“Piano and Drums” poem by Gabriel Okara Essay

Commentary – Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara In Gabriel Okara’s poem, â€Å"Piano and Drums†, Okara expresses his feelings and thoughts of a primitive society in contrast to a western society. Being an African himself, and having studied in a western society, the poem reflects the confusion in his emotions as well as the loss of self-identity. The title of the poem itself, â€Å"Piano and Drums† displays a sense of dissimilarity and contrast as the instruments are so unalike in terms of sophistication. Throughout the entire poem, Okara incorporates the instruments to further express, through music, how the speaker is feeling. By using well-structured stanzas and poetic devices such as imagery, symbolism, sensory detail, personification, and diction, Okara is able to immerse the readers into the difficulties of cultural conflict and the confusion of a person in the midst of the two contrasting societies. Throughout the progression of the poem, there is a constant use of images to assist in displaying Okara’s conflicting emotions about the two separate worlds. Poetic devices Some of the most important poetic devices utilized in this poem by Okara are imagery, symbolism, sensory detail, personification, and diction Figures of speech The themes Piano and Drums is a poem which basically themed and created by two different and opposing culture in the poem, the piano culture and drums culture which suggested by the poet whenThe culture of drums is straight forward, and direct, and this just like the world and culture in the ancient years which before civilization. People do not hide their real selves, showing and communicate without pretending as well as showing what they really are in the wordings, ‘raw’, ‘primal’, and ‘rugged’. They call out for danger by beating drums as to warn others, although the world is competitive.

