Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man Essays - Literature, Fiction

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man The Liberty Paint Factory in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man provides the setting for a very significant chain of events in the novel. In addition, it provides many symbols which will influence a reader's interpretation. Some of those symbols are associated with the structure itself, with Mr. Kimbro, and with Mr. Lucius Brockway. The first of many instances in these scenes that concern the invisible man and the symbolic role of white and black in the novel is when the narrator is sent to the paint factory by the young Mr. Emerson to try to find a job. Mr. Emerson, however, only sends him out of pity. The narrator arrives and immediately notices the huge electric sign that reads "KEEP AMERICA PURE WITH LIBERTY PAINTS". Later on, the reader will learn that Liberty Paint is famous for its white paint called none other than "Optic White". In effect, the sign advertises to keep America pure with whites and not just white paint. Next, the invisible man must walk down a long, pure white hallway. At this time he is a black man symbolically immersed in a white world, a recurring idea of the novel. After receiving his job, the narrator goes to meet Mr. Kimbro. In this scene, Kimbro teaches the narrator how to make the ordinary white paint into "Optic White": Ten drops of a black formula must be mixed in to the white paint, of which the surface is already brown. The narrator does not understand this, and inquires about it, only to be insulted by Mr. Kimbro. Mr. Kimbro, in no way what so ever, wants any of his workers to think. He just wants them to obey. So the invisible man, although still unable to comprehend this idiosyncrasy, does not persist. The white paint may represent the white world, perhaps even America, as alluded to in the company's advertisement. The black formula is what makes the white paint into "Optic White", a much better, whiter, white. The formula, perhaps, represents the behind the scenes blacks that worked for the whites so that society persisted as it did in that time period. This idea will be touched upon once again later on in this series of scenes. The invisible man then falls victim to a bad set of circumstances. He runs out of formula, and since Kimbro is not around, he tries to get himself some more. However, there are two containers with what appear to be the same kind of formulas, just with different markings. Naturally, the narrator uses his intuition and discovers that the two liquids in the tanks smell differently, and one smells like the formula he was using. He gets more of that solution, and continues his work, only to be scolded later by Kimbro that he chose the wrong one. Once again, Kimbro states that he does not want any thinkers working for him. He wants a submissive black that will just follow the "rules" established in his "society". After fixing his mistake, the narrator is sent back to the office to find another position: Kimbro does not want the invisible man working for him. In the scene that follows, the invisible man meets Mr. Lucius Brockway, deep down in the paint factory. Mr. Brockway, a black man, can be thought of a symbol himself. He is the black formula that makes the white paint work. He is one of the many blacks that keep the paint factory working. He is one of the many blacks that keep society as the whites like it. Mr. Brockway makes the powder that is the base of the paint. Again, a black influence that makes the "Optic White" paint possible appears. When the narrator returns from getting his lunch, he is confronted by Mr. Brockway about the union. It is here that the reader learns that the blacks that, in effect, run the paint factory, are being hired so that the company does not have to pay union wages. This is important because it shows that the blacks are once again being taken advantage of by the whites, yet they are still working behind the scenes to make things run like clockwork. Through out this commotion, the narrator has not been fulfilling one of his duty by watching the pressure gauge. The pressure builds up, and right before the narrator has a chance to turn it off, it explodes. Once again, he is a black man immersed in a world of white. This explosion leaves him in the

Herbs essays

Herbs essays Your studying for your final exams when all of a sudden you feel it coming on. A headache. Its definitely your worst one yet, and to make matters worse, youve only just started studying an hour ago. Its probably from going over all those problems in the small print of your text book. The test is tomorrow and the pain in your head is so unbearable that the only way known to make it go away is to go to bed. But, in the back of your mind, you know that you havent finished studying yet and if you go to bed now, youll definitely fail the test tomorrow. Does this problem sound familiar? How many of you can say that after continuously studying, your head starts to pound Well, there is no need to worry about failing anymore, because, believe it or not, there is a new way that studies are showing that can relieve your headaches, lower you stress levels, and actually make you relax more. Believe it or not, the newest way to make all those things I just said happen is by using herbs. Now I know what your thinking, herbs, arent they just used for cooking? Well, not anymore. In this speech Im going to tell you what type of problems herbs can be used to treat, which herbs to use, and how to apply and prepare them. When it comes to what problems herbs can be used for, their are so many. Common problems that teenagers have nowadays are headaches, stress, acne, colds symptoms, and depression. These problems can usually occur around finals, flu season, and just out of the blue. Also, as teens get older, they have more freedom and would hate to be stuck in the house sick or with a terrible headache when a massive party is going on . Now, teens wont have to make their parents pay money for medicine that taste disgusting and takes days to make them feel better. They can just use different types of herbal treatments that arent that hard to make and can make the pain go away fas ter. ...

