Thursday, March 26, 2020

Trailers Harry Potter and Mission Impossible 2 Essay Example

Trailers Harry Potter and Mission Impossible 2 Paper The use of a trailer to advertise films has developed in the last ten years into an art almost separate from that of making the film itself. As seen last summer when Star Wars Fever was at its height, the release of certain eagerly awaited trailers has become almost as hyped as the release of the film itself. More and more attention is paid towards the making of trailers and teaser trailers, because of the huge role they play in boosting the profits of the film. They have become longer, they give away more of the plot lines than ever before and in some cases specialist directors have been called in to make them.Both of these trailers are teaser trailers. This means that they are released quite some time before the film, in the case of Harry Potter, nine months before the film is due to be released. They contain less information about plots than normal trailers, merely introducing the viewer to the genre and possibly some of the major selling points, although some teasers may be quite minimal. Their basic aim is to get across the information, what film and when its coming out, not to provide detailed information about the film.Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone is a film that has been eagerly anticipated for months. The series of books has been hugely popular and the making of the film has been under the public eye ever since the boy to play Harry was chosen. The audience and therefore profit for this film was more or less guaranteed, so giving away plot-lines or establishing genre is less important for this film than it is for Mission: Impossible 2. The trailer therefore concentrates more on showing off other selling points, such as famous actors and special effects.MI 2 although the sequel to a highly successful film cannot rely on instant audiences on sheer hype. It therefore needs to give away much more of the plot and action than the Harry Potter trailer. Mission: Impossible has one major selling point, Tom Cruise. He is an unique selling point in his own right, attracting large crowds into the cinema. This is shown in the way that he is the focus in almost every shot throughout the trailer. He is not introduced until about twenty seconds into the trailer, when the camera quickly zooms into a shot of his face covering the whole screen. He is dangling from a cliff face with one hand, but he doesnt panic like a normal person, he takes one deep breath and gives the camera an Im cool and in control look. With this one shot we are introduced into one of the major themes running through the trailer (and film), Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) gets into many dangerous situations but remains cool.Almost all film trailers and films start with a shot of the logo of the film company, in these cases Paramount and Warner Bros. Both of these trailers do this however they take this standard a step further and incorporate the logos into the rest of the trailer. The Paramount logo is of a mountain surrounded by stars, and the word Paramount. This logo is man ipulated by taking it into three dimensions with a helicopter shot panning round the outside of the mountain. This instantly introduces us to rocky mountainous landscapes, making the transition into the first shot of the film, a long helicopter shot, speeding across a barren, rocky desert, seem much more natural. In Harry Potter, the logo is shown, as the non-diagenic words, Theres no such thing as magic! are heard, swiftly followed by the hoot of an owl. Suddenly the logo shakes and owls come flying out of the gold lettering, changing the blue background into a sky-scape. In these first ten seconds, the genre of the film is immediately established.Establishing the genre of the film is a very important part of film trailers. Some trailers, like MI 2 prefer to leave this until later, drawing as much of the audience into the film as impartially as possible. If Mission: Impossible 2, Action Movie, Violence, Gadgets, Girls! was splashed across the screen with the first shot of the trail er, it would discourage a large amount of the viewers from going to see the film. By leaving these statements until later in the film, they hope to increase the range of their target audience. Harry Potter however, establishes its genre almost immediately with the opening words, Theres no such thing as magic! Harry Potter is a household name across the country and so concealing the story line and genre for as long as the MI 2 trailer would be nearly impossible. Instead they grab the viewers attention immediately with the booming slam of a door and loudly spoken words. The trailer then continues at this breakneck speed right up until the last shot.The two trailers are shot in very different styles; MI 2 is shot and cut, using the very distinctive style of John Woo. Woo is well known for his martial arts and action films and uses many camera tricks, shown in this trailer. These unconventional styles give the film a cooler status than Harry Potter which more or less uses the same stand ard style all the way through. Woo is particularly known for his habit of altering the speed of shots, slowing down the frame speed, often during fight scenes. This emphasises the skill and brutality of the fights and allows the viewer to take in more detail, especially facial expressions. This is used principally with Tom Cruise; in the first fight scene we see him execute a spinning kick in slow motion. This allows us to see the anger and concentration on Cruises face and also puts more emphasis on the fluidity of the movement the swinging of Cruises hair following his movement catches the eye.Up until halfway through the MI 2 trailer, there are almost no fast action scenes at all. It is filmed with long, sweeping, panoramic shots, some more than 5 seconds in length. Fades are used instead of straight cuts to add continuity and mise en scene shots are used to show the size and scope of the landscape. And then, louder music cuts in, an explosion rips across the screen as his glass es self-destruct and the action begins. A series of short one or two second cuts begins, showing action from the film. These includes fight scenes, car chases and sex scenes. Many special effects and stunts are shown, with a variety of different camera effects. Frame speed is altered and colour filters are used. Several shots are shown in black and white, this has many effects. It adds contrast and definition to the shot, removing the distraction of colour; it adds dramatic impact to the shot as these black and white shots are in contrast to the rest of the trailer which is shown in colour; it also adds verisimilitude, especially for the younger generation. Black and white has connotations with the truth; CCTV footage is shown in black and white, and television documentaries often contain black and white footage. The flames from the original explosion, licking across the screen link all of these action shots. Adding a sense of violence and danger to the shots, as they are all tinted with red. It also seems to add