The Life Of Ludwig Van Beethoven Essays (1411 words) -

The Life of Ludwig Van Beethoven The Life of Ludwig Van Beethoven The rise of Ludwig van Beethoven into the ranks of history's greatest composers was parallelled by and in some ways a consequence of his own personal tragedy and despair. Beginning in the late 1790's, the increasing buzzing and humming in his ears sent Beethoven into a panic, searching for a cure from doctor to doctor. By October 1802 he had written the Heiligenstadt Testament confessing the certainty of his growing deafness, his consequent despair, and suicidal considerations. Yet, despite the personal tragedy caused by the "infirmity in the one sense which ought to be more perfect in [him] than in others, a sense which [he] once possessed in the highest perfection, a perfection such as few in [his] profession enjoy," it also served as a motivating force in that it challenged him to try and conquer the fate that was handed him. He would not surrender to that "jealous demon, my wretched health" before proving to himself and the world the extent of his skill. Thus, faced with such great impending loss, Beethoven, keeping faith in his art and ability, states in his Heiligenstadt Testament a promise of his greatness yet to be proven in the development of his heroic style. By about 1800, Beethoven was mastering the Viennese High-Classic style. Although the style had been first perfected by Mozart, Beethoven did extend it to some degree. He had unprecedently composed sonatas for the cello which in combination with the piano opened the era of the Classic-Romantic cello sonata. In addition, his sonatas for violin and piano became the cornerstone of the sonata duo repertory. His experimentation with additions to the standard forms likewise made it apparent that he had reached the limits of the high-Classic style. Having displayed the extended range of his piano writing he was also begining to forge a new voice for the violin. In 1800, Beethoven was additionally combining the sonata form with a full orchestra in his First Symphony, op. 2. In the arena of piano sonata, he had also gone beyond the three-movement design of Haydn and Mozart, applying sometimes the four-movement design reserved for symphonies and quartets through the addition of a minuet or scherzo. Having confidently proven the high-Classic phase of his sonata development with the "Grande Sonate," op. 22, Beethoven moved on to the fantasy sonata to allow himself freer expression. By 1802, he had evidently succeeded in mastering the high-Classic style within each of its major instrumental genres-the piano trio, string trio, string quartet and quintet, Classic piano concerto, duo sonata, piano sonata, and symphony. Having reached the end of the great Vienese tradition, he was then faced with either the unchallenging repetition of the tired style or going beyond it to new creations. At about the same time that Beethoven had exhausted the potentials of the high-Classic style, his increasing deafness landed him in a major cycle of depression, from which was to emerge his heroic period as exemplified in Symphony No. 3, op. 55 ("Eroica"). In Beethoven's Heiligenstadt Testament of October 1802, he reveals his malaise that was sending him to the edge of despair. He speaks of suicide in the same breath as a reluctance to die, expressing his helplessness against the inevitability of death. Having searched vainly for a cure, he seems to have lost all hope-"As the leaves of autumn fall and are withered-so likewise has my hope been blighted-I leave here-almost as I came-even the high courage-which often inspired me in the beautiful days of summer-has disappeared." There is somewhat of a parallel between his personal and professional life. He is at a dead end on both cases. There seems to be no more that he can do with the high-Classic style; his deafness seems poised inevitably to encumber and ultimately halt his musical career. However, despite it all, he reveals in the Testament a determination, though weak and exhausted, to carry on-"I would have ended my life-it was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me. So I endured this wretched existence..." Realizing his own potential which he expressed earlier after the completion of the Second Symphony-"I am only a little satisfied with my previous works"-and in an 1801 letter-"I will seize Fate by the throat; it shall certainly not bend and crush me completely"- he decides to go on. At a time when Beethoven had reached the end of the musical challenge of the day,

