Photography Under Consideration and All Aspects of Art and Visual Essay

Photography Under Consideration and All Aspects of Art and Visual Design - Essay Example Photography has been applied in the need to complete information sharing and articulate the plot development in relaying stories. The need to present a visual communicative, the process has been involved in the desire to present the information within the visual process. Photography has been applied to relay a vivid informative, process that complements the visual elements within the created form (Norton 1). Depending on the means applied to take photos and the medium applied in completing the final piece, the visual composition may vary from a medium to the next. Pictures have been applied in variable platforms to predict the outcome of an event and record memories for future reference. All aspects of art and visual design are included in an outstanding piece to give the picture form and definition. However, colour may not be the leading element within the picture composition because forms devoid of the entity have managed to predict outstanding visual composition (Norton 1). To ana lyze a pictorial composition, the forms captured within the frame, direction and angle of the shot can be analyzed to create the information desired to read the mood of the composition. The photography under consideration has been taken in the wild with nature as the subject of the study. The six photos captured have been taken from a similar location and the time for the shoot fluctuates from variable periods. The first shot taken suggests that the photographer had been having a worm's eye view with the towering trees and sky as the subject. The picture taken during the morning period presents an almost perfect balance of the captured features within the window frame.

Global Cities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Global Cities - Research Paper Example A global city will thrive if the local residents feel that the city is true to itself as well as the people because they are the ones that created the city in the first place. According to Taylor (2013), the two needs of local residents that should not be ignored are housing and availability of jobs. When a city becomes flocked with foreigners, the economy shoots up, and the basic amenities tend to be very expensive. Housing becomes too expensive for the locals and the foreigners who can afford to pay rent settles in the city. This means that the locals will be forced to live in the poor neighborhoods. The scarcity of jobs is also a very crucial issue. Big firms often employ very skilled people, who most likely are foreigners. The locals will effectively be left without employment. This issue should also not be ignored to avoid conflict between locals and foreigners. There are consequences that may occur if a global city exiled the middle class and working class. According to Grimes and Morris, (1997), one of them is the lack of labor. Teachers, firefighters and police are needed in a city. Such professionals also need an affordable place to settle. Secondly, there will be a lack of upward mobility, and the low-income earners will have a hard time climbing the social ladder. Another consequence is that there will be a wide gap between the poor and the rich, leading to social

