Definition – Rowanluver29

Posted on March 21, 2023 by rowanluver29

I could use some help getting started!

Posted in Definition, Portfolio RowanLuver, RowanLuver | 3 Comments

Causal Rewrite — GracchusBabeuf

Posted on March 21, 2023 by gracchusbabeuf

Machiavelli : From a Name to a Pejorative

The now famous or, according to some, infamous father of modern political science, Niccolo Machiavelli, was hardly such a well-known figure in his own day. If not for the posthumous publication of his enduringly influential and infamous text, The Prince, Machiavelli would likely have remained a historical footnote. Rising over the last half-millenia from an obscure trivia-night answer to the infamous founder of amoral politicking, the name of the once-obscure Florentine has warped into a pejorative adjective to describe immoral and unethical political operators.

The son of a Florentine attorney, Machiavelli was an obscure but still relatively privileged child of literate Italian urbanites. Following the re-establishment of the Florentine Republic in the late 15th century after a half century of de-facto rule by the Medici family, Machiavelli found employment in the new government as a diplomat, bureaucrat, and later Secretary of War. During his public career, Machiavelli worked with and among the prominent political actors in Florence and in the broader Italian Wars. His career that he is know best for today, as an author and political philosopher, would not begin in earnest until his exile at the hands of the victorious Medici family in 1512, following the defeat and destruction of the nascent Florentine Republic.

His most enduringly famous and controversial work, Il Principe (The Prince) was only circulated among his friends during his life, sometime shortly after his exile from Florence. During his lifetime, a later work of his, The Art of War, was published in 1521 to some positive reception. However, following his death, The Prince would be published posthumously by friends and associates in 1532. While not a smash hit among the urban burghers of Europe like the works of reformation celebrity Martin Luther, it did find its way into the courts of Europe. In the ensuing decades and centuries, the name of the obscure Florentine secretary would become synonymous with immoral and unscrupulous political actors, developing into the slur “Machiavel” and later culminating in the modern adjective “Machiavellian.” As religious tensions and violence escalated in Western Europe, the Florentine’s transgressive political writing developed into a convenient slur to describe and explain one’s political opposition. While hyperbolic, the analysis is understandable: Machiavelli does advise sovereigns to behave in ways which are frequently contrary to traditional European Christian morality.

Following his death and the publication of The Prince, the work became both increasingly influential and controversial. It was rumored, both then and now, that King Henry VIII of England was inspired to break with the Catholic Church, in part, by Machiavelli. As tensions heightened and the fires of reformation broke out across Europe, influential figures on both the Catholic and Protestant sides came to associate their opposition with that supposed teacher of evil, Machiavelli. In 1557, zealous counter-reformer Pope Paul IV added the works of Machiavelli to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, an official list of banned books begun by Paul IV in 1555 to combat protestantism. Despite the addition of his books to the Index Machiavelli was, decidedly, a Catholic. He did have his issues with Christianity, but he was no crypto-Lutheran. After all, the Prince itself was written before there even were “Lutherans”. At the time of The Prince’s initial writing in 1512 or 1513, Luther was still an unimaginably obscure figure in Northern Germany. It would not be until 1517 that he would dramatically nail his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Cathedral. In spite of these basic, simple-to-observe refutations of any protestant sentiments in Machiavelli’s writing, the Pope still saw his works (or, specifically, The Prince) as threatening enough to the Catholic social order to warrant their banning. Evidently, Machiavelli’s political philosophy was so offensive to the notoriously zealous Paul IV that it got him grouped in with heretics and heathens.

On the other side of the religious conflict, important protestant commentators of the day identified in their Catholic opponents a dark “Machiavel” influence. One such protestant was Innocent Gentillet, a French Huguenot, Lawyer, and courtier of Henry II. In 1576, as it is argued by scholar C. Edward Rathe, Gentillet first circulated his Anti-Machiavel. This, importantly, places the work four years after the great betrayal of the French protestants during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

On the 18th of August, 1572, much of the French Huguenot nobility had gathered in Paris for the marriage of Margaret of Valois, King Charles IX’s sister, and King Henry III of Navarre (later King Henry IV of France). A few days after the marriage, on the eve of the feast of Saint Bartholomew, King Charles IX ordered the killing of a group of these Huguenot leaders which would spiral into a massacre that would claim between 5,000 and 30,000 Huguenots throughout France. The massacre, it came to be believed, was instigated by the Queen Mother, Catherine de’ Medici, an ardent Catholic. It was one of the worst atrocities in the age of the European reformation and would instigate the French wars of religion between the Catholic children of Catherine de’ Medici and the protestant Henry III of Navarre.

