Perception and Creativity in the Life of Tupac Term Paper

Perception and Creativity in the Life of Tupac - Term Paper Example The object of analysis for the purpose of this assignment is Tupac Shakur as a significant figure of change in the music industry. He is among the pioneers of rap music in the 1990s. Tupac was a dynamic artist and influential to most African American youths as well as white people in the United State. His life story is inspired by change and struggle towards right. He was well known as the most influential artists of his time. This document tends to explore the relationship between transformation of location and transition in creativity and focuses on Tupac’s life. Tupac is known for the representative of Western Hip-hop. However he was born in New York. Tupac Shakur was born of two popular members of the Black Panther party Afeni and Billy Shakur. He was born at the time her mother had been convicted with bombing charges. He was first named Tupac Amur which meant the shining serpent. While growing up in the north coast, Shakur spent much of his teenage life in acting. He feat ured in his first movie which was known as A Raisin in the Sun. this was produced by the Apollo Theatres as a benefit of Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1983. He then moved to the Baltimore School of Art. Tupac moved to the west coast after dropping out of the film school. He was 17 years old. While in the south coast, he settled in Marin County California. This is where his career transformed from acting to rap as he became a roadie and dancer for Digital Underground rap group. Since then, he became popular to rap music featuring in the group’s albums such as son of the P and the EP which were released in 1991 and 1990 respectively. As an underground artist, he signed Interscope music productions and released an album 2pacalpse in 1992. The album became famous for its message on racial strength. He then ended his acting career with the film Gang related posing as a sidekick to James Belushi. At this point, his main focus shifted from movies to music.

What Constitutes Coercion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

What Constitutes Coercion - Essay Example Legally in the law, coercion is a duress crime. This action is used to force the victim as leverage to act in a desired manner. Coercion involves actual psychological harm, physical injury or pain infliction in order to promote the credibility of threats. This threat of continuous harm may result in the person being coerced to cooperate and remain obedient. Coercion becomes torture when it is extremely applied, for instance, infliction of severe pain in a person until the desired response is got from the victim. Â  Coercion involves various levels. The strongest form of coercion entails killing a victim. Another level of coercion is threatening to take the life of a person unless the person remains obedient. Threats of robbing, beating, or incarcerate makes another level of coercion. Some of the strong forms of coercion include the threat of force, force or even deadly force on people. Government law enforcing agencies such as police operates with various levels of coercion. For instance, threatening to apply force to a criminal in order to get a confession is police work, but actual torture is police misconduct. As a police force, criminals may be compelled to give a testimony and in the process, some threat of force may be used. This remains police work as long as the deadly force is not applied to the victim. Any subsequent torture or force on the victim who has already confessed or not is considered police misconduct. In cases where police successfully retrieve information from a crimi nal by use of force or intimidation, then we can proudly say, the means justifies the end. At that level, coercion is acceptable especially if the case was a matter of national security. However, the level of the acceptable coercion needs to be measured in terms of seriousness to avoid cases where a victim ends up dead in the process of interrogation by a law enforcement agency.

