Media influence on modern culture Essay

In the last 50 years or so technology had contributed to the exponential growth of the mass media where what started out with the telegraph was subsequently followed by the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and the new arrival the Internet. The outcome of all these subsequent introductions had made society to be dependant on information and communication for all the major steps they are taking and areas such as work, health care, education, interpersonal relationships, leisure time such as entertainment, travelling etc., doing business, investing, and most of the things people are doing are based on facts, information and recommendations they get from the various mass media. This means that, although while working it is possible that people depend on what they learned and the subsequent experience they gained, when it comes to their daily lives they, for the most part, rely on the media to find out as to what is current in the news and other facts that might affect their lives, the society as a whole and if there are areas that they have to be aware of. Because of that it is possible to extrapolate that society had developed a trust towards the media over time to such an extent that it has become an authority in providing up to the minute news, entertainment, education, information etc. to the point where the influence of mass media on society and culture had become very significant. This study will try to highlight some of the influences affecting culture directly and which one of them have positive outcomes or otherwise. Historical Background Throughout the years people had their own ways of communicating amongst each other and when the mass populous of any given community is involved the crude form of communicating, exchanging information and knowledge had been evolving over the years. The very early form of communication involved one able individual who could have a special training and would be at the service of the king or the religious establishment that mostly used to be the ones who would have some important message that is beneficial to a large mass of people. Whether what is communicated is a message or news that the public will be interested in, using a single individual to address the public at a gathering was the most popular way to relay anything of interest to a gathered public that had been invited to attend such gatherings or it might take place where people gather to do other things such as trading. The most critical announcements of the olden days were news about faraway colonies, if there happened to be a sudden death among the public figures such as kings or queens or if there is an activity such as a war that requires the participation of some of the members of the populous. What replaced this old method of communication was putting the news in some kind of print format where instead of people converging at a given place to receive messages, news, instructions, etc. whatever was to be communicated started to go wherever the people are in a form the earliest news letters. When looking at what is taking place in modern days, the emergence of the modern mass media was the outcome of an advancement in technology where the convergence of various technologies such as print media, electronic media, advertising, public relation and currently the Internet formed what is today’s mass media. The current mass media has various outlets such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines and Internet that are easily accessible by the public and what is communicated through such mediums and how it is communicated had become very complicated. Since the cost of acquiring such mediums had become affordable by the masses, the cost of communication had also gone down making communicating among people or those who have particular messages to the mass easy and can be done at a desired frequency without worrying about a very high cost. When looking at culture it is possible to perceive it as values that follow certain pattern and could have certain goals, beliefs, behaviours coupled by knowledge and experience that a given group will concede to share among themselves. The same could apply to establishments that are out to accomplish certain tasks where they will have certain values or missions that make up their corporate culture and they will have to put to work these values and mission statements in order to meet the expectation of the public and community they are serving. That being as it is modern media has a considerable influence on such cultures to the point where it could dictate what the public as well as institutions should be doing to the point where the media might become authoritative and a force to reckon with. If that is not the case a certain member of society or an institution could get a bad coverage that would affect the image of those involved and since the media had attained an authoritative status it can influence the culture of people, communities, as well as establishments that are out to serve the public. If that public has bad opinion about them because of what the media reports or preaches they will find it difficult to carry out their duty. This demonstrates that there had been interdependence among media and culture that was outcome of the media dictating what the public and others that have various roles to play should do or adhere to. Since the number of media outlets had increased the outcome had been the sources where people are getting their information had also increased. This by itself had forced individuals to identify with some of the information and messages they get from the various media outlets and that had result in influencing how they do things and their overall culture. Media Influence on Culture McQuail (2000) uses the gratification model why the public or a given audience would want to consume what the media avails through a given medium. Society as a whole, groups or individuals want to reinforce their basic behaviour and to accomplish that they start out by identifying themselves with roles or role players, the kind of value they hold or communicate and sometimes their gender and ethnicity might also be taken into consideration. Another reason why whatever the media comes up with is consumed by members of society is there is always a need to interact with other people through what the media avails, whatever medium is used such as television, newspapers, magazines, movies, Internet etc. It is also possible members of a given society as a group or individually would need some kind a security source that will enable them to enhance their knowledge about the world they are living in or they might need information to carry on with their lives or with whatever they are doing. When that is the case there is no better source to resort to other than the media and its various mediums or outlets that include books. It is also possible from a very early age people had been reliant on some form of entertainment so that they can use it to pass time, as an escape or they might need emotional release such as excitement, suspense, laughter etc. Based on such findings it is not difficult to surmise that the influence of the media on culture is at the very high level currently, because the earlier days did not have to deal with such barge of media broadcasting using various mediums on a daily basis. Because of the high level of exposure people are getting to modern media they cannot avoid their culture being heavily influenced by what they consume from the media. This will make it possible to say that the way people behave in modern times is the reflection of the kind of influence they receive from the modern mass media. The modern media deals with daily politics, current affairs, it is the major source of entertainment and the like where people that interact with a certain medium would also pass what they encountered to others that could result in shaping how such individuals interacting with each other would behave. Use of Entertainment to Influence Cultural Practices Entertainment had been one of the effective vehicles the media uses to influence culture. All entertainment programs aired on television, the music played at the home, workplace, in vehicles and at entertainment venues, all the stories written on newspapers, magazines, even books will affect the participating public’s culture to the point where it is possible people could learn new and better things that will force them to drift away from the older values their culture holds that will result in people adopting new behaviour. What had been taking place was that the media had managed to bring together what is taking place around the world on one platform so that people can compare various cultures, outlooks, and way of doing things and adapt to the ones they find to be palatable to their taste and understanding. This is accomplished on the part of the media by employing surveillance on what various groups of people are doing and exposing these activities to others using various mediums to an extent that some groups could be encouraged to showcase their culture to others who could eventually adopt them if they attain a liking for them. How Media Educates People to Handle Their Daily Activities The media could also educate people how to do certain things by showing them how to handle it better or conduct certain activities where it is possible to show people to conform to certain ways of doing things that could result in changing their way of life. This would enable people to adapt to what is taking place in the grater world in stead of being confined in their own culture only that will result in people adopting new cultures because of their being exposed to the modern media. New ideas will not only be limited to those who will only have a firsthand encounter to various happenings, as these people will pass what they saw or learned to others. Such transferring and communicating of information had been made faster because of the coming into the picture of the Internet, mobile telephones, TV that can be accessed from anywhere as long as there is Internet connection, radio that could be broadcast globally and magazines that could find their way into the global marketplace. Conflict Resolution Among the various advantages media avails to communities one of them is conflict resolution. Most world communities are afflicted by various kinds of conflicts that could be the outcome of competition or rivalry among various groups. Such conflicts will result at times in mass killing or unjust practises taking place that would affect innocent civilians. In a situation like this, the media can play an intermediary role by exposing bad practices and by coming up with just solutions where it could possible to implement the introductions to solve conflicts. The media is in a position to use effectively various mediums such as films or stories written on newspapers, magazines, news broadcast etc. to serve a given purpose in curbing violence and bring back normalcy to besieged communities. The media had also been actively influencing the political sphere and can put pressure on various governments, especially in democratic countries such as the US and the UK as to how to implement certain policies they come up with. Whenever there is an election the media also plays a crucial role by allowing the candidates and electorate to interact with each other through interviews, debates or question and answer secessions where the audience participates live. This kind of an exposure is capable of affecting the culture a certain group is practising, including the stand of political parties and their leaders. Furthermore, occasions such as debates, question and answer periods or broadcasting speeches made by prominent individuals for mass consumption will all result in nurturing the thinking, the outlook and the culture of the participating public that will lead in enabling the participants to take certain actions that are mutually beneficial The media also had been playing a crucial role in improving people’s lives, by advocating that the public as a whole has to be responsible about what would happen to the environment. The media had also been intervening in drug abuse, certain immoral behaviours, violence and the like that would result in brining down the occurrences of such incidents and eventually people could make the positive outlooks communicated part of their culture and could refrain from violence or would avoid abusing drugs that will result in enhancing a given community’s long held culture. In all this, there are three highlighted stages through which the interaction and media consumption can take place. The first is direct consumption where the individual will directly be involved in using the medium used such as TV, reading newspapers or surfing the Internet where there is no interference or destruction from any other source. The second type of media consumption is when there is another tool or anything of such nature interfering with the direct consumption of what a given medium communicates such as talking on the phone while watching TV or cleaning utensils while watching TV etc. The third consumption method is when the individual is not directly using the medium because some of the things the individual is doing are interfering directly where the individual cannot pay attention to the point there will not be any new information learned to affect the individual’s culture or behaviour. When looking at various findings there had not been certain indications as to whether the media is beneficial or otherwise in spite of the numerous debates that had been staged to arrive at the reality and there is no certain indication that the escalated media consumption has affected the long standing cultures of communities positively or negatively. However, when looking at some of the mediums that have become largely available for use by the public such as the telephone, Internet, computers, television, radio etc. it possible to say they have positively enriched people’s lives, hence their culture, although there are negative impacts too. In modern days people have a much better means of communication that were not available a few decades ago enabling them to communicate with family members, friends, employers and co-workers in such a way that it had become possible to do so without incurring a high cost. When looking at what is taking place in modern media such as 24-hour access to television and radio broadcasting and programming, or participating in a given medium through talk-shows that are open to the public, or simply writing an article and having it published on newspapers, magazines, newsletters or on the Internet had become much easier and could result in many people communicating their ideas where they can interact on blogs and chat rooms in real time. All new ideas and suggestions communicated using such channels had become useful as they will end up influencing existing cultures. The outcome of such interaction had been seen as a major contribution to modern culture where various programmes such as news, documentaries, interviews, advertisements etc. will all contribute to the modern culture because they can reach a big number of people. They could serve as a catalyst that will create a streamlined outlook that will result in