U.S. Country Study and Literature

среда, 21 марта 2012 г.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

(December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.

Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime. The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Dickinson's poems are unique for the era in which she wrote; they contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often use slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality, two recurring topics in letters to her friends.

Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was not until after her death in 1886—when Lavinia, Emily's younger sister, discovered her cache of poems—that the breadth of Dickinson's work became apparent. Her first collection of poetry was published in 1890 by personal acquaintances Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd, both of whom heavily edited the content. A complete and mostly unaltered collection of her poetry became available for the first time in 1955 when The Poems of Emily Dickinson was published by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. Despite unfavorable reviews and skepticism of her literary prowess during the late 19th and early 20th century, critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet.

Dear March - Come in
by Emily Dickinson

Dear March - Come in -
How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
Put down your Hat -
You must have walked -
How out of Breath you are -
Dear March, how are you, and the Rest -
Did you leave Nature well -
Oh March, Come right upstairs with me -
I have so much to tell -

I got your Letter, and the Birds -
The Maples never knew that you were coming -
I declare - how Red their Faces grew -
But March, forgive me -
And all those Hills you left for me to Hue -
There was no Purple suitable -
You took it all with you -

Who knocks? That April -
Lock the Door -
I will not be pursued -
He stayed away a Year to call
When I am occupied -
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come

That blame is just as dear as Praise
And Praise as mere as Blame

Perfect Place

There are so many amazing places all over the world, so many cities and villages with fascinating landscapes, nature is full of wonderful nooks, so many different astonishing buildings, houses, castles are shown on TV, there are so many pictures with sunny beaches, charming seas and lakes in magazines. This range can be continued endlessly, but would any of these places be the perfect one for somebody? I consider that it depends on a personality, moral qualities inherent to a certain person. Of course, all of these places are attractive. To my mind, every person would like to live in some of these thrilling sites or just visit it and glance. But I am not sure that such places can be perfect – they can be the perfect ones only due to the beautiful views. It would be pleasant to stay there, because of the amazing landscapes, comfortable accommodation, romantic atmosphere or something else, but is it enough for a place to be called perfect?

In my opinion, a material location with clearly stated geographical coordinates is not very important for a perfect place. I think that perfect place means the place where you like to return every day, the place where you can forget about all troubles, problems and disappointments, a site where you relax not only physically, but also spiritually and emotionally. It is the place with light atmosphere. This atmosphere can be created with a help of the closest people in your life. It is really difficult to find such people or at least one person. This man should be your soul mate, person who you can trust completely, helpful, reliable, faithful. This man should not only know how to sympathize with you, but also how to support and help in any situation, a person who is ready to die for you. Such a person can be anyone – a friend, a brother or a sister, mother or father, a boyfriend or a girlfriend, wife or husband. The sex, age, nationality don’t play a big role. That should be a man who can help you to forget about all troubles and routine, a person who makes your soul fly, who makes your life colourful, who brings happiness. It is my perfect place. It might be everywhere, but I need this special person to make the simplest site the perfect one.

Fortunately, I have already met such a person. I am sure that he is my soul mate. I have known this person for a sufficiently long period of time. He has helped me to change myself for the better. Thanks to him I have realised true vital values, even in spite of the teenage syndrome. He understands me perfectly. I feel myself great with this person and I am sure that my soul mate will never leave me alone. He doesn’t only make ordinary places the perfect ones for me and both of us, but also he makes me happy in spite of the cruel world surrounding us.

Track and field athletics:Discus throw

In U.S. high school track and field, boys typically th In U.S. high school track and field, boys typically throw a discus weighing 1.6 kg (3 lb 9 oz) and the girls throw the 1 kg (2.2 lb) women's discus. Under USATF Youth rules, boys throw the 1 kg discus between the ages of 11-14, and transition to the 1.6 kg discus as 15-18 year olds. Girls throw the 1 kg discus as 11-18 year olds.

Under US high school rules, if a discus hits the surrounding safety cage and is deflected into the sector, it is ruled a foul. In contrast, under IAAF, WMA, NCAA and USATF rules, it is ruled a legal throw. Additionally, under US high school rules, distances thrown are rounded down to the nearest whole inch, rather than the nearest centimetre.

US high school rules allow the use of a solid rubber discus; it is cheaper and easier to learn to throw (due to its more equal distribution of weight, as opposed to the heavy rim weight of the metal rim/core discus), but less durable.

суббота, 21 января 2012 г.

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953). As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States (1945), he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his unprecedented fourth term.

