Folk Traditions of Trinidad and Tobago Essay Example for Free

Folk Traditions of Trinidad and Tobago Essay This research paper compiles primary and secondary data from interviews with violinists who work or have worked specifically in folk music in the Trinidad and Tobago. It seeks to investigate and document the reasons for and the importance of the violin in Caribbean music culture. The paper will also seek to notarise some elements of folk violin pedagogy. The report will form the basis of an electronic blog and will consist of a proposal, typed interviews, and a general list of interview questions, pictures, audio recordings and music scores. Project Rationale: 1. Cultural information transmitted through written word and musical scores can lose much of their meaning and intent when read, because of the nuisances of both language and melody. For instance, when most ethnic musical styles are notated using the standard begun outside of their context, they are usually played without their correct ‘swing’ or ‘feel’. 2. In November 2011, St. Lucian folk violinist Joseph Ives Simeon died at 87, taking a rich violin pedagogy with him. The player has many recordings, but much of his style died with him. This project is the beginning of this researcher’s (and classical string player from the Caribbean) attempt to preserve the pedagogical information inherent only in the different styles of Caribbean string folk playing, for use by Caribbean players. Objectives: 1. To audio record the sounds and actions of violin playing in the Caribbean folk context. 2. To document the musical views and ideas of current exponents of Caribbean folk violin playing. 3. To define the role of the violin in varying Trinbagonian folk traditions 4. To chart the evolution of the roles of the instrument in Trinbagonian culture General Interview Questionnaire: * How did you learn to play the violin? (How did you learn to play the violin in folk music?) * What types of events do you play for? And what is the significance of your instrument in that setting? * Do you have any stories about your experience of folk violin playing as a spectator? (now and in the past)? * What were the most important lessons your teacher taught you? * Can you describe your holds for the violin and bow? * Can you describe your bowing style? * Please describe your fingering style. * Do you admire any other players (now and in the past)? * Have you ever played classically? How do you feel this style differs in the way it feels OR Is it comfortable to play in this way for long periods of time, or was it ever more difficult to play for longer periods of time? * What are the different types of music that you play? Can you play an example of each? What are the differences among them? The Violin and the Musical Folk Traditions of Trinidad and Tobago. Introduction 2012 marks the Centennial Anniversary of the first ever recording of Calypso music. Engrained in wax (a new technology in 1912), this first recording was ‘Mango Vert’, an instrumental composition by George R.L. ‘Lovey’ Baille (a melody known today as the folk tune Mangoes, with added lyrics by Olive Walke). The stylish, well structured, yet heavily improvised piece was recorded by Lovey’s String Band, a group lead by violins. This paper hopes to explore the violin’s role in Trinbagonian culture in a holistic sense. Apart from the String Bands of yesteryear, we will look at the instrument’s role in Tobago’s Tamb’rin music and the Christmas season staple of Parang. At present, in all three areas, it must be said, the use of the instrument is almost non-existent. My interviews with modern violinists who have worked in and experienced our folk traditions for at least 50 years, highlighted similarities; between very different folk traditions; and to earlier scenarios that were previously thought to have been lost. The violin is an unfretted bowed string instrument with four metal strings tuned in fifths. It is â€Å"capable of great flexibility in range, tone, and dynamics†. The Violin in Calypso The instrumentation used in Calypso is usually the last thing to be discussed, if at all. This tends to be because calypso music is usually seen to be about the lyrics, the story within the song. This is the case with much of Trinidad and Tobago’s music. However, the story of the instrumentation used in Calypso, is a story of a search for a collective identity in our music. The 1912 recordings of Lovey’s String band are the first time that the violin’s importance to our music was archived. Lovey’s String Band was a typical example of Calypso bands of the time. The ensemble, led by him on the violin, consisted of another violin, flute, clarinet, tiple, piano, two guitars, two cuatros, an upright bass (although the Figure 1 picture of the group shows a cello) and a braga. With the exclusion and inclusion of a few instruments (e.g. trumpet, saxophone, oboe), this was the general instrumentation of a String Band. These groups were so called because stringed instruments were in the majority, with acoustic plucked stringed instruments forming the core of the sound (guitars, cuatros, tiples, bragas, bandols etc.). There were many other String Bands around at the time, including Belasco’s Band – founded by the renowned Lionel Belasco; Cyril Monrose String Orchestra; and Gerald Clarke and his night owls. These groups recorded and performed both as standalone instrumental groups and backing accompaniment for Calypsonians. In fact, the sound of early Calypso and what we now call folk music relied heavily on them. Listening to the recordings causes you to realise that these bands had been honing their sound long before they were ever recorded. Lovey’s String Band followed Mango