Technology In Cinema And Film Making Media Essay

Technology In Cinema And Film Making Media Essay I think that modern technology has changed modern film making for the better. In the last few years, using the latest technologies has been paramount in the film making process. This has caused films to evolve over the years with each progressing idea, technology, and technique, allowing filmmakers to bring their vision to life more accurately and more convincingly to the big screen. Without these advances in video capture and computing many films such as Star Trek'(JJ Abrams, 2009) would not have been as successful. Film production has also become very fast to meet the growing demand for movies as the channel for distribution increase and audiences broaden. The development of technology has affected an extremely wide array of areas concerning film, including the production process, the way films are viewed, how the films are distributed, and even how they are promoted. These new innovations are advancing so quickly now that the traditional cinema-going experience may find itself hav ing to compete with online streaming of filmed entertainment. 2. The facts and opinions Digital media is in-expensive and can be edited quickly and easily. Large Volumes of raw video are handled in a few days with sometimes only one person working on it, this is comparable to the older methods with film that took several weeks to process with teams going through each reel of film. The first practical cinema device was made by two French brothers Louis and Auguste Lumiere, they called it the cinematograph. In 1894 the device and others like it began to be used in public buildings or halls (dubbed ‘nickelodeans because it cost a nickel to watch the short animation). Through various advancements throughout the following years the recording and replaying methods became more powerful and much simpler. One of these advancements led to colour pictures and was used to obliterate mono-chrome movies for a short while. Films like ‘Schindlers List Steven Spielberg 1993 and ‘Clerks Kevin Smith 1994 show that monochrome can help make an atmosphere that colour cant. An example of a movie with very little technology would be â€Å"No Country for Old Men† which relied on the atmosphere made by good acting and filming. It is argued that the lack of technology used in the making of the film and even in the setting, which was the early eighties, made for a more dramatic effect. But to contest that is the fact that the film was following the original novel by Cormic McCarthy, and that dramatic effect was made by very good acting, directing, back music and producing. Computer Generated imagery has changed the way movie makers imagine and visualise the movie because they are not as restricted as they were 20 years ago. Some ‘get arounds had to be made then due to lack of funds or until a technological solution was developed. The more simple ‘tricks included stopping the camera but keeping it in position as an actor moved off set before continuing to give the effect that a character had suddenly vanished. Another trick would involve an artist painting some matching scenery around a sheet of glass and letting the camera film through that so it made the surrounding area look larger than it actually was. Original animations were very tedious and labour intensive. To make the drawings ‘move the cartoonist normally had to produce twenty-five to twenty-six drawings for every second of screen time. This resulted in ten-minute cartoon needing fourteen thousand, four hundred different drawings. ‘Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay in 1909 was the first one of its kind. It was seven minutes long and needed ten thousand drawings. Titan AE, this is an animated movie enhanced by computer to give a hybrid. This was a great success and is known for stunning visuals and brilliant voice acting. Normally an animated movie is screened at around twenty five frames per second which means that even the smallest movement on screen would require about sixty drawings. With the computer this be dramatically reduced and enhanced graphically. Another movie â€Å"Monsters Inc. â€Å" is completely computer generated. This gives the movie a cartoonish look and the class of a live film were the actions and motions are more fluid. CGI allows directors to create an atmosphere that they would not be able to achieve with models or visual â€Å"trickery†. George Lucas explains in â€Å"Star Wars A New Hope Remastered DVD† In the scene where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are speeding across the Desert in the â€Å"Speeder†(Hover Car), The production team originally put Vaseline on the camera lens in the area that the cars wheels would be. This of course left two black smudges under the car. Due to other problems and limitations Lucas had problem realising his vision for the movie. He created his own digital effects house (Industrial Light and Magic and sound companies ‘THX and ‘Skywalker sound because the things he wanted simply didnt exist. New techniques were thought up and tested. Although the film was highly successful, Lucas still was not happy and later remastered the film with more advanced graphics and sounds. With the improvements they added larger backgrounds to once disappointing sets and add extra characters. A cut scene was added because they could now add in a CG (computer generated) alien character that at the time didnt even have a puppet stand-in. Without the help of these special effects the film would not have done justice to Lucas original vision for the movie. For ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001) and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002) programmer Stephen Regelous created ‘Massive a special-effects program that allowed thousands of unique CG characters to have a mind of their own when thrown into combat for the battle scenes. â€Å"Gathering seventy-thousand or so tall, broad-shouldered extras, dressing them in elaborate armor and having them slaughtering each other was out of the question. â€Å"Digital technology is a thing, a medium that makes film flourish as it never has before.† George Lucas Because of CGI, realistic Dinosaurs were seen in ‘Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993) and animals have charged down through a city street in ‘Jumanji (Joe Johnston, 1995). â€Å"The future of cinema lies in the power of the pixel. The injection of fresh ideas and methodologies will only serve to mix up the metaphorical gene pool and empower a new generation of filmmakers.