Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Marketing Research - Essay Example This research method is flexible can easily adapt to the research settings (Newman, 1998, p.56). The aim of qualitative research is to get a clear understanding on how the participant’s develop an understanding of their surroundings, and how this understanding affects the participant’s behavior. The main method of collecting data in qualitative research is the use of observations (Goertz and Mahoney 2012, 78). Observation implies the collection and recording of the behaviors of the participants in their environment. This approach is useful in the generation of in-depth explanation of events or organizations; it is also practical in obtaining information that is not accessible and conducting research where other research methods are insufficient. The benefit of employing observation is that it reduces distortion between what is observed and the observer and can be produced by instruments such as questionnaires (Gray, 2007, p.126). The main features of qualitative researc h include the fact that they focus on natural settings and have a primary interest in real life situations. This method seeks to find out the meanings participants attach to behavior, their interpretations, and their perspectives on situations. Qualitative research also looks into the process involved and seeks to understand how things happen and how they develop. Additionally qualitative research follows an inductive analysis and seeks to generate a theory on an issue from the data (Martin, 2012, p.16). The advantages associated with using this method include the production of more detailed and comprehensive information. This method also seeks an extensive understanding of the situation by the use of subjective information and employs the observations of the participants in describing the situation (Singh, 2007, p.84). However, the disadvantages of using this method include complications in establishing reliability and validity of the methods and data due to the subjectivity of inq uiry. Researcher induced bias is also another challenge to the approach as it is difficult to either detect or prevent them. Furthermore, the scope of this process is restricted by the detailed and comprehensive approaches to data collection Punch 2005, 211. Quantitative research This research technique follows an objective, formal and systematic process in obtaining quantifiable information about a situation. The presentation of data on this technique uses a numerical form and employs statistics in analysis (MacDaniel,1998, p. 45). Quantitative research aims at providing descriptions and testing relationships. This technique also examines the cause and the effect of a relationship. The aim of the quantitative research aim is to elaborate how the independent variables relate to the dependent variables in a given situation. These research designs are either descriptive or experimental where the subjects are either measured once or before and after treatment. A descriptive approach es tablishes the associations between variables whereas an experimental approach establishes causality (Martin 2012, 16). Quantitative research methods take two approaches, which are experiments and surveys. In this, context experiments comprise real experiments with the unselective assignment of participants or subjects to research conditions and quasi experiments, which use designs that are nonrandomized (Vogt 2007, 120.)

