Merce Cunningham essays

Merce Cunningham essays In the age of conformity, Merce Cunningham has resisted the temptation to remain aligned with his peers. Cunningham has pioneered a new school of thought in dance, and has set the standard for future pioneers. He is passionate about what he does and it has been evident in his works as a dancer and a choreographer. Cunningham was born on April 16, 1919, in Centralia, Washington. At the age of twelve, Cunningham became interested in dance and started informal instruction. Upon graduation from high school, Cunningham began his formal dance instruction at the Cornish School of Fine and Applied Arts. After two years at the Cornish School, he studied at Mills College and at Bennington College; this is where he was invited to join Martha Grahams dance company in 1939. Graham was an incredible dancer who also choreographed during her career. While dancing for Graham, Cunningham began to make a name for himself in the dancing community. It was with Grahams encouragement that Cunningham started to choreograph on his own. His decision to start choreographing can be looked at as one of the most important decisions in the history of dance. With the encouragement of John Cage, a composer, Cunningham left Martha Grahams Dance Company in 1945 to pursue a fulltime partnership with Cage. The two men would go on to have a very storied career. On the night of April 6, 1944, at the Humphrey Weidman Studio, Cunningham and Cage performed their first solo recital. In attendance that night was acclaimed dance critic, Edwin Denby. When he was actively reviewing, Edwin Denby was this countrys most respected critic of the dance(Klosty 215). Cunninghams first performance captured Denby from the very beginning with Cunninghams amazing steps, runs, and knee bends and he described them as brilliant in lightness and speed. Denby was also impressed by Cunninghams gifts as a lyric dan...

How to Make a DNA Model out of Candy

How to Make a DNA Model out of Candy There are many common materials you can use to form the double helix shape of DNA. Its easy to make a DNA model out of candy. Heres how a candy DNA molecule is constructed. Once youve completed the science project, you can eat your model as a snack. Key Takeaways: Candy DNA Model Candy is a fun and edible construction material that is perfect for making a model of DNA.The key ingredients are a rope-like candy to serve as the DNA backbone and gummy candies to act as the bases.A good DNA model shows base pair bonding (adenine to thymine; guanine to cytosine) and the double helix shape of the DNA molecule. Smaller candies may be used to add more detail to the model. The Structure of DNA In order to construct a model of DNA, you need to know what it looks like. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule shaped like a twisted ladder or double helix. The sides of the ladder are the DNA backbone, made up of repeating units of a pentose sugar (deoxyribose) bonded to a phosphate group. The rungs of the ladder are the bases or nucleotides adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ladder is twisted slightly to make a helix shape. Candy DNA Model Materials You have several options here. Basically, you need 1-2 colors of rope-like candy for the backbone. Licorice is good, but you can find gum or fruit sold in strips, too. Use four different colors of soft candy for the bases. Good choices include colored marshmallows and gumdrops. Just be sure to choose a candy you can puncture using a toothpick. LicoriceSmall colored marshmallows or gummy candy (4 different colors)Toothpicks Construct the DNA Molecule Model Assign a base to a candy color. You need exactly four colors of candies, which will correspond to adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. If you have extra colors, you can eat them.Pair up the candies. Adenine binds to thymine. Guanine binds to cytosine. The bases do not bond to any others! For example, adenine never bonds to itself or to guanine or cytosine. Connect the candies by pushing a matched pair of them next to each other in the middle of a toothpick.Attach the pointy ends of the toothpicks to licorice strands, to form a ladder shape.If you like, you can twist the licorice to show how the ladder forms a double helix. Twist the ladder counterclockwise to make a helix like the one that occurs in living organisms. The candy helix will unravel unless you use toothpicks to hold the top and bottom of the ladder to cardboard or polystyrene foam. DNA Model Options If you like, you can cut pieces of red and black licorice to make a more detailed backbone. One color is the phosphate group, while the other is the pentose sugar. If you choose to use this method, cut the licorice into 3 pieces and alternate colors on a string or pipecleaner. The candy needs to be hollow, so licorice is the best choice for this variation of the model. Attach bases to the pentose sugar parts of the backbone. Its helpful to make a key to explain the parts of the model. Either draw and label the model on paper or attach candies to cardboard and label them. Quick DNA Facts DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are nucleic acids, an important class of biological molecules.DNA is the blueprint or code for all of the proteins formed in an organism. For this reason, it is also called the genetic code.New DNA molecules are made by breaking the ladder shape of DNA down the middle and filling in the missing pieces to make 2 molecules. This process is called transcription.DNA makes proteins through a process called translation. In translation, the information from DNA is used to make RNA, which goes to the ribosomes of a cell to make amino acids, which are joined to make polypeptides and proteins. Making a DNA model isnt the only science project you can do using candy. Use extra materials to try other experiments!

