Concrete Operations Stage

Concrete operations are the third stage of Piagetian cognitive development, during which children develop logical but not abstract thinking (Papalia p. 351). The concrete operational stage begins around age seven and continues until approximately age eleven. During this time, children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts. Piaget determined that children in the concrete operational stage were fairly good at the use of inductive logic. Inductive logic involves going from a specific experience to a general principle. On the other hand, children at this age have difficulty using deductive logic, which involves using a general principle to determine the outcome of a specific event. This stage is also characterized by a loss of egocentric thinking. Egocentrism is Piaget’s term for inability to consider another person’s point of view; a characteristic of young children’s thought (Papalia p. G-3). During this stage, the child has the ability to master most types of conservation experiments, and begins to understand reversibility. Conservation is the realization that quantity or amount does not change when nothing has been added or taken away from an object or a collection of objects, despite changes in form or spatial arrangement. The concrete operational stage is also characterized by the child’s ability to coordinate two dimensions of an object simultaneously, arrange structures in sequence, and transpose differences between items in a series. The child is capable of concrete problem-solving. Categorical labels such as â€Å"number† or â€Å"animal† are now available to the child. The first, and most discussed, of these limitations is egocentrism. The pre-operational child has a â€Å"'self-centred' view of the world† (Smith, Cowie and Blades, 2003, p. 399), meaning that she has difficulty understanding that other people may see things differently, and hence hold a differing point of view. Piaget's classic test for egocentrism is the three mountains task (Piaget and Inhelder, 1956), which concrete operational thinkers can complete successfully. A second limitation which is overcome in the concrete operational stage is the perceptual domination of one aspect of a situation. Before the stage begins, the child's perception of any situation or problem will be dominated by one aspect; this is best illustrated by the failure of pre-operational children to pass Piaget's conservation tasks (Piaget and Inhelder, 1974). Perhaps the most important limitation, yet the most difficult to describe and measure, is that of the turn to logical operators. A pre-operational child will use mostly simple, heuristic strategies in problem solving. Once a child reaches the concrete operational stage, they will be in possession of a completely new set of strategies, allowing problem solving using logical rules. This new ability manifests itself most clearly in children's justifications for their answers. Concrete operational thinkers will explicitly state their use of logical rules in problem solving (Harris and Butterworth, 2002). This area also indicates the way in which the concrete operational stage can be negatively defined; although children can now use logical strategies, these can only be applied to concrete, immediately present objects. Thinking has become logical, but is not yet abstract. These shifts in the child's thinking lead to a number of new abilities which are also major, positively defined characteristics of the concrete operational stage. The most frequently cited ability is conservation. Now that children are no longer perceptually dominated by one aspect of a situation, they can track changes much more easily and recognize that some properties of an object will persevere through change. Conservation is always gained in the same order, firstly with respect to number, followed secondly by weight, and thirdly by volume. A second new ability gained in the concrete operational stage is reversibility. This refers to the ability to mentally trace backwards, and is of enormous help to the child in both their problem solving and the knowledge they have of their own problem solving. For the former this is because they can see that in a conservation task, for example, the change made could be reversed to regain the original properties. With respect to knowledge of their own problem solving, they become able to retrace their mental steps, allowing an entirely new level of reflection. Concrete operational children also gain the ability to structure objects hierarchically, known as classification. This includes the notion of class inclusion, e. g. understanding an object being part of a subset included within a parent set, and is shown on Piaget's inclusion task, asking children to identify, out of a number of brown and white wooden beads, whether there were more brown beads or wooden beads (Piaget, 1965). Seriation is another new ability gained during this stage, and refers to the child's ability to order objects with respect to a common property. A simple example of this would be placing a number of sticks in order of height. An important new ability which develops from the interplay of both seriation and classification is that of numeration. Whilst pre-operational children are obviously capable of counting, it is only during the concrete operational stage that they become able to apply mathematical operators, thanks to their abilities to order things in terms of number (seriation) and to split numbers into sets and subsets (classification), enabling more complex multiplication, division and so on. Finally, and also following the development of seriation, is transitive inference. This is the name given to children's ability to compare two objects via an intermediate object. So for instance, one stick could be deemed to be longer than another by both being individually compared to another (third) stick. Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence). This stage (characterized by 7 types of conservation: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, volume), intelligence is demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.

