Does Ethnicity and Language to the Degree of Parent Involvement in Schools Essay Example for Free

Does Ethnicity and Language to the Degree of Parent Involvement in Schools Essay Many recent studies have indicated that parent involvement can make significant differences to outcomes at schools. Why some parents become involved more than others in their childrens education has been the subject of past studies, and ethnic minority status (especially Black and Hispanic) have been associated in the past with poor involvement compared to whites. But other studies have shown completely opposite conclusions i. e. parental involvement is higher in ethnic groups than whites. The critique: This questionnaire study of teachers and parents was a multi-dimensional investigation into the role of ethnicity in parental involvement in schooling found that Black parents perceive that they take a more active role in their childrens schooling than any other ethnic group. By contrast the teachers perceptions on the issue were drastically opposite – teachers reported much lower levels of alliance with Black parents than White or Hispanic parents. The fact that fewer than 4% of teachers in this study were blacks probably has been a significant factor in this regard. One of the main weaknesses of this study is a lack of verifiability – it was entirely based on questionnaires, without any involvement of students themselves. Secondly the fact that the population consisted entirely of low-performers may have introduced a source of bias in the study. There were also inadequate measures of ruling out the effect of other confounding factors e. g. education level, incomes of households which made it difficult to compare ethnicity properly. Finally, some ethnic groups returned more questionnaire than others, making it difficult to conduct a like for like study. Conclusion : More studies are needed, carried out in a more rigorous method, before the true effect of ethnicity on parental involvement with schools can be established.

Comparing Marriage in Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, She Stoops to Conq

Separation between Love and Marriage in Mary the Wrongs of Woman, She Stoops to Conquer and Moll Flanders      Ã‚  Ã‚   Our aim in this paper will be to analyze and discuss the different ways in which love and marriage were dealt with during the eighteenth century and to what extent these two terms were linked together or considered as opposite. To accomplish this matter we are going to focus our attention on several works that are representative from this period and that reflect in an accurate way the social mores and more specifically, marriage conventions and romantic love. Throughout this discussion we will be emphasizing the idea that marriage is represented in these works as an institution completely detached from love and that it pursues more than anything else economic purposes and an rising in the social hierarchy. First of all we should account for the situation of English women during the eighteenth century, that despite several social improvements, continued having less rights or freedom than men within the family and marriage as an institution. Patriarchal forms were still a deep-rooted custom that ruled society, which was male-centered. Marriage was often forced on women as their only way of having a recognized position in society, but at the same time led them to slavery. Women's property could be spent to the discretion of the husband as she was considered, together with all that she owned, a possession of the husband. Significantly relevant is the fact that the convention of marriages arranged by parents was still widely accepted. Evidences of this aspect can be found in Goldsmith's work She Stoops to Conquer. At the very beginning of the play Mr.Hardcastle expresses that he has already chosen a husband for... ...and stability. However, the existence of arranged marriages and consequently the lack of love, turned matrimony into a prison where women were locked. A male-ruled world transformed women into virtual slaves that had no rights, and the cases where marriage was the result of a true and passionate love can be counted for as exceptional. Works Cited Wollstonecraft, M., Mary The Wrongs of Woman, Oxford World's Classics.  Ã‚   (1976) Defoe, D., Moll Flanders (1978) Penguin English Classics.   (1999) Goldsmith, O., She Stoops to Conquer Dover Thrift Editions. (1991) Stone, L. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800, (1979) Pelikan   Ty, E. Unsex'd Revolutionaries: Five Women Novelists of the 1790's.   University of Toronto Press, Toronto.   (1993) Spencer, J., The Rise of the Woman Novelist: From Aphra Behn to Jane Austen Oxford Press (1987)

Women in Leadership Roles

This report examines the research on gender equity in educational leadership published since 1997until 2010. Even though women attaining jobs in school leadership has increased, women still do not fill administrative positions in comparison to men. The majority of research related to women and leadership examines the barriers women face in entering or moving up in the leadership hierarchy. Looking at the differences and similarities in how men and women take on and exercise leadership roles, the authors of the articles suggest ideas based on biological, psychological and sociological theories that stress gender difference. The article, â€Å"Re-thinking educational leadership: exploring the impact of cultural and belief systems† written by Shah, discusses how education and educational leadership theories and practices are influenced by culture and belief systems; with a focus on gender in Muslim societies. The first priority of Muslim women was to look after their family; therefore, before taking on any professional responsibility they had to ensure that no decisions or