† Roger Corman Both these movies have done very well in cinema through VHS and DVD sales. Examples of films that have been let down by special effects would be ‘Killer Flood'(Doug Campbell, 2003) and Deep Blue Sea(Renny Harlin, 1999) which did alright in viewings and even had very good acting and scripting but was let down by a few moments were the audience should have been amazed by the imagery but instead was disappointed by the poorly made imagery of the sharks. Movies have also been influenced by Computer Games and some of the rendering techniques from games have been applied to the movie making process. One such method has a group of people wearing Skin tight clothing fitted with sensors on all the locations were movement is most noticeable and at joints. A computer then gathers the information to make a model on screen with the same movements of the person wearing the sensors. Computer generated imagery has also helped reduce the cost of movie making. Large effects that normally cost thousands to make can be done with a decent computer and some editing software. Because of the need of pre-processing is no longer required with digital video, clips can now be viewed on site instantly and mistakes can be found and changed or fixed unlike traditional 35mm film where errors would not be found for weeks until all the film had been processed. With cost effective production, more and more movies can be made and newer previously unknown directors appear with Box Office hit Films. A recent box office hit â€Å"Zombieland† directed by Ruben Fleischer was the first feature film by him, without the low cost production methods available the movie may not have been made. ‘District 9 ‘Zombieland done well in cinema and have been made by first time directors. ‘District 9 Gross Profit $210,146,235 ‘Zombieland Gross Profit $90,081,556 The large profits of these films show that they have been a success and the filming budgets (average 30,000,000) show that studios are not afraid to stop a production half way. Before digital film these mock ups had to be made to view/preview the movie hence a higher cost. Digital Video has been both the answer to cheap filming and the enemy of those in the film industry. With digital video large amounts of video can be moved and transferred easily rather than the trucks needed to move the reels of film. Increased memory capacity has aided this as well allowing very high quality images to be recorded. High definition video is an example of this as there are so many pixels per frame and so many frames the file sizes are enormous. Just 30 minutes of video can be two Gigabytes in size. One of the first films to use digital video was ‘Westworld in 1973. Shortly before digital video came digital audio. With digital audio the same advantages apply, it is cheaper to store and easier to edit. One of the main advantages of digital audio is that tape is not needed to store it. Audio stored on tape was prone to distortion or deterioration from magnetic waves and moisture; it is also much harder to sync than with a piece of video like an animated character or sound effect. Recorders and Microphones have become very small and fitted inside the ear or in the collar of a jumper. They can record in very high quality which helps in the editing phase, if a character gets drowned out by another noise or their voice becomes muffled by another person in front of the microphone on the main floor . The better quality also creates a much better atmosphere for the audience. This may not make or break the film but bad audio can be worse than bad visuals in my own opinion. With HD (High Definition) audio emerging, recording techniques and styles will evolve again. This will follow the adoption of Surround sound which is now common among home entertainment systems and some Cinemas or Movie Theatres. Surround Sound uses multiple speakers placed around the audience and a special controller sends the right volume and sounds to each speaker to make it sound as though the audience is immersed in the movie. Sound technicians now place the mics around the set / scene to record the different sound levels at those spots in the room. Not every new idea in cinema was successful enough to consider continuing at first, such as three-dimensional movies (3D), which required viewers to wear special glasses, and the â€Å"smells†, in which different scents were blown into theatres to accompany the images and sound. The system just didnt work well or subtly enough. Now though 3D movies are at an all-time with 9 3D movies released in 2009 alone. With the new 3D technology using digital glasses and high frequency screens the poor effect on a viewers eye-sight or balance has been removed. 3D Filming has for a long time been an attraction for creating stunning experiences. â€Å"Journey to the Centre of the Earth† was the first film to successfully deploy a live 3D experience. It grossed $241,995,151 in worldwide. These changes seem to have been for the better, good profits for 3D films shows a fan base and market audience. The newest technologies used are proving their worth and may end up leading production to entirely 3d movies. With advancements comes cheaper high end equipment this has led to a lot of fans and wanna be producers making films or videos on the cheap. YouTube the greatest example of public film/video is well known and is full of fan made or home made movies. Some of these can be on par with full length feature films. Technology has advanced to let what used to be studio equipment be compacted and simplified for everyone. A good example of the Fan- made movie is â€Å"The Hunt for Gollum† a prequel to â€Å"The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring† It has amassed over 1.5 Million views and maintains a 5 star rating( The highest available on YouTube). On another Note the Movie has been made in HD which shows the makers had access to good equipment. Another intriguing thing to note is that technology on the whole can and has influenced films. Two older movies that are well known are ‘Wargames'(John Badham 1983) and ‘Hackers'(Iain Softley, 1995). One of the most notable is The ‘James Bond 007 series of films which has used technological possibilities to its fullest, were Bond is supplied with a massive range of gadgets some futuristic and some of the present times. 3. Conclusion Movies at home are now a big part of the cinema experience. Large television sets and home cinema systems are very common. Small versions of the projectors used in the cinema are also common and provide a cinema like atmosphere to your home movies. Homes can even have computers that server video and audio content to the television. With movies cheaply available to buy, sets of several DVDs available on a single Blu-ray disc and Online services such as the iTunes Store making digital downloads available, there is always a larger demand for movies and so the film industry will continue to make good films. â€Å"With more channels of distribution there will be a greater demand for content but less money will be required to make it. The people who can create content the most cost effectively will have a clear cut advantage† Roger Corman The future of Cinema is greatly entwined with technological advancements. The effects of technology on cinema are quite clear, as long as the technologies are used in the right ways and are not abused for the sake of time or money then the quality of cinema will not die. Though there are movies were technology plays a minute roll it still seeps through from the camera used the sound recording equipment and the sets built. The cinema was built of technology and should continue to thrive and mature and technology does so.