Raging against this atrocity and Machiavelli, Gentillet’s 600-page Anti-Machiavel decries the Florentine Secretary of War as a profoundly immoral influence on the politics of Europe. After all, Machiavelli’s political analysis in The Prince does create a justification of sorts for a heinous act like the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Other apologists of Machiavelli have identified Gentillet as one of the first in a long line of Anti-Machiavellian writers who unfairly slandered the name of the Florentine writer. While Gentillet is certainly part of this tradition, his objections to Machiavelli are understandable and not unreasonable. He may tread into the territory of a zealous religious partisan and French nationalist, but he does correctly identify that Machiavelli’s writing can justify extreme political violence. Where he misunderstands Machiavelli is in interpreting Machivelli’s special political maxims as general moral maxims, according again to scholar C. Edward Rathe. Gentillet’s traditional christian view of politics and ethics as inseparable led him to, rather expectedly, contribute greatly to the transformation of Machiavelli’s name into a slur.

Ultimately, the campaign to transform the name of Niccolo Machiavelli into a political slur began in earnest rather quickly in the decades following his death, with both major Catholic figures like Pope Paul IV and protestant writers like Innocent Gentillet levying major attacks against the name of the Florentine political philosopher. In both cases, Machiavelli became associated with the immoral actions of the other side of the European religious conflict, and his name became a descriptor for one’s political and religious enemies. Regardless of Machiavelli’s. writings, the nature of European politics was already shifting violently towards a more recognizably modern orientation during the 16th century. He did not will modernity into existence, he was simply one of the first recognize the inflection point in European history. Therefore, the argument posited by both prominent Catholic and Protestant partisans that his influence was to blame for the atrocities of the other side is unfair. Machiavelli’s Il Principe does offer advice to rulers, but it is most critically a text which observes the reality of 16th century European politics. It is most concerned with how men behave rather than telling them what is just. Machiavelli’s diagnosis of what actions are political necessity has been misread, deliberately or otherwise, to twist his name into the political slur, “Machiavellian.”

References

Innocent Gentillet and the First “Anti-Machiavel”

Political Morality? Machiavelli Encouraged a Flexible Approach Five Centuries Ago

Machiavellian Anti-Machiavellianism?

Posted in Causal Rewrite, GracchusBabeuf | 3 Comments

Causal — GracchusBabeuf

Posted on March 21, 2023 by gracchusbabeuf

The now famous or, according to some, infamous father of modern political science, Niccolo Machiavelli, was hardly such a well-known figure in his own day. The son of a Florentine attorney, Machiavelli was an obscure but still relatively privileged child of literate Italian urbanites. Following the re-establishment of the Florentine Republic in the late 15th century after a half century of de-facto rule by the Medici family, Machiavelli found employment in the new government as a diplomat, bureaucrat, and later Secretary of War. During his public career, Machiavelli worked with and among the prominent political actors in Florence and in the broader Italian Wars. His career that he is know best for today, as an author and political philosopher, would not begin in earnest until his exile at the hands of the victorious Medici family in 1512, following the defeat and destruction of the Florentine Republic.

His most enduringly famous and controversial work, Il Principe (The Prince) was only circulated among his friends during his life, sometime shortly after his exile from Florence. During his lifetime, a later work of his, The Art of War, was published in 1521 to some positive reception. However, following his death, The Prince would be published posthumously by friends and associates in 1532. While not a smash hit among the urban burghers of Europe like the works of reformation celebrity Martin Luther, it did find its way into the courts of Europe. In the ensuing decades and centuries, the name of the obscure Florentine secretary would become synonymous with immoral and unscrupulous political actors, developing into the slur “Machiavel” and later culminating in the modern adjective “Machiavellian”.

Following his death and the publication of The Prince, the work became both increasingly influential and controversial. It was rumored, both then and now, that King Henry VIII of England was inspired to break with the Catholic Church, in part, by Machiavelli. As tensions heightened and the fires of reformation broke out across Europe, influential figures on both the Catholic and Protestant sides came to associate their opposition with that supposed teacher of evil, Machiavelli. In 1557, zealous counter-reformer Pope Paul IV added the works of Machiavelli to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, an official list of banned books begun by Paul IV in 1555 to combat protestantism. Despite the addition of his books to the Index Machiavelli was, decidedly, a Catholic. He did have his issues with Christianity, but he was no crypto-Lutheran. After all, the Prince itself was written before there even were “Lutherans”. At the time of The Prince’s initial writing in 1512 or 1513, Luther was still an unimaginably obscure figure in Northern Germany. It would not be until 1517 that he would dramatically nail his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Cathedral. In spite of these basic, simple-to-observe refutations of any protestant sentiments in Machiavelli’s writing, the Pope still saw his works (or, specifically, The Prince) as threatening enough to the Catholic social order to warrant their banning. Evidently, Machiavelli’s political philosophy was so offensive to the notoriously zealous Paul IV that it got him grouped in with heretics and heathens.