making the world culture more-and-more similar. Peculiar cultures such as circumcising young girls that takes place in cultures such as Kenya could be put in check because people will know it is harmful, as well as affects the normal life of the girls as they grow up. Furthermore, access to a vast amount of media such as TV or affordable Internet access has enabled people to improve their vocabularies and thinking pattern because their chance of being exposed to experts, role models, politicians and the like has become much higher. Accordingly, such exposures will enable them improve their perception as well as their linguistic ability, which is more so to younger students. Interpersonal relationship had also got a boost because individuals could learn more positive manners from the media that improves their behaviours and would enhance the socialising capability of individuals enabling them to meet more people, whose interaction will always enhance one’s culture. Consuming what modern media avails also encourages individuals to be socially responsible, because there are factors such as opinion polls that will shape how people think or see things and the outcome will be they can take better control of their daily life and if they happen to be in a position of authority they will always pay attention to how the media is portraying them. In spite of the benefits the media brings to the fore there are certain areas that have negative impact on society such as violence that could originate from media outlets that are not regulated. The side effect of such exposure could be it will raise the level of violence in a given society since most people, especially younger ones are always prone to imitate those who they consider to be role models. Another area that has a negative impact is the escalated immorality level in modern society that is the outcome of interacting with modern media. It is so because of the assumption that as long as certain acts originate from socially accepted sources such as the media, the fact that a certain act is immoral could be side-stepped. This could lead to certain diseases such as aids and other sexually transmittable diseases, early teen pregnancy and unprotected sex to go unchecked because if the media portrays such incidents as not grave problems there are many that will be victimised (Shaw and McCombs, 1972). The media is also constantly exposing people to fancy outlooks or lifestyles and this will affect the culture of communities because their members could disregard their cultural values and could end up chasing what the media is exposing them to. Modern media had increased the rate of criminal activities in many societies, because most media outlets portray numerous criminal activities as good, acceptable and normal leading some to succumb to committing crimes. There are scenes in the media that show abusing drug as a good act or at least as not a dangerous engagement or using dangerous weapons could be portrayed as a normal thing to do leading the youth of certain communities to be caught imitating these acts. The media also ends up portraying certain races or ethnic groups better than others resulting in discriminatory behaviours. Criticisms to Correct Wrong Outlooks Sources such as Ganutlett (1998) had refused the upheld belief concerning modern media being the source of violence. He had stated that the first task to accomplish is to focus on the so called social violence and examine the causes based on the identity of those who commit such violence, their background, character etc. before blaming all incidents on media. On the other hand, when looking what effects theory has to say it promulgates that commercials, advertising, as well voter campaign and the like influence behaviour and culture. Some examples to cite are trials of celebrities and prominent individuals that had attracted mass attention and had ended up shaping opinions and to an extent behaviours, but it is not possible to say that will always be the case. What the critics of media effects theory had been advocating was that when examining most incidents labelled as copycat murders, suicides or violent acts the contributing factors had been upbringing harbouring that it must have been abnormal for the most part. More than media environments that were violent, emotionally not fulfilling and a prolonged exposure for a prolonged period to aggressive environments are more contributing factors than watching movies, commercials, listening to certain music etc. It is also important to look at mental instability, as it had been a major cause for most violent crimes. This means that findings indicate that any kind of violence or any act deemed immoral such as abnormal sexual interactions are not at all considered as influencing factors, because most people who grew up bombarded with such acts have finished to be normal members of society, although there are few that had been victimised. According to sources such as Baker (2001), the major source of violence is background and upbringing instead of watching movies on various mediums that depict violence or other indecent acts. According to him daily news consumed by many people could also be full of violence, but that does not instigate many people go out and copycat the acts and if that happens the main reason would be the social background of those who commit such acts instead of what they consume from various media outlets. Freedman (2007) was among researchers who had shown evidence by showing what took place in the US and similar countries where crime had increased sharply between 1965-1980 blamed on the violence originating from various media. The same violence act precipitated at around 1992 although the usual media outlets that were releasing violent material were doing it at a much higher level showing that societal violence is not a direct outcome of consuming violent or immoral material availed by various media outlets forcing critics to look elsewhere for the cause. In stead, there are other areas where the media has a major influence on how people behave, act or perceive certain things. One such area is agenda-setting that is the outcome of how news is gathered and dispensed ((Shaw and McCombs, 1972). Good examples cited are the four major news agencies such AP, UPI, Reuters and Agence-France that are responsible at least for around 90% of news consumed through various media outlets. The material such agencies come up with had impeccable reliability over the years to the point where they had gained some public respect and authority. However, critics eye this interaction as a close collaboration of the news agencies and existing establishments, where in tandem they are out to manipulate society, culture, behaviour and thinking so that existing status quo will continue to reign. This means that media could be instrumental rather than being true agents of propaganda. Such a stance will always make them finish as supporters of those who have economic power who in fact are spending money on the media agencies in a form of advertising, airtime etc. so that they will go out and influence the culture on their behalf, altering their habit of doing things such as spending, buying, voting, leisure activities etc. which are part of the components that make up modern cultures. Whatever the cause and drive behind the measure the media takes, at the end of the day the media would end up influencing culture reforming it to serve a certain purpose the media wants that will reflect the desire of those who are responsible for oiling the machine of media such as politicians, big business, government and interest groups showing that there is interrelation in what is taking place and certainly media is impacting culture on a daily basis. There are sources that emphasised how media had become instrument of control. New media such as the Internet is facilitating more than ever such social control because, currently the number of the participants had exploded by the emergence of such new media tools such as blogs that are having impact on culture as society members are not consumers only anymore and they have become participants and have become responsible in affecting their own culture. That does not, however, means they take the place of the mainstream media that always had influential power as witnessed from what took place in geographical locations such as Asia where a rapid social change had taken place that had been attributed to be the effect of media on culture. This shows that wherever the modern media penetrates it will affect the culture of backward communities for the better creating a more or less global village and such outcome had been noted when television had been introduced in Bhutan where the culture had undergone a rapid Westernisation. It does not mean everyone sees such changes positively as Schiller (1976) had called such impact cultural imperialism, where those who have economic and political power could end up imposing their will and culture on weaker societies by manipulating the media effectively. In a situation like this it is possible to see media as a means of social control, in spite of the fact such imposition will also be accompanied with higher standard of living, urbanisation, literacy etc. requiring more fortified exposure to mass media so that what is gained will not be reversed. Because of that if there is going to be some gain attained, there has to be some degree of adaptation to make and that might end up altering a given culture. Whether the introduced change is good or bad it is up to the onlookers to judge, but the reality is willingly or otherwise, modern media could affect culture to the point where those affected could lose control their indigenous culture. However, what puts the fear to rest is governmental intervention at every level is available in any community where there is censorship to weed out offensive material, where there could be licensing laws in place that will take measures for failing to comply with the agreed upon rules showing that all objectionable material could be kept out of the reach of people. However, with the advent of mediums such as the Internet that might not be totally possible, but the responsibility could shift to the participants where they can congregate and critically assess what they are encountering on the new medium that are accessible through an Internet connection, where discussing the merits and demerits of what are made available will be possible. This means that the consuming public had been the sole decision maker when it comes to what to consume or what not to consume on the Internet to such an extent reason, logic and good judgement had become the regulators instead of governmental decrees, although still governmental decrees also dictate what cannot be made available on the Internet and at the end of the day it is what the public and others are doing that will end up influencing behaviour, thinking and culture. It is no longer media alone, for the most part, that would impact culture as it used to be because the media would have to share the prevalent platform with the participants who are gaining more control. In spite of the independence individuals attained to act on their own, when looking at the public sphere, media could still have a stronghold where it can form public opinion which could also be applicable in the public’s consumer behaviour scene where those who claim to be connoisseur could influence how the public reacts to what is directed at it in a form of goods and services. However, when it comes to politics findings indicate that even if there are those who say media simply fixes or confirms what people held as their strong conviction, the reality could be a large number of people could lack political experience and correct perception making them heavily reliant on the trusted and autocratic media and in the long term it will dictate their behaviours, thinking and culture. Yet, there are sources such as Thompson, (1995) who claim one-way communication, which had been the media approach and mainstay does not work effectively when compared to where there is interaction through telephone and currently blogs, chat rooms etc. where live interaction could be involved, including posting photos and videos or using web-cam to directly access someone important such as a politician privately. When examining the effect the media has in a free enterprise society, items such as news, commentaries, documentaries and similar informative programmes could be dealing most of the time with controversial and real world problems and subjects. Whereas, the rest of media is mainly entertainment or it is advancing the cause of sponsors without whom the private broadcasting companies would not exist. Therefore, the second genre of what media represents is the advancing of the interest of the various enterprises that have products or services to the viewing public and their main concern is selling what they are bringing into the marketplace. With the same token, they would want to influence the public to use their products, because most products require getting used to in order to pay money for them. Looking at the prevalence of telephone service in an advanced community is a good example, because starting from the homes, workplaces, public meeting places, various shops, malls and streets all can be fitted with some kind of telephone service that include cars. Amongst all these possibilities there are mobile phone manufacturers that should convince the public to use cell phones in addition to whatever they are using demonstrating that they might not need anything else since the device can go with them everywhere. In order to change people’s view who used to using the traditional telephone system the makers of such phones and service providers have to spend a lot of money on media ads to educate the public whose outlook, habit, usage and culture will be affected both by the ads, as well as the new products showing that whatever way it is looked at and whatever source or interest group uses the mass media to serve it certain purpose, people’s outlook, thinking and culture should go some kind a transformation ascertaining to a good extent mass media, whoever employs it, in the long run it will affect culture. REFERENCE Barker, M. â€Å"the Newson Report: a Case Study in Common Sense III : Effects in the Media /Violence Debate, (second edition), ed. Martin Baker and Julian Petley (London: Routledge, 2001), pp. 27-46. David Gauntlett (1998). â€Å"Ten things wrong with the ‘effects model’†. Approaches to Audiences – A Reader. Available online: http://www. theory. org. uk/effects. htm. Accessed July 23, 2010 Freedman, Jonathan. ‘No Real Evidence for TV Violence Causing Real Violence’ First Amendment Centre, 2007, online, Available: http://www. firstamendmentcenter. org/commentary. aspx? id=18490 Accessed July 23, 2010 McCombs, M & Shaw, D. L. (1972), ‘The Agenda-setting Function of the Mass Media’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 73, pp176–187 Mcquail, Denis (2000) McQuails’s Mass Communication Theory (fourth edition), Sage, London, pp. 16-34. Schiller, Herbert I. (1976). Communication and cultural domination. International Arts and Sciences Press, 901 North Broadway, White Plains, New York 10603. pp. 9–10 Thompson, J. (1995), The Media and Modernity

