Friday, January 31, 2020
Dance is a sport Essay Example for Free
Dance is a sport Essay I. Introduction: a) Attention Getter: What is the definition of a sport? A game played with a ball? Is it people in tight pants running around? How about â€Å"an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature†? That sounds more like it. Football, baseball, and track fit those definitions, but so does another recreational activity that is not typically considered a sport: dance. b) Personal Statement: I myself am a dancer and have been dancing my whole life. Being a dancer, one of the worst things anyone can say is that dance is not a sport and I want to prove them wrong. Transition: Dance fits all those requirements. An athletic activity? Oh yeah! Requiring skill or physical prowess? Definitely! Often of a competitive nature? You bet! Dance is even recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee. Then why is this â€Å"fine art†not considered a sport? II. Dance is an athletic activity. a) The sport of dance takes years of training and hard work to perfect. Yes, I said sport. Although some believe that dancing is nothing more than tutus and twirling, it is a mentally engaging and physically demanding activity. b) Dance is actually quite similar to one of the most popular sports in the United States: football. In both activities, athletes are assigned specific jobs, roles, or positions. Each follows choreographed plays. Both types of athletes travel using certain steps or passes. Similar, right? III. Dance requires skill or physical prowess. a) One difference between dance and most sports is the way the athletes present themselves. During a tennis match, the players grunt and groan when hitting the ball to show everyone how hard they are working. However, dancers must always look graceful and light as a feather. The best dancers can make the most difficult moves look effortless. It takes lots of practice to perfect those moves and make them look easy. This is why dance is a mental sport as well. b) Dr. Jill McNitt-Gray, a professor in kinesiology (the scientific study of movement) at the University of Southern California, has worked with national champions and Olympic gold medalists. Through her work with professional ballroom dancers, she found that a dancer doing the jive can reach foot speeds of 15 miles an hour. In addition, a dancer can spin up to 180 times in a minute – four times faster than a record player! c) Balance is a vital part of dance. Dancers must have strong core muscles. Men need strong shoulders for lifts, since they must not only support their own body weight but also their partners. â€Å"Dancers are some of the toughest athletes in the world,†claims Dr. McNitt-Gray. IV. Dance is a competitive nature. a) Many ask, â€Å"How can dance be a sport? You cant judge on time and the scoring is subjective! †Just like figure skaters, competitive dancers are judged on many criteria: technique, posture, timing, line, hold, poise, togetherness, expression, presentation, power, and foot or leg action. Dancers have a lot on their minds while performing. They are constantly asking themselves, am I extending correctly? Is my technique right? Is my head facing the right direction? b) Some people think dance involves less endurance than sports like cross-country running. However, these runners exert forces in only one direction but, as Dr. McNitt-Gray said, in dance, your hands, legs, and head are exerting forces in different directions all at the same time. c) Dance is a cardiovascular, aerobic, and challenging sport. Many professional athletes, including former Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver Lynn Swann, dance to improve their flexibility. Dance fits all the requirements of a sport, and has the physical and mental challenges of a sport, as well. V. Conclusion: a) Main Points: Just like any other sport, dance is an athletic activity that requires skill or physical prowess and is often a competitive nature. b) Ending Statement: If you are shaking your head thinking, this girls crazy, get up off your chair and try it yourself. Meanwhile, I look forward to the day I might be able to stand on that Olympic platform and receive a gold medal for the sport of dance. Sources and References 1. Professor of Kinesiology, Jill McNitt-Gray. University of South California http://www.worlddancesport. org/About/All/Fit_Through_Dance 2. Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver Lynn Swann, By Joe Horrigan. Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame http://www. profootballresearchers. org/Coffin_Corner/23-03-895. pdf 3. The Mayo Clinic, a published medical journal. The Health Benefits of Dancing Including Specific Benefits of Different Dances. http://www. sixwise. com/newsletters/05/11/02/the_health_benefits_of_dancing__including_specific_benefits_of_different_dances. htm 4. Santa Rosa High, The Press Democrat. The great debate: is dance a sport? http://teenlife. blogs. pressdemocrat. com/11749/the-great-debate-is-dance-a-sport/.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Abraham as the Ideal Man of Faith in The Holy Bible Essay -- Holy Bibl
