Art Making Process Essay Example for Free

Art Making Process Essay The teaching of artmaking process is one in which there appear to be no right answers as it is frequently related to the teachers own understanding of the material at hand. (Schon, 1996). As art making is an open ended process there are a number of difficulties posed in instruction. One option is to engage art students in the process in a highly conscious and reflective manner. This was the mode in which the author conducted a 10 week course on the subject designed after intimately observing how contemporary artists worked. The first step in teaching art is said to be informing and inspiring students with various methods of artistic practice by playing video taped interviews of artists. The understanding of the use of big ideas by artists is one of the most important facets. Exploration of the big idea provides clarity of concept and insight into the artmaking process which is understood only through reflective practice. Maintaining documentation is also important. This provided students new perspectives in art making as they indulged in reviewing the big idea with personal relevance over a period of many weeks. Identification of the correct big idea is also linked to problems faced by artists in artmaking. Problems can be overcome with proper identification of the big idea and pursuing it with an open mind without an early closure. The delay in closure occurs when the artist discuses the concept repeatedly with himself thereby providing him better insight and enhancing creativity. Thus it is the understanding of the big idea, main concepts, the base and boundaries of knowledge which enable an artist to communicate his ideas most effectively to his audience. While artmaking cannot be taught in the form of a formula of success, the instructions provided in a generalized manner provide for developing the students creativity as well as art practice as was seen in the ten week artmaking project detailed in the article. Reference: 1. Schon, D. A. (1996). In D. OReilly, (Ed. ), Learning through reflection on conversations. In conversation with Donald Schon, Capability, the HEC Journal, vol. 2 (2). Accessed on 10 December 2006 at http://www. lle. mdx. ac. uk/hec/journal/ 2-2/l-2. htm, l-10.

vehicle names :: essays research papers

What Car Names Really Mean   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ACURA -Another Crummy, Useless, Rotten Automobile AMC -All Makes Combined AMC -A Major Cost AMC -A Mutated Car AMC -A Morons Car AMC -Another Major Catastrophe AUDI -Accelerates Under Demonic Influence AUDI -All Unsafe Designs Implemented AUDI -Another Ugly Duetsche Invention AUDI -Always Undermining Deutsche Intelligence AUDI -Automobile Unsafe Designs, Inc. BMW -Babbling Mechanical Wench BMW -Beastly Monstrous Wonder BMW -Beautiful Masterpieces on Wheels BMW -Beautiful Mechanical Wonder BMW -Barely Moving Wreck BMW -Big Money Waste BMW -Big Money. Why? BMW -Big Money Works BMW -Born Moderately Wealthy BMW -Breaks Most Wrenches BMW -Bring Many Wrenches BMW -Brings Me Women BMW -Brings More Women BMW -Broken Money Waster BMW -Broke My Wallet BMW -Broken Monstrous Wonder BMW -Brutal Money Waster BMW -Bumbling Mechanical Wretch BMW -Blasphemous Motorized Wreck BUICK -Big Ugly Import Car Killer BUICK -Big Ugly Imitation Chrome King BUICK -Big Ugly Indestructible Car Killer BUICK -Big Ugly Indestructible Compact Killer BUICK -Big Ugly Indestructible Car Killer CADILLAC -Crazy And Demented Idiots Like Large American Cars CADILLAC -Cars Are Driven In Long Lines And Crashed CHEVROLET -Car Has Extensive Valve Rattle, Or Loud Engine Ticks CHEVROLET -Cracked Heads, Every Valve Rattles, Oil Leaks Every Time CHEVROLET -Can Hear Every Valve Rap On Long Extended Trips CHEVROLET -Car Has Extensive Valve Rattle On Long Extended Trips CHEVROLET -Cheap, Hardly Efficient, Virtually Runs On Luck Every Time CHEVROLET -Cheap Heaps Erratically Vibrate Running On Level Even Terrain CHEVROLET -Constantly Having Every Vehicle Recalled Over Lousy Engineering Techniques CHEVROLET -Cracked Heads, Every Valve's Rotten, Oil Leaks Every Time CHEVY -Cheapest Heap Ever Visioned Yet CHEVY -Can Hear Every Valve Yell DODGE -Damn Old Dirty Gas Eater DODGE -Dead Old Dog Going East DODGE -Dead On Day Guarantee Expires DODGE -Dead On Delivery, Go Easy DODGE -Dead On Delivery, Guarantee Expired DODGE -Dead Or Dying Garbage Emitter DODGE -Drips Oil Drops Grease Everywhere DODGE -Driven Only During Grey Evenings EDSEL -Every Day Something Else Leaks FIAT -Failed In A Tunnel FIAT -Fails In Attempted Turns FIAT -Failure In Automotive Technology FIAT -Feeble Italian Attempt at Transportation FIAT -Fits In A Thimble FIAT -Fix It Again Tony FIAT -Flats In All Tires FIAT -Found In A Trench FORD -Fabricated Of Refried Dung FORD -Fails On Rainy Days FORD -Famous Odor Resistant Dog FORD -Falling Off: Rusty Door FORD -Fast Only Rolling Downhill FORD -Fantastically Orgasmic Realistic Dream FORD -Fastest On Road, Dip! FORD -Fatally Obese Redneck Driver FORD -Fault Of R&D FORD -Final Organ of Reproductive Discipline

