Battle of Thermopylae Essay Example for Free

Battle of Thermopylae Essay 300 is a fictionalized depiction of the 460 B. C. Battle of Thermopylae. Adapted from Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300, director Zack Snyder evidently aimed for this cinematic spectacle as historical as the Spartan’s glory. Led by King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), the 300 best Spartan soldiers fought to death against the Persian King Xerxes’ (Rodrigo Santoro) campaign of ruling the world of men, save the last one named Dilios (David Wenham) who lived to proclaim the glory of the 300 and of course, recount the story from the birth of King Leonidas to the rigors of a Spartan soldier’s life. Through this narrative technique, we are brought to the world of grotesque-faced warriors, beautiful and cursed oracles, sex orgy, 460 B. C. political evil and gigantic fantastical beasts that made the whole movie an action historical fantasy instead of a classroom historical documentary. Created by CGI visual effects technology, the movie is an image duplication of the original comic book. The unworldly creatures came to life, a mere number of casts looked a hundred thousand or so, the amazing panoramic dark clouds added much drama to the dark scenes and the rain of gores and blood were clearly meant for action suckers rather than the sandal supporters. Indeed, human slaughter never looked so pretty. But you do not need to be a comic book or a computer animation fan to admire this cinematic landmark. The cinematography is what grabs your attention in a different way as Gladiator or Lord of the Rings or Troy ever did. Although I have to add that incorporating some of the said movies’ best shots like the Gladiator’s sunny wheat field scene, the olliphant-like creatures from LotR and the bird’s eye view battalion shots from Troy, gave us some moments sort of deja vu but over-all, Snyder did his homework pretty well in making this 460 B. C battle unbelievably believable. From the angles to the color schemes, the 300 movie looked like a technically polished storyboard. Every frame is beautiful and every panel is a cinematic feast. Unlike the technically benchmarking combat between Hector and Achilles in Troy, the combats in 300 are taken NOT from a vantage point of a spectator, but from an eye level of somebody who belongs in the battle†¦ somebody who moves in the battle. Filled with slow motion shots, the frame almost freezes to give a further zoom of the amazing sequences. The effect? Well, the audience were brought face-to-face to the thrill of the Battle of Thermopylae than they could ever imagine. The way the film flowed gave us a comic book feel to almost every scene but freed us from the eye candy gloss of the comic book. The chained giant Persians, the leprosy looking elders and warriors, the outrageously choreographed combats and the spear-causing blood showers looked wildly more spectacular than what paint brushes or video game film-making could ever do. The irony of the special effects’ impact on creating a scene of the past while setting a cinematic future gained 300 its wider acceptance. The incredible visuals were bloody mad and ferocious, which is exactly what that era is all about and what our era tries to relive, technically. We know how this is made. Shots were indoors against a blue screen and the backgrounds were added using CGI techniques. (Movie buffs get the hang of this technique after Twilight produced an exclusive documentary of the CGI behind their movie). Lacking of an all star casts and expensive shooting locations, we can say that the movie’s visual effects stole the spotlight. Even Gerard Butler’s commanding voice will not be given that much awe without the tiny acoustic touch. However, the visual techniques which so prodigiously employed didn’t just become the movie’s success but as well the movies failing. Having it overpower the substance made critics less indulged and more complaining. Many said that whatever the movie tremendously have in style, it lacks in human emotions and thus fall short in portraying the historical Battle of Thermopylae as a human history, not an epic from another world. Save Queen Gorgo’s (Lena Headey) shot to rally support for her husband, all those battle speeches sounded vain for lacking frame supports. But then again, the R rating could well make us understand that it’s the bloody, violent stunts that made us pay for the two-hour beautifully-generated tortures. To quote King Leonidas, â€Å"a new age has come, a new freedom†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I guess, we just have to embrace it.