Regarding Facts as Truth

Regarding Facts as Truth In order to address the specific question, first, the word fact needs to be defined. Often associated with information and knowledge, a fact is a truth that has been verified and is supported by objective evidence. This being said, facts are limited by the scope of human ability and reality. Therefore, factual disputes can occur and will examined within the areas of knowledge of art and history. Regarding facts as a truth, individuals can mention the theory of relativism which states that there is no absolute truth, so truth is considered relative to culture or the individual; essentially, what is considered true for some, is considered false for others. Therefore, relativism allows both views to be valid. On the other hand, some can argue that truth is considered what an individual believes to be true. It is the use of our judgement, which stems from reason, that ultimately allows us to reach a conclusion. Therefore, facts as an aspect of truth can be subject to disputes; even if the facts are clear, judgements may differ based on reason, emotion, sense perception, and language. This leads to the knowledge question, to what extent is reason reliable in obtaining knowledge in history? History is the study of present evidence of the past. Using primary or secondary sources, historians try to understand the past using these records. In history class, different historians perspectives are examined on one specific event. For example, regarding German foreign policy, intentionalist historian Hugh Trevor- Roper stated Hitler was a man of ideas that had clear strategic objectives in foreign policy and war. On the other hand, structuralist AJP Taylor argued Hitlers foreign policies were essentially a continuation of imperial German motives and aimed to overturn the terms of the Versailles Treaty. These two historians can have differing views since they use reason to reach a different conclusion. Therefore, it is the methodology of history as an area of knowledge which requires the use of reason by which individuals not only analyze and construct their own ideas, but also, in which people can collectively create meaning by exchanging and improving these ideas. It is through reason that the legitimacy of knowledge claims can be questioned and answered. When disagreements occur, not only do the facts and subject of the matter need to be questioned, the evidence which allow facts to be accepted or valid need to be questioned. As individuals seek to determine the validity of facts, other issues will arise, such as reliability, and will allow them to consider the purpose of analysis in the framework of history and the issue of truth defined in the context of history. The interpretations and perspectives of individuals based on their process of reason will invite analysis. In one case, Historian R.G Collingwood (1889-1943) drew attention to the importance of going beyond the study of the actual historical event and understanding the motives and reasons behind those involved to understand the event as a whole.[1] This involves using emotion, imagination, and reason in order to evaluate the actions and thought process behind an event. However, if may difficult to sympathize with certain events or historical figures like Hitler, Pol Pot, etc.; this may cause an overload of emotion and instead cause social bias. Poor ability to reason can cause ignorance and prejudice, which in certain cases in the methodology of history, can be a limitation. A counterclaim to this is that reason is limited to the human ability and therefore, there may be certain things we, as humans, do not have the capacity to comprehend. Another way of knowing that comes into mind when mentioning reason, is language. So, to what extent do reason and language work together to achieve certainty in history? As the framework of history depends on language and the communication of information, we need to understand the meaning of language before truth can be analyzed. In history class, our class held a discussion in which we discussed the demands of the French revolutionaries which were satisfied by 1794. Depending on how the word, demand, was interpreted, students came up with different responses. For example, I interpreted the word demand as the social, intellectual, economic, and religious goals of the revolutionaries. Therefore, different people reason the meaning of language differently which can cause disagreement despite access to the same facts. However, it is important to keep in mind that there are aspects of truth that cannot be described adequately with language. Moving on to the second area of knowledge, art, is focused on sense perception and emotion. We can call something art because the intentions of the artist are known; something is a work of art if the maker intended it to evoke an aesthetic response. We can call something art as the intentions of the artist are known and was intended to evoke some sort of response. Another individual can call something art by assessing the quality of the work. According to the methodology of art, art relies upon the personal knowledge of the artist and is meant to interact with the audience on an emotional level. Therefore, art and the response to art may change over time and differ between individuals because art relies on sense perception and emotion as ways of knowing. Therefore, it is accepted that there are certain standards to judge art by, but different people have different tastes based on their perceptions and emotions towards a specific piece of art. This leads to the knowledge question, to what extent are sense perception and emotion reliable in interpreting reality in the arts? Upon viewing Jackson Pollocks Convergence painting, I personally thought the painting looked like a child could have painted it, but my sister loved the painting. For both my sister and I, we first used our sense perception and based on these senses, we constructed a basic understanding and meaning of what we were seeing. This was affected by the emotions that were sparked from what we sensed. EssentiallyÂÂ ¸ we were using our perception and emotion to understand what we were sensing. From this basic understanding, we built on it by drawing on past experiences or encounters. Therefore, based on these aspects, it is possible that my sister and I could reach different conclusions on how this piece of art was viewed. In this way, depending on the response evoked by each individual, art can influence our views and perceptions of the world. This can lead to confirmation bias and willful ignorance as we tend to favour the interpretation that coincides with our own interests and experiences. However, the emotions that are provoked can influence decisions and actions and it may challenge us to question our assumptions. A counterclaim is that despite the different perspectives and emotions that are evoked, truth is not guaranteed. Despite the interpretations and the response of the individual, the certainty of truth is not whole. Therefore, it is possible that experts within a discipline can disagree despite having access to the same facts as seen in history and the arts. These facts are reliant upon reason, sense perception, emotion, and language. I view disagreements similarly to perspectives; according to the cubist theory of truth, the more perspectives you have, the closer you are to the truth. Even though truth can vary with perspective, this does not mean there is no truth at all. In fact, different views can enrich our understanding of the truth and different interpretations give meaning to the facts. Furthermore, this allows us to avoid the error of dogmatism, mistaking a half- truth for the truth, as well as the error of relativism. [1] Boucher, D., 1989, The Social and Political Thought of R. G. Collingwood, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The three degres of Subject Matter :: Essays Papers