Marketing Mix Of Nestle Organization

Marketing Mix Of Nestle Organization (Armstrong and Kotler, 2001) â€Å"The Marketing mix is a set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market†. This is mainly used by organizations to increase the demand of their products in the market by understanding the customer wants (Jobber, 2001). Most of the marketing practitioners regard marketing mix as a tool for transaction marketing and the archetype for operational marketing planning. (Gronroos, 1994:347) Elements of Marketing Mix (Armstrong and Kotler, 2001). MANAGING THE MARKETING MIX Customer Wants Marketing Mix Variables Managing the Marketing Mix (Baker, 1999:302) The above figure describes how a company could by research and successful adaptation can understand and develop products to match the customers requirements. According to Baker (1999: 303), by understanding and matching the needs of the customers efficient management of marketing mix is possible. COMPONENTS OF MARKETING MIX-Impact -Positive and Negative PRODUCT Kotler and Armstrong (2001) define a product as any entity that can be offered to a market by a company for attention, acquisition, consumption or use that might satisfy the needs of their customers. Product Mix Product mix is the total range of products that are manufactured by a company. The major aspects to be considered in product mix are explained below. Variety: Nestle offers a wide product mix that comprises of food, health and nutrition products to meet the customer needs. Nestle offers its products in the following categories: Bottled water, Baby foods, Breakfast cereals, Chocolate and confectionery, Coffee, Dairy products, Drinks, Ice cream, In the Kitchen, Nestle Professional, Nutrition and Health, Pet care. Quality: Nestle is well known for the quality and taste of its products. Nestle Believes that â€Å"Success is built on Quality†. Design: As its variety range, Nestle also has a greater range of design. Nestle make sure all their new products look different and attractive. Features: Nestle have made sure that all their products have special features to make it more attractive to the customers. For example: In case of their ice creams, they have tried to include the special feature that is the low fat and sugar content. Brand name: A strong brand name is important for both the company and the consumers as it adds to the value of the company, differentiates the products from those of its competitors and affects the consumer discernment of the company (Jobber 2007:328). A strong brand name also acts as a source of quality certification and can influence consumer preferences of products. Nestle, through its strong brand name and market presence has captured the heart of the customers worldwide. In the present health- conscious society, Nestle has captivated a loyal customer base through its focus on nutrition and health requirements and consumer preferences at a competitive price and it has enhanced the reputation of the company. â€Å"A Nestle brand name on a product is a promise to the customer that it is safe to consume, that it complies with all regulations and that it meets high standards of quality† Packaging: Packaging involves designing and developing a cover for a product in order to make it attractive to the consumers. Packaging was just a means for protecting the product in the past, but today increase in competition has resulted in the need to differentiate the product from those of its competitors to attract the customers and to describe the features of the product in order to gain consumer recognition. Poor designs can be one of the reasons for reduction in sales of a product due to less customer satisfaction. Nestle uses very attractive packaging as one of their main marketing strategies. For its efforts, Nestle has won several accolades such as the Silver Star and â€Å"Best in category† as â€Å"Best Packaging Innovation leading to a significant reduction in household waste† by the British Institute of Packaging for the Dairy Box biodegradable tray which is manufactured by using renewable resources. PROMOTION Stanton and Futrell (1987:418), describe promotion as an important element of marketing mix which aims in informing and persuading the market about the products and services of the company. According to Baker (1999, 310) the method of communicating the product offer which is made by a company to match the needs of the customers and to persuade them to try the product is Promotion. They feel that the significance of promotion increases when the distance between the producers and customers increase and as the number of customers increase. Promotion activity does not depend on the demand; even if the demand is high promotional activities should go on in order to keep the manufacturers name before the customers. Nestle uses promotion as one of the major source to reach their customers to make them aware of the value of different products introduced in the market. Nestle adopts a promotion mix with a perfect blend of several different promotion tools to promote the value of its product and make the customers aware of their products. Promotion Tools PERSONAL SELLING: According to Stanton and Futrell (1987: 418), personal selling is mainly used when the market is geographically concentrated (Few customers) and when the products are custom made. It is defined as a face to face communication with buyers in the aim of pursuing the customers to purchase by Simon(). Its a one to one marketing. Tele marketing, door drops inserts, Door to door selling are all techniques used in personal selling. Nestle uses personal selling for specialized and sophisticated products. ADVERTISING: Advertising according to Groucutt (2005:215) is to communicate to a specific audience to stimulate action and its success is in the way the right information reaches the right person at the right time. Majaro (1993) says that advertising is any paid form non-personal communication of products, services or ideas through a commercial media. (Stanton and Futrell, 1987) Promotion through advertising is mainly done when the market is geographically dispersed or when the product is standardized. Nestlà ©s advertisements are well known in the market and they have made sure that the advertisements are attractive through all the possible media. Nestle also uses internet to promote their products, where they have different websites hosted for different products. Different strategies for each product