6 Ways to Cope with Tax Season at Work

6 Ways to Cope with Tax Season at Work Nobody likes the anxieties of tax season (is a dog considered a dependent or what?), but as Mark Twain’s ghost reminds us from beyond the grave, the only thing more certain than taxes is death. Bottom line: we’re stuck with it. That doesn’t mean you can’t make it a more fun season around the office. See if anyone else shares your pain and denial.Decorate the W-2 you get from Accounting.Flirt with a coworker in the hopes that you’ll be able to file as â€Å"married† next year.Make it rain in the break room when you finally get your refund.Make sure everyone knows you’ve done your civic duty.

Fluid Mechanics (civil) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fluid Mechanics (civil) - Essay Example However, it is a proven fact that dams are also responsible for causing low to high degree tremors, soil erosion and they render the site useless for future cultivation. Typical dam location can be represented as: Dam Design and Operation: Effective dam designing requires a clear understanding of destructive potential of uncontrolled water. To ensure that its force is subdued, it must be confined to safe passages. A dam alters natural equilibrium at its site. As water is impounded, a new regime of seepage develops in the barriers that form reservoir. The characteristics of the materials used in the dam construction give different capabilities to the dam structure. Water in rivers is obstructed with the dam walls and guided to an inside chamber for storage. It is then released as and when required by the doors of these chambers. Released water is either mixed with river water and supplied to irrigation land or is used to run turbines for electricity generation. 1. google search engine, google book search, Robert B. Jansen(1988), ‘Advanced dam engineering for design, construction, and rehabilitation’, Springer publication, March 9, 2009, 2-3; retrieved from 2. google search engine, google book search, Imre V. Nagy, D. Kofi Asante-Duah, Istvà ¡n Zsuffa (2002), ‘Hydrological Dimensioning and Operation of Reservoirs: Practical Design Concepts and Principles’, Springer publication, March 9, 2009, retrieved from

The Business Cycle and Policy Response in UK Coursework

The Business Cycle and Policy Response in UK - Coursework Example This paper will examine closely the business cycle properties of the UK and government policy through assessment of the role of GDP and monetary policy conditions in modeling the cycle. Figure 1 Accessed on October 22, 2011 from, http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/images/2008/uk-GDP-growth-and-house-prices-feb08.jpg Figure 2 Accessed on October 22, 2011 from, http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/macro-uk-economic-cycle_clip_image002.gif There are definitional uncertainties that inevitably hamper GDP and its patterns decomposing into cycles and other components like circular flow. Figure 2 is a representation of the UK’s economy annual growth since 1980. Evident in the chart, two recessions have been experienced for the last 25 years. UK experienced the worst downturn in the 1980s. Later between 1990 and 1991, a recession was then followed by cumulative positive economic growth. The 1990s economic growth remains the longest period of economic expansion before the slowdown tha t was experienced in 2005. Not UK alone, but all other countries experience an economic cycle that causes national output and unemployment to fluctuate in a notable manner. Worth noting, the two main concerns of economic are growth and stabilization. As evident in the graphs, devising government policies have a considerable interest towards influencing the prospects for the growth of the economy and mitigate the frustrations associated the downturns. It is important to evaluate the benefits and costs of any policy with knowledge of the growth and business cycle determinants (Mankiw & Taylor, 2006:405). For the last few years, theoretical and empirical researches have undergone an explosion into growth of the economy. For the theoretical part, there have emerged two economic growth determinants. The first is human capital in which abilities, skills, and knowhow of workers are comprised. From this idea, regular improvement of stock of human capital is the fundamental base for economic growth. In other words, there is need to improve stock of human capital if at all the output of the good being produced are to increase for a fixed quantity of workers. Evidently, there exist a homogeneous impact between economic ability to produce goods and growth resulting from the accumulation of human capital. The second is research and development since growth can be realized if returns are non-decreasing. As technology advances as a result of research and development result to a consequential increase in production of the factors of production. Economists believe that changes in technology homogeneously impact produced goods. According to OECD Publishing (2007:23), the fact that there are fluctuation of production, changes in incomes, and changes in spending habits over time means that business cycle must be experienced. As the structure of economy evolves, the cycles will change thus GDP will influence these cycles. The business cycle in the country has been unstable due to the fluctuations caused by inflation. The increased costs of energy have contributed increasingly to the high rate of inflation, which soared from 4.2% in August 2011 to 5.2% September 2011. Being followed by a sharp downward trend, cutting down interest rates became the only tool to boost the economy and prevent any further financial

