Friday, May 15, 2020
How Peer Review Works in the Social Sciences
Peer review, at least in intent, is the way the editors of academic journals attempt to keep the quality of articles in their publications high, and assure (or attempt to assure) that poor or fallacious research does not get published. The process is tied up with political and economic issues involving tenure and pay scales, in that an academic who participates in the peer review process (whether as author, editor, or reviewer) gets rewarded for that participation in an increase in reputation which can lead to an increase in pay scales, rather than direct payment for services rendered. In other words, none of the people involved in the review process is paid by the journal in question, with the sole exception (maybe) of one or more editorial assistants. The author, editor, and reviewers all do this for the prestige involved in the process; they are generally paid by the university or business that employs them, and in many cases, that pay is contingent upon obtaining publication in peer-reviewed journals. The editorial assistance is generally provided in part by the editors university and in part by the journal. The Review Process The way academic peer review works (at least in the social sciences), is that a scholar writes an article and submits it to a journal for review. The editor reads it over and finds between three and seven other scholars to review it. The reviewers selected to read and comment on the scholars article are chosen by the editor based on their reputations in the specific field of the article, or whether they are mentioned in the bibliography, or if they are personally known to the editor. Sometimes the author of a manuscript suggests some reviewers. Once a list of reviewers is drawn up, the editor removes the name of the author from the manuscript and forwards a copy to the chosen stout hearts. Then time passes, a lot of time, generally, between two weeks and several months. When the reviewers have all returned their comments (made directly on the manuscript or in a separate document), the editor makes a preliminary decision about the manuscript. Is it to be accepted as is? (This is very rare.) Is it to be accepted with modifications? (This is typical.) Is it to be rejected? (This last cases is also fairly rare, depending on the journal.) The editor strips out the identity of the reviewers and sends along the comments and her preliminary decision about the manuscript to the author. If the manuscript was accepted with modifications, it is then up to the author to make changes until the editor is satisfied that the reviewers reservations are met. Eventually, after several rounds of back and forth, the manuscript is published. The period from submission of a manuscript to publication in an academic journal generally takes anywhere from six months to over a year. Problems with Peer Review Problems inherent in the system include the time sink between submission and publication, and the difficulty obtaining reviewers who have the time and inclination to give thoughtful, constructive reviews. Petty jealousies and full blown political differences of opinion are difficult to restrain in a process where no one is made accountable for a specific set of comments on a particular manuscript, and where the author has no ability to correspond directly with her reviewers. However, it must be said that many argue that the anonymity of the blind review process allows a reviewer to freely state what he or she believes about a particular paper without fear of reprisal. The burgeoning of the internet in the first decade of the 21st century has made a huge difference in the way articles are published and made available: the peer review system is often problematic in these journals, for a number of reasons. Open access publishing--in which free draft or completed articles are published and made available to anyone--is a wonderful experiment that has had some hitches in getting started. In a 2013 paper in Science, John Bohannen described how he submitted 304 versions of a paper on a bogus wonder drug to open-access journals, over half of which were accepted. Recent Findings In 2001, the journal Behavioral Ecology changed its peer review system from one which identified the author to reviewers (but reviewers remained anonymous) to a completely blind one, in which both author and reviewers are anonymous to one another. In a 2008 paper, Amber Budden and colleagues reported that statistics comparing the articles accepted for publication before and after 2001 indicated that significantly more women have been published in BE since the double-blind process began. Similar ecological journals using single-blind reviews over the same period do not indicate a similar growth in the number of woman-authored articles, leading researchers to believe that the process of double-blind review might assist with the glass ceiling effect. Sources Bohannon J. 2013. Whos afraid of peer review? Science 342:60-65. Budden AE, Tregenza T, Aarssen LW, Koricheva J, Leimu R, and Lortie CJ. 2008. Double-blind review favours increased representation of female authors. Trends in Ecology Evolution 23(1):4-6. Carver M. 2007. Archaeology journals, academics and open access. European Journal of Archaeology 10(2ââ¬â3):135ââ¬â148. Chilidis K. 2008. New knowledge versus consensus ââ¬â a critical note on their relationship based on the debate concerning the use of barrel-vaults in Macedonian tombs. European Journal of Archaeology 11(1):75ââ¬â103. Etkin A. 2014. A New Method and Metric to Evaluate the Peer Review Process of Scholarly Journals. Publishing Research Quarterly 30(1):23-38. Gould THP. 2012. The Future of Peer Review: Four Possible Options to Nothingness. Publishing Research Quarterly 28(4):285-293. Vanlandingham SL. 2009. Extraordinary Examples of Deception in Peer Reviewing: Concoction of the Dorenberg Skull Hoax and Related Misconduct. 