like online competitions and distributions. HOW ADVERTISING WORKS Tim Ambler and Demetrios Vakratsas have formulated a framework for studying how advertising works for a company. How Advertising Works (Ambler, Vakratsas 1999:26) They have considered the input to be advertising own and competitive brands. Scheduling the media and message contents are the motivation factors or triggers the consumers response. â€Å"Cognition, the ‘thinking dimension of a persons response, and affect, the ‘feeling dimension, are portrayed as two major intermediate advertising effects† (Ambler, Vakratsas, 1999:26) SALES PROMOTION: Sales promotion represents non- media campaigns such as sampling displays, shows, exhibitions and contests (Majaro, 1993:35). Stanton and Futrell (1987:418) believes that sales promotions one of the fastest growing promotional methods these days. Free samples, Money off coupons, extra value offers buy one get one free, bundling, privilege points are all different methods used in sales promotion. Nestle also uses sales promotion as one of their promotion tools by offering programmes like every day eating coupon codes and discounts and offers for online shopping on nestle products. PUBLICITY: Publicity is a promotional method where the organization is not paying for the communication about its products and is benefiting from it (Stanton and Futrell 1987:419). This occurs either through a non-personal news story appearing in a mass medium or is delivered by a person in an interview or a speech. Publicity is achieved mainly through public relations activities. According to Jobber (2007) sponsorship provides more opportunities for publicity in the media. Nestle is a well known brand in the market and its fame describes its publicity and the further publicity occurs during various interviews of officials of Nestle. Publicity for Nestle also occurs during the launch of every new product and when the annual sale reports are published. This publicity obtained by Nestle is not by paying any of the media. Nestle, public relation activities is evident from how they try to communicate with government organizations as well as the customers about the different issues that they face. Through public relations Nestle try to bring to the attention of all the customers and organizations concerned about various issues and the current approach they are taking towards these issues. PRICE Price is defined as the value of a product that we get in return for all the effort that was taken for its production and also for marketing of the same product. Price is the revenue earner so it is considered as the odd one in the marketing mix. It is also considered as an important market tool which is visible to both customers and competitors (Baker 1985). The price of a product depends on a number of factors like, changes in technology, effect of suppliers, competitive pressure and the increasing price sensitivity of the customers. Price is also directly dependent on the demand of the product. If the demands increase the price will also increase and vice versa. Consumers generally show a keen interest in tracking the prices of the products which they usually purchase. This enables them to analyze the attractiveness of the product and be vigilant about the changes in price of the product, thus enabling them to compare the prices of the product in various stores (Vanhuele and Dreze 2002:72). Pricing of the Product â€Å"Companies usually do not set a single price, but rather develop a pricing structure that reflects variations in geographical demand and costs, market-segment requirements, purchasing timing, order levels, delivery frequency, guarantees, service contract, and other factors† (Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman and Hansen: 2009). According to David Jobber, pricing of a product mainly depends on 3 factors: cost, competitor and the market. COST ORIENTED PRICING The most common method of pricing of a product is cost oriented pricing, in which it is divided into full cost pricing which involves the calculating of cost of all labour and materials and direct cost pricing which involves the calculation of only those costs that are likely to rise as output increases. COMPETITOR ORIENTED PRICING The approach to pricing which only depends on the competitor rather than costs when framing a business is called competitor oriented pricing. Every consumer will judge the price of a product by comparing it with a similar product in the same range which is produced by their competitor (Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders and Wong 2001). MARKET ORIENTED PRICING Market oriented pricing is one of the important area which depends on competiveness of a product in the market. For a new product the positioning strategy controls the pricing and for an existing product price will depend on the strategic objectives. Price-Quality Relationships Price is directly dependent on the quality of the product. As the quality of a product increases the price also goes up. Nestle is a quality focused company and hence to compete with current market it need to carry out the pricing process of the product very carefully. Nestle is a very successful company and all its products are at affordable prices. PRODUCT LINE PRICING Most of the companies usually develop product lines rather than single products. In product line pricing the management must decide on the pricing steps to set between various products in a line (Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders and Wong 2001). In product line pricing, cost difference between the product in the line, evaluation of customers and also the competitors products with small price difference is also taken into account. EXPLICABILITY Explicability is defined as the capability of sales people to explain a high price to customer. In market customer demands the economic justification of product prices. If the sales people fail to give a clear idea of the product development stages, it will reduce the value of product. As Nestle is very innovative it needs a high financial support for its RD and it is not easy to give idea about the product development costs to an ordinary customer. COMPETITION Competition plays an important role in the cost consideration of a product in a business. The main competitors of Nestle are Heinz, Kraft, ConAgra, Mars Incorporated, Hershey, Cadbury, General mills etc. Since all their main competitors are also well branded, they cannot price a