A Defense of Whitman :: Biography Biographies Essays

A Defense of Whitman  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   Whether they have loved or loathed his poetry, each writer or critic who has encountered "Leaves of Grass" has had to come to some sort of reckoning with Walt Whitman. The Good Gray Poet, the grandfather of American poetry, has been deified by some and labeled a cultural and artistic barbarian by others. While Whitman freely admitted in his preface to the final publication of "Leaves of Grass" that the work was faulty and far from perfect, some critics see no redeeming qualities in Whitman's art. Henry James goes so far as to say, "Whitman's verse...is an offense to art." (James, p.16) James chastises Whitman for extolling and exploiting what James feels are truisms. To James, Whitman's poetry is completely self-aggrandizing; it lacks substance and coherence. Through an examination of a specific poem, "The Wound Dresser", the claims of James and other negative critics can be refuted.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      The broadest and most general critiques can be dismissed most readily. Henry James accuses Whitman of refusing to deal with challenging moral questions in his poetry. Whitman speaks of the evils of war, suffering, and senseless death in graphic detail in "The Wound Dresser", but to James these evils are obvious targets for lesser poets.    "A great deal of verse that is nothing but words has, during the war, been sympathetically sighed over and cut out of newspaper corners because it possessed a certain simple melody." (James, p.16)       James denies Whitman's poetry even a simple melody. Whitman is more an emotional opportunist than a poet. James even claims that Whitman's primary goal is the glorification of the Union army. The poem in question, however, hints at a different conclusion. "(was one side so brave? The other side was equally brave)" (Whitman, p.249). In dealing with supposed truisms Whitman's poem begins to ask the question: if the inherent evils of war, suffering, and senseless death are indeed so painfully obvious to you, Henry James, and your world, why are they supported with such fervor? Why in fact do they exist at all? Whitman happens to write from a sincere moral minority of which Henry James is a part. Thus to label Whitman altruistic is to label James as well.    John Jay Chapman levels the most absurd attack on Whitman:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   "The man [Whitman] knew the world merely as an outside observer, he was never a living part of it, and no mere observer can understand the life about him.

A research proposal

Children always gesture while explaining what they have to answer, narrate or describe. Almost all the studies, which have been made on children gesture, concluded saying gesture is a vehicle through which children express their knowledge.When children are asked explain a concept they are acquiring, they will always gesture discordant, which means conveying one message in speech and another in gesture. These children are shown to be in a transitional state in the sense that they are particularly receptive to instruction- in fact, more receptive to instructions than the children who convey the same procedure in speech and gesture (1993).Although it is important to be able to describe the learner’s state before and after the task has been mastered, characterizing the process that bridges these two states is the key to understanding learning. Unfortunately, in many studies of learning in both adults and children, performance, procedures, and mental representation are described be fore and after learning.While little attention is paid to the transition between these states (1989). One potential source of information about unverbalized mental processes is the spontaneous gestures that accompany speech.Studies have also shown that child’s gestures can be used to predict child’s performance on a learning task. When a child produces gesture – speech mismatch on a given problem, that child by definition conveys deferent information in gesture and speech.Surprisingly the information child expresses in gesture in such mistakes is typically not ever conveyed in speech during that assessment period, even across a series of test problems(1995). This finding suggested that the child who produces mismatches posses at least some knowledge that he or she cannot verbalize but can only express it in gesture, that is, knowledge that is uniquely expressed in gesture.The studies concluded this assumption saying this concept necessarily rest on the assumptio n that the child’s gestures are an accurate reflection of what the child knows (1998). If the gestures are the accurate expression what the child knows the gestures will have a great deal to do with the source of the knowledge the children have. Studies have not discussed much about the source of knowledge child has really influencing the gestures the child make.Indeed, all of the gesture – speech mismatch studies reported have been based on the assumption that gesture is a vehicle through which children can express meaning. And the fact that these studies have yielded coherent results provides indirect evidence for this assumption (1998).The studies also undoubtedly state that gesture has the potential to offer a unique source of insight into the mind of a child. This proposed study is to seek empirical evidence to make sure that the source of knowledge a child has would always have an influence on the gestures the child make while expressing that knowledge. It is bec ause, one must assume that if gesture is the vehicle through which children can express meaning, gesture is the vehicle through which adults can transport knowledge to the children for comprehension.The speech – gesture mismatch children would make in the expression can be caused from the variations the child observes in the adults expressions. These variations in the adults gestures also cause the difference in the duration of this transition period. Children pay attention to information conveyed in gesture, the y learn from it. Children instructed in mathematics equivalent problems (e.g., 3 + 4 + 5 = _ + 5) are more likely to learn when the instruction includes speech and gesture than it includes only speech (2005).This experience beyond doubt proves that children pay attention to the gestures the see and grasp information from them. Gestures have an indexical function. This indexical function of the gestures is what particularly enabling the children to benefit from the ge stures and comprehend more. There can be deference in this indexical actions in gestures of different people in deferent cultures and different climatically and social conditions. Gesture thus serves the purpose of visual in a learning process.This study here experiment that Conditions under which indexical gestures convey lessons to the children by the adults has anything to do with the speech – gesture mismatch children produce in their expressions.   Participating in an interactive section the enhancement of comprehension is vital. Enhancing the comprehension will mean the duration of above said transition will be reduced. Helping children to be effective communicators.It will definitely be possible when the studies on the obvious reasons for the speech – gesture mismatch are dealt with. In order to make this study work the experiment should include narrations and description of intangible object with gestures.And concrete things and theories also can be framed to experimental questions. All three of this categories in two sets, one with gestures seek comprehension and answers from children of two age groups,   while other seek comprehension and answers from children of two age groups of the same participants, without gestures.

