Adinkra free essay sample

The very essence of the word ‘Adinkra’ is ‘farewell’; as such, every symbol that is encapsulated in the whole body of Adinkra communicates or corresponds to a unique message or idea. Documented history has it that, as far back as the nineteenth century, unique Adinkra symbols were used in customary and traditional rites of society to depict the ideological stance of that society as regards to the ceremony or event in question. The art was showcased in various forms during festivals, funerals, marriages among others. Today, the use of Adinkra has been widely extended to cover almost every facet of life. In recent times, Adinkra symbols have become a suitable choice of branding the modern, competitive, and trendy Ghanaian clothing lifestyle. Over the years, Adinkra has gone beyond traditional cloth-making designs and has been fashionably incorporated into the designing of t-shirts, buttons, linen fabric clothes. Today, young people would prefer t-shirts with screen-printing inscriptions like ‘Me firi Ghana’, with an Adinkra like ‘Gye Nyame’ boldly designed beneath. We will write a custom essay sample on Adinkra or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Indeed, some acclaimed Ghanaian fashion designers like Mawuli Okudzeto, Kofi Ansah among others, have received international recognition by carving such niches for themselves, with popular brand names like MKOGH and PKOG, just to mention a few. Beyond that, apparels like footwear have also had a taste of Adinkra art. Artisans who make local footwear like sandals, slippers and ‘ahenema’ have also included these symbols in their designs. For instance, a locally made ‘ahenema’ has a carefully designed Adinkra symbol of three concentric rings encircling each other, known as ‘adinkrahene’ at the nose of each slipper. One other art is the design of bags with Adinkra symbols woven or sewn on the surface with fabric, (often kente pieces). The most popular addition to this art collection is the use of these designs in making jewellery and other fashion accessories. It is popular to see rings, pendants, earrings, necklaces, anklets, beads and many others designed with symbols like ‘ohene aniwa’, ‘epa’, ‘nkonsonkonson’, etc. In Ghana, the Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC) is a typical example of an enterprise in this regard. Thus, on the international stage, Adinkra symbols have been employed as one of, if not the best indigenous symbols that give all manner of clothing, a unique fashion identity easily recognisable as truly Ghanaian. Quite apart from clothing, these symbols have formed part of locally designed fine and visual art. This has been such that, in creation of several Ghanaian sculptures, Adinkra has been one of the most recognisable themes. There many instances of metal and wooden sculpture designed into Adinkra. More often than not, these visual and fine arts have been used by individuals for decorative purposes. It is now commonplace to see a wall hanging in someone’s home, at the lobby of a corporate institution or in the sitting area of an afro-centric restaurant with the caption ‘welcome’ and a popular symbol like ‘Gye Nyame’ underneath it. Without a shred of doubt any Ghanaian who sees this in any institution in any distant part of the world, feels quite homey and comfortable, to some extent, immediately. Moreover, the designs of wooden plaques lately have also adopted Adinkra symbols. For instance, African institutions of late present Adinkra-designed plaques to individuals and entities, as gifts and awards for splendid performances. Woodcarvers as at today, still design stools for domestic as well as traditional purposes with these popular symbols. In Akan traditional homes, stools often known as ‘asesedwa’ are carved out of wood with these designs. Today as a unique of catching up with the west, local artisans have modernized their design of home furniture placed in areas like the living room, dining room and the study. Beautiful and attractive-looking sets are being carved daily. A common example is wooden coffee-table, which has an Adinkra symbol like ‘sankofa’ at the base with a glass plane on the surface. Hence it is ordinary to see the prolific use of Adinkra in fine and visual art because of the inherent artistic merits they possess. In present day, the use of symbols for trademarks and emblems cannot be over-emphasized. In corporate branding and marketing, many institutions have resorted to the use of symbols, both tactile and visual, as a mark of exclusivity and Adinkra are symbols of no exception. There are countless examples of institutions of all sorts who have adopted these symbols as logos, emblem, etc. In Ghana, for instance, a corporate institution like HFC Bank uses the symbol ‘ebankese’ as its corporate logo. Interestingly, Vodafone Ghana has designed their recharge cards such that whichever denomination has a long strip Adinkra symbols in front of the card. A popular plastics company by name ‘Strong Plast Ltd’ also uses the popular symbol, ‘Gye Nyame’ as a brand name for its plastic chairs. A very popular flour mill also uses ‘sankofa’ as the brand name of it flour. On a lighter side, along the coastal area it is fun to see fishermen decorate their canoes with these symbols as an interesting way of ownership.

