Black Film History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Black Film History - Essay Example The two main directors of the film are Charles Stone and Chuck Wilson. The actors include several various individuals, all which are divided into each segment. The idea of â€Å"Afrocentricity† is to depict the several ways of life that those in the African – American community are associated with. The directors move a step beyond this in showing how the ideas, imagination and the perspectives in this community fall back into problems with stereotypes; however, when looking at the films, there is not a true representation of what this is inclusive of. The strength of this overall film comes from the ideal presented about the diversity of the African – American community. The presentation of seven short films, all which are not related to the other, provides a different level of insight about the African – American community. This breaks down boundaries and stereotypes which are often in the media and gives a fresh look about the ideals of the African Ameri can community. Each of the short films is depicted in an artistic and valuable way to ensure that this message is given. The tension is created in each film, specifically by defining the problems which are associated with society, as well as how individuals have to learn how to overcome this. The weakness of the film comes from the misleading presentations which may distract an individual from buying the film. The title of Afrocentricity is one which isn’t realistic and doesn’t provide the correct depiction of what is presented throughout the film. The concept of diversity is a hidden message that is displayed through each of the films. If one doesn’t understand that this is several short films, one which only lasts for two minutes, then more problems may arise. However, this can work in favor of the film if one is able to understand and overcome stereotypes which may have been associated with the value of each story. Overall rating: 4 Breakdown Breakdown is the first short film that is able to give insight into the African – American community. The director of the film is Jeff Byrd. The actors include the lead, Vanessa Williams. The presentation in this film begins with showing a shooting at a bus station. Vanessa Williams is the only survivor of this incident. When moving through the film, Williams tells about the experience of the shoot down and recalls the trauma which she has gone through by being in this location and seeing what has happened in the specific situation. The strength of this plot is based on the ability for Williams to show the other side of the shootings. The stereotypes which are often depicted in the media are based on the side of African – Americans as having a gangster mentality and not basing their beliefs outside of this. The approach which is taken in this film gains its strength by showing the horror and drama of the shooting as well as the responses which have occurred because of this. The acting that is followed with this is realistic in nature and is able to depict the overall understanding of the complexities which occur in a realistic situation where a shooting occurs, no matter where it happens and who witnesses it. The tension which builds from this realistic viewpoint, as well as the resolution of learning from the trauma becomes the main

Participating in the Notre Dame executive MBA program Personal Statement

Participating in the Notre Dame executive MBA program - Personal Statement Example Her parents, even though they had no formal education themselves, understood its value, and worked long hours on the family farm so that they could raise enough money to pay her tuition. My Mum went on to be the first woman from her town to graduate from college, and later on also did her MBA from the University of The Hague in Holland. My Mum's example - her rise from a farm girl to a corporate woman - has constantly inspired me to strive for success both educationally and professionally.I have an undergraduate Degree in Engineering, which has provided me with excellent analytical skills and has enhanced my problem solving abilities. However, I have not had the opportunity so far, to study in depth, courses exploring business strategy and finance. In order to advance my career to its fullest potential I need to excel in these courses as well, apart from other areas of business.An MBA degree from Notre Dame University will equip me with the necessary knowledge and skills to develop m y capabilities. In business, decision-making must be done after careful thought, and not haphazardly. An MBA from Notre Dame will not only enable me to make balanced business decisions, but it will also give me access to information gathered by national and international experts on decisions made, that have yielded both positive and negative results. I also want to learn more about business strategy and put this knowledge into practice across a wide variety of situations. To be able to do this, I would like to take up a position in the Consulting and International Business Unit of my sponsoring company. Most of the employees working in this Department are MBA graduates. I would like to pursue an MBA both to make myself a competitive candidate for a position in this business unit, as well as to further develop my business acumen. As an Engineer for the last seven years, I have worked with international, cross-functional teams in high paced environments, with demanding deadlines, where my responsibilities have varied from taking care of highly technical projects to sales and business development functions. The versatility, analytical skills, teamwork and a wide knowledge of industry, which I have exhibited in my career, are some of the qualities I will bring to bear on my MBA program. Notre Dame's MBA program will allow me to develop my skills to fulfill my career objectives. It will also enable me to take advantage of resources that Notre Dame University offers, while simultaneously continuing my career in Chicago. A Notre Dame MBA will equip me with modern management tools, concepts and practical models that are not only appropriate for meeting current management challenges, but also adaptable to new and emerging situations. I will get to exercise teamwork, and analytical and leadership skills while discussing real-world business challenges. My decision-making and communication abilities will also be enhanced as I work with a diverse group of individuals to define goals, identify problems, and determine solutions to these challenges. The benefits of practical experience in my undergraduate education were immense, and I look forward to the exceptional learning opportunities at Notre Dame, for a continuation of the same. Apart from this, I am also attracted by the program's class size, which encourages a close-knit community where the students' strengths can easily be

