A Review of the Movies City of God, Gueros and Wadjda

A Review of the Movies City of God, Gueros and Wadjda City of God, Geros, and Wadjda can be described as the movies of the season. The videos present real-life situations, capturing the attention of their audience and changing their view of the societal norms and practices. Although the movies were written and produced by different people, they nevertheless contain individual physical, social, and cultural aspects that may or may not be the same. In each movie, there is a main character whose decisions and actions are influenced by the environment, societal and cultural beliefs. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to describe the similarities and differences in the physical, social, and cultural factors in the films that influence the decisions of the main characters. Physical Differences In Wadjda, the leading actor is Wadjda, rebellious young lady who has her beliefs on how the universe should run. She is affected by three physical factors. First is her desire of own a bicycle. Her environment does not accept a woman to ride a bike. However, as a child, Wadjda has always wanted to ride one. She has seen a beautiful bike a nearby shop and intended to buy it. Her desire causes her to join the school music festival hoping she would win and get the money she needs to by the bicycle. This is a secret she keeps to herself. Secondly, Wadjda is influenced by the school, where she meets people from different backgrounds with different beliefs. She learns about freedom, and she wants to extend the same in her surrounding. Finally, Wadjda does not like the dressing code. Women in her society have to cover their faces and hair. Wadjda, however, does the opposite and leaves her face and hair exposed. In the City of God, the main character, Alexandre Rodrigues, or Rocket, is influenced by two factors. First, he does not like the dirty city. Rocket was born and raised in the slum. All his life he has witnessed the unhygienic state of his home. When he becomes of age, he decides to join the gang and move out of the dirty slum life. Again, his decisions are affected by the people around him. While growing up, the only ones around him were criminals who were part of gangs. He grows up knowing that there is the only way to go. He later joins a band although he was not good at it. Finally, the main character in Geros is influenced by the desire to do things his way for a better life. For instance, when he goes to visit his college brother in New York and finds them living in a small, filthy room with no power, he wonders why they have not yet stricken. According to him, the strike would be the only way to push the administration to ensure students welfare is attended to properly. Social Differences Although the society prevents girls from befriending boys, Wadjda respects and values friendship and has no problem befriending the boy next door. She believes people from both sexes should be allowed to be friends. Additionally, she listens and watches western music that gives her more exposure to the world, and she learns it is not bad to own a bicycle. Violence and gangster life influence Rocket, on the other hand. In his society, being part of a gang is the only means of livelihood available. One has to join a group to earn income for the family. This forced Rocket to be part of a gang although he did not like it. Finally, Geros is affected by poverty and his will for freedom. He opposes everything that reduces human dignity. He also makes quick and irrational decisions some of which land him in trouble. His mother sends him to New York after she could not tolerate him anymore. There, he mobilized students, and they engage in a strike demanding for better housing conditions. Cultural Differences Wadjda does not like her cultural beliefs. The fact that women have not say in the society annoys her. Her teacher claims she a stubborn girl because she opposes some things she does not like. She also forced to watch her mother suffer in her fathers hands. The girls religion also demands that women should not walk without guardians even when they are married. Wadjda opposes this walking alone admiring the city. Rocket, however, is influenced by the slum life his surrounding is living in. Their culture is that of poverty, and people are forced into criminal acts to make ends meet. Rocket has no choice but to follow suit. He, however, moves out of the slum and finds a good place to stay. Lastly, Geros is influenced by political radicalism and the need for social change. He seems to oppose the authority and demands them to perform their duties. Even his mother gets tired of him and sends him to New York. In New York, he becomes one of the ring leaders organizing strikes and demonstrations. Physical, Social, and Cultural Similarities Physically, all the movies are set in the modern society. Wadjda can access and watch videos. She has also seen and liked a bicycle and intends to buy it. In the same way, Rocket is born and raised in a slum. Slums are familiar in the main cities where people in the lowest social class live. They are usually dirty, and gangsters are very many. Geros is also exposed to the town of New York, which is one of the largest cities in the United States. Together with other youths, they engage in strikes to improve the condition of people living in the city. Socially, freedom fights and violence are common in all the three movies. Wadjda wants to buy the bicycle because it represents her freedom. Rocket joins gang life as he wants a better life that enables him to move out of the dirty life. Geros also engages people in strikes in the quest for freedom and better living conditions. Finally, poverty is a cultural phenomenon that drives all the main characters in the films. Wadjda cannot afford the bicycle; and thus, she is forced to join the music competition. Rocket is a gang because his family is poor. They are also living in a slum. Geros and his brother are also poor. They live in a dirty little room without electricity. In conclusion, the three movies are the true presentation of the modern societies and the challenges that people experience in their daily lives. They give pictures of how people are forced to make hard decisions as they attempt to make their lives better and easy.

