Sarah James

In the email the deader gets an Impression that Sarah has negated the positive Images Professor WA. McGill of PLUS and DRP. Jimenez of IN had about her. This case study emphasis the relevance of Hefted Studies. Through analysis of this case, we are required to address certain questions. 1 . Should Sarah have moderated her diet to accommodate her host family? Sarah is from USA, which has a high score of individualism ranking at 91. High scoring under â€Å"individualism parameter indicates higher importance to their time, need for freedom and respect for privacy.This could be sensed from her mail to her reformers complaining about the issues related to food she had at her host family. Most Americans see themselves as separate Individuals, autonomous and self-reliant not as representatives of a family, community or other group. They dislike being dependent on other people or having other people be dependent on them. Some people from other countries view this attitude as selfish; other s view it as a healthy freedom from the constraints of ties to family, clan or social class.Sarah Is a vegetarian and Likes privacy in the matter of food. Hence she is offended bout the comments by her family on her not eating meat and also caring too much likes. However, she should not be offended about the opinions of others on her food habits. Sarah probably could have created a personal rapport with the host and conveyed her likes and dislikes in a friendlier manner. By doing this she could have got opportunities to be served with vegetarian food such as black beans, etc by the host mother. 2.How could you advise Sarah if you were debriefing her regarding her host family issues :- If an opportunity was provided to debrief Sarah regarding her host family issues, the devise in respect of each problem faced by Sarah would be provided as under :- A) The vegetarian problem:- Sarah could have explored vegetarian Mexican foods available outside the host home. She could have sought the views of her colleagues at the work place and tried Mexican vegetarian food during lunch time or could have sourced it from nearby restaurants at nights. This should have reduced her longing for vegetarian food at the host home.She could have even opted of eating fruits and vegetables at host home. Sarah could have also stepped into the shoe of the host ND looked into the situation from their perspective. B) The transportation problem to the Airport: – This problem occurred mainly due to communication and cultural gap. She could have sorted out the issues by arranging for her own travel and transport to the Airport or could have taken Airport services through some travel agencies. She could have even arranged transport through some of her colleagues, friends etc.C) The extra money problem for the final parting day: – Considering the fact that charging of the extra money for the extra hours on the parting day could have been voided by the host family. Sarah could have u nderstood the Mexican culture being there for quite some time. The host family is doing such services for their financial benefits and hence such situations is expected. 3. What should professor McGill do? What should he communicate to Jimenez at IN ? What should he say to Sarah? Professor McGill, being the Head of the International Business and spokes person of minimize the impact of the open mail sent by Sarah.The mail would create complications in the future relations between the two institutes and a speedy espouse would strengthen the relationship in the future. Professor McGill should be first apologetic to DRP. Jimenez on behalf of Sarah and PLUS since the problem faced by Sarah was with the host family and not with IN or the Agencies. He should bring the attention of DRP. Jimenez to the fact that the very critical aspect of cross cultural adjustments was overlooked by both the schools when they embarked on these programmers. To streamline the process and avoid such embarrassi ng situations in future, Proof.McGill should suggest the following to DRP. Jimenez:- a. The host family and IN should have written agreement of dos and donuts. B. Both the schools should exchange the profiles of the students and host families based on which the students and host families could have an opportunity to select their choice. C. There should be a proper preparatory sessions on cross cultural behavior for the students who are opting for study abroad opportunities. D. There should be a systematic approach for selecting the host families and also the stipend level for the host family should be revised. Proof. McGill should diplomatically handle the matter with Sarah.Any censure or criticism by Proof. McGill at this point could affect her morale and possibly could lead her opening up with her classmates on this matter. It could discourage onward movement of students to Mexico from PLUS citing these issues. So the best way forward is to take her through the positives of the pr ogrammer and then suggest her how it could have been handled better. McGill should convey that it would have been appropriate for Sarah to convey the feelings first to Proof. McGill, who could stress the fact that Mexico is a hierarchical society, which means that people accept a aerographical order in where everyone has their own place.He should also make sure that one of the prerequisites for international students is adaptability to cross cultural challenges which could not be adjusted. And also Sarah has to motivate and informed about the different cultures and lifestyles around the world and ask her to adjust with the difference available in the world. 4. Was this a successful experience for Sarah? Explain? Sarah had a successful experience on her visit to Mexico on the following 1 . She had a good exposure on the cargo forwarding broking business in which her agencies had excellent track record.She was also offered to work anywhere in Mexico or Latin America by the Agencies. 2 . She could learn a new language Spanish which would add up to her benefits and also had hands on experience in their culture and beliefs. 3. One Major learning was to live the hard way. She had issues with food, and other cultural difference. But she coped up and completed her task. She also could make out that life is not an easy game on her personal front. 4. Sarah also got a good experience on international business and got good inputs on Doing business in Mexico through her teacher Maria.

