New Classics of the Horror Film Genre Essay -- Pleasures of Horror Fil

Dracula. Frankenstein. Godzilla. These monsters no longer strike fear into the hearts of viewers as they once did. Formerly the villains of the classic "monster movie," these relics, who now represent all that is archaic in horror film history. The monster movie of the past makes way for the thriller or slasher movie of the present, while the monster villain gives its role to the deranged, psychotic serial killer. Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm Street, Copycat and Seven have become the new classics in the genre of the horror film. With films like The People Under the Stairs, Nightmare on Elm Street, and New Nightmare, Wes Craven has proven himself to be a master of the creation of modern horror films. With recent masterpiece Scream, Craven shows his audience that he is not restricted by the typical conventions of the horror film. In most of these films, the background is set up before the killer does any actual slashing. However in Scream, Drew Barrymore's character is tormented by the killer from the film's very beginning and both she and her boyfriend are dead less than ten minutes after the opening credits. Craven manages to make Scream a film of less "fluff" and more substance than most thrillers. Recurring themes in the film, such as the lack of teens' seriousness, the callous nature of today's younger generation, the crossover and confusion between reality and movies, and the negative representation of television media not only add to the film's entertainment value, but also often portray a fairly accurate picture of twentieth century America. Despite all the film's blood and gore, Craven creates a comedic tone so successfully that at times the audience wonders whether Scream might be a comedy after all. Even though the safety of their small town has been shattered by a deranged serial killer, the characters do not seem to take the situation very seriously. The main characters are eating lunch at school the day after the first murders and, as might be expected, the killings make up the topic of their conversation. At one point, the character Randy turns to Tatem, and in a convincing imitation of Billy Crystal, he asks her, "Did they really find her liver in the mailbox? Because I heard they found her liver in the mailbox." Tatem and Sidney, the other female present and the movie's main character, cringe at this tasteless remark. Tatem'... ...ssuring that we remain productive m mbers of society (King 500). So, perhaps if you are in need of this type of therapy, or in search of an offbeat study in American popular culture, all that you need is a good horror film. Rent Scream or go to a movie theater to see the sequel. You will probably be surprised by what you see, and you might even be impressed. Works Cited Craven, Wes. Interview. Fresh Air. National Public Radio. KQED, San Francisco. 16 February 1998. King, Stephen. Ã £Why We Crave Horror Movies.? Common Culture. Petracca, Michael and Madeleine Sorapure, eds. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1995. Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. Recreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. Works Consulted Grant, Barry Keith, editor. Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film. London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1984. Newman, Kim. Nightmare Movies. New York: Harmony Books, 1988. Riptov, S.A. Kidnapped Corpus Whasamat Univ. Press, 1984 Scream. Dir. Wes Craven. With David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. Dimension Films, 1997.

The Joys of Mediocrity :: Personal Narrative

The Joys of Mediocrity "Why do I look fat?" "Why is the shape of my face not proportional to my body?" "Why do I have so many pimples?" "Why is my nose that big?" You and I have, at some point, grumbled like this -- it could have happened last month, last week, or even just five minutes ago! We never forgave ourselves for those flaws in our physical structure called imperfections. Most of us strive to become the person of what fashion magazines, movies, or pop culture in general proclaim as the "ideal physique of man." The beau ideal meant good looks, prominence of height, well-toned bodies, and the like. Lacking in one or more of these qualities suggests that you aren't qualified to be with the elite who dominate the world because 'the world' considers them elegant and glamorous -- simply, they are 'perfect.' So we do what we can to prove them wrong. It's easy to see because it's everywhere around us. Ladies copy the latest fashion trend, while men attempt to look and act what they think is the 'in' thing. And there's always the beauty products and modern technology to work everything else out. No, nothing wrong with doing these -- every person has the right to do so. The question is "For what real purpose is it about?" Has society been so judgmental, so vainglorious that it casts its eyes down to anyone who doesn't meet their expectations? Do we have to punish ourselves-by not valuing time, money, and self-worth-for something only temporary? Imperfection is normal. No one escapes it-not even the most well-bred. We are only human. Or in a more philosophical sense perhaps we were meant to be created this way, to counterbalance what we have and what we don't have. When you closely look at it, imperfection is not such a big deal. It's what that's in you that truly counts. Does perfection even exist? Most of the greatest people that ever lived were recognized for their remarkable achievements, not for how they look like. And besides, if all in this world were perfect, nothing will be regarded with appreciation anymore. A flaw actually makes an object look more appealing and precious, because you see the finer features beneath.

