Football vs. Soccer Essay -- Comparison Contrast Essays

Football vs. Soccer Athletes who play football share the same goal as athletes who play soccer: score the most goals to win the game. In football, there are two areas on opposite sides of the field where one can score points by bringing the football over the goal line. Soccer shares this same concept by having two nets on opposite sides of the field where one can score a point by kicking the soccer ball into the net. Also, both sports share the concept of having an offense and defense, and both sports each have eleven players on a team on the field at a time. These are only few of many similarities between these two sports, but in actuality, they are significantly different. The rules, rituals, and concepts of both sports distinguish themselves from each other. First of all, the rules of football require one to equip himself with approximately twenty pounds of equipment, including a helmet, shoulder pads, and girdle pads. This is because football has the most contact involved out of all sports. In a football game, the norm is that the home team wears colorful jerseys and the visiting team wears white jerseys. Moreover, if a team’s offense is on the field, their defense is on the sideline. A team’s offense includes a center, who snaps the ball to the quarterback. The â€Å"QB† then has a choice to run with the ball, hand it off to a running back, or throw it to a wide receiver. The quarterback has an offensive line to protect him from the assailing defense. If a teammate happens to score a touchdown, he earns his team six points, which allows for the kicker to kick an extra point, and give his team a total of seven points. However, if the offense fails to travel at least ten yards within four attempts, or â€Å"downs,à ¢â‚¬  they have the opti... ...nd must support both the defense and the offense. In conclusion, football and soccer have their similarities, but these similarities are superficial. There are many fundamental differences, such as the use of one’s hands being illegal in soccer, except for the goalie when he/she is inside his/her respective eighteen-yard boundary. Another example is the alternation of a team’s offense and defense in football as opposed to the simultaneous effort of the offense and defense in soccer. These differences in rules, rituals, and concepts distinguish these two sports from each other. However, there are similarities, such as the fact that both sports allow eleven players on each team to play on the field at a time. Also, the area where one scores is in the same locations in both sports, the end zones of football and the goals of soccer are on opposite sides of the field.

