Literacy is like a game of Texas Hold’em; how well you play depends on how well your opponent communicates. All humans telegraph their thoughts whether it is through their body movements, their speech patterns, or their attention span and it is useful to understand these little details to figure out what would be the best course of action to respond to your opponent with. Literacy, in a competitive sense, is not only limited to Poker tournaments but is also valuable the any general field as learning about one’s opponent can also be applied to learning about one’s allies.
Under pressure the body will start to fidget in an effort to steady its nerves and in a game of High Stakes Texas Hold’em the more the player fidgets the worse they tend to play. Their behavior can reveal many ideas about the person for example how well they work under stress, if they are comfortable associating with others in a competitive setting, and if they are confident in their decisions. Interpreting someone’s passive actions, while not being judgmental about it, can improve your own literacy as body movemen...
Literacy gives courage and provides a positive influence in times of crisis.
In early American literature, many authors began shifting the focus of their works from the refined upper class citizens to the real every-day experiences of the American people. As a result of this shift, authors began writing about life in the small towns scattered across the United States, while focusing on non-typical and socially and morally lowly characters. A perfect example of this type of writing can be found in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” a short story written by Bret Harte. In this story we are introduced to four characters, cast from their pioneertown for participating in morally objectionable activities. The four consisted of John Oakhurst, a gambler, Duchess, a prostitute, Mother Shipton, a madam, and Uncle Billy, a local drunk
This book from Bret Harte did an excellent job in capturing the attention of the reader, despite the story being incredibly short. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” tells the events of a band of exiles from the city of Poker Flat and the people they meet while leaving for another town. The group consisted of John Oakhurst, a gambler; Mother Shipton and the Duchess, both prostitutes; Uncle Billy, a suspected thief and drunkard; Tom Simson, also known as the “Innocent”; and Piney Woods, Tom’s lady. At the end of the story, everyone ends up dying, but one death in particular that piqued interest was the death of Mr. Oakhurst. Before dying, he pinned a two of clubs to the bark of a tree with a Bowie knife. This two of clubs pinned to the tree has a
"King of the Bingo Game" analyzes the exact separation felt by blacks in the United States. A young black man, the main charater of the story, who remains nameless throughout the story, cannot find work. The Bingo King, is alone in the world and his isolation is further stressed by the potential death of his wife, Laura, who is extremely ill and in serious need for medical care. Pressured by his wife's illness, he visits a movie theatre where he takes part in a Bingo game, hoping to win. As a winner of palying Bingo, he is then given a chance at the jackpot. In "King of the Bingo Game" The working-class blacks of the day were new to inner-city life. Ellison provides an analysis of this relationship with fate, and more specifically, a black
Literacy is the act of conveying, analysing and understanding messages to make meaning of interactions. Therefore, literacy can be defined as a multifaceted, continually evolving multimodal process using numerous semiotic systems for communication purposes. A literate individual is required to make sense of information received in order to articulate or express an appropriate response; although, literacy strengths will vary depending on the context or social situation. In an increasingly multicultural and technologically "savvy" classroom, the teaching and learning of multiliteracies is of particular importance as it ensures students gain the skills needed to successfully communicate in a modern world. Therefore, it is necessary for literacy to be described as multimodal, which includes the use of aural, gestural, linguistic, spatial, and visual modes with a purpose to send and receive information. The term multimodal also incorporates the use of art, digita...
As the room fills with smoke from cigars and cigarettes, I look across the table at the last guy in the hand. I think to myself, “Why did he just raise me?” I just raised the pot $25 on two pair. The other guy re-raised the pot another $25. My heart is beating like a freight train racing down the tracks, I’m doing everything in my power to stop from sweating and I’m trying to keep my face stone cold straight as to not give myself away. I’m pretty sure at this point that this guy is trying buy the pot, but it still makes me nervous. I decide to call his raise and when the cards are turned over I realize that I had just made the right call. I won the pot and fought off his bluff.
The Outcast of Poker Flat written by Bret Harte is a satirical story of the nineteenth-century conventional morality in America. Setting in the western area during the California gold rush 1850, it was the age of boom towns, vigilantes and the Old West. Bret Harte uses irony, euphemisms and humor to describe the twisted story plot by opening with John Oakhurst as a gambler stepped into the town’s main street and was about to be exile. Within specific situations, Harte brings out the best characteristic in John Oakhurst. Although Oakhurst consider to be the strongest character, he is also the weakest among the outcast.
Gambling in the form of traditional games has always been a part of many American Indian tribes’ cultures. Though many tribes began using other forms of gambling, this continues today. However, the use of gaming to obtain profit was not as successful until the late 1970's and early 1980's. It quickly grew from an industry that made $100 million annually to over $22 billion annually. Gambling started with simple games such as bingo and continued to grow until the states the tribes were in eventually took notice. Additionally, because of the rapid growth of the gambling industry some tribes used this to better their ailing economies. As more states started to take notice of the increased amount of income the tribes were bringing in, the states’ governments began questioning whether it was a legitimate operation or not. In response states began lobbying for the Federal Government to regulate Indian gaming. The states wanting to both counter infiltration by organized crime and tax income gained by Indian gaming. Tribes fought the states to maintain tribal sovereignty and to protect gaming revenues for further economic development and support. Congress responded with the set of compromises which then evolved into what is now known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. The Act separated Indian gaming into three separate classes with a different regulatory scheme for each.
