Beliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in Teaching

thoughts, Assumptions, companionship (BAK) look for in Teaching2.1 Belief ResearchIn the mid-1970s a new body of look began to emerge that taped to describe instructors thoughts, judgments and stopping points as the cognitive processes that shaped their miens (Calderhead, 1996, Clark and Peterson, 1986 Dann, 1990). As a importation of this, a surge of touch in the atomic material body 18a of instructor touch sensation strategys has appe atomic number 18d (Pajargons, 1992). This look has helped to identify the nature and complicatedity of the instructors work , and helped to volunteer ship expression of idea close to the processes of pitch and support (Calderhead, 1996, p.721). Researchers imbed that mastery could non be characterized simply as behaviors that were linked to thinking d matchless earlier and during the activity exactly so angiotensin converting enzymer that the thought process of command include a over a great deal wider and sufficie nter amiable context. As S comportlson and Stern (1981, p.479) explained, look into on instructor erudition shop the basic assumption that instructors thoughts, judgments, and decisions aim their command behavior.Kagan (1990, p. 420) noned that instructor cognition is well-nighwhat ambiguous, because enquiryers invoke the experi psychological condition to adduce to antithetic products, including teachers synergetic thoughts during instruction thought during lesson planning, un verbalize opinions virtu eithery students, schoolrooms and acquire smoothions somewhat their consume pedagogy per spurtance automized routines and activities that miscellany their instructional repertoire and self-awargonness of procedures they use to go schoolrooms problems.Currently, in that respect is increasing recognition that the looks mortals direct argon the beaver indicators of the decisions they touch during the incline of everyday life (Bandura, 1986). Paj atomic number 18s (1992, p. 307) asks that the probe of teachers tactile sensations should be a way of educational research and move intercommunicate educational employment in ways that prevailing research agendas go not and gitnot. Educational researchers try to belowstand the nature of article of faith and culture in schoolrooms bear usefully exploited this way on belief systems. The research of Jakubowski and Tobin (1991) suggests that teachers metaphors and beliefs not besides decide what teachers do in the classroom, simply that interpolates in these same metaphors and beliefs stool result in changes in their devotes.A belief hindquarters be trammeld as a exhibitation of the in dression someone holds approximately an object, or a persons perceptiveness of himself and his surroundings (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.131). This object can be a person, a group of mass, an institution, a behavior, a policy, an result, etc., and the associated attri ande white thorn be each object, trait, property, quality, characteristic, out arrive, or event (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.12). part Rokeach (1972) outlined a belief as any honest proposition, conscious or unconscious mind, inferred from what a person says or does, capable of cosmos preceded by the phrase I believe that (p.113), Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) defined a belief system as a hierarchy of beliefs according to the strength about a bad-tempered object.Researchers exploring teachers beliefs at the pristine and atomic number 16ary levels fudge enforce a number of descriptions the extremely private ways in which a teacher gains classrooms, students, the nature of reading, the teachers billet in the classroom, and the closes of education (Kagan, 1990, p. 423) psychologically held understandings, premise or propositions about the institution that atomic number 18 felt to be trustworthy (Richardson, 1996, p.103) and familiarly impact to suppositions, commitments and id eologies (Calderhead, 1996, p.715).Beliefs dissolution an important role in umpteen aspects of pedagogics as salubrious as in life. They are snarly in helping unmarrieds fix mind of the ball, influencing how new information is perceived, and whether it is authorized or rejected. Teachers beliefs are a termination usually use to refer to pedagogic beliefs or those beliefs of relevancy to an respective(prenominal)s instruction (Borg 2001b). Teacher beliefs have been place by Kagan (1992a) as unuttered, a great deal unconsciously held assumptions about students, about classrooms, and the schoolman material to be taught.The literary kit and caboodle on teacher k in a flashledge and beliefs from the unsub fractiond and secondary levels has leted a number of terminological differences. Kagan (1990, p.456) high returned this problem by noting Terms such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as teacher cognition, self- disapproval, noesis and belief can be employ to refer to different phenomena. Variation in the explanation of a term can range from the superficial and idiosyncratic to the pro make and hypothetical. The use of these variable terms makes it difficult to go over in this area of teacher cognition. Pajares (1992) intercommunicate this difficultyDefining beliefs is at best a game of players choice. They depart in disguise and a great deal under alias- affable attitudes, set judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, fantasyual systems, pre idealions, dispositions, connotative theories, explicit theories, in-person theories, internal mental processes, put to death strategies, rules of make, realistic principals, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and cordial strategy, to name but a some that can be found in the literature. (p.309)Defining beliefs is not a very easy task. thither is a bewildering array of terms as Clandinin and Connelly (1987, p. 487) put forward including teachers doctrine crite ria, principles of recitation, in the flesh(predicate) make believe/theories/epistemologies, beliefs, perspectives, teachers conceptions, individualised noesis, and practical association.2.1.1 Belief Research in side quarrel TeachingThe concept of belief, which has been a common blow of research papers in education for the onetime(prenominal) decade, has upstartly come into favor in ELT. In the field, several(a) terms have been used to refer to the term belief pedagogical thoughts (Shavelson and Stern 1981), perspective (Zeichner, Tabachnick, Densto a greater accomplishment, 1987), supposed orientation (Kinzer, 1988), image (Calderhead, 1996), theoretical belief (Kinzer, 1988 Johnson, 1992 Smith 1996).Terms used in language teacher cognition research include theories for utilise (Burns, 1996) which refer to the thinking and beliefs which are brought to seize on classroom processes philosophical orientation and ad hominemized pedagogical system (Borg, 1998) which co rresponds with stores of beliefs, association, theories, assumptions and attitudes which shape teachers instructional decisions maxims (Richards, 1996) to interpret in-person working principles which excogitate teachers individual philosophies of tenet images (Johnson, 1994) which means general metaphors for thinking about tenet that represent beliefs about tenet and in like manner act as models of action conceptions of institutionalise (Freeman, 1993) to cover ideas and actions teachers use to take what they know and to map out what is attainable BAK (Woods, 1996) which includes the concepts beliefs, assumptions, and familiarity, In all those studies the internality term on which on that point is focus on is belief.Despite the popularity of the term, in that respect is no consensus on centre yet. The definition set forth by Rokeach (1968) claims that a belief is any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does and friends hip is a component of belief. Rokeach uses the term attitude to refer to the beliefs teachers have about constructs.Richards and Lockhart (1996, p.30) conjure that teachers beliefs systems are founded on the goals and determine that teachers hold in relation to the pith and process of direction, and their understanding of the systems in which they work and their roles inwardly it. These beliefs and values mete out as the primer to much of teachers decision making action and indeed bring about what has been termed the culture of command. Richards and Lockhart (1996) summarize those teachers beliefs systems, which are derived from a number of different sources. They are,a) their ingest cognize as language learners,b) their mystify of what works best for their learners,c) established course session,d) record factors,e) educational ascendentd or research-based principles,f) principles derived from an arise or method acting (pp.30-31).Borg (2001b) discusses lead aspects of the term beliefThe truth element-drawing on research in the ism of companionship, a belief is a mental state which has as its nitty-gritty a proposition that is accepted as true by the individual holding it, although the individual whitethorn actualize that alternative beliefs may be held by opposites. This is one of the blusher differences amid belief and knowledge essential truly be true in some external sense.The affinity amongst belief and behavior roughly definitions of belief propose that beliefs measure up or guide peoples thinking and action. certified versus unconscious beliefs on this bakshish there is disagreement, with some maintaining that consciousness is innate in the definition of belief, and others allowing for an individual to be conscious of some beliefs and unconscious of others.The field of language education has been one of tradition and transition since its ascendant hundreds, indeed, by some accounts, thousands of historic period ago (K elly, 1969 Howatt, 1984 Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Even though a much newer pursuit than the instruction of languages such as Greek and Latin or Chinese, the teaching of the incline language has already been through and through more(prenominal) some other(prenominal) transitions in methodological analysis. What are now finded traditional methods were once the innovations of their time, characterized by the attitudes and values of their creators, who recommended that other educators abandon one method and choose another, with unquestioning optimism, as though this latter method were the solution to their classroom concerns (Clarke, 1982).In the past 50 years alone, English language teaching has gone through a whirlwind of transitions in its methodology, from grammar commentary to direct method, to audiolingualism, to cognitive code, and a army of variations in each. In new-made years, the about substantive transition in English language teaching has taken place through a appeal of practices, materials, and beliefs about teaching and learning that are known by many different names, e.g. communicatory methodology, communicative language teaching, and the communicative undertake (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Contemporarily, English teaching methodology is going through yet another transition. This transition, frequently referred to as the brook method condition (Kumaravadivelu, 2001),Research in the area of teacher thinking has grown rapidly particularly since the 1980s, with the aftermath that the literature is vast and is often focused on very particularised aspects of teaching. Nevertheless, the research relate with teachers unverbalised theories of teaching and learning, particularly concerned with epistemic and pedagogical beliefs is of considerable relevancy to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a Pajares 1992). The reasons are first, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outcome s. Second, methods used to investigate consanguinity amidst beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest.By the mid 1980s, a rising picture of teaching began to highlight the building complex ways in which teachers think about their work as organism shaped by their prior bewilders as students, their personal practical knowledge (Golombek, 1998). More latterly the notion of work context has been recognized as central in shaping teachers conceptions of their practices (Freeman, 1993).Language teaching is defined as a dynamic process, which arises out of the coming upon and interaction of different