product without analyzing the competitors pricing. But the main advantages behind their successful pricing are that they are very superior in its market position. NEGOTIATING MARGINS In certain market customer expects a price reduction in some products. Competitive discounts, fast payment discounts an annual volume bonus and other promotional allowances come under this category. Nestle and its negotiations with its suppliers made them to gain a good reasonable margin in all its goods. EFFECT OF DISTRIBUTORS/RETAILERS Well qualified suppliers and efficient retailers is also a factor which affects the price of a product. If a distributor supplies a product with high price or a retailer sells a product in high margin it will cause the variations in price of the products. Nestle itself agreed that their distributors are well developed and hence the company can control the price of its products. POLITICAL FACTORS Nestle sometimes blames the policies of governments for its poor reflection on the exports. Some of the government policies which results in increase in packaging cost makes the product less competitive in the global exporting market. PLACE Armstrong and Kotler (2001) describes place as the activity of a company to make the products available to the customers. Place Strategies The major factors to be considered while formulating a place strategy are Channels, Coverage, Assortments, Locations, Inventory, Transportation, and Logistics. Channel distribution strategies deal with the decisions on making the products available to the target customers in usable condition. â€Å"A channel of distribution is the combination of institutions through which a seller markets the products to the user or ultimate consumer† (Peter, Donnelly 2004:145). As the time and finances required for setting up a channel of distribution are comparatively high, the place strategies are often critical for the success of a firm. The channels of distribution can be of two different types on the basis of the targeted consumer. It may differ when the end user of the product is a consumer or an organization, the Consumer Marketing Channel and the Business Marketing Channel. Consumer Marketing Channel: Armstrong and Kotler (2001) Nestle adopts the consumer marketing channel where the products from the producer reaches the consumer through the wholesalers or retailers. Nestle has e-marketing for some of its products where the products reach the consumers directly from the producer. Business Marketing Channel (Armstrong and Kotler, 2001) According to Donnelly (2004:150),the channel of distribution strategic decisions are determined on the basis of the following factors: Distribution coverage required Degree of control desired Total distribution cost Channel flexibility Distribution coverage may vary based on the features of the product, the market and the target customers. The company may opt for intensive distribution, selective distribution or exclusive distribution. In the case of intensive distribution, the company tries to sell the product through the maximum number of retailers and wholesalers. In selective distribution, the company may limit the number of wholesalers and retailers which are the best in that market while in the case of exclusive distribution; the manufacturing company may provide exclusive rights for distributing the product to only one or a few distributors. Nestle has adopted intensive distribution strategy in order to make its products available to a large customer base. Nestle products are available through a large number of retail outlets. Besides this, Nestle has also launched an e-shop for promoting its confectionary in Japan which allows the consumers to buy Kit Kat chocolates online. CONCLUSION The coverage of Nestle is world-wide as it has a wide distribution channel and several manufacturing units at different places around the world using marketing mix strategies. â€Å"Marketing logistics involves the planning, implementing and controlling of physical flow of goods, services and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit† (Armstrong and Kotler 2001:342). Nestle underwent a complete re-engineering of its supply chain which was aided by Total Logistics which has benefitted both Nestle and its consumers. â€Å"Nestle has been able to operate composite pallet loads for entire UK, combining beverages and confectionery through two vehicle fleets and two distribution hubs† (http://www.total-logistics.eu.com/logistics-clients/logistics-consultants-case-studies/nestle.html). Through this, Nestle has been able to decrease its fleet size and satisfy smaller delivery volumes without any increase in the costs.

Analysis Of Witches In Macbeth :: essays research papers

Analysis of Witches in Macbeth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare the three female witches play an important part in the development of the story. This essay will analyze the dramatic function of the witches in Act I of Macbeth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that the reason that Shakespeare begins the play with the witches is to gives us the impression that everything starts with the witches, that is they are the catalysts for everything that happens in the play. I think that the witches are also there to set the mood for the play, â€Å"Hover through the fog and filthy air.† This line gives us a sense of loneliness and desperation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play would be drastically different if it sprang from Macbeth's own mind and he did not have any influence from the witches. If Macbeth did not have any influence from the witches than he probably would not be thinking about killing Duncan to become King. But with the witches help this idea was thrust to the front of his mind and he thinks that he should kill Duncan because the witches say that it is his destiny. I am sure that Macbeth would not be as hesitant if the idea to kill Duncan came from his head without the witches help. I say this because when you reason things out by yourself you tend to now what is right and what is wrong, a conscience. But with the outside influence from the witches he thinks that that is his destiny and he must do everything to fulfill it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What the witches say in the beginning is what influences the entire plot. Macbeth hears these words and then tries to make them happen because he listened to the witches and thinks that he is to become King.

