Importance of Traditions in Richard Wagamese’s Keeper’n Me Essay

Any relationship goes two ways to keep our life in balance, and also affect our life whichever of family or culture. As Bernice Weissbourd says: â€Å"Because it’s not only a child is inseparable from the family in which he lives, but that the lives of families are determined by the community in which they live and the cultural tradition from which they come.† In Keeper’n me, for instance, Garnet Raven who was taken away from his family to a series of white foster homes when he was three. Garnet’s experiences as a result of the oppressive political and social policies. Moreover, Keeper as a storyteller tries to pass the message of traditions and a way of life to guide Garnet, who arrived in White Dog reservation with anything but Native, to find himself. Finally, Garnet dealt with fitting in the life on the reservation and acceptance of people that around him by learning the Ojibway culture that Keeper taught him. Through setting, character development and symbols the author shows that there is more significance to our actions and emotions in finding a place to belong and a balance of life. Traditions which means a custom or belief that has existed for a long time, affect a person’s identity. The protagonist of story, Garnet, initially feels uneasiness and disconnected from his family and his culture. Environment changes the way that he lives by taking him away from where he was born. When he first arrived at White Dog reservation, people laugh at him on account of dressing like a black man â€Å" I had my Afro all picked out to about three feet around my head, mirrored shades, a balloon-sleeved yellow silk shirt with the long tapered collar, lime green baggy pants with the little cuffs and my hippest pair of platform shoes, all brown with silver spangles, and three gold chains around my neck† ( Wagamese 45). He’s just like a tourist, not knowing what to do or what to be as an outsider in his culture. The society forces him to be someone else except Native. It reflects that he tries to fit into White world by being things that he is not because he was embarrassed to be Indian. This quote also foreshadows that he will find a place to belong as far as staying on the reservation to keep in touch with his family and Native culture. During a positive lesson of Native culture, he starts to fit in the society and gets acceptance of people. His mom gives him the shirt that he had on the day he arrived at reserve to remind him of where he came from and how he wanted to be. Although his mom revamps the shirt that â€Å" the sleeves were cut back regular, the long pointed collar was gone and the ribbons ran across the chest and back and down the arms† (Wagamese 301). He learns the traditional ways of Native and makes the connection with people, especially his family, and now he changes the way that he used to dressing. Everyone needs family in order to find themselves, no one could be his own person without knowing himself. The surroundings compel Garnet to learn Whites instead of his own culture cause he lost connection and himself. Setting is one aspect of the culture that affect Garnet’s identity in social way. The setting of the book is very important in Garnet’s character development and personal growth. The relationship between Garnet and his family is detached because he was raised by foster homes instead of his family, that makes him a lot differences between him and Natives. When he returns to the reserve, he has lots of things need to learn, especially the traditional Native spiritual ways. At the beginning of the book, Garnet was trying to act others except Indian such as â€Å"Hawaiian, Polynesian, Mexican or Chinese† (Wagamese 19). He felt lost in White society and tries to escape reality of being an Indian in respect that he doesn’t know how to be an Indian and never meet a â€Å"real† Indian until he back to the reservation. In this book, Keeper’s voice initiates the story that there is something to be learned about people, himself and his purpose. Keeper teaches Garnet the religious beliefs that helps him to find a balance in his life, and Garnet follows Keeper’s teaching to learn to become a storyteller that he will keep and teach Native traditions. Garnet follows the â€Å"Teachings. The blazes made by them that went before. The signs that mark the path we’re all supposed to follow. The path of the heart. The path of human beings. The red road† (Wagamese 305). To Garnet regard the loss of culture and the old teachings should follow it in order to be at peace with nature and people around us. It shows Garnet that his culture is decline and that he has a chance to become a keeper to teach and bring back the traditions. It also realizes the benefits of learning the way of Ojibway and being connected to his culture. The religious beliefs give Garnet a good sense of spirituality that he finds a culture to belong and knows himself about what he desires to be and how to do it. The character development is one aspect of