The Struggle of School Right-Brain, Wrong-Brain free essay sample

My name is Gabe, and I have struggled in school since the very beginning when I started. I am writing this because I know there is a way to fix this issue, maybe not by the time I graduate, but there is a way. Right now our school system only teaches in a way that 30% of students can learn effectively. The other 70% of the classroom will compromise, struggle, or fail. Is that really how our education should work? I do not think so; I believe everyone should be taught in a way that they can understand. No one should fail due to something they have no control over. 40% of people are right-brained, meaning they learn in a visual and auditory way. Another 40% are left-brained, they tend to be more logical with their thinking and learn with words and facts. The remaining 20% use both sides of their brain equally, so they can accommodate for both learning strategies. We will write a custom essay sample on The Struggle of School: Right-Brain, Wrong-Brain or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So what if I told you that the struggling 70% could learn and succeed with just a few ideas, would you listen? Go here to find out what brain type you are: http://similarminds.com/brain.html You start off in preschool where you learn social skills and manners, then you go on to kindergarten to expand on those while also adding on basic skills, and adjusting to a school routine. After that, you continue onto elementary school which teaches you core lessons and gets you into a working habit. After elementary school you go forward to middle school, by this time you are expanding on the main subjects while preparing you for high school. High school determines your future, you do well, you get into a good college, you do poorly, your future might not be so bright. During all this time you are going through school learning in a specific teaching method. Most of the time, the teaching method doesnt even fit your type of thinking. People, who are too far from this method, are on a path that only leads to failure. Sadly, I am talking about mostly those who think in the right-brain fashion. I happen to be one of those kids on this very path, the path that has a hard future made up of the unsuccessful. It’s not my fault either, I am a good kid. I am a Boy Scout, I am part of a Christian youth group called Younglife and I have never touched drugs or alcohol in my life. I never asked to have my type of thinking pattern, but I can’t change it either. The United States education system leans more toward a left-brained way of thinking, meaning there are a lot of essays, note taking and reading. These are all great things to learn and know for the future and in certain areas, but not every class is an English class. Sometimes there are other ways to go about a topic, maybe not all but definitely some. My way of thinking is very visual, I require videos, pictures, hands-on projects and auditory things to learn. For instance, in History class I am given a text book to read and take notes to learn the subject, but in History class the same topic could be shown in a video with a speaker and visuals to explain the exact same things that were in the book. I would get more out of the video just by watching it once, rather than if I read that same topic in the book ten times over again while taking notes. It’s just how my brain works, it doesnt make me stupid compared to the average left-brained thinker and it doesnt make me smarter. In English class, yes taking notes, writing essays and reading books are great, but that is because that is how English is taught. Which I realize that most right-brained kids don’t even want to read this and might not read this just because of the massive word content, but that is just how we think. With our education, I am taught in a way that isnt compatible with my brain. Think of it like phones, where you are trying to get an iPhone to charge using a Galaxy’s charger. You’ll find that it will not charge the phone no matter how many times you stick the charger in the plug. Maybe you can buy an extra part to go on top of the charger that will be able to plug into the phone, but by doing that you lost money and it isnt as efficient as it could be if you just had the right charger in the first place. Different phones need different chargers, just as different people need different education plans, not some replacement help to get us through school and not give us our full potential of learning. To add onto my learning method and how it doesnt work with our school education, I have many, many learning problems. I have enough to fill a book! Yet the worst part about it is, I could have more and not even know it. I was just diagnosed with ADHD this summer! That is RE ALLY late to learn I have a learning issue, a problem that I could have gotten help to allow me to be more successful with school. Have you ever wondered how those kinds of issues are found? Some issues are found early on in life but only if the kid shows major symptoms and a teacher might tell the parents to get the kid tested. Sometimes a parent might just go get the kid tested at a young age to be on the safe side. Which for me, I