Abraham as the Ideal Man of Faith The question is frequently asked, â€Å"What does it mean to have faith?†â€Å"What does it mean to be faithful?†The path to righteousness has always been one paved in good faith, and this is a well-known fact. The ideal man of faith, it can be reasoned, would be the man who was the most suitable spiritual companion for God. This would be someone with whom God could speak with, and fulfill his wishes for human beings there within. God would not simply want a servant, but a friend who would walk through his life with God. This is a hard man to find. One place worshippers of God are always certain to look for an example is the Bible. The Old Testament offers many differing examples of men of faith. Some men of faith closely looked at in the Old Testament are Abraham, Noah, and Job. Abraham can be viewed as the ideal man of faith because his relationship with God exceeded those of Noah and Job. His relationship was ideal in that there was true communication and a mut ual respect. While Noah and Job were men of faith, their relationships were not ideal because Noah did not truly communicate and Job lacked both respect and trust for the Lord. Abraham was God’s chosen â€Å"father of all nations.†He and God shared a relationship that no other man ever shared with God. God says to Abraham: I will make of you a great nation,                                 And I will bless you;                        I will make your name great,                        So that will be your blessing.                        I will bless those who bless you                        And curse those who curse you.                        All the communities of the earth                        ... ...ause he never lacked trust or respect for the Lord. Even when God demanded that Abraham kill his own son, Abraham never once lost any respect or trust. He merely had faith.            The conclusion to be drawn is a fairly easy one. Abraham was the ideal man of faith, due to his upholding of the vital elements of the ideal, as well as the fact that he was the best companion for God. He proved that devotion does not necessarily mean just strict servitude, but that it also means maintaining a relationship on a level that servants cannot. Also, he showed that a mutual respect must be present if a relationship will work, and that trust is required at all times. Faith was never a â€Å"sometimes†thing for Abraham. He took it to the fullest extent at every moment, which is why he was the ideal man of faith. He did everything necessary to be the ideal companion for God.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Compare and contrast Marxist and Functionalist accounts of religion
Both functionalists and Marxists share the common view that religion serves to legitimise the morals and laws within society. Many functionalists as well as Marxists do agree that society creates religion as a visual symbol of itself. Followers are ultimately not worshipping their religion, their worshipping society and everything it stands for. However, this is where the split in views begins. Functionalists see Religion as serving towards the 4 pre-requisites of society. (Namely: Social integration, shared values, social solidarity, and social harmony). By ensuring these needs are met, religion reinforces collective values and promotes solidarity. Functionalism is not over concerned about the ‘why' religion is allowed to assume this falsified symbolism, but instead recognises it's use in keeping harmony and faith in society. Durkheim demonstrates this in admitting that religion does not have to be ‘super natural'. It's important to note that mortal people and objects can gain a sacred status in society similar to that of the idols of religion. For instance: Princess Diana – a national symbol of charity and possibly the last real ‘princess' of the British Nation in the people's hearts. She has become sacred because she represents a good quality of society. From this, Durkheim believes â€Å"Understand what sacred things represent and you understand the values of a society†. Here we come into the first major difference between functionalism and Marxism. The former believes that there is a positive relationship between society and the individual. Worship society; believe in society. Marxists, however, inherently are discontent and have an ill view of society as it is. It is understandable how they are opposed to religion indoctrinating the people into a value set, pulling them into the collective conscience that ultimately supports capitalism and the idea that people deserve to â€Å"have their place†. Religion has allows supported class systems and promoted inequality. In gender. In work. In authority. Everything that Marxism is opposed to. â€Å"The rich man placed in his castle – The poor man placed at his gate†Malinowski, famed for his research at the Trabaind islands, did not see religion as a celebration of society, despite the same functionalist perspective as Durkheim. He did, however, agree that religion promotes solidarity. It does so by dealing with emotional stress / life crisis (disruptive events). Religion goes as far as to introduce ceremonies for dealing with various life crisis. Death is given a funeral. Love is given marriage. In all cases then hope is given through the expressed belief in immortality and fellow mourners serve to comfort and support the bereaved, so they can become functional members of society once again. Dangerous and unpredictable events are also surrounded in religious ceremony. Prayer is common before a possibly hazardous experience. These rituals reduce anxiety and increase confidence, strengthening unity in shared situations. Talcott Parsons shares this view and goes onto show how religious devices, such as the 10 commandments, provide the basis for many social norms and morals. Religion guides behaviour and helps in the formulation of decision through this. Finally, Religion is looked to answer the â€Å"ultimate questions†and give meaning to our existence. Humanity needs to feel as though there is meaning in all significant things; meaning to death and suffering, and justification of existence in itself. Religion works to show sense in contradictory scenarios that threaten the balance of ultimate beliefs. For instance, a man who is profiting through the doing of evil will be punished in the after life for his wrongful gain in life. Religion is a warning, a giver of justice, a provider of guidance and ultimate supernatural fear if one goes astray. Marx himself rejects any idea of supernatural aspect of religion. He describes religion as the â€Å"Heart of a heartless world†; The heartless world being the society moulded by capitalism. Religion is born out of a need for comfort, it does just this by cushioning the effect of worker oppression. Marxists have placed religion as