Climate Change Is An Undeniable And Unavoidable Reality

Introduction â€Å"Climate change will force millions of people to flee their homes over the coming century† (Docherty Giannini et al. 2010). Global climate change has become an undeniable and unavoidable reality. In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international body that provides the most comprehensive reports dealing with the science of climate change, has established that warming of the climate system is ‘unequivocal’. Additionally, it concludes that human activities such as land clearing and burning of fossil fuels have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to unprecedented levels (IPCC 2013). Beyond the implications for the climate system and the consequent environmental costs associated with such activities, anthropogenic climate change generates immense impacts on the development of human societies: livelihoods are greatly affected, food security is threatened, health and sanitation conditions decline, biodiversity and ecosystem services are lost, fresh water availability declines, agricultural activities are affected and the social wellbeing of billions of people around the world is at risk (IPCC 2014). Moreover, the associated changes brought about by climate change will make large parts of the world uninhabitable causing millions of people to leave their homes. In this context, this essay will explore the situation and prospects of climate change refugees, considering the circumstancesShow MoreRelatedAdult Education Throughout Changing Times By Marion Bowl1366 Words   |  6 Pagesfuture. 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Patriarchal Society and the Feminine Self in Kate...

Patriarchal Society and the Erasure of the Feminine Self in The Story of an Hour Critical readings of Chopin’s works often note the tension between female characters and the society that surrounds them. Margaret Bauer suggests that Chopin is concerned with exploring the â€Å"dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women† (146). Often, critics focus on the importance of conflict in these works and the way in which Chopin uses gender constraints on two levels, to open an avenue for the discussion of feminine identity and, at the same time, to critique the patriarchal society that denies that identity. Kay Butler suggests that â€Å"entrapment, not freedom, is the source of Chopin’s†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Story of an Hour† describes the journey of Mrs. Mallard against the Cult of True Womanhood as she slowly becomes aware of her own desires and thus of a feminine self that has long been suppressed. While this journey begins with the news of her husband’s death, Mr. Ma llard’s unexpected return at the very end of the tale tragically cuts short the journey towards feminine selfhood. Yet the tale is tragic from beginning to end, for the very attempt to create an identity against the gender constraints of patriarchal society is riddled with a sense that such an attempt can only end in defeat. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† demonstrates that the patriarchal society that defines gender roles which control and delimit women’s experiences deny them a self founded on true feminine desires. Ultimately, Mrs. Mallard’s journey towards selfhood only serves to reveal the erasure of identity, indeed of being, that women experienced in the nineteenth century. Through symbolically and ironically suggesting that gender definitions delimit the feminine self, the opening of â€Å"The Story of an Hour† hints of the tragedy that pervades the tale. Because of Mrs. Mallard’s â€Å"heart trouble,† her sister and her husband’s friend rush to her side to break the news of her husband’s death in a gentle manner (644). On a literal level, Louise Mallard’s condition suggests that she has a congenitalShow MoreRelated Louise Mallard in The Story Of An Hour Essay1624 Words   |  7 PagesWritten in 1894, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is a story of a woman who, through the erroneously reported death of her husband, experienced true freedom. Both tragic and ironic, the story deals with the boundaries imposed on women by society in the nineteenth century. The author Kate Chopin, like the character in her story, had first-hand experience with the male-dominated society of that time and had experienced the deat h of her husband at a young age (Internet). 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The cult of true womanhood which was believed by both the Northern and Southern states at the time was based on four main ideas: the sphere of home and the competitive world outside whichRead MoreFeminist Analysis : Literary And Cultural Theory, American Poet And Writer, Donald Hall1855 Words   |  8 Pagespremises are quite diverse with the male and female power. Womenâ €™s roles have been controversial, this approaches opposing perspectives on gender roles in society. In his book, Literary and Cultural Theory, American poet and writer, Donald Hall, introduces the idea of feminist analysis that the â€Å"Key to all feminist methodologies is the belief that patriarchal oppression of women through history has been profound and multifaceted† (Hall 202). In other words, Hall argues that women have faced inequality underRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour1579 Words   |  7 PagesKate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour written in 1984 is a story of a woman who, through the erroneously reported death of her husband, experienced true freedom. Both tragic and ironic, the story deals with the boundaries imposed on women by society in the nineteenth century. The author Kate Chopin, like the character in her story, had first-hand experience with the male-dominated society of that time and had experienced the death of her husband at a you ng age. The similarity between Kate Chopin andRead More The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper2395 Words   |  10 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopins story The Awakening and Charlotte Perkins Gilmans story The Yellow Wallpaper draw their power from two truths: First, each work stands as a political cry against injustice and at the socio/political genesis of the modern feminist movement. Second, each text is a gatekeeper of a new literary history. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman seem to initiate a new phase in textual history where literary conventions are revised to serve an ideology representative of theRead MoreKate CHopins Story of an Hour Essay1271 Words   |  6 Pages In Kate Chopins Story of an Hour the author portrays patriarchal oppression in the institution of marriage by telling the story of one fateful hour in the life of a married woman. Analyzing the work through feminist criticism, one can see the implications of masculine discourse. Mrs. Mallards medical diagnosis is an example of the male-dominated society in which she lives. 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Apart from other problems that I have with this book (including her silence on the institutional and random terrorism men have practiced on women--and children--throughout history, amply documented by Barry, Daly, Griffin, Russell and van

Booker T. Washington Essay free essay sample

In 1895, Booker T. Washington delivered his â€Å"Atlanta Compromise† address. Washington’s speech was very influential and was almost not allowed to be spoken in front of a mainly White audience. However, it was decided that having a Black speaker would impress the Northerners and prove the South’s racial progress. Washington’s compromise provided the theory of â€Å"cast their buckets where they are† for the Blacks. Throughout Washington’s entire address, the use of multiple literary strategies highly influenced the Blacks to stand up for themselves while still remaining inferior to the Whites. Washington uses an analogy to capture the audience’s attention and express his thoughts. One of the his most brilliant analogies was â€Å"A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel†¦.in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.†. Washington tells a story by comparing White men to a distressed vessel and Black men to a friendly vessel. We will write a custom essay sample on Booker T. Washington Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When the White men are in need of water, the Black men put aside their differences and help the Whites realize that all they need is right where they are. When in a bad situation, rather than returning the ignorant attitude that the Blacks received, Washington wanted them to do all they could to be kind neighbors to the whites while being sure not to challenge their superiority. The use of this analogy greatly influenced the Blacks to be confident in what they believed in and to not be afraid to express themselves. If the Blacks were going to gain the respect of the Whites, it was going to all respect of them and they intended to get it by hard work and determination. Parallelism also played a major role in Washington’s address. He states â€Å"Cast down your bucket among these people who have†¦make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories.† Washington’s use of parallelism in this statement portrays two different scenarios illustrated in the same way. This allows the Blacks to understand that not only do they need to be patient; but that the Whites have taken advantage of all the ways the Blacks have helped them. Washington directs his argument towards the Whites by forcing them to understand that the Blacks will always rise to the occasion and responsibly handle the situation presented to them. The use of parallelism in Washington’s address greatly influenced the way Whites viewed the Blacks based upon the amount of work Blacks do for the Whites regardless of how they’ve been treated in the past. Throughout his entire speech, Washington uses repetition to engrain in the minds of the audience his purpose of speaking. The repetition of â€Å"cast it down† throughout the entire speech continuously reminds the audience that the South is making progress and that change is just around the corner. Without directly stating that the Whites are at fault for the South’s lack of progress, Washington states â€Å"†¦cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.† Washington’s purpose behind this statement was to prove to the world that progress cannot be made when effort is not put forth by everyone. When everyone puts forth the goal of solving a problem, it can be solved. Washington especially uses this statement to unify the North and South. The North needed to understand that the South was making progress, and with this progress they intended on putting their country back together. After all, America was not meant to be two separate nations but rather one nation solving all of its problems together. The Atlanta Compromise address is still one of the most influential speeches in the history of the United States and strongly impacted the outcome of America. Booker T. Washington’s use of literary strategies further strengthened his argument allowing him the respect and attention of all of the White audience members. Without using literary elements to express his opinions, Booker T. Washington’s speech would not have had such a strong impact on the Blacks in the South, and even the Northerners. Through his speech, he was able to influence the Northerners opinion of Blacks and Whites from the South simply by showing them how much they had progressed. Booker T. Washington’s words will forever remain incredibly touching and will always be remembered for its power and insight due to the use of literary elements.