Do Not Learn as a Machine Essay

It’s twelve at night. Tons of papers and a cup of coffee on the desk prepared for pulling an all-nighter. Studying for the exam tomorrow, cramming tons of class-notes and materials. Students are fighting for an A. However, what do we expect them to learn from it? Is it even beneficial to them? After all, most students forget almost everything as soon as they finish the exam. Apparently, there are some fundamental problems in our current educational system. In the three essays, â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education† by Paulo Freire, â€Å"Against School† by John Taylor Gatto and â€Å"The Achievement of Desire† by Richard Rodriguez, the authors realize different problems of the educational system and have different opinions about it. In my point of view, the main problem in the current educational system is that it encourages students to receive information meekly, without doubting, questioning or even understanding the material. As a result, these students resemble machines which acquire many facts but can barely develop their own critical thinking. The three aforementioned authors have differing opinions on the current educational system, but they all describe it as a system where students merely receive information but do not undergo critical thinking. In â€Å"Against School,† Gatto states that the educational system is a scheme the government uses to make people more â€Å"manageable† by reducing their critical judgment. To achieve this, school provide answers of every question to the students. It works because â€Å"Easy answers have removed the need to ask questions† (Gatto 155). It is true. Since students were taught in their early life that teachers are absolutely right, and that they should obey the authorities, as a result, most of them do not judge the teachers’ explanations. As they grow up, students tend to find the answers from books or teachers instead of figuring the answer out by themselves. Thus, their critical and original thinking have been obliterated completely under this educational system. Moreover, the boredom of schooling successfully removes the students’ curiosity which drive them to ask questions. A similar idea appears in â€Å"The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education. Freire uses the term â€Å"banking system† to describe the educational system where the teachers deposit a large amount of knowledge on the students. Students soon become receptacles which â€Å"extend only as far as receiving, filling, and storing the deposits† (Freire 1). These students do not understand how the information related to the real world, and can neither apply the knowledge to the real world problem nor develop their own critical thinking. In â€Å"The Achievement of Desire†, Rodriguez mainly describes his early life as a successful student. It gives a concrete example to support Gatto and Freire’s opinion. As he describes himself as a â€Å"great mimic; a collector of thoughts, not a thinker† (203), it fits Gatto and Freire’s description about the educational system, that even a considerably â€Å"successful† student could not perform critical and original thinking. Under this type of educational system, students try to find their way to achieve high scores. However, it turns out that the best way to be successful in this system isn’t the best way to learn. In the essays, the authors describe how the â€Å"successful† student is like. According to Freire, â€Å"The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are† (1). In order to be considered â€Å"good† under this system, students need to receive a large amount of facts on a superficial level. The best strategy is not to think, not to question, just believe and memorize it. Freire observes a phenomena in which teachers talk about contents â€Å"which are detached from reality, disconnected from the totality that engendered them† (1). In this way, students acquire tons of facts and maybe enhance their memorization ability, but fail to understand how these facts are connected to the daily life. In â€Å"The Achievement of Desire,† Rodriguez realizes that he was the â€Å"worst student,† even though he was considered â€Å"successful† in the system. â€Å"He becomes in every obvious way the worst student, a dummy mouthing the opinions of others. But he would not be so bad—nor would he become so successful, a scholarship boy—if he did not accurately perceive that the best synonym for primary ‘education’ is ‘imitation’† (203). The scholarship boy noticed that the best way to succeed in this system is to borrow and copy the ideas of others. Clearly we know that this is not the way to learn, as learning requires original processes. Therefore, it can be concluded that being successful in the educational system is not the same as being successful in learning. My experience supports this. Some teachers in my high school ask students to memorize all the model answers to every possible question that might be asked on the standardized test, but do not give explanations or have activities which could actually help students understand. The aim of teaching would then become merely the test scores. My physics teacher kept reminding us how many students got an A in a standardized test under his training, which emphasized becoming â€Å"machines for solving problems. † Being these machines could improve our performance on a test; however, we did not retain any substantial knowledge throughout the class, some even losing the motivation to learn afterwards. Solutions to a problem can be simple once we understand the cause of it. In the essays, the authors suggest their individual solutions. Freire suggests to oppose the â€Å"banking system,† by implementing a â€Å"problem-posing system. † In a problem-posing system, teachers pose some problems related to the world and ask the students to attempt to solve them without a straight forward answer (Freire 7). Students would then have the chance to explore the respective topic by themselves, think about every possible solution creatively. It takes time for all students to figure out the answer, and some of them may even fail to do it, but at least each student has tried to think about the problem. In this way, students are learning the material cognitively, and hence they will understand it more deeply and be able to apply the knowledge to the real world. Moreover, this system can motivate students to learn. According to Freire, â€Å"Students, as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge† (8). When students try solving the problem, they are not being narrated by the boring materials and instead use their creative brainpower. They will find it fun to learn in this way and grow an enthusiasm to continue learning. In â€Å"Against School,† Gatto suggests to do the retrograde of the school’s mediocre influence on children. â€Å"School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers. School trains children to obey reflexively teach your own to think critically and independently† (155). To do this, we can educate children not only by books, but also encourage them to join different kinds of extra-curriculum activities such that they can grow interest in all areas. As an international student, I always compare the educational systems in America and Macau. I found that the educational system in America is relatively more â€Å"problem-posing† than my early education in Macau. Professors always give us chance to discuss and have more in-class activities. I fit in this problem-posing system and thus I can learn better and understand concepts more clearer. In conclusion, in order to learn cognitively and acquire the true knowledge, students should try to understand the materials before they decide to believe and cram it. Doxa means common beliefs and facts, while logos means the principle of knowledge. When students deeply understand it, they will attain the level of logos, not only doxa. It gives the students knowledge as well as the skill to derive other truths. To avoid being a machine, we should have our own thought and creativity. In the ideal problem-posing system, students can explore it in their way but not copying others’ ideas because they do not need to worry about their grades. They would then have their original opinion and thought, instead of meekly receiving information, being a mindless machine.

Alternate Outcome At Fort Ticonderoga - 874 Words

Alternate outcome at Fort Ticonderoga In order to come to an alternative outcome, one must first address the instructional letter sent from General Gage to General Carleton after the battles at Lexington and Concord. The letter took far too long to get to General Carleton. General Gage had credible human intelligence suggesting that the colonists wanted to take Fort Ticonderoga. While one understands that one must use the chain of command, one would think the immediacy of the letter was far more important and should have gone directly to Fort Ticonderoga, instead of the 10 – day long ride to Montreal. And even if that was not proper protocol, General Gage could have at least sent an advisor with knowledge of surveillance techniques to Fort Ticonderoga to aid in their post and give better forewarning of a potential attack. Secondly, had the British force at Fort Ticonderoga had cavalry scouts assigned to it, there would not have been much of an American Revolution. The cavalry scouts would have picked up the trail of Colonels Allen, Arnold, and the Green Mountain Boys. The Scouts could have performed reconnaissance and then reported back to the garrison commander, putting the whole fort on guard. Then the garrison commander could have contacted both the British sloop in Lake Champlain and the garrison at Fort Crown Point for further aid and reinforcements, beating back the patriot attacking force. Thirdly, with more troops at the fort, the British could have afforded a couple