The Roles Of Social Workers Social Work Essay

The Roles Of Social Workers Social Work Essay This assignment is going to explain the role of the Social Worker in the Child Protection setting and consider what interventions they can delivery to safeguard a child. It is also going to be making links with anti-discriminatory practice, and show the importance of working in partnerships with service users and other professionals. I am going to focus this assignment on Children at Risk of Significant Harm. This is such a broad area, so I am going to particularly focus on children aged 0-3 years. Physical abuse may involve, hitting, shaking, throwing, suffocating, burning or scolding, poisoning, drowning, or causing deliberate illness. Child Abuse and Neglect cause personal misery for children and parents raise public concern and requires professional attention (Waterhouse, LÂ ¸2008) In all cases the Social Worker has to ensure that the childs welfare is paramount, the child must be safeguarded. The social worker has a duty to investigate if a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, as delay can be detrimental to the child (Children Act 1989). The Social Worker will receive a referral and from this information they should check to see if the child or family is already known to Social Services, if they are then the Social Worker can read through recorded case note and learn some background information before making a visit. If they are not known to Social Services then the Social Worker needs to make a visit to the family and investigate the referral. This is where they will need to try and find out some back ground information to build a picture of the family members. When the Social Worker arrives at the home they may find that the family are reluctant to speak to them or even let them into their home, so it is important that the Social Worker explains to them exactly who they are and that they have received a referral regarding the safety of the children. The visit is likely to be a shock to the caregivers and they may feel scared and intimidated, the Social Worker must assure them that they are here to make sure the children are safe and that the caregivers are ok, and then request that they come in and speak to them and try and make this visit is easy as they can. This will start to build the relationship. The Social Worker must be honest, clear and make sure all involved understand what happens to the information the users and carers give to the Social Worker, how it is recorded, who it will be shared with and how it might be used. (Lester Parrott 2008). It is important that the Social Worker is always aware of the child, as they are the main service user it is important that they see the child on visits and see that they are in good health with no obvious signs of physical abuse. It is the Social Workers job to advise, assist, and befriend the family, and must not portray themselves as being powerful and somebody that can force the family into doing thing, this kind of attitude can be oppressive and it is less likely that a family will be willing to cooperate with a Social Worker that demands the family do things. The family are more likely to work with the Social Worker if they can all work together. However it is the Social Workers duty to investigate who is at risk and see if they can identify what is the cause of the risk. Other people who have contact with children also have a responsibility to spot signs of abuse, these could be other family members, health visitors, GP, and nursery workers and for children of school age, teachers, school nurses and even dinner staff may be able to spot signs and any other person that has contact with them. Physical abuse causes misery, anxiety, fear, loneliness and many more feelings and when abuse is identified it requires professional attention. A baby at risk from, or suffering significant harm at this young age in the form of physical abuse will be unable to communicate with words so it is important that the Social Worker is always aware and looks for signs. They may do this at their visit. This can be done in an easy and non intrusive way perhaps by asking parent if they mind if they spend some time with the child and perhaps getting down on the floor with the child, and interacting with them through play, this also allows the Social Worker to see how the react to their presence. If the parent does not allow this then this may be a sign of a problem, however this may be because they have no trust and are not willing to cooperate, it is important for the Social Worker to remain open minded, aware and non-judgemental. There may also be obvious physical signs like bruising, cuts or burns, in this case if the Social Worker would talk with the care givers and if they believe this to be a genuine emergency then they must interv ene immediately and can request Police Protection Under Section 46 of Children Act 1989 where the Police have the power to remove or detain the child immediately. No child can be held for more than 72 hours, the Social Worker could also make an application to the Family Proceedings Court Courts for an Emergency Protection Order under section 44 of the Children Act 1989, which is an order providing immediate but temporary removal of the child in a genuine emergency. This is not to be used as a routine response to suspicion of abuse There is no absolute criteria to rely on when judging what constitutes significant harm. Where the question of whether harm suffered by a child is significant turns on the childs health and development, their health or development shall be compared with what could be reasonably expected of children at the same age. If the Social Worker has reasonable belief that a child is at risk of significant harm then Local Authorities have a duty to investigate and if necessary intervene. The intervention of Social Work can help families to achieve goals and