American culture Essay Example for Free

American culture Essay The arts, more than other features of culture, provide avenues for the expression of imagination and personal vision. They offer a range of emotional and intellectual pleasures to consumers of art and are an important way in which a culture represents itself. There has long been a Western tradition distinguishing those arts that appeal to the multitude, such as popular music, from those—such as classical orchestral music—normally available to the elite of learning and taste. Popular art forms are usually seen as more representative American products. In the United States in the recent past, there has been a blending of popular and elite art forms, as all the arts experienced a period of remarkable cross-fertilization. Because popular art forms are so widely distributed, arts of all kinds have prospered. The arts in the United States express the many faces and the enormous creative range of the American people. Especially since World War II, American innovations and the immense energy displayed in literature, dance, and music have made American cultural works world famous. Arts in the United States have become internationally prominent in ways that are unparalleled in history. American art forms during the second half of the 20th century often defined the styles and qualities that the rest of the world emulated. At the end of the 20th century, American art was considered equal in quality and vitality to art produced in the rest of the world. Throughout the 20th century, American arts have grown to incorporate new visions and voices. Much of this new artistic energy came in the wake of America’s emergence as a superpower after World War II. But it was also due to the growth of New York City as an important center for publishing and the arts, and the immigration of artists and intellectuals fleeing fascism in Europe before and during the war. An outpouring of talent also followed the civil rights and protest movements of the 1960s, as cultural discrimination against blacks, women, and other groups diminished. American arts flourish in many places and receive support from private foundations, large corporations, local governments, federal agencies, museums, galleries, and individuals. What is considered worthy of support often depends on definitions of quality and of what constitutes art. This is a tricky subject when the popular arts are increasingly incorporated into the domain of the fine arts and new forms such as performance art and conceptual art appear. As a result, defining what is art affects what students are taught about past traditions (for example, Native American tent paintings, oral traditions, and slave narratives) and what is produced in the future. While some practitioners, such as studio artists, are more vulnerable to these definitions because they depend on financial support to exercise their talents, others, such as poets and photographers, are less immediately constrained. Artists operate in a world where those who theorize and critique their work have taken on an increasingly important role. Audiences are influenced by a variety of intermediaries—critics, the schools, foundations that offer grants, the National Endowment for the Arts, gallery owners, publishers, and theater producers. In some areas, such as the performing arts, popular audiences may ultimately define success. In other arts, such as painting and sculpture, success is far more dependent on critics and a few, often wealthy, art collectors. Writers depend on publishers and on the public for their success. Unlike their predecessors, who relied on formal criteria and appealed to aesthetic judgments, critics at the end of the 20th century leaned more toward popular tastes, taking into account groups previously ignored and valuing the merger of popular and elite forms. These critics often relied less on aesthetic judgments than on social measures and were eager to place artistic productions in the context of the time and social conditions in which they were created. Whereas earlier critics attempted to create an American tradition of high art, later critics used art as a means to give power and approval to nonelite groups who were previously not considered worthy of including in the nation’s artistic heritage. Not so long ago, culture and the arts were assumed to be an unalterable inheritance—the accumulated wisdom and highest forms of achievement that were established in the past. In the 20th century generally, and certainly since World War II, artists have been boldly destroying older traditions in sculpture, painting, dance, music, and literature. The arts have changed rapidly, with one movement replacing another in quick succession. a) Visual arts. The visual arts have traditionally included forms of expression that appeal to the eyes through painted surfaces, and to the sense of space through carved or molded materials. In the 19th century, photographs were added to the paintings, drawings, and sculpture that make up the visual arts. The visual arts were further augmented in the 20th century by the addition of other materials, such as found objects. These changes were accompanied by a profound alteration in tastes, as earlier emphasis on realistic representation of people, objects, and landscapes made way for a greater range of imaginative forms. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American art was considered inferior to European art. Despite noted American painters such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, and John Marin, American visual arts barely had an international presence. American art began to flourish during the Great Depression of the 1930s as New Deal government programs provided support to artists along with other sectors of the population. Artists connected with each other and developed a sense of common purpose through programs of the Public Works Administration, such as the Federal Art Project, as well as programs sponsored by the Treasury Department. Most of the art of the period, including painting, photography, and mural work, focused on the plight of the American people during the depression, and most artists painted real people in difficult circumstances. Artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Ben Shahn expressed the suffering of ordinary people through their representations of struggling farmers and workers. While artists such as Benton and Grant Wood focused on rural life, many painters of the 1930s and 1940s depicted the multicultural life of the American city. Jacob Lawrence, for example, re-created the history and lives of African Americans. Other artists, such as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, tried to use human figures to describe emotional states such as loneliness and despair. Abstract Expressionism. Shortly after World War II, American art began to garner worldwide attention and admiration. This change was due to the innovative fervor of abstract expressionism in the 1950s and to subsequent modern art movements and artists. The abstract expressionists of the mid-20th century broke from the realist and figurative tradition set in the 1930s. They emphasized their connection to international artistic visions rather than the particularities of people and place, and most abstract expressionists did not paint human figures (although artist Willem de Kooning did portrayals of women). Color, shape, and movement dominated the canvases of abstract expressionists. Some artists broke with the Western art tradition by adopting innovative painting styles—during the 1950s Jackson Pollock painted by dripping paint on canvases without the use of brushes, while the paintings of Mark Rothko often consisted of large patches of color that seem to vibrate. Abstract expressionists felt alienated from their surrounding culture and used art to challenge society’s conventions. The work of each artist was quite individual and distinctive, but all the artists identified with the radicalism of artistic creativity. The artists were eager to challenge conventions and limits on expression in order to redefine the nature of art. Their radicalism came from liberating themselves from the confining artistic traditions of the past. The most notable activity took place in New York City, which became one of the world’s most important art centers during the second half of the 20th century. The radical fervor and inventiveness of the abstract expressionists, their frequent association with each other in New York City’s Greenwich Village, and the support of a group of gallery owners and dealers turned them into an artistic movement. Also known as the New York School, the participants included Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, and Arshile Gorky, in addition to Rothko and Pollock. The members of the New York School came from diverse backgrounds such as the American Midwest and Northwest, Armenia, and Russia, bringing an international flavor to the group and its artistic visions. They hoped to appeal to art audiences everywhere, regardless of culture, and they felt connected to the radical innovations introduced earlier in the 20th century by European artists such as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp. Some of the artists—Hans Hofmann, Gorky, Rothko, and de Kooning—were not born in the United States, but all the artists saw themselves as part of an international creative movement and an aesthetic rebellion. As artists felt released from the boundaries and conventions of the past and free to emphasize expressiveness and innovation, the abstract expressionists gave way to other innovative styles in American art. Beginning in the 1930s Joseph Cornell created hundreds of boxed assemblages, usually from found objects, with each based on a single theme to create a mood of contemplation and sometimes of reverence. Cornells boxes exemplify the modern fascination with individual vision, art that breaks down boundaries between forms such as painting and sculpture, and the use of everyday objects toward a new end. Other artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg, combined disparate objects to create large, collage-like sculptures known as combines in the 1950s. Jasper Johns, a painter, sculptor, and printmaker, recreated countless familiar objects, most memorably the American flag. The most prominent American artistic style to follow abstract expressionism was the pop art movement that began in the 1950s. Pop art attempted to connect traditional art and popular culture by using images from mass culture. To shake viewers out of their preconceived notions about art, sculptor Claes Oldenburg used everyday objects such as pillows and beds to create witty, soft sculptures. Roy Lichtenstein took this a step further by elevating the techniques of commercial art, notably cartooning, into fine art worthy of galleries and museums. Lichtensteins large, blown-up cartoons fill the surface of his canvases with grainy black dots and question the existence of a distinct realm of high art. These artists tried to make their audiences see ordinary objects in a refreshing new way, thereby breaking down the conventions that formerly defined what was worthy of artistic representation. Probably the best-known pop artist, and a leader in the movement, was Andy Warhol, whose images of a Campbell’s soup can and of the actress Marilyn Monroe explicitly eroded the boundaries between the art world and mass culture. Warhol also cultivated his status as a celebrity. He worked in film as a director and producer to break down the boundaries between traditional and popular art. Unlike the abstract expressionists, whose conceptual works were often difficult to understand, Andy Warhols pictures, and his own face, were instantly recognizable. Conceptual art, as it came to be known in the 1960s, like its predecessors, sought to break free of traditional artistic associations. In conceptual art, as practiced by Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth, concept takes precedent over actual object, by stimulating thought rather than following an art tradition based on conventional standards of beauty and artisanship. Modern artists changed the meaning of traditional visual arts and brought a new imaginative dimension to ordinary experience. Art was no longer viewed as separate and distinct, housed in museums as part of a historical inheritance, but as a continuous creative process. This emphasis on constant change, as well as on the ordinary and mundane, reflected a distinctly American democratizing perspective. Viewing art in this way removed the emphasis from technique and polished performance, and many modern artworks and experiences became more about expressing ideas than about perfecting finished products. Photography. Photography is probably the most democratic modern art form because it can be, and is, practiced by most Americans. Since 1888, when George Eastman developed the Kodak camera that allowed anyone to take pictures, photography has struggled to be recognized as a fine art form. In the early part of the 20th century, photographer, editor, and artistic impresario Alfred Stieglitz established 291, a gallery in New York City, with fellow photographer Edward Steichen, to showcase the works of photographers and painters. They also published a magazine called Camera Work to increase awareness about photographic art. In the United States, photographic art had to compete with the widely available commercial photography in news and fashion magazines. By the 1950s the tradition of photojournalism, which presented news stories primarily with photographs, had produced many outstanding works. In 1955 Steichen, who was director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, called attention to this work in an exhibition called The Family of Man. Throughout the 20th century, most professional photographers earned their living as portraitists or photojournalists, not as artists. One of the most important exceptions was Ansel Adams, who took majestic photographs of the Western American landscape. Adams used his art to stimulate social awareness and to support the conservation cause of the Sierra Club. He helped found the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in 1940, and six years later helped establish the photography department at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco (now the San Francisco Art Institute). He also held annual photography workshops at Yosemite National Park from 1955 to 1981 and wrote a series of influential books on photographic technique. Adamss elegant landscape photography was only one small stream in a growing current of interest in photography as an art form. Early in the 20th century, teacher-turned-photographer Lewis Hine established a documentary tradition in photography by capturing actual people, places, and events. Hine photographed urban conditions and workers, including child laborers. Along with their artistic value, the photographs often implicitly called for social reform. In the 1930s and 1940s, photographers joined with other depression-era artists supported by the federal government to create a hotographic record of rural America. Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein, among others, produced memorable and widely reproduced portraits of rural poverty and American distress during the Great Depression and during the dust storms of the period. In 1959, after touring the United States for two years, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank published The Americans, one of the landmarks of document ary photography. His photographs of everyday life in America introduced viewers to a depressing, and often depressed, America that existed in the midst of prosperity and world power. Photographers continued to search for new photographic viewpoints. This search was perhaps most disturbingly embodied in the work of Diane Arbus. Her photos of mental patients and her surreal depictions of Americans altered the viewer’s relationship to the photograph. Arbus emphasized artistic alienation and forced viewers to stare at images that often made them uncomfortable, thus changing the meaning of the ordinary reality that photographs are meant to capture. American photography continues to flourish. The many variants of art photography and socially conscious documentary photography are widely available in galleries, books, and magazines. A host of other visual arts thrive, although they are far less connected to traditional fine arts than photography. Decorative arts include, but are not limited to, art glass, furniture, jewelry, pottery, metalwork, and quilts. Often exhibited in craft galleries and studios, these decorative arts rely on ideals of beauty in shape and color as well as an appreciation of well-executed crafts. Some of these forms are also developed commercially. The decorative arts provide a wide range of opportunity for creative expression and have become a means for Americans to actively participate in art and to purchase art for their homes that is more affordable than works produced by many contemporary fine artists. 