The three degres of Subject Matter There are "Three Degrees of Subject Matter," known as representational, abstract, and nonrepresentational. Every piece of art can be classified into one of these. It might be a good idea when referring to a particular painting to state it's Degree of Subject Matter (Johnson). Representational or Naturalistic images in art look much like real images in the world (Gilbert 28). It is similar to a photograph (Johnson). Some artists use images refered to as illusionistic, meaning the images are so natural they trick you into believing they are real. When the eye is being fooled into thinking there are 3 dimensions in a work that is flat, it is refered to as trompe-l'oeil (Gilbert 28). At the following website you can view his infamous picture of Olga Picasso, along with many more pieces of Picasso's work, such as Portrait de Dora Maar, which I found to be very unique, also giving a tour of the many masterpieces he created: http://www.musexpo.com/english/picasso/picass2.html This site led me to some outstanding photographs of Representational Art, that could also be interpreted as naturalistic and some of her paintings could be interperted as illusionistic. http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/9978/ Abstract art is when the art has a reference to the natural world but does not try to duplicate it exactly (Gilbert 30). The degree is which it is distorted can range from very slight where you can barely tell it is distorted, to very great where you can barely tell what it is (Johnson). Even if the colors are not true to real life it is abstract (Johnson). Stylized is a term close to abstract. It is stylized if it has features of a natural form that are in some way exaggerated (Gilbert 30). Willem de Kooning often used figural images in his paintings, especially in hi famous "Women" series (Gilbert 483) The following site will demonstrate many of his "women" paintings, along with many of his other works. Koonings paintings are cleary abstract, showing his conscious and unconscious feelings about women (Gilbert 483). Abstract Expressionists sought to express their subconscious through their art. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/de_kooning_ext.html Nonrepresentational art has no reference to the natural world of images (Gilbert 31). The art work shows no presence of people, places, or things, but shapes and sometimes colors. This type of art goes beyond the known forms and reaches our human emotions and sense's directly (Gilbert 31). They are expressions of the artists who made them (Gilbert 31) Nonrepresentational art, also known as nonobjective art, does not stem from anything real (Johnson).

Discuss the importance of children making choices Essay

Issues that could be considered might be that the children are young and can’t make up their mind enough, even though it’s good to let children make choices the adults are to support the child helping and reassuring the child. Some children are more confident playing in a set activity; any child who is not as confident has to be helped and giving motivation to help their development. â€Å"Children like to feel the same as others; living with a medical condition may make a child feel different† Tassoni p, (2007) childcare and education 3rd edition page 60. When giving children the opportunities to make choices you make them feel in control and help to build up their self-esteem, children need to make choices to develop their understanding of the world and know how to handle their self, not encouraging them to make choices might lead them to misbehave or rebel. Choices enhance their imagination; play can consist of amusing or imaginative activity for independent play or with others. The rites of play are evident throughout nature; it helps in their social development. In a classroom it’s important for the children to choose what activities they would like to do, according to Piaget’s constructivist principles if they can make their own decision they will be self-motivated and they will not feel the need to break rules behind the teachers back. â€Å"Play often entertains props, tools, animals, or toys in the context of learning and recreation. Some play has clearly defined goals and when structured with rules is called a game. Whereas, some play exhibits no such goals, nor rules and is considered to be â€Å"unstructured† in the literature. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Play_(activity) A1 – Describe how practitioners can encourage children to direct their own play. â€Å"For play to be empowering children must be allowed to take control of their own play rather than follow what adults want them to do† Tassoni p, (2007) childcare and education 3rd edition pg. 318 Practitioners would have to provide activities that would encourage children to play independently, letting the children choose what activates and equipment they want to use can help. When the children are playing on equipment a practitioner could ask the child â€Å"how are you supposed to use it† this will make the child show you, it’s good for a quieter child, encouraging them to take part in the play. When laying out activities or equipment it’s important that you are aware