Thursday, November 14, 2019
Cameras and Photography Essay -- History of Photography
What do you consider art? Paintings, sculptures, drawings, or maybe something else. I know, when I think of art, I think of photography. Photography Is used for business, science, manufacturing, art, recreational purposes, mass communication, and more. Photography is using light to do amazing things, and some people think of photography as a story that just needs to be told. Ansel Adams probably believed this. He said, ââ¬Å"You donââ¬â¢t take a photograph, you make it.â⬠Photography has a long interesting history, like the fact that the word photography is made up of two greek words, photos meaning ââ¬Ëlightââ¬â¢ and graphein which is ââ¬Ëto drawââ¬â¢ ! Photography also has some complicated techniques to get a hang of taking good photos. Have you heard of the rule of thirds? Or do you know how a camera works? Well, that will all be explained. Maybe, by the end you will take up photography too. This essay will explore the history and types of cameras and the b asic rules for taking photographs. Photography has an amazing process, no matter if you are using a film camera, or a digital camera. The principle of the camera is that light passes through a small hole, projects an image from the brighter side of the opening to a surface on the dimmer side. The process of making photos, or durable images, is by recording light. Or, it can be created by making images from other electromagnetic radiations. Photography has two ways of capturing photos. It can be made chemically, with a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. Although it could be done electronically by the use of an image sensor. The lens is used to focus the light that is reflected from objects into a real image on a light-sensitive surface inside a camera, during a timed exposure... ...e: http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/top-10-most-famous-photographers-of-all-time/ Rowse, D. (2014). 21 Settings, techniques and rules all new camera owners should know. Retrieved February 12, 2014 from , Digital Photography School Web site: http://digital-photography-school.com/21-settings-techniques-and-rules-all-new-camera-owners-should-know Rowse, D. (2014). Rule of thirds. Retrieved February 14, 2014 from , Digital Photography School Web site: http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds/ Rowse, D. (2014). Should you buy a DSLR or point and shoot digital camera? . Retrieved February 15, 2014 from , Digital Photography School Website: http://digital-photography-school.com/should-you-buy-a-dslr-or-point-and-shoot-digital-camera Wilson, R. (2013). Mathew Brady: Portraits of a nation. New York: Bloomsbury USA.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Chinese Lion Dance
Chinese Lion Dance The lion dance is a traditional dance performed in the Chinese culture. The performers mimic the moves of the lion inside a costume that looks in a way like a lion. Many people who are not very familiar with the Lion Dance often gets it confused with the Dragon Dance, since both are performed, for the most part, for the same occasions. It is simple to tell the two dances apart. The Lion Dance is performed most of the time with only two people. The Dragon Dance is performed with many people.In the Dragon Dance multiple people are inside the dragon costume holding up poles, whereas in the Lion Dance, there is someone holding the head of the lion and another person in the back of the lion costume acting as a rear of the lion. Lions were not originally from China. They came there through what was called the Silk Road. The rulers in what is today known as Iran and Afghanistan sent the lions over to the Chinese emperors as a gift in exchange to get the right to trade wit h the Silk Road merchants. This form of Lion Dance dates all the way back to the Han Dynasty, which was from 205 B.C. E. to 220 C. E. in China. The peak of the Lion Dance was during the Tang Dynasty, which was from 716 to 907 C. E. It was mainly danced during religious festivals to celebrate. The dance eventually became so famous that it was exported to Japan as a formal court entertainment. The Lion Dance soon made its way to Korea and Taiwan. The Lion Dance is not exactly the same in all the countries, but the meaning and symbol of the dance are similar. There are many different stories of how the Lion Dance got its origins. One famous story is called ââ¬Å"The Emperorââ¬â¢s Dream. This story states how the emperor of the Tang Dynasty had a dream about how a strange creature came to his rescue. When he described his dream to some advisors, they told him that the creature he described resembled that of a lion, a creature from the Western Hemisphere. The emperor then created the lion dance to honor the creature which saved his life inside of his dream. Another story of how the Lion Dance got its origins is called ââ¬Å"The Story of the ââ¬ËNianââ¬â¢. â⬠Legends say that there was a fierce monster by the name of ââ¬Å"Nianâ⬠that liked to kidnap children.He attacked villages every year until one year, a lion defeated the ââ¬Å"Nianâ⬠and chased it away. The monster promised that it will be back to seek revenge. This time the villagers did not have a lion to protect themselves. As a result, they solved the problem by creating a costume like that of a lion and two villagers wore the costume to scare ââ¬Å"Nianâ⬠away. This is the reason the lion dance is performed every Chinese New Year, so that ââ¬Å"Nianâ⬠would not come back. The legend also says that loud