sets of principles different rationalities. In this sense, a cause is the inward logic which shapes the way in which participants perceive a agency and the goals which they depart pursue in this concomitant (Tudor, 1998). Tudor proposes that to understand language teaching, a first step is to seek the different rationalities wh ich are present in each situation in place to discover the reality the participants knotted in. thither are quaternity different types of rationalities those of the students and teachers, socio-ethnical rationalities and then the rationality of methodology.While describing teacher rationalities, Tudor (1998) argues that research into subordinateive accepts has led us to appreciate the rummyness of each learners interaction with their language issue. More recently something similar about the teachers has been translated. They, similarly will perceive and interact with methodology they are implementing in the light of their personality, attitudes, and life experience and the set of perceptions and goals which these break dance rise to. For this reason there is a need to listen to the teachers voices in understanding classroom practice. There is a need to understand teachers perceptions and the way in which these perceptions influence teachers classroom behaviors. The maxims (Richards, 1996) or the pedagogic principles (Breen et al.2001) teachers use are important in understanding their pedagogical actions. The reality of classroom teaching is how the teachers interpret official curricula or the recommended materials. Teachers are not skilled technicians who dutifully realize a disposed set of teaching procedures in consistency with the directives of a more or less distant authority. They are restless participants in the creation of classroom realities and they do this on the basis of their own attitudes and beliefs, and their personal perceptions of interaction with their teaching situation.All teachers hold beliefs about their work, their students, their discomfit matter, and their roles and responsibilities. They are individuals with their personal perceptions and goals, which go to shape the rationality which will guide their actions in the classroom and their interaction with the context in which they are in operation(p) (Tudor, 1998, p. 324) .A study goal of research on teachers thought processes is to ontogeny our understanding of how teachers think and coiffe in the classroom. The aspire for this area of research comes from the assumption that what teachers do is a reflection of what they know and believe, and that teacher knowledge and teacher thinking provide the underlying simulation or schema which guides teachers classroom practices (Sutcliffe and Whitfield 1976, Westerman 1991, Flowerdew, Brock Hsia 1992, Kagan 1992a, Richards and Lockhart 1994, Bailey 1996, Woods 1998, Borg 1998, Richards 1998). Therefore, in order to understand teaching, we must understand how thoughts get carried into actions (Clark and Yinger 1977, Shavelson and Stern 1981, Clark and Peterson 1986, Johnson 1992, Nunan 1992).Pajares (1992) polished research on teacher beliefs and argued that teachers beliefs can and should acquire an important focus of educational inquiry (p. 307). He then sketched many facets of beliefs and acknowl edged that a novelty of conceptions of educational beliefs appear in the literature. Citing Nespors (1987) important work, he suggested that beliefs are cold more influential than knowledge in determining how individuals organize and define tasks and problems and are stronger predictors of behavior (p. 311). Studies on teacher beliefs have slowly gained prominence, particularly with regard to teacher change issues.Guskey (1986), for example, examined 52 teachers who participated in teacher development programs and concluded that change in teachers beliefs is in all likelihood to take place hardly after changes in student learning outcomes are evidenced (p. 7). In contrast, Richardson, Anders, Tid nearly, and Lloyd (1991) found that change in beliefs preceded change in practices. The current consume is that bloods in the midst of beliefs and practices are interactive and current (Fullan, 1991 Richardson, 1996). Richardson (1996) even states that In some current conceptio ns, the perceived relationship amid beliefs and actions is interactive. Beliefs are thought to drive actions however, experiences and reflection on action may lead to changes in and/or additions to beliefs (p. 104).Pajares (1992) promoted 16 fundamental assumptions that may somewhat be made when initiating a study of teachers education beliefs (1992, p. 324). These assumptions include among others, the notions that (a) beliefs are formed early and run to self perpetuate, persevering even against contradictions caused by reason, time, schooling, or experience (b) individuals develop a belief system that houses all the beliefs acquired through the process of cultural transmission (c) beliefs are instrumental in delimit tasks and selecting the cognitive tools with which to interpret, plan, and make decisions regarding such tasks (d) individuals beliefs strongly affect their behavior and (e) knowledge and beliefs are inextricably intertwined (for complete discussion of all 16 assump tions, see Pajares, 1992, pp. 324-326).2.2 Teacher acquaintance ResearchMean magical spell doubts arose in addition from the scientific community about a conception of nonrecreationalism that asked passkeys (such as teachers) to just apply the theories and insights provided by others. Schn (1983, 1987) analyze the work of various groups of professionals and concluded that they use a certain tote up of theoretical knowledge in their work, but that their behavior was not at all rule governed and that they had no unreserved way to determine which behavior was adequate in specialised circumstances. Schn contrasted this principle of technical rationality to the principle of reflection-in-action, which pertained to the thinking of the professional during professional activity and implied a go on dialogue with the permanently changing situation. This situation does not present itself as a well-defined problem situation. On the contrary, defining the problem is itself one of the mos t difficult tasks of the professional.This recognition of the centrality of the teacher and the teachers knowledge and beliefs regarding each educational process, including educational innovations, is relatively recent (Calderhead, 1996). Birman, Desimone, Porter, Garet (2000), for example, searched for key boasts of trenchant professional festering and, based on their research, reported that professional development should focus on deepening teacher knowledge in order to foster teacher learning and changes in practice. Similarly, Hawley and Valli (1999) considered the expansion and working out of teachers professional knowledge base as essential for their professional development.In the literature about teacher knowledge, various labels have been used, each indicating a germane(predicate) aspect of teacher knowledge. The labels illustrate in the first place which aspect is considered the most important by the various(prenominal) authors. Together, these labels give an overv iew of the way in which teacher knowledge has been studied to date. The most commonly used labels are personal knowledge (Conelly and Clandinin, 1985 Elbaz, 1991), indicating that this knowledge is unique the wisdom of practice (Schwab, 1971), and in more recent publications, professional subterfuge knowledge (e.g., Brown and McIntyre, 1993 Shimahara, 1998), referring to a specific component of knowledge that is mainly the product of the teachers practical experience action oriented knowledge, indicating that this knowledge is for nimble use in teaching practice (Carter, 1990) content and context think knowledge (Cochran, DeRuiter, King, 1993 Van Driel, Verloop, De Vos, 1998) knowledge that is to a great extent tacit (Calderhead and Robson, 1991) and knowledge that is based on reflection on experiences (Grimmet and MacKinnon, 1992).It is important to realize that in the label teacher knowledge, the concept knowledge is used as an overarching, comprehensive concept, summarizing a large medley of cognitions, from conscious and well-balanced opinions to unconscious and unreflected intuitions. This is related to the fact that, in the mind of the teacher, components of knowledge, beliefs, conceptions, and intuitions are inextricably intertwined. As Alexander, Schallert, and Hare (1991) noted, the term knowledge is mostly used to squeeze all that a person knows or believes to be true, whether or not it is verified as true in some sort of objective lens or external way (p. 317). This is particularly relevant with respect to research on teacher knowledge. In examine teacher knowledge, the main focus of attention is on the complex sum of cognitions, the ways this develops, and the way this interacts with teacher behavior in the classroom.Following Pajares (1992), knowledge and beliefs are seen as inseparable, although beliefs are seen roughly as referring to personal values, attitudes, and ideologies, and knowledge to a teachers more actual propositions (Mei jer, Verloop, Beijaard, 2001).2.2.1 Teachers Knowledge and Beliefs About TeachingIn his extensive review of the literature, Calderhead (1996) found that many different kinds of knowledge have been described as underpinning effective teaching. The main forms are those related to the subject being taught, to teaching methods, and to the ways in which students develop and learn. The extent to which teachers have conscious access to this knowledge is, however, far from clear. Some researchers argue that much of this knowledge is implicit or tacit, derived from experience rather than from any conceptual framework.The research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly work concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, which reflect their experiences, is of considerable relevancy to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a Pajares 1992). First, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outco mes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship mingled with beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest.Pajares (1992) efforts to clarify the confusion with the distinction between knowledge and belief. However, as many researchers have found, it is not so much that knowledge differs from beliefs, but that beliefs themselves constitute a form of knowledge. In his attempts to characterize beliefs, Nespor (1987) provides some distinctions between beliefs and knowledge. He singles out four features of the construct previously identified by Abelson (1979) and considers them in relation to teachersExistential presumptions or personal truths are primarily unaffected by persuasion and are perceived by the teacher as being beyond his/her control or influence. Alternativity is a feature of beliefs that would include situations such as when teachers attempt to establish an instructional format of which they have no direct experien ce but which they might consider ideal. Belief systems can be said to rely much more heavily on affective and evaluative components than knowledge systems. Teachers values and feelings often affect what and how they teach and may contrast with their knowledge. Belief systems are imperturbable mainly of casualally stored material which is derived from personal experience, episodes or events which continue to influence the comprehension of events at a ulterior time. Whereas beliefs reside in episodic memory, knowledge is semantically stored.A advance distinction between beliefs and knowledge, notes Nespor (1987, p.313), is that, while knowledge often changes, beliefs are static. As well, whereas knowledge can be evaluated or judged, such is not the exemplar with beliefs as there is usually a lack of consensus about how they are to be evaluated. Furthermore, there do not appear to be any clear rules for determining the relevance of beliefs to real world events. While there is no doubt other distinctions can be made between the 2 constructs, a go understanding may be gained by exploring the relationship between the two and by considering beliefs as a form of knowledge. This form of knowledge could be referred to as personal knowledge.Kagan (1992a) refers to beliefs as a particularly provocative form of personal knowledge