Overview of the Sri Lankan Civil War

Overview of the Sri Lankan Civil War In the late 20th century, the island nation of Sri Lanka tore itself apart in a brutal civil war. At the most basic level, the conflict arose from the ethnic tension between Sinhalese and Tamil citizens. In reality, though, the causes were much more complex and arose in large part because of Sri Lankas colonial history. Background Great Britain ruled Sri Lanka- then called Ceylon- from 1815 to 1948. When the British arrived, the country was dominated by Sinhalese speakers whose ancestors likely arrived on the island from India in the 500s BCE. Sri Lankan people seem to have been in contact with Tamil speakers from southern India since at least the second century BCE, but migrations of significant numbers of Tamils to the island appear to have taken place later, between the seventh and 11th centuries CE. In 1815, the population of Ceylon numbered about three million predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese and 300,000 mostly Hindu Tamils. The British established huge cash crop plantations on the island, first of coffee, and later of rubber and tea. Colonial officials brought in approximately a million Tamil speakers from India to work as plantation laborers. The British also established schools in the northern, Tamil-majority part of the colony, and preferentially appointed Tamils to bureaucratic positions, angering the Sinhalese majority. This was a common divide-and-rule tactic in European colonies that had troubling results in the post-colonial era in places such as Rwanda and Sudan. Civil War Erupts The British granted Ceylon independence in 1948. The Sinhalese majority immediately began to pass laws that discriminated against Tamils, particularly the Indian Tamils brought to the island by the British. They made Sinhalese the official language, driving Tamils out of the civil service. The Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 effectively barred Indian Tamils from holding citizenship, making stateless people out of some 700,000. This was not remedied until 2003, and anger over such measures fueled the bloody rioting that broke out repeatedly in the following years. After decades of increasing ethnic tension, the war began as a low-level insurgency in July 1983. Ethnic riots broke out in Colombo and other cities.  Tamil Tiger insurgents killed 13 army soldiers, prompting violent reprisals against Tamil civilians by their Sinhalese neighbors across the country. Between 2,500 and 3,000 Tamils likely died, and many thousands more fled to Tamil-majority regions. The Tamil Tigers declared the First Eelam War (1983-87) with the aim of creating a separate Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka called Eelam. Much of the fighting was directed initially at other Tamil factions; the Tigers massacred their opponents and consolidated power over the separatist movement by 1986. At the outbreak of the war, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India offered to mediate a settlement. However, the Sri Lankan government distrusted her motivations, and it was later shown that her government was arming and training Tamil guerrillas in camps in southern India. Relations between the Sri Lankan government and India deteriorated, as Sri Lankan coast guards seized Indian fishing boats to search for weapons. Over the next few years, violence escalated as the Tamil insurgents used car bombs, suitcase bombs, and landmines against Sinhalese military and civilian targets. The quickly-expanding Sri Lankan army responded by rounding up Tamil youths and torturing and disappearing them. India Intervenes In 1987, Indias Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, decided to directly intervene in the Sri Lankan Civil War by sending peacekeepers. India was concerned about separatism in its own Tamil region, Tamil Nadu, as well as a potential flood of refugees from Sri Lanka. The peacekeepers mission was to disarm militants on both sides, in preparation for peace talks. The Indian peacekeeping force of 100,000 troops not only was unable to quell the conflict, it actually began fighting with the Tamil Tigers. The Tigers refused to disarm, sent female bombers and child soldiers to attack the Indians, and relations escalated into running skirmishes between the peacekeeping troops and the Tamil guerrillas. In May 1990, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa forced India to recall its peacekeepers; 1,200 Indian soldiers had died battling the insurgents. The following year, a female Tamil suicide bomber named Thenmozhi Rajaratnam assassinated Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally. President Premadasa would die in a similar attack in May 1993. Second Eelam War After the peacekeepers withdrew, the Sri Lankan Civil War entered an even bloodier phase, which the Tamil Tigers named the Second Eelam War.  It began when the Tigers seized between 600 and 700 Sinhalese police officers in the Eastern Province on June 11, 1990, in an effort to weaken government control there. The police laid down their weapons and surrendered to the militants after the Tigers promised no harm would come to them. However, the militants took the policemen into the jungle, forced them to kneel, and shot them all dead, one by one. A week later, the Sri Lankan Minister of Defense announced, From now on, it is all out war. The government cut off all shipments of medicine and food to the Tamil stronghold on the Jaffna peninsula  and initiated an intensive aerial bombardment. The Tigers responded with massacres of hundreds of Sinhalese and Muslim villagers. Muslim self-defense units and government troops conducted tit-for-tat massacres in Tamil villages. The government also massacred Sinhalese school children in Sooriyakanda and buried the bodies in a mass grave, because the town was a base for the Sinhala splinter group known as the JVP. In July 1991, 5,000 Tamil Tigers surrounded the governments army base at Elephant Pass, laying siege to it for a month. The pass is a bottleneck leading to the Jaffna Peninsula, a key strategic point in the region. Some 10,000 government troops raised the siege after four weeks, but over 2,000 fighters on