Abstract In Japanese culture, there is a tradition of scholastic "excellence" about which there is a considerable amount of contradictory information. One such issue is the purpose and processes of such supplemental educational practices as "cram schools." This paper will define what "cram schools" are and offer some competing rationalizations concerning the history of their existence and the contradictory perspectives of the purpose, benefits and social costs of such supplemental education. This paper will argue that the education system itself is not specifically responsible for the existence of cram schools; but rather, that the presence of these schools can be traced through a variety of cultural and historical beliefs about the role of the family; that is, how particular ideological values are structured into family values and how concepts of "success" are directly traceable to the paternalistic ideologies which structure the family, in terms of family-role.
This paper discusses the evolving and multifaceted roles of Italian-American women in literature through the eyes of Italian-American male and female authors.
Abstract This paper explains that stereotypes from whores to the Holy Madonna incarnation encompass the multi-faceted and contradictory roles of Italian-American women in Italian-American literature written by both Italian-American men and women. The author points out that the literature relates that social class, differences in religiosity, the American tradition and construction of success and the often contradictory ways the familial and immigrant experience, have come into conflict with the female experience in American. The paper reviews Pietro di Donato's relatively early novel "Christ in Concrete", Mario Puzo's "The Godfather", Helen Barolini's novel "Umbertina" and her collection of personal and scholarly entitled essays "Chiaroscuro" and Evidge Giunta's text "Writing With an Accent" to demonstrate that beneath these narrow stereotypes more complex and individuated roles of Italian-American women's life do emerge.
From the Paper "These images emerge in the depicted reality of nonfiction as well as fictional life come forth, as these women are seen engaged in child rearing, showing impressive work ethics to enable their families to survive, laboring as well as suffering in the role of daughter, and as these women show their strength in their roles of mother as well as their silent compassion. Gradually, as Italian women themselves began to speak, Italian women and authors have grown fluent at showing female Italian working and middle-class sexuality as well as images of long-enduring Mediterranean fortitude, women alone in the role of a wife bent over a stove bubbling with red hot gravy and meatballs smelling of garlic and onions."
Abstract The following paper discusses Rousseau's theory of democracy which was contradictory to the dictum of the democratic practice we have today but is nevertheless the practical view of democracy. This paper argues that although Rousseau's theory may not be congruent to the image we have of democracy or the natural state, we have seen traces of it in existent in our life.
From the Paper "When man was first introduced with the theory of living in a society, he was only too glad to join as it ensured his safety and shelter. Through the course of time he learned from others to become wiser in the ways of living, thereby there emerged laws and regulations by one community abide to live together. Many communities have their own rules and regulations, and each one put up conditions for any one who does not obey it. This was a natural dicourse by which man had grown to become caveman society."
Abstract This paper explores the contradictions in American history and society by looking at the personal experiences of Frederick Douglass and Walt Whitman.
This paper is a proposal for a research study to evaluate if same sex schools provide a greater or lesser quality of education to students in preparation for future higher education in a co-ed institution.
Abstract This paper explains that literature is not replete with studies on male and female single gender education as being a better road to college success than coeducational venues; however, available literature is contradictory. The author states that the data will be both historical and numerical, using a testable hypothesis, questionnaire, and statistical data analysis; college success will be defined by freshman year college grade points over four quarters of study wherein at least 12 credit hours were attempted. The paper states that the research variables under consideration will include acquired academic strengths, emotional growth, participatory leadership development, and social connectionism as preparatory measures for success in college or university.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Research Methodology
Main Effects Hypothesis
Assessment Instrument
Statistical Analysis Tool
Literature Review
From the Paper "Education, albeit public school, private school, or charter school affiliated, is a process whereby the youth of America are provided and opportunity to receive an education in an environment conducive to learning which, in turn, provides the necessary skills and competencies necessary to enter college and be successful. The broadly defined mission of any high school is one of creative growth through social, emotional, and physical development. Although this is sometimes a lofty undertaking, it is one, nonetheless, that is necessary if a successful college education is to be attained. In the twenty first century where mega technology abounds high schools are continually being challenged to prepare students to the rigors of a less supervised, more independent, and more rigorous college experience. In order to meet the challenges high schools, regardless of classification, are put upon to provide students with a learning environment that is wide ranging, socially and academically responsible, and self-motivating.Should these characteristics not be built into the school curriculum, a young student entering college is at a disadvantage and the possibility of failure is increased."
Abstract This paper explains that global business environments have become so complex that a strategy, which may have worked successfully in the past, now calls for new requirements for a different solution; furthermore, solutions are sometimes contradictory to those previously adopted. The author points out that decentralization has its many advantages, the most notable being the ability and capacity to quickly respond to market challenges and to react to external factors. The paper relates that, in general, any rational organization has profit maximization as its primordial goal; on the other hand, this strategic goal sometimes comes up against many of the company's social and environmental responsibilities, in some cases causing significant disasters.