Vert a week later, with recordings of songs like Trinidad Paseo, Mari-Juana, Sarah and Manuelito (See Figure 2), staples of the Trinidadian dance scene at the time. This recording of Manuelito is the only example of foreign-based music archived by the United States National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, into that country’s National Recording Registry 2002. Figure 1: Loveys Trinidad Calypso String Band Lovey (George R.L. Baille leader, violin), L. Betancourt (2nd violin), P. Branche (flute), W. Edwards (Clarinet), Louis Schnieder (Tiple), E.P. Butcher (Piano), Donald Black, L. Demile (guitars). F.A. Harte, C. Eugen Bernier (cuatros), Patrick Johnson (bass), Cleto Chacha (braga) (http://calypsoforum.wetpaint.com/page/First+Recordings) Figure 2: Loveys Trinidad String Band (Musical group) Colonial-era Calypso? Undeniably, all of the recordings from this instrumental era display a high level of musicianship and excellent tonal quality, which particularly for violins, is a sign of classical training. This initial instrumentation is also obviously similar to classical ensemble styles where violins, clarinets (and oboes) regularly duet. Figure 1 also shows Lovey’s band in military-style or marching band style uniforms solidifying the notion that the string bands were heavily ingrained in the activities of Trinidad’s colonial past. Apart from Calypso, the bands also played a variety of European influenced dance styles of music The style and level of improvisation in the music also highlight the obvious influence of American small band New Orleans style Ragtime and blues. As found in those two American jazz artforms, Calypso String Band instruments have similarly set roles. * Guitars and other plucked string and low frequency bowed string instruments held the background rhythmic elements and chords and provided the foundation for all other instruments. * Violins and reed instruments, depending on the preference of the band leader layered on the melody or improvisational ornamentation and musical interludes (all layers always being present) * When vocalists were also involved, the violins tend to be used more often than reed instruments to support the melody line, with the reeds (and later trumpets) providing the musical interludes. The recordings below (Figures 3,4 5) demonstrate these different uses of the instrumentation with earlier recordings (1912 – 1930) displaying the preferential use of the violin, clarinet or vocal team. Later recordings show tendencies toward more structured instrument interlude lines and trumpet leads and reed instrument leads. They also display the introduction of the saxophone to the lead line-up (See Figures 6). Figure 3: Recording of Lovey’s String Band, ‘Mango Vert’, 1912 (double-click the icon below to hear the recording) Figure 4: Recording of ‘Yaraba Shango’ by (Calypsonian) Tiger and Gerald Clarke and his Orchestra, 1936 (double-click the icon below to hear the recording) This recording is still a few years before WWI. Here, the lead improvising instruments were obviously the clarinet and oboe, with the violin playing a secondary lead role playing mainly the same musical line as the main vocal sings and also supports the guitars. Both of these particular secondary roles are common to all of the recordings where the violin is present. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qA87Wl3dmAfeature=related) Figure 5: Recording of the Congo Bara performed by the Kiskedee Trio (written by Attila the Hun), 1935 (double-click the icon below to hear the recording) This version of Atilla the Hun’s (Raymond Quevedo) French patois/English tune relies heavily on the vocal trio to carry the melody. So much so, that the violin’s support of the voices, an octave above is almost missed. At this point, the addition of the marac and piano supplement the more sparse core instrumentation (possibly one or two guitars). A muted trumpet is used to provide the main musical interludes, supported again by the violin. Interestingly however, the trumpet is not used throughout the piece like the violin (and in previous recordings the reed instruments). This reveals the need for balance in the overall band sound in these live, one-track recordings and supports the authenticity of these recordings when compared to live performances. It also helps to clarify the use of the violin and the more dynamically-varied reed instruments in early calypso. The violin was prized in this setting for its ability to mimic the flexibility of the voice. The modern Calypso As unmuted brass instruments became more common because of their sharper, louder and more penetrating sounds, the musical lines in calypso became more structured and simpler. * Guitars continued to be used as core instruments, though fewer (possibly one or two) and usually exclusive of other plucked string instruments * Core instruments accompanied the vocals with simpler chord progressions followed by musical interludes in which the brass instruments would play, to the continued guitar accompaniment. * Clarinets and violins ceased to be used, except in Calypsos written in the style of early calypso * Vocal Calypsoes became the standard form, with instrumentals of the calypsonians compositions done by other instrumental groups, particularly steelpan. Figure 6: Recording of ‘Royal Tour’ by Roaring Lion (1978) (double-click the icon below to hear the recording) As such, the music is very different to the â€Å"jazzy† sounds of earlier calypso. It is in this era (1944) that my calypso-based violinist Stanley Roach was born. Roach was the violinist for Kaiso 2: Happy Days, with Phil Dobson’s band and for the recording for which he is best known, Calypsonian Shadow’s ‘De Hardest