Health Promotion Among the Homeless Essay

As the economy changes, so does the availability of services, goods and money for many every individual. For those individuals who are already struggling with some type of issue such as a decrease in hours worked, wage, disability, domestic violence etc. these changes affect them in a much more severe context. For those who become or are homeless, health care may not be the first thing to take care of on their daily tasks list. Other things like eating, finding safe shelter and not getting arrested are of the most importance. However as many contract health related diseases such as tuberculosis, diabetes, scabies, influenza, etc. health care becomes of concern and a necessity in order to maintain a way of life. Health promotion among the homeless community is not only important but needed. Health promotion can be effective with the appropriate intervention methods, professional staff and the continuous availability of services and goods offered to the community. The National Coalition for the Homeless (2009) noted that the Census Bureau calculated that 45. million Americans did not have health insurance in 2007 and out of this 45. 7 million uninsured individuals, 8. 1 million children in the United States were without health insurance. Homelessness and lack of health care are positively related and having no health insurance at all can itself alone cause homelessness. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (2009), half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States in 2008 were due to hea lth related problems. The most important fact to remember when promotion health to this community is that they have little to no money, experience embarrassment, nervousness and/or may become offended and may not appear as if they need help but may or may not be mentally ill. These three things are not only considered barriers to the community when trying to receive health care but they are also barriers to the medical professionals who are not properly educated on how to show discretion and privacy for each homeless individual. Other relevant barriers include the lack of knowledge about where to get treated, lack of transportation and health care costs. To overcome these barriers, medical health professionals must be adequately educated on this community and any new developments within this community as well. Also affordable transportation and public assistance must be indiscriminately made available to this population. One of the biggest ways to break these barriers is to create and increase public health funding for this population. There is one federally funded program, Health Care for the Homeless, which provides health care for homeless persons. These services include but are not limited to substance abuse services, emergency care and public housing assistance. Also providing dental and mental health care in most areas, this federally funded program creates a standard by which other programs created should be based off of and also provides a foundation to for other programs needed to assist this growing population. Poor health in the homeless community has an effect on society. Homelessness impacts the community in the following ways: economically, politically, legally and physically. As the number of unhealthy homeless individuals increase, the cost of maintaining and operating health facilities and service programs that cater to this population increases. Taxpayers fund these programs and services with the help of private donations. When the homeless do not seek out these federally funded or privately funded services and programs, they seek another method of obtaining money and/or services by panhandling or stealing, this creates a legal problem. Also for those individuals who do not go to a shelter or place to eat, they must find food and typically they do this through garbage cans and recyclable places. This action creates health issues which causes this epidemic to continue. As there are those businesses that may deny the homeless individual to bathe or clean themselves properly, he/she may go days without proper hygiene care causing another more health problems such as scabies or other bodily infections. In conclusion, homeless individuals have the human and legal right to access public information and health services provided to every other human being. It is the writer’s opinion that a portion of the tax payer’s dollar should be spent to provide health insurance and health care to those that are homeless to a certain extent. The writer believes that each homeless individual should receive an annual checkup that includes mental, dental and physical services. For those taxpayers who make above a certain income range should be required to pay more of a percentage of services needed after the initial appointment. The writer believes that homeless individuals deserve the same amount of care as those who are not homeless deserve. Health issues in the homeless community are ones that can be solved with constant interventions and involvement at the community level.