Comparison of How it happened and The Signalman Essay

The atmosphere in How it happened is full of mystery and energy. The plot moves very quickly, imitating the speed of the automobile as in the story it is said the automobile has a horse power of thirty, ‘Then I remember the big motor, with its glaring headlights and litter of polished brass, waiting for me outside. It was my thirty-horse-power Robur, which had only been delivered that day.’ It also emphasises the lack of control the driver has over it. Whereas the atmosphere in The Signalman creates both suspense and mystery. The appearances of the spirit help to create suspense as we anticipate them to lead us to the climax. However, we find out at the end of the story that the signalman was getting premonitions of his own death. The appearances are really red herrings as it is the signalman himself who dies. Whereas the biggest red herring in How it happened is how the narrator speaks from memory in the first person, fooling us into believing he must still be alive. This makes the twist at the end so much more powerful. The difference of experience between the first time reader, who is fooled into believing the narrator must still be alive and the 2nd time reader who is able to pick out things that are ironic, for example, ‘ I can live it again.’ The 2nd time reader knows he’s dead when he’s saying it. Dickens creates a strong atmosphere through the characterisation of his characters as well as his long complex sentences that can be difficult to understand. This is because of the 150 year cultural gap of reading the story. This makes differences with the way we read the story. For example, ‘The monstrous thought came into my mind, as I perused the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man.’ The word ‘monstrous’ meant abnormal in 1866. This also shows Dickens’s effort to create psychological state. He also describes things very ambiguously, for example, ‘ I resumed my downward way, and stepping out upon the level of the railroad, and drawing nearer to him, saw that he was a dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows. His post was in as solitary and dismal a place as ever I saw.’ The words underlined make the signalman difficult to imagine because if everything is dark, you would not be able to make out his features. The title How it happened is deliberately allusive to draw the reader in. But, it does immediately introduce suspense as we wonder what it refers to. Whereas the title The Signalman conveys urgency. The characterisation created in How it happened is that the narrator characterises himself as a risk taker, admitting ‘one often does foolish things’ to the reader. This adds to his sense of honesty but also makes us question his decision taking. Also, it provides tension between two ways of behaving which should interest us. Whereas the characterisation created in The Signalman is a bit different because both the characters remain shrouded in mystery and this adds to the sense of curiosity that surrounds the story. We don’t know the protagonist intimately to picture him in our mind. The themes in The Signalman include death, the supernatural and reason. Dickens sometimes uses the convention of quotation marks and sometimes does not. This reflects the contrasts of rationality and supernatural goings on. The narrator tries to give reasons to the visions that the signalman has, yet the final image of the story is of the narrator seeing the image of the signalman and the ghost himself. Dickens cleverly manipulates tension to give the final image the haunting effect. Whereas in How it happened, Arthur Conan Doyle was an apparent rationalist and he believed that after your death, you could continue to live on as a spirit. It was also believed that these spirits could communicate with the living through people known as ‘mediums’. This belief is present in the story where the narrator has survived his death in order to tell us how it happened. This idea is given more credit when we know that the story originally started with the line, ‘This story was told to me by a medium’. The story How it happened was written in 1918 and involves a high-powered automobile. This suggests to us the story must have been written about the present at the time. It is also set in London. At that time, London was still the centre of an empire and this important as the story involves aspects of modernism. Whereas the setting of The Signalman is important as Dickens goes to a lot of effort to make the story seem ghostly and surreal. Dickens was writing this story involving trains because they were the biggest and finest machines at the time and by writing the story to do with railway system he is challenging it. Dickens was also in a famous train crash. The Signalman’s job is a job of life and death. The one in the story has a reputation for being good at the job. The signalman works in a cutting and that the descent into this place is described as if one is descending to the underworld of Greek Mythology. The ‘clammy stone’ and that fact that it becomes ‘oozoer’ and ‘wetter’ helps create this sense. They key aspect of the cutting is its remoteness. The tunnel as well is described as having ‘wet stains’, suggesting that this is a place you would not want to visit. This helps to make an eerie atmosphere and makes it easier for us to imagine spirits and other ghostly aspects. The story is an intensely human story about psychological differences between two people whereas How it happened is about dealing with the physical and spirit world. The narrative voice in How it happened is in the first person and we tend to trust its honesty about the first person. This is because the narrator admits to not remembering everything clearly. ‘I can remember some things upon that evening most distinctly, and others are like some vague, broken dreams. This is what makes it so difficult to tell a connected story.’ This openness suggests we are going to hear the truth. He also blames neither the car nor Perkins for events but himself. ‘I also remember asking Perkins, my chauffeur, how she had gone, and his saying that he thought she was excellent.’ The ways he says, ‘Perkins, my chauffeur’ tell us social standing and class of narrator. The narrator gains a ghostly aspect at the end, when we find out he is dead, and this introduces the idea of Spiritualism that is key to the story. Whereas the narrative voice in The Signalman is also in the first person and we find that until the end of the story we are not sure if we can totally trust it. This is because of the ambiguities in the description of things as well as the lack of information about the narrator himself. But we can tell the visitor is a sceptic. He chooses not to believe that the bell was rung by a ghost without proof. ‘I caught at that. Did it ring your bell yesterday evening when I was here, and you went to the door?’ As readers, we side with the sceptic. The skill of the story is that most people will not agree the bell rang without sound. There is also an additional piece of irony, the sceptic doesn’t believe in the ghost but he says the same things the ghost said like ‘Halloa!’ Although he does tell us that he is ‘a man who had been shut up within narrow limits’ until ‘at last set free’. But it is difficult to understand this because we don’t know if he’s referring metaphorically to something else or talking as if he has spent a long time in prison.

