Wednesday, August 21, 2013

World History 2 Presentation: Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism, Strayer University, 22 August 2013

Beyond the Sound Bites

Should we go with our gut feelings or plan responsibly for the future?

Prudential: Feeling or Thinking: (In Marshmallows and in Life), 2:55

Prudential placed kids before a marshmellow to see if they would go with their gut and eat, or wait responsibly to get two marshmellows. What would you do?

Comments, questions, reactions?

Ch. 12 Sec. 4 Culture: Romanticism and Realism

Note Taking:

Identify Supporting Details

In-class assignment:

As you read and we cover the material fill in a table with details about the artistic movements in the 1800s.



Main Ideas

At the end of the eighteenth century, Romanticism emerged as a reaction to the ideas of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was seen as overly rational and head oriented whereas romanticism emphasized gut feelings, and the heart.

Intro to section:


Nineteenth-century Romanticism—with its escape from an increasingly complex and industrialized world to the simplicity and purity of nature—is experienced through the literature of Hugo, Brontë, Shelley and Byron. In Les Miserables for instance, Victor Hugo views society as the force that makes men evil. Attitudes toward passions are typified in scenes from Wuthering Heights. Ideals of life and death are brought home in the reenactment of Shelley's funeral pyre on the beach, as his friend and fellow poet, Lord Byron, swims out to sea for a better view.


The Industrial Revolution created a new interest in science and helped produce the gritty, Realist movement.

Video intro: a commentary on Realism (sometimes called Naturalism).

Literary Realism and Naturalism, 2:53

In-class assignment: copy the formula to understand Realism.

Fate = C (chance) + E (environment) + H (heredity).




Key Terms

romanticism

Romanticism
Albert Bierstadt, Hetch Hetchy Canyon, 1875




realism

Objectives, at the end of the section the student should:

*Understand what themes shaped romantic art, literature, and music.
*Explain how realists responded to the industrialized, urban world.
*Describe how the visual arts changed.

People to Identify

Some initial examples will be identified.


Ludwig van Beethoven

William Wordsworth

Lord Byron

impressionism

Claude Monet

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. In 1872, Monet is credited with beginning the style known as Impressionism, with his painting, "Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant)," for which the Impressionist movement was named. In the 1800s, “The Salon,” an annual exhibition that accepted only traditional paintings, dominated the Parisian art scene. In 1874, a group of artists held their own exhibition at a local photographer’s studio. Claude Monet’s Impression: Sunrise was one of the works displayed. Monet’s painting demonstrates several characteristics of impressionist work, including short, visible brush strokes and an idealized depiction of a landscape.


Impressionism was one of the most important art movements of the 1800s. It marked a departure from tradition, both in subject matter and painting technique. Artists sought to depict the human eye’s first perception of a scene. Characterized by the use of unmixed primary colors and small, visible brush strokes, impressionism attempted to show the effects of direct or reflected light. Impressionist artists often painted outdoors for maximum effect.

In-class assignment:

Thinking Critically

1. Summarize

How did impressionism depart from tradition?

In-class assignment: paraphrase Wordsworth, in your own words, how is this a Romantic understanding of nature?

As I am suggesting, Romanticism does not refer to romance in the sense of an affectionate relationship, but rather to an artistic style emphasizing nature, imagination, freedom, and emotion. Romanticism was a reaction to the neoclassical writers of the Enlightenment, who had turned to classical Greek and Roman literature and ideals that stressed order, harmony, reason, and emotional restraint. In contrast to Enlightenment literature, the works of romantic writers included simple, direct language, intense feelings, and a glorification of nature. Artists, composers, and architects were also followers of the movement.

The Romantic Hero

Indiana Jones: The American Romantic Hero

This video considers Indiana Jones, and how he is portrayed as a true American Romantic Hero throughout, 7:29.

In-class assignment: in a word cloud, summarize the important characteristics of Indiana Jones as a Romantic hero.


A sample word cloud is suggestive of what you should understand at this point.

