Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Building Sentences With Adverb Clauses (Part Two)

As discussed in part one, adverb clauses are subordinate structures that show the relationship and relative importance of ideas in sentences. They explain such things as when, where, and why about an action stated in the main clause. Here well consider ways of arranging, punctuating, and revising sentences with adverb clauses. Arranging Adverb Clauses An adverb clause, like an ordinary adverb, can be shifted to different positions in a sentence. It may be placed at the beginning, at the end, or occasionally even in the middle of a sentence. An adverb clause commonly appears after the main clause: Jill and I waited inside the Cup-A-Cabana Diner until the rain stopped. When Gus asked Merdine for a light, she set fire to his toupee. As I shuffled humbly out the door and down the front steps, my eyes to the ground, I felt that my pants were baggy, my shoes several sizes too large, and the tears were coursing down either side of a huge putty nose.(Peter DeVries, Let Me Count the Ways) When a bus skidded into a river just outside of New Delhi, all 78 passengers drowned because they belonged to two separate castes and refused to share the same rope to climb to safety. Punctuation Tips: When an adverb clause appears at the beginning of a sentence, it is usually separated from the main clause by a comma.A comma is usually not necessary when the adverb clause follows the main clause. An adverb clause can also be placed inside a main clause, usually between the subject and verb: The best thing to do, when youve got a dead body on the kitchen floor and you dont know what to do about it, is to make yourself a good strong cup of tea.(Anthony Burgess, One Hand Clapping) Punctuation Tip: An adverb clause that interrupts a main clause, as show in the example above, is usually set off by a pair of commas. Reducing Adverb Clauses Adverb clauses, like adjective clauses, can sometimes be shortened to phrases: If your luggage is lost or destroyed, it should be replaced by the airline.If lost or destroyed, your luggage should be replaced by the airline. subjectverbis Editing Tip: To cut the clutter from your writing, try reducing adverb clauses to phrases when the subject of the adverb clause is the same as the subject of the main clause. Practice in Revising Sentences with Adverb Clauses Rewrite each set below according to the instructions in parentheses. When you are done, compare your revised sentences with those on page two. Keep in mind that more than one correct response is possible. (Shift the adverb clause--in bold--to the beginning of the sentence, and make it the subject of the adverb clause.)The forest supports incessant warfare, most of which is hidden and silent, although the forest looks peaceful.(Shift the adverb clause to a position between the subject and verb in the main clause and set it off with a pair of commas.)While he was on maneuvers in South Carolina, Billy Pilgrim played hymns he knew from childhood.(Reduce the adverb clause to a phrase by dropping the subject and verb from the adverb clause.)While he was on maneuvers in South Carolina, Billy Pilgrim played hymns he knew from childhood.(Turn the first main clause into an adverb clause beginning with the subordinating conjunction whenever.)The sea builds a new coast, and waves of living creatures surge against it.(Make this sentence more concise by dropping the subject and the verb was from the adverb clause.)Although she was exhausted after the long drive home, Pinky insisted on going to work .(Move the adverb clause to the beginning of the sentence, and make the sentence more concise by reducing the adverb clause to a phrase.)Clutching his teddy bear, the boy hid under the bed because he was frightened by the lightning and thunder.(Emphasize the contrast in this sentence by converting the first main clause into an adverb clause beginning with although.)Teachers who contend with blank or hostile minds deserve our sympathy, and those who teach without sensitivity and imagination deserve our criticism.(Omit the semicolon and convert the first two main clauses into an adverb clause beginning with after.)The storm has passed, and the flash floods dump their loads of silt into the Colorado River; water still remains in certain places on rimrock, canyon beach, and mesa top. When you are done, compare your revised sentences with those on page two. NEXT:Building Sentences with Adverb Clauses (part three) Here are sample answers to the exercise on page one: Revising Sentences with Adverb Clauses. Although it looks peaceful, the forest supports incessant warfare, most of which is hidden and silent.Billy Pilgrim, while he was on maneuvers in South Carolina, played hymns he knew from childhood.While on maneuvers in South Carolina, Billy Pilgrim played hymns he knew from childhood.Whenever the sea builds a new coast, waves of living creatures surge against it.Although exhausted after the long drive home, Pinky insisted on going to work.Frightened by the lightning and thunder, the boy hid under the bed, clutching his teddy bear.Although teachers who contend with blank or hostile minds deserve our sympathy, those who teach without sensitivity and imagination deserve our criticism.After the storm has passed, and the flash floods dump their loads of silt into the Colorado River, water still remains in certain places on rimrock, canyon beach, and mesa top. NEXT:Building Sentences with Adverb Clauses (part three)

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Divine Intervention in the Iliad - 1550 Words

‘The Iliad’ is the greatest epic poem of classical Greece, attributed to Homer. The use of divine machinery is a prominent feature of many epics. The ‘Iliad’ is a story in which the gods and goddesses plays a vital role. Throughout the poem, the gods play an important role in the action of the plot and its outcome. In this poem we find so many Devine interventions in human activities .The interventions of the gods also serve to magnify the significance of human action. Infect, the epic begins with one of the divine intervention. In book I,which is named as PLAGUE AND WRATH, Apollos intervention on Chryses behalf begins the series of events that continue throughout the epic.When Chryses come to Greek’s swift ship to recover his captured†¦show more content†¦ATHENE, ordered by ZEUS, prompts Pandarus to shoot at Menelaus, restarting the battle. Once again, even though the tide of battle favors the Trojans, they are forced by divine powers to break a truce that they might not otherwise break. This intervention not only reinstates the battle, but it also further seals the demise of the Trojan city. In book V,DIODEMEDES’ HEROICS, ATHENE inspires Diomedes with the strength and the daring he needs to sustain his rampage.ATHENEs aid fills Diomedes with rage and produces carnage. This rampage directs the course of the battle for this entire book as Diomedes leads the Greek offensive and Trojan captains attempt to stand up to him. APHRODITE saves her son Aeneas from death at the hands of Diomedes. This intervention is more indicative of gods struggling with gods than gods manipulating men. Aeneas is threatened only because Diomedes has been made stronger by the influence of ATHENE. APHRODITE rescues her son from danger as she continues to struggling with hostile gods. ARES inspires Hector to lead the Trojans and defend their line against Diomedes attack. Once again, in response to the action of ATHENE, a god aides a Trojan captain. ARES raises Hectors strength and fills him with rage so that he can rally the Trojan warriors and defend against the rampagingShow MoreRelated Divine Intervention in Homers Epic Poem, The Iliad Essay2024 Words   |  9 Pages     Ã‚  Ã‚   The gods and goddesses that the Greek people believe in make up the Greek mythology studied today.   These divine characters represent a family living on Mount Olympus who intervene frequently in the lives of the human characters in Greek plays.   They are omnipresent, for they are always observing mans actions and working through human nature.   The gods are a higher power, and provide explanations for otherwise unexplainable events.   The gods help humans in troubleRead MoreDivine intervention dealing with Greek myths, especially The Odyssey and The Iliad.1474 Words   |  6 PagesDivine intervention is a feature of ancient Greek literature. One is amazed and even dumbfounded by the magical myths so frequently referred to. In Greek literature, the gods play an immense role in the lives and fates of the mortal dwellers of the earth. As one examines the gods throughout the myths and epic poems of the Greeks, one recieves a strong impression that the gods play with and manipulate mortals and each other. One goddess who exemplifies this is the great goddess Athena. This daughterRead MoreThe Iliad And The Odyssey977 Words   |  4 Pages One of the main recurring themes in the majority of Ancient Greek mythology is the act of divine intervention. In Greece during ancient times the polytheism of the people played a very large part in each aspect of their daily lives, so it was only natural for them to be included in their mythology. There is not a single Greek myth in history that does not contain some mention of at the very least a single god who played a part in the tale. In one way or another, gods within mythology affect theRead MoreComparing The Iliad And The Odyssey905 Words   |  4 PagesThis short essay will identify five traditional epic characteristics that are evident in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The first epic characteristic evident in both epics is catalogs and genealogies. For instance, Book VIII of the Odyssey features a list of participants in the game (115-125) and the Iliad Book II features a catalog of ships (484-759). Secondly, both epics start in media res. The Odyssey starts ten years after the Trojan War and the Illiad starts nine years after the start of theRead More The Iliad Essay1854 Words   |  8 PagesDivine Intervention is a â€Å"direct and obvious intervention by a god or goddess in the affairs of humans†. In various myths such as the Iliad, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Herakles, divine intervention was called upon in order to restrain a hero’s destructive or too powerful forces. Although the divine intervention was used to impair different heroes, the purpose to constrain was the same in all the narratives. Homer’s The Iliad: Book XX features a battle between the Trojans and Achaians, shortly afterRead MoreDevine Interaction: Greek Mythology Essay1398 Words   |  6 PagesNothing would change a mortal human’s life more than interacting with the Gods. What is the reason for such events? The Olympian Gods constantly intervene with the mortals, but what is the cause? The Gods show their power over mortal men through divine interaction, physically and psychologically. The Gods and mortals interact in many different ways, but the natures of these interactions are what truly explain and describe how ancient Greeks recognized their Gods. It is important to understandRead MoreSimilarities Between The And The Epic Of The Iliad1570 Words   |  7 Pagesof years that the epic story the Iliad has survived, which is credited to the famous Greek poet, Homer. In the 2004 film Troy, directed by Wolfgang Peterson, the plot resembles and is based from the epic poem, the Iliad. When the movie Troy was released, there was criticism on how even though the movie was based off of the Iliad, there were numerous differences from the Iliad itself. Even with its differences, the movie, Troy, does have many similarities to the Iliad. Even though there are numerousRead MoreThe Epic Of Gilgamesh And Gilgamesh845 Words   |  4 Pagesthings when others falter in the face of adversity. The role each hero plays in society varies greatly depending on the time period and the gods’ intervention in their worlds. They often possess great strength or other noble abilities. In Gilgamesh we see Enkidu and Gilgamesh blessed with incredible s trength so much so that it gets them into trouble. In The Iliad, there are many different heroes each with their own roles and abilities. Some are warriors, others are cunning in nature, and some possess theRead MoreHomer’S Two Tales, The Iliad And The Odyssey, Are Both1749 Words   |  7 PagesHomer’s two tales, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are both incredibly well known and widely taught across the world and at many different levels of education. Some call Homer the â€Å"greatest poet to ever live† and although this can be disputed his works truly speak for themselves and have braved the test of time quite well. This paper will cover who/whom Homer is as a person, or persons, and the time period of his writings, the truths versus the dramatizations of the Iliad and Odyssey, how the author’sRead MoreThe Epic Of An Epic886 Words   |  4 Pagesmeanings in different cultures. In addition to these mentioned characteristics, most epic poems conventions have common themes. For example, epics are â€Å"in medias res†, In Medias Res is Latin for it begins in the middle of things. Specifically, in Iliad, for example, the tale begins after the war between Greece and the forces of the walled city of Troy has been on going for approximately ten years. Another example of an epic starting in the middle can be found in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, the story