Humanities Religion Paper Essay Example for Free

Humanities Religion Paper Essay Throughout the span of this course I have learned what it takes to build a successful empire. There are many tactics that are involved in constructing an empire that is stable, which include an effective irrigation system, having an army, land for crops to grow, a system of government, the development of social classes, a trading system, tools and specialized skills for the making of goods, and a shared standpoint of religious beliefs. The one thing that I found most intriguing is how throughout the period of time every civilization has had some sort of caste system. A caste system is a social structure which separates individuals of a civilization into their inherited social class; it can also prohibit the marriage of two individuals of different caste. In the time we live in now you can still separate people into a variety of different social classes such as: upper class, upper middle-class, middle-class, lower middle-class and poor. But let’s rewind a few thousand years in to one of the earliest known civilizations, the Mesopotamians. The history of Mesopotamians can be separated into two categories, the Sumerian period and the Semitic period. During these periods I see the caste system come into play because Priests were at the top of the chain, they were the ones who controlled religious and economic dealings. The Law Code of Hammurabi, I would also consider to be part of a caste system. Majority of the Law code’s requirements deal with the relationship between a husband and wife, along with the relationship between other members of the family, these are a couple of the passages from the code: 131. If a man accuses his wife and she has not been taken lying with another man, she shall take an oath in the name of god and she shall return to her house (book). 145. If a man takes his wife and she does not present him with children, and he sets his face to take a concubine, that man may take a concubine and bring her into his house (book). Even though these do not directly deal with a certain social standing they do however show the standing of women during this period, and also these laws would apply to anyone in any social class. The Egyptians had their own form of the caste system. Egypt was structured so that there was an upper and lower caste. They had a strongly controlled government ruled by one single ruler, the pharaoh. The pharaoh was regarded as a living god, the equal of any other deity (book). Right below the pharaoh was the priest, whose responsibility was to preserve the tradition of religious beliefs. Pharaohs are at the top of the chain, government officials fall directly below the pharaoh and consist of nobles and priests. Next on the chain below the government officials would be the soldiers, merchants and artisans fell directly under the soldiers, farmers were second to last on the chain and then at the very bottom you find the slaves. During ancient Greece time in the city of Athens, I see a form of the caste system fall into place. Social classes during the ancient Greece period applied strictly to men and women took their social standing from their husbands. Any person born into an Athenian family is considered to be a citizen and part of the upper class during this period. The middle class was comprised with merchants, merchants were any men who were non-citizens and are ineligible to become a citizen. The lower class was any freed slave. A slave could become free only if his/her ransom was paid off by a family member. Again you see the slaves fall at the very bottom of all caste systems. Athenians viewed their slaves as barbarians because most, if not all were from a foreign region. I have also learned that the Romans had a set caste system. In my book it states that the Romans had an extremely hard working middle class that were devoted to their central government. When I was reading this, all I could think about is how my family would be considered middle class and how hard working both my parents are. They are devoted to making sure I am provided with what I need, which is what Augustine wanted for the Romans. Augustine’s social reforms were intended directly at the upper classes and were anticipated to return his people to traditional family values. During the Roman republic citizens were split into two classes the patricians and the plebeians. Patricians also known as aristocrats filled the upper class; they had elite rights to the Roman Senate and magistrates. The lower class was known as the plebeians. The plebeians would elect leaders to represent them and their interests while also protecting the lower class people against states officials who treated them discriminatorily. The Aryans are the true developers of the caste system. They made a separation between nobility and the common people. The caste system of the Aryans divided their society into castes of priesthood, the warriors, the laborers and the serfs. India went through many changes and so did their caste system. The caste system was one the shaping social forces in India, reinforced by many laws concerning marriage, table exclusion, laws of rituals purity and so on (book). I have found the caste system of India the most fascinating so far, I believe it most accurately represents the way we caste individuals now.

