Michael Jordan Essays (774 words) - Chicago Bulls,

Michael Jordan When someone says the name Michael Jordan, the first thing that comes to mind is basketball, The Chicago Bulls and Nike shoes. Through the years, Michael Jordan has proved time and time again that he is the greatest basketball player ever, and by performing in this rapidly expanding sporting field, he has gained tremendous popularity throughout the world. People of all ages and from all nationalities have gathered to watch him play. A journalist states even your Aunt Matilda might not know nothing about basketball, liked watching him play (Jonathon 1999:58). Jordan has become more than just an entertainer. He is a hero and a role model amongst basketball spectators. Johnson claims that he is the most famous American in the world (ibid.). Perhaps he was born to be the best. Even though he is a star, Michaels childhood had been very distressing. In fact, Michael Jordan was nearly miscarried by his mother. His nose bled from birth till he was five, he nearly suffocated when he fell behind the bed as a baby and nearly killed himself when an electrocution threw him three feet. In Jordans own words, he exclaims I mean my girlfriend got swept in a flood and drowned when we were in college. Another time, I was swimming with a friend when both of us got pulled into the ocean by a strong undertow. I was able to get free and make it back to land. He never made it back (Jordan 1998:96). Additionally, after going through so many traumatic and distressing times, not many people would have been able to live their dreams. But Jordan performed the task of living his dream exceptionally well. Despite a somewhat desperate childhood, Michael Jordan enjoyed his time at school. He did his first years of schooling at D.C. Virgo Junior High School and later graduated to Lanley High School where he began practicing intensively on his basketball skills. He was accepted in the University of North Carolina through a basketball scholarship. At the university, Michael took on the challenge of driving his teammates to a level of performance that they might never have achieved on their own. He scored the winning basket in the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game in 1982. A sportswriter describes the relentlessness with which Michael Jordan prodded and cajoled the other players in leading them to championship season after championship season (Lazenby 1996:37). The glorious moments achieved by Michael Jordan were soon vaporised by a permanent shadow. In 1993, an agonising incident shattered Jordans excitement after winning his third championship. Moments after the game, Michaels father, James Jordan, was brutally murdered by two ruthless teenagers. This was a severe tragedy in Michaels life; his father was gone. For this reason, Michael decided to retire from Basketball and play Baseball in memory of his father. This was because James Jordan adored Baseball (Jordan 1998:112). He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox, but was unsuccessful (Encarta 1999). Hence Jordan returned to his favorable professional sport of basketball. Allison exclaims at a press conference, Michael only said two words, Im back! (Samuels 1999). The ball started to roll again. But the anxiety of the spectators only lasted till the end of 1997. By far, the Chicago Bulls had been hit the hardest with the news of Jordans retirement. The breakup arose when the management refused to pay Phil Jackson, coach of the Chicago Bulls, what he deserved after bringing six NBA championships to the Bulls. When Jackson abandoned the team, Jordan refused to play for a new coach. After Jordan officially announced his retirement, basketball great, Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets. Only four players of the previous years team still remained on the Chicago Bulls. Stein considers many have made the prediction that the bulls will lose mare games in this shortened season than they did all last year (Stein 1999). The die-hard Chicago Bulls fans will always hold a special place in their heart for Michael Jordan. They will tell their sons and daughters about him, they will get out the old VHS tapes of games that they have recorded and they will pass along basketball cards that will be worth hundreds of dollars.

