Genre analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Genre analysis - Essay Example At the same time it has made my reflexes so much better, I can feel the difference for myself. Earlier, I was really slow and my reflexes were extremely slow but thanks to the game, I have become much faster now. My hand-eye coordination has also improved tremendously. In addition to this playing online has helped me a lot, I have made so many friends and I constantly play against them to see how good I really am. We also meet outside and spend time together. I became excessively involved and that was when I asked myself some really important questions? Questions like what is the future on gaming and how can I benefit from it? I am investing so much time into it what will I get out of it? These were some extremely important questions that I asked myself and it was very important for me to ask myself these questions and I am delighted I asked these questions just at the right time. â€Å"To narrow my analysis I stumbled upon the Virgin Gaming website.† (Virgin Gaming) The Virgin Gaming website has been developed by the Virgin group and it provides an ideal platform for gamers to grow and develop. I also came across twitch TV website. The Twitch TV website allows gamers to stream gaming videos and attract audience. That was when I started believing that one can make a career out of gaming and I started working towards it. There are so many gamers who have made a career out of gaming and this is certainly possible. So many of them have already been immensely successful. Twitch TV is similar to Youtube and they pay content producers for involving more and more people, this is very similar to Youtube partner program. The audience can contribute greatly, they can chip in with their comments and the types of series they would want to see and the content producers can produce exactly what is required and demanded by the audience. Virgin Gaming is a different ball game altogether. It involves competitive game

Social Psychological Theories of Aggression Essay Example for Free

Social Psychological Theories of Aggression Essay With increasing violence in the Big Brother House I have been asked to create a report that explains this violence occurring in the Big Brother House in terms of two or more social psychological theories.  In general the violence in the big brother house is escalating and theories need to be brought to the attention of the media bosses in order to explain this aggression. The violence does not need to be stopped as the house mates are not breaking any of the Big Brother rules behaving in this manner. Violence on this show can not be viewed as a negative aspect as it increases the number of viewers. However it does need to be explained logically. One explanation could be the Social Learning Theory.  In order for such learning to take place a person must observe persons behaviour and imitate this in the future. The concept of identification is also important as the individual is more likely to imitate some he/she identifies with, in this case it could be another house mate or perhaps previous contestants on the Big Brother show.  For this there are three stages  Ã‚  The Registration Stage, where the observer must pay attention to the model. The observers attention is influenced by characteristics of both the observer and the model. The Storage Stage is when the observer may code and organise the information in relation to any reinforces present, past experiences, expectation, relevance etc  Ã‚  And finally the Retrieval Stage is when the reinforcers determine whether the behaviour is imitated and the observers performance will be dependant on the persons ability to perform the act.  From this one idea would be that these contestants are just mimicking other house mates actions. This is one an idea but I believe it is that the new house mates are mimicking other years Big Brothers contestants. This is due to the fact that if you want to go onto Big brother you would like to become famous, and most of the time the most aggressive, avoidant, destructive contestants are the ones who get the most air time and incidentally are more widely known in society thereafter. There are many studies that support this view, of which one of the most astounding is that of Bandura et al 63 which was based on two groups of children where an experimental group observed an adult play aggressively with a 5 foot inflatable doll. The control condition observed an adult play properly in the room ignoring the doll completely. The findings from this study showed that the children from this experimental group showed significantly more verbal and physical acts of aggression than the control group, supporting evidence that they imitated the behaviour of the role model. On the other hand the children could have just copied the adults actions as it is a novel situation, or were unsure of how to play with the bobo doll and just followed the adults actions. Also with young children it would be hard to generalise the findings to adults, in particular our contestants. Not entirely supporting the views of learning, Banduras study shows learning still could be a contributing factor. This is because there are still many other ways of learning to be aggressive, for example learning from society, your family, and more often than not, the media. One attempt at showing how behaviours could be learnt from the media is from Manstead et al 95 in which he outlines these five variables;  1. If the observed behaviour is thought to be real it is more likely to be imitated. 2. If viewers identify with the aggressor then they are more likely to imitate.  3. If the aggressive behaviour is based on revenge it is more likely to be copied than aggressive behaviour based on achieving goals.  4. If the behaviour is seen to be just then it is more likely to be imitated.  5. Aggressive behaviour which is followed by punishment is less likely to be pursued.  With these five variables comes the proposition that acts of violence have to follow two other criteria to be considered as acts of violence;  1. People, human groups or living things (including animals with human characteristics) are physically harmed, restrained, barely escape death, injury, pain etc 2. Also that the harm is caused by or explained in terms of the behaviour of other people  So if the media is to blame why isnt all of society acting aggressive, and not just out housemates? The main answer is that most of the media (not including news bulletins which have around 1%) have between 37 and 80% non aggressive incidents within a typical programme, documentary or article.  This then means that the Big Brother contestants that are behaving aggressively see the same percentage of aggression within the media as the non-aggressive contestants. Which leads to the next question, why are they all not behaving quite similar? Well I believe there has to be an underlying factor that changes the level of aggression shown by different people, as we are all exposed to the same amount of violence in the media. I believe that comes in the form of relative deprivation. This proposes that the cause of a conflict is the unacceptable discrepancy between what people think they have a right to expect, and what people (given current social conditions) are actually able to obtain. In the case of the Big Brother aggression the relative deprivation theory offers an explanation which is based on the contrast between groups expected and actual access and prosperity to power. This is always seen in every Big Brother series as there are independent groups that form within the first week and then contrast on views with other groups of people within the Big Brother House. This is portrayed well over the television and the whole series and is sometimes used by the producers to increase conflict within the house which in turn then increases ratings. This is done by giving groups of people more access or the notion that they have more access to luxury goods for example alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate etc this then leads on to absolute deprivation (Gurr 70) where some groups of people are actually worse off than others within a proximity.