actions brought shame to their family or extended families. According to Shah, the Muslim women who participated in leadership positions often felt powerless because their decisions and actions were regularly scrutinized by men. The second article, â€Å"Gender Differences Among New Recruits to School Administration: Cautionary Footnotes to an Optimistic Tale† written by Riehl and Byrd discusses the factors affecting leadership among men and women in elementary and secondary education. Even though the women were as highly educated as the men, the men often were given many more opportunities. Women were still seen as displaying nurturing characteristics in their leadership style. The article also discusses women’s leadership aspirations to that of their male counterparts. The third article, â€Å"School leadership, sex and gender: welcome to difference† written by Kruger brings into light the biological differences in genetic make up of men and women. It discusses how different hormones and brain structure are the reasons for differences in behaviour and personality among men and women, which is considered a deciding factor in their leadership styles. Kruger also examines how the environment plays an important role in the realization of gender differences in leadership. The last article, â€Å"Gender and educational Leadership in England: a comparison of secondary headteachers’ views over time† written by Coleman discusses the expectations of women and men as principals in England in the 1990`s and in 2004. The article focuses on women with regards to work and personal life. Coleman reports that women have larger roles at work and at home, whereas men generally concern themselves with work only. Notably, women were seen as inferior so they adopted male work ethics. The results of Coleman’s studies are similar to those in other countries. It was very interesting to review the articles I chose to better understand the ways that educational leadership is perceived with respect to gender in the education system. As I continued to review the research, I thought it was of importance to examine the differing leadership styles and barriers, along with the similarities women faced in both western and non-western cultures. Throughout this inquiry I will cite several reasons for the low proportion of women as educational leaders. According to Shah, â€Å"Men and women are conceptually divided into two separate worlds. Home is defined as a woman’s legitimate ideological and physical space, while a man dominates the world outside the home† (p. 31). With the ever-changing society, Muslim women started exploring their options and took more of an active role outside the home. Interestingly, the women who attained positions of leadership worked in the women-only establishments. It was troublesome for a woman to work in a mixed gender environment because their educational decisions went through a male counterpart, regardless of their seniority. Women still held strong beliefs and values with respect to education; similar to western cultures, but the notion of women in a male dominated hierarchy was still considered problematic. I strongly believe that family and home responsibilities are still more likely to affect the career paths of women than of men today as they pursue administrative positions. Riehl and Byrd also believe that gender plays a major factor in the career development process to the degree that men and women encounter different circumstances, act differently, and/or experience different outcomes. The theoretical explanations that have emerged are as follows: women have not been socialized to aspire to administrative roles or to prepare for them, higher level jobs were designed to exclude women and school leadership is located in male dominance in society overall, not just educational (p. 46). I believe society as a whole is more accepting of these barriers now; however, these issues are still evident, but not as strong. Similar to today, women as teachers and principals were more likely to be found at the elementary level and men at the secondary level. While I do see many women teaching as previously mentioned, it was interesting to hear that men at their level receive more administrative practice, thus leading to senior administrative positions. Also, the amount of education one received didn’t play a huge factor in the hiring process. According to Riel and Bryd even the objective factors such as â€Å"obtaining education or experience increased women’s chances of becoming administrators, they did not bring women’s chances to parity with men’s† (p. 61). Kruger also examines gender differences but relates it to the biological sex differences in school leadership. Women by nature have a more caring, nurturing personality and this influences their administrative styles in a male dominant society. Kruger found that: â€Å"women are stronger educational leaders than their male colleagues. They carry out more educational activities and spend more time on educational matters than men. Women are more focused on instruction and education, on the school goals, they are higher on creating a positive culture and an orderly learning atmosphere, they have a stronger classroom orientation, they reward teachers more often and they create more professional development opportunities for teachers† (p. 62). It appears as though women are strong educational leaders; however, we have learned throughout this course that male and female styles tend to differ even when they occupy the same leadership role. Women, who already face enough resistance and obstacles in a male dominated field, find their leadership styles are judged more harshly by men; however thi s is not the same for the men. According to Kruger, â€Å"Women who display male leadership styles are more negatively judged compared