Black People and James Baldwin Essay Example for Free

Black People and James Baldwin Essay In Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif,† the story is about two girls, Twyla and Roberta. They grow up in an orphanage because their mothers could not care for them. Morrison makes it clear the girls come from different ethnic backgrounds but never states which one is black or white. At one point in the story Twyla comments, â€Å"We looked like salt and pepper. † I grew frustrated with the story and had to read it several times. I could never determine who was black and white and the lesson I learned should have been it doesn’t really matter. The story begins with Twyla’s mother dropping her off at the orphanage. She meets Roberta and they become best friends. The bond they share occurs because they were not considered real orphans. They were abandoned kids unlike the other children whose parents had died. One of the last times the girls see each other was the day of a visitation. On that night, Twyla’s mother was wearing â€Å"those tight green slacks that made her butt stick out. † Many people have labeled blacks as having larger butts. She could have been black, she could have been a heavy white woman with a large butt, or a Hispanic woman like me. But I automatically stereotyped and went with Twyla has to be black. During the visitation Roberta’s mother â€Å"had brought chicken legs. † Twyla notices Roberta does not eat the chicken legs. I always thought black people liked chicken more than white people which means Roberta was white since she did not eat the chicken. Or maybe she just wasn’t hungry. Shortly after that visitation Roberta’s mother came to take her home, leaving the girls devastated. They see each other several times throughout the years. At their first meeting, Roberta was rude and distant because she was high. Roberta tells Twyla she is on the way to see Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was an infamous black guitarist. I thought at this point Roberta has to be black. However Hendrix’s band was interracial with a diverse audience. Roberta could have been white due to the diverse audience. I am a huge Hendrix fan and I am not black so why would I think Roberta is. Twelve years later they meet again at a grocery store. Roberta married a rich man and was extremely friendly to Twyla. Twyla cannot hold back her emotions and asks Roberta about the last time they saw each other. Roberta shrugs it off, â€Å"Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black—white. You know how everything was. † I can relate to this. In 1980, the Cuban Mariel Boat Lifts came over bring thousands of Cubans. I am Cuban but I was born here. Kids I had known since kindergarten treated me as if I just come over on the boats. It had a lasting effect on me and matured me beyond my years. The third time they meet is at the school where their children attend. Roberta and other mothers were picketing because they did not want their kids to be segregated. This led to a fight severing any last chance of a friendship for them as it would not be resolved until Twyla and Roberta meet for a final time. As the story ends I do not get a sense of closure. The question of which girl is white or black remains unanswered. It opened my eyes and made me question how prejudice I really am. I try to not stereotype as a result of what I went through as a child but I found myself doing just that. I can understand why Morrison wrote the way she. I am not sure what her goal was overall but to me it seemed as if she were teaching me about prejudices. â€Å"Recitatif† challenged me to not judge either girl by their race but accept them for who they are. In the end, what difference did it really make about the girls’ races? The story is about how their friendship develops and then deteriorates. Nothing more; nothing less.

1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia Essays -- Architecture Hist

Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia 1876 Opening day of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia was a spectacular festival of flags, music, and a one-hundred gun salute. After President Grant gave his opening address, the signal was given to unfurl and raise every flag and insignia simultaneously on the entire fairground. A chorus of one thousand began to sing, accompanied by an orchestra and chimes, and the barrage of one hundred rifles symbolized a century of independence for the United States of America (McCabe). This was the first major international world's fair in North America, and while many foreigners argued the United States did not have anything to show, the country shone through displaying its growth into a major industrial power. Philadelphia, the location of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was chosen as the site for the fair. Its central location also played in its favor. The Building Committee hired twenty-seven year-old H. J. Schwarzmann as chief engineer. He not only planned the layout of the grounds, but also designed Memorial and Horticultural Halls, the two structures intended to be permanent. The fairgrounds were about two miles north-west from the center of Philadelphia, across the Schuylkill River in a portion of Fairmount Park. One of the world's largest municipal parks, it was devised in 1682 by the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn. As he was navigating the Schuylkill River, Penn noticed a grand bluff and exclaimed, "What a faire mount!" (Klein). The natural park-like setting, and the proximity to colonial Philadelphia, created a unique atmosphere for the fair. The two artifacts depicted here are a bird's eye view showing the main buildings of the exhibition, and a map ... ... system, and public services. On the last day of the Exhibition, John Welsh, the president of the Centennial Board of Finance, said good-bye: "Our work has its place in the annals of the nation. If the memories of it be pleasant to our countrymen, we have done well." (Maass). Looking back at the exhibition's accomplishments, it is fair to say they did well. Works Cited Armstrong, Lilian. Renaissance Miniature Painters and Classical Imagery. Harvey Miller Publishers. London, England. 1981. Klein, Esther M. Fairmount Park. Harcum Junior College Press. Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. 1974. McCabe, James D. The Illustrated History of the Centennial Exhibition. The National Publishing Company. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1975 Post, Robert C. 1876: A Centennial Exhibition. The National Museum of History and Technology Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. 1976.