Brain Stimulation

The primary aim of this study was to determine the extent to which human MT+/ V5, an extrastriate visual area known to mediate motion processing, is involved in visuomotor coordination. To pursue this, the excitability of MT+/ V5, primary motor, and primary visual cortex was increased or decreased by the application of seven minutes of anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in healthy human subjects while they were performing a visuomotor tracking task involving hand movements.The percentage of correct tracking movements increased specifically during and immediately after cathodal stimulation, which decreases cortical excitability, only when V5 was stimulated. None of the other stimulation conditions affected visuomotor performance. The researchers propose that the improvement in performance caused by cathodal tDCS of V5 is due to a focusing effect on the complex motion perception conditions involved in this task.This hypothesis was proven by additional ex periments: When testing simple and complex motion perception in dot kinetograms, it was found that a diminution in excitability induced by cathodal stimulation improved the subject’s perception of the direction of the coherent motion only if this was presented among random dots (complex motion perception), and worsened it if only one motion direction was presented (simple movement perception). The data suggest that area V5 is critically involved in complex motion perception and identification processes important for visuomotor coordination.The results also raise the possibility of the usefulness of tDCS in rehabilitation strategies for neurological patients with visuomotor disorders. Article 2 Environmental stimulation, parental nurturance and cognitive development in humans Martha J. Farah, Laura Betancourt, David M. Shera, Jessica H. Savage, Joan M. Giannetta, Nancy L. Brodsky, Elsa K. Malmud and Hallam Hurt 1. Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, USA 2. Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Pediatrics,Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, USA 3. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA Developmental Science 11:5 (2008), pp 793-801 The effects of environmental stimulation and parental nurturance on brain development have been studied extensively in animals. Much less is known about the relations between childhood experience and cognitive development in humans.Using a longitudinally collected data set with ecologically valid in-home measures of childhood experience and later in-laboratory behavioral measures of cognitive ability, the researchers were able to test hypotheses concerning the effects of environmental stimulation and parental nurturance. A double dissociation was found: On one hand, there was a selective relation between parental nurturance and memory development, consistent with the animal literature on maternal buffering of stress hormone effects on hippocampus development.On the other hand, there was a selective relation between environmental stimulation and language development. The results primarily suggest that the same general dimensions of early life experience identified as important in animal studies of brain development are also important for humans. In particular, the relation between the composites measuring parental nurturance and later memory ability, which have no common-sense connection, is consistent with studies of experience and brain development in animals. The present findings thus provide an important bridge between the study of neurocognitive development in animals and humans.Secondarily, variation in the childhood experience of healthy humans bears a systematic relationship to cognitive development, and this relationship is more selective and specific than simply better environments predicting better development. Memory development is predicted by parental nurturance but not environmental stimulation, whereas language development is predicted by environmental stimulation, but not parental nurturance. Finally, these effects represent a possible mechanism by which socioeconomic status is associated with intellectual attainment. Article 3 MEG Study of Short-Term Plasticity Following MultipleDigit Frequency Discrimination Training in Humans Lichan Liu and Andreas A. Ioannides Laboratory for Human Brain Dynamics, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wakoshi, Saitama, Japan. Brain Topography, Volume 16, Number 4, Summer 2004 The researchers trained four right-handed male subjects to detect small changes in the frequency of 21 Hz electrical stimulation applied to digits 2+3+4 of the right hand for four hours. Before and after the training, magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals were recorded whe n the stimulation was applied to digit 2-5 separately using a whole-head MEG system.Tomographic analysis was applied to the MEG data to track the evolution of activity over the entire brain every 1. 6 ms and evaluated the change for each digit before and after the training. In summary: (1) subjects improved in discrimination performance with training; (2) activations were identified in the left primary somatosensory (L-SI) and medial parietal precuneus (PCu) areas, but no systematic changes were observed in location and strength of activation of these two areas; (3) after training in L-SI, the 21Hzspectral power increasedfor digits 3 and 4 over the stimulation period, while the 10 Hz spectral power increased for digit 3 around stimulus onset and offset; (4) only digit 3 showed significant change of correlation between L-SI and PCu areas around the stimulus onset and offset, coincident with the increased 10 Hz spectral power. The results suggest that short-term plasticity is associat ed with changes in timing and interaction between cortical areas. DiscussionThe main finding of the first study is that cathodal tDCS applied to the left V5 improved performance in a visuomotor coordination task that encompassed both dynamic, high-resolution perception and selection of motion predetermined by a moving target. Stimulation of the primary visual cortex and the left motor cortex did not result in significant changes in performance, nor were the reaction times in the random dot kinetogram task significantly affected. These results suggest that tDCS indeed modified visual motion perception and motor performance.Common sense says that childhood experience affects cognitive development. Yet common sense does not say which psychological or brain functions will be affected by experience, or which specific aspects of childhood experience will exert an effect. The second study attempts to address these issues empirically with a unique longitudinally collected data set including ecologically valid in-home measures of early childhood experience and later laboratory measures of cognitive function. The effects found were strikingly selective and, in addition to their statistical significance, were substantial in size.In the third study, functional rather than anatomical short-term plastic changes in the brain induced by the frequency discrimination task were identified. After training, no new activated areas or expansion of activated areas or systematic increases in activation strength in any one specific area were observed. Instead, increased spectral power around 21 Hz in L-SI for both trained digits 3 and 4 for all 4 subjects was observed. Furthermore, for digit 3, increased spectrum power at 10 Hz in L-SI for all 4 subjects between map I and II around thestimulus onset and offset was observed. Conclusion After analyzing the above three methods of brain stimulation, one can come to the conclusion that the first study was found to have the maximum results i n term of invoking activity of the stimulated areas. The study stands out among the other two not just for its methodology, but also for its high reliability and accuracy. Hence, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be considered to be the best method of brain stimulation.

Miss wyoming

Miss wyoming Miss WyomingBy Douglas CouplandDouglas Coupland's novel Miss Wyoming is a love story between Susan Colgate, a former beauty queen turned soap star and now a "B" rated movie actress, and John Johnson, a hotshot action movie director who is on the verge of self-destruction. By her mid-twenties, Susan is unemployed and facing a grim future until she marries a British heavy metal rock star who is need of a green card. Susan is also the sole survivor of flight 802, but instead of returning to her normal life, she decides to remain dead and goes on a search for the true meaning and purpose of her life. On the other hand, John Johnson is a chronically depressed movie producer who has a near-death experience in which he encounters a vision of Susan Colgate who brings him back to life. Once back on his feet, John gives away everything he owns and decides to walk away from his life to be a "nobody".susan-reflectionBoth characters experience numerous failed attempts to reinvent themselves while they begin a journey of soul searching, and learning who they are as individuals, that exposes all vulnerabilities.Growing up, Susan has no real identity because she lives a life that is provided by her mother who forces her to compete in numerous pageants. At an early age she learns that defeat is not an option when it comes to her mother, Marilyn. '"I have a daughter, yes, but she's a winner and you couldn't possibly be her because your sash says FIRST RUNNER-UP which means the same thing as losing."' (Coupland, p.34)Marilyn continues to humiliate her daughter, which only makes Susan rebel and despise her even more. She tries to regain her identity by performing "Whip It" at the local mall with her...