Wattie Frozen Foods Ltd

The firm†s competitive environment is in New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific Rim. They have head quarters in Auckland and four factories located in Gisborne, Hastings, Fielding, and Christchurch. The range is frozen and dehydrated vegetable products, main products being peas, beans and frenches fried potatoes. Growers are contracted to WFF and are provided with a significant amount of technical assistance, including the availability of quality seed stock, and a wide variety of agricultural management assistance. Once crops are deemed ready they are harvested quickly and transported immediately to the branch factory, where the crop reception department tests the quality of the incoming produce. At the factory the season processing is done around the clock. I.e.) potatoes are first washed, then sliced, deep-fried, frozen and packed. Peas are washed, graded, and then frozen for bulk storage. Beans are washed, graded dried, and packed. Problems with seasonality in the business are that you may run out of stock in a non-season where that product is not being produced. To get that product in a non-season could be quite expensive. The season for that product could produce a bad crop and you would have to wait until next season to get the next crop. Work Center Management is that the organization is divided up into a set of semiautonomous work centers. Each work center will have skilled supervisors and employees who will be able to make critical decisions to manufacture a quality product in a timely manner. There is daily reporting because the information will be more useful and ownership of the information is more likely. Daily reporting will occur because is will come from the bottom and travel it†s way up. The motivation for WCM consisted of 2 things: 1. The need to change the emphasis from reporting to managing  · Shortening the time between actions and the subsequent reporting results.  · Ensure focused accountability through clearly defined responsibilities for costs and the power to act. 2. The need for staff involvement and operational involvement It is necessary to change the organizational culture because WCM made managers fully responsible for their outputs and use of inputs and resources including labor, equipment, services and inventories. Thus management has to be empowered, responsible and fully empowered. The culture change was achieved by dividing each factory into units, which were largely self-contained and small enough to ensure focused management and accountability. Each of these units, were to be known as work centers. Each work center had one manager, the site manager (factory manager) would support the work center managers to coordinate work between the work centers and solve any conflicts. The physical numbers tie into the financial accounting system by cost is assigned to processes or products at the basis of the actual consumption of physical resources. The benefits of WCM are that it is integrated with other systems and programs, which provides better managerial reporting. It doesn†t just provide cost and financial performance measures, but also provides monthly summaries of wide physical measures to evaluate the work centers. The WCM has resulted in improved control and cost reductions in difficult to control areas. Other benefits of WCM include:  · Improved focus on quality production Potential problems in operating the WCM system are that eventually staff and management will get lazy on the daily reporting aspects. There may be staff turnover, as some managers will get promoted and training will have to be given to the next line of upcoming management. WCM will have to be continuously monitored to see the cost vs. benefit analysis. The types of operations that lend themselves to daily financial reporting are labor, electricity, materials, and machinery.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Dual Diagnosis Treatment - Essay Example The police initiated most of these. Each time Leon was admitted, he was intoxicated and vocalised thoughts of persecution. Once, he tried to hang himself whilst in the hospital. At the age of fourteen, he began to use amphetamines and ecstasy. This has ceased only because he lost contact with friends he used to socialize with and used these drugs with after Leon became engaged in the mental health system. He stopped using cannabis daily and, as a result, his alcohol consumption increased to six litres from four litres of hard cider every day. He usually drinks this when he is on the street with friends. He experiences a feeling of needles and pins in his feet and hands. He believes this is caused by the medications that have been prescribed for him; however, this symptom can be caused by thiamine deficiency which is one of the possible side effects of abuse of alcohol because of dependency on this substance. His past treatment was receiving alcohol detoxification when he was in the hospital. Leon has repeatedly relapsed after his discharge. Several times, during his hospital stay, Leon drank alcohol whilst there and was discharged early because of this. Leon is somewhat concerned about his alcohol consumption but he perceives this in a positive manner because it provides a social outlet. He believes it also helps to diminish the residual hallucinations he writes that he experiences even when he is taking his medication properly. He has professed the belief that the stopping the use of cannabis was all of the change in his lifestyle that he could handle. He wants what he considers a "normal life." Leon would like to have a one on one personal relationship with a partner. (Starkey, Leon, date unknown) Leon has four