Ansel Adams :: essays papers

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams was born in San Francisco in 1902, the only child of Charles and Olive Adams. He grew up in a house overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and had a strong appreciation for beauty. By 1908 Adams was an enormously curious and gifted child, and began a precarious and largely unsuccessful journey through the rigid structure of the public school system. In 1914 Adams taught himself to play the piano and excelled at his serious study of music, however he despised the regimentation of a regular education, and was taken out of school. For that year, his father bought him a season pass to the Panama-Pacific Exposition, which he visited nearly every day, and began to receive private scholastic instruction from tutors. In 1916 Adams convinced his parents to take a family vacation in Yosemite National Park. It was here that he took his first picture at the age of 14 with a box Brownie camera given to him by his parents. Ansel immediately developed an enthusiastic interest in both photography and the nati In 1931 he began writing a photography column for The Fortnightly. He could no longer keep up with orders for his prints or requests for him to exhibit. In 1932, Adams with Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke, Edward Weston, and other proponents of pure photography, founded Group f.64, and was part of the renowned Group f.64 exhibition at the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco. In 1933 his son Michael was born and two years later his daughter Anne was born. Always striving to improve the field of photography he developed his Zone System technique of exposure and development control while teaching at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. For his accomplis hments he was granted the Guggenheim Fellowship, so that he could continue his photography. In 1949 he becomes a consultant to the newly founded Polaroid Corporation. For many years he continued to photograph commercially, most extensively for Universities in California. In 1959 he moderated a series of five films for television, once again demonstrating h On April 22 1984 Ansel Easton Adams died of heart failure aggravated by cancer. Major stories appeared on all primary television networks and on the front page of most newspapers nationwide. A commemorative exhibition and memorial celebration was held in Carmel. California Senators Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson sponsored successful legislation to create an Ansel Adams Wilderness Area of more than 100,000 acres between Yosemite National Park and the John Muir Wilderness Area. Ansel Adams :: essays papers Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams was born in San Francisco in 1902, the only child of Charles and Olive Adams. He grew up in a house overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and had a strong appreciation for beauty. By 1908 Adams was an enormously curious and gifted child, and began a precarious and largely unsuccessful journey through the rigid structure of the public school system. In 1914 Adams taught himself to play the piano and excelled at his serious study of music, however he despised the regimentation of a regular education, and was taken out of school. For that year, his father bought him a season pass to the Panama-Pacific Exposition, which he visited nearly every day, and began to receive private scholastic instruction from tutors. In 1916 Adams convinced his parents to take a family vacation in Yosemite National Park. It was here that he took his first picture at the age of 14 with a box Brownie camera given to him by his parents. Ansel immediately developed an enthusiastic interest in both photography and the nati In 1931 he began writing a photography column for The Fortnightly. He could no longer keep up with orders for his prints or requests for him to exhibit. In 1932, Adams with Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke, Edward Weston, and other proponents of pure photography, founded Group f.64, and was part of the renowned Group f.64 exhibition at the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco. In 1933 his son Michael was born and two years later his daughter Anne was born. Always striving to improve the field of photography he developed his Zone System technique of exposure and development control while teaching at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. For his accomplis hments he was granted the Guggenheim Fellowship, so that he could continue his photography. In 1949 he becomes a consultant to the newly founded Polaroid Corporation. For many years he continued to photograph commercially, most extensively for Universities in California. In 1959 he moderated a series of five films for television, once again demonstrating h On April 22 1984 Ansel Easton Adams died of heart failure aggravated by cancer. Major stories appeared on all primary television networks and on the front page of most newspapers nationwide. A commemorative exhibition and memorial celebration was held in Carmel. California Senators Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson sponsored successful legislation to create an Ansel Adams Wilderness Area of more than 100,000 acres between Yosemite National Park and the John Muir Wilderness Area.