Sample Page Essays - Crossword, Puzzles, , Term Papers

Sample Page Name___________________________________ Date___________ 1) How well do you know these facts? Write your answers. Practice those you do not know well? 6 48 5 35 8 40 9 54 9 81 12 24 8 64 7 35 5 30 6 24 9 72 6 36 9 45 9 63 6 X 4 = 8 X 6 = 7 X 9 = 8 X 4 = 9 X 3 = 7 X 4 = 7 X 7 = 6 X 7 = 8 X 7 = 8 X 8 = 2) Find each quotient. Then write your answers in the crossword puzzle below. ACROSS DOWN 12 ) 852 2 ) 372 3 ) 987 5 ) 765 3 ) 138 5 ) 95 3) Read and think. Show how you solved each problem. Self check your answers. There were 48 children from classes 5-316 and 5-324 going on a trip to the Children's Museum. They were going by mini-van. Each van can fit only 8 students. How many mini-vans did they need? Mary worked in the school library. She earned a total of $168.00 for 3 days. She worked the same amount of hours each day. How much did she earn each day? The teacher purchased tickets for the class to go to see Fantasia 2000 at the Sony Imax theatre. The total price she paid for the tickets was $256.00. Each ticket costs $8.00. How many tickets did she purchase? The Pokeman card sets sell for $3.00 a pack. Mary saved up $22.00 from her allowance. How many packs can she buy? 4) Make up a division problem of your own. Write it on the back of this page. Be sure to edit it. Also show how to solve it.

Moving to a New City Make this Change to Your LinkedIn Profile

Moving to a New City Make this Change to Your LinkedIn Profile More than 1Â  out of 10Â  people moved last year. Our economy is becoming more and more fluid, and the job market is changing with it. But if you know you want to move to Chicago next year, and are starting to hunt for jobs there, make sure to change your LinkedIn profile to reflect your desired job location, not your current home. Why?First of all, companies want local candidates. They don’t necessarily want to shell out to move anyone or make the effort to recruit people who are settled elsewhere. Even if you’d eventually need to negotiate moving expenses, change your location to be in the same area as your dream job. The rest can be accomplished and explained once you get the interview.Companies are also worried that they (and you) will take the time and energy and resources to relocate, and then you might not like your new city or your new job. Time, energy, and resources wasted. Given the risks, most companies start searching locally first before expanding their net.Recruiters might even search for possible candidates solely based on LinkedIn searches by zip code. You could be left out of the game before you even realize.If you want to make a career change that involves a move, start online! Make sure you can be found by the people who can help you make that happen.Use the Location Where You Want to Work on Your LinkedIn Profile

10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More

10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More 10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More 10 Comma Cases in Which More Is More By Mark Nichol The movement toward open punctuation the omission of commas in cases in which they are deemed optional has its merits, but writers and editors should take care to retain commas or even insert additional ones to clarify meaning: 1. â€Å"He points to the benefits and wonders how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students.† Because wonders can be a noun as well as a verb, and because a pairing of the noun form with benefits initially makes sense, it might be misread here as such. To avoid this misunderstanding, insert a comma after benefits to give the reader pause and signal a new thought: â€Å"He points to the benefits, and wonders how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students.† Alternatively, alter the introductory phrase and make the following phrase an independent clause: â€Å"Pointing to the benefits, he wonders how schools can justify not investing in tools for disabled students.† 2. â€Å"The dog should be content to bark at passing trains and slumber.† The sentence incorrectly implies that the dog barks at two things: passing trains and slumber. But bark at refers only to trains, not to slumber. How about reordering the sentence to place slumber first? (â€Å"The dog should be content to slumber and bark at passing trains.†) Now he’s slumbering at passing trains, then barking at them. Either introduce a comma or insert a parallel-signaling to, or both: â€Å"The dog should be content to bark at passing trains, and to slumber.† 3. â€Å"Couch or calisthenics? A majority of California students are opting for a couch based on the results of the state’s annual physical fitness test.† As the second sentence is structured, the couch appears to be based on the fitness test results. Insert a comma after couch to clarify the structure (and in the initial sentence, follow couch with a comma there, too, for the same reason): â€Å"Couch, or calisthenics? A majority of California students are opting for a couch, based on the results of the state’s annual physical fitness test.† Better yet, invert the syntax in the second sentence: â€Å"Couch, or calisthenics? Based on the results of the state’s annual physical fitness test, a majority of California students are opting for a couch.† 4. â€Å"The world contains too many bored fourteen-year-old boys and ex-boyfriends bearing grudges.† This reference to a particular woman’s two greatest classes of nemeses is taken out of context, but it still should be clear that only those in the latter category bear grudges. Therefore, a comma should separate the two categories: â€Å"The world contains too many bored fourteen-year-old boys, and ex-boyfriends bearing grudges.† Or, if the context allows, reverse the order and strengthen the parallel structure: â€Å"The world contains too many ex-boyfriends bearing grudges, and too many bored fourteen-year-old boys.† 5. â€Å"Halle Berry is the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Monster’s Ball.† As punctuated, this sentence implies that more than one African American actress was in contention for an Academy Award for Berry’s performance. To set the record straight, set the qualification off with a comma: â€Å"Halle Berry is the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, for her performance in Monster’s Ball.† Here’s a smoother revision: â€Å"Halle Berry, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Monster’s Ball, is the first African-American woman to take home the award.† 6. â€Å"The prison plays an important role during the film’s third act, in which our hero is arrested thanks to the villain’s devious machinations.† The tag phrase â€Å"thanks to the villain’s devious machinations† should be set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma. Better yet, insert that parenthetical phrase into the middle of the sentence so that the result of the plotting dramatically punctuates the sentence: â€Å"The prison plays an important role, during which, thanks to the villain’s devious machinations, our hero is arrested.† 7. â€Å"Americans divide Russians into authoritarians and democrats with no regard for native context.† The sentence mistakenly implies that the two categories in question are â€Å"authoritarians† and â€Å"democrats with no regard for native context. The writer meant, â€Å"With no regard for native context, Americans divide Russians into authoritarians and democrats.† (Or start that sentence with Americans, followed by a comma.) Those revisions are more elegant than the simplest solution, employed above in other examples: â€Å"Americans divide Russians into authoritarians and democrats, with no regard for native context.† 8. â€Å"Another astronomer named Edwin Hubble cast his eye on the pulsing light of distant variable stars called Cepheids.† The initial phrase of this sentence implies the previous mention of another astronomer by that name. Solve this error by setting the name apart as an appositive, with framing commas (and delete the extraneous named): â€Å"Another astronomer, Edwin Hubble, cast his eye on the pulsing light of distant variable stars called Cepheids.† 9. â€Å"High school students who carry a poor or no understanding of evolution into college are less likely to pick careers in the biological and geological sciences. â€Å"Or no† is a parenthetical phrase in which no parallels poor as an option, and it could be omitted with no structural damage to the sentence, so it should be enclosed by a pair of commas: â€Å"High school students who carry a poor, or no, understanding of evolution into college are less likely to pick careers in the biological and geological sciences.† Alternatively, the sentence could be relaxed and given more impact with a revision such as â€Å"High school students who carry into college a poor understanding or, worse, no understanding at all of evolution are less likely to pick careers in the biological and geological sciences.† (Note the relocation of the flexible modifying phrase â€Å"into college† to smooth out the syntax.) 10. â€Å"Hindu believers are governed by the three doctrines of dharma or universal law, karma or the cumulative effects of personal actions, and samsara or the cycle of rebirth.† Always set terms off from their glosses, or brief definitions (See? I just glossed gloss), by a set of parenthetical commas; both in this explanation and in the sample sentence, the sentence structure requires a semicolon in place of the closing comma: â€Å"Hindu believers are governed by the three doctrines of dharma, or universal law; karma, or the cumulative effects of personal actions; and samsara, or the cycle of rebirth.† (A simple gloss would look like this: â€Å"Dharma, or universal law, is integral to both Hinduism and Buddhism.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†Use a Dash for Number RangesAffect vs. Effect

