Determining the Impact of Information Systems Research Proposal

Determining the Impact of Information Systems - Research Proposal Example It is pertinent to define and explain a little about political organizations with a few examples of such bodies in the United States and Australia. There are diverse definitions or perceptions of political organizations and a few of them are worth mentioning. According to Leacock & Lee (1982) political organizations are comprised of â€Å"those portions of social organization that specifically relate to the individuals or groups that management the affairs of public policy or seek to control the appointment or action of those individuals or groups†. A legal perception of such bodies as perceived by the North Dakota Supreme Court defines political organization as â€Å"a political party or other group, a principal purpose of which is to further the election or appointment of candidates for legislative or executive office or to support or oppose the continuation, amendment, repeal, enactment, initiative, or referendum of any constitutional, statutory, or regulatory provisionâ⠂¬  (N.D. Code Jud. Conduct Terminology, 2006). A much narrower and even stronger definition is given by Radcliff-Brown, in the sense that they emphasize the words coercive authority and physical force to be a factor in politics. The common thread that runs through all the definitions is the element of control that a political organization can have over the society and individuals in the society. But only the legal definition mentions the term election and not the other two. This indicates that election is not mandatory for an organization to be considered political. So, a monarchy, where continuity is by birth rather than by mandate can also be considered to be political if has the power to control the society. It can also be applicable in the case of a dictatorship. Generally speaking, any group that fields candidates to be elected to positions of power in a government can be considered to

Guido Fubini Essay Example for Free

Guido Fubini Essay Guido Fubini, A famous mathematician, was born January 19th 1987 in Venice, Italy. His father, Lazzaro Fubini, was a mathematics teacher so he came from a mathematical background. Guido was influenced by his father towards mathematics when he was young. He attended secondary school in Venice where he showed that he was brilliant in mathematics. It was then clear that from this stage he would follow this career. In 1896 Guido entered the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. There he was taught by Dini and Bianchi, who quickly influenced Guido to undertake research in geometry. He presented his doctoral thesis Cliffords Parallelism in Elliptic Spaces in 1900. Most young doctoral students take a few years to make themselves well know in their area. However, Guido was lucky for his teacher Bianchi was about to publish an important work on differential geometry. Bianchi discussed the results of Guidos thesis in his treatise, which appeared in 1902. Guido remained at Pisa to qualify as a university teacher. Most mathematicians at this stage in their careers extend the work they have begun in their doctoral thesis, but not Guido. He attacked a completely new topic to the one he had studied for his doctoral thesis studying the theory of harmonic functions in spaces of constant curvature. Guidos interests were exceptionally wide moving from his early work on differential geometry towards analysis. In this area he work on differential equations, analytic functions, and functions of several complex variables. He taught courses on these analysis topics at both the Politecnico and the University in Turin. During World War I, Guido studied the accuracy of artillery. These investigations led him on to work on acoustics and electricity. Guido was forced to retire from his chair in Turin. He had no wish to leave Italy but he had two sons who were engineers and, always a man who was devoted to his family, Guido decided that his sons had no future in a country whose official policy was anti-Semitism. When he received an invitation from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in 1939, Guido  made the decision which he believed was best for his family. They moved to the United States immediately, although Guido himself was in rather poor health by this time. Still, despite his health problem, he was able to teach for a few years in New York. 5 years after moving to the United State Guido died of heart Problems on June 6th 1943.

