Talent TV, the Reality

AGAZINE ARTICLE Talent TV, the reality. Talent TV; Your one big chance to humiliate yourself world wild in front of a live audience and a panel of overly critical judges, with the often slim chance of getting yourself somewhere in life other than ‘’You’ve been framed. ’’ A chance for the Talent TV audience to express their schadenfreude based humour by ‘booing’ and taunting the not-so-talented.So you’ve decided to enter the talent TV show â€Å"Britain’s got talent,† due to the misleading nod’s and smiles of encouragement from your not really listening mother. Only to go to the producers auditions where, instead of picking just the talented acts and saving mislead people like yourself from public humiliation, send you through leaving you with the impression that you are in fact talented.Then comes the somewhat tedious public audition process, where if you’re lucky Simon Cowell will compare you to some k ind of tone-deaf animal and that will be the end of it, however the slightly more unpropitious will be booed off stage by the audience themselves. However you will still have to wait and hear how horribly you did from each of the judges in turn and unnecessarily officialise that is a definite no before finally leaving the stage, your dreams and your ability to go out without being noticed as ‘that rejected contestant’ behind.In the society, day and age we live in everybody seems to have the impression that derivative ideas are the way to go. Therefore being the reason for the hundreds of talent TV shows now drowning our TV guides; Britain’s got talent, American idol, x-factor, The voice, Britain and Irelands next top model and America’s next top model, which are only the start of an endless list of mind-numbing programs now available.However the shows are not the only derivative idea in the whole Talent TV ordeal, the acts in which are performed seem to ha ve lost originality as the years go on. Every act is more or less completely predictable, seen as though the variety is so little. There is singing, dancing, dog acts, sometimes magic acts and some sort of comedy performance (deliberately or not) within every episode and every series. Therefore meaning mine and everyone else’s expectations of something completely new is very little.And as if humiliating just the rejected contestants isn’t enough, the whole town in which the contestant is from seems to go down with them, on multiple occasions ‘’Britain’s got talent,’’ has been reviewed and remarks such as ‘’Britain’s got talent, more like Britain lacks talent,’’ have been included, which leaves the very ‘country proud’ people more than a little humiliated as well. However many people, half of which being the winners of the show themselves, believe that Talent TV is merely a once in a lifeti me opportunity to become famous.This would possibly be true if you weren’t allowed to re-enter yourself in the upcoming auditions for the next show. People may argue this side of things but really sometimes all we need is someone to laugh at rather than ourselves. So what happens to the rejected once their auditions have been aired? Well they get to live a life of either having no life whatsoever, by not leaving the house, or leaving their houses just to be chased back in with comments like ‘hey, I saw you on Britain’s got talent†¦ you were awful. Those who compete in the first place have to have a very strong personality, one which isn’t affected by snide remarks from the public, or if it really was incredibly horrible, remarks from the press too. On the less embarrassing and more glamorous side of Talent TV many future celebrities such as groups like One Direction, Little Mix or diversity are found in the hundreds of auditions, for people like these and sometimes the odd finalist/semi-finalist a whole new world of opportunities opens up for them, so in some way Talent TV could be seen as a one way ticket to fame, that is if you have talent.So if you find yourself, adult or child, even contemplating entering into the time-wasting competitions for Talent TV save yourself the humiliation of Simon Cowell’s metaphors, schadenfreude based humours and mislead interpretations by ensuring you are worthy of getting through at least the auditions. However, if prove worthy in front of Simon Cowell and his panel of criticizing judges, you may be on the road to achieving your lifetime wishes, that is if you are prepared for the bumpy ride ahead.

Chocolate by Joanne Harris Essay

If we were all to rebel against what we’ve always known to be accepted, if we were to completely ignore the teachings of our elders and do the things we’ve been taught to be â€Å"evil† and â€Å"sinister†, what would happen? This situation is one which occurs in a small and tranquil French town in the extract from Chocolat. Throughout the extract there are a variety of juxtapositions, polarizations, and much contrast building the subject. Joanne Harris creates a compelling story, but not without exaggerated or overstated situations. Through reading the extract and analyzing each significant line of literature, we are able to understand the narrator and the young girl’s character to a more advanced degree. In the extract, we first encounter Vianne with her daughter Anouk as they brave the harsh wind and settle into the new village. â€Å"We came on the wind of the carnival.† The quoted piece of literature displays the sly exotic wind, a rather unusual one for February. To some extent, the wind presents the characters of Vianne and Anouk as they are independent and wild, the same as the wind that brought in the carnival. Reminiscent of the carnival, the narrator and her daughter are very bright and lively which is ironic as they settled the grey village during the time of the carnival. This piece of text also shows polarization; Light vs. Dark and Lively vs. Dull, as well as contrast between the town’s people and the carnival. The polarization of Lively vs. Dull can be seen in the extract thro ugh the mentioning of fanciful tales. â€Å"†¦A dragon’s head on a shield, Rapunzel in a woolen wig, a mermaid with a Cellophane tail, a gingerbread house all icing and gilded cardboard, a witch in the doorway†¦.† Seeing that most of us have matured with the impression that fairy tales are magic- blissful, bright and fantastic, as we read this passage we can see how Vianne try’s to keep magic alive in Anouk as well as in herself. Their itinerant from town to town represents this burning flame; the magic she is striving to keep alive. Not only does Vianne attempt to keep magic flourishing in herself and Anouk, she also aids the parishioners. The extract is an enchanting brew of confections and humanity. Vianne, a shaman-like woman rides the North wind casting her spell of kindness to  those in need; she visits town after town seeking battles with those who would take advantage, and attempt to lord over other poor souls. Carrying on a tradition of lifting the spirits of the downtrodden, with her magical unrefined cocoa and special chili pepper in the form of delicious chocolates. This shows great contrast amongst Vianne and the villagers for the reason that, the personality of Vianne is much different than that of each person in Lansquenet. We also notice this contrast out of the text through â€Å"†¦ Her silk scarf fluttering at her throat; the child in yellow Wellingtons and sky blue mac. Their coloring marks them. Their clothes are exotic..† Unlike the town’s people, Vianne is more insightful and exotic as well as observant but nevertheless logical. This is shown in â€Å"..knowledge is currency here..† and â€Å"I feel their gaze†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As for Anouk, she is able to see beyond the truth. At first, we witness this during the carnival. â€Å"But at six the world retains a special luster.† Then, at the mentioning of a mermaid. â€Å"..a mermaid with a Cellophane tail..† She can still see the real witch, the real magic. Joanne Harris used a great juxtaposition here; magic vs. functionality. Not only does Joanne Harris use juxtapositions to build her subjects, she also employs contrast, polarization, connotations, sensuality/austerity (priest, villagers) plus flamboyant pass ages along with descriptive ones used to paint an image in the reader’s mind that appeals to our senses. For example, to appeal to our tastes Joanne Harris uses very descriptive words that are enough to make you drool. â€Å"..hot greasy scents of frying pancakes and sausages and powdery-sweet waffles..† This also creates wild images in the readers mind, tying in contrast amongst the carnival and town’s people. The fact that Vianne arrives in town on the day of the carnival just prior to lent shows great significance- Contrast to people and village is Lively vs. Grey/Dull, which ironically is seen a lot throughout the passage. The carnival also acts as a connecting thread though means of a new beginning. More precisely, a new beginning between Vianne and the villagers; almost like a â€Å"float.† In addition, the carnival sets mood and personality; the fact that everything is not always as is seen, especially when it comes to Religion where the church is a means of control. This control is used as a juxtaposition, repression, and emphasis throughout the movie as well as the passage. All the factors mentioned in the essay; character, language, connections, significance, tie in to create the  subject. The subject of how the town’s people judge Vianne and Anouk which then leads to tolerance- how the author creates the subject.