Religion Universality

Introduction: Universality or Universalism is a life philosophy not a religion. Universality is grounded on science and tries to fill in the missing spiritual blanks. Universality is about connecting with something bigger outside yourself purely on your own terms as opposed to being told what to believe as in a religion. It’s also about leading a good life and doing good to others because you know it’s the right thing to do not because someone is telling you to. There are many people that find a purely scientific view to be too empty. All religions on the other hand, have great spiritual insight but with many unfounded beliefs thrown in. These beliefs are either the product of the primitive thinking of ancient peoples or attempts to simplify or window-dress the message to attract common people. The goal of Universality is not to replace science and religion but to complement them. Universality is completely dependent on good science. Universality is for those who are let down with their religion or spiritually stymied with their religion. It is also for those of a scientific bent that feel something fundamentally missing from their lives. Universalism, in its primary sense, refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability. Religion in this context is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. The path that leads to peace will be, no doubt, long and arduous, but we cannot even begin the journey until we pass through the gate. Above the gate is the required universal affirmation: â€Å"†On the path that leads to peace we are all members of one human family, brothers and sisters one of another†Ã¢â‚¬ .. The need for a universal religion: Religion, is a matter of inner conviction and an outer way of life is a mere consequence of it. People, as long as they are humans ,have a right to differ from one another in their convictions and are bound to have different ways of life. Religion is a means to end the soul searching desire to seek freedom from mundane activities. There are numerous religions in the world that have differences because they are all the outcome of different traditions and backgrounds. Yet , religion has become, somehow the reason for a variety of conflicts, mass killings, huge protests and sometimes even fruitless wars resulting in bloodshed. The importance of the ‘Universal Religion’ system lies in the fact that it is a moral principle that needs no imposing or instruction. People need not sacrifice or renounce their religion†¦ rather follow a basic set of rules in their day-to-day life which will help them run their lives smoothly. This concept needs no preaching.. for, it is based on the HUMAN BEING.. and the inner sense-conscience. The sixth sense-rational mind helps us distinguish the right from wrong. Yet we find many, killing their own conscience for brutal reasons. It is when such activities take place .. the need for a new way of life, a new well-constructed path, arises. DISADVANTAGES OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM: As we all know, the present system of religion has created many a division among people ,though science and technology are rapidly growing. Some of the major disadvantages of the existing system are listed below. ?Religions don’t match upto feelings. ?Beliefs don’t match reality. ?Sometimes, strict adherence to principles can stand in the way of common sense. ?Religions separate. Just as religions are able to bring people together, it can create a huge gap between them too- of different religions. For they all ‘believe', but they still see only the differences, and not the similarities. Sometimes, depending on the formal teachings and practices of some religions, there is a tendency to restrict free and open inquiry on a variety of subjects that include philosophy, politics, culture, medicine and the sciences in general. In place of open inquiry some religions teach that there is material (like the Bible and other writings considered sacred) that covers all that is important, for example, regarding the formation of the universe or the beginnings of humankind. Inquiry into these questions that follows a line contrary to the religion's teaching is considered not only futile but inherently bad. This disadvantage in no way applies to all religions everywhere. The rules for the new system: In order that the above mentioned disadvantages are solved,a new set of rules have been compiled. The speciality lies in the fact that ,this is not a religion yet a life philosophy. Every new religion was started to address the above issues. Yet, the basic aim is to remove the divide termed ‘religion’. The various simple rules to be followed are: ?Treat others as you would like to be treated. ?Help yourself enough so that you may best help others. ?Right thought Right speech ?Right action ?You are the planet’s keeper. ?Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth ?Keep your agreements. ?Respect one and all. ?Never go against your own conscience. ?Never kill. Conclusion: The above system will ,in all ways prove to be an advantage. We hope that the above mentioned rules will help mankind to lead a life rich in kindness and moral values. Hoping that the above mentioned ru les address the present chaotic religious scenario , we conclude that we are not here to preach,but to patron practice. ***********************