The Hobbit By J. R. R. Tolkien :: essays research papers

The Hobbit By J. R. R. Tolkien The story begins with a small fellow by the name of Bilbo Baggins â€Å"The Hobbit† he lives is in his house and doing what hobbits do during the day. The first few chapters tell you what a hobbit is and what a hobbit looks like and also what his home looks like. Hobbits are smaller then dwarves and eat much more then dwarves do, hobbits eat six meals a day. Bilbo is cleaning his house and preparing for a meal when an old friend of his comes past his doorway and starts to chat with Bilbo about all his adventures he has been on. After a while of talking in Bilbo’s hobbit home he tricks poor Mr. Baggins into join a journey with Thirteen dwarves to revive their lost city that was over ran by â€Å"Smuag†, a mysterious dragon that was used for delivering messages from dwarves and elves. To continue with the story after the talk with his friend, who is a wizard. Gandalf invites himself over again and ask to bring some friends, and Bilbo, a polite and well-mannered hobbit could not say no. The next morning the doorbell rings and Bilbo happily opens the door, but in his shock it is not Gandalf but it is a group of dwarves twelve dwarves in hoods. As he invites them in they all introduce themselves and at the end of their introduction the last words are â€Å"at your service†, their names are Balin, Dwalin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, and last but not least Thorin Okensheild these were the last of their kind. They were the cities last hope of bringing back the city. That night the dwarves stayed at Bilbo’s house with extra bedrooms. And the next morning they would start the real journey to their destiny. That morning Bilbo got up late and was left with dishes from his company and was the only one to clean them up. After washing the dishes he sat down to have a smoke with his pipe and was disturbed again, but it was Gandalf telling him that they are staying at the town inn. As he rushed to meet them he made it they’re just in time and they started discussing the plan (for Bilbo was their burglar and his job was to find the entrance to the secret door on the mountain where Smuag lay asleep) after the plan was discussed they set out on their journey to revive the lost city.

Teachers Point of View

As a high school teacher I have to be a facilitator-guide and a sage who imparts knowledge. I believe that teaching and learning are creative and very social. Based on my understanding, in order for some students to become productive learners; teachers should understand what is occurring inside students minds. As well, as what methods will help retain and retrieved that knowledge. Cognitive principles relates to how information is process in the mind (referred to Atkinson-Shiffrin model pg. 159). In addition, cognitive also deals with how the mind stores, organizes, retrieves and incorporates new information.The following are some of the ways I incorporated cognitive principles to my classroom, through metacognition ( schema) , rehearsal , elaboration ( activating prior knowledge) , note taking , verbal learning ( Paired- associate , serial , free-recall) , and analogies. Students now a day has a very short attention span, as a teacher I have to become eclectic. In the constructivist classroom the teacher becomes a guide for the learner, providing bridging or scaffolding (mediated learning), helping to extend the learner's zone of proximal development.Constructivist theory relates to Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development, social interaction helps the student learn. The student is encouraged to develop metacognitive skills such as problem solving skills and reflective thinking. The self-sufficient learner is essentially motivated to generate, discover, build and enlarge their own framework of knowledge. In my classroom I observed and applied constructivist through cooperative learning, discovery learning, self- regulated learning and mediated learning. I will start my class by pre-assessing my students, to check their prior knowledge (cognitive theory of elaboration).If my students are having difficulty remembering what they learn from previous classes, than I will start scaffolding. I will give the students prompts, so that the prompts will trigger their short term memory (working memory). The prompts will give them a foundations and than they built on it and hopefully becoming independent learner. Mediated learning is applied in my class, I will show them how to perform a lab and than they will mix chemicals on their own. Their product or conclusion should be similar to my expectations. Another method that I applied in my classroom is cooperative learning.According to Vygotsky’s, students working with their peers will allow them to think out loud (private speech) and work in a thinking zone where they are comfortable at. If some of my students understand a concept that I am teaching I will break my class in groups. In each group, each member is at different cognitive level and they will assist each other. They will discuss, check each other understanding and see the concept from a different point of view. Another method that I utilized is â€Å"Group Investigation†. Each group will pick a topic and they will dis cuss, learn about that topic and than present on that topic.One of the methods that I incorporated cognitive theories is through verbal learning. In my class, if we encounter a lesson or word that is hard to remember we will associate it to another word. For instance, when we covered the Periodic Table students will associate the elements symbol to its name by using an image (Paired –associate learning through imagery). Another verbal learning is memorizing the elements name in alphabetically order or based on their weights, if in alphabetically order they will create a name or sentences based on the first initials of the elements (serial learning through initial-letter strategies).But the most effective way that I noticed in my class is free- recall. They will memorize the elements or body system in no particular order. Another example how cognitive is incorporated in my class is repetition, practice and elaboration. My students’ will practice a week before exam while other will practice a day before the exam. If my students want to benefit from what the practice they have to practice (study) everyday (distributed practice) rather than cram study. Elaboration is when they have to paraphrase. They will take a concept and than translate it to their own words, to check their understanding.When they are paraphrasing they also visualize what they are paraphrasing, because Paivio’s theory of memory stated that to retain something it has to be verbal and visual (dual- code). Graphic organizer is another technique that I applied in class; this allows the students to retrieve prior knowledge and applied it to their current classwork. There are a lot of techniques, for examples note taking, underlining, analogies, summarizing etc. But if the students are not using this techniques and the teacher is not incorporating different techniques the student will be limited.In conclusion, both constructivist and cognitive theories go hand in hand. There are different types of memories short term and long term (flashbulb, semantic, episodic memory) but for these memories to be activated there must be some stimuli that will trigger the activation. To retain the information the student has to use mnemonics (different memory strategies) but if information is meaningful it will be a schema in the brain. To trigger the working memory teachers should scaffold or student becomes self-regulators. But not all memories will be retain some are forgotten based on Atkinson-Shiffrin model

