Genre Essays (Examples)

Hippie evolution

Over the course of the 1960s, the United States saw great social and political upheaval, as countless young people revolted against a system that was fundamentally incapable of effectively representing them or their desires. Though the decade saw the development of a number of important social and political efforts, such as the civil rights movement, the hippie movement has come to define the era, and for good reason. Hippies not only opposed the Vietnam War, but they also formed a counter-culture, opposing repressive standards of dress, behavior, and even thought, and, ultimately, they ended up forcing the entire country to undergo a dramatic ideological shift. The films Head, Skidoo, and Psych-Out represent three different reactions to the social conflict that gave rise to the hippie movement, and each films' implicit or explicit treatment of psychedelic drugs, as well as its representation of preexisting entertainment genres, reveals its particular…

References

Becker, M. (2006). A point of little hope: Hippie horror films and the politics of ambivalence.

Velvet Light Trap, (57), 42-59.

Goostree, L. (1988). The monkees and the deconstruction of television realism. Journal of Popular Film & Television, 16(2), 50-50.

Thomas, K. (1968, Nov 20). Monkees cavort in head at the vogue. Los Angeles Times (1923-

However, in spite of the fact that the film was promoted as a motion picture displaying real-life events, it appears that the director did not hesitate to modify a series of aspects about the environment that he shot in and the story itself. The protagonist's wife and children were not actually his and Flaherty correctly believed that audiences would be more deeply impressed if he presented the story from a more spectacular point-of-view. Even with this, one can still claim that the film is a documentary because it presents viewers with its own creation.

Many individuals took advantage of the fact that documentary films were very influential and devised propaganda strategies using motion pictures. Many individuals involved in this affair considered that fiction films no longer had a strong appeal and that society was more concerned about seeing 'cinema verite'. Many filmmakers got actively engaged in creating films discussing political…

Works cited:

Aufderheide, Patricia, "Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction," (Oxford University Press, 2007)

Ellis, Jack C. And McLane, Betsy a. "A new history of documentary film," (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005)

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Balzac and Kafka: From Realism to Magical Realism

French author Honore de Balzac defined the genre of realism in the early 19th century with his novel Old Man Goriot, which served as a cornerstone for his more ambitious project, The Human Comedy. Old Man Goriot also served as a prototype for realistic novels, with its setting of narrative parameters which included plot, structure, characterization, and point-of-view. The 20th century, however, digressed considerably from the genre of realism. Franz Kafka, for example, has been considered as one of the forerunners of the genre known as Magical Realism. endy B. Faris defines the genre of Magical Realism as the combination of "realism and the fantastic so that the marvelous seems to grow organically within the ordinary, blurring the distinction between them… [including] different cultural traditions" (1). Faris finds magical realism to exist at the crossroads of modernism and post-modernism, as a kind…

Works Cited

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. New York, NY: Vintage, 2010. Print.

Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2004. Print.

Nabokov, Vladimir. "The Metamorphosis." Victorian. Web. 8 May 2012. <

 http://victorian.fortunecity.com/vermeer/287/nabokov_s_metamorphosis.htm >

ity Slickers (1991) depicts a group of middle-aged pals going on a two-week western cattle drive run by the cowpoke urly .Besides such obvious Western themes, such as the horses, Western scenery and uplifting music, are the male characters. Although in their modern city life the do not reveal their inner strengths, in the West, the men find the important values in life and within themselves. urly represents the sole cowboy that once was and mostly likely will never be again.

Lastly, the 1976 Outlaw Josey Wales is closest to what we today consider the Western. Once again, this movie has the rugged and individualist protagonist and the comic friend. The difference here is that Josey Wales starts out as an unassuming farmer and transforms into a violent shooter. Although he has reason to seek revenge, one questions whether two wrongs make a right and has Wales lost sight of…

City Slickers (1991) depicts a group of middle-aged pals going on a two-week western cattle drive run by the cowpoke Curly .Besides such obvious Western themes, such as the horses, Western scenery and uplifting music, are the male characters. Although in their modern city life the do not reveal their inner strengths, in the West, the men find the important values in life and within themselves. Curly represents the sole cowboy that once was and mostly likely will never be again.

Lastly, the 1976 Outlaw Josey Wales is closest to what we today consider the Western. Once again, this movie has the rugged and individualist protagonist and the comic friend. The difference here is that Josey Wales starts out as an unassuming farmer and transforms into a violent shooter. Although he has reason to seek revenge, one questions whether two wrongs make a right and has Wales lost sight of the values that he once had? Yet, the movie swings back to the true Western genre at the end as Josey and Laura fall in love and decide to live at her son's ranch. Even the men with the blacker hat, the Union Soldier, decide that the violence must come to an end and let Josey go back to his farming days.