Romantic writers created a new kind of hero—a mysterious, melancholy figure who felt out of step with society. “My joys, my grief, my passions, and my powers, / Made me a stranger,” wrote Britain’s George Gordon, Lord Byron. He himself was a larger-than-life figure equal to those he created. After a rebellious, wandering life, he joined Greek forces battling for freedom. When he died of a fever there, his legend bloomed. In fact, public interest in his poetry and adventures was so great that moody, isolated romantic heroes came to be described as “Byronic.”

From Romanticism to pop culture, we have had numerous, mysterious, and melancholy figures who are out of step with society. These are Romantic, Byronic, figures.

One of the first rebels in American post-war pop culture was Marlon Brando in "The Wild One."

The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film. It is remembered for Marlon Brando's portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Stabler as a juvenile delinquent, dressed in a leather jacket and driving a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird 6T. Acting opposite of Brando was Lee Marvin as a rival gang leader. This low-budget production had Brando playing a rebel without a cause two years before James Dean.
The film version was based on a January, 1951 short story in Harper's Magazine "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney that was published in book form as part of "The Best American Short Stories 1952." The story took a cue from an actual biker street party on the Fourth of July weekend in 1947 in Hollister, California that was elaborately trumped up in Life Magazine (dubbed the Hollister riot) with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revellers. The Hollister event is now celebrated annually. In the film, the town is located somewhere in California.

Deemed scandalous and dangerous, the film was banned by the British Board of Film Censors from showing in the United Kingdom for fourteen years. Its first UK public showing, to a mostly Rocker audience at the then famous 59 Club of Paddington in London.

In a famous exchange from the movie Brando's character is asked: "What are you rebelling against?"

Brando's character slyly responds: "What have you got?"



The rebellious pop image was thereafter popularized by James Dean:


Arguably the most famous Romantic, Byronic rebel was Elvis.


In a well-known scene from one of his first movies, 'Jailhouse Rock', 1957, Elvis' character, a former penitentiary inmate (also starring Judy Tyler), has a chance to meet the parents.

Elvis Presley - Scene from "Jailhouse Rock" (MGM 1957), 3:24

In this scene Vince joins his manager/girl-friend Peggy who's visiting a party at her parent's house. The people there obviously don't know what to think of Elvis and what he's doing. They're trying to get him involved into a conversation about music but on both sides there's a lack of understanding for each other's position. The only change in music they can imagine is actually a setback to Dixieland. They're instead discussing jazz music and things like atonality, something to which Vince only can reply: "Lady, I don't know that the hell you're talkin' about..." making the generation gap obvious.

When accused of insulting her family and friends by Peggy the only thing Vince can possibly answer is a quote that has become famous over the years: "Honey, that's just the beast in me..." Something untamed, different from what was possible until now. Youth was starting to go its own way. A new age was about to dawn.

The Byronic figure in pop culture can be seen in diverse figures from Jim Morrison, to Michael Jackson, and many others such as Tupac Shakur.

The romantic hero often hid a guilty secret and faced a grim destiny. German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (gur tuh) wrote the dramatic poem Faust. The aging scholar Faust makes a pact with the devil, exchanging his soul for youth. After much agony, Faust wins salvation by accepting his duty to help others. In Jane Eyre, British novelist Charlotte Brontë weaves a tale about a quiet governess and her brooding, Byronic employer, whose large mansion conceals a terrifying secret.

Music Stirs Emotions

Romantic composers also tried to stir deep emotions.


Ludwig van Beethoven


The passionate music of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven combined classical forms with a stirring range of sound. He was the first composer to take full advantage of the broad range of instruments in the modern orchestra. In all, Beethoven produced nine symphonies, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, an opera, two masses, and dozens of shorter pieces. To many, he is considered the greatest composer of his day.


An accomplished musician by age 12, composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) agonized over every note of every composition. The result was stunning music that expresses intense emotion. The famous opening of his Fifth Symphony conveys the sense of fate knocking at the door. "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which he began in 1804, was first performed in Vienna in December 1808 (Cf. Hickok, Music, p. 206)."

Beethoven wrote Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 between 1804 and 1808. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata allegro, an andante, and a fast scherzo which leads attacca to the finale.

