International Literacy Day Essay Example for Free

International Literacy Day Essay -Nation Center for Education Statistics- The Arab Republic of Egypt, which is a country located in the North of Africa, one of the most populous countries in Africa and the 15th most populated in the world, with over 84 million people (CIA 2010 est. ) According to UNESCO in 2008, in a 5 year period (2005-2010), after the government had spent 12. 6% of the national GDP on education, the adult literacy rate had moderately raised from 55. 6% to 72. 0%. However, because of population growth, the number of illiterates around Egypt was still very high, with nearly 17 million people. This report was commissioned by the Department of Education in Egypt to investigate into the literacy issue in Egypt. The issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible. This report will now research about the current level of literacy in Egypt, what are the issues that make the literacy rates low and some recommendations to improve literacy rates. 2. Findings 2. 1. Poverty One of the biggest factors that affects Egypt’s literacy rate is poverty. Figure 1. Reproduced from â€Å"Child Labor in Egypt: Research Project submitted in fulfillment of the requirement of B. Sc.in Statistics† (2011) Figure 1 shows that not being interested in school and not being able to afford schooling are the dominant reasons for children to leave school, with 45% of child laborers think that school aren’t important with them, and 29% them cannot afford enough tuition fees. For those who work, they considered education is not important for them; however, what is considered priority with them is work is the best way to get out of poverty area. Because the tuition fees in Egypt are rather high, many families in Egypt cannot afford it, along with additional education costs. According to Suliman and El-Kogali (2000), besides of tuition fees, families have to pay additional costs on text books, school uniforms, tutorial lessons, and transportation if they want their children to continue their education. A report from El Dawla in 2000 shows that â€Å"the average cost of education per child in families with an annual income of less than or equal to $1,028 is an estimated $98 at the primary level and $129 at the preparatory level†. Therefore, poor families receive no education because of their limited household budget. 2. 2. Child marriage Figure 2, reproduced from Why Are The Children Out Of School? Factors Affecting Children’s Education in Egypt, A Paper for the ERF 9th annual conference (2001) According to Figure 2, the number of girls from 6-15 years old who have never attended school is much higher compare to the number of boys in Egypt, especially in rural areas. For example, in Matroh, over 40% of girls have never attended schools compare with 23% of boys, and the rate in Beni Suef and Behera are 37%, 10% and 18%, 6% respectively. A survey published in 2012 by the National Council for Women illustrated the scale of the issue of early marriage in Egypt, in which the result is that 22% of girls were married before they were 18 (El Masry, 2012). Many girls from 6-15 years old are not able to attend and finish school because Egyptian families do not want to spend money on girls who will be involved in early marriages, and they always try to arrange their daughters’ wedding as soon as possible. This is because Egypt’s old tradition that the fiancee tend to give the wife’s mother a lot of prosperities after the wedding. Apparently in 2008, the Parliament of Egypt passed new laws banning female circumcision and setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage for both genders. However, some Egyptian parents still permit their children to get married very early. Furthermore, parents does not either motivate their children to study; or care much about their children’s education, all they want is to preserve their old-fashioned traditional practices; therefore leads to the low literacy rate of Egypt. 2. 3. Dropout rates Figure 3, reproduced from â€Å"Why Are The Children Out Of School? : Factors Affecting Children’s Education in Egypt, A Paper for the ERF 9th annual conference† (2001) There is a similarity between Figure 2 and 3, as both of the charts indicate that Matroh has the highest rate in terms of never attending schools and dropping out, with over 40% and approximately 10% respectively. Suliman and El-Kogali (2000), their survey on mother’s perception’s reason of drop out shows that the main reasons for the significant dropout rate are because education is not important for children (especially girls), and the only thing they must do is to make money to support their families’ wealth. Assaad, Deborah and Zibani (2001) prove that the dropout rate in Egypt has a strong bond with child labor, which is very common in Egypt and many other Muslim countries. This is because children from poor families in those countries are more likely to be forced to work, therefore, it is less likely that they will be attending school, consequently leading to illiteracy. Furthermore, Nadine et al (2011) show that the number of child laborers in Egypt are between 1. 3 to 3 million, with agricultural factor involves up to 78%. Ultimately, this lead to the decision that it is better for children to stop schooling and start working to make money. 3. Conclusion The Arab Republic of Egypt’s low literacy rates, which result from poverty, early marriage and high dropout rate have caused many negative impacts for the countries such as lacks of human resources and affect its economies. Despite the Department of Education had took actions to improve the country’s literacy rate with the help of some non-profit organisations such as UNESCO or World Education, it is still low compare to other countries. The Department should use new methods and approaches in which may result in a higher literacy rate. 4. Recommendations 4. 1. Poverty The Department of Education needs to have more involvement in public education in Egypt. Firstly, the Department should find supports for public schools. Also, the Department can ask for other NPOs or NGOs like UNICEF or UNESCO to supply poor children in rural areas with studying materials such as books or pens. This will decrease the cost burden for the household who have limited budget to invest in children’s education. Along with building more public schools, some regulations need to be executed in order to control the additional costs of schooling. For example, the Department should support transportations for students, or check teachers’ qualifications in order to make sure that every child in Egypt can access education without any obstacles. Therefore, with better facilities and better qualities of teaching, there will be an increase in Egypt’s literacy rate. 4. 2. Child marriage The Department should promote a series of campaigns that help Egyptians to raise their awareness about the importance of women’s education. These campaigns should be organised through all means of media, including radio, television, or even via presentations. If women and children can realize the importance of education, they can have chances to be educated, therefore this will solve the problem of girls’ high rate of child marriage and indirectly improve Egypt’s literacy rate. 4. 3. Dropout rates The Department should create more opportunities to encourage children to go to school by providing free education to children in rural areas. Also, the government can provide students with scholarship to support students’ studying path. Doing this, children will have more motivation to go to school, thus can increase the overall literacy rate. 5. References Assaad, R, Deborah, L, Zibani, N, 2001, â€Å"The Effect of Child Work on School Enrollment in Egypt’, Economic Research Forum, viewed 20 June, 2013. CIA, 2010, â€Å"The World Factbook†, CIA, viewed 20 June, 2013. El Dawla, A, â€Å"Trap for Democracy†, Social Watch, 2000, viewed 27 June, 2013. El Masry, S, 2012, â€Å"Under-reported and underage: Early marriage in Egypt†, Daily News Egypt, December 5, 2012, viewed 27 June, 2013.

