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The importance of volunteerism
Why is having volunteers in the public services important
The importance of volunteerism
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When a woman approached Benjamin Franklin following the concluding session of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the fall of 1787 and asked what sort of government the delegates had come up with, Franklin famously replied: "A republic, madam, if you can keep it." The relevance of that notable statement transcended centuries and applied itself not only to national politics. The People’s participation in maintaining an agreeable government depends on a collective activism regarding both state and local civic affairs. Arizonans must become more active in the multiple facets of public service. In a state that has experienced tremendous population growth over the past couple decades, these migrants have found themselves disconnected from their new communities. In addition, there is a demand to increase the rate of volunteering, as more communities struggle with the current recession and state budget cuts. There is also a need to boost voter participation; citizens of a diverse state such as Arizona should take advantage of available political forums to contribute their varied opinions and solutions – or else legislation passed won’t reflect the true wishes of the people. One way to ensure a civically engaged population is to nurture and promote amongst youth and teenagers the value of participating in one’s community, with the hope that involvement will continue into adulthood. Most school districts in Arizona do not require students to volunteer as a graduation requirement. Those that do, necessitate a number of hours to be completed and logged individually; for example, Deer Valley Unified School District in Maricopa County requires eight hours of volunteering during a student’s senior year. Of course any opportunity for one to help society should be applauded – however, this particular process negates cooperative long-term attachment to a beneficial project and does not incorporate knowledge learned in class, or apply meaning in a real-life context. The implementation of Service-learning programs into public school curriculum would uphold useful skills associated with community involvement and citizenship, as well as address problems in real settings rather than do repetitious tasks in seclusion. Service-learning is defined as a “course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility” (Bringle & Hatcher, 1995).
In 1861, Harriet Jacobs published her book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” The story is based in Southern United States of America during the time before Jacob escaped from slavery in 1835 (Reilly 649). Jacobs uses the name Linda Brent as a pseudonym (Reilly 649) and describes her experience as a female slave through a first person narration. The purpose of the selections featured in Kevin Reilly's, “Worlds of History,” is to show the victimization and emotional suffering female slaves feel against their white masters vs. the physical pain a male slave endures.
Educating the North of the dismay of slavery through the use of literature was one strategy that led to the questioning, and ultimately, the destruction of slavery. Therefore, Harriet Jacobs’s narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is very effective in using various tactics in order to get women in the North to pay attention and question the horrifying conditions in the South. By acknowledging that not all slaveholders were inhumane, explaining the horrific abuse and punishments slaves endured, and comparing the manner in which whites and slaves spent their holidays, Jacobs’s narrative serves its purpose of arousing Northern women to take notice of the appalling conditions tons of Southern
In the excerpt of "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", Harriet Jacobs aims to convince her readers how slavery effects young girl 's life’s. She wields control over her audience because of the nature of the autobiography. Autobiographical works are based in that only one point of view is presented and that is the point of view of the protagonist. Jacobs uses rhetorical strategies and maneuvers to shape the reactions of their readers in her narrative. She repeatedly includes realistic images of brutality at the hands of the slave-owners, constantly uses an emotional appeal, connotation, and euphemism.
Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is one of the few narratives depicting the degradation’s endured by female slaves at the hand of brutal masters. Jacobs’ narrative is sending a message to women to come together and end the unfair treatment all women are subjected to. By bringing images of slavery and the message of unity of women to the forefront, Jacobs is attempting to end the tyranny over women perpetrated by men and the tyranny over blacks perpetrated by whites. Integrity and agency are ideals that Americans have fought for over the years. Jacobs reshapes these ideas and makes decisions and takes full reposibilities for her actions to become the ideal and representative image of womanhood.
Slave Women in Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Toni Morrison's Beloved
The functional area of service-learning is currently emerging as an acknowledged department at an institution of higher education. The theoretical roots of service learning go back to John Dewey, and the early twentieth century. However, current research on service-learning pedagogy dates back only to the early 1990’s. Best practices for the field are still being created as more and more new offices are springing up on campuses throughout the United States and institutions internationally. The reason this functional area is becoming ever popular is due to the positive impact it has on students and most all educational outcomes.
Harriet Jacobs tells her story by breaking it down into sections according to different important aspects of her life. In doing this, each section is described vividly to give the reader a full effect and greater understanding of how it was to be treated as property. Like was said be...
important issues, gain new perspectives and provides learning experiences for volunteers as well as individuals from underserved groups. Because of the numerous benefits, college students should enroll in the Service Learning courses or service learning based programs. These programs allows students to move away from the dualism versus unity point of view and focus on reciprocity and provides the skills necessary to approach future service experiences with a service learning perspective.
