How My Children Helped Change My Life Essay Example for Free

How My Children Helped Change My Life Essay When my children were born, I knew my life was going to change. I started to feel complete with my life the day my son arrived. Even more complete when my little girl was first placed in my arms. My children have been my rock over the last three and a half years. They have helped me learn, grow, and love by showing me the world through their eyes. My children have helped me become a better role model and friend. They have helped me through my education. With my children I’m always learning something new. Most importantly my little ones have taught me how to love in a whole new light and it’s the small things in life that matter. A few years ago when I was about the age of 16 I knew that I had always wanted to be a mother. At that time I was going through a very difficult stage. I had my head wrapped around alcohol and a not so pleasant drug. As I proceeded to live the life I knew I never wanted, I had a lady a couple years older than me express that she loved her children but she loved the drug we chosen to do and that would never change. I threw my hands up, walked out the door and never returned to that life. I knew I was not destined to be that person. At the age of 18 I had found I was pregnant with my son. My old life was behind me and I knew this child was going to change my life forever. It had changed me into a mother. A month after my son’s first birthday when got the news I was pregnant with my second child. Even though Alieric was only a year old, I think the little man was more excited for a baby than me. He helped me as much as his little fingers could during his my pregnancy. He would grab me trash cans, rub my tummy, and talked to the baby every day. He loved his sister before she even arrived. He touched my heart in more ways than one and showed me even as a tiny person, love still had the power to conquer all. The day my daughter was born, I had to leave my son with a friend until his sister actually arrived. It broke his heart. I promised him that as soon as she was here he would be one of the first people to see her. I reassured him that she was going to love him as much as he had already loved her. That was the day I vowed never to break a promise to him or our new little bundle of joy. Now my children are hitting 4 years and 2 years. As they have grown I have tried my best to show them right from wrong and encourage them to help others as much as they can. Respect and appreciation is something that has been a huge part of my life and now that I have passed that down to my children, I get scolded from them when they think I’m being rude. They teach me right from wrong , and put their mommy in check. â€Å"Say bless you mommy†, â€Å"You’re excused†, â€Å"Mommy that wasn’t nice†, â€Å"I think you owe grandma an apology mom†. Those are the statements you might hear my children say on a daily basis. As I instill respect in them, they also instill respect and courtesy in me. I started school at the Goal Academy in 09 right after my son was born. I pushed myself for him so I could give him a future but that schooling wasn’t working for me. I moved on to the Alternative High School Diploma Program at PCC. Through that program I was pregnant with my little girl and with another baby on the way I pushed myself even harder to get through the program to graduate for them. Every day before I left my son would wish me luck, tell me to do a great job and that he knew that I could do it. That was all the motivation I needed. I made it through it 6 months! My little man guided me through it. He was there to watch me walk across the stage at graduation and all I could hear was him rooting for me. I was on proud momma that my son had so much faith in me. Now as I walk out the door each morning for college and my kiddos stay home , it fills my heart to hear them say things like â€Å" kill that test mom†, â€Å"you got it mommy†, â€Å"see you later, I know you can do it†, â€Å"Have a good day at school†. They are my inspiration and guidance to stay in school. They move me to better and get good grades so I can get the degree I want so I can give them a great life. With my children encouraging me and always being there for me through school , I know I will never give up. They won’t allow it. My children have so much faith in me and knowing that helps me have faith in myself. They teach me compassion and love . They have taught me that every day is a blessing . That god has given me these children for a reason and they have a purpose in life. To my children I’m wonder women for everything I do. They teach me something new with each new passing day, whether it be how to let loose and be free or how to care for their own owies. They teach me how to care for them by just being the little unique individuals that they are. They teach me different things through their personalities. In life they are going to teach me who they are, and along the way, even now, they have taught me who I am. I am a mother. It’s an amazing feeling to say that my children are two of my biggest accomplishments in life. As the end of November 2013 rolls around we will be welcoming a new baby into our little family and I couldn’t be more excited. Just like when I was pregnant with my daughter and how my son helped out, he has now taught his sister to help mommy and how to love this little baby even though he/she isn’t here yet. I could be anymore grateful or proud of my children than I am now. My children are my role models, my blessings and most of all my best friends. They have changed my life more ways than I can count and helped me mold into the person I am today. I honestly wouldn’t change one thing in my life and I’m proud to carry the title â€Å"Mommy†. I will forever hold that title dear to my heart and will never forget who was and still is there for me the most, my beautiful amazing children.