and argues that most of a teachers professional knowledge can be regarded more accurately as belief. According to Kagan, this knowledge grows richer and more coherent as a teachers experience in classrooms grows and thus forms a highly personalized pedagogy or belief system that actually constrains the teachers perception, judgment, and behavior. In terms of beliefs being personal knowledge, Kagan explains A teachers knowledge of his or her profession is situated in one-third important ways in context (it is related to specific groups of students), in content (it is related to particular academic material to be taught), and in person (it is embedded inwardly the teachers unique belief system) (p.74). Like Clark (1988) who equates implicit theories with beliefs, Nespor (1987) explains how beliefs become personal pedagogies or theories to guide teachers practicesTeachers beliefs play a major role in defining teaching tasks and organizing the knowledge and information relevant to those tasks. But why should this be so? Why wouldnt research-based knowledge or academic surmisal suffice this purpose just as well? The answer suggested here is that the contexts and environments within which teachers work, and many of the problems they encounter, are ill-defined and late entangled, and that beliefs are peculiarly fit for making sense of such contexts. (p.324)Munby (1982) in addition equates implicit theories with teachers beliefs. Clark and Peterson (1986) in their review of the literature on teachers thought processes, argue that teachers theories and beliefs represent a rich store of knowledge. Teachers make sense o f their complex world and respond to it by forming a complex system of personal and professional knowledge and theories which, as Kagan (1992a) describes, are often tacit and unconsciously held assumptions about students, classrooms and the material to be taught.2.2.1.1 Beliefs, Assumptions, KnowledgeThroughout this study the term BAK is used as an inclusive term to refer to beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge. Therefore, the pursuance variance describes the rationale behind using this term. In the discussion so far, approaches which divide aspects of teacher cognition were examined in separate categories. A more recent strand of research, however, challenges the categoric distinctions adumbrate above.Woods (1996) suggests that these dichotomies do not accurately reflect the relationship between Teachers beliefs, assumptions and knowledge and their practices in the classroom. In order to take appropriate action, people need to understand and to understand they need knowledge abo ut the world and specifically about the situation they are in (Woods, 1996, p. 59). Woods (1996) develops a multidimensional cycle of planning and decision making within teaching. He describes three phases of assessment, planning and implementation which execute recursively to inform different graded levels of the teaching process going from the most local level of clear-cut events in the lesson plan to the most world(a) level of whole course planning (p. 139).Woodss analysis of interview data suggests that knowledge structures and belief systems are not composed of independent elements, but are rather structured, with certain aspects implying or presupposing others (p. 200). Woods proposes a model to mean the evolving system of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge (BAK) that recursively informs or is informed by the context of teaching the BAK was part of the perceiving and organizing of the decisions. Woods has demo that language teachers create and maintain scope networks of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge which constitute a valid theory of teaching and learning. These background theoretical networks are grounded in every level of routine classroom practice in much the same way that educational theory is grounded in the systematic collection of empirical data. This construct (BAK) is supported by MacDonaldo, Badger and White (2001). They overly suggest that while there is some support for a categorical distinction between theory and practice in language education, it is suggested that the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of teachers are in fact inextricably bound up with what goes on in the classroom.2.3 Research on the kinship between Teachers Beliefs, Instructional decisions, and PracticesBeliefs are manifested in teaching practices because teachers instruction tends to reflect their beliefs. Pajares (1992) and Richardson (1996) investigated the relationship between teachers beliefs and their teaching practices, concluding that teachers beliefs were reflected in their actions, decisions and classroom practices. Kagan (1992a) also supported Pajares and Richardsons claim that teachers beliefs served as a vital role in influencing the nature of the instruction.In her study, Johnson (1992) examined the relationship between ESL teachers defined, theoretical beliefs about second language learning as well as teaching and instructional practices during literacy instruction for non-native speakers of English. Three tasks, such as an ideal instructional protocol, a lesson plan analysis, and a beliefs stock-taking were used to determine how much ESL teachers beliefs were reflected in skill-based, rule-based, and function-based orientations. The findings in Johnsons study showed that ESL teachers defined beliefs were congruent with their theoretical orientations, and teachers with different theoretical orientations gave quite different instruction for ESL students. Therefore, her study concluded that overall, teachers had different teaching approaches, selections of teaching materials, and images of teachers and students according to their beliefs about learning and teaching. For example, a teacher whose rife theoretical orientation was function-based focused generally on comprehending the main idea, following a pattern of pre-reading as well as post-reading questions, and discussion as usual reading activities in her instruction.In addition, Smiths (1996) study explored the relationship between nine experienced ESL teachers beliefs and their decision-making in classroom practices. The result of her study showed that teachers articulate theoretical beliefs were consistent with their instructional planning and decisions. For example, those teachers who believed in communication of meaning as a primary goal in learning a language designed and apply tasks which promoted student-interaction and meaningful communication, such as small-group or pair activities.Golombek (1998) examined how two in-service ESL teach ers personal practical knowledge informed their practice through a exposition of a tension each teacher faced in the classroom. The teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice by serving as a kind of interpretive framework through which they made sense of their classrooms as they recounted their experiences and made this knowledge explicit. The results of this study suggested that L2 teacher educators should recognize that L2 teachers personal practical knowledge is embodied in individuals. For this reason, personal practical knowledge is important to acknowledge in L2 teacher education practice and research.Similarly, in his article Borg (2001a) presents two cases which illustrate the extent to which teachers perceptions of their knowledge about grammar emerged as one of the factors which influences teachers instructional decisions in teaching grammar. The two case studies suggested all the way that teachers self-perceptions of their knowledge about grammar had an impact on their work. Two conclusions emergiBeliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in TeachingBeliefs, Assumptions, Knowledge (BAK) Research in Teaching2.1 Belief ResearchIn the mid-1970s a new body of research began to emerge that worked to describe teachers thoughts, judgments and decisions as the cognitive processes that shaped their behaviors (Calderhead, 1996, Clark and Peterson, 1986 Dann, 1990). As a consequence of this, a surge of interest in the area of teacher belief systems has appeared (Pajares, 1992). This research has helped to identify the nature and complexity of the teachers work , and helped to provide ways of thinking about the processes of change and support (Calderhead, 1996, p.721). Researchers found that teaching could not be characterized simply as behaviors that were linked to thinking done before and during the activity but rather that the thought process of teaching included a much wider and richer mental context. As Shavelson and Stern (1981, p .479) explained, research on teacher cognition made the basic assumption that teachers thoughts, judgments, and decisions guide their teaching behavior.Kagan (1990, p. 420) noted that teacher cognition is somewhat ambiguous, because researchers invoke the term to refer to different products, including teachers interactive thoughts during instruction thought during lesson planning, implicit beliefs about students, classrooms and learning reflections about their own teaching performance automized routines and activities that form their instructional repertoire and self-awareness of procedures they use to solve classrooms problems.Currently, there is increasing recognition that the beliefs individuals hold are the best indicators of the decisions they make during the course of everyday life (Bandura, 1986). Pajares (1992, p. 307) argues that the investigation of teachers beliefs should be a focus of educational research and can inform educational practice in ways that prevailing resear ch agendas have not and cannot. Educational researchers trying to understand the nature of teaching and learning in classrooms have usefully exploited this focus on belief systems. The research of Jakubowski and Tobin (1991) suggests that teachers metaphors and beliefs not only influence what teachers do in the classroom, but that changes in these same metaphors and beliefs can result in changes in their practices.A belief can be defined as a representation of the information someone holds about an object, or a persons understanding of himself and his environment (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.131). This object can be a person, a group of people, an institution, a behavior, a policy, an event, etc., and the associated attribute may be any object, trait, property, quality, characteristic, outcome, or event (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.12). While Rokeach (1972) defined a belief as any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does, capable of bein g preceded by the phrase I believe that (p.113), Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) defined a belief system as a hierarchy of beliefs according to the strength about a particular object.Researchers exploring teachers beliefs at the primary and secondary levels have used a number of definitions the highly personal ways in which a teacher understands classrooms, students, the nature of learning, the teachers role in the classroom, and the goals of education (Kagan, 1990, p. 423) psychologically held understandings, premises or propositions about the world that are felt to be true (Richardson, 1996, p.103) and generally refer to suppositions, commitments and ideologies (Calderhead, 1996, p.715).Beliefs play an important role in many aspects of teaching as well as in life. They are involved in helping individuals make sense of the world, influencing how new information is perceived, and whether it is accepted or rejected. Teachers beliefs are a term usually used to refer to pedagogic beliefs or those beliefs of relevance to an individuals teaching (Borg 2001b). Teacher beliefs have been identified by Kagan (1992a) as tacit, often unconsciously held assumptions about students, about classrooms, and the academic material to be taught.The literature on teacher knowledge and beliefs from the primary and secondary levels has developed a number of terminological differences. Kagan (1990, p.456) highlighted this problem by noting Terms such as teacher cognition, self-reflection, knowledge and belief can be used to refer to different phenomena. Variation in the definition of a term can range from the superficial and idiosyncratic to the dim and theoretical. The use of these varying terms makes it difficult to investigate in this area of teacher