The Curriculum For Excellence Has On Teacher Professionalism Education Essay

The Curriculum For Excellence Has On Teacher Professionalism Education Essay The existence of a relationship between curriculum policy and teacher professionalism would appear to be an established assumption. This is evident in claims that curriculum reform is often regarded as a threat to teacher professionalism (Al-Hinei 2003; Apple 2009; Locke et al. 2005). Most notably, it is often claimed that the level of prescription in the English National Curriculum, with the associated requirement to meet the prescribed outcomes, reflects a reduction of teacher autonomy in favour of accountability (Walsh 2006). It would seem, at this level then, possible to argue that a reduction in central prescription equates to an increase in teacher autonomy which in turn equates to an enhancement of teacher professionalism. To an extent this would seem to be an aim of recent curriculum reform in Scotland in the form of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). The first page of the first Building the Curriculum document that claims that teachers will have greater scope and space for professional decisions about what and how they should teach (Scottish Executive 2006:1). However, such a straightforward relationship between curriculum policy and teacher professionalism would, drawing on Evans (2008), be an over-simplification. Evans suggests that professionalism cannot be understood exclusively, through examining teachers remit and responsibilities (p.23), and rather we must consider teachers themselves understand their professional responsibilities. To an extent this would seem to be recognised in Scotlands curriculum reform, in for example claims that the reform requires a culture change (Scottish Government 2009a:5) and the emphasis on the need for professional development (Scottish Executive 2006:2). This suggests recognition that a change of teachers remit and responsibilities alone will not impact upon professionalism. In light of the perceived association between CfE and teacher professionalism both as representing being and requiring a change it becomes pertinent to consider the nature of the professional judgements that greater teacher autonomy over the content of the curriculum entails, and therefore the conception of professionalism it would seem to imply. This requires a consideration of the particular issues that are associated with the selection of curriculum content, and an examination of different conceptions of teacher professionalism. Curriculum First therefore, we must consider what is meant by curriculum. As a term it would seem to be notoriously hard to define, with a multitude of potentially conflicting definitions (Dillon 2009). Generally it can be suggested that curriculum does not refer to a list, or progression, of items to be taught. The curriculum addresses not only what is taught, but why and how teaching and learning takes place. As such, curricula reflect and promote beliefs about the aims and nature of education (Flinders Thornton 2009:8). They reflect different epistemological and pedagogical beliefs beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning and teaching in, for example, their organisation of knowledge (Carr 1988), for example those that emphasise the separation of knowledge into subjects and those that favour integration of subject areas. However it should perhaps be noted that Carr (1988) argues that the epistemological and pedagogical bases of much curriculum policy is not entirely coherent. It should also be noted that the current discussion is centred around the concept of explicit curriculum (REF-moore?), curriculum as a statement of the planned or expected learning within a school context. Other conceptions regard curriculum to encompass all the experiences which impact upon a learners development (REF-Dillon?). However, notwithstanding the range of approaches to understanding and creating curricula, curriculum design necessarily entails a selection of what is to be taught. Different curriculum models may differ in both when and by whom this process of selection takes place. In a heavily prescriptive, centralised, curriculum much of the selection is being made by policy makers. At the other extreme, in a strongly child-centred curriculum, selection is largely made by the child based upon their interests. (BACK THIS UP). If we consider the CfE itself, it is evident that it cannot be considered to be placing the decision of what to teach solely in the hands of teachers. Priestley (2010:23) suggests that it reflects a trend in curriculum development in general, in which there is an attempt to draw on both top-down and bottom-up approaches to curriculum planning. A process of selection has already occurred at the national level in terms of the forms of knowledge and skills that are to be develop ed. Even within this clear framework of national expectations (Scottish Executive 2006:1), teachers do not have sole responsibility for curriculum content selection. In the pledge, all children and young people should experience personalisation and choice (Scottish Government 2008:17), there is an expectation that pupils will, to a certain extent, also be making decisions about curriculum content. Further, there is a strong emphasis upon collegiality, with teachers working together on curriculum development (Scottish Government 2009). However it clearly does aim to place more responsibility for choice in the hands of the teacher, and in doing so is potentially affecting the nature of teacher professionalism. Professionalism In order to examine this claim more closely it is necessary to consider the meaning of professionalism itself. As with curriculum, it would seem that professionalism is a difficult term to define with many different views as to what it really means (Al-Hinei 2003:41; Evans 2008). Generally however, the term profession may be regarded as indicating a distinct class or category of occupation consisting of jobs such as doctor or lawyer, and sometimes teacher (Carr 2000:22), to which a certain status may be attached. This should be regarded as distinct from the everyday use of professional as distinguished from amateur which focuses on whether or not an individual is paid (REF-Carr?). The purpose of regarding some occupations as professions differs according to different perspectives. Some regard it as a socially constructed concept, suggesting it is a means of preserving power and status with a certain group of people (Locke et al. 2005:558). Carr (:) suggests it refers to those occupations that are required to maintain civil society (health, justice and education). Others suggest that there are certain defining characteristics which mark out an occupation as fulfilling the criterion for profession (Locke et al 2005:558; Christie 2003:845). Whilst this diversity of views exists, there does seem to be a general sense that those occupations that are classed as professions involve a level of autonomy to make decisions, a distinct knowledge base or expertise, and some form of care or service to society (Carr 2000; Christie 2003; Goodson 2003; Locke et al. 2005). Professionalism itself may be perhaps regarded as the way in which we describe a profession in terms of its characteristics in relation to these concepts (Goodson 2003:126). In essence professionalism is concerned with considering the level of autonomy afforded to individuals by an occupation and the nature of the professional knowledge or expertise involved. In this way, the assertion referred to earlier, that the English National Curriculum is considered as a process of de-professionalisation, may be regarded as a belief that the level of prescription involved is reducing teacher autonomy and changing the nature of the expertise required to do the job. As such, the distinct characteristics of teaching are more narrowly defined. Carr (2000:15) refers to such a reduced autonomy and knowledge base as restricted professionalism. It is suggested that teaching is unique amongst the professions in terms of its balance between autonomy and accountability (Carr). As Locke et al (2005: 564) point out, there is a tension between professional autonomy and accountability. This unique accountability is related to the relationship between education and society. Education, or rather schooling, is essentially concerned with the kind of society we want to be (White 2004:2) and is often related to the economic health of a country (REF.). This is evident in the claim that the Curriculum for Excellence can play a significant role in achieving the Scottish Governments aim to make Scotland smarter, safer and stronger, wealthier and fairer, greener and healthier (Scottish Government 2008:3). It is from this notion of schooling as serving, and potentially shaping, society as a whole that it is suggested that schools and teachers are accountable in ways that other professions are not (Carr 2000:44). It is further suggested that teachers are also more accountable to parents and must accept the legitimacy of the views of non-professionals in a way that lawyers or doctors do not (Carr 2003:64). It may be as a result of this accountability to the state and parents that the dominant conception of teacher professionalism, in policy at least, has become that of the competent teacher with a focus on meeting prescribed standards. (Goodson 2003:127; Menter et al 2010:21). Viewing teacher professionalism in terms of standards is argued to potentially lead to a situation in which the professional knowledge base of teaching is purely related to practical skills, such as effective communication and the ability to manage behaviour (Goodson 2003:130). It is also argued that such a view of teacher professionalism can lead to unreflective application of rules (Hegarty 2000:456), rather than scrutinising and questioning policy and curricula. It would seem reasonable to associate a prescriptive curriculum with such a concept of teacher professionalism, as indeed Menter et al. (2010:22) do. This would however, seem an insufficient account of teacher professionalism to meet the requirements of a curriculum which gives teacher greater autonomy of what to teach. Therefore, through focussing on the specific issues which arise in relation to curriculum content selection, attention will be paid to models of professionalism which could perhaps be regarded as more appropriate. Two ideas will be addressed in relation to content selection. The first: the implications of regarding content selection as a pedagogical skill (REF) with teachers drawing on, for example, knowledge of child development. The second considers the implications of regarding curriculum as a selection of culture (Giroux 1980:228), pointing to content selection as having ethical implications. Curriculum Content Selection Viewing content selection as a pedagogical skill would perhaps reflect Whites (2004a:20) assertion that teachers expertise lies in deciding what specific aims and what pupil experiences best suit the particular children. In this case, teachers professional knowledge may be regarded as wider than that of practical skills, rather it involves drawing on pedagogical, subject specific knowledge and knowledge of child development, to select and order the content that makes up the curriculum (REF). The teacher is utilising their professional knowledge in order to make professional judgements as to the content which will move an individual to the next stage of development. Clearly this points to the need for some form of curriculum aims. As White (2004:6) points out, we cannot sensibly decide what to teach without reference to an aim, an indication as to what the next stage of development actually is. Applying such an understanding to the CfE, we can see that the overall curricular aims are set out in terms of the four capacities statements as to the type of person the curriculum seeks to develop (Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010). At a more detailed level, the experiences and outcomes describe the expectations for learning and progression for each of the eight curriculum areas (Learning and Teaching Scotland 2010). The teacher, then, would seem to have autonomy in choosing what they teach in order to achieve the expected learning. The need to make professional judgements of this nature would seem to point to a conception of a more enhanced professionalism than a more prescriptive curriculum, and may point to such models as the reflective teacher (Moore 2004:4). Such a model of professionalism is regarded as perceiving teaching as involving more than practical skills. Rather the teacher reflects upon their classroom practice, evaluating their teaching, perhaps drawing on their theoretical understanding with a view to improving and developing their teaching (Moore 2004). It could also relate to the concept of the enquiring teacher (Menter et al. 2010:23), in which teachers are regarded as researchers, drawing on observations in the classroom to inform their professional decisions in their planning. It is suggested that such a conception of the teacher is very apposite in the context of the Curriculum for Excellence (Menter et al. 2010:23), which seeks to give teachers greater autonomy in curriculum development. These models would certainly seem to extend the concept of teacher professionalism beyond that of the perceived technicism of the competent teacher. As such they may provide suitable models for teachers who are involved in the selection of curriculum content, placing an emphasis on teachers pedagogical expertise. However, if we turn to the second concept, an understanding of curriculum content as a selection of culture (Giroux 1980:228), understanding teacher professionalism in terms of pedagogical expertise may begin to seem inadequate. Culture, in its broadest sense, may be regarded as a whole way of life, encompassing all aspects of society including the knowledge, skills and activities, such as sport and recreation, of that society (Entwistle 1977:111). However, if we regard education as being, in some way, involved with betterment (Entwistle 1977:111), schooling cannot be concerned with all those things that make up a culture. Rather, Entwistle (1977:111), suggests that in schooling we select those aspects of culture which are regarded to be conducive to the improvement of the individual or group. This again points to a consideration of the aims of education: it is only through an awareness of what is regarded as betterment, and therefore, what we are aiming to achieve through education, that selection of content can sensibly be carried out (White 2004:6). Related to this, cultural selection clearly also implies a process of evaluation, distinguishing between those things which we regard as desirable or undesirable aspects of culture (Entwistle 1977:110). Therefore concerns about the selection of culture which makes up the content of a curriculum can perhaps be regarded as arising both in relation to the aims of the curriculum and in the evaluations of the relative desirability, or worth, of different cultural elements. Concerns that rise in relation to the aims of the curriculum are perhaps best exemplified by the criticisms of a curriculum whose aim is, for example to increase employability skills. Those who regard knowledge acquisition as having value in its own right would regard an instrumental approach to content selection as an impoverishment of education, limiting access to many forms of culture which may not have direct instrumental value (drawing on Carr et al. 2006:17). In this way then, we can see that the selection of content is in some way impacted upon by our beliefs about the purpose of education, and as such regarding selection of content as technical skill may be insufficient. However, it is perhaps in relation to the evaluation as to the relative worth of aspects of culture that the most complex issues arise. It is in considering the relationship between knowledge and power that cultural selection becomes problematic. This becomes evident when we draw on Bourdieus (1986:106) concept of cultural capital. Bourdieu (1986:106) suggests that different forms of culture are invested with value which can be drawn on for monetary gain, or an increase in social status. If we consider this in terms of knowledge as a form of culture, then acquisition of certain forms of knowledge by an individual can be utilised in generating income and increasing social status. For example, acquiring specific biological and medical knowledge can enable one to gain both the income and status conferred upon a doctor. However, it is not only the acquisition of the knowledge per se. which is valuable, but rather gaining institutional recognition in the form of an academic qualification of possessing a particular form of culture (Bourdieu 1986:110). In this sense, certain forms of knowledge, certain forms of culture, have greater value by virtue of being institutionalised in the form of a qualification (Bourdieu 1986:109). This would suggest therefore, that schools are involved in both the transfer of forms of culture which enable an individual to gain economic capital or social status, but also in some way define what forms of culture are of value. Such an assertion is supported by Girouxs (1980:228) argument that the culture that is selected to form the curriculum becomes legitimised by the very fact of its inclusion in the curriculum. This concept can further be seen in claims that the traditional academic curriculum is an elitist selection of culture, giving value to forms of knowledge associated with the middle class (REF!). It is the relative value that become associated with different forms of knowledge and different skills that forms part of what is termed hidden curriculum (Ref). This is a reference to the values and ideas that a school may not explicitly plan to teach, but which nevertheless are transmitted to pupils (REF). It is suggested therefore that the exclusion of an aspect of culture from the curriculum communicates to pupils a belief about the relative worth of this aspect of culture (REF..exemplify?) Moore (2004) provides an interesting illustration of this claim of elitism in cultural selection. Moore focuses on portrayals in film of teachers who are regarded as saviours and non-conformists (Moore 2004:58), such as Ms Johnson in the film Dangerous Minds. He argues that whilst the approach they take to education may be extraordinary, the content of that education is not. Moore (2004) contends that the cultural selection made by these teachers, of what he regards to be representative of middle class values, may be read as contributing to and confirming social and cultural biases (p.58) It is in this sense that Young (2006:734) argues that social interests are always involved in curriculum design, those with the power to select what is included in the curriculum have, to an extent, the power to legitimise certain forms of knowledge and certain practices. It is suggested that through this process of promoting and legitimising middle class culture (here we have the notion that a society consists of many cultures (ref)), schools are implicated in entrenching inequalities of social class (REF). Such a claim requires closer consideration in order to understand the means by which cultural selection may be regarded to be implicated in matters of social justice. One way in which it is suggested that this is the case is that individuals from a middle class background have greater access and exposure to the forms of knowledge that are regarded as valuable by schools (Reay 2006). In this way, Reay (2006) suggests, children from middle class backgrounds are at an advantage, able to draw on the cultural capital they already possess in order to perform well at schools, gaining institutionalised recognition through academic qualifications, and thus gain status in society. This would seem to highlight a tension for those involved in selecting the content of a curriculum. On the one hand, it is suggested that if schools do not provide the high status cultural capital that academic and economic success requires then children from working class backgrounds are potentially deprived of the ability to raise their social status (Anyon 2006:44). However in doing so, they are perhaps complicit in reproducing bias as to what is regarded as legitimate and valuable knowledge. It should be pointed out that this problematic account of knowledge and cultural selection does not suggest that knowledge is wrong or should not form the basis of a curriculum (Young 2006). Rather it suggests the need to consider the exact nature of the content we are choosing to include, and significantly exclude, from the curriculum. It suggests the need for reflection on our reasons for content selection, requiring an awareness of our own biases we bring to the process (Chan 2009:). From these observations, in which the selection of curriculum content is regarded as having social implications and is implicated in the transmission of values, an understanding of teacher professionalism which emphasises practical skills or even pedagogical knowledge perhaps begins to appear inadequate. Therefore the remainder of this essay will consider the notion that teaching is inherently ethical in its nature, and that teacher professionalism should therefore centre upon the moral characteristics of the profession (Goodson 2003; Campbell 2003; Carr 2006) Carr (2006:172) argues that whilst all occupations are in some way concerned with ethical issues, these generally play a regulative role they indicate standards for good practice. However he suggests that this is not the case with teaching, rather he suggests that ethical considerations are constitutive of teaching. This is perhaps more clear in Campbells (2007:604) assertion that: It is far more challenging to disentangle the ethics of teaching from the very process, practice and content of teachingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (CHECK CONTEXT) It would seem that what is meant by this is that the decisions and actions taken by a teacher have moral significance (drawing on Campbell 2003:1). By its very nature teaching is involved in forming childrens values and understanding of the world and as such is involved in transmitting conception as to what is right and wrong (REF). Further, as discussed earlier the decisions made potentially impact upon an individuals achievement in schooling and thus possibly affect their future prospects. Following from this concept that issues of ethics are inbuilt into teaching, Campbell (2008:605) argues that ethical codes are insufficient to address the issues faced by teachers. Rather she suggests that teachers requires an understanding by teachers of the complex moral issues they must address (Campbell 2008:605). It would seem that within the Scottish context there is recognition of this. The Standards for Initial Teacher Education in Scotland, which specify what is required of a student teacher (Christie 2003:847), includes reference to professional values and personal commitment (Christie 2003:848). There is a danger, Carr () suggests, in framing values as a competence or standard, in that it would seem to suggest that the other aspects of teaching are value-neutral. In this way, the ethical nature of teaching perhaps cannot be reduced to a competency or standard. Rather Carr (2006:178) suggests that it is about teachers taking moral issues and questions seriously. It should be noted that this does not suggest that teachers do not currently take moral and ethical considerations seriously, Campbell (2003:2) argues that many teachers are aware of the moral implications of their actions. However, Locke et al. (2005:570) do suggest that when teachers are subject to high levels of accountability it can lead teachers doing things right rather than doing the right thing. Potentially, therefore, the CfEs focus on greater autonomy could provide greater flexibility for teachers to make the decisions they regard to be ethically sound. At the same time, by increasing teachers scope for choosing what to teach the ethical nature of teaching perhaps comes even more to the fore. It would seem then, that in aiming to give teachers greater autonomy over the content of the curriculum, the CfE both can be viewed as potentially enhancing teachers professionalism as understood in terms of levels of autonomy. However, it also seems to require a consideration of the professional knowledge base on which professionalism is based. The importance of pedagogical expertise and development is clearly important and highlighted as so ( e.g. Scottish Government 2009:4). Yet, considering the complexity, and potentially value laden nature of the cultural selection involved in selecting curriculum content it would seem important to emphasise the ethical nature of teacher professionalism. In essence then, the greater autonomy afforded to teachers to select the content of the curriculum by the CfE would certainly seem, as Menter et al (2010:23) suggest, to point to a model of teacher professionalism in which teachers both reflect upon and develop their practice. However in light o f the essentially ethical issues involved in content selection, it would seem fair to suggest that teachers reflections and decisions should draw not only on theoretical and practical knowledge, but must also consider the ethical reasons for choosing to include, or not to include content in their teaching.