Thomas Hardy and Censorship of His Works Essay -- Biography Biographie

Thomas Hardy and Censorship of His Works During the Victorian Era, writing served as an outlet to influence a changing society. Because the family and domestic life were integral parts of that society, much time was spent at home reading. These Victorian readers had been strongly affected by the political, economic, social, and religious changes that had been taking place. They rebelled against the growth that was taking place, blaming their problems on religious doubt, Darwin and the rise of science, class conflict, poverty, and industrialization. In addition, Victorian Puritanism spoke out against sex, the emancipation of women, and strong individualism in women, believing that they would lead to the end of strong moral standards in the family and in society as a whole. As a result of all of these controversies, people developed a tremendous fear of change and criticized any idea or work that threatened their sense of stability (Chapman 35-50.). Thomas Hardy and other creative artists of his time thus faced a highly criti cal audience and often were forced to censor some of their more liberal ideas. Thomas Hardy as a writer had been greatly influenced in his youth by some of the more liberal thinkers of the time such as John Stuart Mill and Darwin. He even claimed at one time that he believed he was one of the first to read On the Origin of Species. In his novels, Hardy incorporated many of these themes in order to portray a real world. Darwin's challenge led Hardy to lose faith in Christianity, and this lack of faith gives his novels their tragic, bleak element. However, because novels in the nineteenth century were serially published in installments in magazines, Hardy, particularly at the end of his career, found it d... ...ss, received negative reviews. He even wrote an added preface to the novel in July of 1892 (when the first one-volume edition was published) in order to comment on the critical reception of the work. After encountering similar difficulties with the publication of Jude the Obscure and after working with four different publishers over a ten-year period, Hardy ceased writing novels and focused his efforts on writing poetry where he could more fully express his ideas without restrictions. Bibliography and Works Cited Chapman, Raymond. The Victorian Debate: English Literature and Society, 1832-1901. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1968. Millgate, Michael. Thomas Hardy: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1982. Orel, Harold, ed. Thomas Hardy's Personal Writings: Prefaces, Literary Opinions, Reminiscences. Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1966.

Alices Adventures in Darwinism and the Realm of Child Versus Adult Ess

Alice in Wonderland, the most famous work of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, is the enduring tale of one girl’s journey into a world of whimsy and imagination. The story was written for the enjoyment of all children, as Carroll had a strong love and attachment to them, especially little girls. It was however, written more specifically for a dear, close child-friend of his by the name of Alice Liddell, who was the inspiration for the title character. Alice in Wonderland has been, throughout the years since it’s publication in 1865, endlessly deconstructed, analyzed, and studied for underlying meaning in the text (as in Martin Gardner‘s The Annotated Alice). One of the most noticeable and famous facets of the story is the many changes in size that Alice goes through. Alice changes size eleven times to fit her changing predicament in the tale. This can be easily seen in the animated Disney interpretation of the story that came out years ago. Throughout the book, Alice is given the opportunity to change size numerous times, this aiding her in getting in and out of different situations and places in Wonderland. Alice accomplishes this through eating and drinking different tonics and mushroom pieces. It is interesting to note that the time period in which Carroll wrote and published Alice was the same time at which Charles Darwin was writing and publishing his historic book The Origin of Species in which he puts forth the now universally known ideas of evolution and survival of the fittest. Darwin developed these ideas while he served as naturalist on the ship the Beagle from 1831-1836. During this time, he studied wildlife on the Galapagos Islands, and was amazed by the great diversity of life. He was especially interested in the birds of the island, which had highly adapted beaks that fit their particular eating habits and lifestyle. (Coincidentally, in one of the first scenes in Wonderland, Alice arrives on shore with a group of different birds.) Carroll may have been inspired to have his title character change si ze according to her needs and predicament by the emerging science of the time. Alice also seems to get better at, and becomes more comfortable with changing her size as time goes on, and a parallel between evolution and Alice can be drawn on that point, in that as evolution progresses, it becomes more refined. Lewis Carroll... ...bsp; Alice in Wonderland, the work of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, has been the enduring tale of one girl’s journey into a world of whimsy and imagination because of the multi-layered meaning that exists within. The story was written for the enjoyment of all children, but as Carroll once wrote himself, "we (adults) are but older children, dear."(499). Inspired by a dear, close child-friend of his by the name of Alice Liddell, the Alice of Alice in Wonderland has been the mediator between childhood and adulthood, and staying innocent and becoming experienced for over a hundred years. One of the most noticeable and famous facets of the story is the many changes in size that Alice undergoes, a phenomenon of evolution that was brought to the forefront of scientific and everyday Victorian life by the revolutionary thinker and naturalist Darwin. Charles Darwin wrote and published his historic book The Origin of Species at the same time Carroll’s arguably equally famed book was written and published, a coincidence that can not be overlooked when we observe the clear links between Darwin’s theories and Dodgson’s themes.  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Life Cycle of Sperm and Egg Essay