4. Performing arts As in other cultural spheres, the performing arts in the United States in the 20th century increasingly blended traditional and popular art forms. The classical performing arts—music, opera, dance, and theater—were not a widespread feature of American culture in the first half of the 20th century. These arts were generally imported from or strongly influenced by Europe and were mainly appreciated by the wealthy and well educated. Traditional art usually referred to classical forms in ballet and opera, orchestral or chamber music, and serious drama. The distinctions between traditional music and popular music were firmly drawn in most areas. During the 20th century, the American performing arts began to incorporate wider groups of people. The African American community produced great musicians who became widely known around the country. Jazz and blues singers such as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday spread their sounds to black and white audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, the swing music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller adapted jazz to make a unique American music that was popular around the country. The American performing arts also blended Latin American influences beginning in the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1940, Latin American dances, such as the tango from Argentina and the rumba from Cuba, were introduced into the United States. In the 1940s a fusion of Latin and jazz elements was stimulated first by the Afro-Cuban mambo and later on by the Brazilian bossa nova. Throughout the 20th century, dynamic classical institutions in the United States attracted international talent. Noted Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine established the short-lived American Ballet Company in the 1930s; later he founded the company that in the 1940s would become the New York City Ballet. The American Ballet Theatre, also established during the 1940s, brought in non-American dancers as well. By the 1970s this company had attracted Soviet defector Mikhail Baryshnikov, an internationally acclaimed dancer who served as the company’s artistic director during the 1980s. In classical music, influential Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who composed symphonies using innovative musical styles, moved to the United States in 1939. German-born pianist, composer, and conductor Andre Previn, who started out as a jazz pianist in the 1940s, went on to conduct a number of distinguished American symphony orchestras. Another Soviet, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, became conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D. C. , in 1977. Some of the most innovative artists in the first half of the 20th century successfully incorporated new forms into classical traditions. Composers George Gershwin and Aaron Copland, and dancer Isadora Duncan were notable examples. Gershwin combined jazz and spiritual music with classical in popular works such as Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935). Copland developed a unique style that was influenced by jazz and American folk music. Early in the century, Duncan redefined dance along more expressive and free-form lines. Some artists in music and dance, such as composer John Cage and dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, were even more experimental. During the 1930s Cage worked with electronically produced sounds and sounds made with everyday objects such as pots and pans. He even invented a new kind of piano. During the late 1930s, avant-garde choreographer Cunningham began to collaborate with Cage on a number of projects. Perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most popular, American innovation was the Broadway musical, which also became a movie staple. Beginning in the 1920s, the Broadway musical combined music, dance, and dramatic performance in ways that surpassed the older vaudeville shows and musical revues but without being as complex as European grand opera. By the 1960s, this American musical tradition was well established and had produced extraordinary works by important musicians and lyricists such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, and Oscar Hammerstein II. These productions required an immense effort to coordinate music, drama, and dance. Because of this, the musical became the incubator of an American modern dance tradition that produced some of Americas greatest choreographers, among them Jerome Robbins, Gene Kelly, and Bob Fosse. In the 1940s and 1950s the American musical tradition was so dynamic that it attracted outstanding classically trained musicians such as Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein composed the music for West Side Story, an updated version of Romeo and Juliet set in New York that became an instant classic in 1957. The following year, Bernstein became the first American-born conductor to lead a major American orchestra, the New York Philharmonic. He was an international sensation who traveled the world as an ambassador of the American style of conducting. He brought the art of classical music to the public, especially through his Young Peoples Concerts, television shows that were seen around the world. Bernstein used the many facets of the musical tradition as a force for change in the music world and as a way of bringing attention to American innovation. In many ways, Bernstein embodied a transformation of American music that began in the 1960s. The changes that took place during the 1960s and 1970s resulted from a significant increase in funding for the arts and their increased availability to larger audiences. New York City, the American center for art performances, experienced an artistic explosion in the 1960s and 1970s. Experimental off-Broadway theaters opened, new ballet companies were established that often emphasized modern forms or blended modern with classical (Martha Graham was an especially important influence), and an experimental music scene developed that included composers such as Philip Glass and performance groups such as the Guarneri String Quartet. Dramatic innovation also continued to expand with the works of playwrights such as Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, and David Mamet. As the variety of performances expanded, so did the serious crossover between traditional and popular music forms. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, an expanded repertoire of traditional arts was being conveyed to new audiences. Popular music and jazz could be heard in formal settings such as Carnegie Hall, which had once been restricted to classical music, while the Brooklyn Academy of Music became a venue for experimental music, exotic and ethnic dance presentations, and traditional productions of grand opera. Innovative producer Joseph Papp had been staging Shakespeare in Central Park since the 1950s. Boston conductor Arthur Fiedler was playing a mixed repertoire of classical and popular favorites to large audiences, often outdoors, with the Boston Pops Orchestra. By the mid-1970s the United States had several world-class symphony orchestras, including those in Chicago; New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even grand opera was affected. Once a specialized taste that often required extensive knowledge, opera in the United States increased in popularity as the roster of respected institutions grew to include companies in Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. American composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass began composing modern operas in a new minimalist style during the 1970s and 1980s. The crossover in tastes also influenced the Broadway musical, probably Americas most durable music form. Starting in the 1960s, rock music became an ingredient in musical productions such as Hair (1967). By the 1990s, it had become an even stronger presence in musicals such as Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (1996), which used African American music and dance traditions, and Rent (1996) a modern, rock version of the classic opera La Boheme. This updating of the musical opened the theater to new ethnic audiences who had not previously attended Broadway shows, as well as to young audiences who had been raised on rock music. Performances of all kinds have become more available across the country. This is due to both the sheer increase in the number of performance groups as well as to advances in transportation. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the number of major American symphonies doubled, the number of resident theaters increased fourfold, and the number of dance companies increased tenfold. At the same time, planes made it easier for artists to travel. Artists and companies regularly tour, and they expand the audiences for individual artists such as performance artist Laurie Anderson and opera singer Jessye Norman, for musical groups such as the Juilliard Quartet, and for dance troupes such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Full-scale theater productions and musicals first presented on Broadway now reach cities across the country. The United States, once a provincial outpost with a limited European tradition in performance, has become a flourishing center for the performing arts. . Arts and letters The arts, more than other features of culture, provide avenues for the expression of imagination and personal vision. They offer a range of emotional and intellectual pleasures to consumers of art and are an important way in which a culture represents itself. There has long been a Western tradition distinguishing those arts that appeal to the multitude, such as popul ar music, from those—such as classical orchestral music—normally available to the elite of learning and taste. Popular art forms are usually seen as more representative American products. In the United States in the recent past, there has been a blending of popular and elite art forms, as all the arts experienced a period of remarkable cross-fertilization. Because popular art forms are so widely distributed, arts of all kinds have prospered. The arts in the United States express the many faces and the enormous creative range of the American people. Especially since World War II, American innovations and the immense energy displayed in literature, dance, and music have made American cultural works world famous. Arts in the United States have become internationally prominent in ways that are unparalleled in history. American art forms during the second half of the 20th century often defined the styles and qualities that the rest of the world emulated. At the end of the 20th century, American art was considered equal in quality and vitality to art produced in the rest of the world. Throughout the 20th century, American arts have grown to incorporate new visions and voices. Much of this new artistic energy came in the wake of America’s emergence as a superpower after World War II. But it was also due to the growth of New York City as an important center for publishing and the arts, and the immigration of artists and intellectuals fleeing fascism in Europe before and during the war. An outpouring of talent also followed the civil rights and protest movements of the 1960s, as cultural discrimination against blacks, women, and other groups diminished. American arts flourish in many places and receive support from private foundations, large corporations, local governments, federal agencies, museums, galleries, and individuals. What is considered worthy of support often depends on definitions of quality and of what constitutes art. This is a tricky subject when the popular arts are increasingly incorporated into the domain of the fine arts and new forms such as performance art and conceptual art appear. As a result, defining what is art affects what students are taught about past traditions (for example, Native American tent paintings, oral traditions, and slave narratives) and what is produced in the future. While some practitioners, such as studio artists, are more vulnerable to these definitions because they depend on financial support to exercise their talents, others, such as poets and photographers, are less immediately constrained. Artists operate in a world where those who theorize and critique their work have taken on an increasingly important role. Audiences are influenced by a variety of intermediaries—critics, the schools, foundations that offer grants, the National Endowment for the Arts, gallery owners, publishers, and theater producers. In some areas, such as the performing arts, popular audiences may ultimately define success. In other arts, such as painting and sculpture, success is far more dependent on critics and a few, often wealthy, art collectors. Writers depend on publishers and on the public for their success. Unlike their predecessors, who relied on formal criteria and appealed to aesthetic judgments, critics at the end of the 20th century leaned more toward popular tastes, taking into account groups previously ignored and valuing the merger of popular and elite forms. These critics ften relied less on aesthetic judgments than on social measures and were eager to place artistic productions in the context of the time and social conditions in which they were created. Whereas earlier critics attempted to create an American tradition of high art, later critics used art as a means to give power and approval to nonelite groups who were previously not considered worthy of including in the nation’s artisti c heritage. Not so long ago, culture and the arts were assumed to be an unalterable inheritance—the accumulated wisdom and highest forms of achievement that were established in the past. In the 20th century generally, and certainly since World War II, artists have been boldly destroying older traditions in sculpture, painting, dance, music, and literature. The arts have changed rapidly, with one movement replacing another in quick succession. a) Visual arts. The visual arts have traditionally included forms of expression that appeal to the eyes through painted surfaces, and to the sense of space through carved or molded materials. In the 19th century, photographs were added to the paintings, drawings, and sculpture that make up the visual arts. The visual arts were further augmented in the 20th century by the addition of other materials, such as found objects. These changes were accompanied by a profound alteration in tastes, as earlier emphasis on realistic representation of people, objects, and landscapes made way for a greater range of imaginative forms. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American art was considered inferior to European art. Despite noted American painters such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, and John Marin, American visual arts barely had an international presence. American art began to flourish during the Great Depression of the 1930s as New Deal government programs provided support to artists along with other sectors of the population. Artists connected with each other and developed a sense of common purpose through programs of the Public Works Administration, such as the Federal Art Project, as well as programs sponsored by the Treasury Department. Most of the art of the period, including painting, photography, and mural work, focused on the plight of the American people during the depression, and most artists painted real people in difficult circumstances. Artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Ben Shahn expressed the suffering of ordinary people through their representations of struggling farmers and workers. While artists such as Benton and Grant Wood focused on rural life, many painters of the 1930s and 1940s depicted the multicultural life of the American city. Jacob Lawrence, for example, re-created the history and lives of African Americans. Other artists, such as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, tried to use human figures to describe emotional states such as loneliness and despair. Abstract Expressionism. Shortly after World War II, American art began to garner worldwide attention and admiration. This change was due to the innovative fervor of abstract expressionism in the 1950s and to subsequent modern art movements and artists. The abstract expressionists of the mid-20th century broke from the realist and figurative tradition set in the 1930s. They emphasized their connection to international artistic visions rather than the particularities of people and place, and most abstract expressionists did not paint human figures (although artist Willem de Kooning did portrayals of women). Color, shape, and movement dominated the canvases of abstract expressionists. Some artists broke with the Western art tradition by adopting innovative painting styles—during the 1950s Jackson Pollock painted by dripping paint on canvases without the use of brushes, while the paintings of Mark Rothko often consisted of large patches of color that seem to vibrate. Abstract expressionists felt alienated from their surrounding culture and used art to challenge society’s conventions. The work of each artist was quite individual and distinctive, but all the artists identified with the radicalism of artistic creativity. The artists were eager to challenge conventions and limits on expression in order to redefine the nature of art. Their radicalism came from liberating themselves from the confining artistic traditions of the past. The most notable activity took place in New York City, which became one of the world’s most important art centers during the second half of the 20th century. The radical fervor and inventiveness of the abstract expressionists, their frequent association with each other in New York City’s Greenwich Village, and the support of a group of gallery owners and dealers turned them into an artistic movement. Also known as the New York School, the participants included Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, and Arshile Gorky, in addition to Rothko and Pollock. The members of the New York