Boys and Girls by Alice Munro Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Boys and Girls by Alice Munro - Essay Example In â€Å"Boys and Girls†, the author highlights the story of a young girl, who had greater concern for her favorite horses, in the first person narrative. The girl, though very young, helped her father in his farming work mainly by caring for the horses. The internal conflicts of the girls start when he father decides to kill the old horse to feed his foxes. In an attempt to save the horse from death, she lets it free and waits fearfully for her father’s response on finding that she was the culprit behind the escape of the horse. The story develops from there with her little brother’s enthusiasm to get the horse chased back home with the help of a hired hunter. Most parts of the book represent the author’s concern over the societies that undermine the roles of women in active social life. As Martin comments, â€Å"it is not a funny story, but in fact, a poignant comedy† (45). In a situation of the story, when her brother tells everyone during a dinn er that the girl was the reason behind the missing of the horse, her father replies by saying â€Å"Never mind, she’s only a girl†. ... The siblings were given a room to share in the home with a number of safety instructions from their father. As Hooper reflects, â€Å"Boys and Girls returns readers to an already familiar Munro place where mother’s sphere of things is boring and repressive†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (12). The author expresses the ways in which boys enjoyed more social freedom than girls in a family. Girls had to fear almost all factors ranging from darkness to strangers in her time. When the decision making was a question before their life, it was always a conflicting situation between the prospects of parental approval and social acceptance. As Munro writes, even when she had to see the way her father shot the horse with the help of his farm hand, she only told her brother â€Å"Now, you have seen how they shoot a horse.† This expression shows the acquired numbness of the author from the experiences of her childhood in which she used to witness her father engaging in the trade of animal husbandry that involved killing of animals for money. In another context when her father says to her mother with a blood stained appearance that he had shot old Flora, the mare, her mother replied saying â€Å"Well, I don’t want to hear about it, and don’t come to my table like that.† This expression sounds the general disagreement among women with the ‘killing business’. While focusing more on the protagonist, the author can be seen to have given little significance to her name – to a great extent, it may be because of the influences of her own childhood experiences of low self esteem forced by the over preference prevailed in common families of her society. In the story, the girl is critically disregarded by her family members after the birth of her brother. She was treated

Arauco Case study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arauco Case study - Research Paper Example The overall contribution made by the new proposed pulp manufacturing facility will result into the expansion of the production capacity of the firm by more than 3 millions. This increase in capacity will therefore make the firm one of the leading manufacturers of pulp in the world in terms of overall production capacity. With an estimated investment of $1 Billion, the new project is estimated to produce sales of $350million per year. Since the overall estimated economic life of the plant would be 30 to 40 years therefore overall revenues will be equal to $14.00 Billions over the period of 40 years thus contributing significantly to the value of the firm. Though no specific discount rate is given however, given the sales generating capacity of the proposed project suggest that it will add significant value to the firm and firm’s shareholders will gain value from the proposed investment. Any organization willing to make its strategic move therefore has to look into its core comp etencies and must examine its core strengths. In past firms have made forward integration moves however, such moves proved fatal because of the integrated nature of the process. (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson). Suppressed demand for paper can seriously damage the profitability of the pulp business also because of the integrated nature of both the processes. It therefore becomes more critical to look into those aspects of the strategy where they can offer an insight into the ability of the firm to actually utilize its existing strengths in more effective manner rather than spending its energies on the development of new set of skills and competencies in order to compete in a market which has remained relatively untapped by the firm. Firm’s decision to move away from Pulp only could also be the direct result of its decision to diversify the business in other segments. Though the firm has expanded into related businesses however, diversifying from pulp business can be mostly a res ult of capitalizing on firm’s core competencies in manufacturing pulp at relatively low cost. It is also important to understand that the pulp sales of the firm have increased over the period of time suggesting that due to high demand and better cost efficiency, firm is able to sell its pulp products at relatively premium prices in the market. Such acceptability in the export markets therefore indicates that the firm has already established itself in international market in this segment of the business. Pulp is used for just 50% of the paper manufacturing therefore firm will have to acquire new set of skills and efficiency with which to use other remaining material and ingredients to produce better quality and low cost products. This would therefore invariably put the firm on a new learning curve thus slowing down its progress to become the market leader in the business. Recommendations Firm derives its competitive advantage from its low cost production and market reputation in the international market. Since firm is already backward integrated with access to high quality wood to manufacture pulp and other allied products therefore it is recommended that the firm should take the decision of horizontal expansion rather than engaging into forward integration. The proposed move will increase the production capacity of the firm by large

General Principles of Ecology Essay Example for Free

General Principles of Ecology Essay The term ecology refers to the study of abundance and distribution of living organism in an ecosystem, together with the interaction that exists between them and the natural environment. The distribution of organisms is usually influenced by the adaptation of a certain organism to the environment. An adaptation refers to an organism’s ability to exist successfully in a given environment. Therefore, organisms can only exist in environments that they are adapted to. When a given species of animal or plant is adapted in a given natural environment, then it becomes distributed in that environment densely and in high numbers. Those that lack the ability to adapt well are poorly distributed, since they cannot cope with the pressures or stress that emanate from the environmental conditions. Different species of plants can be adapted to low and high –nutrient environments. Plants always try to adapt to the environments in several ways. The plants that inhabit low –nutrient areas grow at a slow rate, as an adaptation to the scarcity of nutrients. These plants also have the ability to recycle nutrients internally. Those in high nutrient areas on the other hand grow fast. They have the ability to control the absorption of nutrients at minimum levels. The breakdown of dead organic matter in the soil undergoes several processes. The first process of breakdown involves the alteration of the organic matter chemical components. This is then followed by another process, whereby the chemical components are split or fragmented. After undergoing these two processes, the organic matter mineral nutrients are then released into the soil and they are then converted into simpler components that can be absorbed by the plants. The day length influences the seasonal activity of plants and animals, because the length of the day length triggers certain changes. These changes include the climatic patterns in an area. Both plants and animals synchronize their behavioral and physiological activities with the seasonal changes. By doing this, they are able to carry out certain activities based on the season of the year. For example, the migration in animals is sometimes synchronized with the seasonal changes. Plants on the other hand, synchronize activities such as pollination with seasons when the activity can be easily facilitated by the pollinators. Temperature conditions in a given natural ecosystem affect the response of both the homeotherms and the poikilotherms. While the homeotherms have the ability to maintain their internal environment temperature at a stable level, the poikilotherms on the other hand cannot regulate their internal environment temperature. Changes in temperature triggers behavioral changes in poikilotherms as they try to regulate their body temperature depending on the external temperature. For example, some poikilotherms may bask out in the sun so as to regulate body temperature by warming their bodies. The homeotherms try to regulate their body temperature using feedback mechanisms in their body systems. For instance, their blood vessels may undergo dilatation or constriction as their bodies try to conserve heat. Climatic changes may trigger an inactive state in animals, especially during the cold season or winter. Hibernation and torpor are two examples behavioral adaptations in animals to very low temperatures. In both, animals go into a state of inactivity and they lower their body metabolism as a strategy of conserving energy . However, there is one major difference between the two. In hibernation, the animals’ body temperature at a significant level. Animals that hibernate become inactive for a long period of time. Torpor on the other hand is whereby animals lower their body temperature but at minimal levels as compared to that in hibernators. Animals that undergo torpor may be inactive but usually wake up several times. The Black Bear is not considered as a true hibernator because its body temperature does not reduce significantly as that of a true hibernator . Furthermore, the bear remains alert and active during the period of â€Å"hibernation†. References Odum, E. P. (1971) . General Principles of Ecology, Third Edition W. B. Suanders Company. Smith, T. M. , and Smith, R. L. (2005). Elements of Ecology. (6th Edition). Benjamin Cummings Publishers

Analysis of Red Sorghum Essay -- Red Sorghum Zhang Yimou China Movies

Analysis of Red Sorghum WHEN Zhang Yimou made his directorial debut, Zhang Yimou made his directorial debut, Red Sorghum, in 1987, he was better known as a cinematographer whose talent had been crucial to the success of critically acclaimed films like Zhang Junzhao's One and Eight (1984, released 1987) and Chen Kaige's Yellow Earth (1984). Not only did Red Sorghum become a seminal film of the Fifth Generation, it also won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 1988, becoming the first mainland Chinese film ever to be awarded the highest honour at a major international film competition. Set in the 1920s and '30s in northern China, Red Sorghum's narrative centres on the fate of a young woman who is forced to marry a rich old leper but who eventually falls in love with a younger man. The motif of female oppression in feudal China is repeated in Zhang's next two films, Ju Dou (1990) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991). The films form a loose triptych, linked not only by similar thematic concerns but also stylistic elements. The latter include the luscious use of colour, lighting and bold composition to create the sensuous images and metaphors which have distinguished Zhang as an original auteur. Equally prominent are the silences and spare dialogue; music and sound are used with precision -- nothing extraneous is added. This article focuses on how visual and aural components in Red Sorghum are employed to enhance the dramatic aspect of the narrative as well as to convey philosophical and metaphoric meaning. RED SORGHUM is narrated as much through its storyline as by its splendid images and aural qualities. The film is photographed by Gu Changwei (who also shot Chen Kaige's (Farewell, My Concubine) in Cinemascope; the music is composed by Zhao Jiping, who has since composed the rest of the music scores for Zhang's films. The opening sequence establishes the vibrant mood and mythical atmosphere of the film and introduces the themes of passion and freedom through powerful imagery and music. It also establishes Zhang Yimou as a visual sensualist. In a deserted setting comprising mainly sand and stone, a strain of wedding music grows progressively louder. A traditional red sedan chair carried by a group of shirtless men, followed closely by a retinue of trumpeters and drummers, enliven the harsh landscape. Inside the covered sedan chair, the pretty face of a young br... ...vineyard. The workers revolt against the Japanese, and after their uprising is crushed, the Japanese order two of the local people skinned alive in front of the others. This sequence, shocking in its detail, is a dramatic change from the fable that went before. "Red Sorghum" perhaps can be read as a parable of China's development, or as a hymn in praise of the way the workers resisted the Japanese invaders. Western audiences probably are going to be more interested in the melodrama and the overwhelming visual quality of the film. It is some kind of irony that when Hollywood switched over to cheaper and faster forms of making color films, classic Technicolor equipment was dismantled and sold to China - which now makes some of the best-looking color films in the world. The cinematography in "Red Sorghum" has no desire to be subtle, or muted; it wants to splash its passionate colors all over the screen with abandon, and the sheer visual impact of the film is voluptuous. If the story is first naive and then didactic, that is one of the film's charms; Hollywood doesn't make films like this anymore, because we have forgotten how to be impressionable enough to believe them.

