africa Essay -- essays research papers

African Cultures   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Africa has more than 800 languages native to its continent. African cultures are so diverse that they are different from any other culture of the world. African cultures contain many different languages. African languages range from common French to languages unheard of to most people such as Swahili. African arts are much different than American arts. Their art involves much more creative pottery, masks, and paintings. Africa has a very interesting culture. Reasons being the people are very creative and like to express their individuality. The most diverse cultures in the world belong to Africa. There are more than 800 languages spoken in the continent of Africa. Most Africans speak two or three languages, their primary language, or â€Å"mother-tongue†, and a second or third language to communicate with people from other close by areas (Fetzer A-102). African languages are broken up into four individual categories: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, and Khosian. The most commonly heard two categories are Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan. Both of these groups can modify the meanings of words by the tone of the speakers’ voice. Niger-Congo languages are spoken of the people in West Africa, below the Sahara desert, Southern and Central Africa. Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken mainly in Central Africa. Afro-Asiatic languages are mainly spoken in Northern and Northeastern Africa. This group includes Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, and Arabic. Khoisan languages are spoken mostly in Southern Africa by Bushmen, members of traditionally roaming hunting people, and Hottentots, members of pastoral people of Namibia and South Africa. Khoisan languages are communicative through clicking sounds (Fetzer A-102). Some South Africans speak Afrikaans, a language that was developed from Dutch. Europeans in African speak Portuguese, French, and English (Fetzer A-102). English is becoming very recognized in the countries of Africa. The 1991 South African Census concluded that 45% of the people in South Africa have a speaking knowledge of English. It also concluded that 10% refer to English as their â€Å"mother-tongue†. The most common languages in South Africa are Xhosa, Tswana, Zulu, and Swahili (African Languages). Zulu is one of nine Bantu languages spoken in East Southern Africa. Approximately 8.8 million people speak t... ... language of Africans (African Individuality).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ceremonies are held when someone changes their social status and social relationship with those in the community. There are about six ceremonies in ones life. The first is their birth, the second is their maturity, third is their marriage, fourth is their child bearing, fifth is their elderliness, sixth is their death. Ceremonies are simply socially approved methods of participating in pleasurable events (African Individuality).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Africans view body modifications as beauty. Body modifications, such as piercing, have been practiced in Africa for centuries. People there believe that one is not fully human and cannot be distinguished from animals if not pierced. Piercing is brought with royalty and portrays courage of a person (African Cultures Piercing). African cultures are different from any other culture in the world. The languages of Africa are unique in their own way. The arts of Africa are beautiful and different from any other arts in the world. African people are creative and like to express their individuality. Africa is a very original continent with lots of culture. africa Essay -- essays research papers African Cultures   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Africa has more than 800 languages native to its continent. African cultures are so diverse that they are different from any other culture of the world. African cultures contain many different languages. African languages range from common French to languages unheard of to most people such as Swahili. African arts are much different than American arts. Their art involves much more creative pottery, masks, and paintings. Africa has a very interesting culture. Reasons being the people are very creative and like to express their individuality. The most diverse cultures in the world belong to Africa. There are more than 800 languages spoken in the continent of Africa. Most Africans speak two or three languages, their primary language, or â€Å"mother-tongue†, and a second or third language to communicate with people from other close by areas (Fetzer A-102). African languages are broken up into four individual categories: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, and Khosian. The most commonly heard two categories are Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan. Both of these groups can modify the meanings of words by the tone of the speakers’ voice. Niger-Congo languages are spoken of the people in West Africa, below the Sahara desert, Southern and Central Africa. Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken mainly in Central Africa. Afro-Asiatic languages are mainly spoken in Northern and Northeastern Africa. This group includes Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, and Arabic. Khoisan languages are spoken mostly in Southern Africa by Bushmen, members of traditionally roaming hunting people, and Hottentots, members of pastoral people of Namibia and South Africa. Khoisan languages are communicative through clicking sounds (Fetzer A-102). Some South Africans speak Afrikaans, a language that was developed from Dutch. Europeans in African speak Portuguese, French, and English (Fetzer A-102). English is becoming very recognized in the countries of Africa. The 1991 South African Census concluded that 45% of the people in South Africa have a speaking knowledge of English. It also concluded that 10% refer to English as their â€Å"mother-tongue†. The most common languages in South Africa are Xhosa, Tswana, Zulu, and Swahili (African Languages). Zulu is one of nine Bantu languages spoken in East Southern Africa. Approximately 8.8 million people speak t... ... language of Africans (African Individuality).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ceremonies are held when someone changes their social status and social relationship with those in the community. There are about six ceremonies in ones life. The first is their birth, the second is their maturity, third is their marriage, fourth is their child bearing, fifth is their elderliness, sixth is their death. Ceremonies are simply socially approved methods of participating in pleasurable events (African Individuality).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Africans view body modifications as beauty. Body modifications, such as piercing, have been practiced in Africa for centuries. People there believe that one is not fully human and cannot be distinguished from animals if not pierced. Piercing is brought with royalty and portrays courage of a person (African Cultures Piercing). African cultures are different from any other culture in the world. The languages of Africa are unique in their own way. The arts of Africa are beautiful and different from any other arts in the world. African people are creative and like to express their individuality. Africa is a very original continent with lots of culture.