Marketing strategies of the crescent

In the recent years, Amtrak has been forced to undertake new marketing strategies due to declining sales.   As faster and more cost effective ways of traveling have become more popular and cost effective, train travel has had some difficulty keeping up.   However, traveling by train offers some unique opportunities and experiences that are not available with other modes of transportation.   Amtrak is attempting to use these unique attributes to market its train that travels from New York City to New Orleans and back, the Crescent. Amtrak has been marketing the Crescent by emphasizing the comfort that it offers as compared to other forms of transportation.   The new marketing strategies of Amtrak compare the seats of the Crescent with the seats on an airplane and show that the seats on the Crescent more spacious as compared to the seats an airplane.   This marketing strategy is also similar to the new â€Å"travel as you wish† campaign for Amtrak Cascades which emphasizes the comfort and luxuries of traveling by train. Another marketing strategy that Amtrak has employed is by improving the quality of the meals that are served since the Crescent is also equipped with a dining car which serves full meals that are cooked fresh aboard the train.   The menu on board the Crescent has a wide variety of choices to select from and the quality of the food is much better than typical airline food.   In line with this marketing plan, Amtrak has also kept the prices of foods and beverages in its dining car and snack bar reasonable to provide the passenger with all the eating opportunities possible. The marketing strategies for the Crescent that have been utilized by Amtrak also emphasize the fact that train travel is more convenient and enjoyable than any other mode of land transportation, especially for families.   Unlike traveling by car or any other mode of land transportation, traveling by train allows passengers to sit back and enjoy the ride. There is no more need to worry about taking a wrong turn or trying to navigate by using folded maps that are inaccurate or outdated or even finding a nice place to use the restroom.   Amtrak capitalizes on this advantage by marketing its services to families with children by offering discounted rates for children traveling with adults.   This makes train travel a great experience for the entire family because it also allows the children to wander around on board the train as opposed to being confined to the backseat of a car. Boarding a train has also been made much easier by Amtrak to the extent that is has made this even easier than boarding an airplane.   The passengers can avoid long lines and are allowed to keep most of their luggage within easy access of their seat.   This is even better than airplanes which only allow hand carried items of limited dimensions to be stored on board with the passenger and cause a certain level of inconvenience for the passenger, not only during boarding but also upon arrival and waiting at the luggage claim area. Another inconvenience caused by traveling by airplane which Amtrak has used to its advantage it by allowing the use of cellular phones throughout the duration of the train ride.   This advantage appeals to those who have important business to conduct but still prefer to travel comfortably.   The cellular phone use allows businessmen and bankers to be on top of their work while enjoying the many fine facilities and comforts that the Crescent can provide. The Crescent is sometimes equipped with an observation car that allows travelers to climb up to a second level and enjoy a panoramic perspective of their surroundings through its large windows, which unlike in an airplane, allows the train travelers to enjoy much of the scenery as they travel.   This is another advantage that the Crescent has over the modes of transportation because it allows the passenger to literally see life as it passes buy and to experience and behold first hand the breathtaking beauty of America. While there are those who criticize train travel by saying that there are to many stops along the way, the train can still sometimes be a faster option than traveling by car because of the fact that passengers can sleep on a real bed while they travel throughout the night or even during the day thus eliminating the rest stops that accompany traveling by car. The Crescent also offers such comfortable beds that even the passengers sleeping in the coach section of the train have a much more restful and revitalizing rest experience as compared to attempting to sleep in the cramp and uncomfortable seats on an airplane.   Not only does the Crescent allow passengers to be well rested for their arrival at their destination it also makes the travel time much shorter as opposed to traveling by car or by bus. Another convenient aspect of the Crescent, which Amtrak has capitalized on in its marketing strategies, is the fact that most train stations are located right in the middle of downtown business districts.   This is the reason why Amtrak has been marketing train travel as a viable alternative aggressively to business travelers.   Instead of having to go through the hassle of claiming baggage in an airport, finding a taxi, and then finally arriving at your destination, business travelers can walk or take a short subway ride to train station or from the train station to their intended destination. This saves a great deal of time and also allows these weary businessmen to maximize their work days while ensuring that they are not too stressed out or harassed as they normally would through other modes of transportation.   The fact that the Crescent also has comfortable beds and even allow the use of cellular phones provides the businessman with more opportunities to work yet at the same time not feel too harassed or troubled by the time that he arrives at this final destination. Trains are also a good option for business travelers because they are less susceptible to weather delays thus offer greater reliability.   These advantages of trains are the key points in the marketing strategies of Amtrak with respect to its Crescent Line and are the main draws for businessmen. The 9/11 attacks have also increased the volume of passengers on the Crescent Line of Amtrak as more and more Americans realize just how dependent the nation has become on a single mode of transportation which has proven vulnerable to attacks and tragedies.   The tragedy has shown that passenger rail is vital and Amtrak greatly anticipates that more and more Americans will take to traveling by train instead of by airplanes because of this incident.   The spotless record of train travel with regard to hijacking has been a great influence on many American’s decisions to travel by train instead and Amtrak has capitalized on this by giving worried travelers the security option of traveling by train. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina may have greatly disrupted the Crescent’s route from New York to New Orleans but it also created a unique marketing opportunity for Amtrak. Amtrak used this to its advantage and worked diligently to restore train service to the New Orleans area via the Crescent within a month and a half of the aftermath caused by the hurricane and by doing so became one of the first companies to do so. Many of the railroad tracks leading to the city were severely damaged in the storm.   A press released announced the restoration of train service to the city and Amtrak officials stated that they hoped that having the city accessible by train once again would aid the city in its effort to start rebuilding.   The situation allowed Amtrak to show the people of New Orleans that Amtrak values their city and looks forward to things returning to a more normal pace in the area. Another key step in this was in November 2005, when Amtrak began offering discounted rates to passengers traveling to New Orleans.   Travelers received a twenty percent discount on fares to New Orleans.   Amtrak said they hoped that by making it more affordable, more tourists would be able to travel to New Orleans, boosting not only their sales, but the economy of the city.   The discount was also offered to assist aid workers who traveled to the city. Amtrak has also vied for the business of people traveling on cruises out of New Orleans.   Carnival and Amtrak partnered to offer twenty five percent discounts to passengers traveling on the Crescent to reach the port of New Orleans to depart on their cruise.   The two companies hope that this is an incentive for tourists to travel to New Orleans thus helping the city recover faster.   Amtrak was able to capitalize on this situation by showing that they are more than just a company that cares for the welfare of its passengers but also a company that cares for the welfare of America. These key advantages of traveling by train are also the key marketing strategies of Amtrak in increasing the volume of passengers on its Crescent Line.   The relative comfort, reliability, luxury, convenience and security which the Crescent provides is incentive enough for any businessmen or any traveler for that matter to prefer traveling by train over the modes of transportation throughout America.