Analyze the Effect of Education on the Development

Analyze the Effect of Education on the Development of Countries Education can teach us how to be a real man, how to get along with others in the society and also can make talents to let countries’ power stronger. Education can have significant effects on the development of a country. It is mainly reflected in three aspects. The first is the economic growth, the second is the population and employment in society and the third is stability and fair in politic. In addition, this essay will also show education of different levels has impacts on different aspects of different countries. Universal education has a significant effect on developing economy growth of countries. Developed educational system is better than undeveloped educational system to economic increase. An example of successful developed educational system can be found in China and India. More than 30 percent population of the world lives in China and India totally, and most of them are still stay in poverty. Facing such a large problem, Chinese government enacted Nine-Year Compulsory Education Policy to improve the quality of primary education, and Indian government provides more educated chances for girls and women. With more and more people being educated, the economy of two countries increases dramatically. One of the reasons is that educated farmers who can read the agriculture instructions get more skills to farm well, which results in a growth in agricultural productivity (Brown, 2008). These educated farmers know how to water, apply fertilizer more efficiently, and finally they harvest more crops which results in a higher income. Dollar and Gatti’s research (1999) illustrates that increase one percentage point chances for women with secondary education results in a 0. percentage points for a country’s annual per capita increase. To sum up, it would appear that economic growth and developed education system cannot be separated. The more investment in education system, the more positive influences be reflected in the economy increase. Compared with developed education system, undeveloped educational system has an opposite consequence that is economy decline. Firstly, children who are not educated as well as their children will stay at low class, which is the reason why the gap between poverty and wealth becomes wider. Naturally, if a country has a large amount of destitute people, the economy is decreasing (Brown, 2008). Next, it is unreasonable for government to pay less attention to education, because there is a close connection between less education, poverty and instability. Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya said (2008):†Illiteracy and innumeracy are a greater threat to humanity than terrorism. † That means no education is a source of instability. It is possible that most violence and conflicts are caused by the poor, because they are lacking of food, clothes, fresh water and their homeland. They do not have enough knowledge to protect themselves and they do not know where they can get justice. Finally they will have to take such violent means to seek their own interests, and it leads to serious consequence, such as the war. The two different countries that conduct different education systems have opposite results in higher education. Mauritius is a small island which is connected with Tanzania surrounded by the Indian Ocean. Numerous nature resources can be made use of by Tanzania, such as gold, gas, diamonds, tin, and coal while Mauritius does not have (Bloom et al. 006). With these disadvantages, Mauritius government intensifies their efforts to increase the chances for children being educated and the quality of higher education. The UIS cited in Higher Education (2005) suggests that half of the populace in Mauritius are tertiary students, and the number is increasing from 1 per cent in 1985 to 15 per cent now (TFHE cited in Higher Education, 2000). The system also lays a foundation for the primary and secondary education, and the subjects of university are added to meet the needs of students (2005). In contrast, the government of Tanzania does not pay attention to higher education, and the gap between female students and male students is wider, more male students. The subjects connected with science are not performed well by students. Finally, Mauritius has a high per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $12,800 and it is still growing dramatically. In contrast, the GDP in Tanzania is lower, no more than $700. Today Mauritius has become a middle-income nation since 1960 while Tanzania is still one of the poorest countries in the world (Bloom, 2005). It appears that education can help dispose of poverty. If a country has an appetite to be stronger, the government must invest more time and energy in education system. As well as affecting the economy, education also affect on the society. Women’s education, which affects the population growth rate, has strong impact on fertility. Women who have a good education will consider their own targets and will spend more time in achieving the target, which could lead to them having fewer children, and the fertility will be lower. Ethiopia is a dramatic example of this. Besides Population Reference Bureau (2007) shows that Ethiopian women without education have an average of 6. 1 children. In contrast, women with at least a secondary education have an average of 2. 0 children. Moreover, woman who receives high level education will think over the family’s expenses and social burden. So well educated women know how much will they undertake for a child as a parent. Cleland and Kaufmann (1993) argue that attempting to explain the relationship between education and fertility should pay more attention to distinguishing the determinants of reproductive decision making. To sum up, women’s education is the emphasis for fertility. Education, which can increase the children’s health and decrease the number of disease, is one of the most important factors for mortality. The population growth rate is fertility plus mortality. Hence both fertility and mortality should be low. Firstly, hungry and malnutrition is important to the health of children. If students are hungry and malnutrition, they will get ill and will result in giving up education in that they have no power and money to study, which will cause negative affects for the society. Sachs (2008) states that most ill children give up going to school forever because of healthy problem. Furthermore girls who have not been educated appear to have no consciousness about serious diseases, such as HIV and AIDS. Countries such as Brazil and Bangladesh are implementing policies to overcome this problem; such supporting scholarships for girls or stipends to their parents where needed. Girls are inspired spending more time in school and marrying in older age, paying more attention to health care. Finally, both fertility and mortality will be apparently lower; the social problem of population may be alleviated. The effect of education on employment, which is one of the most important factors in the society, has been becoming stronger and stronger. Employment is associated with individual income, the families’ life quality and the social development. In addition, unemployment can cause hunger, poverty and social problems, such as crime . In China, because of the serious employment situation, there are numerous graduates who are unemployed every year. It seems that if someone has low level education, the opportunity to be employed is quite small. In contrast, those who achieved high level education will have more chance to be successful and have high salary. Evidence suggests that literate abilities have large economic impacts on individual income and on development of countries (Hanushek and Woessmann, 2007) and that workers’ efficiency are decided by both the time and content of education (Heckman, Layne-Farrar, and Todd 1995; Murnane, Willett, and Levy 1995). However, because most people in European or North American countries focus on high level education, the supply and demand for high-tech skilled workers is imbalanced now. Williams (2009) states that the demand for skilled workers is greater than the supply. Therefore high-tech education seems to be an opportunity for someone who is illiterate and it may relieve the severe employment situation. Finally, it will have a positive impact on social development. In addition, since politic is based on economy and society, education of different grades could also be thought as one of the main causes which affects politic well. Firstly, universal primary and secondary education can stabilize the society and country, which is the base of the development of a country, especially in African countries. Basic education offers uneducated child and adult knowledge that can instruct them to contribute to their society and country instead of committing crimes to make a living. According to Brown (2008), the implementation of a school lunch programme in some African countries have kept students staying at school longer, studying to gain a proper knowledge of behaving well but not follow terrorism that does serious harm to countries. Basic education of individuals also keeps people’s life over a good level. Furthermore, education is an efficient way to narrow the gap between the rich and poor that could lead to the conflict between different classes. Such situation could result in the revolution and leads to the turbulence of the country, which is considered as a serious threaten to societies and countries as well as the terrorism (Sen cited by Brown 2008). Furthermore, education also improves the political environment of countries. Primary and secondary education that can be conducted widely in countries promotes the national quality of countries, which make people have more knowledge and participate in political activities such as elections. Moreover, women benefit politically from education. Women political status is greatly increased by the different grade of education received. In all ages, in male dominated and traditional communities, girls’ education is considered as unnecessary luxury in that men fear that woman independence would threaten their main position in the political area (Plan 2008). Education on girls and women can ameliorate this unfair situation. The ignorance of educating women has done great harm to some African countries. World Bank (2008) issued that Human Development Network that the damage of failing to educate girls as boys in 65 â€Å"low and middle income and transitional countries† is about 92 billion dollars per year (cited in Plan 2008). Such a shocking number shows that creating a fair political environment will bring countries great good and the vital impacts of education on politics. Not only the universal education but also the tertiary one contributes to the development of politic of countries. Government of both developing and developed countries invests great quantity of expenses in tertiary education. The research of Yao, John, Shunming and Xiliang (2008) shows that the policy of education of China pays more attention to improving tertiary education. Such policy results in the situation that more and more talented politicians trained and elected from the country. One of other countries which focus on higher education is United States. Statistics shows that 8 out of 10 best universities in the world such as Harvard University and Massachusetts Inst Tech (MIT) come from United States, which means tertiary education of America greatly contributes to cultivating talents who is important to the development of American politics. Such great effort on improving tertiary education leads to a better consequence than China. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of the grandest president of United States, was sent to Groton School where is famous for training political talents. Then he majored politic science in Harvard University, which is the base of his success in political field. More than 10 of the America presidents come from these top universities, which shows the significant contributions tertiary do to the politics of United States. So, different grades of education can greatly promote politic of countries which also pushes the procedure of spreading education. The more education affects politic the more it promotes education. Universal education has great impacts on the development of countries in three main aspects. Firstly, it promotes the economy of countries worldwide, changing the life of people in poverty and improving the national strength. Secondly, education also contributes to the balance of the population of the world, including fertility and health care of different people, and the employment of countries which are important factors that influences countries’ procedure of development of society. Finally, different grades of education improve the politic development of countries. It stabilizes countries in poverty through primary and secondary education and improves the political environment through the tertiary one. Therefore, education counts in the development of countries, so improving the education of different levels in order to benefit countries in different aspects is an important issue for people to consider.

Education-as-Entertainment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Education-as-Entertainment - Essay Example fort and that it is the basis of modern livelihood, giving it an entertaining approach is a way to ensure it does not get shunned just like any other technicality in life. This study mainly purposes on the treatment of education as entertainment and the issues involved. Postman (1985), presents the extent to which treating education as entertainment has been embraced. The embracing of â€Å"Sesame Street†, a long-running American children television series, by educators, children and parents is a clear implication of entertainment being accepted as a way forward in education. Postman’s Learning in the age of Television further makes it look like it is one of the most recommended ways of learning by stating: â€Å"To those who had not yet been to school, even to those who had just started, the idea of being taught by a series of commercials did not seem peculiar†. On the contrary, Edmundson (1997) expresses stern dislike on the subject of education being treated like some form of entertainment. Some teachers do not teach to amuse, divert or interest learners and should they hear their student term education as some form of enjoyment then they get to develop self-dislike (Edmundson, 1997, pp. 40). â€Å"Schools want kids whose parents can pay the full freight, not the ones who need scholarship or want to bargain down the tuition costs† (Edmundson, 1997, pp. 43). Perhaps this could explain to us the reason as to why entertainment should be integrated into the education system and made part of it. Seemingly, it is not entirely essential to have education as entertainment since according to Edmundson the idea is a way to lure students into specific learning institutions. This therefore sounds like an open market competition where the most attractive school gets more ‘customers’. Now this makes school look like â€Å"Sesame Street†, and we now know that children love school only if it is like â€Å"Sesame Street† (Postman, 1985, pp. 1). In this case the two authors,

International Marketing Strategy of Freitag brand Assignment

International Marketing Strategy of Freitag brand - Assignment Example The brand ‘Freitag’ is quite well-known in the international arena. The inception of the brand happened back in the year 1993 in Zurich, Switzerland. It was started by two brothers named Markus and Daniel Freitag who were graphic designers. They were in the hunt for a messenger bag that had to be water-repellent, heavy-duty and a functional one in which they could take their designs being fearless of the fact that water can not spoil it. They got their inspiration from the lorries that had cheerful colours and created a messenger bag by cutting out an old tarpaulin of a truck. They used webbing emanating from car seat-belts were used and the edging was provided by the inner tube of a bicycle which was old (Freitag, n.d). This is how they turned their individual need into a successful business. Freitag has employee strength of over 120 people. The products of Freitag are now sold in more than 350 shops across the globe. The brothers have since then marketed and developed quite a lot of bags for men and as well as women. The brand has two lines of bag: The classic FUNDAMENTALS that have more than 40 models which are being continuously further developed and complemented. In September 2010 the brand introduced the FREITAG REFERENCE Line and since then it has only been launched under seasonal collections. In spite of having stores in New York, Berlin, Vienna, Davos, Cologne, Zurich and Hamburg, the bags are still made in Switzerland (Freitag, n.d). It has been noticed that there are many reasons for companies to internationalise. The key reason behind internationalisation is the capacity to continue to be competitive in their related environment. The concept of internationalisation is explained as establishing business relationships associations in different countries by way of integration, penetration and extension. Integration is explained as the process of co-ordinating the diverse national networks. Penetration can be stated as growth of positions and enhanced commitments in relation to resources in networks in which the company is presently involved with. And, extension means investments with regard to networks which are new. However, an additional significant motive for deciding to globalise activities results from the fact of increasing competition from foreign participants in the domestic market. With the intention of keeping pace with those competitors who are often known to adopt aggressive policies in order to expand their share in the market, it becomes important for the local organisations to shift attention to global markets. Therefore, the above factors can be stated to be the causes for internationalisation of the brand (Ebner, 2011). And the growing popularity of Freitag bags

