Cool Hand Luke (Movie) Essays - English-language Films,

Cool Hand Luke (Movie) Never Say Die! Of all the films that were released in 1967 few had the power and stamina of displaying detailed characterizations in the manner of which 'Cool Hand Luke' did. Its strong message of individuality was a welcomed choice in the 20th century's most turbulent decade, which of course were the 1960's. Based on the novel by Donn Pearce and adapted for the screen by Pearce and Frank R. Pierson and Oscar nominated for Screenplay Adaptation, 'Cool Hand Luke' opens with a lazy and most effective scene showing Luke Jackson cutting the heads off of parking meters in a drunken haze in the confines of a small southern town. Promptly picked up by the police and sentenced to two years for maliciously destroying public property while under the influence, Luke is transported to a prison camp led by a character named Dragline. Dragline rules with an iron fist over the gang but manages to maintain many friends and constantly earns the respect of his fellow prisoners. The scene in which Luke is brought to prison sets the tone for the entire film as director Stuart Rosenberg sternly outlines the disciplinary policy of the facility's captain (Strother Martin) and its guards whom the prisoners are told to refer to as 'boss'. Luke's mission is to immediately challenge Dragline for leadership of the gang and a conflicting scene involving a boxing match between the two puts Luke on good terms with the other prisoners and the guards themselves also notice this. Dragline ends up becoming Luke's friend and protector and the film becomes a series of rebellious acts executed by Luke. One somber and heartfelt scene has Luke in contact with his mother who comes to visit him and she is dying, presumably of lung cancer as we see her coughing and chain-smoking her way to the grave. He refers to his mother on a first name basis and the scene has a further impression later in the film as Luke comes to terms with her death. It's one of Newman's finest moments on film. 'Cool Hand Luke' is easily recognizable as social commentary but it also has a sense of humor and knows how to be entertaining on a general level. This is shown in the film's most classic scene, the egg-eating contest. Luke challenges the disbelievers in the camp into proving he can eat fifty hardboiled eggs in one hour and every cent in camp rides on his bet. The talented cast of 'Cool Hand Luke' includes such character actors as J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Jo Van Fleet, Wayne Rogers, Ralph Waite, Harry Dean Stanton and a very young looking Dennis Hopper. Director Stuart Rosenberg's heavy handed direction is appropriate for this film which creates a clandestine environment of prison abuse and prisoner defiance and leaves the audience with many questions of whether prison reforms or give its convicts the impression that for every violent action, there can be an act of equally violent reaction.

Understanding Meritocracy

Understanding Meritocracy Meritocracy is a social system in which success and status in life depend primarily on individual talents, abilities, and effort. It is a social system in which people advance on the basis of their merits. A meritocratic system contrasts with aristocracy, for which people advance on the basis of the status and titles of family and other relations.   From the days of Aristotle, who coined the term ethos, the idea of awarding positions of power to those most capable have been a part of political discussion not only for governments but for business endeavors as well. Many Western societiesthe United States chief among themare commonly considered to be meritocracies, meaning these societies are built on the belief that anyone can make it with hard work and dedication. Social scientists often refer to this as the bootstrap ideology, evoking the popular notion of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps.   However, many challenge the validity of the position that Western societies are meritocracies, perhaps rightfully so. Widespread evidence exists, to varying degrees, within each of these societies of structural inequalities and systems of oppression designed and developed specifically to limit opportunities based on class, gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexuality, and other social markers. Aristotles Ethos and Meritocracy In discussions of rhetoric, Aristotle relates the epitome of his understanding of the word ethos as the mastery of a particular subject.   Rather than determining merit based on the modern state of affairs as exemplified by the political system in place at the time, Aristotle argued that it should come from a traditional understanding of aristocratic and oligarchical structures that define good and knowledgeable. In 1958, Michael Young wrote a satirical paper mocking the Tripartite System of British education called The Rise of the Meritocracy, declaring that merit is equated with intelligence-plus-effort, its possessors are identified at an early age and selected for appropriate intensive education, and there is an obsession with quantification, test-scoring, and qualifications. The term has come to frequently be described in modern day sociology and psychology as any act of judgment based on merit. Although some disagree about what qualifies as true merit, most now agree that merit should be the primary concern for selecting an applicant for a position. Social  Inequality and Merit Disparity In modern times, especially in the United States, the idea of a merit-based-only system of governance and business creates a disparity, as the availability of resources to cultivate merit are largely predicated upon ones current and historic socioeconomic status. Thus, those born into higher socioeconomic standingthose who have more wealthhave access to more resources than those born into lower standing.   Unequal access to resources has a direct and significant effect on the quality of education a child will receive all the way from kindergarten through university. The quality of ones education, among other factors related to inequalities and discrimination, directly affects the development of merit and how meritorious one will appear when applying for positions. In his 2012 book Meritocratic Education and Social Worthlessness, Khen Lampert argues that a kinship exists between merit-based scholarships and education and social Darwinism, wherein only those given opportunities from birth are able to survive natural selection: By awarding only those who possess the means to afford a higher-quality education, either through intellectual or financial merit, a disparity is institutionally created between the impoverished and the wealthy, those born with inherent disadvantages and those born into socioeconomic prosperity. While meritocracy is a noble ideal for any social system, achieving it first requires recognizing that social, economic, and political conditions may exist which make it impossible. To achieve it, then, such conditions must be corrected.

Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Data Analysis - Essay Example Additionally, I recorded the observed behavioral and communication skills on a checklist. I observed that in each session that the student had, it improved his behavioral and communication skills. Observation requires attention; I took a period of about an hour to observe each student. In the process, I kept involving the student to ensure their attentiveness and reduce chances of boredom. Some activities were physical activities that included doing puzzles and job activities or super brain exercises which encouraged communication and interaction as well as developmental activities such as Webber Photo Cards and Jenga game. During data collection, I used the tally sheets to check on their behaviors both the desired and undesired. To enhance accuracy, I assigned a score sheet to each student where I recorded their outcome for every session. To ensure consistency of data, I held meeting twice every week for a period of five weeks with each session being one hour long. In the undesired tally sheet, it had four behaviors I was supposed to observe in each student. The first thing that I was checking was the capability of a student to pay attention. In this, I wanted to identify and then record on a tally sheet the number of times a student failed to pay attention in an ongoing procedure or activity. If in a day a student failed to pay attention three times, I would tally thrice for that student that day. The second thing I was checking was the number of times the student went off the allocated task. My observation was therefore based on the tendency of a student to leave the task for other activities. I rec orded data for three sessions in a week for five weeks. Additionally, I also checked for the student’s incomplete work behavior and out-of-seat behavior during all the sessions that I had with them for the whole duration. As for the behaviors, I was looking out for the desired behavior presented by each student in every session for five weeks. The first