Data Preprocessing Essay

Data Preprocessing 3 Today’s real-world databases are highly susceptible to noisy, missing, and inconsistent data due to their typically huge size (often several gigabytes or more) and their likely origin from multiple, heterogenous sources. Low-quality data will lead to low-quality mining results. â€Å"How can the data be preprocessed in order to help improve the quality of the data and, consequently, of the mining results? How can the data be preprocessed so as to improve the ef? ciency and ease of the mining process? † There are several data preprocessing techniques. Data cleaning can be applied to remove noise and correct inconsistencies in data. Data integration merges data from multiple sources into a coherent data store such as a data warehouse. Data reduction can reduce data size by, for instance, aggregating, eliminating redundant features, or clustering. Data transformations (e. g. , normalization) may be applied, where data are scaled to fall within a smaller range like 0. 0 to 1. 0. This can improve the accuracy and ef? ciency of mining algorithms involving distance measurements. These techniques are not mutually exclusive; they may work together. For example, data cleaning can involve transformations to correct wrong data, such as by transforming all entries for a date ? eld to a common format. In Chapter 2, we learned about the different attribute types and how to use basic statistical descriptions to study data characteristics. These can help identify erroneous values and outliers, which will be useful in the data cleaning and integration steps. Data processing techniques, when applied before mining, can substantially improve the overall quality of the patterns mined and/or the time required for the actual mining.