allow them to better themselves and positively move forward with the help of professionals. When working to protect a child from significant harm it is important to work with the care givers as well as the child. It is important to learn the history of the child and the history of the caregivers. This can build a picture of background and any possible previous problems and can help towards working to reduce the risk of harm to the child. Also good communication between Social Worker and caregiver is important, as this will help identify possible causes of problems and also may help towards creating solutions. It is also important for the social worker to remember that their main service user is the child and they need to be aware that working with a child of such a young age it may become easy to over look the child and become more involved with the caregiver. When assessing a child and family the Social Worker mu st be confident in gathering information and may at times have to ask questions that may be uncomfortable for themselves or the service user, but it is important that these questions are asked as this can start to build a picture and also may help to identify problems and causes of problems. This can also help towards the start of putting together a plan for the family as to how to help to eliminate the causes and the problems. For example if the child is at risk of harm after the caregivers have been drinking then the cause is alcohol and the Social Worker would need make contact with services (such as) that are able to help with this issue, and advise the caregivers that in working with this service they can help to eliminate the problem and reduce the risk to the child, so this would go into the plan for the caregivers and the child. If the caregivers refuse this help then it is the Social Workers job to negotiate with the caregiver and encourage that these steps need to be taken if they are to overcome and move forward from their problems, they would advise that if the caregiver is not going to cooperate then they may have to start Child Protection proceedings which could lead to the child being put on the Child Protection Register. When in practice Social Workers needs to be aware of discrimination, it is important to see every service users as an individual in there own social context. It is important to be aware of the individual relating to their culture, sex, age, class and disabilities. The Social worker needs to be aware of these factors and take them into consideration when making an assessment. A Social Worker needs to go to every individual visit with an open mind and be sure to be non-judgemental. It is important at all times that the worker follows anti oppressive practice. The perception of the service user may be that you have power that you may use against him/her. It is important to be non judgemental and listen to those involved and work towards resolution with the client as opposed to condemning them and making decisions without consultation as this makes the service user feel disempowered and without a voice. Obviously if the risk to the child is great then intervention of an oppressive nature may be justified. True partnership working with service users and other professional can create empowerment. Social Workers can help to advices services users and signpost them to other service that they are entitle to. Social Workers can find themselves working with a number of different professionals such as police officers, doctors, school teacher, school nurses, nursery staff, connexions, Housing. These are just a few out of a long list of possible partnerships. It is important to work together for the Service User, different professionals may have different aims and resources and values, which can create partnership conflict. Good communication and understanding of one anothers jobs and services can help to ensure a positive partnership and create a valuable service for the Service user. It is important for all professional to be made aware of any information they need to be aware of, and for all involved in the partnership to be committed to Service Users and their needs. With good communication between Social Worker, the child the caregiver and other professionals involved can create a positive relationship in which they can work together to reduce risk and safeguard the child, it can also work towards helping the family move forward and create positive change. Working together can help empower the service users and help them forward with their lives and work towards keeping the child in the family home. This is the ideal option for the Local Authority as they want children to remain at the family home provided that they are safe. The childs safety is paramount. A good example of good Social Work Practice would be an assessment of a family being completed, and from the assessment the Social Worker and the family can discuss together different option available to the family and going through them and seeing what option is most appropriate and relevant for the family. The can set up any services the family made need for example Parenting Classes, and then set goals for the family to achieve. And the Social Worker would make regular visits to see that the goals set are being achieved and of they are not to find out why and help focus on achieving them. The ideal ending would be that the family needs a little help and after achieving their goals, no longer needs the input of a Social Worker. However there are many families that need more than a little help and often end up having the input of a Social Worker for a long time and in extreme case children get removed from the family home for their safety. Children Act 1989 Section 44 Children Act Section 46 Waterhouse, L(2008) The Blackwell Companion To Social Work. Third Edition. Blackwell Publishing; Parrott, L (2008) Values and Ethics in Social Work Practice. Learning Matters