Abe Lincoln1 essays

Abe Lincoln1 essays History Essay The United Sates declared its independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. Great Britain did not recognize its independence until, the Treaty of Paris, two years after the American forces defeated the Britain army at the siege of Yorktown. Since the Articles of Confederation were replaced by the U.S. Constitution in 1789, the United States has had forty-two different presidents. Among these presidents, two of the best have were George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. This essay will prove that George Washington was the greatest U.S. president of all time. There are certain attributes that good presidents have. It is said that good presidents are always stubborn and disagreeable. 1 Along with those two qualities good presidents are intelligent, selfless, hard working, good communicators, good listeners, good problem solving tactics, determination, and they are able to recognize problems. George Washingtons rise to power started in 1732 when he was born, in Westmorela nd, Virginia on his fathers farm. He lived until 1799, when he died at the age of sixty-seven. He served as president from 1789 threw until 1797. When growing up, George received most of his education from his father and older brother. When he was 17 he was named the surveyor of Culpeper County, this was the first public office position he held.2 When Washington was finished surveying, in November of 1752, he was appointed the adjutant in the colonial militia. His first mission did not come until the following summer, when he volunteered to take a message from Governor, to the French commander. Following this mission he was brought to the kings attention, and he was given a lieutenant colonels commission.3 Washington showed his opposition to Britain started in 1759 when he became a member of Virginias House of Burgesses. He was known to be shy and reserved4 but he opposed the British rules and re...