Latin America Resources Essay -- essays research papers

I. 1.Miguel Angel Asturias- A Nobel Prize wining novelist and poet from Guatemala. Wrote about his experience under a dictatorship. Established small-town life and a clash of cultures as themes 2.Frida Kahlo- Started painting in 1925 when she was hospitalized. Married Diego Rivera. Was inspired by retablos, religious paintings. Was a champion of Mexican culture. 3.John F. Kennedy – Kennedy encouraged Latin American countries to undertake reforms to raise the standard of living for their people with the Alliance for Progress in 1961. 4.Luis Munoz Marin – Became Puerto Rico’s first elected governor in the 1950s. He supported a program to encourage tourism and develop industry on the island. 5.Gabriel Garcia Marquez- Nobel Prize winning author in Columbia. Wrote in a Style called magical realism. Most popular novel was One Hundred years of Solitude. 6.James Munroe – Issued the Munroe Doctrine in 1823 which disallowed colonization in the Americas 7.Pablo Neruda - Chile’s Nobel Prize winning poet who criticized the United States for using its power and wealth to carve up Panama. 8.Manuel Noriega – Panama’s president who was charged by the United States with drug trafficking in 1988. 9.Franklin D. Roosevelt – Announced the Good Neighbor Policy in 1933, which declared that â€Å"no state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another state.† 10.Theodore Roosevelt – President that offered Columbia $10 million for a strip of land in Panama to build a canal. Roosevelt encouraged rebels in Panama to rebel when Columbia rejected the offer. In 1903 when the Panama people received their independence, they granted US the 10 mile wide â€Å"canal zone.† II. 1. Under the Platt Amendment, the United States claimed the right to intervene in Cuban affairs. 2. The United States gained Puerto Rico and Philippines from Spain. 3. Financial interests led the United States to intervene in Latin America. In the early 1900s, the Dominican Republic was unable to pay its debts to American banks. American forces also occupied Nicaragua and Haiti ,and intervened in the affairs of Honduras 6 times. In each case, they stepped in to protect American lives and property or to support a government that favored American interests. 4. The United States wanted to create a solid anti-communist bloc in the Americas. The United States’ primary concern was the communist country of ... ...lopment and democracy. The OAS includes the United States, which has tended to dominated the organization. 11.retablos – religious paintings offered as thanks for escape from misfortune. 12.Sendero Luminoso – (Shining Path) Extreme left wing group that resorted to torture and murder in their on-going struggle to control the country of Peru. 13.Spanish-American War – As the United States industrialized, it extended its influence in the Caribbean and Central America. During the 1890s, Cuban patriots were battling for independence from Spain. In 1898, the United States declared war on Spain and joined the fighting. It promised that once peace was achieved it would â€Å"leave the government and control of Cuba to its people.† The Spanish American War ended in victory for the United States. Cuba did gain its independence, but the United States forced Cuba to include the Platt Amendment as part of its new constitution. Under the Platt Amendment the United States claimed the right to intervene in Cuban affairs. As a result the United States gained Puerto Rico and Philippines from Spain. 14.ultraismo – The belief that art should exist for its own sake, not for any social or political reasons.