Monday, December 9, 2019

Accountability in the Army 9 Essay Example For Students

Accountability in the Army 9 Essay The definition of accountability comes from the state of being accountable; liability to be called on to render an account; the obligation to bear the consequences for failure to perform as expected; accountableness. The importance of being on time accounted for is because lets say that you do not come back to formation after you go out on a convoy then they know that you are missing. If you do not show up and you do not respond on the radio there is going to possibly be a search team for you. If they do send a search team for then that puts that entire team at risk while looking for you. Point of accountability formation is to make sure all of your soldiers are there and that they are all accounted for. If one person is not accounted for then the entire formation does not leave. It is not just the fact that everyone is accounted for it is part of your military duty to be at formation and at movement. If you do not make it to formation or movement it is punishable by UCMJ. It could be the end of your carrer. Not only will it ruin everything that you have gone through and wasted your time but you are also letting your buddies down and if you can not show up to formation what makes you think that they can trust you in being there in the time of need. If you can not be there then what is your team going to think when they hear over the radio that you are on the way and you are the only one that can help them. They are going to be like what that is the only person we have well we are al good as dead. Accountablility does not ebd in the army life it also goes into civilian world. When you have a job in the civilian world they are looking for someone that be on time and do the job but the second that you are not on time your accountabliity starts to go down the drain. The U. S. army values soldiers that are accountable for their actions. Being accountable means being dependable-arriving to work and appointments on time, meeting deadlines, being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing at the right time. Morning formation is the most important formation of the day. It is made to get accountability of everyone and put out any information that there needs to be dealt with. Without having accountability there is noknowing of where everybody is or whats going on.. know knowing the severity of the I have realized that is an important asset always showing up on time at the right place of duty. Not only does accountability matter in formation it is also imperative to have accountability of all your weapons and sensitive items. Incase of something happening spontaniousley and you dont have an idea of where your personnell are your mission is being comprimised due to those soldiers.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Misanthrope Of Moliere Essays - The Misanthrope, Operas, Theatre

Misanthrope Of Moliere The Misanthrope by Moliere, 1622 Main characters Alceste - He is in love with Celimene and very cynical about people and the way they act. Celimene - She is conceited and shallow being everything that Alceste dislikes in a person. Philinte - He is a good friend of Alceste but just the opposite in character since he is less frank and more sincere towards others. Arsinoe - She serves as a foil to Celimene being just as clever but less shallow. Minor Characters Eliante - She is Celimene's good and reasonable cousin. Oronte - He is in love with Celimene and a writer of poetry. Clitandre - He is another suitor trying to gain the hand of Celimene. Setting Celimene's apartment - There is very little action and very much dialogue in this play which takes place in this apartment. Plot The play opens with a conversation between Alceste and Philinte. Alceste shows himself to be very cynical about the motives of people and Philinte shows himself to be very sincere believing that people should be kind to each other even if it meant putting on a false face. We learn this through Alceste's and Philinte's comments on a poem written by their friend Oronte. Alceste thinks it is horrible while Philinte thinks it is wonderful. Philinte also says that Alceste was too blunt and could have softened his criticism. Later, Alceste decides to go see Celimene and talk about their relationship. He tells her that she should get rid of the rest of her suitors and she insists that he is her only true lover. The rest of the suitors at Celimene's apartment believe the same as Alceste. As they are talking, Oronte enters with the marshal who tells Alceste to apologize to Oronte about the comments he made on his poem. Then Acaste and Clitandre argue over who is the better lover for Celimene. After that situation, Arsinoe comes in to confront Celimene about her personality. They discuss the matter very heatedly and Arsinoe does not succeed in putting down Celimene. Finally after these conversations, Alceste brings a letter to the attention of everyone. It is a letter from Celimene to Oronte. He tries to confront Celimene about it, but she denies any such letter. Alceste wants to leave all these problems he is having, but Philinte convinces him to stay and think everything through. Then Oronte goes to Celimene to find out whom she truly loves and then all of the others come in shortly after. While all of the characters are together Acaste reads his letter from Celimene that discloses her feeling about everyone. Once this was revealed, Clitandre and Acaste decide that she is not worth their time so they leave. Oronte leaves her with a few words and then Arsinoe tells her a thing or two. Alceste forgives her and still wants to be with her. She really does not want to be with him and then Alceste decides that she is really not worth his time and he really does not like her. Philinte and Eliante decide to get married and make it their duty to make Alceste happy. Symbols Alceste - He symbolizes the cynicism and hypocrisy of the manners of the time. Philinte - He symbolizes the sometimes false goodness and friendship of people. lawsuits - This represents irony and the effects of telling the truth since Alceste is punished by Oronte with a lawsuit for telling the truth. Style This is a French tragic comedy written in Alexandrines which are couplets of 6 beats. It was translated into English iambic pentameter with rhymed couplets. The strong beat and rhyming of the dialogue flow well and enhance the supposed wit of the characters. Philosophy This is a comedy of manners showing the hypocrisy that the author saw in the court during his time. He shows through the play that one should not be painfully frank all the time and not always be insincere, either. One must find a balance between the two where the truth can be conveyed with tact. Quotes Alceste, "Friends? Friends, you say? Well, cross me off your list I've been your friend till now as you well know; But after what I saw a moment ago I tell you flatly that our ways must part. I wish no place in a dishonest heart." Alceste expresses his disapproval of the way Philinte hugs everyone. Act 1, sc 1, ln 9-13. Celimene, "She shows her zeal in every holy place, But still

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Vietnam riots essays

Vietnam riots essays The Vietnam War is one of the most unique wars ever fought by the United States. It had no official beginning or ending and it was also never really declared a war. During the anti-war demonstrations of the 1960's and 1970's the police were right in the middle. The anti-Vietnam war demonstrations tarnished the image of the police and they were forced to play devils advocate. A good example of this is during the Democratic Party Presidential Convention in Chicago. The protesters became uncontrollable and the police had to intervene because it is part of their job description to maintain law and order. Even though the first amendment guarantees the right to freedom of speech and assembly, this kind of behavior is inexcusable. The protesters at the Democratic Party Presidential Convention behaved in an unruly manner, particularly when they attempted to enter the convention unlawfully. In a situation like this, law enforcement had no other alternative but to react. Many condemned the behavior of the police and called them unfair, while others agreed that they were doing their job. In addition to this, the police was also placed in the middle, at the anti-war college campuses demonstrations. One of the most widely publicized campus protests was the take over at Columbia University in New York, in the spring of 1968. (Dempsey, Frost P.G 21) The students used all of the tactics that were used in previous protests and as negations between administration and students broke down the protestors became uncontrollable. The police was once again called in to control the situation and forced to be in the middle. Most of the demonstrations were disorderly and the police was called to control the protesters. The firebombing of a University of Wisconsin building was a good example of how uncontrollable the demonstrations were. This incident started a wave of college campus bombings and arson. Six student...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Rising High School Seniors

Rising High School Seniors Colleges and high schools have such odd terminology. As if the alphabet soup of academic acronyms wasnt enough, there are all the strange terms - bursar, for example, yield and Jan Term. So when your childs counselor refers to him as a rising senior, what on earth does that mean? Once upon a time, a kid was a junior until June of his junior year. When the bell rang on the last day of school, he became a senior - even if the start of the next academic year was still two months away. Now, hes called a rising senior. (Clearly, its only a matter of time before preschoolers are called rising kindergartners!) The term is primarily used at college prep high schools in the United States and when colleges discuss admissions season, as in, We offer overnight visits to rising seniors. Colleges rarely use the term to discuss their students, and in fact, the freshman/sophomore/junior/senior terminology is increasingly giving way to alternative descriptions based on how long a student has attended, as in the first year, second year and so on. How Rising Seniors Should Spend Their Time Your rising senior is in the home stretch of high school, and over the summer he likely wants to hang out with friends, sleep, swim, play video games, take a road trip or lounge around doing nothing. Once hes gotten that out of his system, its important to devote two or three hours a week to start in on college applications. He may pester you that this is his time off, but students who begin the admissions process during summer before their senior year are most successful. Here are four things to put on the to-do list: Create a college list: Determining where to apply is the most important action to take over the summer. Figure out where youre going to get your information to decide which college is the best fit for your child. Also, start looking into the financial aid that you might qualify for. Contact those colleges: Presenters at a National Association for College Admission Counseling convention stated that colleges admissions officers are turning down some otherwise qualified students for no other reason than the fact that the students had no contact with them before submitting their applications. Your rising senior needs to show â€Å"demonstrated interest† - a term used by colleges to note the frequency and quality of contact students have with admissions offices which indicated the likelihood of a student to enroll if offered admission. Heres how to jumpstart that process: Sign up for the college admissions mailing list on its website.Find out the names and emails of the admissions representatives assigned to your high school and contact them to relay your interest.Visit colleges and arrange interviews.Go to local college fairs to meet and talk to college reps face to face. Get an early start on applications and essay questions: Filling out your college applications is a critical part of the process and dealing with the dreaded essay can be daunting. Rising seniors should fill out at least one application before school starts. This will help to demystify the process so prospective students can confidently handle applications during the year.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Mayan Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mayan Project - Essay Example Hence, symbols could represent either a word or a single syllable. This was a highly elaborate set of glyphs written by scribes who were members of the priesthood. The language was usually written in two blocks arranged in columns, and was read from top to bottom, from left to right. It was rich with words and phonetic rules, and only elite members of the community knew how to write (Beatriz n.d). The Mayan numerals were based on a base-twenty (vigecimal) numeral system, which were made up of three symbols: zero was represented by a shell shape, one by a dot and give by a bar. Numbers above 19 were written as a combination of these written in a descending vertical line. Three cells were written, the uppermost one represented the number of 400s in the number, the middle one represented the number of 20s in it and the lower one represented the 1s in it. In case a number was larger than that, a new row would be started. The Mayans would also rarely use face number glyphs, but this use was very uncommon and mostly appeared in monumental carving. The Mayans used addition and subtraction when needed, and there is also evidence that they were familiar with and used the concepts of infinity and fractions for various needs ("The Maya Mathematical" n.d; "Mayan Numerals" 2009). A Mayan stela (also called stele) was a stone or wooden slab that was very tall and quite wide. It was used mainly for funeral or commemorative purposes, and consisted of the name and titles of the deceased or living person for whom it was erected. It also included of lavish paintings, carvings and inscriptions depicting and describing that person. More often then not, revered rulers or hieroglyphic texts were inscribed to immortalize a unique feat or achievement during a rulers reigning period or simply his character and greatness. It was also used to remember important dates and occasions, something which proved to be