School came from diverse backgrounds such as the American Midwest and Northwest, Armenia, and Russia, bringing an international flavor to the group and its artistic visions. They hoped to appeal to art audiences everywhere, regardless of culture, and they felt connected to the radical innovations introduced earlier in the 20th century by European artists such as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp. Some of the artists—Hans Hofmann, Gorky, Rothko, and de Kooning—were not born in the United States, but all the artists saw themselves as part of an international creative movement and an aesthetic rebellion. As artists felt released from the boundaries and conventions of the past and free to emphasize expressiveness and innovation, the abstract expressionists gave way to other innovative styles in American art. Beginning in the 1930s Joseph Cornell created hundreds of boxed assemblages, usually from found objects, with each based on a single theme to create a mood of contemplation and sometimes of reverence. Cornells boxes exemplify the modern fascination with individual vision, art that breaks down boundaries between forms such as painting and sculpture, and the use of everyday objects toward a new end. Other artists, such as Robert Rauschenberg, combined disparate objects to create large, collage-like sculptures known as combines in the 1950s. Jasper Johns, a painter, sculptor, and printmaker, recreated countless familiar objects, most memorably the American flag. The most prominent American artistic style to follow abstract expressionism was the pop art movement that began in the 1950s. Pop art attempted to connect traditional art and popular culture by using images from mass culture. To shake viewers out of their preconceived notions about art, sculptor Claes Oldenburg used everyday objects such as pillows and beds to create witty, soft sculptures. Roy Lichtenstein took this a step further by elevating the techniques of commercial art, notably cartooning, into fine art worthy of galleries and museums. Lichtensteins large, blown-up cartoons fill the surface of his canvases with grainy black dots and question the existence of a distinct realm of high art. These artists tried to make their audiences see ordinary objects in a refreshing new way, thereby breaking down the conventions that formerly defined what was worthy of artistic representation. Probably the best-known pop artist, and a leader in the movement, was Andy Warhol, whose images of a Campbell’s soup can and of the actress Marilyn Monroe explicitly eroded the boundaries between the art world and mass culture. Warhol also cultivated his status as a celebrity. He worked in film as a director and producer to break down the boundaries between traditional and opular art. Unlike the abstract expressionists, whose conceptual works were often difficult to understand, Andy Warhols pictures, and his own face, were instantly recognizable. Conceptual art, as it came to be known in the 1960s, like its predecessors, sought to break free of traditional artistic associations. In conceptual art, as practiced by Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth, concept takes precedent over actual object, by stimulating thought rather than following an art tradition based on conventional standards of beauty and artisanship. Modern artists changed the meaning of traditional visual arts and brought a new imaginative dimension to ordinary experience. Art was no longer viewed as separate and distinct, housed in museums as part of a historical inheritance, but as a continuous creative process. This emphasis on constant change, as well as on the ordinary and mundane, reflected a distinctly American democratizing perspective. Viewing art in this way removed the emphasis from technique and polished performance, and many modern artworks and experiences became more about expressing ideas than about perfecting finished products. Photography. Photography is probably the most democratic modern art form because it can be, and is, practiced by most Americans. Since 1888, when George Eastman developed the Kodak camera that allowed anyone to take pictures, photography has struggled to be recognized as a fine art form. In the early part of the 20th century, photographer, editor, and artistic impresario Alfred Stieglitz established 291, a gallery in New York City, with fellow photographer Edward Steichen, to showcase the works of photographers and painters. They also published a magazine called Camera Work to increase awareness about photographic art. In the United States, photographic art had to compete with the widely available commercial photography in news and fashion magazines. By the 1950s the tradition of photojournalism, which presented news stories primarily with photographs, had produced many outstanding works. In 1955 Steichen, who was director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, called attention to this work in an exhibition called The Family of Man. Throughout the 20th century, most professional photographers earned their living as portraitists or photojournalists, not as artists. One of the most important exceptions was Ansel Adams, who took majestic photographs of the Western American landscape. Adams used his art to stimulate social awareness and to support the conservation cause of the Sierra Club. He helped found the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in 1940, and six years later helped establish the photography department at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco (now the San Francisco Art Institute). He also held annual photography workshops at Yosemite National Park from 1955 to 1981 and wrote a series of influential books on photographic technique. Adamss elegant landscape photography was only one small stream in a growing current of interest in photography as an art form. Early in the 20th century, teacher-turned-photographer Lewis Hine established a documentary tradition in photography by capturing actual people, places, and events. Hine photographed urban conditions and workers, including child laborers. Along with their artistic value, the photographs often implicitly called for social reform. In the 1930s and 1940s, photographers joined with other depression-era artists supported by the federal government to create a photographic record of rural America. Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Arthur Rothstein, among others, produced memorable and widely reproduced portraits of rural poverty and American distress during the Great Depression and during the dust storms of the period. In 1959, after touring the United States for two years, Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank published The Americans, one of the landmarks of documentary photography. His photographs of everyday life in America introduced viewers to a depressing, and often depressed, America that existed in the midst of prosperity and world power. Photographers continued to search for new photographic viewpoints. This search was perhaps most disturbingly embodied in the work of Diane Arbus. Her photos of mental patients and her surreal depictions of Americans altered the viewer’s relationship to the photograph. Arbus emphasized artistic alienation and forced viewers to stare at images that often made them uncomfortable, thus changing the meaning of the ordinary reality that photographs are meant to capture. American photography continues to flourish. The many variants of art photography and socially conscious documentary photography are widely available in galleries, books, and magazines. A host of other visual arts thrive, although they are far less connected to traditional fine arts than photography. Decorative arts include, but are not limited to, art glass, furniture, jewelry, pottery, metalwork, and quilts. Often exhibited in craft galleries and studios, these decorative arts rely on ideals of beauty in shape and color as well as an appreciation of well-executed crafts. Some of these forms are also developed commercially. The decorative arts provide a wide range of opportunity for creative expression and have become a means for Americans to actively participate in art and to purchase art for their homes that is more affordable than works produced by many contemporary fine artists. . Performing arts As in other cultural spheres, the performing arts in the United States in the 20th century increasingly blended traditional and popular art forms. The classical performing arts—music, opera, dance, and theater—were not a widespread feature of American culture in the first half of the 20th century. These arts were generally imported from or strongly influenced by Europe and were mainly appreciated by the wealthy and well educated. Traditional art usually referred to classical forms in ballet and opera, orchestral or chamber music, and serious drama. The distinctions between traditional music and popular music were firmly drawn in most areas. During the 20th century, the American performing arts began to incorporate wider groups of people. The African American community produced great musicians who became widely known around the country. Jazz and blues singers such as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday spread their sounds to black and white audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, the swing music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller adapted jazz to make a unique American music that was popular around the country. The American performing arts also blended Latin American influences beginning in the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1940, Latin American dances, such as the tango from Argentina and the rumba from Cuba, were introduced into the United States. In the 1940s a fusion of Latin and jazz elements was stimulated first by the Afro-Cuban mambo and later on by the Brazilian bossa nova. Throughout the 20th century, dynamic classical institutions in the United States attracted international talent. Noted Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine established the short-lived American Ballet Company in the 1930s; later he founded the company that in the 1940s would become the New York City Ballet. The American Ballet Theatre, also established during the 1940s, brought in non-American dancers as well. By the 1970s this company had attracted Soviet defector Mikhail Baryshnikov, an internationally acclaimed dancer who served as the company’s artistic director during the 1980s. In classical music, influential Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who composed symphonies using innovative musical styles, moved to the United States in 1939. German-born pianist, composer, and conductor Andre Previn, who started out as a jazz pianist in the 1940s, went on to conduct a number of distinguished American symphony orchestras. Another Soviet, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, became conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D. C. , in 1977. Some of the most innovative artists in the first half of the 20th century successfully incorporated new forms into classical traditions. Composers George Gershwin and Aaron Copland, and dancer Isadora Duncan were notable examples. Gershwin combined jazz and spiritual music with classical in popular works such as Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935). Copland developed a unique style that was influenced by jazz and American folk music. Early in the century, Duncan redefined dance along more expressive and free-form lines. Some artists in music and dance, such as composer John Cage and dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, were even more experimental. During the 1930s Cage worked with electronically produced sounds and sounds made with everyday objects such as pots and pans. He even invented a new kind of piano. During the late 1930s, avant-garde choreographer Cunningham began to collaborate with Cage on a number of projects. Perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most popular, American innovation was the Broadway musical, which also became a movie staple. Beginning in the 1920s, the Broadway musical combined music, dance, and dramatic performance in ways that surpassed the older vaudeville shows and musical revues but without being as complex as European grand opera. By the 1960s, this American musical tradition was well established and had produced extraordinary works by important musicians and lyricists such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Jerome Kern, and Oscar Hammerstein II. These productions required an immense effort to coordinate music, drama, and dance. Because of this, the musical became the incubator of an American modern dance tradition that produced some of Americas greatest choreographers, among them Jerome Robbins, Gene Kelly, and Bob Fosse. In the 1940s and 1950s the American musical tradition was so dynamic that it attracted outstanding classically trained musicians such as Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein composed the music for West Side Story, an updated version of Romeo and Juliet set in New York that became an instant classic in 1957. The following year, Bernstein became the first American-born conductor to lead a major American orchestra, the New York Philharmonic. He was an international sensation who traveled the world as an ambassador of the American style of conducting. He brought the art of classical music to the public, especially through his Young Peoples Concerts, television shows that were seen around the world. Bernstein used the many facets of the musical tradition as a force for change in the music world and as a way of bringing attention to American innovation. In many ways, Bernstein embodied a transformation of American music that began in the 1960s. The changes that took place during the 1960s and 1970s resulted from a significant increase in funding for the arts and their increased availability to larger audiences. New York City, the American center for art performances, experienced an artistic explosion in the 1960s and 1970s. Experimental off-Broadway theaters opened, new ballet companies were established that often emphasized modern forms or blended modern with classical (Martha Graham was an especially important influence), and an experimental music scene developed that included composers such as Philip Glass and performance groups such as the Guarneri String Quartet. Dramatic innovation also continued to expand with the works of playwrights such as Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, and David Mamet. As the variety of performances expanded, so did the serious crossover between traditional and popular music forms. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, an expanded repertoire of traditional arts was being conveyed to new audiences. Popular music and jazz could be heard in formal settings such as Carnegie Hall, which had once been restricted to classical music, while the Brooklyn Academy of Music became a venue for experimental music, exotic and ethnic dance presentations, and traditional productions of grand opera. Innovative producer Joseph Papp had been staging Shakespeare in Central Park since the 1950s. Boston conductor Arthur Fiedler was playing a mixed repertoire of classical and popular favorites to large audiences, often outdoors, with the Boston Pops Orchestra. By the mid-1970s the United States had several world-class symphony orchestras, including those in Chicago; New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even grand opera was affected. Once a specialized taste that often required extensive knowledge, opera in the United States increased in popularity as the roster of respected institutions grew to include companies in Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. American composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass began composing modern operas in a new minimalist style during the 1970s and 1980s. The crossover in tastes also influenced the Broadway musical, probably Americas most durable music form. Starting in the 1960s, rock music became an ingredient in musical productions such as Hair (1967). By the 1990s, it had become an even stronger presence in musicals such as Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (1996), which used African American music and dance traditions, and Rent (1996) a modern, rock version of the classic opera La Boheme. This updating of the musical opened the theater to new ethnic audiences who had not previously attended Broadway shows, as well as to young audiences who had been raised on rock music. Performances of all kinds have become more available across the country. This is due to both the sheer increase in the number of performance groups as well as to advances in transportation. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the number of major American symphonies doubled, the number of resident theaters increased fourfold, and the number of dance companies increased tenfold. At the same time, planes made it easier for artists to travel. Artists and companies regularly tour, and they expand the audiences for individual artists such as performance artist Laurie Anderson and opera singer Jessye Norman, for musical groups such as the Juilliard Quartet, and for dance troupes such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Full-scale theater productions and musicals first presented on Broadway now reach cities across the country. The United States, once a provincial outpost with a limited European tradition in performance, has become a flourishing center for the performing arts.