Chilean Mine Collapse

Chilean mine collapse George Montenegro BCOM/275 March 24, 2013 Allen Sutton Resource: â€Å"Over 30 Workers Trapped After Chilean Copper Mine Collapse† article found in the Electronic Reserve Readings. Research additional articles and information about the Chilean mine collapse. There are two parts to the assignment, as detailed below. Part 1: Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper using this and other articles as a resource. Because communications must be designed with the audience in mind, answer the following questions in your paper:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What are some considerations to remember given the different roles and people in the audience? o  Ã‚  Ã‚   What would be the potential needs of the families of the miners in receiving a message about this incident? o  Ã‚  Ã‚   What would be the potential needs of the company’s employees when receiving a message about this incident? ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What actions must you take before and aft er the message is delivered to ensure that it was received as intended? Part 2: Draft two written communications from the mining company announcing the accident, using what you have learned about the audience and effective messages.One communication should be directed to the families of the trapped miners; and the other as an internal news release to employees in the company. For both, identify the most appropriate channel—face-to-face, e-mail, video, memo, and so on. Submit one consolidated MS Word paper encompassing Part 1 and Part 2 of the assignment. Clearly identify Part 1, and Part 2, in the consolidated document. Format the document consistent with APA guidelines. Post the assignment to Assignments link

Growing up in a small town

Greg has completed his final tour of duty with the armed services and is glad to be returning home. He is grateful that he was able to accomplish the goals he set for himself: (1) complete basic training; (2) use his newly learned skills to support his unit with honor; (3) stay healthy; and (4) return home so he can use his veteran’s benefits to complete his education. As he begins his life as a civilian, he realizes that he will no longer have an officer giving him orders and directing his every movement.He must begin to define the orders for himself and use the discipline he learned in the service to his advantage as a civilian. Greg wonders where and how to begin since his time in the military conditioned him to follow orders and work with a team to achieve the mission. Greg realizes that now he must take control of his own personal mission †¦ to succeed in completing his degree. Greg recalls that he has given it some thought. He begins to reflect on what it would take for him to accomplish his ultimate goalof earning a degree.He thinks back to his time in basic training and remembers the phrase of the instructor, â€Å"success begins with one step at a time. † Greg keeps that thought foremost in his mind as he starts to prepare a list of goals (the steps he will need to take on the path to his ultimate goal). He remembers that he performs best when he is able to write his goals/steps down and recalls the satisfaction and motivation he gets when he is able to check them off as he completes each one. It makes him feel good to be able to see what he has accomplished on the list and have a visual picture of his movement toward his ultimate goal.This is a new beginning for him and he needs to ensure he gets the tools to help him be successful. He remembers that his advisor, Wanda, recommended a template for him to use to create a goal list as he began his first class. He wishes he had paid more attention to her because he sure could use that t emplate. He recalls she sent it to him in an email. He searches his emails and locates the template which includes helpful reminders. Click here to download the SMART Goals template.He begins to complete the template and vows to update it after every session to ensure he stays on track to complete his goals and accomplish the dream of earning his degree. In the case above, Greg realized that he needed to set specific goals so he had a plan to guide his steps toward completing his degree. He began by finding a resource that would help him create his goals. Now that you are completing UNIV103, what are your next steps? This assignment will give you an opportunity to create a personal goal template to use as a resource moving forward into your program.Specifically, you will: 1. Reflect upon the ideas you had as you completed the application process. 2. Create the ultimate SMART goal you would like to achieve considering the ideas you had as a starting point. 3. Using the template that Greg’s advisor provided, create at least 3 (immediate, mid-range, long-range) SMART goals each for your personal, academic, and professional life that will step you toward achieving your ultimate goal. Be sure to list advantages, disadvantages, and ultimate costs.

Biography of El Cid, Medieval Spanish Hero

Biography of El Cid, Medieval Spanish Hero El Cid (1045–July 10, 1099), whose birth name was Rodrigo Dà ­az de Vivar (or Bibar), is a Spanish national hero, a mercenary soldier who fought for the Spanish king Alfonso VII to liberate parts of Spain from the Almoravid dynasty and eventually captured the Muslim caliphate of Valencia and ruled his own kingdom. Fast Facts: El Cid Known For: National hero of Spain, mercenary soldier against Christian and Muslims, ruler of ValenciaBirth Name: Rodrigo Dà ­az de Vivar (or Bibar)Born: c. 1045 near Burgos, SpainParents: Diego Lainez and a daughter of Rodrigo AlvarezDied: July 10, 1099 in Valencia, SpainEducation: Trained in the Castilian court of Sancho IISpouse: Jimena (m. July 1074)Children: Cristina, Maria, and Diego Rodriguez Rodrigo Dà ­az de Vivar was born into a chaotic period in Spanish history when much of the southern two-thirds of the Iberian peninsula had been conquered by Islamic forces during the Arab conquest beginning in the 8th century CE. In 1009, the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate collapsed and disintegrated into competing city-states, called taifa. The northern third of the peninsula was broken into principalities- Leà ³n, Castile, Navarre, Barcelona, Asturia, Galacia, and others- who fought each other and their Arab conquistadors.  Islamic rule in Iberia varied from place to place, as did the borders of the principalities, but the last city to be liberated by the Christian Reconquista was the Emirate of Granada in 1492.   Early Life El Cid was born Rodrigo Dà ­az de Vivar or Ruy Dà ­az de Vivar in the town of Vivar in the Castilian principality near Burgos, Spain in about 1045. His father was Diego Lainez, a soldier in the battle at Atapuerco in 1054, which was fought between the brothers King Ferdinand I of Leà ³n (Ferdinand the Great, ruled 1038–1065) and King Garcà ­a Snchez III of Navarre (r. 1012–1054). Some sources report that Diego was a descendant of Lain Calvo, a legendary duumvir (magistrate) in the Court of Ordoà ±o II (King of Galacia, ruled 914–924). Although her name is not known, Diegos mother was a niece of the Castilian diplomat Nuà ±o Alvarez de Carazo (1028–1054) and his wife Doà ±a Godo; she named her son after her father, Rodrigo Alvarez. Diego Laniez died in 1058, and Rodrigo was sent to be the ward of Ferdinands son Sancho who resided at his fathers court in Castile, then part of Leà ³n. There Rodrigo likely received formal schooling in the schools which had been built by Ferdinand, learning how to read and write, as well as training in the use of arms, horsemanship, and the art of the chase. He may have been trained to arms by Pedro Ansurez, a Castilian count (1037–1119), known to have been in residence at Ferdinands court at the time. Military Career In 1065, Ferdinand died and his kingdom was divided up between his sons. The eldest, Sancho received Castile; the second, Alfonso, Leà ³n; and the region of Galicia was carved out of the northwest corner to create a separate state for Garcà ­a. The three brothers proceeded to fight one another for the entire kingdom of Ferdinand: Sancho and Alfonso together fended off Garcia and then fought each other. El Cids first military appointment was as standard-bearer and commander of troops for Sancho. Sancho emerged victoriously and reunited their fathers possessions under his control in 1072. Sancho died childless in 1072, and his brother Alfonso VI (ruled 1072–1109) inherited the kingdom. Having fought for Sancho, Rodrigo now found himself in an awkward situation with the Alfonso administration. According to some records, the breach between Rodrigo and Alfonso was healed when Rodrigo married a woman named Jimena (or Ximena), a member of a high-ranking Asturian family in the mid-1070s; some reports say she was Alfonsos niece. A 14th-century romance written about El Cid said he killed Jimenas father the Count of Gomez de Gormaz in battle, after which she went to Ferdinand to beg for redress. When Ferdinand refused to pay, she demanded Rodrigos hand in marriage which he willingly gave. El Cids main biographer, Ramà ³n Menà ©ndez Pidal, thinks that is unlikely since Ferdinand died in 1065. Whoever she was and however their marriage came about, Ximena and Rodrigo had three children: Cristina, Maria, and Diego Rodriguez, all of whom married into royalty. Diego was killed at the battle of Consuega in 1097. Despite his presence serving as a magnet for Alfonsos opponents, Dà ­az served Ferdinand loyally for several years, while Ferdinand waged war against Almoravid invaders. Then, after leading an unauthorized military raid campaign into the Muslim-controlled taifa Toledo, which was a tributary kingdom of Leon-Castile, Dà ­az was exiled. Fighting for Saragossa Upon exile, Diaz went to the Muslim taifa Saragossa (also spelled Zaragoza) in the valley of the Ebro, where he served as a mercenary captain with considerable distinction. Saragossa was an independent Arab Muslim state in Al-Andalus, which at the time (1038–1110) was ruled by the Banu Hud.  He fought for the Huddid dynasty for almost ten years, scoring significant victories against both Muslim and Christian foes. Famous battles which El Cid is known for were the defeat of Count Berenguer Ramon II of Barcelona in 1082, and of King Sancho Ramirez of Aragon in 1084. When the Berber Almoravids invaded the peninsula in 1086, Alfonso recalled Diaz from exile. El Cid willingly returned and was instrumental in the defeat at Sagrajas in 1086. He stayed in favor with Alfonso for only a brief time: in 1089 he was exiled again. Rodrigo gained his nickname El Cid at some point during his military career, perhaps after his battles at Saragossa. The name El Cid is a Spanish dialect version of the Arabic word sidi, meaning lord or sir. He was also known as Rodrigo el  Campeador, the Battler. Valencia and Death After being exiled from Alfonsos court for the second time, El Cid left the capital to became an independent commander in the eastern part of the Iberian peninsula. He fought and extracted enormous amounts of tribute from the Muslim taifas, and, on June 15, 1094, he captured the city of Valencia. He successfully fought off two Almoravid armies who attempted to dislodge him in 1094 and 1097. He established himself as an independent prince in the region based at Valencia. Rodrigo Dà ­az de Vivar ruled Valencia until his death on July 10, 1099. The Almoravids recaptured Valencia three years later. El Cids Legends There are four documents which were written about El Cid during his lifetime or shortly thereafter. Two are Islamic, and three are Christian; none are likely to be unprejudiced. Ibn Alcama was a Moor from Valencia, who witnessed and wrote a detailed account of the loss of that province to El Cid called Eloquent Evidence of the Great Calamity. Ibn Bassam wrote a Treasury of the Excellences of the Spaniards, written in Seville in 1109. The Historia Roderici was written in Latin by a Catholic cleric sometime before 1110. The poem Carmen, written in Latin about 1090, extols the battle between Rodrigo and the Count of Barcelona; and the Poema del Cid, was written in Spanish about 1150. Later documents written long after El Cids life are even more likely to be fabulous legends rather than biographical sketches. Sources Barton, Simon. El Cid, Cluny and the Medieval Spanish Reconquista. The English Historical Review 126.520 (2011): 517–43.Barton, Simon and Richard Fletcher. The World of El Cid: Chronicles of the Spanish Reconquest. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.Fletcher, Richard A. The Quest for El Cid. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.Pidal, Ramà ³n Menà ©ndez. La Espaà ±a Del Cid. Trans. Murray, John and Frank Cass. Abington, England: Routledge, 2016.