was lucky to have a parent who noticed early on I struggled in school. My mom had me tested for a couple learning problems, such as memory, dyslexia and ADHD. My tests showed I had an awful working memory, along with short term and long term. Though my brain problems masked my ADHD at that time, so it wasn’t found until recently when my therapist asked me some questions and then I was tested. Most people only learn of their learning problems later in life or never at all. That is just not right for people to find out later in life about a problem that if it got the help it needed, that person could very well have been a better student, got better grades and then been more successful in life. Since the end of my sophomore year, Ive been going to a place called Learning Rx. It is like a second school that works solely to find as many of my brain issues as they can and then start doing â€Å"games† to help my brain fix them. But, it’s not only for kids like me who have mental problems. Anyone can go, it is used to tune and strengthen minds of all ages. Senior citizens can use it to help Alzheimer’s from having such a strong effect. Kids use it to help them in school, and adults use it to keep their mind on its toes. They described the activities as physical therapy for the brain; you train it to make it better. I can’t really describe the type of brain exercise I do there and put them into words, but I’ll do my best. I don’t like to call the work I do there, games, only because they are crazy hard and take a lot of brain power. For me, because my memory is bad I have an exercise where my trainer holds out a card with a certain amou nt of numbers on different areas of the card. There are nine spots on the card for a number to be, three across and three down. There are four numbers on the card each number in a different spot on the card. Let’s say this card has a â€Å"1† in the top row, middle column. An â€Å"8† is in the top row, right column. Then a â€Å"4† is in the middle row, middle column, it’s in the center of the card. Finally, a â€Å"7† is in the bottom, right corner of the card. My trainer will tell me a direction or a pattern to say the numbers; we’ll say an â€Å"S† pattern. I only get to see the card for four seconds, she then flips it over and I have to say the numbers in order on beat of a second per answer. But before I even try to answer the card, my trainer will distract my mind with a question like, â€Å"What did you eat for breakfast?† I would answer and then answer the card. You say the word â€Å"blank† whenever ther e is a spot without a number. So this is what I’d say, â€Å"blank,† then I’d wait one second. â€Å"One,† wait one second to answer again. â€Å"Eight†¦ Blank†¦ Four†¦ Blank†¦ Blank†¦ Blank†¦ Seven.† As easy as that sounds, you’d be wrong to think so. As you get better you are given more numbers, less time to look at the card, and more difficult patterns. When I first went to Learning Rx, I looked around and saw the tests and thought they looked easy and I could do them. I was so, so very wrong. Im lucky to have parents that will spend the money to help train my brain to be better even with my learning problems. Which got me thinking, what if kids were trained like I am at Learning Rx in their early years of school? Their problems would be found, they would be trained to be better even with their problems and they would find out how their learning process works, whether they are left or right-brained or maybe even both. I am going to go back to the phone analogy, imagine a phone that wasn’t made quite right, or developed a glitch. You probably would get it fixed. That way the problem would no longer be an issue and it would work a lot more efficiently compared to before. People are the same way, if your kid had an issue you’d want to find a way around or to fix it and watch them succeed. It doesn’t make your kid any less of a human if they have problems, this may come as a shock, but everyone has problems whether physical, mental or emotional. My mom was telling me how some parents are in denial of their kids having a mental issue because they are afraid their kid will be â€Å"labeled† or teased. They don’t want to put their kid through classed like Special Ed because of this. I hate to break it to those parents, but your kid will be labeled regardless. They will be â€Å"that kid who struggles in school† and will most likely end up in places like study hall or academic workshop. In reality, those are the same exact classes as Special Ed, trust me, I know. I’ve been in Special Ed, Academic Workshop, and Study Hall and they all have a teacher who works to try and help your kid’s needs. You don’t even need mental issues on your student file to get put in those classes. So, their kid is already labeled and in those types of Special Ed classes, whether they accepted the problems or not. Now, as I said, we could fix all of these problems and teach kids in a way they can actually learn , whether left or right-brained, mental issues or no issues. Preschool could work the same, teach social skills and manners. Kindergarten however, while adding onto what preschool taught there would be brain exercises to find the problems and how the kid learns. Even into