Idiophones Essay

Idiophones have a long-standing tradition in African music, and that tradition is an interesting one. Trumpets, flutes and other wind instruments provide an intriguing case study because of their existence in a host of sub-Saharan African cultures. They have always been a part of not only music in those areas, but also the culture of those areas. This history dates back hundreds of years, and the instruments have seen some changes over the centuries. As the book indicates, the different variations of idiophones are inherently African in nature, and the cultures that brought them about have given these wind instruments their characteristic sound that is now commonplace in many different societies. As African Musicology indicates, instruments like the trumpet and the flute are a part of a characteristic musical phenomenon arising in sub-Saharan nations dating back to the fifteenth century. Instead of having individual performers and instruments take entire parts of various works, the musical tradition during that time saw individual performers play their own notes, each of which was combined to create the musical production in whatever social setting might have taken place. The book reads, â€Å"Musical ensembles of this kind or of a similar structure, in which the players may produce two to three notes on their flutes or trumpets, can be found in many African cultures south of the Sahara. The interlocking playing technique of this ensembles is characteristically African: the single parts individually cannot stand alone; their composition, however, is ingenious. It is the group, not the individual, that counts† (Nketia, 183). In this way, it is easy to see that idiophones were considered for what they produced as a whole, rather than what they produced individually. This is important to note as one studies the development of such instruments, since it is likely that any new implementations were designed to work alongside some other new or established instrument. When taken out of that context, new implementations might have been viewed differently from their intention. When musical styles are being discussed, it is common to compare one culture with another for the purpose of finding any commonalities or discussing differences. The book goes to great lengths to discuss the distinctiveness of African music, and points out the fact that much of traditional African music was designed to stand alone and retain its strong cultural ties. Particularly of interest is the â€Å"hocket† technique, which is discussed at length in chapter six. In the International Folk Music Journal, J. H. Kwabena Nketia discusses this technique and how it relates to music in places such as Ghana. She writes, â€Å"Closely allied to these procedures it the hockey-technique – the technique whereby constituent notes of a tune, a rhythm, or a tone pattern, or the constituent notes of a supporting ground-accompaniment, are played at the exactly appropriate point in time by those particular instruments that include them within their compass, or by those particular instruments that provide the required contrasts. This technique, discussed subsequently with particular reference to examples recorded in Ghana, shows itself in its clearest form in the music of flute ensembles, and trumpet (or ‘horn’) ensembles† (Nkeita, 1962). The book takes this to another level, noting how the music played in some African cultures is distinctive in its own right, and though it shares some similarities in name to the European style of â€Å"hoquetus†, the two styles were not born of each other. The book reads, â€Å"It becomes clear that the so-called ‘hocket’ technique in African music is not equivalent to the ‘hoquetus’ in European medieval music. Further, within these composition techniques, there is no complete uniformity to be found in South, Central, West, and East Africa† (184). From this, one can see that the wind instruments across Africa were used structurally in very different ways, with each particular culture coming up with its own rhythms based upon preference, equipment, and cultural needs. One of the issues facing musical research of wind instrument styles in Africa is that not enough solid research has been published to document the different styles. A lot of the analysis consists of speculation, since the large number of cultures across Africa made it difficult to compile information on techniques, pitch, instrument variations, and style. To this effect, the book reads, â€Å"Ethnomusicological research in this area has to be characterized as merely marginal, and little research on this topic has been published to date† (188). For that reason, it is difficult to know exactly how the Berta, Ingessana, and Gumuz people interacted from a musical standpoint. One work on the history of African music even suggests that such a study would be impractical. According to a book by Samuel A. Floyd, the fact that African nations have such diverse and vibrant religious traditions and cultural preferences, studying African music as a whole lends very little information that can be used. Instead, it must be studied individually, to be understand how these cultures developed their own uses for certain instruments, including idiophones. In The Power of Black Music, he writes, â€Å"Since African cultures are many and diverse, there is no single concept in African religion, and thus a study of them all would not be productive† (Floyd, 14). One of the things that has long characterized idiophones in African music has been the creativity of certain cultures. Many cultures have not been afraid to look beyond the traditional construct of music to find great instrument ideas and also ideas on how to most effectively play those instruments. From that, the world has been given some of its favorite types of music. An example of this type of resourcefulness can be seen in a study done by Dumisani Maraire. He writes, â€Å"Stamped sticks and stamped tubes also form another category of idiophones (in this case concussion idiophones). These sticks and tubes are held in the player’s hand and performed by being held at an angle and striking the ground or a slab of stone at an angle. On occasion three tubes are played at the same time each of which is playing a different rhythm† (Maraire). This is an important part of the African tradition that cannot be ignored if one seeks to truly understand the role of various instruments. The chapter itself did a nice job of explaining some of the important historical details about the pitch, tone, and rhythm of some of the most traditional of the African instruments. It did an especially good job of explaining the development of these musical traditions in African culture. Since so many cultures existed, musical traditions often developed individually, with each culture becoming very resourceful in the development and implementation of different styles. The isolated nature of African also comes into play, and that was explained well in the chapter. Much of the music and the musical techniques that were born in Africa over time as completely their own, since many of these areas had little contact with outsiders. This helped to increase diversity in music for all.