with those who do not, but men with a female leadership style do not seem to be more negatively judged† (p. 164). Despite these factors more women tend to work under male principals then they do women. The reason for this is perhaps do to personality conflicts they may have with the same sexes on ideas of what successful administration entails. Another deciding factor in this is that women tend to be more education rooted and become administrators because out of their desire to improve education, whereas men take on administer roles mainly for the salary. Coleman’s research states that the stereotypical leader is a white, heterosexual, middle class male; therefore, women are often viewed as outsiders in a position of leadership. Coleman identifies various factors effecting women’s likelihood of becoming leaders such as â€Å"discrimination, lack of confidence, hesitation in making career plans, stereotyped into ‘caring’ pastoral roles that were then not seen as fitting them for leadership and there were multiple difficulties for women in combining a family and career† (p. 385). Women’s leadership styles were seen as passive and gentle, while men were stronger and more decisive. In 2004, only half of the women surveyed report experience in discrimination related to advancements due to the likelihood of being labeled a feminist (Coleman, p. 86). Surprisingly, the traditional male style leadership has given way to more feminine styles of leadership. Males have been seen as putting work first over family at all times, which has influenced women to the point of minimizing maternity leave and foregoing their desire to be supportive figures to younger women. Throughout this course we have discussed various effective educational leadership practices. Leaders should be able to adapt their leadership styles according to the situation. Therefore, change is necessary if we want to move ahead in our respective field. The passive, nurturing, education orientated and productive styles depicted by women in these articles are accepted today by both genders in leadership positions. Noteworthy, a strong dominant leader is not always effective or seen as an acceptable style. As a teacher, I often see different leadership styles and can conclude that men and women at times see things differently. In conclusion, the role of women in educational leadership positions continues to evolve; however, there still needs to be work done in order to ensure equality. If one were to look at our current list of administrators in the school board they would notice that there is significant higher ratio of male to female administrators. The females are often placed in small, rural elementary schools or are the vice-principals of secondary schools. I truly believe women will always face barriers while trying to attain leadership positions; however, if we work together, take charge and voice our opinions things may change in the upcoming years.

Analysis of Fredrick Douglass´ Narrative of the Life

Just when people thought slavery was coming to an end, the discovery of new cash crops and the development of advanced innovations spurred the growth of the implacable and unforgiving system of slavery. The eradication of humanity and reduction of slaves to the status of worthless beast continued. Copious individuals, unwilling to accept their faith and to be classified as a thing, contested their situation using different types of opposition that ranged from day to day resistance to large scaled and organized rebellion. In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life, the author demonstrated the truth of being a human being who disinclined to be classified as an inferior subhuman as he used an assortment of methods to oppose the system he was born into. Slaves, helpless of being born or sold into the system, used various forms of resistance to combat their inhumane and unjust enslavement while holding on to the tiny seed of hope for an escape. The institution of slavery, built on racial superiority and perpetuated through numerous economic, cultural, and legal structures, and collectively accepted practices, created a society in which white men exploit fellow human beings of darker complexion. As superior beings, slave-owners created efficient labor-producing tools by dehumanizing Africans and instituting fear through psychological manipulation and physical violence. One way that planation owner established fear was to internalize external surveillance in which the slavesShow MoreRelatedHenry David Thoreau s Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass911 Words   |  4 PagesAbolitionist Fredrick Douglass was born in â€Å"the backcountry of Maryland’s Eastern Shore† in 1818 (Gates et al. 327). By having a slave mother, Douglass was automatically considered a slave (Gates et al. 327). Therefore, he faced many masters and mistresses; however, he eventually gained his freedom by escaping. Although Douglassâ €™s Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave is not the first of its genre, it is the best-selling eighteenth-century fugitive slave narrative, surpassingRead MoreFrederick Douglass And Malcolm X Essay1237 Words   |  5 Pagessynthetic analysis of two works from African American literature reveals that there is no greater accomplishment than learning to read and write. Literacy is what allows us to gain knowledge through learning. This topic is important because based on a study conducted by the U.S Department of Education and the National Institution of Literacy, 32 million adults in the U.S are still unable to read and write and African Americans are expected to make up nearly half of that amount. In both Fredrick Douglass’Read MoreYour Freedom Is Not Free Essay1645 Words   |  7 Pagesformation of individual and cultural identity in American literary history. Certain