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

Yngwie Malmsteen, a Swedish musician, plays here in a 1985 rock version of Beethoven`s 5th symphony, 1:29.



Romanticism in Art

Painters, too, broke free from the discipline and strict rules of the Enlightenment. Landscape painters like J.M.W. Turner sought to capture the beauty and power of nature. Using bold brush strokes and colors, Turner often showed tiny human figures struggling against sea and storm.

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (1775-1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. [Cf. Wikipedia]

Romantics painted many subjects, from simple peasant life to medieval knights to current events. Bright colors conveyed violent energy and emotion. The French painter Eugène Delacroix (deh luh krwah) filled his canvases with dramatic action. In Liberty Leading the People, the Goddess of Liberty carries the revolutionary tricolor as French citizens rally to the cause.

The focus here is "Liberty Leading the People," reimagined as a fictional Nintendo game. :)



Artwork: ‘Viva La Vida’
Here is a little background about this amazing work of art. It’s by Eugène Delacroix (French Romantic Painter) and was painted in 1830 titled “Liberty Leading The People”. Eugene Delacroix is numbered among the greatest and most influential of French painters. He is most often classified as an artist of the Romantic school. His remarkable use of colour was later to influence impressionist painters and even modern artists such as Pablo Picasso.

Liberty Leading The People; Painted on 28 July 1830, to commemorate the July Revolution that had just brought Louis-Philippe to the French throne; Louvre.

This painting, which is a sort of political poster, is meant to celebrate the day of 28 July 1830, when the people rose and dethroned the Bourbon king. Alexandre Dumas tells us that Delacroix’s participation in the rebellious movements of July was mainly of a sentimental nature. Despite this, the painter, who had been a member of the National Guard, took pleasure in portraying himself in the figure on the left wearing the top-hat. Although the painting is filled with rhetoric, Delacroix’s spirit is fully involved in its execution: in the outstretched figure of Liberty, in the bold attitudes of the people following him contrasted with the lifeless figures of the dead heaped up in the foreground, in the heroic poses of the people fighting for liberty, there is without a doubt a sense of full participation on the part of the artist, which led Argan to define this canvas as the first political work of modern painting.

Liberty Leading the People caused a disturbance. It shows the allegorical figure of Liberty as a half-draped woman wearing the traditional Phrygian cap of liberty and holding a gun in one hand and the tricolour in the other. It is strikingly realistic; Delacroix, the young man in the painting wearing the opera hat, was present on the barricades in July 1830. Allegory helps achieve universality in the painting: Liberty is not a woman; she is an abstract force.

Resources and HW:
Beethoven 5th Symphony 5 (7:38, graphical score animation):

Wikipedia on the composer Beethoven is instructive.



Chuck Berry - "Roll over Beethoven," 3:32, 1972 live on the Beat Club (German TV):

Lyrics:

I'm gonna write a little letter,
Gonna mail it to my local dj.
Its a rockin' rhythm record
I want my jockey to play.
Roll over Beethoven, I gotta hear it again today.

You know, my temperatures risin
And the jukebox blows a fuse.
You know, my hearts beatin rhythm
And my soul keeps on singin the blues.
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news.

Well if you reel and rock it,
Go get your lover, reel and rock it
Roll it over and move on up just
A trifle further and reel and rock it,
one another
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news.

Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news.

(Instrumental)

Well, well,Well, early in the mornin Im a-givin you a warnin
Dont you step on my blue suede shoes.
Hey diddle diddle, I am playin my fiddle,
Aint got nothin to lose.
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news.

Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven,
Roll over Beethoven and tell Tschaikowsky the news.


Electric Light Orchestra - "Roll Over Beethoven," 4:37

ELO performing on the Midnight Special in 1973.



The Romantics - "What I Like About You"


William Wordsworth updated in hip-hop style, 2:02.




HW

Preview Questions:

1. What were the major features of romanticism and realism?

2. How did the Scientific Revolution lead to secularization?

3. You should finish reading Ch. 12 Sec. 4.

4. Reading Check, p. 389


Economics Presentation, Strayer University, 22 August 2013


Beyond the Sound Bites:

Paul Krugman States that the US Economy Is Not Strong And The Statistics Do Not Look Good

Comments, questions, reactions?