Response to class members Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response to class members - Assignment Example They have customers, in other words, that they have to please. When this happens, they sometimes lose their autonomy. They lose their â€Å"backbone,† which is also important to them as artists. I agree with you that Oprah is a good example of an artist with a backbone. She has a large role in changing perceptions about African Americans and women. She showed the world that her race and gender are not impediments to her success. In her case, her backbone has helped strengthen the backbones of others. Right now, Oprah is using her power to improve the lives of marginalized groups. I think that her work indicates a very significant role of artists. Artists contribute to their society, too. They contribute their art to the world, as well as their ideas and vision of a good society. In other words, art can also be life changing. I agree with what you said that artists have a role to express their individuality and to use art as a way of empowering themselves. Art is a subjective process and product. Artists use art to express their emotions and ideas. It helps them understand their identities and develop their skills. Like what you said, your brother uses his art to emphasize his individuality. You also mentioned that artists also have a role to inspire others. They have unique talents that let them make wonderful products that inspire their audience. Inspiring them causes them to think and to act. When you said, â€Å"Artists are the doormen of change,† this immensely struck me. Artwork, such as paintings, literature, and dances, can be powerful means of expressing new ideas and practices that can challenge and change old ones. The main goal is to change people, so that they can also change the world. Artists either create or feed sparks of changes that impact social conditions. I understand why you used Reba McEntire as an example. She makes country music that inspires others. It is a music that has a culture of its own, and

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 56

Summary - Essay Example He argued that population cannot grow rapidly due to several forces that hinder growth such as war, famine and various diseases. Additionally, he pointed out that most people control birth rates, while others engage in marriage at old ages. Disease, war and famine raise the death rates leading to the decrease of population while low birth rate and late marriages discourages population growth. According to Malthus population does not require to run out of food supply due to late marriages and birth control. He further explains that if these practices were not practiced, population would rapidly grow. Malthus claims that food is mainly necessary to support life thus encouraging population growth. He also explains that earth cannot produce food on its in great quantities unless labor and skills are exercised upon the earth’s surface. Malthus explained that God is capable of rising up plants of all kinds for his creation’s use without the assistance of labor or man’s attention. Â  Land preparation activities such as ploughing, and clearing of the land, sowing of seeds and other practices done by man for production are mainly necessary for enjoyment of life’s blessings. The practices arouse man in action and ensure that he reasons appropriately. Furthermore, Malthus claimed that due to the excitement of the blessing of life, and ability of man to provide food through cultivation of the earth, rapid population growth is being witnessed than food increase. According to the principle of population, man is considered slow, sluggish, inert and reluctant from labor. Generally, Malthus tries to enlighten people that population cannot increase exponentially due to low rates of food supply. He therefore elaborates that checks on population growth in most societies are preventive and others are positive. The positive checks raise death rates while preventive checks decrease population increase by lowering birth

How legalizing illegal immigrants would help the economy of the United Research Paper

How legalizing illegal immigrants would help the economy of the United States - Research Paper Example While some Americans believe that ensuring the legal status to the illegal immigrants will not create any threat to the country, others are reluctant to approve any such reprieve. So the debate is very delicate and requires a proper justification regarding economic impact of a policy that legalizes the illegal immigrants. If we see the background of this issue, we observe that the illegal immigrants, the foreign nationals enter the USA devoid of any legal and proper immigration route and stay in the country. Generally the immigrants come to settle in USA for searching of better jobs, more money and to enjoy better standard of living, which is lacking in their native nations. At present in USA the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act have granted almost 3 million illegal immigrants the legal status as the permanent residents of the country. This law has also approved the case of the employers who has hired the illegal foreigners. To control the number of illegal residents some laws were amended in 1990. But those were proved to be inefficient regarding that issue. To provide the legal certificate to almost 12 million illegal residents of the USA, a bill was also commenced in 2007. But this bill was also unsuccessful to provide any such solution. (McFadyen). In USA, since 1990, the number of illegal immigrants has significantly enlarged though the then government spends huge money for amending an immigration enforcement act to control the entry of the unauthorized foreigners into America. One of a major reason behind this fact was that the illegal immigrants tried to gat an entrance in any way into America until they became succeed neglecting the government’s increased expenses to the security border of the country. At present they maximum number of illegal residents are found in California, but almost in every state of the USA there are some illegal immigrants reside. Almost half of them are

In the Iliad, analyze the critical similarities or differences between Essay

In the Iliad, analyze the critical similarities or differences between the Trojans and the Achaians - Essay Example A central theme throughout The Iliad is the recognition by both the Trojans and the Achaians that the gods of Olympus would determine the final outcome of the conflict. This shared belief is shown throughout the story in many different ways. One manifestation of this shared belief in the intercession of deity in the lives of men in The Iliad is through the casting of lots. In essence, this is the same as drawing a name out of a hat to see who wins something. But for the Trojans and the Achaians, it is a means of knowing the will of the gods. When the Achaians needed to know who should fight against Hektor, the lot fell upon Aias. This relieved the Trojans because this was the very person they had been praying would receive the chance to fight Hektor. This shared belief in the intervention of gods in the conflict is also shown in the direct speech between the two warring armies. At the beginning of Hektor’s challenging speech to the Achaians, he expresses his belief that both s ides have found ill favor with Zeus. That is why neither side can prevail. The prayer of the Achaians is also telling in this regard. They prayed that their champion, Aias might prevail over Hektor, but only if Zeus loves Aias more than Hektor. They prayed that if Zeus loved them equally, then they wanted each to return from individual battle with equal honor and safety. This, in fact, is what happened in this particular instance. Another shared cultural feature of the Trojans and the Achaians is the emphasis on honorable actions and bravery. Bravery, bravado and physical prowess are marks of honor and distinction for both societies. In his speech to the Achaians, Nestor upbraids his countrymen for not being willing to challenge Hektor. He states clearly that he would do it himself if he were not so old. He then recounts fights that he won that brought him honor. He makes it clear that none of the assembled Achaians were worthy of such honor because they

Health disparities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Health disparities - Research Paper Example ANs had a shorter life expectancy than the general population and constantly suffered from increased prevalence of disease such as rheumatic fever and tuberculosis (US Public Health Service 17). This paper will examine health disparities among AI/ANs, discussing the degree to which current health care system are meeting the health needs of this underserved population. Following advances in public health and medical care systems over the last half century, the AI/AN population has also transitioned with the rest of the population from a period of pandemics primarily of infectious diseases to one of degenerative, as well as lifestyle diseases. This progression has enhanced the recognition of health disparities encountered by the AI/AN communities from conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, drug abuse and cancer, which are essentially noninfectious. While epidemiological information regarding the AI/AN population is largely incomplete or prone to inaccuracies chiefly due to racial misclassification in official records, a vast majority of the comparisons with non-Native populations are extremely dramatic. For example, among AI/AN adults who utilized Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities in 2002, the age-adjusted incidence of diabetes was approximately 15.3%. This is significantly greater than the 7.3% incidence among all American adul ts (Kunitz 163). The rate of heart disease has traditionally been lower among Native Americans than among the white population. However, this trend is rapidly reversing since heart disease is currently the leading cause of death among the AI/AN population. In addition, deaths from violence and unintentional injuries are a substantive problem among native communities. Between 1996 and 1998, the age-adjusted death prevalence among AI/ANs across the US was nearly twice that of the population of other races in the US. The death rate for unintentional injuries, on the other hand, was at least thrice that of the rest of the US

Transnationalization of Chinese Action Films Essay

Transnationalization of Chinese Action Films - Essay Example This shift in the film paradigm is known as the transnationalism of Chinese cinema (Stephen Teo). This paper studies the transnationalism of Chinese cinema through the examination of four movies, namely, Enter the Dragon, Face/Off, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and One Night in Mongkok. These films will be our case studies in determining the extent and nature of transnationalism that the Chinese cinema has underwent ever since the advent of cinematic change in the late 1920's (Stephen Teo). The first film to be studied is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the directorial project of Ang Lee, released in the USA on 9 December 2003 (IMBD 2004). This film is the best example to study the modern day Chinese cinema, due to the strategies that Ang Lee employed in making this film. The Chinese film industry has always been aware that their stories and culture is essentially oriental (Stephen Teo), that is, it can only be clearly and absolutely understood by the locals and the Asian market. With the expanding economic system and increased global interactions, the need was felt for the films to cater to a wide variety of audience, and such audience might not necessarily be from the Chinese land. This meant that the traditions and cultures shown in the Chinese cinema had to be produced in such a way that audiences from other cultural backgrounds, particularly the Americans (Stephen Teo), could easily comprehend them. In other words, the films should have the ability to be culturall y "translated" (Stephen Teo). Some efforts had been made before to achieve this goal, however, all those movies depended on the concept of oriental postmodernism (Stephen Teo) to make the movie more globally understandable. This model essentially depended on portraying the complex culture to the modern market in a way that showed the modern Asian concept of Orientalism (Stephen Teo). What Crouching Tiger brought with it was a change in the treatment and the thinking behind the film; it focused more on globalization than postmodernism (Stephen Teo). Hence, it was more flexible (Stephen Teo) and could be easily translated and transcended into the diverse cultures worldwide. Crouching Tiger did not simply rely on the tried and tested wuxia norms of Chinese cinema, nor did it try to promote the kung fu culture always prevalent in Chinese cinema (Stephen Teo). That said, it is not true that Crouching Tiger did not portray the intrinsic martial art culture of China. In fact, coming from a Chinese background, Ang Lee had to cater to a Chinese audience at home, and so it was imperative that should include local

