Compare and Contrast Italian Renaissance Painting and...

Before you can compare and contrast the art of the Italian Renaissance to the artworks of the Renaissance in the North, you have to understand the roots of the Renaissance. Renaissance has a special meaning, referring to a period of the grand florescence of the arts in Italy during the 14th century and progressed and migrated, in the 15th and 16th centuries, to Northern Europe. The Renaissance was stimulated by the revival of the classical art forms of ancient Greece and Rome. The â€Å"re-birth of knowledge,† better known as the Renaissance, can be contributed to the teachings of the Humanists at the time. Francesco Petrarch took little interest in his legal studies, and much rather preferred to spend his time learning about the classical†¦show more content†¦Unlike their wealthy Italian counter parts, the merchant patrons of Italy were keener on fresco paintings, sculpture and architecture. A difference that is often overlooked, but impacts and influences the Itali an and Northern Renaissance enormously, are the individual climates of the each region. It is not often taken into consideration but how hot or how cold a climate is affects the style, texture, preservation, and medium of choice of an artist. Italy is located by the Mediterranean Sea, and in fact is geographically almost entirely engulfed by the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean, with the exceptions of the colder regions of the Alps which lie in severe north Italy, produces a warm and damp climate for the most of the year. This warm climate allows the Italian Renaissance artists to use a lighter paint, and in most cases lighter colors, that results in the production of the famous Frescos that would be seen frequently through out the Italian peninsula. This was extremely different in the North, artistic style wise and obviously climate wise. The Low Countries, France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and the Holy Roman Empire are not known to be warm. In fact, the terrain is comprised of mounta inous, forested, and rugged lands, with the overall climate being cold and wet with snow. Because of such a colder climate the idea of frescos was unheard of, it would have been nearly impossible to paint them in such a cold climate. The northern artistsShow MoreRelatedThe Baroque Period1085 Words   |  5 PagesAbstract The author of this paper examines three works of art from three different artists from the Baroque Period. He compares the different works of art and discusses similarities, differences, and the techniques that were used. The Baroque period ran from 1600 to 1770, Artist of that time used different techniques that were used during the renaissance period to bring drama to art. An immense amount of art in that period shows fantastic energy and emotion. These piecesRead MoreBirth Of Venus By Botticelli And Child Enthroned With Saints By Duccio1680 Words   |  7 PagesBotticelli and Child Enthroned with Saints by Duccio. The paper seeks to compare and contrast these two works basing on the differences in artistic styles and cultural contexts used. Birth of Venus Birth of Venus is one of the world most famous and appreciated works of art. It was painted by Botticelli . The picture hangs in the country villa of the Medici indicating that the work got commissioned by Medici family. In this painting, Venus rises from the sea looking like a classical statue and floatsRead MoreCeramics: Pottery and Clay17443 Words   |  70 Pagesby the Chinese about 2000 years before the rest of the world. Because of this, early development, the history of ceramics in Asia is a very complex and distinct subject. Potters Wheels are known to have been used in the Indus valley (Pakistan and northern India) about 3 to 4,000 BC but possibly earlier. We cant be exact about these dates however. Like many inventions, the idea of the potters wheel did not simply spring into the mind of one individual but evolved over many centuries independentlyRead MoreGp Essay Mainpoints24643 Words   |  99 Pageswriting †¦ ‘information super-highway’ ***Internet more Convenience and Capacity †¢ For centuries, book was the only tangible repository of knowledge in our world †¢ Epitome of the writing system, evolved from prehistoric scratches in sand or painting on walls, more advanced than cumbersome clay and stone tablets †¢ Challenged by Internet on the same two fronts on which it proved its mastery over other forms of recording and disseminating information: capacity and accessibility †¢ Fabled

