The Rhetoric of Reggae in Artful Cinema for the World :: Reggae Jamaican Music Film Essays

The Rhetoric of Reggae in Artful Cinema for the World Perry Henzel's The Harder They Come is credited with a significant and unique role in introducing American audiences to reggae. Whereas earlier cinematic crossmarketed films like A Hard Days Night or Help! were adjunct to and dependent on a group's previous commercial musical success, Henzel's film was for many an introduction to reggae and both precursor and impetus for its international impact and commercial popularity. The film's status as a cult classic and phenomenon, to the extent a phenomenon can be explained, perhaps rests on its lack of commercial pretentions or promotional glitz, and thus its authenticity. The rhetoric of this film -- its images, words, and music in complementary array -- is rhetoric in the best sense because it uses the power of language to reveal, not to disguise, the unconscionable constraints on the lives of poor Jamaicans. Principally it's a film by a Jamaican artist about some musically and culturally significant events happening in Jamaica at the time, and though it is formulaic as films tend to be, it also encompasses all of the majors themes and conflicts that define and swirl around reggae music: spirituality, sensuality, commercialism, social justice, the messiah, and even Armageddon, though its tenor is decidedly secular The genius of the film is that it synthesizes a multitude of cultural and musical elements and still manages to function rhetorically on separate but parallel levels of communication. The fundamental message for Jamaican audiences was to document, authenticate, and value the Jamaican reality. As Henzel notes in his running commentary, a special feature of the DVD, Jamaicans cheered the film's opening scenes wildly, simply because they recognized themselves and their world in a powerful global medium that had paid them no mind until then. "There is no thrill in moviedom like people seeing themselves on the screen for the first time." The experience and the legacy of colonialism accustoms people who suffer it to literature and film that depicts the lives and perspectives of the colonizers, not the colonized. As Jamaica Kincaid explains in a memoir of a Carribean childhood, all of her reading was from books set in England. Her land and its people were not worthy of literary attenti on. While finally getting such cinematic attention is a joyful, liberating, and affirming interaction for the Jamaican audience, it has an ironic dimension too in that the downpressed are joyous because at last they see themselves if not through the downpressor's lens, at least on his screen.

Learning Disabilities Essay

My Uncle had a learning disability and it was not until he was in the third grade that it was discovered. His mother and teachers were not worried that by the end of second grade he could still not read, he however can say the alphabet and corresponding sounds of the letters, he could write his name and he did not manifested any other difficulty but that of reading. He said his teachers thought that he was just a slow reader. What his teachers did not know was that he memorized everything by rote and he remembered the sequences of the pictures that were asked during class. It was in the third grade that one of the teachers just finished a specialization in learning disabilities that it was discovered that he had dyslexia, although he remained to be undiagnosed for the next two years because there was no specialist in the town. He said he knew what the name of the pictures was but when he was asked to read, the letters was chasing each other and he could not catch u with the letters. Dyslexia is a learning disability which involves the difficulty and inability to read, spell and write words. On the other hand, dyslexics are highly visual and have excellent long-term memory which accounts for the ability of beginning readers to mask their reading deficiencies (Mather & Goldstein, 2001). The teachers however said that he could still continue going to school and will be given special consideration in his classes due to his condition even without proper medical and psychological assessment. I guess my uncle was lucky that the teachers at his school was understanding and did not give up on him. However he really did not know what his condition was until he had to see a doctor that explained to him what his condition was he could not remember anything about that day but that he could clearly see the face of the doctor and a big window in the office. He also had problems with math which became more pronounced when they were asked to solve math problems by hand. But when called during oral recitation, he knew the answers to the problems. In other subjects he did fairly well especially when he did not have to write or read anything. Some of his teachers gave him oral exams and he had to take it in the teacher’s office after classes. He said it made him feel special and that it did not bother him at all, he did not repeat a grade and he finished until sixth grade in that school. He felt comfortable in this school, although he was the only one who had dyslexia it did not made him feel an outcast. However, there were times when he felt so frustrated at not being able to work on the same tasks and assignments as his classmates did. His classmates tried to help him in doing homework and other projects and he thought it was the best thing for him because it made him feel accepted. But that all changed when he got to high school. High school was difficult for my uncle. He was transferred to a new school because his old school did not have any high school and since he did complete the required subjects and had passing grades he was admitted to a regular public high school. At the start of classes, he was not equipped to face the academic requirements during freshman year as a normal student. After the first quarter, he was placed with the slow learner classes but he was frustrated most of the time because hen was not a slow learner, he could answer all the quizzes if he was just asked rather than writing it. He was too ashamed to tell his mother about things at school that he endured being in the slow learners’ class. He did made friends with the kids in his class but he did not have any friends. The teachers were actually good but did not seem to understand his condition, at the end of the year he was promoted to sophomore year but he begged his mother to transfer him to a school that was not as big as the local high school since he did not have any friends. In the end he was transferred to small private school where special education classes for people with dyslexia were accommodated. In this school, my uncle said he felt at home instantly and he was not afraid of making mistakes and built his confidence again. He had friends who understood his condition and he learned that there were people like him too. Dyslexia is a learning disability that occurs regardless of intelligence level, which means that it does not affect intelligence (Mather & Goldstein, 2001). My uncle is now a landscape architect and his designs are very good. He can do almost anything perfectly without any need for assistance except for reading, writing and working with numbers. He has a positive personality and people like him, when he talks no one would know he is dyslexic. He is an inspiration knowing that he had been able to live a productive life despite his dyslexia. He now uses the tools available for dyslexics like audio-books, drawing pads and picture books. Although he had some difficult experiences in school, he said that one must still strive to go to school and finish college despite having dyslexia. His school during freshman year did not accommodate his learning disability because the school was not informed of his condition, because they lacked the knowledge and the tools to accommodate his condition and he did not take it against the school. My uncle had been fortunate that he was able to benefit from special education classes, accommodating teachers and a supportive family. Learning disabilities is only a difficulty and not a disease hence, proper learning accommodation and measures should be extended to them since they do benefit from the right kind of education (Mather & Goldstein, 2001). Reference Mather, N. & Goldstein, S. (2001). Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors. Baltimore: Paul A. Brookes Publishing.