Equal Rights for Androids and Humans

Equal Rights for Androids and Humans The concept of equality among all people was, unfortunately, not â€Å"self-evident† until the passengers on the Mayflower proclaimed it in 1620. A section of the Mayflower Compact reads, â€Å"†¦and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . (Commanger, 23) Written in 1776, the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (US Declaration Ind. This phrase echoes the same beliefs as those expressed in the Mayflower Compact. Efforts to achieve equality among all Americans have continued to this day. The concept of equality has not been ignored by Hollywood, either. The concept of equality has been a central theme in various popular films over the years. One such film is Bicentennial Man. The theme of Bicentennial Man challenges the viewer to question where they think the line of equality ought to be drawn. Throughout history, humans have struggled with this concept.Naturally, individuals desire to be the best, and they try to distance themselves from those who are not the same; the homeless, the handicapped, people from different cultures, or those that look different. The film approaches this idea in a different manner because Andrew, the android â€Å"star† of the film, is not a person. It takes Andrew a period of two hundred years (hence the name of the movie, Bicentennial Man) to convince the World Government that he did, in fact, have a soul and should be considered an equal. Columbus, Bicentennial Man) The film’s idea of android equality is not (yet) an issue needing to be addressed in American society. The film’s concept of equality does, however, resemble the real challenges of human equality faced by many Americans throughout history. At the start of the movie, it was established that Andre w only existed to serve and obey his owners, the Martin family. His only purpose was to obey the commands of and attend to the needs of this family. Jeremy Bentham, a political theorist, believes this is an example of the concept of utilitarianism.In simple terms, utilization is using an object (or people) â€Å"as a tool† to achieve a goal. (Nelson, 205). A word that could be used interchangeably with utilitarianism is, of course, slavery. Bicentennial Man evaluation of android equality is a clear reflection of the challenges of equal rights faced by many Americans throughout the history of the nation. In the film, Andrew Martin, the android, fought for 200 years in order to be declared equal to the humans he once served.In the real history of America, however, African-Americans fought for more than 300 years for equal rights as Americans. If only reality was a swift as Hollywood! Works Cited: Bicentennial Man. Dir. Chris Columbus. Perf. Robin Williams and Embeth Davidtz. Ra diant Productions, 1999. DVD. Mayflower Compact. November 11, 1620. Documents of American History. Ed. Henry S. Commanger. New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1968. Nelson, Brian. Western Political Thought From Socrates to the Age of Ideology. 2nd. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1996. Print.

Organization Design Structure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organization Design Structure - Assignment Example Naturally raised food is hard to come by on such large scale, so Chipotle leaves some of the procurement to regional or local levels in order to supply the best product to the local markets. This also allows Chipotle to leverage other markets when product demand cannot be met in a certain area. This allows the top management to offer leadership to the company to the right way while maintaining core competencies and allowing the operational levels to maintain daily quality standards. This structure is ideal for geographical focus where chipotle’s different geographical units can alter their products to suit the local market. Workplace policies can also be crafted to cater for the specific region only. Lack of competent and qualified managers in newly established units is a greater problem that Chipotle is experiencing. Chipotle can adopt a single tier multidivisional matrix level called New Restaurant Development whose main purpose would to open new stores and to train managers from different regions. This would mean that the new stores would be opened by trained professionals who know how to handle all the problems of opening a new store and how to lean on the local and regional managers for additional help and information. This also would be an excellent way to hold a high quality standard during the most essential part of a new restaurant, the

Overthrow By Stephen Kinzer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Overthrow By Stephen Kinzer - Essay Example US Regime Change: Changing Tactics, Causes and Results Stay the Same The first thing one must do to understand the series of regime changes represented in Overthrow is to note the ways and reasons the methods of regime change differed throughout history. The first set of regime changes during the Imperial Era, were marked by a unique combination of willingness to use military force and a frankness about the fact that the United States had in fact orchestrated the changes in power. One can see an example of both principles in the regime change orchestrated in Panama in the early 20th century. At the outset of the 20th century, Panama was a colony of Columbia, and the Columbian government was unwilling to allow Americans to build a canal across part of their country, and rejected a treaty that would have given America the right to build one. In response to this America undertook military action in support of a rebellion it started, including sending warships to blockade ports in Panama. This rebellion, with American military support, was eventually succ essful, leading to a pro-American government in Panama. When questioned about this forceful ousting of the Columbian regime, then president Roosevelt simply said that it was Columbia’s own fault for ignoring â€Å"the plainest warnings† that America would take power if Columbia did not capitulate. This shows the way that in this Era, America was more than happy to use military force, and was so bold to even freely admit it would depose regimes who opposed American interests. Following the close of the Second World War and the outbreak of the Cold War, America had to start becoming more discreet about the ways it took power. During this period, the Soviet Union â€Å"limited [American] freedom of action,†4 because America could not risk undertaking activities which could bring on a Soviet reaction, which could possibly escalate to a war between the Soviet Union and America – a â€Å"cataclysmic† nuclear war neither side would truly win.5 These meant American operations were driven underground – covert operations such as financing opposition rebels or political parties (as Nixon did when trying to oust Allende)6 or secret assassinations (such as the â€Å"several times the CIA has tried to kill† Fidel Castro).7 Following World War II America could no longer openly attack foreign leaders, and could no longer admit to their actions publicly. With the winding down of military tensions and the eventual downfall of the Soviet Union, the major restriction on American military might was removed. The United States responded by engaging in an ever more forceful foreign policy, Probably the first instance of this new willingness to engage in full blown military conflict was the American Invasion of Grenada, conducted in 1983.8 One of the major distinguishing features of Warfare during the era of Invasion was that, though militarily America could once again act with impunity, the ideology of both the world and American

The Impact of Internship on Graduate Employability Essay

The Impact of Internship on Graduate Employability - Essay Example In doing this, it is good to observe the some of the trends from those who go through internship and those who do not. The main purpose of the internship program is to give exposure on career field, occupation or industry. Internship can also be referred to any career related experience. It can range from community service to semester long assignment. This paper aims at looking the importance of internship and analyzing the trends gone through it and their place in the labor market. The aim of every graduate is to succeed in the labor market (Bossche & Gijselaers 2012). The preparations that go with this success become extremely crucial. This paper exposes the value of internship and explains why it should be taken as a vital ingredient for the success of undergraduates. Companies are increasingly valuing internship. During the experience, skills and knowledge are imparted (Bukaliya 2012). These skills apply to the future career. Internship should be treated like a professional job. It gives experiences and creates room for connections. Internship refers to an opportunity to apply the knowledge gained from academic studies in a workplace setting. Internships are part of formal internship program. However, students can create their own internships. Forms internships include volunteer positions and research; it can also be a job during summer (Bukaliya 2012). Internship may pay or fail to. Sociologists are paying growing attention to the stratification of education at tertiary level. This is with regard to the difference between fields of study and labor market (Bukaliya 2012). The horizontal stratification is increasingly bearing direct impact to graduals in terms of employability of graduate, and how the labor market perceives them. Over the last few decades, there have been increased enrollments in tertiary education (Calvo 2011). This has contributed to increase in

Effective Co-Teaching Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Effective Co-Teaching - Essay Example Consequently, there should be effective procedures to implement a strategy that ensures that all educators have a common goal of ensuring success to all students. Â  An inclusive classroom not only eliminates the exclusion barriers, but also ensures success for all students regardless of students’ potential marginalization because of disabilities; hence reduce the disruptive behaviors associated with an inclusive educational system. However, there are bound misunderstanding between the special education staff and the classroom, which is as a result of poor coordination and cooperation, inefficient learning strategies among the educators, and negative attitude towards an inclusive classroom (Villa, Thousand, & Nevin, 2008). For example, the Sunnyslope Elementary school case study indicates a conflict between the classroom teachers and the special education staff whereby lack of collaboration has led to a blame game on student lack of success. Sunnyslope case requires careful s teps and procedures to ensure that the balanced classroom schedules are balanced, and the collaborative relationship of special educations and classroom teachers is improved, which helps in defining a common goal focused on students’ success. The steps towards a successful learning environment in sunnyslope elementary school should implement the following steps towards the conflict resolution between the special educators and the classroom teachers. ... l education staff members should ensure that they work together in making the optimal classroom accommodation for all including students with disabilities. The interactive and co-teaching method should be implemented whereby the alternate roles of teaching, which will ensure that the teaching staff focuses on a common goal in the learning process, focused success among all students in an inclusive classroom. On the other hand, the special education teachers will feel incorporated in the learning schedules and will not have to provide classroom teachers with the students individual Educational Programs (IEPs) whereby they will have a schedule to enforce them appropriately according to each student’s need (Pastorex, 2011). Moreover, the special educators with the help of classroom teachers should develop inclusive Student’s IEPs that include information to support successful participation students in the general learning process in a classroom. Through an effective collab orative teaching practice, the classroom teachers will have an appreciative aspect of the role of the special educators in ensuring that the inclusion policy is not solely under the classroom teacher, but both the educators. Step 3: Effective Time planning and communication Time schedules and effective communication are significant aspects in ensuring an inclusive teaching practice. The co-teachers at sunnyslope should embrace parity and ensure that the lesson planning is based on grade-level expectations, which encourage the discussion of interpersonal skills and strengths between the special education and classroom teaches. Consequently, an appropriate co-teaching pair is achieved through the outlined IEPs for the classroom to meet the support needs of students with disabilities (Pastorex, 2011).

