued within a school that is seen as an overall learning community. The attempt to place the nature and experience of the child and the present life of the society at the center of school activity has been a primary focus of this approach.
From the Paper "According to several studies in the last 10 years, the use of newer forms of assessment have provided an increasing alignment between what is being taught and what is being assessed. Anderson et al. point out that if assessment continues to advance, teachers should no longer feel compelled to "teach to tests" because tests will be more in harmony with good teaching practices. In the past, there was clear evidence that teachers frequently narrowed their curriculum just to improve test scores. Therefore, students who are engaged in programs of instruction using quality literature as a basis for reading, comparing, reflecting, and writing will clearly have an advantage on new forms of reading assessment."
Abstract This paper discusses how Wright, through his use of character and story, shows that circumstances often evoke sympathy enough to transcend any contempt felt toward one's immoral behavior. The paper also explores social and racial problems presented in the novel--those of the contrasting lifestyles of Bigger and the Daltons, of black and whites.
In conclusion the author of the paper also offers his personal opinion of the novel.
From the Paper "Such is the case with Bigger Thomas of Richard Wright's Native Son. As the title implies, Bigger is a native of a very distinct culture, the black product of a white society. To the superficial eye, he is merely the stereotypical black man of that time, full of violence, hatred, and indolence and lacking the proper moral direction that white society could provide. While much of these assumptions remain true throughout the novel, one begins to interpret them differently, as the hopeless situation into which Bigger has been born becomes increasingly apparent. Throughout Wright's accounts of Fear, Flight, and Fate, the truth of the environment in which Bigger lives evokes sympathy that shifts the responsibility for his actions from the protagonist to society."
Abstract This paper examines the influence of legendary gunfighters, courage, self-reliance, ambition, community, and individualism in the Old West. The paper explains that they were all intertwined, for everyone shared a common view of the harsh challenges the Old West presented. The paper states that ambition, self-reliance and individualism were especially admired, regardless of whether they were demonstrated by law-abiding people or by gun-slinging criminals such as Billy the Kid, John Wesley Hardin and the Dalton Gang.
From the Paper "In Western frontier society, the influence of legendary gunfighters, courage, self-reliance, ambition, community and individualism were all intertwined, for everyone shared a common view of the harsh challenges the Old West presented. Ambition, self-reliance, and individualism were especially admired, regardless of whether they were demonstrated by law-abiding people or by gun slinging criminals such as Billy the Kid, John Wesley Hardin, and the Dalton Gang. (Utley 5) This frontier ethos still influences American society, and has gained increasing acceptance in recent years as resurgent conservative political, economic and social attitudes have begun to replace liberal values founded upon socioeconomic equality."