Chapter 3

Business Organizations, p. 60

Section 1 Forms of Business Organization, p. 61

Most businesses operate in search of profits. Others are organized and operate like a business, although profits are not their primary concern. There are three main forms of business organization. The first is the sole proprietorship, which is a business owned and operated by one person. The second is the partnership, which is a business jointly owned by two or more persons. The third is the corporation, which is recognized as a separate entity having all the rights of an individual. The proprietorship is the most common and most profitable form of business organization. The corporation is the largest and most visible.

One is a sole proprietorship which one individual, the sole proprietor, exercises complete control over the business. Another is a partnership in which two or more individuals combine their efforts and share the profits of the business. Under both business forms, the business is an asset owned by the owner or owner, it has no existence separate from them, and any financial or legal problems encountered by the business are their responsibility. All of the owners’ assets, even those not involved in the business, are at risk. Liability is unlimited.


Main types of business

Types reviewed and advantages and disadvantages

From your reading Homework on incorporation:

In-class assignment: what are the benefits of incorporation for the founder and for the shareholder?



Sole Proprietorship, p. 62


Partnerships


Forming a Partnership, p. 65

In-class assignment: notice how partnerships are formed by entrepreneurs and investors.

We will divide the class into small groups. You have two tasks: one, do you think the "sharks" will want to partner with the entrepreneur? If so, which one? Two, would you want to partner with the entrepreneur? Why or why not?

We will discuss as a class and students can offer their assessments.

1st Episode

Shark Tank - Episode 1 (Season 1)

1. Billionaire Mark Cuban, Owner & chairman of AXS TV & owner of Dallas Mavericks; 2. Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran. 3. Queen of QVC" Lori Greiner 4. Technology innovator Robert Herjavec 5. Fashion and branding expert Daymond John 6. Venture Capitalist Kevin O'Leary.

Mr. Tod's Pie Factory

In the exciting conclusion we see the response of the two remaining sharks:

Barbara and Daymond

S1 E01 Part 2/5

The sole proprietor is confronted with cold reality. Would you give up a substantial part of your business? How much?

Advantages

Disadvantages, p. 66

Reading Check

Contrasting

What are the differences between a general partnership and a limited partnership?

Corporations, p. 67

Corporations & Stocks Overview In a Nutshell

Corporations are everywhere. You probably deal with thousands of them every day They're such a critical part of the American economy that you probably don't even notice or think about it.

But this wasn't always the case. When the United States was born, corporate charters were rarely granted. The benefits gained through incorporation were considered so great, they were offered only to businesses that served a broad public interest. A ferry company might receive a corporate charter, but an ordinary factory would not. If you proposed to build a canal that would link towns and expand trade, the state might grant you charter. But if you sought to incorporate your flour mill, you would probably be turned away.

Long story short: you could only incorporate if your business was going to do something very special to serve the public interest.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, however, these views had changed. Policymakers came to realize that the corporate form served all Americans by facilitating economic growth. For business owners, the corporation offered a way to increase both their capital and the stability of their businesses. For investors, the corporation offered a relatively risk-free way of taking part in emerging commercial opportunities.

Today, corporations bring in more than 80% of all dollars earned in America. Savvy stock investors participate in a global exchange worth more than $100 trillion. Corporations are here to stay, and they provide many of the best opportunities for individuals to get ahead in the world. Yet many people are left behind simply because they do not understand how to read a financial website. Are you one of them? Read on, and you won't be.

Why Should I Care?

Lots of people think corporations are defined by their size. They assume that they are gargantuan megabusinesses with thousands of employees and millions, maybe billions, in profits. But individuals can form corporations—your neighbor the accountant, your aunt the dentist, and your couldn’t-get-a-real job “life-coach” cousin Fred could all be incorporated. A corporation is just a type of business organization with specific legal and structural characteristics. Many corporations are among America’s largest businesses, but size is not a defining feature of the corporation.