Benefits of learning Macroeconomics in my life Essay

Benefits of learning Macroeconomics in my life - Essay Example Based on the fact that I am pursuing a course in economics, my dream has always been to become one of the most successful economists in the country. Being a successful economist would involve being a Chief Executive Officer of a manager in the most respected organizations in the world. These roles necessitate one to have a wide range of knowledge in macroeconomics as well as other fields associated with economics. Being a top official in a highly respected organization involves a lot of interviews in televisions and radio stations. In doing so, an individual offers insight into the happenings of his organization and hence this can be considered a form of marketing. Furthermore, one of the units learnt in macroeconomics is leadership. Therefore, learning macroeconomics has enabled me to learn and gain leadership skills and abilities. Learning macroeconomics will ensure that I familiarize myself with all aspects of preceding and current economic issues of benefit in my future role as a top executive. Successful organizations in all parts of the world are governed by distinct rules and regulations. For managers to implement plans of actions geared towards enhancing and maintain organizational structures, incorporation of skills and knowledge in macroeconomics is critical. The study of macroeconomics involves investigating behaviours of various organizations and other successful institutions. Therefore, learning macroeconomics presents me with knowledge on how to create and implement organizational rules. and guidelines associated with macroeconomics. In general, the study of Macroeconomics is involved with investigating comportment, performance, or conduct of the economy. It would be hard for me to implement economic policies without understanding various market conditions such as fluctuating prices of commodities and services. Conditions in the economy are always changing. This can be attributed to the current advancements in technology and globalization. These are some of the factors that determine the price of commodities and services. Researchers have in the past been involved in methodical investigations geared towards identifying why market conditions are ever changing. Results from these studies are very important and are incorporated in the study of economics (Mankiw, 2011). Learning economics has enabled me to gain skills and abilities that will help me predict market conditions in future. Learning macroeconomics comprises of identification, measurement, and comparison of economic assessments from a range of markets and from different countries or regions. It also involves tracking various aspects that affects market conditions and how to create and implement strategies in practice that would mitigate effects of poor market conditions. An individual can effectively understand market conditions through observing previous market trends. Understanding or analyzing these trends requires one to have certain skills and knowledge that can only be acquired through learning macroeconomics. Therefore, I will be able to follow these trends in future and identify opportunities for investments. There are times market conditions are dilapidated and at other times the market is stable. Understanding the concept of supply and demand is of benefit to businessmen today (Madariaga, 2005). As an economist and businessman in future, I

Issues in global business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Issues in global business - Essay Example Small number of employees in SME can be cared and motivated optimally, leading to effective performance from all of them. However, the disadvantage is, in SMEs the leader or founder will have maximum influence from top to bottom, without any organizational structure horizontally or vertically. The problem with it is, when something goes wrong there will not be any management teams to point out the mistakes. Also, SMEs with their limited resources will not be able to provide quality products or services, when compared to large companies. As pointed out by, SMEs provide employment to basic sections of the societies, as they integrate well with it. SMEs will be mainly established not separate from the towns or cities, but within the by lanes and streets in a particular locality. So, it can provide employment to many of the unemployed living in that locality. This way, it can give employment to maximum people, elevating their lives and also contributing to the local economy, thereby national economy. Because of this, SMEs are regarded as the most important ‘engines’ for economic growth by the governments. So, to further encourage SMEs, governments will allocate land, power, water, etc at subsidized rates, will also impose lesser taxes, etc. This way, SMEs can come up in many places benefiting many

Story Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Story Analysis - Essay Example In Araby, this corruptible nature of women is also depicted. The narrator, a young boy, believes that in order to get the attention and love of Mangan’s sister, he needs to buy her gifts. In addition, the stories show that women are servants of the men. For instance in The Dead, the story opens b showing that Lily helped the men remove their coats. The two stories also depict women as symbols or figures of love and beauty. This is one aspect used by women to control men. In The Dead, Gabriel is attracted to Lily’s beauty, and this forces him to ask her about her love life. In addition, during the dance, Gabriel is attracted o his former love, Gretta. In both cases, the author shows that women can gain some form of control or influence in men through their beauty. In Araby, the narrator is attracted to Mangan’s sister to the extent that these feelings take control of him. For instance, he says that the image of Mangan’s sister accompanies him to places most hostile to romance and her name sprang to his lips during times of prayers and praises. He literally followed her every morning to

Profile the general biotechnology development in the USA Essay

Profile the general biotechnology development in the USA - Essay Example The government has increased its funding to the research and development field through the ministry of agriculture. The overall funding has been steadily increasing in the past four decades, for example in the year 1986, the total funding was estimated at USD 4.4 million, an amount that grew the following year to USD 5.7 million. Majority of the funds allocated are thus used in the development of newer technologies like recombinant DNA which help in the creation of genetically engineered organisms and other products that are highly financially viable (United States Office of Technology Assessment, Congress, 1984, p. 118). Since its inception in the 1980s, the biotechnology industry has also enjoyed a heavy support from friendly and protective policies and laws. The US is known for its long history of regulating both the public and the private sectors. These regulations are meant to ensure safety of the public health while maintaining a good public health (Just, Alston, & Zilberman, 2006, p. 59). Such regulations include the regulation of the type of products that are produced as a result of the technology. The laws demand that any nascent product should be tested extensively to ascertain its toxicity and efficacy (Just, Alston, & Zilberman, 2006, p. 243). The rational regulation of products of the transgenic technology is anchored in the fact that the risks that are posed by the product are far outweighed by the benefits (Just, Alston, & Zilberman, 2006, p. 243). The biotechnology field is also heavily supported by the heavy labor force that is present from experienced research scientists and other scholars. Majority of the funds that are allocated in the research and development field are channeled into the field for employing new workers with experience and skills. Historically, records show that the field has employed the most innovative and well trained personnel and entrepreneurs in the research,

Father of Modern Management Essay Example for Free

Father of Modern Management Essay The satisfaction of social needs is something that is achievable for most individuals. People can meet others who share similar interests by joining relevant clubs or associations and can mix with peers by attending relevant social functions. There are also dating agencies and dinner clubs for those who are seeking companionship. Where social services are often required to assist is when a person is unable to easily or practically address these social needs, for example, someone who is elderly or housebound. Organisations such as Age Concern provide facilities like luncheon clubs and day centres, where individuals can benefit from company and conversation. They also collate information on other available resources like reminiscence and friendship groups (Age Concern, 2008). There are many routes to satisfying esteem needs. These include finding challenges of a vocational or academic nature or becoming part of a community group to gain a sense of achievement and social inclusion. For some, actively satisfying their own esteem needs can be a daunting process. Where social services can assist is in providing accessible services in a variety of formats. One example is the Gateway Team, part of Poole Social Services (Borough of Poole, 2008) who list their aim as: To enable adults in Poole to achieve, maintain and enjoy emotional and social well-being through the provision of a specialised service. This includes free psychology and counselling services and workshops aimed at addressing anxiety and depression or providing assertiveness training. It also focuses on actively helping individuals to attain social inclusion by providing ideas for getting involved in the local community. Additionally, help is given by sourcing self-help material in the form of books or online resources. The Gateway Team is merely one localized example to highlight available support but this picture is replicated throughout the country with the provision of services available from local authorities, charities, volunteer groups and private organisations. Moving on to self-actualisation, it is important to differentiate between this level and the others within Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. As it is concerned with a constantly evolving set of ambitions rather than a basic set of needs, self-actualisation does not require a safety net provided by social services. However, the social services framework can be utilised by enterprising individuals to help realise their potential. For example, undertaking volunteer work can build confidence, increase social networks and heighten the sense of well-being. Additionally, career prospects can be significantly enhanced as 73% of employers would employ a candidate with volunteering experience over one without (TimeBank, 2008). In conclusion, this essay has demonstrated that social services, in the widest definition of the term, provide a wide range of facilities to address the Hierarchy of Needs as set out by Maslow. Although society is far from perfect and the eradication of neither poverty nor suffering is likely to be achieved, the assistance available in this country to those in need is comprehensive. Imagine what life was like for those most in need before the welfare state was established and before charities and other caring organisations became widespread. Consequently, the aim should be to bolster this supportive network and make it the very best it can be. Just like people, social services must continue to strive to fulfil its potential. Reference List Abraham Maslow Father of Modern Management (2007) Available from: http://www. abraham-maslow. com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs. asp [Accessed: 4 October 2008]. Age Concern Kingston upon Thames (2008) Social Activities [online]. Available from: http://www. ageconcernkingston. org/whatwedo_socialactivities. htm [Accessed: 5 October 2008]. BBC News Online (2004) Homeless Face More Violent Crime [online]. Available from: http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/uk/4099727. stm [Accessed: 5 October 2008].

