Hip-hop Essay Example for Free

Hip-hop Essay Sociologists say that the styles in music, literature and other arts are reflecting the processes that take place in the society where they emerge. Hip-hop culture gained power in ninetieth America. Nowadays various opinions exist about the nature of this phenomenon. David Abe said in his article ‘Tupac Plus 10: Hip-hop’s Diminished Potential’ that hip-hop had the power to change the world back in ninetieths, but due to commercialization its potential â€Å"had significantly diminished†, while David Brooks wrote about hip-hop romanticizing crime and violence against women, calling it a â€Å"culture of resistance† in his New York Times article ‘Gangsta’. The music of the rebels, of youth that felt they had no place for them in the society they had been raised in, hip hop became a way to express their thoughts and feelings. Hip-hop was music for youngsters who were not afraid to declare they wanted to change the world, and young people rarely share a non-resistance tactic. Hip-hop explained the world was corrupt, but the only way out it offered was active resistance – antisocial behavior and crime. This kind of ideas tends to attract lots of youngsters, and huge flocks of people around some idea tend to attract money. Soon hip-hop became business, like lots of culture phenomena before. The idea of hip-hop has deceased at the moment it became a merchandize available in nearest mall. Young and poor people in USA and outside it usually do not have means to change the world they live in. They dwell in slums, do not have medical insurance, their chances to get decent education and job are poor. Violence becomes their only way to express their anger and disappointment, and a seemingly easy way to get the things they see on TV and in fashion magazines, like expensive closes, gadgets and money. Hip-hop and rap music describe this problem-solving method in detail, and it is often introduced as the right thing to do, the one that makes boy a real man. â€Å"The gangsta is brave, countercultural criminal† – says Robert Brooks. It builds the image of â€Å"strong violent hypermacho male, who loudly asserts his dominance and demands respect†. And it is no wonder this image attracts ghetto teenagers from all over the world. There is some bond between Robin Hood and gangsta, as they both have this image of the noble bandit. Being gangsta means being â€Å"cool†, being powerful and able to change things that ought to be changed, it means becoming respected and significant. Violence especially that against women is seen at this context as one of the ways to prove significance and masculinity, and assert one’s right to get everything desired by force. In the same time Xzibit, a famous American rapper proves that rap and hip hop should not be blamed for its negative imagery. â€Å"If society wasn’t violent†, he says, â€Å"then hip-hop wouldn’t be violent. You can blame hip-hop but we’re like reporters; we tell you what’s going on in the neighborhood, and we tell you how it is. † Xzibit insists that hip-hop is just a mirror, where all the societal imperfections and problems are reflected. Thus the youngsters who listen and sing hip hop are just confessing about the things they see, and the world they are living in. Before blaming rap music and videos for encouraging children and teenagers to commit violent acts, people should try to find out why is this music so popular among them. Why American teens and young adults, at list part of them, want to listen and watch songs, clips, and movies where people abuse, rape and kill each other? Maybe something is wrong with the educational system, as it’s unable to persuade the youth in the futility and danger of violence, to teach them that their goals can be achieved using other methods? Or the problem lies within the society that cannot offer some of its young inexperienced members other sphere for actualizing their potential than that of crime and violence? Some journalists and psychologists prove that rap videos are just one of the ways of â€Å"selling† hip-hop culture. It’s true, that for many of the rap singers their music is just the way to earn money and popularity, thus they fill their songs with the content that sells successfully. Unfortunately, there is always a demand for violence on our market, and hip-hop is a good form for selling it. David Abe noted that: â€Å"†¦the content of the most requested rap songs and videos overrun in an exaggerated manner by rims, jewelry and thongs, as the business model evolved. † Now hip-hop is quite a profitable activity to be involved in, as Forbes. com website announced that in 2006 the earnings of such rap stars as 50cent, Jay-Z, and Sean â€Å"Diddy† Combs were $33 million, $34 million, and $28 million accordingly. It proves that there is quite a demand for the culture of resistance on worldwide market. Actually hip hop culture, which had been a culture of resistance transformed into a notion of culture of resistance that could be sold and bought in the department stores. Now hip-hop is not an element of cultural resistance, it is just an image of a social position, and even a fashion trend. David Abe proves that nowadays hip-hop â€Å"consistently fails to challenge and inspire critical thought in the people who listen to it† †And the more commercialized hip-hop becomes the more fans it has, as the thing that can be bought and sold is understandable to most people, while concepts that require some brain and spiritual efforts for understanding them are not very popular nowadays. At the beginning of the history of this cultural phenomenon it really had potential to change something, to influence the opinions and actions of people. While there were real emotions behind the words of the songs, while singers told about the things they saw, and that bothered them, asking their listeners questions they were encouraged to answer by themselves, hip-hop was an instrument to make world a little better. In the same time there always existed danger that young listeners would accept role models from often violent hip-hop lyrics. But in the end of ninetieths, when money came to hip-hop culture, hip-hop became the culture of people who wanted to look â€Å"cool† and to act â€Å"cool†. Its change-driving potential diminished; nowadays most of hip-hop lyrics telling about violence has no inner sense in it, no ideas of cultural resistance and changing the world, just poor role models for youngsters. Works Cited 1. Abe,D. ‘Tupac Plus 10: Hip-hop’s Diminished Potential’. The Times 2. Brooks, D. ‘Gangsta’ The New York Times 10 November: A29 3. Goldman, L. ‘Forbes And 50 Cent Get Money’. Forbes. 7 Seb 2007. http://www. forbes. com/home/media/2007/09/18/igetmoney-remix-50cent-biz-media-cz_lg_0918bizigetmoney. html 4. Rodriguez, K. Xzibit Defends Rap Lyrics, Hip-Hop Stigmas. 19 Sep 2006. http://www. nobodysmiling. com/hiphop/news/86714. php