Tomorrow When the War Began Essay Year 9

anTomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden Tomorrow when the war began by John Marsden is an epic novel about the struggles 7 mismatched teens face when their home town has been invaded. A series of obstacles including love, lust, politics and friendship is just the start of what these young adults will be put up against in their journey to take back their family and their homes. Decisions will be made and sacrifices will be taken only to help build a stronger and more united front against their enemy.As in real life, first impressions matter. Teenagers come in all different shapes and sizes, and with this group there is no difference. Ellie (the view point in which this novel is written in) is the typical all-round rural teen girl. She loves a bit of girly time with her girlfriends, but doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty helping her parents out with their farm. She’s an intelligent, outgoing, frivolous, young writer who emerges primarily as the ‘glue’ that holds this odd bunch of teens together. â€Å"Rack off guys!I’ll never get this done. †(p. 1) Right from the page l, Marsden has cleverly given us our stereotypical idea of a young teen girl, using slang words like â€Å"Rack off†¦ †. (1 more quote) Homer on the other hand is quite the opposite. Besides the fact that he’s male, his initial introduction could be compared to a young boy or monkey. He’s a rule breaker and a tree shaker. He’s not one to fold under the pressures of his peers and loves to live up to his Greek ancestors. Referred to as wild and outrageous, he’s more brawn than brains.Winding up girls and smashing in windows with his mates takes his fancy, and disobedience may very well be the one word that sums up this tanned and rough Aussie rural. â€Å" Homer was wild and outrageous. He didn’t care what he did or what anyone thought. Mrs Yannos tried to make Homer eat Brussels sprouts; they had a massiv e argument which ended with Homer chucking the sprouts at his mum. Homer always seemed to be in trouble. †(p. 15-16). This extract is a great example of how Marsden has created the form work of a young and rebellious teen boy.Real life experiences are enough to change a person both physically and mentally. These are pivotal moment(s) in a person’s life that make people choose different paths and decide on who they will become from that moment on, whether they know it or not. Ellie’s character is a great example of this with the changes to her personality as the events unfold during their ordeal. This law abiding citizen goes through many tests of logic, skill and quick thinking. Although some situations may terrorise her, they still play a major part in her characters development.In the seventh chapter of this book, Ellie is faced with her first ordeal of stepping out into enemy territory and running to the safety of a tree. â€Å"A single movement was the key t o finding my spirit. There was a tree about four steps away,†¦ I suddenly made myself leave the darkness and go to it†¦. This is it. I’ve done it! It was a dance of courage. At that moment I stopped being an innocent rural teenager and started becoming someone else†¦ † (p. 81-82) Marsden has set this pivotal moment of Ellie’s journey up very well.His descriptive language and well thought-out dialogue really helps put the reader into a position where they can think like Ellie has thought and feel the transformations Ellie has undergone. She’s gotten to the point where she was able to take the plunge into her new and unknown self, leaving her child-like being behind and run towards her new found grownup self. At the beginning of the novel, Ellie portrays Kevin to be self riches guy who loves to be right and quite selfish. â€Å"He was known for having a big ego and he liked to take the credit for everything†¦ † (p. 4)His beliefs an d morals are elements of his personality that change as an effect of the war. In the final chapters of the novel Kevin emerges in a rage of love and friendship to put himself aside and help his injured girlfriend. â€Å"Corrie’s my mate and I’m not going to dump her and run. It has to be me†¦ if you don’t mind I want to do it. †(p. 281) Kevin has made a huge contrast to his old self and shown his loyalty and love for his partner, leaving himself a little more vulnerable with his feels so open unprotected. Again Marsden has incorporated the use of teen slang into Kevin’s speech, so to not lose any of its realism.A good friendship is something that binds groups of people together, no matter the situation. This group’s friendship prospers and grows between every member of the team. Some even fall in love. That’s why when it comes to making tough decisions it can be even tougher if you’re close with one another. At many a time the group finds themselves in sticky situations of life and death. An example of this would be when Homer made the unpopular decision to ask the group to split up. Some members of the group sided with logic and backed up Homer. â€Å"So what are you suggesting? (p. 75) Kevin said, but like in any argument others were against the idea. Homer’s new found leadership made it possible for him to persuade the group against friendship and to side with logic. There was some element of compromise where certain team members stayed together because of other emotional reasons but Homer still got his way. As the novel progresses we see that this decision was a good idea to take on. Marsden has used the idea of relationships between members of the group to favour his main audience of teenagers, but is still a book any age can enjoy.In summary, this â€Å"Tomorrow When The War Began† by John Marsden, delves into the emotional and quite raw parts of the teenage person. These teens a re really stripped to their bare essentials and are forced to take on a new and more sophisticated perspective and personality. Some characters may be idealised for their courage to stand up and make a change. A responder can really relate and take on their emotional journey’s which is another reason why this book is so popular with its wide audience.