Case Study: Transferable Skills

Case Study: Transferable Skills How was I before the Core Business Skills module? The Core Business skills is a module that explores a number of quality tools that will help us to look at our core skills in the business field and identify areas where we could improve. At the beginning of this module, I used to leave my life as normal with few skills that I have learned from my parents, for example the Communication skills and Team working skills, but even it was not enough to communicate or to work with whomever. Communication skills and team working skills are the closest skills; team working can not occur if there is no communication. Since our childhood, our parents push us to get in touch with people of our ages. At beginning, it is never easy seeing the quarrels that happen with our friends in the youngest ages while playing together, but these skills get developed in growing older. I also had an experience of team working during few years when I used to play football in a club, and as we know this sport is not played individually, but in a team, and I had learned a lot during this experience. It is sure that we learn a lot from our parents and the activities in our childhood, but studying complements the path our parents put us on to build our future in order to get the objective of having a good life later on. I have also learned during my past years some important skills that our module covers, such as Numeracy skills and Information Skills. However, they were not as important as we studied during this semester. Numeracy skills are taught in increasing levels since the youngest ages, starting from the primary school until we get our degree at the university, but before, it was just numbers and relations that I learned and that dont stand for anything real. On what concerns the information skills, I have learned a few about it during the high school and I increased my level on it during the foundation year I have done last year at the university. Other skills that are closer to the communication skills which are the effective learning skills, and they are also close to the personal and career development skills as well. The effective learning skills are the ones I learned trough some experiences, but for what concerns the personal and career development skills I did know nothing about them until I discovered them during this module. What this module has changed on my life? Regarding the six transferable skills that I have learned during this module, I notice that I have made a big improvement on these skills that help me now to be more efficient on getting my objectives either on my personal or professional life. Since more than one year ago, I work and I study simultaneously, and things that I learned during this module brought me to a higher level that I was not expecting from myself. I will introduce my job in few words and describe how what I got from the Core Business Skills module changed the way I was doing it. So, I work as Electronic Dance Music producer with many professional record labels worldwide, and this started just by passion at the beginning until I have been discovered by one of the most famous deejays in South America, and then I had a proposal to sign my song on his own record label located in Buenos Aires in Argentina, here was my first professional experience and I was afraid of getting ripped off because I did not know how to deal with the contract and I did not even negotiate it. However, I kept balancing between what I study and my work and I acquired more experiences practicing what I study on my professional life. Edwin H. Friedman said about communication that The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change. Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choices words lose their power when they are used to overpower. Attitudes are the real figures of speech. (1) So, the communication skills are very important on my daily work, now due to what I learned, I started knowing how to negotiate my contracts with the other record labels for each song I make, and this fact contributes on making more profit and also to advertise my artwork and letting people buy what I make. This course also helped me to learn how to make formal letters to communicate with the record labels and producers worldwide as well as this will serve me later on my professional life as future manager. Now as Im still a student I do use it only on my music affaire and my personal life with my family and friends. Also I would mention that as a student and future manager, I highly improved my skills on making presentations in front of the audience. On what concerns the effective learning skills on my personal and professional life, now I can know what I should improve on my life, on my studies or on my musical skills. Before, on my studies, I was kind of lost when the exams were approaching, it usually happened to me to be confused on what to prioritize and what to leave for the last, but now I got this level of knowing prioritizing the most important things after identifying them. Same thing on my life out of studies and on my professional life as well, now I can identify on what I could improve to make better songs in the future, I can manage myself to improve my personal and my student life to get best results, and eventually, now I know what I want to be, what I want to be later on, and how to get my goal. On my professional life, I also use the skills I learned about the team working knowing that my job consists on composing and producing songs, sign them on record labels then advertising them as much as possible to get profit out of them, even if advertising is the main work of the record labels. Also, it plays a vital role on my personal life. As I said at the beginning, team working is taught by our parents and our society at the first before starting classes, but whatever is the level that we get from these lasts, the school teaches us more about them. We work in teams at home, we play sport in teams and also at the school and the university we work for some projects given for our studies in teams or either preparing for our exams we mostly work in teams. TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. Working in teams is essential on the business life, either working for our own or others companies, these skills consist mainly on sharing tasks and ideas in a project work, and th is technique is more efficient than working alone. Numeracy skills stand for budgeting, numeracy functions and computations, dates and time, parenting and health related numeracy. These skills on budgeting or money management and banking serve to count money, make change, calculate services charges, save money and invest it too, and these are generally skills that our module covers adding to the numeracy functions and computations skills that we learned in the past from the primary school until the high school. Dates and time skills are used to some basic things in life as using a calendar, fill in time sheets or writing the date as well as the parenting and health related numeracy skills to read directions and dosage on medicines bottles, read thermometers or to understand a report card. All these numeracy skills are important and very useful on whomevers daily life for either managers, farmers or whatever we can be. During this module I leaned the most of the important numeracy skills for business management field, and this regardi ng the decision threes to analyze and get the best solution to do not make loss on business and take the best decision. The information skills are vital for all the successful professionals. These skills help us to become more efficient. Here are some techniques that help us to develop our information skills. The first one is how to take notes effectively, and this is a good tool to record and organize the information, the second one is to fully absorb the written information to assimilate and understand the written information quickly and effectively. Reading strategies is also a technique to read faster by thinking what to read, while the technique of keeping the information fresh in our minds helps to keep what we learned alive in our minds. There is also a technique which is learning in a way that suits us and this will not only help us on developing the ways we can learn, but we will be able to make what we do so the others can learn efficiently from us. Making learning an enjoyable experience is for me the best way to learn efficiently because if we love what we do we get good results, and this is what is helping me a lot on my music producer career, even all the results that I got from my productions I still dont consider this as a job but just as my main passion and I keep learning day after day. Same thing on my studies, there are some topics that I enjoy and I can be successful on them, but once I dont love one topic, I know that I will have problems within it. The personal and career development skills are the ones I really enjoyed during this module. These skills are mainly keys for everyones life. To know our own strengths that we already have and we might build on, our weaknesses that we could reduce or otherwise work around, our opportunities that are related to our chances and that we can exploit better than the others, or even our threads that we need to be aware of them and to avoid them is a simple analysis that allows us to know who really we are and to avoid stress. I also learned how to manage my time and the basic ideas of control in this module, and all these skills have changed my personal and professional life and help me to gain more confidence on myself and to keep improving on my life in general. What should I develop again on my transferable skills? All the skills that I got from the Core Business Skills module are not skills related only to the business field, but to our life in general and help to improve the way we are living it. Bill Clinton, the forty second U.S President (1993-2001) said: Today, many companies are reporting that their number one constraint on growth is the inability to hire workers with the necessary skills. (2) From what Bill Clinton said, companies have a lack of workers with the necessary skills, and they do their best to overcome this problem, but people with the necessary skills are not enough to satisfy every companys need. To participate on the growth of our society, we should all have some basic skills which when we develop them, we get a higher level of confidence and abilities. Personally, even the improvement that I have done during this module, I still have to improve all the skills to get my personal objective. We know that the sky is the limit for what concerns learning the skills, and we can improve them more and more day after day. My skills on communication are not enough, because if I start communicating with professional people I could not be at the same level as them, but with the practice and time I can develop my skills and reach the level required by the professional world. Also, I still have many problems when it comes to the numeracy skills on business; the decision tree for example seems to me easy, I can get the tree, but not the calculation, I usually get lost on applying the relations and calculating numbers. The information skills, and the personal and career development skills, I think we can develop them more within the next modules and experiences. I got a lot of benefits from this module, it has changed my life, now I see things in a professional way and this is the best way to reach out the objectives that we set on our life. Now that I learned also these skills I set new goals to my life and I will try to achieve them all, or at least the majority. People with goals mostly succeed because they already know where they are going. I also believe in Willis Reeds quote that says: Go for the moon. If you dont get it, you will still be heading for a star.

