...Prof. Adam Pfleegor Professional Enhancement Response July 2, 2012 Reflection Paper Response to “Hoop Dreams” Many things in this documentary stood out to me involving the culture of this ethnic group in Chicago. The people’s lives covered in this film were portrayed to be extremely simple, but complex. The film provided public exposure to the myriad problems of race, poverty, parenting concerns, coaching motives, and the amount of emphasis a young black gentleman places on sport. Encompassed by all of these issues was always disregard for one another, as well. Throughout the whole film, I could not help but notice the painful trend of negligence and carelessness towards black individuals. This black culture addressed in the Chicago area didn’t seem to give one another much value either. For some reason there is a lack of motivation to succeed early on unless it is sport. The parents do not seem to enforce a positive work ethic, honesty, and respect. It is no wonder that there was so much violence, drugs, premature pregnancy, and academic drop-outs. From generation to generation in that community, parents fail to teach their children high standards. It could be that children are raising children, which was the issue in William Gates case. In addition, if all they know is basketball growing up and before they reach 16 years old they have a baby on the way, they surely didn’t have enough time to retain anything in their short life before parenthood other...
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...Hoop Dreams Ethnography In the movie Hoop Dreams there are two kids willing to do anything to have their dreams of going to the NBA come true, their names are Arthur and William. Two highly skilled, players work all their life to get out their family and themselves out of their difficult situations. Environment-They both have similar backgrounds, having both their parents in their lives, living in a clustered neighbor hood living in the suburbs of Chicago. Going into Arthur’s home you would find that it would be considered messy, as to walking into William’s home everything was very clean. Their streets were very clean, full of plush green grass, and very few people going outdoors in the afternoon. At night on the basketball courts, drug dealers come out and begin their nightly routine. Inference- Times must be hard for both William and Arthur’s families. Coming from the suburbs in Chicago, and not having a lot of money to get nice things made them love basketball even more. Most of their childhood was spent on practicing, making sure they had a spot in the NBA Draft. Arthur’s house was clustered full of pizza boxes and trash. His family’s joy came from the time they spent together so they really did not mind all the mess and no one ever came over. Language- Their language is not foreign, for they speak with slang. The adults and children of Arthur’s and William’s family both spoke this way. Arthur and William both were basketball players with a dream to go pro,...
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...There is one area that has not necessarily been spoken of while enrolled in the class, and that would tragedy in sports. When speaking of Hoop Dreams, there were outwardly tragedies that happened to the characters, but it did not necessarily affect their careers as a whole. However, a new topic could be introduced, with the centerpiece being the movie name United. The background of the movie is that of the 1958 plane crash that killed twenty-three people including nine of the eleven starters. The initial effect of this event was gut-wrenching. The fact that so many young men with so much promise were absolutely terrible. However the fact that the club was able to rise from the ashes of this horrible event is absolutely miraculous. They received...
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...example, the preschool teachers at Temple Dor Dorim’s early childhood center have three days a year they have “teacher work days.” During those days they have a meeting which teachers them different ways to teacher their classes. The reason why they have three days like that is because they have three different age levels: toddlers, nursery, and pre-k. Each meeting one level “teaches” the others how they do their daily routine. When you form new teams, sometime you need ice breakers. Some easy icebreakers are the circle pass and the human knot. The circle pass is when you have everyone stand up and create a circle. Then you have everyone hold hands. Next you give them a hula-hoop and put it around a set of people holding hands. What the group does after they are set up, they have to make the hula hoop go around the whole circle with out anyone breaking the circle. The human knot is when you have everyone randomly grab hand is a group. Then they have to unknot...
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...Most people don’t understand the meaning of dream catchers or even what they are, but they should learn because they are very powerful and important in Native American culture, particularly the Ojibwe people. In order to better understand dream catchers we need to know the origins of them, the proper way to use them, and the sacred materials used to make them. The dream catcher has been a part of the Native American culture for many generations but it wasn't always important until the Anishnabe people were being tormented by nightmares and couldn't handle it anymore. The medicine people and elders tried to find different ways to get rid of the nightmares but nothing seemed to work. After getting so tired of the nightmares they decided to have a meeting with all the people of the tribe to get everyone's ideas on how to fix...