Ambivalent Attitudes Toward Abortion In A Postmodern Society Religion Essay

Ambivalent Attitudes Toward Abortion In A Postmodern Society Religion Essay The Christian response to abortion in our western culture has been a matter of preserving the sanctity of life. Although it would seem to be cut and dry to a Christian that abortion violates that sanctity of life, it continues to face constitutional evolvement, differing worldviews, the scrutiny of the more liberal medical profession, and school text books for Christians. All of these concerns illustrate a wayward compass, lacking the ability to find true north. Society continues to weigh the simple yet complex definitions of personhood. Abortion is purported to be morally justified by pro-choice advocates in the postmodern culture. The question of what is right or wrong continues to be argued on both sides of the issue. For instance, the religious community cannot reach agreement, cites Rothstein and Williams (1983), on what a person consists of or when a person begins life. This paper will contend that the postmodern attitude towards abortion in a theistic society has been characterized as ambivalent and such that a society, exposed to liberal schools of thought, and changing modern and family values, errs on the side of science and convenience. Further, decision makers on the pro-choice side have used their agenda to further their secular beliefs through education, and a cavalier approach to sex which gives rise to sexual promiscuity. Additionally, there have been declines in moral thresholds, church attendance, theological literacy, and respect for gender roles in the family. Ambivalent Abortion Attitudes in a Postmodern Theistic Society Disputes over abortion are usually very heated due to the involvement of conflicting worldviews. Abortion is going to have difficulty attempting to reside within a Christian worldview, based purely on their opposing logic. Furthermore, abortion can comfortably maintain itself within the worldview of liberal postmodernism. Challengers of abortion are aware that they are supporting the rights of human life even though they may not be cognizant that they are also supporting the Christian worldview. Also, supporters of legal abortions identify that they are securing a womans right to choose even though they may not be completely aware of their support to the postmodern worldview. A worldview adds perspective and helps us identify with the world around us and how we deduce and appraise not only what we see but how we perceive ourselves to our understanding of life. Religion has the ability to hone a persons worldview, which starts to develop and institute moral perspectives. Religion serves as a main source for determining right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust (Durkheim, 1954 p. 43). In order to have a credible understanding of the postmodern view on abortion which will be discussed next, both opposing views must be examined in order to explain why a postmodern view in a theistic society would embrace a pro-abortion stance. This will explain the difficulty in finding a common ground, in regard of the issues of abortion, and why conversion at this point is not viable especially since postmodern tenets lean toward the secular decision making. Comparative analysis of postmodernism and theistic views: Man is a created being and has a composition pre-determined by an intelligent and purposeful design, as opposed to the secular contention where mans indiscriminate evolvement has no predetermined nature or design. Man is an immortal spirit being in which dwells a mortal body, compared to the secular point of view where man is wholly a physical animal and or machine. Moral law governs universally through marriage, sexual activity, and family, while secularism sees morality as culturally and or individually determined. Luker (1984) sites these differing views as conflicting, pro-choice activist women share almost no common premises and very little common language with antiabortion activist women; in particular, the worldviews and conceptions of motherhood held by the two different groups of women are antithetical (p. 2). The cultural war on abortion has many fronts and those who adhere to liberal postmodernism or answer to liberal postmodern ideology are likely to frame lawful abortion as a set of rights or privileges for the women who in many cases become pregnant carelessly. Hauerwas, author of Theologically Understood, says that liberals not Christians in America are tempted to think of issues like abortion primarily in legal terms such as rights. He explains rights as an agreement between members in a society who have nothing in common and in this context the prolife plus prochoice factions. Hauerwas states that within a liberal society such as ours, the law functions as a mediator of such disagreements. He gives an example of our system of law by saying, Why do Christians call abortion, abortion and that is to say why Christians think that abortion is a morally problematic term? (Hauerwas, 1991, p. 5). Hauerwas demystifies years of elusions by calling abortion, abortion which is already an achievement based on principles. Pro-choice is pro-abortion using the phrase termination of pregnancy, the postmodernist has reduced the churchs involvement and reallocated the moral responsibility onto the medical profession. For most of the twentieth century, abortion was removed from public scrutiny by defining it as a question of medical judgment (Emerson, 1996, p. 44). By circumventing the church we can easily foretell any future decision making within a postmodern society towards abortion. By defining that mistake as take God out of anything and it dies as pointed out here by Nietzsche, parable of a madman Do we smell anything yet of Gods decomposition? Isnt this the crux of postmodern wisdom which is inserting Gods insignificance into the minds of our youth? A culture cannot lose its philosophic center without the most serious of consequences, not just to the philosophy on which it was based but to the whole superstructure of culture and even each persons notion of who he or she is. When God dies, both the substance and the value of everything else die too (Sire, 2004, p. 211). This leads to the next point on Postmodernisms thinking on the sanctity of life, which has created a pro-abortion crisis in America. In the United States alone the abortion rates have increased from 898,000 in 1974 to 1,533,000 in 1980. These figures indicate that on an average day in Washington D.C., abortions are outnumbering live births. Twenty-five percent of all pregnancies are terminated in this manner and forty percent among teenagers. Approximately twenty percent of all women in the United States have had a legal abortion. Sixty percent were under twenty-five years of age, and eighty-two percent were unmarried at the time of their abortions. Sixty-nine percent of these individuals were white. This is the latest available information provided by researchers by the Henshaw, Koonin Smith Institute (1991). The above information shows the influential state