Table of Contents
Strategic Thinking
Strategy Formation
Strategic Change
Business Level Strategy
Corporate Level Strategy
Network Level Strategy
The Industry Context
The Organizational Context
The International Context
Organizational Purpose
From the Paper "This paradox refers to the fact that creativity and rational analysis need to coexist in a company in order for it to survive. This paradox is applicable to any individual's life as well: we often find ourselves in a situation where the decision we take relies on instinct and imagination rather than on the planning and analysis performed previously. This is the same in the case of organizations and General Electrics is perhaps the best example in this sense."
Abstract This paper discusses the contradictory nature of research involving very young children and their knowledge of visual events that are physically impossible versus possible. It specifically looks at research regarding object permanence, object height and object width in the understanding of infants and toddlers. The paper shows how the apparent contradiction of these tests have significant implications for child psychology and development.
From the Paper "Research regarding object permanence and other, object height, and object width in infants and toddlers has consistently baffled researchers. While infants have suggested that they recognize an object's ability to exist when not visible, toddlers have shown confusion in grasping the same subject. If the results obtained by these studies are, indeed, correct, they will have shocking implications for the world of child psychology and child development. In order to further research the phenomenon, students must determine whether or not the results of the previous experiments were due to error and conduct a series of experiments that will monitor infants as they grow into toddlers, pinpointing the moment of skill loss. By following this proposal, researchers and scientists will be able to understand the cause of these bizarre results."
Tags: height, weight, solidity, continuity, possible
Abstract This paper discusses the part played by John Keats in the Romantic movement. The writer gives a brief overview of Keats' life and explains, giving examples from "Ode to a Nightingale and "Bright Star," how his writing shows his passion for appreciating the natural beauty of the known world, as well as his ability to express the tension between the desire and the reality of life. Doomed to an early death by his chronic tuberculosis, the contradictory force of wanting to live for his love, but also wanting to be somewhere else and to be something else to escape the truth was excruciating for Keats. He captured the moment of ecstasy amidst the pain, a moment in time where the human soul is able to leave suffering behind by escaping into the idealistic beauty of Nature. The paper concludes that Keats' influence on the Romantic period may have been greater than that of any other writer in his time.
From the Paper "Keats was drawn to the organic, ethereal nostalgia of the earth. All of his poems include characteristics of natural phenomena that expose his perception of the world as the ultimate and perfect existence, the entity that a dying Keats strongly desires to identify with. For instance, in Ode to a Nightingale, the song of the bird heard from the window is immortalized in several of Keats's stanzas. By the third stanza, Keats encourages the bird to enjoy its freedom."
Tags: literary, anti-intellectualism, humanitarianism, Yeats, Shelley, conflict, death
Abstract This paper looks at an autobiography of a slave that was written in the 18th Century and analyses the character of the writer, justifying his contradictory nature.
From the Paper "The genre of autobiography is the primary source to the character of an individual, especially for one such as The Life of Olaudah Equiano that presents the genuine life story of an African slave with minimal sentimentalizing or fabricating of incidents. However, Equiano's beliefs and behavior are often paradoxical and incoherent, leaving the reader to rationalize these dilemmas themselves. When we see that the European white culture, and not Equiano's personality, is the main culprit for these contradictions, we realize how the influential masterpiece must have caused a rethink among the late-18th Century European audience."
Abstract This paper deals with Galileo's arguments with church officials, and his attempt to reconcile his scientific findings with teachings from the bible. Emphasis is placed on Galileo's conviction that scientific truth and the biblical message are not contradictory, but can complement each other. Historical and religious figures are discussed with respect to their influence on Galileo.
From the Paper "Perhaps the most relevant and convincing argument that Galileo posed to clear up the relationship between
scientific truth and the bible was that the bible was often unclear and ambiguous (GAL 214, 206, 199), which could cause the true meaning to be misunderstood by people attempting to translate it's meaning. An example of this posed by Galileo was from the commonly known story of God stopping the sun in the sky to allow Joshua to win a battle."
Attempts to answer the question of how a non-monotheistic religion, such as Jainism, offers a credible alternative to a monotheistic religion, such as Christianity.
2,780 words (approx. 11.1 pages), 2 sources, 2001, $ 82.95
Abstract The author of this paper looks at the language of logical argumentation, and its need for proofs which he contends has a grounding in the cultural zeitgeist born of monotheistic Christianity. He further contends that the purpose of both is to somehow escape the historically and socially located perspectives from which we see or speak, seeking for incontrovertible, singular, and non-contradictory Truths.
From the paper:
"Should we not, ethically speaking, imagine that Jainism is not in anyway dependent for its worth on the lens through which it is observed? Does it not, in a certain sense, already have an experience-independent existence, unless we assume phenomenology? But the problem is that the philosophical inquiry in Yandell begins with the assumption that religions need to somehow defend the truth value of their claims. While monotheistic Christianity dwells in the house of dependency and the subjugation to the prying eyes of a radical Other, like God; Jainism does not."