Mexican Culture Essay Example for Free

Mexican Culture Essay I. Introduction A. Hello my name is Yaakov B. The purpose of my presentation today is to inform you on the Mexican culture. C. First, I will talk about the early history of Mexico. Second I will talk about its religion. Last I will tell you about the lifestyle This ends my introduction .now onto my body of my presentation II. Mexican culture goes back to the olmec, Maya and Aztecs 1. The Olmec where the fist Mesoamerican civilization, they were also the first to practice blood based rituals, they had type of artwork characterized by the colossal heads. 2. Maya lived in a vast area covering parts of present day Guatemala, Mexico and the western areas of Honduras and Salvador. Mayas had no central king that ruled a vast empire. Each city had its own ruler. Ancient Maya developed advanced systems of astronomy, mathematics an accurate calendar systems, extensive trade routes. The jaguar is the icon of power of Maya history. 3. The Aztec empire was peopled by a group that was once nomadic. The Aztecs principal food was tortillas. Tenochtitlan is their capital city, which is present day Mexico city. B 1. These civilizations where destroyed by the Spanish in 1521.hernado Cortez accompanied by five hundred and Indian allies. The Spaniards won victorious over the Aztecs. 2. The Spaniards had better weapons and horses. Iron armor and steel swords were where above Aztecs weaponry as the Aztecs had clubs, wooden swords, and spears. Guns and cannons were used to annihilate the Aztec defense . Horses stunned Aztecs for they had never seen horses before. 3. The Spanish brought new diseases, such as smallpox’s which killed many people. An African slave who came in 1520 had small pox. One of the Spanish soldiers contracted the disease. During combat the soldier died and Aztecs contracted the disease which killed many . That was my fist point. Now into my second point. A. Religion in Mexico was influenced by Spanish rule. 1. The Roman Catholic Church had a strong influence. Hernandez Cortez was the one who brought the catholic church to Mexico . 2. Priests learned native languages and converted American Indians to catholism. this way it would be better talk then to fight for conversion. B. 1. Catholism was established as the dominant religion of Mexico. Catholicism is not just a religion it’s a way of life in Mexico. Fifty percent of Mexico’s population attends weekly mass in their local church. Religion is a big part of Mexican culture. I have shared the early history of Mexico and religion. Now onto my last point A. The lifestyle of Mexico consist of celebrations, cinema and arts 1. A celebration that is celebrated is the day of the dead. This celebration has come far as the Aztecs. This holiday is for remembering and honoring those who have passed away. 2. The golden age of Mexican cinema. This period between 1935 to 1969.the golden era is thought to have started with the film â€Å"vamonos con pancho villa† (1935). To now it has been considered the best of the cinema of Mexico, another famous actor of this era is Maria Felix. 3. Diego Rivera the artist who painted many famous paintings such as the flower vendor, and many more. Fernando Botera had a unique style of painting all of his characters were oddly figured which would be impossible in real life III. Conclusion I have shared the early history, religion and lifestyle of my unique culture. Now into my conclusion of my presentation. 1. The significance of the history of Mexico is to inform people about the great history of Mexico. 2. The religion is the cause of Spanish influence on Mexico. 3. Lifestyle is significant because of how it has developed. I want to thank all of you for allowing me to share this important part of me with you.

The Future Of The American Dream Sociology Essay

The Future Of The American Dream Sociology Essay As Franklin Roosevelt understood, Americans will postpone immediate gratification and endure hard sacrificesif they mustso long as they are convinced the future can be better than the past. But we face a far more difficult problem at our moment in history. What do you promise people who have been told they can have anything they want, who are repeatedly congratulated for living in the best of all possible circumstances? How do you tell them the good times, as we have known them, are not coming back? Americans need a new vision that helps them deal with reality, a promising story of the future that helps them let go of the past. Here is the grand vision I suggest Americans can pursue: the right of all citizens to larger lives. Not to get richer than the next guy or necessarily to accumulate more and more stuff but the right to live life more fully and engage more expansively the elemental possibilities of human existence. That is the essence of what so many now seem to yearn for in their lives. Peopleeven successful and affluent peopleare frustrated because the intangible dimensions of life have been held back or displaced in large and small ways, pushed aside by the economic systems relentless demands to maximize yields of profit and wealth. Our common moral verities have been trashed in the name of greater returns. The softer aspects of mortal experience are diminished because life itself is not tabulated in the economic systems accounting. The political order mistakenly accepts these life-limiting trade-offs as normal, as necessary to achieve good times. At earlier periods of our history, the sacrifices demanded by the engine of American capitalism were widely tolerated because the nation was young and underdeveloped. The engine promised to generate higher levels of abundance, and it did. But what is the justification now, when the nation is already quite rich and the engine keeps demanding larger chunks of our lives? What families, even those who are prosperous, typically lose in the exchange are the small grace notes of everyday life, like the ritual of having a daily dinner with everyone present. The more substantial thing we sacrifice is time to experience the joys and mysteries of nurturing the children, the small pleasures of idle curiosity, of learning to craft things by ones own hand, and the satisfactions of friendships and social cooperation. These are made to seem trivial alongside wealth accumulation, but many people know they have given up something more important and mourn the loss. Some decide they will make up for it later in life, after they are financially stable. Still others dream of dropping out of the system. If we could somehow add up all the private pain and loss caused by the pursuit of