nineteenth century American writers stand out for their real-life dedicati on to freedom and non-conformity for seeking to free themselves from whatever shackles limited them from reaching their potentials, both literally and figuratively. Henry David Thoreau, Fredrick Douglass, and Ralph Waldo Emerson are exemplary writers of the nineteenth century who strove to articulate not only the ideas of freedom and justice,Read More Response of Fredrick Douglass to Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe964 Words   |  4 PagesFredrick Douglass Response to Uncle Toms Cabin      Ã‚   Frederick Douglass was arguably the most prominent African American abolitionist during the mid-19th century. He established his notoriety through his narrative entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave published in 1845. Frederick Douglass also produced an African American newspaper, Frederick Douglass Paper, which highlighted the reception and critiques of Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin. FrederickRead MoreMy Experience At The Industrial Revolution Debate838 Words   |  4 Pagesimproved at public speaking. The first selection I ve decided to share with you is my Fredrick Douglass Journal Entry 1. I feel as if analyzing literature is one of my strong spots, so I am proud of the work I have done on this assignment. The reason why I chose this assignment is because I believe it shows of my knowledge and skill in this field. We had been reading the Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass for a while now, and we had begun our first literary note. What we had to do was selectRead MoreMy Bondage And My Freedom 1855 Edition† Is One Of The Most1429 Words   |  6 PagesMy Bondage and My Freedom 1855 Edition† is one of the most interesting autobiographical narratives I have ever read. Fredrick Douglass wrote it and published in 1855. Various scholars have also praised the quality in the book. For instance, Stauffer puts it in his foreword that, The story is a profound meditation on what race, slavery, and freedom mean, as well as a demonstration of the power of literacy and faith† (Stauffer 16). â€Å"My Bondage and My Freedom† is the second book of Douglass’s threeRead MoreIntellectual Freedom During The 20th Century1923 Words   |  8 Pagesmakes little difference. Frederick Douglass knew this all too well as he grew up as a slave. In his Narrative of The Life, he explains the development of his character and understanding of intellectual freedom. The intent of this paper is to explore the experiences that lead Douglass to understand the difference between physical and intellectual freedom. This is seen in his experiences but also how he wrote his Narrative. While in [physical] captivity, Douglass was not always captive. Although heRead MoreThe Identity Of African Americans1758 Words   |  8 Pagesculture. Race is portrayed through the narratives such as The life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglass and the Autobiography of an Ex-colored man by James Weldon Johnson. In both the narratives, they state they are slaves due their race. First, this idea is supported in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass when he states in the preface, â€Å"he was a slave â€Å"too (Douglass 325). From the beginning Douglass has started with his identity â€Å"Douglass, in his old age, still bravely stoodRead MoreAlienation within Beloved Essay1209 Words   |  5 Pagessee themselves in a variety of real life situations. The slave only knew the life of a slave. It is only when Paul D and Sethe escape this life that they are forced to stop alienating themselves from the world around them and come to terms with their own identity. The slave-masters throughout â€Å"Beloved† whether seemingly benevolent or not, have one effect on their slaves, they alienate them from all around them, even to the point (in the words of Fredrick Douglass) that they crush (the natural affectionRead MoreAnalysis Of Chapter Summary Of Frederick Douglass2143 Words   |  9 PagesOctober 2017 Summary Analysis Chapter One Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, in Talbot county, Maryland. He had no knowledge of his exact age, he estimates that he’s between twenty-seven to twenty-eight years of age. He was a child of mixed race, his mother, Harriet Bailey, was a slave and his father was a white man. At around twelve months, he was taken from his mother and sold to a plantation. His mother would visit him on rare occasions during the night. Harriet died when Douglass was seven. In the

The Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria - 2064 Words

Just like any other religion it has goals and objectives. For example christianities goals are to get to heaven. How you do that is you must have a clean soul before you die. Just like catholicism Muslim has a variety of views about how to do things. ISIS’ goals are for everyone to become 100% muslim. The United States is uncertain on its position.The will that ISIS has is even more dangerous than anyone the world has seen. ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has gotten famous for not only their beliefs but how they share them. ISIS has become famous for the many videos that have gone viral on social media websites and YouTube. They share videos of people being beheaded and executed, some executions came from being burned alive†¦show more content†¦There are billions of people using social media everyday, sites like facebook, twitter, and Instagram are big parts of spreading the beliefs of the Islamic State. When ISIS posts a video they will have the flag of the Islamic State show at the beginning and the end to let everyone know it was them. They like to showboat about how they killed someone by taking their head off. Also in some videos they will call out the United States and Barack Obama directly to make an even bigger impact on Americans. Barack Obama keeps trying to reason with ISIS but the leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdad does not want to reason he just wants what’s best for t he Islamic State. Barack Obama has referred to ISIS as the Islamic State of Iraq and Lebanon because of the involvement in Lebanon. As more and more views come in from the graphic content posted by ISIS the more and more known they get which is there as far as the US is concerned. ISIS also will execute people that are supposed spies. On December 2nd, 2015 a video was released of an ISIS member beheading an alleged Russian spy. The video was the member talking about how ISIS can find any spy any military sends in. Then in the end the alleged spy is beheaded with a simple army knife. By doing this it sends a message to everyone else that they should not spy on ISIS. Another video was posted of Yemen captives and the execution was the captives were shot an exploded by a missile. Also other uses of these executions are

In Cold Blood Literary Analysis - 765 Words

In the nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote a family The Clutter Family’ is brutally murdered by, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, two killers in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Writer Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Capotes nonfiction novels are seen as literary masterpieces. In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel it was first published in 1966 and it details the deaths of the Clutter family, in the small farming community of Holcomb Kansas. How does the Truman Capote create a mood of anxiety in the book? In the book, Capote often sets an intense tone and drag it out for as long as it can go. This puts the reader on the edge of his seat for two or†¦show more content†¦At this point, we have gotten to know Richard and Perry, and Capote gave the perception that Perry was just riding along with Richard and was a less violent one. We have learned how The Clutter family was killed. We learn a few details about Mr.Bell like a middle-aged traveling salesman and he was only a hundred miles from his destination, Omaha Nebraska, which was the headquarters of the large meat packing company for which he worked. After learning a little about Mr. Bell the reader is told that Mr. Bell, entirely unaware of his guests’ intentions, which included throttling him with a belt and leaving him, robbed of his car, his money, and his life (Capote 261) They planned to kill him and take his car. The reader getting to know that Richard and Perry are planning to kill Mr.Bell put the reader on edge. Throughout this chapter Parry is perceived as the aggressive and angry guy; this was completely different from what the reader has seen in the past. The feeling of anxiety intensified when Perry is reminded of his father, which was very abusive, and wanted to killer Mr.Bell fast. Just as Perry was about to smash him in the head, Mr. Bell slowed down to pick up another set of hitchh ikers. This chapter made the reader feel anxious because a crisis is presented in an instant, and the reader is forced to sit through and watch a character, Perry, who the reader felt bad for inShow MoreRelatedIn Cold Blood Literary Analysis1577 Words   |  7 PagesLiterary Analysis of In Cold Blood In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, is a book that encloses the true story of a family, the Clutters, whose lives were brutally ended by the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun. The killers were 2 men, each with 2 different backgrounds and personalities, each with his own reasons to take part in such a harrowing deed. Capote illustrates the events leading up to the murder in sharp detail and describes its aftermath with such a perspective that one feels that he isRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of In Cold Blood By Truman Capote1080 Words   |  5 Pages Literary Analysis of In Cold Blood The nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote takes place in the small and quiet town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote takes the reader through the sequence of events that transpired before, during, and after the Clutter family was murdered on November 15, 1959. He describes in detail the background of each of the main characters. This helps to clarify the motives of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith as they murder the Clutters. He illustrates how a positive orRead MoreTruman Capote and Postmodernism1398 Words   |  6 Pagesas with penning great words, was a writer who became as well-known for his late-night talk show appearances as for his prose† (Patterson 1). Capote was a literary pop star at the height of his fame in 1966, after he had written such classic books as, Other Rooms, Other Voices, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and In Cold Blood. Postmodernism was a literary period that began after the Second World War and was a rejection of traditional writing techniques. It u sed fragmented sentences and questionable narratorsRead MoreTruman Capote s The Cold Blood Essay1472 Words   |  6 PagesTruman Capote’s novel â€Å"In cold blood† was identified as a new form of non-fiction genre in which an objective approach was taken by the author, as his opinions and judgements were absent from the text, leaving only the truth for the reader to interpret. Capote’s narrative method allows the murders to be explained and rationalised within a framework of middle-class ideology and psychological analysis (Hollowell, 1997). Kazin (reference) conveys that the novel â€Å"In cold blood† creates a strong connectionRead MoreTruman Capotes In Cold Blood1591 Words   |  7 Pagesand in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the