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...1. Hard lessons are often taught by experience. 2. No convincing evidence was presented against the accused psychologist, at the trial. 3. Sudden weight loss could be an indicator of many serious health problems. 4. The hula hoop is not only a fun toy, but also can be a great tool for exercise. 5. Andrew Jackson, the seventh US President, is known for dismantling the bank of the United States; and he attacked the man who tried to assassinate him. 6. I find it better to plan ahead rather than waiting until the last minute; while some people work well under pressure. 7. Sasha tried to avoid becoming sick this winter by eating well, exercising, managing her stress levels, and getting enough sleep every night. 8. In a trial conducted in England, which included both pre- and postmenopausal women, showed slightly different results. 9. My parents were angry with the adoption agency because it failed to adhere to its schedule. 10. Every year in Bunol, a small town in Spain, they host a giant tomato fight called La Tomatina. 11. At our warehouse sale, we only accept cash, MasterCard, or Visa. 12. Celia received a flyer about a workshop on how to make kimono from a Japanese nun. 13. Each state will set a program into motion for recycling all reusable products. 14. Roaring up to the stoplight, the Mustang convertible startled the elderly pedestrian. 15. He only wanted to meet her because her father was a comic-book illustrator. 16. After the summer’s drought had dried up...
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...movie “UP”. Perseverance is when troubles come your way you push past and keep moving through life. One example of this in UP is when Mr. Carl Fredrickson’s wife Ellie dies he keeps working towards his and Ellie’s dream of going to Paradise Falls. Another example of this is when Carl and Russell get to Paradise Falls and they have to walk Mr. Frederickson’s house around the cliffs of Paradise Falls to the falls. In the following paragraphs I will explain how Carl persevered and followed his dreams despite the troubles he faced along the way. When Mrs. Ellie Fredrickson dies Mr. Carl Fredrickson doesn’t give up his and Ellie’s dream of going to Paradise Falls. Carl knew that he would be sent to a retirement house soon and he was running out of time to go to Paradise Falls. On the day Carl is going to go to the Shady Oaks retirement house he comes up with an idea. Mr. Fredrickson ties thousands of balloons to his house and away he goes to Paradise Falls to follow his dreams. When Carl hears a knock on his door he opens it to find Russell, a young explorer scout looking to get his assisting the elderly badge, Carl know he has no other options but to let Russell come on the trip with him. Carl persevered through the loss of his wife and continued to follow his dreams. When Carl Fredrickson and Russell get to Paradise Falls they know that they have to walk the floating house around the cliffs to get it next to the falls. Carl knows that the trip will take a long time and the...
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...Diabetic. My senior year started like it was going to be the best year of my life. I had planned out my future to one day reach my dreams. Varsity cheerleading was working its way to the top. I was so excited about all the things I had accomplished. But on August 22, 2013 my life changed forever. As I was diagnosed I realized I would be changing my lifestyle, adapting to all new things. I saw that my future was not going to be easy, at all. But with my family and friends I knew anything was possible. Beginning of senior year I was ready to conquer the world it seemed like. I was ready to go out and fight for all my dreams. I wanted to make them reality. As a varsity cheerleader I was planning on continuing what I love in college. I was planning on continuing on into college to eventually become a veterinarian. But on that day, the day I was diagnosed I realized everything would be put into a different view now. Everything I had planned now came with the question, “but what if…” Cheerleading is my one love and being diagnosed really impacted it for me. My first practice back was the hardest. I lost most of tumbling because my body grew weak. As the practices continue on though, I will work my hardest at all I do. It is my senior year and a dream of mine used to be to go on to cheer in college. As I look at it now though, it seems as if my dreams were taken from me. High school cheerleading is one thing, college is another. As a senior, working my hardest and being a role model...