Although Dances with Wolves and Outlaw Josey Wales, especially, and to some respect City Slickers, pushes the envelop of the Western genre of the 1950s, beyond a simple tale about a lonely hero, his side kick and horse in the badlands of the West, to a more complex psychological analysis of characters as they face varying life challenges, the overall theme is the same -- how the ruggedness of the West brought out the best or worst of humans as they may their way into a new territory.

Psycho

Alfred Hitchcok's Psycho was released in 1960, and encapsulates the social, psychological, and political tensions of the Cold ar era. As Raubicheck and Serebnick point out, Psycho could have been a bridge to the 1960s but the film is "less linked to and reflective of the so-called radical sixties than they are of the more controlled fifties and possess more cultural texture of this earlier era," (17). The issues related to gender, sexuality, and sexual repression in the film are likewise reflective of the interest in Freudian psychoanalysis that prevailed during the 1950s. Rebello points out that the popularity of Freudian psychology and theories like the Oedipus complex are played out on the screen in Psycho. Anthony Perkins's character Norman Bates is "connected with a much larger discussion, in the early Cold ar, of political and sexual deviance," (Genter 134). In Psycho, Bates becomes the archetype of the psychopath,…

Works Cited

Genter, Robert. "We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes': Alfred Hitchcock, American Psychoanalysis, and the Construction of the Cold War Psychopath." Canadian Review of American Studies. Vol 40, No. 2, 2010.

Hitchcock, Alfred. Psycho. Feature Film.1960.

Raubicheck, Walter and Srebnick, Walter. Scripting Hitchcock. University of Illinois Press.

Rebello, Stephen. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Open Road Media.

There is a chapter entitled "Getting Even" which talks about many films that have rape as a story line and the victim gets even. This chapter was the most obscure to me, because many of the films the author mentioned did not seem to fit into the horror genre, or were pretty much unknown films (at least to me). I understand the problem with rape-related horror films, and how they often make the victim appear as if she subconsciously wanted to be raped, but I do not think the examples the author uses are the most effective. I did not relate to this chapter as much because I did not know the films, and I think that weakened the book for me. It would have helped if the films were more well-known, or there were other examples that proved the point. The other point of this chapter, that women have…

References

Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.

2ndGrade/Weather Lesson Plan

Weather: A Second Grade Thematic Unit

The proposed thematic unit is designed for a general education classroom at the second grade level. The suggested time frame is three weeks, but the unit could be either shortened slightly or extended by adjusting the number of activities. eading activities include shared reading and self-selected reading from a variety of books provided by the teacher. The book selection should include multiple genres and multiple reading levels. A suggested list is included. Writing activities engage students in the five stages of the writing process. Students will create a weather journal that includes their writing and a reading log. Students may also include notes about weather observations.

Instructional Focus: Grade 2

Subject: Science

Weather

Literacy and Writing Standards for Pennsylvania

Met in this unit:

eading Informational Text: Students read, understand, and respond to informational text -- with emphasis on comprehension, making connections…

Resources:

The teacher can select titles such as those suggested for a classroom library. The titles represent a mix of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Some of the titles may be selected for read-alouds. When selections are shared this way with the whole class, the teacher should preface the reading with a discussion about reading strategies (e.g., setting a purpose for reading, tips for figuring out unfamiliar words), genre, and/or style.

Adamson. T. (2011). How do you measure time? Bloomington, MN: Capstone.

Barrett, J., and Barrett, R. (1978). Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. New York: Atheneum.

Breen, K., and Friestad, M. (2008). The kids' book of weather forecasting. Danbury, CT: Ideals.

He was attuned to her; he understood such things. He said he understood." Her helplessness and general withdrawal from the family are emphasized when she realizes that she cannot find a role that suits her: "she tried these personalities on like costumes, then discarded them." Again, as in the case of hopin's story, the conflict is internal as the character is revolting against itself. At first, the woman thinks she cannot handle the roles of mother and wife, but gradually she realizes that she cannot find any role she feels comfortable with. The emotional lack of attachment to her husband and son are soon extended; she no longer feels comfortable with anything in her life.