learnings that affect Garnet’s identity in spiritual ways. The setting and character development that Garnet experiences in the story help reveal the powerful symbolism and themes. The drum symbolizes the connection of traditions and the traditional Native culture’s theme of respect. When Garnet first time to play the drum and tries to sing songs follow the beat, â€Å"The beat got all scattered and the song fell apart on its own† (Wagamese 135). He tries to feel drum and sing songs as an Indian but still have more white and black inside him that affect him more than Indian. It reflect that his emotions are confused just like he starts to play the drum but when he attempts to sing songs at the same time, he lost the rhythm. He doesn’t find a balance of playing drum and singing songs as well as he doesn’t find a balance of his life to fit in Native culture. This quote also foreshadows that he will learn the importance of drum in Native traditional teachings as a value of how it interacts with others. Drum is symbolic of how sacred and old their culture is. As Keeper said in the book, â€Å"The drum’s the heartbeat of Mother Earth† (Wagamese 163). Keeper was explaining how the land is an integral part of Native identity and how he feels the heartbeat of mother earth when he plays the drum. It is a connection to traditions and culture that remind Indian of simplicity kept them alive through everything and help them live in balance with the whole world. Drum also as a representation of female womb and the beating of the drum is like the beating of mother’s heart and represent the heart of the land. You treat a drum with respect as you’d treat your mom with respect. The values of traditions teach Garnet that finds a balance of his life and respect others especially mother. The symbol also is one aspect of Native culture that affect Garnet’s identity in emotional ways. Keeper’n me is a view of positive way in Natives’ life by teaching Garnet traditions, traditions affect Garnet’s identities. White society separates Garnet from his family on the reservation causes that he lost connection and place to belong. The values of environment views influence on Garnet’s social identity. Based on the setting, character development shows how Garnet felt lost and no beliefs at beginning, but during learning religious beliefs he feels connective and finds himself where he should be. The religious beliefs impact on Garnet’s spiritual identity. Ultimately, the symbol of drum highlights the significances of Native traditions and respect that helps Garnet finds balance of his life. The values of one interacts with others that teaches traditional ways affect Garnet’s emotional identity. Traditions are the most important part of our life, it shows acts, thoughts and influence of identity in our lives.

How far did America achieveprosperity in the 1920s? Essay

The 1920s was a time of great change in the USA’s economic situation. After the First World War, America experienced an economic boom, which led to the state of society changing by vast differences. These differences were also apparent in the way that the change effected different people in different situations. The number of people living below the bread line in 1928 increased to an estimated forty-two percent of the American population, however this was during the same period that the number of Americans owning cars was around one car to every five people. Therefore, there is great controversy over to what extent the USA achieved prosperity in the 1920s. Prosperity is a word that is used to describe affluence and wealth within a country. Estimating the rate at which a country experiences prosperity during a period would reveal hoe rich and well off that country was at the time. Many factors contribute and deduct from the prosperity of America during this period, as it is therefore difficult to say how far the current wealth of the country spread within all areas of society. Factors that would state that America’s prosperity spread throughout the nation during the 1920s include the new industries and new industrial methods of the time, mass marketing of new products and the motorcar industry. However, contradicting these areas of American industry include the farming situation at the time, overpopulation of the country, USA’s black population, new immigrants to the country and people involved in old industries. During the 1920s, new industries and new methods of production spread through American manufacturing. It was able to exploit it’s vast natural resources of raw materials to produce steel, chemicals, glass and machinery. These products then became the foundation for secondary industries- or consumer goods. Telephones, radios, vacume cleaners, and washing machines were mass-produced and therefore more people could afford them. Such an example shows hoe America was developing well as an industrial nation, and reveals how the people of the country were now able to buy consumer goods, which before were they were unable to afford. Within this same