Postwar Vietnamese Film - CYCLO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Postwar Vietnamese Film - CYCLO - Essay Example Tran Anh Hungs brilliant film exposes to light how poverty and inexorable pressure of robber capitalism in high-crime area make ordinary people face ethical dilemma and experience problem of choice in a vibrant urban environment of modern Vietnam. Tran Anh Hungs Cyclo is a sophisticated poetic tale of Ho Chi Minh City. It opens the door to a gloomy world of turbulent 90s in the Vietnams largest city, where misery runs in the family from generation to generation and hellish toil does not mean decent life. The movie focuses on times of so-called "doi moi" or market liberalization in Vietnam, when the government of the country took measures to make a transition from a command economy to a market-driven economical system of Western type (Narkunas 148), which was a huge challenge for the nation. During these transition times portrayed in the movie the corruption of state apparatus and hyperinflation of national currency were a commonplace, while unemployment and crime rates soared and caused social unrest in big cities. A great number of Ho Chi Minh City inhabitants were foredoomed to be trapped in a vicious circle of hard poverty and moral decadence, incoming crime waves and abrupt eruptions of street violence, gender bias and ho peless lack of opportunities for younger generation. The protagonists of the movie represent the lower class of Vietnamese society that struggles hard to escape from grasp of misery. Each of them makes morally questionable choices all the way down in hope for better life. However, despite the fact all of the protagonists are tangled in a shady business, they are more to be pitied than censured. The story is told in a somewhat dismal strain. Its chronological narration is far from having a linear progression and often intermingles with colorful surrealistic scenes. The film is rich with vivid imagery, when

Theories of Child Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theories of Child Development - Essay Example The child goes through certain phases in this development continuum with distinct periods in his life, such as toddler, preschooler, school aged and adolescent, to finally forming his own identity. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the more popular theories on child development. Discussion Although psychologists have put forward many theories regarding child development, it is the purpose of this brief paper to limit the discussions to only five of the more prominent ones. A child development theory is a set of organized principles designed to help adults understand a child and thereby contribute to his or her development through caring and teaching. The theories can help adults on what are the best ways to teach a child based on the aforesaid principles in the hope they will work to the best ways of bringing up the child, molding his thinking and influence his behavior. Psychologists and scientists are not totally agreed on which theory is the best which is why there a re many theories on child development. ... The strategy is to show to the child good and proper behavior in certain situations so they will know how to act in each situation as they grow older and eventually become adults. A social learning theory emphasizes that actions of parents and peers greatly influence an action of a child where the child acquires new skills and gains knowledge by new information shown by actions. Observation, imitation and modeling are the ways by which a child learns something new. This development theory was propounded by psychologist Albert Bandura as a mixture of behaviorist and cognitive learning theories proposed by other child psychologists. He believed there is cause and effect between external and internal reinforcements such as pride, satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment in a reciprocal loop such as in forming their sexual identities (Bandura, 1986, p. 94). A teacher must exhibit at all times appropriate behavior as children will mimic him or her. Cognitive Development Theory – thi s theory considers the child as a little scientist who goes on his own active role to gain new knowledge. Cognition (the acts or process of perceiving, knowing and making decisions based on experiences) in a child follows four distinct stages, this according to its foremost proponent, Jean Piaget (1896-1980). These are sensorimotor stage (up to age 2), the preoperational stage (up to age 7), concrete stage and formal operational stage. His theory further states that learning is best done by doing, that is interactively and the play process. This theory is applied in most pre-school and kindergarten centers, where kids are taught to have logical and abstract reasoning through use of graphic visualization (Oakley, 2004, p. 13). Socio-cultural Development Theory –