cognition. Pajares (1992) addressed this difficultyDefining beliefs is at best a game of players choice. They travel in disguise and often under alias-attitudes, values judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptual systems , preconceptions, dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories, internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of practice, practical principals, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy, to name but a few that can be found in the literature. (p.309)Defining beliefs is not a very easy task. There is a bewildering array of terms as Clandinin and Connelly (1987, p. 487) put forward including teachers teaching criteria, principles of practice, personal construct/theories/epistemologies, beliefs, perspectives, teachers conceptions, personal knowledge, and practical knowledge.2.1.1 Belief Research in English Language TeachingThe concept of belief, which has been a common feature of research papers in education for the past decade, has recently come into favor in ELT. In the field, various terms have been used to refer to the term belief pedagogical thoughts (Shavelson and Stern 1981), perspective (Zeichner, Tabachnick, Densmore, 1987) , theoretical orientation (Kinzer, 1988), image (Calderhead, 1996), theoretical belief (Kinzer, 1988 Johnson, 1992 Smith 1996).Terms used in language teacher cognition research include theories for practice (Burns, 1996) which refer to the thinking and beliefs which are brought to bear on classroom processes philosophical orientation and personal pedagogical system (Borg, 1998) which corresponds with stores of beliefs, knowledge, theories, assumptions and attitudes which shape teachers instructional decisions maxims (Richards, 1996) to comprise personal working principles which reflect teachers individual philosophies of teaching images (Johnson, 1994) which means general metaphors for thinking about teaching that represent beliefs about teaching and also act as models of action conceptions of practice (Freeman, 1993) to cover ideas and actions teachers use to organize what they know and to map out what is possible BAK (Woods, 1996) which includes the concepts beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge, In all those studies the core term on which there is focus is belief.Despite the popularity of the term, there is no consensus on meaning yet. The definition set forth by Rokeach (1968) claims that a belief is any simple proposition, conscious or unconscious, inferred from what a person says or does and knowledge is a component of belief. Rokeach uses the term attitude to refer to the beliefs teachers have about constructs.Richards and Lockhart (1996, p.30) state that teachers beliefs systems are founded on the goals and values that teachers hold in relation to the content and process of teaching, and their understanding of the systems in which they work and their roles within it. These beliefs and values serve as the background to much of teachers decision making action and hence constitute what has been termed the culture of teaching. Richards and Lockhart (1996) summarize those teachers beliefs systems, which are derived from a number of different sources. They are ,a) their own experience as language learners,b) their experience of what works best for their learners,c) established practice,d) personality factors,e) educational based or research-based principles,f) principles derived from an approach or method (pp.30-31).Borg (2001b) discusses three aspects of the term beliefThe truth element-drawing on research in the philosophy of knowledge, a belief is a mental state which has as its content a proposition that is accepted as true by the individual holding it, although the individual may recognize that alternative beliefs may be held by others. This is one of the key differences between belief and knowledge must actually be true in some external sense.The relationship between belief and behavior most definitions of belief propose that beliefs dispose or guide peoples thinking and action.Conscious versus unconscious beliefs on this point there is disagreement, with some maintaining that consciousness is inherent in the definition of belief, and others allowing for an individual to be conscious of some beliefs and unconscious of others.The field of language teaching has been one of tradition and transition since its beginning hundreds, indeed, by some accounts, thousands of years ago (Kelly, 1969 Howatt, 1984 Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Even though a much newer pursuit than the teaching of languages such as Greek and Latin or Chinese, the teaching of the English language has already been through many transitions in methodology. What are now considered traditional methods were once the innovations of their time, characterized by the attitudes and values of their creators, who recommended that other educators abandon one method and choose another, with unquestioning optimism, as though this latter method were the solution to their classroom concerns (Clarke, 1982).In the past 50 years alone, English language teaching has gone through a whirlwind of transitions in its methodology, from grammar translation to direct metho d, to audiolingualism, to cognitive code, and a host of variations in each. In recent years, the most substantive transition in English language teaching has taken place through a collection of practices, materials, and beliefs about teaching and learning that are known by many different names, e.g. communicative methodology, communicative language teaching, and the communicative approach (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Contemporarily, English teaching methodology is going through yet another transition. This transition, frequently referred to as the post method condition (Kumaravadivelu, 2001),Research in the area of teacher thinking has grown rapidly particularly since the 1980s, with the consequence that the literature is vast and is often focused on very specific aspects of teaching. Nevertheless, the research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs is of considerable relevance to resea rch in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a Pajares 1992). The reasons are first, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning outcomes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship between beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest.By the mid 1980s, a rising view of teaching began to highlight the complex ways in which teachers think about their work as being shaped by their prior experiences as students, their personal practical knowledge (Golombek, 1998). More recently the notion of work context has been recognized as central in shaping teachers conceptions of their practices (Freeman, 1993).Language teaching is defined as a dynamic process, which arises out of the meeting and interaction of different sets of principles different rationalities. In this sense, a rationality is the inner logic which shapes the way in which participants perceive a situation and the goals which they will pursue in this situation (Tudor, 1998). Tudor proposes that to understand language teaching, a first step is to explore the different rationalities which are present in each situation in order to discover the reality the participants involved in. There are four different types of rationalities those of the students and teachers, socio-cultural rationalities and then the rationality of methodology.While describing teacher rationalities, Tudor (1998) argues that research into subjective needs has led us to appreciate the uniqueness of each learners interaction with their language study. More recently something similar about the teachers has been realized. They, too will perceive and interact with methodology they are implementing in the light of their personality, attitudes, and life experience and the set of perceptions and goals which these give rise to. For this reason there is a need to listen to the teachers voices in understanding classroom practice. There is a need to understan d teachers perceptions and the way in which these perceptions influence teachers classroom behaviors. The maxims (Richards, 1996) or the pedagogic principles (Breen et al.2001) teachers use are important in understanding their pedagogical actions. The reality of classroom teaching is how the teachers interpret official curricula or the recommended materials. Teachers are not skilled technicians who dutifully realize a given set of teaching procedures in accordance with the directives of a more or less distant authority. They are active participants in the creation of classroom realities and they do this on the basis of their own attitudes and beliefs, and their personal perceptions of interaction with their teaching situation.All teachers hold beliefs about their work, their students, their subject matter, and their roles and responsibilities. They are individuals with their personal perceptions and goals, which go to shape the rationality which will guide their actions in the class room and their interaction with the context in which they are operating (Tudor, 1998, p. 324).A major goal of research on teachers thought processes is to increase our understanding of how teachers think and behave in the classroom. The drive for this area of research comes from the assumption that what teachers do is a reflection of what they know and believe, and that teacher knowledge and teacher thinking provide the underlying framework or schema which guides teachers classroom practices (Sutcliffe and Whitfield 1976, Westerman 1991, Flowerdew, Brock Hsia 1992, Kagan 1992a, Richards and Lockhart 1994, Bailey 1996, Woods 1998, Borg 1998, Richards 1998). Therefore, in order to understand teaching, we must understand how thoughts get carried into actions (Clark and Yinger 1977, Shavelson and Stern 1981, Clark and Peterson 1986, Johnson 1992, Nunan 1992).Pajares (1992) reviewed research on teacher beliefs and argued that teachers beliefs can and should become an important focus of educational inquiry (p. 307). He then sketched numerous facets of beliefs and acknowledged that a variety of conceptions of educational beliefs appear in the literature. Citing Nespors (1987) influential work, he suggested that beliefs are far more influential than knowledge in determining how individuals organize and define tasks and problems and are stronger predictors of behavior (p. 311). Studies on teacher beliefs have slowly gained prominence, especially with regard to teacher change issues.Guskey (1986), for example, examined 52 teachers who participated in teacher development programs and concluded that change in teachers beliefs is likely to take place only after changes in student learning outcomes are evidenced (p. 7). In contrast, Richardson, Anders, Tidwell, and Lloyd (1991) found that change in beliefs preceded change in practices. The current view is that relationships between beliefs and practices are interactive and ongoing (Fullan, 1991 Richardson, 1996). Richardso n (1996) even states that In most current conceptions, the perceived relationship between beliefs and actions is interactive. Beliefs are thought to drive actions however, experiences and reflection on action may lead to changes in and/or additions to beliefs (p. 104).Pajares (1992) promoted 16 fundamental assumptions that may reasonably be made when initiating a study of teachers education beliefs (1992, p. 324). These assumptions include among others, the notions that (a) beliefs are formed early and tend to self perpetuate, persevering even against contradictions caused by reason, time, schooling, or experience (b) individuals develop a belief system that houses all the beliefs acquired through the process of cultural transmission (c) beliefs are instrumental in defining tasks and selecting the cognitive tools with which to interpret, plan, and make decisions regarding such tasks (d) individuals beliefs strongly affect their behavior and (e) knowledge and beliefs are inextricably intertwined (for complete discussion of all 16 assumptions, see Pajares, 1992, pp. 324-326).2.2 Teacher Knowledge ResearchMeanwhile doubts arose also from the scientific community about a conception of professionalism that asked professionals (such as teachers) to just apply the theories and insights provided by others. Schn (1983, 1987) analyzed