America: Land Of Opportunity Essay

â€Å"We think of America as a land of opportunity†, and it was. Back between the 1600’s through 1774 America was a great place to start off fresh and move onto something new and exciting. Many people wanted to relocate to the America’s due to the great rumors, which it had lead on. Although there were many opportunities available in America, they were limited and were a struggle to succeed in for some. The new settlers of America came from many different backgrounds and had different reasons of interest to relocate. For some, like the pilgrims, America was an opportunity of freedom, freedom of religion, or freedom of speech due to political reasons. For others, America was a land of wealth, a place where many believed they could succeed in reaching a higher power. America is also considered a place of new resources, and new skills that many did not have but surely needed. â€Å"Economics is also important. England was overcrowded and many people suffered from l ack of economic opportunity (Module 2: The motives of the English).† Due to the new nutritious American crops, England’s population had doubled, leaving the people with the struggle to find food, clothing, and other goods. Although England became very overpopulated, it gave many of the English the idea and opportunity to migrate to larger â€Å"land-rich† islands, which were supposedly empty. (Norton, 37-38) The English also had the motivation to leave their homeland, because of the religious reformation that occurred. King Henry wanted to divorce his wife and remarry but the Pope denied his wishes and did not allow him to do so. King Henry than created a new church that would replace the Catholic Church hierarchy, where he eventually became the leader. By creating the new Church of England, King Henry was able to legalize his divorce. King Henry’s decisions and actions lead to many unhappy Pilgrims and Separatists, who eventually left England for religious freedom in the new world, America as we call it. The Pilgrims also known a s Puritans set off hoping to purify the church, while the Separatists were hoping to simply change the Church of England. As for the poor people living in England, it was a much rougher time getting to America, and their opportunities were very limited. In order to travel to America, the poor had the option to agree to five, six, or seven years as indentured servants to receive a pass to Jamestown where they could get 50 acres of land, which they could grow Tobacco and become a competitor of their employer. Even with the great opportunity of receiving 50 acres at the end of a couple years of hard work, they had to be able to survive on their own. The owners of these indentured servants were rough and mean, and basically did not care to cloth them or feed their servants. Although, some of the servants would not survive through the five to seven years of hard work to even receive their land, which they truly deserved. Many servants would write letters back to their families in England, asking to buy them out of their agreement or to at least send some food. In other words, America was an opportunity of great risk for the poor. (Module 2: Tobacco and the Success of Virginia) For many different groups and settlers, America was the greatest place to grow crops which where very much needed, and would help with trade, and most of all with wealth and power. John Rolfe, the husband of Disney’s legendary Pocahontas, hoped to find gold but instead made an amazing success of growing tobacco in Jamestown. Rolfe’s success eventually brought many more settlers who would bring in those indentured servants to build more wealth and opportunity, also for trade. For example, â€Å"In 1617, the colony exported 2300 pounds of tobacco to England. Seven years later, they exported 200,000 pounds. And by 1638, 3 million pounds (Module 2: Tobacco and the Success of Virginia)†. Even though it was a hard time for servants in Jamestown, it was a great opportunity of success for the first English settlers. As for South Carolinians, they did not care so much for the gold but were actually searching for a good profit-making crop. They began to realize South Carolina was a perfect location for growing rice due to the help of the slave labor, which had already existed before their settlement. â€Å"In the 1700s, rice was the most profitable product produced in the English founded colonies of North America. (Module 3: Restoration Colonies).† Charleston eventually became the most elegant city of North America, because the most wealthy rice planters lived there. Everyone heard of the sweet American Dream that consisted of great opportunities leaving many people with hope and desire. Several groups and individuals set off looking for this American Dream and many found what they were looking for, but maybe struggled on the way. For some this American Dream cost them their lives but for others it was a chance in life worth taking. Even today, many immigrants believe America to be a land of unthinkable opportunities to help fulfill their wishes and dreams for not only themselves, but their families as well. During 1600-1774 America was truly the land of great opportunity, even though some failed to succeed, it was most likely worth dying for. In my opinion, one is better off dying for their freedom, than doing nothing and always wondering and living with a life of regret.