continuity across otherwise disjointed shots.A similar linking effect is used in the first part of the Harry Potter trailer. After the original flurry of owls covering the screen, a steam train is seen travelling through a valley. It then moves into another shot but as it fades into the next the same train is seen from a different angle. This continues until, finally, we see the train stopped at a station. Fade cuts are almost always used between shots, which gives the trailer an overall feeling of wholeness. It also gives the one time a straight cut is used great dramatic effect, as it appears very sudden. There are also far fewer close-up shots in this trailer; this gives the trailer a feeling of space. This could also be to do with the fact that the actor who plays Harry Potter is not a major star, and the film is more to do with the story or the relationships between the different characters than one major star, like Tom Cruise in MI 2The target a udience of Mission: Impossible 2 is very much teenagers and young adults. The film appeals to their sense of what is cool and what isnt. Tom Cruise wears cool clothes, drives fast cars, and attracts beautiful women. He has a very relaxed attitude towards danger shown when at the end of the trailer he says with a smile, Youve gotta be kidding. This gives him a status among the viewers and makes it a film worth seeing. He is set up as a role model and everything that a young man should want to be like. Harry Potter on the other hand is mainly targeted at pre-adolescent children. This audience is attracted by the fantastic world of wizardry and by the magical special effects shown. Much time is spent showing children flying on broomsticks for example and the soundtrack has many sound effects such as rolling thunder and hooting owls, associated with magic.Both films are linked with a non-diagenic voiceover that speaks a well-known phrase. In MI 2 the almost legendary words, This is your mission should you choose to accept it are spoken by the well-known voice of Sir Anthony Hopkins. This voice continues until the action sequence begins and then again at the end the words, This message will self-destruct in five seconds are heard. These phrases are intertextualities with the television series, in which every episode began with a similar dialogue. Interestingly in both trailers the voiceovers are letters to the main character of the film. In Harry Potter, the equally famous voice of Sir Richard Attenborough, reads the letter telling Harry, You have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This letter will be extremely familiar to children who have read the book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and they will link this trailer, in with the book by intertextuality. People new to Harry Potter will also find their interest evoked by this simple introduction to the story.The soundtrack to the Harry Potter trailer is an especially composed, orch estral piece that links directly in with the action going on during the trailer. For example, we see Harry, Hermione and Ron screaming, but instead of hearing a scream we hear the music reach a climax at exactly the same moment. The music is quiet and tuneful during calm scenes and when there is a frightening or dangerous scene it is loud and threatening.In MI 2 the music is another intertextuality with the television series, from which the main theme for the music was taken. The soundtrack was commissioned to a cool rock band (again adding status to the film among younger people) but still revolved around the same basic theme. The music doesnt fit around the action going on in the trailer, apart from when the loud guitar theme begins simultaneously with the action sequence. Also it pauses to let Cruise say the only diagenic line at the end. Less care was probably taken with the soundtrack in this trailer, as it would probably be reused during the actual film. This is impossible for a tailor-made soundtrack such as is used in Harry Potter.These teaser trailers are much shorter than a normal trailer would be, and instead of immersing us in plot lines, intend to expose us to high-paced special effects and action, instantly grabbing our attention. However short and uninformative they may be, they are still glimpses of what is to come and so command huge amounts of excitement among dedicated fans.

Friday, March 6, 2020

20 Deductive Essay Topics Hooking Ideas about Emma Larkin’s Finding George Orwell in Burma

20 Deductive Essay Topics Hooking Ideas about Emma Larkin’s Finding George Orwell in Burma If you are looking for viable deductive essay topics about the book â€Å"Finding George Orwell in Burma† then consider the twenty items below: The Many Tools Used by the Burmese Government to Control Their People The Most Important Tool Being That of Fear How the Military Intelligence Functions as One of the Tools Used by the Government How Local People Worked as Informers for Military Intelligence Spies How Burmese Government Controlled History by Changing Names and Buildings How Fear of Imprisonment or Torture Kept People from Considering Uprisings How British Names Were Removed And Physical Location Names Changed after 1988 Uprising How People Who Were Murdered by the Government Were Immediately Disposed of and The Blood on The Streets Was Washed Away How the Government Could Alleviate Risk of Any Future Generations Being Motivated by the Uprisings or Actions of Others How the Government Had Sensors in Magazines, Books, Music, and Movies through the Propaganda Branch How the Propaganda Branch Produced Pre-Approved Content for Magazines and Newspapers as Well as Educational Products for Schools How Free Thought Was Stifled through Limiting What People Could Read or Think How Foreign Journalists and Writers Were Not Allowed into the Country and People with Cameras or Notepads Would Be Searched by the Police How the Government Can Delete Anything Found on Cameras Brought into the Country And Sentence Anyone Who Helps Journalists to Death How the Emergency Provisions Act of 1950 Allowed Government to Sentence Citizens to Seven Years in Prison for Providing Information to Journalists Panopticon: a Term from George Orwells Writing Which Is at the Center of This Form of Surveillance How Words from George Orwell Like â€Å"Room 101† And â€Å"Newspeak† Are Represented in This Book How Methods of Surveillance in This Book Are Used Today in a Country Of Your Choosing How George Orwell’s Predictions Have Come to Pass by Way of Fear and Control over Communication How the Country Has Changed With Recent Elections Below you will find an example essay on one of these topics to give you a better idea: Sample Deductive Essay on the Methods of Surveillance In many ways modern governments functions similarly to this. Throughout Middle Eastern countries and even Western countries, the media is controlled by a select few. While the Internet allegedly provides free reign for mass communication and freedom of speech, individuals who speak out against other nations are still deemed a terrorist threat and can have some of their freedoms revoked. Governments will continually survey those they believe to be