of spaces around, the children will not be encourage to play when an activity is not appealing to them. Make sure that there is enough room for the children to play around it. When choosing the equipment get the children involved let them choose what they would like to play. A practitioner should intervene when the children are choosing numerous activities let one child at a time get a say then the practitioner can make the final decision making sure you explain to other children why they could not have done that activity then. Creative play D1 – describe the activity You will need; 2 medium sized containers 2 different coloured paints Paint brushes (different sizes) Pasta (different shapes) Different colour sting Scissors Coloured paper Beads Glue Pour the pasta into the separate containers. Allow the children to paint the pasta. Use the different colour paint for each container. When they have finished painting, leave the pasta to dry. When they have dried the children can choose whether to make jewellery or use the pasta to decorate their drawings. D2 – what is the purpose or aim of the activity? Include the age of the children. This activity is for children aged 3 or 4. It will help to develop their hand and eye co – ordination skills, whilst making their jewellery, threading the string through the pasta. It helps develop their fine motor skills. It helps with their social development because they are working with other children and learning how to take turns. â€Å"Children need to feel secure, valued and loved without this emotional support; they find it hard to show co – operative behaviour. Attention seeking behaviour can be assign that a child needs more support† Tassoni p, (2007) childcare education 3rd edition page 44 This activity will also support their language and communication skills because they are talking to other children, telling each other what they’re making and who they’re doing it for. D3 – describe how the activity is set up to promote the children the children’s interest. Get the children’s attention firstly and tell them to come and help you set up the activity. When you’re choosing the paint ask the children what colours they want to use. Choose a child to pour the pasta into the containers, give all the children paint brushes to paint the pasta, supervise them to make sure they are all playing together and encourage all the children to take part in the activity. Once all the pasta has been painted take the trays and put them away to dry, explaining to them the next step of the activity. When the pasta has dried put them onto a table, (still in the containers) get out any beads that may be around and ask the children† who wants to make a necklace or bracelet†. You give the children the choice of what they want to make, while they are doing so interact with them, ask them questions about what they are making, keeping an eye out for the children that are struggling. â€Å"Play may also serve as a pretext, allowing people to explore reactions of others by engaging in playful interaction. † http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Play_(activity) D4 – health and safety considerations Consider any skin allergies of the children. They may not be able to use the paint. Make sure the children are supervised at all times when making the jewellery because the small beads are choking hazards. D5 – the adult’s role in stimulating play in this activity. During this activity the practitioner will play the role of the facilitator. The practitioner will be talking to the children asking them questions; â€Å"what are you making†, â€Å"who are you making it for† and helping the children if they need it. He/she will try and encourage the children who are having trouble and motivating them giving each child praise and acknowledging their efforts. D6 – explain how this activity provided for children’s choices This activity allows the children to make choices and be independent with their play when they’re making their jewellery they can choose whether to make a necklace or a bracelet and they will be able to choose what colour string they would like to use. They can also choose what shape pasta there are. C1 – description of a resource that supports spontaneity and choice The beads support the children’s element of choice because there are different beads of shapes and size a colour; it supports their spontaneity because each child’s jewellery will be different and unique. D7 – how does this activity meet the individual needs of the children? This activity can be for all children. Children with allergies may not be able to do the painting part of the activity. Children with learning needs can take part with the help and supervision of an adult because they might not fully understand what to do so the adult can support and encourage them. B1 – explain how the activity can be extended to meet individual play needs. To extend this activity you could use the pasta for different things. Getting a box and gluing the pasta onto it. Making pictures with the pasta. The children could use the left over pasta as food in a food tray. This activity is suitable for a child with learning needs because it’s supervised by an adult, the child will get help.