Comparison of Responses to Immigrants: France and UK

Comparison of Responses to Immigrants: France and UK A comparison/contrast between social security benefits available to immigrants coming to live in France and immigrants coming to live in the United Kingdom. In the first instance, it is important to point-out that social security benefits available to citizens and residents of France and the United Kingdom are already widely different. The taxes paid by ordinary citizens in France are on average 20% higher than those paid by residents of the United Kingdom, and the government therefore takes charge of a broader range of social security benefits such as, for example, in health care; glasses and contact lenses are reimbursed 100% in France, unlike in the United Kingdom. It is therefore not surprising that immigrants arriving in France are given a wider range of social security benefits than those arriving in the United Kingdom. This said, the range of social security benefits available are similar in both countries, if varying in quality. They include; health-care, education, to use public services such as police and emergency services, pensions, redundancy pay, job seeker’s allowance and working tax credits. The right to belong to a workers union, a political party and to an efficient public transport system are also rights but do not necessarily fall under the social security benefits category in the sense we will be exploring here. By law, these are inalienable rights, that can also be called human rights, that all residents and citizens of European countries are entitled to, whatever their race, religion or country of origin. Immigrants however, who in many cases are not citizens, residents, or sometimes even in a country legally, are in an uncertain position when it comes to social security benefits which is worth analysing to understand it’s full complexity. France and the United Kingdom have varying attitudes when it comes to immigration, and this has influenced the way in which their respective governments allocate social security benefits. France, for example, is famous among immigrant populations for it’s lenience towards immigrants and general openness to the arrival of new populations and ethnic groups. This transpires in their social security benefit allocation; newly arrived immigrants on any part of the French territory are entitled by law to the same benefits as any other French citizen if they are registered as residing in France, have a ‘carte de sà ©jour’ and are not illegal immigrants. This question of illegality is one we shall explore further, but it is worth mentioning now as without legal status, social security benefits are out of the question on both countries. Children of immigrants have a right to be educated in French schools and must, by law, be registered at a school in their area as soon as they arrive if they are under the age of sixteen. Children of immigrants, in this respect, are more protected under the French system than their parents, and their rights to social security benefits are more easily applicable. If an immigrant is declared as temporarily residing in France for work, and is under contract to a foreign company (the situation changes if it is a French company), the worker must by law be covered by the social security benefits of their employer and are therefore not entitled to French social security benefits. This is however a very specific restriction and is not applicable to immigrants brought from their countries to work for French companies, who are responsible for the welfare of their workforce. France is also more subject than the United Kingdom to European rules and regulation regarding immigration, although such a sensitive subject is still, until further notice, under the principal control of the specific country’s government. Contrastingly, the United Kingdom’s attitude to the rights of arriving immigrants to social security benefits is rather different. Firstly, it is important to point out that the United Kingdom is a far smaller country than France, territory speaking, which puts higher pressure on its housing and services infrastructures and industries when high concentrations of immigrants arrive. Also, the onus for finding work and justifying their reason for being in the United Kingdom rests entirely on the immigrants, with far less help from the government available than in France. Also, where the rights of the individual are concerned, it can take up to seven year for any one person already living in the United Kingdom to be granted residency or nationality, which limits the right to vote of newly arrived immigrants both in national and local elections. Without being a ‘resident’ in the United Kingdom it is harder to find a job, somewhere to live, and subsequently apply for al l kinds of benefits. In a broad sense, it is possible that because it is harder to get into the United Kingdom and obtain English nationality, immigrants have a harder time claiming benefits which legally are theirs for the asking. Perhaps what we can take away from this is that the benefits themselves are