The Importance of Masks in William Goldings Lord of the Flies :: Lord Flies Essays William Golding Papers

In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, we find a group of British boys stranded on a tropical island while the rest of the world is at war. Their plane has been shot down and they find themselves without adults to tell them how to act. As they struggle to survive, they encounter conflicts that mirror the decayed society from which they have come. We see Golding's theme come about as we watch the boys begin to lose their innocence and let their natural evil overwhelm their otherwise civilized manner. While formulating the theme of the story, Golding utilizes much symbolism, one of these symbols being the masks, or painted faces, that the boys wear.   The masks, and painted faces, became a producer of evil circumstances, give a sense of anonymity, and represented the defiance of social structure.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whenever someone is wearing a mask or has a painted face, evil is at large.  Ã‚   The very purpose of a mask is for hiding. The boys use the masks to hide their lust for blood, killing, and death from their consciences. When going to hunt for the first time, "Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (Golding page #) because he knew that his manner of hunting was evil and would only lead to lascivious killing. While describing that hunt to the boys, Jack was "twitching" and "shuddering" as he talked.   He knew it was wrong. Eventually all the savages hid behind their masks when their lust for killing climaxes on the manhunt for Ralph. Throughout the story, all hunting, killing, and shedding of blood was done while the boys faces were hidden by masks.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A mask makes one unknown, unrecognized, and mysterious.   When the first mask was put on, Jack "looked no longer at himself but at an awesome stranger" (Golding page #). At the formation of Jack's tribe, all who join wear a mask from that time on and become a part of the savages. As three savages return to steal fire, they are driven because they are "demoniac figures with faces of white and red" (Golding page #) not individual boys. The mask becomes such an anonymous symbol that, towards the end of the story, Ralph "gazed at the green and black mask before him trying to remember what Jack looked like" (Golding page #).   Whether stealing, fighting, or hunting, the savages found their courage because they "looked like something else" "hidden behind the mask of paint" (Golding page #).

Design Lab Chemistry Surface Area

Design Lab #17: Reaction Rate – Calcium Carbonate & Hydrochloric acid Design D: Introduction: In this experiment calcium carbonate will be put into a flask and mixed with hydrochloric acid to produce calcium chloride, water and carbon dioxide. The formula for this reaction is: CaCO3(s) + 2HCl(aq) > CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l) Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to determine how the surface area of CaCO3(s) affects the rate of reaction by measuring the volume of CO2(g) produced with time.Background: When solid reactants are mixed with liquid reactants only the particles on the surface of the solid will have direct contact, or collide, to the other liquid   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  reactant particles. When there is more surface area there will be more solid   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  particles exposed to collide with other liquid particles. When there are small   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  pieces of the solid re actant, the rate would be faster than if it were larger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  pieces with the same mass. There will be more collisions per unit of time,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  which means reaction will precede faster. Variables: Independent (Changed) ) Surface area of CaCO3 Dependent (Measured) 1) Volume of gaseous product formed (CO2(g)) Controlled (Constant) 1) Mass of CaCO3 2) Temperature of reaction 3) Concentration of HCl 4) Volume of HCl 5) Time intervals for recording volume Apparatus: 100 mL Conical flaskSingle-holed rubber stopper 90 g of CaCO3 chips90 g of CaCO3 powder 90 g of CaCO3 tablets100 mL gas syringe 100 mL graduated cylinderDigital Stopwatch 450 ml 1. 0 M HCl Stand & Clamp Electronic balance Safety Procedures: 1) Wear safety goggles for protection. 2) Handle HCl acid with care. If splashes on skin wash immediately 3) Always point gas syringe downwards.Procedure: 1) Set up equipment for experiment. Set up the gas s yringe with the clamp and connecting pipe connecting to the flask. Have the rubber stopper and stopwatch nearby at your station. 2) Place a on electronic balance. 3) Place the CaCO3 tablet on and weigh 10 g precisely on electronic balance. Record mass. 4) When taking mass make sure the tablet, chips and powder all have the same mass; 10g 5) Measure 50 mL of acid with a graduated cylinder. Pour into conical flask. 6) For the first reaction use the CaCO3 tablets. Start stopwatch immediately after CaCO3 tablets are added into flask.Simultaneously cover flask with stopper. 7) Insure that the connecting pipe from the flask to the syringe is connected properly. 8) At 10 seconds record the volume of gas in the syringe. 9) Record the volume of gas inside syringe every 10 seconds until you have 3 consistent readings. 10) Repeats steps 2 through 8 for two more trials to have 3 values for every type of CaCO3. 11) Repeats steps 2 through 7 for the CaCO3 chips 12) Repeats steps 2 through 7 for t he CaCO3 powder. Method: 2. Cut magnesium ribbon into 15 20mm strips  ±0. 5mm 3. Fill measuring cylinder with 100ml  ±0. 1ml water. Invert inside an ce-cream container. Fill container with water. 4. Take the 5 mol dm-3 acid and pipette 5ml  ±0. 1ml of acid into each 3 test tubes. Insert delivery tube into measuring cylinder under water and prepare bung above the boiling tube. 5. Pour one test-tube into the boiling tube. Place one piece of 2cm  ±0. 5cm magnesium into the tube, affix bung to the tube and begin the stopwatch 6. After 5 seconds, record the amount of water displaced on the measuring cylinder. This will be in millilitres  ±0. 1ml. Repeat this at 10 seconds. 7. Continue recording at 5-second intervals until 3 consistent readings are gained. . Repeat steps 4 through 7 with the other two prepared test tubes to give 3 readings per concentration 9. Repeat steps 3 through 8 with the remaining four prepared concentrations of acid Stat stopwatch Place the marble chips a nd powdered marble into separate test tubes. Add 10cm of the dilute hydrochloric acid to each of the test tubes and observe the rate at which carbon dioxide is produced Gas Syringe Method Equipment Conical Flask, Bung, Connecting Pipe, Gas Syringe, Hydrochloric Acid,   Magnesium Ribbon, Clamp, Stand. For this method we set up the equipment as follows;The first to do is to gather together all equipment, then once that is   done get the conical flask and put the bung into the top of it. Then   connect the pipe from the bung to the gas syringe, making sure that it   is air tight. Then once everything is set up get the stop clock ready,   measure out the 50ml of hydrochloric acid and pour it into the conical   flask and again the same as the burette method simultaneously put the   magnesium into the conical flask, put the bung into the top of the   flask and start the timer. We took down measurements in 5 second   intervals. The gas syringe has a volume of 100ml?.