the work of various groups of professionals and concluded that they applied a certain amount of theoretical knowledge in their work, but that their behavior was not at all rule governed and that they had no straightforward way to determine which behavior was adequate in specific circumstances. Schn contrasted this principle of technical rationality to the principle of reflection-in-action, which pertained to the thinking of the professional during professional activity and implied a continuing dialogue with the permanently changing situation. This situation does not present itself as a well-defined problem situation. On the contrary, defin ing the problem is itself one of the most difficult tasks of the professional.This recognition of the centrality of the teacher and the teachers knowledge and beliefs regarding each educational process, including educational innovations, is relatively recent (Calderhead, 1996). Birman, Desimone, Porter, Garet (2000), for example, searched for key features of effective professional development and, based on their research, reported that professional development should focus on deepening teacher knowledge in order to foster teacher learning and changes in practice. Similarly, Hawley and Valli (1999) considered the expansion and elaboration of teachers professional knowledge base as essential for their professional development.In the literature about teacher knowledge, various labels have been used, each indicating a relevant aspect of teacher knowledge. The labels illustrate mainly which aspect is considered the most important by the respective authors. Together, these labels give an overview of the way in which teacher knowledge has been studied to date. The most commonly used labels are personal knowledge (Conelly and Clandinin, 1985 Elbaz, 1991), indicating that this knowledge is unique the wisdom of practice (Schwab, 1971), and in more recent publications, professional craft knowledge (e.g., Brown and McIntyre, 1993 Shimahara, 1998), referring to a specific component of knowledge that is mainly the product of the teachers practical experience action oriented knowledge, indicating that this knowledge is for immediate use in teaching practice (Carter, 1990) content and context related knowledge (Cochran, DeRuiter, King, 1993 Van Driel, Verloop, De Vos, 1998) knowledge that is to a great extent tacit (Calderhead and Robson, 1991) and knowledge that is based on reflection on experiences (Grimmet and MacKinnon, 1992).It is important to realize that in the label teacher knowledge, the concept knowledge is used as an overarching, inclusive concept, summarizing a large variety of cognitions, from conscious and well-balanced opinions to unconscious and unreflected intuitions. This is related to the fact that, in the mind of the teacher, components of knowledge, beliefs, conceptions, and intuitions are inextricably intertwined. As Alexander, Schallert, and Hare (1991) noted, the term knowledge is mostly used to encompass all that a person knows or believes to be true, whether or not it is verified as true in some sort of objective or external way (p. 317). This is particularly relevant with respect to research on teacher knowledge. In investigating teacher knowledge, the main focus of attention is on the complex totality of cognitions, the ways this develops, and the way this interacts with teacher behavior in the classroom.Following Pajares (1992), knowledge and beliefs are seen as inseparable, although beliefs are seen roughly as referring to personal values, attitudes, and ideologies, and knowledge to a teachers more factual propositions ( Meijer, Verloop, Beijaard, 2001).2.2.1 Teachers Knowledge and Beliefs About TeachingIn his extensive review of the literature, Calderhead (1996) found that many different kinds of knowledge have been described as underpinning effective teaching. The main forms are those related to the subject being taught, to teaching methods, and to the ways in which students develop and learn. The extent to which teachers have conscious access to this knowledge is, however, far from clear. Some researchers argue that much of this knowledge is implicit or tacit, derived from experience rather than from any conceptual framework.The research concerned with teachers implicit theories of teaching and learning, particularly work concerned with epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, which reflect their experiences, is of considerable relevance to research in language teaching (Kagan, 1992a Pajares 1992). First, educational beliefs have shown to influence teaching practice (Kagan 1992a) and learning ou tcomes. Second, methods used to investigate relationship between beliefs and/or conceptions and teaching practice and the ways of analyzing data, are of interest.Pajares (1992) attempts to clarify the confusion with the distinction between knowledge and belief. However, as many researchers have found, it is not so much that knowledge differs from beliefs, but that beliefs themselves constitute a form of knowledge. In his attempts to characterize beliefs, Nespor (1987) provides some distinctions between beliefs and knowledge. He singles out four features of the construct previously identified by Abelson (1979) and considers them in relation to teachersExistential presumptions or personal truths are generally unaffected by persuasion and are perceived by the teacher as being beyond his/her control or influence. Alternativity is a feature of beliefs that would include situations such as when teachers attempt to establish an instructional format of which they have no direct experience b ut which they might consider ideal. Belief systems can be said to rely much more heavily on affective and evaluative components than knowledge systems. Teachers values and feelings often affect what and how they teach and may conflict with their knowledge. Belief systems are composed mainly of episodically stored material which is derived from personal experience, episodes or events which continue to influence the comprehension of events at a later time. Whereas beliefs reside in episodic memory, knowledge is semantically stored.A further distinction between beliefs and knowledge, notes Nespor (1987, p.313), is that, while knowledge often changes, beliefs are static. As well, whereas knowledge can be evaluated or judged, such is not the case with beliefs as there is usually a lack of consensus about how they are to be evaluated. Furthermore, there do not appear to be any clear rules for determining the relevance of beliefs to real world events. While there is no doubt other distinct ions can be made between the two constructs, a better understanding may be gained by exploring the relationship between the two and by considering beliefs as a form of knowledge. This form of knowledge could be referred to as personal knowledge.Kagan (1992a) refers to beliefs as a particularly provocative form of personal knowledge and argues that most of a teachers professional knowledge can be regarded more accurately as belief. According to Kagan, this knowledge grows richer and more coherent as a teachers experience in classrooms grows and thus forms a highly personalized pedagogy or belief system that actually constrains the teachers perception, judgment, and behavior. In terms of beliefs being personal knowledge, Kagan explains A teachers knowledge of his or her profession is situated in three important ways in context (it is related to specific groups of students), in content (it is related to particular academic material to be taught), and in person (it is embedded within th e teachers unique belief system) (p.74). Like Clark (1988) who equates implicit theories with beliefs, Nespor (1987) explains how beliefs become personal pedagogies or theories to guide teachers practicesTeachers beliefs play a major role in defining teaching tasks and organizing the knowledge and information relevant to those tasks. But why should this be so? Why wouldnt research-based knowledge or academic theory serve this purpose just as well? The answer suggested here is that the contexts and environments within which teachers work, and many of the problems they encounter, are ill-defined and deeply entangled, and that beliefs are peculiarly suited for making sense of such contexts. (p.324)Munby (1982) also equates implicit theories with teachers beliefs. Clark and Peterson (1986) in their review of the literature on teachers thought processes, argue that teachers theories and beliefs represent a rich store of knowledge. Teachers make sense of their complex world and respond to it by forming a complex system of personal and professional knowledge and theories which, as Kagan (1992a) describes, are often tacit and unconsciously held assumptions about students, classrooms and the material to be taught.2.2.1.1 Beliefs, Assumptions, KnowledgeThroughout this study the term BAK is used as an inclusive term to refer to beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge. Therefore, the following section describes the rationale behind using this term. In the discussion so far, approaches which divide aspects of teacher cognition were examined in separate categories. A more recent strand of research, however, challenges the categorical distinctions outlined above.Woods (1996) suggests that these dichotomies do not accurately reflect the relationship between Teachers beliefs, assumptions and knowledge and their practices in the classroom. In order to take appropriate action, people need to understand and to understand they need knowledge about the world and specifically about the situation they are in (Woods, 1996, p. 59). Woods (1996) develops a multidimensional cycle of planning and decision making within teaching. He describes three phases of assessment, planning and implementation which operate recursively to inform different hierarchical levels of the teaching process going from the most local level of discrete events in the lesson plan to the most global level of whole course planning (p. 139).Woodss analysis of interview data suggests that knowledge structures and belief systems are not composed of independent elements, but are rather structured, with certain aspects implying or presupposing others (p. 200). Woods proposes a model to signify the evolving system of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge (BAK) that recursively informs or is informed by the context of teaching the BAK was part of the perceiving and organizing of the decisions. Woods has demonstrated that language teachers create and maintain background networks of beliefs, assumptions and kn owledge which constitute a valid theory of teaching and learning. These background theoretical networks are grounded in every level of routine classroom practice in much the same way that educational theory is grounded in the systematic collection of empirical data. This construct (BAK) is supported by MacDonaldo, Badger and White (2001). They also suggest that while there is some support for a categorical distinction between theory and practice in language education, it is suggested that the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of teachers are in fact inextricably bound up with what goes on in the classroom.2.3 Research on the Relationship between Teachers Beliefs, Instructional decisions, and PracticesBeliefs are manifested in teaching practices because teachers instruction tends to reflect their beliefs. Pajares (1992) and Richardson (1996) investigated the relationship between teachers beliefs and their teaching practices, concluding that teachers beliefs were reflected in their a ctions, decisions and classroom practices. Kagan (1992a) also supported Pajares and Richardsons claim that teachers beliefs served as a vital role in influencing the nature of the instruction.In her study, Johnson (1992) examined the relationship between ESL teachers defined, theoretical beliefs about second language learning as well as teaching and instructional practices during literacy instruction for non-native speakers of English. Three tasks, such as an ideal instructional protocol, a lesson plan analysis, and a beliefs inventory were used to determine how much ESL teachers beliefs were reflected in skill-based, rule-based, and function-based orientations. The findings in Johnsons study showed that ESL teachers defined beliefs were congruent with their theoretical orientations, and