period, big industries were developing advertising and marketing techniques. Advertising companies were a resultant factor, and came about as groups developed their ideas of propaganda developed during World War One and applied them to industry. This aspect of American society is further evidence for how the USA was favouring the consumer aspect of living in the early twentieth century. Perhaps the most significant contribution to showing how all areas of America succeeded in achieving prosperity in the 1920s is the motor car industry. In 1900, only four thousand cars were built. By 1929, four million, eight hundred thousand were made- indeed it was believed that a Ford Model- T was completed every ten seconds. By 1928, the industry was America’s most successful, and employed hundred of thousands employees directly, and yet more indirectly. The car had vast impacts on the rest of American industry. The businesses supplying raw materials required to make a car also prospered at a similar rate. More glass, rubber and steel were required; boosting these areas of industry. Furthermore, increased amounts of petrol were required, and more people found employment- building miles of roads across the country to cater for the increased amount of traffic. The car industry also stimulated the housing industry. It meant that more people were able to buy homes away from the cities in the suburbs, and commute on a daily basis into town. This factor, I feel was the most important cause to America’s successful spread of prosperity in the 1920s. Apposed to these views, numerous factors exist which show evidence against the notion of America’s wealth in the 1920s being nationwide, and influencing every area of society. A clear example of an industry, and therefore it’s people, which did not benefit from this time is farming. The average farm income fell from twenty- two billion dollars in 1919, to thirteen billion dollars in 1928. This was largely due to the European market. During the war, American has shipped millions of tons off grain to Europe. However, the war also bankrupted Europe, meaning few people could afford American goods. Furthermore, the Republican tax on American goods was still in place, resulting in Europe sill unable to afford American produce. From 1900 to 1920, while farms were doing quite well, more and more land was being farmed. Improved machinery, especially combine harvesters and improved fertilisers made US agriculture extremely efficient. The result was that by 1920 it was producing surpluses of wheat, which nobody wanted. Farming communities were devastated as farms struggled to sell wheat, even at extremely low prices. The extent of this hardship is shown when it is realised around half of all Americans lived in rural areas. Mostly working on farms or in businesses that sold goods to farms. Therefore, this problem directly affected millions of people. As the farm income fell, the situation of many rural communities was desperate. It is clear when looking at the effects American prosperity had on it’s Black and new immigrant populations that current American wealth did not reach all areas of people. The black population was badly hit. They held the tradition of holding the least skilled jobs in rural areas. As they lost their jobs on the farms, three quarters of a million of them became unemployed. The majority of farming families remained very poor throughout the 1920s, meaning that they did not see the technological advances of the time- including electricity, cars and radios. New immigrant to the country at this time did not receive the great welcome of a liberated country they had all hoped. They faced discrimination in the work place, and took whatever work they could- partly because they were generally uneducated as other workers. A large number worked in the construction industry where, at the time, there was a big boom. However, despite this increase in the industries size, the average was only rose by four percent in the 1920s, because the immigrants were a source of cheap labour, and more work was becoming mechanised- resulting the lack of need for labourers. The unemployment rate within new immigrants rose throughout the decade. Older industries were undergoing modernisation. Some industries such as steel, for which there was a boom, benefited from general expansion. However, in others, particularly the raw materials industries- cotton, coal, tin and copper- were suffering. There was an overproduction in these industries, prices dropped and wages fell. From looking at this evidence, it is clear that the prosperity and affluence of the USA in the 1920 was highly apparent. However, it is also clear that it did not reach all areas of society. Therefore, it is justified to say that prosperity during this period was partial- as not everyone was buying cars, radios and other consumer goods. It is vital to remember that during a boom period, it is difficult to spread the wealth of the country evenly- due to the determination for personal gain, not for equality.