both sides had been killed, making this the bloodiest battle in the entire civil war. Although they held this chokepoint, government troops could not capture Jaffna itself despite repeated assaults in 1992-93. Third Eelam War January 1995 saw the Tamil Tigers sign a peace agreement with the new government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. However, three months later the Tigers planted explosives on two Sri Lankan naval gunboats, destroying the ships and the peace accord. The government responded by declaring a war for peace, in which Air Force jets pounded civilian sites and refugee camps on the Jaffna Peninsula, while ground troops perpetrated a number of massacres against civilians in Tampalakamam, Kumarapuram, and elsewhere. By December 1995, the peninsula was under government control for the first time since the war began. Some 350,000 Tamil refugees and the Tiger guerrillas fled inland to the sparsely populated Vanni region of the Northern Province. The Tamil Tigers responded to the loss of Jaffna in July 1996 by launching an eight-day assault on the town of Mullaitivu, which was protected by 1,400 government troops. Despite air support from the Sri Lankan Air Force, the government position was overrun by the 4,000-strong guerrilla army in a decisive Tiger victory. More than 1,200 of the government soldiers were killed, including about 200 who were doused with gasoline and burned alive after they surrendered; the Tigers lost 332 troops. Another aspect of the war took place simultaneously in the capital of Colombo and other southern cities, where Tiger suicide bombers struck repeatedly in the late 1990s. They hit the Central Bank in Colombo, the Sri Lankan World Trade Centre, and the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a shrine housing a relic of the Buddha himself. A suicide bomber tried to assassinate President Chandrika Kumaratunga in December 1999- she survived  but lost her right eye. In April 2000, the Tigers retook Elephant Pass  but were unable to recover the city of Jaffna. Norway began trying to negotiate a settlement, as war-weary Sri Lankans of all ethnic groups looked for a way to end the interminable conflict. The Tamil Tigers declared a unilateral ceasefire in December 2000, leading to hope that the civil war was truly winding down. However, in April 2001, the Tigers rescinded the ceasefire and pushed north on the Jaffna Peninsula once more. A July 2001 Tiger suicide attack on the Bandaranaike International Airport destroyed eight military jets and four airliners, sending Sri Lankas tourism industry into a tailspin. Long Road to Peace The September 11 attacks in the United States  and the subsequent War on Terror  made it more difficult for the Tamil Tigers to get overseas funding and support. The United States also began to offer direct aid to the Sri Lankan government, despite its terrible human rights record over the course of the civil war. Public weariness with the fighting led to President Kumaratungas party losing control of parliament and the election of a new, pro-peace government. Throughout 2002 and 2003, the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers negotiated various ceasefires and signed a Memorandum of Understanding, again mediated by the Norwegians. The two sides compromised with a federal solution, rather than the Tamils demand for a two-state solution or the governments insistence on a unitary state. Air and ground traffic resumed between Jaffna and the rest of Sri Lanka.   However, on October 31, 2003, the Tigers declared themselves in full control of the north and east regions of the country, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. Within just over a year, monitors from Norway recorded 300 infractions of the ceasefire by the army and 3,000 by the Tamil Tigers. When the Indian Ocean Tsunami hit Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004, it killed 35,000 people and sparked another disagreement between the Tigers and the government over how to distribute aid in Tiger-held areas. On August 12, 2005, the Tamil Tigers lost much of their remaining cachet with the international community when one of their snipers killed Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a highly respected ethnic Tamil who was critical of Tiger tactics. Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran warned that his guerrillas would go on the offensive once more in 2006 if the government failed to implement the peace plan. Fighting erupted again, including the bombing of civilian targets such as packed commuter trains and buses in Colombo. The government also began assassinating pro-Tiger journalists and politicians. Massacres against civilians on both sides left thousands dead over the next few years, including 17 charity workers from Frances Action Against Hunger, who were shot down in their office. On September 4, 2006, the army drove the Tamil Tigers from the key coastal city of Sampur. The Tigers retaliated by bombing a naval convoy, killing more than 100 sailors who were on shore leave. After October 2006 peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, did not produce results, the Sri Lankan government launched a massive offensive in eastern and northern parts of the islands to crush the Tamil Tigers once and for all. The 2007-2009 eastern and northern offensives were extremely bloody, with tens of thousands of civilians caught between the army and Tiger lines. Entire villages were left depopulated and ruined in what a U.N. spokesman termed a bloodbath. As the government troops closed in on the last rebel strongholds, some Tigers blew themselves up. Others were summarily executed by the soldiers after they surrendered, and these war crimes were captured on video. On May 16, 2009, the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Tamil Tigers. The following day, an official Tiger website conceded that This battle has reached its bitter end. People in Sri Lanka and around the world expressed relief that the devastating conflict had finally ended after 26 years, hideous atrocities on both sides, and some 100,000 deaths. The only question remaining is whether the perpetrators of those atrocities will face trials for their crimes.