Formatting Requirements for Publications :: Publishing Papers

Formatting Requirements for Publications Abstract. In this paper, we describe the formatting requirements for CSCL 2005 publications, and we offer a number of suggestions on writing style for the worldwide CSCL readership. These instructions pertain to the published component of submissions only. Some submissions may require other documentation in addition to the published paper. Keywords: Guidelines, formatting instructions, author's kit, conference publications INTRODUCTION The CSCL 2005 Proceedings will provide a persistent record of the conference, published in both CD-ROM and paper formats. We hope to give the proceedings a uniform, high-quality appearance. To do this, we ask that authors follow some simple guidelines. In essence, we ask you to make your paper look exactly like this document. The easiest way to do this is simply to download this template and replace the content with your own text and graphics, being careful not to add any new styles or redefine the template styles. You may want to open this document in Word and then Save As â€Å"CSCL 2005 Template.dot† by saving the Change As Type pull-down list to Document Template. PAGE SIZE All material on each page should be centered on an A4 (8.26 x 11.69 inch) page with 2.5cm (or 1 inch) margins all around. It is important to check these margins even if you use this Word template, because they might have been overwritten by your local settings. TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES Long papers should be 8-10 pages. Short papers should be 4-5 pages. All other published material, including doctoral consortium abstracts and descriptions of interactive events and workshops, should be 2-3 pages. This includes everything: from the title to the references. FORMATTED TEXT Carefully format your submission using the following styles: Title and Authors The title (Helvetica 18-point bold), authors' names (Times New Roman 12-point bold) and affiliations (Times New Roman 12-point not-bold) run across the full width of the page. We also recommend that you add your e-mail address using the affiliations style. If only one address is needed, center all address text. For two addresses, use two centered tabs or a table (as in this paper), and so on. For more than three authors, you may have to improvise. There should be one blank Normal (10 pt.) line between the title and authors. Abstract and Keywords Place two blank Normal (10 pt.) lines after the title, followed by an abstract of about 100 words. The abstract should begin with the word â€Å"Abstract.† in bold, and should be formatted in the â€Å"Abstract† style provided in this template (like Normal, but indented 1cm each side).