Elementary school, those same exercises would be carried on. Not only that, but schools could be taught in three sections. For right-brained thinkers, visual learners, a teacher with the same type of thinking would teach the class. The same would go for the left-brained kids, only in a left-brained fashion of teaching. Then, the third group, the both sided brain thinkers would learn in the specific way to help them learn. More kids would succeed, more kids would understand, and more kids would be better prepared for life. Now not all classes would ONLY be for right-brained kids or ONLY be for left-brained, like Art or P.E. and â€Å"elective† classes could be ones they all share. Kind of like how in schools kids have different homeroom teachers, so it’s not like your kids are being separated like it’s a bad thing. Kids already get separated whether it’s different homerooms, or learning levels. Some kinds are in a higher reading class, some are in a less fast pace one, all because that’s the class they need. Right now, I’m not even sure if I am going to make it to college, because I was never taught in a way that could help me. No school treated my needs to help me succeed. I did so badly in my freshmen year of high school, that when I got frustrated and couldnt learn the topics I began to skip class. I mean, why go to class if you’re going to fail no matter what? My sophomore year, I failed English class with a 32% final grade. When I was tested on my reading skills, I averaged in the top 7% percent of my age group. For thirteen years I was well below my age group average, but now I am way beyond it. I had to fix my reading problems on my own, so one day I picked up a book and just began to read, then another, and another, until I was reading almost a book ever two to three days! I obviously am good at reading, I am pretty good at writing, but without the teaching resources, I am going to struggle and maybe even fail.. That scares me, I want to get to college, and I want to get a degree in graphic art to become a video or computer game designer. I want to be successful, but I can’t get there without the help I need. When I went to school I grew up hearing the word stupid as a common word being described for me and how I work. â€Å"Gabe, you’re so stupid,† or, â€Å"Gabe you’re such an idiot.† Both things I heard and still do hear many, many times from other students. The sad part is that because I fail my classes and because I hear things like this, I actually begin to believe it. It wasn’t until just now, as I began to put my thoughts down on the page is where I realized they are wrong, I was wrong. I am NOT stupid! What is stupid, is me failing school because I think a little differently or learn in a way that people can’t help me. My mom would tell me I am smart every time I would get frustrated with school or began to fail another class. My mom would say things like, â€Å"I know you’re smart, if you just did the work you would do better.† Well, that was the motherly advice right? So of course I blew it off. Only now, I realize she wa s right, but the work was also an issue. If I didn’t understand the work in class, I most certainly wouldn’t understand it when I got home. So I blew off the work, failed another class. We are so worried about how the United States is falling behind in education, we are currently ranked 54th in education right now. I see commercials during presidential elections of how they are going to improve education by putting more money into it. Yes, money would help to change it, but maybe we could start fixing it by fixing the education system’s structure more, while we fund it. But, throwing money into an education system that is broken will not fix the issue; you are only making the problem look a little nicer or the problem a little more expensive. So why not give my ideas a try? Help put kids on the paths they deserve to walk on. People are worried that it will cost too much money to fix these issues and to get the resources kids need to learn. When there is never too much money to put into education. The more money we put in, the more we profit in the long run. More people would be successful in life, bringing more money back that can only improve schools more a nd more. It is a circle of benefit, kids learn better, they succeed and then profit to restart the cycle over again. So is this issue going to be fixed? I have no idea. Will people read this and try to stand with me? I have no clue. But if you do, I want you to realize that this is what our education needs. This is what those kids like me, those kids who struggle and need help to put them toward a future of success. I know I’ve said that many times, but I’m tired of failing, watching other kids failing. I am tired of hearing kids call other stupid for things that they can’t control. I am tired of watching kids not being given the tools to help get them to their full potential in life. Maybe you noticed these issues while you were in school, or are noticing it now while you are in school. How do these issues get noticed and fixed? In all honesty, I do not know, but I’m going to start by showing this to parents, posting this online and sending it as a lette r to my city council.