Macroeconomics Coursework :: Economics

It is the role of every government to safeguard its people in all matters including controlling the economy. Every economy faces different challenges including the business cycles that may emanate from the global market. In this paper we try to examine measures taken by the UK’s coalition government in trying to ensure that the economy benefits every citizen and reduces the overall burden to it. We consider the recent comprehensive review on spending. Many countries in the world have been suffering a recession in their economies and UK has not been an exception. A recession is a macroeconomic term describing one of the two business cycles that economies go through. The business cycles is characterized by either a boom where there are more business activities carried with a rapid economic growth and points of recession where there is retardation min economic growth. Various aspects and factors contribute to economic growth, which is measured through GDP. This factor may include savings, investments government spending plus other factors within either an increase or a decrease. Reduction in spending may lead to a recession while a n increase in spending may lead to expansion that is a boom in the economy. According to Maynard, John (1930), various measured may be taken by government in order to improve the state of the economy and probably move the economy from a recession or even speed this process. Various players can play a role in improving the economic though as Keynesian theory explains the government plays a great role in this compared to other players like the private sector. The government can therefore use various measures through its budgeting policies, fiscal policies and monetary policies by the Central Bank. It’s on this basis that the UK coalition government has proposed slashing of its budget to reduce the overall spending in the economy. Taxpayer isn't a â€Å"first-time homebuyer† with respect to that purchasing a new home unless he or she delays the purchase until the three-year period since his previous home ownership has ended. An individual whose principal residence is in rented quarters (and has been for at least three years) but who owns a vacation home can qualify as a first-time homeowner, because he has had no ownership interest in his principal residence. The Committee Report adds that the individual must not have had an ownership interest in a principle residence in the UK during the three-year period before the purchase of the home to which the credit applies.

Review Answers On Contemporary Drama Essay

With the many plays present and available, the tile of this particular contemporary play caught me since it was very unusual, and I wanted to know whether it was alluding to a deeper metaphorical meaning or just a play with a different contextual meaning—like a satire of some sort as to what George Orwell did in Animal Farm. Moreover, the title seems intriguing—this is brought on by the visual impact of the Dead Rats since it is both gory and gruesome. 2) Review the playwright’s literary elements: a. Provide a plot summary. The summary of the play is unusual since it itself does not seem to follow a normal plot pattern or any plot at all. The play instead is in the format of a â€Å"stream of consciousness† wherein there is a jumping of characters, themes, and motif. Just as the plot was making sense or beginning to make a point, it shifts to different characters and stories. But I believe that that is mainly the point or summary of the plot—the voices or the many characters in the mind of a person which shifts immediately and suddenly without warning. There seem to be so many characters, but they have no common factor, and yet they are connected somehow. b. Identify the genre. How do you know? It is hard to identify the genre of the play, but it can be considered as a psychological contemporary play. This is for the reason that the play seems to happen inside the mind and yet not entirely in it. There are allusions of the psychological treatment from the very start of the play—from the voices which the man is hearing to the presence of Dr. Green or School Master Green who is treating a patient by the name of Mary or Marie with multiple personalities or multiple interpretations of reality and fantasy. The entire play itself is confusing since it keeps shifting and turning with the characters and the mention of either the mentally disturbed or the dead. c. What is the theme? The theme is most exemplified at the end of the play wherein the dead character by the name of Ann tells the audience that â€Å"she continues†: Everything continues, and I will continue. I can see right through your silence, right through into your mind, deep inside behind your face, way back, where you really think, and I know just how hard it is, how hard the pain hits you, but look at me, hear me. I continue. After the lights go down, I continue. (Knag, 2009, n. p. ) The whole play is about the inner realms of thinking and of the mind; that is to say, just because someone is dead or not there anymore does not mean they cease to exist—because everyone continues. d. Is there spectacle present in the play? If so, how did it affect your reading of the play? There are a lot of spectacles present in the play, like the outbursts of the emotions of the characters or the killing of the Little Waif character also known as Marie or Mary. These so-called spectacles made me more interested with the play and made me want to find out what is happening and what was going on. 3) If you could change any part of the plot in your selected play, what would you amend? I think the author, Paul Knag, already did a fine job with the play. Even if the play is very confusing, startling, and gruesome, it was very well-written and intriguing to the point that the reader is made breathless with the drama and action going on. However, there are some points which I would want to change. For instance, it seems that are too many scene changes and props needed. The practicality of producing such contemporary play should be considered since the play itself is quite simple. Hence, there is no need for theatrical displays of props and settings since in my opinion, the psychological beauty and seriousness of the play can still come out if there are simpler props and settings included. For example, instead of traveling from one place to another to determine the shift from train station to the actual destination, there can be a play with light, darkness, and space as to pertain to the shift. Reference

7 Army Values: the Standard Behavior of a Soldier Essay

Army basic training has two main stages in the process of building a Soldier. The first five weeks are to break you down, and the last five weeks are to break you down, building you into a Soldier. While a Soldier is being is being built they instill something called the Seven Army Values into you. The values are something that I lived by in the Army, and to this day I still live by them. I can take these values and apply them to everyday life. They are the standard for behavior, not only in the Army, but in any ordered society. Loyalty: â€Å"Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S constitution, the Army, and other soldiers†. This can be applied to my role as a student as I will be loyal to my fellow classmates and teachers. In my personal opinion, Loyalty means being a person that others can count on, so when the time comes, I will be there to do what needs to be done. Duty: â€Å"Fulfill your obligations† Accept responsibility for your own actions and those entrusted to your care. As a student I will accomplish the task that needs to be done, no matter how much I would rather be doing something else. If I do not fulfill my duties on a regular basis, then those around me will have to pick up the slack, and any sense of loyalty begins to become tarnished. See more: Homelessness as a social problem Essay Respect: â€Å"Treat people as they should be treated†. How we consider others reflects upon each of us, both personally and as a professional organization. I will respect everyone in my class and also my teachers. I would want them to treat me the same way. With respect we can get a lot accomplished and complete things as a team. Selfless Service: â€Å"Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own†. Selfless service leads to organizational teamwork and encompasses discipline, self-control and faith. In college and in life I will commit to go a little further, and get the job done right the first time. Honor: â€Å"Live up to all the Army values†. I will encompass all the values into one and apply them to everyday life as a College student and my life in general. I believe these values are important to live by. Integrity: â€Å"Do what is right, legally and morally†. Be willing to do what is right even when no one is looking. I have a real bad self conscience so I would not be able to cheat. I am an honest person and I will always be this way. Personal Courage: â€Å"Our ability to face fear, danger, or adversity, both physical and moral courage†. I will take responsibility for my decisions and actions and accept responsibility for my mistakes and shortcomings. I will try my hardest not to make mistakes but no one is perfect. These are the values that I live by every day. They are what I stand for. In everyday situations I can apply one of these values.