I Came to Testify and Pray the Devil to Hell film review Essay

I Came to Testify and Pray the Devil to Hell film review - Essay Example A person's character is shaped based on the values and the norms that represent the culture he or she was raised in and the religion beliefs that attached him or her to these values and norms. The two films, I Came to Testify and Pray the Devil to Hell, illustrate one conflict in two different areas of the world. The first film is in Fuca while the second film is in Liberia. However, both films present a similar issue of conflict between gender and the role of religion and culture in shaping conflict. The film I Came to Testify, based in Yugoslavia, showed a conflict in Fuca between Muslims and Slovaks that stemmed from the death of the President of Yugoslavia. The Muslim group wanted to create an independent state, while the Slovak group wanted to go back to the old days and focus on their ethnic morals. A civil war occurs in a state when each group attempts to control and lead the state by changing the laws and rules based on their beliefs. This change is often based on either a political or ethnic view, and the majority group does not care if it opposes the other group's beliefs (Jabri, 31). The Slovak group was more powerful than the Muslims and started to use their power to torture Muslims by destroying their houses, mosques, killing Muslim civilians, and changing the name of the city to a name related to the Slovak identity. The most harmful torture to the Muslims was of raping their women and children. Slovak men had the power to rape Muslim women and harm them in front of their own families.

Why the Falling U.S. Birth Rates Are So Troubling Essay

Why the Falling U.S. Birth Rates Are So Troubling - Essay Example The USA birth rates fall every year the government reported with the experts calling it a proof that the weak economy has continued to reduce enthusiasm for having children. The drop in the preceding year was just by 1 %, not as a big drop as to 3% drop which was seen in the recent years. It may be an effect of the fertility rate and the aging population. The falling birth is a new phenomenon in this state that they had been on since the late 1990s. In the last year, fewer than four million births were reckoned last year the lowermost number since 1998. They theory behind the drop of the birth rate is couples who work hard get time being together, feeling that they are no need of having children because of their busy schedules. Across the U.S, the birth rates are falling, and family is shrinking. The fertility rate is less than two children a woman. As a result, U.S populations are growing extremely slowly and are beginning to decrease. Mark R. Montgomery states that the demographic trends portend that there are difficult times ahead for the United States economy because there are not enough people for jobs (206). A workforce that does not have enough workers can decrease productivity over time for any workforce. At the same time, the growing population of the elderly individuals threatens the solvency of social insurance and pension systems (Montgomery 206). As the household decreases, because people move away or some people die, the ability to care for the elderly diminishes.

Intel 1998 Financial Status :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Intel 1998 Financial Status Company Info: Intel Corp was founded in 1968, in the state of California. Intel is an independent company; it is not a subsidiary, nor does it have subsidiaries. Furthermore, it is well known for its microprocessors for PCs, chipsets, flash memory, embedded control chips, and network communications products. The purchasers of the products are original equipment manufacturers, PC users, and other manufacturers. Intel makes computer hardware including motherboards, microprocessors, and chips. It is responsible for approximately 90% of the computer microprocessors. In 1971 the 4004 was Intel's first microprocessor. This breakthrough invention powered the Busicom calculator and paved the way for embedding intelligence in inanimate objects as well as the personal computer. Then in 1974 the 8080 became the brains of the first personal computer--the Altair, allegedly named for a destination of the Starship Enterprise from the StarTrek television show. Computer hobbyists could purchase a kit for the Altair for $395. Within months, it sold tens of thousands, creating the first PC back orders in history. In 1989 the 486TM generation really meant you go from a command-level computer into point-and-click computing. I could have a color computer for the first time and do desktop publishing at a significant speed," recalls technology historian David K.Allison of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The Intel 486TM processor was the first to offer a built-in math coprocessor, which speeds up computing because it offers complex math fu nctions from the central processor. Then in 1993 the Pentium ® processor allowed computers to more easily incorporate "real world" data such as speech, sound, handwriting and photographic images. The name Pentium ®, mentioned in the comics and on television talk shows, became a household word soon after introduction. In 1999 the Pentium ® III XeonTM processor extends Intel's offerings to the workstation and server market segments, providing additional performance for e-Commerce applications and advanced business computing. The processors incorporate the Pentium ® III processor's 70 SIMD instructions, which enhance multimedia and streaming video applications. The Pentium ® III XeonTM processor's advance cache technology speeds information from the system bus to the processor, significantly boosting performance. It is designed for systems with multiprocessor configurations. Intel has only one competitor, and it is a multinational corporation with offices based in over 10 countries. In addition, the company employs 64,500 people, and its annual net income in 1998 was 26,273,000,000 dollars.