Communication Management

Sometimes we want to be everything to everyone and most of the times we figure that it is impossible to be perfect in the eyes of family, friends, and especially employers. Many times we questioned and judged the way people in management handled situations or themselves. When a mini crisis hits the office, most managers are simply reacting to the situation and have not worked or prepared on proactive steps to avoid such mini-daily crisis. The role of managers comes in three flavors, interpersonal, informational and decisional roles. Sometimes with the help of a mentor (s) we can developed all three, but in most cases we find ourselves being good at one or even two, but we are rarely good at all three. Managers that show great skill in the interpersonal role category have the ability to be a liaison between the company and the many contacts outside the company that can help the business grow, become successful or even get out of bankruptcy like in the case of Chrysler. Most of the managers in this category can be seen as a figurehead that simply performs ceremonial duties (James O’Rourke. IV 2013) I honestly have no way to compare this or any type of management style outside my home. I have never been a manager and that would be my greatest weakness in these particular roles. I know that I am capable of representing my family and employer with great pride, as I charter the rough waters and issues, as they come. But, I know that I work hard at planning and being proactive. I am a person that does not let the current crisis take over my life. It takes time to plan and adjust to new situations, and at the end it always pays off to be proactive. If you do prepare for the worse, hoping for the best, you will always be somewhere in the middle and I am good with that. Informational role managers have the ability to collect, analyze and disseminate many kinds of information (James O’Rourke, IV 2013. ) This is who I would consider to be the floor manager. They are constantly moving information among all immediate employees or family member in my case. This would be the manager role I fit into at this point in time within my family group. I am able to the pinpoint the problem and solution to the problem in rder to bring the group together and accomplished our long-term goals. I spend most of the time making sure all parties involved are able to see the issues from another perspective. I can help them reached an agreement on their own without any of the parties feeling as if they did not get what they wanted out of the deal. The last management role is that of the decisional in which the manager finds him or herself determining who gets what resources, how much, when and why (James O’Rourke, IV 2013. ) This manager also act as a negotiator to those with whom he or she deals on a daily basis (James O’Rourke, IV 2013. I think I fit this description well but again with no prior experience it is very hard to determine where you fit or where you do not fit as a manager. I may have some traits or be able to develop others with the help of the right person as my mentor, but as of right now it would be very hard to say what I could do in any specific situation that calls for a hard decision that may impact any other persons career and life in anyway. It is easy to access ones traits and skills at any point in time, but during a crisis our instinct may take or make a different decision than that of what we are on paper. Reference: James S. O’Rourke, IV, Management Communication A Case –Analysis Approach, Pearson

The Truth, Power, And Operation Of Spiritual Substances

In his Summa Thleologica, Saint Thomas Aquinas writes a treatise on man concerning the essence, power, and operation of spiritual substances. In his first article of the treatise, Thomas attempts to answer the question of whether or not the soul is a body. I will be explaining and evaluating the steps of his argument that a body can be a principle of life but that the soul cannot be corporeal, that is, a body. In response to the question of whether or not the soul is a body, Thomas takes the position that the soul is the form of the body of a living thing. He claims that, â€Å"†¦to seek the nature of the soul, we must premise that the soul is defined as the first principle of life of those things which live: for we call living things†¦show more content†¦Thomas states, however, that although some of the principles of life of a living being are corporeal, the first principle of life, or primary principle of life, is not corporeal. This incorporeal principle of life, Th omas maintains, is what we call the soul of a living being. He continues by saying, â€Å"†¦though a body may be a principle of life, or to be a living thing, as the heart is a principle of life in an animal, yet nothing corporeal can be the first principle of life† (Aquinas, 1920). This is because being a principle of life or a living being cannot belong to a body as such, for if this were the case, then it would be reasonable to say that every body is a living being or that every body is a soul. Thomas concludes his argument by stating, â€Å"Therefore, the soul, which is the first principle of life, is not a body, but the act of a body; thus heat, which is the principle of calefaction, is not a body, but an act of a body† (Aquinas, 1920). One objection to Thomas’s argument is concerned with the soul being the moving principle of the body. It can be argued, â€Å"†¦because seemingly nothing can move unless it is itself moved, since nothing gives wh at it has not; for instance, what is not hot does not give heat† (Aquinas, 1920). Given this reasoning, the soul is a mover moved, and since every mover moved is a body, the soul is therefore a body. Thomas sets about refuting this argument by saying if everything were moved by a mover, then the