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Production and Operational Management in the auto Industry Term Paper - 1

Production and Operational Management in the auto Industry (Forecasting, Quality, Quantity, Profits, Assembly) - Term Paper Example They even had a great deal of say in the political sector of USA. Their political power was due to a fact that had been narrated by the CBC News article in the following words: â€Å"The L.A. Times recently calculated that since 1990, the auto industry as a whole has donated $100 million US to Republicans and $34 million to Democrats.† From the year 1951 to the year 2007 Ford had been ranked third in all the automotive manufacturers of the world. After maintaining this position for fifty six years the company lost its position worldwide. It, however, still remained at third position in the US auto industry. The recent times have however depicted a recession of Ford and GM in their native country’s automobile industry. This recession has given space to foreign automobile manufacturers to establish their position by introducing their models in the industry. Currently these foreign automotive industrialists are leading the industry. BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM. Ford and GM w ere the largest vehicle producing giants in USA once. They assisted their country’s economy massively by producing generous revenue and benefit packages for labor. Ford and GM held their importance in the US automobile industry not only because of their size but also because of their business volume. Their loosing of their stature, however, was owing to a number of reasons. Those reasons can be summarized as follows: This meant that a major number of operations in them were distributed into unions or rather termed as being â€Å"Unionized†. This led to a rising labor cost that incurred to these industrial giants. The labor costs of their international emerging counterparts were however very less as they did not practice unionization. Even the counterparts that had their manufacturing units in the US did not face the said problem. (Van Praet, 2008). WHY THE RECESSION? A number of issues led to the downfall of Ford and GM along with other US automobile manufacturers. Qua lity Compromised Among various issues was that of the maintenance of Quality by these giants. Stephen Robbins (2009) mentions their carelessness and compromise in the maintenance of their products in his book ‘Management’ in the following words: â€Å"U.S. car industry is often used as a classic example of what can go wrong when managers focus solely on trying to keep costs down. In the late 1970s, GM, Ford, and Chrysler built products that many consumers rejected...... When the costs of rejects, repairing shoddy work, product recalls, and expensive controls to identify quality problems were considered, U.S. manufacturers actually were less productive than many foreign competitors. The Japanese demonstrated that it was possible for the highest-quality manufacturers to be among the lowest-cost producers. American manufacturers in the car and other industries soon realized the importance of TQM and implemented many of its basic components.† (Robbins, 2009) The abov e statement clearly highlights how the erroneous strategy of leading automobile manufacturing giants of USA gave room to their foreign counterparts. Even though they learned their lesson and tried to improve on their mistakes but it was too late then. The market shares that they once lost were not repairable. So was the inclusion of these counterparts in the industry. Retailers knew they had equally better options to go for and that too often at lesser costs. Product SUV’

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Urban Myth 09 Essay Example for Free

Urban Myth 09 Essay It was a cold night with a strange breeze in the air. The roads were filled with a slight feel of tension as the mans car drove over the frosted motor way. The smart business man dressed in an expensive suit was coming home from work and drove peacefully along the road with not a single worry in the world. He was making his way down a long motor way. The further he seemed to go the colder he began to feel. He felt the cold air coming in and touching upon his polyester suit even though the windows were tightly shut. He was listening to his favourite radio station when he suddenly heard a loud crrrrrrrr sound blast out from the radio speakers. The radio automatically shifted to another music station one the man had never heard before, spooky opera music began to play from the station. It shot out from the radio speakers and surrounded him in the car. The man was momentarily startled then looked down to change the station. On that second he sensed something and looked back up at the frosted road. He gazed upon a young women dressed in an immaculate bold red dress. She was madly close and standing directly in the middle of the road. Without a doubt the man immediately applied the handbrake and stopped with a thunderous skid. As the car stopped the woman was directly in front of bumper. The man looked her straight in the eyes in astonishment as the young women didnt look one bit bothered about nearly being killed by the car. The woman slowly raised her arm into a hitchhikers position to ask for a lift home. The man automatically told her with hand gestures to come inside the car; he was scared she may want to file a law suit against him as he had nearly killed her. He thought that if he gave her a lift home she would not do anything against him. The woman was breathing heavy and with every breath she took misty air seeped out from her mouth onto the front windscreen. As the man began to drive he started to examine the woman from the corner of his eye. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress and looked as if she was going to a party. The man tried to make small talk with the women but got no reply, not even a facial expression. The woman was completely silent and only made noise when taking breathes. As they made it down the road and started to approach the houses the woman began to shiver. The man took off his jacket and gave it to her. She slowly took it without speaking and quickly put it on. Her house was not far from where she was, the young women pointed towards the house and the business man parked up outside. As soon as the car stopped the woman slid quickly out of the car and ran into the house. The man thought to himself how glad he was that she was not going to file a law suit. He then realised the women was still wearing his expensive jacket but could not do anything as he did not want to disturb the household she had already entered. He then heard loud shouting coming from the house but thought nothing of it and drove off. The next morning the man came back to the house to this time hear the same spooky opera music he had first heard when he encountered the strange young woman on the road. The man parked up the car and got out. He approached the door and knocked; the knock sounded echoes throughout the house but could not compete with the sound of the creepy opera music. The music suddenly went off and an old tired looking woman slowly opened the door. She looked very surprised as if no one had knocked on her door for many years; she immediately asked the man what he wanted. The man explained to her what had happened and her daughter or relative perhaps has still got his jacket. The old lady took the man inside and made him feel comfortable as he sat down. She explained to the man how her daughter was murdered brutally on her prom night and thrown into a river not far from the house 20 years ago by her boyfriend as she was coming home. She told him everything in detail about how she was wearing a beautiful red dress and her favourite opera song she use to always play whenever she was feeling upset. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Challenges of Being a Black Man in America Essay -- Racism, Prejud

"Black Lung" is a chronic disease of the lungs mostly associated with coal miners; "Black Magic" is the practice of witchcraft; illegal transactions take place in a a "Black Market"; a "Black Sheep" is a person who does not have the same values or behavior as their family. How does all this pertain to being a black man in America today? These examples indicate that the English language is prejudiced, and the process of learning the language teaches prejudice and passes on racist ideas to children as they learn to communicate. This results is the racist American society which we see today. However, before dealing with the burden of blackness, let us dive into what race really is. Some believe that race is a biological term, understandably so. People with similar physical appearance, such as eye shape or color, could be assumed to be of the same heritage, but this is not always true. According to the authors of Intercultural Competence, "Contrary to popular notions . . . race is not primarily a biological term; it is a political and societal one that was invented to justify economic and social distinctions. . . . One's 'race' is best understood as a social and legal construction" (32). Since race is not inherent or "naturally ordained" but a social and legal construction, the use of this term is subjective. One's "blackness" or "whiteness" is dependent on how society defines it. What are white and black anyway? As people of different origins and of different heritages, the average American is a "mutt" (of mixed ancestry). What defines what "race" the average American is or what race you are? The color you turn out to be? Is Stacy, a person who is ninety-five percent "white" and five percent "black," considered black because th... ...g the meaning to a human being. As the unknown poet said, illustrating how so many others feel: "But in his mind it wasn't lost, the one undeniable fact/That in a land of justice for all, he always would be BLACK." Works Cited Bradshaw, York W., Joseph F. Healey, and Rebecca Smith. Sociology for a New Century. Boston: Pine Forge Press, 2001. DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. 1903. New York: Bantam, 1989. Gazzaniga, Michael, and Todd F. Heatherton. Psychological Science. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2003. Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1996. Lustig, Myron W., and Jolene Koester. Intercultural Competence. 4th ed. San Francisco: Allyn and Bacon, 2003. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary Online http//www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus. Rottenberg, Annette T. Elements of Argument. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Contemporary Culture Seen Thru Post-War British Films