The main theme, that of dissatisfaction with one's life, is greatly emphasized by the mood of the story. The mood is created especially by the choice of setting; the plot takes place only inside the…

Chopin, Kate. "Kate Chopin: The Story of an Hour." 1998. http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/chopin.html

Goodwin, Gail. "A Sorrowful Woman."

Van Der Zee, Karen. A Secret Sorrow. Canada: Harlequin Books, 1981

ob einer's 1987 film The Princess Bride enjoyed only moderate box office revenues, but developed popular underground appeal and has become a cult classic. The enduring respect for einer's quirky romantic comedy is immediately apparent: it is far from formulaic, and does not truly fit in either to the "rom com" designation or that of a fantasy. The Princess Bride also includes a cast filled with luminaries like Peter Falk, Andre the Giant, and Christopher Guest. Its cast and celebrity director therefore enhances the credibility of The Princess Bride. Ultimately, though, the script and the overall tone of the film make The Princess Bride classically compelling. William Goldman's eponymous novel, upon which the film is based, transforms seamlessly into a film that capitalizes on the clever story-within-a-story concept. Peter Falk reads The Princess Bride to his grandson, who is staying home sick from school. At first, the grandson balks at…

References

Berardinelli, J. (2003). The Princess Bride. Retrieved online:  http://www.reelviews.net/movies/p/princess_bride.html 

Ebert, R. (1987). The Princess Bride. Retrieved online:  http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19871009/REVIEWS/710090301/1023 

Ecroyd, C.S. (1991). Motivating students through reading aloud. The English Journal 80(6).

Henry, R. And Rossen-Knill, D.F. The Princess Bride and the parodic impulse: The seduction of Cinderella. International Journal of Humor Research 11 (1): 43 -- 64, ISSN (Online) 1613-3722, ISSN (Print) 0933-1719, DOI: 10.1515/humr.1998.11.1.43, / / 1998

Either way the reality is that the two works demonstrate that ultimately motherhood is work and doing it effectively while concurrently chasing career goals and challenges is even more work. Though this issue is played down to some extent as the mother (while her daughter is in her body) is allowed to ignore and remake some of the obligations of her frantic career and social world, the works are congruent in that the conflict for working mothers is an essential one, often creating lighthearted conflicts and genre-based statements about the stress that the conflict can create in a women's life. In other words, having it all takes a significant toll on self, and each mother is depicted as seeking resolution that is found then through the reintroduction of childlike needs and freedoms, that help her realize what is really important and what needs to be paid attention to, i.e. family.…

Works Cited

Carroll, Noel. "Two Comic Plot Structures." The Monist 88.1 (2005): 154.

Freaky Friday Motion Picture, Disney 1976.

Freaky Friday Motion Picture, Disney 2003.

Keller, Alexandra. "From Stella Dallas to Lila Lipscomb: Reading Real Motherhood through Reel Motherhood." West Virginia University Philological Papers (2005): 1.

Evolution of the Zombie

An element which was not examined in great detail by Bishop was the evolution of the "undead" creatures of which zombies are one of many. It would appear that Hollywood is always evolving new concepts in terms of these creatures, so much so that the idea of the zombie begins to become blurred. For example some films, most notably 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later have toyed with a concept which is very similar to that of the zombie, but is induced by a virus. The creatures in these movies are not technically zombies as they have never died, they have simply changed into flesh-eating monsters. In addition, Shaun of the Dead takes the traditional conventions of the zombie film, but adds an element of comedy, creating what is arguably a new style of film. It would therefore appear likely that given the popularity of…

The term "art-horror" was new, and after the author defined it, it made perfect sense. There are differences in the genre between films, books, and theater, and it is easy to see how much of the horror genre could be considered "art-horror." In addition, the section on plotting was extremely enlightening, especially the characteristic horror plots, which were extremely familiar once the author laid them out. In addition, the author's definitions of different genres and how they are analyzed was helpful in showing the vast differences between genres and what they hope to accomplish.

This book helped put the entire horror genre into better focus. If anyone is interested in writing horror novels, this book should be on their list of books to read and emulate. The author has a deep understanding of the horror genre, but more than that, he seems to respect and admire it, which would serve…

References

Carroll, Noel. The Philosophy of Horror, Or, Paradoxes of the Heart. New York: Routledge, 1990.

