Observing the Public School Environment at Marcy Open...

For the purpose of observing a school environment, I was granted the opportunity to visit Marcy Open School, a K-8 Minneapolis Public School located in 415 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN. Like all magnet schools, Marcy Open School strives to achieve racial balance and incorporates specialized curricular themes to reach out to its scholars. In addition, the school website states the mission of the school is to,† Educate for life-long learning in a respectful environment that emphasizes responsibility, creativity, curiosity, and connectedness to the world†. To enhance students’ learning outcomes, Marcy Open School incorporates the following nine unique programs: Marcy Arts Partnership, a program that funds for arts-integrated programs and residencies for all children, regardless of race, religion, developmental level or socioeconomic status. Parents established the program in 1995 in an effort to connect students with the wider community and strengthen studentsâ €™ education. Also, the school provides Path to Reading Excellence in School Sites (PRESS) a partnership between, target, the University of Minnesota, Reading Corps, and select Minneapolis schools (Marcy included), that focuses on teachers and students in grades K-3 and provides them Quality Core Instruction, Data-Based Decision Making, Tiered Interventions, and Professional Development. This program was designed because ample research proves that children’s’ ability to read by third grade determines their future

Death of a Salesman Overview

Death of a Salesman, one of Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, narrates the last 24 hours in the life of 63-year-old Willy Loman, a failed salesman who had a distorted idea of the American Dream and work ethic. The play also explores his relationship with his wife, his sons, and his acquaintances.   Fast Facts: Death of a Salesman Title:  Death of a SalesmanAuthor: Arthur MillerYear Published: 1949Genre: TragedyPremiere Date: 2/10/1949, at the Morosco Theatre  Original Language: EnglishThemes: The American dream, family relationshipsMain Characters: Willy Loman, Biff Loman, Happy Loman, Linda Loman, Ben LomanNotable Adaptations: 1984 at the Broadhurst Theater, with Dustin Hoffman playing Willy; 2012 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy Loman.  Fun Fact:  Arthur Miller provided two alternate versions of a physical insult in the play: If Willy Loman is played by a small man (like Dustin Hoffman) he is called a shrimp, but if the actor is large, Willy Loman is called a walrus.† Plot Summary   Death of a Salesman is, at first glance, about the last day in the life of salesman Willy Loman, who, at 63, has failed at his career. While at home, he dissociates from reality, entering in time switches that explain why he turned out the way he did through interactions with his brother Ben and his mistress. He also constantly fights with his eldest son Biff, who, after dropping out of high school, has been getting by as a drifter and as an occasional thief. By contrast, his younger son, Happy, has a more traditional—albeit lackluster—career and is a womanizer.   In the play’s climax, Biff and Willy fight and a resolution is reached when Biff explains how his father’s ideal of the American Dream has failed them both. Willy decides to commit suicide so that his family can collect his life insurance. Major Characters Willy Loman. The protagonist of the play, Willy is a 63-year-old salesman who had been demoted from salaried to a worker on commission. He failed at his American dream because he thought that being well liked and having good connections was a surefire way to success. Biff Loman. Willy’s eldest son—and formerly his favorite son—, Biff is a former football