A Wrinkle in Time Book Report Tips

A Wrinkle in Time Book Report Tips A Wrinkle in Time was written by Madeleine L’Engle and published in 1962 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux of New York. Setting The scenes of A Wrinkle in Time occur in the home of the protagonist and on a variety of planets. In this type of fantasy novel, the willing suspension of disbelief is essential to a deeper understanding of the story. The reader must embrace the other worlds as symbolic of larger abstract ideas. Main Characters Meg Murry, the protagonist of the story. Meg is 14 and considers herself a misfit among her peers. She is an adolescent lacking in maturity and confidence who embarks on a quest to find her father.Charles Wallace Murry, Meg’s five-year-old brother. Charles is a genius and has some telepathic ability. He accompanies his sister on their journey.Calvin O’Keefe, Meg’s close friend and, though popular at school, also considers himself odd next to his peers and family.Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who Mrs. Which, three angelic aliens who accompany the children on their journey.IT The Black Thing, the two antagonists of the novel. Both creatures represent the ultimate evil. Plot A Wrinkle in Time is the story of the Murry children and their search for their missing scientist father. Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are guided by three aliens who act as guardian angels, and who battle the force of The Black Thing as it tries to overcome the universe with evil. As the children move through space and time with the Tesseract, they are met with several challenges that require them to prove their worth. Most important is Meg’s journey to rescue her brother as it is during this time that she must overcome her fears and self-serving immaturity to succeed. Questions and Themes to Ponder Examine the theme of maturity: How does Meg transform over the course of the book?How does Charles Wallace act as a foil to Meg?Why does Charles Wallace become susceptible to the influence of IT? Examine the theme of good vs. evil: Archetypes are recurring symbols that are used repeatedly in art and literature.What archetypes are found in this book and how do they contribute to the development of this theme? What roles do the Murry parents play? How do the goals of IT threaten the Murry family and society at large? Consider the role of religion in the novel: Is there irony in the fact that one of the main characters is named Calvin? Why?How is the Christian ethic depicted? Possible First Sentences â€Å"Good and evil are concepts that transcend the finite regions of time and space.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Fear keeps individuals from succeeding and societies from evolving.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Physical journeys often parallel journeys taken within oneself.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Maturation is a common theme in children’s literature.†

8 Most Common IELTS Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

8 Most Common IELTS Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Here is a list of eight most common IELTS pitfalls that cost test takers precious points. More is less. A very common mistake is to answer in more words than instructed. If the task says Not more than 3 words, answering in 4 or more words will definitely cost marks.Less is less. The length of a written task is crucial. When instructions mention a minimal number of words (250 for an essay, 150 for report or letter), it means that any work shorter than required will be penalized.A longer essay doesnt mean a better mark. Another common misconception is that longer essays score better in IELTS. Not only is this a myth, but also a dangerous one. Writing a long essay can indirectly cost marks because the chances of making mistakes increase with the number of words and sentences.Changing the subject is unacceptable. Every so often a student is asked to write on a topic, that he doesnt understand. To avoid the disaster of missing a whole task they decide to write on a slightly – or entirely - different topic. The sad fact is that no matter how beautiful the submitted work is, the wrong topic means a zero score. Another similar pitfall is to omit parts of the given topic or ignore the guidelines in your work. Every point the topic refers to needs to be covered because the examiners will be actually counting them. A good memory can get you in trouble. Having seen that the topics sometimes repeat, smart students with good memory decide to memorize essays. This is a terrible mistake to make because the examiners are trained to look for memorized essays and have firm instructions to disqualify such works on the spot.An accent is not important. Pronunciation is. IELTS, being a test for non-native English speakers cant penalize people for having an accent. The problem here is that not everyone knows the difference between speaking with an accent and mispronouncing the words. No matter how strong an accent a person has, the words are to be pronounced correctly or it will cost marks.It is not the ideas that are important, but the way they are described in. Many students think that expressing the wrong ideas (whether it is an essay, letter or discussion) can harm their score. The truth is that no idea can be wrong and the ideas are not important on their own, it is the way they are expressed in that i mportant. Connective words: the more is not always the better. Smart students know that one of the essays marking criteria is coherence and cohesion, and what better way is there to demonstrate cohesion than to use lots of connective words, right? Wrong. Overuse of connective words is a known problem, which is easily recognized and penalized by the examiners. A word of advice: to stay out of trouble, it is equally important to be aware of the pitfalls and to practice enough before the exam. Being familiar with the structure and the procedure of the test will build up confidence and that will reflect in your score. This article was kindly provided by Simone Braverman who runs an excellent IELTS blog full of useful information and tips on taking the IELTS exam.