So what are the defining features of the corporation? And what benefits do business people gain by incorporating? Perhaps most important—what’s in it for you? Read on and find out.



Corporations and Stocks game

Cf. http://www.shmoop.com/corporations-stocks/game.html

In regards to corporations, many people think that the financial websites that track the stock market are a confusing batch of secret codes. They are intimidated by the jumble of numbers and symbols clearly meant for only the most sophisticated analysts. But most of these numbers are little more than price tags—today's price tags compared with old price tags—so that you can see how the market has changed. The stock market is complex, and money can be lost—but it’s not too complex for most savvy consumers to understand what's going on... and perhaps to profit.

So what do all those numbers about the stock market really mean? And what does all the jargon—margin, short, put call—really mean? Read on and find out.


Main Idea


In-class assignment:

What is a corporation? What is it composed of? What sort of positions and functions are characteristic of a typical corporation?

Corporate Structure

http://glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/socialstudies/in_motion_08/epp/EPP_p68.swf

Cf. http://glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/socialstudies/in_motion_08/epp/EPP_p68.swf


Forming a Corporation
A corporation is a very different type of business organization. Most significantly, a corporation is a business entity legally separated from its owners. When business owners decide to incorporate they secure a charter from the state government. This charter is like a birth certificate, establishing the existence of a new and separate legal entity. Once incorporated, the corporation can buy and sell property, enter into contracts, sue, and be sued... just like a living, breathing person.

In fact, that's what a corporation is: a legal "person." (The word "incorporate" shares the same root as "corpse"; it means something like "to give it a body.") The idea is that the corporation is a fictitious person, with many of the same rights under the law as a real person.

For the sole proprietor turned corporation, there are several benefits. Most importantly, his personal assets (home, car, boat, iPod) are no longer at risk should the corporation have problems. If the corporation is sued, only its assets are at risk. If the corporation goes broke, its creditors can only go after the corporation’s assets. As there is a legal barrier separating the corporation and its owners, the owners enjoy limited liability.

There are other benefits as well. To finance expansion, corporations may sell stock. Most corporations, in fact, do not sell stock to the public; all of the stock is privately owned. But if a company decides to expand its capital base by “going public” it issues an initial public offering or IPO. People buying the stock acquire partial ownership in the corporation. And the more shares they buy, the larger percentage of the corporation they own. Of course, this also means that the original owners also have to share profits. These may be distributed to the shareholders quarterly in the form of dividends.

Corporations may also raise money by selling corporate bonds. Like governments, corporations may issue bonds that promise repayment over a specified period at a certain interest rate.

Another benefit of turning a sole proprietorship or partnership into a corporation is that the business becomes more durable—that is, it is no longer so tied to the health of the founder. If the founder dies, the corporation lives on. Similarly, a corporation is less dependent on the talents of its founders. As corporations grow, they are governed by a board of directors elected by the shareholders. This board selects a president or CEO (chief executive officer) to manage the corporation. A sole proprietorship may have a technically brilliant but, from a business point of view, inept founder. He may turn the business over to his even more incompetent children. But the governing structure of corporations allows management to be handed over to professionally trained executives.

Summary and review


Proprietorship - owned and run by a single person.

Partnership - jointly owned by two or more persons.

Corporation - business organization recognized by law as a separate legal entity with all the rights of an individual.

Resources and HW

Thursday HW
1. p. 66, Reading Check, Contrasting, What are the differences between a general partnership and a limited partnership?
2. p. 67, What is the relationship between a dividend and a stockholder?
3. p. 67, How does common stock differ from preferred stock?

Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want) (with lyrics), 2:39

Barrett Strong recorded this in 1959 for Motown records, it reached number 2 on the R&B charts and 23rd on the US Pop charts making it Motown's first hit. Barrett Strong later went on to become one of Motown's most famous song writers.

Beatles, You Never Give Me Your Money, 3:26



Monday, August 19, 2013

Fall 2011: Government for Everybody, Jantzen; Street Law

Government Workbook:
http://www.ecampus.com/shoppingcart.asp?action=add&newused=P&item=77824&x=36&y=18&r=1&c=

Street law:
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/street_law/index.php