The Pros and Cons of Fracking essays

The Pros and Cons of Fracking essays Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has become a widespread process with companies trying to benefit from the newly developed method for extracting oil and natural gas from wells that were once thought tapped. North America uses the technique more than any other country (85%) however the method of fracking is spreading quickly (CNN). The fracking process brings new life to old wells by using pressurized water mixed with a few chemicals (1%) and sand, which are forced down a well to create small fractures in the well (TTaF). Once the fissures are open the sand from the solution provides filler to keep the cracks open so the shale can be extracted. During the extraction process usually, about twenty percent of the used water is then recycled and reused at the next extraction site (Grottenthaler). There has been a lot of controversy over fracking with many people protesting against it. In the Marcellus Shale especially they say that the method of fracking causes drinking water to be contaminated. Pennsylvania residents say seventy-five percent of the sampled wells within one kilometer of the wells were highly contaminated with methane (Howarth). The main complaints are that of methane that seeps into the aquifers below the surface and coming out the tap. Researchers say that it is not the actual fracking process, but from wells that have been built incorrectly (TTaF). Another complaint is the amount of salt output of a typical well. A single well produces more salt per well then a common state would use for icy roads for over a decade. In turn, the massive cost that comes with the treatment and disposal of the tainted water and abundance of salt that has to be transported on trucks creating more and more emissions. Considering that there is an average of five hundred trucks that are needed per good completion, the disposal process is a highly intensive and expensive process (Glanville). Experts say that even though there have been many...

Play Station 4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Play Station 4 - Research Paper Example Watch dogs ranks second and the FIFA 14 ranks third. The reviews from the customers who bought these games earlier have contributed greatly to the increased sales by creating an urge among other buyers. Below, I shall discuss the reason each game made it to this list. This PS4 game has sold over two million, five hundred and ten thousand copies in both North America and Europe. This number of sales is incredible. There are those who feel that these sales are because it a Cod game and the lovers just buy it on this basis. But this game is unique, that boosts its sales. This game features players on the side of a nation fighting for liberty: they have to fight hard to survive. The immersion levels in this game are stunning, and the performance is good. These features raise its demand among play station 4 lovers. Another fascinating feature that makes this game an exceptional one is that unlike in the past call of duty games, one creates a soldier. It is upon the player to decide the gender and the appearance of a soldier. People love character customization, and this game offers just that. There is also a feature on the multiplayer. As the match goes on, the environment evolves. This change in landscape makes the players change tactics and come up with other strategies making the player feel that they own the game. Watchdogs has sold over two million four hundred and seventeen thousand copies. The game stands out because of the multi-player system that is simply amazing and that it is a fun game to play. The game has good visuals that are mind blowing. Most players love this game because the controls are tight, and the game is responsive. Every button on the PS4 is utilized for this game making it more captivating. The story line of watchdogs is interesting, and once the player gets to level two, it is even more captivating. It creates an urge that is intense among the players where the player utilizes the city’s feature to their full

The Kurdish winter Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

The Kurdish winter - Movie Review Example The documentary â€Å"The Kurdish Winter† is considerably long, as it runs for approximately one hour. The film mainly involves various Kurdish victims of the Kurdish genocide. These through narrations, tell their stories of what happened then. They also share knowledge on the various challenges they continue to face today in the world as Kurdish people. As highlighted, this documentary aims at revealing the truth to the world about the Kurdish situation. This, therefore, adopted the enlightenment theory of truth, as a major way or technique through which documentary could present its truth. In this case, this documentary aims at ensuring that after watching, the audience is able to think critically. The audience will, therefore, be better placed to comprehend how the real Kurdish situation is, and apart from the notion provided by the mainstream media.Screening this documentary was one of the most important exercises I was involved in. I considered this as an opportunity to j udge the feedback from the public, basing on the reactions of the audience present at the time of screening the documentary. This would, therefore, give me a clue on the level of impact the documentary will make after receiving a wider audience from different parts of the world. When screening a documentary, there are different challenges that one should expect; however, this depends on the nature of the documentary to be screened. In my case, I although I was keen enough to follow the right procedures of screening a documentary, this did not shield me from various challenges.