Dover Beach

George 1 Joshua George Instructor Sarah Poffenroth EN 115 23 October 2012 Essay Two: The theme of ‘Illusion versus Reality’ in Matthew Arnold’s ‘Dover Beach’ ‘Dover Beach’ is a poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. The locale of the poem is the English ferry port of Dover Kent, facing Calais, France. This was the place where Matthew Arnold honeymooned in 1851 (Wikipedia Contributors).In Matthew Arnold’s ‘Dover Beach’, the speaker draws visual imagery to show that what is generally perceived is false and hence an illusion, and he contrasts it using aural imagery to show what is truly real, the bitter reality of losing faith in one’s tradition, culture, and religion. The poem is unevenly divided into four stanzas. The first stanza has fourteen lines, whereas the second, third, and fourth have six, eight, and nine lines, respectively. Ruth Pitman calls this poem a series of incomplete sonnets (109).The poem has no particular rhyme scheme except for stanza four which follows the rhyme scheme- abbacddcc. The events described in the poem allude to the Victorian Era (1837-1901) (Wikipedia Contributors), which was a time of industrialization and introduction of scientific theories and ideas such as the Theory of Evolution which questioned major principles of Christianity. Some critics say that the speaker in the poem is Matthew Arnold himself because the location where the events in the poem take place isGeorge 2 Dover beach, where Arnold went for honeymoon with his wife. The poem is thought to be composed in 1851 and that is the year when Arnold honeymooned (Wikipedia Contributors). The speaker paints visual imagery of the scene in lines 1-8. Words such as ‘calm’ and ‘tranquil’ create an image of stability whereas words such as ‘glimmering’ and ‘vast’ describe the visual beauty of the scene. The first stanza also uses words like ‘roarâ €™ and ‘tremulous cadence’ to draw an aural image of the scene.Notice the contrast Arnold draws by using visual and aural imagery; the former expresses illusion (calm, beautiful, tranquil, etc. ) and the latter expresses reality (tremulous cadence) which induces sadness. The beginning of the first stanza describes the beauty of ‘Dover beach’. Midway through the stanza, the speaker invites his love (mentioned in stanza four) to ‘come to the window’ (line 6) and listen to the grating roar of the pebbles. By saying ‘come to the window’ the speaker wants his love to see things from his perspective.Alternatively, it could also mean looking at things closely as implied by lines seven and eight where the speaker mentions that ‘only, from the long line of spray where the sea meets the moon-blanched land’ (the shore) can you hear the ‘grating roar of pebbles’. The sound made by the pebbles when it is drawn and flung by waves, creates a note of sadness in the speaker’s heart. The first stanza shows the incompatibility between what is perceived and what is truly real. The material things of the world are in a way an illusion created by the world but the truth can be only known when we closely inspect everything.By introducing Sophocles (Greek playwright) in the second stanza, the speaker wants to emphasize the fact that he is not the only one to experience sadness induces by the sound of pebbles tossed about by the waves which ‘brought into his (Sophocles’) mind the turbid ebb and George 3 flow of human misery’ (lines 17-18). The speaker feels the same. This poem was written in the Victorian Era. It was a time of industrialization, economic prosperity and introduction of scientific ideas such as ‘Darwin’s Evolution Theory’ which made people question tradition, culture, and religion.People lost all their faith; though on the outside they seemed calm, happy and in control, the speaker feels that deep down inside they all experienced sadness due to their lack of faith (stanza 3). In the third stanza, the speaker talks about faith. The speaker feels that people used to be full of faith but due to the modern age and its ideas, people have lost their faith in tradition, culture, and religion. The speaker illustrates this by using the image of clothes. When people had faith in religion, the world used to be clothed (Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled).Once they lost their faith, they were stripped of these clothes like ‘naked shingles of the earth’. Thus, the third stanza brings out the bitter reality of that time. Depressed by the condition of humans the speaker turns to his lover and wants them to be true to one another. Stanza four brings back the illusion presented in stanza one. The speaker says, â€Å"For the world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, so various, so beautiful, so new , hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain† (lines 30-34).Here the word ‘seems’ implies that the world isn’t what it is normally perceived (it is an illusion) as (land of dreams, beautiful etc. ) but it has bitter reality attached to it. This melancholy awareness of the poet is put perfectly by Rodney Delasanta; he wrote, â€Å"The theme of the poem (the poet’s melancholy awareness of the terrible incompatibility between illusion and reality) is supported by the use of visual imagery to express illusion and auditory imagery to express reality† (1). George 4 H.Wayne Schow points out an interesting thing; the phraseology of the poem is similar to Romans 8:38-39, where Paul writes: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the l ove of God. This shows that Arnold knew the Bible well. He could have used it deliberately to contrast the piece of scripture from Romans to emphasize the current state of humankind (27).Arnold’s â€Å"Dover Beach† uses imagery, symbolism, and other poetic devices to reveal the theme of illusion versus reality. Throughout the poem we can see the speaker’s struggle which is well supported by the inconsistent rhythm and meter. The speaker beautifully describes it by using visual imagery to express illusions and aural imagery to express harsh reality. The speaker expresses his desire to have faith and be honest with his love but towards the end of the poem slides back to pessimism due to the realization of the reality. George 5 Works Cited Wikipedia contributors. â€Å"Victorian era.   Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Wikipedia contributors. â€Å"Dover Beach. †Ã‚  Wikipedia, The Free Enc yclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Sep. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Pitman, Ruth. â€Å"On Dover Beach. † Essays in Criticism. XXIII (1973): 109-136. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Schow, H. Wayne. â€Å"Arnold’s Dover Beach. † The Explicator. (1998): 26-27. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Delasanta, Rodney. Explicator. XVIII (1959): 1. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Fain, John T. â€Å"Arnold’s Dover Beach. † (2002): 40-42. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

Flower Shop Chemistry Magic Trick - Violets

Flower Shop Chemistry Magic Trick - Violets In this chemistry magic trick, youll produce the odor of violets by mixing two common chemicals. This demonstration is also known as the flower shop magic trick. Odor of Violets - Materials Sodium carbonate and castor oil are sold at many stores. Sodium carbonate is used in cooking and as a water softener. Castor oil usually is sold in the pharmacy section. sodium carbonate [buy online]castor oil [buy online] Perform the Trick This is a terrific chemistry demonstration because the materials are common and inexpensive and its extremely quick and easy to perform: In a dry test tube or small beaker, add a scoop of sodium carbonate and 3 drops of castor oil.Heat the container in a burner flame or on a hot plate until a cloud of white vapor rises from the chemicals.Walk around the room with the glassware to allow the fragrance to dissipate. The odor of violets is evident. How It Works When sodium carbonate and castor oil are heated together, one of the products is ionone. Although it is a simple demonstration, this is a fairly complicated reaction, in which citral and acetone with calcium oxide catalyze an aldol condensation followed by a rearrangement reaction. A mixture of alpha and beta ionone is responsible for the characteristic odor of violets. Beta ionone is a component of the fragrance responsible for the scent of roses, too. Natural or synthetic ionone is used in many perfumes and flavorings. In flowers, ionones derive from the degradation of carotenoids, which are pigment molecules. An interesting property of violets is that they are responsible for another type of chemical magic. Violets temporarily steal your sense of smell! Initially, ionone binds to scent receptors and stimulates them, so you smell the odor of violets. Then, for a few moments, the receptors are unable to receive further stimulus. You lose awareness of the fragrance, only to regain it when it registers as a new smell. Whether you like the scent of violets or not, its a scent that cant become overpowering or fade with time. Learn More More Science Magic TricksMake Rose WaterDesign Your Own Perfume