unbounded material prosperity, the result might look like a major political grievance of our time. More important than all the other losses is that people are also denied another great intangiblethe dignity of self-directed lives. At work, at home and in the public sphere, most people lack the right to exercise much of a voice in the decisions governing their daily lives. Most people (not all) are subject to a system of command and control over their destinies. They know the risks of ignoring the orders from above. Not surprisingly, many citizens are resigned to this condition and accept subservience as the way things are, and their lives are smaller as a result. Many find it hard to imagine that these confinements could be lessened, even substantially removed, if economic organizations were informed by democratic principles. Whats needed in American life is a redefinition of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Given the nations great wealth, the ancient threats of scarcity and deprivation have been eliminated. Yet people remain yoked to economic demands despite wanting something more from lifefreedom to explore the mysteries and bring forth all that is within them. Collectively, Americans need to take a deep breath and reconsider what it means to be rich. Greider, William. The Future of the American Dream. The Nation [The Nation] 6 May 2009, May 25, 2009 edition ed.: n. pag. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. greider>. What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession? Pollsters for The New York Times and CBS News set out last month to try to answer that question. And the results seemed somewhat contradictory. Although the nation has plunged into its deepest recession since the Great Depression, 72 percent of Americans in this nationwide survey said they believed it is possible to start out poor in the United States, work hard and become rich a classic definition of the American dream. And yet only 44 percent said they had actually achieved the American dream, although 31 percent said they expect to attain it within their lifetime. Only 20 percent have given up on ever reaching it. Those 44 percent might not sound like much, but it is an increase over the 32 percent who said they had achieved the American dream four years ago, when the economy was in much better shape. Compared with four years ago, fewer people now say they are better off than their parents were at their age or that their children will be better off than they are. So even though their economic outlook is worse, more people are saying they have either achieved the dream or expect to do so. What gives? We asked Barry Glassner, who is a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California and studies contemporary culture and beliefs. You want to hold on to your dream even more when times are hard, he said. And if you want to hold on to it, then you better define it differently. In other words, people are shifting their definition of the American dream. And the poll conducted on April 1 to 5 with 998 adults, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points- indicated just that. The Times and CBS News asked this same open-ended question four years ago and again last month: What does the phrase The American dream mean to you? Four years ago, 19 percent of those surveyed supplied answers that related to financial security and a steady job, and 20 percent gave answers that related to freedom and opportunity. Now, fewer people are pegging their dream to material success and more are pegging it to abstract values. Those citing financial security dropped to 11 percent, and those citing freedom and opportunity expanded to 27 percent. Heres some respondents answers that were put in the category of freedom and opportunity: Freedom to live our own life. Created equal. Someone could start from nothing. That everybody has a fair chance to succeed. To become whatever I want to be. To be healthy and have nice family and friends. More like Huck Finn; escape to the unknown; follow your dreams. Those who responded in material terms were hardly lavish. Heres a sampling: Basically, have a roof over your head and put food on the table. Working at a secure job, being able to have a home and live as happily as you can not spending too much money. Just financial stability. Owning own home, having civil liberties. Mr. Glassner said, For the vast majority of Americans at every point in history, the prospect of achieving the American dream has been slim but the promise has been huge. At its core, this notion that anyone can be president or anyone can be a billionaire is absurd, he said. A lot of Americans work hard, but they dont become president and they dont become billionaires. Still, he said, Americans have always believed in possibilities. And they have consistently said over time that they can start poor in this country and become rich, regardless of the economy or their circumstances. The 72 percent who feel that way today is down from the 81 percent who felt that way in 2007, but 72 percent is still a very high percentage, especially given the downward economy. It would be hard to find another country where its as high, Mr. Glassner said. The percentage of people who say the American dream does not exist or is only an illusion has remained low 3 percent today and 2 percent four years ago. As one such person put it to our pollsters last month: A bunch of hooey. By the way, the phrase the American dream is generally agreed to have been coined first in 1931, in the midst of the Depression. In his book, The Epic of America, the historian James Truslow Adams wrote, It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain the fullest stature of which they are innately capable. Seelye, Katharine Q. What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession. The New York Times [e.g. New York Times] 7 May 2009: n. pag. New York Times. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. . The American Dream Goes On By Mortimer B. Zuckerman Posted June 13, 2008 Is the American middle class an endangered species? The majority of Americans have long shared one state of mind: that they are in some central way members of the middle class and hold a passport to the good life. Click here to find out more! Its true that theres been a contraction of the number of middle-tier households earning between $45,000 and $90,000. And its true they are having a tough time. Six in 10 testify to incomes falling behind the cost of living; six in 10 find it hard to pay for gasoline; and five in 10 say they cant afford healthcare. More than a quarter say they have trouble even affording food. To maintain their lifestyle-including those fancy cable TV packages, broadband Internet connections, and travel-theyve sent more family members to work, taken on more debt, and borrowed through home equity loans, though the housing slump has undermined that asset. At the other end of the income spectrum, the well heeled keep doing better. The number of millionaires has shot up, and the wealthiest 1 percent of U.S. families have pushed their share of total national income to levels-21 percent-unseen since the Gilded Age. Yet growing inequality has had little traction thus far as a political issue. Why is this? Partly because some have moved up, as economist Stephen Rose points out. There are 12 percent more households earning in excess of $100,000 than 20 or so years ago. And those making less than $30,000 have not increased. So virtually the entire decline of the middle-class group has come from people moving up the income ladder, not down. Higher standards. Those in the middle, and below, are also living better. As William Robert Fogel, the Nobel Prize-winning economic historian, put it, In every measure that we have bearing on the standard of livingthe gains of the lower classes have been far greater than those experienced by the population as a whole. Among the inequalities that have narrowed: The quality of goods at the more moderate price levels has improved faster than at higher price tags; rich and poor are less apart in life expectancy, height, and leisure. Its the attitude of Americans that explains the low combustibility (at the moment!) of income inequality. Most Americans tend to believe that people bear primary responsibility for supporting themselves and that market forces are immune to public policy. Theres a reflection here of the optimism and confidence characteristic of American life. In one study by Roland Benabou, more than half of Americans think they will be above the median income in the future (e ven though that is mathematically impossible). Americans, quite simply, believe that plenty of opportunities exist to get ahead, and, indeed, 82 percent of those born into poverty are much better off than their parents and more than a third of them have made it into the middle class or higher. Education is another great American success story. There has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of adults completing high school and college. Nearly 90 percent of all adults get high school diplomas today compared with 33 percent in 1947; college graduates have soared from 5.4 percent in 1947 to almost 30 percent today. More than two thirds of Americans concur with the statement that people are rewarded for intelligence and skill-the largest percentage across 27 countries taking part in an international survey of social attitudes. This reflects the widespread belief in the ability to get ahead and helps explain why Americans are more accepting of economic inequality than peoples in other countries and why Americans are less likely to believe their government should take responsibility for reducing income disparity. For all that, reaction is gathering force in at least two areas. One is an increasing distrust of free trade. There is a widespread conviction that globalization-seen by economists as a boon-holds down earnings for millions of Americans who compete with workers overseas. Free trade has become a political albatross. Secondly, the level of wealth in the stratosphere of incomes has gotten so extreme that it is provoking a considerable majority to support the notion that wealth should be more evenly distributed through higher taxes. Zuckerman, Mortimer B. The American Dream Goes On. www.usnews.com. US News and World Report, 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. the-american-dream-goes-on.html>. Is the American Dream Still Possible? By David Wallechinsky published: 04/23/2006 To be middle class in America once meant living well and having financial security. But today that comfortable and contented lifestyle is harder to achieve and maintain. PARADE commissioned Mark Clements Research Inc. to survey Americans nationwide about their finances and outlook for the future. Contributing Editor David Wallechinsky-author of recent articles on where your tax dollars go and on pork-barrel spending-interprets the results. The traditional American Dream is based on the belief that hardworking citizens can better their lives, pay their monthly bills without worry, give their children a start to an even better life and still save enough to live comfortably after they retire. But many average Americans are struggling-squeezed by rising costs, declining wages, credit-card debt and diminished benefits, with little left over to save for retirement. (See statistics below.) Does the dream survive? Do most Americans still believe they can forge better lives for themselves? PARADE surveyed more than 2,200 Americans, of whom fully 84% described themselves as belonging to the middle class, regardless of where they live (living costs are higher in some regions) or the size of their household. For this report, we focused on U.S. households earning between $30,000 and $99,000 a year. Most of those surveyed describe themselves as married and having a family. More than 64% say they are employed full-time or part-time. Most say they are in reasonably good health and have a satisfying religious or spiritual life. They own a home and at least two cars, and they are able to take vacations. By international standards, they live a life of prosperity. Yet behind this prosperity is a growing unease. Half of the employed respondents say that theyve experienced either increased health-care costs or a cut in health benefits over the last three years, and 39% have had cuts in their overtime, raises or bonuses. Almost two-thirds say they live from paycheck to paycheck, and 47% say that no matter how hard they work, they cannot get ahead. More than a third worry about job loss. Richard Oden of Conyers, Ga.