Causes and Effects of Government Shutdowns

Why would much of the U.S. federal government shut down and what happens when it does?   The Cause of Government Shutdowns The U.S. Constitution requires that all expenditures of federal funds be authorized by Congress with the approval of the President of the United States. The U.S. federal government and the federal budget process operate on a fiscal year cycle running from October 1 to midnight September 30. If Congress fails to pass all of the spending bills comprising the annual federal budget or continuing resolutions extending spending beyond the end of the fiscal year; or if the president fails to sign or vetoes any of the individual spending bills, certain non-essential functions of the government may be forced to cease due to a lack of congressionally-authorized funding. The result is a government shutdown. The Current Border Wall Shutdown of 2019 The most recent government shutdown, and the third of the Donald Trump presidency began on December 22, 2018, when Congress and the White House failed to agree on the inclusion in an annual spending bill of $5.7 billion requested by President Trump for the construction of an additional 234 miles of fencing to be added to the existing security barrier along the U.S. border with Mexico. On January 8, with no end to the impasse in sight, President Trump threatened to declare a national emergency empowering him to bypass to fund the border fencing. However, by January 12, what had become the longest lasting government shutdown in U.S. history had shuttered nine of the 15 federal executive branch agencies, and left over 800,000 federal workers—including Border Patrol officers, TSA agents, and air traffic controllers—either working without pay or sitting at home on furlough. Trash began piling up and visitor safety became an issue at national parks as park rangers had been sent home. Although Congress had passed a bill on January 11 providing eventual full back pay for the employees, the strain of missed paychecks became obvious.   In a televised address on January 19, President Trump offered a proposal he hoped would bring Democrats back to the bargaining table to negotiate on an immigration reform for border security deal that would end the then 29-day-long government shutdown. The president offered to back immigration policies Democrats and had long requested, including a three-year revival of the DACA— Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—program in return for approval of a permanent $7 billion border security package, including $5.7 billion for the border wall. DACA is a currently expired immigration policy enacted by President Obama allowing eligible individuals who were brought to the United States illegally as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the U.S. Less than an hour after the president’s address, Democrats rejected the bargain because it failed to offer permanent protection for the DACA immigrants and because it still included money for the border wall. Democrats again demanded that President Trump end the shutdown before negotiations continued. On January 24, Government Executive magazine reported that based on salary data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the then 34-day-long partial government was costing U.S. taxpayers more than $86 million a day in back pay promised to more than 800,000 furloughed workers. A Temporary Agreement Reached On January 25, President Trump announced that an agreement had been reached between his office and Democratic leaders in Congress that would temporarily reopen the government until February 15 without the inclusion of any funding for construction of additional border fencing. The agreement also provided that all federal employees affected by the shutdown would receive full back pay. According to the President, the delay would allow for further negotiations on funding of the border wall, which he said remained a necessity to national security. Finally, the President stated that if funding for the border wall was not agreed to by February 15, he would either reinstate the government shutdown or declare a national emergency allowing him to reallocate existing fund for the purpose. However, on February 15, the president signed a compromise spending bill averting another shutdown. The same day, he issued a National Emergency Proclamation redirecting $3.5 billion from the Defense Department’s military construction budget to the construction of new border wall. Under the terms of the Antideficiency Act, the shutdown may not have been legal in the first place. Since the government had the $5.7 billion needed to build the border wall, the shutdown had been based on an issue of political ideology rather than an issue of economic necessity, as required by the law. The Ghosts of Shutdowns Past Between 1981 and 2019, there were five government shutdowns. While the first four went largely unnoticed by anybody but the federal employees affected, the American people shared the pain during the last one.   1981: President Reagan vetoed a continuing resolution, and 400,000 federal employees were sent home at lunch and told not to come back. A few hours later, President Reagan signed a new version of the continuing resolution and the workers were back at work the next morning. 1984: With no approved budget, 500,000 federal workers were sent home. An emergency spending bill had them all back at work the next day. 1990: With no budget or continuing resolution, the government shuts down during the entire three-day Columbus Day weekend. Most workers were off anyway and an emergency spending bill signed by President Bush over the weekend had them back at work Tuesday morning. 1995-1996: Two government shutdowns beginning on November 14, 1995, idled different functions of the federal government for various lengths of time until April of 1996. The most serious government shutdowns in the nations history resulted from a budget impasse between Democratic President Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress over funding for Medicare, education, the environment, and public health. 