A Rant on Forced Marriage Essay

A relationship of marriage is decided by the elders, and then forced on their child. Is this right? Parents think they know better than the child, but are they always right? How can they choose ones groom or their bride, the one with whom they are going to spend their whole life? This practice of evil is unfortunately still alive in many communities in developing countries, and even some industrialized. I oppose, to this cruel idea of destroying ones life. In this view of mine, I don’t stand-alone but at my behind I have United Nations and their Human rights. Forced marriage is a violation of ones personal rights, it’s destruction their of life. How can parents force their children to marry one they don’t like? If you are being forced into this life, take a breath and stand for your rights. Which are there in the constitution, written boldly for your sake if you come under this situation. It’s better to oppose, than live a traumatic life. Illiteracy, poverty, culture and lack of awareness are the seed of this consequence. This issue is taken very seriously though in most of the countries, where governments and non-governmental organizations are constantly helping people getting out from this mess that their parent’s create. But the people who succeed in overcoming this condition often lose the contact with their parents. The ones, who don’t, live their life in misery and are depressed. Some people adapt and accept the piece of cake they get. It also results in somebody being responsible for his or her own death.

Tips on Writing a Good MBA Application Essay

Tips on Writing a Good MBA Application Essay Tips on Writing a Good MBA Application Essay Are you going to apply to a higher educational institution? If you have an admissions essay to write soon and want to learn how to write a good MBA application essay, this website is the right place to find the professional assistance you need to handle the process. We offer you some essential tips on admission essay writing as well as high-quality example admission essays at affordable prices. All you need is to let the expert staff know what is needed and get a custom-written paper sample that will guide you through the entire application process. Define the Institution It might sound quite tricky, but to define the institution one is going to apply to is a challenging stage for most school-leavers. Though one could think that one essay template can suit all the chosen colleges, it is not really so. Each school requires different points to be mentioned in the application writing. Thus, as soon as you have decided on the institution, you must make all possible efforts to mine the information that will help you effortlessly get ready for the admissions essay writing as well as cover all the required questions. Mastermind the Ideas When you need to write an admissions essay, you should begin by thinking about your aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses when examining yourself objectively and contemplating your future studies at a business school. You should also think about your goals in life and your intentions to achieve these particular goals. Considering the above-mentioned issues, do not forget to write them down for you may need to include these details in your application essay. With all that done, you can begin writing the essay, but be sure to accomplish the task properly by following the complete instructions for application essay writing. Be Aware of the Smallest Requirements Many students do not follow instructions and fail by default. Always ensure that you have read the instructions over and over again until you understand what is being asked of you before you begin relating the information about yourself to the demands. As you plan what you are going to include in your essay when answering the topic question, you should mind what the admissions team really wants to see in your piece. As you write the paper, dwell upon previous accomplishments, skills, experience, and education to warrant the admissions that you worth accepting you into their institution. They will also be interested in your essay writing ability and will pay the particular attention to the content of your essay to learn more about you. Remain Yourself While the other parts of your application paper for an MBA course shed light on your professional and academic qualifications, the essay reveals your true character and, therefore, illustrates to the admissions team the individual who is behind the accomplishments. When writing essays, most students concentrate on writing what they think the reader wants to see, but this should not be the case with application essays. Following this route, you will prevent the reader from knowing who you really are as well as what you hope to accomplish. Thus, you make it quite challenging for the admissions to take a decision whether you should be admitted into the course you have applied. Stay Laconic Application writing usually requires an applicant to write two personal essays which should be no longer than one page each. These essays should describe who you really are as well as what you aspire to in life. Therefore, before you begin, always ensure that you think about your passions, values, dreams, and hopes so you can write the essay appropriately. The common question application essays require an answer to is what matters most to the applicant and the reason why. To answer this question, a student would need to do some self-examination as well as genuinely and vividly share insights and lessons that have influenced him or her the most. If you are still not confident about your writing skills, enjoy professional MBA essay help from experts at !