noises from the drum, other instruments, and firecrackers helped scare the ââ¬Å"Nianâ⬠away.The color red is worn during the New Yearââ¬â¢s celebration becau se it was also believed that the ââ¬Å"Nianââ¬Å", was afraid of the color red. The word ââ¬Å"Nian,â⬠thought the yearly ceremony, has become the Chinese word for year. There are two different styles of the Chinese Lion Dance, the Southern Style and the Northern Style. The older and traditional form of Chinese Lion Dance is the Southern Style. The Chinese Southern Lion Dance originated from Guangdong, a providence of China. The costumes of Lion Dance vary widely, but the lion head designs shows much differences.The traditional Fo Shan Lion, has bristles instead of fur and weighs more than the current costumes. The tails are extremely long and are perpendicular to the head for three fourths of the tail's length. The eyes also move left and right. On the back of the costume, there are gold foiled rims and traditional characters saying the groupââ¬â¢s name. Older Liu Bei lions also have black in the tail, while the new ones do not. The Gwan Gung has a red and black tail wit h white trim. The Huang Joon has a full yellow tail with white trim. The Zhang Fei has a black and white tail with white trim and a white underside.The Zhao Zi Long lion is a green lion with a green tail with black trim and also a white underside. All the traditional style Fo Shan have pop-up teeth, tongue, swivelling eyes, and a gold gilded area on the back for the school's name and also the underside of the tail is white. The designs of the tail are also squarer and contain a diamond pattern going down the back; it is also common to see and hear bells attached to the tail. Although most lion dance costumes comes with a set of matching pants, some practitioners use black Kung-Fu pants to look more traditional. The Wong people perform the lion dance using this type of lion.The newer styles of lions for Fo Shan replace all the bristles with fur and the tails are shorter than the traditional ones. They eyes are fixed in place, and the tongue and teeth do not pop up. The tail is curvie r in design. The tail does not have a diamond pattern, and lacks bells. In addition, the dancers wear flashier pants which lack the ease of movement allowed when wearing Kung-Fu pants. The Chinese Northern Style of Chinese Lion Dance is performed usually with two lions. The lions of the North have shaggy orange and yellow hair. The way to tell these lions apart by gender is to see the bow on the head.The females don a green bow while the male lions wear a red bow. Acrobatics are very common with the Northern Style, with stunts like lifts or balancing on a giant ball. Northern lions sometimes appear as a family, with two large ââ¬Å"adultâ⬠lions and a pair of small ââ¬Å"young lionsâ⬠. Different colors on the costumes of the lions represent the different elements of life. The yellow represents earth, black represents water, green represents wood, red represents fire, and white represents metal. The nose of the lions is usually a green color. Green symbolizes good luck, p rosperity, and the ââ¬Å"influence of heaven. Attached to the forehead of the lion is a mirror. The mirror is said to scare away evil spirits by reflecting their own image against them, and also the ability to travel between heaven and earth. The costumes of the lions used for Chinese Lion Dance can only be custom made in specialty craft shops in rural parts of China and have to be imported at considerable expense for foreign countries outside Asia. For groups in Western countries, such as the United States, is made possible through funds raised through subscriptions and pledges made by members of local cultural and business societies.Special hand-made costumes with different add-ons can run up to 2000 dollars on some websites. Some countries, like Malaysia for example, has a really big Chinese population. As a result, local expertise may be available in making the lion costumes and musical instruments without having to get them imported from China. The head of the lion contains a symbol of many different animals itself. The horn is shaped like a bird for the phoenix, symbol for life and regeneration, also associated with representing the female element.The ears and the tail are shaped like a mystical creature, the Chinese unicorn, representing wisdom and good luck. The spine represents the snake, charm and wealth. The back hump of the head represents the tortoise which is the symbol for living a long life. The forehead and the beard are from the dragon, strength, leadership and the male element. The music associated to the Lion Dance is with instruments used live, right next to the performers. The music of drums, cymbals, and gongs are heard and the dance is synchronized with the beat of the song.There are also firecrackers, which is used to add on to the sounds as well. During Chinese New Year, different groups from different Chinese martial art schools visit the house and businesses of the Chinese community to perform what is called ââ¬Å"cai ching. â⬠The word ââ¬Å"cai chingâ⬠translates to ââ¬Å"plucking the greens. â⬠What this is, is when a lion goes on a quest or journey to pluck the green, normally vegetables, like lettuce which in Chinese called ââ¬Å"caiâ⬠and fruits like oranges tied to a ââ¬Å"Red Envelopeâ⬠containing money; either hang highly or just put on a table in front of the premises.The lion will dance to approach the ââ¬Å"caiâ⬠and red envelope in a manner of that of a curious cat. It will then