On the other side of the religious conflict, important protestant commentators of the day identified in their Catholic opponents a dark “Machiavel” influence. One such protestant was Innocent Gentillet, a French Huguenot, Lawyer, and courtier of Henry II. In 1576, as it is argued by scholar C. Edward Rathe, Gentillet first circulated his Anti-Machiavel. This, importantly, places the work four years after the great betrayal of the French protestants during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

On the 18th of August, 1572, much of the French Huguenot nobility had gathered in Paris for the marriage of Margaret of Valois, King Charles IX’s sister, and King Henry III of Navarre (later King Henry IV of France). A few days after the marriage, on the eve of the feast of Saint Bartholomew, King Charles IX ordered the killing of a group of these Huguenot leaders which would spiral into a massacre that would claim between 5,000 and 30,000 Huguenots throughout France. The massacre, it came to be believed, was instigated by the Queen Mother, Catherine de’ Medici, an ardent Catholic. It was one of the worst atrocities in the age of the European wars of religion and would instigate the French wars of religion between the Catholic children of Catherine de’ Medici and the protestant Henry III of Navarre.

Raging against this atrocity and Machiavelli, Gentillet’s 600-page Anti-Machiavel decries the Florentine Secretary of War as a profoundly immoral influence on the politics of Europe. After all, Machiavelli’s political analysis in The Prince does create a justification of sorts for a heinous act like the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Other apologists of Machiavelli have identified Gentillet as one of the first in a long line of Anti-Machiavellian writers who unfairly slandered the name of the Florentine writer. While Gentillet is certainly part of this tradition, his objections to Machiavelli are understandable and not unreasonable. He may tread into the territory of a zealous religious partisan and French nationalist, but he does correctly identify that Machiavelli’s writing can justify extreme political violence. Where he misunderstands Machiavelli is in interpreting Machivelli’s special political maxims as general moral maxims, according again to scholar C. Edward Rathe. Gentillet’s traditional christian view of politics and ethics as inseparable led him to, rather expectedly, contribute greatly to the transformation of Machiavelli’s name into a slur.

Ultimately, the campaign to transform the name of Niccolo Machiavelli into a political slur began in earnest rather quickly in the decades following his death, with both major Catholic figures like Pope Paul IV and protestant writers like Innocent Gentillet levying major attacks against the name of the Florentine political philosopher. In both cases, Machiavelli became associated with the immoral actions of the other side of the European religious conflict, and his name became a descriptor for one’s political and religious enemies.

References

Innocent Gentillet and the First “Anti-Machiavel”

Political Morality? Machiavelli Encouraged a Flexible Approach Five Centuries Ago

Machiavellian Anti-Machiavellianism?

Posted in Causal Argument, GracchusBabeuf | Leave a comment

White Paper—tlap

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Thomas Laperriere

Working Hypothesis: The act of FOMO, the fear of missing out, is not a new psychological phenomenon that has been created by social media, but something that is almost impossible to identify because of its inevitable occurrence in an individual’s everyday life. 

I want to prove that previous studies show individuals rather than just adolescents experience FOMO, whether it be a quick thought that goes in and out of the head of someone, or an experience that can stick in someone’s head, and possibly result in depression or anxiety-like symptoms. Furthermore, the public is trying to raise concern with individuals on social media that are getting diagnosed with these disorders and even suicides, but social media is too new and fresh for data to be analyzed on how FOMO can contribute to it.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503023000154#bib0002

Background: This long article details different studies done on individuals who may experience FOMO in an everyday situation. Many of these individuals were categorized into different feelings of when they experienced this effect. The article details many different types of FOMO that could occur, one of the most common being experiencing FOMO while at work or missing work.

How I intend to use it: This article helps to prove my point that FOMO can occur in anyone’s life and it does not have to do with social media. It also helps me to highlight how different types of FOMO have been heavily studied dating back to the early 2000’s.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563213000800

Background: I was able to find this article from reading down into the first source that I found, and this article details in depth the psychological aspect of FOMO and how it affects the brain. A study was able to be conducted on adults (Aged 22-65) rather than children in which they were examined on their overall well being. The hypothesis was that those who fulfilled their satisfaction for the day and did what they were supposed to do generally had a lower rate of FOMO. 

How I intend to use it: The study reveals that their tested hypothesis was correct. However, what helps me in this paper is that the study was conducted in 2011, and there were exactly 50% male and 50% female who responded to the survey. This helps me prove the sexual differences of FOMO to narrow my research point.

3rd Source: https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v43/acr_vol43_1019794.pdf 

Background: This article discusses the basic argument that is being made in favor of social media. Individuals in the adolescent age group are specifically examined in this study. A poll was taken from students of a University on whether or not they experience FOMO, and 75% of the students surveyed corresponded social media use to experiencing feelings of missing out. 