Though formulaic language expressions have been in regular use, in popular media forms, for at least the majority of the twentieth century if not indeed for centuries longer, their recognition and study is recent development (Van Lancker-Sidtis & allon 2004). Some texts have even been found to be comprised of a quarter or of formulaic expressions, demonstrating at once a reliance on collective cultural interpretations and a marked lack of originality in popular media language use (Van Lancker-Sidtis & allon 2004). These phrases make for interpretations that are both more colloquially colored and less symbolically imbued for their necessarily repetitive nature (thus their emergence as formulaic expressions) and their needed consistency in order to remain meaningful (Van Lancker-Sidtis & allon 2004).

Music and Language

The relationship between music and language is the subject of a great deal of debate, and ever researchers that support comparisons between the two uniquely human…

References

Ballard, M.; Dodson, a. & Bazzini, D. (1999). Genre of music and lyrical content: Expectation effects. Journal of Genetic Psychology 160(4), 476-87.

Jackendoff, R. (2009). Parallels and nonparallels between language and music. Music Perception 26(3), 195-204.

Lancker-Sidtis, D. & Rallon, G. (2004). Tracking the incidence of formulaic expressions in everyday speech: methods for classification and verification. Language and communication 24, 207-40.

Powers, H. (1980). Language models and musical analysis. Ethnomusicology 24(1), 1-60.

(Chu 58 -- 67) it is also important to note that the film has an emotional / cultural tie, to the director Ann Hui. As a child, she immigrated to Hong Kong. Where, she learned English, as a second language and went through some of the common struggles of immigrants. ("Ann Hui")

Clearly, the film the oat People would highlight a shift that is occurring in the cinema of Hong Kong throughout the 1980's. Where, a variety of different new genres would emerge. This is because audiences felt, that many marital arts films lacked substance. At which point, a shift would occur in the motion picture industry, as a variety of new genres would quickly emerge. The oat People would underscore this shift, by telling a unique story of Vietnamese peasants trying to escape the brutality of the communists (three years after the collapse of South Vietnam). Where, they are…

Bibliography

"Ann Hui." IMDB. 2010. Web. 30 Jun. 2010.<  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0401176/bio >

"Boat People." Answers.com. 2010. Web. 30 Jun. 2010.

"The Boat People." Avistaz. 2010. Web. 30 Jun. 2010

Browne, Nick. " Hong Kong New Wave." New Chinese Cinemas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

But it did make me wake up a little to the fact that this was not a true date and fact biopic, but a Stone biopic, which looks more into the heart of darkness of the topic than most others in the genre.

While the humor was there another unexpected feeling I walked away with was fear. This is just not fear of this particular president's way with words or from his gut decision making cowboy politics. It is the fear and the reality that the president is after all is said and done a human being making, often, inhuman decisions. One tends to think of the president as on a pedestal and the scrutiny there is so much higher that any error or misstep or malapropism is multiplied a hundred fold. But in this particular president, Stone by way of implication is saying that if you are not fit…

Green Day, on the other hand, may have started off as a "Punk" band, but devolved into a "punk" band. In the song "American Idiot," Green Day states a problem created by the media, yet proposes nothing to resolve it. Though Green Day attempts to rebel against the media because they do not want to be "one nation controlled by the media," they are giving in to the media through the commercialization and mass production and dissemination of their music. The production of the music is also of a higher quality. Though the band exudes the sound of raw intensity, the utilization of post-production filters and effects detracts from the "anger" and "disenfranchisement" conveyed in the song. Additionally, if one goes beyond the music and analyzes their music video, one can note how highly stylized it is and the higher production value that it conveys compared to the "music video"…

Works Cited

Green Day. "American Idiot." American Idiot. Reprise, 2004. Mp3.

<  http://www.rhapsody.com/green-day/american-idiot  -- explicit/american-idiot>

The Sex Pistols. "Anarchy in the UK." Nevermind the Bollocks. Virgin Records, 1977. Vinyl.

In the "hard-core" sub-genre of hip-hop, one sees a much clearer emphasis on street and urban authenticity -- rather than on sampling. For N.W.A., hip-hop is an expression of lived life -- a kind of militant message passed down to urban blacks from men like Malcolm X

But not all hip-hop comes from such types. The Beastie Boys are an example of hip-hop artists who thrive on a different message. Much of their music is centered on adolescent/teenage angst -- white suburban kids enraged by suburban living, but moved by urban beats. They inter-mingle their own white perspective with samplings from an assortment of other artists -- thus making their mark on the hip-hop scene. Their aggression appears to be real, like 50 Cent's -- even if it is different in its source. The Beastie Boys are, of course, legends in hip-hop -- but Mickey Hess denies that their authenticity…