The British cinema of the Second World War has typically been exemplified in terms of its depiction of ‘the people's war’. The films which have attracted most crucial consideration are those which offered a picture of the British people at war, united regardless of class differences, and where the chronicles of individuals, heroic though they may be, were inspired into the greater story of the whole nation pulling together at a time of national crisis. Curran and Porter (1983) have identified, for the first time in British feature films, a genuine, true-to-life image of ordinary men and women.Roger Manvell (1947)considered that films such as Millions Like Us, San Demetrio, London, Nine Men, The Way Ahead, Waterloo Road and The Way to the Stars ‘showed pe ople in whom we could trust and whose experience was as genuine as our own’. The reason for this pristine realism, according to Aldgate and Richards (2002) is usually clarified through the impact of the docu mentary movement, the progressive left-wing sector of the British film industry, on the mainstream feature film producers. The British film industry endeavoured to open out overseas. J.Arthur Rank, of the Rank Organization, extended his world-wide distribution. The Associated British Picture Corporation or ABPC joined Warner Brothers to institute distribution in the United States. Perry (1988) noted that Alexander Korda acquired London Films and British Lion, the former from MGM. Korda's London Films had in 1933 created The Private Lives of Henry VIII. He established circulation of his films in the United States through Twentieth Century Fox. Green (1983) illustrates that unlike the aspirations of the highly financed studios, Ealing Studios focused its labours on a series of modest comic films.Teams of writer/directors made a series of remarkable films. The Boulting brothers, John and Roy, interchanged as director and producer of a series of films, including Brighton Rock (1947), Th e Magic Box (1951), Lucky Jim (1957), and I'm All Right, Jack (1959). The team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, operating under the label of the Archers and supported by J. Arthur Rank, made two specials, The Red Shoes (1948) and Tales of Hoffman (1951). The first popularised ballet while the second popularised opera.Powell and Pressburger's Stairway to Heaven (also called A Matter of Life and Death, 1945) was the make-believe tale of a pilot who is mistakenly called to heaven so soon. One of the folklores that cropped up from war-weary Britain was a faith in the unity and equality of the community. The myth persisted for a brief time after the war, stimulated by expectations for the Labour government's experiment, when recuperating English society felt the likelihood of progressing the unity experienced in the â€Å"people's war† to decipher the nation's massive social problems.The myth, in which all elements of society, even those not normally associating with one another, pull together, played out in a number of films, such as the Ealing films of Hue and Cry, Whiskey Galore, Passport to Pimlico, and The Blue Lamp. Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios produced these films as â€Å"fantastic escape. † The fantasy created was of a sense of community prompted by the world war. The distraction was in fancy and departure from actuality. Hue and Cry was the first of what have become known as the Ealing comedies and it started the fantasy foundation of community.The setting in south London, an area devastated by the German blitz, was scheduled for enormous restoration in the years 1945-1953. In Hue and Cry, writer T. E. B. Clarke fixed on a London community of youths living and playing around a bombsite, who come together to overpower a gang of criminals. The young hero, Joe Kirby, spends time reading escapist pulp detective comics. Through a series of imaginary and strange encounters, Joe ascertains a criminal syndicate of black market operators using comic books as a code. Joe, with the help of the community of boys, suppresses the criminals, led by the evil Nightingale.Manvell (1947) said that at the end of the war, British film was trapped in a struggle between its realist, documentary tradition and a pull toward the fantastic and expressionism. The anthology film Dead of Night (1945), co-directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Robert Hamer, Charles Crichton and Basil Dearden, caught some of this resistance. The film modifies from the factual to the Gothic. It makes use of expressionist techniques, such as a powerful mirror scene. Landy (1991) described that realism was a primary trait of British cinema during the war.Realism was acknowledged with black and white, straight-forward narrative and characters. It was profoundly influenced by Britain's documentary tradition. However, many post-war films were answers to realism. Of course, realism comes in many forms. Some films used realism seemingly to expand the story line, as in Michael Anderson's The Dam-Busters (1954), the Boulting brothers' Seven Days to Noon (1950) or Michael Powell's The Small Back Room (1949). The Boulting film involved a reconstruction of the evacuation of London when the city is endangered by a scientist with an atomic device.Powell's film integrated a long episode of the dismantling of a bomb. Ealing comedies, such as Hue and Cry and Passport to Pimlico, used realism as a framework for stories that were essentially non-realistic. In other films, such as Carol Reed's The Third Man or Odd Man Out, realism is used to heighten the drama and suspense. Other films used a documentary-style reconstruction, such as Charles Frend's Scott of the Antarctic (1948). The documentary-style opening of The Blue Lamp was an intentional device, although the story propagated the fantasy of community.The documentary opening and closing of Whiskey Galore were essentially significant to the film's satire. Realism, as a predominant style, resurfaced in the late Fifties, leading to â€Å"new cinema† or social realism. Dickinson and Street (1985) said that expressionism, rather than realism, dominated many of the British productions. Most of the literary were highly yet successfully stylized, including Lean's adaptations from Dickens, Olivier's Shakespearean films, and Dickinson's The Queen of Spades. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Red Shoes and Tales of Hoffman are examples of the stylization.The films represent the nexus of several strands of film and literary tradition, including German expressionism of the 1920's, romanticism, Gothic, the combination of the arts, and the reaction of realism. The Red Shoes was a story by Hans Christian Anderson, derived from a story by E. T. A. Hoffman (1776-1822), a German romanticist, and influenced by life of Russian ballet director Diaghilev and dancer Nijinsky. It is the story of a ballerina torn between the control of two men — her director, Lermontov, and her husban d, Julian, a conductor.Her husband wrote the score for a ballet just for her — â€Å"The Red Shoes. † Lermontov directed her in it. Although Vicki is tough at the start, able to return â€Å"the gaze† of Lermontov, she soon loses her capability to endure either man. The men, primarily Lermontov, are puppet masters, using manipulation to restrain the female to the male's domination. Geraghty (1985) stresses that the battle of the masters is carried out on several levels. At the core of the struggle are the highly stylized ballet scenes, using images of Julian conducting, Lermontov directing and Vicki soaring on stage and in the air.The shoe maker in the ballet is, likewise, a puppeteer. The expressionistic ballet, a combination of music, art, dance and film, is surrounded by the narrative, in which the dancer shifts loyalties between herself, Lermontov and Julian. Lermontov manipulates both dancer and conductor. Vicki finally escapes by injuring herself and endin g forever her ability to dance. Lermontov continues the final performance of the ballet without a dancer in the lead role. Green (1983) said that The Tales of Hoffman was based on an opera of the German expressionist Jacques Offenbach.It comprises film with little dialog. It recollects the universal visual language of the silent film. The various characters of the opera, which challenge and defy Hoffman, a nobleman/poet, include an array of manipulators — an eye glass maker, a master of souls, and a demonic doctor. The filmed opera originally had four episodes, though one episode, hence another manipulator, was cut from the film. The film represents creator as monster and tormentor as well as tormented victim. This theme, said to cast Hoffman as a metaphor for Powell, recalls Lermontov and his tries to gets in touch with Vicki.Both films utilise expressionist techniques such as the metaphors of the gaze and the mirror to symbolize and accentuate the struggle, which Werner Fas sbinder has called sadism in the creative act and creation in destruction. Williams (1991) describes Both Powell and Pressburger films aim to create what Richard Wagner hoped to do with opera — the total art by combining the visual with the aural. The Red Shoes mediates ballet cinematically. It interprets ballet into film rather than record ballet on film. The Tales of Hoffman interprets opera into film rather than record opera on film.Adding to their stature, the creative collaboration of Powell and Pressburger combined the art tradition of European film and the technical advances of American film. Their films experimented with the new Technicolor technology. Low (1985) reports that the anti-realism traits of German expressionism, Gothic and fantasy even appeared in the Ealing comedies. At least twice in Hue and Cry — when the hero and his friend climbed the stairs to the writer's apartment, and in the final fight with the criminal master-mind in the bombed building à ¢â‚¬â€ the camera angles and shadows evoked images of German expressionist films such as The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari. The expressionistic device of the mirror appears in a number of films, such as Dead of Night, and The Blue Lamp. Likewise, the technique of â€Å"the gaze† appears in several films, including The Blue Lamp. Williams (1991) described the behaviour of the writer and the Victorian clutter of his apartment, and the passage of the children through the London sewers, both in Hue and Cry, evoked images of Gothic horror. Likewise, the Hammer horror films were a reaction to realism. Fantasy appeared in a variety of films, especially the Ealing comedies, including the fanciful idea of a sovereign Pimlico or Hue and Cry's children against crime.These communities were rooted in fantasy not reality. They were no more than a daydream. British cinema after the Second World War can be distinguished by a number of features. The films were generally comedies, melodramas, litera ry or horror films. Among the features coming out through these films were 1) attempts to preserve the nostalgic values, such as community of wartime Britain, and 2) the denunciation of the realism and documentary style of the World War II films, particularly through expressionism and stylization. Britain today is a richly mixed society and culture.Its residents typify a wide variety of national, cultural, racial and religious backgrounds and mixtures. That diversity is an outcome of a history, which has incorporated invasion, expansion, empire and Commonwealth, and Britain’s role as a retreat for people of all races. Murphy (2000) describes the British governments have taken measures to undertake problems of discrimination and disadvantage through pioneering such things as race relations legislation which makes racial discrimination an objectionable, and illegal practice, and through strategy to remedy disadvantage.Britain’s ethnic diversity, with its range of and uni que mix of cultural identities and heritages, describes and puts in worth to contemporary Britain. For instance, the Muslim society in Britain make a crucial and lively input to every facet of life from sports and the arts to business and even politics. This paper shall look into at least three film features created after the Second World War. First is Notting Hill which stars Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. The film was a certified box-office hit not only in the United Kingdom but the world over.Next is Four Weddings and a Funeral written by the same writer of Notting Hill. The last movie is Chariots of Fire. Britain’s contemporary cultural diversity is being studied through these film features. Notting Hill Notting Hill has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area popular for its attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses and high-class shopping and restaurants. Residents are symbolised as young and affluent and many people who conform to such stereotypes are o ften referred to as â€Å"The Notting Hill Set†, â€Å"The Notting Hillbillies†, and â€Å"Trustafarians†.The area came to international attention with the release of the successful Hollywood movie of the same name. Notting Hill (1999) stars Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant use the characteristic features of the area as a backdrop to the action, including the Portobello Road antiques market and enclosed square gardens. Notting Hill is a 1999 romantic comedy film set in the Notting Hill district of London,. The screenplay was written by Richard Curtis who also wrote the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. In Western culture, we are fixated by the notion of celebrity.This may be easily viewed with the enormous number of paparazzis everywhere that descend on public figures when they make appearances, or the popularity of gossip magazines and TV shows. Celebrities are treated like royalty – fascinating and untouchable, they become objects of unreasonable adoration . Perhaps one of the most common fantasies entertained by an average man or woman is what would happen if someone famous fell in love with them. And therein lies the premise of Notting Hill. Hugh Grant plays William Thacker, the owner of a small bookstore in London's Notting Hill.Grant’s character is just an average Joe – when he's not working, he spends time with his friends and his wacky Welsh flat-mate, Spike played by Rhys Ifans, but has no romantic life to speak of. One day, however, the foundation of his way of life changes when Anna Scott, played by Julia Roberts, a famous actress, walks through the door to his little shop. In London to publicize her new film, she's taking a break from the press and Notting Hill seems like a good place to lose them. Later, William literally runs into her in the street, spilling orange juice all over her. Annoyed and humiliated, he requests her to his place to clean up.Much to his surprise, she accepts his offer, and, after chang ing outfits, she gives him a lingering kiss on the lips. William is immediately smitten and so, apparently, is Anna. Thus begins a turbulent relationship that asks whether a star can live happily ever after with somebody who has never had his face in the papers. Although Notting Hill is a pleasant enough motion picture, it isn't much more than that. It's a domesticated movie that takes few chances. Even the casting of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts is an example of playing it safe, since both are proven box office draws.The comedy, while sporadically funny, occasionally feels forced and unnatural, as if screenwriter Richard Curtis was forced to ratchet up the level of humour at the cost of characters' integrity. Spike is a case in point. As portrayed by Rhys Ifans he's the constant butt of jokes but he achieves little purpose beyond that. He's a pure misrepresentation of a lewd lazy bone, and, whenever he comes on screen, he actually becomes a disturbance. Another problem with the fil m is that the romance is half-hearted. While there's a feeling of sociability and even affection between William and Anna, there was no passion felt between the two.They appear more like brother and sister than lovers broken up by an army of publicists and photographers. The plot pursues the ordinary beat of a traditional romantic comedy: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy and girl get to know each other, then complications interfere. In this case, those complications come in the form of Anna's off-again/on-again boyfriend and the media. Notting Hill is not without its enjoyable moments. The relationship between two of William's friends, Max and Bella, is touching. There's an exciting conversation between William and Anna about why men are attracted to breasts.And there's an appealing shot of William walking down a street in Notting Hill as the seasons change around him. The movie shows us how Britain has achieved tremendous changes after the war era. It is an attempt to penetrate the western movie market and this proved to be quite a difficult task at first. Four Weddings and a Funeral The simplest and most honest articulation of praise that can be presented to this Mike Newell's movie is that it epitomises two hours of solid movie magic. Four Weddings and a Funeral enjoys the extraordinary power to make an audience laugh and cry without ever apparent scheming or going desperately over-the-top.Another Hugh grant movie who plays Charles is a serial monogamist or someone who moves from girlfriend to girlfriend without ever falling in love. His friends have started down the matrimonial road, but not Charles. Feelings of spending the rest of his life with someone never went through his mind, until one day at a wedding when he encounters Carrie played by Andie MacDowell, an American fashion editor. And, although the two enjoy a brief rendezvous at an inn, Charles' typical British uncommunicativeness comes in, and Carrie is on her way back to America before he rec ognizes he should have said something.Here’s another movie that showcases cultural diversity in Britain were two individuals from different cultural backgrounds may have the possibility of ending up together despite their cultural diversity. Four Weddings and a Funeral is about four weddings and a funeral. While the central story of this delightful motion picture is somewhat common romantic comedy fare, it is structured by a plot packed with little twists and turns, lots of laughs, and a frothy, fascinating atmosphere. Mike Newell, whose recent directing credits include Enchanted April and Into the West, maintains to display a clever hand when it comes to good, escapist fun.Newell's direction is unassuming — he allows his actors and the script to carry the film, which results in an enjoyable mix of cheerful comedy with a dash of misery. Screenwriter Richard Curtis is fast to let the humour starts flowing, and once it starts, it never stops. The scenes most likely to ca use irrepressible laughter happen during the second wedding and centre on Rowan Atkinson as a somewhat confused priest. It's not a shock that Atkinson feels at home with a Curtis script, since the two have teamed up on the British TV show Blackadder.Four Weddings and a Funeral is a modern comedy with a very time-honoured theme. It mixes upright breeding and bad language; laughter and tears; and marriage and friendship into a thoroughly enjoyable whole. This movie showcases how Britain has become one of the world’s best movie producers. It was so popular across the globe which highlighted the greatness of Britain. Chariots of Fire Sporting events today have become vicious, angry affairs where the slogan, more frequently than not, is â€Å"win at all costs. † Demonstrations of good sportsmanship are about as rare as altruism.Everyone is out for themselves, and the displays of athletes like Albert Belle, John McEnroe, and Dennis Rodman can sit in the stomach like a large piece of heavy matter. So it's invigorating to look back at an era when triumph didn't command seclusion, resentment, and disgust of one's rivals. Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning 1981 film, delights us to the 1924 Olympics, and, in the process, highlights such laudable qualities as loyalty, determination, and fraternity. That's not to say that winning isn't important to the competitors in Hugh Hudson's film.On the other hand, for British track stars Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Lidell (Ian Charleson), it's a principal anxiety, but neither is so fixated by their ambition that they lose sight of the larger picture. Eric is a devout Christian who runs because he considers it venerates God. Harold is a Jew who struggles as a way of establishing his worth. Both are driven by an internal fire, and have nothing but reverence for their competitors. Chariots of Fire tells the story of the British triumphs at the 1924 Olympics, where the UK representatives took a number of medals over the heavily-favoured Americans.With Abrahams and Lidell leading the way, the British track team had one of their best-ever showings. This film outlines the two principal athletes' paths to the Paris games, where their on-field victories form a astoundingly low-key climax. Chariots of Fire doesn't depend on worn-out sports film cliches; it's more fascinated in enthusiasm and character improvement. Yes, it's essential to know that Abrahams and Lidell win, but the real essence of the story is enclosed in what leads up to the races.Like in Sylvester Stallone's first Rocky, it's probable to claim victory before the competition begins — Lidell because he has holds fast to his beliefs and Abrahams because gives all he has to give. At the time when Chariots of Fire was first released, many of the major cast members, including Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers, and Alice Krige, were relative unheard of. All give strong presentations, and each was remunerated with future part s in other productions. Some identifiable faces fill supporting roles, including Sir John Gielgud as the Master of Trinity College and Ian Holm as Abraham's mentor, Sam Mussabini.There's barely a trace of exaggerated scenes in Chariots of Fire, which makes the film-watching experience all the more effective — director Hugh Hudson shows respect for the veracity of his material and the cleverness of his audience. The deficiency of maudlin moments supplies the storyline with an authentic quality that supports its factual background. Not only do we care about the characters, but we admit that they really existed. In fact, the entire production declares that same sense of atmosphere. Most sports movies counts on melancholy and adrenaline — Chariots of Fire stands up on strong writing, direction, and acting.Approval of this picture doesn't require a love of sports, simply an understanding of human nature. Conclusion Immigrant, ethnic minority, asylum-seeker – slivers of intimation divide the meanings of each term in contemporary Britain. Ethnic minority, black and Asian, cultural diversity – clouds of confusion have distinguished contemporary arts in Britain over the past 30 years. Cook (1981) declares that notably, every liberal political measure undertaken so far to correct injustices – the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry into institutional racism being only the most recent – has proven ineffectual.Racism is not an intellectual failure that can be corrected by a greater dose of education. It is a moral value, however much one may abhor such a morality. It is an imaginative construct and so the engineers of the imagination – artists – find themselves in the frontline, their weapons being the pen or the hand or the body or the voice. Gilette (2003) discloses Post-war British film was both a response to the world war and a reaction to the film styles of the war and post-war periods. As a response to the war, post-war f ilms adopted a style of pseudo-realism to construct a post-war fantasy world.This fantasy, sometimes captured as a daydream, attempted to preserve the spirit of the war years, including the values of community and egalitarianism. This daydream or fantasy world also served as an escape from the memory of the war and the disappointment over the failure of a new society in post-war Britain. As a reaction to the war, post-war films revolted against the realism of the war-period films. They utilized and integrated strands of romanticism, expressionism, and the Gothic. References: Aldgate, A. and Richards, J. 2nd Edition. 1994. Britain Can Take it: British Cinema in the Second World War.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Barr, Charles; Ed. 1986. All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema. London: British Film Institute Aldgate, A. and Richards, J. 2002. Best of British: Cinema and Society from 1930 to the Present. London: I. B. Tauris Barr, C. Ealing Studios (London: Cameron & Tayl or, 1977). Cook, D. A History of Narrative Film (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1981). Curran, J. and Porter, V. ; Eds. 1983. British Cinema History. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson Dickinson, M. and Street, S. 1985. Cinema and the State: The Film industry and the British Government, 1927-84.London: BFI Friedman, Lester; Ed. 1992. British Cinema and Thatcherism. London: UCL Press Geraghty, Christine. 2000. British Cinema in the Fifties: Gender Genre and the New Look. London Routledge Gillett, P. 2003. The British Working Class in Postwar Film. Manchester: Manchester University Press Green, I. â€Å"Ealing in the Comedy Frame,† in British Cinema History, eds. , James Curran and Vincent Porter (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1983). Landy, M. 1991. British Genres: Cinema and Society, 1930-1960. Princeton University Press Low, R. 1985. Film Making in 1930s Britain.London: George, Allen and Unwin Rotha, Paul. 1973. Documentary diary; an informal history of the British docum entary film, 1928-1939, New York: Hill and Wang Swann, Paul. 2003. The British Documentary Film Movement, 1926-1946. Cambridge University Press Manvell, R. ‘The British Feature Film from 1925 to 1945’, in Twenty Years of British Film 1925–1945, eds M. Balcon, E. Lindgren, F. Hardy and R. Manvell (London, The Falcon Press, 1947), p. 85. Murphy, Robert. 2000. British Cinema and the Second World War. London: Continuum Murphy, R; Ed. 1996. Sixties British Cinema. London: BFIOrwell, G. â€Å"England, Your England† (1941), in A Collection of Essays (New York: Doubleday, 1954). Perry, G. 1988. The Great British Picture Show. Little Brown, 1988. Porter, V. â€Å"The Context of Creativity: Ealing Studios and Hammer,† in British Cinema History, eds. , James Curran and Vincent Porter (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1983). Powell, Pressburger and Others (British Film Institute, 1978). Shaw, T. 2001. British Cinema and the Cold War. London: I. B. Tauris Willi ams, T. various lectures, The Survey of Film History, fall semester, 1991, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Solution Aging Population