Romeo And Juliet Analysis Film And Play Versions

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses many ways in which he builds tension in certain scenes. In Act 3 Scene 1, Shakespeare uses a whole variety of ways to show and build tension in the play and between the characters. The film director Baz Luhrmann also made an adaptation of the play as a film. In his film there are many different visual ways in which Luhrmann builds and creates tension. My first point is, right at the start of the scene, Mercutio keeps pushing for a fight. Benvolio on the other hand, keeps telling Mercutio to retire, but Mercutio will not.In lines one and two, Benvolio says, ‘I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire: the day is hot, the Capels are abroad, and if we meet we shall not scape a brawl†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This suggests that Benvolio is aware of the Capulet presence, and is not comfortable with where they are, this builds tension. However Mercutio’s reply is quite sarcastic and confident and it taunts Benvolio, ‘Thou art like one of t hose fellows that, claps me his sword on the table, and says ‘God send no need of thee! † This basically says to Benvolio that, if he carries a weapon, but does not use it, why does he carry it in the first place?This suggests that Mercutio carries a weapon for its purpose. In Baz Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet, there are many more Montagues than we get in the play. Then Tybalt and Petruchio enter, just two against around six, you just know something’s going to happen. Mercutio starts off just agitating Tybalt, but then when Romeo arrives and Tybalt says, ‘Well peace be with you sir, here comes my man. ’ Mercutio gets really angry that Tybalt wishes to see Romeo. This hectic mood is portrayed by the camera getting jerky, as if it has turned into a handheld camera, like a documentary following a war scene.Mercutio starts shouting at Tybalt which definitely builds tension because he chases him at the same time. This leads to the fight. In Baz Luhrmann’s version Romeo is getting badly beaten up by Tybalt, and Romeo does not fight back. Mercutio sees this as an act of giving in, as shown in line 66 when he says, ‘O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! ’ Mercutio then gives chase of Tybalt, he drops his gun into the sand, suggesting he does wish to kill anybody, let alone Tybalt, all he wants to do is aid Romeo. This builds tension with the viewers because they do not know what the outcome is going to be.In the film and the play, Mercutio helps Romeo by fighting for him, however Romeo does not wish for them to fight at all and the audience knows this as Romeo keeps trying to intervene. In the film, Mercutio fights Tybalt and eventually slams Tybalt to the ground onto a mirror which shatters underneath him; this builds tension as the audience believes that Mercutio has done some serious damage to Tybalt. However after this Mercutio goes to strike Tybalt again with a plank of wood, but Romeo stops hi m by getting in the way and holding him back.Whilst doing so, Mercutio gets struck by Tybalt with a shard of glass. This builds tension as Mercutio was one of the main characters of the scene, he did a lot and now he has been killed by Tybalt, the audience know something is going to happen. In the film, a lot of tension is built by pathetic fallacy, which is where the weather reflects the mood at the time. At the start of the scene, the sun is burning and is very hot and hazy, suggesting that it is unclear what is going to happen or that a person is unclear about something such as Benvolio being unclear on why Mercutio will not leave.Also, in the fight it could suggest that the outcome is unclear. When Mercutio dies, the weather changes dramatically to a very turbulent, stormy weather. This shows the chaos that is involved in the scene. The weather also turns from day to night, light to dark, which suggests that there is lots of deceit in this scene because Romeo is confused about M ercutio dying in his arms. The darkness also reflects Romeo’s mood as he gets angry and evil. He then set out to kill Tybalt. In the darkness Romeo also kills Tybalt by shooting him multiple times in the back.I have found that Shakespeare has used many ways in which he makes the play chromatic and exciting for the audience. I have discovered that the main fight itself is spurred on by Mercutio building tension between the characters and in the scene. I have also found that in Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation of the play that he used many techniques such as pathetic fallacy to create drama and tension in this scene. Overall Shakespeare has used many ways to build drama and tension, he has conveyed excellently in this scene love and hatred.