Reference List

Alridge, DP 2012 'From Civil Rights to Hip Hop: Toward a Nexus of Ideas', the Hip

Hop Project, pp. 1-28

Arewa, OB 2006 'From JC Bach to Hip Hop: Musical Borrowing, Copyright and Cultural Context', North Carolina Law Review 84, pp 548-558

Best, S; Kellner, D 1999 'Rap, Black Rage, and Racial Difference', Enculturation 2:2

Cool Jazz

A Brief History of Cool Jazz

December 6, 2012, would have marked the ninety-second birthday of pianist Dave Brubeck. The nonagenarian was looking forward to performing at the Palace Theater near his home in aterbury, Connecticut. Sadly, Brubeck died of heart failure just one day shy of the celebratory concert. The concert went on as scheduled, but it was a memorial rather than a birthday party. It is what Brubeck would have wanted. Brubeck was one of the originators of a jazz style that became known as "cool jazz." He was a brilliant pianist who loved to experiment with rhythms and instrumentation in ensemble work. Brubeck never stopped innovating over his long career during which he composed symphonies, classical and religious music, ballets and film scores He valued musical integrity over commercial reward. "You never know what's going to work," he said. "You just go with what you…

Works Cited

Dave Brubeck Quartet. 1961. YouTube. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. .

Dryden, Ken. "Take five: The public and private lives of Paul Desmond." All About Jazz.

2 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17894 >.

..I am with you, and know how it is." Cunningham utilizes this idea of hitman's timelessness to weave him through the narratives that build character in his work. hitman's issues are clearly still timely as his call to question those things that are seen as progress is universal in the developed and developing worlds, alike. Post-modernism is also often though to as post-colonial as the standardization of borders has seemed to stagnate over the last 50 or so years and colonization is conducted in much subtler ways, than were evident in alt's lifetime. Cunningham, no doubt weaves his artistic interpretation of hitman into his works, but it is clear that it is with the careful reader's vision of the subtle and constructionist leanings of hitman. Cunningham's writing is truly an incarnation of the relevance of hitman to the modern context. He utilizes the turn of many an artful phrase to…

Works Cited

Bahr, David. "After Hours: Acclaimed Author Michael Cunningham Channeled His Love of Virginia Woolf in the Hours. In Specimen Days, He Considers the World after Walt Whitman." The Advocate 7 June 2005: 60.

Cunningham, Michael. Specimen Days: A Novel New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

Gambino, Richard. "Walt Whitman: He Was a Liberator of People and Culture, Using a Liberated Poetic Form." The Nation 21 July 2003: 14.

Administrative Offices

23331 Water Circle

Boca Raton, FL 33486-8540, USA

Book Proposal

The original coal camps that existed throughout the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Alabama have faded into memory and kudzu-covered, rusty tracks and vacant holes. The people who worked the pits had to spend a good portion of their lives below ground, breathing coal dust and facing the dangerous task of eviscerating a mountain. It was not a job from which the miners derived much pleasure other than through the camaraderie of their fellow miners. There was a constant need for recreation of some type, so dances and games were much anticipated events that allowed the work of the mines to go forward.

One summer activity that excited the workers due to the promise of competition with nearby camps and the rousing activity it provided was baseball. Most of the camps had a baseball team that was the…

Earl of Rochester / Aphra Behn

Masks and Masculinities:

Gender and Performance in the Earl of Rochester's "Imperfect Enjoyment"

and Aphra Behn's "The Disappointment"

Literature of the English Restoration offers the example of a number of writers who wrote for a courtly audience: literary production, particularly in learned imitation of classical models, was part of the court culture of King Charles II. The fact of a shared model explains the remarkable similarities between "The Imperfect Enjoyment" by the Earl of Rochester and "The Disappointment" by Aphra Behn -- remarkable only because readers are surprised to read one poem about male sexual impotence from the late seventeenth century, let alone two examples of this genre by well-known courtly writers. In fact, Richard Quaintance presents ten more examples by lesser-known poets as he defines the literary sub-genre of the neo-Classical "imperfect enjoyment poem," written in imitation of Roman poems on the same…

Works Cited

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990. Print.

Empson, Sir William. "Rochester." Argufying: Essays on Literature and Culture. Ed. John Haffenden. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1988. 270-7. Print.

Farley-Hills, David. Rochester: The Critical Heritage. London: Taylor and Francis, 2005. Print.

Hughes, Derek. "Aphra Behn and the Restoration Theatre." The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn. Ed. Derek Hughes and Janet Todd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 29- 45. Print.