McDonald's Public Relations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

McDonald's Public Relations - Case Study Example This organization need is what has evolved to Corporate Social Responsibility (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011). Corporate Social Responsibility is the attempt by an organization to address some of the emerging issues concerning their role in society. However, there have been debates on some organizations appear to circumvent this responsibility, regardless of corporate social responsibility requirement in social or legal terms (McKee and Lamb, 2009). This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of McDonald’s corporate social responsibility, as well as the organization’s ability to identify public relation opportunities and problems, and their reinvention from bad publicity. The growing public demand and awareness for socially responsibility businesses has prompted business organizations to consider corporate social responsibility. One of the international companies with a corporate social responsibility is McDonalds. McDonalds is the largest food chain in the world, s pecializing in hamburger. McDonalds considers corporate social responsibility as achieving results, maintaining open communication with customers and other stakeholders, and taking actions. As part of its framework for corporate social responsibility, McDonald’s works in association with its suppliers to ensure that its supply chain promotes socially responsible practices (Eyre & Littleton, 2012). According to its website, the organization has code of conduct purposely for its suppliers, which clearly stipulates how the suppliers should treat its customers (Aidoo, 2005). McDonald’s has had success in supporting suppliers phasing out gestation crates in the supply chain. The organization claims that about 50% of all contracted hog farms of Cargill use the new-generation system that do not incorporate gestation stalls. In 2007 for instance, the food chain giant embarked on sustainability projects with efforts of improving the working conditions for its farm workers in th e tomato industry in Florida. The result was an enhanced environmental practice in the agricultural supply chain of the organization and made the farm sustainable. Despite the fact that MacDonald’s buys about 1.5% of the tomatoes in Florida annually, the organization and the suppliers laid down the industry-leading growing standards, improving the working conditions in the farms and making the farm business sustainable (Sriramesh and Vercic, 2009). One of the indicators of MacDonald’s approach and its contribution to the communities is the Flagship Farms Initiative (FAI) in Europe. This particular program involves seven progressive farms that employ innovative farming practices in Europe, carrying out research on the ethical farming practices that incorporate into commercial farming systems. Another prime example is visible in the Sustainable Fisheries program, incorporating the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. The program essentially lays down sustainable standards that stipulate McDonald’s worldwide purchases for wild-caught fish into making Fillet-o-Fish, thus making the relevant fishery business a sustainable business (Royle, 2005). McDonald’s also engages in donating some of its profit portion to corporate philanthropy as part of its corporate social responsibility. The organization donates to the communities through the Ronald McDonald House Charities, a foundation that aims to create, support, and find programs that improve

Classical greek influence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Classical greek influence - Research Paper Example Zeus was the king of Greek gods and god of weather and rains in ancient Greece. Zeus like other gods prevented humankind from making progress and learning the basics of life. These gods punished people for not obeying their orders. Gods were against the use of fire by human beings as it was the symbol of power for the god and goddess (Roebuck, 1984). Doric, Ionic and Corinthian were the architectural orders used by people, which were commonly seen in their temples. Doric was the basic order that was used previously by Spartans (Durant, 1997). Initially wooden structures were used and these were replaced with stones later on. Religion and god images are very clear on construction of golden age. Corinthian order was not frequently used for being very fancy. Ionic architecture was the final order. Dimensions of these orders were eight to nine feet high instead of four feet. Sculpture shapes are also found on the Ionic structure. Stones were also used to carve hair shape and other religious shapes in the Ionic architecture (Durant,

Arguments For And Against A Deterrence Justification Criminology Essay