Standardized Testing in Schools Free Essays

Standardized tests are administered in all schools across the U. S. in lieu of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing in Schools or any similar topic only for you Order Now According to these laws, schools have to administer standardize tests to qualify for various types of licensing and grants. For instance, a certain percentage of the students in public schools must pass the standardized tests to be allowed federal support and funding for that particular school. If the results of the standardized tests are not at par, the school does not get funding. At the same time, many students have to take high-stakes standardized tests to get into various colleges/universities of their choice. If the students do not do well on such tests, they are denied admissions. The thing to note about these standardized tests is that they are not reliable and they contain various biases in them. Many people have criticized how such tests do not contain relevant information that can be found in the course syllabus and they test students on impractical levels. Others believe that standardized tests provide results based on very few parameters that do not reflect the students’ real intelligence. Looking at the various researches and opinions of critics, we find that standardized testing is not an effective measure of gauging students’ intelligence, and they should not be used in schools. For example, one of the biggest reasons standardized testing is not effective is because of the subjectivity that can be found in such tests. For instance, Williams (2005) speaks of how many of the standardized tests are gauged by computers. These computers look at the essays input and they provide the results after running certain algorithms that measure certain aspects of the essay, such as structure. Williams (2005) presents a very interesting fact of how some of his colleagues and even he himself used an online website to generate essays about a subject and fed that into the testing machine. The essay that was generated was completely gibberish but was constructed properly according to the rules of grammar. For instance, the essay was supposed to be about standardized testing, but it speaks of how governmental officials and monarchs use the system. The testing machine, however, said that the essay was very well written. This is because the essay followed rules of grammar impeccably, even though it did not make any sense. This shows how standardized testing can be extremely ineffective, as they are mostly being gauged by computers that assess their structure and not their contents. Another problem with standardized tests is that they do not take into account the syllabus that students learn all year round in their classroom curriculum (Rosengarten, 2002). This means that it makes what children are being taught in classrooms as being useless. Children are taught a different syllabus in class, and they are expected to prepare for a test that tests them on other criteria. This causes two problems: one, that the children are being given two different types of education, and two, teachers are not sure what to teach their children. They must teach the children the regular coursework, however, they also must make sure that the children pass the standardized test so that they can receive the federal funding and grant, as per the No Child Left Behind Act. Many people have criticized this act. According to his act, each school must administer standardized tests to its students so that all schools can be gauged on a similar platform (United States Department of Education, 2001). If the students attain a certain level of score on these tests, the public schools are given the federal funding and grant; however, if the school fails, the grants are withdrawn (Diorio, 2008). This is why most of the schools pressure their teachers to prepare the students in such a way so that they ace the standardized tests (Smyth, 2008). This can be problematic. Another problem with standardized testing is that when teachers prepare the students for the standardized tests, they neglect and ignore the subjects that the students will not be tested on. For example, most of the standardized tests focus on mathematics and English skills more. This is why to help students pass the standardized tests, teachers’ pay more attention to these subjects and other subjects, such as science, humanities, history, and art are ignored. Children are getting a skewed education that is tailored to fulfill the federal mandate. Moreover, as noted earlier, most of the standardized tests test students on knowledge that is not part of their syllabus. This results in teachers preparing the students to take the test and do well at it, instead of providing a homogenized form of education that benefits students across all the different subjects. This also means that students can effectively remain lazy and not study all year round and only prepare themselves to take the standardized tests at the end of year to pass their grades. This is also not good, as the students are not being given the proper way of being educated, which should be consistent all year round and not focused on passing one test at the end of the year. Furthermore, standardized tests are also not effective because they contain various biases (Se Queda, 2011). This is because the standardized tests are designed to be administered to a large population that has to take the same test. All the students are required to answer the test in the same manner. This can be problematic, as the U. S. has a very diverse student population from various social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds (Scholmerich et al, 2008). Placing them all on the same level and playing field is giving advantage to some of the students while making it more difficult for others. For instance, children from different parts of the country would have different sets of skills. For example, a child raised in a big city, such as New York City, would have completely different mindset and set of skills than a child who was raised in a small town, such as Fort Pierce, Florida. This has to do with cultural dynamics and the way that children are taught, treated, and raised in different surroundings. Each of these children would respond in different ways to various educational questions because of their differences in the way that they were raised. Standardized tests do not account for such differences, as the same test is administered in the same manner for all students. At the same time, children with disabilities, e. g. blind children, are also mandated to take standardized test under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In such cases, the questions are read out aloud to the children and they have to speak out their answers (National Council on Disability, 2008). However, the No Child Left Behind Act ignores the blind children and gives them a null score Mefford, 2009) since they cannot read, which means that the standardized tests are skewed and biased. Additionally, many critics have voiced their concerns over how standardized tests should not be allowed because they are unfair. Such critics talk about how the questions â€Å"require a set of knowledge and skills more likely to be possessed by children from a privileged background. The discriminatory effect is particularly pronounced with norm-referenced te sts, where the imperative to spread out the scores often produces questions that tap knowledge gained outside of school† (Kohn, 2000). At the same time, since the standardized tests contain various patterns that students can be taught, various parents can help their children get the proper preparation so that they can pass these tests. This means that the rich and better off people tend to have the ability to provide their children with private tuitions, helping them prepare specifically for the standardized tests so that they can do well. This is another bias that can be seen in the standardized tests, as those who are able to afford to get specific education and preparation for the standardized tests are able to get better scores. This goes against the true reasons for the standardized tests, which is to gauge the students equally across the same platform. Clearly, the rich have an advantage, as they can afford to be specifically prepared for the test, giving them better scores not because they are more intelligent but because they could pay enough money to tailor their preparation exactly for the test. Another reason standardized tests are ineffective is because they tend to measure superficial thinking rather than the deep thinking of the students. Many scholars have indicated the difference between active thinking and superficial thinking, in that active thinking occurs when students ask many questions about their course, coming up with questions themselves and then linking their current coursework with what they have learned in the past. Superficial thinking occurs when students tend to copy down the answers, do a large amount of guesswork and do not ponder on the more difficult aspects of the curriculum. Research has shown that students who get higher scores on their standardized tests are usually those that indulge more in superficial thinking rather than active thinking. Even though some of the students who indulged in active thinking were also able to get high scores, the correlation between superficial thinking and high scores on standardized test is a positive one. This is another reason standardized tests can be seen as being ineffective, as they tend to measure the wrong kind of things; instead of measuring the students who do active thinking, they favor superficial thinking, which is not good. Thus, we find that standardized tests are ineffective for many reasons. Standardized tests test students on a set of knowledge and skills that they are not usually taught in their coursework. This is why many of the teachers tend to teach students how to pass standardized tests instead of teaching them the proper syllabus. To do this, the teachers have to cut down on other subjects, such as art, and sometimes even take the recess time from the children’s daily timetable. Students can also suffer because many subjects that are not paid attention to help children in building their moral and social learning. At the same time, standardized tests tend to be biased against certain portions of the society, as some students are able to do well on them because of their social backgrounds. Children belonging to rich parents also benefit, as they are able to afford tuition and materials that have been designed to prepare them specifically to get good scores on standardized tests. Finally, it has been found that standardized tests measure superficial thinking more than active thinking. All of these reasons depict why standardized testing is wrong and that it should be replaced with other forms of testing that are more homogenized and work to test the students across relevant parameters. References Diorio, G. L. (2008). â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act of 2001†. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com Henry, P. (2007). â€Å"The Case Against Standardized Testing.† Minnesota English Journal. 39-71. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from: http://www.mcte.org/journal/mej07/3Henry.pdf Kearns, L. (2011). High stakes Standardized Testing and Marginalized Youth: an Examination of the Effects of on those who Fail. Canadian Journal of Education, 34(2). Kohn, A. (2000, September 27). â€Å"Standardized Testing and Its Victims.† Education Week. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from: http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/staiv.htm Mefford, D. (2009, October 01). â€Å"Why Was No Child Left Behind a Failure?† EduBook. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from: http://www.edubook.com/why-was-no-child-left-behind-a-failure/15467/ National Council on Disability. (2008). â€Å"The No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,† Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from http://www.ncd.gov Rosengarten, D. (2002). â€Å"Standing up to standardized tests.† Dollars and Sense, 232: 6 Scholmerich, A., Leyendeker, B., Citlak, B., Ulrike,C., Jakel,J., (2008). Assessment of Migrant and Minority Children. Journal of Psychology, 216 Se Queda, m. (2011, February). Biases in Standardized testing. Persephone Magazine retrieved October 26.2012 Smyth, T. S. (2008, January/February). Who is No Child Left Behind leaving behind? Clearing House, 81, (3). United States Department of Education. (2001). â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 for Elementary and Secondary Education,† Retrieved on November 7, 2012 from: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html Williams, B. (2005). â€Å"Standardized students: The problems with writing for tests instead of people.† Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 49, (2): 155. How to cite Standardized Testing in Schools, Papers

