Traditional Forms of Dress Essay Example

Traditional Forms of Dress Essay Example Traditional Forms of Dress Paper Traditional Forms of Dress Paper Clothing has long ago ceased to be just a protection from the cold and the sun and has evolved as fast as the human race. Animals show off bright colours to attract others at mating time and the human animal too has found it necessary to flaunt his or her looks. To help us to do this, since we have neither features nor fur, we have clothes as an excellent substitute.  Just like cultivation, clothes have evolved differently in different countries. So each country has its own traditional clothes. Usually clothes start out as being practical and later evolve as fashions. Clothes too develop according to cultures and, especially, religious beliefs. In countries where women are expected to be modest in dress, they cover themselves more. In other cultures there are no rules. In come societies where being practical in order to survive is the main rule, minimum clothing is emphasized for both men and women. But one thing stands out; traditional dress is usually graceful and says a lot about the history and cultures of the people. Most traditional clothes are graceful; at least cultures of the wearers. Most societies in the world want to maintain their cultures. In countries where many cultures prevail because of migrant communities like Singapore, there is fervour to preserve all the cultures when the word culture is mentioned, almost without exception clothes take a leading position. It is common to see clothes of bygone eras being exhibited in museums as examples of culture. Along with dancing, art and language clothes are one of the visible aspects of a culture. If we agree that tradition must be preserved then, traditional clothes must be preserved. The two can be said to be inseparable. Preserving tradition, on the other hand, does not mean that we should always wear them. The tendency today is to adopt clothes from other societies if they are more convenient: for example, the worker in India who has been wearing the white clothing for centuries, when doing outdoor work now finds that jeans, that great American creation is much more convenient. In fact, he probably wonders how his ancestors ever worked in clothes. But this does not in the least mean that he has given up clothes and begun to wear jeans- far from it; out of work he still wears the traditional clothing. So we have a good example of tradition being maintained while being practical about clothes. There are certain occasions when it is more practical to wear clothes from other countries, usually western clothes and it would be simply to insist otherwise. Then, again, as it is important to preserve traditional clothes there are certain other occasions when traditional clothes will be ideal. There are also certain occasions when traditional clothes are a must. There are occasions like weddings and other cultural functions when the graceful traditional clothes will add colour and gaiety to the occasion. In Singapore, it is permissible to wear ones ethnic traditional clothes to even the most formal function, even at the presidential palace. However, it turns out that only the ladies will appear in traditional clothes at such functions. This is no wonder as theirs, all our cultures are truly magnificent whereas, for some inexplicable reason, gentlemens clothes are plain and simple. Men wearing the traditional clothes beside their ladies are likely to appear like servants. Hence, it is common to find ladies adorned in traditional clothes while the gentlemen are in smart tuxedos; so much for preserving traditional clothes. The argument could be: preserving them need not mean wearing them.  Preserving traditions is akin to preserving the soul of a society. They take centuries to evolve and represent milestones in the evolving of a culture. Traditional clothes take the leading position when it comes to maintaining traditions and this is most welcome.

Era of good feelings DBQ essays

Era of good feelings DBQ essays The  ¡Ã‚ °Era of Good Feelings ¡ was the period in U.S. history when people were stimulated by two events of 1816, during the presidency of James Madison: the enactment of the first U.S. protective tariff and the establishment of the second National Bank. With the decline of the Federalists the United States was a one-party state on the national level; heading the Democratic-Republicans. Under the surface, however, vast sectional issues were shaping themselves, and personal rivalries also were gathering strength to break loose in the campaign of 1824. Nationalism was a very important quality of this era in time. To Americans, the War of 1812 was viewed as a second war of independence. They were proud that their united nation had stood up to the British. The feeling of patriotism stayed steady into the 1820 ¡Ã‚ ¯s. Document C shows how Americans were still celebrating how united their nation was, even though it was four years after the end of the war. Another thing that helped unify the U.S. was the Tariff Act of 1816. As the first complete protective tariff, it was principally intended to promote the production of textiles, hats, leather, paper, and cabinetwork. Even people like John Calhoun, who would normally be against any type of tariff, supported this. He wanted to bind the country together by building roads and canals, rather than making things worse by causing  ¡Ã‚ °disunity ¡ (Doc. B). This was all part of Henry Clay ¡Ã‚ ¯s  ¡American System ¡Ã‚ ¯, which included support for a high tariff to protect, maintenance of high public land prices, preservation of the Bank of the United States, and development of a system of internal improvements (such as roads and canals) which would knit the nation together and be financed by the tariff and land sales revenues. In 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was created to satisfy the need for a central fiscal agent. Of course, critics again decried the Bank ¡Ã‚ ¯...

Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition Essay

Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition - Essay Example Language pedagogy has always been my unflinching passion; and my experiences of teaching English as a foreign language primary school pupils (voluntary work in high school), helped me conclusively determine my goals. Observing the process of SLA, I was able to better comprehend the impact of socio-cultural impacts on learning and receptivity. Various elements such as critical age influence, personal motivations, and the overall environment –including social and domestic settings – in which these pupils were learning, combined to create their own dynamic reception framework. I realized that the role of a teacher is not only challenging but also essential in facilitating the development of linguistic skills and effective communication. Indeed, as Sir Christopher Ball put it â€Å"successful teaching is about winning the attention of the learner.† After completing socially-tailored A-levels, I jointly took up English Language and Linguistics and International Relations at Oxford Brookes University. I liked the Linguistics course’s focus on the relationship between language and meaning just as much as I enjoyed perceiving the interrelation between language and communication; the course also dealt with human development, the interplay between language and literature and the ideational concepts of descriptive linguistics. The "Psychology of Language"(B+) module, where I developed my interests in SLA, helped me appreciate the social implications of language acquisition, and "Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching"(A) helped develop a keen awareness of a range of teaching techniques (especially, microteaching). My enthusiasm for this program arises from my conviction that it shall allow me to explore each of the above facets more substantively.