Ethan Frome and Age of Innonce Essay Essay

Edith Warthon was born in New York City into a very wealthy family. She was forced into a loveless marriage and eventually fell in love with another man. Her life closely resembles the two books she wrote–Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome. Age of Innocence was a novel by Edith Warthon that was turned into a movie. Newland was about to marry May when May’s cousin Ellen came from Europe to New York. Newland found himself wanting to be with Ellen rather than May. Ethan Frome was very similar to Age of Innocence and was the story of a poor man, his wife, and her cousin who find themselves in a love conflict. Ethan was married to Zeena, his very ill wife. In order for Ethan to continue to work, Zeena’s cousin, Mattie, came to take care of her. Ethan instantly fell for the young, charming, and beautiful Mattie. The film and the novel share similarities in the representation of symbolism and jealousy in the main characters yet differ in how their love affairs were resolved. Both Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome shared similar symbolism. To start with, in Age of Innocence, Newland and May attend an opera. In this opera the man kissed the brown string on the women’s dress as he walked away from her. He needed to leave her because they should not be together, just like Newland and Ellen should not be together because he was engaged to her cousin. This compared to the part in Ethan Frome, when Mattie knitted the brown stuff and Ethan kissed it. Mattie pulled the brown stuff away from Ethan before long. This symbolized the fact that Ethan needed to leave her because he was married to Zeena for seven years. These parts are related because they both symbolize a love that needed to be forgotten, a love that needed to be left in the past. Secondly, Newland and Ethan are very similar. In Age of Innocence, Newland encouraged Ellen to stay in New York and not go back to her husband. Although Newland was engaged to be married he wanted her to himself. He did everything he could to get her to stay away from her ex-husband. Her ex-husband begged and pleaded for her to come back and Newland got jealous and convinced her to stay. In Ethan Frome, Zeena mentioned that Mattie would soon leave and would maybe wed Dennis Eady. Ethan soon became furious and said she would never marry him and she would never leave Zeena when she needed her–or more importantly him. Dennis Eady! If that’s all, I guess, there’s no such hurry to look around for a girl† (Wharton, 34). Later, Ethan saw that Mattie danced with Dennis Eady. He got jealous and could not go into the room and get her so he hid. Newland and Ethan both wanted something they knew was not really theirs and did not want them to be with anyone else. Although Newland and Ethan were very similar, they were also very different. Each fell in love with his wife’s cousin, but Newland knew his responsibilities; he knew he had to stay with his wife, and that was what Ethan did not know. In Age of Innocence, when Ellen found out that May was pregnant, she left for London. She knew she could no longer interfere with their relationship. Newland was going to follow her but when he found out he was going to have a child with May Newland knew he needed to stay with her. And that was where Newland and Ethan differ. In Ethan Frome, Ethan was going to stay with Zeena and let Mattie leave but when she was about to leave he decided he was going to be the one to drive Mattie to the train station. On the way, they took a trip down memory lane and revisited many spots where they fell for each other. Then they stopped to sled and Mattie and Ethan agreed to kill themselves and escape Zeena. Newland knew that he needed to stay and be with May even though he may have been happier with Ellen. Ethan only thought about himself when he tried to kill himself and that’s where they differ. Newland’s and Ethan’s lives could have been better if they had left their wives and followed the person they were in love with. If May had never gotten pregnant then he could have gone to Europe and followed Ellen. Newland would have been happier with having a family with Ellen rather than May. If Ethan had left Zeena and went west with Mattie he could have been so much happier. He would not have to pay to care for Zeena. Also, he would have been with someone he actually wanted to marry, not someone whom he married just to avoid being lonely in the winter after his mom died. All in all, Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome are very similar but still different. They are similar because of the symbolism used. Also, Newland and Ethan are very similar because of whom they fell in love with. However, they differ due to the way Newland and Ethan handled the situation of being in love with their wife’s cousin.

Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions Essay - 5

Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions - Essay Example A second way of knowing is through personal experience or self-witnessing. The media sources like newspapers and television may or may not always be trustworthy. One needs to use his or her own discretion elaborately before trusting the information. Sometimes we may believe in a certain aspect merely by our personal inspiration or intuition. This is the third way of knowing. Some concepts and ideas take birth in our brains and remain there as a piece of knowledge gained. Sometimes we might just rely on a feeling and an inner guidance that may lead us to the truth or the right path. A fourth way of knowing is by using reason and careful analysis. This is a powerful approach where knowledge may be gained by critically and logically analyzing the other three cases. (â€Å"Measurement, Evaluation & Research: Ways of Knowing†, 2008) Now, when we look at all the ways of knowing, we may conclude that finally each of them is flawed. As far as the first way is concerned, the book or text might consist of misprints and errors. There may be some information, which might differ from one book to another. Personal experience or eye witnessing is also dependent upon optical illusion or error of vision. Personal inspiration or intuition might also become invalidated or reason might not support this personal opinion. Again, reason might be right to one but wrong to another. Hence this way of gaining knowledge is not a valid one. However, Kerlinger provides a different angle to validate the four different ways. The first case, that is gaining knowledge by reading signifies a group’s belief and can be taken as the truth. This is the process of tenacity where the knowledge is common to a certain group. (Kerlinger 1973) In the second case, the personal experience one gains is at least true to the person concerned. The third method may be justified on the basis of personal intuition. Such a way of knowing may be justified on the basis of individual belief and

Discharged for Off-Duty Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discharged for Off-Duty Behavior - Essay Example resources department has the responsibility to evoke such employees of the existence of such rules and make them available once needed by the employees. This paper discusses an example of an off-duty behavior of an employee of AEM company called John. Given the facts of this case, John did not receive a fair treatment. The HR manager was able to mention the existing code of conduct that stated that employee’s off-duty behavior should not affect the company, its employees, or sales of its educational materials. Existence of this code of conduct does not explicitly indicate that John knew about it. The code is quite extensive and has not narrowed in to what behaviors that would amount to breaching off-duty performance by an employee. According to Bohlander and Snell (2009), rules should be widely disseminated, widely known by all employees, reviewed periodically, and reasons for the rules explained. John is right that what he did in his personal life was â€Å"no obligation of the company† if the rules were not stipulated properly and explicitly explained to him not to handle pornographic materials. Besides, he explains the reason for the purchase of materials. It was not at will. Discharging an employee as a disciplinary measure is usually the last resort. From this case, John has no indiscipline records in his personal record for the last twelve years. We do not hear of any warnings prior to this scenario. According to Bohlander and Snell, the employee must know the rule, be notified of his breach of the rules, and be given reasonable warning before dismissal (Bohlander & Snell, 2009). Sales representatives of AEM can be held to a higher level of personal conduct than sales representatives of other companies. Despite the global employment laws that regulate businesses, organizations reviews their codes and guidelines yearly to suite their demands. This happens mostly in private companies where rules of conduct are given and explained to the sales

Retailer - Kroger Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retailer - Kroger - Research Paper Example The economic stress has affected the business dues to the current recession. However, it has maintained its position despite the economic downturn because of its marketing strategies and excellent customer services. Wal-Mart is the greatest competitor affecting the company. It is known for its reduced prices, and therefore it can to drop the grocery prices by approximately 20% because it can be profitable with small margins due to economies of scale (Plunkett 141). Kroger may suffer increased price competition. However, Kroger offers products that balances its mix and does not go into direct competition with Wal-Mart. It has focused on developing its domestic markets. The customers have a high power in grocery industries because of their regular visits. In addition, switching cost is very low, and they can find similar products from other firms within the industry. In other words, customers are very keen on changes in prices and new products. Moreover, Kroger is facing legal issues, which may ruin the company image it the case was ruled against the company. Increase in operation costs can result in more debt because a high percentage was used in restructuring stores. The current economic recession has restricted the industry to refinance debt. Kroger has continued to enhance new technology in order to meet the customers need. Currently, the company has two data centers that conduct research to ensure the customers have quality and safe products. Also, the digital platform ensures that the company communicates with its clients. Kroger has over 2500 stores located in 32 states under five retail format namely supermarkets, warehouse stores, convenience stores, and jewelry stores. However, supermarkets account for the largest percentage. These supermarkets further categorized in food and drug stores, multi-department stores, and warehouse stores. Due to its wide variety of stores, it caters a broad customer base. Kroger has also