How I intend to use it: I believe that although this is the point that I am trying to refute, it will help me greatly when writing my rebuttal argument and proving my “worthy opponent” wrong. Further in the article, it highlights that those who experience FOMO more frequently also attribute it to scenarios outside of social media like family, friends, or coworkers.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563219303735

Background: In the beginning of this article, it defines the idea of what workplace FOMO is, and how it can contribute to poor performance for the employee in their specific department. Different studies were taken and examined individual’s feelings of FOMO and what it made them feel like. Surveys were conducted where there were different outcomes and fears that the employees correlated it too, some of those being missing out on work information, fear of missing out on new work opportunities, and more.

How I intend to use it: I intend to use this article to further prove my point that FOMO is its own psychological disorder rather than something that contributes to other disorders. Although everyone may experience FOMO, the negative thoughts that reside in people’s minds are mostly different, which is why these surveys are conducted.

Source: Anxiety and stress severity are related to greater fear of missing out on rewarding experiences: A latent profile analysis

Background: This article published in the Psych Journal discusses the anxiety and depression that correlates with FOMO. However, something that is important for me to note in this article is that when studies were conducted on these individuals in particular, they were divided by sex, which can further narrow my results and analysis. A FOMO scale was used to survey these university students, which is basically a questionnaire the student can fill out for example “when I miss out on a planned get together it bothers me”. It was found that females generally experienced more FOMO like symptoms than men, but the men experienced more depressive symptoms than the females. The article made their research extremely accurate by removing any outsiders. For example, they removed 114 student’s replies that were careless or insufficient responses

How I intend to use it: Although there were differences seen in sex for different symptoms, the article later puts out a disclaimer that the differences in scores between the females and males were not statistically significant. This helps me to prove that FOMO is an inevitable part of life that directly affects the brain rather than causing other underlying conditions.

Posted in tlap, White Paper | 3 Comments

Causal Rewrite — Shazammm

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Samantha Szumloz

The Beauty of School Theater… Unmasked 

From what I have observed as a teenager growing up in the public school system, children with enough support and resources at their fingertips all have some sort of activity outside of school that helps them express who they are as blossoming individuals. Some students participate in sports, others draw or paint. Some even write stories and poetry. No matter what young people do in their free time, it is vital for adults to acknowledge their interests and allow them to pursue their interests. If they fail to do this, who will encourage children to chase after their dreams? What will push them to to meet their greatest potentials? Finding oneself in childhood is not a solo-process. It takes the child’s determination and outside guidance to figure out the child’s place in life.  

The performing arts, in fact, is an umbrella term that shelters numerous pursuits – dancing, singing, and acting being the big three. If one were to think about it, the performing arts is a major factor that arouses joy and camaraderie within educational settings. Take high school cheerleading, for example. The activity consists mainly of dancing and chanting. Without the performing arts, what would make of cheerleading? In particular, what would make of high school sports? The games would be less exciting without the cheerleaders cheering the players on. The same goes for merely presenting a project in front of a classroom or reading a play out loud in English class. Both acts incorporate elements of acting, for they involve swaying audiences through speech.

The performing arts affect what students see and do in school more than we know. That is why taking away theater programs would cause catastrophe for the “full child.” In other words, for all children. Not just those who call themselves “theater kids.” If school administrations refuse to fund for or support their theater programs, that means they do not view the performing arts as valuable in the academic world and, most importantly, for children.  

What “anti-performing arts” adults do not understand is that theater arts can actually boost communication skills and self-confidence among kids. In the article “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement In Music and Theatre Arts,” by James Catterall, Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga, they write about the benefits of kids participating in theater-related activities, quoting Tony Jackson and Dorothy Heathcote, “Children learn about the art form as well as about other more instrumental ends related to personal or social development. Among the latter, Jackson enumerates learning about, ‘group interaction, discipline, language usage, self esteem, and movement skills.’ Heathcote reminds us also that drama provides situations where we can or must put ourselves into the place of another; thus empathy for others is a possible or likely outcome of the dramatic experience” {1999, paragraph 41}.

It is additionally proven that participating in theater-related activities has the potential to enhance reading skills. Catterall, Chapleau, and Iwanaga compares the reading proficiency of theater kids and non-theater kids, “The involved students outscored the non involved students as of 8th grade; both groups gain skill as they proceed through high school; and the difference favoring students involved in theatre grows steadily to where nearly 20 percent more are reading at high proficiency by grade 12… This seems reasonable in that students involved in drama and theatre, according to our definition of intensive involvement, probably spend time reading and learning lines as actors, and possibly reading to carry out research on characters and their settings. In any case, theatre is a language-rich environment and actively engages students with issues of language” {1999, paragraph 47}. 

With theater opportunities accessible in schools, children have the chance to exercise their communication and language prowesses. The more they expose themselves to activities like performing, the more confident they will feel in their skin. 

To be clear, however, a child’s success in socializing or performing well at school does not depend solely on the theater arts. There are an array of creative activities out there that are healthy and beneficial for children to partake in. Also, every child’s interests are different. However, the theater is a phenomenal place to be a part of. Taking away theater opportunities in schools would also be depriving kids of chances to improve their social skills and self-confidence. The less opportunities they have to work on themselves, the slower it is for them to mature into young adults. 