a threat. This is not something which happens just on the Internet but something which still happens in real time today. Foreigners who may be on a watch list could be permitted in another country but will be monitored the entire time they are there. The NSA was just recently revealed to use surveillance techniques which are illegal on all citizens, national or international. The exploits of the agency revealed that cellphone conversations as well as email correspondence, and Internet activity were surveyed and collected. This is a form of c omplete and comprehensive surveillance of the world. Of course this happens on local levels too, inside companies of all shapes and sizes. Employees of any organization are subject to continual monitoring of their email activity and phone records. In many cases email activity is logged as well as Internet searches and certain websites not permitted during work hours. While in these cases the changes are made to promote productivity and avoid wasting time in the workplace, the methods used are similar to countries which seek total control over the constituents. This is something which even permeates news. News agencies today in many Western countries are only able to remain profitable thanks to advertisements. Advertisements for particular products and/or services directly influence what information is recorded and what information is not. Individuals who might find a viable new story may not be allowed to promote that new story because it reflects poorly on a shareholder or on a subsidiary company of that shareholder. The same thing is true for politicians. Many politicians today are only able to maintain their seat in politics thanks to the donations of powerful and wealthy individuals who then dictate which laws can be passed and which laws cannot. Throughout the world, the media is controlled by a select few, access to internet sites is restricted in countries such as China. In China, even looking at activist sites or working to help Tibet is a punishable offense. Having the wrong books, teaching or talking about threats to the government, and helping a foreigner are all punishable in North Korea. All around the world Governments will continually survey those they believe to be a threat. The national surveillance agency was recently revealed to a completed surveillance on not only international citizens but American citizens. This revelation exposed that all cellphone conversations had been monitored as well as email correspondence and other types of Internet activity. Such complete and total monitoring would constitute that same idea of comprehensive surveillance. This is something which is even done at a much smaller level. Employees of any organization are subject to continual monitoring of their email activity and phone re cords. All of this information from these assigned readings really reflects on how well the Asian communities were controlled during terrible regimes. What is perhaps most disturbing is how long such things have been going on and what little has been done. Some of the most prominent displays of human rights violations have been going on with very little done about it for multiple reasons. The first seems to be reflected the control itself. With complete control over media both in the country and internationally, countries are able to maintain either a specific view of the functions of the country, or no view at all. When there is no view or no changes to the existing view, it makes it easy for citizens to ignore that country and even forget about the plight facing its citizens. By controlling what information reaches the citizens, the government can even make sure the people do not realize what they are missing, and fail to realize how things might be better for them. What these readings re ally bring forth for me though, is how prevalent some of those things are in modern society, and we don’t realize it. Today people use the internet, talk on cell phones, and accept that their actions are all monitored without even thinking twice. People don’t realize just how many of their freedoms they are giving up. References: Cady, John F.  A history of modern Burma. 1960. Davison, Peter, Hoepffner Prà ©face de Marie Hermann, and Jean-Jacques Rosat.  George Orwell. Palgrave Macmillan, 1996. Harvey, Godfrey Eric.  History of Burma. Asian Educational Services, 2000. Kyi, Aung San Suu. II. Freedom, Development, and Human Worth.  Journal of Democracy  6.2 (1995): 11-19. Larkin, Emma.  Finding George Orwell in Burma. Granta Books, 2011. Orwell, George.  Burmese days. Vol. 2. Random House, 1999. Smith, Martin John.  Burma: Insurgency and the politics of ethnicity. Zed Books, 1991.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

The Impeachment Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Impeachment Process - Essay Example Impeachment is a process intended to expose and correct political crimes (Gerhardt). Formally, impeachment can be defined as the â€Å"Constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may accuse of misconduct high officers of the Federal Government for trial in the Senate† (Lectic Law Library). It is an exclusive congressional power, which is neither subordinate to judicial review nor it can be subjected to presidential veto. Whether the officer is forced to leave office or not depends upon the conviction of the Senate. SUMMARIZED AMERICAN IMPEACHMENT HISTORY: Article I, Sections 2 and 3 ensure the right of the House to impeach public officials, the President and the Vice President. The House of Representatives have instigated above 50 impeachment resolutions since 1789. Of these, the Senate received only 15 cases and from these 15 cases, only one involved a President. Two of the cases were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, six ended in acquittal and seven in con viction (Kingsley). The most famous impeachments of the US history have been of: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and William J. Clinton. Johnson was impeached in 1868 for defying the Tenure of Office Act but he was acquitted May 1868 by being one vote short of the two-thirds required Senate majority. This acquittal taught a lesson to the Congressmen that impeachment could not be used as a tool for settling policy differences with executives. Richard Nixon was impeached in 1974 on the basis of three articles of impeachment, involving bribery, treason, perjury and other executive power abuses. As conviction became inevitable for his high crime charges, to avoid the dishonor of trial, Nixon resigned from his post in August 1974. Clinton was impeached in 1998 for having improper relationship and issues of character. He was, however, acquitted by the Senate in 1999, because it could not gather sufficient votes for conviction. His impeachment was more recognized as political warfare rather than actual basis for impeachment. This precedent could be used by future House members to analyze critically the consequences of impeaching a President with substantial public support. THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS: The impeachment process is a two step process: 1. The Impeachment Power: The House of Representatives: The impeachment process is initiated when a member of the House under oath declares a charge of impeachment against the president or any other civil officer. It is on the disposition of the House of Judiciary Committee whether or not to go forward with the impeachment based on the investigation and the charges filed. The resolution passed by the Judiciary Committee authorizes whether grounds exist for the investigation to proceed or not. A thorough investigation takes place before entertaining any votes whether the accusations hold any reality or not. If evidence of some kind of treason exists, by majority vote â€Å"a resolution impeaching the individual in question and se tting forth specific allegations of misconduct, in one or more articles of impeachment, will be reported to the full House† (Halstead). The House thereafter votes for each article of the resolution, and on the basis of