star who was set to great things. Yet, after flunking math and dropping out of high school, he has been living as a drifter as he refuses to subscribe to the notion of American dream his father had taught him. He thinks his father is a phony. Happy Loman. Willy’s younger son, Happy has a more traditional career path and can afford his own bachelor pad. Yet, he is a philanderer and quite a superficial character. He sometimes tries to win his parents’ favor in the play, but he is always ignored in favor of Biff’s drama. Linda Loman. Willy’s wife, she appears meek at first, but she provides Willy with a solid foundation of love. She is the one who fiercely defends him in impassioned speeches whenever other characters belittle him. The Woman in Boston. Willy’s former mistress, she shares his sense of humor and stokes his ego by emphasizing how she â€Å"picked him.† Charley. Willy’s neighbor, he has been lending him $50 a week so he can keep up with his pretenses. Ben. Willy’s brother, he became rich thanks to travels to Alaska and â€Å"the jungle.† Major Themes The American Dream. The American Dream is central in Death of a Salesman, and we see characters grapple with it from different perspectives: Willy Loman privileges being well liked over hard work, which makes him fall short of his own expectation; Biff rejects the traditional American career trajectory; Ben made his fortune by traveling far away. Politics—or Lack Thereof. Even though Miller shows how the American dream turns individuals into commodities, whose sole worth is the money they make, his play does not have a radical agenda: Willy is not pitted against ruthless employers, and his own failures are his own faults, rather than corporate-level injustices. Family Relationships. The central conflict in the play is between Willy and his son Biff. As a father, he saw a lot of promise in the athletic and womanizing Biff. After he dropped out of high school, however, father and son had a fallout, and Biff explicitly rejects the notions of American dream imparted by his father. Happy is more in line with Willy’s way of life, but he is not the favorite child and is, overall, a lackluster character lacking any depth. The relationship between Willy, his father, and his brother Ben is explored as well. Willy’s father used to make and sell flutes, and for that purpose, he had his family travel all over the country. Ben, who made his fortune traveling, took after his father. Literary Style The language of Death of a Salesman, on a superficial read, is quite unmemorable, as it lacks poetry and quotability.  However, lines such as  Hes liked, but hes not well liked, Attention must be paid, and  Riding on a smile and a shoestring, have passed into the language as aphorisms.   In order to explore Willy’s backstory, Miller resorts to a narrative device called time switch. Characters from both the present-day event and the past occupy the stage, and it represents Willy’s descent into insanity. About the Author   Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1947 and 1948 before its Broadway premiere in 1949. The play grew out of his life experiences, which included his father losing everything in the  1929 Stock Market crash.   Death of a Salesman had its origins in a short story Miller wrote at the age of seventeen when he worked, briefly, for his father’s company. It told of an aging salesman who sells nothing, is abused by the buyers, and borrows his subway fare from the young narrator, only to throw himself under a subway train. Miller modeled Willy on his  salesman uncle, Manny Newman, a man who was a competitor, at all times, in all things, and at every moment. My brother and I he saw running neck and neck with his two sons in some race that never stopped in his mind, as he explained in his autobiography.