Practical book review Essay Example for Free

Practical book review Essay Petersen breaks down the book in five parts . He starts off with part one the value of of communication balancing: listing awhile , talk until the other person stops hearing , Listen until the person calms enough to hear again. He furthers this in a another chapter. He then moves on to the Flat-brain theory . He uses diagrams to explain the different levels of Stomach functions which is where the our emotions are located . This area is were we experience our inner nudges . He also explains how the heart functions , the heart functions as a filter it gives and receives concerns , suggestions, and support. The next function is the head. The functions of the head is thinking, planning , remembering. The next couple of chapters begin to talk about he goes into a deeper understanding of the the flat brain theory until he reaches the flat- brain syndrome where he talks about how our brains function better in a short football shape. However when our brains are squished it creates a serious defect in our head fiction.he continues to talk about this concept . Part two starts off with the talker listener process taking turns talking and listening. This can and will determine the role of talker or listener. The talker-listener card was introduced and we were provided a actual card to put to use in our personal time. The purpose of this card is to create an atmosphere and role of each persons involved. The card provides instructions on when to talk and when to listen this the opportunity of the talker to without being interrupted and the listener to be attentive to what the talker is talking about. Chapters 8 through 15 go deeper in depth of the talker- listener card and its many functions from the talker prescriptive and the listener prescriptive. Part Three Petersen highlights the six communication traps, 1. Ritual listening, 2.Perry Masons( which made me chuckle ) 3. Why? 4. Not?5. I understand, he goes in depth to help the reader understand the difference between the five communications traps. He also talks about when trying new things and some of the thoughts that come long with that . When trying new skills you always have negative reactions such as: To much repetition grates, new skills often sound fake, friends and family co-worker get rattled by change. He further part three by discussing basic listening technique . He uses technique such as : para-feeling ( putting the talker’s feelings into your words), decoding . He futhers the conversation of why we don’t listen better in part five Where you can use TLC( talker-listener card) in group settings . The TLC card can help aide through difficult discussion as well help moderate a two person conversation . In conclusion in part five he states â€Å" how if you go beyond skill to increase empathy, genuineness and warmth you’ll tap into reservoir of healthy humanness that’ll out wheels on your technique( Pg 210). RESPOND! I remember growing up and my mother would ask me â€Å" how are you? what are thinking about?† I would have such a difficult time in expressing my feelings. I felt like when no one really cared about me , and my thoughts. In chapter eleven Petersen talks about the first talker goal: sharing your feelings. I immediately become more in tune with what I was reading. I recently had an encounter with a very close friend and she made the statement: Kia you listen to everyone else’s problems but you never seem to open as easy as we do to you. That’s unfair to us as friends. I thought to myself I trust them as friends but sometimes its easier for me to keep my thoughts to my self . However from reading this chapter I understand that it hinders my communication not only with my friends but with others . It puts a stumbling block on me to be open and receptive. So I went back to that friend and we went to dinner and I used skittles as props; we sat down and for every skittle in my hand I had to share my feelings or thoughts on questions she had or asked. I can honestly say that just by having this little prop it open the door and I was able to release so much that I was holding back from her. I now see the difference of talking and listening she listened attentively and this allowed me to be honest and not feel judged by her or her actions. REFLECT! Honestly the thought that popped in my head as I was reading this book was our relationship with Christ. I have said this before but it seems to be more imperative . We often talk to Christ and we tell Him all the troubles of our lives and how we need this or we need that.However we often neglect the fact that Christ has to something to say to us. I started to reflect on the stories of Jonah , Moses. They did not want to recognize the many clues that was present to them throughout their walk so it took spectacular things to happen to them before they got the message. Isn’t like God to speak to us In the loudest moments of our lives. In those times of anger and frustration and we miss the mark because we are so loud internally. He took Jonah inside of the fishes belly in order to get the message to him . It took a burning bush to get Moses attention and it took me reading this book ; to recognize that internally Im so loud that I need to learn how to calm myself down and others to experience me. Could it be that God has to extreme measures sometimes for me to stop and recognize Him? I often am on the go and pray on the go but I have recognize that in the moments when I feel like giving up or fighting or screaming He speaks quietly and calms my mind , soul, and spirit. He speaks often I guess the question is how much are we really listening ?Silence keeps you bound , talking gets you free, listening brings understanding! ACT! Some of the techniques that I plan on using are the Talker- Listener card . I plan using this in my personal life ,when I have arguments and as well as in just simple conversations when trying to come to an agreement. I believe that this strategy will be helpful in my prayer time . The concept of talking and listening and really allowing God to minster to me as I minster to Him. Another technique I will use and will keep visuals of is the balancing scale of the emotions, heart, judgement or thoughts. Remembering the scale will help balance my conversations in the future especially when it comes to a misunderstanding. I really thank Petersen because I am a visual learner and the pictures put what he was saying in perceptive for me. Another technique that is really important to is remembering the pointing finger. In many conversations I often use my hands to communicate how Im feeling . After reading this section of the book I understand how my hands and fingers can seem more offensive then helping . I will remember this and will try to not use my hands as much in explaining my feelings. I plan incorporating the talker- listener card in my youth groups and after school programs. Teaching our youth to the stages of communication now . View as multi-pages

The Heros Journey Formula

The Heros Journey Formula The Heros Journey is a formula theorised by Joseph Campbell appears in several stories throughout the history of films. The twelve steps within the Heros Journey hasnt aged with time as it has continued to exist within genres of Hollywood films. The two movies whose concepts will be discussed are Star Trek (2009) directed J.J. Abrams and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) directed by Peter Jackson. These two movies follow the twelve concepts closely therefore making them perfect subjects to talk about. Most films that follow the Heros Journey contains the concept of The Ordinary World. This is the first stage of the of the Heros Journey and is where the hero usually lives. The Ordinary World reflects the environment, background, and ordinary life of the hero. Without this convention the audience would not be able to relate to the character and therefore struggle to understand the importance of the challenge that the Hero faces throughout the story. In the Sci-fi Adventure film Star Trek our hero James T. Kirk lives a life of wasted potential in Iowa, consistently getting into trouble, shown through a scene at the beginning of the film. The scene shows the younger James who has stolen his step-fathers antique car racing down an empty road with barren landscapes on either side. The scenery reflects his inner boredom, which is then interrupted by a police chase. From this scene we can already see the thrill and adventure seeking side of James who seems to be stuck in the dull environment of Iowa. All though this Ordinary World is located in a time period 200 years from now the audience is able to understand James T. Kirks wish to escape this barren lifestyle. Another scene from the Star Trek movie that shows Jamess delinquent behaviour is in the bar near the beginning of the film. Jamess introduces himself to a future companion Uhura before being interupted by four Star Fleet officers who believe he is bothering her, trying to shr ug them of James ends up getting into a fist fight with all four of them. Similarly, to the first scene the audience can see the the adrenaline fueled side of the main character. With this the audience can once again see the boredom with Jamess life as he seems to be a regular at the bar and drinks his wasting potential away. J.J. Abrams shows us this world to show us that James T. Kirk is tired of this Ordinary World so we can tell that he is longing for adventure, in particular filling his fathers shoes who was captain of the U.S.S Kelvin for 12 minutes and saved 800 lives. Evidently, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring directed by Peter Jackson also follows the Heros Journey formula. At the beginning of the film we are introduced to Frodo Baggins, a hobbit who lives in Hobbiton, a peaceful and pleasant settlement located in the Shire. The audience is introduced to the Ordinary World of Frodo to show how comfortable life is there and reinforce the idea of a warm, welcoming environment that doesnt wish to be disturbed. Both of Frodos parents drowned in a boat accident when he was 12 and therefore he grew up with his uncle Bilbo Baggins whose history is abundant with adventure. Film techniques are extremely essential in order for the audience to recognize this cheerful environment. The first shot of the Shire we see is Frodo reading under a tree, other film techniques include the bright lighting as well as the sound where we hear birds chirping, these techniques make the audience recognize the peacefulness and harmony of this region. General ly, whilst following the Heros Journey formula there is some sort of stress involved in the main characters Ordinary World to further push them to begin their journey but in Frodos case there seems to be none as he seems to be comfortable and happy with the life he lives. We arent fully aware of Frodos desires to leave but we can see he has a curiosity for the wider world as shown through the scene where he asks Gandalf, a wise wizard What news of the outside world? Tell me everything. However, Frodo Baggins burden lies with the ring his uncle found in the caves of the Misty Mountains which contains a very dangerous and powerful force. Joseph Campbells theory plays a huge part in this opening scene as we see the Ordinary World through Frodos eyes and we see how difficult it will be for him to leave when he crosses the threshold and agrees to take the ring to the Elvish city of Rivendell. We can relate both films, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring through several points which describe the Joseph Campbells Ordinary World. Although the era of the films is completely different with one being set in the near future in 2233 and the other acting more as a myth from a mystical world thousands of years ago. First of all, James T. Kirk, our hero in Star Trek has had a parent die through the death of his father George Kirk. Similarly, in The Lord of the Rings both of Frodos parents died due to a boating accident. Also, we see in both films that both our heroes are comfortable with the world the live in. Of course both characters have different reasons why with James enjoying the routine of an intelligent young adult whilst being drunk, minor repeat offender and Frodo cherishing the peacefulness and harmony of his Shire. Another key convention from Joseph Campbells Heros Journey which appears in Star Trek and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is Crossing the Threshold. This is where the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with different rules that they must oblige to. This convention tests the hero as they are leaving behind their Ordinary World which which in Star Trek and The Lord of the Rings is the main characters homes. Without this convention, the audience cannot understand that the hero is leaving the comfortable surroundings and entering an unfamiliar environment. In Star Trek, this convention stands out. Not only is James T. Kirk leaving his Ordinary World in Iowa and cross the threshold by joining Starfleet. First of all, we see several different shots of him riding his motor bike across the barren Iowa landscape before a huge Starfleet station appears in the background of these shots. Not only does this show audience the transition of what James is comfortable around to something that he is unfamiliar shown by the low angle close up shot on his face showing the expression of awe as he admires the sheer size of the Starfleet station. We still see him wear his black leather jacket and jeans, an appearance for trouble makers, a trait which continues exists throughout the film with his cheekiness. This tells the audience he is not giving up Iowa lightly for the opportunity to join Starfleet because if he had he would have most likely already been wearing a Starfleet uniform. Another crucial moment which shows his uneasiness at Crossing the Thre shold is when he boards the pod and bangs his head on a low clearance bar giving him pain. This moment clearly shows his unfamiliarity with this new journey he had just agreed to partake on and clearly shows the audience he is already uncomfortable with this new surrounding. This change further impacts the rest of the film as it is the beginning of the adventure he undergoes. Without this convention the audience would not be able to understand the change that further develops our hero James T. Kirk to become a reasonably responsible captain from a farm boy drunkard growing up in Iowa. Evidently, In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring this convention stands out as well as it shows the beginning of the adventure that Frodo and his companions undertake. At first Frodo and Gandalf discover the danger and darkness of the ring the Bilbo Baggins found long ago in a Misty Mountain cave. They both agree that it must bee taken to Bree, a rather large settlement located between the outskirts of the Shire and the Elvish capital, Rivendell. Samwise Gamgee, a close friend of Frodo overhears Gandalfs and Frodos discussion about the evil powers of the ring and as soon as he blows his cover he is reluctantly forced into coming with Frodo. Crossing the Threshold at first doesnt seem to affect Frodo but more Sam as they walk through the peaceful landscape of the Shire where he stops all of a sudden in a wheat field and says This is it, if I take one more stepà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Itll be the farthest away from home Ive ever been. For Sam this is a very important scene as it indicates the change that he undertakes leaving his peaceful and happy Ordinary World that he instantly cherishes at the particular moment. Frodo on the other hand, growing up listening to Bilbos stories about adventure is completely comfortable with this transition from leaving the Shire. Peter Jackson shows the audience this key scene as it allows them to relate to the discomfort of Sam as most of the audience have been in similar circumstances and have to leave their comfort zone behind them. This trick instantly draws the audience to furthermore like the sweet and happy hobbits who play throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Analysing Structure Of Stories Literature Essay