Two different Market Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Two different Market - Term Paper Example There are a number of differences in the characteristics of both market structures; the main differences are experienced in the number of sellers, product nature as well as the barriers of entrance and exit in the market. A market that is structured on the basis of perfect competition comprises several buyers and sellers, and the prices in the market are decided by the forces of demand. This means that no one controls the prices and sellers are simply price takers. In case of monopoly, there is only one single seller and the prices of goods and services are decided by the organization (Arnold, 2010, p. 494). Karachi Electronic Supply Corporation is an example of monopoly as it is the only electricity supplier in the region of Karachi. Another distinguishing characteristic of both monopoly and PC is the barrier to entry and exit. In case of PC, there are no barriers to entry or exit: anyone can enter a particular industry and can produce any particular good or service. In PC, entrance of a firm in a particular industry is dependent on demand for particular goods and services. Goods and services that are demanded more are produced more. In case of monopoly, the single firm in the market or industry is the leader, and it is very difficult for other firms to enter the market. This is because monopolies are price makers and they can reduce their prices to block other firms from entering. Secondly, firms in monopolistic markets hold some kind of competitive advantage such as technological advantage, and other firms may not be able to access those technological advancements and may fail to compete. In case of perfect competition, the goods and services sold are homogenous in nature. This means that all the firms produce a similar kind of goods and services and close substitutes of goods and services are available, which provides consumers with the benefit from choosing between several sellers of different products. In case of monopoly, there is only one seller of a pr oduct and there is lack of homogeneity. This means that the goods and services produced by a firm in monopoly cannot be produced by others, so consumers have little to choose from and have to accept the product at a particular price set by the seller. In the short run of a perfectly competitive market, the first to enter as a seller in the market enjoys more benefits as compared to those who enter later, and thus those who enter first can set higher prices and enjoy a higher amount of benefits. In the long run, an organization faces a lot of competition since there is no barrier to entry. Due to this, the profits for all the competitors decline, and those who entered first have to adjust their prices according to competitors, and their profits even decrease. As the profits continue to decline, competitors start leaving the market and look for new opportunities. In the case of monopoly, the firm may experience zero competition, but in the long run it might face the threat of new entr ants and, at that time, the firm may need to decrease its prices to block new entrants, and thus their profits may decline. Similarly in the long run, a new entrant can come up with a technological innovation and can reduce the production cost. This can give an ample amount of competition

Patriot's Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Patriot's Act - Essay Example The Patriot’s Act has given more powers to security agents in the United States to conduct searches, gather intelligence without need of warrants. The Act also allowed the government to freeze monies meant for terror groups and online security has also been bolstered. All these provisions in the Patriot’ Act have increased security and thwarted terror attacks against the United States. However, some provisions of the Act have been ineffective in fighting terrorism and most of these acts are stem from foreign based provisions. Introduction The September 11, 2001 terror attack on the United States shocked the country and the world at large. Following the attacks, several security measures from different fronts were initiated to guard against more terror attacks on the Unites States. One of the measures that were initiated was the enactment of the Patriot’s Act, a law enacted a few weeks after the September 11, 2011 attacks. The Patriot’s act contains several provisions that were to safeguard the United States from terrorism. For instance, the act gives power to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies to conduct random searches on an individual’s household. The Patriot act is still in operation till today and President Obama extended some of the provisions of the act that were to expire this year. ... Security agencies in the United States have been given more freedom to investigate or interrogate terrorists from all regions globally. The Patriot act has also led to increased security at border points and entry points into the United States including ports and airports. The Patriot Act had a profound effect on the definition of terrorism especially on the front of domestic terrorism where acts of terrors were taken seriously (Wong, 2007). The act reduced restrictions on security agencies and it gave them power to investigate any American citizen while at the same time, the act allowed American security forces to investigate any foreigner suspected of being a terrorist. The act also allowed American security forces to protect critical infrastructure and demand information concerning any individual in the United States (Smith, 2009). The Patriot Act also gave powers to the secretary of Finance to regulate funds of suspected foreign individuals or corporations involved in corruption. The act has however tightened the noose on money laundering and this has reduced terror activities in the United States. The Act contains provisions that gave power to authorities to detain or deport immigrants involved in terrorism. These provisions have been successful in reducing acts of terror in the United States (Citizen 68, 2010). Increased surveillance of the internet and online activity has enhanced security since it has been effective in curbing theft of sensitive information. In terms of general safety, the Patriot Act has been effective in ensuring that acts of terror against the United States are greatly reduced (Stefoff, 2010). The Patriot’s Act has

Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis for Pho Phu Quoc Beef Noodle House Research Paper

Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis for Pho Phu Quoc Beef Noodle House - Research Paper Example The secondary data has been collected from journals such as â€Å"Use of qualitative research in foodservice organizations: A review of challenges, strategies, and applications†, â€Å"Quality in Service Sector†, â€Å"Perception Gaps in customer expectations: Managers versus service providers and customers† and â€Å"A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research†. Following this, relevant theories have also been incorporated from books namely â€Å"Managing Service Marketing†, â€Å"Principles of Marketing†, â€Å"Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods† and â€Å"Strategic Management and Business Analysis†. Correspondingly, relevant data has also been collected from websites such as â€Å"Yelp Inc.† After identification of the different problem areas of restaurant, a qualitative method has been used for maintaining the effectiveness of the system and enhancing the business prominenc e in the new market. According to the past record of restaurant and secondary data sources, it stated that this particular restaurant has faced a cultural difference issue, along with selection of foods and analyzing the threat of other existing restaurants. After analyzing these areas, paper was found proper problems in service, quality management, along with cultural differences. According to these situations, the findings were both development of the negative as well as positive aspects. Technically, the restaurant has been able to configure properly its negative angles with maximum consciousness as well as tried to resolve it with the help of its existing strengths i.e. the unique cuisine that it have been providing to its consumers. Pho Phu Quoc Beef Noodle House located in San Francisco. According to the name of this restaurant, it has been clear that it is based on the Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant has its own blend of Asian flavors with various types of meats along with

How social media is changing advertising models Essay

How social media is changing advertising models - Essay Example Marketers currently use social media to catch up with the digital customers, letting go the traditional advertising models, and adopting the new ones that involve marketing online via the social media. It is evident that the digital migration, specifically the current use of social media does have a growing role in marketing that changes the advertising models, this in turn has implications on how channels, consumers, and companies perform. Unlike in the past, customers can now give their feedbacks about a certain product, feedback visible to other agents, these agents include the channel partners, the competitors, and even other companies. The main impacts on the advertising models include the fact that social media allows reviews about certain products (online reviews and ratings) impact different metrics. These metrics include the brand evaluations, consumer ratings, the company performance, consumer purchase conversion rates, and the organizations value. Many of the new advertising models adopted by many organizations include "customer feedbacks," in the past the customers did not have much freedom to give feedbacks about a certain product (Evans). Currently, social media for advertising the customers the freedom to rate a certain product that to some extent defines the major characteristics of a firm. The past advertising models focused on the four Ps, social media to some extent brings in another P, which stands for the "people," which is deeper, broader, and more profound than the consumer targeting is. Social media changes the way people interact among themselves, they play a major role as creators, advocated, critics, transmitters, and transformers of messages. Not long ago, the introduction of TVs in the industry changed the advertising models used in the past, but the introduction of the internet, social media, and the use of mobile phones made them even better. The online social environments, including the social

The Masque of the Red Death Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Masque of the Red Death - Research Paper Example Prince Prospero was the only place that the prince and his nobility friends and guest would feel safe, since there was security against any external intrusion, even the intrusion of death. The inside of the castle’s wall was characterized by happiness, while the outside was characterized by sadness, pain and death. Inside Prince Prospero’s castle, there was â€Å"musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine† (Poe, 21). All these elements were brought together in order to keep the guests to the castle entertained and at peace, despite the menace that was ruling outside the walls of the castle. Nevertheless, even when the inside of the castle seemed to be safer than the outside world, Prince Prospero and his guests still lived in an illusion and in a world of unreal. The attempt to bring in musicians, beauty, games, wine and decorations into the castle was meant to create an environment where happiness can thrive (Hayes, 88). Nevertheless, as it turns out, happiness is far away from the prince and his guest, just as the safety from death is away from the rest of the poor people who are facing the red death outside of the walls of the castle. The red death had already killed half of the kingdom, and the scare it sent throughout the kingdom caused Prince Prospero decide to stay inside the castle until the plague will have completely gone away. The prince entered the castle and welded the doors shut, so that nobody would enter into the castle and bring in the plague (Slick, 24). This attempt symbolizes the extents to which man can ago in an attempt to escape death, by doing a nything that is possible to escape the chances of interacting with scenarios or events that can cause death. However, even when all measures against death have been taken, it is never enough to keep death away from man, since it will eventually find its way into man’s life, despite all the

Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Project - Assignment Example The culture of accomplishing simple results through complicated means ensured his works became perceived as increasingly unique. This fame of his cartoons led to the syndication of his works, which brought increased popularity of these cartoons. The machine I would design would be for lifting utensils into a utensil sink form the table. There would be a lever which would swing when the utensils are placed on the rack. The rack would them be connected to a rod similar to a fishing rod which an individual can utilize to move the lever to the direction of the sink. Through moving the roller of the fishing rod, the lever would swing to the other side and enable the utensils fall into the sink. This Rube Goldberg machine would include a fishing rod, a beam balance, a roller and a pulley fitted at the end of the fishing rod. The utilization of these simple machines would create an effective machine for lifting utensils from table into the sinks after an individuals has completed having a meal. This would effectively ease the work of making clearance after

Extended commentary of The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy Essay Example for Free