Police and Criminal Justice Free Essays

In the United States today, the average citizen is unaware of the corruption that goes on in our Criminal Justice System. Law enforcement and Police Officers are abusing their power. If this goes unnoticed it could grow larger and cause bigger problems in our country. We will write a custom essay sample on Police and Criminal Justice or any similar topic only for you Order Now The United States Criminal Justice System is one of the best in the whole world. In other countries there is little or no policing. Police officers in the US are well-trained and it is hard to reach their position without a strong education. A huge quality of a perfect Police Officer is a perfect control of temper because a quiet determined manner has more effect than violent action. But everyone isn’t perfect and there are Police Officers out there that abuse their power and create a dangerous environment for the people around them. During the 1960’s Police Brutality was at an all time high. Police were being biased and attacked those that they did not like because they had the power to do so. On March 3, 1991 when Rodney King and his friend Bryant Allen were driving in Los Angeles, they refused to stop for an officer trying to pull them over. Instead they increased their speed and when the Police finally stopped the car they viciously beat King for a period of two minutes. He was left with 11 skull fractures, brain damage, and kidney damage. The police officers did not realize though that their actions were being videotaped. They were eventually tried and found not guilty by an all white jury. This set off 6 days of rioting and the case prompted an era of reform. In the book, â€Å"Essentials of Criminal Justice† written by Larry Siegel, it notes some of the things done by Police Departments to make sure that Policemen are not abusing their power. These include, â€Å"increasing the intelligence standards on the Police Force, officers to be given mental exams to weed out officers that are mentally unfit for the job, and oral boards, which are sitting down with Police Chiefs and answering questions about the Job†. Although all these precautions are set to limit or diminish abusive power, it is still a problem that needs to be dealt with. According to Diane Wetendorf, who wrote a book on Abusing Power in Law enforcement she states that, â€Å"Society grants members of law enforcement enormous power over citizens to enable the police to keep the peace and to preserve social rder. They are granted a great deal of freedom to use their Judgment regarding which laws to enforce, when and against whom. This wide range of options and authority can lead to the abuse of their power. Some police officers come to see themselves not as simply enforcers of the law, but as the law itself. † Police that abuse their power look at things from a Personal view rather than a professional view. Police Brutality exists in many forms including False Arrest, Intimidation, Racial Profiling, Sexual Abuse and Surveillance abuse. This exists because officers are not rotecting and serving, they are rather going after those that they do not like. In other Countries, Police Departments are corrupt and work with Politicians to create a world run by the Police and Politics. In alt â€Å"H the Sky’, a book written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn, the police are very corrupt and it causes mayhem in their country. The police in India are tied into Politics and Criminals. The police work with the leaders of prostitution businesses, called brothels. The police take bribes from the leaders and look the other way when something wrong is happening. In Half the Sky stories are told about the corruption within the Police Forces. When people come running to the police about a rape or something bad that had been done to them, the police usually side with the criminals and nothing is done about the crime. In India the average person doesn’t have a say at all. If they are convicted of a crime they did not do they cannot go to court and have a trial like we do. They are sent right to Jail without being questioned. Police work with High power criminals and run most of the big prostitution businesses. This is what the US ould lead to if Policemen that abuse their power are not stopped. On November 7, 2013, I conducted an interview with Alice Perry about corruption in Law Enforcement. Alice Perry is a Criminal Justice Professor at Westfield State University and has a huge background in Law Enforcement. She has prosecuted many Police Officers in the US that have abused their power. She has convicted officers for stealing drugs from the evidence room, and also an officer that was selling drugs in state prison. She also told me a story about the police abusing their power in Etowah County, Alabama. According to a blog on the American Civil Liberties Union’s website, it states that â€Å"About once a month, a marked sheriffs car shows up, unannounced and after dark, outside a family’s home in Alabama. Uniformed officers walk to the family’s door, in plain sight of every neighbor. They knock and demand to be let in. If the family refuses, the police threaten them with arrest. Once inside, the officers search the family’s home – all without ever obtaining a warrant. † When one member of the family was a child he was convicted of a sexual offense and had to register as a sex ffender. The policeman had no right to search the house randomly without a warrant, and caused unwanted attention and embarrassment to the family. This is police abuse of power and must be stopped or it may happen to families throughout the country. Perry also explained to me that it is crucial for policing to be honest and law-abiding because they have so much power and could cause harm to civilians. They must perform the Job as if they are always being videotaped. I brought up the Half the Sky book and the issues there and asked if she thought that law enforcement layed a big role on why people live such a harsh life there. She replied, â€Å"Absolutely. Tyranny exists in those countries. If you’re afraid of the police you won’t say anything or report crimes because you’re afraid of being thrown in Jail. In M ©xico 45% of prosecutors and Judges are on cartels payroll. Around 50% of police officers are on the same payroll. The cartels and Politician’s have a relationship together and this creates a lawless environment. † We must not let the Police become power driven and turn into corrupt officers like the Police in India. There is a way to stop this. We must ecome aware of Police Brutality and Abusive power and act on it. State, Federal, and Local Authorities should ensure that abuses including torture, brutality, and other excessive force by Police officers should not be tolerated and the Officers should be held accountable for their actions and be brought to Justice. Police Officers are using excessive force and are not getting in trouble at all. The victims are not speaking up and this could cause the abusive Police Officers to think that they can’t be stopped and they will continue doing so. Another solution to all of this is to introduce training rograms designed to minimize the risk of unnecessary force. These training programs should include gender issues and sensitivity to minority groups. This would help steer a lot of Police Officers from being Abusive toward minority groups and become less biased. Other training programs should include ethics and integrity training. We can help out by making the community aware of the issue, whether it’s by having guest speakers, showing videos, or having meetings and explaining the issue. If we don’t take action then our Law Enforcement could become as corrupt as other countries police forces. How to cite Police and Criminal Justice, Papers