Analysing Structure Of Stories Literature Essay This chapter focuses on the structure of stories in different mediums. Storytelling and the development of media have alternately influenced each another, and each new medium has established a new kind of storytelling. A story is more than actions and events. The sequence of actions and events according to a meaning creates a specific kind of structure. A storys structure is not the meaning of a fixed order but more the rules and the ways of combinations of events that creates a meaning. Therefore, understanding a storys structure is important in the narrative development process. Transmedia storytelling The structure of each medium allows for a different performance and affects how the meanings of stories are created and shared. Performativity need not be solely on the stage. Auslander stated that we live in a mediatized world, and that performance has spread across media, infecting the other media with performative spontaneity from both performers and audiences (Auslander, 1994). The stories we have heard, seen and read in a single medium have not lacked impact, but incorporating several media offers a whole new experience as Jenkins mentioned about transmedia. Transmedia is a term coined by Henry Jenkins to describe how stories can be told across media in such a way as to take advantage of what each medium do best. As Jenkins stated, Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story. (Jenkins, 2007) With transmedia experiences, where it is basically impossible for someone to have expertise in every medium, we may actually see a strengthening in the individual media as authors and artists focus on their expertise and return to specializing and mastering their medium of choice (Davidson, 2008). This means that the choice of media is not by content of the story but more by the expertise. Although the term transmedia emerged in the 21st century, the characteristics of transmedia can be identified in the wayang tradition. Mrà ¡zek stated that the media or the arts are more like artistic techniques than materials, or more like musical instruments than sound waves. He stated that the media in wayang narration, dialogue, puppets and puppet movement and their particular ways of working and functioning are creations of an artistic tradition, rather than universal, pre-existing categories (Mrà ¡zek, 2005). Puppet movement and puppet compositions, narration, dialogue, and music are combined and used to build the whole of the performance. Narration and dialogue appear to be in a class apart because they both use verbal language; but the case is not as simple. During both of them, the puppets are on the screen, and both the narration and the dialogue closely interact with the images. In the case of the dialogue, this is immediately obvious: it is the characters, acted by pu ppets on the screen that are represented speaking; the voice and the words are fused with them. In the case of narration, the interaction with the visual image is also close; the narration describes the scene and the characters and their actions, and is always closely juxtaposed to the visual images. Dialogue and narration are never quite purely verbal media they are connected to the visual images and constantly interact with them. However, if we want to see the separation between the media more clearly, we can look at the structuring of the performance in time. There is a very clear separation into three kinds of moments that what could be called: Narration moments Dialogue moments Puppet-movement moments During the puppet-movement moment the opening of the audience is represented in the medium of puppet movement, and there is no dialogue and no narration; then the dalang or the puppeteer narrates (the puppets are immobile, arranged into pictorial composition), and then comes the dialogue, during which the dalang only moves the hands of the puppets. The moments are represented by periods of music. In each of the moments, one medium comes to the fore, even though it is not necessarily in any pure form, that is, the other media may play a minor function. The media themselves are rarely clearly separate, but the different moments (in each one medium predominates) are (Mrà ¡zek, 2005). In this study, the web is used as a medium to revive traditional storytelling with puppets. Virtual worlds cannot substitute the rich experience of performing with real puppets and a face-to-face audience. But instead this study wants to ponder the potentials of the web and its design for this field. This study is also inspired from statements from Brenda Laurel. The performative nature of the web, one type of hypertext and hypermedia on computers, has led Brenda Laurel to look at computers as theater. For Laurel, computers have the capacity to represent action in which humans could participate (Laurel, 1993, p. 1). The readers are performers within the hypertextual narrative, shaping the actions and outcomes by the choice they make. A part of this study also focuses on the structure and process of narrative in hypermedia, in particular the web, and explores the potential application to support telling stories. Hypermedia refers to dynamic multimedia objects that have hypertextual aspects. As Landow and Delany stated, hypermedia is a multimedia extension of hypertext that is more complex and interactive, integrating visual and auditory experiences as well as text and links to give more contextual synthesis of the information explored (Delany Landow, 1994). For example, a web page with java scripting and interactive graphics, videos and sounds is a hypermedia object (Davidson, 2008). A characteristic of hypermedia is non-linearity structure, which allows us to navigate through an information space using associative linking. This leads to idea of intertextuality as we describe in the next section. Intertextuality Intertextuality refers to the numerous implicit references in each text to other texts. No text is written completely isolated from other texts and can stand entirely by itself. Hyperlinks in hypertexts and hypermedia documents emphasize such intertextuality in a way that is impossible in printed texts: they can lead directly from the hyperlinked terms, phrases or images to other contexts in which the same terms, phrases or images are meaningful, whether inside or outside the given hypermedia work itself (Delany Landow, 1994). Intertextuality can also be understood as the process of drawing on ones experience with multiple texts and making connections between these various texts and the present text being experienced (Davidson, 2008). Long and Strine illustrated how the process of experiencing a text necessitates that the audience brings an intertextuality to bear in order to understand the text being experienced (Long Strine, 1989). When we read a book, we bring our intertextual experiences of all the other books we have read to play with the current text itself, and from this playfulness, we assemble a deeper meaning of the text(s) involved. The appreciation of traditional textual objects, such as novels and films, is dependent to a certain measure on the decoding of intertextual references to other media in these texts. Thus, the pleasure of consuming these texts can be seen to be contingent to a certain extent on the users ability to identify and decode these allusions. This intertextual element also exists in new media, especially since media content is increasingly brought to the consumer through different channels simultaneously. Intertextuality can be found in wayang tradition also. For example, a character is used not only in one story; he or she can appear in different stories with different meanings and actions. A story is a part of another story or a story is a biography of an actor from another story. For this study, we want to use this characteristic in the system to provide a suggestion to children when they want to combine or connect stories. A theme of a story or actors in a story will be proceeded to bring out suggestions. With this kind of suggestion, the process of story-building is expected becomes simplified. Structure of a story Stories impose a structure on the events that we narrate so that listeners (including the storyteller) can understand them, and thereby gain some particular perspective on the events (Polanyi, 1989). A schema of narrative composed of four characteristics: setting, character, theme and plot (Davidson, 2008). Event schemas or scripts are knowledge structures which even very young children use to organize their general knowledge about events. Scripts also guide childrens comprehension and their recalling of stories about familiar events (Hudson, 1988). A storys structure as a topic of education fosters the ability to detect a meaning by reading. Models for developing good stories have been proposed for thousands of years. Around 2300 years ago Aristotle wrote his treatise called Poetics, in which he focused on tragedies, or serious drama. Many aspects of poetics are useful for authoring multimedia stories as well; the most important being the plot. According to Butcher, Aristotle said that [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] for by plot I here mean the arrangement of the incidents [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] But most important of all is the structure of the incidents [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] so the plot, being an imitation of an action, must imitate one action and that a whole, the structural union of the parts being such that, if any one of them is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and disturbed.; and every story must have a beginning, middle and end (Aristotle, 2008; Lee, 2001). In the next section, a structure of a dramatic work such as a play or film, focusing on Gustav Freytags analysis of ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama is discussed. The discussion continues by analyzing the geometric structure variations of stories. Freytags Pyramid Freytags Pyramid (see Figure 3.1) is a way to analyze a plot that consists of five elements in an ascending and descending manner, introduction (exposition, inciting moment) rising action climax falling action denouement (catastrophe, resolution) (Freytag, 1900). In the introduction, the plot, characters, and complications are introduced. This leads to the rising action, or the events that lead to the climax of the plot. At the point of highest dramatic tension, or at a major turning point in the plot, the audience finds the climax. This decisive moment in the narrative is when the rising action is reversed to falling action. The falling action, then, is made up of the events that follow the climax and lead to the denouement. The final outcome, result, or unraveling of the main dramatic complication is called the denouement. The denouement may involve a reversal in the protagonists fortunes, usually as the result of a discovery (recognition of something of great importance previo usly unknown) by the protagonist. Figure 3.1. Frytags dramatic pyramid Frytags dramatic pyramid can be used to analyze the dramatic structure of wayang performance. Wayang performance in general has three acts: Pathet Nem, Pathet Sanga, and Pathet Manyura. The performance usually starts at 9.00 pm and will be end at 4.00 am. The following part describes the structure of a wayang performance in detail: Act One (Pathet Nem) Pathet nem is symbolizing childhood, performed from 9 pm until midnight, and consists of 6 scenes: Jejeran Raja: symbolizes that the baby begins to be accepted and nurtured by his mother. Paseban Jawi: symbolizes a child who is already getting to know the real world. Jaranan: symbolize the immature nature of children. Perang Ampyak: symbolizes a child who has begun to mature. Sabrangan: symbolizes a child who has grown but his character is still dominated by emotions. Perang Gagal: symbolizes a person who does not yet have a definite purpose in life. Act Two (Pathet Sanga) Pathet sanga is symbolizing adulthood, performed at midnight until 2.00 am, and consists of 3 scenes. In this act, the hero is thinking about problems, and subversive clown figures enter and dispense wisdom and ribald humor. Bambangan: symbolizes a person who has begun to obtain knowledge. Perang Kembang: symbolizes a growing adult. Jejer Sintren: symbolizes a person who has set a goal in his life. Act Three (Pathet Manyura) Pathet manyura is symbolizing seniority, performed from 2.00 am until 4.00 am, and consists of 3 scenes. This act contains resolution of conflict/problem with many battles. Jejer Manyura: symbolizes a person who already knows the purpose of his life and is close to achieving his dreams. Perang Brubuh: symbolizes a person who has reached his life goal. Tancep Kayon: symbolizes a person who has died. In this study, it is of interest to look at the process of performance of the wayang story rather than at the dramatic structure of wayang stories. The story of wayang is performed in a linear process, always starts from act one, continues with act two and ends with act three. But there is still a possibility to change the storys sequence for some stories. In wayang there are four types of play or Lakon: Standard play (Lakon Pakem) is played strictly following rules from the book. Improvisation play (Carangan) is played following the rules with improvisation. Contemporary play (Sempalan) is played completely out-of-the-book. Biography play (Lakon Banjaran) is played covering a biography of a certain figure. Wayang stories besides having the linear structure also have a non-linear structure, e.g., a contemporary play. This situation gives us an opportunity to perform wayang stories in a medium that supports