During World War I, Truman served in combat in France as an artillery officer in his National Guard unit. After the war, he joined the Democratic Party political machine of Tom Pendergast in Kansas City, Missouri. He was elected a county official and in 1934 United States senator. After he had gained national prominence as head of the wartime Truman Committee, Truman replaced vice president Henry A. Wallace as Roosevelt's running mate in 1944.

Truman faced many challenges in domestic affairs. The disorderly postwar reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over his veto. He confounded all predictions to win election in 1948, helped by his famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his election, he passed only one of the proposals in his liberal Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to end racial discrimination in the armed forces and created loyalty checks that dismissed thousands of communist supporters from office.

Truman's presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the defeat of Nazi Germany and his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan, the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the creation of NATO, the Chinese Civil War, and the Korean War. Corruption in Truman's administration, which was linked to certain members in the cabinet and senior White House staff, was a central issue in the 1952 presidential campaign and helped cause Adlai Stevenson, Truman's successor for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, to lose to Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential election.

Truman, in sharp contrast to the imperious Roosevelt who kept personal control of all major decisions, was a folksy, unassuming president who relied on his cabinet. He popularized such phrases as "The buck stops here" and "If you can't stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen." His approval ratings in the polls started out very high, then steadily sank until he was one of the most unpopular men to leave the White House. Popular and scholarly assessments of his presidency eventually became more positive after his retirement from politics. Truman's legendary upset victory in 1948 over Thomas E. Dewey is routinely invoked by underdog presidential candidates.

External link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman#Scandals_and_controversies

See also:
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/cabinet/cabinet.htm
http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g33.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Harry_S._Truman

суббота, 17 декабря 2011 г.

One Day of My Life

December 13

My name is Lera. I’m 16 and I live in Rivne. I’m writing about one day of my life, and this day is Tuesday.

My life isn’t full of adventures – it is usual, normal, nothing special. But it’s my life and I like it. And every day is important, it’s a chance to do something special.

Now every workday is very similar to another, but they all are different.

On Tuesday I usually want to wake up at 7 o’clock – I really want. But every day (also yesterday) I leave my bed with extreme efforts at 7:20 and start to hurry. Next, as usual, I brash teeth, make up, do something nice with my hair and get dressed. Then, listening my mum’s shout that I’m late, I go downstairs to have breakfast. My mother always makes it for me and my brother – usually it is sandwich and tea. Next, I with my brother, as usual, run out of the house, because it is already near 8:25 and the lessons begin at 8:30. So we always hurry. But it is not a trouble. Our dad drive us to school and we are just in time, however, we are a bit shocked after these “races”.

So lessons begin at 8:30. On Tuesday I have 7 lessons. As usual, they are lo-o-ong and bo-o-oring. But I with my classmates know how to entertain ourselves. Every day, Tuesday is not an exception, is full of jokes and laugh. Lessons finish at 15:05. On Tuesday I don’t any courses or extra lessons, so I go straight home. I have dinner , like every pupil. Then I do my homework, surf the Net, listen to music – nothing extraordinary. When homework is done I have supper and then I go for a walk with my friends. It is the best part of this long, dull, grey day. I like these people. They are the funniest, the coolest and simply the best. Time with them is so enjoying, so pleasant, so great and thrilling that I forget about all problems, all troubles, tiredness; I throw away all gloomy emotions and every heavy-hearted thought. I have a lot, even too much, fun with my friends.

After that I return home, wash myself up and try to go to bed. I always try to go to bed earlier, but always something appears and hinders me to do that. So I usually go to sleep at midnight (at least). And this moment , when I lie down into the bed, is the most pleasant. I feel myself so great. The bed is soft – I can relax and dream about something wonderful. Then slumber comes and takes me to the world of sweet dreams, true love and happiness. And my day comes to the end…

четверг, 3 ноября 2011 г.

Tunica tribe

It was 150 years before another European group records the Tunica. In 1699 when encountered by the LaSource expedition ( coming downriver from Canada ), the Tunica were a modest tribe numbering only a few hundred warriors. By the time the French arrived, the Central Mississippi Valley was sparsely occupied by the Quapaw, who were significant allies to them and aided their successful settlement.

The French established a mission among the Tunica around 1700, on the Yazoo River. Father Antoine Davion was assigned as the missionary for the Tunica, as well as the smaller tribes of the Koroas, the Yazoo, and Couspe (or Houspe) tribes. The Tunica were skilled traders and entrepreneurs, especially in the manufacture and distribution of salt, a valuable item to both native and Europeans. Tunica were the middlemen in the movement of salt from the Caddoan areas to the French.