Contraceptives in School free essay sample

During the past decade, there have been stark generational differences in terms of moral and social norms. In order to accommodate for these changes, society has had to make difficult decisions regarding the protection of todays youth. One of the biggest controversies that have been ongoing deals with the gray area regarding the roles of educators and parents. School systems today are distributing condoms and contraceptives to students as young as 11 years old with the intention of preventing their students from suffering from the negative side effects of sex. From an ducators perspective, the distribution of condoms has become a necessity due to the overwhelming lack of morals instilled in the youth at the fault of their parents. They also argue that it encourages safety and that it is completely foolish to assume that abstinence is always practiced. On the contrary, conservatives will argue that condoms promote sex and their distribution will show minors that sex at a young age is socially acceptable. Conservatives opinions are naive because they blatantly condone the fact that standards and practices have changed dramatically over time. The rising issue of under aged sex has made the distribution of condoms a necessity in order to combat the negative ramifications of the decisions made by todays uneducated youth. A misconception that is widely believed is that passing out condoms in schools will influence or pressure teens to have sex. According to Dr. Kevin J. Minch, if young people believe they will be safe when using a condom they are much less likely to be deterred from engaging in dangerous and immoral behavior (Minch). The conservatives believe that with the introduction of condoms at an early age, this would lead to the unnecessary exposure of the youth to a concept hat should only be tackled by legal adults. It allows them to stray into the obscure world they are not yet ready for. Widespread condom distribution will establish sexual activity as the norm among young teens, creating peer pressure to participate in sex. The added temptation to engage in sexual activity is protected will result in more women having sex at a younger age, perhaps furthering their exploitation. Minch) Sex is a topic that should be addressed at the discretion of each parent and the fact is that educators are slowly taking over the responsibilities of the parent. The opposition would argue that parents of every ethnicity and background have spent years of their life attempting to instill solid morals and values to their children. It is understandable how a parent would feel for a high school teacher to pass out condoms t o students at such a young age. Education systems are making the decision on what they think is best for the child rather than having the parents deciding the verdict on this issue. It is said that teenagers who have a good relationship with their parents are less likely to experience a pregnancy and the harsh consequences from unprotected sex. Good communication between parents nd children helps ensure that children make the right decisions when it comes to their sexual activity. However, as seen by the statistics, the amount of parental involvement in the lives of teens today is limited. Educators are simply picking up the slack since some parents do not educate their children on the simple right and wrongs like previous generations were taught. In addition to educators programs that educate our youth and that taxpayers should not fund these programs. Is it really the responsibility of hardworking taxpayers to pay for the use of protection for irresponsible teens? I certainly do not think so (Cook). Educators do not need to sanction the idea of a sexually active lifestyle; however they should hearten all young teenagers to make Judicious decisions when it comes to being sexually active. In this case, schools provide their sex-education classes and many prefer it stayed Just that, that it is not fit to provide a basket of condoms upon the exiting of a classroom. What the conservatives fail to do is look at the logical perspective and to take into account the statistics and reality of todays youth. What needs to be widely noticed is that the United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births. It is fact that that the teen pregnancies in our nation cost the United States at least 7 billion dollars each year. For the fiscal year of 2006 the federal government spent over 38 billion dollars to support families that began with a birth from a teenage mother. Nearly eight billion dollars is spent each year to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases. Either the money paid towards taxes can contribute to pregnancies and their after effects, or the money can be well Prevention is much more important when all the facts are spent on prevention. displayed. Every year, around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant. As a result, more than two thirds of teenagers who give birth will drop out of school, thus leading to an uneducated and difficult future. Teenage mothers and their children are more likely than others to be placed in the poverty bracket; therefore billions of dollars are spent taking care of them. Teen pregnancies are seen as a disadvantage in todays society due to the fact that many children born to teenage mothers tend to have a low birth rate. In addition to this, children born to teenage mothers are said to do poorly in school as they age and are more suceptible to abuse and neglect. The ruth is that the Centers of Disease Control reports nineteen million new STDs each year and approximately half of these reports are from our youth. One in four sexually active teenagers become infected with a sexually transmitted disease every year, which includes but is not limited to Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Genital Warts, and Herpes. (The Alan Guttmacher Institute). Another mind wrenching fact coming from the American Social Health Association is that of nine million new STD cases in the year 2000, ninety percent was accounted for by HIV and HPV (Human Papillomavirus) in ages fifteen to twenty-four years of age. Chesson HW, Blandford JM, Gift TL, Tao G, Irwin KL. According to an educator working out of a New York City public high school, the idea of distributing condoms has her approval. If I could, I would give out condoms in my classroom. I think we should make it as easy as possible for teens to access condoms. This statement could cause an upheaval of opinion, but this teacher is looking out for the welfare of her students. High school students main focus should be education, goal setting, and discovering their own individu ality. These teenagers should live an energetic and active life without worrying about remarital sex. Even though this is true, it has been proven that over 50% of teenagers have had sexual intercourse before graduating High School. So what is to come of this? Considering a high percentage of high school students are in fact having sex, there are outstanding statistics proving many STDs and teenage with the prevention classes and protection. When students are provided with condoms, it at least gives them the opportunity to be responsible with such an irresponsible act. Condoms are proven not to be 100% effective protecting against pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. However they have and will cut the odds by a landslide. Their distribution could have a significant impact on many lives by protecting them from diseases and unforeseen pregnancies that can end a young mothers future. The best defense against STDs and under aged pregnancies is simply knowledge and protection. Frequently, parents are too embarrassed to approach their child about any type of sexual activity. For this reason students are left uniformed and in harms way. A catastrophe will take place if sex education and protection are taken away from the students today. Parents need to be active and not permit sexual activity and disregard its existence. Often our society does not recognize these situations. Regardless of the parents opinions of moral and religious rights, someone has to protect the youth considering abstinence is not a sure avenue for these children. This is why our education systems have, and need to continue doing so, taken a step forth to protect our nations future.