Audience Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Audience Analysis Paper - Essay Example In the first place, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the audience which can influence the communication. Admittedly, these characteristic features should be considered before the speaker starts working on the presentation. For instance, it is necessary to find out the number of listeners. This will enable the speaker to prepare the necessary quantity of visuals (Booher, 2002, p.48). Booher (2002) also points out that such data as â€Å"age, sex, race, religion, or political bent of the audience† are also important in terms of the preparation for the presentation. This information will assist the speaker to find the necessary communication channels with all members of the group. Booher (2002) states that it is essential to consider educational background of the audience as well. Apart from these characteristics it is also important to find out whether there are â€Å"taboo subjects or issues† (Booher, 2002, p.48). Thus, if the speaker touches upon some of such questions, the presentation effectiveness can be challenged since listeners (or even some of them) will not perceive the information or misinterpret it because of some prejudice. Sprague et al. (2008) point out that it is important to consider â€Å"specific speech situation†, i.e. the time of the meeting (p.100). The speaker should take into account whether the people had other meetings or this will be the first meeting they have, whether the audience is tired of listening or can easily perceive the information. Thus, the speaker can shape the communication and decide what style of speaking to choose (faster or slower) or whether to add some anecdotal stories which can let the audience get prepared for more important sets of information or not. The characteristic features which should be also considered may include many other points depending on each particular case. As has been stated above taking into account characteristics of the audience will enable the speaker to choose the right communication channels and use them more effectively. Sellnow (2004) defines communication channels as â€Å"the pathways through which messages are communicated† between the speaker and the audience and points out two major communication channels, auditory and visual (p.21). Both channels should be exploited during the in-person meeting since this will enable the speaker to communicate his/her information more effectively. For instance, the auditory channel is what the audience hears (Sellnow, 2004). Thus, the speaker should carefully choose words to make sure that his/her message has reached the audience properly. It is necessary to point out that intonation and the way of speaking is also important, so the speaker should speak loudly and stress important points with the help of intonation, stress, etc. Visual channels are also very important since they enhance the information received from the auditory channels. The visual channels include not only visu als like diagrams, charts, pictures and illustrations. They also include facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and even appearance (Sellnow, 2004). Thus, speaker’s gestures can be descriptive and explanatory, so the speaker can support the auditory channels and can be sure that communication is effective since the audience receives the messages. At this point

SAM 400 UNIT 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SAM 400 UNIT 2 - Essay Example They have acquired a self regulatory type of focus to help develop their behavior and motivations as well. Motivation can also be achieved through a simple gesture of employee recognition. This is in line with awarding what an employee has achieved as it works to boost his or her self esteem. The American work force is made up of people from various walks of life. Its diversity is notable. With this in mind, it is necessary to consider the interpersonal relationships within the working environment. An organization can only do well if at all every employee, irrespective of their affiliations and backgrounds, is working towards achieving a similar objective. This is an aspect of cohesion such that a good leader will work on harmony, cohesion and unity in the workplace. Technological advancement is a force to reckon with in any given organization. Those who have embraced it have reaped its benefits with respect to levels of motivation that can be inspired within an organization. America has embraced technology and therefore incorporated the various related aspects to ensure efficiency in the operation of the organizations. In this case, technological events have played a key role to influence current attitudes of leadership (Mind-tools.com, 1). In America, people are aware of their rights. It is evident how the issue of equality has taken centre stage in many heated debates. Minority groups such as women, children and the gay, too have their rights that should be equally respected. These groups are known to play one part or another in various organizations. Currently, a leader has to be very sensitive to such issues in order to realize efficiency within the organization. In conclusion, leadership styles have transformed from one level to another. This is necessary to keep up with the dynamic nature of the world. Adaption ensures that a leader is on the leading edge rather than a trailing edge. Kark, Ronit and Dijk Van Dina. â€Å"Motivation to Lead,