non-linear structures, e.g., the web. Before the exploration of story structures which are appropriate with the authoring tool is proceeded, the variation of story structures will be discussed in the next section. Geometric design structures of stories Every story has a structure that can be visualized as a process. Linear stories have linear processes; non-linear stories have non-linear processes. Ten geometric structure variations from Samsel and Wimberly is explored in this section: sequential, branching, conditional branching (branching with barriers, branching with forced paths, bottlenecking, branching with optional scenes), exploratorium, parallel streaming, worlds, and multilinear (Samsel Wimberly, 1998). Sequential (Linear) Sequential structure is the basic building block of both interactive and linear media projects as shown Figure 3.2. User navigation follows a strictly defined procedural path one after another. The user cannot jump from node A to node C, for example, without having first traveled across node B. Figure 3.2. Sequential structure Sequential with Cul-de-Sacs Sometimes a linear sequence of nodes can diverge into isolated nonlinear deviations offer the user the choice to step off the procedural path into areas that in no way fulfill the critical objective of the piece. Such digressions are called cul-de-sacs usually puzzles, games, or sidebars that explore the themes of the work, but in no way affect the outcome of the story or objective of the work. The interesting thing about a cul-de-sac is that its entrance is also its exit, as shown in Figure 3.3. This applies to interactive cul-de-sacs as well and is especially important for the software designer who is trying to help us tell an interactive narrative. An interactive corporate training title, for example, might have a node that demonstrates a crucial concept. Several key words or phrases within that node may be hot. Clicking on one of the words might send the user to another node that shows that word, along with its definition. This sidebar or footnote has no impact on the training lesson itself. It is only there to enhance the users understanding of the key words and phrases contained in the material. Once the user has finished reading the definition, he or she has only one option to return to the lesson. Figure 3.3. Sequential structure with cul-de-sac (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.25) Many childrens edutainment CD-ROMs, such as Mindscapes The Animals! use sequential storytelling techniques e.g., a trip to the zoo and link them to archived data (Samsel Wimberly, 1998). A child can travel through the story and click on an object within a scene. This action will transport the child to a cul-de-sac a self-contained node of information such as a video clip of a lion, a photograph of a pelican, an audio clip of a monkey, or a text description of a polar bear. Once the information has been delivered and digested by the child, it can either replay the information or return to the main body of the zoo story. The cul-de-sac simply enhances the user experience. Branching In an interactive program, branching offers the most rudimentary course of extending how users navigate throughout the program. In a typical branching structure, the user is presented with several choices or options upon arriving at certain predesignated Forks in the road. Based on which path the user chooses, the program follows a new node of content. Figure 3.4. Traditional branching structure Branching structures are popular because they easily demonstrate the fundamental concept of interactive theory user choice. Namely, when confronted with a path decision, the user must choose one from several options A, B, or C in order to proceed to the corresponding node, as shown in Figure 3.4. The danger of branching structures is that they can spiral out of control very quickly. Author Neal Stephenson refers to this type of structure as the tree of death, where the story line keeps forking until there ends up being an unmanageable number of outcomes (see Figure 3.5). Figure 3.5. Extended branching structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.26) Conditional Branching: Branching with Barriers A subset of branching is conditional branching, which requires the user to abide by the rules of a predetermined condition along the branch in order to proceed through the program. Often, these conditions are puzzles or other obstacles that are slapped down in the middle of the application. The user is forced to solve the puzzle before he or she can continue (see Figure 3.6). Figure 3.6. Branching with barriers structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.27) Conditional Branching: Branching with Forced Paths Conditional branching often limits user choice in other ways. While appearing on the surface to offer many choices and options, the program will often continue regardless of the users actual choice. In essence, the program offers the illusion of choice without actually allowing the user to alter the program in any way. The validity of interactivity is strictly limited by the choices offered by the writer. Figure 3.7. Branching with forced path structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.28) A branching structure as seen in Figure 3.7 using forced paths or critical paths offers the end-user more options and/or more paths to choose from, but only one solution advances the story. Conditional Branching: Bottlenecking Another type of condition placed on branching structures (especially when the structure is used in an interactive narrative) manifests itself as bottlenecking. Bottlenecking is when various branching nodes are brought back into the spine of the story in order to rein everything in. This is a crucial structural procedure when you consider the exponential possibilities created by traditional branching structure (see Figure 3.8). Figure 3.8. Branching with bottlenecking structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.29) When the various story nodes are folded back so that they converge into a single story spine, the interactive narrative becomes more manageable. This type of design structure has been implemented in a number of popular media games and interactive movies over the past several years, including Origins popular Wing Commander series (Samsel Wimberly, 1998). Conditional Branching: Branching with Optional Scenes Sometimes the user gets to choose between alternative scenes that spin out from and return to the primary spine of the application whether that spine is a story (as in an interactive narrative) or an objective (as in an informational multimedia application such as a training title). Alternative scenes are commonly found in education and training programs, where it is necessary to demonstrate numerous concepts (see Figure 3.9). Figure 3.9. Branching with optional scenes structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.29) Exploratorium Exploratorium is empowering structures that allow the user to pause during the program to explore a world within a world. Many interactive storybook titles utilize exploratoriums from the humorous Living Books titles, Arthurs Birthday and Just Grandma and Me to Disneys Pocahontas Animated Storybook to simulated environments such as Imergy/Simon and Schusters Star Trek Captains Chair (Samsel Wimberly, 1998). The exploratorium structure can be seen in Figure 3.10. Figure 3.10. Exploratorium structure. Letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H are hot spots or entertainment click-ons imbedded into program (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.32). Parallel Streaming Parallel streaming describes many states or paths that exist simultaneously at various levels within the same application. In an interactive narrative, this type of structure allows the writer to create a single linear story, while allowing the user to switch between perspectives, paths, or states. The user can then experience the same series of events from multiple points of view (see Figure 3.11). Figure 3.11. Parallel streaming structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.33) Worlds When two or more environments are interconnected by a common thread be it a theme, goal, mission, or story we have the basis for a world structure. Add to that world series of predefined events or tasks that the user trigger/accomplish in order to move the story or mission forward and you have a design structure that works very well with interactive media programs (Samsel Wimberly, 1998). In a world experience, exploring the surrounding is just as important (and fun) as completing the story or achieving an objective. This poses a unique set of problems for the writer. Figure 3.12. World structure. Notice that the world is in the shape of funnel (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.36) The player is free to roam through an enchanting environment in search of clues to the story. The act of exploration is just as important as the act of discovering the narrative. Each activity has equal merit. The player advances the story by triggering certain author-defined events. Exploring all the worlds, uncovering all the clues, and interacting with all the triggers leads the player to the end of the game (see Figure 3.12). Another way to look at a world structure would be an overhead view, as if looking down into the center of a funnel or cone. The plot points or tasks that user must accomplish are represented by the eight outer nodes. The eight inner nodes in the carousel represent the next set of tasks (see Figure 3.13). Figure 3.13. Carousel entry into a world structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.37) Multilinear or Hypermedia Another type of design structure, known as multilinear (see Figure 3.14), either encompasses every type of user path imaginable or no path at all. The World Wide Web, hypertext fiction, MUDs (multi-user domains), MOOs (Multi-user object-oriented environments), and many simulations are good examples. Multilinear structure demands a different kind of involvement from its user than do puzzles, branching games, or linear narratives. That is because it is the users themselves who must traverse their own unique paths through an environment. The writer sets the boundaries and rules of interactivity, but the users must chart their own course through the material. Hypermedia structures, in much the same way as the World Wide Web or a hypertext fiction title, allow the user to become an interactor a facilitator of the story. While surfing the web, the user decides which homepage to start from and selects which links to follow through the electronic universe. User action determines a pathway through the material. Similarly, hypertext fictions are about the journey as much as they are about the narrative that waits to be pieced together. Figure 3.14. Multilinear and hypermedia structure (Samsel Wimberly, 1998, p.39) Relevance to the research One of the lessons that has been learned from this section is that the sequence of events and actions is important in a story. This sequence leads the reader to follow a dramatic flow of the story. There are causal connections between the events or ideas in the story and these connections tend to be related to the main elements of the story. Through these comprehension processes, readers develop an understanding that extends beyond words and sentences, to reach comprehension of paragraphs and extended text. This knowledge forced the researcher to design a space for children to learn and to practice in building a storys sequence in order to support them their narrative development. A good plot and dramatic story structure of a story will keep the readers curiosity and their emotional engagement. When a user accomplished a task by using a computer, she/he followed a certain sequence process which is offered by the system. The actions and events of the system and user build a kind of story. It is needed to keep the user attention and their engagement with the system in order to reach their goals. Therefore, the researcher found that the knowledge of the storys structure and the dramatic flow can be used to design interaction between user and system. Summary This chapter introduced a conceptual thinking of transmedia storytelling from Jenkins which described how stories can be told across media in such a way so as to take advantage of what each medium does best. The stories we have heard, seen and read in a single medium have not lacked impact, but incorporating several media offers a whole new experience. A schema of narrative composed of four characteristic: setting, character, theme and plot. The four characteristics are the building blocks of narrative. Event schemas or scripts are knowledge structures which even very young children use to organize their general knowledge about events. This chapter has explained the dramatic structure from Freytag and explored ten geometric-structured variations of stories from Samsel and Wimberly: sequential, branching, conditional branching (branching with barriers, branching with forced paths, bottlenecking, branching with optional scenes), exploratorium, parallel streaming, worlds, and multilinear. In wayang tradition, multiple non-linear structures can be found within wayang stories. The audience can follow its own combinations of presented and remembered additional stories according to their own experiences and knowledge. This study focuses on analyzing whether the same character in different stories can enable a similar multiple storylines as well. The concept of intertextuality in this context will be used to provide suggestions for children to help them to build multiple storylines by character.

