The Artist Marcel Duchamp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Artist Marcel Duchamp - Essay Example The essay "The Artist Marcel Duchamp" states the Marcel Duchamp, his art, and life. He began to learn artistic processes here, and Duchamp later remarked that his teacher believed the then contemporary impressionist style were debased and sought to instruct only traditional techniques; as a result, Duchamp’s primary influence became his family. During this formative period Duchamp was predominantly influenced by academic style of art including the post-impressionist and symbolist schools. When Duchamp turned 17 he moved to Paris to pursue a career as an artist. He was immediately influenced by the prevailing artistic trend of cubism and much of his early work reflects these influences; Duchamp’s work, however, reflects more eccentric personal images and psychology than most of the established cubist art. In 1912 Duchamp completed one of his most renowned works, ‘Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2’. While the painting incorporates traditional cubist elements of shifting perspectives, its cryptic title and focus on the movement of the object have led many critics to identify it as a monumental work. Like much great art, the painting was derided upon its release. The work was originally supposed to be exhibited in Paris, but the curator asked Duchamp to change the title to which he refused. When it was finally exhibited in a 1913 New York exhibition the painting was even termed, â€Å"an explosion in a shingle factory. The painting is almost ironically referring to the Renaissance ‘nude’ in its title.

Possibility Of A Gender Neutral Language English Language Essay

Possibility Of A Gender Neutral Language English Language Essay As the story in the Book of Genesis goes God created man and then created women. This joke makes fun of this and is an example of sexist language because it represents men in a light of inadequacy compared to women. But, for every joke that represents men in this light there is an even greater amount of language that is used to discriminate against women. Lu Min (2009) explains that sexist language is that which uses words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between women and men or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either gender(26). Phrases such as best man for the job or occupational titles such as policeman or fireman are masculine in their description. This sort of language excludes women who could in fact be the best person for the job or similarly, a police officer or firefighter. Language is always changing and in fact in recent years there has been a push for more gender-neutral language as opposed to the sexist language that is already in place. Leaper and Bigler (2004) explain that there has been a shift in peoples speech and writing away from the generic use of the masculine pronouns he and masculine compound nouns such as chairman. Instead, it is now common to find people using gender-inclusive language such as he or she or chairperson (138). There is some debate on whether we should have a gender-neutral language or not. Those in support of a gender-neutral language feel that if this were put into place there would be equality for everyone. Those who are against changing the language that is already in place argue that phrases such as you guys or mankind are already considered gender-inclusive because they refer to all people regardless of gender. They simply see these words, phrases, and expressions as a quirk in the English language. While there are s everal languages that use masculine forms such as Chinese, Spanish, and Italian, the focus of my paper will be on English in various parts of the world. I believe that the current masculine forms of language are not inclusive and that there should be more of a push for gender-neutral language whenever possible. Changes in language will inevitably take course through the duration of time and if more people who speak English become aware of the gender-bias that currently is in place eventually we may be able to have a language that is more gender-inclusive. From my research, Ive observed that there is currently a trend of making language more inclusive. For example, in America in a study done at Virginia Commonwealth University, researchers found that there was consciousness of gendered-biased language as being sexist. Similarly, young people in Australia who speak English, since the 1980s, have been pushing for more generic phrases when referring to individuals. In Hong Kong, speakers of English prefer a masculine form of language but through studying college students they have found that feminist movements in the West are having great impacts on the way young people speak. Deborah Cameron (1992) cites Robin Lakoffs Language and Womans Place which asserts that there is a characteristic register or womens language consisting of certain linguistic gestures and connoting tentativeness, deference, and lack of authority. Women are socialized into using this style of speech as part of their subordinate social position (15). This is what experts would classify as the dominance approach because it demonstrates a power/powerless relationship among men and women. Another approach that Cameron cites is the difference approach which claims that differences in the speech behaviors between men and women come about due to the differences in socialization. As the author puts it, in most cultures there is still considerable social segregation of the sexes, and children learn their conversational strategies for the most part in single-sex peer groups. Research suggests that these are organized differently for the two sexes (15). Leaper and Bigler (2004) invoke the work o f Whorfian who says that language shapes thought (131). More specifically, they argue that some previous research supports the notion that the use of gendered language and having gender-stereotypic thoughts are reciprocally related (131). This goes back to the example of occupational title such as policeman, congressman, or waitress as having to do with the particular person in that position. As I mentioned earlier there is a group of individuals who believe that the English Language is already gender-inclusive. To this group of individual the phrase man would be used as a means of classifying both men and women such as the term mankind. This is illogical for several reasons. For example, if we take this idea of the term man encompassing both males and females and apply it to a similar set of words we quickly find that it does not hold. We can say that a miniature poodle and an alligator are both animals. The term animal like man is being used in a generic sense. It would be correct to say that every miniature poodle is an animal. It would also be correct to say that every alligator is an animal. While at a park you may hear someone say I see an animal. There is no real need to specify whether that animal is an alligator or a dog if that person is just making an observation. There are certain times, however, that this information may be useful. If someones life was being threatened by an alligator you may hear another individual warm the person about to be attacked by saying Thats an alligator! instead of just using the generic animal. If we take the generic term person which can mean either a male or female and use it in the following sentence: This person is having a baby we would assume that this person is a female. To say that this man is having a baby would not only sound funny but it would also be incorrect. Men simply cannot have babies. So, if the term man was generic in what it refers to, either males or females, it would be acceptable to say that man had a baby. Again, we run into a problem of the term not being generic in what it is referring to and thus proves that the term man does not subsume both terms of describing gender. Kenichi Namai (2000) cites a study by Greenbaum and Quirk that explains that in English, gender is not a feature of nouns themselves (as in such languages as German or Russian). Rather, it relates directly to the meanings of nouns, with particular reference to biological sex (771). What the author is basically arguing is that English should not show any grammatical agreements betw een terms such as those that are used to refer to gender. In the article, Namai gives the example sentence he hit herself (773). This sentence is incorrect for what Namai explains as not being a syntactic disagreement with the antecedent and reflexive but says that the conflict arises from a disagreement between the antecedents in terms of sex (774). So if we refer back to the problem of the sentence that man had a baby we see that the problem arises from a disagreement in terms of sex. This would mean that the identification of man being inclusive of all genders is incorrect. Jochnowitz (1982) cites a similar argument from Robin Lakoff who says My feeling is that this area of pronominal neutralization is both less in need of changing, and less open to change, than many of the other disparities that have been discussed earlier, and we should perhaps concentrate our efforts where they will be most fruitful (200). This is surprising because this article is written as Jochonowitz claims from a feminist perspective, yet the author [Lakoff] does not advocate abandoning indefinite he (200). Murdock and Forsyth (1985) in a discussion of Lakoff say that Lakoff would agree that the generic he does refer more to men than to women, but notes that the long-range consequences of the oft-used phrase may be fairly trivial (40). The two studies by Murdock and Forsyth were conducted to define reactions to gender-biased language empirically (39). What they aimed at finding out, as the title of their work suggests, is gender-biased language considered sexist. In the first st udy individuals were asked to evaluate the sexism in several sentences that contained no bias, used words as man or he in the generic sense, or referred to women in an unfair, stereotypical manner (39). The second study focused on examining reactions in a more naturalistic context by asking respondents to evaluate an essay written using all plural pronouns, generic pronouns, or generic pronouns plus evaluative stereotypic phrasings (39). What Murdock and Forsyth discovered was that the reactions to gender-biased language were taken as being sexist. This goes back to the original argument that gender-biased language is in fact not inclusive of both sexes. Another particular finding for Murdock and Forsyth that is surprising is that all do not agree concerning the sexist nature of masculine-biased language (47). Lead this to Æ’Â  Hong Kong English Æ’Â   Australian English Look for Strahan Discussion NoteÆ’Â   Conclusion