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...medication. However Parkinson’s disease would be easier to control if it could be diagnosed earlier. By the time Parkinson’s disease is diagnosed, a person has already lost 80% of their dopamine neurons. In order to diagnose Parkinson’s disease earlier on doctors and patients need to see the sign and symptoms beforehand. Researchers have come upon the fact that an earlier way of diagnosing Parkinson’s disease might be through watching the patients sleeping patterns. Researchers are saying that REM sleep behavior disorder might share a common cause with Parkinson’s disease. REM sleep behavior disorder is a disorder in which there is rapid eye movement while a person is sleeping. It is a type of parasomnia in which vivid dreams are associated with the enactment of dreams. This disorder is a “dysfunction in REM sleep and the motor control circuitry in the pontomedullary structures” (2) which causes the loss of control over movement, especially of the eyes. Within this new discovery the REM sleep behavior disorder being associated with Parkinson’s disease, researchers gave two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that the degeneration of certain region of the brain stem cause REM sleep behavior disorder and play a role in Parkinson’s and some of it’s symptoms like depression and anxiety. The second hypothesis is that REM sleep behavior disorder is an early form of Parkinson’s...
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...Dreams can be fascinating, exciting, terrifying or just plain weird. Dreams have fascinated philosophers for thousands of years, but only recently have dreams been subjected to empirical research and concentrated scientific study. Chances are that you’ve often found yourself puzzling over the mysterious content of a dream, or perhaps you’ve wondered why you dream at all. Dreams can be mysterious, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be downright baffling. The content of our dreams can shift suddenly, feature bizarre elements or frighten us with terrifying imagery. The fact that dreams can be so rich and compelling is what causes many to believe that there must be some meaning to our dreams. Why do we dream? Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while others believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being. Although there is not much agreement on why we dream there are some interesting theories around. One possibility is that our minds are running us through the worst-case scenario during sleep. Disaster preparation you could say. For example if a new mother was to dream of losing her baby she is rehearsing what it would feel like for that to actually happen. So our dreams are just fire drills? Another possibility is that dreaming is actually aiding learning. Some researchers have found that performance on physical tasks is actually enhanced by dreaming about it. Whatever the reason for why...
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...Daydreaming With each breath I drew I took flight into a new fantasy. I indulged myself in a realm where dragons flew, knights galloped on steeds, and princesses needed rescuing. The next second I was staring up at an all too familiar tiled ceiling, the fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Tilton, explaining how to divide and where to put the remainders. Another breath later and I was off shooting down an alien swarm that looked like division marks. I would be awakened from my dream-like state quite frequently to answer a question that I did not know had been asked. Day after day of this led my teachers to the conclusion that I was mentally handicapped. I’m not actually, just not where I'm suppose to be. What I've spent most of my waking life doing is called daydreaming. It didn’t occur to me until recently that I knew very little of daydreaming, and what I do know was that people often look down on daydreaming as laziness. And I could see why many people would think that. But what is daydreaming really? Is the daydream a place where fantasies are made real, or perhaps something more entwined with reality where problems begin to solve themselves? With purpose and poise I set off on my research journey ready to find out my answers and a hope to find some way to claim my daydreaming frenzy as my own. "A time when the mind wanders" was the textbook definition that I got from the Teen's Guide to Psychology in our library. It was a nice place to start before I dove into the interwebs to...