Comparing the Character of Creon in Oedipus and Antigone :: Oedipus Antigone

Comparing the Character of Creon in Oedipus and Antigone Creon does not learn a lesson from Oedipus' accusatory behavior. Instead he adapts this bad personality trait. Throughout Antigone, he accuses everyone who tries to give him advice of betraying him. Whereas, in Oedipus, he is falsely accused by Oedipus of trying to take over the throne. This paper will compare and contrast his behavior and evaluate if he learned anything from one play to the next. Creon was seen in a different context in Oedipus compared to his character in Antigone. In Oedipus, he wanted nothing more than to help Oedipus rid the city of whatever plague the gods were hurling at them. Creon goes to Apollo's shrine to find out why the gods are angry and then brings Tiresias to help Creon see what has the gods angry. Oedipus does not want to believe the truths Tiresias is telling him and falsely accuses Creon of plotting against him to become king of Thebes. Creon is so hurt by this that he tells the chorus, "This accusation against me by our ruler Oedipus, It's outrageous. (514)" By the end of the play, Creon tells Oedipus that "I'm always as good as my word; I don't speak before I think(1520)." In Antigone, Creon becomes king of Thebes after Polynices and Eteocles commit fratricide in battle. Antigone commits her ‘crime of reverence(74)' by burying Polynices after a direct order from Creon dictating that everyone leave him on the ground, unburied. Creon first accuses the council of elders of being stupid and old (281) when they suggest that the gods were behind Polynices' burial. After this, he goes on a tirade against men who supposedly were not happy with his leadership and therefore paid off the watchmen to bury the body. Creon blames the watchman of burying the body for money and the watchman tells him that, "It's terrible when false judgment guides the judge (323)." After the Watchman comes back and tells Creon that they found Antigone burying Polynices' body a second time, Creon accuses Antigone of breaking the law. Antigone does not feel she has broken the law because she is obeying laws passed down from the gods and not Creon's man-made law. Creon is so angry that someone would disobey his edict that he orders Antigone to be buried alive and that Ismene be put to death also. Ismene had nothing to do with the crime but Creon blames her regardlessly.