not necessarily vastly different, but that the ease with which they can be obtained varies widely. Income support benefits for immigrants are in stark contrast when allocated in both the United Kingdom and France. Firstly, it is important to note that in France the ‘allocation chaumage’, which is equivalent to the Jobseeker’s allowance, is substantially higher than in the United Kingdom and continues to rise every year. Immigrants are entitled to it once their residency papers are in order and they have signed-up at their local job centre, but because it is often less profitable to work than to remain on the allowance, there is little incentive for them to actively look for work in France. In the United Kingdom, laws have been in place for some time to prevent this from happening; the job seeker’s allowance is only given if the applicant can prove her is she is actively looking for work. If they turn down more than a certain number of job offers, the allowance can be removed, providing an additional incentive. France has recently passed several laws in t he Assemblà ©e Nationale to remedy this, and it is hoped it will help reduce the number of immigrant on jobseeker’s allowance, reducing overall the cost of immigration to the State. Asylum seeking and refugee status is an area where benefits available to immigrants in both France and the UK are comparable. The Migration Watch UK website defines asylum status as: ‘appeals to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal against decisions of the UK Border Agency which are adverse to the applicant.’[1] Both countries follow European guidelines when it comes to sheltering political refugees, England judges being particularly sensitive at the moment to escapees from Mugabe’s oppressive regime in Zimbabwe, and France a historical ally of the Dalai Lama and therefore home to many exiled Tibetan monks. That said, a recent controversial declaration by a senior government official regarding lawyer so ‘so called’ asylum seeker were abusing the human rights system simply to provide social security benefits for illegal immigrants. There are similar cases in France but they are significantly less high-profile. Finally, it is important to state that, both for the United Kingdom and for France, an illegal immigrant with no identification, or national insurance number will be able to access very few social security benefits. There are organisations in both countries which are there to provide help such as food, shelter and legal aid to those in the direst poverty, but their ability to assist is limited. The credit crisis will undoubtedly render the situation of illegal immigrants even harder in both countries, making them even less likely to have access to our social security benefits. This is evident through news headlines in the recent months, such as this one from The Times; ‘Immigration to be cut as unemployment soars.’[2] Yes, immigrants come to Europe to profit from the social security benefits, but it is also the arrival of new immigrants in both France and the United Kingdom which will enable us to pay for our social security in the future. Indeed, one of the biggest comparisons between the French and English social security systems is that they are both in deficit. There is in fact not enough money to go around as the populations of both countries age, then retire, and no longer make contributions to the tax system but in fact use our tax money to draw their pensions. Young immigrants coming to work will be taxed on their earnings and help to pay a substantial part of the social security benefits. This is why, in both France and the United Kingdom, there have been motions for mass legalisation of illegal immigrants so that they become a taxable work-force. Neither country, it must be said, has the resources to control and expulse all illegal immigrants, so making them tax-payers and enabling them to apply for social security benefits seems like the best solution. Bibliography Ditch, John. Introduction to Social Security: Policies, Benefits, and Poverty (London, Routledge, 1999) Rachel Sylvester, Richard Ford, and Alice Thomson. ‘Immigration to be cut as unemployment soars’. The Times, 18th October 2008. The Concise Oxford French Dictionary, ed. by Abel Chevally (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934) â€Å"UK benefits system linked to immigrant workers says report† http://news.migrationwatch.org.uk/2008/01/uk-benefits-sys.html (22nd November 2008) Vatz Laaroussi, Michà ¨le. Le familial au coeur de limmigration: les stratà ©gies de citoyennetà © des familles immigrantes au Quà ©bec et en France (Paris: LHarmattan, 2001). â€Å"30 ans de maà ®trise des flux migratoires; la politique d’immigration (1974 2005)† http://www.vie-publique.fr/politiques-publiques/politique-immigration/index/ (22nd November 2008) 1 [1] â€Å"UK benefits system linked to immigrant workers says report† http://news.migrationwatch.org.uk/2008/01/uk-benefits-sys.html (22nd November 2008) [2] Rachel Sylvester, Richard Ford, and Alice Thomson. ‘Immigration to be cut as unemployment soars’. The Times, 18th October 2008.