English literature controlled assessment Essay

Many plays and poems are concerned with the relationship between parents and their children. Choose a situation where this issue is considered in a Shakespeare play and link it with poetry where there is a similar situation. Refer closely to the texts in your answer to support your views. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays. The sad tale of the two star-crossed lovers was written in Elizabethan times and because of this features families a lot different from that of today. Elizabethan families ran very differently from that that goes on in our own home sweet homes. Elizabethan children were considered their parents property and must obey whatever their parents said; this was usually the father as women in the past would also have to follow the strict rules of their husbands. As well as that, children, in rich families, were often forced to marry whom they were instructed to; primarily for money. The ideas of family feature heavily in Romeo and Juliet and in this assessment I will explore said ideas in depth. In Act One, Scene Two Lord Capulet, Juliet’s father, is consulting Paris after he asked for Juliet’s hand in marriage. Capulet believes that his daughter is too young to marry. Capulet says ‘An she agree, within her scope of choice lies my consent and fair according voice’ he is saying that Paris has his approval but it is up to Juliet to make the final decision. The way Capulet handles the situation with Paris shows the love and kindness he feels for his daughter. Capulet allows Juliet to decide if she wants to marry this man. This wouldn’t have happened very often in Elizabethan times as the richer families often married for wealth not love and here Capulet is asking, not telling, Juliet to marry this wealthy man. He doesn’t treat her as a piece of furniture and wants her to be happy with the person she marries, ‘She is the hopeful lady of my earth’ Capulet has lost his previous children and only wants the best for his only daughter. Then, in Act Three, Scene Four, Capulet arranges Juliet’s and Paris’ wedding saying ‘she shall be married to this noble earl’. Capulet arranges this marriage without his daughters consent because he believes it will help to bring his daughter out of her depressive state, which he thinks is caused by the death of her cousin Tybalt but in reality it’s because of Romeo being exiled from Verona. The sentence Capulet says shows how kind he is to his daughter; Capulet could have chosen the wealthiest man he could get his hands on, however he chooses a ‘noble’ suitor for his daughter to marry. This once again shows that Capulet doesn’t want to use his daughter for money and actually wants his daughter to be happy with the one she marries. So far Capulet has been presented as the figure head of the perfect father, given the Elizabethan era, however there is a moment when his attitude towards his daughter changes. In Act Three, Scene Five Capulet has just been informed by his wife that Juliet has refused to marry Paris. Capulet then responds with ‘Is she not proud? Doth she not count her blest?’ Capulet then goes on to tell her that he will throw her out and never look upon her again. Now, Capulet’s exclamation could be seen by many to be harsh and unfair, however, given the era the play was written children did as their parents instructed and never had anything else to say on the matter. Capulet asks several questions one after another not waiting for an answer, this suggests that he is panicking and has no idea how he is meant to handle this; this could very well likely be the first time his daughter has defied him. So, given the plays era, Capulet’s outrage is completely understandable, he is shocked, panicked and appalled at Juliet’s behaviour as children never defied their parents, particularly their fathers. Now I shall move onto the topic of Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet. In Act One, Scene Three Lady Capulet opens the scene with ‘Nurse where’s my daughter? Call her forth to me’. The way Lady Capulet refers to Juliet as her daughter in this way almost sounds as if she is calling Juliet some sort of object; it’s almost like Lady Capulet is asking the Nurse to bring her a pair of shoes she misplaced. She doesn’t speak as if she loves her daughter at all, if she did she might have said something like â€Å"Nurse where is Juliet? Could you ask her to come to me?† The fact that she doesn’t speak to her in this way highlights further how the relationships between parent and child worked in Shakespearian times; parents did treat their children as objects. The third scene in Act One focuses heavily on Juliet’s relationship with both her mother and the Nurse. In this scene Lady Capulet refers to Juliet as ‘daughter’ and Juliet to her as ‘madam’. This does show how Elizabethan children had to talk to their parents but the strict formality of how they talk to one another suggests that there is no mother-daughter relationship. They don’t refer to each other as â€Å"mother† or â€Å"Juliet†. However, as I said before, this could be down to how children had to speak and act toward their parents in Shakespearian times, however I believe it comes down to the lack of relationship between the two and my next point elaborates this further. When Juliet arrives Lady Capulet instructs the Nurse to leave them alone allowing them to talk in privacy. Lady Capulet then suddenly asks for the Nurse to come back saying ‘I have remembered me. Thou’s hear our counsel’. When Lady Capulet is faced alone with her daughter she becomes apparent to the fact that she has no idea how to talk to her daughter and needs the Nurse to help her communicate with Juliet. The fact that Lady Capulet needed the Nurse to help her talk to her daughter this time suggests that this is something that could have occurred in the past meaning that Lady Capulet has never had a conversation with Juliet without an audience to help her, which is in no way a healthy relationship between mother and daughter. The reason Juliet finds it easier to talk to her Nurse is because she was the one that breastfed and raised Juliet as she was hired to be her wet nurse. Elizabethan women were often employed by richer families to raise and wean their babies for them, this profession was known as a wet nurse. In conclusion, Shakespeare used the topic of parent-child relationships heavily in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s goal that he set out to do was to educate the Elizabethan and modern eras that the way things were, were wrong. The star-crossed lovers were destined to die as a way to show that the way parents were treating their children as objects was ultimately going to end in despair; if not for their children then for themselves. The Montague’s and Capulet’s lost their children because of the way they had been treated and I believe Shakespeare wanted his audiences, then and into the far future, to reconsider how they are treating their own children. In this next part of the controlled assessment I will analyse and discuss different poems with the themes of parent-child relationships and then link certain points back to the themes present in Romeo and Juliet. The first poem we studied was ‘Catrin’ by Gillian Clarke; a poem dedicated to her own daughter Catrin. The poem shows the development of mother daughter relationships primarily at birth and during the teenage rebellious period of her life. A theme used throughout the poem is this theme of a ‘tight red rope of love’. This is mentioned or suggested at several points throughout the poem and refers to the umbilical cord. The rope reminds me of a game of ‘tug of war’ a game that crowns a winner, however I believe that this battle is continuing even into Catrin’s teenage years, she is still pushing away, the theme of conflict is present throughout. The first stanza also mentions an ‘environmental blank’ this suggests that the mother is blocking out everything around her and all of her attention is focused on the baby and getting it out; this could show that Catrin’s mother is trying her absolute hardest to get her baby out so that they can begin their lives separately. Clarke also writes ‘I wrote all over the walls with my words’, she isn’t physically getting up and painting the walls with a can of Dulex, she is instead splattering the walls with her own and the baby’s screams and shouts as they fight for freedom. ‘Clean squares’ could be the clean and sterile environment of the hospital or it could be a blank canvas ready to be painted with the memories and conflicts of their relationship to come. Clarke then goes on to write ‘tender circles’ which I believe is the mouths of the mother and child, sore and hoarse from all the screaming and crying both parties have suffered through. Throughout the poem, in between the whole conflict, words such as ‘tender’ and ‘love’ are thrown into the mix contradicting the theme of conflict which is to do with violence and anger. The loving and caring words that are used, I believe, is how Clarke is portraying parent-child relationships. I believe she is trying to say that it is a conflict and it is a struggle, but in between all of the fights and battles are the loving moments parents and children share and that these moments should be held dear. The next poem we studied was ‘Follower’ by Seamus Heaney. Unlike ‘Catrin’ this poem focuses on a father-son relationship. The poem is about a son who’s admiration and respect for his farm-working father runs deep, he aspires to one day be in his father’s position and be just as talented as him, however he always seams to fall behind and in the last stanza he does this and it is now his father following him. The first three stanza’s focus heavily on the father’s skill and expertise, the fact that it took three stanza’s shows just how much he admires his father, it’s almost as if he just can’t be keep quite until everyone knows how amazing his father is. In the second stanza Heaney writes ‘an expert’, this fully shows his admiration towards his father and anyone that doesn’t agree with him is wrong. ‘Single pluck’, ‘exactly’ and ‘polished’ are used and show that the son believes that his father is perfect and has no flaws. Heaney used the word ‘sod’ which is a part of a farmer’s lingo; using this shows that Heaney spent so much time around his father, following him, that he picked up his speech and understands fluently things that working-class people wouldn’t understand. He references boats when he writes ‘dipping and rising in his plod’, the boats could be referencing his fathers strength and determination to reach is goals. // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=†Ã¢â‚¬ ,o=0;o < e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return "studymoose.com"},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf("http")==0){return p}for(var e=0;e