Arguments For And Against A Deterrence Justification Criminology Essay The idea that punishment requires some sort of justification is because it is seen to involve some of infliction of suffering or pain (Bentham, 1789, p 45) and as a result can only truly be justified if its consequences are deemed to be beneficial (Bentham, 1789, p 45). The idea of deterrence is to stop individuals committing further offences, known as individual deterrence but to also by deterring potential offenders within the community from committing a similar offence. Zimring and Hawkins (1973, p 40) suggest this to be known as general deterrence, and works on the basis that punishment such as prison sentences deters criminals due to the fear of the punishment (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p 300). Punishment is hoped to achieve particular aims by implementing different theories of sentencing, depending on the sentencing policy will depend on the balance between six different theories. Within deterrence theory, offenders and potential offenders must be evaluated, and it must be decided as to what will make an impact on them. The idea of deterrence aims to make potential offenders think about their actions and the likely consequences of them (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p 240). Therefore it could be seen that deterrence approaches show little concern with the severity of the crime committed, but more so with the prevention of the crime being committed again, and could therefore be seen by some as ignoring the problem of crime (Ashworth, p 1078). However, deterrence is not always designed to punish people however, but to stop those committing further offences, focusing on how actions will affect their future behaviour (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p, 249), and this can be seen through absolute discharges for example, the idea to act as a warning to not commit a further offence or they will be punished (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p 249). This is a similar idea to what is used in everyday life theory underpinning a threat issued to encourage people to comply with rules or refrain from infringing them (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p 245). A problem arises however, when deciding what is expected to deter others, Bentham (1789, p 1079) and more recently Walker (1991, p 1079) suggest that an appropriate action to be setting penalties to outweigh the benefits of committing an offence, however this relies on the premise that those who commit crime are rational thinkers and that are responsible for their actions. This premise however, causes conflict as to whether or not criminals are in fact rational within their actions or whether crime is in fact an act of impulse. Early examples of deterrence, such as the Panopticon, as designed by Bentham (1971, p 26) suggested a circular, tiered building with inward looking cells, towards a central inspection tower, to promote the idea that behaviour within prisons would be regulated as prisoners would not know if they were being watched and therefore would behave. The idea also being that the Panopticon would be placed near a city centre, so it would be seen as a reminder to the community of the consequences of crime thus reinforcing the idea of general deterrence. In some circumstances deterrence approaches have appeared to work, Ross et al (1970, p 68) suggested that after the introduction of the Breathalyzer in 1967, and taking into account other external factors, reported a drop in all road casualties. Similarly, Condon (1994, p 246) reported that after a high number of fatalities on roads in West London, after speed cameras were introduced, these fatalities were reduced by one third. However, these studies are examples of offences which may be more likely to be thought about, on the basis that the probability of being caught may be deemed to be high, or linked to the consequences of their actions and the value that someone places on holding a license. The Home Office (1990, p 296) suggested that although some criminals appear to be calculating and balance risk and gain, much crime conducted is acted upon impulse and therefore would be unrealistic to construct a sentencing system designed to deter, on the basis that most would not think about the consequences in advance. Davies, Croall and Tyrer (1998, p 246) also suggest that the most serious of criminal acts are often not calculated and therefore many would not consider getting caught. However, others disagree, and believe that not all crimes are random, and it is likely that calculations about the likelihood of being caught are likely to weighed up, and as a result may well deter some people from the decision to commit an offence, but this would require significant measurement of why some people decide to act or not act with criminal intent (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p 300) Von Hirsh and Ashworth (1993, p 296) reported that new law stated that the primary purpose for the sentencer should be with the aim of desert, rather than deterrence. If the idea that crime is based on criminals being calculating and balancing the options of risk and gain, then therefore punishment should not be pre-determined, but should vary on what offenders consider to be a non-desirable punishment in order to deter them, therefore their punishment need be flexible, and this may not be seen to be fair or just but should be seen to be effective and suit the notion that anything should be done (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 1998, p 246). It could also be seen that the idea of individual and general deterrence to be in conflict, if the idea of punishment is to punish on the basis of what deters an individual from re-offending then this may not be what would deter other potential offenders from committing a similar offence in the first instance. By implementing differential sentences then this reflects the view to change individual behaviour, but to deter the public, and therefore potential offenders sentences need to be fixed and certain regardless of age or circumstances (Wilson and Hernstein, p 34). Akers (1997, p 40) suggests that certainty of getting caught is more effective in deterring crime than the severity of punishment, however as Davies, Croall and Tyrer (1998, p 299) suggest that as only 2% of crimes result in a conviction, the assumption