Psy240 Final Analyzing Psychological Disorders Essay Example for Free

Psy240 Final Analyzing Psychological Disorders Essay You are interviewing for a psychologist position with a top company. After your face-to-face interview with the team, they have provided you with two additional assignments—Part A and Part B below, which will complete the interview process: * Part A: A psychologist understands how biology can affect psychological activities and disorders. In your interview, you are asked about your understanding of the causes and treatment(s) of schizophrenia. In your reply, discuss the following: * Areas of the brain affected * Causal factors * Associated symptoms * The neural basis * Appropriate drug therapies * Part B: Part B of the interview consists of interpreting some case studies from a biopsychologist’s perspective. You are given four different case studies of disorders and have the option of choosing two out of the four case studies to analyze. * Write a 1,750- to 2,100-word paper in APA format containing the following: * Introduction * Part A of the interview process. * Part B of the interview process: * Choose two of the four case studies presented in Appendix A. * Discuss your understanding of the problem presented in each of the two case studies from the perspective of a biopsychologist. * Include each problem’s relation to the nature-nurture issue and any relevant portions of the Basics to Biopsychology text. * Use a minimum of five outside resources, including at least 3 peer-reviewed articles. * Apply any helpful drug interventions or solutions. * Discuss the positive or negative aspects of these drug interventions or solutions and * Conclusion

Malcolm X Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley was published in 1965. It is national best seller about the life and times of Malcolm X. On May 19, 1925 Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a preacher who spoke out about the unity of black people. This caused several white racists to strike out against Malcolm’s father and his family violently. His family moved to Lansing, Michigan where Malcolm, his parents, brothers, and sisters were shot at, burned out of their home, harassed, and threatened. When Malcolm was 6 years old, his father was murdered by a white man. After his father’s death his mother had a nervous breakdown and the family got split up by welfare agencies. Malcolm was placed in a lot of different schools and boardinghouses. He was a good student and wanted to be a lawyer someday, but a teacher told him that because he was black he should take up carpentry instead. At age 15 he dropped out of school and moved to Boston to live with his half sister Ella. He quickly sees the fast pace life of Detroit. To get money he shined shoes, worked at a soda fountain, worked at a restaurant and on a railroad kitchen crew. Later he moved to the black Harlem section of New York City where he sold drugs, became a thief, and was involved with a lot of hoodlums and pimps. He moved back to Boston and got arrested for burglary. While he was in prison he learned about the Nation of Islam and later joined the Islamic religion. He was released from prison in 1952 and went to be with his brother in Detroit where he replaced his last name, Little, with X to symbolize his lost true African family name. The Islamic religion taught that white people were devils so Malcolm went around speaking out against whites at universities and other places. He returned to New York and became minister of the Harlem temple. For 12 years he preached that the white man was the devil and Muhammad was God’s messenger. In 1964 he left the Nation of Islam and said "I feel like a man who has been asleep somewhat and under someone else’s control. I feel what I’m thinking and saying now is for myself. Before, it w as for and by guidance of another, now I think with my own mind."(Haley 312) He was 38 years old when he left the Islamic religion and started his own group, Organization of Afro-American Unity. He went to Mecca, known as the Hajj, and this is a religious... ...t of drug addiction, self-hatred and poverty. He restored a sense of pride in our African heritage to millions of black Americans. He offered his own view of civil rights issues, and it was totally different from the views held by other leaders, who were thought to be more moderate. If he had lived, many people think that he would have become one of the most powerful political figures this nation has known. At the end of the book Malcolm said, "I know that societies often have killed the people who have helped to change those societies. And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America then all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine." Book Report: The Autobiography of Malcolm X Chidima Keke April 13, 2004 African American History II Professor Lewis Works Cited Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ballantine Books: New York.1965 D.Hine, W.C. Hine, Harrold Stanley. The African American Odyssey. 2nd edition. Vol.2.Perason Education, Inc: New Jersey. 2003

“Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw and its film version “My fair lady” Essay