Weathering Defined and Explained

Weathering Defined and Explained Weathering is the gradual destruction of rock under surface conditions, dissolving it, wearing it away or breaking it down into progressively smaller pieces. Think of the Grand Canyon or the red rock formations scattered across the American Southwest.  It  may involve physical processes, called mechanical weathering, or chemical activity, called chemical weathering.  Some geologists  also include the actions of living things, or organic weathering. These organic weathering forces can be classified  as mechanical or chemical or a combination of both. Mechanical Weathering Mechanical weathering involves five major  processes that physically  break rocks down into sediment or particles: abrasion, crystallization of ice, thermal fracture, hydration shattering, and exfoliation. Abrasion occurs from grinding against other rock particles. Crystallization of ice can result in force sufficient enough to fracture rock. Thermal fracture may occur due to significant temperature changes. Hydration the effect of water predominantly affects clay minerals. Exfoliation occurs when rock is unearthed after its formation.   Mechanical weathering does not just affect the earth. It can also affect some brick and stone buildings over time.   Chemical Weathering Chemical weathering involves the  decomposition or decay of rock. This type of  weathering doesnt break rocks down but rather alters its chemical composition through carbonation, hydration, oxidation or hydrolysis. Chemical weathering changes the composition of the rock toward surface minerals and mostly affects minerals that were unstable in the first place.  For example, water can eventually dissolve limestone. Chemical weathering  can occur in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and it  is an element of chemical erosion.   Organic Weathering Organic weathering is sometimes called bioweathering or biological weathering. It involves factors such as contact with animals- when they dig in the dirt- and plants when their growing roots contact rock. Plant acids can also  contribute to  the dissolution of rock.   Organic weathering isnt a process that stands alone. Its a combination of mechanical weathering factors and chemical weathering factors.   The Result of Weathering Weathering can range from a change in color all the way to a  complete breakdown of minerals into clay and other surface minerals. It  creates deposits of altered and loosened material  called residue  that is ready to undergo transportation,  moving across the earths surface when propelled by water, wind, ice or gravity  and thus becoming  eroded. Erosion means weathering plus transportation at the same time. Weathering is necessary for erosion, but a rock may weather without undergoing erosion.

The History of the Brassiere

The History of the Brassiere Free Online Research Papers Ask any woman what one of the most difficult pieces of clothing to get a good fit is, and she’ll tell you, a bra. In comparison to the first bras of the twentieth century, we have it a lot easier. The dramatic change in the shape, style and material of which undergarments have undergone is amazing! From rib-crushing bodices and corsets, to push-up strapless and whipped silicone, women through the century have seen it all. The beginning of what is now referred to as a bra, or a bust bodice prior to that, was first reported in Vogue Magazine in 1907. The term brassiere was the most widely used, as it meant support in French. Between about 1910 and 1914, designers were promoting a simple breast-retaining garment that was better for the simple, straight dress styles of the time. They were similar to the camisole tops we have currently, without much definition, and had no support. A woman named Mary Phelps-Jacobs soon replaced the simple brassiere of the time with her own design. She was frustrated by the fit of her corset, and fashioned a new style using two handkerchiefs and some ribbon. After all her friends asked for their own, she decided to patent her invention under the name Caresse Crosby. In 1915 Mary sold the rights to her bra to Warner, and a few years later the company was valued at over fifteen million. All the way up to the 1930’s not much changed in shape or style, only that the name was widely dropped from brassiere to bra. During the thirties a textile company, Dunlop, had chemists that transformed latex into a reliable elastic thread. This thread was made into yarn, and then knitted into a stretchy fabric. As the thirties moved on with elastic fabrics, so sprung most of the well-known names in lingerie. This is also when companies were manufacturing bras with separate cups using lace and net for the first time. In 1935 Warner’s introduced cup sizing, with four sizes, A, B, C and D, and bosoms were abolished as the two separate breasts were acknowledged. During the depression and wartime era, everything that could be utilitarian was, including the bra, which meant that they were made from minimal fabric and were usually ordered, not made in advance. It was common to see a marked tag specifying it as a utilitarian brassiere. This continued up through the 1950’s, when it became popular for women to make their own bras from paper patterns, using parachute silk and old wedding dresses. As the United States entered the late 50’s, glamour was the new fad, as women watched movie stars wearing trendy clothes after being deprived during the war. The sixties is one of the more memorable decades for the bra, as it was the bra-burning era. As new sheer, light fashion was introduced, some companies proposed the idea of not wearing a bra at all. Somehow, this was twisted into a feminist move; take off the bra and be free. Though some women chose to do this, the majority of women did not abandon their bra, but did start to realize it was not required to sleep in a bra to keep breasts supported. As bras moved into the 70’s, many had a fine layer of foam latex rubber attatched to the fabric that gave the appearance of a firm, pointy shape. This design was combined with a slip, and commonly called the bra slip, because it was nothing more than a bra and slip combined into one undergarment. These were great for the new short, skimpy dresses of the time. The other major bras of the time were seamless, essential to wear under t-shirts to give a no-bra natural look. Manufacturers were also become more exploratory, offeri ng patterned and flesh-colored options. As the decade came to an end, and the 80’s began, sequin and Day-glo â€Å"boob tubes† became the popular craze after the disco scene. These were brightly colored simple, stretchy and strapless; perfect for tube tops. This was a short fad, and soon gave way to the bodysuits, teddies and camisoles of the mid-80’s. The teddie/bra combination became popular, especially for the now body-conscious women, because it lifted and supported, but was also comfortable and flattering for the explosion of surgically enhanced breasts. The 1990’s brought interest to the bra; it was the return of cleavage. As actresses and movie stars became bolder, so did the popularity of the severely cone-shaped breasts made popular by Madonna. It was a combination of several decades’ designs, and though not comfortable, it was definitely trendy. This was also the birth time of the Miracle Bra, one that could transform any smaller-sized woman into a busty goddess. These were heavily padded, and designed to lift and bring the bosom together. On the opposite end of the spectrum, was a company called Bioform Bra. These bras were suited for all sizes, but for the first time cup sizes up to G were included. These became, and still are, very popular because of the comfort and reshaping abilities of the new bra for large breasted women. The trends have changed some since the 90’s, but most styles seem to be very similar to those today. With the addition of breast enhancement by ‘whipped silicone’, and braless bras, our undergarment options have not changed too much since the middle of the last decade. Though the changes seem dramatic and ever changing, when the bra is examined over a hundred-year period the idea has remained the same. Two cups, a couple straps and support is all a bra really is. As trends come and go, so will the different shapes and styles of women’s undergarments, but whether it be handkerchiefs and ribbon, or lycra and silicone we will probably always see the existence and transformation of bras. Mothers of Invention, Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek William Morrow and Company, INC. New York, copyright 1988 Inventing Beauty, Teresa Riordan Broadway Books New York, copyright 2004 Fashion For Era, Pauline Weston Thomas Casche Publishing New York, copyright 1997 Research Papers on The History of the BrassiereMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHip-Hop is ArtMind TravelQuebec and CanadaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Where Wild and West MeetComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoDefinition of Export Quotas

African American Culture Essay Example for Free (#4)