Movies on filmmaking essays

Movies on filmmaking essays Two films that show the ups, and more often the downs of filmmaking are 8 Â ½ by Fellini and Day for Night by Francios Truffaut. The films follow around the crew and cast who are in the process of filming a movie. What is of most interest are the difficulties movie producers and writers grapple with, even the exaggerated problems that could only happen in movies. Both films have their similarities and differences in film content and methods of filming which we will discuss. One important characteristic of filmmaking in both movies is the difficulty, the problems, and sometimes the solutions that filmmakers come across. I say sometimes because sometimes theres nothing you can do which can eventually lead to the closing of production as we see in 8 Â ½. In 8 Â ½ there are not to many production problems but only because the director Quido wont give anyone a script or tell anyone what the movie is about. Towards the end of the film you come to realize that the film is somewhat of a documentary of his life, and at the same time a documentary about the difficulties a director faces when under pressure. In actuality most of the problems in the move seemed to be personal problems, Like that between himself, his wife Luisa and his mistress Carla; not forgetting Quidos crazy dreams and flashbacks that just make the movie even more confusing then it already is. Day for night has a different set of problems, unlike 8 Â ½ many of the problems are occurring during production, and not limited to one person but instead much of the cast and crew. Granted some of the problems are a little more realistic than others. For example, in one scene you see the crew trying to film a cat drinking milk and we must sit through it along with the crew who try repeatedly to get the cat to drink. That is a relatively realistic example compared to the lead actor who is going out with the script girl only to b...

10 Metals and Minerals for Metaphors

10 Metals and Minerals for Metaphors 10 Metals and Minerals for Metaphors 10 Metals and Minerals for Metaphors By Mark Nichol Metals and minerals sometimes inspire associations with human characteristics or with circumstances, as in the case of the examples below: 1. Adamant Few people realize that this word, which in adjectival form means â€Å"insistent† or â€Å"unyielding,† has a lustrous origin: It comes from a Greek noun by way of Latin and originally referred to a diamond or any hard metal. In English, it also is a noun referring to the same materials or any similarly adamantine substances (yes, adamantine is a variant adjective). 2. Brassy From an association with the stridency of brass musical instruments, this adjective has come to refer not just to a quality of sound (as well as a description for the metal compound) but also to bold, clamorous, or unruly behavior. 3. Bronze The comparison of deeply tanned skin with the color of the metallic compound has resulted in the use of bronze to refer to a person with dark skin, either due to genetics or to extensive tanning, as in the reference to a physically imposing man with this hue as â€Å"a bronzed god.† 4. Flinty This term meaning â€Å"stern, unyielding† comes from the hard variety of quartz known as flint, which sparks when struck by steel and has therefore been used for millennia to start fires (though the â€Å"flint† in cigarette lighters is actually an iron alloy). The word skinflint, a synonym for miser, evokes the image of someone attempting to peel a layer off of a hunk of flint (a futile gesture because of its hardness). 5. Golden The value placed on the element gold has led to the use of the adjective golden for various figurative references. Among these, a golden musical tone is a mellow, resonant one; someone or something that is or is expected to be excellent, popular, or otherwise remarkable is marked, for instance, as a golden boy; an age or era might be described as golden; and a favorable occasion is often referred to as a golden opportunity. 6. Iron The word for this fundamental metallic element has been appropriated as an adjective denoting strength (â€Å"iron will†), robustness (â€Å"iron constitution†), relentlessness (â€Å"iron determination†), and firmness (â€Å"iron grip†). The rarely used noun form of these figurative senses is ironness. 7. Leaden Lead, because of its density and its dull color, is associated with literal (â€Å"leaden trudge†) and figurative (â€Å"leaden skies†) heaviness, as well as with dispirited or unsubtle characteristics. 8. Ossified This term literally denotes changing into bone and figuratively refers to becoming set in one’s ways. (Although bone is not strictly a mineral, it is largely composed of various minerals, hence its inclusion on the list.) 9. Silver The adjective form of the noun silver refers to soft or dulcet sounds (as of chimes), or to eloquent persuasion (â€Å"silver tongued†). Glossy gray hair is often referred to as silver, and that description leads to connotations of mature elegance (â€Å"silver-haired dignity†). 10. Steely This adjective referring to strength and hardness is best known as part of the clichà ©s â€Å"steely determination† and â€Å"steely resolve.† 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 Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?Acronym vs. InitialismAdverbs and Hyphens