Contenders challenges the depth of the line between the so called reality-based survival shows and fictionalized genres. Series 7 to the greatest degree is a spoof on the idea that a game with real stakes, reputed to be stakes of life and death could truly exist within an entertainment venue. Series 7 proposes that the impact of such a situation upon the viewer can only be judged through the representative stakes of just that, life or death. The represented goal of the film is the actual violent death of opponent players in the game. The implications of such a production weigh heavily upon the viewing public and leave many questions to be answered by the phenomena of television ratings. Though the Series 7 movie is an attempt to challenge the lines between reality and fiction, in much the same way the sensational Blair itch Project did a few years before…

Works Cited

Blair Witch Project. 1995, retrieved July 15, 2003:  http://www.blairwitch.com/main.html .

Robards, Brooks. "2 the Police Show." TV Genres: A Handbook and Reference Guide. Ed. Alley, Robert S. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. 11-25.

Rosenthal, Alan, ed. Why Docudrama? Fact-Fiction on Film and TV. Carbondale, IL:

Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.

The narrative genre, specifically an "epic," continues in the second book of the Bible, or "Exodus," which explains the story of the Israelites in Egypt to the Holy Land, and ends with the legal genre. The narration includes the introduction, which provides the transition from Genesis and seven parts of 1) the sufferings of Israel in Egypt and God's help is promised; 2) God's power that is shown through the plagues inflicted on Pharaoh and allowing the Israelites to leave; (3) the love of God shown by the trek of the Israelites to Mt. Sinai, even when the people show disbelief; 4) the making the Covenant at Mt. Sinai with its legal ordinances; 5) the directions for building the Tabernacle where God is to dwell in the midst of the people; 6) the Covenant's renewal based on the demands following worship of the Golden Calf, and 7) the building and…

..There is reason for concern, therefore, when aggressive acts are presented in a humorous context in the media" (622).

Although it is intended to refer to society and its misdemeanor, satire cannot be considered to be offensive, since there is a small probability that it will produce any resentment in people. A good example of the American society giving birth to something that is funny and enjoyable, despite its satirical character, is Charlie Chaplin. In times when movies were something new to the American public, the English actor succeeded in making it addicted to him and to his movies. His merit is also largely owed to the scriptwriters and to the movie directors that invested hard work in making the respective movies. Even with his obvious success among the American public, there still are a number of critics believing that the characters played by Charlie Chaplin had been too vulgar…

Even in shots that might be steady, such as the sheriff is standing and talking to his men, frequent cuts are used in place of slow zooms or pans to shift the eye's focus.

Ramero uses scale to great advantage in this sequence to help build a sense of detachment from all the humans character. his detachment of course feeds into the audience's ability to accept the lesson that "we're them." his sense of scale begins with the very distant helicopter, which is so small and isolated on the screen. his proceeds to showing the hunters as tiny, wrong-ways-up specks on the ground. It is impossible to tell from the air whether the hunters are men or zombies, because they are so distant. his distant scale cuts into a close shot of the hunters walking, with the helicopter in the background. At this point the shots begin to become more…

This is the moment at which the audience is most strongly drawn in as a force to observe the historical horror and recognize that "we're them." Not only has the audience's favorite character been killed by humans instead of by zombies, but additionally he is being treated like "meat" even by the humans. This is the deep significance of the hunters carrying meat hooks rather than (for example) crowbars: humans just like zombies consider those they have destroyed to be nothing more than meat. Humans, like zombies, kill and eat living beings, and the meat hooks which pull out Ben would otherwise be used for other carcasses of other beings humans had killed. Of course, this is not just a message about vegetarianism. It is a message about the way in which humans objectify each other and this leads to racial violence and holocausts.

This movie very bravely dares to go against the racial conventions of its day in casting a black lead, and dealing subtly and metaphorically with the damage done to him. This sequence in particular, which shows white men dragging a brave and noble black man through the fields to be burned surely had strong connotations in 1968 in the middle of civil rights battles and race riots. That George Ramero claims the casting was totally color-blind may indicate either that this subtext was created after the casting, or that somehow evolved unnoticed by the director himself. However, it is certainly present for the audience in this scene. If nothing else, the audience must face its own racial position in its feelings regarding the life and death of Ben, and the very recognition of such human violence reinforced the central message that zombies and humans are more alike than they are different.