Ellb3 King Lear Theme of Power

Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents attitudes to power in this passage. In your answer you must consider how the playwright uses literary, linguistic and rhetorical devices and conventions to create specific dramatic effects. The theme of power is explored extensively in the play and in this first scene the theme is already established. This scene takes place after Kent and Gloucester's conversation about Gloucester's illegitimate son Edmund, the dark subplot within the play draws out the theme of power in the main plot, for example the power Gloucester asserts as a father is parallel to the power King Lear has.Power is an important theme within the play because many of the characters abuse their power and use power as a tool for manipulation and control, other characters on the other hand, desire power and authority but ultimately power corrupts all. This scene is set in the king’s court and this extract is an example of family talk which at times is intimate but i t is also an example of public talk, the language in this passage is purely for regulatory and performative purposes.This highly formal public context creates tension and the speech itself opens with an important topic, the audience know that king Lear intends to divide his power and kingdom among his three daughters but demands they publicly profess their love for him. â€Å"Conferring them on younger strengths, while we unburdened crawl toward death†, the imagery in the opening of the scene here is of a feeble old man indicating King Lear's retirement and the loss of his power suggesting he is weak and vulnerable like an infant.Due to the public context the register throughout this passage is formal and the king’s speech appears to be rehearsed. In this passage the king is the primary speaker because he establishes the topic of conversation and sets the agenda, â€Å"meanwhile we should express our darkest purpose, give me the map there†. As we would expect hi s is the character with the most status and authority and his role as King allows him to open his speech with this imperative sentence. Furthermore, the modes of address used by the characters on stage also reveal more about the theme of power.Lear’s daughters address him as â€Å"Sir†, â€Å"your majesty† and â€Å"your dear highness† suggesting he is not only asserting his power as a king but as a father. We have character revelation here as Shakespeare reveals Lear's hamartia, by having his daughter quantify their love for him indicates that he is arrogant and hubristic. Lear takes the most turns and his utterances are generally longer than the other characters as he speaks for the longest amount of time. His short response to Cordelia â€Å"nothing, nothing will come of nothing† indicates that the he is trying to maintain control over the conversation.The adjacency pairs here are broken because â€Å"nothing† is a non-expected response, this suggests that this is an unsuccessful conversation and reveals more about their relationship. In this conversation the adjacency pair is subverted by Cordelia creating tension on stage: Lear and Cordelia are both flouting Grice's maxim of quantity as Lear says too much and Cordelia says too little which is further evidence of their conversation being unsuccessful. Goneril and Regan clearly abuse their father’s power as they try to deceive him.The declarations of love made by the two daughters have been crafted to flatter Lear, they are exaggerated and the insincerity of this is shown through Shakespeare's use of poetry. A good example of this is, â€Å"sir I love you more than word can wield, the matter dearer than eyesight, space and liberty. † In other words, the substance of Goneril’s love is too great or weighty to be expressed. Similarly, the phrase, â€Å"a love that makes breath poor and speech unable† is hyperbolical as Goneril again tries to make her love seem priceless.Regan’s declarations are even more exaggerated than her sisters', â€Å"I am made to that self mettle as my sister and price me at her worth†. She tells her father that her own pleasure lies solely in the enjoyment of his love but her sister’s love is only a means to an end. The synthetic language used here to manipulate Lear's vulnerability reveals that Regan desires to gain more power and control. It is clear that both their speeches are insincere and this creates tension because the audience can see that when the daughters declare their love for their father, they are in fact declaring their greed.This is then juxtaposed by Cordelia’s simple and minimal responses; â€Å"I love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less† showing that she speaks of her love more honestly. Cordelia's asides allow her to build a relationship with the audience. These asides may appear spontaneous but Shakespeare has carefully cr afted them for her speech to appear sincere and honest. When Cordelia is asked to express her love towards her father, she answers with â€Å"nothing†. Lear’s interrogative reply â€Å"nothing? suggests her simple answer has comes as a shock to him and the court, this response instantly changes both the mood and the tone within the scene. The short exchanges between Cordelia and Lear and the caesura in this line disrupts the iambic pentameter and the regularity of the blank verse creating dramatic tension on the stage. Lear orders Cordelia to â€Å"speak again†, this imperative reveals frustration and anger at which point his volume would increase. Cordelia delays her speech as she refuses to take part in Lear’s ceremonial ‘love test' suggesting that she has some degree of power.Her long pause creates an awkward silence on the stage and adding further to the tension between the characters and creating suspense. Lear's attitude to power is clearly o ne of pride and arrogance which prevents him from seeing the true nature of Goneril and Regan’s appearances and their hypocrisy. He foolishly believes their excessively sweet and sentimental declarations and this is what makes this passage so dramatic. The power he asserts in this passage blinds him as he rejects the truthful Cordelia who he has banished from the kingdom.