idealistic dream is critically evaluated. In this paper, I will explain the context of the work, and then I will compare and contrast Dick any Perry (the murderers) with the Clutter family (the murdered) in relation t o the theme of the fragility of the American Dream. Capote wrote what he considered to be the first nonfiction novel. Simply defined a nonfiction novel is one in which an event is reported using traditional literary and rhetorical conventionsRead More Truman Capotes In Cold Blood: Novel vs Movie Essay1611 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"In Cold Blood†, is a nonfiction story by Truman Capote. This book presents one of the worst murders in history. It was a best seller worldwide, and turned into a successful movie. As usual the movie does not stand up to the book. If you want more knowledge of the townspeople, victims and more insight into the trial, more background details of the murders, you should read the book. If you are interested in history and a good murder mystery all in the confines of a book cover, read In Cold BloodRead MoreMix of Journalism and Fiction in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood785 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Hollowells, critical analysis of Truman Capotes novel In Cold Blood focuses on the way Capote used journali sm and fiction to try and create a new form of writing (82-84). First, Capote involves his reader. This immediacy, this spellbinding you-are-there effect, comes less from the sensational facts (which are underplayed) than from the fictive techniques Capote employs (Hollowell 82). Capote takes historical facts and brings in scenes, dialogue, and point of view to help draw theRead MoreThe Murder Of The Clutter Family1135 Words   |  5 Pagesto research the killings. In the course of six years bringing this narrative together, Capote began taking drugs and drinking heavily due to the dark nature of the book. Truman Capote tells the true story of a family murdered in In Cold Blood, through character analysis and symbolism to prove nature is a stronger force than nature in shaping a person’s character. Capote expresses his idea of nature vs. nurture in Dick Hickock and Perry Smith and whether killers are born or made. With this in mindRead MoreCritical Analysis of Wilfred Owens poem Arms and the Boy1660 Words   |  7 PagesEng 432 Outline Critical Analysis of Wilfred Owens poem Arms and the Boy I. Introduction: 1. Introducing what is going to be discussed in the paper (analysis of Arms and the Boy , its relation to one of Owens poem). 2. Thesis Statement : Wilfred Owens poem Arms and the Boy can be discussed to represent the horror of war. II. Body: 1. Owen was a soldier and a modern poet who was known as anti-war poet. A. A summary of Owens poetry in general . B. His representation of the horror of war in hisRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Cold Mountain 1298 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis Charles Frazier’s first novel, Cold Mountain, has earned him a great amount of notoriety. From having a film adaptation of his novel in 2003, to receiving a National Book Award in fiction in 1997. Cold Mountain opens with a quotation from a journal entry by Charles Darwin: â€Å"It is difficult to believe in the dreadful but quiet war of organic beings, going on in the peaceful woods and smiling fields.† And indeed, Frazier’s acclaimed novel describes a war of beings built of flesh

In the summer of 1969, not everyone was at Woodsto Essay Example For Students

In the summer of 1969, not everyone was at Woodsto Essay ck. In laboratories on eitherside of the continent a small group of computer scientists were quietly changingthe future of communication. Their goal was to build a computer network thatwould enable researchers around the country to share ideas (Kantrowitz 56). TheInternet we make so much today the global Internet which has helped scholarsso much, where free speech is flourishing as never before in history theInternet was a cold war military project. It was designed for purposes of militarycommunication in a United States devastated by a Soviet nuclear strike. Originally, the Internet was a post-apocalypse command grid (Tappendorf 1). The threat of nuclear war was a tangible, and frightening, possibility during thecold war period. In the 1960s the Vietnam War was grabbing all of the headlines. The history books describe the decade as brimming with social unrest andchange. This decade also witnessed the birth of a military experiment that was toevolve into what we now call the Net (Net 1). The history of the Internet beginswith the research and development, RAND, group in 1966. Paul Baran wascommissioned by the United States Air Force to do a study on how it couldmaintain its command control over its missiles and bombers, after a nuclearattack. Barans finished document described several ways to accomplish thistask. What he finally proposes is a packet switched network (Tappendorf 2). Packet switching is a method of fragmenting messages into sub-parts calledpackets, routing them to their destinations and reassembling them. Packetizinginformation has several advantages. It facilitates allowing several users to sharethe same connection by breaking up the data into discrete units which can berouted separately. Because no transmission medium is 100% reliable, packetswitching allows one bad packet to be re-sent while other good packets areuninterrupted in their transmission (Hardy 6). Packets may carry informationabout themselves, where they have been and where they are going. In addition,packets may be compressed for speed and size advantages or encrypted forsecurity. Most packets carry some sort of internal check for consistency that helpsto weed out bad packets. Packetizing data has advantages in overcoming