get the vegetable and red envelope. After, the cat will ââ¬Å"eat the vegetableâ⬠(rip it up and throw it back out), and keep the red envelope containing money for their group. The lion dance is said to bring good luck and fortune to the businesses. Not only is the dance only done during Chinese New Year, but also in other religious festivals, business openings, birthday celebrations, and wedding celebrations.In the old days, the lettuce was hung 15 to 20 feet above ground and onl y a well-trained martial artist could reach the money while dancing with a heavy lion head. These events became challenging so a very large sum of money was rewarded, and the audience expected a good show. Sometimes, if lions from multiple martial arts schools approached the lettuce at the same time, the lions are supposed to ââ¬Å"fightâ⬠to decide a winner. The lions had to fight with lion moves instead of chaotic street fighting styles. The audience would judge the quality of the martial art schools according to how the lions fought.Since the schools' reputation was at stake, the fights were usually fierce but civilized. The winner lion would then use creative methods and martial art skills to reach the high-hanging reward. Some lions may dance on bamboo stilts and some may step on human pyramids formed by students of the school to reach the ââ¬Å"cai ching. â⬠The performers and the schools would gain praise and respect on top of the large money reward when they did well. During the 1950ââ¬â¢s to 1960ââ¬â¢s, areas with many Chinese communities, such as Chinatown, had people who resembled that of a gangster who joined these Chinese Lion Dance groups.There were lots of fights between these Lion Dance groups and kung fu schools. This worried many parents, which caused the parents to avoid letting their children join these schools. During festivals and performances, when Lion Dance groups met up, there would be fights between the groups. Some lifts and acrobatic tricks are designed for the lion to ââ¬Å"fightâ⬠and knock over other rival lions. Performers even hid daggers in their shoes and clothes, which could be used to injure other lion dancersââ¬â¢ legs.Some even attached a metal horn on their lionââ¬â¢s forehead, which could be used to slash other lion heads. The violence got so extreme that at one point that the Hong Kong government had to put a stop to lion dance completely. Now Lion Dance groups must attain a permit from t he government in order to perform the Lion Dance. Although there is still a certain degree of competitiveness, the groups are a lot less violent and aggressive than they were in the 1950ââ¬â¢s to 1960ââ¬â¢s. In modern day, the Chinese Lion Dance is seen as a sport and is more of something to do during free time.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Minx Marketing Solutions Essay
A London museum in partnership with department of culture and tourism in Syria wants to prepare for an exhibition to showcase selection of artifacts, relics, sculptures and art ââ¬â originating from the city of Palmyra, in Syria for a limited time period, over summer 2009. The museum reached out for our company to help launch and manage a campaign that is meant to promote the exhibition, pull customers, raise the museums profile thus reminding the consumers of the museum, differentiate the museum from other museums, raise revenue and attract future partnerships with international departments of culture. Therefore our marketing company, Minx Marketing Solutions (MMS), set out working for a marketing plan and strategies to make the promotion and campaigning of the exhibition a success. The responsibility of MMS is the total management of the exhibition: from choosing of venue, advertisements and general day to day logistics for the period the exhibition runs. The London museum provides a budget of ? 1million which MMS will use in preparation and running of the exhibition. MMS however should give a proposal on how it intends to use the money provided to the London museum. Situational Analysis Palmyra boasts a fascinating and ancient history of significance to many civilizations and cultures. No any other museum has ever showcased Pieces from Palmyra in the recent past. Since the artifacts and art is such significant, we expect attention from a wide audience, youth and adults alike. Therefore this exhibition is fit for all family viewing. It should be understood that there are 1,848 museums in the UK. These are the museums altogether that have attracted up to and over 42 million visitors per year. This is about 22,700 visitors per museum per year. For major museums, the number is twice as much. ( Travers, 2006). Another rather interesting concept is the fact that about 43% of the population in the UK visits museums at least once a year and thus a survey done by London School of Economics showed that museums and galleries were major attractors of visitors and that the type of people visiting the museums had changed significantly in the period spanning 2002-2004. The number of people from the low social economic class and that of the blacks and minority groups had increased by 15. % and 60% respectively in that period (London School of Economics, 2007) The current market is shared by major museums and galleries across the UK but this depends entirely on whether or not it is a major museum (major museums have a larger market stake) and what the museum is showcasing. Therefore, to command a lions share in the market now that the museum is already a major museum, we need to showcase a major