Film Noir in The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity

Film Noir in The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity Midterm Paper Film Noir Style in The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity What elements of a movie make up a film noir? According to many cinematographers, a film noir is a term used to describe Hollywood crime dramas, with emphasis on sex and violence. Never before in Hollywood had directors defied social norms to take a step towards the raw post-Depression American society. It was not until after the Second World War when Hollywood films began to portray the dark slick city streets, crime, and corruption of society. In early film noir cinemas, directors such as John Huston, of The Maltese Falcon, and Billy Wilder, of Double Indemnity, both incorporated different styles and elements to define the cinematic term that changed the film industry across the globe in the early 1940s-mid50s. The two films, with respect to different plots, both used similar cinematography ideals to create a new sense of film genre, better known as film noir. Films began to be painted black mainly due to the great influence of German Expressionism. Female characters changed from untarnished beauties to devilish divas smoking cigarettes and cocking a gun. Both Double Indemnitys and The Maltese Falcons screenplays were top notch, and took the audience on a non-stop thrill ride of deception and lies, and the acting of both films were nothing short of remarkable. In Double Indemnity, director Billy Wilder doesnt hesitate to bring drama and suspense immediately upon the audience. The film was the first of its kind that used film noir for what it in essence stood for, and became a hit from the day it was released. The movie begins with Walter Neff, a successful insurance salesman for Pacific All-Risk, first seen walking into his Los Angeles office. Walter, who is wounded, begins to record his story of his tragic downfall. The story starts with Walter meeting Mrs.Dietrichson to converse about life insurance. After deciding to purchase a Double Indemnity Clause, which ultimately pays the widow twice the normal amount if her husband was to die for whatever reason, Walter begins to realize that Mrs.Dietrichson plans to murder her husband for the clause. Phyllis then persuades Walter to be her associate in killing her husband. Their relationship becomes more than just work-related, as the lust between the two turn to an affair. When Mr.Dietrichson is found dead alongside the train tracks, everyone except investigator Barton and Lola, Phyllis daughter, accept it as an accidental occurrence. The daughter comes to Neff, and reveals to him that her mother had died suspiciously when Phyllis was her nurse. He then learns about Phyllis relationship with Lolas boyfriend and confronts her. She tells him that she only saw the boyfriend to provoke him into killing Lola. In a rage, Neff attempts to shoot her, but is shot first. Phyllis then gives her gun up to Walter, who shoots and kills her. Walter flees the scene of the crime to his office where he is seen at the beginning of the film. Walter tells Barton that he is going to flee to Mexico and escape a death sentence, but only manages to make it to the elevator where he suddenly collapses to the floor and dies. The Maltese Falcon opens with Sam Spade, a detective for the Spade and Archer Detective Agency in San Francisco, working in his office. A client, who goes by the name of Miss Wanderly, comes to Sam and asks him to follow Floyd Thursby, who supposedly has her younger sister. Later that night, Spade is informed that Archer, his partner, has been shot to death while following Floyd. Sam is soon an alleged suspect when the cops soon find out that Floyd has also been killed. The next day Spade is offered $5000 by Joel Cairo, if the detective can get hold of a small sculpture of a falcon. After a brief tussle in his office, Miss Wanderly (Brigid) contacts Spade, and mentions to her that he is with Cairo. Soon after, the three of them held a brief meeting, where they told Sam about â€Å"The Fat Man,† and how he is a danger to them all. The next morning, Sam is confronted by Casper Gutman, an extremely obese man, who wants to offer a large reward to Sam for the capture of The Maltes e Falcon. Following the story of the falcon, Sam blacks out (unknowingly drugged by Gutman) and only wakes up later to a mortally wounded Jacobi with the falcon. Afterward, Sam presents the falcon to Gutman, only to find out that its a fake. Casper then demands his reward money back, only to receive nine of the ten thousand dollars, and tells Sam that he is going to leave to further search for the falcon. Immediately following the conversation, Sam informs the police of Gutman and Wilmer, the men connected to the murder of Jacobi and Thursby, and Brigid, the murderer of Archer. When the police arrive, Brigid is arrested, and Sam is informed by the police of Gutmans recent homicide. The movie concludes with Sam handing over the leftover reward money and falcon to the police as evidence. Before analyzing both movies, one must be able to fully grasp and understand the defining elements that make up film noir, which ultimately drew upon a reservoir of different film techniques. During the era when film noir was most popular, directors often associated their movies with a low-key black-white visual. Many of the lights portrayed in both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon were hung low and floor lamps were infrequently high off the ground. Moreover, light tended to enter the rooms in jagged and odd shapes in due course creating a sinister motif and ideology. This could be rooted back to German Expressionism. Moreover, the key ideas in these films were derived from the raw school of crime fiction that emerged during the early 1900s when the Depression tore apart America. Film Noir, or â€Å"Black Film† in French, had started out as melodramas, but eventually became a distinct genre of its own. While this term encompassed a range of plots, the main figures of th e films typically included the detective or private-eye (Sam and Walter), police, slum portion of the city, law-abiding citizen gone corrupt, femme fatale character (Brigid and Phyllis), and victim. Both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon associated with many classic noir ideologies such as the small town just outside of the city, dark lighting, the detective, and the sex-driven femme fatale woman. During this period of filmmaking, sex was often symbolized through the use of cigarettes. Throughout both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon, scenes that appeared to be action packed or romantic were often followed by either character satisfyingly smoking their cigarette. While noir films typically incorporated and were identified by their visual styles, movies commonly associated as film noirs revolved around genres such as the gangster film, gothic romance, or melodrama. Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon both contain issues of fate, moral laws, and destructiveness which are the basic characteristics of a film noir. Nothing is more petrifying than a femme fatale character. The females raw outer beauty that covers her devilish thoughts and personality often seduces the most strong-willed of men. Private investigator Sam Spade and successful insurance salesman Walter Neff, both fell victim to the utter terror and attractiveness of femme fatale characters Brigid OShaughnessy (Ruth Wonderly) and Phyllis Dietrichson. In Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon, the femme fatale characters used sexual innuendos to seduce and control Walter and Sam. For example, when Walter Neff first stepped into the Dietrichsons stylish home in San Francisco, he was immediately welcomed by flirtatious Phyllis Dietrichson. As they conversed about insurance: â€Å"Phyllis (in a robe): Im Mrs. Dietrichson. Is there anything I can do? Walter Neff: The insurance ran out on the fifteenth. Id hate to think of you getting a smashed fender or something while youre not†¦ fully covered. Phyllis (with a little smile): Perhaps I know what you mean, Mr. Neff. Ive just been taking a sun bath.† It is quite apparent that Phyllis was trying to gain control upon first introducing herself to Walter. Clearly, Phyllis flirted with Walter after he said how she and her husband needed to renew their insurance or something threatening may occur to them. She immediately related not being covered by insurance to herself and how she wasnt clothed because she had finished a sun bath. An example of seduction in The Maltese Falcon, con artist Brigid OShaughnessy fakes her identity to use Sam Spade to apparently find her lost sister. Eventually, Sam learned about Brigids lies and confronts her: â€Å"Brigid OShaughnessy: Help me. Sam Spade: You wont need much of anybodys help. Youre good. Chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice when you say things like be generous, Mr. Spade. Brigid OShaughnessy: I deserve that. But the lie was in the way I said it, not at all in what I said. Its my own fault if you cant believe me now. Sam Spade: Ah, now you are dangerous.† †¦ â€Å"Sam Spade: All weve got is that maybe you love me and maybe I love you. Brigid OShaughnessy: You know whether you love me or not. Sam Spade: Maybe I do. Ill have some rotten nights after Ive sent you over, but thatll pass.† In those scenes, Brigids failed attempt to manipulate and seduce Sam was due to his awareness of her lies and con artist personality. In the end, the femme fatale character in both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon could be recognized by their personality traits that made them dangerous to any man that got in their way. Their sexy personality clouded the perception of many characters, including Sam and Walter. But by the end of each film, their ego and evil personalities led to their downfall. Furthermore, the most associated elements that draw the audiences emotions out arent always the acting, rather the setting and background components. In Double Indemnity, the eerie background music was what greatly affected the overall tone of the film. While in certain scenes, the music was perceived as cheery and fast-paced, in darker settings, such as the introduction to the film, the heavy violin along with the drum and trumpets added much depth to the actual film, where the injured Walter Neff is seen limping ever-so-close to the audience. Not even a minute into the film, the viewer senses the pain coming from Walter as he struggles his way into his office, duly to the dark and heavy violin playing in the background. The music clearly added depth not just to Double Indemnity, but also to The Maltese Falcon. In one of the beginning scenes where Archer was seen walking down the street, the relatively soothing background music immediately changes to fast paced horror as hes shot t o death. The scene then transitioned to Sams house, which is shown engulfed in darkness, where he was seen sat down in his chair by his telephone. The music playing creepily in the background coincided well with the scenes tone as Sam is shown picking up the phone to be told the news of Archers death. While acting plays a key role in film noir, music and other background components play vital roles in creating the raw emotion and thrill of film noir. In conclusion, the film noir style has made Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon one of the most highly respected films of our lifetime. The usage of dark lighting and heart pulsing music is just a fraction of the elements that portray film noir in the two films. Both Double Indemnitys and The Maltese Falcons screenplays were top notch, and took the audience on a non-stop thrill ride of deception and lies. Moreover, the acting of both films was nothing short of remarkable. Film Noir has earned its spot in history as a life changing genre.