There are many proposed solutions in discussion to help care for the aging population. We should begin by reforming our incident-based system of care. Health care today is reactive: if we get sick, we make an appointment to see a physician; if we become seriously ill or injured, we go to an emergency department or clinic. One proposed solution, pay-for-performance programs, would tie higher reimbursement to quality of care—thus reducing funds to lower-performing facilities.But these facilities most need investment and incentives to improve resident care and quality of life. What's more, current performance measures provide only a â€Å"snapshot† of care. Such point-in-time measures cannot gauge how well providers manage the multiple chronic conditions common among elderly patients. To build a viable elder health care system, we need to do the following: Provide five years of stable reimbursement for elder care so that professionals, legislators, and regulators can work together to focus on financial and intellectual strategies.Turn the system for evaluating nursing homes from one based on penalties to one based on partnership, building on the positive results from work done by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' quality improvement organizations. Provide financial incentives to upgrade elder care facilities and invest in health information technology. Establish financial models for reimbursement based on evidence-based clinical research.Provide government and private financial programs that enable the consumer to obtain the care they expect, and possibly deserve, based on individual responsibility of their own wellness. Finally, Curb unnecessary lawsuits, which siphon funds from direct care. If we take these steps, we can create a health system in which older patients take responsibility for their own health and reap the benefits of high-quality care. References J. Derr, Financing Health Care for an Aging Population, The Commonwealth F und, December 2005

Thursday, November 7, 2019

How to Become a Critical Reader

How to Become a Critical Reader Whether you are reading for pleasure or for school, its important to understand basic structural and content elements about the text you are studying. These questions and idea generators should help you to become a more critical reader. Understand and retain what you read!   Steps to Becoming a Critical Reader Determine your purpose for reading. Are you gathering information for a writing assignment? Are you determining whether a source will be useful for your paper? Are you preparing for a class discussion?Consider the title. What does it tell you about what the book, essay, or ​literary work is about?Think about what you already know about the topic of the book, essay, or play. Do you already have preconceived notions of what to expect? What are you expecting? Do you hope to learn something, enjoy yourself, be bored?Look at how the text is structured. Are there subdivisions, chapters, books, acts, scenes? Read over the titles of the chapters or sections? What do the headings tell you?Skim the opening sentence of each paragraph (or lines) under the headings. Do these first words of the sections give you any hints?Read carefully, marking or highlighting places that are confusing (or so wonderful that you want to re-read). Be careful to keep a dictionary close at hand. Looking up a w ord can be an excellent way to enlighten your reading. Identify key issues or arguments the author/writer makes, along with important terms, recurring images and interesting ideas.You may want to make notes in the margin, highlight those points, take notes on a separate sheet of paper or notecard, etc.Question the sources that the author/writer might have used: personal experience, research, imagination, popular culture of the time, historical study, etc.Did the author effectively use these sources to develop a believable work of literature?What is one question you would like to ask the author/writer?Think about the work as a whole. What did you like best about it? What puzzled, confused, angered, or irritated you?Did you get what you expected out of the work, or were you disappointed? Additional Tips The process of reading critically can help you with many literary and academic situations, including studying for a test, preparing for a discussion, and more.If you have questions about the text, be sure to ask your professor; or discuss the text with others.Consider keeping a reading log to help you to track your perceptions about reading.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Nighttime Sky Holds Many Stars