Essay Cause and Effect Essay Sample on the Future Life

Essay Cause and Effect Essay Sample on the Future Life Today a small piece of plastic enables you to make a telephone call from anywhere in the world to anyone in the world. A mobile phone no bigger than a playing card would electronically transmit words to a computer screen, send a fax and receive replies on its tiny screen. Technology that was once science fiction-is now with you. As we have entered what some call that Zeroes (the opening years of the new millennium), the future life has already begun to happen. Take a look in your bag or briefcase and you may find another small piece of plastic on which you can play your favourite music. Look on your wrist and it is possible that youre wearing the latest digital watch featuring GPS, which can pinpoint your exact location on the planet via satellite.   Your watch may even be one that can send electronic messages – perhaps an office memo, to someone in another country. You watch your favourite video on the same small watch face, which you can also use as a phone that also displays your call recipient on its micro-screen. These are not fantasy predictions but reality. It is only a matter of time before the same piece of plastic can remotely control your car. You could beckon it from the garage to collect you from the supermarket and transfer you to a giant airship. Here, inside a huge floating hotel you will travel to another continent. Perhaps room service will take on a whole new meaning when on board the airship, you’ll be asked which country youd like to have breakfast in – New York in America perhaps, and then lunch in Vienna, dinner in Cape Town and entire with coffee in Chennai – all from one hotel. After landing, you’ll drive your car off the airship and call your partner to say you will be home in time for dinner. Images of your meal could be transmitted to you on your videophone/personal computer and youll be able to say that you are looking forward to your meal. As you step out, you will put on your special jacket, the one with the built-in stereo system in the sleeves and a microclimate in the lining. Dont laugh part of this is fact. One designer has created a parka jacket with an anti-smog mask, a hood with snow-goggles and the afore-mentioned stereo. Then you may want to put on your virtual-reality glasses and step inside your soon-to-be-designed new home. You can then test the staircase, move between rooms and check out the dà ©cor, before it’s even built. Back in your computer-controlled hotel room on the airship, you watch a film on a screen thinner than a magazine and about the size of you wall. Gas-plasma television screens are now in the market, producing giant images with precision sound and crystal-clear vision. If you fall asleep you may get a gentle wake-up call from your new alarm clock. This will be just in time for the robot butler – that can detect you and your familys identity – to come in with coffee and croissants of your choice. Are you just puzzled? All of these amazing inventions are either already available or on the drawing boar, somewhere in the world. The concept of an air-ship-style floating hotel carrying up to 2,000 people and flying to any continent is already being developed. And the technology being packed into small plastic boxes and wrist watches is becoming more ingenious by the month. Your lifestyle is futuristic, with all the gadgets to go with it. You dont work in the office anymore, you are mobile with your laptop or palmtop computer a phone the size of a match box, and a car small enough to park in the cycle shed – here, you can sip a cocktail, slip off your laser-cut suit jacket made from modern paper cotton by British designer such as Bailey and relax. The new stream of cool, uncluttered minimalist hotels and restaurants wikll cater to ypur every need. But in keeping with now familiar visions of the next century, watch out for the first space-theme restaurant, perhaps using the latest technology to create its own special gravity and atmosphere with floating tables and waiters and a menu that offers crater pie, chocolate rock pudding, and moon meringue. Then your only problem will be deciding when to book those two weeks on mars or the moon and which space station we will go from. Did you enjoy reading this? I enjoyed a lot, writing these words to you

Medical Billing and Coding Essays

Medical Billing and Coding Essays Medical Billing and Coding Essay Medical Billing and Coding Essay Outline for Writing a Research Paper I. Introduction- begin with Thesis Statement: In one clear sentence state the focus of your paper. A. Key points (have at least three, but no more than five) 1. state each main point that you’ll be making in the paper 2. main point 3. main point 4. main point 5. main point Body of paper- outline the topic sentence and supporting research for each point you’ll be covering in the paper, beginning with point #1 stated in the introduction. A. Point 1- topic sentence idea 1. research concept a. supporting idea(s) b. connect to next concept 2. research concept a. supporting idea(s) b. onnect to next concept 3. research concept a. supporting idea(s) b. connect to next topic idea B. Point 2- topic sentence idea 1. research concept a. supporting idea(s) b. connect to next concept 2. research concept CONTINUE FORMAT 3. â€Å" â€Å" C. Point 3- topic sentence idea and CONTINUE FORMAT D. Point 4- topic sentence idea and CONTINUE FORMAT E. Point 5- topic sentence idea and CONTINUE FORMAT 1. 2. 3. after last point is made and supported, create a transition to summary and conclusion Summary paragraph- create a key summary sentence that declares a wrap-up of concepts to begin this paragraph A. Follow the summary sentence with clear sentences that summarize each of the main ideas that have been discussed in the body of the paper 1. summary of point 1 2. summary of point 2 3. summary of point 3 4. summary of point 4 5. summary of point 5 Conclusion- transition to the ending of your paper and final thoughts in a paragraph Reference page in alphabetical order by last name (see APA format online and note examples from Reference section in back of textbook, and remember to cite all of your references in the body of your text following a summary concept or quote) II. III. IV. V.

Top Research Paper Topics 2013 for College

Top Research Paper Topics 2013 for College Top Research Paper Topics 2013 for College First of all, in order to write a good research paper, you have to understand well what kind of task it is. So, research papers differ from typical essays a little bit. They are longer and require some research work to collect useful information which you can use for your paper. It may sound strange, but the most difficult task for some people is choosing the topic. Actually, its quite normal. If the topic was chosen by your teacher, you have no other choice than to accept it and use it for your research paper. On the other hand, when you have to choose your topic yourself, you can be confused and have trouble choosing the one you really like and interested in. Lets try to do it together. Talking about topics that are relevant in 2013, you can think of everything that happened this year and choose the event that impressed you most. Was it a military conflict in the Middle East? You can analyze the political situation in Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan etc. Also, you may try to find a way out of all the problems in these countries. Maybe the new iPhone 5S is a far more appealing topic for you? Write a paper about modern technology, speaking about how it changed our everyday life, including all the advantages and disadvantages these gadgets have. Are you interested in economy? If yes, you can write about the financial problems in various countries, connecting this factor to financial crisis of 2007-2008. Try to analyze all the opinions on how to cope with such kind of problem and present them in your paper. Actually, there are topics that are relevant, no matter what year it is now. Lets take discrimination. We all seem to be well-educated, polite people without bias against any social group, be it homosexuals, people of different race, religion or gender. However, the problem still remains serious in many countries. Another topic to dwell on is obesity. Is there any way people can eat both delicious and healthy food? Do fast-food restaurants sell junk-food? Is it worth being a vegetarian? In addition, talk about environmental problems and possible ways to make our impact on nature less harmful. There should be some ways to protect rain forests in Brazil, or use alternative power sources (solar or wind energy), use bicycles instead of cars, save electricity and so on. Choosing a topic is just the first step to completing your paper. If you find it too difficult to cope with, or you are pressed for time, you can always rely on our academic writing service for help. We are always ready to lend you a helping hand. At research paper service you have a great opportunity to order a custom written paper online. High quality and plagiarism-free guarantee!

PROBLEMS FACING HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS Essay

PROBLEMS FACING HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS - Essay Example However, these teachers tend to experience some challenges and this discourse focuses on such. Science is a very dynamic field and this means that high school science teachers must adopt emerging technologies to enable their students remain marketable or viable in the job markets. However, this tends to be a great challenge in low income high schools where science teachers are forced to rely on outdated technologies. Technology, in this scenario, refers to the machinery, computer hardware and software, lab equipment, and lab manuals (Baker 32). Some teachers in such institutions handle the theoretical parts of the advanced technologies without necessarily arranging for practical sessions due to lack of required facilities. At the end of the day, students lack the practical experience and this is a huge setback as they graduate and join the job market. The solution is the administration of such schools should liaise with local authorities so that some fund could be set aside to purchase the right equipment in the institutions. The schools could also seek funds or donations from the community, organizations, and even willing individuals to purchase the required equipment (Geisler 209). Meanwhile, the school could make arrangements with institutions with such facilities so that students could make arranged visits and learn from their facilities. However, this should be in a manner that both students from both facilities are not inconvenienced. Science teachers could use assimilated modules to guide their students as the administration seek funds to purchase such facilities. Science oriented subjects require more lesson hours compared with social and humanity related subjects. However, a majority of high schools allocate the same hours for all subjects. Due to this, a majority of teachers end up not completing the required syllabus as the school closes. However, their counterparts handling social and humanity lessons

Death penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death penalty - Essay Example Even though I was too young to understand the meaning completely, the issue had a great impact on me. . After long term consideration I believe that the death penalty should be legal because it helps prevent violent crime and saves lives of innocent people. Different countries view the death penalty differently. Here what I would like to talk about is the death penalty in China, Japan and the U.S. These countries are the three largest economies in the world, and they are where I have grown up and live. . Japan and China are based on Eastern culture, and the U.S is based on Western Culture. They have similarities and differences; however, they all have the death penalty. In the U.S. there are two reasons why people support death penalty, and they are retribution and deterrence. The idea of retribution is that a murderer must sacrifice his life because he took someone’s life, and the basic idea is â€Å"an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.† The idea of deterrence i s that death penalty can prevent people from committing murder. Both Japan and China subscribe to these two reasons for the death penalty, but seem to be more supportive of the death penalty than people in the U.S. ... students were the lowest and Japanese students were in the middle (Shanhe et al.). I grew up in Japan and China, and this might contribute to the reason why I strongly agree with death penalty. The death penalty may be a factor in saving lives. People make their decisions based on their costs or benefits; therefore, a person may stop himself from killing someone if he knows he may be executed as a result (Muhlhausen). It is similar to not stealing because there will be a punishment. If the punishment is execution there will be less likelihood of stealing. The stricter the law, the less and less people commit a crime because everybody fears death, even animals. Most criminals would think twice if they knew their own lives were at stake. Second, many studies have shown that executions can lead to a decrease in murder rates; and on the other hand that abolishing the death penalty increases the incidence of murder. Professor Shepherd analyzed data from 1977 to 1999 and found that the com bination of death row sentences and executions deterred many types of murders. She estimated that each death row sentence deters approximately 4.5 murders, and each execution approximately 3 murders. A second issue Shepherd examined was the impact of delaying the execution on deterrence. The numerous appeals and stays of execution that criminals request imply that they prefer lengthy death row waits. Shepherd therefore theorized that shortening the death row wait may increase the deterrence, and estimates that for every 2.75 year reduction in the death row wait for execution one extra murder could be deterred. It means that shorter term of waiting execution can save human’s life (Muhlhausen). According to the U.S. Murder Rate and Executions, the murder rate decreases when the