Responses to Questions About Capitalization

Responses to Questions About Capitalization Responses to Questions About Capitalization Responses to Questions About Capitalization By Mark Nichol Here are three questions I received recently from Daily Writing Tips readers concerning capitalization, along with my replies. 1. I was taught that president is always capitalized when referring to the US President. A few publications uppercase president even in isolation when it refers to the US leader (â€Å"The President will discuss the issue during his speech†), but most commonly it is capitalized only as a title before the name of anyone designated a president (â€Å"President John Smith will discuss the issue with the college faculty†). I’m not aware of any writing or editing resources, other than style guides for these outlier publications, that call for capitalization in all cases. This â€Å"rule† may have been passed on to you by someone who misunderstands the prevailing style precept or adheres to the style of a publication that treats president as an exception to normal capitalization rules. (Teachers, parents, and others, when they teach such â€Å"facts,† are not necessarily reliable.) 2. In the sentence â€Å"We went to our Grandpa John’s house,† is â€Å"Grandpa John† correct, or should grandpa be lowercased? There’s a fine line in such usage, one I learned only after I had been in publishing for many years: If you use a term of family relationship before a first or last name with no preceding pronoun (â€Å"I got a call from Grandpa John†), it’s considered a title (as, for example, in â€Å"Judge Smith† or â€Å"Captain Jones†), so capitalize grandpa. But if you precede the term with a pronoun, as in your example, grandpa becomes merely a descriptive term, one akin to friend (â€Å"my friend Mike†), for example, or neighbor (â€Å"their neighbor Jane†). So, in your example, because of the preceding our, â€Å"grandpa John† is correct. 3. Why is Jewish capitalized, when black isn’t? Some publications capitalize black when referring to ethnicity (and treat white and other skin-color labels the same way), but because such designations encompass a nebulous category, most style black and similar terms lowercase. Jewish, on the other hand, though it also refers to a diverse population, denotes those whose culture (and religion) derives from a more specific origin. (See this post and some of its comments, which point out the inadequacy and inaccuracy of such labels.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business Letter7 Patterns of Sentence StructureEbook, eBook, ebook or e-book?

Operating system new and old one Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Operating system new and old one - Essay Example Indeed, the evolution of OS correlates with the growth in IT and computer needs. Examples of old operation system include Admiral Operating system for Honeywell 800/1800, Atlas I Supervisor that introduced system calls and virtual storage for the first computer. We also have the SCOPE operating systems developed in the 1960s that enabled batch processing and the MACE operating system for sharing time. The Michigan Terminal System (MTS) and MUSIC/SP are also examples of old OS developed for early computers like IBM. However, the complexity of new hardware and application programs led to the development of new OS. Indeed, the old OS lacked important features that are present in new OS such as the capacity to run third-party applications and multiple applications at once. Examples of new OS include Microsoft Windows, Android, IBM z/OS, Mac OS X, iOS, and Linux (Computer Hope 1). Most new OS adopt a touchscreen input design since it applies to portable devices. Notably, Microsoft Windows is the most dominant OS used in PCs, IBM, and smartphones (Computer Hope 1). The Apple Mac OS applies only in Apple computer operating system and on Macintosh computers while Android OS is applicable in all Android compatible phones (Computer Hope 1). Moreover, Linux is a new OS applicable in PC and IBM compatible computers while iOS operates with the Apple iPhone (Computer Hope 1). Notably, the choice of an OS depends on the hardware though all operating systems offer a graphical user interface that entails a des ktop and the capacity to manage files and folders. The early OS embraced diversity where technicians produced multiple OS to apply in a specific mainframe computer. However, the old OS had different command models, operating protocols, and operating tools. The development of new computers and hardware resulted to the introduction of new OS where the technicians adjusted, retested, and restructured the applications to accommodate the new OS. The new OS

Recycling in the hospitality Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Recycling in the hospitality - Case Study Example This is done by a mutual exchange and fulfilment 'f promises." [1] There has been a very notable change in the concept 'f using traditional transactional marketing to building and maintaining relationships. This assignment talks about relationship and direct marketing and how it is used in today's world. To make things comprehensible, a company was chosen and the focus was made on this company and their dealings. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder 'f the Tata Group, incorporated the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) on April 1, 1902, for the ownership and operation 'f the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai. The Taj Group's first hotel, The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai was opened on December 16, 1903. The Taj has had momentous innings spanning the last three decades both in India and overseas and has established itself as the premier hospitality body in this country. Indian Hotels' presence spans the entire gamut 'f the market, across different brands and price segments. It is renowned for providing world-class, personalized service to guests, even as it retains an old-world charm by upholding the traditions and heritage 'f India. Today the Taj brand is synonymous with luxury and service, in India and abroad. The Taj brand is divided into 3 categories, namely business, leisure and luxury. This is done to make things easier and more approachable for a customer. All these hotels use product differentiation. This is made evident and clear through their marketing activities. However, the services offered here are the same. Each type 'f category uses a set 'f procedures and policies to maintain relationship marketing. The focus at IHCL is on customer valuation, which then leads to attracting new customers and customer retention. The Taj believes in maintaining customer relationships. As shown in the value chain earlier, Taj has two main customers. This is her guest and the Travel agencies that she deals with. A customer is valued and identified by market research. He is then attracted with schemes and programs. Once a customer is attracted and starts using Taj services, a focus is made on building a strong and special relationship with him. Taj has an alliance with Thomas Cook. This is the main travel agency, which promotes Taj. Besides Thomas cook, there are hundreds 'f travel agencies which deal with Taj. These range from the biggest agencies in India like the travel corporation 'f India and Sita Travels to the smaller agencies all over the country. Taj has won international acclaim by winning various international awards. Recently, at the 2000 Selling Long-Haul magazine Travel Industry Awards, UK and Irish travel agents have awarded Taj Hotels as the Best Individual Hotel/Hotel Group in India/Indian Ocean. The travel agencies are offered discounts, schemes, promotions and packages, which they can further sell, to the customers. It also has alliances with a few