Gas Cell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gas Cell - Essay Example Configured for gas sampling, the cell incorporates 2 valves, an inlet and an outlet, that enable flowing gas samples through the cell. In its solid and liquid vaporization configuration, the cell has an outlet needle valve from which a vacuum can be pulled and two (2) sample inlets. One inlet is a needle septa injection port on the top of the cell which is similar to the type used in gas chromatography. There is a second inlet in the form of a side port for inserting solid samples, which also doubles as the thermocouple port. Using the side port eliminates the need to recheck vacuum seals whenever the cell is opened to insert solid samples. The 250w heating jacket extends over the end of the cell so that both the cell body and the optics are heated, and allows operation at temperatures up to 1000K. Condensation on the optics is minimized by heating them to the same temperature as the sample chamber. A type J iron constantan thermocouple is provided with plugs which are compatible with the optional temperature controller. The cell body is type 304 stainless steel and an assortment of seals is provided - silicon rubber, viton and PTFE. Stainless Steel 304: SS 304 is the most versatile and the most ... It also has excellent low temperature properties and responds well to hardening by cold working. SS 304 is used in all industrial, commercial and domestic fields because of its good corrosion and heat resisting properties. Using SS304 is reducing the chances of failure of cell due to heating & creep. Creep Data Stress for a creep rate of 1% in 10 000 h. Temperature, oC 550 600 650 700 800 Temperature, K 823 873 923 973 1073 Stress, MPa 120 80 50 30 10 Environment Data/ Corrosion Rate The performance of SX 304 compared with other metals in various environments is shown in the following table. The corrosion rates are based on a 10 year exposure. Environment Corrosion Rate (m/year) SS 304 Mild Steel Rural 0.0025 5.8 Marine 0.0076 34.0 Marine Industrial 0.0076 46.2 So as compared to other metals stainless steel 304 is having very less corrosion rate, so this metal is best for the Gas cell. Stainless steel is also a preferred substrate because of its lower cost to fabricate into a mirror it requires multi-layer coatings, including gold as the primary reflective surface, which is expensive. Copper: Copper is a chemical element. Copper is malleable, ductile, excellent electrical conductor, non magnetic, resistant to corrosion, excellent heat transfer capacity, durable, & recyclable element. It is a ductile metal with excellent electrical conductivity and is rather soft in its pure state and has a pinkish luster which is. It finds extensive use as an electrical conductor, heat conductor, as a building material, and as a component of various alloys. Though copper has ductility property hence it can be drawn into thin wire. The ductility property of copper can reduce the chance of failure of cell due to

How Political Machines Helped Evolve American Cities Essay

How Political Machines Helped Evolve American Cities - Essay Example It is purely based on patronagei. These are a group of people having a political power to control ‘behind-the-scene.’ A political machine is normally composed of three (3) elements: the part bosses or a county committee; election district captains; and party loyalists. (The Social Studies Help Center, 2007) Each department of the political machine has a specific role to play. officers, have the power to dominate and rule over the elections and the city government. This gives them the power to choose individuals they wish to nominate as part of the government officials like city mayors, judges, county commissioners, and prosecutors. The district captains are responsible in establishing a good relationship with hundreds of families within their district by helping the family members find jobs. Sometimes, district captains may assist the family members in solving minor legal problems. Most of the time, the captains are obliged to do some informal social services like providing the family members some money, food, shelter, and clothing. Lastly, the party loyalists contributes a lot to the political machine with votes and financial support that comes from extending favors to those who are in need of jobs. The party loyalists collect approximately 10 percent of the salaries of each individual working in the city. The development of infrastructure is very important in the economic development of a country. Let us take a look at the past effects of political machine in New York City. Sometime between the years 1820 – 1870, the population of New Yorkers rose up to 800,000 due to the Irish and German immigrants composing of half the total population in the city of New York. The development of urban infrastructure like streets, roads, buildings, telecommunication system, electricity and transportation like railroad were inadequate due to the sudden demand for a change. The officials of the city government were not capable of solving the sudden environmental,

British Airway is a listed industrial company on the London Stock Essay

British Airway is a listed industrial company on the London Stock Exchange,obtain its published annual reports and aacounts - Essay Example The financial performance and position analysis of British Airways can be done with the help of profitability, leverage and liquidity ratios in comparison with one of its major industrial competitors i.e. Air France-KLM (banker.thomsonib.com). The analysis of Air France-KLM would serve as a benchmark for the evaluation of performance and position of British Airways plc. The profitability ratios presented in the above table highlight both the companies i.e. British Airways plc and Air France-KLM for the last 4 years 2002-05. The return on assets ratio for British Airways reveals that the company has been generating a declining return on its various assets over the last four years. This ratio has decreased by about 39% in 2005 as compared to the year 2002. For Air France, this ratio also shows that the return generated by the company on its various assets has been consistently declining over the four years. The ratio has decreased by about 50% in the year 2005 as compared to 2002. Despite this fact, Air France's return on asset ratio is about 12% higher than that of the British Airways plc for the year 2005. This suggests that Air France has been more successful in utilising its assets towards the generation of profit. The return on capital employed ratio indicates the extent to which a company generates return on the funds invested by its investors. According the above table, British Airways' return on capital employed ratio has been on the declining trend for the last four years suggesting a significant plunge in the company's net profits. The ROCE for British Airways has declined by about 30% in the year 2005 as compared to 2002. Approximately, the similar situation has been with its competitor Air France plc; its ROCE has also been declining but at a higher rate than British Airways i.e. 50% if the figures for the year 2005 are compared with 2002. Still, Air France's ROCE is much higher than that of the British Airways. The three profit margin ratios depicted in the above chart i.e. the gross profit margin, operating margin and net profit margin provide an insight into these companies' general profitability. The gross profit margin shows the revenue that is left with the company after accounting for various production and distribution costs. The operating margin reveals the extent to which a company loses its sales revenues in meeting its

Web Server Application Attacks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Web Server Application Attacks - Research Paper Example A command injection attack refers to an attack aimed at compromising the sensitive information featured in the back end database that supports the interactive aspects of a web application. Included under this category are issues like cross-site scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injection. To curb this attack, organizations need to plan and address the security matters that pertain to their web solutions during web development or planning stages. Examples of such approaches would be to hire web application developers with proper knowledge on use of more sophisticated database capabilities like stored procedures to reside in the back end database system or the concept of data objects when writing APIs to access the database system that supports the web utilities. Equally, XSS issues can be handled by employing Model Viewer Controller (MVC) frameworks like Codeignitor while developing web applications. Such frameworks have in-built capabilities to suppress the efforts of clients who try to launch XSS attacks. A precaution taken during the development or planning of a web application is worthwhile for the reason that security issues are harder to handle once a system is deployed or implemented. The third type of attack that targets web servers is interception of unencrypted information that is channeled in communication sessions that take place between the client browsers and the servers. One way to combat this problem is to use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) in web-centered communication. SSL helps in creating an encrypted link between client-server communications. In particular, the concept uses SSL certificates (typically methods like symmetric and asymmetric encryption) to transfer sensitive information like social security numbers and credit card numbers. In the diagram, the server first sends a copy that bears its asymmetric