Extended commentary of The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy Essay On the title: A thrush is a bird; plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized, often inhabiting wooded areas. They feed on the ground or eat small fruit – but aren’t famed for their songs. Examples include a robin. ‘Darkling’ is an archaic word for ‘a creature of darkness’ or ‘in the dark’. Hardy uses it in its latter sense – the bird appears in a very gloomy scene, at the end of the day, at the end of the year (and century, for that matter). It also has negative connotations as well, however – for obvious reasons. Potential other implications: ‘darkling’ is perhaps used to create a diminutive form of the thrush (like a ‘duckling’). Other critics have identified the title as explaining, or preparing the reader for the unexpected advent of the bird half way through the poem, appearing into the scene from nowhere. Perhaps Hardy was attempting to use an antiquitated word to further demonstrate the bird is bringing joy to a dark land, and that there exists an enormous time difference between the new century and the old? Overall Structure: Hardy uses four regular eight line iambic stanzas; in either ‘tetrameter’ or ‘trimeter’, depending on the length of the line. This meter creates a poetic lilt, with alternate stressed feet. It seems very out of place in such a depressing poem we must question why this is. Does it reflect the hope expressed at the end of the poem, or prepares us for it? Or does it tell of an oddity within the persona; is his negative manner actually genuine – perhaps we shouldnt accept the persona’s judgment/emotions to the same extent as hed like us to? His choice of rhyme scheme and meter along with the harsh subject fail to match up. Themes: Time (passing of century), Isolation, Man and the Natural World. Difficult Language Notes: ‘Darkling’ – discussed above. ‘Illimited’ is an archaic form of ‘unlimited’. First and Second Stanza Notes: As usual, Hardy presents us with an image, this time of a landscape – a depressing one, at that. This poem was published at the end of the century – 31st December 1900 (Hardy was one of those people who believe that a century is complete when the hundredth year is over.) It is very cold and frosty and the day is growing to a close. It really is the end of a century. And Hardy presents us with a very clear image of death – he later personifies the Century itself as being dead. The first two stanzas are full of death-language: 1. â€Å"When Frost was spectre-gray†. A clear example of ghost imagery (‘a spectre’). This line is of interest on its own, due to the obvious personification of ‘Frost’. This is a good place to make a key note about the poem itself. Throughout, we discover a distinct Hardy-esque style; the environment is unpleasant and it demonstrates his usual antics in animism. Hardy develops complex (and often deeply personal) symbolic systems which deal almost exclusively with the natural world. The reader is made personal with non-human entities like frost and birds but avoids people – even the persona is a subject avoided in great detail. 1. Back with the ‘death imagery’, â€Å"The weakening eye of day†; a comment on the darkening sky – the day is dying. 1. â€Å"All mankind that haunted nigh† – haunted is clearly a reference to death and ghosts. Hardy is commenting on the lack of human life in his scene; they â€Å"had sought their household fires†. A further indication of the low temperature. Is it a hint that the world is ending? Or is that just a little extreme? In any case, note how the rest of humanity are seeking light in an otherwise dark environment. The second stanza contains an extended metaphor involving the dead century, but we need to examine the first stanza more before moving on. Hardy’s persona is leaning upon a coppice gate – a gate into a small woods or ‘coppice’. It is a highly ambiguous persona (another thing to explore), but he leans nevertheless. The scene is wintry, indeed, along with Frost, Winter is personified equally – â€Å"Winter’s dregs made desolate/ The weakening eye of day.† The dregs of the season indicate a very cold atmosphere; one without much colour. Clearly this has emptied the scene of any colourful sight upon which the â€Å"eye of day† weakens. The day is ending; thus dusk darkens the scene. â€Å"Tangled bine-stems scored the sky/ Like strings of broken lyres†. As before mentioned, the persona is standing in woodland, thus â€Å"Bine-stems† are tree branches. Hardy’s comparison of them to broken lyres is interesting. Lyres are a) harmonious in Classical literature and b) belong only in Classical literature. Hardy is clearly stating that the scene is not ‘harmonious’ or perhaps the ‘death-lament’ later mentioned isn’t. Or is it also a reference Hardy’s romantic passion for the past, that it was somehow better than the day in which he writes? Second Stanza Notes: The first four lines of this stanza deal explicitly with Hardy’s ‘dead Century’ metaphor. He imagines the land before him as â€Å"the Century’s corpse outleant.