The Process of Obtaining a Home Mortgage Essay -- Business

To begin this executive summary, we first look at the issue of research. In our semester project we are discussing the steps one would take in order to get a home mortgage. The reason we have chosen to do this project is to see how one goes about not only becoming approved for a loan but also how to service your mortgage and keep it up to par. The sources that we used in obtaining this information were sources that were able to help educate us on home mortgage and also help us further understand the entire process. The web-site www.mortgage-x.com was to me the most useful in our research. This site provided thousands of articles on the issue, a glossary and dictionary to help us in our search, and also provided a number of links to other sites that could elaborate on a certain subject. One of the links that we visited was www.fanniemae.com, this site helped us further understand Fannie Mae and apply it to our research. With this extensive research we came across a number of main findings. The first was how one went about getting a home mortgage. We found that when applying for a mortgage the borrower must give a credit report, prove sources of income, show proof of any assets, and proof of any debts, i.e. credit card payments, car loans, ect. After the application process the applicant is either accepted or denied the loan, then the terms of the mortgage are decided upon. Terms of the mortgage can include length of the loan or interest that will be charged on the mortgage. Then a mortgage agreement is signed by the borrower and the borrower receives receives the mortgage and the financial institution begins to service the loan. Upon the closing of the mortgage, the financial institution begins to service the ... ...lue of the house and other factors. Sources 1) Gasper, Juli-Ann Ph.D, â€Å"Mortgage Securitization,† Power Point presentation— copyright 2002. 2) Hayes III, Samuel L., Mortgage Banking Harvard. 1992. 3) Home Buyer’s Guide. Omaha State Bank, 2001 4) Kidwell, David S., Richard L. Peterson, and David W. Blackwell. Financial Institutions, Markets, and Money. Harcourt College, 2000, Chapter 10. 5) Managing Your Mortgage. 18 Feb. 2002 http://www.mortgage- x.com/library/managing.htm. 6) Peterson, Doug. Personal interview. 18 Feb. 2002. 7) Mortgage Application. 18 Feb. 2002 http://www.mortgage- x.com/library/application.htm. 8) Transfer of Your Mortgage. 18 Feb. 2002 http://www.mortgage- x.com/library/loan_transfer.htm. 9) Understanding Fannie Mae. 15 Feb. 2002 http://www.fanniemae.com/aboutfm.

Gangs Essay -- Gang Essays

Gangs Introduction I. -A Los Angeles family takes a wrong turn into gang territory and is fired upon. A 3-year-old is killed and her 2-year-old brother wounded. -A Chinese immigrant in Brooklyn is kidnapped by a Chinatown gang which demands ransom payments from her family. She is murdered when the family fails to pay. -Two FBI agents and a police sergeant are murdered inside the Washington, D.C. police headquarters by a gang member. -A Pittsburgh police sergeant walking home with his daughter is killed with his own gun after he stops and confronts a gang spraying graffiti on a street. II. Resolved : that the Federal Government should pass laws to prevent the development gang related youth violence. Definitions- 1. Development: as defined in Websters Dictionary is â€Å"to make more elaborate; to enlarge† 2. Gang: as defined in Websters is â€Å"A group of persons who are organized and work together or socialize regularly; a group of adolescent hoodlums or criminals; gang up on; to attack as a group.† 3. Violence: as defined in Websters is â€Å"Physical force or activity used to cause harm, damage or abuse† 4. Youth: as defined in Websters is â€Å"The appearance or state of appearing young; the time of life when one is not considered a adult; a young person† III. Our current juvenile justice system is no longer adequate for today's hardened young gang members. Demographics indicated this problem is not going away. In fact, only will get worse. This is a serious problem that can not be left unchecked. If this is not addressed it will only lead to the decay of our society. We must take action to combat gangs in a new way. Vice President Albert Gore recently told the White House press corps, "Gangs have been a major cause of the growth in violent crime in the past decade." He cited a Treasury Department report that found the presence of rival gangs, the Bloods and the Crips, in 35 states and 58 cities across the country. At the same press conference, Attorney General Janet Reno cited the impact of disabling one gang in New Haven, Connecticut. Eighteen members of the "Jungleboy" street gang were put in jail, and, according to Reno, New Haven's murder rate fell by one-third in 1993. I. Outline of Need Arguments A. Problem: Many highly rated experts warn of the impending youth crime crisis. Youth violent crime has been... ...where gangs dominate life and rain violent crime. Many of these children join gangs to find purpose, security, and self-esteem. The gang culture gives them a sense of belonging and remakes their value system. Partying, fighting, and vicious gang loyalty become their primary values, thus pushing aside virtues that favor family life. This is a vicious cycle and it must be broken. Given that youth gangs account for a disproportionate share of youth violence, their potential for contributing to a future crime wave is enormous. A recent decline in violent crime appears to be more a result of fewer teenagers than better law enforcement. When the current bumper crop of elementary-age children become adolescents, the violent crime rate is likely to explode. Gangs are the powder magazine, they must be dealt with before the bomb goes off. Rebuttal extensions- Population of 14-18 year olds Now 17,620,472 5 Years 18,628,635 + 6 % 10 Years 20,284,601 + 15%

What achieving a degree means to me :: essays research papers

â€Å"What achieving a degree means to me† Hello my name is ______________ I am a twenty nine year old married mother of two. I’ve been married for twelve years and I have an eight years old boy and a two years old girl. Since I was nineteen years old in the fall of 1991 I’ve attempted to earn a college degree attending first Tarrant County Junior College and second Weatherford College stop and starting back again several times over the years trying to reach my goal. In the summer of 1995 when my oldest was two my husband and I moved our mobile home on to new land, which required my assistance helping out financially. I started working for a great company that I loved, Auto Rail Services of Texas they are an afflation of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway were I worked part time in the evenings doing data entry. Six months later I started working full time as the assistant office manager in charge of the day-to-day operations. I was sent to Tarrant County Junior College to gain a certificate in Microsoft Offic e applications. I continued to advance with in the company and enjoyed working there but in the July of 1998 the company suffered financially when Ford Motor Company moved there business to Union Pacific Railway, which caused downsizing in the company I was laid off. I contemplated going back to school after this but couldn’t financially afford to stop working full time. The following October I became pregnant with our second child and after her birth my husband and I decided to downsize our financial situation so that I could remain home with the baby. When the child was seven months old I took a part time position in my aunts security company where I assisted in the office and was able to bring my child with me. Not long after my aunts company was forced to go out of business, which caused me to relay on unemployment compensation, threw Texas Workforce Commission there I was informed I could return to college and receive assistance with childcare. I began all the necessary proceedings for the program and was informed before I could actually get the assistance I would need to pass the TASP test a mandatory test required before you are eligible to receive a degree in the State of Texas. Having passed all but the math section of the test I decided I would take a preparatory tasp math class.