The main aim of hazard management should be to reduce the effects of hazards, not manage their cause

Hazard management ultimately aims to reduce the risk that a hazard can bring to humans. This can be done through the four steps of modifying the cause, event, vulnerability and loss. I believe that the cause of many natural hazards, such as geophysical and meteorological hazards cannot prevented, thus the management of the cause of a hazard is irrelevant in the management of many hazards. As such, it should be the case that the main aim of hazard management should be to reduce the effects of hazards rather than manage their cause. The issue of reducing the effect of hazards would be discussed in the four parts of the hazard management framework. I agree with the statement to a large extent that hazard management should not be centered on managing the cause. The few ways in which the cause of the hazard can be modified will be discussed. Although the most ideal method would be to prevent the occurrence of the event in the first place, to stop a hazard from occurring entirely is a feat that usually would be only be feasible in terms of small scale, isolated phenomena, taking the example of a flood. Floods are examples of small scale hazards that can be prevented through technological means. Often, levees can be built to prevent a river from overflowing, such as the levees built along the Mississippi River in North America, or the Scheldt River in the Netherlands. Also, dams can be built to retain water in a lake, and can be used to control the water flow, thus preventing rivers from overflowing too quickly. A good example of a dam that has prevented repeated flooding occurrence is the Hoover Dam along the Colorado River. It is recorded that before the building of the dam, there was frequent flooding at the low lying areas of the river during spring. While physical methods can be employed to prevent the occurrence of these isolated hazards like floods and landslides, large scale hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis and wind storms cannot be prevented. As such, modification of the cause is highly limited to a few hazards, thus making it more feasible to consider other approaches in reducing the effects of the majority of hazards which will almost inevitably occur. While technology cannot be used to prevent the causes of all hazards, technology can also be used to modify the event. Earthquakes is a good example of a hazard where the earthquake itself does not usually cause the loss of lives, rather, it is usually its effect on other structures that causes the most destruction, such as the toppling of buildings or causing landslides. As such, a good method of earthquake management would be to equip buildings with the ability to withstand the impact of earthquakes, using various architectural designs. A famous example of an earthquake resistant building is Taipei 101, which foundation is reinforced 80 metres deep into the ground and has a steel ball known as a tuned mass damper which balances the building. During its construction in 2002, Taipei experienced a 6. 8 magnitude earthquake, and yet the skyscraper did not topple and experienced no structural damages. Sometimes, such as in certain Japanese house designs, the houses are not built to withstand earthquakes but such that it moves along with the earthquake, using grooves rather than nails to fit the house together. Furthermore, the light wood has lower probability of killing people if it topples. These different designs show how it is possible to use knowledge of engineering and architecture to reduce the impact of hazards. Modifying vulnerability is another approach to hazard management which aims to increase preparedness of people themselves to tackle the hazard when it occur, including methods such as increasing community preparedness, planning, developing warning systems, and changing perceptions. Community preparedness is essential in all communities where hazard occurrence is frequent, to train and educate people as to how to respond to a hazard and drawing out evacuation plans, and stocking up emergency supplies of food, water and medicine. Also, people can be trained in first aid, search and rescue, and firefighting, etc. In some cases, this is much more feasible than using technology, when the cost is too high. A case study of Norway, where avalanches are frequent, is a good example. Due to the fact that neither relocation nor retrofitting buildings was a feasible option, the most cost effective plan would be to decrease vulnerability. This was done mainly through