African American Culture Essay ? Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Africans in America to practice their cultural traditions, many practices, values and beliefs survived and over time have incorporated elements of European American culture. There are even certain facets of African American culture that were brought into being or made more prominent as a result of slavery; an example of this is how drumming became used as a means of communication and establishing a community identity during that time. The result is a dynamic, creative culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on mainstream American culture and on world culture as well. After Emancipation, these uniquely African American traditions continued to grow. They developed into distinctive traditions in music, art, literature, religion, food, holidays, amongst others. While for some time sociologists, such as Gunnar Myrdal and Patrick Moynihan, believed that African Americans had lost most cultural ties with Africa, anthropological field research by Melville Hersovits and others demonstrated that there is a continuum of African traditions among Africans in the New World from the West Indies to the United States. The greatest influence of African cultural practices on European cultures is found below the Mason-Dixon in the southeastern United States, especially in the Carolinas among the Gullah people and in Louisiana. African American culture often developed separately from mainstream American culture because of African Americans’ desire to practice their own traditions, as well as the persistence of racial segregation in America. Consequently African American culture has become a significant part of American culture and yet, at the same time, remains a distinct culture apart from it. History From the earliest days of slavery, slave owners sought to exercise control over their slaves by attempting to strip them of their African culture. The physical isolation and societal marginalization of African slaves and, later, of their free progeny, however, actually facilitated the retention of significant elements of traditional culture among Africans in the New World generally, and in the U. S. in particular. Slave owners deliberately tried to repress political organization in order to deal with the many slave rebellions that took place in the southern United States, Brazil, Haiti, and the Dutch Guyanas. African cultures,slavery,slave rebellions,and the civil rights movements(circa 1800s-160s)have shaped African American religious, familial, political and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in myriad ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion and worldview, and food preparation methods. In the United States, the very legislation that was designed to strip slaves of culture and deny them education served in many ways to strengthen it. In turn, African American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on myriad elements of mainstream American culture, among them language, music, dance, religion, cuisine, and agriculture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization. Over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world culture as well. Oral tradition Slaveholders limited or prohibited education of enslaved African Americans because they believed it might lead to revolts or escape plans. Hence, African-based oral traditions became the primary means of preserving history, morals, and other cultural information among the people. This was consistent with the griot practices of oral history in many African and other cultures that did not rely on the written word. Many of these cultural elements have been passed from generation to generation through storytelling. The folktales provided African Americans the opportunity to inspire and educate one another. Examples of African American folktales include trickster tales of Br’er Rabbit and heroic tales such as that of John Henry. The Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris helped to bring African American folk tales into mainstream adoption. Harris did not appreciate the complexity of the stories nor their potential for a lasting impact on society. Characteristics of the African American oral tradition present themselves in a number of forms. African American preachers tend to perform rather than simply speak. The emotion of the subject is carried through the speaker’s tone, volume, and movement, which tend to mirror the rising action, climax, and descending action of the sermon. Often song, dance, verse and structured pauses are placed throughout the sermon. Techniques such as call-and-response are used to bring the audience into the presentation. In direct contrast to recent tradition in other American and Western cultures, it is an acceptable and common audience reaction to interrupt and affirm the speaker. Spoken word is another example of how the African American oral tradition influences modern American popular culture. Spoken word artists employ the same techniques as African American preachers including movement, rhythm, and audience participation. Rap music from the 1980’s and beyond has been seen as an extension of oral culture. Harlem Renaissance [pic] Zora Neale Hurston was a prominent literary figure during the Harlem Renaissance. Main article: Harlem Renaissance The first major public recognition of African American culture occurred during the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1920s and 1930s, African American music, literature, and art gained wide notice. Authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larsen and poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen wrote works describing the African American experience. Jazz, swing, blues and other musical forms entered American popular music. African American artists such as William H. Johnson and Palmer Hayden created unique works of art featuring African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance was also a time of increased political involvement for African Americans. Among the notable African American political movements founded in the early 20th century are the United Negro Improvement Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Nation of Islam, a notable Islamic religious movement, also began in the early 1930s. African American cultural movement The Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s followed in the wake of the non-violent American Civil Rights Movement. The movement promoted racial pride and ethnic cohesion in contrast to the focus on integration of the Civil Rights Movement, and adopted a more militant posture in the face of racism. It also inspired a new renaissance in African American literary and artistic expression generally referred to as the African American or â€Å"Black Arts Movement. The works of popular recording artists such as Nina Simone (Young, Gifted and Black) and The Impressions (Keep On Pushin’), as well as the poetry, fine arts and literature of the time, shaped and reflected the growing racial and political consciousness. Among the most prominent writers of the African American Arts Movement were poet Nikki Giovanni; poet and publisher Don L. Lee, who later becam e known as Haki Madhubuti; poet and playwright Leroi Jones, later known as Amiri Baraka; and Sonia Sanchez. Other influential writers were Ed Bullins, Dudley Randall, Mari Evans, June Jordan, Larry Neal and Ahmos Zu-Bolton. Another major aspect of the African American Arts Movement was the infusion of the African aesthetic, a return to a collective cultural sensibility and ethnic pride that was much in evidence during the Harlem Renaissance and in the celebration of Negritude among the artistic and literary circles in the U. S. , Caribbean and the African continent nearly four decades earlier: the idea that â€Å"black is beautiful. † During this time, there was a resurgence of interest in, and an embrace of, elements of African culture within African American culture that had been suppressed or devalued to conform to Eurocentric America. Natural hairstyles, such as the afro, and African clothing, such as the dashiki, gained popularity. More importantly, the African American aesthetic encouraged personal pride and political awareness among African Americans. Music [pic] Men playing the djembe, a traditional West African drum adopted into African American and American culture. The bags and the clothing of the man on the right are printed with traditional kente cloth patterns. African American music is rooted in the typically polyrhythmic music of the ethnic groups of Africa, specifically those in the Western, Sahelean, and Sub-Saharan regions. African oral traditions, nurtured in slavery, encouraged the use of music to pass on history, teach lessons, ease suffering, and relay messages. The African pedigree of African American music is evident in some common elements: call and response, syncopation, percussion, improvisation, swung notes, blue notes, the use of falsetto, melisma, and complex multi-part harmony. During slavery, Africans in America blended traditional European hymns with African elements to create spirituals. Many African Americans sing Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing in addition to the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, or in lieu of it. Written by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson in 1900 to be performed for the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the song was, and continues to be, a popular way for African Americans to recall past struggles and express ethnic solidarity, faith and hope for the future. The song was adopted as the â€Å"Negro National Anthem† by the NAACP in 1919. African American children are taught the song at school, church or by their families. Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing traditionally is sung immediately following, or instead of, The Star-Spangled Banner at events hosted by African American churches, schools, and other organizations. In the 1800s, as the result of the blackface minstrel show, African American music entered mainstream American society. By the early twentieth century, several musical forms with origins in the African American community had transformed American popular music. Aided by the technological innovations of radio and phonograph records, ragtime, jazz, blues, and swing also became popular overseas, and the 1920s became known as the Jazz Age. The early 20th century also saw the creation of the first African American Broadway shows, films such as King Vidor’s Hallelujah! and operas such as George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Rock and roll, doo wop, soul, and R;B developed in the mid 20th century. These genres became very popular in white audiences and were influences for other genres such as surf. The dozens, an urban African American tradition of using rhyming slang to put down your enemies (or friends) developed through the smart-ass street jive of the early Seventies into a new form of music. In the South Bronx, the half speaking, half singing rhythmic street talk of ‘rapping’ grew into the hugely successful cultural force known as Hip Hop. Hip Hop would become a multicultural movement. However, it is still important to many African Americans. The African American Cultural Movement of the 1960s and 1970s also fueled the growth of funk and later hip-hop forms such as rap, hip house, new jack swing and go go. African American music has experienced far more widespread acceptance in American popular music in the 21st century than ever before. In addition to continuing to develop newer musical forms, modern artists have also started a rebirth of older genres in the form of genres such as neo soul and modern funk-inspired groups. Dance [pic] The Cakewalk was the first African American dance to gain widespread popularity in the United States. [pic] African American dance, like other aspects of African American culture, finds its earliest roots in the dances of the hundreds of African ethnic groups that made up African slaves in the Americas as well as influences from European sources in the United States. Dance in the African tradition, and thus in the tradition of slaves, was a part of both every day life and special occasions. Many of these traditions such as get down, ring shouts, and other elements of African body language survive as elements of modern dance. In the 1800s, African American dance began to appear in minstrel shows. These shows often presented African Americans as caricatures for ridicule to large audiences. The first African American dance to become popular with White dancers was the cakewalk in 1891. Later dances to follow in this tradition include the Charleston, the Lindy Hop, and the Jitterbug. During the Harlem Renaissance, all African American Broadway shows such as Shuffle Along helped to establish and legitimize African American dancers. African American dance forms such as tap, a combination of African and European influences, gained widespread popularity thanks to dancers such as Bill Robinson and were used by leading White choreographers who often hired African American dancers. Contemporary African American dance is descended from these earlier forms and also draws influence from African and Caribbean dance forms. Groups such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater have continued to contribute to the growth of this form. Modern popular dance in America is also greatly influenced by African American dance. American popular dance has also drawn many influences from African American dance most notably in the hip hop genre. Art [pic] Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1859-1937 From its early origins in slave communities, through the end of the twentieth century, African-American art has made a vital contribution to the art of the United States. During the period between the 1600s and the early 1800s, art took the form of small drums, quilts, wrought-iron figures and ceramic vessels in the southern United States. These artifacts have similarities with comparable crafts in West and Central Africa. In contrast, African American artisans like the New England–based engraver Scipio Moorhead and the Baltimore portrait painter Joshua Johnson created art that was conceived in a thoroughly western European fashion. During the 1800s, Harriet Powers made quilts in rural Georgia, United States that are now considered among the finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting. Later in the 20th century, the women of Gee’s Bend developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional African American quilts with a geometric simplicity that developed separately but was like that of Amish quilts and modern art. After the American Civil War, museums and galleries began more frequently to display the work of African American artists. Cultural expression in mainstream venues was still limited by the dominant European aesthetic and by racial prejudice. To increase the visibility of their work, many African American artists traveled to Europe where they had greater freedom. It was not until the Harlem Renaissance that more whites began to pay attention to African American art in America. [pic] Kara Walker, Cut, Cut paper and adhesive on wall, Brent Sikkema NYC. During the 1920s, artists such as Raymond Barthe, Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, and photographer James Van Der Zee became well known for their work. During the Great Depression, new opportunities arose for these and other African American artists under the WPA. In later years, other programs and institutions, such as the New York City-based Harmon Foundation, helped to foster African American artistic talent. Augusta Savage, Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and others exhibited in museums and juried art shows, and built reputations and followings for themselves. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were very few widely accepted African American artists. Despite this, The Highwaymen, a loose association of 27 African American artists from Ft. Pierce, Florida, created idyllic, quickly realized images of the Florida landscape and peddled some 50,000 of them from the trunks of their cars. They sold their art directly to the public rather than through galleries and art agents, thus receiving the name â€Å"The Highwaymen†. Rediscovered in the mid-1990s, today they are recognized as an important part of American folk history. Their artwork is widely collected by enthusiasts and original pieces can easily fetch thousands of dollars in auctions and sales. The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was another period of resurgent interest in African American art. During this period, several African-American artists gained national prominence, among them Lou Stovall, Ed Love, Charles White, and Jeff Donaldson. Donaldson and a group of African-American artists formed the Afrocentric collective AFRICOBRA, which remains in existence today. The sculptor Martin Puryear, whose work has been acclaimed for years, is being honored with a 30-year retrospective of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York starting November 2007. Notable contemporary African American artists include David Hammons, Eugene J. Martin, Charles Tolliver, and Kara Walker. Literature [pic] Langston Hughes, a notable African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance. African American literature has its roots in the oral traditions of African slaves in America. The slaves used stories and fables in much the same way as they used music. These stories influenced the earliest African American writers and poets in the 18thcentury such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano. These authors reached early high points by telling slave narratives. During the early 20th century Harlem Renaissance, numerous authors and poets, such as Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Dubois, and Booker T. Washington, grappled with how to respond to discrimination in America. Authors during the Civil Rights era, such as Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about issues of racial segregation, oppression and other aspects of African American life. This tradition continues today with authors who have been accepted as an integral part of American literature, with works such as Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Beloved by Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison, and series by Octavia Butler and Walter Mosley that have achieved both best-selling and/or award-winning status. Museums The African American Museum Movement emerged during the 1950s and 1960s to preserve the heritage of the African American experience and to ensure its proper interpretation in American history. Museums devoted to African American history are found in many African American neighborhoods. Institutions such as the African American Museum and Library at Oakland and The African American Museum in Cleveland were created by African Americans to teach and investigate cultural history that, until recent decades was primarily preserved trough oral traditions. Language Generations of hardships imposed on the African American community created distinctive language patterns. Slave owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke different African languages to discourage communication in any language other than English. This, combined with prohibitions against education, led to the development of pidgins, simplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages could use to communicate. Examples of pidgins that became fully developed languages include Creole, common to Haiti,and Gullah, common to the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. African American Vernacular English is a type variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of the American English language closely associated with the speech of but not exclusive to African Americans. While AAVE is academically considered a legitimate dialect because of its logical structure, some of both Caucasians and African Americans consider it slang or the result of a poor command of Standard American English. Inner city African American children who are isolated by speaking only AAVE have more difficulty with standardized testing and, after school, moving to the mainstream world for work. It is common for many speakers of AAVE to code switch between AAVE and Standard American English depending on the setting. Fashion and aesthetics [pic] A man weaving kente cloth in Ghana. Attire The cultural explosion of the 1960s saw the incorporation of surviving cultural dress with elements from modern fashion and West African traditional clothing to create a uniquely African American traditional style. Kente cloth is the best known African textile. These festive woven patterns, which exist in numerous varieties, were originally made by the Ashanti and Ewe peoples of Ghana and Togo. Kente fabric also appears in a number of Western style fashions ranging from casual t-shirts to formal bow ties and cummerbunds. Kente strips are often sewn into liturgical and cademic robes or worn as stoles. Since the Black Arts Movement, traditional African clothing has been popular amongst African Americans for both formal and informal occasions. Another common aspect of fashion in African American culture involves the appropriate dress for worship in the Black church. It is expected in most churches that an individual should present their best appearance for worship. African Americ an women in particular are known for wearing vibrant dresses and suits. An interpretation of a passage from the Christian Bible, â€Å"†¦ very woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head†¦ â€Å", has led to the tradition of wearing elaborate Sunday hats, sometimes known as â€Å"crowns. † Hair Hair styling in African American culture is greatly varied. African American hair is typically composed of tightly coiled curls. The predominant styles for women involve the straightening of the hair through the application of heat or chemical processes. These treatments form the base for the most commonly socially acceptable hairstyles in the United States. Alternatively, the predominant and most socially acceptable practice for men is to leave one’s hair natural. Often, as men age and begin to lose their hair, the hair is either closely cropped, or the head is shaved completely free of hair. However, since the 1960s, natural hairstyles, such as the afro, braids, and dreadlocks, have been growing in popularity. Although the association with radical political movements and their vast difference from mainstream Western hairstyles, the styles have not yet attained widespread social acceptance. Maintaining facial hair is more prevalent among African American men than in other male populations in the U. S. In fact, the soul patch is so named because African American men, particularly jazz musicians, popularized the style. The preference for facial hair among African American men is due partly to personal taste, but because they are more prone than other ethnic groups to develop a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, commonly referred to as razor bumps, many prefer not to shave. Body image The European aesthetic and attendant mainstream concepts of beauty are often at odds with the African body form. Because of this, African American women often find themselves under pressure to conform to European standards of beauty. Still, there are individuals and groups who are working towards raising the standing of the African aesthetic among African Americans and internationally as well. This includes efforts toward promoting as models those with clearly defined African features; the mainstreaming of natural hairstyles; and, in women, fuller, more voluptuous body types. Religion While African Americans practice a number of religions, Protestant Christianity is by far the most popular. Additionally, 14% of Muslims in the United States and Canada are African American. Christianity [pic] A river baptism in New Bern, North Carolina near the turn of the 20th century. The religious institutions of African American Christians commonly are referred tocollectively as the black church. During slavery, many slaves were stripped of their African belief systems and typically denied free religious practice. Slaves managed, however, to hang on to some practices by integrating them into Christian worship in secret meetings. These practices, including dance, shouts, African rhythms, and enthusiastic singing, remain a large part of worship in the African American church. African American churches taught that all people were equal in God’s eyes and viewed the doctrine of obedience to one’s master taught in white churches as hypocritical. Instead the African American church focused on the message of equality and hopes for a better future. Before and after emancipation, racial segregation in America prompted the development of organized African American denominations. The first of these was the AME Church founded by Richard Allen in 1787. An African American church is not necessarily a separate denomination. Several predominantly African American churches exist as members of predominantly white denominations. African American churches have served to provide African American people with leadership positions and opportunities to organize that were denied in mainstream American society. Because of this, African American pastors became the bridge between the African American and European American communities and thus played a crucial role in the American Civil Rights Movement. Like many Christians, African American Christians sometimes participate in or attend a Christmas play. Black Nativity by Langston Hughes is a re-telling of the classic Nativity story with gospel music. Productions can be found a African American theaters and churches all over the country. Islam [pic] A member of the Nation of Islam selling merchandise on a city street corner. Despite the popular assumption that the Nation represents all or most African American Muslims, less than 2% are members. Generations before the advent of the Atlantic slave trade, Islam was a thriving religion in West Africa due to its peaceful introduction via the lucrative trans-Saharan trade between prominent tribes in the southern Sahara and the Berbers to the North. In his attesting to this fact the West African scholar Cheikh Anta Diop explained: â€Å"The primary reason for the success of Islam in Black Africa†¦ onsequently stems from the fact that it was propagated peacefully at first by solitary Arabo-Berber travelers to certain Black kings and notables, who then spread it about them to those under their jurisdiction† Many first-generation slaves were often able to retain their Muslim identity, their descendants were not. Slaves were either forcibly converted to Christianity as was the case in the Catholic lands or were besieged with gross inconviences to their religious practice such as in the case of the Protestant American mainland. In the decades after slavery and particularly during the depression era, Islam reemerged in the form of highly visible and sometimes controversial heterodox movements in the African American community. The first of these of note was the Moorish Science Temple of America, founded by Noble Drew Ali. Ali had a profound influence on Wallace Fard, who later founded the Black nationalist Nation of Islam in 1930. Elijah Muhammad became head of the organization in 1934. Much like Malcolm X, who left the Nation of Islam in 1964, many African American Muslims now follow traditional Islam. A survey by the Council on American-Islamic Relations shows that 30% of Sunni Mosque attendees are African Americans. African American orthodox Muslims are often the victims of stereotypes, most notably the assumption that an African American Muslim is a member of the Nation of Islam. They are often viewed by the uneducated African-American community in general as less authentic than Muslims from the Middle East or South Asia while credibility is less of an issue with immigrant Muslims and Muslim world in general. Other religions Aside from Christianity and Islam, there are also African Americans who follow Judaism, Buddhism, and a number of other religions. The Black Hebrew Israelites are a collection of African American Jewish religious organizations. Among their varied teachings, they often include that African Americans are descended from the Biblical Hebrews (sometimes with the paradoxical claim that the Jewish people are not). There is a small but growing number of African Americans who participate in African traditional religions, such as Vodou and Santeria or Ifa and diasporic traditions like Rastafarianism. Many of them are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean and South America, where these are practiced. Because of religious practices, such as animal sacrifice, which are no longer common among American religions and are often legally prohibited, these groups may be viewed negatively and are sometimes the victims of harassment. Life events For most African Americans, the observance of life events follows the pattern of mainstream American culture. There are some traditions which are