Hard’. However, Mr Roach has and always will prefer classical music and so is dedicating the rest of his days to that form, with the hope to produce an album of some challenging works. Roach was classically trained to ABRSM grade 8 (for which he received a Merit) by his father. He continued on to win the televised talent competition Scouting for Talent, in its second year of existence with challenging Romanian dances. His proudest moment however, was being called to play for the prestigious opening concert of the Music Festival many years ago. He has always valued his father’s style of teaching and his opinions. Roach notes that his father â€Å"taught a philosophy behind the music, to do with your mind and spirit†. In building sound technique, his father advised him to â€Å"take it one note at a time (step at a time) and put your mind and your soul and your heart into it†. In this area, he has much in common with the original string band players. With regard to calypso, for Shadow’s â€Å"De hardest hard† he notes that he used a technique of improvising that he calls â€Å"cross-phrasing†, where you improvise from the latter half of the initial phrase to another halfway through the next phrase. This allowed the music to breathe, something that was rare to the New Orleans-style filled sound of early Calypsoes. Roach admits readily that like his father before him, he disliked the way that classical instruments were used in Calypso. However, he was a fan and admirer of the work of Trinidadian parang fiddler Saltero Gomez of the Papa Goon Parang group. Apart from Gomez, his influences are jazz violinist Stephane Grappeli and classical violinist Menuen. Although, like Roach my second interviewee was also taught the violin classically, Lawrence ‘Wax’ Crooks has a genuine love of folk music and always intended to use his skill to play Tamb’rin Music. The Violin and Tamb’rin Music. The violin is the preferred melody line instrument in Tamb’rin music. This traditional folk music from Tobago, also has its roots in our colonial times. The handheld goat skin frame drums, called the cutter, roller and boum, are accompanied typically by the triangle and violin / the mouth organ (See Figure 7). Frame drums were used because they could be easily hidden from colonial masters who had a great fear of the drums. However, similar frame drums can be found in Martinique, the Dominican Republic, Mauritius, Morocco, Brazil and even among the Native Indian population of North America. Additionally, the spiritual dance styles that Tamb’rin music accompanies were derived from a mocking of the dances of the colonial masters during slavery and as such, the types of songs and the dances accompanying them are the reel, jig, pasea etc. Figure 7: Picture of Mt. Saint George Tambrin Band (1995) 56 year old Lawrence ‘Wax’ Crooks, is the violinist and leader of the Royal Sweet Fingers Tamb’rin band. He surprised me by first saying that he was taught to play classically by a classical teacher 7 years ago and joined the band immediately. Wax was a part of a 3-month workshop teaching Tobagonians to play the violin. It was the only formal training he ever received. He notes that it has made him a more precise player than his predecessors, and he has been noted by articles to have a classical bowing technique. However, he relied on his childhood memories to play tamb’rin. With this in mind, he plays with the instrument against his upper arm, so that it is easier to talk while playing in the relaxed settings of the events Tamb’rin music is usually played at. He also noted that it is more comfortable to play in this way and so playing can be done for the many hours of the traditional dances, weddings, christening (now replaced by djs), birth nights, illness (reel dance between 12-12:30 would help, as it would definitely cause a manifestation of the spirit to take place). At more formal events though, he admits to moving the instrument up to the classical position with his chin placed in the chin rest. Wax notes that violin was always the preferred instrument in Tamb’rin music, because: * The long hours of traditional ceremonies would lead to vocalists tiring * Mouth organs were limited in the notes they could play. They could not play the fully correct melody. The more modern push-key mouth organs have greater flexibility and with less need for training, they are starting to become more common than violins. * The violin has flexible notation. Many traditional ceremonies are long because when the spirit manifests itself in the person (Ride), the music must continue until they regain consciousness. â€Å"If you stop playing, you will leave them in another world†. The spirits also dictate the other aspects of of the culture of playing in Tamb’rin. Alcohol is liberally dispensed, as this â€Å"quiets the spirits†. Wax sprinkles rum on the back of his violin for the same reason. Also, tambrin is always played by a group of musicians, as the spirits can overpower one. Wax has seen instances of violin strings bursting and entire drums being lost when conditions are right. Even the music must be appropriate to the situation, or again instruments are scarred or lost. â€Å"When everything is right, the atmosphere is coolsoothing†. Figure 8: Scored Example of a reel â€Å"Call me Mama† Conclusion Interviews and archived material have confirmed that the violin as a solo instrument or in small numbers is a versatile member of a band that was perfectly suited for more traditional, acoustic arrangements. However, owing to changes in culture due to historical experiments with louder instruments (brass and saxophones), they are no longer common in at least two traditional artforms, parang and calypso. With the reinvention