By the early 18th century, the tribes along the lower Mississippi River were a target of Chickasaw raids for the English slave trade in South Carolina. By 1706 the Tunica decided to move. With their enemies the Natchez to their immediate south, they moved to the Mississippi side of the Mississippi and Red River confluence. This allowed them to keep control of their salt trade, as the Red River also connected to their salt source in the Caddoan areas. They established a loose collection of hamlets and villages at their new home in Angola, Louisiana.

In 1729 the chiefs of the village sent emissaries to potential allies, including the Yazoo, Koroa, Illinois, Chickasaw, and Choctaw. The Natchez Rebellion or Natchez War expanded into a larger regional conflict with many repercussions. The Tunica were initially reluctant to fight on either side.

After the attack at Angola, in 1731 the Tunica moved a few miles away to the Trudeau site. Over the years, they buried as grave goods large amounts of European trade goods, including beads, porcelain, muskets, kettles and other items, as well as locally produced pottery in the Tunica tribal style. When discovered in the 20th century, these artifacts attested to the extensive trade with Europeans, as well as the wealth of the Tunica. They stayed at this location into the 1760s, when the French ceded control to the Spanish following the Seven Years' War.

In 1764 the Tunica moved fifteen miles south of the Trudeau Landing site to just outside the French settlement at Pointe Coupée. During this time, numerous Anglo-American settlers migrated into the region. The Tunica had become acculturated to European ways, although they still tattooed themselves and practiced some of their native religious customs. With the British in charge of the Western Florida colony at this time, and the Spanish in control of Louisiana, politics were volatile in the area. In 1779 Governor Galvez led a force which included Tunica and other tribes to take the British-held town of Baton Rouge. This was the last military campaign for which the Tunica were recorded.

By sometime in the late 1780s or 1790s, the Tunica moved again, probably because of the large influx of Anglo-Americans. They moved west to a site on the Red River named Avoyelles. The only U.S. government mention of the Tunica from 1803 to 1938 was made in 1806 by an Indian Commissioner for Louisiana. He noted that the Tunica only numbered about 25 men, lived in Avoyelles Parish, and made their livings by occasionally hiring out as boatmen. Although the Tunica were prosperous at this time, eventually problems with their white neighbors would take its toll. The Tunica became subsistence farmers, with some hunting and fishing to support themselves. Others turned to sharecropping on their white neighbors' land. As the 20th century dawned, the Tunica talked about their ancient heritage. They had managed to retain possession of the majority of their land, some still spoke the Tunica language, and their traditional tribal ceremonies were still being practiced.

The modern Tunica-Biloxi tribe live in Mississippi and east central Louisiana. The reservation has a land area of 1.682 km². The Tunica language is a language isolate. When the last known fluent speaker, Sesostrie Youchigant, died, the language became extinct. Linguist Mary Haas worked with Youchigant to describe what he remembered of the language, and the description was published in A Grammar of the Tunica Language in 1941, followed by Tunica Texts in 1950 and Tunica Dictionary in 1953.

External links:
http://www.tunicabiloxi.org/tribal_history.php?PHPSESSID=1ef4b2c007154f00763bcb4a9883c8aa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunica-Biloxi

пятница, 28 октября 2011 г.

Task 2 (The State of Virginia in the Civil War)

The Commonwealth of Virginia was a prominent part of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. The convention called to act for the state during the secession crisis opened on February 13, 1861, after seven seceding states had formed the Confederacy on February 4. Unionist delegates dominated the convention and defeated a motion to secede on April 4. The convention deliberated for several months, but on April 15 President Abraham Lincoln called for troops from all states still in the Union in response to the Confederate capture of Fort Sumter. On April 17, the Virginia convention voted to secede, pending ratification of the decision by the voters. With the entry of Virginia into the Confederacy, a decision was made in May to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, in part because the defense of Virginia's capital was deemed strategically vital to the Confederacy's survival regardless of its political status. Virginians ratified the articles of secession on May 23. The following day, the Union army moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight.

Most of the battles in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War took place in Virginia because the Confederacy had to defend its national capital at Richmond, and public opinion in the North demanded that the Union move "On to Richmond!" The remarkable success of Robert E. Lee in defending Richmond is a central theme of the military history of the war. The White House of the Confederacy, located a few blocks north of the State Capital, was home to the family of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

среда, 21 марта 2012 г.