Is the New 2016 SAT a Reaction to the Common Core

Is the New 2016 SAT a Reaction to the Common Core SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You know the SAT is changing. But were those changes driven by the Common Core? And why would that matter? Read on to find out - and to be prepared for the new SAT in 2016. The New 2016 SAT and Common Core As you probably know, the SAT is undergoing a pretty dramatic change in 2016. You may be wondering: is this change caused by the new Common Core standards? Although the College Board denies this connection, the signs point to yes. For one thing, David Coleman, the current head of the College Board, was previously part of the English Language Arts committee of the Common Core. The media often refers to him as an â€Å"architect of the Common Core.† So it's not too surprising that he would bring the Common Core philosophy to the College Board, leading to an SAT overhaul. In you're interested, you can read more about how David Coleman specifically drove the SAT changes, and how his work designing the Common Core was a big motivator. However, College Board doesn’t explicitly tie the new SAT to Common Core since the Common Core is very controversial in some places. After all, the College Board still wants the SAT to be a universal college admissions test. This is why the College Board barely mentions the Common Core in their giant, 200-page document about the new SAT. However, an Education Week analysis convincingly shows Common Core standards seem to have driven the new SAT changes. Check out a summary of that analysis below: Concept Common Core-inspired Change Citing Evidence Not tested on the old SAT. The new SAT has evidence-based reading and writing multiple choice questions, which lines up with Common Core goals of teaching students to cite specific textual evidence. Reading Passage Sources The old SAT's Reading and Writing passages didn't represent a range of academic disciplines. Now the Reading and Writing passages come from a wide range of topics, including science, history, and social studies. This matches the Common Core's push for English classes to include more non-literary texts. Vocabulary The old SAT tested obscure vocabulary that required students to be familiar with relatively rare words. The new SAT is focusing on more practical words, matching the Common Core's goal for students to be ready to use general academic and domain-specific words. The Essay The old SAT allowed students to draw on their background and experiences as evidence. The new SAT essay measures your ability to analyze evidence and explain how an author builds an argument, reflecting the Common Core's goal to teach students to gather, evaluate, and properly cite evidence. Range of Math Topics The old SAT drew from a wide range of high school math concepts. The new SAT draws from a smaller range of topics that College Board believes will best show student's readiness for college-level math, including a greater emphasis on Algebra and real-life applications. This speaks to the Common Core's goal to cover fewer math topics in greater depth. Calculators The old SAT allowed calculators on all math sections, leaving it up to students to decide when to use them. The new SAT has a "No Calculator" section. This may be to push students to only use tools when necessary, which is a Common Core goal. Analyzing text and data There was no data analysis on old SAT, which mean there were no graphs or tables in In the Reading and Writing passages. The new SAT will include both text and data for analysis, which matches the Common Core goal for students to be able to understand scientific and technical texts. Founding documents The old SAT usually used texts students hadn’t encountered before, including obscure short stories and poems. The new SAT will include a passage drawn from a US founding document or historical text, like the Declaration of Independence or King’s â€Å"I I Have a Dream" speech, which directly matches up with the grade 9-10 Common Core standard that calls for students to â€Å"analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance.† Puzzle-like Math Questions The old SAT included math questions that relied on students to use logic to solve them, rather than applying Algebra or Geometry. The new SAT will remove these logic-based, puzzle-like questions in favor of questions that specifically test Algebra, Geometry, and other math concepts. This speaks to the Common Core's call for math to have direct real-world applications. Even if College Board doesn't say so explicitly, it seems pretty clear that many of the new SAT changes bring the test in line with Common Core. Let's take a look at what that means in action. Examples of Common Core-Style SAT Questions What do the Common Core-inspired SAT changes actually look like? We will walk through an SAT Reading and an SAT Math example to show you. To begin with, the new SAT Reading has added questions that ask you to use evidence. The old SAT never asked you for evidence directly. See the example below: You would definitely need to read and understand the passage to get this question right, but the old SAT wouldn't ask you how you know that, say, B is the right answer as opposed to E. But on the new SAT, there will be follow-up questions that ask for evidence, reflecting the Common Core goal to have students use direct evidence from their reading. Check out an example: Not only do you have to figure out "the reason Jordan draws a distinction between two types of "parties,"" but you need to know exactly which part of the passage explains why the answer you pick is correct. This is a Common Core-inspired change! We can see evidence of the Common Core affecting SAT Reading. But what about SAT Math? The old SAT included math questions that relied on students to use logic to solve them, rather than applying Algebra or Geometry, like this question