13th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: International Symposium on Peer Reviewing. Orlando, Florida. Vesnic-Alujevic L. 2014. Peer Review and Scientific Publishing in Times of Web 2.0. Publishing Research Quarterly 30(1):39-49. Weiss B. 2014. Opening Access: Publics, Publication, and a Path to Inclusion. Cultural Anthropology 29(1):1-2.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Playing A Sport Is Tough Enough As It Is, Things Such As
Playing a sport is tough enough as it is, things such as training, potential for injuries, mental preparation and making sure the team reaches their full potential are all factors. Now, imagine not feeling like a part of that team because of the person you want to love. I was fortunate enough to be able to get a first hand look into what being a gay athlete is like. My ex teammate and friend Ryan Houchen, great athlete, even better person. Ryan himself is a homosexual athlete, he played hockey for Metro State as well as the University of Colorado Denver. He, as well as others, are seeing that more and more gay athletes are emerging and as Ryan says, ââ¬Å"Things are definitely on the upâ⬠. What he means by this is that it is becoming moreâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦These are shocking statistic really, when asking Ryan about his comfort level with his team he said, ââ¬Å"It was okay, I never felt physically threatened...â⬠. He did say however, that he did never feel qui te like a part of the team due to his sexuality. Another aspect of homophobia affecting gays in sports is the homophobic slurs used in the locker room and on the field, granted, Ryan said that even in day to day life he never felt harmed or hurt by homophobic slurs. However, it is still a major problem in sports. 89 percent of homosexuals heard or felt targeted by homosexual slurs, according to the study. In my interview with Ryan I asked him if the culture of the locker room needed to be the first thing to change, he said ââ¬Å"Absolutely, sometimes it has to start from within a team and then that positive and encouraging attitude can go on to others.â⬠In my interview with Ryan, he said he never felt targeted but he did hint at the fact that at times the slurs could be excessive, he aimed responsibility of the needed culture change on the coaching staff. He spoke about the coaches on one of the teams he played for previously, who used slurs towards the opposing team, ââ¬Å"Kinda shocked me, but I recognized it was a motivating factorâ⬠. Coaches in the sports are ones who need to step up to the plate and make the world of sports more comforting and help homosexuals feel less threatened. Most coaches have or atShow MoreRelatedTough Times Don t Last, Tough People Do912 Words à |à 4 PagesTough times donââ¬â¢t last, tough people do. About 200,000 people have this injury every year. Itââ¬â¢s the most non-contact injury in sports. If its not taken care of, it can lead you to not being able to play sports ever again. Injuries like these are very serious. Many people donââ¬â¢t always come back from this type of injury. I t can either have you come back better than ever or make you want to give you want to give up. I started playing basketball when I was four years old. 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Also, companies look college athletes because the balance school work, sports, and a social life and have a great sense of time management. I want to argue that even though college sports are beneficialRead MoreAnalysis Of Fences By August Wilson947 Words à |à 4 PagesRose, but his harsh personality caused him to only be able to show it through tough love. Troy and his son had a complex relationship. They did not outwardly show the affection the held for each other; instead they carried it internally. An approach that was dependent on the history of racism. They needed to come off as strong and any emotions they allowed into play could make them come off as weak. Corey had been playing football and proved to have exceptional abilities in the game. Troy, howeverRead MoreThe Importance Of Sports In Sports1080 Words à |à 5 Pagesseventy percent of kids quit sports by age thirteen due to their parentsââ¬â¢ pressure and their excuse is ââ¬Å"it is not fun anymoreâ⬠(Miner). Parents need to understand there is a difference between encouraging their childââ¬â¢s ability and stressing them out (Braff). Although sports are very enjoyable, I believe that if parents push their kids too hard to be the best in sports, it has a negative effect on how they feel about playing the sport because they will get burned out in the sport and they will end up hatingRead MoreIssues Over Paying College Athletes1359 Words à |à 5 PagesIn recent years, the issue of paying college athletes has come to the forefront. There is an entire market for college sports and the associations that oversee these college teams, the ones that broadcast their games on television, and the sponsors that support them make a huge profit. This brings the question, why arenââ¬â¢t the students who are giving their time to these sports being paid? There seems to be a misconception that college athletes arenââ¬â¢t being paid and that is wrong. Just in Florida,Read MoreIs Playing A Sport?1619 Words à |à 7 PagesPlaying a sport is tough enough as it is, tasks such as training, potential for injuries, mental preparation and making sure the team reaches their full potential are all factors. Now, imagine not feeling like a part of that team due to the person you want to love. I was fortunate enough to be able to have a first-hand look into wha t being a gay athlete is like. My ex-teammate and friend Ryan Houchen, great athlete, even better person. Ryan himself is a homosexual athlete, he played hockey for Metro