† Quite what ‘outleant’ means, I have no idea, (The OED has confirmed that ‘outleant’ is not, nor ever has been a word) but â€Å"his crypt [becomes] the cloudy canopy† (the cloudy sky) and â€Å"the wind his death-lament†. One need not explain it in any more detail; the implications are quite explicit. Hardy’s persona clearly didn’t approve of the past century, but had yet to indicate an emotional reflection on the future. He imagines England as a rotting corpse, essentially. However, note the use of the verb ‘seems’ – is all as it seems? However, Hardy goes on to write even more damningly of his persona’s scene. ‘The ancient pulse of germ and birth’ – the regenerative power of life, following Winter’s onslaught – ‘was shrunken dry and hard’. Nothing appears to be growing back – is this another indication of the end of the world, or certainly of an era. Hardy appears to be making the simple change of an arbitrary number into something quite different, and more serious. A degeneration of life itself. Indeed, â€Å"every spirit upon earth/ Seemed fervourless than I.† Very negative. Observe how silent the description is up to this point in the poem. There is an implied sound in both the death-lament and of broken lyres, but otherwise, the sound is non-existent. That changes soon. Here comes the VOLTA. Third Stanza Notes: â€Å"At once a voice arose among The bleak twigs overhead In a full-hearted evensong Of Joy illimited;† Hardy emphasizes a sudden change with the words â€Å"At once† – indeed, there are multiple changes which create this volta: * Note the sudden inclusion of sound – the thrush is singing! This breaks the poetic still (of death) which has held the poem so far. * The length of ‘sentence’ also changes. Note the semicolon at the end of these four lines above. Previously, each quatrain had completed with a full stop. Perhaps Hardy is opening up his poetic form to mirror the sudden movement in the lines themselves. The use of enjambment accentuates this. There are perhaps religious connotations with ‘evensong’. Much as Hardy may simply be again referring to the mundane fact that the bird is singing a ‘song’ and ‘eve’, we pray that the man is capable of higher minded comparisons. These vaguely religious nuances are maintained throughout the poem. The crucial fact is that the mood has changed, perhaps. â€Å"Of Joy illimited† suggests a pleasant image, which stands in stark contrast to the surrounding gloom. â€Å"An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, In blast-beruffled plume,† Yet the mood is suddenly plunged back into the red with Hardy’s following lines. The thrush, which is, admittedly, a very odd bird to chose (not famed for their song), is an elderly figure in a storm – hence the ‘blast-beruffled plume’. In this otherwise grim situation, the reader’s immediate concern is whether the bird itself is going to survive at all! The use of â€Å"frail, gaunt, and small† mirrors the ghoulish imagery used in the first two stanzas – the thrush is alive, for certain, but perhaps the persona questions for how much longer? Note how the thrush is NOT personified. Every other element of the natural world takes an animated form, but not the bird! Why does Hardy do this? â€Å"Had chosen thus to fling his soul Upon the growing gloom.† Perhaps desperation is the key word in this stanza, but also hope. There is a powerful message in the face of this ghoulish bird; that, in spite of all the darkness and death, the thrush maintains his song. Stanza Four Notes: â€Å"So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around,† Once again, Hardy’s use of enjambment allows for the lines to ‘bleed’ into each other – in a direct contrast to the poem’s former rigidity. Perhaps he is now gathering momentum for a change in mood? Yet, in terms of sense, Hardy appears to be doing the opposite. He states that the bird has no reason to be singing a joyful song amongst so much desolation. However, perhaps, by even considering such a fact, the persona’s own deep-rooted pessimism is beginning to shift away? On some key language points: * Note more religious emphasis: ‘carolings’ typically sing hymns at Christmas time. Hymns are definitely religious! * Perhaps there is an equally religious connotation which Hardy applies to his comments on the ‘terrestrial things’. If there is not any cause for singing about things on Earth, then perhaps, reciprocally, there is cause for celebrating the sky, or heaven? â€Å"That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew And I was unaware.† It is a rather ambiguous ending upon which Hardy chooses to conclude, but he achieves a sense of dramatic effect through it. The persona realises the presence of (a perhaps religious) hope, in the fact of utter desperation, but it is unintelligible to him. In an odd way, the reader is forced to consider whether the persona is being entirely accurate: * Can one be unaware of something, yet still able to write about it? * Does this tell us that the persona, as a Modernist, is able to perceive such an uplifting messages but unable to interpret them in such a way as to ‘release’ himself from the ‘dark’? Hardy himself was a modernist and therefore dwells upon an odd lot of ideas. Amongst them was ‘searching for hope/meaning to darkness and cruelty’. Despite being a realist, he was deeply influenced by Romantic notions (look them up) – perhaps this exploration is one of them? * The use of ‘blessed’ again implies a deified presence within the thrush’s message. Is the persona experiencing some divine inspiration?