Creative Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Creative Media - Essay Example These building blocks include the sounds and images. The value of aesthetics in animation cannot be quantified. It may appear subtle. However, aesthetics in animation plays a vital role. In other fields like cinemas, the content within a storyline as well as the storyline itself play the aesthetic role. By use of aesthetics, a story may be delivered as intended, or it may deliver the contradictory message. The thrill in collaboration of images and pixels of objects surpasses the verbal grasp. For this reason, animation may appear to be imaginary or real (Kreowski & Ehrig, 2005). In order to deliver the best aesthetics in animation, one needs to consider the coherence of the artificial models. Poor aesthetics, on the other hand, may be able to result in delivery of the wrong message. This could make a film to appear disengaging or even unprofessional. When making animated films, attention to aesthetics is inevitable. Proper aesthetics helps the audience to build their trust in the product. Consequently, they may forget that they are watching a film. This helps in impacting the intended emotions in the audience (Pikkov, & Näripea, 2010). In animation, style may be referred to as the preferences of the filmmaker in the choice of aesthetics. A filmmaker’s style may be determined by the kinds or models of worlds that he chooses to lean on. The choice of style depends on the consideration of its purity and authenticity. In addition, they may choose to exploit their prowess, experience and knowledge. Often, the filmmakers may not be quite aware of their choice of style. These filmmakers perform their chores so faithfully and naturally (Carroll, 2001). Style generates itself through a combination of ideals of the filmmaker. In essence, style emanates through the product as compared to the inputs. Sometimes, style may be misinterpreted as the superficial change of the appearance of an

Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk - Essay Example In this context, the greater the risk, the more that alternative is unfavourable while if the risk is lower the alternative is the best for an individual to take a course of action into it (ALEXANDER, 2008). In my work I will examine the risks in relation to financial assets. Probability can be defined as the possibility that a given event will occur or take place; therefore, it is the possibility of an event coming to pass. For example, probability of a woman given birth to a boy child or a girl is 0.5. This means that there is a possibility of a girl or boy child being delivered. In this manner, is the method that is used to define and measure likelihood distribution of possible outcomes, and taking into consideration variables of its distributions at different occurrences (CONNOR, GOLDBERG & KORAJCZYK, 2010)? Due to different understanding of term risk many scholars are of other takes that measure risks especially those that emphasizes on negative results or that are below some known referent points. Different scholars have also defined risks in terms of how risky it is to take certain alternatives. In this scholars view risk as a perceptual variable. For example taking participants with a pair of gambles and asking them which gamble appear riskier to them. In addition one can assess individual’s sensitivity on riskiness by putting up a scale of 1(not at all risky) to 50 (extremely risky). This will give results on how individual view risks in a given situation. The major concern of such ratings or models is to have a grasp of individual perception on risks (ALEXANDER, 2008). In their perception on a given risk people judge risks and feel that their judgment is significant. Risks judgment is a routine carried out in the day to day activities. Managers approximate the riskiness of various courses of action and implement these actions with a lot of

Why do I want to be a teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why do I want to be a teacher - Essay Example In turn this will help the students to gain an insight into what is right and wrong and thereby become more careful in their decision making in their academic, personal life and all future endeavors. In addition to the learning environment, teachers play a vital role in shaping the personality of their students apart from teaching the subject and hence play a dual role of both an educator as well as a counselor. They share a special bonding with the student as they play the role of a parent in this second family. Teachers must take an interest in the academic and personal life of every student which would help them to find the right solutions in case of any problem. Mere teaching of the subject would only be a professional approach which will not create a bond between the teacher and the student. Spending quality time with all the students and an unbiased attitude would help the students to share a good comrade with their teachers. Nevertheless it is also important for the teacher to also bear in mind the limits of their relationship and also help the student to understand the same. When such an understanding is established it will prevent each one from taking advantage of the other.