Free Essays on History Of The Black U.S. Soldier

Throughout American history, Afro-Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans have made a grand contribution and a great impact on our armed forces since the Revolutionary War. The Afro-American has fought against its country's wars, and they have also fought the war within their country to gain the right to fight and freedom. America's first war, its war for independence from Great Britain was a great accomplishment. This achievement could not have been performed if not for the black soldiers in the armies. "The first American to shed blood in the revolution that freed America from British rule was Crispus Attucks, a Black seaman." (Mullen 9) Attucks along with four white men were killed in the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. Even though Attucks was a fugitive slave running from his master, he was still willing to fight against England along with other whites and give the ultimate sacrifice, his life, for freedom. This wasn't the only incident of Blacks giving it all during the War for Independence. From the first battles of Concord and Lexington in 1775, Black soldiers "took up arms against the mother country." (Mullen 11) Of the many Black men who fought in those battles, the most famous are Peter Salem, Cato Stedman, Cuff Whittemore, Cato Wood, Prince Estabrook, Caesar Ferritt, Samuel Craft, Lemuel Haynes, and Pomp Blackman. One of the most distinguished heroes o the Battle of Bunker Hill was Peter Salem who, according to some sources, fired the shot that killed Major John Pitcairn of the Royal Marines. But Peter Salem wasn't the only Black hero during the Revolutionary War. Another Black man, Salem Poor, also made a hero of himself at Bunker Hill. Because of his bravery at the ... Free Essays on History Of The Black U.S. Soldier Free Essays on History Of The Black U.S. Soldier Throughout American history, Afro-Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans have made a grand contribution and a great impact on our armed forces since the Revolutionary War. The Afro-American has fought against its country's wars, and they have also fought the war within their country to gain the right to fight and freedom. America's first war, its war for independence from Great Britain was a great accomplishment. This achievement could not have been performed if not for the black soldiers in the armies. "The first American to shed blood in the revolution that freed America from British rule was Crispus Attucks, a Black seaman." (Mullen 9) Attucks along with four white men were killed in the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. Even though Attucks was a fugitive slave running from his master, he was still willing to fight against England along with other whites and give the ultimate sacrifice, his life, for freedom. This wasn't the only incident of Blacks giving it all during the War for Independence. From the first battles of Concord and Lexington in 1775, Black soldiers "took up arms against the mother country." (Mullen 11) Of the many Black men who fought in those battles, the most famous are Peter Salem, Cato Stedman, Cuff Whittemore, Cato Wood, Prince Estabrook, Caesar Ferritt, Samuel Craft, Lemuel Haynes, and Pomp Blackman. One of the most distinguished heroes o the Battle of Bunker Hill was Peter Salem who, according to some sources, fired the shot that killed Major John Pitcairn of the Royal Marines. But Peter Salem wasn't the only Black hero during the Revolutionary War. Another Black man, Salem Poor, also made a hero of himself at Bunker Hill. Because of his bravery at the ...