The Nighttime Sky Holds Many Stars The nighttime sky looks like it has millions of stars visible to observers. Thats because we live in a galaxy that has hundreds of millions of them. However, we cant really see all of them with the naked eye from our backyards. It turns out that the skies of Earth have, at most, around ten thousand stars that can be spotted with the naked eye. However, not everyone can see all the stars; they see only whats overhead in their own region. Light pollution and atmospheric hazes reduce the number of stars that can be seen even more. On average, however, the most anyone can really see (with very good eyesight and from a very dark viewing area) is around three thousand stars. People living in very big cities still see a few stars, while those in country areas away from lights can see more.   The best places to see stars are dark-sky sites, such as Canyonlands National Park or from onboard a ship in the middle of the ocean, or high in the mountains. Most people do not have access to such areas, but they can get away from most city lights by going out into the countryside. Or, if viewing from in the city  is someones only choice, they can pick an observing spot that is shaded from nearby lights. That increases the chances of seeing a few more stars.   If our planet was in a region of the galaxy with a lot more stars, chances are stargazers really WOULD see tens of thousands of stars at night. Our section of the Milky Way is, however, less well-populated than the core for example. If our planet could be in the center of the galaxy, or perhaps in a globular cluster, the sky would shimmer with starlight. In fact, in a globular cluster, we might never have dark skies! In the center of the galaxy, we might be stuck in a cloud of gas and dust, or perhaps be subjected to forces from the black hole at its heart. So, in a way, while our location in the outskirts of the Milky Way reveals fewer stars to stargazers, its a safer place to have a planet with dark skies.   Stargazing Among the Visible Stars So, what can be learned from the stars that observers CAN see? For one thing, people often notice that some stars appear white, while others are bluish, or orangey or reddish.   Most, however, appear to be a dull white.  Where does the color come from? The stars surface temperature gives a clue- the hotter they are, the more blue and white they are. The redder they are, the cooler they are. So, a blue-white star is hotter than a yellow or orange star, for example. Red stars are usually fairly cool (as stars go). Its important to remember, however, that a stars color isnt vivid, its more likely very pale or pearlescent. Also, the materials that make up a star (that is, its composition) can make it look red or blue or white or orange. Stars are primarily hydrogen, but they can have other elements in their atmospheres and interiors. For example, some stars that have a lot of the element carbon in their atmospheres look redder than other stars.   Figuring out Brightness of Stars Among those three thousand stars, observers can also notice differences in their brightnesses. A stars brightness is often referred to as its magnitude and thats simply a way to put numbers to the different brightnesses we see among all the stars. What affects that brightness? A couple of factors come into play. A star can look bright or dim depending on far away it is. But, it can also look bright because its very hot. Distance AND temperature play a role in magnitude.   A very hot, bright star that lies very far away from us appears dim to us. If it was closer,   it would be brighter. A cooler, intrinsically dim star might look very bright to us if it was very close by. Most stargazers are interested in something called visual (or apparent) magnitude, which is the brightness it will appear to the eye. Sirius, for example, is -1.46, which means that its quite bright. It is, in fact, the brightest star in our night sky. The Sun is magnitude -26.74 and is THE brightest star in our daytime sky. The dimmest magnitude anyone can detect with the naked eye is around magnitude 6.   The intrinsic magnitude of a star is how bright it is due to its own temperature, regardless of distance. Astronomy researchers are much more interested in this number since it gives some clue about conditions inside the star. But, for backyard stargazers, that figure is less important than visual magnitude.   While our viewing is limited to a few thousand stars (with the naked eye), of course, observers can seek out more distant stars using binoculars and telescopes. With magnification, new populations of stars widen the view for observers who want to explore more of the sky. Edited and expanded by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Critically analyse qualitative research articles Essay

Critically analyse qualitative research articles - Essay Example In terms of organization, first a brief summary of each article is presented. Then the method employed for each research is analyzed before making concluding remarks. The first article under review is by I Lin Sin. The article reports on research in which the author sought to explore the degree to which a group of foreign students from Malaysia studying at a British university hoped to secure lucrative jobs upon completing their studies. The author conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews with ten students. The interviewees believed that holding a prestigious UK degree increased their chances of material success. Participants from minor ethnic groups were especially found to value work in the private sector and the ability to work wherever in the world. The article with the recommendation of further research on how the middle-class seeks to distinguish itself in the global higher education. Carleton Edwards wrote the second article and reports on a qualitative study conducted on the involvement of users of social services in assessing students of Diploma in Social Work on their practice placements. The author undertook a qualitative survey in which they collected the views of practice teachers using semi-structured questionnaires. The survey focused on the chief principles, issues and practical ramifications of involving service users in the assessing DipSW students. The article summarizes the findings of the survey and discusses the main hurdles encountered in the conducting the survey. Edwards then makes some recommendations for DipSW courses in the UK. Sin reports that they used what they call "theoretical sampling" to pick their ten interviewees. According to the author, this method of sampling entails selecting participants depending on their ability to contribute to the development of analyzes, theories and explanations. I find this approach to

Thursday, October 31, 2019

How Do We Forgive Our Fathers (Poem) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How Do We Forgive Our Fathers (Poem) - Essay Example The speaker of the poem is most probably a son, a son who faces the double dilemmas of knowing himself and knowing his father, without losing touch with his own identity. The poem suggests that a father’s masculinity defines his personality, which in turn, shapes his attitudes and behaviors as a husband and a father to his family; in other words, masculinity develops and delimits his destiny, a destiny that is intertwined with his children’s identities. In the first stanza, the poem looks at his father through the haze of the past and the future. The first line states: â€Å"How do we forgive our Fathers?† (Lourie 1). These words ask all children about forgiving their fathers. â€Å"Fathers† is capitalized, which makes it more personal because a son would say â€Å"Father† not â€Å"father.† It is in plural form too, which connotes the universality of having fathers as a shared experience. The first line also evokes the image of a father who must be forgiven. The speaker no longer asks if people need to forgive their fathers, but focuses on the process, the â€Å"how.† Apparently, the speaker does not know the process of forgiving someone as important in his life as a father. The poet continues the thought to the second line, which states: â€Å"Maybe in a dream† (Lourie 2). ... The future may be bleak when children have a hard time forgiving their fathers. The question of forgiveness is perceived with both hesitation and opportunity. The next few lines of the first stanza introduce the greatest faults of fathers in general. The third line continues to the idea of fathers’ deficiencies. It states: â€Å"Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever† (Lourie 3). Instead of answering the question â€Å"how,† the poet refers to the reasons why people have to forgive their fathers. The shift of the content from the â€Å"how† to the â€Å"why† provides a clearer explanation of the context of forgiveness. What have fathers done to be forgiven? The poet answers that fathers sometimes leave their families too much or forever, wherein â€Å"too often† means they always have to go to work, and for their spare time, they drink or spend it with their colleagues and friends. This aspect of fatherhood highlights c lass, race, and gender issues. The working class, especially low-income minority groups, spends their lifetime working to make ends meet. As fathers, the patriarchal society expects them to be the breadwinners, which is a gender issue. As men of the house, they must make money, or else, society questions their masculinity. To leave â€Å"forever,† on the contrary, means that the father has abandoned his family. He has sired a child and left him/her to his/her mother. This kind of fatherhood is criticized, but not as blatantly as mothers who abandon their children. Somehow, a masculine world condones abandoning fathers as an acceptable norm. These reasons for forgiving fathers are important because they undermine the essence of a father. A father who is gone or almost always gone can hardly be a father in

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Lap 5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lap 5 - Assignment Example Jupiter has a diameter of 142,800km while the sun’s diameter is 1,391,400km. Therefore, the ratio of Jupiter’s diameter to diameter of the sun is 238:2319. Moreover, Jupiter (142,800km) is the largest planet while Mercury (4,878km) is the smallest planet thus the ratio of the largest planet to smallest planet in terms of diameter is 23800:813. The planets seem to fall into groups based on size; smaller planets seem to be in a particular group while bigger planets seem to be in a different group such as Mercury, Mars, Venus and Earth are in one group while Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune seem to be in another group. The surface composition of smaller planets in one group is rocky. Conversely, the surface composition of larger planets is gaseous and frozen gas. The two main differences are the surface composition and the size. The bigger planets also consist of rings, bringing out another clear-cut difference. Terrestrial group consists of Mercury, Mars, Venus and Earth while the members of Jovian group are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The difference between the prediction of Bode’s rule and the actual distances is negligible with a range of 0.01-0.02. The planets include Saturn and Neptune. One of the regularities in the planetary orbits discovered by Kepler is moving of planets around the sun in the same direction and the planets having nearly similar orbital planes (Topper