certaininherent bandwidth and speed constraints, particularly in older network andmodem based communication (Hardy 6). The early pioneers of AdvancedResearch Pro jects Agency network, ARPAnet, wanted to create a network thatwas robust, reliable, and did not have a single point of failure. A single point offailure would be a network designed with one device that was the master node,or controlling device, for the network. This leads to problems in that when themaster node goes down, the whole entire network is lost. These early pioneers ofARPAnet acknowledged this single point of failure concept, in turn, created anetwork that had no central controlling device; rather, it was made up ofindividual devices, or nodes that all worked together and participated on thenetwork. Although these first networks consisted of few machines, it laid thefoundation for things to come (Boyce 492). The reliable networking partinvolved dynamic rerouting. If one of the network links were to become disruptedby enemy attack, the traffic on it could automatically be rerouted to other links. Fortunately, the net rarely has come under enemy attack. But an errant backhoecutting a cable is just as much of a threat, so its important for the net to bebackhoe resistant (Levine 12). Starting with the ARPAnet the government beganresearching ways to exchange information among various government siteslocated in the United States. The research and implementation of ARPAnet led tothe early beginnings of the Internet. This network allowed government officials atvarious sites to exchange files, documents, and messages with one another, eventhough they were physically separated by many miles (Boyce 492). In 1969, whatwould later become the Internet was founded. It contrasts sharply with todaysInternet. The ARPAnet network had four machines on it, linked together with apacket switched network. Soon afterward other government agencies becameinterested in this new network; Department of Defense, NASA, National ScienceFoundation, and the Federal Reserve Board. Because of this new interest and thefact that ARPAnet was growing, now 24 nodes in 1972, Information ProcessingTechniques Office, IPTO, began to look to other ways to transmit data other thanthrough a wire. Two projects were launched to settle these needs. The first wasthe use of satellites for data transmission. IPTO quickly learned that it would bepossible to send data via satellite and went into negotiations with the board ofdirectors of International Telecommunications Satellite Organization. The secondproject was for radio transmitted data. It soon also became apparent that a packetswitched radio network for mobile computing would be possible. In 1976, thepacket satellite project went into practical use. Atlantic packet Satellite network,SATNET, was born. This network linked the United States with Europe. Thisnetwork was interesting in that it used commercial Intelsat satellites that wereowned by the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization asopposed to government military satellites (Tappen dorf 2). In the same year a mancalled Ray Tomlinson created an e-mail program that could send personalmessages across the network. Seems harmless enough, but this developmentplayed an important role in the nets evolution by helping it move further awayfrom its military roots. The academics with access to the system were using itpredominantly to communicate with colleagues, and their messages were notalways about research. Mailing lists on a variety of subjects proved to be verypopular (Net 2). In 1973, the United States Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency, DARPA, initiated a research program to investigate techniques andtechnologies for interlining packet networks of various kinds. The objective wasto develop communication protocols which would allow networked computers tocommunicate transparently across multiple, linked packet networks. This wascalled the Internetting Project and the system of networks which emerged fromthe research was known as the Internet. The system of pro tocols which wasdeveloped over the course of this research effort became known as the TCP/IPprotocol suite, after the two initial protocols developed: Transmission ControlProtocol, TCP, and Internet Protocol, IP (Liener 1). In 1976 the Department ofDefense, began to experiment with this new protocol and soon decided to requireit for use on ARPAnet. January 1983 was the date fixed as when every machineconnected to ARPAnet had to use this new protocol (Tappendorf 3). In additionto the selection of TCP/IP for the NSFNET program, Federal agencies made andimplemented several other policy decisions which shaped the Internet of today(Leiner 11). The creation of the TCP/IP protocol made possible the text basedNet communications systems so popular today, including electronic mail,discussion lists, file indexing, and hypertext. E-mail, of course, is the mostwidely used of the Net services, the most convenient and the most functional(Diamond 42). The backbone had made the transition from a net work built fromrouters out of the research community to commercial equipment. In its 8 1/2 yearlifetime, the backbone had grown from six nodes with 56 kbps links to 21 nodeswith multiple 45 Mbps links. It had seen the Internet grow over 50,000 networkson all seven continents and outer space, with approximately 29,000 networks inthe United States (Leiner 12). Widespread development of Lans, Pcs, andworkstations in the 1980s allowed the nascent Internet to flourish. Ethernettechnology, developed by Bob Metcalfe at Xerox PARC in 1973, is nowprobably the dominant network technology in the Internet, and Pcs andworkstations the dominate computers. This change from having a few networkswith a modest number of time- shared hosts, the original ARPAnet model, tohaving