is that people are likely to deem the chances of being punished very low, therefore as Akers (1997, p 40) suggest if punishment is less certain, punishment must be more severe in order to deter in order for people to believe that they have more to lose than gain from committing a crime. Beyleveld (1978, p 40) agrees with Akers, that punishment should be increased to maintain effective deterrence, and suggests that the only way to deter different people with varying offences and circumstances is to set punishment out of proportion with the severity of the crime. However, Wright (1982, p 40) suggests that this may just encourage criminals to try harder to avoid detection for their crimes and that punishment should fit the crime. On the other hand, Beadau (1964, p 40) and Beyleveld (1979, p 40) have both suggested that the abolishment of the death penalty had no impact on the murder rates in the USA and UK respectively. Therefore, the severity of punishment could be seen to have little impact on the offending rates, and that other factors must be involved in the decision to commit a crime. Walker (1985, p 40) suggests that capital punishment is no more effective as a deterrence than imprisonment and that in most circumstances, murder is not a rational choice and therefore, the punishment is irrelevant and a deterrence effect is unlikely. It is therefore unjustifiable to construct punishment on the basis of deterrence, if it was never the intention to commit a criminal act. Wright (1993 p 8) addressed modern theories of the certainty and severity of punishment and rational choice theories suggest that people make decisions to act based on the choice to maximise profit and minimise loss, therefore the decisions to offend are based on perceived effort and reward rather than the chances of being caught and the severity of punishment (Becker 1986, p 8). Nonetheless, Charles Murray, in Does Prison Work? (1997 p 300) concludes that incarceration solves the problem of crime and that prison is the most effective way of deterring crime, short of the death penalty. Davies, Croall and Tyrer (1998, p 299) propose another problem with the idea of deterrence approaches to punishment is that there are high reconviction rates that show the majority of those who have been imprisoned will be reconvicted within two years, and therefore if punishment sees to be ineffective to prevent re-offending then a deterrence approach to punishment is unjustifiable and invalid (Bentham, p 57) Martin and Webster (1971, p 40) suggest that in some circumstances punishment may push individuals into a situation where they may have little to lose from re-offending, such as a lack of opportunities due to previous convictions, or loss of family. This also promotes a similar idea to labelling theorists who suggest that the notion of being caught and stigmatised may lead to an individual committing further offending. Chambliss (1969, p 157) reports that the criminal legal system is ineffective as it processes people who are least likely to be deterred from the punishment imposed, whilst ignoring any harsh treatment of those who would be deterred by such sanctions, maintaining organizational power. Davies, Croall and Tyrer (1998, p 34) also suggest that this can create a moral dilemma as those perceived by the courts as being less likely to offend will receive shorter or less harsh sentences than someone perceived more likely to re-offend, and therefore this maintains inequalities within the legal system and makes it harder to reinforce the view that deterrence is a valid concept for punishment. Overall it appears that there is much conflict as to if deterrence theory is a valid justification of punishment. Ross (1973, p 68) argues that the effect that deterrence has is due to the subjective probability of sanctions, and although there is some evidence as to what is considered effective examples of deterrence approaches, most studies are reported to be inconclusive. Therefore it can only be seen that the result of deterrence theory will depend on what is considered as value and as a risk to the individual, on the basis that crime is calculated. However there is little agreement as to what makes up this calculation, whether it is the likelihood of punishment, the type of crime, the severity of punishment. How criminals are perceived by sentencers in the criminal justice system reflects how they are treated, if they are perceived as calculating then it would be logical to propose heavier sentences, but if it is deemed to be an irrational factor than this would be illogical as a deterrence approach. Deterrence theory causes conflict with punishment as there is little consistency within sentencing to maintain effective deterrence, and although the view may be to deter individuals from re-offending, which has proved to be inconclusive, there is little evidence to show that flexibility within the sentencing process maintains general deterrence. Another problem with this approach it the idea of proportionality, and again this links to how the offender or potential offender is perceived by the criminal justice system. One of the main objections is that it focuses on the individual behaviour and the preconceptions of expected future behaviour, rather than focusing on the criminal act itself and the reasoning behind the offences, such as external factors, commonly linked to retributive approaches. Overall it would appear that there needs to be further investigation into the conception of human behaviour to explore reasoning, rational and irrational behind individual motivational states to carry out a criminal act.