Essay Term Paper on Doing Business in China

Essay Term Paper on Doing Business in China Essay Term Paper on Doing Business in China Essay Term Paper on Doing Business in ChinaTo write an essay term paper on doing business in China means to explore how business people into contact with Chinese business people. As a business contact of people from different countries depends on culture, negotiation techniques, and business etiquette, you have to discuss all these aspects in your essay term paper on doing business in China. This article will help you do it properly and finally succeed. In addition, if you are writing a writing a reaction paper or argumentative term paper, you may confidently rely on our professional writing services and get your paper written from scratch!There are five main factors that should be taken into account when trying to get into contact with Chinese business people, and you should mention them in your essay term paper on doing business in China.1.Confucianism To cover this aspect in your essay term paper on doing business in China, say that it is necessary to see how Confucianism influe nces business practices in China. Actually, Confucianism is all about harmonious relationships, and if business partners take into consideration this concept, they will get on well. 2.FaceThere are also certain aspects of etiquette related to the expression of faces of business partners. In your essay term paper on doing business in China, explain the importance of saving face and showing it while conducting negotiations. You can also give examples of how this or that face expression might be regarded by Chinese people when writing your essay term paper on doing business in China.3.Meeting and greeting peopleBusiness usually involves meeting and greeting people. However, in China meeting and greeting people have some special peculiarities. For example, in your essay term paper on doing business in China, you may say that shaking hands may be interpreted as aggressive by Chinese. 4.Building relationshipsSome experts strongly recommend avoid humor when communicating with Chinese not b ecause they are humorless but rather jokes may be lost in translation and be interpreted in inappropriately. In your essay term paper on doing business in China, you may also explain why it is necessary to keep dealings at a professional level and avoid informal conversations.5.NegotiationsOne of the most well known strategies used by Chinese negotiators is to start negotiations showing humility and difference. In your essay term paper on doing business in China, explain how Europeans should interpret such a conduct. There are also more nuances about the peculiarities of contacting Chinese people that you may mention in your paper. The most important thing is to make sure that you are providing reliable and credit information in your essay term paper on doing business in China. You may find it helpful to review the following article on good term paper topics and learn how to write term paper 15 pages without any efforts!

The Five Porter Forces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Five Porter Forces - Essay Example This is thus applicable to the Coke and Pepsi industries who are major rivals in the production of carbonated soft drinks. The structure of the concentrated producers is such that a blend of the raw material ingredient  is produced, packaged in plastic canisters and taken to the bottlers. Concentrate producers add artificial sweeteners to carbonated drinks while the bottlers add sugar or high fructose is making the process of the former to be less capital intensive than the latter. Production cost is low under the concentrate producers with little capital being used on machinery, labor and overheads and still ensuring that production can serve the whole of the United States (Greenwald & Kahn 91). Innovation and sophistication is a key goal in the firm with high investments awarded to marketing, advertising, research, promotion and bottler support. However, key emphasis is given to the development of customer development agreements with other advanced companies to promote marketing strategies and employment of many people to meet the production demand Bottlers on the other hand add sugar, carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup to the concentrates and packed it ready for delivery to customers. The sales include maximization of space, positioning of brand, setting displays and points of sale and coming up with promotional activities. The process of the bottlers is capital intensive, involves high speed and high cost the o produce a package that is of similar type and size. Much of the system is capital intensive with major investments being accounted for trucks and distribution process. The industry structure of the concentrate producers is more attractive based on the model provided by Porter on industrial framework.  

The Sixtieth Century and Beyond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12

The Sixtieth Century and Beyond - Essay Example In 1505, Martin Luther changed his career path to become a monk after a life-threatening experience that changed his perception of religion. He gained spiritual enlightenment through his profound religious studies. Martin Luther believed that the key to salvation was not enslavement to religious dogma, but the faith of an eternal life (Bainton 456). Due to his skepticism and open-mindedness, Martin Luther was later excommunicated from the Roman Catholic. John Calvin was also an influential figure in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. He was banished from Paris for his support of Martin Luther. He later settled in Geneva where he continued his religious teaching. In addition, Calvin was saddened by the immorality in the French Catholic church. Through his numerous scholarly works, Calvin provided a protestant response to the Catholicism. Modern Protestantism traces its roots to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century that was perpetuated by both Calvin and Luther. The Presbyterians are a result of Calvinism. The Protestant denomination rejects most of the teachings and beliefs of the Roman church. However, some Protestant churches such as the Anglican have adopted most of the Catholic beliefs while others have little association with the Catholic Church. The adherence to biblical teachings is common in both denominations. The age of discovery is the period in the 15th century that featured the European global exploration. It entailed the discovery of Africa by the Portuguese as well as the Spain discovery of America in 1492 (Wallerstein 78). Historians refer to the period as a link between modern era and middle ages. European exploration overseas led to colonization and slave trade. As a result, this leads to culture transfers, relocation of human population, and spread of infectious diseases between the western and eastern hemisphere. The spice trade dominated the whole of Europe, Africa, and Asia where spices such as pepper, Cinnamon and ginger were traded.  