When asked how did I get pregnant? It seems like a rhetorical question. Of course many would say well you had sex Watson. That is a no brainer, but in all actuality that is not the extent of the answer. How do we become pregnant? What happens in order for that miracle we call life to be created? The egg develops during the first phase of the Menstrual Cycle. This first phase is called the Proliferative Phase. This phase begins at the end of your menstruation and last about 9 to 10 days during the average 28-day cycle. The ovaries then prepare for the ovulation within a phase called the preovulatory phase or the follicular phase. At this time there are low levels of estrogen and progesterone in the woman’s blood stream. A report by Spencer A. Rathus, Jeffrey S. Nevid, and Lois Fichner-Rathus (2011) explains that the hypothalamus senses a low level of estrogen in the blood; it then increases secretion of Gn-RH, which in turn triggers the pituitary gland to release a follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Thus after this occurs the FSH stimulates follicles to mature and then proceeds to create estrogen. In a normal situation only one follicle will reach true maturity in the days proceeding to ovulation. This then leads to maturity of the graafian follicle. As it matures like any budding child that blossoms and grow out of their clothes, this specific follicle starts to move toward the surface of the ovary and then eventually release itself after rupturing. During the rupturing process this follicle releases a mature egg. After the egg is released the endometrium in the uterus starts to thicken due to the about of estrogen. Glands will eventually develop and these glands will help to feed any embryo that may possibly exist. A thin cervical mucus is stimulated by the estrogen as well which will also provide for nourishment for the sperm, increasing the chances of the sperms survival rate. The second phase of the cycle is the ovulatory phase, which involves the process in accordance the mature follicle egg being released. There is a misconception that the egg is released into the fallopian tube when in all actuality it is released near the tube itself. This phase begins with the estrogen levels peak. The third phase f the cycle is called the postuvulary phase or the secretory phase. Another name for this phase is the Luteal Phase, which derives from the name of the ruptured follicle (â€Å"Corpus Luteum†). Due to the influence the LH has on the Corpus Luteum the levels of estrogen are increasing as well as the levels of progesterone. Just like in the second phase when you reach this phase and the levels peak once again and keeping in mind the egg has remained in the ovary. Within a normal 28-day cycle this tends to occur on either the 20 or 21st day. Hormones at this time cause the glands to release nutrients that will provide for any fertilized ovum that may become implanted in the woman’s uterine wall. Picture a spider and its web and you’ve got the just of this phase. If the egg does not implant then the production of LH and FSH stops. The fourth and last phase occurs when the decrease of estrogen and progestone levels are no longer supporting the uterine lining. This cycle is also seen as the beginning and the end because the cycle not only end but also begins again. Most women would wish the cycle would not repeat itself but unfortunately someone had a sense of humor when they thought of ways to make things uncomfortable with a woman at least once a week for a few days. Just like everything else in life when God made man and women he made development easier on men. This is why I would assume that God must be a male. Even though the woman has four stages in order to reach the development of eggs a man’s sperm development is a little more basic and no bleeding necessary. The development of the sperm also has many stages and these stages take up to 72 days for the testes to develop a mature sperm. It seems everything must be mature enough to make any journey in life including eggs and sperm. It’s like sending your kids off to college once they have passed all the phases of life and have graduated to the last step. In the beginning the sperm is called spermatocytes which contain 46 chromosomes which of course would be the famous letters x and y. Each spermatocyte then divides or divorces and splits it assets in half and when divided it is then called a spermatid. Each spermatid at that time will house 23 chromosomes half will have x and half will have y. Once the sperm matures it is then called a spermatozoa, which have a head, a cone-shaped midsection, and a tail. Just like anything the core that is the mid section provide the energy for the swimming power or for the tail to swim back and forth. For fertilization to occur 23 chromosomes from the father’s sperm meet a secret location and â€Å"hook up† (since there was no courting involved) with the 23 chromosomes from the mother’s ovum. This of course would make up the 46. I wonder if this is what they meant when they said it takes two to tango. With all that is going on inside our bodies there is also so much that we already know such as the testicles are like a storage container for sperm and house all the little fellas waiting for a raise to begin. For a woman it is more of a hid and seek game. Finding the egg that is attached to our walls and locking all doors waiting to see if any sperm can pick the lock. We never take the time out to see all that we truly are and before having the obstacle course begin in our bodies it is good to know what exactly is going on and how these things truly do occur.