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Cultures in Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cultures in Conflict - Essay Example In the nineteenth century the Jews, like the Christians and the Muslims, went through a phase of conflict -- the struggle between reformers and conservatives. Among the Muslims, the Greeks, and the Armenians, the reformers won. Among the Jews, they lost. For this the Jews paid a price. Compared with their Christian neighbors they fell steadily behind. The Jews had cast their lot, not surprisingly, with the reactionary forces among the Turks. The destruction in 1826 of the Janissary Corps, the old military order, with which the Jews had important links, was a heavy blow. The rise of Russia and the growth of Russian influence were also not very helpful to Jews in the Ottoman Empire. Later in the century there was a certain upswing in the entrept trade of Salonica with its ties to the West, but despite improved education, which was fostered most notably by the Alliance Isralite Universelle, the effort came too late. They were caught in the circumstances which led to the end of the Ottoman Empire and the transformation of the entire region. Language has barely been mentioned in this discussion of the major communities of the Ottoman Empire. ... However, the language of ritual was not necessarily the language of the street or the home. While the hierarchy of the Greek Or thodox church was both ethnically and linguistically Greek, the parish clergy and flock was a polyglot mass speaking almost as many languages as were spoken in the empire itself. In the Balkans there were speakers of Slavic and, in the case of Rumanian, a Romance language. To the south of Anatolia there were Arabic-speakers. In Anatolia itself, according to observers during the nineteenth century, the majority of the communicants of the church did not know Greek at all, as their native language was Turkish or Armenian. In Anatolia the Greek Orthodox who were literate wrote in Greek script, but the language many of them transcribed was Turkish or Armenian. The Ottoman Empire was a classic example of the plural society. An acute observer of similar societies in South Asia defined them with the following description which applies equally well to the Ottoman world: . . . probably the first thing that strikes the visitor is the medley of peoples. . . . It is in the strictest sense a medley, for they mix, but do not combine. Each group holds by its own religion, its own culture and language, its own ideas and ways. As individuals they meet, but only in the market-place, in buying and selling. There is a plural society, with different sections of the community, living side by side, but separately within the same political unit. Even in the economic sphere there is a division of labor along racial lines. (Furnivall 304-305) For all their shortcomings, plural societies did allow diverse groups of people to live together with a minimum of bloodshed. In comparison with the nationstates

Monday, January 27, 2020

The Importance Of Teaching And Learning Vocabulary English Language Essay

The Importance Of Teaching And Learning Vocabulary English Language Essay Vocabulary represents one of most important skills necessary for teaching and learning a foreign language. It is the basis for the development of all the other skills: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, writing, spelling and pronunciation. Vocabulary is the main tool for the students in their attempt to use English effectively. When confronted with a native English speaker, when watching a movie without subtitle or when listening to a favorite English song, when reading a text or when writing a letter to a friend, students will always need to operate with words. In what follows, the focus of this introductory chapter will be on why vocabulary is important, on what makes words difficult, on the main reasons for which students often forget the words they learn and on some techniques which help them remember the vocabulary. Why is Vocabulary Important? Talking about the importance of vocabulary, the linguist David Wilkins argued that: without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. Indeed, people need to use words in order to express themselves in any language. Most learners, too, acknowledge the importance of vocabulary acquisition. In my experience as a teacher, I noticed the fact that students usually find it difficult to speak English fluently. They usually consider speaking and writing activities exhausting because they keep on using the same expressions and words and very soon their conversation is abruptly interrupted due to missing words. And the main reason for such communication problems is the lack of vocabulary. Other students are confronted with the problem of forgetting the words immediately after the teacher has elicited their meaning or after they have looked them in the dictionary, and this also a cause of the lack of vocabulary. The more words students learn, the easier they mem orize them. The teacher has an essential role in helping students to improve their vocabulary. Unfortunately, vocabulary teaching has not been enough responsive to such problems, and teachers have not recognized the tremendous importance of helping their students to develop an extensive vocabulary. If we look back in the past, we discover that for a long time, English used teaching approaches such as Direct Method and Audiolingualism which emphasized the primary importance of teaching grammatical structures. Since the accent was on grammar, few words were introduced in such courses and most often, they were limited and related to the grammar structures taught. By the beginning of 1970s, there was a major change in teaching English. The focus turned from the Direct Method and Audiolingualism to the Communicative Approach which emphasized the importance of teaching vocabulary. Students were exposed to diverse vocabulary and speaking activities. Many words began being introduced during such courses and students were encouraged to express themselves as much as possible. Nowadays, there is more freedom in choosing the methods to be used during English classes. The English syllabus