Pygmalion written by Bernard Shaw, was first performed on stage with Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins. The reception of the audience during the play was of utmost disappointment due to the non romantic ending of the play, even though that was Shaws initial intentions. My fair Lady on the other hand is a musical based on Pygmalion, and the movie was shot in 1964 by director George Cukor. Although there are numerous similarities between musical and play such as the character interactions or how both of them portray social status, especially in the conclusion, the musical displays several contradictions in comparison to the movie. Bernard Shaw wrote the play during an important moment in history, which was when women were starting to gain independence in the beginning of the 20th century. It is produced in 1914 which is when WW1 broke out and war time made it easier for women to find work, and soon after women got their independent vote in 1920. Thus Pygmalion has a strong sense of feminism and independence as one of the leading themes to guide the characters on, especially Eliza. Eliza throughout the play is striving to prove how women should be independent and not rely on men in order to lead a life. Both movie and play shows us that when Higgins turns Eliza into a duchess, he didnt give her just class and status but he took her independence away because she is not fit to sell anything else. What happens now is that if Eliza doesnt marry she has no one to provide for her and Freddy is useless because he has no talent for making money. Thus Higgins indirectly limited Elizas opportunities making her dependent on men. And during the movie when she goes back to Higgins she loses power in her character. Even though it was of her own free will and not on necessity, she still loses the power she had before. Pygmalion comes from a Greek Myth, Ovids narrative where a man called Pygmalion makes a sculpture of a woman called Galatea. Ovids original idea is that Galatea would be a worshipping monument to Pygmalion with a woman who refuses to be bound to a man who says that he has created her. Shaw in a way is flouting with Ovids original purpose due to all the inferences even  in Pygmalion that Higgins maybe has feelings for Eliza, supporting Shaws proposal of a woman within a low rank to dominate and gain the love of a middle class man. However, whether Eliza loves him or not is a different matter. On the other hand, Shaw has an ironic ending of Eliza marrying Freddy. So her independence goes straight into the gutter when she goes from being the subject of one man to another, because that is the only thing an upper class woman is supposed to do in her life, just like when Mr. Doolittle said I was free. He wants to return to the undeserving poverty instead of living as a rich man where everyone wants something from him, including his wife now wants to marry him. What happens is that as a working class woman, Eliza had her own independence and was used to assert her own rights I wont stay here if I dont like and I wont let nobody wallop me!. Now, women in her position cannot sell flowers and she must sell [her]self into marriage, giving up her rights and being dominate by men. As a second theme, Higgins is shown as a dangerous teacher to Eliza due to his mind broadening influence. Similar to the movie Dead poets Society, just like the teacher Mr. Keating, Higgins exerts a subversive influence on Eliza, with an encouragement to such an extent that he fills her heads with dreams that life cant give. His destructive influence although with best intentions at heart, if Higgins had done nothing, Eliza would not have moved classes. But now that he has given her attributes changing her social class, he creates expectations, illusions and taste to a dream which she cannot fulfill. The consequence is that his actions creates these ripples which can disrupt society, because he is going against societys flow, just like Socrates, who was popular among young men, he gave ideas going against cities principles. For any person, not just a fictional character within a play, when someone doesnt have what they want, this creates frustration because there is no structure to support their dreams, and Higgins just like Mr Keating doesnt realize the consequence of his actions. So now Higgins created a situation where Eliza cant do anything else and is now only fit to  sell myself. This theme is also connected to another theme in the play such as social class and language, because Higgins gives Eliza her language, but as shown in the first meeting that Eliza has with Mrs. Higgins, she has a flawless English however lacks a decent background, manners and taste. Thus social class is a combination of all of these and Pickering is the one who gives her the rest of her social class in addition to the language given by Higgins. So language also has an important role as shown in Higgins song why cant the English? where he says that Eliza is condemned by every syllable that she utters. In the year 300 b.c. Aristotle made it clear that a tragedy usually ends in death and a comedy ends in marriage. Throughout the play, Bernard Shaw leads the characters in believing that Eliza will end up marrying Higgins or someone with very great richness, when in fact, Shaw does