unique to African Americans. Some African Americans have created new rites of passage that are linked to African traditions. Pre-teen and teenage boys and girls take classes to prepare them for adulthood. They are typically taught spirituality, responsibility, and leadership. Most of these programs are modeled after traditional African ceremonies, with the focus largely on embracing African ideologies rather than specific rituals. To this day, some African American couples choose to â€Å"jump the broom† as a part of their wedding ceremony. Although the practice, which can be traced back to Ghana, fell out of favor in the African American community after the end of slavery, it has experienced a slight resurgence in recent years as some couples seek to reaffirm their African heritage. Funeral traditions tend to vary based on a number of factors, including religion and location, but there are a number of commonalities. Probably the most important part of death and dying in the African American culture is the gathering of family and friends. Either in the last days before death or shortly after death, typically any friends and family members that can be reached are notified. This gathering helps to provide spiritual and emotional support, as well as assistance in making decisions and accomplishing everyday tasks. The spirituality of death is very important in African American culture. A member of the clergy or members of the religious community, or both, are typically present with the family through the entire process. Death is often viewed as transitory rather than final. Many services are called homegoings, instead of funerals, based on the belief that the person is going home to the afterlife. The entire end of life process is generally treated as a celebration of life rather than a mourning of loss. This is most notably demonstrated in the New Orleans Jazz Funeral tradition where upbeat music, dancing, and food encourage those gathered to be happy and celebrate the homegoing of a beloved friend. Cuisine [pic] A traditional soul food dinner consisting of fried chicken, candied yams, collard greens, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese. The cultivation and use of many agricultural products in the United States, such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton, can be traced to African influences. African American foods reflect creative esponses to racial and economic oppression and poverty. Under slavery, African Americans were not allowed to eat better cuts of meat, and after emancipation many often were too poor to afford them. Soul food, a hearty cuisine commonly associated with African Americans in the South (but also common to African Americans nationwide), makes creative use of inexpensive products procured through farming and subsistence hunting and fishing. Pig intestines are boiled and sometimes battered and fried to make chitterlings, also known as â€Å"chitlins. Ham hocks and neck bones provide seasoning to soups, beans and boiled greens (turnip greens, collard greens, and mustard greens). Other common foods, such as fried chicken and fish, macaroni and cheese, cornbread and hoppin’ john (black-eyed peas and rice) are prepared simply. When the African American population was considerably more rural than it generally is today, rabbit, possum, squirrel, and waterfowl were important additions to the diet. Many of these food traditions are especially predominant in many parts of the rural South. Traditionally prepared soul food is often high in fat, sodium and starch. Highly suited to the physically demanding lives of laborers, farmhands and rural lifestyles generally, it is now a contributing factor to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes in a population that has become increasingly more urban and sedentary. As a result, more health-conscious African-Americans are using alternative methods of preparation, eschewing trans fats in favor of natural vegetable oils and substituting smoked turkey for fatback and other, cured pork products; limiting the amount of refined sugar in desserts; and emphasizing the consumption of more fruits and vegetables than animal protein. There is some resistance to such changes, however, as they involve deviating from long culinary tradition. Holidays and observances [pic] A woman wearing traditional West African clothing lighting the candles on a kinara for a Kwanzaa celebration. As with other American racial and ethnic groups, African Americans observe ethnic holidays alongside traditional American holidays. Holidays observed in African American culture are not only observed by African Americans. The birthday of noted American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr has been observed nationally since 1983. It is one of three federal holidays named for an individual. Black History Month is another example of another African American observance that has been adopted nationally. Black History Month is an attempt to focus attention on previously neglected aspects of the African American experience. It is observed during the month of February to coincide with the founding of the NAACP and the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, a prominent African American abolitionist, and Abraham Lincoln, the United States president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Less widely observed outside of the African American community is Emancipation Day. The nature and timing of the celebration vary regionally. It is most widely observed as Juneteenth, in recognition of the official reading of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 in Texas. Another holiday not widely observed outside of the African American community is the birthday of Malcolm X. The day is observed on May 19 in American cities with a significant African American population, including Washington, D. C.. One of the most noted African American holidays is Kwanzaa. Like Emancipation Day, it is not widely observed outside of the African American community, although it is growing in popularity within the community. African American scholar and activist â€Å"Maulana† Ron Karenga invented the festival of Kwanzaa in 1966, as an alternative to the increasing commercialization of Christmas. Derived from the harvest rituals of Africans, Kwanzaa is observed each year from December 26 through January 1. Participants in Kwanzaa celebrations affirm their African heritage and the importance of family and community by drinking from a unity cup; lighting red, black, and green candles; exchanging heritage symbols, such as African art; and recounting the lives of people who struggled for African and African American freedom. Names African American names are often drawn from the same language groups as other popular names found in the United States. The practice of adopting neo-African or Islamic names did not gain popularity until the late Civil Rights era. Efforts to recover African heritage inspired selection of names with deeper cultural significance. Prior to this, using African names was not practical for two reasons. First, many African Americans were several generations removed from the last ancestor to have an African name since slaves were often given European names. Second, a traditional American name helps an individual fit into American society. Another African American naming practice that predates the use of African names is the use of â€Å"made-up† names. In an attempt to create their own identity, growing numbers of African American parents, starting in the post-World War II era, began creating new names based on sounds they found pleasing such as Marquon, DaShawn, LaTasha, or Shandra. Family When slavery was practiced in the United States, it was common for families to be separated through sale. Even during slavery, however, African American families managed to maintain strong familial bonds. Free, African men and women, who managed to buy their own freedom by being hired out, who were emancipated, or who had escaped their masters, often worked long and hard to buy the members of their families who remained in bondage and send for them. Others, separated from blood kin, formed close bonds comprised of fictive kin; play relations, play aunts, cousins and the like. This practice, perhaps a holdover from African tradition, survived Emancipation, with non-blood family friends commonly accorded the status and titles of blood relations. This broader, more African concept of what constitutes family and community, and the deeply rooted respect for elders that is part of African traditional societies may be the genesis of the common use of the terms like â€Å"aunt†, â€Å"uncle†, â€Å"brother,† â€Å"sister†, â€Å"Mother† and â€Å"Mama† when addressing other African American people, some of whom may be complete strangers. Or, it could have arisen in the Christian church as a way of greeting fellow congregants and believers. Immediately after slavery, African American families struggled to reunite and rebuild what had been taken. As late as 1960, 78% of African American families were headed by married couples. This number steadily declined over the latter half of the 20th century. A number of factors, including attitudes towards education, gender roles, and poverty have created a situation where, for the first time since slavery, a majority of African American children live in a household with only one parent, typically the mother. These figures appear to indicate a weak African American nuclear family structure, especially within a large patriarchal society. This apparent weakness is balanced by mutual aid systems established by extended family members to provide emotional and economic support. Older family members pass on social and cultural traditions such as religion and manners to younger family members. In turn, the older family members are cared for by younger family members when they are unable to care for themselves. These relationships exist at all economic levels in the African American community, providing strength and support both to the African American family and the community. Politics and social issues Since the passing of the Voting Rights Act, African Americans are voting and being elected to public office in increasing numbers. As of January 2001 there were 9,101 African American elected officials in America. African Americans are overwhelmingly Democratic. Only 11% of African Americans voted for George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election. Social issues such as racial profiling, the racial disparity in sentencing, higher rates of poverty, institutional racism, and lower access to health care are important to the African American community. While the divide on racial and fiscal issues has remained consistently wide for decades, seemingly indicating a wide social divide, African Americans tend to hold the same optimism and concern for America as Whites. In the case of many moral issues such as religion, and family values, African Americans tend to be more conservative than Whites. Another area where African Americans outstrip Whites in their conservatism is on the issue of homosexuality. Prominent leaders in the Black church have demonstrated against gay rights issues such as gay marriage. There are those within the community who take a more inclusive position most notably, the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and the Reverend Al Sharpton, who, when asked in 2003 whether he supported gay marriage, replied that he might as well have been asked if he supported black marriage or white marriage. Neighborhoods African American neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. The formation of African American neighborhoods is closely linked to the history of segregation in the United States, either through formal laws, or as a product of social norms. Despite this, African American neighborhoods have played an important role in the development of nearly all aspects of both African American culture and broader American culture. Due to segregated conditions and widespread poverty some African American neighborhoods in the United States have been called â€Å"ghettos. † The use of this term is controversial and, depending on the context, potentially offensive. Despite mainstream America’s use of the term â€Å"ghetto† to signify a poor urban area populated by ethnic minorities, those living in the area often used it to signify something positive. The African American ghettos did not always contain dilapidated houses and deteriorating projects, nor were all of its residents poverty-stricken. For many African Americans, the ghetto was â€Å"home† a place representing authentic blackness and a feeling, passion, or emotion derived from the rising above the struggle and suffering of being of African descent in America. Langston Hughes relays in the â€Å"Negro Ghetto† (1931) and â€Å"The Heart of Harlem† (1945): â€Å"The buildings in Harlem are brick and stone/And the streets are long and wide,/But Harlem’s much more than these alone,/Harlem is what’s inside. Playwright August Wilson used the term â€Å"ghetto† in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984) and Fences (1987), both of which draw upon the author’s experience growing up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, an African American ghetto. Although African American neighborhoods may suffer from civic disinvestment, with lower q uality schools, less effective policing and fire protection. There are institutions such as churches and museums and political organizations that help to improve the physical and social capital of African American neighborhoods. In African American neighborhoods the churches may be important sources of social cohesion. For some African Americans the kind spirituality learned through these churches works as a protective factor against the corrosive forces of racism. Museums devoted to African American history are also found in many African American neighborhoods. Many African American neighborhoods are located in inner cities, These are the mostly residential neighborhoods located closest to the central business district. The built environment is often row houses or brownstones, mixed with older single family homes that may be converted to multi family homes. In some areas there are larger apartment buildings. Shotgun houses are an important part of the built environment of some southern African American neighborhoods. The houses consist of three to five rooms in a row with no hallways. This African American house design is found in both rural and urban southern areas, mainly in African-American communities and neighborhoods. African American Culture. (2018, Nov 09).