2013: For 17 tedious days, from October 1 through October 16, the perennial disagreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over spending forced a partial shutdown that saw more than 800,000 federal employees furloughed, U.S veterans locked out of their own war memorials, and millions of visitors forced to leave national parks. Unable to pass a conventional annual budget, Congress considered a continuing resolution (CR) that would have maintained funding at current levels for six months. In the House, Tea Party Republicans attached amendments to the CR that would have delayed implementation of President Obama’s healthcare reform law–Obamacare–for one year. This amended CR had no chance of passing in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Senate sent the House a â€Å"clean† CR with no amendments, but Speaker of the House John Boehner refused to allow the clean CR to come to a vote of the House. As a result of the impasse over Obamacare, no funding CR was passed by October 1—the end of the government’s 2013 fiscal year—and the shutdown began. As the shutdown drug on, public opinion of Republicans, Democrats and President Obama began to plummet and, to make matters worse, the U.S. was set to reach its debt limit on October 17. Failing to pass legislation raising the debt limit by the deadline could have forced the government to default on its debt for the first time in history, placing the payment of federal benefits in danger of being delayed. On October 16, faced with the debt limit crisis and increasing public disgust with Congress, Republicans and Democrats finally agreed on and passed a bill temporarily reopening the government and increasing the debt limit. Ironically, the bill—driven by the government’s need to reduce spending—also spent billions of dollars, including a tax-free gift of $174,000 to the widow of a deceased senator. The Costs of Government Shutdowns The first of the two government shutdowns in 1995-1996 lasted only six days, from November 14 to November 20. Following the six-day shutdown, the Clinton administration released an estimate of what the six days of an idled federal government had cost. Lost Dollars: The six-day shutdown cost taxpayers about $800 million, including $400 million to furloughed federal employees who were paid, but did not report to work and another $400 million in lost revenue in the four days that the IRS enforcement divisions were closed.Medicare: Some 400,000 newly eligible Medicare recipients were delayed in applying for the program.Social Security: Claims from 112,000 new Social Security applicants were not processed. 212,000 new or replacement Social Security cards were not issued. 360,000 office visits were denied. 800,000 toll-free calls for information were not answered.Healthcare: New patients were not accepted into clinical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical center. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ceased disease surveillance and hotline calls to NIH concerning diseases were not answered.Environment: Toxic waste clean-up work at 609 sites stopped as 2,400 Superfund workers were sent home.Law Enforcemen t and Public Safety: Delays occurred in the processing of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives applications by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; work on more than 3,500 bankruptcy cases reportedly was suspended; cancellation of the recruitment and testing of federal law enforcement officials reportedly occurred, including the hiring of 400 border patrol agents; and delinquent child-support cases were delayed.US Veterans: Multiple veterans services were curtailed, ranging from health and welfare to finance and travel.Travel: 80,000 passport applications were delayed. 80,000 visas were delayed. The resulting postponement or cancellation of travel cost U.S. tourist industries and airlines millions of dollars.National Parks: 2 million visitors were turned away from the nations national parks resulting in the loss of millions in revenue.Government-Backed Loans: FHA mortgage loans worth more than $800 million to more than 10,000 low-and-moderate-income working families w ere delayed. How a Government Shutdown Might Affect You As directed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the federal agencies now maintain contingency plans for dealing with government shutdowns. The emphasis of those plans is to determine which functions should continue. Most notably, the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not exist in 1995 when the last long-term government shutdown took place. Due to the critical nature of their function, it is highly likely that the TSA would continue to function normally during a government shutdown.Based on history, here is how a long-term government shutdown might impact some government-provided public services. Social Security: Benefit checks would probably keep coming, but no new applications would be accepted or processed.Income Tax: The IRS will probably stop processing paper tax returns and refunds.Border Patrol: Customs and Border Patrol functions will probably continue.Welfare: Again, the checks would probably continue, but new applications for food stamps might not be processed.Mail: The U.S. Postal Service supports itself, so mail deliveries would continue as usual.National Defense: All active duty members of all branches of all armed services would continue duty as usual, but might not get paid on time. More than half of the Defense Departments 860,000 civilian employees would also work, the others sent home.Justice System: Federal courts should remain open. Criminals will still be chased, caught, prosecuted and thrown in federal prisons, which would still be operating.Farms/USDA: Food safety inspections will probably continue, but rural development, and farm credit and loan progra ms will probably close down.Transportation: Air traffic control, TSA security personnel, and the Coast Guard will remain on the job. Applications for passports and visas may not be processed.National Parks/Tourism: Parks and forests will probably close and visitors told to leave. Visitor and interpretive centers will be closed. Non-volunteer rescue and fire control services might be shut down. National monuments and most historic sites will probably be closed. Parks police will probably continue their patrols.