not follow Aristotles rule and he breaks the whole build up of expectations that the audience had while watching the play. In contrast the film ends with Eliza entering Higgins room and his ending line is where the hell are my slippers so the film allows us to believe they dont get married, it only hints it, and that if they do, he will be a dominant person in their relationship. However when Shaw wrote the play, and the movie changes his initial reasons of writing the ending the way he did, Shaw wanted to show that people who dont marry, such as Higgins, arent disintegrated from their parents because they put their parents in high pedestals, which is also known as Oedipus tragedy. Both endings in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, seem to have an ending which is adapted to the main theme of the story, i.e. the film director and Shaw wanted to make different statements in their work. This leads to the assumption that the ending from Pygmalion is an ending that makes sense when seen that Shaws initial intention of having a play about feminism and independence, and at the same time the ending of My Fair Lady also makes sense because it is a Hollywood movie, like a Cinderella story with a romantic twist, shot in order to attract an audience. Thus although the  movie and play are the same story the focus placed on each one is on different themes which is what causes the alteration of the ending. This means that if My Fair Lady had a different ending, the addition of the songs such as rain in Spain and grown accustomed in the movie, which add a sense of romance, would be completely destroyed if both lovers werent able to conquer all of the issues between both of them. In addition, the film director also placed an emphasis on different characters and evens than Shaw. Whilst Shaws play is on social concern, criticizing the way social classes judge others based on their accent, the films message is of an individuals life that if one tries hard enough a development may be achieved. Or during the film when they say that she needs the services of a dentist so that she can get used to live and speak like a lady, meaning that all that the film was concerned about was Elizas development and her climbing of steps on the social ladder. Not to mention that for the movies ending, an idealized Eliza is portrayed in order to appeal to the public: with a noble posture when dealing under pressure. Whilst in comparison to the play she does not show her sincere feelings as Shaw first wrote it. However, even though when Eliza leaves Higgins in Pygmalions ending, although it follows through with the feminist theme, it is completely understandable why the audience for this play end the play with a feeling of dissatisfaction because after reading a whole play with a character such as Higgins who is hilarious at every speech, and at some point in the play makes you feel compassion for him, it is extremely infuriating when the main character goes off without him after a man who is in the play mainly for tempting Eliza and has no other part in play. All Freddie feels for Eliza is a platonic love and he writes her three pages every day, when Higgins actually shows true feelings for Eliza in his own disguised way. In My fair Lady, when Eliza returns from the ball, she is crying and really afraid of what might happen to her in the future where am I to go, what am I to do which Higgins without any kind of respect throws her options like working in a florists shop or marrying someone. However none of these  options satisfy Eliza. Then on the next day, it seems like it dawns on Higgins because he says where will you go, in Heaven`s name?, giving a sense that he realized that he would miss Eliza as shown in the song grown accustomed. Even though she says quite firmly she would teach phonetics, it is obvious for the audience that teaching phonetics is not what she really wanted. So what the movie shows more clearly is that Eliza does indeed have options and that Higgins is afraid he will be without her. So what makes the ending of this movie such an attraction to the audience is that Eliza comes back to Higgins as a choice of her own and not as a need. Which is in fact exactly what Higgins likes: a person who makes their decisions based on rational thinking and not on weakness. In conclusion the film has added and taken away certain characteristics of the play, but this does not mean that one is better than the other, it only means that the author and the director had different propositions in mind as to what they wanted to show their audience. One could say that the main obvious difference between the play and the movie are the songs. The songs entertain the public and thus they are more appealed because it follows a movies characteristics of those days, in addition it emphasizes Shaws initial ideas of what the characters felt leading to the main themes of the play. For example when Eliza is in the market and she wished for comfort, warmth and chocolate. However the disadvantage is that the main theme of the play which is a criticism to high classes is lost, thus songs lose the main themes and makes the story appear more Hollywood like instead of being based on a book. NOTES TAKEN FROM THE BOOK â€Å"PYGMALION† BY BERNARD SHAW AND FROM THE MOVIE â€Å"MY FAIR LADY†