setting up a warning system, and coming up with a plan to organize an evacuation, by appointing a group of representatives from each community and training the people on how to react. The plan was highly successful, showing the merit in proper planning and preparedness. In many ways the perception and awareness of the community to hazards is very important. Changing the perception of people is also essential in reducing the impacts of hazards, for negative perception by a group of people can ultimately lead many deaths, in cases where communities, especially in LEDCs, are resigned to the fact that nothing can be done to prevent hazard occurrence and that hazards are unavoidable and look upon them as a way of life. Even in MEDCs, perceptions can cause problems. There is a case where, during the evacuation for Hurricane Katrina, some of the elderly did not want evacuate, because of fear of new living conditions, or that they do not want to leave their home. This contributed to the majority of the deaths being the elderly in these events. Thus, changing the perceptions of various peoples in different cultural contexts plays a large role in hazard management, ensuring that the community would want to save themselves in the first place. In all, modifying vulnerability can ultimately lead to people knowing how to react to hazards and thus reduces the negative effects of them. In many cases, managing the cause of natural hazards may bring certain disadvantages, for most natural hazards, while posing a threat to humans, are actually only natural phenomenon, and at times have benefits to us and the environment. A very good example is the case of a flood, where people have tried to create physical barriers to contain the flood water such as levees and dams. While this may be applicable to MEDCs, for many agricultural communities, such an approach is inapplicable, for they depend on the floodplain where there is a high amount of nutrients, deposited by flooding, and supply of water. In these contexts, such as in Bangladesh, where the people depend on these floods, the prevention of the â€Å"hazard† would uproot their way of life. In this way, floods need not always be treated as negative phenomena, causing damage in only certain contexts. In my opinion, modifying the vulnerability, not the cause should be the main aim of hazard management. This holds since there are two factors contributing to risk: hazard and vulnerability. Since eliminating the hazard is totally unfeasible in many large-scale hazards, the best thing to manage should be human vulnerability. Since the main aim should be centered on that can be applicable to all communities, it should be something feasible in contexts where there is lack of economic and technological resources, thus ruling out modifying the event as a potential main aim. As such, hazard management should not be centered on technology, such as the retrofitting of buildings, but rather something like education, which is more cost effective. In all, the main aim should be to increase the resilience of the people themselves to tackle the hazard. For example, in the case of Bangladesh, people adapt to the floods and learn to use it to their own benefit, neither seeing it as a negative phenomenon, nor something they should fear. After changing any negative perceptions of hazards in communities, community preparedness is essential. A bottom up approach equips people with the ability to save their own lives rather than being dependant on others. In fact, it has been shown that this approach works much better than international aid or rescuers from the military. For example, the rescue efforts to the floods in Mozambique in 2001 was a success, not because of anything else, but more of the fact that the people were trained in how to respond, and that there was a clearly drawn out evacuation plan and appointed leaders in the community. Mozambique, though being one of the poorest countries in the world, has managed to increase community preparedness, thus showing how this approach to hazard management, may just be the most universal method of tackling hazards, which works regardless of affluence. In conclusion, it is true that hazard management should be primarily about reacting to the hazards and reducing the damage it brings, rather than trying to prevent it. Still, as technology continues to develop, we cannot eliminate it as an essential part of hazard management, for what may not be possible to prevent now, may be in the future. So, both sides of the equation must be considered to tackle risk effectively, depending on the context.