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Marketing Fashion Strategy Branding and Promotion â⬠Free Samples
Question: Discuss about the Marketing Fashion for Strategy Branding and Promotion. Answer: Introduction All the profit-making organisations set up marketing plan as it helps an organisation to generate greater revenue. An organisations strategy combines with all marketing objectives that may lead to one comprehensive plan. In order to set marketing strategy, an organisation needs to marketing research. Marketing strategy should focus target market of an organisation. Each of the company has its own distinct target market. This report focuses on the Australian based fashion clothing organisation Jeanswest. In the first part of the report, concept of the target market will be discussed with analyzing the selected target market of Jeanswest. In the latter part, marketing strategy of Jeanswest will be analysed through theoretical standpoint. Lastly, recommendations will be given based on the analysis. Jeanswest is an Australia based apparel organisation which as chain stores all over Australia and this organisation is operated under Glorious Sun. Jeanswest operates mainly on casual fashion clothing, jeans, denim, mens clothing and womens clothing. The organisation is famous for collection of blue denim both females and males. Jeanswest has its distinct division for maternity wears for women. Jeanswear organisation has more than 218 stores in all over Australia and New Zealand. In addition, Jeanswest started its journey in the year 1972 when it established its first store in Perth (Jeanswest.com.au. 2017). In the first occasion, this organisation started its business in Western Australia. Glorious Sun made the acquisition of the organisation in the year 1994. However, it has Jeanswest Australia store in Mauritius and in the Middle East. Jeanswest is famous for women denim jeans. This organisation has complete range of women denim and it is famous within the age range between 13 and 40. Blue denim is their best selling product under the category of women section. This organisation has its online store and customers can select their products through images with having various sizes and colour. The indigo denim for women of Jeanswest sells most in Australia for women. The denim looks like the sturdy cotton textile through which the weft in jeans passes under warp threads. The organisation sells the product of women jeans using tag line of Fits Best. The division of women denim ranges vastly, named, high wasted skinny, distressed cop, patched slim and straight jeans. Target Market In order to set a target market of an organisation, it is needed to segregate the market segmentation. Market segmentation can be categorised into four bases. The first one is geographic segmentation and it is based on customers location, region, rural-urban division and classification of customers. As stated by Baker (2014), demographic segmentation is based on age, gender, occupation, socioeconomic group. Behavioural segmentation of customers is based on rate of usage of products, benefits, loyalty status and readiness to buy a product from the organisation's store. Lastly, psychographic segmentation is about personal preferences, lifestyles of customers, class and attitudes of the customers. In this regard, segmentation of Jeanswest makes its market segmentation. This organisation follows the segments of demographic and behavioural bases. In demographic bases, the organisation mainly focuses on ages of the customers. In fashion clothing industry, teenagers and Middle Ages customers opt to choose new fashion clothes. In addition, as these products are costly according to market price, Jeanswest chooses higher earning class. Jeanswest organisation chooses both males and females as their segments of choices as both genders wear denim jeans. Moreover, in behavioural segment, the organisation focuses on loyalty of the customers. Jeanswest has a great customer base in Australia and they started Frequent Flyer' loyalty programme for the customers. This loyalty programme provides great rebate and deals to the selected customers. Therefore, the selected target market of the organisation is teenage section and middle aged individuals in denim jeans. Target market of Jeanswest is mainly upper-class people of Australia as the denim is costly. Blued denim has great demand and mainly women shop regularly from stores all over Australia and these denim jeans cost for women from $99 to $199. Target customers of Jeanswest have repeat purchasing value as this organisation provides loyalty bonus and the customers are ready to purchase new arrivals