Portrayal Of American Upper Middle Class Teenagers Film Studies Essay

Portrayal Of American Upper Middle Class Teenagers Film Studies Essay I decided to write my mini extended essay on the issue of the portrayal of American upper middle class teenagers in cinema, because it is personally relevant to me, it provides insights about teens lives and how teens deal with issues, and I enjoy watching teen movies. Recently, I watched a film from a series of very popular teen movies that portrayed teens as vampires and wolves and I wondered to myself if the way teens are portrayed on the silver screen has been the same over the past few decades, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s. And if the way teens are portrayed in the movies is an accurate portrayal of upper middle class teens actual lives in America. The number of teen movies, a key demographic for movie makers, is very large, so I first had to narrow my choices. I decided to focus on three movies from each decade, but I also recognized that I could not just select any three teen movies. I wanted to select teen movies that in some way portrayed teen life in those years. I used a list of the 50 most popular teen movies of all time to select some of the most popular teen movies of these decades with the thought that the popularity of these movies, primarily with the teen audiences, would indicate that the movies actually spoke to teens. I chose the following movies: 1980s: The Breakfast Club (1985), Risky Business (1983), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) 1990s: Never Been Kissed (1999), American Pie (1999) and Clueless (1995) 2000s: Mean Girls (2004), Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Superbad (2007) The areas I will examine in terms of teen lifestyle are: parent-teen relationships, peer relationships, romantic relationships (sexuality and romantic love), and coming of age (issues of identity and overall maturity). The analysis focuses on the continuity and change in the depiction of these issues over the three decades of movies. The Portrayal of Parent- Teen relationships across the decades Parents play a vital role in a teenagers life and should be portrayed in teen films. The 80s through the three films showed uninvolved or uninterested parents in regards to their teenager, in matters outside of school. In the Breakfast Club all of the five teenagers had parents that only cared about grades, sports, money or didnt care at all. Teenagers in the 80s also put an effort to separate from his/her parents. In Risky Business (1983) a teenage boy has a weekend free from his overbearing parents. When his parents go out of town we see Tom Cruises character, Joel, partying, smoking, driving his dads Porsche, courting a hooker named Lana and fighting with her pimp. In this movie both of Joels parents are presented as the overly demanding type. In the five minute encounter between Joel and his parents at the beginning of the movie we hear his mother tell him to retake the SATs over again because his scores werent high enough. Then his father scolds him for touching his stereo but n ot putting it back exactly as it was before, followed by the familiar phrase, My house, my rules. In the end, Joel triumphs and gets into Princeton but through his own ingenuity and not by following the path imposed by his parents. He did it by taking control of his own life, rejecting their values, and taking some risks The 90s portrayed observant parents that were willing to help, but awkward in their interactions. American Pie (1999), the most successful teen movie of the 90s portrayed parents as either very lenient or completely unaware of their son Jims activities (he has sex in his bedroom while they are downstairs). His father understands that his son is interested in sex, but is very awkward in his ways to advise him. In the 00s movies portrayed mixed parenting styles such as, the caring and involved parents or the laissez affaire parents. In Mean Girls Cadys parents were caring and involved in her life, but Reginas mom was more hip and let the girls do what they pleased. In Superbad (2007) and Napoleon Dynamite(2004) parents were not existent and uninvolved. So from the 80s to 00s all three decades showed that teenagers have attitudes and values different from their parents. However, the parental traits that they despised have changed from rigid, conservative, authoritarianism, to ignorant, irresponsible and awkward. In addition, the nature of the struggle has evolved from an external struggle for power to a more internal intellectual journey for the adolescent to accept their parents flaws, to offer forgiveness and to realize that they are not destined to follow in their footsteps. Peer Relationships The teenagers concern with their peers is a theme in found in most teen movies. Regularly presented is the adolescents desire to expose the flawed nature of the high school clique system and to discover the meaning of true friendship. In some movies the basis for popularity is never explicitly presented, it is just noted that some youth are popular, others are not, and that cruelty, and conflict accompany these differences in status. In the Breakfast Club (1985) we see that status divisions are superficial and painful, not only to the unpopular but to the popular kids as well. They resolve in the end to see each other as more than their one dimensional profiles (princess, criminal, basket case, jock and brain). In Never Been Kissed (1999) we see how an undercover reporter rejects her initial friends for popularity but then later realize that popularity is unimportant and that it is better off to be friends that accept her for who she is. The same theme is found in Mean Girls (2004) ( with Cadys character) and in Napoleon Dynamite (2004). In Napoleon Dynamite (2004), the antagonist Napoleon is uninterested in popularity but instead lives by doing what he wants to do. He befriends a Mexican immigrant named Pedro and helps him run for Class president, in doing so he becomes popular. So in the 00s friendship will beat popularity any day. Romantic Relationships and Sexual Activity An interesting theme in teen films is the preoccupation with sex (losing ones virginity in particular) and the presentation of romantic relationships as being much more than sex. Youth in the films watched appear to simultaneously obsess about sex and yet reject it as being all important. Losing ones virginity is perhaps one of the most consistent ideas in teen movies, one that clearly transcends time. One of the central themes in American Pie (1999) is the drive for teenage boys to have sex. However, it isnt always the boys that work so hard to lose their virginity. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) Stacy the young and inexperienced teenage girl becomes so preoccupied with losing her virginity that she dates several guys and ends up getting an abortion. While sex did not play a major role in some movies such as The Breakfast Club (1985), Never Been Kissed (1999) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004) most movies repeatedly emphasized the importance of sex and the appropriateness of sex for teenagers: You are 15 years old, What are you waiting for? (Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982) You are a woman, you are ready for sex! (American Pie 1999) While many movies offered shallow or even silly stereotypes of hormone ridden teenagers, most displayed the more substantive, tender side of teenage love. It appears that American Pie (1999), is known for its crude and immature portrayal of adolescent sexuality (e.g. a teenage boy has sex with an apple pie because his friends described female genitalia as being like warm apple pie). However, even this movie has a few reasonable moments where the boys, who were in a race to lose their virginity, realize that sex isnt as important as they made it out to be. They also come to understand the importance of honesty, discretion, and true feelings in not only a relationship but sexual activity as well. In general, whether sex is presented or not, characters repeatedly emphasize the importance of finding a love interest that is based on real compatibility and commitment. This theme is also found in Clueless (1995) and Never Been Kissed (1999) Coming of Age (issues of identity and overall maturity) In all movies teens struggle with challenges that often symbolize the leap to maturity. However, the most notable change in the coming of age theme is the sense of accomplishment. In earlier films the challenge presented is usually met with the implication that an important step toward adulthood had been taken. However, in more recent films there is considerably less clarity in whether the teenager made a transition from adolescent to adult. In some cases it was made clear that the transition to adulthood had not occurred but rather concludes with the question, Whats the hurry? In these instances the realization is that adulthood shouldnt be forced at such a young age. Here we see indications of the extension of adolescence and social acceptance of delayed maturity. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) displays a mixture of the pursuit of adult status combined with the message that it is perhaps an unrealistic and hard to achieve goal for teenagers. In Fast Times, the teenagers repeatedly try to be adults and engage in what they consider to be adult behaviors. Brad works hard to have responsibility at a fast food restaurant because he wants to feel grown up. Stacy wants to have sex so she can be a woman. Throughout the film we see youth struggling to be adults even though their efforts are presented as misguided and in some cases silly. In the end they come to some decisions about themselves. Most become successful (e.g. Brad becomes assistant manager when he foils a stick up). In addition, Stacy proclaims in the end, I finally figured it out! as she relays that she doesnt want just sex but a more meaningful romantic relationship. While the youth display a sense of accomplishment the way their efforts are presented, and even the title, Fast Times suggest that maybe these teens are trying to grow up too fast. This perspective becomes the normal view of adolescence presented in the movies from the 1990s on. In American Pie (1999) two youth agonize over how to answer the college entrance exam question What is your most emotionally significant moment? The girl says How am I supposed to know what my most emotionally significant moment is? I have no idea what I want to doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Thank God, I thought I was the only one. In another scene in American Pie the boys acknowledge their confusion about what they want and where they are going. One boy says, I dont know what Im doing, but the movie ends happily as they all agree they arent supposed to know. They say, You cant plan everything and then they toast to right now and the next step. Plots regularly talked about how you cant control things, cant plan, things never work out the way you expect so why bother? The youth try to embrace this venture into the unknown and tie it into their decision to pass on identity closure. They dont know who they are but that is all right. On a Side Note: The portrayal of drug usage such as alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. In the 80s there seemed to be common casual use of alcohol and tobacco in every type of setting but marijuana use was uncommon or experimental. In the Breakfast Club (1985) the teens smoked the weed that the criminal had brought, for the other teens, this was their first time. They used weed as a way to relax and bond but it was obvious that they dont usually encounter weed. The use of tobacco could really be noted as common in these films also. In Risky Business (1983) almost all characters smoked cigarettes occasionally. In the 90s the use of alcohol and tobacco stayed casual but marijuana transformed from a experimental drug to a more widely used recreational drug. This can be seen in Clueless (1995) during one of the house party scenes where the main character Cher casually smokes a marijuana cigarette offered by a classmate. The 00s portrayed many changes in drug use, alcohol became much harder to obtain and tob acco use turned unpopular, however marijuana use is still prevalent. In Superbad (2007) the antagonists have to resort to using fake identification and stealing to acquire alcohol for a friends party. Another commonality that I noted in these teen movies across the decades, are topics that they did not deal with. These include topics such as violence, suicide and death, teen pregnancy and parenthood, drug addiction, financial difficulties and other serious situations. These films deal with well-off upper middle class teens with plenty of opportunities, limited by their own insecurities. Conclusion