and the wide acceptance of abortion and its use as a solution rather than as a last resort. Another way we see secular conditioning, is through what we read, which raises the question are we neglecting to effectively provide enough alternatives to abortions, such as adoption? For a number of generations we have been stealth fully preconditioning society by removing God from public education. Here for example a member of the Texas board of education is reported saying There seems to be a misinformed view of religion in American history, that America is somehow founded on Christianity, and Mize said, We just ask that things be historically accurate (Castro, 2010, Â ¶7). That certainly lessens the burden of trying to understand a postmodern view towards the ultimate decision to dismiss life, since a form of preconditioning has shown a dismissive attitude towards abortion. The textbook often provides the central focus and organizing framework for courses, and students, in turn rely on textbooks as their most readily available source of information about the course topics (Geersten, 1977, p. 102). Postmodern theists are also finding difficulty with the abortion issue when it comes to their education as pointed out here, Evangelicals for the most part tend to adhere to their education group rather than their religion with regards to their abortion attitudes (Schmalzbauer, 1993, p. 6). Education will no doubt reconstruct the minds of our youth as pointed out by Evans when he commented on Wuthnow, 1988 education is a more powerful opinion structuring force than religious discourse itself, and most studies find that the more education a respondent has, the more liberal his or her abortion attitudes (Evans, 2002, p. 418). This helps answer why a postmodern society raises and nurtures its most influential citizens into embracing such secular ideas as Humanism, Naturalism, and Theistic Existentialism. Postmodernism is here to stay and to evolve. It is a major paradigm shift that has vast and deep impact on the world. When modernity hits hard on Christianity, many sociologists predict the inevitable demise and even eradication of Christianity by secularism (Bruce Steve, 1996, Â ¶5). Also having the primarily secularists controlling how textbooks are written and studied can only point to the trickling down effect of God within the hearts of men. By the mid-1990s abortion had been legal for two decades, and the population had become more educated and more secular, and other sociodemographic trends found abortion increasingly acceptable (Strickler Danigelis, 1999, p. 188). There should be equal worry over issues which are of immediate concern for all such as poverty, global warming, aids prevention, war, and more. All of these are of equal value and worth investigation and debating, but abortion is not equated with the same balance of equality. Given the recent numbers of elective abortions, 1,533,000 in 1980 as sited earlier tell us that there are many women who continue to share ambivalent feelings toward abortion. I was pregnant, I carried two unborn children and I chose, for completely selfish reasons, to deny them life so that I could better my own (Flodin, 1990, Â ¶3). If we are going to find a way to bring back the sanctity within our society, we must implement formal instructions in morals and principles as an essential component of the public school curriculum. Secularism campaigns alongside ambivalence; in America we become too complicated with our competing convictions? The answer lies in our public school system which according to the first amendment, Public schools may not inculcate nor inhibit religion. They must be places where religion and religious conviction are treated with fairness and respect. Public schools uphold the First Amendment when they protect the religious liberty rights of students of all faiths or none. Schools demonstrate fairness when they ensure that the curriculum includes study about religion, where appropriate (Haynes, 2010, P.1). An upward battle will continue as long as postmodernists maintain a distant relationship with God. Teachers are permitted to wear no obtrusive jewelry, such as a cross or Star of David. But teachers should not wear proselytizing message (e.g., Jesus Saves T-shirt). (Haynes, 1999, p.7). Here is an example of secular reasoning, Attorneys for Kandice Smith, a sixth-grader at Curry Middle School in Walker County, Alabama, filed a lawsuit in federal court to overturn what they called an unconstitutional dress code. In August, the school banned cross necklaces as part of its new dress code claiming they are gang symbols. School officials threatened to discipline Smith if she didnt hide the cross under her clothes. (Rock star, 1999, Â ¶4). As long as the cross is reviewed as a gang sign abortion will always be consider as a first option. Postmodern societies lean towards abortion as a first consideration rather than as a last resort because it rests in their understanding of God. The postmodern cultures, bible illiteracy clearly exemplifies the ease in which abortion decisions are made, and how religious freedom can be extrapolated from law to err on the side of the secularist, consequently making the first amendment null and void. In conclusion, how can a Christian in a postmodern society consider abortion not as a viable solution to a complex moral issue? The abortion debate has polarized Americans like no other national problem. The abortion issue has created a vast partitioning across Americas cultural, and religious lines, which is also evident at the individual, political, and ecclesiastical levels. How then can a Christian in a postmodern theistic society protect forty percent of future teenage abortions in a society which is profoundly secular given the tenet that abortion is a right? This certainly points to a valid concern held by many Christians, and alludes to a valid misrepresentation on prolife options within our school textbooks. From 1988 through 1993 sampling 27 textbooks representing 16 publishers covering a period of 6 years (Kathy Shepherd Elaine Hall, 1994, p. 267). They referenced topics such as, abortion and legal cases such as Roe v. Wade, pro-life, birth control, teen pregnancy, and reproduction. Citations for abortion were indexed more than 60 times and adoption citations were indexed under 13 headings. Also with this study acknowledgement to abortion was tendered 4 times more page space than adoption. The Humanist manifesto will continue as long as Gods heritage is denied in public school courses. This is happening all across America, schools are simply not teaching about God, and by leaving out His heritage the significance of abortion will continue to all future generations. A theist in a postmodern society must find a way to respect the law of the land that does not mean they take part in it nor does it mean they have to protest, through legal channels its validity. If we are to be effective on the other side, we ourselves will have to become less modern and more postmodern-not completely of it, of course, but more completely in it. (McLaren, 2000, p. 168).