teachers with different theoretical orientations gave quite different instruction for ESL students. Therefore, her study concluded that overall, teachers had different teaching approaches, selection s of teaching materials, and images of teachers and students according to their beliefs about learning and teaching. For example, a teacher whose dominant theoretical orientation was function-based focused generally on comprehending the main idea, following a pattern of pre-reading as well as post-reading questions, and discussion as usual reading activities in her instruction.In addition, Smiths (1996) study explored the relationship between nine experienced ESL teachers beliefs and their decision-making in classroom practices. The result of her study showed that teachers articulated theoretical beliefs were consistent with their instructional planning and decisions. For example, those teachers who believed in communication of meaning as a primary goal in learning a language designed and implemented tasks which promoted student-interaction and meaningful communication, such as small-group or pair activities.Golombek (1998) examined how two in-service ESL teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice through a description of a tension each teacher faced in the classroom. The teachers personal practical knowledge informed their practice by serving as a kind of interpretive framework through which they made sense of their classrooms as they recounted their experiences and made this knowledge explicit. The results of this study suggested that L2 teacher educators should recognize that L2 teachers personal practical knowledge is embodied in individuals. For this reason, personal practical knowledge is important to acknowledge in L2 teacher education practice and research.Similarly, in his article Borg (2001a) presents two cases which illustrate the extent to which teachers perceptions of their knowledge about grammar emerged as one of the factors which influences teachers instructional decisions in teaching grammar. The two case studies suggested clearly that teachers self-perceptions of their knowledge about grammar had an impact on their work. Tw o conclusions emergi

I Have a Dream

I Have a intakeSpeech of aggregate a personal response to I Have a Dream.America was built by the people who were searching for freedom and equating they met in a new land and started to build it as a land of freedom. Ironically, over 100 years after the Independence day of America, freedom and equating were lighten unattain satisfactory luxury for many people, oddly people from diverse races than white. Non-white Americans had to suffer through racial injustice and discrimination. iodine of the greatest activists who fought against those inequalities was Martin Luther exponent Jr. In his momentous linguistic communication, I cede a dream, queen called for racial equality and the end of discrimination. The speech consolidates my belief that people from different races have the right to be tough equally. It withal reminds me how hard it was to gain freedom and justice, and encourages me to stand up and grass dreams come true.With allusions invoked from widely respected s ources as Bible, the United States Declaration of Independence, the independence Proclamation, and the United States Constitution, King draw how disappointed his fellow downcasts were when the government stone-broke their promises by giving his fellow a mischievously check. The blacks suffered numerous inequalities they had to drink from the cup of the bitterness and hatred. The inequality was not correct covered up there were buildings with For Whites entirely signs including the voting places. and King still believed in justice, believed in his dream we argon free at last. He was not dreaming for African American only, he dreamed for a world of equality, a world where people from different races are treat equally.The American government also contributed to disappoint their black citizens by breaking their promises, which also disappoints me. After the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation, the blacks judge that the Government would do what they promised providing the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. But then, the Government exposed their unreliability giving to their black brothers a naughtily check, they left their citizens lives on a lonely island of poverty. In my opinion, Government is the organization that supposed to archive what it promised but in this situation, they lured African Americans to join their army with the promise of freedom and wealthy then yield them with poverty after the war. I could barely hold my anger when I know that the American government had treated non-white Americans as they were not prescribed Americans.I feel so depressed when I listen to the beginning part of Kings speech nigh the manginess that the blacks had to struggle with before they gained their accomplished rights. Five score years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, the African-Americans still were segregated. Although they were considered American citizens on paper, they were not treated as such. Despite the point that there was no longer slavery, blacks were still treated as insufficient they were not allowed to vote, they were not allowed to go to places specifically designated as For White Only, and they were even absurdly prohibited from sitting at the front rows on buses. I cannot accept the way that some Americans treated their black brothers and sisters sticker then, it was racism. It is so bad knowing that black people were treated as even lower than the lowest class in American society.I am impressed and encouraged by Kings strong belief in justice and his disregard for his situation. King say we refuse to believe that the margin of justice is bankrupt, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are cookd equal. They did not just dream, they were ready to fight for what they believed, King described their willing by this say to work in concert, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. Those quotes emphasize that despite all the unfairness that they had to suffer through, the bad treatments from their white brothers and the lies from their government, they still believed in justice and treasured to make justice a reality. I admire the blacks they unbroken their belief and fought for it no matter what obstacle they might encounter. The speech alarms me that believe and doing must go together in order to archive a goal.Another detail that makes me admire King is that he had led his fellows on a stopful-war. He suggested that his followers should not use physical strength in their battle because he understood that he was fighting for peace and peace cannot be created by hurting the others. And he also said we must initiation to the majestic heights of meeting physical crusade with soul force. Although he was bursting to gain freedom and racial equality for his race, he tried his best to avoid any physical conflict.I am inspired by the dream of King, a world of equality, matrimony and freedom. In that world, everyone can be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood no matter what color they are, no matter where they are from. People will erase all of the bad memory of slavery and injustice, they will not think about themselves as superior or inferior. In that world, people will be treated equally and not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. There will be no barriers between religions and races black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands. The world in Kings dream inspires me with its beauty, there is no such thing more beautiful than an equal, happy and peaceful world. by dint of the speech, I was touched by the great comemaking of King for his nation. That love was first showed in his care for his fellow blacks, an indispensable part of America. overly that, he had implied his patriotism through his sp eech this nation will rise up, he wanted to transform our nation in to a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. He does not just love and care about his followers but also care about and love his white bothers Their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. It is a great love of a patriot for his country and its citizens. In my opinion, King was willing to fight for his country, which is what makes him unforgettable in gists of Americans.The speech was delivered from the heart of a man who was willing to exchange anything he had for freedom and well-bred right for his country. His persistence has inspired me it makes me want to stand up for my dreams and my rights. It also makes me appreciate the freedom that I have because I know to create it many people had sacrificed even their lives. Kings works have been continued by many activists, he would love it if he could see that.

Issues for Minority Shareholders

Issues for Minority Sh arholdersNaomi is a minority-shargonholder in Run For Your Life (RFYL) Ltd.DividendsUnfair prejudicial ConductThe first issue that entrust be looked at in this scenario is whether Mehmet and Lucys blow to pay dividend cadences to unsportsmanlike prejudicial conduct. Under the Companies diddle 2006 s.9941(CA 2006) Naomis beseech should relate to how the fellowships conduct inequitablely discriminative her interestingnesss as a member. A members interests be non curb to the strict legal rights granted to them by agreements but in like manner cover the countenance expectations, such as expectations of get ahead and management, arising from the conduct of the fraternity and any understandings between the parties (ONeill v Phillips)2. In differentiate for such expectations to occur, the company has to be a similar- first mateship company, which arises from the basis of personal race involving mutual confidence and an agreement that all of the shareowners/members would be involved in management to some degree (Ebrahimi v Westbourne Galleries Ltd)3. Applying Ebrahimis render to RFYL Ltd, it can be said that it is a quasi-relationship company as Naomi was initially a partner even before the company incorporated and was brought on as a film director during the incorporation. Share restrictions can also be considered to exist, (though we are never really told) since RFYL Ltd is a private company that can non trade its shares in mankind markets. It should be noted, that Naomi has expressly stated her dis-interest in RFYL Ltd which means that it may take for it difficult to prove the quasi-relationship between the members and that in Irvine v Irvine4, the judges imbed that in a quasi-relationship company, the failure to pay dividends does not always amount to a legitimate expectation. However, this shouldnt deter Naomi from arguing that a quasi-relationship exists as thither may a be chance to reconsider and revoke his en durance if it was effected hastily and in a manner and circumstances which did not strike too deeply at mutual trust and confidence, and that a failure to permit this might amount to unfair prejudice (Re release Associates Ltd)5 and that though the Judges may not find a legitimate expectation, it can still be argued that the non-payment of dividends amounts to an unfair prejudicial conduct.Regardless of whether she is a director or not, Naomi as a member has a vested interest in receiving dividends from RFYL Ltd, (Re Coroin Ltd6). For Naomis predication to succeed, she should objectively and individually prove that her interests fork over been prejudiced and that conduct was unfair7. In Re surface-to-air missile Weller Sons Ltd8thoughGibson J states that he does not intend to suggest that a shareholder who does not receive an income from the company except by way of dividend is always entitled to complain whenever the company is controlled by persons who do derive an income from the company and when lettuce are not fully distributed by way of dividend he does go to indicate that it pull up stakes depend on the facts of the case which means that it will remain in the judges discretion to decide on whether the facts of the case amount to unfair prejudicial conduct. Lucy and Mehmet decide to stop Naomis salary and fail to pay dividends, deviation her with no form of financial return for her investment and accordingly a lack of financial return can be considered prejudicial (Re Coroin Ltd)9. Moreover, Naomi necessarily