In conclusion, this sequence is probably the single most important one in the movie, though of course it cannot stand alone without all the foreshadowing and characterization that proceeds it. In this scene, through plot and genre twists, through tricks of technique and lighting, and through the careful manipulation of the audience, Ramero creates what is probably the single most memorable and influential sequence in zombie film history.

Music on Teens Actions

In the past 40 years all kinds of music has turned out to be more and more overt predominantly towards the negative side like sex, drugs, aggression and violence. Lately two of the genres which have caught great attention is hard rock music and rap music. In most of the cases, the lyrics of the music are made in such a way that they induce negativity in the developing minds of the teenagers. This negativity is reflected in their actions in the form of drug abuse, aggression, violence, sex and rebellious actions towards parents, family, family and society in general. This kind of negative music is a major concern these days because it poses mental and physical threat to the teens of today. Some of the other alarming effects of such music are pregnancy, STDs, accidents, killing and this has resulted to be the normal lifestyle…

Works Cited

Burns, Kate. The American Teenager: Examining Pop Culture. Annotated Edition. Publisher Greenhaven Press, 2003. ISBN 0737714670, 9780737714678, pg 150-189.

Connell, J., and C. Gibson. Sound tracks: Popular music, identity and place. London: Routledge. Pg 145-147. 2003.

Hawkins, S. Settling the pop score: Pop texts & identity politics. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. Pg 121. 2002.

Martino, S.C., Collins, R.L., Elliott, M.N., Strachman, A., Kanouse, D.E., & Berry, S.H. Exposure to degrading vs. non-degrading music lyrics and sexual behavior among youth. Pediatrics, 2006, 118, 430 -- 444.

The massive mollusks still do seem fantastical. Several of the irrational elements of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea seemed more outrageous in the 19th century they do now. However, the novel continues to encapsulate the fantasy and science fiction genres because of its willingness to expand the boundary of what is real. Interestingly, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea did not stretch those boundaries much further than hard science has.

On the other hand, novels such as the ones in the Twilight series are more squarely fantastical. Barring any major scientific discoveries, vampires and shape-shifters simply do not exist. Such elements of the absolutely impossible serve various literary functions. For instance, in New Moon Stephanie Meyer uses vampires and shape-shifters to develop the central character, a human being. As in Frankenstein, the impossible becomes the best means to explore human motivations, dreams, desires, and weaknesses.

Moreover, the fantasy elements are not…

He is faster in every movement than any other of the above mentioned conductors and yet he scarcely sounds rushed" (Laurson 2008).

Even without an extensive knowledge of the history of Brahms symphonic compositions, the modern, 21th century nature of the Janowski approach becomes clear when comparing it to an older recording, that of Leonard Bernstein's. Bernstein's is slower, more ponderous, especially at the beginning, although it should be noted that the Bernstein sounds less like a Beethoven work than the Janowski. It sounds more like a unique, albeit slower-paced composer, more distinctly like Brahms although for some that might not be a 'good thing.' Difficult to love, personally and musically, the fact that Brahms can be an 'acquired taste' and his acceptance may vary with conductor's intentions does not reduce his important contributions in musical variation and creating a fusion between the Classical and Romantic genres of music.

orks…

Works Cited

Brahms, Johannes. "Symphony No.1" Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Marek

Janowski. Pentatone 2007.

Brahms, Johannes. "Symphonies." Conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Vienna Philharmonic.

Deutsche Gramophone. 2007.

One can almost consider that American filmmaking contains fixed ideas where Japanese motion pictures produced by Kurosawa are the result of complex concepts coming from a series of cultures being brought together. In spite of the fact that Kurosawa's film goes against some of the most respected Japanese values during the 1950s, it is nonetheless related to the general context involving Japan. It follows Japanese film-making rules in an attempt to captivate an Asian public through having viewers identify with the characters from time to time. While the fact that the ronins in the film are shown as being glorious and as generally being responsible for the fact that the situation is saved, this type of people was considered to be predisposed to performing immoral acts at the time when the motion picture was released. The Japanese had just survived an international conflict that claimed the lives of many and…

Bibliography:

1. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Seven Samurai. Columbia Pictures, 1956.

2. Dir. John Sturges. The Magnificent Seven. United Artists, 1960.

hile the winner gets a huge amount of money for supposedly being the strongest human, in fact, the strongest human is merely the one that uses the greatest amount of self-centered cunning and brute strength. If one is going to define humanity, especially in the post-Darwinian age, then it would seem that humanity, to be set apart, would depend on altruistic feelings and use of intelligence rather than selfish feelings and use of brute force alone. In this respect, there is little to separate the producers of TV reality shows from Dr. Moreau, and, by extension, little to separate the participants from the man-beasts. hile it is certainly a cynical viewpoint, it would seem that those who participate in the reality shows might be assumed to be as dimly aware of their condition as the man-beasts after their reversion to the more animal state.