Profile of the Aryan Warriors Prison Gang

The Aryan Warriors is a criminal gang that operates inside the Nevada prison system and in certain communities in Nevada. They offer protection to white inmates if they join the gang. History The Aryan Warriors began in 1973 in the Nevada State prison system. The gang, designed after the California gang the Aryan Brotherhood, claimed to be intended to protect whites against attacks from black prisoners. After seeking a charter membership from the AB and being turned down, the AW gang was on its own. About a year into its creation the gang, who up to now was unable to organize, was taken over by an older inmate doing a life sentence named The Pope. Familiar with the way the AB gang worked, The Pope began to organize and structure the Aryan Warriors. He established rules for all gang members to follow and a hierarchy of leadership. Building up the physical strength of the AW became a priority. Focusing on its enemy, primarily black inmates, became its target. Building the gangs reputation for violence and selecting future members based on their strength and violent backgrounds became its mission. Gang Structure The Pope designed a structure of leadership for all to follow. To this day members adhere to a written manifesto which establishes positions or ranks within the gang, such as horn holders (leaders), bolt holders (full members), prospects (potential members), and associates (non-members who are affiliated with the organization.) In order to become a full member, a prospect is required to perform a violent act as dictated by the horn blowers. Once they do it they become bolt holders and are tattooed (or branded) with lightning bolts on the inside of their left biceps. To rise to the next level, horn holders, they must perform a more serious violent act, which often includes murder. Once completed they are given a tattoo with a Viking helmet with the letters AW, which is put on their left upper chest. Horn-blowers, under the direction of the top leader, are in charge of running all gang activities. Black Gangs Rise to the Threat Not willing to succumb to the Aryan Warriors, the black inmates organized the Black Warriors and duplicated much of the AW symbols, like the helmet with a horn. Power struggles began to go on in the prison yard, a place the black inmates had long controlled and a war between the two gangs became imminent. The Aryan Warriors Prepare for War The Aryan Warriors had been manufacturing weapons inside prison and with the impending war with the Black Warriors close at hand, production sped up. They also met with Native American inmates who had also been in conflict with the BWs, and the two groups made a pact to fight on the same side to bring down the BWs. The showdown occurred in the prison cafeteria and the blacks, many unarmed and taken by surprise by the AWs and Native attackers, lost the battle. The whites and the Natives now had full control of the prison yard. The Thirst for More Power Now in control, the Aryan Warriors sought more power and began going after those who they were supposed to be protecting - white inmates. Intimidation and threats were used to extort money from white inmates and their families. Those who refused would be beaten and sold as prison yard prostitutes. Instead of focusing on protection, the AW was now focused on drug distribution, extortion, and weaponry. Aryan Warriors or Aryan Witnesses? On November 5, 1980, a group of AWs murdered an inmate, Danny Lee Jackson, who they suspected to be a snitch. They then bragged about it in the prison yard. The murder and the boasting turned out to be a fatal mistake for the gang. Robert Manly was a young prison deputy with an eye on the future. His door to the future opened when given the responsibility to find out who murdered the inmate. The AW, who had spent years extorting inmates, had many enemies willing to talk to Manly. This gave the deputy enough information to corner AW gang members, many of who rolled over and became state witnesses. In return, several received early releases. No longer having any hope of charter membership into the AB and with many of its members gone, the AW had lost most of its power. Its leader, The Pope, died in 1997, which proved to devastate the gangs power even more. Aryan Warriors Today Prison officials say that today the AW, now numbering about 100 members, still asserts control over other prisoners by using violence, including murder and attempted murder, assaults and extortion. They also corrupt guards, extort money and favors from prisoners and their families, distribute illegal drugs, and run extensive illegal gambling operations. The Aryan Warriors also operate a street program in Las Vegas, Reno, and Pahrump, in which members, associates, and girlfriends distribute drugs, steal or fraudulently obtain identification and credit cards, commit other crimes, and smuggle drugs into the prisons. Members use the money earned in the street program to support other criminal activities of the gang and to financially support incarcerated Aryan Warrior leaders. On July 10, 2007, 14 Aryan Warrior gang members were indicted and charged with murder, attempted murder, extortion, operating an illegal gambling business, identity theft and fraud, and drug trafficking. Michael Kennedy, an admitted leader of the Aryan Warriors pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in a related case. Seven of the 14 pleaded guilty to various charges and on July 9, 2009, five were found guilty. With the leader and other top gang members out of commission the future of the Aryan Warriors is questionable, however, some prison officials feel that this type of attention could actually strengthen the AW with other members moving into the now-vacant positions of leadership. Source: Criminal Intelligence Bureau