Social media Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social media - Article Example The art in the area can be linked majorly on high technology manufacturing. With the development of numerous online users, Burning Man has become a major base where product and commercial products can develop (Turner, 2009). This brings in the concept of technology and how the same can make programs in the society successful. From the work of Weinberger (2011), one would argue that the same relates to that Botsman’s video (2015) and the work of Turner (2009) since this work explains how technology has transformed life. Weinberger (2011) writes that in this day, there is a possibility for the creation of machines that can even predict the future. This machine can simply compare information that exist in the past then make predication. From this description, one can tell how technology has been used as a major aspect in human lives in the society today. In as much one can question human understanding, what is evident is that technology is creating the possibility of devising systems that are major revolutions in the world today. The same case applies to the Havas report that explains the concept of the sharing economy and the new consumers. In this work, Havas Prosumer Report (2014) explain how the consumptions have changed with consumers being smarter and having complete change of attitude as opposed to the earlier centuries. Companies have been given a chance to transform their markets, and even enter in fields that they would not have before. This has been facilitated through technology that has allowed entrepreneurs access different ways of capitalizing on the existing sources of revenue. Product designs and innovation has also been revolutionized thanks to the application of technological advances. In line with these thoughts, it is arguable that the authors aim to bring out the concept that the globe is changing in

Legal Aspects of Nursing - Homework 5 Case Study

Legal Aspects of Nursing - Homework 5 - Case Study Example On trial, other nurses stated that they frequently made paper records during breaks or at end of shift, often when they could hardly remember the dosages administered to patients. In addition, nurses would electronically sign for narcotics and prepare IV drip bags in advance of when needed and discard the same when no longer required or when physicians changed orders. In addition, nurses deviated from physicians order for an IM injection by thus electing to provide medication by an IV route. In addition, the hospital lacked a clear policy on when nurses such as preceptor and mentee, both had a responsibility for patient care. The suspended nurse also admitted that she recorded the data long after administration and in some cases in the following day (Guido, 2009). Legal aspects in nursing provide the framework for establishing the acceptable care to the client and outline the responsibilities of the nurses. The law in nursing also outlines the boundaries in independent actions of nur sing and provides for the standards of nursing practice. Nursing law ensures that nurses obtain the informed consent of the patients before any treatment and provide information to the clients on any condition that requires diagnosis and also the benefits and risks of the alternative modes of treatment (Guido, 2009). In the above case, the facility has sufficient evidence to suspend the nurse from employment. The nurse is liable since she testified that she recorded their paper documents at the end of the shifts or even the following day. According to legal framework, the nurse must carry out the physician orders unless she reasonably believes that there is an error. The nurse must seek a clarification from the physician or immediate supervisor; otherwise she is liable for any harm experienced by the patient. If nurses are requested to float to another unit, the nurse must have the capacity and experience to carry out the duties since one is held liable for the same standards of car e as those other nurses working regularly in that unit. In addition, the nurse is liable for not reporting unsafe nursing practice such as theft of narcotics in the facility (Guido, 2009). Surprisingly, the facility had allowed nurses to sign for narcotics electronically and prepare IV drips in advance and discard the same IV bags when not needed by the physicians. The evidence of other nurses is critical in determining the outcome of this case since other nurses did not follow the legal procedure in medical documentation. The nurses clarified that they had deviated from physician’s order for an IM injection, thus choosing to provide medication by IV route. Finally, the organisation lacked a standard procedure and policy framework for paper records when a preceptor and a mentee were involved. The testimony other nurses would impact on the outcome of the case. For instance, the testimony proves the negligence of the hospital facility in safeguarding the safety of patients sinc e not policies that outline the working relationship of a preceptor and mentee and who should record the narcotics usage. The institutions should first preview the paper record documentation of all nurses and review the authority of each personnel in the organisation. The institution should also review the nurse-patient relationship before the court of law (Guido, 2009). If I

Social media Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social media - Article Example The art in the area can be linked majorly on high technology manufacturing. With the development of numerous online users, Burning Man has become a major base where product and commercial products can develop (Turner, 2009). This brings in the concept of technology and how the same can make programs in the society successful. From the work of Weinberger (2011), one would argue that the same relates to that Botsman’s video (2015) and the work of Turner (2009) since this work explains how technology has transformed life. Weinberger (2011) writes that in this day, there is a possibility for the creation of machines that can even predict the future. This machine can simply compare information that exist in the past then make predication. From this description, one can tell how technology has been used as a major aspect in human lives in the society today. In as much one can question human understanding, what is evident is that technology is creating the possibility of devising systems that are major revolutions in the world today. The same case applies to the Havas report that explains the concept of the sharing economy and the new consumers. In this work, Havas Prosumer Report (2014) explain how the consumptions have changed with consumers being smarter and having complete change of attitude as opposed to the earlier centuries. Companies have been given a chance to transform their markets, and even enter in fields that they would not have before. This has been facilitated through technology that has allowed entrepreneurs access different ways of capitalizing on the existing sources of revenue. Product designs and innovation has also been revolutionized thanks to the application of technological advances. In line with these thoughts, it is arguable that the authors aim to bring out the concept that the globe is changing in