many networks has resulted in a number of new concepts and changes tothe underlying technology. First, it resulted in the definition of three networkclasses A, B, and C to accommodate the range of networks. Class A representedla rge national scale networks, a small number of networks with large number ofhosts; Class B represented regional scale networks; and Class C representedlocal area networks, a large number of networks with relatively few hosts(Leiner 8). Beginning around 1980, university computing was moving from asmall number of large time-sharing machines, each of which served hundreds ofsimultaneous users, to a large number of smaller desktop workstations forindividual users. Because users had gotten used to the advantages of time-sharingsystems, such as shared directories of files and e-mail, they wanted to keep thosesame facilities on their workstations (Levine 12). Workstation manufacturesbegan to include the necessary network hardware also, so all anyone had to do toget a working network was to string a cable to connect the workstations,something that universities could do inexpensively because they usually could getstudents to do it (Levine 13). In 1983, the ARPAnet was split into ARPAnet andM ILnet. The latter was integrated into the Defense Data Network created in1982. ARPAnet was taken out of service in 1990. ARPAnets role as networkbackbone was taken over by NSFNET which may in time be supplanted by theNational Research and Educational Network, NREN (Hardy 8). In 1988, in aconscious effort to test Federal policy on commercial use of Internet, thecorporation for National research Initiatives approached the Federal NetworkingCouncil for permission to experiment with the interconnection of MCI Mail withthe Internet. An experimental electronic mail relay was built and put intooperation in 1989, and shortly thereafter Compuserve, ATTMail, and Sprintmail,followed suit. Once again, a far-sighted experimental effort coupled with wisepolicy choice stimulated investment by industry and expansion of the nationsinfrastructure. In the past few years, commercial use of the Internet has exploded(Cerf 5). The Internet is experiencing exponential growth in the number ofnetworks, numbe r of hosts, and volume of traffic. NSFNET backbone traffic morethan doubled annually from a terabyte per month in March 1991 to 18 terabytes, aterabyte is a thousand bytes, a month in November 1994. The number of hostcomputers increased from 200 to 5,000,000 in the 12 years between 1983-1995 a factor of 25,000 (Cerf 5). In an extraordinary development, the NSFNETbackbone was retired at the end of April 1995, with almost no visible effortsfrom the point of view of users. This left all of the hard work to be handled by theInternet service providers. A fully commercial system of backbones has beenerected where a government sponsored system once existed. Indeed, the keynetworks that made the Internet possible are now gone but the Internet thrives(Cerf 6). In 1990, Hyper Text Markup Language, HTML, a hypertext Internetprotocol which would communicate the graphic info on the Internet, wasintroduced. Each individual could create graphic pages, a website, which thenbecame part of a huge, v irtual hypertext network called the World Wide Web. Goldsmith Bankers EssayAmerica On- Line, Netcom and small Internet service providers haveexperienced serious network crashes and extensive down times for theirservices. A full 30 percent of telephone calls to service providers get a busysignal. The rate of growth is a giant tsunami nearing the shores of ouraccessibility to unlimited information (Curtis 10). The Internet has changed muchin the two decades since it came into existence. It was conceived in the era oftime-sharing, but has survived into the era of personal computers, client- server,peer-to-peer computer, and the network computer. It was designed before LANsexisted, but has accommodated that new network technology. It was envisionedas supporting a range of functions from file sharing and remote login to resourcesharing and collaboration, and has spawned electronic mail and ,more recently,the World Wide Web. But most important, it started as the creation of a smallband of dedicated researchers, and has grown to be a comme rcial success withbillions of dollars of annual investment (Leiner 18). There is also now talk ofInternet2. With the promise of access and transfer rates of up to 1,000 times whatis possible with the Internet today, the Internet2 (I2) project is deserving of theattention it has received. But do not expect to be cruising at lightning speedanytime soon. Internet2 is currently confined to academia, government researchcenters, and non profit organizations (Krueger 302). It remains to be seenwhether Internet2 can accomplish its goals and then merge its findings andadvances with the commercial Internet in the time frame suggested. In the end,improved bandwidth and multimedia solutions that meet or exceed the goals ofthe Next Generation Internet, NGI, may be realized all by the year 2002deadline. Only time will tell. If I2 flies, however, we may soon hear thebuzzword Internet3 (Krueger 306). One should not conclude that the Internet hasnow finished changing. The Internet, although a netwo rk in name and geography,is a creature of the computer, not the traditional network of the telephone ortelevision industry. It will, indeed it must, continue to change and evolve at thespeed of the computer industry if it is to remain relevant. The most pressingquestion for the future of the Internet is not how the technology will change, buthow the process of change and evolution itself will be managed. If the Internetstumbles, it will not be because we lack for technology, vision, or motivation. Itwill be because we cannot set a direction and march collectively into the future(Leiner 18).