attraction such as the Palmyra pieces beautifully displayed to attest the significance of Palmyra works of art and artifacts to other cultures and civilization world over. Market competition is based on what you have to offer. A variety of activities even outside the museum are likely to give one museum an edge over the other. Opportunities and Threats The opportunities for the exhibition to become successful depends on the positioning of the exhibition, the charges, age bracket of the attendants (are children allowed? ) and other related or unrelated events happening around the set date that are likely to draw the crowds. In the 2009 summer, there shall be the Darwin commemoration, the new Jewish museum in Camden grand opening, the London Canal museum is set to host theatrics and other activities for families and many other activities in other museums all over the country. This is a great threat because there are a number of activities being conducted by a number of museums and this may affect the turn out at the exhibition. The only opportunity we have is based on the pricing and other activities outside the exhibition. Another opportunity is based on a fierce marketing campaign to sell the exhibition to the general public.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
The Differences Of the Colonys essays
The Differences Of the Colonys essays IceLand Our Not-So-Cold Friends Of The North In the spring of 1982 my company, ThermoCorp, launched a multi-billion dollar scientific project to create, and run a community of individuals brainwashed into believing they were the only surviving members of a catastrophic Amageddon. The idea was to see how long a small community of people, a central idea of government and their own infinite power source would be able to sustain peace and prosperity. After trying multiple types of governments, and innumerable power sources, weve narrowed it down to only a few. My job is to find which of the remaining will work the best. One of our remaining three government types is Parliament. And what better Parliament type to mimic than that of Iceland? It is well documented that Icelands Scandinavian-type economy is basically capitalistic, but with an extensive welfare system, low unemployment, and comparatively even distribution of income. So weve come to believe, here at ThermoCorp, that our test subjects will ultimately show similar statistics at the end of the trial period. Also noted is the head of all Icelandic government. Althingi and the President of the Republic. Althingi is comprised of 63 members, all elected for a maximum of four years. When set up in our test group, the data recorded proved to be quite fruitful. It seemed that compared to our other government types, Parliament with an association of a direct president, the elite of the group and the commoners were working together more, and economic statistics were rising. For the first 6 months of the testing period, statistics couldnt have been higher. But as the economy started to experience a halcyon, crime-rate rose and a small faction started to rebel. As more requests were given to the Pseudo-Althingi, and the true law-passing cycle came into view (which consists of bills being presented by the parliamentary committees, and the bills then g ...
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
5 Common African American Stereotypes in TV and Film
5 Common African American Stereotypes in TV and Film African Americans may be scoring more substantial parts in film and television, but many continue to play roles that fuel stereotypes, such as thugs and maids. The prevalence of these parts reveals the importance ofà #OscarsSoWhite and how African Americans continue to struggle for quality roles on both the small and big screens, despite having wonà Academy Awardsà inà acting, screenwriting,à music production and other categories. The Magical Negro Magical Negro characters have long played key roles in films and television programs. These characters tend to be African American men with special powers who make appearances solely to help white characters out of jams, seemingly unconcerned about their own lives. The late Michael Clarke Duncan famously played such a character in ââ¬Å"The Green Mile.â⬠Moviefone wrote of Duncanââ¬â¢s character, John Coffey, ââ¬Å"Heââ¬â¢s more an allegorical symbol than a person, his initials are J.C., he has miraculous healing powers, and he voluntarily submits to execution by the state as a way of doing penance for the sins of others. A ââ¬ËMagical Negroââ¬â¢ character is often the sign of lazy writing at best, or of patronizing cynicism at worst.â⬠Magical Negroes are also problematic because they have no inner lives or desires of their own. Instead, they exist solely as a support system to the white characters, reinforcing the idea that African Americans arenââ¬â¢t as valuable or as human as their white counterparts. They donââ¬â¢t require unique storylines of their own because their lives simply donââ¬â¢t matter as much. In addition to Duncan, Morgan Freeman has played in some such roles, and Will Smith played a Magical Negro in ââ¬Å"The Legend of Bagger Vance.