Computers: Server and Social Media Sites

Nowadays, computer may seem to be very useful because of its various advantages. But as Louis Gerstner quoted, â€Å"Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding. † Many people prefer computer because it is much easier and is more aesthetic to writing something and print it rather than using a pen. It also allows people to communicate; no matter what time it is because of the differing social media sites on the internet. Some of the people use it for research instead of reading books page by page.In offices, it lessens all the paper works and the mess so that their work will be more efficient and organized. In schools, students usually refer to the internet about some research projects because it has a wide range of sources and information that can be gathered in the differing websites. Some of the students also access the internet for some topics in their lessons th at they can barely understand. They also access the internet for encyclopedic references that certainly makes them ponder on efficiency of the use of computer for their research papers that the use of some textbooks.Introducing computers to the new generation is a better way to prepare them for the more advance technologies in the near future. Computers are also in much use in the medical industry, it is very useful in radical diagnosis, patient monitoring, and general hospital administration. Computers have really made our life totally different, progressive and better nowadays than the life of the world on the past years. Computers may be very helpful because of its advancement; however, using computer has several disadvantages.For example, students nowadays are hooked up in internet cafes because of the differing online games that can be access only through the internet. This becomes the major cause why most of the students obtain low scores on exams and the worst result is to be failed in a subject. Being addicted to the computer and facing its monitor several hours a day can also result to some visual defects due to the radiation that is being released by the monitor as it is being used. Computers also are very prone to electronic generated viruses that can affect its performance and the viruses also can spread from on unit to another unit.

Console Games vs PC Games Essay

Let’s start with the console’s themselves. Maybe you’ve heard it before, but some people say PC-gaming is dying. Can PC games still compete with Console games? Gamers have never been so spoiled for choice. While the console vs. PC war has been around for ages, consoles today have bridged the gap by finally providing decent multiplayer capabilities. Is this the end of the PC as the dominant gaming machine? Gaming has been around for a long time. It is serious business nowadays. With a host of companies creating everything from award-winning games to those collaborating with businesses on workforce training and development, the area is poised for continued success. And we are creating this success by buying all kinds of games. So what is the difference between the total price of playing games on a console or on a PC? While it is possible to get a PC at about the same cost of a console, it would be such a stripped down version that it wouldn’t be able to play the latest games. Consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, PS3 and Xbox360 still offer the best price in terms of gaming power. Even if you buy a 800 pounds PC, it would only be able to play the latest games for about three years. If you look only at the three biggest consoles, the Nintendo Wii is the cheapest console, starting at about 180 pounds. The Xbox 360 will cost you about 200 pounds and a Playstation 3 about 250 pounds. Certainly the Xbox 360 and the PS3 would be able to play the latest games for many more years. Well, there actually is a way to expand the time you can play games on your PC, but it will only cost you more money. A PC has the availability to upgrade. For example, you can change the graphics card for a newer one. This is the most important part of a PC for playing games. This will not cost you as much as buying a total new PC, but in total it will still be way more expansive than a console. But one thing is cheaper for the PC-gamers in comparison to for example Xbox 360-gamers and that is that you have to pay to play online multiplayer games on a Xbox. In most situations this will be free for a PC game. So maybe you are asking now if there are any more advances of playing games on a PC instead of a console. Of course there are. There are still way more games available for the PC than for consoles. On a PC with windows as operating system, you can play like almost every game that exist for windows, even older versions of windows. But on a console you probably can’t play previous generation games. When for example the first PS3 was announced it actually could play PS2 games, but Sony removed this option quite quick. Another reason to play games on a PC is that if you have a very expansive PC it can probably play games with better graphics, but at that point you are limited to the games that are already playable. Future games will probably need a better pc to play it on full resolution. A PC is also the only option for playing big online games where thousands of people can meet each other online, like World of Warcraft. This just isn’t possible (yet) on consoles. You’re choice for playing games on a console or a PC can also depent on the controller. Whereas you play with the traditional keyboard and mouse on a PC, you can play with other kinds of controllers on consoles. The Wii is the best example of that with the motion sensitive Wii remote. There is also a different kind of consoles for playing ‘on the road’. These are called handhelds and aren’t very powerfull, but their advantage is their portability.