Always outnumbered free essay sample

Always outnumbered, Always outgunned focuses on the life and experiences of a black ex-convict who in the daily dealings tries to redeem himself, in the eyes of society and himself. Divided in to various short stories, the reader follows the life and experiences of the protagonist, Socrates Fortlow.The chief protagonist is an ex-convict, who has had a turbulent and disturbing past whereby he had been involved in murder and other crimes, both in and out of jail. However, after he is discharged he seeks to reform and contribute effectively to the society. However, his stature as an ex-convict gives birth to hindrances for his motive of reforming and redeeming himself.The novel highlights the sufferings of the black community in a deeply racist and classical America; the protagonist, Socrates as his name implies has its stature raised to that of a deep thinker, a philosopher. In his journey the reader finds the intellectual growth of the hero who is giving his utmost to seek a decent life for himself. We will write a custom essay sample on Always outnumbered or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To undo the past injuries he has inflicted and to reform himself. In Socrates the readers would find some one to refer to for the difficulties he faces in redeeming himself stand symbolic for the difficulties the black community in America felt, in the 1990s.The turning point in Socrates life is his visit to the Capricorn bookstore, whereby he learns that life is not without a purpose, that we are alive because we have to contribute in some way or the other. That, we can be good despite being deviant. That life is about learning and reforming, not singing the same rough tune forever.This is the lesson of life that ex-convict Socrates learns and what makes him turn over a new leaf. He promised to stay inclined towards doing good to everyone and abstaining from letting his anger mould his actions, in an environment where his existence is undermined politically, socially and even economically.However, the racist society made it difficult for a black man to redeem himself for a stereotypical image was associated with them. One in which the rights of the blacks were undermined by the power of the whites. This racist environment made it arduous for him to control his temper and also raised difficulties for him to prevent himself for getting incarcerated again, for his existence as a human being was out rightly denied by the masses. As Socrates refers to in the book, â€Å"because the rules say a black man can’t have nothing† (Walter, 163).Socrates strives to stay pragmatic and avoid all emotional repercussions. His relationship with Darryl, a small boy who has the same tendencies as Socrates, paves way for Socrates to abstain someone else from treadin g the rocky path he had in his past. He serves not only as Darryl’s father figure but also as a friend. He differentiates the correct from Ferroneous for him. Staying firm with the boy, he tries to teach him the rules of life. And in return for that he acquires Darryl’s respect. He redeems himself in the eyes of a boy who knows the story of his life.Who accepts him for who he is and applauds him for his change. Socrates inculcates in Darryl the freedom to be himself and face his enemies despite the fact that he’ll â€Å"be always outnumbered, always outgunned† (Walter ,131). Not only that, but Socrates also serves as a helping hand for his former nemesis, Roland who is plagued by cancer, by showing his respect for humanity. By contrasting this respect and care that Socrates shows with that of the past where he had committed blasphemous crimes, in the eyes of the reader Socrates is enroute to seeking redemption for his past sins.However, the very assessment falls short as depicted in the chapter, â€Å"Letters to Theresa† where Socrates seeks to reconcile with his past, by attempting to apologize to his former girlfriend. However, the news of her death proves against the motive of his present life: redemption. However, the society racist behavior overshadows all his attempts at redeeming himself and fighting the volcano of rage that presides within him.For example, in equal opportunity he comes face to face with the prudish standards of society whereby he seeks employment in a store. Not only is he disrespected on the basis of his creed and color by the manager and assistant manager, but is also faced with hostility sprung on the basis of the stereotypical character the society has attributed to the black community: violent and undeserving. Therefore, by a close analysis of the book in accordance with the historical, political, social and economical structures represented it is safe to assert that the character of Socrates Fortlow is a symbol of the entire black community of America who suffers the same dilemma and the same injustices- at work and at play. The African community has been associated with a label of being convicts due to which they face difficulties in everyday dealings. Injustice plagues their life.This is what the reader is made acquainted to throughout the course of the book. In each of the 14 chapters, a new side of Socrates intellect is shown, where he thinks; he tries to undermine his violent self; he tries to contribute effectively to the society, to the people he comes across in his everyday dealings. He tries to make up for his bloody past actions through reforming himself in to a person devoid of all violence. He tries to learn to be patient in a world where he will be treated harshly. He tries to forgive and forget the insolent behavior people have towards him.He tries to soothe down in a world where legally his race is undermined. In such a world he tries to redeem himself. In the eyes of some he succeeds. In the eyes of the society he will always be an outcast.A person who no matter what he does can never truly attain redemption for his sins. People might think that he can not undo all the injuries he inflicted in the past but for the reader, the progression of Socrates character throughout the course of the book invokes pity for this character, in short in the eyes of the reader , Socrates has achieve redemption even though He states that Christians believe in redemption, thats true. But usually you have to die in order tget it. Marvane Street, pg 90. For him, redemption is in the hands of the divine lord and his efforts will bear no fruit in this racist world.References:Walter, M 1998, â€Å"Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned† Published by W.W. Norton. Pages 131 And 163