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic management - Essay Example By using the SWOT analysis (Yelken, et al., 2012, p.267) that was carried out by the Global Data company over the company, we are able to understand the company’s strengths, opportunities, weaknesses as well as threats. The analysis reveals its strengths as extensive operating network and branding offerings. The company however has the major pull back to her operations being the enormous losses it has continuously suffered though it has opportunities to expand in her operations and increase the market share. Moreover, it has other threats, which include high competitive pressures as well as over-stringent regulations. However, there is the need to evaluate the strategic plans that the company has in place in regulating and propelling its operations (Global Data company, 2013, para 1). The company has a well-written strategy concerning the way of developing and exploiting a further competitive front within its pub as well as brewing sector. This strategic vision is based on the already existing positions in the market, its employee’s capabilities as well as skills together with its traditionally designed model of business, which is vertically integrated. Moreover, the company has a business target drive to continuously outperform other players within the market in the different segments of her operations. The company has a well established investment program, which champions its way in selecting business sites, and thus developing newer restaurants. The company claims to undertake thorough analysis before establishing new pub buildings which are modern and appropriate in terms of trading and which offer the customers convenience and value for the services. The company establishes fair, long-lasting and transparent kind of agreements with its licensees which rent their leased and tenanted pubs. It also enjoys long life expertise and experience in operating leases premises. Moreover, this company offers provisions for long-term lease agreements to th e licensees and offers pricing mechanisms on free trade as well as free-of-tie options. In order to underpin the operational development within her managed facilities, Marston company operates under a plan called the ‘F-plan’, which refers to food, females, forty/fifty some things and families. The plan was developed and adopted back in 2006, and was meant to have long-term effects. The company also enjoys designing differentiated brew brands purely designed to increase the consumers demand as well as providing greater range of choices to consumers. The company has exploited the niche in the country through well-organized distribution of her products across the entire country from the running five breweries. In financial terms, the company has huge debts, which comprises 90% long-term debts which are secured through its wide distribution of free hold assets in terms of pubs and which fetches low interest rates. However, the current strategy and target is to reduce the n et debt by a ratio stipulated by EBITDA to see off at least a five times reduction capacity is realized within three years. This is postulated to be aided by raising return to capital across the entire group’s operations (Marston’s, nd, para 1-5) Strategic management refers to the analysis of major initiatives and programs undertaken by the management of a company on behalf of the entrepreneurs revolving the effective use of resources as well as general performance

