Example of continuous assessment

Understanding Literature

Literary texts are constructed in effect as objects of beauty, sources of pleasure and as conveyors of messages and information. While the entertaining aspect of literature may be rather obvious, understanding the ideas or values which a text advances is not always a simple task. Part of the problem is the fact that the ideas of a literary text are almost always presented in indirect or "symbolic" form.

The fact that literary texts very much seek to convey a message to their audience does not mean that their authors are always fully aware of or even interested in that function of their work. Authors in effect often craft their works in very practical and almost automatic ways and do not bother asking or answering questions as to their significance. Just as dreams often convey meaning and information to the dreamer in puzzling symbolic images, literature may be said to function in a similar way.

While the logic of association of literary texts is unstable and variable, it is almost always grounded on binary systems of distinctions and polar oppositions defined either by literary convention or internally within the text. Given a set of basic symbolic oppositions, connections created by symbolic figures in a text are generally governed by similarities to and differences from the basic binary parameters. Being able to perceive similarities and differences between groups of images, words, and ideas in a text is therefore the first step toward the discovery of its underlying categories and structures of symbols and ideas. Take for example a story where a cruel monster is described as having the appearance of a mountain lion and where later we find a seemingly virtuous man also compared to a mountain lion. We can begin to perceive that, although they may seem very different, the text also wants us in a way to place the man and the monster in the same category and perhaps understand that the man is also, in some mysterious sense, a cruel monster. Such a story could in a very subtle way be implying a critical comment concerning the character of its hero or even the virtues cherished in the society in which the hero lives. Often indeed under the façade of an unbelievable tale of monsters and adventures lies hidden the architecture of an entire set of values and a complex system of thought and ideas.

My favourite author

My favourite author is Dan Brown. He is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Personally, I have read all his books and enjoyed every single one of them. I find his books very interesting, easy to connect with and easy to follow up.

In my opinion, Dan Brown has the ability to capture his reader. For example, when I start to read one of his books, I can not put it away till the very end. His books are

so interesting that when I go to sleep I continue to think about the story even in my dreams!

Understanding Music

If we were asked to explain the purpose of music, our immediate reply might be "to give pleasure". That would not be far from the truth, but there are other considerations.

We might also define music as "expression in sound", or "the expression of thought and feeling in an aesthetic form", and still not arrive at an understanding of its true purpose. We do know, however, even if we are not fully conscious of it that music is a part of living that it has the power to awaken (будить, пробуждать) in us sensations and emotions of a spiritual kind.

Listening to music can be an emotional experience or an intellectual exercise. If we succeed in blending the two, without excess in either case, we are on the road to gaining the ultimate pleasure from music. Having mastered the gift of listening to, say, a Haydn symphony, the ear and mind should be ready to admit Mozart, then to absorb Beethoven, then Brahms. After that, the pathway  to the works of later composers will be found to be less bramble strewn than we at first imagined.

There was a time in the sixties when it looked as if the situation was about to be broken up by a new and revolutionary popular music of unprecedented and unexpected power. The so-called"Rock Revolution" began in fact in the midfifties, and was based firmly on the discontent of the younger generation who were in revolt against the values of their elders; naturally they espoused new musical values, and equally naturally these values represented a negation of everything in the musical world their elders inhabited — the virtual elimination of harmony, or at least its reduction to the few conventional progressions of the blues, an emphasis on the beat, new type of voice production owing much to sophisticated use of amplification and simplification of instrumental technique.

There followed rapidly an extraordinary musical eruption based on the percussive sound of the electric guitar, the rock'n'roll beat and blues harmony.

We should remember that the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many other leading groups and individual performers from the early sixties onward based their music on the sound of electric guitars and percussion.

Now what? In this technological age it is not surprising that electronics should have invaded the field of music. This new phase has brought experiments intended to give music of the popular genre a new sound. Though many may be alarmed at such explorative tampering with sound, it must be admitted that the possibilities of electronically-producedmusic are immense.

Never before has music — all kinds of music — been so popular. Never before has the world had greater need of its stimulation and comfort. We find the ultimate satisfaction in music, be it "classical" or "popular", when we have learnt how to reject the spurious and accept the genuine; when we have learnt how to listen.

African-American music

African-American music originatedin the slavery period of the 19th century. It has had a tremendousimpact on American music since then. Many songs have become a symbol of slavery, human rights and the fight for a better life.Today African-American music consists mainlyof Negro spirituals, jazz, ragtime, rhythm and blues as well as soul.

In the 18th century slaves sang spirituals after convertingto Christianity. They sang them at work on plantations. Later on they also started dancing to these tunes. Such songs have been the coreof African American life for 300 years.

After the Civil War African Americans were employedin military bands. They developeda new style of music called ragtime from which jazz emerged. These musical forms influencedmusic throughoutthe USA in the 20th century.

At the beginning of the 20th century African American music started to gain popularitywith musicals written for Broadway. Black singers performed in famous opera houses. In the first decadesblues and jazz spread throughout the country. As time went on African Americans were even allowed to study in famous music schools.

In the 40s and 50s African Americans also participatedin the development of a new genreof music called rock'n'roll. Although the more famous musicians of this period were white, there were many black performerslike Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Ike and Tina Turner.

In the 1960s Motown Records became a successfulplatform for African American musicians. Star performers includedThe Miracles, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes.

In the 1980s Michael Jackson became the most popular Black musician with his record breaking albums. However,there were many solo artists including Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston.

Example of continuous assessment

Continuous assessment is a form of educational examination that evaluates a students' progress throughout a prescribed course. It is often used as an alternative to the final examination system.

Continuous assessments are used to calculate Basic Maths (Addition and Subtraction), Interest rates, Calories : Fat ratios, etc.^[1] Final marks are given on the best-of-all-tests basis or an average of individual marks scored during different stages of the students' course, such as the Term Grade Point Average (TGPA) ^[2] and the Grade Cumulative Point(GCP). Proponents of continuous assessment argue that the approach allows tracking of progress and has a chance of offering students more support, guidance, and opportunities to improve during the semester.