Retrofitting Suburbia How to turn undefined, unstructured places into Dissertation

Retrofitting Suburbia How to turn undefined, unstructured places into legible, coherent, accessible spaces and the effects - Dissertation Example These areas have a pragmatic and emotional significance for every citizen (Lynch, 1960). Legibility can be defined as the facility with which symbols can be interpreted. Legibility is effectively the facility with which individuals comprehend the perspective of a location. In composing questionnaire surveys, Lynch delineated a format of interpreting legibility based on five components. These components are recognized as Thoroughfares, borders. Districts, Landmarks and Hubs. These were delineated as follows: Thoroughfares Thoroughfares are venues of travel which are familiar to the citizenry. These are the venues by which the individuals regularly, occasionally or possibly transport themselves. Examples of thoroughfares are: pathways, transit routes and railroad modes of transport. The consistency of the thoroughfare is reliant upon its dimensions, its inclination and the occupations which occur upon it (Lynch, 1960). Borders Borders can be defined as the limits which are formed from one part of the city to another. Borders can be characterized as coastlines, natural and man made geographical socio economic and political limitations. The consistency of the borders in a municipal environment is reliant upon the man made or geographical parameters of the limits which are assigned to a municipality (Lynch, 1960). Districts Districts are characterized by the distinction in geographical location, the architecture of which they are composed, the socio economic, geographical and political characteristics by which they are formed and the occupations which take place within them. The consistency of a district is reliant upon its population, its geographical location, the socio economic and the aspects of the citizenry which occupy it. Examples of districts are commercial areas, historical areas which are reserved for recreational purposes such as parks, commercial and cultural areas of activity within a municipality (Lynch, 1960). Landmarks Landmarks are geographical poi nts of reference which are mutually recognized by the individuals in a city as being frames of references. A landmark may be a natural characteristic of the city, a location of historical importance represented by a commemorative aspect or a construction which is outstanding in its characteristic which is outstanding in its environment. Examples of landmarks may be hills, historical monument, facilities in the municipality which are mutually recognized among the other buildings and geographical aspects of the environment (Lynch, 1960). Hubs Hubs are recognized as being the centers of activity in a municipality. There are characterized by the activities which occur within the. A municipality may be characterized as a hub if it has connections with other municipalities in the area by means of commerce, socio political activity, population density, cultural and transport characteristics of interconnection with other areas (Lynch, 1960). The Formation of Mental Maps An individualâ€℠¢s perception of their surrounding is defined as mental map. A mental map is the individual’s paradigm of their recognized surroundings. Mental maps can be researched by requesting direction to a landmark, path, edge or hub. They can also be characterized by an individual’

CSR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

CSR - Essay Example The recent years have witnessed mounting pressures from various stakeholder groups for corporations to incorporate sustainability into their supply chain management procedures. Sustainable or green supply chain management can be roughly defined as the management of all activities right from the purchase from suppliers to taking back the disposed product from the customers with a special focus on improving the social and environmental impacts of those activities (Business Guide, 2003). This can be contrasted with the conventional supply chain management focused only on the activities until delivery of manufactured products or services to the customers. Therefore, the environmental responsibility has drifted away from the consumer to the manufacturer and retailer (Business Guide, 2003). However, research has suggested that companies require not only the internal capacities, resources and corporate culture to achieve sustainability but also an ‘external fit’ to achieve stra tegic collaboration with their suppliers (Kanter, 1994) which presents a challenge to companies embracing this philosophy. Furthermore, the grey area surrounding the definition of ‘sustainability’ and ‘green supply chain’ means that sustainable SCM has to be discussed in terms of reverse logistics, closed loop supply chain and various other drivers. There are several drivers for a sustainable supply chain management primarily because of the related benefits to various stakeholders. These include government Regulations, Market forces, Customers, Investors and Employees. The government owns the primary responsibility to influence supply chain sustainability. Government can achieve progress on this by effective use of bans, subsidies and incentives. The government can come up with measures such as environmental labels, licenses and product design guidelines (Business Guide, pp. 42). There are already a number of regulations in place for sustainability. These i nclude U.S. Farm security and rural investment act (2002), European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), China ROHS, E.U. Cosmetics directive, E.U. Packaging Directive, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and REACH. In addition there are International Standards such as WRAP, FLA, ICTI CARE, ISO 14000 and ISO 26000 for addressing environmental causes (Business for Social Responsibility, 2007). As far as the market forces are concerned, the relationship between brand owners and retailers is changing. Big retailers such as Wal-Mart have a huge clout over the manufacturers and control the types of products they want to keep on their shelves. In addition, the retailers and brand owners are also under tremendous pressure from NGOs and other organizations working for environmental causes. As far as the customers are concerned, there is a long way to go before the customer becomes mature enough to buy only environment friendly products. However, the shift has already begun and the customers are willing to spend a few extra dollars to promote or support green supply chain initiatives. WholeFoods charges higher prices for its products than a retailer such as Wal-Mart but is still acceptable to customers because of the sustainable practices being followed in the manufacturing of those products. Furthermore, there are several socially