Slavery in the middle of the 19th century was well known by every American in the country, but despite the acknowledgment of slavery the average citizen did not realize the severity of the lifestyle of the slave before slave narratives began to arise. In Incidents in the life of a slave girl, Harriet Jacobs uses an explicit tone to argue the general life of slave compared to a free person, as well as the hardships one endured on one’s path to freedom. Jacobs fought hard in order to expand the abolitionist movement with her narrative. She was able to draw in the readers by elements of slave culture that helped the slaves endure the hardships like religion and leisure and the middle class ideals of the women being “submissive, past, domestic,
Since the founding of our nation, government has constantly been changing and developing as the United States has been evolving. What started out as thirteen colonies rules by another country expanded into fifty states of an independent country each with its own ideas and people to look out for. With this expanding country it was important that the government expand but also that the American people felt like they had a voice. Their voice can be heard in the varying types of participation of the political process at the national, state, and local level. Mona Field’s California Government and Politics Today and Ann O’M. Bowman’s State and Local Government: The Essentials both discuss the topics of the importance of state government, the levels and types of political participation done by Americans, and the increasing importance of state governments.
As female slaves such as Harriet Jacob continually were fighting to protect their self respect, and purity. Harriet Jacob in her narrative, the readers get an understanding of she was trying to rebel against her aggressive master, who sexually harassed her at young age. She wasn’t protected by the law, and the slaveholders did as they pleased and were left unpunished. Jacobs knew that the social group,who were“the white women”, would see her not as a virtuous woman but hypersexual. She states “I wanted to keep myself pure, - and I tried hard to preserve my self-respect, but I was struggling alone in the grasp of the demon slavery.” (Harriet 290)The majority of the white women seemed to criticize her, but failed to understand her conditions and she did not have the free will. She simply did not have that freedom of choice. It was the institution of slavery that failed to recognize her and give her the basic freedoms of individual rights and basic protection. Harriet Jacobs was determined to reveal to the white Americans the sexual exploitations that female slaves constantly fa...
Following participation in an Engaged Department Institute sponsored by Campus Compact, a service-learning requirement was instituted for all majors in the department studied beginning Fall 2002. All faculty were encouraged to incorporate service-learning in their courses. A training session on service-learning was the centerpiece of a departmental retreat in January 2002. In order to develop closer relationships with community agencies, the department hosted a faculty-partnership luncheon the following fall semester. Potential community partners were invited to meet with faculty in an effort to forge new relationships with the University. In order to institutionalize service-learning, all recruitment advertisements specifically mention service-learning and all new hires are expected to include service-learning components in their courses. As a consequence of these efforts, this department has gone from teaching only a few courses with service-learning components to offering twenty five different classes (thirteen courses) by Fall 2002.
Public service is a very beneficial activity. It can help teach people life skills, social skills, and responsibility. However, if required, it can bring about issues. If a person is required to perform public service between high school and college, it is possible that he or she might not go back to school or try to get a full time job. Money could also be an issue; if someone is performing public service, he or she cannot have a steady job to earn a sufficient income. According to Dennis Welch (Senior Staff Writer for “The Gallup Organization”), over half of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 were opposed to the thought of a public service requirement as of 2004 (1). While public service can be a benefit to both society and the person doing
A service learning experience is designed to enhance a student 's growth in personal and social development and to obtain an understanding of community involvement. For my service learning experience, I volunteered at Change Point Center. In this reflection paper, I will discuss in depth information about the services that Change Point provides, my goals while I was there,and what I ultimately learned from this experience.
Kim, in the United States, grades are not the only factor in evaluating school applicants and job candidates. From Rhodes Scholar selections to college applications, excellence in other areas such as leadership, volunteer activities, sports and arts is equally important (p82-90). In American schools, students are encouraged to do volunteer work. So much so that many schools have guidelines for how much time students are expected to spend serving in the community. Children learn the value of giving from an early age. Volunteer activities is one way Americans feel a part of things and share the goal of serving and contributing to build their communities. From neighborhood watch programs to environmental issues, Americans do not wait for the government to initiate action: they take action to bring about the changes they desire. Therefore, Americans view volunteer work as a way to teach children and young adults values such as cooperation and teamwork, dedication and work ethics, equality and social justice, leadership, generosity and compassion for