Christianity in the first three centuries Essay Example for Free

Christianity in the first three centuries Essay After the terror of September 11 the American people wanted to know what type of people would fly airplanes into buildings killing thousands of their good citizens. The left wing media and the Bush administration, which often patronizes left wing, political correctness, provided the most typical ‘spin’ for public consumption. This interpretation works within the typical left-wing paradigm, which deems all religions as essentially the same and politics as Ð ° separate category of life, removed from the private concerns of true religion. It is only when conservative religious-types attempt to impose their narrow minded beliefs upon the peaceable world of religious and political communities that problems arise. (Sherifa 2005 28) Therefore, it is not Islam that brought about September 11. ‘Islam is Ð ° religion of peace’. It is ‘fundamentalists’ who are most to blame for disturbing the peace. After all, the term Islam means ‘peace’. â€Å"Enhanced analysis is where â€Å"the rubber meets the road† Up to this point in the analytical process, personnel have primarily been cleaning data and analyzing information using broad approaches. Transforming the information into quality intelligence requires time and skill. Whether some forms of analysis are art or science is debatable. In the case of homeland security and terrorism analysis, it is both. Methods employed by an analyst can be replicated for use on many different fronts. In addition, there are numerous scientific models and tools available for analysts that can be utilized by anyone to prove or verify information. The data should yield the same results for whoever undertakes the process. (Paul 2002 31) Use of Ð ° checklist is encouraged due to the magnitude of events that can be faced by an analyst undertaking terrorism or organized hate group investigations. Too many steps are involved in the intelligence process, and information often arrives at intermittent times, making organization of the information difficult. Matrixes, link charts, time lines, and maps also play important roles in transforming information into enhanced intelligence. Whatever techniques are used to analyze the information, it is crucial to know ones criminal data and what information is available. In warfare, one needs to know the enemy, and in the analytical world one needs to know the enemy (subject or target) as well as the data. If you do not know what you have, how can you transform it into intelligence? (Michael 2004) Today the term is used by the media and intelligentsia as Ð ° form of hate speech an epithet to curse those who disagree with them. In the present context it is used as Ð ° means of casting aspersions upon conservative Christians in relating them to terrorist activity. Stephen Schwartz serves Ð ° good example of this type of rhetoric. In his work on the Saudis and Wahhabis, The Two Faces of Islam, he skews an otherwise outstanding work with Ð ° continual reference to ‘fundamentalist’ Muslims as perverting ‘true’ Islam. The term serves as Ð ° source of pure rhetoric throughout the work, disembodied from any specific reference to Ð ° movement, group or set of beliefs. There is only one section where he even bothers to relate it to Ð ° specific viewpoint. In this place he condemns Muslims who limit ‘all historical and cultural development in Islam after its first two generations’. However, this understanding of fundamentalism in terms of literal interpretation and living-in-the-past contradicts the overall thesis of Schwartz and his liberal constituency that would characterize the religion of Muhammad the ‘true’ and ‘authentic’ Islam as Ð ° religion of peace. If Muhammad was Ð ° man of peace, literal Islam would have produced the same sort of pacifism that we observe among early Christianity in the first three centuries. But the real truth is that it produced much the opposite. Islam does not exist in the world of ideas as Ð ° disembodied, un-interpreted spirit, subsisting above and beyond the communities who represent the faith. ‘True’ Islam exists only in the mind of those liberals who wish that Muslims would find in Islam what they want them to believe. No religion, philosophy or political ideology exists apart from those who interpret it in accordance with their own purposes. For example, one could find Nazism within the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche if one wishes to use his writings to deconstruct certain themes in certain ways. His writings contain that possibility, even if Nietzsche himself was not an anti-Semite. All works contain enough tensions within them to allow the interpreter to choose this or that reading as more indicative of the