is organized around both vocabulary and grammar structures. Since there is a certain number of classes allotted for each item in the syllabus, teachers usually have the necessary time to insist on teaching and practising vocabulary. Vocabulary is no longer treated as an add-on and teachers become more aware of the importance of vocabulary and attention is paid to the grammar of words, to collocations and to word frequency. Nevertheless, students still have difficulties in expressing themselves fluently and still consider speaking tasks exhausting. What Makes English Vocabulary Difficult In English, like in any other foreign language, some words are easier to learn than others. Easiest of all are the words more or less identical to the students native language, like, for instance, the word vocabulary. However, students might be trapped in their confidence with which they memorize such identical words, since English has a list of some problematic words, called false friends. These false friends are words identical in form to certain Romanian words, but completely different in meaning. An example of this would be sensible. While many students might confidently translate this word simply sensibil, they will be astonished to find out that, the Romanian equivalent for sensible is in fact rational, while the English equivalent for sensibil is sensitive. This demonstrates the crucial importance of allotting a special lesson for these false friends and of encouraging students to practise them as often as possible. Another aspect that makes English vocabulary difficult is the pronunciation of certain words. Research shows that words that are difficult to pronounce are more difficult to learn. Many learners find that words with clusters of consonants such as health or crisps are problematic. Length or complexity of the words is another characteristic of the difficulty of English vocabulary. A long word will be more difficult to memorize than a short one. Also, variable stress of words such as necessary and necessity can add to their difficulty. The meaning of the words is another controversial feature of the English vocabulary. When two words overlap in meaning, students are likely to confuse them. An example in this case would be the difference between make and do. These words have the same meaning, but are used in different expressions. You make a decision, but you do homework. Students might find the use of these two words confusing. Main Reasons Why Students Forget the Vocabulary Acquired It is important that teachers insist on the practice of vocabulary because with all their best will, students forget the words they learn. Jeremy Harmer identifies two main reasons that cause forgetting: interference from subsequent learning and insufficient recycling. Most teachers are aware of the fact that introducing a new vocabulary may imply forgetting the old one. This happens most frequently when words are taught that are very similar to the ones recently acquired because, according to Harmer, the new words have the effect of overwriting the previously learnt material. This is the reason why teachers should avoid teaching lexical sets containing words that have similar meanings to the previously ones. The second cause that triggers forgetting is insufficient recycling of the vocabulary acquired. Research shows that frequent review of learnt material can dramatically reduce the rate of forgetting. Nevertheless, it is not enough to simply repeat words and to reencounter them in their original context. What really helps is to recycle the words in different ways and at equal levels of depth. Research argues that if learners use or encounter the words in a different way from that in which they first met them, then better learning is likely to be achieved. Another important aspect when recycling certain words is for students to make sure that they really understand the meaning and the use of those words. Students might also try to apply the new words to their real life events or activities. Techniques for Memorizing Vocabulary In order to be able to have a rich vocabulary, not only do students need to learn as many words as possible, but they also need to remember them because, in fact, learning is remembering. Unlike grammar learning which is based on a system of rules, vocabulary knowledge implies accumulating individual items. It is a learning process that relies primarily on memory. Learners are different in terms of how easily they memorize vocabulary. According to Jeremy Harmer, researchers into the domain of memory distinguish three types of memory: short-term store, working memory, and long-term memory. The short-term store is the brains capacity to hold a limited number of information items for periods of time up to a few seconds (Harmer 23). Thus, it is the kind of memory that does not help students too much in their attempt to learn vocabulary items, because successful vocabulary learning involves something more than just holding words in your memory for some seconds. The working memory focuses on holding words long enough in your memory so that to be able to operate with them. It is the kind of memory that relies on reasoning and logic. Thus, if a student comes across a new word such as to acknowledge which means a recunoaste meritul cuiva, he will be able to easily memorize it by comparing it with another word from his long-term memory, for example, kno wledge meaning cunoastere. Using such an association will certainly help students keeping words in their memory for longer periods of time. Finally, the long-term store is the most trustworthy kind of memory. Unlike the working memory which has a limited capacity of holding words in the brain, the long-term memory has a tremendous capacity and its contents are durable over time. However, the fact that students forget vocabulary from one lesson to another, demonstrates the fact that it is not enough to have a long-term memory. It implies students efforts and teachers witty techniques when learning and teaching vocabulary. The great challenge for language learners and teachers is to transform the material from quickly forgotten to the never forgotten. It has been designed a number of techniques meant to help learners efficiently memorize words and to help teachers make the process of learning easier for their students. Repetition is an important technique in learning vocabulary. In order for the words to be kept as long as possible in the memory, it is necessary that they be repeated at frequent periods of time. However, repetition alone will not be effective. It must be accompanied by the understanding of the meaning of those particular words and by correlation with other similar already learnt words. Another important technique is using the newly learn words. In this case, the teachers role is also valuable. In the classroom, teachers should insist on pracising the news vocabulary by encouraging students to speak as much as possible and by designing vocabulary-centered activities and games. At home, students need to be motivated to individually keep on using the new words until they are stored in the long-term memory. Practising