Overview Of Reality Television Programming

Overview Of Reality Television Programming Reality television programming has been around since the first broadcast of Candid Camera in the late 1940s, but this type of programming became more popular in recent years as a result of different factors. Rowen, (2000) attributed the debut of the Survivor in the year 2000 as the beginning of the infiltration of reality programming in todays television landscape. This type of television programming has now becoming popular among different television audience globally and has also gained recognition of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences who in 2003 added Best Reality Show as an Emmy category. While studies in reality television are relatively limited despite the recent surge in its programming, efforts is hereby made in this study to review or summarize previous research on reality television programming. The increase in reality television programming may undoubtedly be related to with the increasing number of cable channels, which allows advertisers to reach smaller markets (Hiebert and Gibbons, 2000) with the majority of reality television programming is geared towards the individuals under twenty five years old (Frank, 2003). MTV has been presenting the Real World to this target younger demographic for more than ten years. Frank (2003) suggests that younger viewers are attracted to reality television programmes because the programmes show individuals and situations which relates to what they are used to on daily basis. According to Rowen (2000), the popularity of reality television began with the debut of Survivor which was first aired in 2000. From thence, this genre of television programming started gaining attraction and attention on network primetime television. This was when reality programmes started to target an older demographic. There is a variety of programmes that still target the younger demographic, but now there are more programmes that target a much wider demographic. For example, network primetime programmes such as The Apprentice target the 18 49 demographic (Rowen, 2000). Because of this age range, it is most likely that a greater percentage of individuals now watch reality television today than in the time past. Nabi, Biely, Morgan, and Stitt, (2003) examined the genre of reality television programming itself. It was observed that a multidimensional space analysis of all television programmes indicates that reality television is a genre that is distinct from all of the other pre-existing genres. However, not all reality programmes can be considered as one cohesive genre. There are two dimensions with the first one is presented as a continuum due to its suitability for primetime programming. The second dimension is fiction-real, this is a continuum based on whether the programmes were portrayed as fictional or realistic based programmes. Some reality programmes have been listed as fictional because for some reasons, audience members do not perceive them as realistic (Nabi et al, 2003). Interestingly, not all reality programmes were classified as reality, and not all fictional programmes were classified as fictional. In another study, Nabi, Stitt, Halford and Finnerty, (2006) used multidimensional scaling to understand the subgroups of reality television programming. There were two dimensions along which viewers thought about reality television romance and competitiveness. Dating programmes were found to be a unique type of programming with no relationship with other programme types. The other subgroups of reality television programming were found to be fluid and difficult for viewers to separate one from another because of the overlap among the categories. As a way of creating better understanding, Nabi et al (2006) encourages reality television researchers to focus on the qualities of the programmes and not the categories. Some research has sought to discover why people watch reality television programmes. Reiss and Wiltz (2004) in a study, asked individuals to rate themselves on Reisss 16 basic life motives and also to report how much they viewed reality programmes and how much they enjoyed these programmes. Results indicated that the appeal to reality television programmes was dependent on the amount of reality television programmes watched by the individuals. The more reality programmes an individual reported liking, the more status oriented the individual is likely to be. Individuals found to place a higher value on vengeance were found to be more motivated by social life, less motivated by honour, more focused on order, and more concerned with romance. Reiss and Wiltz (2004) found that the reality television programmes that people prefer to watch are those that stimulate their motives and fundamental values the most. For example, people who place premium on romance in relationships are very much l ikely to watch The Bachelor, but if they value work or entrepreneurship, then they may prefer to go for The Apprentice reality programme. Therefore, it can be concluded that the motif for watching reality television programmes is based on their individual values and desires. Many individuals would easily indicate that they enjoy watching other people on reality television programmes, but this is not to say that the competitors are not aware that they are being watched. Nabi et al (2003) in their study concludes that people watch reality programmes because they enjoy watching real people instead of actors and that the uses and gratifications sought by reality television audiences is the reason why regular viewers watch the programmes because they find it entertaining, for the enjoyment of watching other peoples life, and the self-awareness they receive from these programmes. Cognitive and emotional predictors of reality television were examined by Nabi et al (2006) and found that happiness, para-social relationships, dramatic challenge social self-awareness, comparison and negative outcomes are factors which affect the enjoyment of reality television programmes. It was also found that reality television programmes did not appeal much to the audience when compared to other genres of television programming. However, this was attributed to the limited ability of the programmes to evoke positive emotions rather than the negative emotions which the programmes provoked. They also determined that perceived reality was not related to enjoyment from viewing reality television programming and that various dimensions of perceived reality were related, but not as a whole. Hall (2006) conducted focus groups to understand why participants enjoy watching reality television programming. It was found that participants enjoyed reality programmes most because of their humour and suspense as well as the fulfilment of social functions which participants get from watching the programmes. The participants noted that they have watched reality programmes with friends, and also discussed about the reality programmes they watched with their friends too. The study revealed that the participants view of reality television programming as realistic was just weak as the criteria for judging (realness) were different from show to show and changed as new programmes were broadcast. This therefore, makes perceived reality to be a difficult concept to measure. Papacharissi and Mendelson (2007) examines the gratifications sought from reality television and their findings indicates that respondents reported watching reality television programmes mainly to pass the time or for e ntertainment purposes. They noted that the respondents who reported watching for entertainment reasons were most likely to perceive the programmes as being real. Barton (2006) examined reality television programming and gratifications obtained by audience members. Findings from the study indicated that the content of the reality show influenced the gratifications obtained by the viewers. A new gratification known as personal utility which has not been studied was identified in the study. Personal utility was identified as one of the strongest predictors of overall gratifications obtained by reality television viewers. Personal utility refers to the viewer gaining something personally useful from the programme. It is therefore important to understand that viewers watch for different reasons. These reasons may lead to differing perceptions by viewers and thus differing effects. Therefore, individual difference variables have also been found to moderate why people watch reality television programmes (Barton 2006). Nabi et al (2003) while examining the gratifications received from reality television programming, discovered sex as a significant distinguishing factor. For instance, men were noted to be more entertained by reality programmes and as such, formed para-social relationships more often than women do. Reiss and Wiltz (2004) in their study examined how sex moderates the effects of reality television programming on their respondents and reported that they did not find sex as a significant influence on reality television outcomes. Rather, age was found to be a significant influence on reality television outcomes. Younger viewers reported becoming more self-aware and entertained from watching reality programmes, while older viewers reported engaging in social comparisons from viewing reality television. Race was also found to have an impact on media use outcomes. For instance, whites were found to identify with the characters, while non-whites were found to learn more information from reali ty television programming (Nabi et al, 2003). 2.1.2 Perceived Reality and Reality Television Programming Before the development of reality television programmes, perceived reality has been generating much interest among media researchers. Potters (1988) conceptual definition of perceived reality is a construct composed of three dimensions, with the first being defined as the belief in the literal reality of television messages (p.31). This component, known also as the magic window deals with how much the viewer believes that the mediated message from television reflects the outside world. Secondly, utility is defined as the practicality of the viewer applying what is viewed on television in his/her daily living. It also denotes the importance and extent to which people can relate the information they get from television into their own lives. Thirdly, identity refers to relating with a character or personality television programmes and this is also seen as the extent to which the viewer thinks a character plays a part in the viewers actual life (Potter, 1988). Magic window, utility, and identity are central to the understanding of a viewers perception of reality because each of these components will affect how a viewer perceives reality in a television programme. In examining perceived reality, Cavender and BondMaupin (1993) examined crime reality television programming, looking at programmes like Americas Most Wanted. This was done based on story selection, the techniques of cinematographic as well as the producers claims. Crime based reality television programmes were found to depict a very real sense of danger to the audience as they were found to be high in the identity component. Because of the images presented in crime reality programme programmes, it was easy for the viewers to identify with the characters that were presented as victims. Cavender and BondMaupin (1993) notes that participating in reality programmes means that the viewers are now part of the reality. This obviously makes it difficult to distinguish the reality in the programme from any other aspect of life. Their study suggests that reality programming has a unique form because of the presentation of realistic characters, settings, and plot. Another study which examined the perceived reality of reality television programmes is Meng and Lugalambi (2003). The study found that respondents did not view reality programmes as real. Perceived believability of the program mediated the relationship between the type of programme viewed and the perceived utility. The researchers argue that the best manner to examine perceived reality is by the degree of personal utility that the viewer receives from the reality programmes. 2.1.3 Defining reality television programming Reality television programmes are gradually becoming the toast of television stations and networks in recent times (Hall, 2006 and Stern, 2007). Since the success of the genres first big network hit, the Survivor (CBS), the number of reality programmes on television has multiplied, both on broadcast and cable networks. To Seibel and Kerschbaumer, (2004), Reality television programmes were first recognized as an official genre of television in 2004 even though it has become immensely popular in the years prior. Reality programmes or, as they are alternatively known, unscripted dramas have been somewhat difficult to define, due to the rapid growth which has caused the genre to expand into various forms (Hall, 2006; Nabi et al., 2003). While they are all considerably different, programmes like the Big Brother Show, Biggest Looser, The Apprentice, Gulder Ultimate Search, Survivor, Fear Factor, etc. have all been considered to be reality programmes, although each is structured in a slightly different form. There must be caution in describing reality television as simply programming that represents reality because this would force the inclusion of news programmes and talk programmes, which, are generally not considered as part of the genre. Nabi et al (2003, p. 304) while attempting to situate the precincts of reality television programming described them as programmes that film real people as they live out events (contrived or otherwise) in their lives, as these events occur. This description b ecomes Important as it assumes that the events on the television screen are chronological, and that the participants are not working from a script, the show is filmed in a non-studio environment and that the purpose of the programme must be entertainment. While it leaves room for a wide range of programming, this definition excludes talk programmes which, in some ways, draw upon some of the same appeals and strategies to attract viewers, and have been considered as forerunners of reality television (Reality Television, 2004). However, Hall, (2004) notes that the popular press has considered programmes, such as American Idol and Shocking Behaviour Caught on Tape, to be reality fare, even though they do not meet these criteria. Deery (2004) notes that reality television does not necessarily have to be realistic, nor does it have to depict common or everyday experiences. Deery further notes that the reality of reality television programmes is usually translated as the experience of rea l or ordinary people (i.e., unknown non-actors) in an actual and unscripted environment. It does not require that the situation must be ordinary, but that there should be a particular kind of viewer access. The definition of reality television to audiences seems to be as inconsistent as it is in academia, though slightly more inclusive. In a study of the public perception of reality programmes, Hall (2006) notes that some programmes such as Real World and Cops were unanimously considered by most respondents to be of the reality genre. Most of the respondents in the study believe that the presence of non-actors behaving independently from any sort of script was a mandatory criterion for reality television. Additionally, for some, a competition element helped define a show in the reality category. Hall noted that this was not necessarily a criterion because the competition was realistic, but rather that it seemed to be a central element for a large number of programmes that have been labelled as reality. The most defining characteristic for these research participants was the realism factor. Perhaps the most central element in determining the strength of a particular programmes membership in the programming category, however, was the nature of the show when compared to real life situations. Hall (2006, p. 198) notes that the understanding that the programme was non-scripted, which carries the implication that the behaviour of the cast members is self-determined and a true expression of their own personalities and wills, was repeatedly implied to be a determining factor of whether a show should be considered a reality programme. It seems, however, that a viewers task of determining whether or not the content of a programme is real may not be a simple task. Stern (2007) points out that the reality element of reality television is, at best, only a claim. The desire of producers to create an entertaining programme often leads them to distort events to make them more dramatic. The result is a programme that dances on the line between truth and fiction, often leaving the viewers confused about what is real and what is not. Stern notes further that manipulation of reality can manifest as producers interference with the cast, in addition to creative editing techniques. 