Benefits of Social Media

In today’s society, communication is somewhat effortless with as much as a cell phone or computer. A text or instant message, via one of the various social networking sites, is how the majority of people today interact with one another. Social media has allowed new unconventional means of education to thrive amongst students of all ages and facilitated new means of easier communication among family and friends. However, along with a broadened network of communication there are precautions and concerns that many have taken in response to the vulnerability of this vast cyberspace. Although social media has its pitfalls, it has also changed the world for the better because it has introduced new innovative methods of education, facilitated easier communication, and has created a new environment for self-expression. Social networking, such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Formspring, and Instagram, has virtually enabled students around the world to create online study groups and chat rooms to enhance their learning experience. In an article by Paulette Stewart, an author for Feature magazine, a group of high school library volunteers are brought together by their librarian to test out an online literature study group on Faceboook. The students mingle and begin to become thoroughly engaged as they read one book each month and then converse about the literature they had read. Throughout the simulation, the students begin to come forward and speak more openly about their opinions and literary views of the novels they had read (29). This example shows how Facebook, a social networking site, proved to be a productive educational outlet for students to engage socially with each other in a virtual classroom which resulted in authentic research and easier communication amongst students via a social media outlet. Although social media such as Facebook, has helped broaden education into different outlets other than the traditional classroom, there are some questions many people have about how safe these online environments are. Dr. Stephanie Huffman, an Associate Professor at the University of Central Arkansas with a PhD in Leadership Studies, reveals that â€Å"social networking increases the likelihood of new risks to the self†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"†¦loss of privacy† are very prominent aspects of joining a social networking site (154). There are many disputes today that debate whether social networking is safe because it allows, not only friends and family, but an entire network of people, most of whom are strangers, to see personal information, interactions with others, and individual thought. Although there are some risks of putting information on the web that reveals ones identity, as Stewart mentioned in her article previously, there are many privacy settings that are enabled to the user of the account (30). For example, on Facebook there are settings that allow the user to limit their profiles to be viewed by only people that they are friends with, which are called â€Å"Privacy Settings†. Websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media are very beneficial in many ways that are helpful for education and introduces new styles of education to educators. Even though these new forms of learning are not traditional and physical forms of a classroom setting, these virtual classes still provide all the necessary components of learning. For example, Stewart conveyed activities such as social camaraderie amongst students by working together, researching subjects in more depth due to access to more information, and students having more honest opinions in a non face-to-face environment versus an online group chat (32). However, students are warned to remain aware that â€Å"once information is released into cyberspace, it becomes a part of a global network† (Huffman 155). On the other hand, students do have the choice to take full advantage of privacy settings and monitoring the status of their information that they release to the web, friends, and potentially unknown viewers of their information. Overall, when using social media for educational purposes there are many benefits that, when taken advantage of, enhance educational experiences because of modern-day advancements in social media and networking. Over the last decade, social media has undoubtedly changed the way people communicate. Two people no longer have to be face to face to communicate and can now receive responses within seconds. In an article written by Nafaa Jabeur, Sherali Seadally, and Biju Sayed, authors for the Communications of the ACM journal, called â€Å"Mobile Social Networking Applications†, GPS tracking systems in Mobile Social Networking (MSN) devices allows users to locate other users, areas and amenities nearby that concern the same interests as them (74). Social media has assisted communication by facilitating the means of connecting multiple individuals. Examples include Jabeur, Zeadally, and Sayed’s article’s claim that news is easier spread using the technology of MSN, which helps notify copious amounts of people in an urgent manner, of incidents in their local areas (Jabeur. Zeadally, Sayed 76). However, there are questions about if social media is taking over society in a negative aspect rather than helping it. In a study called â€Å"Problematic Use of Social Networking Sites†, documented by Dr. Parth Singh Meena, Pankaj Kumar Mittal and Ram Humar Solanki, Psychiatrists for the Industry Psychiatry Journal, research shows that social media is greatly increasing in, mainly, teenagers and young adults to somewhat of a dangerous high (94). Studies have shown that â€Å"from April 2008 to April 2009, the total minutes spent on Facebook in the U. S. , in particular, has increased from 1. 7 billion minutes to 13. 9 billion minutes† (Meena, Mittal, and Solanki 95). Although these numbers of the increased amount of social media users is shocking, there are many beneficial reasons for taking advantage of new technology. A positive example of why excessive use of social media may be helpful is received through an article called â€Å"Targeted Social Mobilization in a Global Manhunt† where Alex Rutherford, data scientist at the UN Global Pulse Research Center, and many other researchers followed a simulation to track down five individuals in many different cities and states based on just a headshot, using nothing but social media sites for urgent information (1). Using websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google search engine, the simulation found three out of the five individuals only used social media (Rutherford, et. al. 2). This example shows how using social media can be helpful in communicating with people around the world in urgent situations. Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Formspring, and Myspace make it capable to talk to people’s next-door neighbors or to talk to someone halfway across the world. These sites allow individuals to create profiles and custom pages that showcase personal information, interests and hobbies for virtually anyone to see. For example, Twitter has a certain section of the website that allows users to see â€Å"Trending Topics† around the world that involve the most popular topics of conversation to be shared with the entire Twitter community. By using the Trending Topics the user is connected with, virtually, the entire world by communicating with people from different countries, backgrounds, languages, and cultures. Dr. Stephanie Huffman, as mentioned earlier, believes that social networking allows users to broaden their experiences â€Å"through presentation of self, learning, building relationships, exposure to other diverse groups† and many more valuable attributes (154). An important issue to be made aware of in social media is cyber-bullying. There have been numerous studies and extensive research about the effects of cyber-bullying and speculation of how to put an end to this phenomenon. Neal Geach, a professor and extensive researcher at the University of Hertfordshire, and Nicola Haralambous, a researcher and professor of Criminal Law at Coventry University, produced an article, â€Å"Regulating Harassment: Is the Law Fit for the Social Networking Age? †, that discusses the dangers of cyber bullying and the laws that are being put into place to regulate it. Their article exhibits many laws, some of which do pertain to the Internet and social media. There are laws being put into place specifically dealing with harassment that occurs on online social media sites (Geach and Haralambous 248). Dr.  Peter Kiriakidis, a professor of research at the University of Queens and has a Ph. D. in Educational Leadership, and Dr. Demarques Lakes performed a case study on student-to-student bullying to gain insight from teachers and educational staff on what they have observed about online bullying. Their research found that â€Å" most teachers also reported that they associate academic underperformance of certain students to be the result of some form of cyber bullying† which supports the idea that educator’s are becoming more aware of this issue and it’s side effects and trying to find helpful solutions (Kiriakidis and DeMarques 109). The Internet can be a productive and innovative outlet for positive self-expression if used correctly and cautiously. Social networking sites help users gain insight for themselves and others by discovering new interests and groups of people that enjoy the same pastimes as them (154). Although these freedoms come with a price, there are many ways to cut down online obstacles such as bullying, harassment, and negative pressures of society. There are several privacy settings on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace that eliminate the chance of an unknown user viewing your profile and personal information (Stewart 30). Also available to all users on every social networking site is a â€Å"Block Report† button that allows the user to block as many other users as they want from their page so that none of their information, comments, or personal information is released to that certain user. If a certain user is becoming an issue with violent or irrational behavior over the Internet, every user also has the option to report another user for inappropriate behavior to the site to resolve the issue. In conclusion, society has benefitted greatly from social media networks and offers a multitude of advantages for many reasons. Education has been greatly impacted by the numerous and endless possibilities of transforming the concept of learning into a more modern and experimental structure. Social media has facilitated a new form of open communication that has made long distance relationships possible and global communication easier. Social networking has also introduced a new era of presentation of self by allowing online users to share their monumental, life moments through pictures, status’, comments, and interests. When all is considered, social media among children, teens, college students, and other adults is overall beneficial and innovative to society.