vocabulary is strongly connected to applying vocabulary to students real life events. Learners will acquire vocabulary easily if they practise it by associating words with events from their daily life. Considering that students are presented a new word list related to the topic entitled travelling. Learners will successfully memorize the word list by creating a real life event, for instance going to Italy and then performing a situation in which all the words can be included. This can be done in classroom as well as at home and will certainly entertain students and have positive results. Another witty technique to be taken into consideration when both learning and teaching vocabulary is imaging. Students will easily learn new words if they are taught to associate them with their picture. If, for example, students associate travel agency with the image of the particular building where we go to ask information about travelling, they are likely to keep that word in their mind for longer time. Thus, it is extremely important for the students to visualize the words they must learn. This will help the learning process and will keep the words in the long-term memory. In conclusion, vocabulary is the most required skill when learning a foreign language. It is on vocabulary that all the other skills, reading, writing, speaking, and listening are based and developed. This chapter has shown why it is important to learn new words and why English vocabulary is difficult to memorize. Moreover, it dealt with two main reasons for which most of the students permanently forget the words acquired. And finally, it has suggested methods and techniques that help to understand the new vocabulary by using the working memory and to transfer it in the long-term memory.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Metal Detectors: Justifying School Safety Essay

How much is your child’s safety worth? Are you willing to put a price tag on your child’s life? Many schools are putting a price tag, but fortunately several are not. A shocking one in ten students has carried a weapon to school in New York. Statistics like this cannot be music to the ears of parents. You have to wonder what schools are doing about this awful matter. A notion that has been around, yet a new idea is helping pave the future on student safety in schools. It is metal detectors. This new idea has caused controversy all over the world. Schools around the United States have turned to metal detectors for their solution. I feel that metal detectors are a small price to pay when this matter concerns children. Metal detectors are helpful and expensive. However, most schools are able to afford them, and they do not exploit students’ rights. Metal detectors ensure school safety quickly and effectively. They help enforce a practice that is seen in many areas, including airports and courthouses. Many may argue that they consume too much time and require specially trained professionals. On the contrary, several schools have taken the same measures that are taken when conducting a poll. Polls only use a small percent of the population for the actual questions, but it still represents the entire population. Countless cities, including New York, have â€Å"†¦set a predetermined method of scanning which allows them to scan every second or third student instead of the entire student body† (McDermott 2). This measure is closely monitored, and it has proven to be successful. Some schools have even made things move quicker by having the teachers enter through a different entrance, which also includes metal detectors. Metal detectors in schools are also enforcing a method that is commonly used everywhere these days. A st udent from Chicago states in a message board that, Government offices have metal detectors that everyone has to walk through before they enter. If I go to City Hall, I have to walk through a metal detector. If I go to court for a speeding ticket, I have to go through a metal detector. Why shouldn’t kids have to do the same in school? It’s a public place, funded by public dollars (much like government offices) and I  don’t see that it violates anyone’s civil rights to have to walk through a metal detector to ensure that a school is safe. Students lose many privileges when they enter the school doors because student safety is on the top of the list. If they do not want to be searched or questioned then they should not bring with them articles that are inappropriate for school. Leigh was right when he said metal detectors are expensive. They can range from $4,495 to $5,495 for the walk-through models and from one hundred to four hundred dollars for the hand-held models. This minor setback causes debates. Metal detectors may not be needed in all grades of schools. â€Å"A vast majority of school homicides and suicides – 179 – took place in high schools†¦Ã¢â‚¬  when surveyed in New York. Therefore, various school districts may only need to install the metal detectors in high schools. Another aspect is that taxpayers already pay for insufficient funds. They should use the money for safer schools, instead of funding a new, state-of-the-art prison. Public officials need to look into where other tax dollars are going, and try and focus on getting it to go to schools. Students go to school to be educated; if their education is impaired the school officials then need to step in. Students are also missing valuable time when public officials are required to search the entire school because of threats of a bomb or other life threatening incidents. † ‘All the kids are missing out on their education†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ † (Szaniszlo 1). This could have been prevented with the metal detectors. Although the threats are to be taken seriously, the officials would have a sense of relief with the metal detectors in place. Metal detectors are beneficial to everyone, and not just the students. For example, they enforce school policy and protect students. The school officials have a right to search with reasonable cause and this does not invade the students’ rights or privacy. The school officials are in loco parentis (in the place of the parent) to help maintain order in the school. Rules and regulations create a structure that is necessary t o ensure a safe environment, † . . . that will reinforce the District’s priority goal of safe schools for all students and staff† (Code of Conduct). Just as  students must obey the rules, school officials have a set of rules to follow. Also, parents are allowed to search their kids’ room without a search warrant mandatory, so school officials should be given the same standard. They are acting in loco parentis; therefore, like parents they do not need a search warrant. â€Å"The in loco parentis doctrine basically assumes that students have no legitimate expectation of privacy in their personal property, such as purses, gym bags, or clothing† (Persico 28). The school is now not only responsible for educating the children, but also for protecting them while in the school’s supervision. School officials â€Å"†¦were not permitted to begin a pat-down search until the scanning device had been