Pre 1920's based thesis, consult me with ideas Research Paper

Pre 1920's based thesis, consult me with ideas - Research Paper Example (Pedraza 1996). This mass influx of immigrants was needed and welcomed. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing during this time, society was completing its transformation from farm to city life and urban manpower was in short supply. The immigrants had jobs and could build their new life and America benefited because this endless source of labor streaming into Ellis Island made it the most industrialized and economically successful country in the world. Immigrants from this period and those descended from them have been very influential in the area of creative arts over the past century. They dominated the entertainment industry during the first half of the 1900’s accounting for many of the top actors, writers, producers and directors in the American movie industry. This mutually beneficial relationship, however, came at a cost to both the immigrants and their new country. From 1890 to 1918, the country grew by a larger percentage that at any other 30 year period before o r since. The Eastern European immigrants flocked to the new industrial jobs in the city which filled an economical need in America. On the other hand, their presence also instigated a cultural divide between the current resident small-town Protestant farmers and the new Catholic immigrants with the thick accents who were not ‘men of the land’ but rather had succumbed to the sinful life of the city. (Crossen, 2006). Prior to 1890, the majority of the voting public was considered within the boundaries of the social middle-class. By 1918, the country had become more socially divided. The rapid growth of the immigrant population became a threat to the country’s natural resources when there had been plenty for all. The expansion of people and settlements along with over-hunting led to the creation of federal preservation programs such as the federal parks. During the turn of the 20th century, the fear of immigrants reached a fever pitch. The roots of this new racism w ere from ‘old world’ anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic mind-sets. The ideology that grew from immigrant racism is the belief that the Western and Northern European Anglo-Saxon heritage was a superior ‘race’ to Eastern and Southern Europeans. (Higham, 1988). These widespread beliefs had an effect on immigration policy in the U.S. which, in the early 1900’s, moved to limit the numbers and types of people allowed to immigrate. The anti-foreigner sentiment crossed all segments of society, from the Protestant farmers in the furthest reaches of the rural regions to Ivy League elitists. A Harvard-educated man formed the Immigration Restriction League in 1894 which made recommendations to the government. They advocated testing the literacy of refugees as a prerequisite to entering the country or gaining citizenship. This was intended to slow the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern European which had been, â€Å"sending an alarming number of illitera tes, paupers, criminals, and madmen who endangered American character and citizenship.† (Hirschman, 2006). Many Americans, known as nativists, concluded that the rate of immigration, especially from Eastern European counntries, should either be greatly reduced or halted altogether. â€Å"The myth of the melting pot has been discredited,† said Representative Albert Johnson, (R) who was one of many congressmen concerned about America’s ‘open-door’ policy. â€Å"The day of unalloyed welcome to all peoples, the day of indiscriminate

World History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World History - Essay Example vernment and representatives of the Arab governments, the Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish Agency, the White Paper was issued in 1939 by the British government declaring its intention of the future government of Palestine. The White paper also contained the Land Transfers Regulations to protect Palestinian land rights against Zionist acquisition (P4pd. 2004). The White paper further demanded conditional independence for unitary Palestinian State after ten years. In addition, it was agreed to allow 15,000 Jewish immigrants into Palestine annually for five years (Palestineremembered, 2006). Provision was also made for protection of Palestinian land rights against the Zionist acquisition. The British had made contradictory promises to both the Jews and the Palestinians and landed themselves in an untenable and difficult situation. During the World War I, Britain had promised the local Arabs through the Lawrence of Arabia, an independent Arab country covering most of the Middle East in exchange for their support (Wikipedia). Britain also promised to create a Jewish national home as per the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The Jews were fighting against the Arabs and the British while the Arabs were fighting against the Jews and the British. The Arabs attacked the British because the British failed to maintain the quotas as agreed and allowed illegal Jews to enter Palestine (Trueman, 2000). The Jews attacked the British authorities in Palestine because they believed that the quota system was grossly unfair. As a result, British were in the middle of the conflict with little control as the two other sides were involved in their own beliefs (Trueman, 2000). In an attempt to end the violence, the British placed restrictions on the Jewish immigration â€Å"in the ‘interests of the present population’ and the ‘absorptive capacity’ of the country† (Bard, 2007). The British actually partitioned the country by limiting the absorptive capacity of Palestine. They put a

The appeal of reality tv Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The appeal of reality tv - Research Paper Example Reality TV presents the lives of ordinary people to viewers, as a platform for exploring the subjects featured in the programs, towards demonstrating their story and to clear areas of misconceptions. This paper will explore the genre of reality TV, demonstrating the positive and the negative impacts it causes on its viewers and the society at large. The paper will end in the conclusion that reality TV causes more positive than negative impacts on society (Malekoff 2). The Arguments in Support of Reality TV Radford (1) discusses that, despite the fact that reality is often criticized as a vacuous genre that cannot communicate social value, a study carried out on girls between the ages of 11 and 17 demonstrated the opposite. The study showed that the girls that watched reality TV benefited from it in a number of areas, including that it became a learning avenue, it opened new communication lines and it motivated their engagement in social causes (Kilborn and John 123). For instance, th e findings from the study showed that 75 percent of the girls surveyed, were inspired to converse more with their friends and their parents. Some girls reported that they gained inspiration from the reality TV shows, with more than 68 percent of the girls that watched, claiming that it made them develop the outlook that they could achieve anything in life (Radford 1). Sixty-two percent of the girls that watched reality TV reported that the genre increased their awareness of social causes and issues, including those related to personal development. Contrary from the outlook that watching reality TV corrupts the outlook of viewers, the girls surveyed – viewers and non-viewers of reality TV – held the view that the value of girls is not based on their look. This account demonstrates that reality TV develops the outlook of members of society, and demonstrates that it helps them develop positive traits that help them in daily life. Among the characteristics learnt through r eality TV, among the girls surveyed, include motivation, leadership characteristics, self-esteem and social consciousness (Fetveit 787). Among the regular viewers of reality TV, common views included that the girls viewed themselves as a source of good influence; they viewed themselves as mature, funny, smart and outgoing. Following the expanded outlook of the girls, it was also most likely that frequent viewers would aspire to take leadership roles, as they viewed themselves as leaders – more than the non-viewers did (Radford 1). Contrary to the view that reality TV shapes the outlook of teens, towards becoming obsessed with beauty and making boyfriends, the study demonstrated that the views of the two groups were similar. For instance, 42 percent of the non-viewers group spent a lot of time admiring and working on their appearances (Radford 1). Among the viewers and the non-viewers groups, less than half of the girls reported inclination towards dating. The study of the gir ls demonstrates that the negative impacts of watching reality TV are not as high as they are often projected, and the benefits are far-reaching. For instance, the outlook of the girls that they were mature and a source of good influence are likely to change their outlook towards life in a positive manner. This demonstrates that

World History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World History - Essay Example vernment and representatives of the Arab governments, the Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish Agency, the White Paper was issued in 1939 by the British government declaring its intention of the future government of Palestine. The White paper also contained the Land Transfers Regulations to protect Palestinian land rights against Zionist acquisition (P4pd. 2004). The White paper further demanded conditional independence for unitary Palestinian State after ten years. In addition, it was agreed to allow 15,000 Jewish immigrants into Palestine annually for five years (Palestineremembered, 2006). Provision was also made for protection of Palestinian land rights against the Zionist acquisition. The British had made contradictory promises to both the Jews and the Palestinians and landed themselves in an untenable and difficult situation. During the World War I, Britain had promised the local Arabs through the Lawrence of Arabia, an independent Arab country covering most of the Middle East in exchange for their support (Wikipedia). Britain also promised to create a Jewish national home as per the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The Jews were fighting against the Arabs and the British while the Arabs were fighting against the Jews and the British. The Arabs attacked the British because the British failed to maintain the quotas as agreed and allowed illegal Jews to enter Palestine (Trueman, 2000). The Jews attacked the British authorities in Palestine because they believed that the quota system was grossly unfair. As a result, British were in the middle of the conflict with little control as the two other sides were involved in their own beliefs (Trueman, 2000). In an attempt to end the violence, the British placed restrictions on the Jewish immigration â€Å"in the ‘interests of the present population’ and the ‘absorptive capacity’ of the country† (Bard, 2007). The British actually partitioned the country by limiting the absorptive capacity of Palestine. They put a