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The spy genre

The spy genre The spy genre is intellectually satisfying for its thrilling blend of espionage, international setting, assassinations, secret agencies, ruthless villains, and fast moving action. The Bourne Trilogy does not disappoint viewers with a predictable plot; rather it reinvents the genre with an appealing protagonist, Jason Bourne who is regarded with sympathy throughout the narrative of the films, despite the suspicions cast over him at times. The pursuit and pursued formula that characterises spy genres is cleverly sustained in the Bourne films. The Bourne Ultimatum has an interesting twist in terms of the expected spy plot, as Bourne is the pursuer. The films psychologically portray the themes of betrayal, corruption, power, and greed in a way that is glamorised, while at the same time highlighting tremendous injustice. The Bourne Ultimatum is renowned for its cleverly arranged film structure in that the story is set in several different time frames. These time frames are the story of Bourne being chased, but also Bournes numerous flashbacks that take place throughout the film; at 415 East 71st Street, where Bourne meets Albert Hirsch, who ran Treadstones psychological conditioning programme many of these occur. Hirsch was the one who broken down Bourne in order to make him trainable as a Treadstone agent. In this scene, there is a particularly spectacular flashback in which Jason is shown, deprived of sleep sitting at a table. Dr Hirsch tells Bourne: â€Å"Really give yourself to this programme. [Treadstone]†. Bourne is then shown holding a gun and quickly fires two bullets at a tied up hostage. Hirsch then tells Bourne that he is no longer David Webb (his real name). This is a turning point in the plot as it shows when Jason Bourne lost his real identity. The films structure is also clever in that the majority of the films events precede those of the Bourne Supremacy, filling in the interim from when he left Moscow and went to New York City. An example is in London where Bourne meets Simon Ross, a journalist and finds out about Blackbriar. He then tries to protect Simons life, as the CIA have picked up on Simons knowledge about Blackbriar from a phone call that he made through ECHELON, a call monitoring service. However, Bourne fails to protect him, as Simon does not follow Bournes instructions. Another example is when he is Tangier with Nicky searching for Neal Daniels, who was involved in Treadstone. However, Daniels is killed by Desh, a Blackbriar operative before they can interrogate him. Other places that feature in the storyline are Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid, Tangier, and New York City. The story from these places takes up about two thirds of the film, after which point the conclusion / resolution to the Bourne trilogy is sh own. Another unique point of the Bourne trilogy, but particularly The Bourne Ultimatum, is that the spy genre is more intellectual, and requires more thinking to unravel the story. When Bourne tells Landy to meet him at Tudor City alone, Landy goes, followed by Vosen and his team. Bourne phones Vosen: â€Å"Where are you now?† and Vosen replies â€Å"Im sitting in my office.† Bourne then says that he doubts that as if he were in his office, they would be talking face to face. Bourne then hangs up and opens Vosens safe ingeniously, using a recording of Vosens voice. This scene is fast-paced and set in low light, common in spy-genre films. As Bourne hangs up, fast-paced music, non-diegetic sound starts and the viewer immediately knows that a chase scene will follow. By the third instalment, scenes like this such one are the audiences expectations, as the spy-genre becomes increasingly more intellectual and involves increasingly more advanced technology with each instalment in the trilogy. The Bourne Ultimatum has been described as â€Å"an oasis in a sea of contrived, overreaching action films† which shows that it is appreciated for its impressive new take on the spy genre. The structure of each film in the series, in detail follows a common pattern with an opening scene of intrigue, followed by a mission that Bourne undertakes to answer questions and concludes with some form of resolve. In the Bourne Identity, Bourne is found lying in the ocean and is rescued by some Italian fishermen, and cannot remember who he is. He discovers that he can speak several different languages and has a wide range of skills that he can use, as when he ties a knot in a rope on the Italian mens fishing boat, without thinking. It is later revealed that he has these skills due to his partaking in a programme called â€Å"Operation Treadstone†. In Operation Treadstone, the agents would be broken down and then trained to do what was required of them, as in Bournes case usually assassinations. Later in the film, he regains pieces of his memory through stimuli, like when Conklin says: â€Å"For Christs sake, youre the one who picked the yacht as a goddamn strike point!† He then has a flashback and remembers the attempted assassination where he was supposed to kill Nykwana Wombosi, an African dictator. At the end of the Bourne Identity, he goes to a scooter rental shop in Greece where Marie is working. The camera zooms in to a medium close up shot in order to show Marie Jasons reactions other after last seeing each other at Eamons house in the French countryside. Non-diegetic sound, namely the theme music (Extreme Ways by Moby) starts to play signifying the end of the film and that they are reunited. This non-diegetic sound In the Bourne Supremacy, Bourne and Marie are together in India and Bourne does not wish to work for the CIA and wants to be independent, as cited in the Bourne Identity, when Bourne tells Conklin: â€Å"Youre gonna go tell them [the CIA] that Jason Bourne is dead†. This is said in a commanding way and highlights Jasons desire to be free from his pursuers. Marie is later killed by a Russian assassin, who was targeting Bourne. Bourne travels to Italy to find out why he is again being pursued. Bourne is pursued by the CIA for the murders of two men, of which he is framed by Ward Abbott who has his fingerprint planted. Bourne later interrogates Nicky Parsons, a CIA agent who was involved in the logistics arm of Treadstone, and discovers that Conklin was not the head of Treadstone, rather it was Abbott. Bourne goes after Abbott and records a conversation with him, and holds a gun to his head, Abbott in response saying: â€Å"Go ahead, go on. Go on! Do it! Do it!† at which p oint Bourne replies â€Å"She [Marie] wouldnt want me to†. This shows Jasons love for Marie, even after her death. After this Bourne goes to Moscow, where he is pursued in a car chase by Kirill, a Russian Blackbriar operative. Bourne eventually kills Kirill by forcing his car to crash into a concrete divider in a tunnel. He then goes to see Irena, the daughter of Vladimir Neski, the Russian politician that he killed. He tells her that he was responsible for their deaths and on leaving, says â€Å"Im sorry.† The viewer is sympathetical toward Bourne in this scene, because they know that Bourne was trained as a Treadstone operative and thought at the time that he was doing the right thing. At the end of the film, Pamela Landy is speaking on the phone to Bourne and says: â€Å"Why dont you come in and well talk about it.† Bourne replies â€Å"Get some rest, Pam. You look tired.† At this point Landy looks out of the window trying to pinpoint where Bourne is. Bourne is then shown walking through New York City. The way this sequence is filmed is interesting, as in the Bourne Supremacy, Landy is shown speaking, however Bourne is also shown speaking, allowing the viewer to see his reactions to the phone call. In the Bourne Ultimatum, this is shown once again, but with different camera angles. Bourne and Landy are shown speaking on the phone, but there is a flashback during the phone call, which is evoked by Landy telling Bourne his real name, David Webb and his date of birth. During the conversation, Noah Vosen and a group of CIA agents are listening in on the conversation and attempting to trace the phone call. As Bourne tells Landy that she â€Å"looks tired † the agents and Vosen realises that Jason is very close. In the Bourne Ultimatum, before the events that lead up to the phone call mentioned, Bourne is a fugitive in Moscow. He manages to evade the Moscow police long enough to treat his wounds in a pharmacy. He is confronted by an officer, whom he renders unconscious. He holds another officer at gunpoint. The officer asks Bourne not to kill him, and Bourne replies in Russian, â€Å"My argument is not with you.† This is typical of spy-genre films, as most spies featured in the genre will only kill people who they have to, or who are directed to kill. There is a role-reversal in this Bourne movie, as Bourne is the pursuer. Bourne is then shown in Paris, where he meets with Maries stepbrother to inform him of her death. Bourne searches for the individuals who trained him in Operation Treadstone throughout the film, through many sources; namely Nicky Parsons, Treadstones former logistics and mental health manager and who is suggested to have had a romantic relationship with Bourne befor e the Wombosi incident. He discovers that Neal Daniels was one of his trainers. Daniels is killed in Tangier by Desh, a Blackbriar operative who then goes after Nicky under CIA instructions. Bourne kills him and sends Nicky away on a bus for her safety. Bourne then searches through a burnt briefcase that belonged to Neal Daniels and discovers the charred remains of a CIA document, with the CIA New York substations address on it. Bourne then enters another building and spies on Pamela Landy and Noah Vosen in the CIA building. Bourne notices that Vosen has some documents on Blackbriar in a safe in his office. He then calls Pamela Landy: â€Å"I hear youre still looking for me. What do you want?† Landy: â€Å"I wanted to thank you for the tape. Its all tied off. Its over.† Landy then tells Bourne that his real name is David Webb and his birthday is 4/15/71 (US date format). This is the same scene as at the end of the Bourne Supremacy. After telling Pamela, that â€Å"she looks tired†, a chase ensues after Bourne sends Landy a text message telling her to meet him at Tudor City. It is later found out that Bournes birthday is actually 13/9/70. The CIA immediately picks up on this and discovers that it is a code to the former Treadstone training facility. Here he meets Albert Hirsch, one of the men who trained him as a Treadstone agent. Bourne points a gun at his head, but does not kill him as he says that Hirsch doesnt deserve â€Å"the star that they give you at Langley†, a reference to stars on the wall in the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia that are a memorial to agents killed in action. At the end of the film, Bourne is shown on the run from the CIA. A Blackbriar operative then points a gun at him, but after hearing Bournes speech: â€Å"Do you even know why youre supposed to kill me? Look at us. Look at what they make you give†, the agent spares Bournes life and Bourne is shown running toward the edge of the rooftop. However as he jumps off headed into a river, Noah Vosen shoots at him. He falls into the water, the viewer neither knowing if he survived or was killed and his body is shown not moving in the water with eerie downbeat music starting to play. The focus then switches to Pamela Landy giving a speech to US senators. She tells them of the Blackbriar programme, saying: â€Å"The file indicates that Ezra Kramer [Director of the CIA] authorised six illegal†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the focus then switching to a reporters voice on a television, with Nicky watching. The reporter says that there is â€Å"a growing scandal† over â€Å"an alleged government ass assination programme code-named Blackbriar†. It goes on to say that, Ezra Kramer is under criminal investigation, Landy obviously having managed to have him prosecuted. The reporter then says that Hirsch and Vosen have been arrested and â€Å"Meanwhile, mystery surrounds the fate of David Webb, also known as Jason Bourne, the source behind the exposure of the Blackbriar programme†. It says that Bourne was reported to have been shot and fallen from â€Å"a Manhattan rooftop into the East River ten storeys below.† Finally, the reporter announces that even after a three-day search, â€Å"[Bournes] body has yet to be found.† Nicky smiles at this, realising that Jason must still be alive. The theme music (Extreme Ways by Moby) then starts to play, and Bourne is then shown swimming away down the river. This leaves a hint that possibly the series is not over, and that there is room for a sequel. In many films of the spy-genre, there is a hint that the series will carry on, and the Bourne Ultimatum is no exception. The language used in the three films is cryptic and there are many codenames used. Operation Blackbriar is a more advanced version of Operation Treadstone that allows the CIA in the Bourne Ultimatum to use lethal action if required, without consent. It is referred to frequently throughout the film, including when Simon Ross, the journalist who has been informed of Blackbriar, is hunted down; his source later turns out to Neal Daniels. The way that the characters speak also plays a major part in the film. Their way of speaking in emotionally detached, but not business-like, as they do not always explain all clearly to the audience. Usually this is rectified later in the films. The main people who speak in this way are the CIA, namely Pamela Landy, Abbott, Conklin, Kramer and Noah Vosen, amongst others. They speak in this way so as to create a theme of mystery and intrigue, which leaves the viewer curious, wanting to see more of the film. One scene of intrigue is when Bourne is with Simon Ross in Waterloo Station Concourse. Bourne has read one of his news stories about Jason Bourne and goes to meet him. Meanwhile, the CIA has picked up on a keyword that Ross said on a phone call through ECHELON. He becomes hunted by a number of the CIAs Blackbriar operatives. Bourne meets Ross near a newsagents in Waterloo Station. The lighting is low, and there is a lot of diegetic sound; passengers talking and announcements in the train station. Bourne asks Ross: â€Å"Whos your source? Whats his name? Whats your sources name?