An Anthropological Perspective ofa Buddhist Ceremony Essay

An Anthropological Perspective ofa Buddhist Ceremony - Essay Example Buddhism has been in existence for many years now and approximately 2500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama, referred to as Buddha, was on his own awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35 (Bechert, & Richard Gombrich 1984). Buddhism goes further than religion or ritual and is significantly related to a philosophy or a way of life. The reason why Buddhism is seen as a philosophy is due to the fact that philosophy stands for love of wisdom and the Buddhist course can be summarized as a religion that fosters moral lifestyle, is mindful and aware of thoughts and actions and helps in developing wisdom and understanding (Bechert, et al.,1984). Buddhism illustrates a value of life, goals and objectives as it explains evident unfairness and inequality in all parts of the world and it offers a code of customs, way of life or actions that bring about proper happiness (Ajahn 2010). In the present day, Buddhism is becoming accepted for a wide range of reasons. This is due to the fact that Buddhism is said to provide solutions to a number of problems in the contemporary material world. Buddhism also encompass the people who are concerned with profound understanding of the cognitive world the human beings and the natural therapies that that expert psychologists in all spheres of the world are finding out to be equally very sophisticated and helpful (Davidson 2003). Siddhartha Gautama was born in a noble family in Lumbini, found in Nepal in 563 BC. At the age of 29 Gautama discovered that riches and lavishness did not ascertain happiness, therefore he discovered the diverse teachings of religions and philosophy with the intention of finding the explanation to human happiness (Donath 1971). 6 years after study and meditation, he in the end established â€Å"the middle path’ and was enlightened. Subsequent to becoming enlightened, Buddha used most of his time imparting knowledge, values and principles of Buddhism referred to Dhamma, or truth, until his passing away at the age of 80 (Dzongsar 2011). Gautama was never a God and he never claimed to be one. He was a man who focused in teaching a course to enlightenment from his own experiences. Buddhists at times pay tribute to images of the Buddha, however not in worship not to solicit favors (Gethin 1998). A statue Buddha with hands rested lightly in his lap and a gentle smile is reminiscent of the need to working hard to create peace and love in ourselves. Bending over ritual to the statue in the Buddhism ceremony is a gesture of appreciation for the teachings. Above all, one major lesson in the ceremony of Buddha is the riches do not guarantee happiness and as well riches are not permanent. Today, it is evident that many people from different parts of the world suffer however those who fully understand the teaching of Buddha can find true happiness (Goldstein 2002). There are varying kinds of Buddhism for the reason that the focus alternates from nation to nation on account of traditions and way of life . In actual fact, the real meaning of the teaching does not vary at all despite in the Dhamma or the truth (Goldstein, et al., 2002). Buddhism is as well a belief system that tolerates other beliefs, myths, taboos or religions. Buddhism is in agreement with the moral values of other religions. However, Buddhism goes ahead to provide a long lasting objective in our existence based on wisdom and true understanding (Bechert, et al., 1984). Actual Buddhism is significantly forbearing and not worried with labels like Christian, Muslim or Hindu. This is in fact the main reason why there have never been any conflicts based on the name of Buddhism. This is because Buddhists do not preach and attempt to convert, only illustrate in case a

Informal Reading Assessment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Informal Reading Assessment - Case Study Example III. GENERAL OBSERVATION †¢ Interpersonal response to the clinician On the examination day, john entered the assessment room when he was so frightened. He seemed to be scared because I was new to him. Moreover, the class teacher did not brief him about the assessment. After I explained in details the purpose of our meeting, john was extremely inquisitive to know why I was assessing him. In fact, he asked me if their class teacher was not qualified enough to conduct the assessment. I explained to him that all the other students were to undergo the same test. As I was about to start the test, I realized that John was busy trying to find out what was in my laptop. I asked him what his favorite class program was, and he told me about a cartoon TV program that he always watches at home in the evening. I listen to him so that he would feel appreciated. John answered short answer questions extremely well. However, I kept quiet and looked at the laptop when I asked him to explain some q uestions. This was expected because at his age, a child does not like challenging things or questions. †¢ Perceptiveness of the task of reading From how he read the passage in one of the story books, it was so evident that John enjoyed reading short passages. He could struggle to pronouns some long words and those with silent syllables. †¢ Attention and concentration during assessment John’s attention during the assessment was commendable. However, he was often distracted by the laptop, that made me realized that he likes computers and video games. The student’s overall grades levels are as follows Independent grade level was 0 miscues in word recognition, 90% miscue in comprehension and 0 miscue in listening level. This come to an average of 99% Instructional Grade level were 2 miscues in word recognition, 3 miscues in comprehension and 2 miscues in listening level. This come to an average of 90% Frustration Grade level were 8 miscues in word recognition, 49 % miscues in comprehension and 4 miscues in listening level. This come to an average of 90%=49%. It is very evident that the student’s performance is good. However, a few improvements should be made, since the student has a potential of performing higher than this. IV. Discussion on the assessment Word recognition results and graded word list John did not have many problems on the word list. In fact, all the questions on the word list for grade three were not an issue to him. He was able to handle them with a lot of ease. His frustration manifested on instructional and partly independent level, where he could miss the pronunciation of words whose syllables are almost similar. The greatest problem is where he could say the words that are particularly common in the text books whenever he sees a similar word. For example, it was†¦. For any sentence that start with It. This also resulted to confusion of words whose last syllables changes. For instance, he said enabled instea d of enabling. Another problem was reading long words. He had a habit of skipping such word because they were hard to pronounce. In addition, he would interchange the pronunciation of some words. For instance, t instead of d. this is attributed to the influence of child’s first language. Goal The teacher needs to give more concentration on john’s points of weaknesses. The best way to improve on such areas is giving more assignments on the same and monitoring him closely. The books