Promote child and young person Development Essay

Children and young people need an environment which is most likely to promote effective and confident child development where they can experience and environment of mutual respect and trust and open communication. We as practitioners need to reflect on our own practice where we can evaluate the contribution we have made to the support of child development and find ways that we can improve our practice. When reflecting on our practice we need to look at the ways in which we communicate with the children and young people such as varying with different methods of communications through a range of activities referring the stages of their development. We do this in our setting by looking at the plans and linking the activity to the EYFS and looking closely to new vocabulary and proposed learning outcomes that we will focus on whilst doing the activity. Good practice would be to evaluate the activity after the week and then look back at what you did or didn’t do such as explain new shapes and positional language in a physical activity. In our setting we will always ask each other, as colleagues, to see if they would like to input anything and just for a little reassurance that you are doing something the correct way and beneficial for the children. Bad practice would be to not allow the children to be experimental with the activity and for the activity to be purely adult led, this would not allow the children’s development to grow and progress. We will try to avoid situations in which children receive adult attention only in return for undesirable behaviour. Children crave attention whether it is positive or negative. If we give them this they may not feel the need to behave badly. We make sure that bad behaviour is not taken away from the rest of the group and that no one is singled out for their attention. We set these clear behaviour boundaries and rules so that the setting is able to run effectively with all the team members working towards the same aim. The children will also feel more secure and confident if they know what is expected of them, what is or isn’t acceptable. Being positive role models will help the children look up to us for guidance and to also copy the behaviour they witness therefore it is of great importance that we promote good behaviour by being polite, friendly, kind etc. How we treat unacceptable behaviour Physical punishment such as smacking or shaking will be neither used nor threatened within our setting. This is highly inappropriate and of course illegal and it could also be extremely frightening for children. Children will never be sent out of the room on their own as this would be very upsetting for the child and potentially very dangerous as anything could happen to them. They must be accompanied with an adult at all times. Techniques intended to single out and humiliate individuals will not be used. This will also be very upsetting for the child and very humiliating for them, so we at Priory Pre-school have a ‘’thinking chair’’ in place. This is for the children to think about their bad behaviour. Once they have had time to think, we will talk to them and make them understand what they have done was not nice and could have potentially hurt another child. We will always let them express themselves and the teacher will always listen to the child to allow them to explain why they did the bad behaviour. This will allow the teacher to find out more information about the incident. If a serious behavioural incident would occur such as racial or abuse, the behaviour will be made clear immediately by explanations from the children and not by blaming anyone. It is very important to make sure that the behaviour they are doing is not welcome at the pre-school and not the child themselves. It is important to quickly move on from the bad behaviour once dealt with and then concentrate on the child’s good behaviour. Adults will not raise their voices in a threatening manner as this would be frightening to the child. Talking and explaining to a child will be much more beneficial. We make sure that cultural expectations are regarded in the pre-school and to make sure that their wishes are met as it would be inappropriate for us to go against th em. We remember that all of the children at our pre-school are different and will react differently to being told off for their misbehaviour. Re-occurring behaviour problems will be tackled by the whole pre-school and the child’s parents using objective observation records to try to understand the cause of the situation. It is important to record observations to gain a larger picture of why the behaviour is occurring and the records could show numerous reasons and could possibly show a pattern of behaviour. We will  always keep the child’s parents informed about how we are managing it and the progress of the child. It helps to let the parent know as the parent can continue the same practices as what we at the pre-school will use. A multi-agency approach is the best way of ensuring that all of the child or young person’s developmental needs are met. Using multi agencies, such as community centres, institutions and services is very important when working with childre n and young people as it is an effective way of supporting the children, young people and their families and parents and carers with additional needs and helps to secure an improved outcome. For example, in our setting we have an educational psychiatrist who comes in and visits every term to help go through the Individual Education Plan (IEP) for two children to review the current plan and set new targets to improve their learning, these are specifically for children with special educational needs (SENCO). By visiting these agencies and working closely with professionals like this, it can support the early intervention process for children and young people to prevent problems occurring in the first place, or resolve present problems which in term will reduce the amount of referrals being made. By working with agencies, it will allow practitioners to work in an inclusive way by looking closely at the need of every child and young person and making sure they are valued and supported to ensure active participation in all areas of the curriculum. In our local community we use a few local agencies such as Houghton Regis Community Centre and Downside Community Centre who allow parents to visit them for meetings for extra help on how to promote good child development and general care taking for their children.