From the Paper "Should we not, ethically speaking, imagine that Jainism is not in anyway dependent for its worth on the lens through which it is observed? Does it not, in a certain sense, already have an experience-independent existence, unless we assume phenomenology? But the problem is that the philosophical inquiry in Yandell begins with the assumption that religions need to somehow defend the truth value of their claims. While monotheistic Christianity dwells in the house of dependency and the subjugation to the prying eyes of a radical Other, like God; Jainism does not. "
Abstract This paper discusses Dylan Thomas' influence as a Welshman upon the world of English poetry. Thomas offered the English-speaking world the opportunity to peer into the complex and all-too-contradictory world of the Welsh heart. He introduced Welsh mysticism, and drew upon his early up-bring and the influence of the Church on his life.
From the paper:
"To say that Dylan Thomas? early years in Swansea, Wales were full of contradiction would be a gross understatement. It is not easy to say whether his birth in an age when to speak Welsh in Wales was considered to be something less than correct was to be his greatest boon or his greatest curse. Whatever the case may be, it cannot be denied that this dichotomy engendered Dylan Thomas with a poetic prowess that was uniquely his own. What's more, it can be argued that it was his very Welsh-ness, with its powerful imagery and intricate word-play, which dazzled an English-speaking world. He embraced Welsh passions and wrapped it in the English language. This Anglo-Welsh voice touched a literary nerve in a way that no other poet had before. Thomas Dylan straddled a cultural divide, bringing the ancient Welsh mysticism, Puritanism, and bardic tradition into the pragmatic world of the Western Industrial Age."
Tags: bardic, mysticism, puritanism, tradition, church, welsh, england, wales
This paper looks at how F.Scott Fitzgerald employs alcohol, and the abuse of alcohol, to symbolise priorities and problems in 1920's upper class America in his book, "The Great Gatsby."
Abstract This paper examines essay highlights the importance of alcohol in upper class 1920's America illustrated in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby." With reference to values surrounding wealth, etiquette and class, the essay illustrates how Fitzgerald uses alcohol to represent the contradictory feelings in upper class America; although there is a dinstinctive feeling of energy and euphoria in the era, this is underlined by crisis and unease.
From the Paper "Alcohol also seems to contribute to the distinctive energy of America. It has a direct effect on mood, leading to heightened euphoria and sociability. Such high spirits ensure the success of Gatsby's parties, where "cocktails permeate the garden outside until the air is alive with chatter and laughter" (p.42). Intoxicated, his guests are happy and carefree. Indeed, alcohol is credited for the confidence of a girl who dances alone at one party; she "seizes a cocktail"and dumps it down for courage? (p.43). The positive effects of alcohol are also apparent at other points in the novel. A visitor to West Egg becomes more pleasant through drinking: "the woman said nothing"until unexpectedly, after two highballs, she became cordial? (p.99). Alcohol also helps overturn some of the social restrictions of polite society."
Abstract The following essay critically analyzes Anselm Berrigan's poems: "In the paintings of Will ", "My Poem", "Poem minus thing", "Ghost Town" and "A short history of autumn". This essay suggests that if we look at life's journeys from Berrigan's view and their path along the way, we may have a clearer understanding of where Anselm Berrigan is going with his poetry.
From the Paper "The poems in Anselm Berrigan's "Integrity & Dramatic Life", express many aspects of individuality, isolation, cycles of life, mental anguish and frustration of society. Some of the poems tend to resemble rambling but in a sense relate to aspects of the subject as it is seen in the mind of ones inner thoughts. The "Ghost Town," for example shows ones outlook on the cycle of life and the process of labor. Anselm expresses a view of the cycle of labor in a practical sense but also uses outward ramifications to show some of his imaginary personality. "
This paper is an historical study of the Mohicans based on the film "The Last of the Mohicans" and a book called "Betrayals: Fort William Henry and the Massacre".
Abstract This paper details the story of "The Massacre" that was held during a battle between the Britain and France's Indian allies at Fort William. The book "Betrayals: Fort William Henry and the Massacre" by Ian Steele, took a close look at the old stereotypes, balancing out and combining contradictory accounts to forge one coherent and accurate tale. The film "The Last of the Mohicans", directed by Michael Mann, paid intricate attention to such historical details as style, language, and muzzle-loader mechanics. The paper details the event in respect to these two works and analyzes this terrible tragedy.
From the Paper "In 1757, the British outpost of Fort William surrendered to the French forces that had besieged it. Terms of surrender were granted that promised safe passage to the warriors and civilians living within the fort, and the British moved out. On the trek back to noncombatant territory, the surviving garrison was attacked by France's Indian allies. The "massacre" that followed was to go down in infamy, as wildly speculative and differing reports made their way back to the press. The episode was seen as an ultimate symbol for the perfidy of savage Indians and their treasonous European counterparts, and was perpetuated through endless literary retellings. Well over 300 years later, the story of this massacre is still being told. In 1990, a historical book Betrayals: Fort William Henry and the ?Massacre,? by Ian Steele, took a close look at the old stereotypes, balancing out and combining contradictory accounts to forge one coherent and accurate tale. Shortly thereafter, the legend was told once again, this time in full Technicolor. . The Last of the Mohicans, directed by Michael Mann, paid intricate attention to such historical details as style, language, and muzzle-loader mechanics. However, the film also took distinct liberties with the actual situations and reasons surrounding the Fort Williams massacre."