You are what you eat. American food culture and traditions Around the Essay

You are what you eat. American food culture and traditions Around the word - Essay Example The participants of the contests are the ones who eat the hot dogs in this occasion while other people get entertained by the contest. Nathan Hot dog eating contest is a competitive eating event held annually on 4th July in America at Nathans’s Famous Corporation and in other famous restaurants. The significance of this event is to establish the most patriotic citizen. The victor of the competition is considered the most patriotic citizen of the year. The first competition was held in 1916 and the event has gained momentum since then by attracting many participants from all over the state (AmericaBooks, LLC, 2010). The media has broadly covered this event, and this has given it a lot of fame across the continent and elsewhere. The ancient meat used in making hot dogs was beef and pork, but chicken and turkey have been used in the recent time. Oven-roasting hot dogs by preheating the oven to a temperature of four hundred degrees, slicing the hot dogs into halves and put the slices in a roasting pan. The roasting oven containing the hot dogs is then placed in an oven for fifteen minutes and then serves them on the bun. Grilling involves putting the hot dogs on a hot grill and turning them until they attain the color of your choice before serving them. Microwaving this is prepared by putting the hot dog in a microwave-safe bowl with water and then placing it safely in the microwave for two to three minutes (AmericaBooks, LLC, 2010). After removing the hot dogs from the microwave they are then served in a bun after cooling for about a half a minute. Boiling hot dogs are put in a saucepan with sufficient water and then place the pan on fire and give it time to boil. Deep the hot dogs into the boiling water and reduce the amount of fire. Wait for the hot dogs to boil for three to six minutes, and then serve to eat. Contesters use different methods to eat the hot dogs. There are some who break the hot dog into two pieces and

Motivation Methods Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Motivation Methods Paper - Essay Example This can be done through a needs analysis or even qualitative research such as interviews or questionnaires to determine the real-life attitudes of employees. Motivating employees requires a blend of transformational leadership development, experiential learning, negotiation strategies, and making appeals to psychological needs. Many organizations that operate in dynamic and ever-changing environments must be flexible and adaptable in order to maintain its competitive edge and advantages over other businesses operating in the same industry. For some businesses, marketing and promotion are critical dimensions that differentiate the brand or the product from other companies selling similar products in multiple domestic and international markets. In order to be adaptable, change management becomes critical. According to Grieves (2010, p.8), â€Å"change is a negotiated order†, where internal stakeholders of all varieties attempt to exert persuasive influence on others in order to achieve goals and objectives established by the organization. In order to motivate employees in an environment where there is considerable resistance to change, the manager must consider bargaining tactics in order to negotiate these changes. Employees who often resist change can reduce productivity and complicate the development of special projects that are critical to achieving corporate goals and gaining competitive edge. In many scenarios, such resistance is caused by negative sentiment or attitude about the change and its potential impact on job role and responsibilities. Employees are more willing to accept change activities and principles when they feel they have been given an opportunity to express their concerns about the activities and the potential risks employees feel the change imposes. If employees do not feel they have been given adequate decision-making authority and are being heard by management, they will not feel appreciated within the organizational context. Thu s, the manager should attempt to create a sense of social belonging and also build self-esteem in employees associated with the change. According to Morris & Maisto (2005), these are fundamental human behavioral needs that are critical to achieving a self-actualized, motivated attitude about job role achievement. The most effective methods of establishing motivation in a changing environment are to bargain the change imperatives and ensure that consensus becomes part of the management model. Another method of improving motivation in the organization is the development of the transformational leadership style. According to Fairholm (2009), transformational leadership is a human resources-based management system whereby the manager works as a teacher, mentor and coach to others in order to build their competencies and individual skill-sets. A transformational leader also imparts vision and mission on others in the business, role modeling ethical behaviors to build trust between subord inate and manager. In organizational environments where there are traditional management models that have rigid control systems and reward systems that are contingent on performance in job role, employees are not given opportunities to express their creativity or achieve autonomy in job role. Transactional leadership, as one example, is a management philosophy where goals are