Music of Mexico and Central America Essay

Musical expressions in Central America and Mexico are very diverse. Types of music in this geographic region have similarities with other types of Latin American music but have their distinctive differences. For instance, the marimba of Guatemala cannot be compared to a charcarera melody from Argentine. Also, it is quite easy to mariachi for merengue and vice versa if one doesn’t know the subtle differences between the two genres. The wide variety of instruments, the varied aspects of texts, poetic structures, languages, and dance rhythms in the music of Central America and Mexico prove the richness of these regions’ culture (Campbell et al.  9). Music tends to reflect the cultural values, behaviors, and surroundings of a given geographic region and its people. For this reason, musical traditions in Central America and Mexico have grown very diverse through centuries. Descendants of Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans who settled in Central America, Mexico, and the entire Latin America retained many features of their musical roots and creative various blends of Latin American music. Latin American songs touch on various themes. Mexico, and countries in Central America such as Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua have many love songs that are passionately sung by people, often with lyrics expressing loneliness, longing, and unconditional love. Aside from love songs, music in the Latin American region also have themes of current events and history, such as the nueva cancion of Chile and corridor of Mexico. Some songs also try to establish a connection between the singer and the supernatural, such as the songs that Chilean female shaman singers sing or the dances and chants that believers of Afro-Brazilian bahia perform. These types of songs are quite different from other musical traditions in the rest of the world but they are quite typical in Latin America. In addition, Mexico and Central American countries also have a huge collection of children’s songs, tribute songs, and songs of the seasons. Instruments used in the music of Central America and Mexico usually involve the guitar. The instrument is quite prominent in most Latin American cultures, especially those influenced by Hispanic traditions. Artists from Mexico and other Latin American countries like Brazil, and Venezuela usually make use of the maracas, clave, and guiro to produce the effect they want. Drums are also very important in the music of the region and various types of drums are used for different genres. Melodies are usually composed of notes in the minor key and rhythms which are crosses of threes and twos. Native Americans are known to produce pentatonic melodies while people of African descent frequently employ syncopation in their musical styles. Perhaps the best known feature of Mexican and Central American music is its ability to make people dance. It’s easy to dance to Latin American music, whether alone or in synch with partners (Campbell et al. 9). Over the years, radio, film, and television have popularized Mexican music to higher levels. Listeners worldwide are able to recognize Mexican music although they sometimes confuse it with other types of music from the Latin American region. The icon of Mexican music is the mariachi – a Mexican musician wearing a charo costume (Hutchinson 1192). Mariachis are known all over the world to transmit the meaning of being a Mexican. This musical group can sing anything, from ballads to songs about the revolution, from songs describing bar scenes to odes to regions and towns. Mariachis are also popular for their uniforms called charros. A charro consists of a bolero-type jacket, tight pants with a belt of intricately woven design, and a wide-brimmed hat filled with ribbons, chains, and silver buttons. This unique Mariachi costume is very similar to the simpler costumes that cowboys wear. Aside from the costume, Mariachis and cowboys also have origins in the same place, which is in Jalisco and other neighboring states (Kermecker 49). A mariachi band usually consists of three or four guitarists. Bands would usually play together for townspeople at gazebos or â€Å"quioscos† in the Main Square or â€Å"zocalo. † Today in Mexico, up to eighteen mariachi musicians can organize in a main square and play any song that the townspeople want to hear. Aside from the guitar, mariachis use instruments such as vihuelas (smaller guitars with five strings), guitarrones (six-string vihuelas with big bellies), violins, harps, and trumpets for the energetic accents of Mexican songs. The term â€Å"mariachi† could have originated from the French word â€Å"mariage,† which would make sense since mariachis usually play at weddings. However, experts today insist that mariachis have existed long before the French came to Mexico. The name might have originated from the Mexican word â€Å"mariachi† which refers to a small platform for musicians and dancing couples. Mariachis can be found all over Mexico, but especially in places such as Garribaldi in Mexico City and in Guadalajara, in the Plaza de Los Mariachis located at the intersection of Independencia Sur and Mina. Visitors at these places can pay mariachis to play them any Mexican song they want (Kernecker 49). Mariachis can employ other Latin American musical instruments to play their songs. They can use the the marimba, a hugely popular musical instrument in Central and South America. Marimbas are xylophones that consist of several wooden plates of different sizes and thickness. Modern versions of the instrument have hardwood bars of uniform thickness and tubular metal resonators that encompass six to seven octaves. Two to five players would play these xylophones with warm, mellow tones (Apel 505). Central America is a geographic region that is located in the southernmost part of the North American continent connecting South America to the southeast. A large part of Central America rests above the Caribbean Plate, making the region geologically active and the site of relatively frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Cities in Central American countries have been destroyed by earthquakes before, such as Managua, capital of Nicaragua and El Salvador. However, the volcanic lava from eruptions has made the region agriculturally fertile, enabling it to sustain huge populations of people. While modern Latin American music is recognizable throughout Central America, indigenous music in the region have received the least exposure among other types of music in the Western Hemisphere. For instance, Garifuna music from the Garifuna people of Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala has quite a limited audience. Instruments used in this type of music include tree â€Å"garaon† or drums: the primera which improvises the segunda which produces counter rhythms, and the tercera which takes care of bass lines. Two wires are stretched over the tops of the drums to generate the buzzing sound that is typical of West African music. Other instruments used in Garifuna music are guitars, claves, shakers, scrapers, and bottle percussions (Nidel 291). In terms of modern music, one popular genre is Punta rock which is a dance music similar to Trinidadian Soca. The standard ensemble to play Punta rock includes instruments such as synthesizers, brass, electric bass, and keyboards. The song â€Å"La Punta† of the Punta rock genre became popular in Honduras during the 1980s (Nidel 291). People in Central America absolutely love listening to the marimba. In Guatemala, the xylophone used is considered the national instrument. Marimbas of all sizes and styles are made in the country. Some models are designed to be played by a single player while others are so big that seven people are needed to play them. Musical genres like the meringue and other dance compositions usually rely on the xylophone to produce the bass rhythms (Apel 505). During the later parts of the 20th century, marimba in Mexico became popular in the southernmost state of Chiapas. The instrument is also played in neighboring states of Tabasco, Oaxaca, Veracruz, and in the nation’s capital. Mariachis and other musical groups playing marimba are scattered all throughout the country but they are especially concentrated in Mexico City and Chiapas. In terms of performance, multiple players playing marimbas are more common in Mexico than single players. In Mexico today, marimba music is mostly a regional phenomenon. It is associated with the southern part of the country and is often placed in the same category as popular music genres like jarocho from Veracruz, mariachi from Jalisco, and norteno from northern Mexico (Beck 9). In the state of Veracruz, street musicians called â€Å"ambulantes† typically play marimba for people. These musicians would perform and compete with each other for twenty-four hours a day in the streets and in buildings. The type of marimba in this seaport city is known for its sharp-edged and heavily syncopated style. The unique characteristics of marimba in Veracruz indicate its Afro-Cuban influences (Beck 224). Mexican music is primarily of Hispanic flavor because of the imposition of European musical culture on the natives by Spanish conquistadors. In Mexico today, nobody knows what real pre-Columbian music sounds like. Even the type of music that natives play in Indian communities is noticeably influenced by the Spanish. African slaves though tempered this music by adding their own style to it. Mexicans are proud of these traditional musical genres, although many of them now listen to Western rock and pop (Hutchinson 1192). There are many popular genres of Mexican music that are meant for singing instead of dancing. One is the corrido, a narrative form of music that’s derived from old Spanish ballads. The genre spread throughout the country as armies of the revolution roamed across the land. Corrido has since become a popular mode of expression for regular citizens and artists. Another genre is called cancion which means â€Å"song,† literally. Cancion highlights the romantic and sentimental aspects of Mexicans, and is therefore naturally languid and slow. An example of cancion is â€Å"Las Mananitas,† which is usually sung to serenade people on their birthdays. Finally, there’s the ranchera genre which is a mix of Mexican country and Western styles. The genre was originally associated with the cattle men from the Bajio region. Ranchera featured prominently in many Mexican films from the 1930s to the 1940s and consequently became known all over Latin America as the typical music of Mexico (Hutchinson 1192). The Mexican Film and recording industry are powerful forces throughout the entire Latin American region. They helped several Mexican artists to become household names, drawing fans and profit to the industry. Some of the most popular Mexican artists include Pendro Infante, Pedro Vargas, Miguel Aceves Mejia, Jorge Negrete, and the Trio Los Panchos. Songwriters and composers can also gain popularity in Mexico, such as Agustin Lara who is a prolific composer of romantic â€Å"boleros,† which are Latin dance types of music However, despite the popularity of these artists, mariachis are still the most popular musical groups in the country (Hutchinson 1192). Musica tejana, Texas-Mexican music or simply Tex-Mex has attained a huge following all over Mexico, Central America, and the whole Latin American region today. The genre contains influences from various musical styles, such as bolero, ranchera, and cumbia. It is very flexible and can even draw beats from other genres such as reggae, country, rap, pop, and disco. Musica tejana is also known as â€Å"tejano† music in Mexico, Texas, and other parts of the United States (San Miguel 3). The term â€Å"tejano† may also refer to people of Mexican descent who live in Texas. Musica tejana has been created by Tejanos to reflect the sensibilities of their fellow Tejanos and Mexicans. Tejanos started demanding that traditional Mexican music meet their sensibilities as early as 1920s. Early in the twentieth century, much of musica tejana was formed by accordion sounds. After World War II, Tejano musicians tried to