Investigation into the Sovereign Debt Credit Ratings of Five EU Member Literature review

Investigation into the Sovereign Debt Credit Ratings of Five EU Member States and China over the Period 2005-2012 - Literature review Example Caprio and Klingebiel (2003), McKinsey (2010), Mihalakas (2012) find that common problems existing in crisis countries are financial imbalances, government debt over the country's debt paying ability, huge public spending, which eventually lead to the occurrence of crisis. Calvo (1998), Eichengreen et al. (2005) and De Grauwe (2011) and Wolf (2011) all think that monetary union is one of the important factors. Detlef (2012) argues that large-scale sovereign debt is due to the endogenous structural problems. Leigh (2010) through the statistical methods to find low growth is another incentive to crisis. The financial crisis accompanied by the enormous public debt in the Euro zone particularly the Greece that occurred in 2009 resulted in a great confusion in the vast world financial market, this even became of in the year 2010 (Buckley & Arner, 2011). Despite this the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) have acted so fast to handle the crisis and restore the co nfidence of the market participants :( Portes, 1986). It did this through restoring the fiscal economies such as Greece, Ireland, and Portugal among others. However, the Euro zone crisis extended even in the first half of the 2011 through vigorously shaking the financial markets both internally and externally of the monetary union. This extended the thought that other countries would be rescued from the crisis later on. Although the countries mentioned so far are small economically, there was an exposure of through financial contagion and therefore the possibility of the scourge spreading to other countries of the EU like Spain and Italy, this has made handling of the crisis more complicated and serious. On the other hand, a variety of questions has been raised over whether the institutions conferred with the obligations of handling the issues will be up to the task (Buckley & Arner, 2011). The proponents of the advocacy that the monetary unions escaped national monetary and economi c sovereignty are right though they lacked central fiscal authority :( Portes, 1986). It is quite evident that without such conferred authority; the organizations are toothless hence preventing the monetary union from effective action by the constituents. This therefore has made the recovery of the mentioned countries out of the debt crisis hence more muted than it would have been expected (Canuto & Giugale, 2010). For decades, the financial positions of the countries in the euro zone exhibited the strengths that have never been witnessed in the year 2007 (Canuto & Giugale, 2010). This had largely been attributed majorly due to the economic environments that facilitated the strongest view. The onset of the 2008-2009 financial crunches witnessed a longer and lasting impact in the economic environments of the countries in the EU (Buckley & Arner, 2011). This penetrated the economic environment in three major transmission channels, which entail: - the nature that the financial system i s highly contagious and connected, the effects and impacts that demand had on wealth and confidence and lastly, the global trade

Using Operant Conditioning to Increase Productivity Among Workers Essay Example for Free

Using Operant Conditioning to Increase Productivity Among Workers Essay If I would be a manager of a large automobile factory, I would be interested in increasing the productivity among all workers. A good tool for this is Operant Conditioning. I would have 3 types of workers: white collar office employees, factory line workers, and quality control employees. I would use different techniques for each type. For quality control workers I would use punishment. If they didn’t notice a defect in the product that they were supposed to check, they would get a fine taken off their paycheque. I would use fixed ration scheduling for punishment, so that every mistake is noticed and punished. This will make them extra careful, and will increase the quality of the product on the market. This form of treatment – punishment – might make them angry. But they can’t express their anger on me because I’m their manager and I might fire them. So they will be angry with workers and will be checking product for defects with special passion. For white-collar office employees and for factory line workers I would use Positive reinforcement. This technique will bring enthusiasm and optimism to workers, will create positive environment, and will increase their productivity. If I will reword workers for extra work done, or for being done the assignment before the due date, I will strengthen their motivation for work because it is followed by the presentation of reward (money added to the pay check). I would use variable ratio schedule for the rewords to be given out, meaning that on average I will reward every 5th outstanding achievement. I would not choose variable interval, because giving reward simply after a period of time wouldn’t bring the response as fast and efficient as I want.

History of documentary photography

History of documentary photography For this assignment we were required to work in groups to give a formal presentation on early documentary. Specifically the biography and works of the following three 19th century photographers; Francis Frith, Rodger Fenton and Mathew Brady discussing three images of each photographer. These photographers were a few of the first to record history in the making. To explore and share the places they captured and the people living there. This new form of communication played a vital role in the way society viewed painting and drawing. Not only as a method for channelling material but also as a medium of visual or artistic articulation. The Rockland Community College (2007  ¶3) when discussing the history of documentary photography give the following definitions; The Oxford Encyclopedia of photography defines documentary; â€Å"In the broadest sense, all photography not intended purely as a means of artistic expression might be considered ‘documentary’, the photograph, a visual document, of an event, place, object, or person, providing evidence of a moment in time. Yet the term ‘documentary photography’ has a more specific meaning. The Life Librarys Documentary Photography (1972) defined it as ‘a depiction of the real world by a photographer whose intent is to communicate something of importance—to make a comment—that will be understood by the viewer’. Francis Frith, an English photographer, was born in 1822. By 1853 Frith become a founding member of the Liverpool Photographic Society. A good businessman, Frith sold his companies in 1855 and committed himself exclusively to photography. He made three voyages to the Middle East, the first a trip to Egypt in 1856 with a sizable 16 x 20 camera. When he finally made the journey home Frith was regarded as celebrity as his works had reached London long before he had. In 1860 Frith embarked on a monumental mission. He wanted to document every city, town and village in Britain. His intention was to portray a 3D scene onto a 2D box as accurately as possible. While most travel photographers were partial to the more convenient paper-based calotype, Frith preferred to use the collodian process. This posed many problems during his expeditions to Palestine and Egypt where the climate is dominated by heat, dust and insects. His images have a literal, straightforward representation of the most characteristics of a place. This was accomplished by having a foreground middle ground and background. When possible he added people into his images to give an idea of scale and to add information such as hobbies and fashion. (see Addendum A, fig. 1-3) English born Fenton, came to photography from the legal profession. His first works were a series of calotypes taken during a visit to Russia. He became the principal founder of the Photographic Society of London. His most widespread acclaim came in 1855 with the Crimean War and becoming the official photographer for the British Museum after photographing Queen Victoria. Balaklava looking seawards, (see Addendum B, fig. 1) gives us a general view of the landscape and buildings. In the foreground sits the Commandants house, behind to the right, is the arms quay and the harbour, in the distance there is line of ships retreating. In the left corner we see the remains of the old Genoese castle which sits on the hills. Images of the war were originally intended to counteract the general unpopularity of war and occasional critical reporting (see Addendum B, fig. 2). The images from Fenton were transformed to woodblocks and then published in Illustrated London News which was regarded as a less critical publication. This staged image illustrates the civilised, structured and almost glamorized way in which Fenton wanted to portray the war. Widely regarded as the first iconic photograph of war (see Addendum B, fig. 3). This image was captured in close proximity to where the Charge of the Light Brigade (which was made famous by Tennysons poem) occurred. The soldiers writing back to their families called it The Valley of Death Fenton bolstered this by intentionally titling the image The Valley of the Shadow of Death with its specific reference to Psalm 23. This emphasizes Fentons efforts throughout his career to elevate the status of photography as an art. As seen by Fentons description this image fulfils the role of the documentary photographer in that it is a visual record of history in the making. Known as the father of photojournalism, Ameriacan Mathew Brady was one of the most acclaimed photographers of the19th century. Brady is best acknowledged for the documentation of the American Civil War and his portraits of celebrities. He made use of many paid assistants, managing to capture thousands of images of American Civil War. It is from these images taken that we gather the most knowledge and understanding of the curcumstances which occurred during the War. One of Bradys most well-known images of three confederate soldiers who were captured in Gettysberg, 1863 (see Addendum C, fig. 2). Due to the exposure time we can safely assume that Brady asked the men to gather in order for him to capture the image. In doing so the men intuitively posed in such a way that grants us an indication of how they wanted themselves portrayed. While these men are captives they still stand tall and proud, with one man even having his hand on his chest. Brady had the capability to recognize a story and capture the atmosphere of that story on to film. Brady took many group portraits of both Union regiments and Confederate soldiers. These images (see Addendum C, fig. 2) were all posed in a similar way, showing the order and discipline of both sides. Brady portrayed them all as American Heroes, they fight for that which they believe in. In comparison the photographs of both sides tell the same story of men willing to die for their cause, the only difference being their uniforms. The following image (see Addendum C, fig. 3) was taken of a slave known only as Gordon after he had escaped from a Louisiana plantation. Gordon found refuge at a Union regiment camp where, before he enlisted as a soldier, he was examined by doctors who found the horrific scars on his back. The purpose of the image was to record the brutal treatment Gordon was forced to endure. After this portrait was taken it became on of the most important and powerful images used as part of the movement to abolish slavery in America. Prior to the invention of photography all events, occasions and information were illustrated by a painting medium, and although many paintings evoke an emotional response it would be severely misguided to assume that what we are being presented with is not inaccurate, fictitious, or even unashamedly deceptive. Queen Elizabeth I, for example, has had so many different paintings composed that we have no real means of truly identifying her. However, unlike paintings, the images Frith, Fenton and Brady produced could show more accurately new landscapes and record historical events. Nasreen Chothia and Darren van Tonder 1