of the mouth organ and the lack of another generation interested in traditional forms, the violin is also slowly disappearing from Tamb’rin music. Its use in our music is a result of both classical training and the ingenuity and good ears of of Trinbagonian musicians. For this reason, although there are fewer exponents of each traditional form, there is a wealth of violin students and recordings of the music to spur another generation on. This project has enabled me to find many recordings and has started my interaction with older musicians who have a wealt h of anecdotal information on traditional music forms. It is my hope at this point that I will be able to solidify information on traditional violin pedagogy to pass on to future generations. References What is parang? Nalis Library archives. Last accessed 16 April. http://www2.nalis.gov.tt/Research/SubjectGuide/Music/Parang/tabid/233/Default.aspx?PageContentMode=1 The Stringed Instrument Database. http://stringedinstrumentdatabase.110mb.com/t.htm The National Recording Registry 2002, National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2002reg.html History of Trinidad and Tobago. 2012. Wikipedia. 16 April 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Trinidad_and_Tobago ANDREAS MEYER. â€Å"THE OLDER FOLKS USED TO FIDDLE AROUND THE NOTES.† PLAYING THE VIOLIN FOR TAMBRIN BANDS IN TOBAGO (WEST INDIES), 2006, http://www.llti.lt/failai/05%20MEYERIO.pdf Frame Drums and Tambourines in Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 2: Performance and Production. Edited by John Shepherd, David Horn, Dave Laing, Paul Oliver, and Peter Wicke. New York: Continuum, 2003, 349-350, 362-372]. http://www.nscottrobinson.com/framedrums.php Discography Calypso Best of Trinidad 1912-1952. http://www.rhyners.com/proddetail.php?prod=0508 Calypso Pioneers 1912 – 1937. http://www.amazon.com/Calypso-Pioneers-1912-1937-Various/dp/B0000002QV/ref=sr_1_1?s=musicie=UTF8qid=1334700896sr=1-1 Calypso Carnival 1936 – 1941 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000002SC?tag=ubriacowinerevielink_code=as3creativeASIN=B0000002SCcreative=373489camp=211189 Victor Discography: Lionel Belasco Orchestra, http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/16409/Lionel_Belasco_Orchestra_Musical_group; Victor Discography: Lovey’s String Band, http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/44453/

The Definition of Success Essay examples -- Expository Definition Essay

What is success? How does one succeed in life? A few moments' thought will convince us that the question is by no means an easy one to answer. We say this, that, or the other man is successful, but what do we mean by it? One man has houses and lands, has a large bank account, drives fast horses and has many apparent friends, such a man is accounted successful. Yet all of these things that minister to his pleasure have been acquired by unremitting labor, by hard, avaricious dealings with his fellow-men, by trampling upon the hearts and affections of thousands; in the face of these facts is the man a successful one? The question will be answered differently, according; to the views of life of the one answering it. Some think wealth is the only measure of success no matter how attained. Su...

Nike Brand Equity

Case 6 Nike Celess Valk MKTG 4082 10/29/12 To answer question one it’s important to not that Nike has created a very powerful image in the minds of consumers in America. Nike wanted consumers to see it as an innovative brand that produces top of the line performance gear that was associated with very powerful and important athletes (mostly males). Their profile users are represented as famous athletes such as Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. The athletes reflected the brand personalities such as competitive, winners, strong, and better than the rest.This also is a way for Nike to obtain credibility and quality. With the Air Jordan line, Nike sold over $100 million shoes in the first year (129). Nike’s sources of brand equity hit all the way to the top of the CBBE pyramid for American consumers. Within the first two years alone Nike had 50% of the market share for athletic shoes. Salience is huge with the Nike logo. About 97% of Americans were able to recognize the Nike lo go in 2000 (139). Imagery and performance were the main points that Nike stressed with its brand when it advertised itself.Nike stresses its performance as a main key point. Nike has been able to fulfill individual needs or judgments such as self-respect and self-confidence (which you obtain when wearing shoes that the athletes wear). It fulfills needs that are more difficult to articulate such as the social needs for power and belonging. Resonance is obtained through the athletic communities Nike has built such as the relationships that were built with the athletes on Nike’s behalf as well as the consumer’s behalf with the Air Jordan line.It doesn’t surprise me that Europeans had a lack of respect for the Nike brand as stated in question two. To start off, Europe didn’t have the same view on certain sports as well as the fact that their athlete idols were different. Second, athletic shoe specialty stores didn’t even exist there. Third, their cultu re is different than the American culture so naturally there are going to be some ways in which Nike is unappealing to their cultural values. Nike was seen as an aggressive, arrogant, and intimidating brand due to its strong advertising and the message of power and performance.This advertising technique and these values worked in America, but not so well in Europe. Europeans were more traditional and less competitive. Some TV channels even refused to air the Nike vs. Evil advertisements. To