adapt elements of Mexican music to their musical style. Artists incorporated female duet and vocal singing into musica tejana, which was previously instrumental in nature. They also continued to use the bajo sexton and accordion to produce their music. Saxophones, and trumpets later known as â€Å"los pitos† or horn section, were also employed to create musica tejana. During the second half of the century, Tejanos continued to adapt Mexican music by using instruments such as guitars, keyboards, organs, and brass instruments (San Miguel 7). Tejanos have lived alongside Anglos for a long time and conflicts between the two races are discernible in the musica tejana that evolved from this relationship. Corridos expressed the historical conflict between Mexicans and Anglos in South Texas during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. According to experts, old corridos were basically narrative ballads that told the adventures of a hero and were sung to simple tunes. In many ways, singing corridos was a symbolic means to fight the dominant Anglo culture. An example of this type of corridor is â€Å"The Corrido of Gregorio Cortez,† a narrative ballad that tells the story of a hero who single-handedly fought the law of the Anglos and won (San Miguel 8). Traditional Mexican songs like canciones reflected the changes that occurred and the attributes that were retained by Tejanos in the state. Canciones are composed of various types of songs, including: corridos, canciones romanticas, canciones rancheras, and canciones tipcas. The corridor and cancion tipica dominated vocal music by Tejasnos throughout most of the nineteenth century. During the late nineteenth century, the cancion romantica started to emerge and compete with other types of cancion. In the twentieth century however, the cancion ranchera attained a huge following, which made it the dominant type of song among Mexicans in Texas and for those who lived near the border (San Miguel 8). Aside from musica tejana, there are many other musical genres that has gained wide popularity in Central America. One is cumbia, a Colombian style of folk dance music that’s considered to represent Colombian culture, like Vallenato. Cumbia is especially popular in Panama, another country in Central America. The region is mostly inhabited by mestizos who are people of European, African, and indigenous descent. The culture of the Azuero region located in the west of the country has come to dominate Panama. The country’s preference for music such as cumbia is very similar to the musical preferences of its neighboring country, Colombia. The most significant native instrument in Panama is the mejorama, a guitar with five strings, which looks quite similar with the Venezuelan cuatro. The mejorama are often used by musicians in the country to play songs termed â€Å"torrentes. † The most recognized Panamanian musician in the world is Ruben Blades who became a star in the Fania stable of New York musicians. Blades started his career with doo-woop but branched off to different musical styles later (Nidel 291). While it is true that music is the universal language, the music of Mexico and Central America is still very unique in their own social and historical contexts. The mariachi of Mexico reflects the energetic Mexican people and their passionate tendencies. Dances with fast beats illustrate the festivity of Mexican culture while slow and languid songs show the longing of Mexicans for intangible things such as love, honor, and the past. Whether it’s marimba, corridor, cancion or ranchera, Mexican music stands out as among the best and most colorful types of music in the world. Central America also has a rich collection of Latin American music, such as musica tejana, bolero, and cumbia. Each country in this region has a different past that is reflected in their preferred musical styles. As each style crosses and mixes with each other, the music of Central America is bound to get richer in the future. Through modern forms of communication and broadcast such as the Internet, Latin American music in Central America may gather more followers in regions far away from it. The various kinds of Mexican and Central American music all have their own flavors and they must be preserved for generations to come. They contain the spirit of the Latin American culture and must therefore be listened to by new generations of Latinos and other artists and ordinary people outside of the region. Works Cited Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969. Beck, John. Encyclopedia of Percussion. London: Taylor & Francis, 1995. Campbell, Patricia Shehan et al. Songs of Latin America: from the Field to the Classroom. Van Nuys: Alfred Publishing, 2001. Hutchinson, Peter. Central America & Mexico 2004. Bath: Footprint Travel Guides, 2003. Kernecker, Herb. When in Mexico, Do as the Mexicans Do: The Clued-in Guide to Mexican Life, Language, and Culture. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005. Nidel, Richard. World Music: the Basics. New York: Routledge, 2005. San Miguel, Guadalupe. Tejano Proud: Tex-Mex Music in the Twentieth Century. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002.

Essay Topics with Answers Pdf Secrets

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Avec French Preposition Meaning With

The French preposition avec is used much like its English equivalent, with. Accompaniment Jirai avec toi.Ill go with you. Il est daccord avec nous.He agrees with us. Cause On oublie tout avec le temps.One forgets everything with/in time. Tu mà ©nerves avec ce bruit.Youre bothering me with this noise. Additions (et) avec à §a?anything else? Jai froid et avec à §a jai faim.Im cold, and besides that Im hungry. With a Noun to Translate Many English Adverbs avec joiejoyfully avec colà ¨reangrily Expressions With Avec attacher lundi avec mardito button ones shirt wrong se fà ¢cher avec quelquunto get mad at someone se lever avec le jourto get up at the crack of dawn se mettre en rapport avecto get in touch with prendre des gants avec quelquunto handle someone with kid gloves Antonym: sans