activated twice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (NYSSN). They are obligated to search when they feel the school environment has been threatened. School officials only begin a thorough search when the detector has beeped twice on the same student. Only then are they allowed to search the specific area where it beeped. Leigh states that metal detectors â€Å"†¦instill a sense of humiliation in students†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (654). Students would not be embarrassed if the search was done in private. He also mentions â€Å"†¦the most harmful effect of metal detectors is their psychological impact on students subjected to daily searches† (Leigh 653). I have to agree that it might cause such impact, but that it is worth the price. When a student dies on school grounds it also causes a sense of fear for classmates. Schools only have these powers because they are out to ensure our safety. Schools will use whatever means possible to protect he student body. The Columbine tragedy really awakened the American public. Who knew that two teenage boys would have access to guns and that they would intentionally use them to hurt others? Schools with the help of metal detectors would have a chance to prevent such incidents in the future. Metal detectors may not be a full-proof plan, but they would be valuable asset for schools. School districts are turning to this new phenomenon to better the school environment and community. Trying to work around the metal detectors idea or complaining about the cost are not the real issues. The students’ life is at stake. Nevertheless, to prevent the impossible from happening, adopting the idea of metal detectors is worth taking a chance.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Advertising and the Twentieth Century

In a sense this was advertising himself. In 3200 B. C. , papyrus appears in ancient Egypt. This paper like material made it possible for posters and sale messages to be written for the sale of goods. In 1 00 BC, political posters and campaign advertising became popular including negative ads in Roman culture. The first movable type print system was invented in 1 040 A. D. This system invention helped create fonts typography. Four hundred years later the movable printing press is created by the German printer Johannes Gutenberg; thus, making mass production Of the written word and advertising possible.And nil 647, the first newspaper ad tries to sell the book â€Å"The Divine Right of Church Government†. The first billboard was introduced in New York City in an 1 835 advertisement for the circus. Thousands of years of advancements helped pave the road to the explosion of the advertising world that would occur in the next century and change America forever. Beginning of a new er a. The 1 ass's saw industrialism and consumerism come together to form an American culture of consumption.Advertising was a very persuasive technique for promoting this new and vibrant consumer culture. 1 Advertising n the early sass was simply placing announcements in newspapers and magazines. As mediums changed and avenues for reaching the public expanded, advertisements quickly appeared every. N. ‘here. With this much advertising bombarding the public and persuading them to validate their self- worth by the products they purchase; it became embedded in people's daily lives; as a result, classes and social status were being clearly marked as the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nose†. Displays of this newly acquired wealth were seen all over America, especially in urban areas, where most of the rich hung out ND tried to outdo one another with displays of their wealth. Although the rich were targeted in these advertisements, an ever-increasing middle-class America ha d begun to buy machine made goods due to an increase of disposable income that past generations did not have. As America changed from a country of small towns into a country of busy cities, advertising played a key role in the ideology of Americans.The idea of convenience was a major selling point in one's life whether it be in the home, leisure, or personal grooming. The sass's America was rapidly changing into a modernization society. Some examples re: rapid expansion due to railroads, banking infrastructure that made the mass consumer marketplace possible, and more Americans now lived and worked in cities; undoubtedly, forcing them to quickly evolve in this ever changing social and economic environment. With this changing America, advertisers had three major points to contend with.First, advertisers needed to find some kind of meaning in this ever changing and complex bureaucratic world. 3 Modern comforts and lifestyles were drastically different than what previously was a major part of life's basic needs such as: food, clothing, and tools. People needed to find new meaning to this mechanized routine they lived. Advertisers were there to present the masses with products and consumer goods that would have significant meaning in their lives, no matter how fleeting. Second, advertisers had to give so-called â€Å"solutions† to many of these new problems that modern life proposed.This faster pace of life seemed to be very frustrating consequently, advertisers sought to ease the psychological pressures by helping people believe that the goods they were purchasing for the latest and most progressive product available would help them everyday n the hustle and bustle of modern life. As a result, this changed as needs and products changed. A family was provided simple information, often visually, on how the item would help fix problems of modern day life. Finally, advertisers helped create a new standard of conduct.Industrialization, city living, and an ever- growing move toward bureaucratic hierarchy making social interaction more complex. 4 Whether standard of conduct, fashion, novel technologies, or fads, for most of Americans these were found through national advertising. The degree of how much advertising expanded in the sass can be seen in the numbers. Total advertising volume in the United States increased approximately from 206 million in 1 900 to about 682 million minion and then reached 1,409 million by 1919. 5 By looking at these numbers it is easy to see how rapid expansion of national advertising flourished during this decade.Another key area advertisers targeted was American women. Advertisers saw that magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, and Saturday Evening post were the best way to reach the urban middle-class, and help them to understand and cope with the complexity of modern life through their different products and goods. Rodents such as Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Gillette razors, Ford cars, and Wriggles gu m started advertising heavily during this time. Advertising in the Great War In April 191 7, America entered World War l. At this time advertising was not a new thing in America, but the message had to change.Instead of advertisers trying to sell products they had to try to sell a war that America had been neutral on for quite some time. Eight days after the war started Pres. Wilson formed The Committee on Public Information. Pres. Wilson appointed George Creel, a muckraker from Kansas City and Denver, to head he committee. 