Examples of Great Essay Topics For African History Papers

Examples of Great Essay Topics For African History PapersIf you are researching African history papers, you need to make sure that you find an example of great essay topics for African history papers. These topics can be tricky to come up with and you need to make sure that you are researching for the best possible topic for your paper. You will want to find examples of great essays that you can use as a guide in what types of topics you should use for your essays.You will want to use some examples of great essays that you can use as a guide in what types of topics you should use for your essays. These examples are usually in some form of research related to African history, the people, the civilization, or any kind of culture. Using these examples is helpful when you are researching for topics because they will show you what kind of topics you should write about in your papers.One of the best examples of great essay topics for African history papers are in their writing style. You w ill be able to tell if someone has the necessary skill to write an essay if they use proper grammar and writing techniques. You will be able to tell if they are able to create the right topics for your research if they use proper grammar and appropriate sentence structure. You will also be able to tell if they have the skills needed to write an effective essay if they use proper punctuation.If you find examples of great essay topics for African history papers, you will be able to get ideas on how to write an effective essay. For example, if you read an example of great essays that were written by someone else, you will know how to be successful in the type of topic you choose to research. The examples will give you ideas on how to use examples of great essays to study for your essays.Another good example of great essay topics for African history papers are inhow they would take into consideration their history. People often forget to research their history when writing a paper, but it is important to remember this because it will affect the type of topic you will research for your papers. If you research how they developed their history, then you will learn what kind of topics you will research for your papers.Some examples of great essay topics for African history papers include social and political thought, religion, and even poetry. The list goes on. If you do not have a good idea of the subject you are researching, you can use examples of great topics to get ideas and guidance.Finding examples of great essay topics for African history papers is not hard to do. If you are trying to research for topics, you will want to start by searching online for any examples that are available for you to research on. This will allow you to get ideas on how to research the topics that you want to research for your papers.