What Are the Romance Languages

The word romance connotes love and wooing, but when it has a capital R, as in Romance languages, it probably refers to a set of languages based on Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. Latin was the language of the Roman Empire, but the classical Latin that was written by literati like Cicero was not the language of daily life. It was certainly not the language soldiers and traders took with them to the edges of Empire, like Dacia (modern Romania), on the northern and eastern frontier. What Was Vulgar Latin? Romans spoke and wrote graffiti in a less polished language than they used in their literature. Even Cicero wrote plainly in personal correspondence. The simplified Latin language of the common (Roman) people is called Vulgar Latin because Vulgar is an adjectival form of the Latin for the crowd. This makes Vulgar Latin the peoples language. It was this language that the soldiers took with them and that interacted with native languages and the language of later invaders, particularly the Moors and Germanic invasions, to produce the Romance languages throughout the area that had once been the Roman Empire. Fabulare Romanice By the 6th century, to speak in the Latin-derived language was to fabulare romanice, according to Milton Mariano Azevedo (from the Spanish and Portuguese Department at the University of California at Berkeley). Romanice was an adverb suggesting in the Roman manner that was shortened to romance; whence, Romance languages. Simplifications of Latin Some of the general changes to Latin were the loss of terminal consonants, diphthongs tended to be reduced to simple vowels, the distinctions between long and short versions of the same vowels were losing significance, and, together with the decline in terminal consonants that provided case endings, led to a loss of inflection. The Romance languages, therefore, needed another way to show the roles of words in sentences, so the relaxed word order of Latin was replaced with a fairly fixed order. Romanian: One of the changes to Vulgar Latin made in Romania was that an unstressed o became u, so you may see Rumania (the country) and Rumanian (the language), instead of Romania and Romanian. (Moldova-)Romania is the only country in the Eastern European area that speaks a Romance language. At the time of the Romans, the Dacians may have spoken a Thracian language. The Romans fought the Dacians during the reigns of Trajan who defeated their king, Decebalus. Men from the Roman Province of Dacia became Roman soldiers who learned the language of their commanders⠁  Ã¢â‚¬â€Latin⠁  Ã¢â‚¬â€and brought it home with them when they settled in Dacia upon retirement. Missionaries also brought Latin to Romania. Later influences on Romanian came from Slavic immigrants.Italian: Italian emerged from further simplification of Vulgar Latin in the Italic peninsula. The language is also spoken in San Marino as the official language, and in Switzerland, as one of the official languages. In the 12th to 13th century, the vernacular spoken in Tuscany (formerly the area of the Etruscans) became the standard written language, now known as Italian. A spoken language based on the written version became standard in Italy in the 19th century.Portuguese: The language of the Romans practically wiped out the earlier language of the Iberian peninsula when the Romans conquered the area in the third century B.C.E. Latin was a prestige language, so it was in the interest of the population of the Roman province of Lusitania to learn it. Over time the language spoken on the west coast of the peninsula came to be Galician-Portuguese, but when Galicia became part of Spain, the two language groups split.Galician: The area of Galicia was inhabited by Celts when the Romans conquered the area and made it a Roman province also known as Gallaecia, so the native Celtic language mixed with Vulgar Latin from the second century B.C.E. Germanic invaders also had an impact on the language.Spanish (Casti lian): The Vulgar Latin in Spain from the third century B.C.E. was simplified in various ways, including the reduction of cases to just the subject and object. In 711, Arabic came to Spain, whose latin term was Hispania, via the Moors. As a result, there are Arabic borrowings in the modern language. Castilian Spanish comes from the ninth century when Basques influenced the speech. Steps towards its standardization took place in the 13th century, and it became the official language in the 15th century. An archaic form called Ladino was preserved among Jewish populations forced to leave in the 15th century.Catalan: Catalan is spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, Andorra, the Balearic Isles, and other small regions. The area of Catalonia, known approximately as Hispania Citerior, spoke Vulgar Latin but was influenced heavily by the southern Gauls in the eighth century,  becoming a distinct language by the 10th century.French: French is spoken in France, Switzerland, and Belgium, in Europe. The Romans in the Gallic Wars, under Julius Caesar, brought Latin to Gaul in the first century B.C.E. At the time they were speaking a Celtic language known as Gaulish the Roman Province, Gallia Transalpina. Germanic Franks invaded in the early fifth century C.E. By the time of Charlemagne (742 to 814 C.E.), the language of the French was already sufficiently removed from Vulgar Latin to be called Old French. Todays Romance Languages and Locations Linguists may prefer a list of the Romance languages with more detail and more thoroughness. This comprehensive list gathers the the names, geographic divisions, and national locations of major divisions of some modern Romance languages around the world. Certain romance languages are dead or dying. Eastern Aromanian (Greece)Romanian (Romania)Romanian, Istro (Croatia)Romanian, Megleno (Greece) Italo-Western Italo-DalmatianIstriot (Croatia)Italian (Italy)Judeo-Italian (Italy)Napoletano-Calabrese (Italy)Sicilian (Italy)WesternGallo-IberianGallo-RomanceGallo-ItalianEmiliano-Romagnolo (Italy)Ligurian (Italy)Lombard (Italy)Piemontese (Italy)Venetian (Italy)Gallo-RhaetianOilFrenchSoutheasternFrance-ProvencalRhaetianFriulian (Italy)Ladin (Italy)Romansch (Switzerland)Ibero-RomanceEast IberianCatalan-Valencian Balear (Spain)OcOccitan (France)Shuadit (France)West IberianAustro-LeoneseAsturian (Spain)Mirandese (Portugal)CastilianExtremaduran (Spain)Ladino (Israel)SpanishPortuguese-GalicianFala (Spain)Galician (Spain)PortuguesePyrenean-MozarabicPyrenean Southern CorsicanCorsican (France)SardinianSardinian, Campidanese (Italy)Sardinian, Gallurese (Italy)Sardinian, Logudorese (Italy)Sardinian, Sassarese (Italy) Resources and Further Reading Azevedo, Milton M. Portuguese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University, 2005.Lewis, M. Paul, editor. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 16th ed., SIL International, 2009.Ostler, Nicholas. Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin. HarperCollins, 2007.