6 Pres. Wilson believed that this committee was essential to persuade American citizens to support the war. The ICP embroiled approximately 1 50,000 Americans, and it is estimated that the ICP produced 700 poster designs, 122 bus and trolley cards, 31 0 advertising illustrations, and 287 cartoons during its existence. These ads helped the nation come together with a sense of nationalism helping to promote volunteerism and donations. These artists repeatedly tugge d at American's sense of duty, patriotism, and humanitarianism. The Roaring Twenty During World War l, Americas were asked by the government to ration their consumption of fuel and food and to sacrifice most everything for the good of the war effort. When the war ended, advertisers had the chance to shine again. In the past decade, Americans could define themselves in such ways as, race, ethnicity, religion and politics.Americans had begun to define themselves with houses, cars, clothes, and other products and services they bought. In the 192(Yes, most Americans had more money than in the previous decade. Also, most had a belief that more material goods represented more success and modern advertising fueled this concept more than ever. With the use of billboards, newspapers, magazines and radio commercials, advertisers flooded the market with the need to purchase their products, saying it could change peoples lives by enhancing their health, safety, beauty, and daresay their entire being.Advertisers were unscrupulous at the time. Some advertisements would play on the psychological needs and fears in people; such as telling somebody that using a certain soup showed more motherly love than another, or that a toothpaste, detergent or soap bought from the impetigo could harm you or your family. One of the most successful ways advertisers marketed products was the appeal to modernity. Modernity equaled progress and in turn was seen as automatically desirable. Companies, such as the Campbell Soup Co. Convinced women to try condensed soup because the can was easy to open and more importantly the â€Å"modern way ‘ of making soup. Other advertisers would prey on the fears of some as if that looking old-fashioned could actually affect one's personal life by possibly losing a mate to losing a job to losing one's self-respect. On the there hand, advertisers use anti-modern ads to people that experienced anxiety due to the fast-paced, mass consumption, forward tech nology, and corruption of long-standing traditional values. Post Bran Flakes, for example, showed a frustrated businessman scurrying to work.The ad wanted to convey that eating their cereal would promote good health and calming despite living in the modern world. Ad agencies in the 1 ass's consisted mostly of college graduates with degrees in advertising and business. They had been trained to use market research and learned how to track consumer response o certain products and ads through statistics, surveys, and other analytical methods; thus making advertising almost a science in itself. The Great Depression years The sass's, Jazz Age, The Roaring ass's were years of advertising decadence.The decade even adopted a word to describe its approach to selling called â€Å"Ballyhoo†; a term used in the 19th century that meant to exaggerate blatantly, to get attention in anyway possible. 8 By 1929 advertising revenues peaked at 53. 4 billion dollars. Inn Ethel 9205, advertisers ha rdest thing to do was the show people how to spend their money. For the most part, the public accepted this laissez-fairer; the economy was strong and the government complacent. After the Great Crash of 1 929, everything changed in an instance. Advertisers were in a dilemma.Should they go about business as usual or advertise about the crisis taking place. Even though advertising didn't talk about the depression directly, advertising did change. Advertising remained for the most part bright and cheery. Ads were more geared towards the value products and services rather than the needs and need not's of the gluttonous sass's consumer. While employment was so high and finances, for many, so low, the publics distrust of advertising grew. As a result organizations like Consumer Union and Consumer Research grew and with their success government took notice.They responded with the Pure Food, Drug, and Committee of 1938, The Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange, along with U. S. Post Office and Internal Revenue Service began to increase their supervisory and regulatory controls over advertising. 10 The good fight for the Good War With the advertising industry still on the defense against consumer assessment, America joining the war became a perfect time to repair their image and help the war effort at the same time. Advertisers were very concerned about their future.The industry was mainly concerned that criticism could crippled their credibility and lead to legislation that would tax and regulate its content. At the time, Pres. Roosevelt was very disenchanted with advertising and believed it was obsolete; likewise, he believed that advertising costs should no longer be a tax-deductible business expense. In November 1941, just months before the Pearl Harbor invasion, the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies met to see what could be done.The majority of the industry believed it would be best to â€Å"r un ads explaining the economic value of advertising in creating jobs, wealth and low prices. â€Å"1 1 At this meeting was a man with the different vision. James Webb Young thought advertising was needed to promote business, yet he also believed that was just one component of it. Young proposed public-service advertising to help their tarnished image. â€Å"It ought to be used for open propaganda in international elation's, to create understanding and reduce friction. It ought to be used to wipe out such diseases of ignorance as childbed fever.It ought to do the nutritional job this country needs to have done. It ought to be the servant of music, of art, of literature and of all the forces of righteousness, even more than it is. When will we stop fighting over just the existing business and go back to selling advertising? When will we sell it into these new levels Of usefulness, this larger stature? ,† he asked. 1 1 With this vision the Ad Council was conceived. Lining the W ar Advertising Counsel officially was created to verse advertising for the war effort.Council wanted ads to encourage the public to organize campaigns for military, enlist in the service, buy war bonds, salvaging fat, and women to the work force. These ads had a significant contribution, especially when it came to women working. With so many men overseas, woman had to work to keep the war machine going. At the end of the war, women were expected to return home, yet that was not the case for most. This would be the beginning of the workingwoman era. The 2nd Half In the sass, after the war was over and the troops were home, the economy started to stabilize.