John Websters Play The Duchess of Malfi Essay -- Webster Duchess Malf

John Webster's Play The Duchess of Malfi In the opening of The Duchess of Malfi takes place between Delio and Antonio, a steward of the Duchess and his friend. Webster makes his audience aware that Antonio has journeyed outside Malfi, to France. The words "France, Frenchman, French" all appear within the first four lines of the text, a blunt indicator to ensure that the audience, however inattentive, grasps the point that Antonio has been absent from Malfi. He supports this point by referring to the timespan since Antonio last saw Delio, "You have been long in France." The word "long" suggests that a considerable time has passed since he was last resident in Malfi. Equally, Delio's description of Antonio, as a "very formal frenchman in habit" infers that Antonio had been in France for long enough to adopt French fashions, rather than his native Italian dress. Altogether, Webster, in the opening burst sets up Antonio as a stranger to Malfi, but an adopted resident of the French court. Thus, when Delio asks the open ended-question the audience appreciate Antonio speaks from experience built from a lengthy duration in France: "How do you like the French court?" Webster's question does not ask a specific question, rather it demands a lengthy reply. Antonio's response is not the view of an outsider whose short stay failed to unearth negative aspects of the foreign reign. Instead he speaks from fact due to the time he spent in France. The reply is informative, as expected from a character who is cast as a "formal frenchman" with a straightforward answer then an extended explanation. Antonio "admires" the French system, which he sets up as the benchmark from which the audience must view the court of Mal... ...tonio's admiration of the uncorrupt French court. Equally, where Antonio favours the French court, he also favours the Duchess, then gives a list of the reasons for doing so. It is therefore assumed that they are the "silver drops" in the corrupt state, set to contrast against the corruption of the brothers. The final two characters of the act I feel are dramatic constructs. Delio is used by the writer in this scene so that Antonio can speak candidly about France. By speaking to a friend, the audience value his comment more than were it to be made in public to a group of people. Delio is also used later in the act to hold the plot together, when Antonio points out the duke and describes him as a scoundrel. "This is the Duke of Calabriaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The devils speak (in him)." Bosola is crafted in a similar way. The authorial mouthpiece of Antonio cannot intensely