Class Difference Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Class Difference - Essay Example Social classes in most parts of the world are categorized on the basis of material wealth and political power and influence. People in different social classes are characterized by various defining factors that serve as the key identifying characteristics of that class. The higher a social class occupied by an individual in society, the better their living conditions and life compared to other lower social classes in society. Through the ages, different individuals have used literature to portray the differences that exist in social classes across various cultural and traditional contexts. The use of literature to highlight and discuss class differences in various contexts of society is seen as an elaborate way of creating awareness about these aspects. Literature is a tool that surpasses and permeates across gender, cultural and traditional barriers that are set up by society and it can be used to convey vital messages. Through the various readings in class, there have been illustra tions from books that touch on class differences and their characteristics, influences and impacts on society. This paper seeks to discuss class differences as portrayed and depicted by various authors, the context in which these class differences are used in the books. Garcia Marquez’s short story titled A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings tells of a family’s encounter with a strange-looking man with wings on his back. This man was discovered washed up on the shores of the ocean by Pelayo and Elisenda’s children. This family took the man in and gave him shelter in a chicken coop where he recuperates from his injuries and illness. There are various notions of social class in this short story as portrayed by the positions and opinions taken by different characters in the story. According to the tone and tune of the story, it is apparent that the community is largely composed of peasant fishermen and women. This can be attributed to the observed industrious nature and ability to turn misfortunes into fruitful and productive ventures that serve to alleviate their position and class in society. The characters’ industrious nature that is seen in their efforts to make money is a translation of people’s awareness in the importance of wealth and money in order to change their class status. The Pelayo family saw a money making opportunity with the old man with enormous wings, and they started charging 5 cents to anyone who wanted to see the old man. This saw them amass a large amount of money enough for them to build a mansion with nets, gardens and balconies. The same is seen when a woman who is said to have disobeyed her parents turns into a tarantula spider and goes by the name spider woman. In the case of the spider woman, people who want to hear her story have to toss meatballs at the Spiderwoman (Williams 53). Meatballs were her only forms of nourishment thus she opted to take advantage of people’s curiosity to earn a mean s of survival. Social classes are portrayed to be constructed notions that can be attained as illustrated by the industrious efforts of characters in the abovementioned short story. People recognize the elemental importance of money or wealth in creating favorable conditions for an ideal class. Father Gonzaga can be construed to have held a higher social class that most of the citizens in the mentioned community in the short story. This gives insight into the intricacies involved in the construction of social classes because in this case, father Gonzaga’