Laughter :: essays research papers

A little old lady went into the Bank of Melbourne one day, carrying a bag of money. She insisted that she must speak with > the manager of the bank to open a savings account because, "It's a lot of money!" > After much hemming and hawing, the bank staff finally ushered her into the managers's office (the customer is always right!). The bank manager then asked her how much she would like to deposit. > She replied, "$165,000!" and dumped the cash out of her bag onto his desk. > The manager was of course curious as to how she came by all this cash, so he asked her, "Ma'am, I'm surprised you're carrying > so much cash around. Where did you get this money?" > The old lady replied, "I make bets." > The manager then asked, "Bets? What kind of bets?" > The old woman said, "Well, for example, I'll bet you $25,000 that your balls are square." > "Ha!" laughed the manager, "That's a stupid bet. You can never win that kind of bet!" > The old lady challenged, "So, would you like to take my bet?" > "Sure," said the manager, "I'll bet $25,000 that my balls are not square!" > The little old lady then said, "Okay, but since there is a lot of money involved, may I bring my lawyer with me tomorrow at 10am as a witness?" > "Sure!" replied the confident manager. > That night, the manager got very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of a mirror checking his balls,turning from side to side, again and again. He thoroughly checked them out until he was sure that there was absolutely no way his balls were square and that he would win the bet. > The next morning, at precisely 10am, the little old lady appeared with her lawyer at the manager's office. She introduced the lawyer to the manager and repeated the bet "$25,000 says the manager's balls are square!" The manager agreed with the bet > again and the old lady asked him to drop his pants so they could all see. The manager complied.