Things Fall Apart (Coming of White Men)

Thing Fall Apart Chinua Achebe Discuss how the coming of the White men makes Umuofia â€Å"fall apart†. Make reference to the religious, economic, political and social impact of the British culture on the traditions of the clan. As the novel opens, we get to know Umuofia, one of Igbo’s nine villages, as an organized but somehow different civilization. Chinua Achebe portrays life in this village as rough and harsh, conveying to the readers that only brave men would succeed in it. As said before, even though these civilizations are stereotyped and seen as primitive, we can clearly see that their lives are completely balanced between faith and order.It is actually astonishing to see how such a different way of life, to what we think and see as the normal life, may be as much or even more organized than ours. Even though both civilization are completely organized and function perfectly well, they could never live together in harmony. One would end up consuming the other as they were not meant to coexist. We may think we are educating and helping â€Å"uncivilized men†, but we are actually disintegrating their beliefs, their organization, their politics and their language. We are not aiding them, but destroying their religion and their society.We are, in other words, banishing their culture. A culture that will be lost forever. Hence, we may say, that in many ways the coming of White men made Umuofia â€Å"fall apart†. To begin with, the coming of the white men made Umuofia fell apart as their religion was greatly affected. The village of Umuofia was sustained by their beliefs and their gods, who criticized and punished the lazy men and those who were not worthy of worshipping them. Therefore the coming of a new monotheist and more peaceful religion brought huge changes in some of Umuofia’s most important traditions.These white men questioned most of Umuofia’s beliefs such as the dangers that inhabited the evil forest by set ting their livings there. This first action brought great controversy in the clan as people thought that whoever stayed in the forest for a certain period of time would painfully die. The resistance these white men showed to that â€Å"evil force† led many people to get interested in the new religion. People suddenly began questioning their own beliefs and traditions, questioning why they should venerate gods who were bound to punish, and not one God who was merciful towards humanity.The village divided in to those who remained steadfast to their traditions, and those who began to adopt the new ones. Society completely turned over after these events. Those who turned into Christianity were seen as the elite of the society. The clan was getting weaker and weaker every day, as more and more people turned into Christianity. The time soon come that the clansmen had not enough forces to control the missionaries. They should have reacted before, but only the exiled Okonkwo was brav e enough to face the white men.Hence, we may conclude that the imposition of a new religion severely damaged the village by, splitting it in two, reducing their forces and their willing to fight, and proving most of their beliefs false. Summarizing this, it massively weakened the most powerful and feared clan of the nine villages. Economically, Umuofia was also affected by the arrival of white men. Hitherto, Umuofia had presented us a hierarchical society, were men who showed to be brave, hard workers and strong enough, occupied the highest places in society, while lazy and unmanly men were found at the bottom of the pyramid.Since, the missionaries arrived, things turned around, the lazy and humble men who decided to accept and worship the new god began to get richer and richer, while the hard worker farmers were left behind. Money began circulating in the tribe but only those who turned into Christianity had it. Hence, no one interested in trading, and so, farmers were getting poor er every day. We may say that Umuofia was not destroyed economically but it was greatly affected, some suffered a lot of it, but some others were benefited by these changes. The arrival of the white men also led to massive changes in the village’s politics.They subjected the villagers to their own judicial system and rules, imposing an extremely different and harsh government over them. As white men didn’t respect nor understand the clan’s customs, many men were punished for following their â€Å"uncivilized† traditions. In chapter twenty one Okonkwo discusses with Obierika about Aneto, who was recently hanged by the government after he killed a man with whom he had a dispute. Clearly the new ruling system didn’t take into account old customs. It is completely correct actually, to punish a murderer, or any kind of criminal, but by doing so we are destroying their customs and their traditions.When Enoch unmasked an Egwugwu, considered to be the high est possible crime in Umuofia, the church did nothing, as again, they didn’t respect their customs. Unmasking an Egwugwu in Umuofia is as much or even more harsh than killing a man is for the white men, it can only be compared with killing a god. Once again, the new government doesn’t punish this event. This is a great example of how, Umuofia was left weak and subjected to the white men ruling. We can see now, that they are not trying to make Umuofia a more civilized village, but a more British one.Hence we may conclude that by imposing a new government who ignores their customs, the coming of the white men are making Umuofia fall apart. Finally, culturally Umuofia also fell apart thanks to the arrival of the white man. The new comers introduced a school, which taught their own rules, their beliefs, and their culture. They educated younger villagers that way, so that they could later control them more easily. They were kind of brain washed to believe and trust whatever they do. Education is not bad, of course, but they were not educating them to be better and more intelligent villagers, they were educating them to be other persons.They changed their minds. Young boys were dragged out of farming into the school. In other words, they were dragged out of their lives, from whom they really are. Another cultural change imposed by the white men were hospitals, we can’t say that’s something bad, but that is not how Umuofia is. When we say that it â€Å"fell apart†, we are not actually saying that everything went wrong for them, that all changes were bad. Some, like the introduction of hospitals in the tribe, were actually a massive improvement.Indeed, some of the politics imposed do try to make Umuofia a â€Å"safer† place, where killing is punished, and leaving twins in the forest to die is seen as an abomination. That’s perfectly fine, they may be improving in some ways their lives, but the culture, the old tradition s, their beliefs, everything was lost. Everything Umuofia was, suddenly banished. Everything it represented, their gods, their traditions, and their culture were destroyed. Nobody left to defend their customs, nobody left to respect them. Only memories were left of Okonkwo, Umuofia and their old lives. Everything Umuofia was†¦ fell apart.