Answer the questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Answer the questions - Essay Example The Thirteenth Amendment, adopted on the 6th of December, 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except on a special scenario when such was done as punishment for criminal activities while the Fourteenth Amendment, adopted on the 9th of July, 1868, addressed rights of US citizens and protection of the laws at an equal level of the citizens (Linder). Justified by a 1890 state of Louisiana law of Separate Car Act under the US’s numerous state laws that championed racial segregation under a policy of â€Å"separate but equal†, Homer Plessy was arrested and tried for an act of violation of the stated law. Plessy’s act of defiance happened when he boarded a ‘whites only’ railroad car instead of the ‘blacks only’ railroad car. Plessy was of mixed race and was categorized as colored under the current state laws. The ruling made in 1892 in Orleans Parish under John Howard Ferguson, the presiding judge, upheld Plessy’s convictio n that violated Louisiana’s state laws and charged him with a $25 fine. Subsequent rulings after Plessy’s writ of prohibition by the Supreme Court of Louisiana and the United States Supreme Court upheld Ferguson’s ruling (Linder). Plessy vs. ... There was need then for the laws to be amended in order to ensure adherence to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments that many violated, US citizens felt were disregarded. The state of Tennessee vs. John scopes The state of Tennessee vs. John scopes was a landmark case in the US that happened in 1925 in the state of Tennessee. The trial was of significance as it pointed out the right to liberty of association and knowledge, especially on matters concerning spirituality, after the enactment of the Butler Act in Tennessee that prohibited teaching of the evolution theory in educational institutions within the state (Linder). On the 7th of May, 1925, John scopes was arrested for defying Butler’s Act for teaching the theory of evolution. Given American Civil Liberties Union’s commitment to protect any person that would be brought to trial for defying Butler’s Act, it utilized the services of Clarence Darrow, an exceptional and experienced criminal defense attorney back then to defend Scope. Despite exemplary defense by the attorney and a weak performance by Bryan, the prosecutor, the obvious discrimination right from the religiously pious judge led to a charge of guilt to Scope, with a fine of $100. An appeal to the state supreme court reversed the previous charge and granted ACLU and Scope victory (Linder). The outcomes of the case after appeal was an offset of the liberties that US citizens gained in religious alignment. After the trial, it was reported that a total of 22 cases in different other states shared the same fate and the laws defining the Bible as the main book for truths for the US citizens were eased to accommodate more religious liberty and affiliation to either the scientific teachings