-married, with five children-worked in the beer industry for 23 years. Last year, he developed pneumonia and required major surgery. When he was unable to return to work by a given date, he says, his company terminated him at age 54-even though he had a perfect attendance record and no performance problems. To help support his family, Oden had to dip into his 401(k) fund, paying a penalty for premature withdrawal. This was very stressful, he says. Everything had gone up-except wages. Oden has since started his own business, a leadership and personal development consulting firm. His wife, Josett, works as a representative in the health-care field. I do believe I will recover financially, Oden says, and that I will realize a decent retirement. But the traditional American Dream? For most Americans, its still a dream-a pipe dream. Having drawn on his own retirement fund, Oden knows that saving can be a big problem. In the survey, nearly 83% say that there is not much left to save after theyve paid their bills. Statistics from the Commerce Department bear this out: The savings rate for Americans is the lowest it has been in 73 years. Self-reliance and sacrifice. Most of those interviewed display qualities common to American success stories: determination, flexibility, pragmatism, willingness to work hard and especially self-reliance. Almost three-quarters of the middle-class respondents surveyed say they take responsibility for their own financial destiny and believe that they will succeed or fail based on their own efforts. Still, many are downsizing their dreams. Shelly Comer, 43, of Dos Palos, Calif., is a divorced mother of three who also takes care of a friend of her oldest child, Michelle. She is going into debt so that Michelle can go to college. Shelly has worked her whole life-as a receptionist, janitor, preschool teacher and activities director at a hospital. Recently, she became a registered nurse and now works the night shift in obstetrics at another hospital. Her annual income is $70,377. Michelle, 19, is a freshman at the University of California at Merced. She says she is concerned about the financial burden her education is placing on her family: In order to meet our expected family contribution, my mother had to borrow the entire amount of her share. For her part, Michelle earned six small scholarships, two of which are renewable for next year, and took out a federal loan. She also works 16 hours a week in the financial-aid office at the university. Shelly has a retirement plan through the hospital. But I have nothing saved for me, she says. Im putting it all into the kids, so that they can succeed in school. Our parents did everything for us, and I hope to do the same for my kids. I dont count on anyone else to help us get to where we want to go. Its all up to me and my family. And I trust in God to help us. Who is responsible? One of the most intriguing results of the Parade survey is that 89% of the middle class believes that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and to the community. Yet 81% believe that, in fact, American businesses make decisions based on what is best for their shareholders and investors, not whats best for their employees. Randy Omark, 55, and Cherie Morris, 58, of Stroudsburg, Pa., husband and wife, are former flight attendants for TWA. Cherie took a buyout in the late 1990s-before American Airlines bought TWA in 2001. After the acquisition, Randy was put on furlough (as were about 4,000 other former TWA flight attendants) and never rehired. After 26 years with the two airlines, his pension was frozen and then taken over by the government. Now he gets $324 a month in payments. Today, despite having a college education, Randy works for $9 an hour finding community jobs for mentally challenged adults. Cherie works for a greeting-card company for $7.25 an hour. It used to be that if you stayed with your job, you would be rewarded, says Cherie. Now there is no guarantee. As for retirement, Randy says, Eventually, we will just downsize everything, sell our house and move into a smaller one. Is the dream changing? Simone Luevano, 46, and Miguel Gutierrez, 44, run a garage-door installation and repair business in Albuquerque, N.M. While the business grossed $453,000 last year, they took home just $50,000 net to live on. They have a daughter-Marilyn, age 7-who is deaf in one ear and goes to a private school that costs $3600 a year. Simone says that financial stress is part of their lives: It comes from the maybe, could be, should be nature of our business. When the economy is down, people dont buy a new garage-door system. The cost of gas at the pump is a major factor, she adds: When the price of gasoline goes down, business goes up. Have they prepared for retirement? Simone laughs, then replies, The words retirement and vacation are not in our vocabulary. You know that old Tennessee Ernie Ford song: I owe my soul to the company store? We dont think about retirement. Theyll have to take me out of here with my high-top tennies on. The American Dream is a bygone thing, she adds. Its not the way life is anymore. I used to believe I was responsible for my own destiny. But its not that simple. Now its faith and fortitude. The Stressed Middle Class National statistics show the increasing pressures on middle-income Americans: The real median household income declined 3% from 2000 to 2004. The percentage of households earning $25,000 to $99,999 (roughly middle-income range) shrank 1.5% from 2000 to 2004. Last year, real average weekly earnings actually fell 0.4%. The savings rate for Americans is the lowest it has been in 73 years. Credit-card debt is at an all-time high, averaging $9,312 per household. The average cost per year of a public college (in state) is $12,127, a 25% increase since 2001. A private university costs $29,026. Heres What Americans Say Our survey of middle-income Americans about their financial outlooks showed both skepticism and hope. More than 52% of middle-class Americans think that theyre better off than their parents were, but 56% think things will be worse for their own children or for future generations. Nearly 57% say they believe that the middle class in America is decreasing. 51% of employed members of the middle class have experienced either increased health-care costs or a cut in health benefits, and 39% have experienced cuts in overtime, raises or bonuses. 66% say they tend to live from paycheck to paycheck. 47% say that no matter how hard they work, they cannot get ahead. Nearly 83% say that there is not much money left to save after they have paid their bills. 89% of the respondents believe that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and to the community, but 81% believe that American businesses make decisions based on what is best for their shareholders and investors-not what is best for their employees. 74% of the middle class say they take responsibility for their own financial success or failure. 80% say they believe it is still possible to achieve the American Dream. Wallechinsky, David. Is the American Dream Still Possible? Parade [Parade] 23 Apr. 2006, Final ed.: n. pag. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. edition_04-23-2006/Middle_Class_feature>.