Website Analysis Paper Autism - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 721 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/02/14 Category Medicine Essay Level High school Topics: Autism Essay Did you like this example? Autism is among the common mental disorders that are encountered at the global scale. (approximately 60 cases per 10,000 people) (Brentani et al., 2013). This means that the risk of an individual born with Autism can be considerably high, making it unreasonable to ignore this health issue. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Website Analysis Paper Autism" essay for you Create order In general, autism is associated with the violation of the development of the brain, with the person experiencing problems when trying to interact and communicate with others throughout their life as this disorder cannot be treated (Bauer, 2016). As a result, it becomes much more difficult for a patient to turn into a productive member of the society when growing up; meaning that the treatment must focus on the improvement of the quality of their life and functional independence. In turn, the possession of knowledge through the action of care, becomes quite important for both family members, and healthcare professionals. The specific needs of patients diagnosed with autism can present numerous challenges to caregivers. This fact has resulted in the emergence of numerous support groups that often interact with the target population through the Internet, namely websites. These include such resources like â€Å"Autism Society† and â€Å"Interacting with Autism†, with both having their strong and weak points. The positive sides of Autism Society include a wide range of topics that may be useful for caregivers (general information on autism, legal issues, family life, and many others), which make it adaptable. Moreover, it contains a section designed for the Spanish-speaking population, thus targeting a diverse population of the country (Autism Society, 2018). At the same time, the large volumes of text and the lack of pictures and graphs to supplement it can make the materials difficult to comprehend, or overwhelming; especially when the user does not have enough time to read them thoroughl y. As a result, the usefulness of Autism Society for caregivers, especially the ones that are not proficient in medical sciences, can be questionable. However, the other website, titled â€Å"Interacting with Autism† , utilizes a different approach to the supply of support, presenting most of the useful information in the form of videos, which makes it easier for caregivers to comprehend (Interacting with Autism, 2018). In this regard, it is more user-friendly than Autism Society. However, in comparison to the latter, the focus on video files can present problems for the people that do not speak English fluently since all the videos are presented in this language and do not contain subtitles. Both websites are influenced by evidence-based practice to a certain extent. It is particularly noticeable in the case of Autism Society, which cooperates with organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Autism Society, 2018). This collaboration can potentially provide the website with the additional relevant information on the disorder that can be used to develop the most effective guidelines for caregivers of all types. Interacting with Autism contains the data on such methods of treatment which involves the available services of occupational therapy and applied behavior analysis. As a result, the recommendations it provides are backed by evidence and, therefore, remain viable. At the same time, despite the high usefulness of the reviewed resources, it is possible to provide several recommendations for the improvement of their effectiveness from the perspective of individuals seeking support. For Autism Society, it is recommended to alter the text data with pictures, graphs, tables, and videos as it will improve its comprehensiveness and usefulness for a wide range of people. For Interacting with Autism, it is advisable to introduce the sections that target non-English speakers, as well as translate some of the most viewed videos to Spanish (or, at least, add Spanish transcriptions to those) to increase the potential audience of the website. By doing so, both reviewed support groups will be able to provide assistance to an increased number of caregivers, ultimately helping to improve the quality of life of numerous American citizens diagnosed with autism. References Autism Society (2018). Home. Retrieved from https://www.autism-society.org Bauer, L. R. (2016). Autism spectrum disorders: Five things you should know about autism treatment. Universal Journal of Psychology, 4(3), 139-141. Brentani, H., de Paula, C. S., Bordini, D., Rolim, D., Sato, F., Portolese, J., McCracken, J. T. (2013). Autism spectrum disorders: An overview on diagnosis and treatment. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 35, 62-72. Interacting with Autism (2018). Home. Retrieved from https://www.interactingwithautism.com