always. Moreover, the organisation launched Butt Cam jeans for women stating that these jeans have lifetime guarantee with recognition to the valued customers giving discounts up to 15%. In positioning of the products, the organisation selects the stores and it has more than 190 stores in Australia and other stores in New Zealand, China and the Middle East. Most of the stores are in an urban section and these are near metropolitan cities. However, Jeanswest has online stores and people all across Australia can shop from this having discounts. As stated by Weinstein and Cahill, (2014), in case of value proposition, the organisation focuses on fashionable clothing that can afford most of section of target market. Jeanswest strategy to retrain target market is to provide cutting edge fashion and that must have latest styles for women. In addition, in retaining customers, Jeanswest gives large choices to the target customers from which they can choose their clothes. Moreover, organisation reduces manufacture quantity of each product that creates artificial scarcity in the market and target customers start purchasing the products from time it hits the market. Marketing strategy Marketing objectives of the organisation Jeanswest are: To increase customer satisfaction To continue to grow by extending Jeanswest fashion brand globally To extend market share by 5% by the end of 2018 To increase brand awareness among consumers and profitability Jeanswest organisation focuses mainly on the brand loyalty of the organisation and setting a target market with middle ages and teenagers. Jeanswest organisation brings the latest design in world and the customers have the best fabric and blue denim. Marketing of Jeanswest is based on the position in the market. Jeanswest organisation has competitors in the Australia, the competition in market are, David Jones, Myer, Pop-up retail, Country Road and Cue. Jeanswest needs to have a good marketing strategy in order to cope up in market. Philip Kotler stated that marketing mix is a combination that should be controlled by the organisation to motivate customers to buy products. Marketing Mix of Jeanswest: As commented by Hennart (2014), products of an organisation can be both tangible and intangible. All the products of an organisation must have product life cycles. Organisations marketing team should know the unique selling proposition and benefits that products offered. Jeanswest organisation is a fashion brand that makes apparel for both male and females. Jeanswest organisation sells best apparel in market of Australia and their blue denim jeans are famous. Moreover, the organisation has great range of female jeans and blue denim have a great customer base. In addition, this organisation has brought a range of maternity jeans for women with large waist size. Jeanswest organisation researches the market according to the needs and desires of the customers. Their products suit the Australian weather and culture and college going girls and middle aged women largely buy their products. Jeanswest has brought long straight jeans for Middle East women and they have bought Icon jeans for me n. It makes clear that variety and quality both are important for Jeanswest. Price is all about the amount that the end users have to pay for a product. Pricing has perceived value of a product rather than the objective cost (Poon et al. 2017). An organisation must have a pricing strategy before sells a product and it must achieve the revenue target of the organisation. Jeanswest organisation takes higher-pricing strategy as price is higher than the local market. It makes a sense that organisation sells quality product to the customers with global name. The other brands with affordable clothing are competitors of Jeanswest. Jeanswests price strategy can be called price skimming as the organisation charges highest price and the customers need to pay the price initially. In this way, the demands of products get satisfied, Jeanswest lowers the price in the more-price sensitive segment. Customers of Jeanswest are mainly fashion conscious and they are from upper-income group millennial. In female jeans products, the ranges of product in pricing are various and cus tomers can choose among various price range. As stated by Bharadwaj (2015), the customers provide values to product pricing. In this way, if values are positive, then the products will be a hit in the market. In recognising the perceived value of a product, Jeanswest can make a survey in the market through social media. As opined by Lueg et al. (2015), place is related to concept of where the customers can get the products. In making choice about place, the organisation needs to set the distribution channel. The place strategy of products to the stores plays a vital role. David Jones, the rival in the market of Jeanswest sends the new products in the stores within 30 days of the launching and this strategy sells the products more. Accessing products in large quantity and proper place is needed by customers. In Australia, Jeanswest organisation has more than 190 shops and online presence. However, the organisation is trying to expand the online stores and it would enable the organisation to reach a large number of customers. All stores of the organisation are near large city; customers can check new design through online and buy them in the stores. Promotion is the market communication strategy to the target customers, in this respect; the