â⬠The Black Best Friend Black Best Friends typically donââ¬â¢t have special powers like Magical Negroes do, but they mainly function in films and television shows to guide white characters out of a crisis. Usually, female, the black best friend functions ââ¬Å"to support the heroine, often with sass, attitude and a keen insight into relationships and life,â⬠critic Greg Braxton noted in theà Los Angeles Times. Like Magical Negroes, black best friends appear not to have much going on in their own lives but turn up at exactly the right moment to coach white characters through life. In the film ââ¬Å"The Devil Wears Prada,â⬠for example, actress Tracie Thoms plays friend to star Anne Hathaway, reminding Hathawayââ¬â¢s character that sheââ¬â¢s losing touch with her values. Also, actress Aisha Tyler played friend to Jennifer Love Hewitt on ââ¬Å"The Ghost Whisperer,â⬠and Lisa Nicole Carson played friend to Calista Flockhart on ââ¬Å"Ally McBeal.â⬠Television executive Rose Catherine Pinkney told the Times that there is a long tradition of black best friends in Hollywood. ââ¬Å"Historically, people of color have had to play nurturing, rational caretakers of the white lead characters. And studios are just not willing to reverse that role.â⬠The Thug Thereââ¬â¢s no shortage of black male actors playing drug dealers, pimps, con-artists and other forms of criminals in television shows and films such as ââ¬Å"The Wireâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Training Day.â⬠The disproportionate amount of African Americans playing criminals in Hollywood fuels the racial stereotype that black men are dangerous and drawn to illicit activities. Often these films and television shows provide little social context for why more black men than others are likely to end up in the criminal justice system. They overlook how racial and economic injustice makes it more difficult for young black men to evade a prison term or how policies such as stop-and-frisk and racial profiling make black men targets of the authorities. They fail to ask whether black men are inherently more likely to be criminals than anyone else or if society plays a role in creating the cradle-to-prison pipeline for African American men. The Brash Woman Black women are routinely portrayed in television and filmà as sassy, neck-rolling harpiesà with major attitude problems. The popularity of reality television shows adds fuel to the fire of this stereotype. To ensure that programs such as ââ¬Å"Basketball Wivesâ⬠maintain plenty of drama, often the loudest and most aggressive black women are featured on these shows. Black women say these depictions have real-world consequences in their love lives and careers. When Bravo debuted the reality show ââ¬Å"Married to Medicineâ⬠in 2013, black female physicians unsuccessfully petitioned the network to pull the plug on the program. ââ¬Å"For the sake of integrity and character of black female physicians, we must ask that Bravo immediately remove and cancel ââ¬ËMarried to Medicineââ¬â¢ from its channel, website, and any other media, the physicians demanded.à Black female physicians only compose 1 percent of the American workforce of physicians. Due to our small numbers, the depiction of black female doctors in media, on any scale, highly affects the publicââ¬â¢s view of the character of all future and current African American female doctors.â⬠The show ultimately aired and black women continue to complain that depictions of African American womanhood in the media fail to live up to reality. The Domestic Because blacks were forced into servitude for hundreds of years in the United States, itââ¬â¢s no surprise that one of the earliest stereotypes about African Americans to emerge in television and film is that of the domestic worker or mammy. Television shows and movies such as ââ¬Å"Beulahâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Gone With The Windâ⬠capitalized on the mammy stereotype in the early 20th century. But more recently, movies such as ââ¬Å"Driving Miss Daisyâ⬠and ââ¬Å"The Helpâ⬠featured African Americans as domestics as well. While Latinos are arguably the group most likely to be typecast as domestic workers nowadays, the controversy over the portrayal of black domestics in Hollywood hasnââ¬â¢t gone away. The 2011 film ââ¬Å"The Helpâ⬠faced intense criticism because the black maids helped catapult the white protagonist to a new stage in life while their lives remained static. Like the Magical Negro and the Black Best Friend, black domestics in film function mostly to nurture and guide white characters.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Car Industry in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words
Car Industry in Europe - Essay Example The essay also look in to various technical measures which car industry has to take to improve the condition of more CO2 emitting cars towards less CO2 emitting ears. It also emphasizes that how these steps improve the overall environment in EU especially the he emission of CO2 level, which is to be achieved with in a time frame. Finally the essay recommends various measures the how EU enforce these regulations legislatively to improve the overall situation of emission of GHG. It also emphasize on how customers and car industry could be benefited by applying and adhering environmental standards for sustainable growth & development. Introduction: The European is at the forefront of international efforts to combat climate change and must deliver the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to which it has committed under the Kyoto protocol. The greenhouse effect is one of the better-understood features of the atmosphere. The European commission proposed in January 2007 "The EU pursues in context of international negotiations, the objective of a 30% reduction of GHG emission by developed countries by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels)". To avoid distortions and for