Prejudice and Racism Today :: Sociology Racism Prejudice Essays

"...Everybody jumped on him, beat the hell out of him... Everybody was hitting him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy hitting on the side of the face... He was unconscious. He was bleeding. Everybody had blood on their forearms. We ran back up the hill laughing... He should have died... He lost so much blood he turned white. He got what he deserved" (Ridgeway 167.) The skinheads who performed this random act of racial violence in 1990, had no reason to brutally beat their victim other than the fact that he was Mexican (Ridgeway 167). Racism is objectively defined as any practice of ethnic discrimination or segregation. Fortunately, racial violence is steadily declining as the turn of the century approaches. Now a new form of racism, covert racism, has recently sprung from the pressures of political correctness. This new form of racism, although slowly declining, still shows signs of strong support (Piazza 86). Covert racism assumes a form of civil disobedience against politically correct thought and speech. Essentially, covert racism is a "hidden" racism, or a racism not easily detected (Piazza 78). "Racism is still strongly prevalent in today's society" (Gudorf 3). The three different basic forms of racism, open racism, violent racism, and covert racism all express forms of hatred towards distinct ethnic groups (Bender 47). These basic forms of racism, although different in form, all have the same main purpose, to promote racism. Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech. Open racists promote their views through strictly persuasionary tactics. This form of racism is allowed in our society because of the First Amendment. Open racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Violent racism promotes racism through violence, fear, and persuasionary tactics (Leone 49) This form of racism is not protected by the First Amendment because it promotes violence to express its ideas. Unfortunately many violent racial groups claim they do not promote violence, and therefore these groups are protected by the First Amendment because not enough sufficient evidence exists to prove their violent intent (Ridgeway 123). Covert racism expresses ideas of racism in disguised forms; sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he is racist. "Racism, it is asserted, is no longer blatant: people nowadays are reluctant to express openly their dislike of and contempt for minorities, indeed are not prepared to express publicly a sentiment that could be interpretted as racist. Racism, it is said, is subtle: it is disguised, kept out of sight" (Enrlich 73) "The

Alternatives to Prison Summary

need of â€Å"correction† than the prisoner. The caring communities have yet to be built. from Instead of Prisons: A Handbook for Abolitionists Why Decriminalize? Abolitionists advocate drastically limiting the role of criminal law. We do this not because we wish to encourage certain behaviour, but because we realize that criminal sanctions are not an effective way of dealing with social problems. There are far too many laws on the books. It would be prohibitively expensive to enforce them all. This results in unjust and arbitrary law enforcement. Powerless persons are imprisoned while more powerful persons go free. People of colour, first nations and poor people bear the brunt of unequal law enforcement. The crimes most frequently considered for decriminalization are those which are â€Å"victimless†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. offenses that do not result in anyone's feeling that she has been injured so as to impel himher to bring the offense to the attention of the authorities †¦. behaviour not injurious to others but made criminal by statutes based on moral standards which disapprove of certain forms of behaviour while ignoring others that are comparable. A system â€Å"bursting at its seams† is perhaps the most visible effect of overcriminalization. Overcriminalization encourages the wide use of discretionary power in law enforcement. Because there is no complainant, police resort to questionable means of enforcement. Investigative techniques used to gather evidence are often immoral and sometimes illegal. These include entrapment, use of informers, wiretapping and use of constitutional rights such as illegal search and seizure, invasion of the right to privacy and self-incrimination. from Instead of Prisons Alternatives to Incarceration Imprisonment should be a last resort. The presumption should be against its use. Before any offender is incarcerated, the prosecution should bear the burden of proving in an evidentiary hearing that no other alternative exists. An equal burden should be required for the denial or revocation of â€Å"good time†, probation and parole, which really are only other ways of imposing imprisonment†¦ We should further reduce our excessive reliance on prisons by making extensive use of alternatives to imprisonment, such as fines, restitution, and other probationary methods, which could at least as effectively meet society's need for legal sanctions. However, such alternatives must be made available to all people who have committed similar offenses, so as not to become a means for the more affluent to buy their way out of prison. And where some kind of confinement seems necessary, halfway houses, community centres, group homes intermittent sentences, and other means of keeping offenders within the community should be preferred to prison. from A Program for Prison Reform

The Great Gatsby, Chapter 8

Owen Marshall Honors Language Arts, Lohman March 27, 2013 Chapter 8 This chapter begins with Nick talking to Gatsby after the horrible events of the night before. Gatsby tells Nick how he spent his night waiting for Daisy to see him just for her to ignore him the whole time. He then tells Nick about why he fell in love with Daisy, and why he is still so deeply attached to her. Nick then leaves for work, shouting to Gatsby reassuring words seeing as he is obviously lost and depressed.After Nick leaves we are told about the actions of grief stricken George Wilson. We are told that George believed that the driver of the car that killed his wife was Gatsby and George acts upon this information. He spends the day making his way to Gatsby’s house and upon his arrival kills Gatsby in his pool and then ends his own life. Suspense This chapter creates a very deep suspense through the actions of George Wilson.Fitzgerald cultivates this suspense for the climax of the novel by describing George’s actions with little detail, describing them as if we are being told by a police report. He skirts what actually occurred, instead describing the setting in vivid detail. He mentions the â€Å"†¦cluster of leave†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (pg 170) that are in the pool foreshadowing Gatsby’s fate by having the leaves represent the end of the season and the end of his life. Fitzgerald uses this suspense to keep the reader intensely reading keep Gatsby’s death a shock.