According to the book “Social Skills of Children and Adolescents,” by Kenneth Merrell and Gretchen Gimpel, there are five common dimensions that form the concept of social skills: peer relations, self-management, academic, compliance, and assertion. I would like to highlight the importance of peer relations in terms of socialization. Merrel and Gimpel define this dimension as appearing “to be dominated by social skills that reflect a child or youth who is positive with his or her peers. Such skills as complimenting or praising others, offering help or assistance, and inviting others to play or interact appear to describe this dimension well” {1998, pg. 12}. It also incorporates the following: “social interaction, prosocial, interpersonal, peer preferred social behavior, empathy, social participation, sociability-leadership, peer reinforcement, general, and peer sociability” {1998, pg. 12}. 

There is a distinct connection between theater and peer relationships. In the article “The Impact of Participation in Performing Arts on Adolescent Health and Behaviour: A Systematic Review of the Literature,” by Norma Daykin, Judy Orme, David Evans, Debra Salmon, with, Malcolm McEachran and Sarah Brain, they detail one case study in particular about the performing arts helping with social skills, “The impact of drama interventions on social skills and interaction was explored in a mixed methods study by Walsh-Bowers and Basso (1999). This study focused on two drama interventions with seventh grade children in elementary schools in Ontario, Canada. The first of these involved 24 students at a rural elementary school in a class of 33 who with their parents agreed to take part in a 15-week drama intervention. This group was compared with a class in a smaller school in the region, which did not receive the drama programme… The quantitative data yielded ambiguous results. However, significant improvements in parent rating of social skills were reported in the intervention group over the comparison group” {2008, pg. 257}. 

In short, theater-related activities produce stronger peer relationships among children and, overall, healthy, well-rounded students. 

References

Click to access Involvement-in-the-Arts-and-Human-Development.pdf

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=weEBAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=importance+of+social+skills+in+kids&ots=LbIEfeL_iM&sig=Dh3n11sOmP6U9IDw7XCq3UVswzY#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20social%20skills%20in%20kids&f=false

file:///Users/samanthaszumloz/Downloads/The_Impact_of_Participation_in_Performing_Arts_on_.pdf

Posted in Causal Rewrite, Portfolio Shazammm, Shazammm | 13 Comments

Causal — Shazammm

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Samantha Szumloz

The Beauty of School Theater… Unmasked 

From what I have observed as a teenager growing up in the public school system, all children have some sort of activity outside of school that helps them rewind and express who they are as blossoming individuals. Some students participate in sports, others draw or paint. Some even write stories and poetry. No matter what young people do in their freetime, it is vital for adults to acknowledge their interests and allow them to pursue their interests. As long as their hobbies do not cause harm to themselves or others, of course. 

The performing arts, in fact, is an umbrella term that shelters numerous pursuits – dancing, singing, and acting being the big three. If one were to think about it, the performing arts is a major factor that arouses joy and camaraderie within educational settings. Take high school cheerleading, for example. The activity consists mainly of dancing and chanting. Without the performing arts, what would make of cheerleading? In particular, what would make of high school sports? The games would be less exciting without the cheerleaders cheering the players on. The same goes for merely presenting a project in front of a classroom or reading a play out loud in English class. Both acts incorporate elements of acting, for they involve swaying audiences through speech.

The performing arts affect what students see and do in school more than we know. That is why taking away theater programs would cause catastrophe for the “full child.” In other words, for all children. Not just those who call themselves “theater kids.”. If school administrations refuse to fund for or support their theater programs, that means they do not view the performing arts as valuable in the academic world and, most importantly, for children.  

What “anti-performing arts” adults do not understand is that theater arts can actually boost communication skills and self-confidence among kids. In the article “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement In Music and Theatre Arts,” by James Catterall, Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga, they write about the benefits of kids participating in theater-related activities, quoting Tony Jackson and Dorothy Heathcote, “Children learn about the art form as well as about other more instrumental ends related to personal or social development. Among the latter, Jackson enumerates learning about, ‘group interaction, discipline, language usage, self esteem, and movement skills.’ Heathcote reminds us also that drama provides situations where we can or must put ourselves into the place of another; thus empathy for others is a possible or likely outcome of the dramatic experience” {1999, paragraph 41}. It is additionally proven that participating in theater-related activities has the potential to enhance reading skills. Catterall, Chapleau, and Iwanaga compares the reading proficiency of theater kids and non-theater kids, “The involved students outscored the non involved students as of 8th grade; both groups gain skill as they proceed through high school; and the difference favoring students involved in theatre grows steadily to where nearly 20 percent more are reading at high proficiency by grade 12… This seems reasonable in that students involved in drama and theatre, according to our definition of intensive involvement, probably spend time reading and learning lines as actors, and possibly reading to carry out research on characters and their settings. In any case, theatre is a language-rich environment and actively engages students with issues of language” {1999, paragraph 47}. 