the sake of economical and social fairness, all sectors must contribute to the reduction effort. Cars are an important part of the everyday lives of a large number of Europeans; the automobile industry is a significant source of employment and growth in many regions of the EU. However, car usage has significant impacts on climate change with about 12% of the overall EU emissions of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, coming from fuel consumed by passenger cars. Even though there have been significant improvements in vehicle technology in particular fuel efficiency which also means lower CO2 emissions but this has not been enough to neutralize the effect of increased traffic and car size. While the EU as a whole has reduced its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by just under 5% over the 1990-2004 period, the CO2 emissions from road transport have increased by 26% keeping in view of the above situations in June 2006, European Council therefore unanimously reconfirmed that "In line with the EU Strategy on CO2 emissions from cars/light duty vehicles, the average new car fleet should ach ieve CO2 emissions of 140g CO2/km by 2008/09 and 120g CO2 /km by 2012". The European parliament called for "a policy of strong measures to reduce emission from transport, including mandatory limits for CO2 emissions from new vehicles in order of 80-100g CO2/km for new vehicles in the medium term to be achieved through emission trading between car manufacturers. In view of the above developments in implementing environmental norms and standards by EU, car manufacturers around the globe may face specific problems as well as adhering norms laid down by EU. The auto industry is often thought of as one of the most global of all industries. Car industry is experiencing rapid changes with globalization (Carlson 2004). Rapid changes are also altering the industry structure and attractiveness. The emerging markets
Friday, November 1, 2019
The Book of Nehemiah Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
The Book of Nehemiah - Research Paper Example The setting for the book of Nehemiah is originally the court of the king in Persia. The people of Israel are still captive in Babylon. Some individuals have returned to Jerusalem with the Kingââ¬â¢s blessing to rebuild the temple. But nothing has been done to the city walls, gates and other defensive structures. Nehemiah is granted permission to travel to Jerusalem to rebuild the defenses of Jerusalem while the work on the temple continues. In Jerusalem, there is an assortment of Jews that remained behind from the initial captivity, enemies such as Amorites and Arabs, and other Jews working on the temple. Many of the Jews in Persia still had dreams of returning home while others were becoming acculturated. All of this was happening at some time between 450 BC and 400 BC. The Book of Nehemiah follows a narrative for much of the length. It was written as a history of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and as a witness of Godââ¬â¢s reward for diligent effort. The book begins with Nehemiah receiving word that the construction of the temple was going as planned but was dangerous because there were no walls to protect the workers and the inhabitants of the city. This troubles Nehemiah to such a degree that King Artexerxes can tell that something is troubling Nehemiah, his steward. Nehemiah courageously tell the king what is on his mind. The king grants Nehemiah permission to rebuild the walls and provides tools, equipment and food. Nehemiah arrives and finds much of the city in ruins. Great breaches have been knocked in the walls, many gates and towers are burned and streets are impassable. Nehemiah announces his plans and immediately become an object of scorn and contempt. Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Gehsem the Arab were his main detractors. They said the work could never be completed. Work does begin on the walls and progresses at a very rapid pace. The enemies of Israel are amazed. They begin to issue threats against the effort to r ebuild the walls. Nehemiah records that the work continued, that half of the people stood guard while the other half worked on the construction. These threats were just one of the challenges Nehemiah needed to overcome during the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem. Soon, a division among the local Jews arises. Many families are concerned that they need to support the workers on the walls and that the construction is taking away sons and daughters that are needed in the fields to grow crops. They threaten to stop giving to support the work of the walls and to withhold their labor. Nehemiah convinces them that this is not the right course of action. He encourages them to first of all, forgive the debts that exist within the community. That way no one needs to fear for losing his or her land. Once the locals agree to do this, they also see the wisdom in completing the walls. They continue to sacrifice to keep constructing the walls. With the construction of the walls complete, Ne hemiah makes lists of the families living in the town surrounding Jerusalem. He takes a census according to town and family, making special note of any Levites that can officiate in the temple. In the middle of the book, Ezra takes over, the narrative stops and there is a long account of how the people of Israel are taught from the books of Moses and reestablish temple worship once again in Jerusalem.
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