Rivers in the Wasteland by NEEDTOBREATHE free essay sample

Needtobreathe is an American alternative rock band from Seneca, South Carolina. The band is composed of Bear Rinehart with lead vocals, guitar, and piano, Bo Rinehart with backing vocals and guitar, and Seth Bolt with backing vocals and bass. Their most recent album is called â€Å"Rivers in the Wasteland† and was released this year. It is easily recognizable by their more organic and acoustic-driven sound, attributed to the recent resignation of their former drummer Joe Stillwell. This new album is more mature, featuring beautiful lyrics describing their never-ending faith, loyalty to each other, and relationship with God. The opening song, â€Å"Wasteland† is the story of realizing what matters most to us in the end. Sometimes in all of our lives we feel as if we are living in a wasteland, constantly being bombarded with the negativity of society, and this song tells us to have hope and look for the â€Å"river in the wasteland†. We will write a custom essay sample on Rivers in the Wasteland by NEEDTOBREATHE or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This song perfectly sets up the album, by explaining the title of the album and revealing the trials and tribulations of the band right at the starting gate. â€Å"Brother† is a song essentially about the relationship of the band. Their brotherhood was put to the test with the resignation of Joe Stillwell, and they passed with flying colors. Not only did they come back even stronger than before, but it also reflected in their music. Lines like â€Å"brother let me be your shelter†, and â€Å"I can be the one you call when you’re low† show just how much they care for each other as a band. Bo Rinehart says in an interview â€Å"The band had to go through a pretty tough time to realize how much we needed each other, but we came out the other side with an appreciation that only brothers can have.† â€Å"Difference Maker† is probably the most meaningful and thought-provoking songs in the album. At first it comes off as beautiful and inspirational, but after really listening to the lyrics, you realize it might be just the opposite. It is more of a sad satire, about an arrogant man who looks back at the crowd and says that he is the difference maker; he is the only one who speaks to God. What Bear wanted us to realize is, â€Å"How valuable are we, really?†. It shows us how foolish our pride really is. The last song, â€Å"More Heart, Less Attack† pinpoints the theme of the band as a whole, to be more loving and less hateful or negative. It is the perfect ending to a fantastic album, leaving us inspired and wanting more. In an interview, Bear says that the album to him is autobiographical. He says, â€Å"That’s what the wasteland is all about. There’s a crack in the door filled with light, and that’s all we have to start. Our ambition got in the way and our priorities got in the wrong place, and being on the road, and not knowing where we are. At the end of the album, the truth is there, and we’ve realigned our priorities. That really is the story of what happened to the band over that year. God had a plan for this album.† Rivers in the Wasteland teaches us about love, faith, and brotherhood with inspiring lyrics and beautiful melodies. It is an eye-opening album that I will continue to listen to for many years to come.