Bach and Schoenberg Essay -- Music

J. S. Bach was the first known composer to use a literal representation of his name in his music. He used the chromatic motive B-A-C-H , that is, B-flat, A, C, B-natural in American theoretical language in Contrapunctuas XIV from the Art of Fugue. Although Bach left this fugue unfinished, the third and last subject of the fugue was the B-A-C-H motive that composers after Bach have used to pay tribute to the great composer. There are a number of composers; including: Schumann, Liszt, Reger, Busoni, Schoenberg, and Webern, who have used the B-A-C-H theme in their works; varying the way they employed it to make it part of their personal style. NEED SCHUMANN, LISZT, REGER INTRODUCTION SENTENCES. In 1910, Busoni created one of most famous works, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, that "finished" Bach's unfinished fugue; the theme is easily noticeable in contrapuntal form. In 1923, the year Schoenberg created his twelve-tone method, he composed op. 25 Suite FÃ ¼r Klavier, which employs his tonal row in inversion, the B-A-C-H motive. In 1937-38, a student of Schoenberg and a purveyor of serialism, Webern used a tonal row beginning with the B-A-C-H motive to create his piece Streichquartett, op 28. Each of the three modern composers uses this theme differently but they each have used these four notes to create a piece that connects each of them to Bach in a unique way. In Fuga a 3 Soggetti (Contrapunctus XIV) from the Art of Fugue; Bach first presented two whole fugues with separate subjects before beginning the signature-subject . The subject begins with the four notes B flat, A, C, and B natural in a chromatic pattern that is easily recognized. As can be seen below, he quickly matches his subject in the tenor with a real answer at a fi... ...e is a key factor of serialism and Webern is able pull this off while maintaining the B-A-C-H theme in his row. Annotated Bibliography ARSIS Audio: CD168." ARSIS Audio. Web. 01 Oct. 2009. Electronic Bach, J.S. "Contrapunctus XIX: Fuga a 3 sogetti". Art of Fugue. Electronic Bailey, Kathryn . "Webern, Anton." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 9 Nov. 2009. Electronic Busoni, Ferruccio. "Fuga III". Fantasia Contrappuntistica. Print. Neighbour, O.W. "Schoenberg, Arnold." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 9 Nov. 2009. Electronic. Sitsky, Larry. Busoni and the Piano: The Works, The Writings, and the Recordings. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. Print. Schoenberg, Arnold. Suite FÃ ¼r Klavier, Op.25. Wien: Universal Edition. Print. Webern, Anton. Streichquartett, Op. 28 / #c Webern. Wien: Universal Edition. Print.

Budgeting Essay -- Finances Accounting Budgets Essays

Budgeting Budgeting is the systematic method of allocating financial, physical, and human resources to achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Budgets are utilized by for-profit and non-profit organizations to monitor the progress towards the goals, assist in the control of spending, and help predict cash flow for the organization. The central challenge that budget developers encounter is predicting what the future holds for the internal business and external factors. Reading the future is something that can never be done with perfect precision. The fast pace of technological change, the complexities of global competition and world events make developing effective budgets both more difficult and more important. Important benefits of improving the budgeting process include better companywide understanding of strategic goals, more coordinated support for those goals, and an improved ability to respond quickly to competition. (Gruner & Jahr, 2003 Inc Magazine). Anyone familiar with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and practices will find most accounting for nonprofit activity to be very familiar. There are, however, some significant differences, which include:  « Accounting for Contributions  « Capitalizing and Depreciating Assets  « Use of Cash- and Modified Cash-Basis Accounting  « Functional Expense Classification The act of budgeting resources to meet or beat the goals of an organization is an art form in any type of business. â€Å"All business should prepare budgets,† (Hansen and Mowen, p. 282). The advantage to budgeting is that: 1. It forces to plan. 2. It provides information that can be used to improve decision making. 3. It provides a standard for performance evaluation. 4. It improves communication and coordination. If good budgeting is important for every successful business or organization, can we expect to have industry standard and general practices that are followed in every type of organization? Probable not, but certain standard can be expected, which is the direction of this term paper. Are there a difference or should there be a difference in the way a for-profit and a not-for-profit conduct their budgeting procedures. In both cases, they have income and expenses, employees and goals and objectives of the organization. The hypothesis is that there is no difference in the bu... ..., a wide variety of popular accounting software systems are available that have been designed to satisfy these needs. If the nonprofit organization uses an adequate accounting system, sets up its categories and classifications in line with the IRS reporting requirements, and assiduously labels all revenue and expenses appropriately, then completing the IRS annual report is a relatively painless matter. References Bangs Jr, David H and Pellecchia, Michael, August 15, 2000, Action Plan: Forecasting and Cash-Flow Budgeting retrieved from web site http://www.muridae.com/ nporegulation/accounting.html on February 27, 2003. Critical Issues in Financial Accounting Regulation for Nonprofit Organizations, Online Compendium of Federal and State Regulations for U.S. Nonprofit Organizations, retrieved from web site http://www.muridae.com/nporegulation/main.html on February 28, 2003 Gruner + Jahr, January 12, 2000, Best Practices: Developing Budgets, Inc Magazine, USA Publishing. Inc.com, retrieved from web site http://www.inc.com/articles/ finance/fin_manage/budget/16379.html on February 27th, 2003 Hansen & Mowen, Management Accounting, 6th edition, 2003, South Western

Fear in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and The Scarlet Letter :: comparison compare contrast essays