part of the super structure, it helps justify the capitalist base as well as the whole super structure. (See rich man quote page 1). Religion as a tool of the bourgeoisie plays an important roll in justifying worker oppression, by showing that all will gain equal reward in heaven for doing the ‘right thing'. Religion has varying levels of strictness according to socio-economic class placement, especially in India where the cast system places strict restrictions and categorisations on a persons place in society. The idea of equal opportunity is ultimately crushed by harsh teachings and acceptance that a lower class worker is having a bad life because super natural forces placed them in that situation as punishment for wrongfulness in previous life. In conclusion, Marxist and functionalist similarities on the subject start and end with the acceptance of religion as a conservative force in society. Neo Marxism does accept the idea (like functionalism) that religion can sometimes be useful to society in bringing about change for the better. For instance the radical role of Liberation Theology. (Madura). Traditional Marxism is totally opposed to the oppressive role of religion and would be surprised to see that radical forces have emerged with some minority religious groups. Functionalists such as Durkheim and Parsons see religion as being a positive and perhaps essential part of the harmonious workings of society but have been criticised for ignoring the dysfunctional, disruptive, and divisive aspects of religion. They fail to consider hostility between religious groups within the same society. â€Å"It would seem that religion threatens social integration as readily as it contributes to it†(Stark & Glock).
Monday, January 6, 2020
Types of plagiarism
Plagiarism can cause a lot of problems that is why it is very important to avoid it. Sometimes people get accused of plagiarism because they didnt know about some kinds of plagiarism. Knowing basic types of plagiarism and some ways to avoid them can help a lot in writing the papers. Basically, plagiarism is using of someone elses work and presenting it or its part as your own. Also plagiarism is considered to be stealing, because if you use someone elses ideas and do not cite them, you steal them from the original author. There are few basic types of plagiarism that you should know in order to avoid them. First one is considered to be the most serious. It is Copy and Paste plagiarism. This type of plagiarism occurs when a person copies a fragment of the writing from the source and pastes it into his own work without citing this source. Usually people who do this risk a lot, because it is very easy to find this type plagiarism in the writing. In order to avoid this it you should put quotation marks around the fragment that had been used and put a reference for the source that has been used. Another type of plagiarism is Word Switch Plagiarism. It happens when you take a phrase or a sentence from the source and switch few words. It is still plagiarism because the main concept of the sentence or phrase stays the same. In this case you just use someone custom writing ideas in stead of your own. This type of plagiarism is also known as paraphrasing. If you take a phrase from the source and rephrase it with your own words you still have to put a reference for this phrase, because the idea and the though that you used are not yours. Metaphor Plagiarism also happens a lot usually in creative writings. While writing a creative paper, people like to use metaphors because they make their writing more interesting and creative. It happens a lot that a person cannot come up with his/her own metaphor, thats why they use other well-known metaphors. Without proper citing this is considered to be a plagiarism. If you want to use a metaphor that is not yours, you should include a source for it. Another very common type of plagiarism is Idea Plagiarism. It occurs often because not everyone knows about it. The concept of this plagiarism is that people use someone elses ideas, like solution for something. If you write about some common things that are well known, you do not have to put a reference for them, but if you write about some specific ideas or concepts that were written by other people, you should put reference for them. Reasoning Style or Organization Plagiarism also occurs a lot. When we take an article or some kind of source and follow it paragraph by paragraph, it is also considered to be a plagiarism, even if you do not copy it word by word and change the sentences. It is considered to be a plagiarism because you use the authors style and structure in the writing. Another type of plagiarism occurs a lot when people use statistics and images from other sources without referencing. It is very important to put a reference for every chart, table or statistics that you use in the paper. Not everyone knows that putting on a reference list some sources that you really didnt use in your writing is also a plagiarism. It becomes a problem when students just write down necessary number of sources even if they havent read them at all. Self-Plagiarism occurs when you use your own work that you have written before. If you do so, you must reference all the materials from the previous work appropriately. Another type of plagiarism that happens extremely often in the school or college is Collusion. It happens when you copy the work that have been written by another student. If you are the person who gave your work to someone else to copy, you will also have a problems as well as that person. All the types of plagiarism that are listed above can cause a lot of serious problems to the person who uses them. They may get a bad grade as well as fail the class. You should be very careful while using any kind of information from the sources. In order to avoid any type of plagiarism in your paper you should make sure to cite ALL the sources used in your paper properly.
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