change these views Nike decided to create an image in the consumers minds to be seen as culturally, personally, and geographically relevant to the consumers while keeping their logo and brand name constant. Nike gained 90% control of the brand distribution in Europe to make sure that happened (133).Nike became more involved as a sponsor of sports leagues such as soccer and emphasizes its â€Å"apparel† in general. In 1997, Nike decided to also adjust its global branding strategy to tune do wn violent advertising techniques and resonated with regional interests. They used the two best-known athletes to create a sense of awareness and attachment to the brand globally. They even toned down the use of the swoosh logo and created product lines that were more community building and less aggressive to consumers.In Asia, more specifically, Nike used ads with athletes that were local to their culture and stayed away from the aggressive advertising they once used that gave them irreverence in Europe. They learned their lesson and knew they needed to start out with a soft advertising approach and increase their brand awareness. To answer Question three, I will emphasize a few main points. Nike is known for innovative products globally with their shoe lines, Shox or AirJordan, but their image tarnished slightly from the working situations they found in Asia.The imagery and feelings surrounding Nike now for Americans may be weaker due to this. As Americans, we believe strongly in freedom, equality, and the privilege to have those. Nike basically took advantage of that and treated their employees in Asia with very little freedom and treated them unfairly. Even though the sweatshops scandal weakened the image of Nike in the minds of Americans, Nike is still are seen as a powerful brand that emphasizes performance, power, and gives its consumers a vision to be the best. The sweatshops weakened their image in the minds of Americans.As I stated before, aggressive advertisements work for Americans because we are a society that is so strongly attached to our sports, individualism, performance, and are competitive in general. However, as we saw in question 2 that approach doesn’t work well globally. In order to appeal to the world, Nike needed to make some local adjustments as well as global changes for its brand. Europe’s brand equity sources stem mainly from its attachments to the soccer community and apparel line. In 1999 the company’s soccer orders from Europe grew over 100% from the previous year (140).Nike has strong performance, salience, and even resonance in this respect. Although competition, Reebok, may have better imagery, Nike has worked hard to improve theirs in European minds and must be doing something right with numbers that impressive. In Asia, Nike has strong brand equity from its image, performance, and judgments. They didn’t create such strong advertising techniques since they learned their lesson in Europe. This gave Asians a chance to see Nike in a positive light from the start, which makes their brand equity source from judgments and feelings better off the bat as compared to Europe’s brand equity sources.Asian sales led the stock price to more than $70/share for the first time ever. Even after the collapsed economy they were ordering Nike goods and Nike kept with them. From this one could infer they are loyal customers, which reaches the higher levels of the CBBE pyramid (feelings and resonance). References: Keller, Kevin Lane. â€Å"Nike: Building a Global Brand. †Ã‚  Best Practice Cases in Branding: Lessons from the World's Strongest Brands. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Prentice Hall, 2003. 125-47. Print.

Roots of the Mexican-American War

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was a long, bloody conflict between the United States of America and Mexico. It would be fought from California to Mexico City and many points in between, all of them on Mexican soil. The USA won the war by capturing Mexico City in September of 1847 and forcing the Mexicans to negotiate a truce favorable to US interests. By 1846, war was nearly inevitable between the USA and Mexico. On the Mexican side, the lingering resentment over the loss of Texas was intolerable. In 1835, Texas, then part of the Mexican State of Coahuila and Texas, had risen in revolt. After setbacks at the Battle of the Alamo and the Goliad Massacre, the Texan rebels stunned Mexican General Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Santa Anna was taken prisoner and forced to recognize Texas as an independent nation. Mexico, however, did not accept Santa Annas agreements and considered Texas nothing more than a rebellious province. Since 1836, Mexico had half-heartedly tried to invade Texas and take it back, without much success. The Mexican people, however, clamored for their politicians to do something about this outrage. Although privately many Mexican leaders knew that reclaiming Texas was impossible, to say so in public was political suicide. The Mexican politicians outdid each other in their rhetoric saying that Texas must be brought back into Mexico. Meanwhile, tensions were high on the Texas/Mexico border. In 1842, Santa Anna sent a small army to attack San Antonio: the Texas responded by attacking Santa Fe. Not long after, a bunch of Texan hotheads raided the Mexican town of Mier: they were captured and poorly treated until their release. These events and others were reported in the American press and were generally slanted to favor the Texan side. The simmering disdain of Texans for Mexico thus spread to the entire USA. In 1845, the USA began the process of annexing Texas to the union. This was truly intolerable for Mexicans, who may have been