With theater opportunities accessible in schools, children have the chance to exercise their communication and language prowesses. The more they expose themselves to activities like performing, the more confident they will feel in their skin. 

To be clear, however, a child’s success in socializing or performing well at school does not depend solely on the theater arts. There are an array of creative activities out there that are healthy and beneficial for children to partake in. Also, every child’s interests are different. However, the theater is a phenomenal place to be a part of. Taking away theater opportunities in schools would also be depriving kids of chances to improve their social skills and self-confidence. The less opportunities they have to work on themselves, the slower it is for them to mature into young adults. 

According to the book “Social Skills of Children and Adolescents,” by Kenneth Merrell and Gretchen Gimpel, there are five common dimensions that form the concept of social skills: peer relations, self-management, academic, compliance, and assertion. I would like to highlight the importance of peer relations in terms of socialization. Merrel and Gimpel define this dimension as appearing “to be dominated by social skills that reflect a child or youth who is positive with his or her peers. Such skills as complimenting or praising others, offering help or assistance, and inviting others to play or interact appear to describe this dimension well” {1998, pg. 12}. It also incorporates the following: “social interaction, prosocial, interpersonal, peer preferred social behavior, empathy, social participation, sociability-leadership, peer reinforcement, general, and peer sociability” {1998, pg. 12}. 

There is a distinct connection between theater and peer relationships. In the article “The Impact of Participation in Performing Arts on Adolescent Health and Behaviour: A Systematic Review of the Literature,” by Norma Daykin, Judy Orme, David Evans, Debra Salmon, with, Malcolm McEachran and Sarah Brain, they detail one case study in particular about the performing arts helping with social skills, “The impact of drama interventions on social skills and interaction was explored in a mixed methods study by Walsh-Bowers and Basso (1999). This study focused on two drama interventions with seventh grade children in elementary schools in Ontario, Canada. The first of these involved 24 students at a rural elementary school in a class of 33 who with their parents agreed to take part in a 15-week drama intervention. This group was compared with a class in a smaller school in the region, which did not receive the drama programme… The quantitative data yielded ambiguous results. However, significant improvements in parent rating of social skills were reported in the intervention group over the comparison group” {2008, pg. 257}. 

In short, theater-related activities produce stronger peer relationships among children and, overall, healthy, well-rounded students. 

References

Click to access Involvement-in-the-Arts-and-Human-Development.pdf

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=weEBAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=importance+of+social+skills+in+kids&ots=LbIEfeL_iM&sig=Dh3n11sOmP6U9IDw7XCq3UVswzY#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20social%20skills%20in%20kids&f=false

file:///Users/samanthaszumloz/Downloads/The_Impact_of_Participation_in_Performing_Arts_on_.pdf

Posted in Causal Argument, Portfolio Shazammm, Portfolio SP23, Shazammm | Leave a comment

Causal Rewrite-Saycheese

Posted on March 9, 2023 by saycheese03

Needs a Title

Happiness like many other feelings is no simple discussion. Happiness may be the state of mind that is sought after the most but it’s a “squishy” topic that is very hard to define/categorize. What makes happiness so squishy is that it is subjective from person to person. Things that may make people happier or less happy than others include preferences, genetics, environments, and different circumstances. Not only this but something that may make one person happy might not do the same for another. Because happiness is so subjective, it’s hard to pinpoint what makes people happy, one person may get happiness from raising a family whereas someone else might get happiness from murdering a bunch of children. Super subjective/squishy topic, however working hard for what one needs/wants and getting that satisfaction is a way to, without a doubt, maximize one’s happiness.

Firstly, what makes people happy? There is no simple answer to this question because there are tons of factors that may change a person’s preferences and feelings. Something that can fluctuate so much is very hard to define but it is known that different factors have negative and positive effects they have on happiness. The Environment people grow up in has huge effects on their happiness, if people live in a bad neighborhood with no family or are homeless, they are most likely going to be less happy than those with a home and family. People have different interests and different things make people happy. Some people are born with conditions that affect the way they feel/how happy they can feel.

With so many different causes for happiness, it’s almost impossible to say exactly what makes people happy. Although there are many different factors that go into what makes a certain person happy, we can all agree that working hard and giving one all to achieve something will always make one feel good and cause greater happiness. In the article, “Money and Happiness: Income, Wealth and Subjective Well-Being” by Conchita Ambrosio Markus Jänitti and, Anthony Lepintuer  it is stated that, “Interpretation and consider that other’s income has an information effect: the presence of richer individuals signals that there is a possibility for oneself to get richer in the future, which increases own happiness even before any actual enrichment takes place.” A little competition never hurt anyone; this is just one example of how working harder can maximize your happiness. Increasing your own assets to beat out someone else may sound egotistical however, it is one way people put their everything into something to maximize their happiness. This concept alone can be used for almost everything, working on one’s own character to improve themselves can make people happy, putting all of one’s effort into holding a relationship or trying to make a family will make people happier, and trying ones hardest to earn what they want, or need will also make them feel more satisfied and help maximize happiness.