Essay example --

Although traditionally applied to business ethics, the ethical decision-making process is of vital importance in law enforcement as well. Research recognizes several ethical decision-making models and factors believed to influence the process of decision-making. A history of ethical decision-making, including various theories, models and influential factors demonstrates the importance of the ethical decision-making process and how it can be applied to law enforcement. HISTORY OF ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING Decision-making has historical roots in philosophy, which generated two primary dimensions: one of logic and reason and one of ethics and moral judgment. Philosophers have primarily viewed these dimensions from a normative standpoint, providing arguments for each one to demonstrate how individuals think and decide. Since the evolution of normative theories of logic, which are mostly based on probability or utility, much work has been dedicated towards their expansion into descriptive models of actual reasoning processes. The ethics and moral judgment dimension remains largely normative, despite the fact that moral thinking is regarded as an important element in the decision-making process as a whole (Strong & Meyer, 1992). Normative theories of ethics do not have much descriptive strength, so they have been modified in an effort to explain differences in moral judgment. Researchers have since moved from examining the outcomes of decisions towards exploring different processes individuals use when making decisions among various possible outcomes (Strong & Meyer, 1992). Ethical Decision-Making Models In an attempt to expand normative theories, Kohlberg’s model of moral judgment proposes that individuals cognitively progress through... ... rarely under direct supervisory control and are permitted to exercise enormous amounts of discretion (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). Therefore, ethical decision-making is extremely vital within law enforcement. Moreover, previously discussed ethical decision-making processes and influential factors apply to police officers just as they do to other organizational employees. Conclusion Respected scholars have dedicated vast amounts of research towards developing ethical decision-making models and outlining factors believed to influence the process of decision-making. An overview of various ethical decision-making models and influential factors demonstrates the importance of the ethical decision-making process. Furthermore, various models and techniques traditionally used in business ethics can also be applied to policing, positively impacting law enforcement as a whole.

Bitter Sweet Symphony by Erin Flannery :: Music Creative Writing Flannery Essays

Bitter Sweet Symphony by Erin Flannery True, it was a hard decision when I was decided which of my classmatesà ­ papers to choose as à ¬the one.à ® I considered a question when trying to decide. I asked myself, à ¬What purpose this time capsule will serve?à ® My answer told me that the song inside this time capsule must be one that can still teach a message while telling the future generation something about our time. I believe the culmination to this answer was found in Erin Flanneryà ­s à ¬Bitter Sweet Symphony.à ® The title is fairly self-explanatory when it refers to the word bittersweet. That is what life is. We canà ­t expect only the good or the bad. Life is a heterogeneous mixture of both. Yet this mixture comes together in a harmonious conglomerate that is altogether something beautiful. We have the chance to give the future generation a gift. We can give them the answers before they encounter the questions. We can give the help theyà ­ll need before they need it. No oneà ­s perfect when dealing with life. Weà ­re only here for a short time, why not make it the best time you can? Life throws things at people and one has to be able to cope and learn to solve them as best as they can. As Rolling Stone eloquently put it, à ¬the lyrics address the need to cope (Wiederhorn).à ® In life, people are going to encounter problems no matter how hard they try to get around them. This song recognizes that fact and addresses it. The truth seems hard to come by these days. In my life, it is something I strive to give and receive. Thereà ­s no telling how many times one person has been lied to. Letà ­s just not mention that whole Lewinsky thing. à ¬Bittersweet Symphonyà ® donates the truth to the future. No sugarcoating or hiding of facts takes place. T he lyrics say, à ¬try to make ends meet youà ­re a slave to money then you die . . .à ® As life is, the song is inclusive of the good and the bad. Without the bad, how would we know of the good and vice versa? This common thread of truth connects us and the future.