true essence of the text, It is all Ð ° matter of choice, If Ð ° reader wishes to find the good things of liberalism within the Qur’an feeding the poor and helping widows and orphans in their distress, there is much in the text that lends itself to this direction. (Paul 2002 56) However, Ð ° liberal cannot deny that there is more Ð ° pretext for deconstructing the Qur’an and proceeding in the horrid direction of September 11 than there is in the Bible or the sacred texts of most other religions. The Bible certainly contains imprecatory psalms and holy wars, but within its writings, especially those of the New Testament, there is much to counteract the more bellicose verses of the old Testament and marginate them or treat them as Ð ° product of Ð ° bygone dispensation. Within the Qur’an there are Ð ° number of disturbing sections that could lead in the direction of September 11 if so interpreted, and little else to counteract them. There is no concept of the historical progress of revelation, as the divine revelation did not take place over Ð ° period of time. According to most Muslims, the Qur’an is an eternal and uncreated book. Its Arabic is God’s Arabic its words God’s Words. Nevertheless, Islam does not exist as Ð ° simple monolith, which demands our acceptance or rejection. â€Å"Since the events of September 11, the American people may have been treated to more truth from their government than ever before. In the post Vietnam era, when the notorious Phoenix program of assassinations finally came to light, public indignation was sufficient to empower investigation by the Church Committee, and Ð ° subsequent ban on foreign assassinations. Over the past decade and increasingly under the Bush Jr. administration, however, open talk of intended foreign assassinations, efforts to overthrow the leaders of other sovereign states, or invasions of an unspecified array of nations can reach the daily papers through on-record remarks by elected officials. † (Amit 2003 127).

Themes in the Novel and Movie Adaptation of James Cain’s Mildred Pierce

Themes in the Novel and Movie Adaptation of James Cain’s Mildred Pierce In contemporary film making, â€Å"Hollywood-ization† generally refers to the re-creation of a classic work in a form more vulgar and sexually explicit than the original in an effort to boost movie attendance. After all, sex and violence sell. However, from the mid-1930’s to the 1950’s, â€Å"Hollywood-ization† referred to the opposite case where controversial books had to be purified to abide by the Production Code of 1934.[1] This occurred to many of James Cain’s novels as they moved from text to the genre of â€Å"film noir.† As has been said about Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, â€Å"The property, bought several years ago, was kept in the studio’s archives until now because of [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s] â€Å"inability to clean it up.†Ã¢â‚¬ [2] The sanitation of Cain’s novels greatly took from the strong themes of female emotional and financial independence that were rarely addressed at that t ime as they were adapted for the screen. James Cain’s Mildred Pierce, published in 1941, explored issues that plagued the domesticated woman amidst the social upheaval caused by the Great Depression of the 1930’s and suffered from the rule of the Production Code. As Mildred Pierce’s first marriage with Bert Pierce disintegrates, she is confronted with the responsibility of supporting her two children while creating opportunities for financial independence despite having no skills or education. She becomes a successful restaurateur through the careful manipulation of the men around her only to become the slave to the desires and whims of her eldest daughter, Veda. According to David Madden, the story of Mildred Pierce is â€Å"a powerful and suggestive study of social inequity and ... ...rs, again: The Postman Always Rings Twice,† Literature/Film Quarterly (2000): 41. [3] Madden, David, James M. Cain (Twayne: 1970) 68. [4] Oates, Joyce Carol, Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties (London: Southern Illinois University Press, 1968) 110 [5] Farrell, James, Literature and Morality (New York: The Vanguard Press, Inc, 1945) 89. [6] Madden 148 [7] Farrell, James, 88 Work Cited 1 Encyclopedia Britannica Online www.search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=119926&sctn=6. 2 Biesen, Sheri Chinen, â€Å"Raising Cain with the censors, again: The Postman Always Rings Twice,† Literature/Film Quarterly (2000) 3 Madden, David, James M. Cain (Twayne: 1970) 4 Oates, Joyce Carol, Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties (London: Southern Illinois University Press, 1968) 5 Farrell, James, Literature and Morality (New York: The Vanguard Press. Inc, 1945)