able to accept Texas as a free republic but never part of the United States of America. Through diplomatic channels, Mexico let it be known that to annex Texas was practically a declaration of war. The USA went ahead anyway, which left Mexican politicians in a pinch: they had to do some saber-rattling or look weak. Meanwhile, the USA had its eye on Mexicos northwestern possessions, such as California and New Mexico. The Americans wanted more land and believed that their country should stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The belief that America should expand to fill the continent was called Manifest Destiny. This philosophy was expansionist and racist: its proponents believed that the noble and industrious Americans deserved those lands more than the degenerate Mexicans and Native Americans who lived there. The USA tried on a couple of occasions to purchase those lands from Mexico, and was rebuffed every time. President James K. Polk, however, would not take no for an answer: he meant to have California and Mexicos other western territories and he would go to war to have them. Fortunately for Polk, the border of Texas was still in question: Mexico claimed it was the Nueces River while the Americans claimed it was the Rio Grande. In early 1846, both sides sent armies to the border: by then, both nations were looking for an excuse to fight. It wasnt long before a series of small skirmishes bloomed into war. The worst of the incidents was the so-called Thornton Affair of April 25, 1846 in which a squad of American cavalrymen under the command of Captain Seth Thornton was attacked by a much larger Mexican force: 16 Americans were killed. Because the Mexicans were in contested territory, President Polk was able to ask for a declaration of war because Mexico had †¦shed American blood upon the American soil. Larger battles followed within two weeks and both nations had declared war on one another by May 13. The war would last about two years, until spring of 1848. The Mexicans and Americans would fight about ten major battles, and the Americans would win all of them. In the end, the Americans would capture and occupy Mexico City and dictate terms of the peace agreement to Mexico. Polk got his lands: according to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, formalized in May of 1848, Mexico would hand over most of the current US Southwest (the border established by the treaty is very similar to todays border between the two nations) in exchange for $15 million dollars and forgiveness of some previous debt. Sources: Brands, H.W. Lone Star Nation: the Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence. New York: Anchor Books, 2004. Eisenhower, John S.D. So Far from God: the U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848. Norman: the University of Oklahoma Press, 1989 Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United States.New York: Hill and Wang, 2007. Wheelan, Joseph. Invading Mexico: Americas Continental Dream and the Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2007.

Go to College Without a High School Diploma

Don’t give up on your dream of enrolling in a college or university just because you didn’t get your high school diploma. Although most colleges require a high school diploma to enroll in any program that grants bachelors degrees, several options are available for students who lack the paper to prove that they graduated high school. 1. Community College Most community colleges assume that a certain percentage of their student body is applying without a high school diploma, and they plan accordingly. They often have programs specifically designed to help people without diplomas who show the potential to succeed. Since more and more community colleges are creating online programs, many new options have also opened up for distance learners. Check with your local schools to see what programs they offer, or search online to find a program that matches your needs. 2. GED Programs Some colleges allow students to enroll with a GED. Designed to be a high school equivalency test, the GED proves that passing students have an education comparable to the current graduating class of seniors. You can find free GED preparation courses online. 3. Nontraditional Student Status Students who have been out of high school for a long time may qualify for nontraditional student status, which generally means that the student is older than the average enrollee. Almost all online and traditional colleges have an organization dedicated to helping such students find success. You may be able to bypass traditional requirements, such as the high school diploma, by proving relevant life experience and demonstrated maturity. 4. Concurrent Enrollment If you still want to get your high school diploma, you may be able to take online college classes at the same time you’re working on your high school credits. Many colleges have special programs that negotiate concurrent enrollment, which allows a student to attend two schools at the same time. The good news? Many high schools allow students to earn double high school credit by completing college courses, which means you may be able to kill two birds with one stone—double the credits, double the diplomas! The Bottom Line Students have many motivations for attending college; one of the primary reasons is financial. As of May 2017, holders of bachelors degrees earn 31 percent more than workers with an associate degree and 74 percent more than holders of just a high school diploma. When it comes to lifetime earnings, the difference is about $2.3 million over a lifetime between bachelors degree holders and high school diplomates, and thats a good reason indeed to stay in school.