If giving one all towards an object is a way to maximize happiness, what can we put all our effort towards to make sure we are happy? According to the article simply titled, “Happiness” by, Tony Delamothe, he states, “Embark on a loving relationship with another adult and work hard to sustain it. Plan frequent interactions with friends, family, and neighbors (in that order). Make sure you’re not working so hard that you’ve no time left for personal relationships and leisure.” This article is stating that we should be working hard not only for ourselves but keeping relationships with the people we love to live a long happy and satisfying life. Love may be one of the biggest factors in being happy, so two people giving their all to be together or make something work is something beautiful that both of parties can experience together and maximize each other’s happiness. Not only this but relationships require maximum effort from both parties, and if love is a factor of happiness giving one all for love is also working hard for maximizing happiness.   

Another example of people putting all their effort towards building happiness is the King of Bhutan. According to the article “Happiness”, the author talks about the kings whose priority was increasing gross national happiness. One man put all the nation’s interests first and because of this, all the people worked together with their king to increase their maximum happiness. The article also states, “the best society is the happiest”, meaning that one king striving to make his society the happiest changed the point of public policy together which according to him should be happy.     

Finally In the same article, “Happiness”, the author defines what the types of “happy lives” there are. Although a pleasant life may not lead to maximum happiness the other two show different ways one can work hard toward maximizing happiness. According to the author the “good life” is using one’s strengths to stay engaged with what they are doing. Working on oneself and trying to improve will always make that person feel good about themselves no matter how hard the journey is self-improvement is a great example of putting total effort towards something to maximize happiness. The “Meaningful Life” is putting your time and effort towards others rather than oneself. People who give to charity are going to feel better about themselves and feel more accomplished than those who don’t work hard for their money or just keep it to themselves.     

In conclusion, because happiness is a squishy topic that has many factors involved it is very hard to say what makes people truly happy. It’s a subjective topic, however, we can say that putting effort in, working hard, giving one all, and not backing down are all ways that one could maximize their happiness. Working hard for something and getting what is wanted or needed will always feel better than half-assing something. The fulfillment obtained from working hard is like no other feeling. So, the key to maximizing one’s happiness is putting one all into everything that makes one happy.

References

D’ambrosio , C., Jäntii, M., & Lepinteur, A. (2019, September 12). Money and happiness: Income, wealth and subjective well-being – social indicators research. SpringerLink. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-019-02186-w

Delamothe, T. (2005, December 22). Happiness. The BMJ. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.bmj.com/content/331/7531/1489.short

Posted in Causal Rewrite, Portfolio Tasks, SayCheese | 2 Comments

Causal-Saycheese

Posted on March 9, 2023 by saycheese03

            Happiness like many other feelings is no simple discussion. Happiness may be the state of mind that is sought after the most but it’s a “squishy” topic that is very hard to define/categorize. What makes happiness so squishy is that it is subjective from person to person. Things that may make people happier or less happy than others include preferences, genetics, environments, and different circumstances. Not only this but something that may make one person happy might not do the same for another. Because happiness is so subjective, it’s hard to pinpoint what makes people happy, one person may get happiness from raising a family whereas someone else might get happiness from murdering a bunch of children. Super subjective/squishy topic, however working hard for what one needs/wants and getting that satisfaction is a way to, without a doubt, maximize one’s happiness.

            Firstly, what makes people happy? There is no simple answer to this question because there are tons of factors that may change a person’s preferences and feelings. Something that can fluctuate so much is very hard to define but it is known that different factors have negative and positive effects they have on happiness. The Environment people grow up in has huge effects on their happiness, if people live in a bad neighborhood with no family or are homeless, they are most likely going to be less happy than those with a home and family. People have different interests and different things make people happy. Some people are born with conditions that affect the way they feel/how happy they can feel.

            With so many different causes for happiness, it’s almost impossible to say exactly what makes people happy. Although there are many different factors that go into what makes a certain person happy, we can all agree that working hard and giving one all to achieve something will always make one feel good and cause greater happiness. In the article, “Money and Happiness: Income, Wealth and Subjective Well-Being” by Conchita Ambrosio Markus Jänitti and, Anthony Lepintuer  it is stated that, “Interpretation and consider that other’s income has an information effect: the presence of richer individuals signals that there is a possibility for oneself to get richer in the future, which increases own happiness even before any actual enrichment takes place.” A little competition never hurt anyone; this is just one example of how working harder can maximize your happiness. Increasing your own assets to beat out someone else may sound egotistical however, it is one way people put their everything into something to maximize their happiness. This concept alone can be used for almost everything, working on one’s own character to improve themselves can make people happy, putting all of one’s effort into holding a relationship or trying to make a family will make people happier, and trying ones hardest to earn what they want, or need will also make them feel more satisfied and help maximize happiness.