How to Speak Shakespearean Verse

How to Speak Shakespearean Verse We start with a practical approach to an old question: how do you speak Shakespearian verse? Bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom and drama studio with the understanding that Shakespeare wrote his plays in verse. This poetic framework not only gives characters a structured speech pattern but enhanced authority. What Is Verse? Unlike modern plays, Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote plays in verse. This is a poetic framework that gives characters a structured speech pattern and enhances their authority. Typically, Shakespeare’s verse is written in lines of ten syllables, with an ‘unstress-stress’ pattern. The stress is naturally on the even-numbered syllables. For example, take a look at the first line of Twelfth Night: If mu- / -sic be / the food / of love, / play onba- BUM / ba- BUM / ba- BUM / ba- BUM / ba- BUM However, verse isn’t spoken continuously in Shakespeare’s plays. Generally, characters of higher status speak verse (whether they are magical or aristocratic), especially if they are thinking aloud or expressing their passions. So it would follow that characters of low status don’t speak in verse – they speak in prose. The easiest way to tell whether a speech is written in verse or prose is to look at how the text is presented on the page. Verse doesn’t go to the edge of the page, whereas prose does. This is because of the ten syllables to a line structure. Workshop: Verse Speaking Exercises Choose a lengthy speech by any character in a Shakespeare play and read it aloud whilst walking around. Physically change direction every time you reach a comma, colon or full stop. This will force you to see that each clause in a sentence suggests a new thought or idea for your character.Repeat this exercise, but instead of changing direction, say the words â€Å"comma† and â€Å"full stop† out loud when you get to the punctuation. This exercise helps heighten your awareness of where there is punctuation in your speech and what its purpose is.Using the same text, take a pen and underline what you think are the natural stress words. If you spot an often repeated word, underline that as well. Then practice speaking the text with an emphasis on these key stress words.Using the same speech, speak it aloud forcing yourself to make a physical gesture on every single word. This gesture can be clearly connected to the word (for example a finger point on â€Å"him†) or c an be more abstract. This exercise helps you to value every word in the text, but again it will make you prioritize the correct stresses because you will naturally gesture more when saying keywords. Finally and above all, keep speaking the words aloud and enjoying the physical act of speech. This enjoyment is the key to all good verse speaking. Performance Tips Always use the punctuation in order to discover the natural places to pause or breathe when speaking verse. A common mistake is to always pause for breath at the end of a line. As Shakespeare often writes sentences that go across lines, this tendency to breath at the end of the line will distort the meaning and create an unnatural intonation.Be aware of the natural stress rhythms in the verse but don’t allow them to dominate your delivery of the line. Instead look at the line in its entirety and decide where your stress should go.Listen to the beautiful imagery and poetic elements of the verse and close your eyes when saying the words. Allow the imagery to form pictures in your mind. This will help you find meaning and substance in your lines. If you connect imaginatively with the language, you will naturally speak the words more effectively.Listen carefully to the colliding rhythms and sounds in Shakespeare’s verse. Often repeated words, harmonic sounds, and clashing s ounds help you to understand Shakespeare’s intentions and the motivations of your character. Obviously, use a dictionary if the context doesn’t present you with the meaning of a word you say. Not knowing the meaning of one of your words can be a problem. If you don’t know what it means, the chances are the audience won’t either!

Metacognitive Strategies in Solving Mathematical Problems Article

Metacognitive Strategies in Solving Mathematical Problems - Article Example The research study has applied multiple regression analysis to evaluate the predictive ability of the identified variables so as to tabulate the performance for the routine and non-routine calculus problems. The study has significantly found that problem solving skill is acquired through practice and utilization of thinking strategies which is the corner stone on which advanced mathematical ideas, particularly calculus is built upon. The study has also revealed that there are six meaningful predictive factors for calculus related to performance in problem solving. The variable of Strategy is the major projection followed by Accommodation, Self-efficacy, Definition, Exploration and Execution. Nevertheless, the variables with the highest practical importance are Accommodation and Self-Efficacy. With these findings, educators will be able to clinically evaluate a person's ability to regulate, monitor and control his/her own cognitive processes. Instructional strategies can be developed for individuals having difficulty with the learning environment. The purpose of this study is to develop an instrument to adequately identify metacognitive strategies utilized by individuals' in the processes of solving mathematical problems. A cognitive process whether it is regular or irregular, conscious ... This is based on the hypothesis that a problem solver needs to be aware of the current activity regarding the overall goal along with the strategies used to attain that goal. It is well established that successful students possess powerful strategies for dealing with problems in order to arrive at novel solutions. Background Information on the Problem The metacognitive awareness merges itself by adjusting and recognizing the expansive bank of multiple metacognitive experiences. This has been previously described by Flavell (1976) as being a conscious cognitive or affective experience that accompanies our actions by dispensing to an intellectual enterprise. Thus, metacognition involves the "active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration" of cognitive course in order to achieve cognitive goals (Flavell 1976:p. 252). Review of Literature Kluwe (1982) has expanded on Flavell's theory of metacognition by shedding new light on the previously established empirical concept. He has identified two general attributes common to thinking procedures which are known as 'metacognitive'. Both attributes identified by Kluwe have to do with the person who exercises metacognitive thinking. The first postulates that "the thinking subject has some knowledge about his own thinking and that of other persons," while the second professes that "the thinking subject may monitor and regulate the course of his own thinking, i.e., may act as the causal agent of his own thinking" (1982, p. 202).Drawing from that, all processes seek to adapt and regulate a multitude of solutions actively. Research Question(s) Statement of the Problem Creation of Essential Question The concept of metacognition and thinking practices was first echoed by Rickard (1995) and