Term project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Term project - Essay Example In our classrooms, the power outlets available are few in number and their location on the room walls are not accessible from the seating positions of most of the 20 to 30 students in the class. To provide students with the possibility of extended use of smartphones or other computing devices in the classroom, we have examined several possible solutions to the problem of providing power outlets at each chair or desk. One convenient and practical solution is to provide external battery packs clipped to each chair / desk in the classroom to which the student can connect his or her smartphone or tablet for recharging. At the end of each day, the external battery packs can be plugged into a recharge cart for overnight charging. A report on the evaluation of this solution in comparison with various alternatives is attached. We request you to kindly grant permission for us to convert 30 chairs/ desks in one classroom with smartphone recharge outlets to test that the proposal is useful. Each external battery pack is estimated to cost under $ 100 and the recharge cart under $ 1,800. The total money to be spent is estimated at around $ 5,000, made up of $ 100 x 30 for the external battery packs, $ 1,800 for the recharge cart and $ 200 for miscellaneous small expenses. After the proposal has been tried out in one classroom, we can evaluate what improvements are needed and then extend to other classrooms. We expect to be able to complete the project for one classroom in 6 to 8 weeks. The smartphone has become one of the most frequently used personal electronic devices for internet access. A majority of high school students carry mobile computing devices to school and would like to use it in the classroom as an aid to their study process. Many educators also see a benefit in permitting the use of smartphones and tablets in the classroom. The major limitation of a smartphone is its limited battery capacity, which requires the

The Importance of Branding in Google and Lego Case Study

The Importance of Branding in Google and Lego - Case Study Example Branding is so important in every industry and computer and communications industries are also not an exception. â€Å"Brands need to find a voice that resonates, that surprises and that entices. This means understanding better your client, which clearly means listening more to your client base† (Social Search: Getting Personal is Getting Evermore Important for Brand Marketers). In the case of search engine business, Google has a voice that resonates, but in the case of social networking, Facebook enjoys that voice. Google is facing stiff competition from many others such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, Apple, Facebook etc. In order to counter the threats from such huge companies, effective branding strategies are necessary for Google. Even though Google is the number one player in the search engine business, they are not so in social networking industry. Facebook holds the number one spot in social networking. Lego on the other hand is one of the prominent toy makers in the worl d. Even though they were the fifth largest toy maker in the world, they suffered lot of setbacks in the recent past because of the increased competition. â€Å"The Lego Group’s vision was to inspire the children to explore and challenge their own creative potential† (Lego Group: An Outsourcing Journey, p.2). However they failed to do so in a consistent basis and suffered severe setbacks recently. In order to regain its lost brand image, Lego is currently implementing many strategies. â€Å"The framework for LEGO’s branding effort expanded from its initial marketing focus into a company-wide reorganization that involved several change management programs and an ongoing initiative to create and manage global brand coherence†(Schultz & Hatch, p.6). Role of branding in the Business strategies of Google and Lego Branding holds an important place in the business strategies of both Google and LEGO. Globalization has brought immense challenges in the global marke t and it is difficult for even huge companies to survive in the market with the help of traditional brand building strategies. Diversification of business is inevitable at present and better brand image in one market segment may not help a company in other segments. For example, Google failed to become the number one in social networking or ecommerce even though they are so in search engine business. Same way Lego also failed drastically to hold their top spot in toy market because of their inability to diversify in to other areas. â€Å"The name LEGO is a combination of Danish words â€Å"leg† and â€Å"godt,† meaning â€Å"play well†Ã¢â‚¬  (Lego Group: An Outsourcing Journey, p.7). Lego was committed to deliver quality products to its children based clients. They concentrated too much on toy market alone which caused problems to them. Both Google and Lego should concentrate more on product diversification and brand development strategies in each segment. The y should realize that better image in one business segment may not help them in other segments. For each business segments, they need separate brand building strategies. Threats to the brand equities of Google and Lego When started Google plus, Google thought that they can utilize their brand equity in search engine business in social networking also. They failed to realize that both search engine and social networking businesses are entirely different businesses and it is difficult to convince the customers using the brand image alone. At present the