Graff compares Dr. Moreau to Mary…

Works Cited

Bergonzi, Bernard. The Early H.G. Wells: A Study of the Scientific Romances. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester UP (1961).

Graff, Ann-Barbara. "Administrative Nihilism': Evolution, Ethics and Victorian Utopian Satire." Utopian Studies 12.2 (2001): 33+. Questia. 27 Sept. 2005  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001049071 .

Hillegas, Mark. The Future as Nightmare: H.G. Wells and the Anti-Utopians. New York: Oxford UP (1967).

Sirabian, Robert. "The Conception of Science in Wells's the Invisible Man." Papers on Language & Literature 37.4 (2001): 382. Questia. 27 Sept. 2005  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000917120 .

Most large cities have a symphony orchestra, which may perform a dozen times during a season. Jazz and the blues, however, are usually available most of the time in small venues like bars and clubs, and often during the year at large festivals, such as the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California. Jazz is gaining in popularity on the radio too, and most larger cities have at least one jazz station, while they might not have a classical station. Classical music is accessible in a number of areas, but jazz and the blues are accessible in many more, and that is why today's listener has a wide choice of options when looking for live jazz and blues concerts.

Any trained musician knows all musical genres have similarities. They all use a distinct language of notes and rhythms, and they all use meter, tempo, and harmony. In this, jazz and blues…

References

Gioia, Ted. "The History of Jazz." WashingtonPost.com. 1997. 18 July 2006.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/historyofjazz.htm 

Knight, Richard. "All That JAZZ." Geographical Oct. 2001: 14.

Porter, Eric. What Is This Thing Called Jazz? African-American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2002.

Shepard, T. Brooks. "Music Notes Earworthy." American Visions Oct. 1999: 48.

Dominik's Killing Them Softly

Andrew Dominik's 2012 American film Killing Them Softly is a screen-adaptation of George Higgins' 1974 crime novel Cogan's Trade. Dominik's screenplay sets the action in modern America during the 2008 election campaign, which serves as a backdrop to the action of the film and allows both director/screenwriter Dominik and his cast of characters to ironically and wittily juxtapose their own agendas, ends and pursuits with those of the political world. Indeed, the film's subtext or undertone is really as pronounced as the main drama, paralleling the narrative in the final race to the showdown: the execution of the robbers of the card game and the election of a new ring leader (aka President of the United States). This paper will show how Dominik uses the underground world of organized crime to parallel and criticize the state of American politics and economics.

Storytelling, Editing, Style and Directing…

Reference List

Bradshaw, P. (2012). Killing Them Softly -- review. Guardian. Retrieved from  http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/sep/20/killing-them-softly-review 

Ebert, R. (2012). Killing Them Softly. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from  http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121128/REVIEWS/121129985 

Kirk, J. (2012). Review: Dominik's 'Killing Them Softly' Drives Message Hard and Well. First Showing. Retrieved from  http://www.firstshowing.net/2012/review-dominiks-killing-them-softly-drives-message-hard-and-well/ 

Pezzotta, E. (2010). Film Analysis: A Comparison Among Criticism, Interpretation,

Big Sleep and Chinatown: Depictions of Noir in Hollywood

Film noir rose to prominence in the late 1940s and was initially described as "murder with a psychological twist" (Spicer, 1). Film noir helped to introduce audiences to a new genre that had distinct trademarks and themes. The Big Sleep, directed by Howard Hawkes and based upon the eponymous Raymond Chandler novel, helped to cement and define the genre. Similarly, Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, helped to redefine the genre, while at the same time, maintaining several aspects of classical film noir. The Big Sleep and Chinatown, though filmed nearly 30 years apart, are definitive films of the film noir genre, helping to establish the role of the hard-boiled detective in the genre, and adhering to the "murder with a psychological twist" trope.

The term film noir was first utilized by French film critic Nino Frank to describe four recently released…

Works Cited

Borde, Raymond and Etienne Chaumeton. A Panorama of American Film Noir: 1941-1953.

Trans. Paul Hammond. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2002. Print.

Hawkes, Howard, dir. The Big Sleep. Warner Bros, 1946. Film.

Polanski, Roman, dir. Chinatown. Paramount Pictures, 1974. Film.