2.2 Features of reality television (Characteristics) Within the confines of reality television programming exists two sub-genres: voyeur-based programmes and competition-based programmes with the emphasis within each being on the different dramatic aspects of the reality being captured. The first sub-genre, voyeur-based programmes, can most closely be compared to a documentary-style production. Programmes in this category are sometimes referred to as docu-dramas or docu-soaps (Jones, 2003). The component of producer involvement which is generally lacking in documentaries is accentuated in the voyeur-based programmes. However, this is a major area of differences between voyeur-based programming and actual documentaries. That is to say, voyeur-based reality programmes highlight the fact that the participants are incorporating the production units into their daily routines. The second sub-genre of reality-based television is competition-based programmes. These programmes tend to bear a resemblance with traditional game shows, with the distinguishing factor being that game shows typically do not offer comprehensive surveillance of the contestants. The competition-based programmes focus on how human interaction is affected when contestants are forced to interact with each other while trying to succeed against each other in various events. The following are the qualities that make a programme reality based. Reality-based programming is not scripted The most fundamental criterion for a television show to fall within the reality genre is that is must not have a script for the participants or contestants. This means that their actions and spoken words must be spontaneous. In its place, reality-based programming relies on established rules that govern the way the contestants interact with each other and their environment. These rules in essence act as a substitute for scripted materials in that they provide the contestants with a framework that dictates how their exchanges will be enacted. The idea behind this is that it offers an alternative to the predictability of fictional programming (Andrejevic, 2003). Reality-based programming involves ordinary people instead of actors It is argued that one thing that makes reality programming appealing is that it draws its contestants directly from the audience. Dovey (2000, p. 86) notes that ordinary people and their dramatic experiences are the staple of Reality television Syvertsen (2001 p. 319) describes ordinary people as, those people who are not known in the media, they are not experts, celebrities or newsworthy for any other reason people who are, in principle, interchangeable with one another. Andrejevic (2003, p.4).) notes that part of what makes reality-based programming appealing is its lottery-like ability to make a star out of nobodys'(sic) Reality-based programming is characterised by spontaneous actions The freedom for contestants to act on instinct or to adapt as they deem fit to any situation is a key element in what makes reality programming entertaining and unique. In most ways, the contestants are in control of the programme. There are rules governing the conduct of the contestants and operating within those set rules is an attribute possessed by reality programming alone. Andrejevic, (2003, p. 103) quoting The Real World and Road Rules producer, Jon Murray, said that we dont have a lot of control during the production process, what we have is the control to make choices during editing. The naturalness and ingenuity displayed by the contestants is what makes reality-based programmes unique from other forms of unscripted programming such as traditional game shows. Ultimately, with reality programming, viewers get what really happens first hand since there are no re-takes or re-shoots as only that which is natural and uncontrived will be captured and ultimately aired. When looked at in terms of the benefits of spontaneity compared to traditional scripted programming, Andrejevic makes the case that the free-will of the contestants can prove to be one of the most powerful tools reality television possesses. Andrejevic, (2003) concludes that in reality programming, content becomes detached from the normal concept of scriptwriters and directors, which is now replaced by the spontaneous rhythms of real conflict and real romance. Some element of producer involvement exists in Reality-based programming Reality-based programming can be seen as a contrived reality where the producers create the reality in which the contestants live in. This could mean the establishment of rules for how they will get food as on Gulder Ultimate Search, Survivor and Big Brother, or requiring that they regularly update the audience through confessionals or video diary entries as on Big Brother, Gulder Ultimate Search, and The Real World Show. This is one of the key distinctions that have been made between reality-based programming and documentaries. Dovey (2000) clearly notes that interviewing participants, involving directors, producers, or cameramen in the production or in any way interacting with the subject of a documentary is considered interference and is a serious taboo in documentary filmmaking. These techniques, however, have all been used extensively in reality-based programming. There is a comprehensive surveillance of subjects in Reality-based programmes The primary component that distinguishes reality-based programmes from similar forms of entertainment including traditional game shows and programmes is that it provides the viewer with a perspective of how the participants are feeling and behaving outside the confines of a limited event. For example, viewers are not given the opportunity to see how contestants interact with each other after the final round has been played. This is exactly what separates reality-based programming from traditional game shows (Andrejevic 2003). According to Andrejevic (2003, p. 102), the difference between reality-based programming and traditional game shows lies in the fact that they (reality television programmes) are based not on the documentation of exceptional moments but on the surveillance of the rhythm of day-to-day life. This last criterion shows programmes such as The Debators, Maltina Family Dance All, and NBCs Fear Factor cannot be considered as reality-based programmes. This is because, the producers of these programmes shows film exceptional moments and do not offer comprehensive surveillance of the contestants behaviours and interactions with others. 2.3 Reality television programmes and young audience Reality programmes has generally been thought to appeal to a lower-income demographic (Nabi et al., 2003). The reality genre in general has been criticized as being exploitive of some of the worst characteristics, behaviours and ranks of the human race, and was long considered by the television industry to be low-brow entertainment (Freeman, 2001). Even as reality television programmes began to be accepted by the networks, advertisers were still sceptical about investing in them, primarily discouraged by audience demographic and possibly questionable materials in the programmes. Supporting Freemans view, Atkinson and Fine (2004, p. 1) averred that Advertisers once didnt like the thought of associating with what they regarded as often sleazy down-market fare A study in 2001 confirmed advertisers suspicions when it found that 58% of regular reality audiences were in the middle to low income bracket, with annual incomes falling below $50,000 (Gardyn, 2001, p. 1). Carter (2003) notes that reality television appeals to a younger group of viewers between the age ranges of 18 49 years, or even narrower, between 18 30 years. This demographic profiles of the audience he notes, represents a coveted demographic for advertisers. 2.3.1 The appeal in reality television The appeal of reality television ranges from mere voyeurism to a hope that it offers insights into the human condition. Nabi et al. (2003) found that the initial draw for casual viewers is generally related to boredom, while regular viewers of reality television tune in to be entertained. Some of the appeal may be the lure of watching real people on television. A study in 2001 revealed that 37% of the Americans polled preferred to watch real people on television, as opposed to scripted actors (Gardyn, 2001). However, Nabi, Finnerty, Halford and Stitt (2006) suggests that some of the appeal of reality television may not reside in the quality of the reality, but rather in the drama and suspense, elements of good storytelling, that are often found in reality programmes. Voyeurism has also been cited as a gratification of watching reality television (Hall, 2004). Although Nabi et al. (2003) questions whether or not voyeurism is an appropriate term to describe audiences motivations for viewing because cast members are aware that they are being watched and network constraints assure that explicit material does not make it on the air. Rather than the desire to view forbidden or immoral contents, the audience simply sit and enjoy watching other peoples lives and interpersonal relationships. There is also the notion that reality television fulfils the ever growing American obsession with celebrity and stardom. Conlin, (2003, p. 1) avers that by making perceived nobodies into overnight superstars, reality programme seem to appeal highly to a set of American audience who are obsessed with stardom and those who crave for something different from Hollywoods celebrity system. Andrejevic (2005) also notes that part of the appeal of reality programming is the viewers sense of access, or the thinking that the participants in the programmes could just be them. On a more basic level, reality programmes require minimum commitment from its audience. 2.4 Criticisms of reality television programmes The actual realism of reality television (or lack thereof) and its presentation as real has been a subject of criticism. Nabi et al. (2003) found that while viewers perceived the casts of reality programmes to be real, they did not however see events in the programmes to be sufficiently real. Bagley (2001) says that much of what may be marketed to the public as real may actually be a creatively manipulated or faked reality brought about by the process of production and editing. In his criticism of the Real World, Bagley discusses the potentially misleading production practices that attempt to give reality programmes the appearance of being real by borrowing from the documentary style. Real World, one of the first and most taunted prime examples of the reality programming, hold its authenticity to both its means of presentation and by direct statements. Every reality programme begins with the same claim of being original and authentic. In fact, Bagley (2001, p. 62) notes that this is a true story of seven people, picked to work together, have their lives taped and find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real Deery (2004) describes the reality genre as postdocumentary. This implies that the genre has been transformed from its parent genre, documentary, but still retains some of its original elements, which are mainly in the form of its production. This semblance to documentary production is what Bagley (2001) refers to as deceivi ng. Real Worlds manner of presentation critically determines its acceptance as faithful documentation of material existenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ with aspirations perfectly coinciding with other forms of nonfiction productionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Being patterned after the television journalistic style, Real World borrows on the confidence that genre provokes in its audience, and manages in the process to evoke its own mystique of authenticity that, in the final analysis, furnishes viewers with the rationale to successfully negotiate the shows authorial ambiguity (Bagley, 2004, p. 61-62). Other scholars (Murray, 2006; Bagley, 2001) have argued that the Shaky, camera being moved about, the normal day light, natural environmental sounds, the cheap production values, the surveillance as well as the interview sections by way of confessions help to further boost the claim that Real World reality programme actually depict reality. Some or all of these presentation tactics can be seen in various other reality television programmes such as Big Brother (CBS) and The Bachelor (ABC). At best, reality television, according to Bagley (2004) is a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. Bagley (ibid) notes specifically that most people, when placed before a camera, perform in one way or another, rather than behaving as they would in their natural settings. Again, the long period of editing which is required to reduce long hours of daily footage down into a 30 minute storyline is done with little objectivity in the mind of the produce. The production process is not influenced by the desire to accurately present situations as they are in their traditional forms of non-fiction media, but rather by a desire to entertain and sell. Bagley (2001) notes that this fact alone discredits the genre as a subjective representation of reality because its purpose goes beyond capturing unmediated human relations and events but has veered i nto the commercial realm. 2.4.1 Third person-perception Other criticisms of reality television have emerged indirectly from studies of third-person perception, and have indicated that reality programmes may be socially undesirable in the minds of audience members. Materials that are not socially desirable have been the focus of some studies conducted on third-person perception (Paul, Salwen, and Dupagne, 2000). As noted by Bissell, Peek, and Leone (2006), numerous studies have supported the idea that people perceive others to be more affected by media messages than themselves, particularly the negative contents. The phenomenon of negative contents has been shown in studies of political campaign messages, political advertising, commercials, rap music, and public service announcements, among other types of media (Bissell et al., 2006). In their 2006 study, Bissell, Peek, and Leone (2006),in a study which examined the perceptions of 640 college students concerning reality television (Real World, Fear Factor and Joe Millionaire) found that the students believed that reality programmes negatively impacted others more than themselves, which the researchers suggested indicated their perceptions of reality television as socially undesirable. 2.4.2 Drama Although it has not been extensively documented, the content of reality television tends to be hyper-dramatized turning seeming unimportant events into crises. This is not surprising, given that its purpose is to entertain audiences. Real World producers carefully select cast members to produc