In Chicago, Illinois, among many other cities across the nation, a new trend has swept teenagers like a plague. Poker, or the newly named Texas Holdem, has been the new hobby to most kids, boys in particular. Since the football season has been over, one boy even turned his dining room, a place for family time and bonding, into a full fledged poker parlor with chips, and plenty of decks of cards.
Legal gambling seduces desperate local economies and profits from the very citizens who are least able to afford it. An alarming number of lottery sales rely on a small number of less-educated, low-income individuals from poor neighborhoods. Money reserved for education from these lotteries primarily fund scholarships, scholarships that are acquired mostly by middle class students. As a result, low income families are aiding in the progression of middle class families’ education, but little to none of these funds are aiding in advanced education of those on or below the poverty line. Despite states stating that revenues from lotteries are a crucial part of financial support for their states and community, none could prove that program funding would not be available if lotteries did not exist. In reality, most of these states experienced a decrease in general funding for programs lottery was created to improve. Although Native Americans boast that the establishment of a casino helped many tribes to overcome severe levels of poverty by creating jobs, Native American reservation populations still remain at about 50 percent unemployment. Among other casino types, such as destination resorts and smaller commercial casinos, those employed by indian casinos take in the lowest average pay, are not unionized, maintain low job security, and experience a lack of federal employee protection laws being followed. Convenience gambling, such as stand-alone machines located in easily accessible public locations, creates a minuscule amount of jobs and generates no local economic growth. These alluring rapid paced video gambling machines are readily available and exploit compulsive behaviors of local citizens to obtain as much money it can i...
Additionally, literacy does not only refer to reading. Literacy also refers to writing, discussing, and becoming fluent in the specific subject area. The original curriculum for my Hebrew reading classes only covered decoding. Yet, as I personalized my classes more, I began incorporating other aspects of literacy, including comprehension, writing, and discussion, and I noticed a vast improvement in my students’ overall learning. With my math students, too, as I incorporated different aspects of literacy related to my students’ personal learning styles, I noticed further
Casinos have become a form of entertainment for millions of Americans. In fact, Las Vegas, considered to be the home of casino gambling, is third only to Disneyworld and New York for tourism with 260 million visitors yearly. While it is true that casinos generate billions of dollars in revenues hardly any of that makes it back to the local economy as promised by the lobbyists to have casinos built in a city. Effects on local economies include construction jobs are created as well as hospitality jobs within the casino. While it is true jobs are created though usually they go to people outside the communities. The lobbyists for these huge casino companies state that it will also revive a dying economy if they allow casino gambling in their cities. Contrary to this claim though, Atlantic City has the highest unemployment rate in New Jersey. They claim restaurants, movie theaters, and other local businesses will benefit when exactly the opposite is true. Who is going to eat a local restaurant when the casino is offering free meals and drinks to gamblers. By 1996, Atlantic City casinos were devoting 318 million dollars to promotional food and drinks. Also in Atlantic City, over 900 of the 2100 small businesses there closed and the number of local restaurants was reduced from 243 to 146. Richard Byron, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, describes gambling expenditures as Money Extracted From Other Consumer Spending. When casinos come into a small community such as Atlantic City or Biloxi the people living in that community start to go there for entertainment instead of movie theaters, restaurants and other places they used to go to before. In 1994, more people went to the casinos than went to major league baseball parks and more money was spent on casinos than books, albums, and theme parks. It also affects real estate values, in Atlantic city the average cost of a house dropped 24,000.00 after the casinos were built and 11,000.00 for cities close to Atlantic City.
Solley, J. (2014, February 18). Literacy for the 21st century: fluency. [Presentation] Powerpoint presented during in-class lecture. Davie, FL.
The card game of poker has many variations most of which were created in the United states in the mid 1990s. The standard order of play applies to most of these games, but to fully specify a poker game online requires details about which hand values are used. The number of betting rounds and exactly what cards are dealt with and what other actions are taken between rounds.
Literacy, what is it? When this question was asked, my immediate thought was being able to read and write, duh. But as I sat back in my chair and tried to come up with something to say to the class, I realized literacy is not truly defined by that short definition provided when looked up in the dictionary. Literacy has been an important part every civilization, enabling the recording and sharing of history, thoughts, and ideas. It has a place in every aspect of society. From cooking, to science, to religion, literacy knows no bounds. Although literacy is often thought of as the ability to read and write in an academic setting, to me literacy is more beneficial when used outside of an educational context. Literacy in its most significant form is being able to decipher emotions and feelings, finding productive solutions to the problems, and sharing with others.