            If giving one all towards an object is a way to maximize happiness, what can we put all our effort towards to make sure we are happy? According to the article simply titled, “Happiness” by, Tony Delamothe, he states, “Embark on a loving relationship with another adult and work hard to sustain it. Plan frequent interactions with friends, family, and neighbors (in that order). Make sure you’re not working so hard that you’ve no time left for personal relationships and leisure.” This article is stating that we should be working hard not only for ourselves but keeping relationships with the people we love to live a long happy and satisfying life. Love may be one of the biggest factors in being happy, so two people giving their all to be together or make something work is something beautiful that both of parties can experience together and maximize each other’s happiness. Not only this but relationships require maximum effort from both parties, and if love is a factor of happiness giving one all for love is also working hard for maximizing happiness.   

            Another example of people putting all their effort towards building happiness is the King of Bhutan. According to the article “Happiness”, the author talks about the kings whose priority was increasing gross national happiness. One man put all the nation’s interests first and because of this, all the people worked together with their king to increase their maximum happiness. The article also states, “the best society is the happiest”, meaning that one king striving to make his society the happiest changed the point of public policy together which according to him should be happy.     

            Finally In the same article, “Happiness”, the author defines what the types of “happy lives” there are. Although a pleasant life may not lead to maximum happiness the other two show different ways one can work hard toward maximizing happiness. According to the author the “good life” is using one’s strengths to stay engaged with what they are doing. Working on oneself and trying to improve will always make that person feel good about themselves no matter how hard the journey is self-improvement is a great example of putting total effort towards something to maximize happiness. The “Meaningful Life” is putting your time and effort towards others rather than oneself. People who give to charity are going to feel better about themselves and feel more accomplished than those who don’t work hard for their money or just keep it to themselves.     

            In conclusion, because happiness is a squishy topic that has many factors involved it is very hard to say what makes people truly happy. It’s a subjective topic, however, we can say that putting effort in, working hard, giving one all, and not backing down are all ways that one could maximize their happiness. Working hard for something and getting what is wanted or needed will always feel better than half-assing something. The fulfillment obtained from working hard is like no other feeling. So, the key to maximizing one’s happiness is putting one all into everything that makes one happy.

Work Cited

D’ambrosio , C., Jäntii, M., & Lepinteur, A. (2019, September 12). Money and happiness: Income, wealth and subjective well-being – social indicators research. SpringerLink. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-019-02186-w

Delamothe, T. (2005, December 22). Happiness. The BMJ. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://www.bmj.com/content/331/7531/1489.short

Posted in Causal Argument, Portfolio Tasks, SayCheese | 1 Comment

Summaries—Jasrielle2

Posted on March 9, 2023 by davidbdale
  1. Meditations on Elderly Animals.
    It seems counterintuitive that we insist on keeping our sick and elderly animals alive long after they would no longer want to continue.

2.

3.

Posted in Jasrielle, Purposeful Summary | Leave a comment

White Paper – music0392

Posted on March 8, 2023 by music0392

Hypothesis: TikTok is improving popular music rather than degrading it with its trends.

I will be researching how TikTok allows multiple styles of music and smaller artists to flourish where they couldn’t on radio.

Source 1: https://tomperkins.plymouthcreate.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Final-Paper-Tom-and-Olivia-1.pdf 

Background: This article discusses the popularity of niche songs on the app TikTok, and the different reactions from both the artists and fans, whether it be negative or positive. 

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this article to give examples of older or lesser known artists gaining popularity from their songs trending on TikTok.

Source 2: https://baec.aua.am/files/2021/10/Lalageh-Khosravian-What-Has-Changes-in-the-Music-Industry-from-Traditional-to-Digitalization-of-Music-and-Platform-Capitalisation-Spotify-vs.-Tiktok.pdf 

Background: This article compares and contrasts the popular songs on Spotify from the popular songs on TikTok, and how TikTok is affecting Spotify’s streaming numbers.

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this article to show the different types of songs that are getting big numbers because of TikTok. 

Source 3: https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/r781wp37g 

Background: This article studies how artists can use TikTok as a tool to market their music.

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this article to explain how TikTok is important to smaller artists and how its variety of genres can help them grow.

Source 4: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1652457831560222&disposition=inline 

Background: This paper discusses the relationship between music and sounds on TikTok and people in the LGBTQ+ community, and how the app can help raise awareness of discrimination or other issues.

How I Intend to Use It: I will use this paper to show how TikTok’s culture and music is helpful to create more inclusive environments. 

Posted in Music, White Paper | 3 Comments