below: This question doesn't explicitly test algebra or geometry. Rather, it tests a student's logic skills. You could solve it by sketching a calendar and assigning certain families certain dates, working until you figure out the date that only one family stayed at the hotel. It probably looksquite different than the problems you normally see in math class. (Incidentally, the LSAT, the test you have to take to apply to law school, has a whole section with questions like these. Future lawyers take note!) The new SAT will remove these logic-based, puzzle-like questions in favor of questions that specifically test Algebra, Geometry, and other math concepts. The new SAT will also include more problems that model real-world situations using Algebra, Geometry, and the like. This speaks to the Common Core's call for math to have direct real-world applications. Check out the example below: This problem models a real world situation: counts of Florida manatees. But it also tests a statistics concept: a scatterplot graph with a line of best fit. To get this question right, you have to be familiar with statistics (and be able to read a graph) andunderstand the context of the problem and how it affects the graph. This example reflects how the SAT is changing to reflect the Common Core goals for math: not only including more real-world applications but also refocusing on core math concepts. The PSAT is Changing Too It’s also worth noting that the practice SAT (a.k.a. the PSAT) is changing as well, so it will be fairly similar to the new SAT. In other words, the PSAT changes also seem to be affected by the Common Core. In addition to changing the PSAT, College Board has created more tests – the PSAT 10 and the PSAT 8/9 – to bring SAT-style testing to younger students. PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 also have similar question types and goals to the new SAT, though they're less difficult. The creation of more tests for more age levels reflects a Common Core goal to measure progress more often. And the fact that College Board has made these tests shows they hope that schools choosing among the different tests for Common Core will choose College Board and the PSAT (as opposed to ACT Aspire, PARCC, or Smarter Balanced). If you will be taking the PSAT this year, and want an idea of what's like, you can get a PSAT practice test here. But you shouldn't stress over the PSAT. Even if your school is implementing the PSAT 8/9 or PSAT 10, these tests are just for practice ("practice" is right there in the test name!). Unless you have your heart set on a National Merit Scholarship, save your energy for the real SAT. So How Should I Prepare for the New SAT? You may be wondering how to prepare for the new SAT, since given the analysis above, it seems to be changing a lot to reflect the Common Core! First of all, if your school has implemented Common Core, what you’re learning in school will be more relevant to the SAT than it was in the past. The SAT used to test things including obscure vocabulary and logic-based math puzzles that were pretty far away from what you learned in school. With the new SAT, it’s more likely that what you learn in school will actually help you prepare. If you live in one of the green states, that means your state has adopted Common Core, which should help you study for the new SAT. But rather than worrying about how the Common Core is changing the SAT, we suggest you just focus on studying for the new SAT itself. Even though the SAT is changing the way it asks certain questions and trying to be more modern, at the end of the day, it’s still a multiple-choice test. You can improve your score if you put in some serious study hours and make sure you're prepared. Furthermore, the new SAT isn't a radically different test like ACT’s Aspire testing or the PARCC/Smarter Balanced Common Core Tests. Those tests include short answer questions, performance tasks, and sorting questions, to name just a few changes). We have written a complete guide about how to study for the new SAT, and have more specific advice on studying for new SAT vocabulary. Butmost important isour complete guide to the New SAT in 2016 – if you can understand the test, regardless of what caused it to change, you can do well. What’s Next? While the ACT is undergoing some changes to reflect Common Core, they’re not as dramatic. Find out if you should consider taking the ACT instead of the new 2016 SAT. If you decide to take the ACT, learn about the best prep books and get access to free online practice tests. If you decide to take the new SAT, get a preliminary guide to studying for it. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The Modern Sovereign Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Modern Sovereign - Essay Example Political legitimacy depends not on how a government came to power, but only on whether it can effectively protect those who have consented to obey it; political obligation ends when protection ceases." (1) The word covenant also means agreement or an arrangement and in the modern age such as now, it is more practical to look at Hobbes's theory and on how it can be related to the way people live and or survive. The word "sovereignty" can also be connected to an old word which we also call "colonialism." Cheedy Jaja from the University of Florida explained this in her paper. She stated that Hobbes' colonialism also refer to the Sovereign as the one responsible for the protection of the people or groups included in the covenant (who also submitted themselves under the power of the sovereign for the purpose of protection) also has the responsibility for the distribution of materials that can sustain life. This distribution of materials to the people under his power may not be sufficient. According to Hobbes, (also explained by Jaja) this may lead again to a battle for goods or materials (possessions).