Impact Of A Group On An Individual s Life Experience

What are the impacts that a group has on an individual’s life experience? We use Socialization to see how group’s impact an individual mind set in society for their beliefs and values and determines how a person will behave in society, it begins as a child all the way thought adulthood. We can see that being born in a certain class in society determents your success in life. We can see that less wealthy family teaches their children to be obedience due to the fact that they will not have many opportunities; while wealthy family teaches their children to be creative because they will have more opportunities given to them in life. People are categorize base on class and race this limit are opportunities in society, for black man can’t don’t have many opportunities given to them and are mostly going to be unemployed or poor. For many people base on their environment they may end up to being a crime or being wealthy and that nature and nurture plays and impor tant part in making an individual. Families are impacted our life as individuals as well, we see that a child with a dysfunctional family whole tends to be isolated from society due to the fact of the lack of human contact and abuse; it leads and individual to become a social outcast within society, but it may also lead to an aggressive relationship with other out their family or within the family; although that may not always be the fact for one aggression. The roles and status we get that are based on are gender and statsShow MoreRelatedComparing Erikson and Marcias Psychosocial Theory of Identity and Tajfels Social Identity Theory1766 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Eriksons and Marcias Psycho-social theory of Identity and Tajfels Social Identity theory Introduction of theorists: Erikson: Eriksons description of the eight stages of life has a lot of appeal, and Erikson himself was described in the early 1980s as the fifth most influential psychologist of the century (Gilgen, 1982). Much research has been done on predictions made by Eriksons theory, especially the adolescent crisis of  identify vs. role confusion. Erikson is one of the few famousRead MoreHistory Course Outline787 Words   |  4 Pagesquestions †¢ How did the Australian government respond to the threat of communism after WWII? †¢ Why did Australia become involved in the Vietnam War? †¢ How did various groups respond to AustraliaÂ’s involvement in the Vietnam War? †¢ What was the impact of the war on Australia and/or neighbouring countries? Learn About; 1) AustraliaÂ’s response to the threat of communism in Asia after WWII including: Ââ€" Korean War Ââ€" ANZUS Treaty Ââ€" SEATO Alliance 2) The response to the threat of communism withinRead MoreThe Naked Citadel By Cathy Davidson1554 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence of various physical and psychological experiences that occurs throughout an individual’s life and reforms their identity. One’s identity is not made through a single event alone but through a series of events that changes it. Moreover, some events are more influential and powerful in the shaping of one s identity. Identity, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is â€Å"The qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others†. In Project Classroom MakeoverRead MoreAssimilation And Schemas1387 Words   |  6 PagesAssimilation, Accommodation, and Schemas. Consider Piaget’s concepts of assimilation and accommodation. What stages in Satir’s model accounts for these schemas? Jean Piaget s hypothesis of cognitive development proposes that kids move through four unique phases of mental development. His hypothesis centers around understanding how children acquire knowledge, as well as on understanding the nature of intelligence. As children interact with their general surroundings, they constantly include newRead MoreThe Sociological Imagination : C. Wright Mills907 Words   |  4 PagesDuring the course of an individual s life a person will experience what C. Wright Mills refers to as the trap. The trap alludes to a person that can only see and understand their own small scope of life. Their frame of reference is limited to their day to day life and personal experiences that are directly related to them, they cannot see the bigger picture. They do not yet know that the sociological imagination can set them free from this trap and as C. Wright Mills said, In many ways it isRead MoreThe System Therapy : Psychodynamic Therapy Theory, And Social Exchange The ory784 Words   |  4 PagesTosland and Rivas (2012) cover numerous group therapy theories that have been developed including, but not limited to: systems therapy, psychodynamic therapy, field theory, learning theory, and social exchange theory. The Systems Therapy is aimed at exploring the roles of each member in relation to effective functioning and how it applies within communities, families, or organizations. The Systems Theory targets certain patterns of behavior and the corresponding response of each member towards anxietyRead MoreRelationship Between Time And Human Behavior928 Words   |  4 PagesThe Life Cycle Perspective, also known as the life course theory is a useful way to understand the relationship between time and human behavior, which looks at how chronological age, relationships, common life transitions, and social change shape people throughout their lives. The life course perspective also focuses on traditional theories of developmental psychology, which look at the events that typically occur in people’s lives during different stages. As we grow older, life gets more complicatedRead MoreCat s Eye By Margaret Attwood1067 Words   |  5 Pages In the book Cat s Eye by Margaret Attwood, Elaine s identity and her perceived sense of self is unique. The positive and negative experiences in her life have helped shape it. My own life experiences have also shaped me into the person I am today. Our childhoods and our nurturing during this crucial time has a powerful impact on what kind of individuals we turn out to be. Elaine s experiences as a child had a large impact on the development of her identity. Before moving to Toronto, ElaineRead MoreDraft Of Personal Philosophy Statement1268 Words   |  6 Pagesreligion, family structure, economic status, learning ability, linguistic ability, and/or learning style. I will create an environment that includes positive, challenging experiences that will give each individual a positive educational experience free of barriers with the knowledge that postsecondary education can enhance a student s overall well-being, increase their chances for personal fulfillment and financial security. With the knowledge that higher education staff are a major factor in promotingRead MoreThe Article Subjective Social Status And Positive Indicators Of Well Being Among Emerging Adult College Students1239 Words   |  5 PagesThe article Subjective Social Status and Positive indicators of Well-Being Among Emerging Adult College Students by, Dr. Zorotovich, Dr. Johnson, and R. Linn state that social status can affect life satisfaction and overall well-being in college students. Although students from wealthier families perceived themselves and their families as higher than some in social class, the students from wealthier families might also view themselves as privileged in comparison to students from families with less