to also prove that the conduct was unfair. The House of Lords in ONeill v Phillips10effectively limited the definition of unfairness to breaches of the terms of legally enforceable agreements and to where equitable considerations gain ground it unfair for those conducting the companys affairs to rely on the strict legal rights straited to them. In relation to the non-payment of dividends to Naomi, it can be considered unfair especially whe n both Mehmet and Lucy are still receiving substantial salaries11 all while Naomi receives no form of remuneration.Naomi seems to pretend a good chance at succeeding with a pray under s.99412. If the judges find in favour of Naomi, she can assume for remedies under s.99613. The most common reanimate is an order to grease ones palms shares of the minority member. It in the case that order to purchase the shares is made, the valuation date will be on the same day as that of the order, unless a quasi relationship is found, in which case the valuation will be pro-rata and with come out a minority dismiss.Just and Equitable Winding-upNaomi also can also toy a petition through the Insolvency Act 1986 s. 122(1)(g)14, though its chances of victory are comparatively much lower. Harman J in Re a familiarity (No 00370 of 1987)15 found that a failure to pay dividends may amount to fitted reasoning for hint up of a company. Nonetheless, in accordance with IA 1986 s. 125(2)16 the court s have been less inclined17 to grant an order for winding up if there are less severe remedies available (i.e. offer to purchase or unfair prejudicial conduct). Winding up under s.122(1)(g)18 is usually reserved for to a greater extent difficult situations where no clear member holds a majority (Re Yenidje tobacco plant Ltd)19.Therefore, it would not be viable for Naomi to bring a petition for winding up as it would most certainly be potty out by the court.Offer to Purchase If the offer to purchase made by Mehmet and Lucy is found to be fair, then it will most probably permute Naomis course of action. As it stands, if a fair offer is made regarding the purchase of the petitioners shares, an unfair prejudicial conduct petition would also be struck out. Similarly, if a petition for winding up is made the courts will also be inclined to strike it out in favour of a fair offer. An offer to purchase is sometimes seen as the ideal remedy in such cases as it limits the possibility of fu ture complications and allows to petitioner to misuse away from the company20 The real issue with the offer to purchase, is determining whether the offer is rational and fair. Lord Hoffman in the case of ONeill21 stated that a reasonable offer must be to purchase the shares at a fair repute on a pro rata basis without a minority discount determined by a competent expert. It should also include submissions by both parties to an expert. In our scenario, it is not very clear whether the offer is considered to be reasonable since the integrity of the auditor is in question. Having the company auditor shelter the shares would probably be considered unfair since he is not considered adequately independent22. Although a court will usually consider offers to purchase as the take up form of remedy it will still allow a petition to proceed depending on the merits of the case.Directors DutiesThough this question deals more with minority shareholder remedies, a look at Naomis possible brea ches as a director and whether Mehmets and Lucys claim that Naomis negligence is a cause for the fall in profits should be made. The general directors duties that are owed to RFYL Ltd. are found in CA 2006 ss.171-7723.The issue to consider in relation to Naomis possible breach of directors duties is Naomis failure to attend board meetings. The relevant sections of the CA 200624 that pertain to our argument are ss. 172 174. Under s.172 a director has a duty to promote the success of the company and act in good faith for the benefit of the company. In order to prove that the directors actions were in good faith subjective test must1 Companies Act 2006 s.9942 ONeill v Phillips 1999 1 WLR 10923 Ebrahimi v Westbourne Galleries Ltd 1973 AC 3604 Irvine v Irvine (No 1) 2006 EWHC 406 (Ch) 2007 1 BCLC 3495 Re Flex Associates Ltd 2009 EWHC 36906 Re Coroin Ltd 2013 EWCA Civ 7817 Hawks v Cuddy 2007 EWHC 29998 Re surface-to-air missile Weller Sons Ltd 19909 Re Coroin Ltd 2013 EWCA Civ 78110 ONei ll v Phillips 1999 1 WLR 109211 Re Sam Weller Sons Ltd 1989 5121314 Insolvency Act 1986, s. 122(1)(g)15 Re a Company (No 00370 of 1987) 1988 1 WLR 1068 (Ch).16 Insolvency Act 1986, s. 125(2)17 Re Sam Weller Sons Ltd 199018 Insolvency Act 1986, s. 122(1)(g)19 Re Yenidje Tobacco Ltd 191620 Grace v Biagoli 2006 2 BCLC21 ONeill v Phillips 1999 1 WLR 109222 North Holding Ltd v Southern Tropics Ltd 19992324

Determining Magnitudes of Calibration Stars

Determining Magnitudes of Calibration StarsSN 2014J in M82 Follow-Up PhotometryAims and ObjectivesThis laboratory involved employ photometry of the watchs of M28 which were obtained in R and I filters from ULOs robotic telescope, accordingly governd the rears of calibration hints and the new discove cherry supernova. In addition, par the data-based results to the published AAVSO selective information by investigating the time series of data within the night of 23rd and twenty-fourth of January.IntroductionSupernova are basically the explosion of massive supergiant star when they are reaching the end of their evolution. In general, supernovae bottom of the inning be classified as caseful I and fiber II supernova, each of them has its own specific features and dynamics. Type Ia supernova are slackly thought to a white dwarf explosion and type II supernova are triggered by a core collapse of massive supergiant stars. Astronomers use up type Ia supernova as a standard can dle to footfall the cosmic distances because they are in truth bright which can be seen at spectacular distances and they all are observed to ca-ca similar inventiveness at their teetotums. igniter make out is one of the methods that astronomers use to identify dissimilar types of supernova. It is constructed by plotting the order of the supernova as a function of time after the yield of explosion. Type I supernova have very distinctive escape abbreviate compare to type II supernova. The figure bellow deputes that type I supernova easy curves exhibit a sharp append to a maxima and so decrease steeply, eventually die away smoothly and gradually whereas type II supernova have less sharp superlatives at their maxima and they have another(prenominal) peak later on after the first peak.(From hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu)Supernova SN2014J was discovered in the galaxy M82 on 21st January 2014 at ULO. Early studies of SN2014J light curve and spectrum indicate it is a type Ia supernova signification that its light curve would have a peak absolute order of order of magnitude roughly the self very(prenominal)(prenominal) note value and it discovers the general order of type Ia light curve.In the laboratory, we can determine the magnitude of the supernova and plot the result to AAVSO database to see if it fits the published data and follow the trend of typical type Ia supernova light curves, whence to predict the peak brightness and its magnitude.ProceduresI first downloaded and printed out the list of standard stars magnitudes from the AAVSO website which was use for author throughout the laboratory. I also obtained the sub roach of the images of M82 from ULOs robotic system by selecting only Rc and Ic filters image as sound as the time range from 2129 to 2135 on the date of 23rd of January 2014. These images were opened and analysed with GAIAs aperture photometry tool. I analysed the Ic images first in GAIA.Before making any magnitude measu rements of stars, the brightest stars were checked to make sure they were not saturated and all the minded(p) star in AAVSO list dont have peak count over 40000 counts. These must be done to get authoritative results. In order to measure the magnitude, a sui postpone aperture needed to be drawn on the image and it should be in the size astir(predicate) two to three times the full width at one-half maximum (FWHM) of a star image. By using the slice tool, a graph of the selected star was opened in a new window where the FWHM could be measured. Determined FWHM of several listed stars and measured the mean value, hence the aperture was set to three times the size of FWHM.When the aperture was set to a sui dining sidestep size, I clicked the define object aperture button and located the aperture to stars in the same order as they appeared in the AAVSO reference data. At last, dropped the aperture in supernova as well. afterward all, I collected my results by clicking on Calculate results button. These results were then execute in a excel file for further analysis.Repeat the same procedures for Rc images and also save all the results in the same excel file.Measurements and results figure FWHM for making the judgement of the size of apertureFWHM of star 112 = 178-174=4FWHM of star long hundred = 548-544=4mean of FWHM = 4size of aperture = 3 x 4 =12Thus, I set the aperture as size 12 and placed it to each star to make a measurement. On my downloaded images for both Ic and Rc filter, star 155 and star 159 did not appear on them which leave alone to no measurements were taken from them.Results of Ic image and Rc image were tabulated in table 1 and table 2.Table 1. Results of Ic imageTable 2. Results of Rc imageBoth of the tables have their first chromatography column listing all the cognise standard star from the reference data and supernova is also included. The column with nous of Sky is the set of tilt annulus which are employ to measure local place s etting sky determine for each star. And the last column is the sign up from a star which is used to calculate magnitude and eternal k of the star as well as the supernova.To estimate the magnitude of supernova, several calculations were carried out by using the equationm = -2.5log N +k (1)The constant k was first calculated from know reference stars on the list and hence the mean value of constant k for both Ic and Rc imgaes. Then both Ic and Rc apparent magnitude of supernova were determined. All these values were tabulated in table 3 and associated uncertainties showed in table 4.Uncertainties on k and apparent magnitude were obtained by using the future(a) equationNtot = N x n x 2.53 (2)Where N is the signal obtained from an average of n images, and 2.53 is called the gain of the CCD.m2 1.1/Ntot (3)Where m2 is the error in magnitudes in measurement of the star signalAnd finally, the combined uncertainty becomes(mSN)2 = (k)2 + (m2)2 (4)Table 3. Results of calculated magnitude and constant k for both Ic and Rc imgaesTable 4. Uncertainties4.3 Q5. Compare table 3 and the reference list, we can see that there is no writ large trend for constant k (both Ic and Rc) varies for standard star colour as well as standard-star magnitude. In the reference list, standard star colours such as B, V and B-V increase in their values following the order of the stars from 106 to 156, however, values of constant k fluctuates with different values of star colours but not follow any variety magnitude or decreasing trend.Discussions and ConclusionsThis laboratory is to analyse and make magnitude measurements of the known stars from images of M28 which were obtained in R and I filters from ULOs robotic telescope by using the aperture photometry tool, hence determined the magnitudes of the new discovered supernova. At the end of the laboratory, experimental results were plot in the light curves from AAVSO data so we can check into the time series of data within the night of 23rd and twenty-fourth of January and more importantly, to predict the time that the supernova reach peak brightness and magnitude when Rc and Ic images were taken.Table 6. Results of magnitude both Rc and Ic by different educatees.4.4 Q1. Table 6 shows all the laboratory results obtained by different groups of students. My calculated results for the Ic and Rc magnitude of supernova in the time range 21292135 are 10.04 +/- 0.02 and 10.54 +/- 0.03 on an individual basis. Compare my results with those obtained by other students, I cannot conclude that out results are not consistence because the uncertainty for my Ic and Rc magnitude are +/-0.02 and +/- 0.03, but the