Prenatal and Post-Partum Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prenatal and Post-Partum Scenario - Essay Example Anxiety, fear and other intense emotions which are a part of stress cause exaggerated production of adrenaline which causes restriction of blood flow to the uterine area causing deprivation of adequate oxygen to the fetus. Thus stress can lead to premature delivery and its consequences. Stress in pregnancy also have long-term consequences like behavioural problems in childhood (Santrock, 2004). 3. The pregnant woman must undergo ultrasound examination for fetal anomalies between 18- 20 weeks of gestation. At this point of time, all organs are developed and it becomes easier to detect any obvious congenital anomalies through ultrasound at this stage. According to ecological theory, several biological and environmental factors affect the growth of the fetus and the child (Santrock, 2004). Thus a normal nutrition and a stress-free environment is essential for normal development of the fetus. 1. The child must be breast fed as much as possible. According to Freuds theory of development, infants are in the oral stage of development and derive gratification from sucking (Santrock, 2004). Derivation of such pleasure at this stage allows them to have satisfaction and facilitates growth and development. 2. The mother should shower affection on the child and not do any thing to harm the child. According to Eriksons first psychosocial stage, trust is developed at this stage and the infant sets stage for expectation that the world is a pleasant and goof place to live. the expectation which begins at this stage lasts life long. 3. The mother should allow the child to touch, feel and explore various things on his/her own. According to Pigets cognitive developmental theory, the first stage is the stage of sensorimotor stage during which time the infant develops and understanding of the world through coordination of various sensory experiences through various physical actions (Santrock,

Holy Orders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Holy Orders - Research Paper Example According to the Catholic Church, Christ instituted some of the Seven Sacraments during his ministry. The evidence of these seven sacraments is written and oral both in the tradition, to which the Catholics refer to as the deposits of faith. In addition, the use and presence of all the seven sacraments in the early years of the church are both, documented and present in writings of the Church fathers and as well as the Christian historians. Christ believed that these sacraments were instituted so that the human beings could see a sign of the spiritual effect that they often wish to receive. It was Christ’s way of showing that the spiritual reality is transpired1. Episcopates or bishops are those individuals that are chosen in the Catholic Churches from among the priests. As in the Eastern Catholic Churches married priests are permitted, bishops should be the ones who are widowers, unmarried or those who agree to have no sexual contact with their wives. At times a common miscon ception is seen in all the bishops that they come from the religious orders. This cannot be taken as the absolute reality while it is partially true. The bishops in the Catholic churches should usually be the leaders of the territorial units that are called dioceses. The bishops alone hold the validity to administer the Sacrament of Holy Orders in the churches. Moreover, only bishops are lawfully allowed to administer the sacrament of confirmation in the Catholic churches. In case an ordinary priest administers the sacrament illegally, it is considered to be valid in the condition so that the person who is confirmed may not be confirmed again either by a bishop or by any other. Special permission can be given to the Latin rite priests who have special permission to lawfully administer confirmation. In fact every Catholic priest must administer confirmation with or without confirmation to the children who are in danger of death. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the confirmation is a dministered by priests who have the rite and this is usually administered to both babies and adults immediately after their baptism2. The ordained priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church and the common priesthood are different and operate in different functions and essence. The Catholic priesthood is the ministerial priesthood of the Catholic priests and bishops. This ministerial priesthood is however, servicing at the priesthood of all believers. This involves the direct consecration of a man towards Christ with the sacrament of orders. This is so that the person can act as the person of Christ to be for the sake of the Christian faithful in being able to dispense the sacraments. In the long history, it was understood that this begun at the Last Supper when Jesus Christ was seen instituting the Eucharist in the mighty presence of all the Twelve Apostles. Christ had commanded them to do it in his memory. However, the Catholic priesthood is considered to be a share of the priesthood of Christ and it traces its origins seen in the history to the historic appointment of the Twelve Apostles by Jesus Christ. What makes someone a priest is that he should already be a deacon and a minister of the Holy Orders being an ordained bishop? This is the Rite of Ordination. The duties of the Catholic priests would be divided into three main parts; these include the