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Scarlet Letter To Live With Fear   Ã‚  Ã‚   To live with fear and not be overcome by it is the final test of maturity. This test has been "taken" by various literary characters.   Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter both appear to have taken and passed this test.   Ã‚  Ã‚   It first seemed as though the Chief was going to fail this test of maturity in the mental ward that he was committed to.   He had locked himself up by acting deaf and dumb.   He had immense fear of the "Combine," or society, that ruined things and people and treated them like machines, giving orders and controlling them.   Soon enough to "save" the Chief, McMurphy arrived. He was lively, and not scared;   the complete opposite of the Chief.   This courage eventually passed on to the Chief.   At a meeting, when McMurphy was holding a vote to prove that the patients wanted to see the World Series, the Chief voted for it.   At first he said that McMurphy controlled his hand.   Later on he admitted that it was he who raised it. He even talked to McMurphy one night, and began laughing at the situation at hand.   One day when McMurphy and the Chief tried to help another patient who was being taken advantage of by orderlies, they were caught and sentenced to electro-shock therapy (EST).   The Chi usually blacked out in a fog when confronted with problems;   however, this time (he had endured over 200 EST sessions previously) he did not.   However, McMurphy was deteriorating, and the two seemed to be reversing positions.   McMurphy eventually was sentenced to a lobotomy, which left him as a helpless, pathetic person, as the Chief had once been.   The Chief now had the courage to put McMurphy out of his misery, despite what the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, the symbol of the combine to the Chief, would do to him.   He smothered McMurphy, and afterwards, escaped by lifting the control panel, which McMurphy told him that he could lift but the Chief saw himself as "small," a symbol of his strength against the combine, and breaking a

Comparsion and Contrast Essay the Welcome Story and What Its Like to Be a Black Girl Essay

Trying to Fit What do you do when you feel like you just don’t fit in with the society you live in? Since the beginning of time blacks women, have been recognized as women who don’t fit the traditional ideal of beauty. A woman of color comes in all different shades of skin tones Caramel, Golden bronze, Cocoa brown and Dark brown. Their hair comes in a quite few different textures, from tight as a thick rubber band, to curls about thick as your pinky finger. Most people describe black women natural afro textured hair as kinky, spiraled, fizzy or nappy. During the slavery-era to the early 1900’s black women in America, went from cornrows, braids and other natural styles. Some reasons for this as I grow up getting perms known as straight hair was a sign of class and Nappy hair was a sign that you were poor. With segregation no longer being an issue, blacks were now free to work their way up in American society, but they still faced white racism. Whites’ people saw black pe ople skin features as a sign that one is given to being sexual active, violence and lacking in intelligence. Many blacks lightened their skin and straightened their hair to appear more acceptable to whites in order to get ahead. When it comes to black women television shows, show how society should be in the eyes of T.V. and its monkey see monkey do from there. Black women have been villianized on television. They are portrayed as home wreakers and baby momma with several different dads or the lowest standard. If you ever see a successful man on television he is not allowed to be portrayed with a black woman. If you watch a music video, the star of the video will not be shown with a black woman with clothes covering her body. The media would not like to high light the qualities of black women because the executives behind the scenes aren’t black men. The goal is to make white women appear to be the best and highest quality of woman that Barbie. For this reason you will see interracial relationships between every celebrity athlete and the not a black woman of their choice. At this point a white woman on your arm represents she is super smart and very successful. Some people won’t fall absolutely for the trap and be with a white woman, but they still won’t marry a black woman. Black woman is demanding a new set of female definitions and a recognition of herself of a citizen, companion and confidant, not a matriarchal villian or a step stool baby-maker. Role integration advocates the complementary recognition of man and woman, not the competitive recognition of same.(duke.edu) The strangest thing about this stereotype situation is that many white women go to tanning booths often to get a caramel complexion of an African descent skin. Who created the monster of discrimination and Why? A question we will never know. Discrimination based on skin color, or colorism, is a form of prejudice or discrimination in which human beings are treated differently based on the social meanings attached to skin color. (Wikipedia.com) The â€Å"Welcome Table† is a story that is filled with religious symbolism. Religion is the theme of this story. This story is enduring in the sense that it shows the strength and belief an old black woman had to face during her trials and tribulations. â€Å"What it’s like to Be a Black Girl† is a poem that gives the reader an inside view into a young black girl’s transition into black woman-hood at a time where being a black girl and being a black woman was not as welcomed. In these two literary works, although the similarities aren’t quite the same they still have the same concept. In the short story The Welcome table you have a narrator’s point of view and ‘What It’s Like To Be A Black Girl’, you have the actual author of the poem giving her point of view from experiencing how things where . Although there is a cultural difference it still involves race and how it affects a one individual’s way of feeling and the outlook from someone else’s appearance. â€Å"The Welcome Table† was a short story whom was written by Alice Walker. She was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia . Alice Walker is one of the most admired African American writers working today. She studied at Spelman College, Atlanta, and Sarah Lawrence College, New York, then worked as a social worker, teacher, and lecturer. She has taught gender studies courses at Wellesley College and  began one of the first gender Studies programs in the United States. Her publications include poems, short stories, and novels. She continues to write, exploring life situations through the eyes of African American women and advocating ways to approach challenges of sexism, racism, and poverty in American life. She took a brief break from her writing in the 1960s to live in Mississippi and work in the civil rights movement, returning to New York to write for Ms. Magazine. Alice Walker won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1982 novel, The Color Purple, and is also an acclaimed poet and essayist. This short story had a very compelling plot which is described in our text book as â€Å" A dynamic element in fiction, sequence of interrelated conflicting actions and event typically build to a climax and bring a resolution.