organisations select the promotional activities. These strategies include social media advertisements, television advertisements and hoardings. Promotions increase public relation to organisation and increase brand value (Brito et al. 2105). The promotion makes the connection to organisation and end-users. In entire marketing function, promotion is the communication aspect. In selling their new denim or designer clothing, Jeanswest organisation does not make aggressive advertisements. Jeanswest uses word-of-mouth public relation. Jeanswest tries to make customers happy as the organisation sells best quality products. The distribution and pricing strategy of the organisation play an important role in promotion. Sometimes, the Jeanswest organises fashion week to promote their newly launched ranges of products. This increases brand popularity. Moreover, in a social network, the organisation has strong presence. Jeanswest engages the customers in social media and they make loyalty programme. In making advertisement campaign, the organisations can arrange promotional partners and in fashion retail industry, power of partnership is very important (McAlexander et al. 2016). Most importantly, Jeanswest organisation focuses on the ethical sourcing in production of jeans and denim. The organisation follows standard code of conducts in manufacturing the products with signing the cotton pledge on the website of the organisation. Recommendations Jeanswest organisation is not in the industry and it has several competitors in the market. However, this organisation is trying to make its foothold as a global organisation. Jeanswest organisation follows vertical integration in merchandising the products in the Australian market. However, in marketing the products and correcting the target market, some of the recommendations as follow: Jeanswest organisation can target through interested fashion trends of the customers. Of late, customers are getting more fashion conscious; Jeanswest organisation can target the customers who are conscious about their looks. The people who like to shop and socialise can be new target customers. Jeanswest organisation takes price skimming strategy; however, affordable pricing strategy would help the organisation to penetrate to middle-class people. Reaching a large number of consumers will eventually increase the sales. EDLP (Everyday Low Price) strategy will increase customer base Social media marketing is not strong of the organisation; however, it has social networking pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube. Jeanswest has 1,33,000 (approx) likes on Facebook. Social media marketing is cost-effective and can reach the customers easily with attractive images and contents. Jeanswest organisation needs to take social media strategy effectively with community support programmes that will enhance their CSR. Conclusion Jeanswest organisation is one of the largest fashion retail organisations that sell mostly luxury denim jeans. Jeanswests target markets are selective and the organisation needs to flourish it. The organisation needs to alter the pricing strategy in order to reach large market segment. Visual branding is now important, Jeanswest organisation can start digital marketing through social media and best quality images must be posted there. In a country like Australia, fashion retail and apparel industry have scope to flourish and Jeanswest organisation with focusing mainly demand of the consumers rather than competition. Reference List Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S. and Kotler, P., 2014.Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia. Baker, M.J., 2014.Marketing strategy and management. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Bharadwaj, S., 2015. Developing new marketing strategy theory: addressing the limitations of a singular focus on firm financial performance.AMS review,5(3-4), pp.98-102. Brito, P.Q., Soares, C., Almeida, S., Montes, A. and Byvoet, M., 2015. Customer segmentation in a large database of an online customized fashion business.Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing,36, pp.93-100. Hennart, J.F., 2014. The accidental internationalists: a theory of born globals.Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice,38(1), pp.117-135. Jeanswest.com.au. 2017. Our History. Available at: https://www.jeanswest.com.au/en-au/about-us/history.htm [Accessed on: 29 Aug. 2017] Lueg, R., Pedersen, M.M. and Clemmensen, S.N., 2015. The role of corporate sustainability in a low?cost business modelA case study in the Scandinavian fashion industry.Business Strategy and the Environment,24(5), pp.344-359. McAlexander, J.H., Koenig, H.F. and DuFault, B., 2016. Millennials and Boomers: increasing alumni affinity and intent to give by target market segmentation.International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing,21(2), pp.82-95. Mohr, I., 2013. The impact of social media on the fashion industry.The Journal of Applied Business and Economics,15(2), p.17. Poon, E.W.N.J., Lam, S.S. and Moon, K.K., 2017. Design and Development of Intelligent Decision Support Prototype System for Social Media Competitive Analysis in Fashion Industry.Fashion and Textiles: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice, p.211. Posner, H., 2015.Marketing Fashion: Strategy, Branding and Promotion. Laurence King Publishing. Weinstein, A. and Cahill, D.J., 2014.Lifestyle market segmentation. Abingdon: Routledge.