Analysis Of The Movie Tangled - 1341 Words

Disney movies are often idolized for creating empowering princess’s to give little girls hope and to allow to believe in their dreams, but Disneys movie Tangled they show a different kind of Princess. In Disney’s 2010 movie Tangled a Princess gets separated from her parents (the King and Queen) because an evil woman wanted the child with the magic hair. Rapunzels magic hair sent her into the adventure of a lifetime, but as suspected when Rapunzel was locked in a tower for eighteen years of her life and it had taken a toll on her mental state. Rapunzel shows signs of being schizophrenic and travels with a man who has to deal with that. The movies take you through Rapunzels adventure outside of the castle and as she mental struggles with†¦show more content†¦Ad Rapunzel continued with her journey her symptoms such as her â€Å"pet† pascal. Pascal is a chameleon that Rapunzel often confined in as if he were actually interacting with her, which is only a fur ther sign of hallucinations that reinforce the diagnose of a schizophrenic. Rapunzel throughout the journey mental struggled with understanding what was real, and what was a fantasy that she had made up in her head. A schizophrenic often distorts reality so when she was painting on the wall she couldnt distinguish what was real and what she was dreaming about such a the floating lanterns. Originally Rapunzel was convinced that the floating lanterns were stars in the sky and painted them as such on the wall because she did not know that they were in fact lanterns, and not being to make this clear distinction is a symptom of her schizophrenia caused by her isolation. In this specific movie, there was a few course of treatments and the clearest form was therapy. Flynn Rider acted as the therapist to Rapunzel because he helped her draw the line between reality and fantasy, as well as, talking with her through her emotional struggles as the journey continued. Even when Rapunzel had entered into the village Flynn had helped her get her hair done so that she could stop obsessing over it and disguise it so that she was able to settle in into her environment. The next form of therapy would be for RapunzelShow MoreRelatedFairy Tales By The Brother s Grimm, Rapunzel And Cinderella1729 Words   |  7 Pages1800s. Many years later Disney released its own versions of these Grimm fairy tales called Tangled, a modern take on Rapunzel, and Cinderella published in 2010 and 1950 respectfully. Both fairy tales compare and contrast with the more modern versions. The most potent similarities and differences are seen through the characters, plot, and lesson to be learned. 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Technicalities Ltd or Innovative Storage

Question: Discuss about the Technicalities Ltd or Innovative Storage. Answer: Introduction: Is Maisy an employee or another type of worker? Understanding the form of worker Maisy is to Technicalities Ltd or Innovative Storage will make clear her position in applying for a job with IS, it would show if she has breached any contract she had with Technicalities. All employees in Australia will need to have a Common law contract of employment. In this contract, the terms of employment are specified. This could exist as a written contract or an unwritten one. The workplace agreement could exist between the employer and also a group of employees as well. The employee agreement is differentiated from the independent contractor agreement. The Independent Contractors Act 2006 is present to ensure that contractors are not treated as employees and vice versa. Independent contractors in general will have an Australian Business number ABN. They run their business in their own times and also control how they take up work. On the other hand, an employee is one who is controlled by the workplace and told what they have to do on a regular basis. The usual employee rights are not available to the contractor. Usually courts judge whether a person is a contractor or based on multiple criteria. The right to control manner in which work is performed would be c onsidered as well as the entire relationship between the worker and the place of business. The case of ACE Insurance Limited v Trifunovski[2013] FCAFC 3 set the precedent for whether a person should be considered as an employee or as a contractor. In this case, five insurance sales representatives had signed contract agreements, but the nature of their work made them appear as employees more than independent contractors. They worked in a specific geographic location, and reported to a regional manager.The sales representatives were to carry out their work only as specified and could not do anything on their own. According to this case, even when there are written contracts, the nature of the relationship will decide whether the person in question is an employee or other. Second, the work in question must have been such that the contractor should have had the freedom to either carry out the work on their own or make use of someone to carry out the work. The contractor must have been entitled to control time limit for work and costs and should also be allowed to use their ow n equipment as well. According to this case, the result would determine the payment and not the number of hours that were put towards the work. Application Now applying the Common law contract of employment, Independent Contractors Act 2006 and ACE Insurance Limited v Trifunovski[2013] FCAFC 3 Maisy appeared to have signed up like a contractor as she had her own ABN number, but then the nature of her employment, makes her more of an employee. She is seen to have taken proper orders from IS and has even worked for a longer term with IS taking up all other work orders with Technicalities only in a part time stand point. Maisy can be considered as both an employee and contractor depending on if the discussion is with respect to Technicalities or IS. Assuming Maisy is an employee, who is Maisys employer, Technicalities or IS? Assessing for this issue will help in understanding with whom Maisy was in a contract with. Rule Employee or contractor decision tool from the Australian taxation office, attempts to present how there could be some myths about who is a contractor. Some of the most common understandings of contractor are that, the contractor decides most of their own jobs, might work short term jobs or might have an ABN number, invoicing for a work etc. However, none of these things by themselves could be used to determine the contractor status of a person. or employee. There are rules, and working arrangements could be difference and hence it is better to understand the difference. Australian Government taxation office website lists these differences as follows, Ability to subcontract/ delegate: The employee is one who does not have the ability to sub contract their work or delegate their work. They cannot pay someone else to do the work. On the other hand, the contractor has the right to freely delegate the work to someone and also pay them. Basis of Payment: In terms of the basis of payment, the worker is usually pad by time, such as the hours works or the price form item or a commission. Now in the case of a contractor, they are usually paid by the result that they have achieved. Equipment, tools and assets: In the case of the employee, the employee need not bring any tools or assets to the workplace. Everything they need to complete the work is usually given to them. In the case of the contractor worker, all the equipment is usually provides by the contractor themselves. They will not receive any form of reimbursement for the equipment that they use. Commercial Risks: In the case of commercial risks, the business is the one that has to legally bear the costs of the burden and is liable for rectifying work defects or issues with worker safety. In the case of the contractor any form of commercial risks that is taken by the worker, then the worker becomes wholly responsible. Control over the work: In the context of work control, the employee usually follows direction given to them, and the contractor might end up doing the work in his own way, only guided by the contractor agreement. Independence: In terms of the independence or the autonomy of the work, the employee usually is considered as being part of the business, they are not an independent entity,they are considered to be connected. In the case of the contractor, the services are rendered to the business, but the person who renders the service will not consider themselves as being a part of the business. They can accept work according to the contractor agreement they have signed and also adjust for work as their cycle runs. In addition to these rules as presented in the Taxation department website of the Australian Government, the rules as presented for the insurance agent in the case of ACE Insurance Limited v Trifunovski[2013] FCAFC 3 will also be applicable. Application Now in the case of being hired by Technicalities, Maisy was not receiving direct work instructions from Technicalities and hence could be said to not be an employee of Technicalities. However, Maisy was receiving proper work orders from IS. She was obeying the work orders of IS. She did not have any equipment to complete her own work and used the equipment of IS. IS had control over her work, and Maisy in the context of an unforeseen accident also claimed for medical expenses from IS. Based on the application of the standard rules, it can hence be said that Maisy is indeed an employee of IS, or at least the nature of her work makes her an employee of IS. She is not an employee of Technicalities and could be considered as a contractor only with respect to technicalities. Assuming Maisy is an employee, has Maisys employer breached any contractual duty owed to her? Rule By contractual duties, it can be said that under common law, an employee will owe duty or obligation to provide service in good faith according to Blyth Chemicals Ltd v. Bushnell. Contractual duties can either be expressly stated or it could be understood to be implied. The implication is understood as long as it is seen to add some business efficacy to the contract BP Refinery Pty Ltd v. President, Councillors and Ratepayers of Shire of Hastings. Application When starting work for Technicalities Maisy registered for an ABN number but she received neither direct work orders from Technicalities nor was she required to report to them or be under their control. In fact, Maisy was seen to accept proper work with IS and IS was even reported to have asked for her services more directly. Now according to the common law of contracts Maisy might not hold a contractual relationship with Technicalities. On the other hand, since she was taking orders from IS, and was reporting to IS, she owed a duty of obligation to IS under the common law of contracts. So when Maisy applied for a work with IS, she should have been given a chance to explain before her work with them was terminated by IS. While it is true that IS did not have any direct agreement, according to the fair trade agreement, IS should give her a chance to explain. Conclusion Maisy must be given a reasonable chance to explain her standpoint and her work cannot be dismissed as such with such a pay in lieu of notice. References Australian Government. "Difference between employees and contractors" Australian Taxation Office. 2016. accessed Sep 30 2016. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Employee-or-contractor/How-to-determine-if-workers-are-employees-or-contractors/Difference-between-employees-and-contractors/ Australian Government. "How to determine is a worker is an employee or an independent contractor". Fair Work Building and Construction accessed 30 Sep 2016. https://www.fwbc.gov.au/resources/fact-sheets/independent-contractors/how-determine-if-worker-employee-or-independent Bennett, Laura. "Making Labour Law in Australia."Law Book Company, Sydney(1994). Brosnan, Peter, and Pat Walsh. "Employment Security in Australia and New Zealand."Labour Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work8, no. 3 (1998): 23-41. Campbell, Iain, and John Burgess. "Casual employment in Australia and temporary employment in Europe: Developing a cross-national comparison."Work, Employment Society15, no. 1 (2001): 171-184. Carter, John W., David J. Harland, and Kevin E. Lindgren.Contract law in Australia. Michie. 1996. Hopkins, Iain. "Court finding sheds light on employee vs contractor equation" HC Online. Mar 2013. accessed Sep 30, 2016. https://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/court-finding-sheds-light-on-employee-vs-contractor-equation-173955.aspx Johnstone, Richard, and Michael Quinlan. "The OHS regulatory challenges posed by agency workers: evidence from Australia."Employee Relations28, no. 3 (2006): 273-289. Kalleberg, Arne L. "Nonstandard employment relations: Part-time, temporary and contract work."Annual review of sociology(2000): 341-365. Mahoney, Paul G. "The common law and economic growth: Hayek might be right."The Journal of Legal Studies30, no. 2 (2001): 503-525. Milsom, Stroud Francis Charles.Historical foundations of the common law. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2014. Mulgan, Richard. "Contracting out and accountability."Australian Journal of Public Administration56, no. 4 (1997): 106-116. Treitel, Guenter Heinz.The law of contract. Sweet Maxwell, 2003. VandenHeuvel, Audrey, and Mark Wooden. "Self-employed contractors in Australia: how many and who are they?."Journal of Industrial Relations37, no. 2 (1995): 263-280.