† (Clugston, 2010) The first part The Welcome Table is told in the third person and shifts the point of view from which the story is told. The beginning of the story is told from the white people’s perspectives as they see an old black woman. The author goes on to describe the look of the old spiritual woman who eyes were blue –brown in color and where nearly blind. The old woman’s Sunday clothes high polished shoes, rusty mildew dress, and an elegant silk scarf stained with grease from her pig-tails. (Clugston, 2010) She walked many miles, alone in freezing cold until she came upon a church all sweaty and clammy. It was a church only for white people. She stopped on the steps of the church to rest before going inside. When she went into the chu rch, the reverend stopped her by saying â€Å"Auntie, you know this is not your church?† The white people are at a loss when they see her near the entrance of the church and do not know what to do. Some would have taken her in from the cold. But other judge her appearance makes some of the white people think of black workers, maids, cooks; others think of black mistresses or jungle orgies. Still others think that she is a foreshadow of what is to come – black people invading the one place that it still considered the white person’s sanctuary, their private church. As the old lady sat down on the church prewe chairs the old lady was sing in her head. The white women inside the church, who take it as a personal insult and feel the most threatened about the old black lady being at their church, they rouse their husbands to throw the old lady out. Still sing in her head now a sad song,  the old lady looked down the road and seen Jesus and died on the side of the road. (Clugston, 2010) Visualize anything other than that of an old poor lady being mistreated by racism. After reading and experience feelings of compassion when the author describes the unnamed old woman’s appearance and hygiene as she tried to enter the church. From the depiction expressed throughout the narration of this story, one could sense that this short story was created from the personal experiences or from seeing others who went through. The strangest part of the story is when the pastor call her auntie, either she was the nanny child who grow up with the pastorâ€℠¢s mother or father? Who they must had consider her as family without people knowing. â€Å"What it like to be a black girl† is a poem that was written by Patricia Smith. She was born in Chicago in 1955 currently lives in Howell, NJ. She is a four-time individual National Poetry Slam champion and appeared in the 1996 documentary SlamNation. an American poet, former journalist , playwright, author, writing teacher, and spoken-word performer. She has published poems in literary magazines and journals including TriQuarterly, Poetry, The Paris Review, Tin House, and in anthologies including American Voices and The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry. She is on the faculties of the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing and the Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Sierra Nevada College.(Wikipedia.com) In this poem the author is telling this story in third person omniscient the poem tells the story of a young black girl exploring and experiencing the changes to of her body. Now starting to develop in many areas to become a black woman she feels like something is wrong with the way she looks. The author uses jagged sentence structure and strong language to also show the reader the importance of this poem. The writer gives the audience an insider’s view into a young black girl world who is feeling like she is one of the most ugliest person on earth. â€Å"It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence. (Clugston, 2010) This poem speaks of the young girl changing her image by placing blue contacts in her eyes. It’s popping a  bleached white mophead over the kinks of your hair. The writer is speaking of the young girl putting a perm on her hair to straight out her hair. I respect the author’s reflection of the nine years old girl feeling and trying to fix everything about herself that the world tells her is wrong. The straightening out her hair because being black left you with kinky, curly, frizzy hair., the contacts you wear, the things you do to make yourself look more like the beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed â€Å"white girl.† the television have protrude as beauty. When you’re nine, you shouldn’t feel these things are necessary because you haven’t fully developed yet. â€Å"Primping in front of the mirrors that deny your reflection† (Clugston, 2010) Is something many poor women did, but for the black woman in the 1950s it was about using press combs and making outfits to fit in and not being some â€Å"negro woman,† drawing attention to herself. I feel for the author wrote this poem in seeking acceptance from others. In my conclusion, the main character in each of the stories is a protagonist black female who both struggle with trying to be accepted in society due to the color of their skin. Being different is all about how you handle the situation. When one thinks their better than one race that’s when being different is a problem. Comparing these two stories there is racism and discrimination they had to face. Both stories express the determination of one woman and one young girl who survive through all adversity. The authors speak of the hardship one woman and one young girl had to face and suffer. Understanding the fear, struggle and those women of color went through during this time and now. Being different is what god made us. No one person is exactly the same even if the world was one color. Reference 1. Clugston, 2010 2. Wikipedia.com 3. duke.edu 4. poet.org 5. wordwoman. Ws 6. ehow.com 7. Literary Cavalcade;Feb2003, Vol. 55 Issue 5, p32