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...of today. Dream Dreams are something we all experience every night, whether we remember them or not. 1/3 of your life is spent sleeping, and in an average life time you would have spent about 5 years of it dreaming and in that time, you all will experience thousands of dreams. In the next five or so minutes I'm going to tell you the most I can about dreams. . There are numerous theories about dreams, but whomever you are, where ever you live, you will dream. Whether it's a good dream or a nightmare is up to your mind, but there must be some reasoning behind dreams, right? Everyone may know the main idea of a dream, but few may know that the explanations behind dreams are far more intricate than it just being a simple random thought in your mind. Can you remember the last dream you had? Maybe you could fly or were falling down an endless dark tunnel. Perhaps you were awakened by a horrific dream in the middle of the night Sigmund Freud’s Theory 1 - Finding an unused room What it means: The rooms in a house represent different aspects of your character, so finding an unused room suggests that you’re discovering a talent that you were previously unaware of 2 - Out-of-control vehicle The vehicle represents your ability to make consistent progress toward a specific objective, so in waking life, you may feel that you don’t have enough control over your road to success. 3- Falling What it means: Feeling yourself falling in a dream indicates that...
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...Blinded Aristotle once said, “Poverty is the parent to revolution and crime”. Throughout time, poverty has always played its part in America’s history. For some people, they were never offered as many opportunities as the average person. This caused them to look at life in a much different way, because they had to fight for many things that a vast majority of people never had to fight for. For some of these people, being a criminal was the ultimate American Dream. It was not that they were bad people, but they knew that living the life of a felon would give them everything they had ever dreamt of. This gave these criminals the motivation to chase their dream, achieve their dream, and eventually be blinded by the dream itself. In America, there have always been classes among the people who live in it regardless of what time and age in history. When it comes to the American Dream, not everyone thinks of it in the same way. This is due to the fact that not everybody grows up in the same way at all. The life of an upper-class individual is commonly going to be much different than the life of a lower-class individual. This means that these people will usually have much different views on life. In the case of a lower-class individual, they usually grow up in a much more poor background. For the modern era, we could refer to this place as the “projects”. For people growing up in these areas, they will mostly likely always have it harder than others. In an essence, it is really clear...
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...1) Divide the stanzas: Stanzas 1-3 A request for making a mutual attempt at letting America live up to the dreams that were once dreamed about it – by the pioneers and in its Declaration of independence Stanza 4: An interlude – someone asking who the lyric speaker is Stanzas 5-7: An elaborate answer to the question above: The lyric speaker, the “I” is (a representative of) the black man, the Indian, the poor white man, the people Stanza 8: The same person as above, now described as the pioneer who left his home country because of a dream – but it remains a dream Stanzas 9-10: repetition of the request to make America what it was intended to be – a country for every man, including the lyric speaker (representative of the people) Stanza 11: The land must be redeemed by the people (we) and they (we) must “make America again) 2) The situation( who is telling us the poem, what is being told?: The poem is written by a person telling us about how he wants America to be as it used to be. How all us people should all be the same. How both the indian, the black man, and also the poor white man is innocent in this chancing of America. He says that he is all the persons in one. He is the poor white man searching for gold, he is the Indian disappearing in his own country and he is the black man being dragged to another country to serve white men. He even says that he is the man “who says grab the land, grab the gold, of owning everything for one’s own greed”. He is...
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...Dreams Dreams have been objects of boundless fascination and mystery for humankind since the beginning of time. These nocturnal vivid images seem to arise from some source other than our ordinary conscious mind. They contain a mixture of elements from our own personal identity, which we recognize as familiar along with a quality of `others' in the dream images that carries a sense of the strange and eerie. The bizarre and nonsensical characters and plots in dreams point to deeper meanings and contain rational and insightful comments on our waking situations and emotional experiences. The ancients thought that dreams were messages from the gods. The cornerstone of Sigmund Freud's infamous psychoanalysis is the interpretation of dreams. Freud called dream-interpretation the via reggia, or the royal road to the unconscious, and it is his theory of dreams that has best stood the test of time over a period of more than seventy years (Many of Freud's other theories have been disputed in recent years). Freud reportedly admired Aristotle's assertion that dreaming is the activity of the mind during sleep (Fine, 1973). It was perhaps the use of the term activity that Freud most appreciated in this brief definition for, as his understanding of the dynamics of dreaming increased, so did the impression of ceaseless mental activity differing in quality from that of ordinary waking life (Fine, 1973). In fact, the quality of mental activity during sleep differed so radically from what we take...
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