Friedman’s Discussion of Globalization and Flattening Essay

Globalization is regarded by its critics as a force which is extending the gap between the world’s rich and poor. In some ways, this has been true, especially throughout the first decade of the post-Cold War Era. The opening of gateways to the East created a relationship between the corporate partners throughout the globe that concentrated the spoils of free-trade into the hands of the wealthy. But in Thomas Friedman’s 2005 meditation on the topic, The World is Flat, there is evidence that in fact, the intended products of globalization such as a greater distribution of knowledge resources and a leveling of the technological playing field are beginning to surface. This latter product of free trade, the ‘leveling’ effect is that which informs Friedman’s title theme. The world has become flat by its increasing smallness. The economic, political, cultural and tele-communicative interconnectivity of nations is gradually eroding many of the geographic obstacles to popular progress. The strands of globalization, the New York Times journalist observes, have contributed to a broadening of access to independent entrepreneurialship and opportunity. Though many of the subjects of the author’s analysis are large American multi-national corporations, there is an evident transition in which knowledge-based internet startup enterprises from across the globe are undermining the more monopolistic proclivities of the American market. In nations such as India and China, American exploitation of lower operational, environmental and labor-oriented costs in the technological sector has caused a proliferation of such resources to the general public. This, in turn, is becoming a hotbed of alternative market action which will ultimately dismantle the superiority of the American economy. According to Friedman’s analysis, a core detriment to the U. S. economy, but a boon to independent operations overseas, has been a disregard for American private conceptions of property rights. From counterfeiting of American name brand consumer goods to pirate telecommunication infrastructural apparatuses, the bureaucratic vulnerabilities to effective globalization are numerous. Both partners in a free-trade circumstance stand to lose economic opportunity in the presence of such market subversions. Thomas Friedman’s text is eye-opening insofar as so many of the matters which he discusses may be directly implicated in the experiences of our everyday lives. In fact, this is the ‘flattening’ principle of which the author speaks, dictating that the public experience rather than simply large institutional abstractions are shaping the context in which we live our lives. Such is to suggest that the technological, educational, informational and recreational freedoms which have traditionally be reserved for those on the upper echelon of both their domestic setting and international geography are increasingly becoming democratic. However, in contrast to Friedman’s general tenor of optimism, his sarcasm only hints at the current consequences of globalization for so many individuals. This discussion is a reflection on Friedman’s text as informed by my own conception of globalization which brings future opportunity at the expense of current human dignity, personal satisfaction and even American prosperity. Therefore, the discussion will be oriented toward elucidating globalization’s internally contradictory nature. Just as it enriches one demographic in a developing nation, it facilitates the targeted abuse of another. Just as it endows us with a heretofore unseen capacity for self-sufficiency, it likewise robs us of the capacity to control the level of satisfaction which we achieve when relating to the commercial world. In the flattening of the global horizon that Friedman lauds as the eventual path to a shared standard of living and prosperity, there is the need for a greater analytical emphasis on the negative forces that are driving individuals to increasingly attempt to find their own pathways to social and commercial interaction. Friedman’s discussion, as we will see, is focused on demonstrating the permeation of benefits to the collective world community in free trade. This is quite supportable from a macrolevel standpoint. Indeed, nations engaged in free trade would do well to support one another in a mutuality of benefit. Certainly, as was illustrated by the economic phenomena of the 1990s’, the expansion of a single large market through a boom of technological progress will have the effect of disseminating to the rest of the free world. This was certainly proved to be true by the dynamic of that decade, when â€Å"there was a massive investment in technology, especially in the bubble era, when hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in putting broadband connectivity around the world. † (Friedman, 6) The result is what is seen as surfacing today. More than the United States, it is the world community which is producing the knowledge workforce of the future. And though Friedman is forthcoming in making that foreboding case, it is important that we expound upon this subject further in this discussion by acknowledging that globalization and the ‘flattening’ effect are not of a uniform pattern. Even as the proliferation which the author discusses is taking place, it has done so with a multitude of consequences that can neither said to have been desire nor can be said to have stimulated greater equality. Friedman, whom by his text we may suggest is a supporter of the ultimate purpose of globalization, makes the technological attribution that â€Å"it was actually the coincidence of the dot-com boom and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that launched the fiber-optic bubble. † (67) Friedman observes that the collective telecom industry invested roughly 1 trillion dollars in half a decade on ‘wiring the world. ’ (67) The deregulation in the 1996 American domestic legislation, which allowed so many larger companies to enforce hostile consolidation measures in a vast array of theretofore legally unapproachable markets, would coincide with the unfettered capital investment in global internet penetration that has ultimately elevated private sector rights over public rights while simultaneously helping to bring other nations to an eventually greater infrastructural promotion of internet access than would be found in the United States. In some manner, this is borne out by a pattern with incredibly broad-based implications for American consumer and job markets. Today, we have seen and experienced the wholesale transfer of our Customer Service industry to fledgling globalizing economies such as that in India. Here, major computer retailers, cable company operators, wireless communication device providers, bank/credit cards merchants and virtually every other monopolistic corporate industry in America is forced to maintain its competitive advantages by commissioning outsourced Customer Service agents located in India. It is their charge to replicate the experience of an American calling a support technician with an intimate relationship with the product in question. This is accomplished with, as Friedman reveals, intensive training in the adoption of linguistic, dialectic and etiquette-related behaviors designed to facilitate comfort for the American caller. â€Å"The Indian call center operators adopt Western names of their own choosing. The idea, of course, is to make their American or European customers feel more comfortable. † (22) Amongst the many indicators that cultural flattening would play a part in this transition of labor, the concept of taking on an Americanized name in the interests of facilitating the core consumer target is not only remarkable but intensely objectionable from the outside perspective, particularly when this outside perspective is informed by the sense of autonomy and individuality typically affiliated with western philosophy. However, for the subjects described in Friedman’s book, an aspect of the western philosophy perhaps more indicative of its cultural interest is the economic opportunity afforded to the hundreds of thousands of young Indian post-graduates competing for the chance to answer phone calls from Americans concerned with all manner of technical support or target marketing. This relatively low-level and typically micro-managed field in America has become amongst the most competitive entry-level positions in India. And in one sense that Friedman captures in the theoretical framing of his text, this is an opportunity for personal economic mobility which for the young student in India might have been seen as extraordinary and rarified just a decade ago. This may hardly be said to be true today, where â€Å"245,000 Indians are answering phones† 24 hours a day and charged with responsibility of representing themselves as being located somewhere in the United States. (24) From a personal perspective, this has produced an incredible dearth of quality service in the United States, where the usability of our products has become increasingly distant from the quality of the Customer Support which we have received. One of the qualities of our technology which Friedman believes has helped to diminish the relevance of geographical distance to serviceability has been the institution of automated Customer Service. For those of us who have been transferred and given insufficient options for contending with specific categories of problem, this has hardly been an added convenience. And the infallibly polite computerized operator is equally as unflappable or emotionally unresponsive as is the outsourced Customer Service representative. In a particularly telling passage where Friedman observes a woman in an Indian call center as caller after caller hangs up the phone in rage, we can see that there is something about this experience that can be excruciating and even unfair. It may be noted that Friedman does a very effective job at distinguishing between the economic, the sociological and the technological factors which have rendered our current level of global flatness. He acknowledges that there were world events which would make the type of collaboration now essential between the United States and India a natural matter of happenstance. Friedman describes the so-called Y2K crisis in which it was feared that a lack of programming foresight would result in the incorrect resetting of the world’s computer-based internal clocking mechanisms, creating the likelihood of widespread technical failure throughout the world. Thus, â€Å"with Y2K bearing down on us, America and India started dating, and that relationship became a huge flattener, because it demonstrated to so many different businesses that the combination of the PC, the Internet, and fiber-optic cables had created the possibility of a whole new for of collaboration horizontal value creation: outsourcing. † (108) So we must yield to the fact that, truly, globalization can hardly be avoided. The scope of consumer need does truly require a greater scope of consumer service, and the Indian economy does have the correct workforce makeup to address this need. But when combined with the expansion of private rights, courtesy of such legislation as the 1996 Act, this has created a frustrating sense for the consumer that ‘flattening’ requires a considerable decline from the experiences to which Americans have grown accustomed. Perhaps the overarching presence in Friedman’s text is the intimation that these factors which are impacting our lives and the affecting the shift of world order are of an inevitable nature. The ten factors which are identified as the flattening mechanisms of the changing globe are largely technological and economic forces with broad social and cultural implications. However, these latter qualities are merely the secondary consequence of a circumstance committed to by former. Such is to say that the proliferation of western culture, though certainly not accidental, is merely incidental. Referring once again to the problematic case of outsourcing Customer Support services, we can see that the imposition of American culture is only due to the need to cater to the American consumer. In reality, though Indian culture is threatened by subversion, it is American culture which is being co-opted for reasons having little to do with cultural expression. As a result, the American identity has been trivialized and largely represented as being tantamount to the conveyance of commercial interest. One of the core revelations offered by this text, at least when placed in the context of the general American’s everyday experience, is that the flattening which has occurred must necessarily come at the expense of the American’s staunch sense of individuality and belief in personal entitlement. Works Cited: Friedman, T. (2005). The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.