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Tarnished gold Some of the great Olympics cheat Essays - Sports
Tarnished gold: Some of the 'great' Olympics cheats Faster, higher, farther...sneakier? From non-disabled Paralympians to rigged fencing foils and badminton players intent on losing - here's our guide to the Olympians who fell far short of the high Olympic ideals... Guy Adams @ guyadams Wednesday 1 August 2012 11:00 BST Tarnished gold: Some of the 'great' Olympics cheats An official threatens Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia and Jung Eun Ha and Min Jung Kim of Korea with a 'black card' disqualification In the long history of Olympic cheating last night's effort (or rather lack of it) by badminton players at Wembley Arena is a little unusual. Rather than attempting to win through the employing of devious methods the players from China and South Korea, in fact, appeared to be attempting to lose in order to manipulate a draw. The farcical scenes that saw players booed, jeered, disqualified and then reinstated - have today led to the launching of disciplinary proceedings against the four players. The fiasco began when Chinese top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang started to show little interest in beating Koreans Jung Kyung- eun and Kim Ha- na to finish top of Group A. Coming second would have meant avoiding compatriots and second seeds Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei at least until the final. Tian and Zhao had been sent off their natural path to the final as second seeds by defeat to Denmark's Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen earlier in the day. The Koreans responded to China's antics by copying them and referee Thorsten Berg emerged to warn all the players and subsequently disqualify and reinstate them. Though the desire to lose may have been unusual, mendacity, manipulation and outright cheating at the Olympic games are nothing new... Ben Johnson, Seoul, 1988 There were drug cheats before, and there have been drug cheats since. But it took the downfall of Ben Johnson to demonstrate the apparent ubiquity of banned substances at the very highest level of sport. On the evening of 24 September, the Canadian sprinter set a new world record of 9.79 seconds in the men's 100m final, lifting his hand in triumph as he crossed the finish line ahead of arch rival Carl Lewis and Britain's Linford Christie, in what a BBC commentator declared "the greatest sprint race in history". Three days later, it became the most tarnished. Johnson was stripped of his medal, and had his record expunged after a sample of his urine tested positive for stanozolol , an illegal steroid. He initially denied cheating, but later confessed - arguing that drug use was endemic in top-tier athletics. In a way, he had a point: six of the eight finalists in that famous 100m race were at some point in their careers tainted by association with "juicing", and several, like him, served bans. But no one fell further, or harder, or more publicly than Ben Johnson. And somehow, the Olympic ideal would never feel quite the same. Boris Onischenko , Montreal, 1976 At the height of the Cold War, when Olympic sports were a cipher for political clashes between East and West, the heavily- favoured Russians took on second- favourites , Great Britain, in the fencing leg of the Modern Pentathlon. Onischenko , who had won silver in the previous two Games, and was desperate to go one better, easily dispatched the UK's Danny Parker. Then he won a baffling bout against Adrian Parker, in which the electronic scoreboard registered a hit, despite an apparent lack of contact between Onischenko's epee and Parker's body. Next up was Jim Fox, a British Army captain. Early in their bout, the scoreboard once more lit up, suggesting a Soviet triumph. But Fox, who was sure he'd taken evasive action, was having none of it - and demanded an examination of his opponent's sword. "I thought the weapon was faulty," he later recalled. That was only the half of it. Buried beneath the leather handle, judges discovered an intricate wiring system designed to register a "hit" when a small button was pressed. "It was a real engineering job," said Mike Proudfoot , the British team manager. "Not just a ham amateur's effort. They had
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Dances with Wolves essays
Dances with Wolves essays Without question Kevin Costner is one of the most astute directors when it comes to the use of open space. He has a way of making a viewer feel small in the large scale of the location. Several of the cameras pans of the wide open prairie territory with its long, yellow grass and rolling hills makes a person feel fully enraptured in the scenery. Where the Cowboy Rides Away: Mythic Places for Western Film by Gary Hausladen discusses just such a landscape. He says, And the setting for these stories was the American West, those particular, picturesque American landscapes that enhance the confrontations and transformations that take place. Dances with Wolves is a perfect representation of man versus nature in that it shows a city boy who is forced to learn how to survive on the frontier, and he tames it as is symbolized by his befriending of the wolf. Also symbolized by this friendship is mans ability to have harmony with nature, instead of conquering it. This idea is vanquished with the death of the wolf at the hands of a soldier. Somewhat evident as well is man versus technology in that the Indians are eventually killed off by a technology that they neither have nor embrace-that of the gun. What was formally enough to protect oneself, such as arrows and knives, has now become null and void considering you can be enumerable feet away from a man and still shoot him. Another way that this is addressed is through Costners mental breakdown while in the army, a situation that eventually pushes him in the opposite direction of technology-the frontier. There is a huge message encoded throughout this film, and I read it as saying, Technology is the death of true civilization. Most of all though, the movie is a sadly truthful perspective on the colonization that occurred in America during and after our revolt against the suppression of ...