C.P. Ellis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

C.P. Ellis - Essay Example He worked day in and day out and even worked in the week ends in order to gain some extra money but ended up being angry, annoyed and frustrated as he saw little success. With all these efforts that he had been putting, he was not even able to break even, that is to say, he was not even able generate enough income to sustain himself. With all this building up inside him, he did not know who to blame for all that was happening and who should be held responsible for his failures, one after the other. He wanted to vent out the anger and frustration upon something. Blaming the situation or the country could not help because it can not be personified. With this at his background, he joined the Klan which was meant for the anti black movement in order to 'hate' them in a formalized manner. The fact that his father was also a member of the Klan once upon a time and that his initial mental makeup was done up by his father, he was more inclined towards joining the Klan. While doing this, he assumed that this would solve his problems that he was seeing at personal level. Many members of the klan were of lower income and education and they joined it because it gave them a platform for hating and opposing the blacks, which they could not do in an equally efficient manner when they were individuals. Also, the Klan gave Ellis a certain kind of respect and recognition that he was deeply longing for, and which he had not received till date. When Ellis took the oath in the presence of more than four hundred Klan members, he felt certain kind of satisfaction for being respected and honored. 3. How did C.P. Ellis's assumptions about the Klan and those who were in power change Why did they change Ellis took great honor himself with the fact that the municipal council members would call him up from their side in late hours and spoke to him in person. He had a certain sense of importance felt with this and thus felt good about that because he had never received any such treatment when he had not joined the Klan. However, at one instance, he realized that the behavior of the municipal council men was not the same in public as it is in the private. He felt that the people in the power would avoid him in public so their associations are not revealed. This was the first instance when Ellis found that something was wrong with the people in power. He felt that the people who were in power were using the groups of black and the white by dividing them and then with their support they would be in power. Both the groups were being used against each other in order to achieve their motive. By keeping them engaged in fighting the council men made it sure that none came up to a level where they would have to share the power with them because they were unwilling to part from the wealth and the power that they were enjoying. When he tried to put this point through in the Klan meetings, he was unable to make people convince and think the way he was. Fellow members of the Klan would no believe that the people in the council were not really working fro the whites but were using them. This make Ellis

Ethnicity in Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethnicity in Film - Essay Example This film was significant on a number of levels. It was a major Hollywood release budgeted that brought in a box office of 23 million dollars and yet it managed to honestly depict the events of a highly politically charged event. It also examined the complexity seeking self identity in a group long persecuted in examining a character played by Val Kilmer who was at odds with his native heritage preferring to deny its existence and through the events of the story showed the self discovery of racial pride and identity of this character. This paper will explore the issues and themes raised by the film as they relate to the depiction of native culture. It will examine how the film showed the fight for ethnic identity in the face of outside pressures that are often hostile. This illustration of the complex nature of racial identity and political context are further heightened by the political context of the story. It will also highlight how the quest to depict native American ethnicity on film is still occasionally marred by stereotypes. The quest for identity for the protagonist is the main theme of the story. Val Kilmer's character Ray Levoi is of part Sioux descent and at the onset of the film he strongly denies his heritage. He does not talk about his heritage to his superior played by venerable actor and playwright Sam Shepard. He is shown to have become mainstream with his fashionable haircut and designer sunglasses and formal clothing. His initial contact with the people of the reservation his shown to be officious and unfamiliar. Grahame Greene's character,Walter Crow Horse who plays the town sheriff. does not like the intial presentation but something in him senses the inner conflict in the character. There is a marked tension in the character who is referred to as the Washington Redskin"" in hushed tones to refer to both his heritage and to his remarkable success in the bureau up to that point. With his succesful mainstream background Ray Levoi's character sees the events of the crime that he is sent to in vestigate through the official outlook of his boss. Slowly through the Graham Greene's character he awakens to his own heritage. After the intial presentation of the character there are series of events and individuals that slowly change his perspective on the purity of his own reasons for being there. The intitail reason for trip to the Reserve by the FBI is to capture Jimmy Looks Twice a chararcter who is believed to have murdered some FBI agents and is on the lam in the reservation. Apart from the steady tutelage of the town sherrif it is the idealisitc young teacher, Maggie Eagle Bear who appears to do the most to sway the protagonist's thinking. She is sincere and intelligent and she speaks to him of the real injustices that are going on in the reserve. The look at the poverty on the reserve is not spared in Apted's honest cinematography. She speaks to him at an educated level which he has come to respect from his own successes but unlike him she has not turned her back on her heritage. More than this, Ray's character sees her clear kindness and lack of rancor and it moves him. From this encounter on, Ra y starts to question his own motives for being on the reserve and