Sociology: Definition, Origin and Dilemmas

In society, every concept requires a clear definition in order to develop an understanding of how the various coexisting areas function to produce efficiency. Sociology in its essence explains these concepts as it involves the individuals that work conjointly to ensure those societal systems’ functions are executed smoothly. According to the department of Sociology of Cornell University: â€Å"Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behaviour (University, 2008, prg. ). † However, what makes sociology differ from other social sciences is its analysis of individual behaviours as they interact within different contexts classified as systems such as political systems, economic systems and family systems (University, 2008). These three systems are identified as the make-up of the Belizean society. The Political system represents the different constituencies of the country, the government and its branches of author ity, and political parties. The Belizean economy is formed by the various produce, commerce, internal and external exportation of products and services as well as the various income sources of the country. The last system identified as the family system is a mixture of various forms but the most common within the Belizean context are single-parent families amongst the nuclear and extended families that do exist but in smaller numbers. The ranges of systems qualified for sociological study include, but are not limited to, intimate families, mobs, cults, and sports (University, 2008). Like the individuals and systems it studies, sociology also has a source of origin and an explanation for its existence and functions. Sociology in its term was developed by in the year 1838 by a French Philosopher identified as August Comte who believed strongly that social issues could be studied with the use of science. In his belief, though strange to others at the time, he believed it was possible to discover and analyse the laws of social life just as is done with the laws of science and factual evidence of theories. Of this concept, link between science and society, he then developed what we refer to as positivism to sociology which would give sociologists the qualifications to become societal guides. (Crossman, 2013). An indeed sociologists have become guides to the everyday worldly functions of social life as each social activity has a designated sociologists. Areas guided have been classified to be those of religion, politics, law, economics, rural life and industry among many others (Unknown, 2007). Aside from being developed by the â€Å"Father of Sociology†, August Comte, there were also other factors that presented great encouragement toward the concept of Sociology. Such contributors were all identified as socially changing occurrences of the twentieth century. Among those contributors were the political revolutions that occurred in Europe, the Industrial Revolution which introduced automation, Capitalism, Socialism, and not to mention the emerging religions and developing municipalities. These occurrences in their own way changed the lives of individuals. Thus the reason why these instances influenced the development of Sociology was because of their contribution to social change (Crossman, 2013) . Sociology, as mentioned before, studies how individuals interact within various social systems. Whenever interaction and human behaviour is combined difficulties and ethical dilemmas are prone to arise. The Hawthorne effect is said to be a difficulty for Sociologists in executing sociological research because when humans are aware that they are being observed they often exhibit false pretences to fit the roles they believe they should fulfil. Another difficulty would be the complexity of social issues, as opposed to scientific phenomena, because most of these are not easily measurable. A plausible difficulty could be that people in power, people independent of societal norms, and people who are publicly visible may want to keep their activities in obscurity and unknown by others. Ethical dilemmas may also be problems for Sociologists. Two major ethical dilemmas that may be problematic are violating individuals’ right to their privacy and experimentation using inexperienced, obedient, gullible individuals. Finlay). With all the information presented sociology can be defined in condense statements. Therefore, Sociology is the study of individual social behaviour and how individuals interact within social context such as political, family and economic systems. Sociology was developed by French philosopher August Comte but was greatly influenced by the grave social changes that occurred during its era of development. T o conclude, its social nature lightens the way for difficulties and ethical dilemmas in the execution of research on relative issues.