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Music for the Stage (Wagner-Die Walkre) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Music for the Stage (Wagner-Die Walkre) - Essay Example Every author who have studied this work have noticed the rpesence of a number of leitmotifs which are short, melodious and harmonic in general through which the work gains its expressiveness and dramatic form. (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). Though Wagner had never used the word leitmotif, his critics had been somewhat paranoid in attributing a number of leitmotifs distributed in the entire stretch of this work. Wagner had called them ââ¬Ëmelodic momentsââ¬â¢ and described them as created ââ¬Å" by the orchestra into a kind of guides-to-feeling through the whole labyrinthine building of the dramaâ⬠(Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html). He (Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html) also has added that, ââ¬Å"at their(melodious moments) hand, we become the fellow-knowers of the proufoundest secret of the poetââ¬â¢s aim, the immediate partners of its realisement.â⬠Apart from â⠬Å"communicating the emotional nuancesâ⬠, leitmotifs in Die Walkure are also perceived by critics as ââ¬Å"the building blocks of a symphonic compositionâ⬠(Richard Wagner website, http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html).
Thursday, February 6, 2020
A Journal Review of the American Historical Review Assignment
A Journal Review of the American Historical Review - Assignment Example Since the mid 1995, the journal has had many publications handling issues of global concern. The issues handled depict many developments in different fields. The journals explore the fields of commerce, science, numbers, history and even religion. The journal has had many developments, issues and diversities concerning the occurrences in the world. In February1995, the American review journal handled issues on race, discrimination and racism in the US. Race is an exceedingly sensitive issue that affects many people around the globe. In the US, racism was one of the issues affecting the US. Racism is inequitable treatment directed to people with prejudice on the coloration of their skin. The journal was trying to sensitize the US about the need for treating all people equally. Therefore, the journal served as a revelation to the citizens of the US. In April the 1995, the journal further explored on the issues of gender in Gilberto. It explained that gender did not have to be a basis f or people to treat people with favor. This is because no person chose his gender. During the month of August the 1995, the journal publicized issues on democracy. It explained that all persons and states had the right to democracy .This meant that they could act without fear of intimidation by any person. During the same month, the publication handled the issue of Equality. It insisted that all persons ought to endure fair treatment regardless of their color and origin. As time went by, more publications talking about diverse topics hit the headlines. The publication of February the 1996, spoke about the topic of literature. The publication gave a detailed analysis of literature by explaining about the origin of literature. The origin explained about the history facing the world of literature. The fact that the journal could handle different topics revealed the developments evident in the journal. The journal has developments in handling different matters apart from the ones in its first years of publication. These developments show that the journal keeps abreast with emerging issues in the world. This is meant to show that the world is dynamic and that the issues posted in the American Journal keep changing. Still on the year 1996, the American journal review talked about the reason as to why the Indians were red. This topic touched on the topic of mythology and delusions. The journal criticized the idea that the world was full of misconceptions and that many people were living on a lie. The journal insisted that the Americans were in another century where myths and misconceptions were unheard of. Other topics discussed there after included such things as the issue of missionaries. This was during the 1997 when many missionaries spread across the globe in order to spread the gospel. The missionaries were said to be people who had different objectives. One of the objectives was that they wanted to instill western culture to the people living in the regions tha t they visited. The American review journal discussed the topic of missionary activities with a lot of intensity. The journal also explained that missionaries explored different countries with the aim of paving way for the colonizers. This is because the missionaries brought many developments in the areas that they went to carry out their work. The American review journal of the August 1997 dealt with the issue of imperialism. Imperialism referred to the activities of acquiring territories around the globe.
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