Lyndon B. Johnson - Howard University Commencement Address free essay sample

buy custom Inequalities of Gender essay

buy custom Inequalities of Gender essay Gender inequality implies the range of characters that distinguish the males and females in the society basing on the roles they are assigned. There are restrictions placed on the choices of women in the society which impact on their health and education because of lack of decision-making. There is a struggle for legal equality in Asia where women are considered oppressed for centuries. The argument has been that all individuals are equal before the law. There has been violence against women in the society because of gender inequality. The inequality between men and women is because of the culture of the community where the male are viewed to be of more value than the women. This has affected the Asian society for a long period. The following are the inequalities in my society. This paper explicates the gender inequalities common in my society. Firstly, there has been inequality whereby preference is given to boys over girls thus leading to a male dominated society. In this case, the gender inequality has been manifested where the parents will prefer giving birth to male babies rather than girls. According to Scrase, Holden, and Baum (2003) this has affected my society in the way that it does not allow females in the society to make decisions on how to improve the society. With the improved technology, individuals are learning the sex of the children that are going to be born hence leading to increased cases of abortion when they learn that they are expecting a girl child. There is also inequality in the employment sector. Women face many challenges before they are employed than the men who have the same qualifications. For instance, in my society, women are not allowed to hold leadership positions because they are perceived inferior compared to their en counterparts. This has in turn made most women in the society to believe that they are not fit to take up the leadership positions and represent the society. Scrase, Holden, and Baum (2003) assert that the education system has focused on producing male professionals compared to women. This is because of the strong belief that men have more leadership ideas compared to women. In my society, ownership of property is unequally distributed between the two genders. Basic assets like homes and land are mainly viewed as mens properties. This has led to women lagging behind in terms of development because they are not allowed to own the properties. For instance, women are not allowed to inherit the properties from their parents. This in my view has led to discrimination against women making them appear inferior in the eyes of the entire society. The household chores are mainly left to the women forcing them to stay at home while men seek to work outside in high paying jobs. Ozbilgin and Syed ( 2009) claim that this led to minimal or no promotions for women in the society to executive places. The rate of unemployment among women in my society has increased because of the belief that they are required to work as housewives. Lastly, there is inequality in which the special opportunities where by the opportunities of getting education are fewer to the women compared to the men who are given the first priority. There are divisions in the higher education to train male professionals compared to female professionals. The following issues require a close consideration, to ensure that there are no inequalities in the society. Firstly, women issues have been advocated through specially formed women movements where issues relating to fair treatment of the girl-child are raised. By ensuring that thee girl child is given the same chances to excel as the boy child, they will improve the living standards of the society because the dependency ratio will eventually go down. The women also need to be allowed to demonstrate their leadership capabilities in the society to be able to advocate for the development of women in society. Scrase, Holden, and Baum (2003) intimate that, for a long time, women have not had any representation in the society, this has made them lag behind in developmental matters compared to men. After being given equal chances to access the leadership positions, they would improve their living standards, and they could now be allowed to own properties. By ensuring that women are treated the same as men, societal conflicts between the two genders would reduce due to improved understanding between the two genders. This will enable the society to move forward in terms of development. Every individual in the society will be compelled to work to improve the societys well-being. This can be achieved through ensuring that women are not restricted to working in the household chores. They should instead be allowed to go out and engage in the development programs for the society. Ozbilgin and Syed (2009) assert that if the women are allowed to participate in decision-making, they would come up with ideas that improve the society. In conclusion, the Asian society has been facing inequalities where the male gender is considered more important than their female gender. This has led to discrimination of women in seeking of employment and property ownership. In order to ensure that there is no inequality, the girl-child should be given the same treatment as the boy-child. If women are allowed to take up the leadership careers, they would contribute to the development of the society. Buy custom Inequalities of Gender essay

Textbook evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Textbook evaluation - Assignment Example Generally, the books aimed to meet the requirements of ELT are commercialized and generic and lacks to target a specific group of learners. According to Altan (1995, p. 59) Our modern course books are full of speech acts and functions based on situations which most foreign language students will never encopunter..."Globally" designed course books have continued to be stubbornly Anglo-centric. Appealing to the world market as they do, they cannot by definition draw on local varieties of English and have not gone very far in recognizing English as an international language, either. For setting the criteria to select the right course books for ELT, teachers need to consider the learners. the selected material should be motivational, creative, interesting, relevant and it should meet the needs of the individuals. Teachers should know the needs of ELT students. The course books should be picked on the basis of needs analysis. Adopting this technique would outline the needs of the student in listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary knowledge and teaching them the grammar rules. It is also important that course books should be selected on the knowledge and experience of the students, besides their needs. The second important thing to remember is the curriculum and context of the course books. The selected course books should meet the needs of the students and it should have all the material which is required by the teachers to make the students understand the basic rules. Curriculum and context of the course books greatly influence the teachers decision about selecting the right teaching material. The curriculum should meet the goals and objectives for the learners as well as the course of study. Curriculum and context should meet the learning requirements of the ELT students (Nunan, 1998, p. 23). The external evaluation of a specific book begins from its author, publisher, the

Global Talent Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Global Talent - Assignment Example Becker, Huselid & Ulrich (2001) found that accessibility problems can arise in many forms including accessibility of value-added metric to acquire and accessibility of the value added by the metric after it has been acquired. In the current context, issue of accessing the value that the metric add to the organization after it has been acquired is what is being focused. In such a situation where there is lack of accessibility to value-added metrics, the first point of call in overcoming the situation should be the organizational structure. This is because where there is a bureaucratic and overly centralized organization structure, the flow of resources and even information across all quarters of the organization becomes highly limited. As a result of this, it is very difficult that all members within the organization can have a feel of the value added to the HR activity by the new metric. For example when the metric is used to collect data about employees, it could be that the outcome of such data will not be made known to the employees. In such a situation, chances are that employees can resist any future implementation of new metrics. This is because the employees will not have any basis on which they can justify or testify to the benefits of the metric. But where there is an open system being operated where the outcome of the value added by the metric is openly discussed, implementation will not be problem because all employees are likely to come on board and