How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? :: Free Essay Writer

How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? Thomas Hardy has an extremely clever way of obtaining sympathy for a character. Hardy has specific ways to elicit sympathy by varying the level of sympathy he gives to character. He either gives sympathy to someone or takes it away from a character so more sorrow seems to be on another. He also uses powerful language to strengthen his points and finally he shows sorrow from a character’s point of view. He uses these techniques on the three main characters (Rhoda, Farmer Lodge and Gertrude) exceptionally well. We first see Farmer Lodge in his gig while bringing his new wife Gertrude to Holmstoke. He sees his son but completely ignores him: â€Å"One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mile or two off.† (Page 4) Gertrude asks Farmer Lodge who the boy is but he totally disregards his son and does not even acknowledge the child. He does not even tell his new wife that the child is his son. We give him no sympathy for this cruel act as he should have at least greeted the youngster. In comparison, Farmer Lodge’s son looks up to him: â€Å"Mr Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuck out, and his great golden seals hung like a lord’s† (Page 70) It seems his son wants to get to know his father and holds him in high regard as his description of Farmer Lodge is rather flattering. Hardy has made Farmer Lodge seem unfeeling and not caring about his son. This is another reason not to feel sorry for Farmer Lodge. Farmer Lodge ignores Gertrude and her needs because of her withered arm: â€Å"Half a dozen years passed away, and Mr and Mrs Lodge’s married experience sank into prosiness, and worse.† (Page 19) She needed his help and support but still he ignored her. This is cruel as he marries her and then ignores her. It is wrong. Hardy portrays him to be bitter and heartless and therefore he receives no sympathy what so ever. At the end, Farmer Lodge’s character changes, he tries to make up for his previous behaviour and how he ignored his son by setting up a reformatory for boys: â€Å"he went away to Port-Bredy, at the other end of the county, living there in solitary lodgings till his death two years later of painless decline.† (Page 33) Hardy uses strong words such as â€Å"painless decline† which gives atmosphere about the solitude he lived in. It is clear that Farmer Lodge wants to make up for his previous behaviour by setting up the reformatory and giving a â€Å"small annuity† to Rhoda. How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? :: Free Essay Writer How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? Thomas Hardy has an extremely clever way of obtaining sympathy for a character. Hardy has specific ways to elicit sympathy by varying the level of sympathy he gives to character. He either gives sympathy to someone or takes it away from a character so more sorrow seems to be on another. He also uses powerful language to strengthen his points and finally he shows sorrow from a character’s point of view. He uses these techniques on the three main characters (Rhoda, Farmer Lodge and Gertrude) exceptionally well. We first see Farmer Lodge in his gig while bringing his new wife Gertrude to Holmstoke. He sees his son but completely ignores him: â€Å"One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mile or two off.† (Page 4) Gertrude asks Farmer Lodge who the boy is but he totally disregards his son and does not even acknowledge the child. He does not even tell his new wife that the child is his son. We give him no sympathy for this cruel act as he should have at least greeted the youngster. In comparison, Farmer Lodge’s son looks up to him: â€Å"Mr Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuck out, and his great golden seals hung like a lord’s† (Page 70) It seems his son wants to get to know his father and holds him in high regard as his description of Farmer Lodge is rather flattering. Hardy has made Farmer Lodge seem unfeeling and not caring about his son. This is another reason not to feel sorry for Farmer Lodge. Farmer Lodge ignores Gertrude and her needs because of her withered arm: â€Å"Half a dozen years passed away, and Mr and Mrs Lodge’s married experience sank into prosiness, and worse.† (Page 19) She needed his help and support but still he ignored her. This is cruel as he marries her and then ignores her. It is wrong. Hardy portrays him to be bitter and heartless and therefore he receives no sympathy what so ever. At the end, Farmer Lodge’s character changes, he tries to make up for his previous behaviour and how he ignored his son by setting up a reformatory for boys: â€Å"he went away to Port-Bredy, at the other end of the county, living there in solitary lodgings till his death two years later of painless decline.† (Page 33) Hardy uses strong words such as â€Å"painless decline† which gives atmosphere about the solitude he lived in. It is clear that Farmer Lodge wants to make up for his previous behaviour by setting up the reformatory and giving a â€Å"small annuity† to Rhoda.

Diversification within American Organizations Essay -- essays research

Diversification within American Organizations The United States has the most diverse and multicultural population ever known to man. The symbolic metaphor â€Å"the melting pot,† strongly states that the major problem organizations face in American society is a diverse personnel with different economical status, beliefs, and cultural background; because of this, operating an organization in American society is a very complex task. For many years, researchers struggled with the concept of finding the perfect organizational structure to meet the need of the employee and the demands of society. However, research has consistently shown because of historical American idealism that individuals choose to interact more often with members of their own cultural groups or identity rather it’s gender, physical, race, or religious base. This type of interaction makes managing a diverse work force a major challenge for managers in the 21st century. This paper will examine diversification from four important issues facing today and future American corporations: Gender, Disability, Ethnicity, and Religion. The four issues are protected by Federal and State laws and enforce by Federal and State courts. Since Americans are comprised of individuals from various countries, and different ethnicities many organizations have begun to embrace diversification in the workplace. Diversification within American Organizations (GENDER) The study of organizations shows the significant differences and similarities of groups. American organizations have recognized that the composition a workforce or any organization, is beginning to reflect the composition of American society. Diversity of gender is one that is characterized by rolls of a person or persons. Research has shown that men and women are equal in terms of learning ability, memory, reasoning ability, creativity, and intelligence (Gibson, 96). Some people regard issues of treatment of various employee groups, such as those based on gender, race, and sexual orientation as primarily an issue of moral fairness. Women should be given the same career opportunities as men; homosexual couples should be given the same health insurance benefits as heterosexual couples. American society and culture has changed considerably on these issues over the last 150 years (when women were not allowed to vote and slavery was still practiced), and o... ...rganization. Diversity will challenge organizational leaders to make the necessary changes to develop a multicultural organization in today’s diverse society that fits society demands and the organizational needs. References Bolman, L.G., & Deal T.E. (1997). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leadership. Second Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Braun, Carol M. (1998). Inequality: Opposing Viewpoints in Social Problems. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. Capps, Walter. (1990). The new religious right: piety, patriotism, and politics. South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 119-120. Clutterbuck, David (1981). How to be a good corporate citizen: A manager’s guide to making social responsibility work & pay. McGraw Hill Company. Oxford Press, 26-86. Cox, T. (1991). The Multicultural Organization. Academy of Management Executive, 5,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  34-37. Gender in the Workplace. (n.d.) Retrieved June 3, 2002 from http://www.hum.ah.edu/gender/gender.html. Gibson, J.L.,Ivancevich, J.M., Donnelly, J.H. (2000) Organizaions: Behavior Structure

Football salary Essay

Many people think that footballers are paid too much money for doing too little effort. However, this can be argues because they are people who have dedicated their entire life to this sport and therefore they should be rewarded. But in the end there is lots of people need that money to survive and get some food and clean water. The money which is given to players should be reduced because what they do isn’t worth all the money they get. Because the average salary of a professional football player of February 2010 was listed at about $1.8 million year (Mandi R Hall, www.ehow.com). There are also other people that have worked harder throughout their lives by working and studying. Players perform a sport where they do not save anyone’s life unlike doctors who study for 6 consecutive years, work for several hours, and literally save people’s lives. But the problem is even doctors they don’t gut that high salary like the average in 2009 for doctors in the US was $226,000/ year (mdsalaries.blogspot.com). There are also other careers like police officers who devote their lives to provide a safe community. A single football player receives high amounts of money where half of this amount could be spent on medical supplies, help have a better education, and also help many needy people. Because billing school for example â€Å"The Williamstown Public School in Williamstown, Massachusetts is an old school, so they are currently building a new one. It costs $14.5 million and it will house 650 students maximum. The Williamstown Public School is about three times bigger than Mark’s Meadow. Since our school is about 1/3 smaller, it would cost about 1/3 less money to build. $14.5 million divided by three equals about $4.8 million† (arps.org).The player’s effort is insignificant and worthless compare to the amount of they get. The reasons why they should not be paid as much as they do, are: Children should be in better schools have a higher degree of education, people who work harder should get better salaries, the money people sent in football as a whole should be used better on investment or donations.

King Louis Xiv of France

Absolute monarchs had a significant impact on European history and the way their nation lives today. Absolute monarchs had control over political, social and religious aspects of their nation’s life. Absolute monarch had a positive and negative effect on society and European history. From 1550 to 1800 was a time known as the Age of Absolute Monarchs. The Age of Absolute Monarchs was a period of European history when monarch had total control over laws and the power of their nation.Some well know absolute monarchs during this time period are Phillip II, Maria Theresa, King John, and Peter the Grate. An absolute monarch is a king or queen who has total control over all aspects of society. Another absolute monarch is Louis XIV. Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He stated to ruling at only age 13 and was also engaged in the Franco-Spanish war. When he was 22 he got married to Maria-Theresa which helped him become the most powerful monarch in Europe. During the first 20 years of Louis XIV ruling he make many contributions and achievements. Some contributions he made is that he helped build up Frances military and invaded the Spanish Netherlands . He also helped promote art such as , music, architecture, painting, and sculpture. and managed to reduce Frances taxes. Louis XIV also help stabilized France by building up its power. Louis XIV also had some negatives effects on France. One negative impact he had on France is that he lead France into debt.He also demanded that the nation convert to catholic or else he would leave France. A positive effect is that Louis the Great had was that he reduced France’s taxes and had a major impact on the arts. Absolute monarchs had a significant impact on European society. Their total control over their nation allowed them to make positive and negative choices that effect the way their nation lives today. The paragraphs above show how Louis XIV contributed to European history.