Means of Education Quality Improvement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Means of Education Quality Improvement - Essay Example The overall quality of education can be enhanced by eliminating the grading and reporting system. Educators should not rely on grades while judging the student’s command over any subject. It is hard to judge the academic performance of a student through a single alphabetic letter. It has been observed that letter grades are not sufficient enough to evaluate the academic performance of a student, however, detailed reporting methods can fairly justify the student’s command and these methods can help a student for his self-evaluation in a more purposeful manner. According to Alfie Kohn, grading system can make a student lose his interest from his studies, therefore, these methods should not be considered as vital tools for motivation. He has further suggested that students do not take their studies seriously; they focus more on achieving good grades rather taking their studies as a mode of learning and self-development which can hinder the process of learning as well as it can also adversely affect the thought process in a student. In his essay, â€Å"From Degrading to De-Grading† Alfie Kohn has emphasized the need of grading-free education system because this would enable the students to take more challenging assignments, raise the competition and make them think out-of-the-box whereas in traditional grading system students focus more on acquiring an â€Å"A† grade by taking the easiest assignments and putting comparatively fewer efforts than by taking any challenging hard assignments.

TOMS Shoes and its Negative Impacts as a Humanitarian Aid Organisation Essay

TOMS Shoes and its Negative Impacts as a Humanitarian Aid Organisation - Essay Example And of course, this is exactly what TOMS shoes does. This program targets children in Africa with an intention to help curb some health issues associated with lack shoes in Africa. However, this humanitarian model for TOMS has economic impacts on the African continent. Apart from not being able to solve the issue it is meant to solve, it gives rise to at least two economic problems. The assumption on which the argument against aid is based on is that these poor people would be able to buy the locally produced shoes if the local enterprises were supported and helped to get the technology to produce cost-effectively and thus transfer these cost savings to the local people. This however, as Glennie (2009) argues, is not necessarily entirely true because aid programs such as TOMS shoes program operate under the presumption that the beneficiaries would not afford to buy their own shows even if they were produced locally and sold to them cheaply. The argument about this can be a philosophical one and depends on the perspective one decides to take. As Easterly (2007) says, humanitarian aid in Africa has for a long time been accused of crippling economic growth in the African continent. For instance, the results of a research done in 2008 indicated that the donation of second hand clothes to African nations proved to be responsible for the reduction of employment by at least 50% in the respective industry (Favini, 2013). Growth experts have also indicated that the only real opportunity for growth is the support of local manufacturers in order to create jobs for the many jobless people in the continent. What aid programs such as the TOMS shoes buy-one-give-one program are doing to Africa is that they are flooding the local economies with free items which have been made outside the continent, thus killing off market for