Random Access Memories by Daft Punk free essay sample

The French electronic duo Daft Punk are known for the albums â€Å"Discovery,† â€Å"Human After All,† and scoring the movie â€Å"Tron: Legacy.† Needless to say, much hype surrounded the release of  ­Ã¢â‚¬Å"Random Access Memories.† Given the collaborations with renowned artist Pharrell, Julian Casablancas, Paul Williams, and Todd Edwards, Im not sure what I was expecting. The album begins with â€Å"Give Life Back to Music,† which builds off a heavy rock tune, something not expected from an electro house band. As it builds, Im hoping it wont continue in this style; it is not the Daft Punk I grew to love. Suddenly it shifts from the feeling of a rock concert to a funky disco club of the late ?s. The beat is thick, and I cant help but move my body to it. Throughout, the four-minute song carries the same basic tune, however, slight additions such as a vocoder or an extra hi-hat keep the song alive and the listener interested. We will write a custom essay sample on Random Access Memories by Daft Punk or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The third track, â€Å"Giorgio by Moroder,† immediately catches my attention because it starts with a musician talking about the beginning of his music career. Then the songs shifts into a futuristic fast beat carried by a synthesizer. The oscillating sound reminds me of the theme from â€Å"Knight Rider† and makes me feel as if Im speeding through the night in a light-filled city. Even though this track has a heavy electronic feel, it makes a transition back to a funky ?s disco scene with the addition of a swingy piano and skilled drum beat. â€Å"Lose Yourself to Dance† begins with a very appealing guitar riff. As the chorus starts with a juicy clap beat and Pharrell singing, â€Å"Lose yourself to dance,† I cant resist the urge to get up and move. This is another song that, for all six minutes, keeps me interested and hoping it wont end. â€Å"Get Lucky† is definitely the song Daft Punk is most known for. It was chosen as a single and appeared on iconic shows such as â€Å"Saturday Night Live† and â€Å"Conan OBrien.† It reminds me the most of Daft Punks previous work. In conclusion, I give â€Å"Random Access Memories† an 8.5/10. The imperfect score is due to one factor: repetition. After track eight, each song seems to just be the continuation of a previous one. Luckily the massive amount of funk and body-moving beats still give it a high score. In an age of explicit rap beats, this psychedelic album allows listeners to cut loose, relax, and move freely. If youre looking to be moved, both emotionally and physically, this is one for you.