The First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 to 1895

From August 1, 1894, to April 17, 1895, the Qing Dynasty of China fought against the Meiji Japanese Empire over who should control late Joseon-era Korea, ending in a decisive Japanese victory. As a result, Japan added the Korean Peninsula to its sphere of influences and gained Formosa (Taiwan), the Penghu Island, and the Liaodong Peninsula outright.   This did not come without loss. Approximately 35,000 Chinese soldiers were killed or wounded in the battle while Japan only lost 5,000 of its fighters and service people. Worse yet, this would not be the end of tensions, the Second Sino-Japanese War started in 1937, part of the first actions of World War II. An Era of Conflict In the second half of the 19th century, the American Commodore Matthew Perry forced open ultra-traditional and secluded Tokugawa Japan. As an indirect result, the power of the shoguns ended and Japan went through the 1868 Meiji Restoration, with the island nation quickly modernizing and militarizing as a result. Meanwhile, the traditional heavy-weight champion of East Asia, Qing China, failed to update its own military and bureaucracy, losing two Opium Wars to the western powers. As the preeminent power in the region, China had for centuries enjoyed a measure of control over neighboring tributary states, including Joseon Korea, Vietnam, and even sometimes Japan. Chinas humiliation by the British and French exposed its weakness, and as the 19th century drew to a close, Japan decided to exploit this opening. Japans goal was to seize the Korean Peninsula, which military thinkers considered a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan. Certainly, Korea had been the staging ground for earlier invasions by both China and Japan against one another. For example, Kublai Khans  invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281  or Toyotomi Hideyoshis attempts to invade Ming China via Korea in 1592 and 1597. The First Sino-Japanese War After a couple of decades of jockeying for position over Korea, Japan and China began outright hostilities on July 28, 1894, at the Battle of Asan. On July 23, the Japanese entered Seoul and seized the Joseon King Gojong, who was retitled the Gwangmu Emperor of Korea to emphasize his new independence from China. Five days later, fighting began at Asan. Much of the First Sino-Japanese War was fought at sea, where the Japanese navy had an advantage over its antiquated Chinese counterpart, mostly due to the Empress Dowager Cixi reportedly siphoned off some of the funds meant to update the Chinese navy in order to rebuild the Summer Palace in Beijing. In any case, Japan cut the Chinese supply lines for its garrison at Asan by a naval blockade, then Japanese and Korean land troops overran the 3,500-strong Chinese force on July 28, killing 500 of them and capturing the rest; the two sides officially declared war on August 1. Surviving Chinese forces retreated to the northern city of Pyongyang and dug in while the Qing government sent reinforcements, bringing the total Chinese garrison at Pyongyang to about 15,000 troops. Under the cover of darkness, the Japanese encircled the city early on the morning of September 15, 1894, and launched a simultaneous attack from all directions. After approximately 24 hours of stiff fighting, the Japanese took Pyongyang, leaving around 2,000 Chinese dead and 4,000 injured or missing while the Japanese Imperial Army only reported 568 men injured, dead, or missing.   After the Fall of Pyongyang With the loss of Pyongyang, plus a naval defeat in the Battle of Yalu River, China decided to withdraw from Korea and fortify its border. On October 24, 1894, the Japanese built bridges across the Yalu River and marched into Manchuria. Meanwhile, Japans navy landed troops on the strategic Liaodong Peninsula, which juts out into the Yellow Sea between North Korea and Beijing. Japan soon seized the Chinese cities of Mukden, Xiuyan, Talienwan, and Lushunkou (Port Arthur). Beginning on November 21, Japanese troops rampaged through Lushunkou in the infamous Port Arthur Massacre, killing thousands of unarmed Chinese civilians. The outclassed Qing fleet retreated to supposed safety at the fortified harbor of Weihaiwei. However, the Japanese land and sea forces laid siege to the city on January 20, 1895. Weihaiwei held out until February 12, and in March, China lost Yingkou, Manchuria, and the Pescadores Islands near Taiwan. By April, the Qing government realized that Japanese forces were approaching Beijing. The Chinese decided to sue for peace. The Treaty of Shimonoseki On April 17, 1895, Qing China and Meiji Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ended the First Sino-Japanese War. China relinquished all claims to influence over Korea, which became a Japanese protectorate until it was annexed outright in 1910. Japan also took control of Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and the Liaodong Peninsula. In addition to the territorial gains, Japan received war reparations of 200 million taels of silver from China. The Qing government also had to grant Japan trade favors, including permission for Japanese ships to sail up the Yangtze River, manufacturing grants for Japanese companies to operate in Chinese treaty ports, and the opening of four additional treaty ports to Japanese trading vessels. Alarmed by the quick rise of Meiji Japan, three of the European powers intervened after the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed. Russia, Germany, and France particularly objected to Japans seizure of the Liaodong Peninsula, which Russia also coveted. The three powers pressured Japan into relinquishing the peninsula to Russia, in exchange for an addition 30 million taels of silver. Japans victorious military leaders saw this European intervention as a humiliating slight, which helped spark the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905.