Plant Pigment Chromatography Essay Example for Free

Plant Pigment Chromatography Essay 1. Describe what each of your chromatography strips looked like. Specifically, identify the pigments on each strip and compare their positions to one another. Plants have four types of pigments, namely chlorophyll, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and xanthophylls. These pigments have different polarities and chemical properties. In paper chromatography, the pigments will separate based on their affinity to the medium (paper), and affinity for the solvent. The solvents used in this experiment are water (polar) and acetone (mid-polar). Therefore, the different pigments will migrate based on their respective polarities too. The pattern of migration will be similar for acetone and distilled water. The fastest to migrate (or found at the topmost of the paper strip) will be anthocyanin, followed by carotenoids, then xanthophylls and lastly chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is insoluble in polar solvents therefore it will migrate slowest in both water and acetone and will be found closest to the bottom of the paper strip. 2. Which pigments did the spinach and the red leaf lettuce have in common? Propose an explanation for this. Spinach and red lettuce will have the same pigments, only they will be in different concentrations. Plants have different pigments to maximize their photosynthesizing capability. With different pigments, all the photosynthetically active radiation emitted by the different light wavelengths will be absorbed. For example, the green pigment chlorophyll will not absorb the green wavelength; therefore, the carotenoids and the xanthophylls will absorb light in that region to increase absorption rate. 3. Which pigments were soluble in water? In acetone? Why are some pigments carried further from their original position than others? Chlorophyll is not soluble in water and only slightly soluble in acetone. Carotenes and anthocyanins are highly soluble in water. Some pigments travel further away from their original position compared to others because these specific pigments are more soluble in water or acetone than the others are. The differences in solubility are attributed to their different chemical structures and composition. 4. In the fall, leaves often change colours as the day shortens. Propose an explanation for this colour change. What do you think happens to the green pigments? Why dont we see the other pigments during the summer? In some trees, changes in leaf colour occur in autumn. Changes in day and night temperatures, daylength and light intensity will signal that autumn is about to set in. In autumn, the production of food, through the process of photosynthesis, is minimized to conserve energy and resources. With this, the plant will stop manufacturing chlorophyll, the photosynthetic pigment responsible for the green colour in plants. Without any chlorophyll, the other pigments that are present in the leaf, like anthocyanin and carotene, become exposed. These pigments do not absorb red and yellow in the light spectrum, therefore leaves with high carotenes show yellow, red, and orange colours. 5. Which pigments are most crucial to plant survival? Outline the functions of these pigments. Chlorophyll a and b are the pigments that are most crucial to the survival of the plants. These two pigments are present in the highest amount in the leaves compared to other pigments. The pigments absorb light and transmit the energy from this light to other chlorophyll molecules towards the photochemical reaction centre in the dark reaction phase of photosynthesis (Mathews Van Holde, 1996). Chlorophyll therefore plays a very important role in photosynthesis. Conclusion Plants have a large number of pigments to carry out photosynthesis to ensure that the absorption of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is maximized. Individually, the different pigments will absorb only a certain range of wavelengths in the PAR. For example, chlorophyll will not absorb the blue green region while carotenoids will try to absorb energy in the green region of the light spectra. References Mathews, C. K. , Van Holde, K. (1996). Biochemistry (Second ed. ). Menlo Park: The Benjamin Cummings Publishing Company, Inc. ,.

Capital Punishment: Is It Right or Wrong? :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Capital Punishment is a controversial topic discussed in today's society. Capital punishment is often not as harsh in other countries as we may call harsh in our country. There is a heated debate on whether states should be able to kill other humans or not. But if we shall consider that other countries often have more deadly death penalties than we do. People that are in favor of the death penalty say that it saves money by not paying for housing in a maximum prison but what about our smaller countries that abide by the rule of the capital punishment. If one were to look at the issues behind capital punishment in an anthropological prospective than one would see that in some cases no one would assume that capital punishment here in the U.S. is bad. Now those opposed say that it is against the constitution, and is cruel and unusual punishment for humans to be put to his or her death. I believe that the death penalty is against the constitution and is cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty is cruel because you cannot punish anyone worse than by killing them. It is an unusual punishment because it does not happen very often and it should not happen at all. Therefore, I think that capital punishment should be abolished, everywhere.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I understand that capital punishment is the death penalty, and has been legal in most states for many years and has been legal around the world but its still wrong. Most countries will use capital punishment without justifying the cause. Even though here in the U.S. you can have a trial but other places are bad. Everyone can form there own opinions but just because a kid steals from a store isn’t right but in Iraq but the kid would eventually go to jail and get the capital punishment. America's laws are based on the Constitution. They are considered to be justifiable and what should be right; and are supposed to be the foreground for future laws. It is unconstitutional, though, for an American to be sentenced to his or her death. The eighth amendment states that "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" (US Constitution). It would be against the Constitution for an American to be put to death because it can be considered cruel and unusual punishment.