Reflection Worksheet Essay

Please use the information from your interview to complete this worksheet. Submit this worksheet in the Module 2: Assignment Dropbox no later than Day 7 of Module 2. Include vocabulary and concepts from your reading and course site to support and illustrate your own insights. In preparation for the papers you’ll write later in this course, take the time to organize your thoughts for each question and write clearly. 1. Summarize how you were rated on the 4 components of Interpersonal Effectiveness. Where are you doing well? Where do you need some practice? (Simply report your findings – do not explain your position). For the 4 components of Interpersonal Effectiveness, I was rated decently. In Emotional Intelligence, the only thing that I need to improve on is staying calm when speaking; I have a tendency to raise my voice and be overly intense. For Mindfulness, I was rated highly; I do posses the ability to maintain my full attention to the person and allow the person to speak before I do. Ethics was also rated highly, being able to keep in mind the situations of others. Competence was high, as well, I’m able to put aside my own differences in order to better understand others. 2. Discuss the differences and similarities between your interview results and your own self-assessment in Module 1: Discussion 2. How are people’s perceptions of your interpersonal effectiveness in alignment (or not) with your own? What surprised you? Honestly, I was not surprised by the results of the interview and my own self-assessment. I knew coming into the interview that I needed to work on some things, specifically, Emotional Intelligence. I’ve always had a temper when talking with someone and they are either not listening to me or not understanding where I’m coming from. It does seem that when I’m talking to someone I don’t really know, my Emotional Intelligence is in check. I’m able to tone down how I respond or act in unfamiliar territory when it comes to others. 3. How easy or hard was it for you to stay open-minded and non-defensive? Why? What did you have to do to stay open-minded and non-defensive? It was somewhat easy for me to stay open-minded and non-defensive because I was talking with someone I’m comfortable with. One thing I’ve learned is when you are faced with talking to someone you don’t necessarily agree with, it’s easy to put yourself in their shoes. Not getting so caught up in my feelings and ideas help me to maintain a leveled head. I have to remind myself that everyone is entitled to their opinions and ideals and I don’t have to like them but I do need to respect them. Having talked with someone I know did make me keeping all of that in mind, a little easier to do. 4. Why do you think you are being perceived as you are? Consider the perception process as outlined in Chapter 2 (i.e. selection, organization, interpretation, negotiation). For example, did your partner notice or â€Å"select† different behaviors than you expected? Or, did he/she think or â€Å"interpret† your behavior in ways that were different from what you intended? I think why I’m being perceived the way I am is because of my body language. The moment I folded my arms my partner knew I was becoming defensive. When I place my hand under my chin to rest my head, my partner assumed I was bored which was not the case at that time, I genuinely wanted to just hold my hand under my chin. Some perceptions that my partner saw and explained how they were feeling about it weren’t all accurate. My partner pointed out things that I didn’t realize I was doing and took it as disrespect but some habits I have are just that – habits. 5. Summarize 2 key insights from this assignment. What do you know now about your behavior and interpersonal effectiveness that you didn’t know before? There really wasn’t any behaviors and interpersonal effectiveness that I didn’t know already. This assignment did make some behaviors stand out more than others, such as, Emotional Intelligence. I’ve known I have a problem with remaining calm and not â€Å"wear my emotions on my sleeve† when having a conversation with someone and I don’t agree with what they’re saying. This assignment definitely pulled that out in full force and made me realize how often I do it. If anything that was a behavior that I didn’t notice that I do quite often in conversation. 6. Identify 2 actions you can take (i.e. new behaviors you can practice) that will immediately help you improve your interpersonal effectiveness. Be specific. One action I can take that will improve my interpersonal effectiveness is becoming a more active listener. Instead of just â€Å"waiting to speak† I can be present in that moment of conversation with someone and attentively listen. A second action I could practice would be to keep in mind Emotional Intelligence. Making sure I refrain from â€Å"wearing my emotions on my sleeve† and not get too involved in how things are said as much as what is being said. Listening with an open and clear mind will help me improve how I interact with others.

Parts of Speech Essay

When the idea of the traditional eight parts of speech comes to mind, flashbacks to sitting in the back row of my middle school English language class flourish through my brain. I don’t remember too much about them today, however I do know that it was drilled into my brain until we could fully understand and use them all. The eight parts of speech: such a key component of language, yet such a complicated piece of my learning career. Out of all eight of the parts of speech, the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection, the ones that I remember the most are the verb and the noun. I am not quite sure how such basic ideas of language can be so complicated to actually explain. My previous days of schooling were definitely not the most challenging or puzzling. So how is it that I use these in depth concepts in daily conversations? I honestly think that in my earlier school days, we simply discussed all of these eight parts of our language and never actually were shown how they are all connected. As I look back now, the approach to teaching the basic patterns of the English language, such as these key parts of speech, have never been too effective. These parts of speech constantly keep being brought up in my daily life yet somewhere along the lines, we get caught up in simply knowing the parts of speech rather than being able to use them effectively on our pieces of written work. All of these great facts have no purpose if we are unable to use them in our daily lives. Reminiscing back to this seemingly simple concept really does stress how important proper grammar and knowing how to make the eight parts of speech useful truly is. As a student entering the world of learning again, the importance of being a good writer and being well-spoken increasingly influences my life. To be a good writer is one thing, to honestly know what you’re trying to portray through your work is a completely different idea on it’s own. Being knowledgeable about the parts of speech and how they can be used in many facets of language is fantastic. Naming the parts of speech in isolation does not bring focus to how important these words can be, but knowing how to effectively use them in writing is what truly is important. These eight  concepts of writing came up all throughout the early years of my educational career and they’re importance is brewing back up once again in my life. Concepts in language never go away, making them one of the most important and best things you can ever learn, just hopefully this time they can stick!