Crisis in Movies Assignment Essay

1. Identify precipitating event(s). (10 pts.) The movie I chose to watch is Courageous. The precipitating event in this movie is the car accident that takes the life of Emily Mitchell. Her father, Adam Mitchell, and the rest of her family are traumatized by the sudden death of their 9 year old daughter/sister. In thinking about information that would be gained in the first contact with Adam Mitchell, one thing that stands out about his previous state of mind/functioning is that he was somewhat uninvolved with his children, taking them for granted. This fact can also be a trigger for how he processes this event, causing a crisis for him as he realized his young daughter is now gone. In another scene, Emily’s brother, Dylan Mitchell, shares that he feels guilty that he wasn’t a better brother. Both of these relational states prior to Emily’s death can be a precipitating factor in how they process this trauma – influencing whether they get stuck in crisis of guilt, depression over lost time, etc. or whet her they see this as an opportunity for change in the way they handle relationships from now on. 2. Identify the type of crisis (Situational, Developmental, Existential). (10 pts.) This crisis is a situational crisis, in that it is brought about by the sudden death of Emily. However, it can also produce developmental and existential crises in the lives of this family, as they process their loss. A traumatic event is known to potentially create problems in the future development of the individual or family, and it is certainly known to create existential crises, as the individual’s core beliefs about self, others, and the world are extremely challenged during crisis. Beliefs about meaning, purpose, and the existence of God are often questioned after major tragedy. 3. Identify the material, personal, and social resources available to the individual. (10 pts.) The material resources available to this family were that they were a middle class family, with a stable home, and no financial worries that were evident to complicate their loss. The personal resources of the family were that they seemed to be a fairly strong, intact family prior to the crisis. They were clearly a family of great faith in God, and this personal resource literally becomes what carries them through the crisis. As a result of their involvement in church and community, they had the social support of their friends/church members in the early days following the loss. Adam Mitchell also has the ongoing counsel of his pastor, who walks through the process with him, comforting him yet challenging him to grow and not get stuck. 4. What were the differing perceptions of the crisis? (the client, family, community, friends, legal perspectives) (10 pts.) The perspectives within the family are the most obvious. Adam led his family to accept the tragedy as God’s will for their lives and to trust Him with their pain and healing. He seemed to grieve for a while and then dive right in to trying to be a better dad. The mother is shown grieving, and then l ater supporting him as he sought to change his parenting; therefore, her perception seemed to be a fairly healthy one. The brother, Dylan, did not seem to do as well at first. He isolated for a while, but the reason came out one night at the dinner table when he cried, saying he should have been a better brother. The guilt had obviously been causing him to withdraw, but when he finally talked about his real feelings, he is seen making improvements. 5. Briefly, how was the crisis handled by the protagonist? (10 pts.) The protagonist in this movie was Adam Mitchell, the father of Emily who died in the car crash. Adam handled this crisis very well, as it became a catalyst for growth for him. In one session, he is talking with his pastor after a few scenes that have shown him grieving, his wife grieving, and his son beginning to isolate from the family. It is at this time that Adam has a choice in how he handles his opportunity to move forward or stay stuck. He tells his pastor that he does not want to get stuck and bitter, that he wants to heal and he wants his family to heal. It is at this point in the movie that Adam begins to pour himself into studying what God’s word has to say about being a father. After discovering that he was only doing a small portion of what God required of him as a dad, he makes a resolution to change that. Indeed, he does so and brings several other men along with him as well. By choosing to grieve in a healthy way, Adam allowed his crisis to make him a better father and to develop his relationship with his wife and son to a stronger place than it had been even before his daughter’s death. 6. Suggest several steps for your client that could be used to handle the crisis. (10 pts.) Since this crisis did not put Adam, or anyone else in his family, in direct danger, I would take on the role of a facilitator. As a facilitator, I would collaborate with Adam to set some goals for himself. An important thing to remember would be to help him survive and rebuild. This ultimate goal can be accomplished through smaller goals that center on bridging the past, accepting and living with the present, and finding a new path for the future. Practical steps for Adam in processing his loss would be to suggest that he remain connected to his support system, gently guide him to face his pain versus repress it, and have him identify secondary losses and unfinished business due to his daughter’s death. One poignant example of resolving unfinished business in the movie is when Adam goes and pretends to dance with his daughter in the place where he had rejected her invitation a few days before she died. While we can’t always recover secondary losses, we can allow the secondary losses to teach us about how to handle relationships differently in the future. This information can be used in finding a new path. Lastly, if my client was a Christian and I could talk openly about God, I would help to reframe their understanding based on a biblical perception of how God promises to use crises for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Lastly, considering that this was a sudden and traumatic death, I would likely suggest a grief support group for the family. 7. Suggest steps for teaching coping skills and developing resiliency (preventing the crisis from reoccurring). (10 pts.) It’s hard to keep a death from reoccurring, but a client can be strengthened so that they do not move into active crisis each time they fear a new loss. In the case of sudden death of a loved one, a sense of fear over a new loss can almost cripple a client. I have had personal experience with this myself after losing my son in a drowning accident. Therefore, I would immediately want to help the client frame healthy perceptions about the event so that fear patterns do not get locked into the brain. Therefore, when it comes to re-traumatization after an initial trauma, early intervention is critical. Crisis debriefing can help to prevent trauma loops from being formed in the brain, which would contribute to possible crisis reoccurrence. As far as resiliency is concerned, I would suggest that the client remain connected to social support and remain connected to God. Trusting Him in crisis can help tremendously toward a healthy outcome. 8. What referral sources would be available to the client if he/she lived in your area? (specific names of organizations in your area to which you might refer your client. You might have to research your area for this.) (10 pts.) Grief Share groups at several churches in the area (i.e. Hebron Baptist), Cornerstone Counseling (provides trauma recovery services), Paraclete Counseling Center, Robbie Sherrill, LCC 9. Discuss a Biblical worldview or principal related to the crisis. (10 pts.) Anytime there is a tragedy or loss, one might be tempted to question the goodness of God, or even the reality of God. However, God is in control and never surprised by tragedy. A good principle to remember when God does allow suffering is to trust that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Also, Scripture makes it clear that God uses suffering to refine us. Therefore, processing tragedy by asking â€Å"what can I learn from this† is healthier and more biblical than seeking to know why. God knows the end from the beginning, and even though we may not know why while on earth, we can know the peace that comes from trusting Him to bring good from our suffering.