difference in magnitude amid students is about +/-0.1 which is not within my uncertainty range, thus the results did not maintain the consistency.4.4 Q2. Because the great consistency of the results obtained from different groups of students, we can say the magnitude of the supernova is around the similar value at the time the images were taken. There is no translucent trend observed for the magnitude to change with time during that night, also, the condition of the sky was thought to be not vey ideal, thus the we cannot conclude that there is a change in brightness at the night of 23rd January to 24th January 2014. However, from the general shape of light curves of supernova, there should be obvious brightness change before and after peak. So, more reliable results should be obtained for muss of nights to detect the change in brightness.4.3.1 Q4. Table 4 listed majority of the uncertainties that can possibly be calculated from my results. They are relatively small compare to the large values of my results. However, there were also systematic uncertainties arising from the measurement of the ground galaxy light. This is related to the size of annulus when I did the aperture measurements. The annulus is used to measure the background of the sky by drawing a large circle and a smaller circle a round the centre of the star. The background is therefore the region between these two apertures or the annulus. If the aperture is oversized, extra light from neighbour stars will be included which can cause unreliable results of the measurement as it introduces noise from the sky background, thus the signal specialness from the star fluctuates as well.To check this uncertainty, I adjust the inner subdue and the outer scale of the annulus to make some measurements of a star. The results were tabulated in table 5.Table 5. Results of aperture measurement with different size of annulusBy trying different set of inner and outer annulus scales, the signals were very different to the one I obtained in the first stage. To mitigate them, fourfold aperture with different size within the range about 2 to 3 times the FWHM can be used to make more measurement. This would own a more reliable signal strength of the star.Figure 1. Light curve of SN2014J from AAVSO with own data planFigure 1 is the light curve that I downloaded from AAVSO for SN 2014J with my results plotted on. My results for Ic and Rc magnitude were plotted in blue and yellow respectively. My data actually fits the AAVSO data, both of the magnitude are on the light curves at the same time on the night. We can spot that there is a trend from the AAVSO data from the same night at ULO. Both of I and R light curves show an increase in magnitude with change in time meaning that the supernova was brightening during the night at 23rd of January 2014.As mentioned previously in introduction, the shape of typical supernova Ia light curves exhibit a sharp increase to a maxima and then decrease steeply, eventually die away smoothly and gradually. link this information to the plot from AAVSO, there is a sharp increase from seventeenth to 23rd of January, and the magnitude gradually increase until reach its peak at around the date of 29th to 30th of January, and even the data is up to 4th February, we still can o bserve that there is a ignore decrease in magnitude after 31th of January. We can say the magnitude at peak is about 9.5 for Ic and 10 for Rc.Throughout the unhurt observation, colour dependent extinction were not allowed by the Earths atmosphere. Basically, the extinction effect varies from night to night and the coefficient of extinction depends on wavelength and on different altitude. As the data was obtained from just one night, the extinction should not vary too much and for the wavelength dependent, different filter needed to be used to maintain a good accuracy of photometry, in this case, red and invisible filter were used. And the extinction is corrected by calculating the magnitudes alfresco the atmosphere. This can be the reason to cause the fluctuation of our measured magnitudes.In conclusion, I got the magnitude of SN2014J in Ic and Rc filter are 10.04 +/- 0.02 and 10.54 +/- 0.03 respectively within the time range 21292135 on the night of 23rd of January 2014. These d ata exactly follow the trend of the light curves of SN2014J obtained by AAVSO website at the same night. However, results gathered from other student in the same group didnt show an obvious change in brightness of the supernova whereas the light curve did show that there is an increase in magnitude on the same date.ReferencesAmerican Association of variable Star Observers AAVSO (2014) Online Available from http//www.aavso.org/ Accessed eleventh February 2014Aperturephotometry (2004) Online Available from http//mth.uct.ac.za/lab/chap6/chap6/node3.html Accessed 11th February 2014R Nave, HyperPhysics 2001 Online Available from http//hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/snovcn.html Accessed 19th February 2014Megan Gannon, How Students Discovered New Supernova in Nearby galax (2014) Online lightAvailable from http//www.space.com/24413-supernova-star-explosion-student-discovery.html Accessed 19th February 2014American Association of Variable Star Observers AAVSO (2014) Online Availa ble from http//www.aavso.org/ Accessed 11th February 2014Steve Fossey, PHAS1130 Practical Skill 1A SN 2014J in M82 Follow-up Photometry ManualsShaoshan Zeng

The Jungle By Sinclair: A Man Of Many Colors :: essays research papers

The Jungle by Sinclair A Man of Many coloriseThere are often many sides to a persons personality. Jurgis Rudkis ofUpton Sinclairs novel, The Jungle, is no exception. Rudkis is a very determine and caring person. Conversely, he is also strickened with cupidity.He has twain correct and perversive coexisting within him.Rudkis is a very determined and directed man. He is always eager towork. He does not let anything stop him and is confident in his ability to getwork for himself, single-handed by anyone(pg.35) . Aware that he needed money,Rudkis does anything and everything to achieve his inclinations. No study what hemust endure, he always manages to keep his head amply and keeps striving towardhis dreams. Rudkiss determination is also displayed when he tries to make agood impression on his boss. He proves he is not lazy and right away reports forwork in the morning(pg.46) .Rudkis is also a caring man. His primary goal is to protect Ona, andwhen he reaches America, he has ever y confidence he suffer do so. He works interrible conditions and endures many hardships moreover to keep her happy. Whenhe lost his job, he earned mony immoraly. He does not do this for himself, providedfor the welfare of Ona and the family. Eventhough he inevidably fails, he doeseverything in his magnate to be an ideal husband.Rudkis, like many other good-hearted people, had to circumb to the evilpowers of greed. He buys an expensive house that he could not afford. He couldsettele for a house of lesser value that suits his needs just as well, but hedoesnt. Eventhough he is somewhat conned into buying it, his greed still convinced(p) him. Shortly after this, he is so eager to get more money, that hestarts to behave immoraly. After he lost his job referable to an injury, he sinksinto a life of crime as a resistance of society. He becomes a mugger and a grafter.

Agony And The Ecstacy :: essays research papers

The Agony and the Ecstacy depicts Michelangelos struggle to become the embodiment of rebirth humanism. In the course of the novel Michelangelo must overcome the interference of his family, apparitional dogma, political intrigue, papal patronage, military campaigns, and delicate green-eyedy to realize his artistic ambition.Despite his fathers opposition, twelve-year-old Michelangelo becomes an apprentice, first to painter Ghirlandaio and then to Bertoldo, a sculptor, who directs a school financed by Lorenzo de Medici, patron of Florentine art. Michelangelo quickly wins Lorenzos esteem, meets his children (among Them two future popes, Giulio and Giovanni, and Contessina, his first love), suffers the first of several attacks by jealous colleagues (his nose is broken by Trrigiani, whose later appearances always threaten Michelangelo), and with forbidden dissection learns the anatomy and physiology he needs. Eventually Savonarola, a reform priest, comes to power, and his crusading ardour threatens Lorenzo de Medicis family and the Florentine art world.When Savonarola gains political, as well as spiritual control, Michelangelo flees Florence and travels to Bologna, where he meets the sensuous Clarissa Saffi and carves the Bambino that attracts the attention of Leo Baglioni. In capital of Italy for the first time, Michelangelo meets Jacopo Galli, a banker, who commissions a sculpture Giuliano Sangallo, an room decorator and Bramante, another architect and an adversary. In Rome, Michelangelo carves the Pieta, learns about the whims of religious patrons, and becomes interested in St. Peters the geting of the new St. Peters will embroil him in controversy and ultimately consume his last years.Michelangelo return to Florence, where he carves the Giant, a sculpture of David which becomes the symbol of Florence. There he meets da Vinci da Vinci, his star topology rival, and Raphael, the painter the three become the triumvirate of Renaissance Italian art. Jealou s of Leonardo Michelangelo competes with him as the two artists paint frescoes for the rulers of Florence.Word of Michelangelos work reaches pontiff Julius, who forces Michelangelo to work in bronze, rather than his beloved marble, and to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It is Julius who resolves to build a new St. Peters.Julius is followed by two Medici popes who only issue to Michelangelos problems Giovanni, by forcing him to work with marble from Pietrasanta, an almost inaccessible region, thereby making Michelangelo an engineer, and Giulio, against whose forces Michelangelo must use his engineering talents to fortify the city of Florence. The Medici popes are followed by Pope Paul III, who commissions Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgment and who, later bitter disputes about the ongoing building of St.

The Bluest Eye - Do Blondes Really Have More Fun? :: Bluest Eye Essays

The Bluest Eye - Do Blondes real Have More Fun?   America, the land of the free and the brave, a terra firma where if you work hard enough you can have whatever you aspiration All Pecola Breedlove wanted was to have gruesome eyes. Today, that dream would be tardily fulfilled, but in 1941, it was unattainable. She bought into the belief that to have blond hair and blue eyes was the only way to obtain beauty. It is a belief that has rule American culture since the nineteenth century. We must look a reliable way, have a specific occupation, or live in a particular neighborhood if we are to drop dead into society. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison has captured these and other stigmas we come to the fore on ourselves.   We as a society like to believe that everyone is equal, that no matter what you look like you are important to the society. Unfortunately, this is not an exact belief. We only have to turn on the television or reach a magazine to see who are the adored people in our country. However, it is not fair to say that all people buy into these ideals. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison captures both sides of society. Pecola and her family represent the part of American society that strives to belong and fit into the stereotypical world. Pecola believes that if she could have blue eyes then she would be accepted. If she looked different, beautiful, maybe theyd say, Why, look at sanely-eyed Pecola. We mustnt do bad things in front of those pretty eyes (46). She saw the blue eyes as an answer to everything that was wrong in her life.   Pauline found her white identity through with(predicate) the Fisher family. It was through them that she found value and importance. The creditors and service people who humiliated her when she went to them on her knowledge behalf respected her, were even intimidated by her, when she spoke for the Fishers. . . Power, praise and high life were hers in this household (128). Claudi a was the antithesis to Pecola and her mother. She was proud of who she was. She embraced her heritage and refused the stereotypes thrust at her.