† Ross asks Bourne: â€Å"Look, whats going on? Why are these people after me? Bourne replies that the reason is because Ross found something and spoke to someone involved with Treadstone. Bourne asks again, who the source is and Ross replies â€Å"You know I cant tell you that.† Bourne tells him that he underestimates the CIA, and that they will kill him if needs be. Ross asks him if they are af ter him because of Blackbriar. Bourne discovers that it is a â€Å"Treadstone upgrade† as described by Ross. Bourne then sees one of the Blackbriar operatives; the first time that he realises what operation they are working for and tells Ross that they have to move. Fast-paced action music starts to play, indicative of the start of an important action sequence. The mise-en-scene at this point is a terminal swarming with passengers. This makes the scene slightly harder for the viewer to follow, and makes them pay more attention. Bourne tells Ross to answer his phone and Bourne continues giving him instructions via his phone. As Bourne is walking at a distance behind Ross, he notices numerous CIA operatives and tells Ross to tie his shoelace. The agents walk past and Ross unnoticed is told by Jason to walk along the far wall. Ross does this but sees a man with a waste trolley and believes him to be one of the operatives. He thinks that the man is reaching for a gun and runs thr ough the crowd away from him. Meanwhile, in New York, Vosen and his team are watching the CCTV cameras in the station and see Ross running through the crowds. The operatives are given the location of Ross and once again try to catch him. The lighting during this scene is bright/daylight, which means that the operatives, Bourne and Ross must be careful of their actions. One of the operatives them follows Ross and Bourne tells Ross to move into a shop, while Bourne knocks the asset unconscious. Bourne then tells Ross to go into the back of the store and locks the door. Ross does, but as he does this, two operatives see him and try to open the door unsuccessfully. They are seen walking out of the store by Bourne and he follows them, as they try to find another way into the back of the store. One aims to shoot Ross, but as he does so is rendered unconscious by Bourne. The music is fast paced at this point and in the back of the store, the light is artificial and bright. Numerous other o peratives then enter the room and Bourne manages to knock them all out. Diegetic sound is in the form of grunts from the men as Bourne does so. The mise-en-scene is bare, albeit with bodies strewn over the floor. Bourne realises that there is a camera in the room and that he and Ross have now been seen. Vosen in New York sees these images and believes Jason to be Ross source; that Ross is in league with him. There is a tense atmosphere in the CIA room, with computers and high-tech gear everywhere. Vosen is watching the station through CCTV on three large screens. He orders for all the exits of the station to be blocked and for Bourne and Ross to both be assassinated. While this happens, a Blackbriar operative has climbed a stairwell and is now stationed behind a revolving billboard. Bourne and Ross are now in a small room and are watching through a small window in the door for any operatives. Jason confronts Ross and tells him that he is going to get them out of there, but that Ross has to do exactly what he says. He confronts Ross, who is panicking and tells him â€Å"this isnt some story in a newspaper. (A reference to him being a journalist) This is real. You understand me?† Ross replies â€Å"OK† and Bourne exits the room, on the lookout for any operatives. The Blackbriar operative is seen behind the billboard, in a dark dingy environment, readying a sniper rifle. Vosen is then shown in the CIA substation again and tells his team: â€Å"Call all agents back. Give Bournes location at the back of the store to the asset. The asset then receives a message showing Bourne and Ross identities. Vosen orders the cameras to be â€Å"killed†, specifically not pointed at the concourse where the sniper would presumably be firing. Bourne is still communicating with Ross by phone. Bourne tells him that he feels that â€Å"something isnt right† (an excellent perception by Bourne, which shows that he has been trained as an expert). Ross says to Bourne via phone: â€Å"I can see the entrance from here. If I go now I can make it. Bourne tells Ross to remain. Ross then tells Bourne that he does not think they should wait and, panicking again says he thinks, â€Å"Someones coming†. Bourne meanwhile has seen something move when the billboard revolves. Ross then says, â€Å"Im going for it.† Bourne, desperate shouts at Ross â€Å"No, no, no, no, no!† but Ross does not listen and tries to run quickly out of the room. The sniper then quickly shoots Ross in the head from behind the billboard. There is diegetic sound commotion is this part, people screaming and police officers whistles. Bourne manages to take Simons notes from his pockets and slip away unnoticed. Meanwhile, the sniper searches for Bourne in the crowd, but sees him coming closer, and realising that Bourne knows where he is, quickly starts to escape. A chase between Bourne and the sniper, with Bourne as the pursuer quickly ensues. Bourne spots t he sniper and runs after him, chasing him down a dingy stairwell and a London Underground station. The camera movement in this scene is shaky and handheld, and adds to the excitement factor that the music already brings. The sniper manages to slip onto a train and the doors shut just as Bourne reaches it. Bourne then comes face to face with his enemy as the train leaves, a moment of extreme tension. The focus then cuts to Vosen. Another interesting scene is the scene in which Bourne and Nicky enter Tangier via ferry. As they enter the ferry terminal there is a lot of diegetic from passengers and low, action music with a quickening beat. The focus then switches to Desh, a Blackbriar operative. He leaves Tangier airport, where diegetic sound can be heard, aeroplanes taking off and landing and airport announcements. He is shown entering a taxi. The focus switches to Vosen quickly, a man saying, â€Å"Asset has arrived at the airport†. The use of the word asset shows the CIAs ruthlessness; if an asset is killed, another one can be used. Bourne and Nicky are shown walking down a busy street, full of civilians. They are shown entering a hotel room and Nicky sets up a laptop. In the meantime, Neal Daniels is shown hurriedly leaving a taxi. Vosen is shown in the dark CIA substation in New York and says: â€Å"Give the asset subject [Daniels] location and the route between the subjects hotel and the bank.â₠¬  Desh is shown in a taxi receiving this information. Nicky logs in securely to the CIA on her laptop. Desh is then shown entering a dark gloomy garage, where a motorbike is parked. All the time these events happen, anticipative music is playing in the background. Nicky then searches on the CIAs service for Daniels location, but is blocked by the firewall. She tells Bourne â€Å"Theyll get one of the operatives to terminate him.† Again, this highlights the CIAs ruthless nature. Bourne tells her to â€Å"find out who.† They discover that it is Desh. They plan to follow him in order to find the location of Daniels. Desh is shown preparing for the assassination when Nicky sends him a message, telling him to meet her at a local cafà ©. He then closes the phone, and a remote-detonating bomb is shown. He then sets off through Tangier by motorbike. An aerial image of Tangier is shown, as in many spy films there is an international setting and this interests the viewers fur ther to see the skyline of the city, which sets the scene. Vosen and his team are shown in New York again, and a woman tells Vosen: â€Å"Sir, the asset is deviating off course.† Vosen responds by saying not to take any action. The deviation is of course due to Nicky telling Desh to meet her at a cafà ©, specifically â€Å"Cafà © de Paris†. A congested street is then shown with diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound, the diegetic being the honks of car horns and the non-diegetic sound being the tense music building up to scene of climax, of which there are numerous in this film. Bourne is shown behind a tree watching Desh go past on moped, while Nicky is sat at a table in Cafà © de Paris. Desh stops and gets off the moped, while Bourne watches, unnoticed and Vosen and his team see Deshs â€Å"unscheduled stop† on a digital map. Desh picks up the phone that Nicky has left on the table for him, and Bourne then follows him, ingeniously grabbing keys for a moped f rom someones hand without their knowing; another indication of Bournes intensive training. Bourne is then shown starting the moped, ready to follow. Vosens team are shown and tell him â€Å"Subject is on the move, en route to subject. [Daniels]† Wills, part of Vosens team then tells him that there has been a breach of the CIA protocol. They discover that instructions were sent to Desh, and then discover that they were sent from Nicky Parsons computer. Vosen asks where the deviation occurred, and when he is satisfied tells a member of the team: â€Å"When were finished with Daniels, send the asset after her† (to assassinate her). Pamela Landy asks what he is doing, and he refuses to answer. She asks him on what basis he is continuing the operation on, and he responds that on the basis that Nicky has â€Å"compromised a covert operation†. Landy responds by saying that the operation is about the assassination of Daniels, not of Nicky. Vosen believes that she has be trayed them, whereas Landy believes that these could be exceptional circumstances; she could have been pressured into sending the message by Bourne. The conversation intensifies and Vosen says that she is in league with Jason Bourne; he believes that this is sufficient evidence to kill her. Landy shouts at him: â€Å"You do not have the authority to kill her!† â€Å"Oh yes I do.† Responds Vosen, â€Å"And you had better get on board.† Landy argues, saying that Nicky is a member of the CIA, and that: â€Å"You start down this path, when does it end?† Here Landy is saying that once he kills one member of the CIA, how many more will he kill? Vosen defends by saying that â€Å"It ends when weve won.† Here the intense argument ends, but Landy stares at Noah grudgingly, and there is a huge sense of tension in the air. Desh receives a message from the CIA, telling him to kill Nicky and Bourne after he kills Daniels. Desh looks in the motorbikes side-view mirror and sees Bourne, realising that he is following him. Vosen tells the bank in Tangier to release the funds. This is used as bait for Daniels to leave the hotel. He receives a phone call telling him this and leaves the building, while Desh continues on the moped. He stops and parks the moped, and Bourne does the same, albeit a distance away, as Bourne believes that Desh has not noticed him. Daniels is shown driving not far away. Desh drops a backpack near a car and as he sees Daniels come down the road, stands in the middle of the road telling him not to come further, when Bourne realises that Desh has tricked him, and the bomb is located on a moped parked directly next to Daniels car. Bourne tries to warn Daniels, but fails as Desh detonates the bomb, destroying his car and ultimately killing Daniels. Bourne, who is very close to the bombs impact, is knocked to the ground, and Desh seeing this believes that Bourne is dead and goes after Nicky. The success of the Bourne trilogy is in the fact that it reinvents the spy genre, by including increasingly more intellectual elements and being unique from other spy films because of this. Jason Bourne, the protagonist of the series has a strong appeal to the viewer throughout the series, despite the viewer knowing that he is an assassin and has killed many people ruthlessly before. Thus, throughout the series at no point does the viewer lack sympathy for Bourne, as they realise that his actions are dictated by desperation and the need for survival of him and those close to him, Marie for example. The themes in the film are of a serious tone, such as the idea of the CIA sending countless people after Bourne and those close to him, for him and those people mentioned to be assassinated. In the films however, particularly The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, there exist a number of less serious themes, such as Bournes affection and love toward Marie in The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, and his innocence throughout the series, particularly in the first film, when he cannot remember who he is. Overall, the series is pleasing for the viewer as it presents a unique take on the spy genre, with a more serious tone, yet still managing to mix less serious themes with these.