A&E Television Networks Essay

According to Annie Leibovitz, the picture that was chosen for the cover of the magazine was not intentionally or deliberately taken. The picture, according to Leibovitz, was only a â€Å"meter reading. † (Leibovitz) However, in the end, it was still chosen to be cover shot for the magazine because of the image’s candor and unpretentious nature. We all know that John Lennon was a member of The Beatles, one of the greatest music icons of all time. Being a member of rock band during that time meant adapting a public image or reputation that resound the â€Å"rock and roll† kind of life, behavior, and attitude, especially because Lennon was extremely famous during that time. However, Leibovitz’ photograph of Lennon was far from the established image of a famous musician who just happened to be part of The Beatles. The image was plain and unpretentious in the sense that there were no heavily implied messages or impressions. Although people would not know who Lennon was really as a person, the picture seemed to portray who he was – unbounded by fame and stardom. Leibovitz was successfully able to capture a certain air of Lennon’s honest, intense but tacit strength and influence. Leibovitz’ ability to bring a certain kind of powerful, individual, distinctive, and honest personality, as reflected in Lennon’s image, have solidified who she was, as well as her vision and creativity, as an artist and a photographer. The Rise to Fame After two years of working for the â€Å"Rolling Stone,† Leibovitz became the magazine’s chief photographer. From the simple and realistic image that she took of John Lennon, she was able to go beyond what she knew of photography and evolve portrait photography into something distinctive and creative. (A&E Television Networks, p. 1) Leibovitz had the liberty to develop and improve her talents, but at the same time deliver photographs that bordered on inventiveness and creativity. She began taking glamorous and elaborate images as opposed to the simple and lackluster image of Lennon. John Lennon and Yoko Ono Rolling Stone (22 Jan 1981) By Annie Leibovitz The images taken by Leibovitz from then on were bold and modern. The picture that she took of Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, for the cover of â€Å"Rolling Stone† in January 2981, represented Leibovitz exploration of the contemporary styles and approaches to portrait photography. Another key feature of Leibovitz’ works was that the focus is always on different kinds of relationships, personality, and emotions. In this particular image of Lennon and Ono, Leibovitz wanted to bring out the strong ties that bind the two people together as partners. Lennon and Ono also portrayed different roles within the kind of relationship illustrated in the image through body language. Leibovitz saw the sensitivity and vulnerability of Lennon as he clang to Ono, and Ono’s strength in withstanding the cold. (Leibovitz, 2) The honest and unpretentious element represented in the picture was the strong and immovable love or passion between Lennon and Ono. As Leibovitz’ career advances, her works also become provocative on a grander, larger scale. Some say that Leibovitz’ photographs were merely image framing the glamour and glitz of a cross between Hollywood and Rock-and-Roll lifestyle as most portraits taken by Leibovitz were extremely forceful and ambitious. (Stevens, p. 99) As Leibovitz received criticisms and recognition for her works, the attention on the photographs taken by her escalated, and so did her artistic visions and inspirations. If one would take the most controversial photographs taken by Leibovitz throughout the years of her career, one common theme that brings those images together under a singular theme would be subtle yet artistic nudity. The existence of nudity in Leibovitz’ pictures has been one of the primary reasons why her works have received much attention from various groups and individuals, but also the reason why her visions and inspirations remain to be that of the translation of honesty and regularity through art. C Bette Midler Whoopi Goldberg (1979) (1984) New York Magazine, 1983 The Wall Street Journal, 2008 Coming to Terms with the True Essence of Portrait Photography However, despite the artistry and radical messages that Leibovitz shot through her photographs, her talents were quickly categorized and judged under provocative images, which were sold and captured attention simply because of nudity. Leibovitz suddenly realized that there was something amiss from her works and she felt that she lost the ability to capture relationships, real emotions, strong messages, and such in her photographs. She believed that portrait photography should also emphasize the relationship of the subject to the camera and the photographer in order to produce images that are real and engaging, and not plain and empty. For this reason, Leibovitz stopped working for a month in order to figure out how she can improve her craft. (New York Magazine) Narelle Brennan Narelle Brennan As a Showgirl in Las Vegas As a Mother with her Two Children (1999) (1999) â€Å"Women,† 1999 â€Å"Women,† 1999 Taking time off work has helped Leibovitz get back on her heels. Although she continued to take high-profile glamour photographs of famous celebrities for â€Å"Rolling Stone† and even â€Å"Vanity Fair,† she also focused on the non-commercial aspect of photography. In one book that Leibovitz and Susan Sontag were able to publish in 1999, she presented the depth of her artistry by taking photographs of real women from different walks of life. In this particular collection, Leibovitz was able to recapture her trademark and style in taking photographs – building a relationship between the subject/subjects and the camera and the photographer, building a relationship among the subjects, portraying real and strong emotions, integrating images of power, strength, and influence, reality and simplicity, and personality. From the images taken of Narelle Brennan, Leibovitz was able to capture who Brennan was as a person, unbounded by her being simply a showgirl, but also as a mother of two children. The pictures were honest in such a way that it portrayed how the personalities of women change depending on the various roles that they play. Leibovitz successfully depicted freedom, nonconformity, and the need to put down biasness or prejudice when it comes to tagging individuals because of what they do or what they become. Furthermore, she was able to express her sensitivity in answering for Brennan, that her being a Showgirl in Las Vegas does not stand for her entire person. Conclusion Leibovitz’ artistry and creativity in photography have evolved through time. One may simply categorize Leibovitz’ skills and talents as unsettled or inconsistent judging from the diversity of the subjects and themes of the photographs that she has taken over time. However, despite Leibovitz’ irregular and erratic display of her talents and skills and photography, the changes that she had to see through all those years of building her career as a photographer generally defined her artistry and style. Leibovitz’ art has certainly improved through time and she was able to take advantage of all the opportunities to take photographs, make mistakes, experiment, and translate drama, emotions, passion, relationships, and such, into photographs, in order to develop her skills and talents as a photographer. Therefore, Leibovitz’ photography may be defined as flexible or adaptable, but at the same time reprehensible, strong, provocative, and forceful. She understood how the relationship between the subject, the camera, and the photographer should be developed in order to capture genuine emotions and feelings, relationships and connections, and bring out the dominant personalities of her subjects to add meaning to the photograph. The results were timeless and unforgettable images that would resound her inventiveness and adaptability as a photographer. Works Cited A&E Television Networks. â€Å"Annie Leibovitz Biography. † Retrieved from A&E Television Networks. 27 Apr 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/library/photos/leibovitz/brennan.html