Issues in Arts Politics project prospectus Essay

Issues in Arts Politics project prospectus - Essay Example With an evaluation of the video viewers’ statistics, the study implements that the developed online videos , trailers, short films, and other digital copiesdevolved a situation of increased business value; hence, rendering art as an important aspect of developing businesses and guaranteeing income and improved lifestyles to its practitioners. In relation to Dr. James McQuivey arguments, the value accrued by an individual video developer after streaming a one-minute video clip through the available and renowned online sites is equivalent to 1.8 million words. The Forrester Research based analyst provokes an understanding that the online community or any other businessperson would be incapacitated to deliver the aspired information through writing since the ill-advised alternative will consume a range of 3,800 web pages. Therefore, the writing process will be challenging the business value of the video as the writing process will consume a period of 150 days at the least (GarciÃŒ a & YuÃŒ dice, 2001). Holding to the fact that the developed online video depicted the intended message and attracted a large population of viewers, it is evident that the streaming process devolved business value as the majority viewers acknowledged and viewed the advertisements that the parent companies to the video-hosting sites included in t he process. For instance, statistics indicate that the current measure on the use of online information in different consumer demographics equals 45.4% of the total population of consumers in the media industry. The survey is vital in evaluating the value created to the video development business process through online viewing. The analytical use of mathematical values investigated that the business would accrue profitable outcomes since the information borne therein attracted a profound population of consumer groups. For example, the

To what extent are the poems Nothings changed and Half-caste a message of protest Essay Example for Free

To what extent are the poems Nothings changed and Half-caste a message of protest Essay The two poems, Nothings changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika and Half-caste by John Agard, both deal with issues of race. Nothings changed describes the return to district six after the apartheid in South Africa it presents a voice angry that nothing has changed since the apartheid has been abolished, and that racial segregation still exists. Half-caste also communicates a protest against racial prejudice. It questions the use of the term half-caste and promotes more open views. The discontent behind both messages is clear in their tones. From the start Afrika sets a bitter and angry mood, the hot, white, inwards turning anger of my eyes the use of how deeply resentful he is about what is going on. Also the alliteration of the strong t consonant enhances the frustrated quality of this phrase. On the other hand Half-caste challenges the reader with a mocking phrase Excuse me standing on one leg Im half-caste. This appears to set up a more relaxed atmosphere in first three lines. The poet makes this more assertive with his use of imperatives such as excuse and explain. Throughout the poem he continues to play with the term half caste but the light atmosphere is soon over ridden by the seriousness of the message. Nothings changed is written in six main stanzas which draw attention to the harsh reality of district six. Interestingly there is a mini stanza of two lines no sign says it is but we know where we belong. this could show the racial segregation enforced and illustrates that although it is not official everybody accepts the unwritten rule. Afrika uses the power of three and the skin and the soft and the hot to demonstrate how complete and overwhelming the anger is. Also use of the refrain like phrases no board says it is and no sign says it is continue to emphasise how embedded the segregation is in society. The structure in Half caste is less obvious although it has strong implications. For example the unequal line lengths so spiteful deem dont want de sun pass/ ah rass suggest an odd untidiness and imbalance. As in nothings changed Agard uses refrain to reinforce an idea, explain yuself/ what yu mean. Although here is is more aggressive and upfront. It is repeated as he demands for an answer. There is a flow to the poem created by enjambment with no punctuation. This could reflect the release of anger. The forward slashes add pauses ? is a half-caste weather/ well in dat case which keep the reader aware of the theme of standing up against society. Both poets continue to develop the themes through rhyme and rhythm. In Nothings changed there is half rhyme, for example trees and cuisine. This could symbolise inequality and a sense of uprising against what society imposes. The rhythm is heavy and strong with hard consonant sounds like trodden and gatepost this gives a feeling of oppression. Also there is enjambment, which is shown when the poet says seeding grasses thrust/ beaded seeds/ into trouser cuffs this suggests urgency to release anger it is building up to the last line, nothings changed the short sentence ends the flow and implies defeat as the protest is replaced by acceptance that the separation still stands. Similarly the rhyme in Half-caste is random which continues the theme. The main images highlighted by rhyme such as mix a black key with a white key is a half-caste symphony. The rhythm is uneven which again emphasises the concept of half. The interesting use of colloquial language provides lots of focus on the sounds of words for example yu, de or dem which makes the rhythm more confident and direct. In nothings changed the poet begins with monosyllabic language. The first line is small round hard stone click which echoes the sound of walking on gravel this sensory language draws in the reader to the message. He uses words showing oppression like trodden on, crunched, and crushed this conveys the aggressive nature of district 6. Afrika also uses lots of heat associated words like flaring, hot white and burn. These immediately portray a build up of anger. He uses pronouns such as I press my nose making it a more personal account which engages the reader with the personal emotions. On another level he could be expressing the voice of black people against discrimination. Similarly Agard uses pronouns he engages the audience by saying yu which is directing the poem to a wide audience. He also uses colloquial language like wha, yu and on dem cloud this is Jamaican slang which sets up a background and displays his pride to be from that culture. His repeated use of the term half-caste reminds us of the taboo of the term inflicting guilt upon the reader. The clever use of half links all the imagery listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear. This is all leading up to the last line when he challenges the reader to accept him as a whole person. Afrika uses subtle imagery like tall purple flowering amiable weeds The word weeds suggests inferiority but a struggling to stand tall against segregation. He uses personification to describe the whites only inn it squats shows how unwanted the white people are, because they impose on the black people. A strong metaphor clear panes is like a physical representation of the social barrier. It lets the wealth of the white people be seen. This is emphasised by the contrast of images created. Linen falls, the single rose are compared to bunny chows and plastic tables. Here a clear gap of living standard is shown. I think the most important image in the poem is leaving a small mean O of small mean mouth which describes the circular mark of breath on the window. This shape will disappear, and metaphorically describes how his voice of protest is lost within him. The imagery that Agard uses imagery is based around these of mix and half. Opposites like black and white and light and shadow shows two extremes which in people should be accepted as equals. He also says things like half of mih ear , half of mih eye and half-hand these are unrealistic concepts which is mocking the term half-caste. He uses a metaphor of Tchaikovsky writing a symphony and Picasso mixing colours. The use of an artist and a composer gives out a message universally. Also using art and music, pleasant things, shows how wrong and unpleasant using the term half-caste is. Finally, the change in imagery at the end of the poem shows Agards encouragement of open mindedness. He uses whole and tomorrow which suggest in the future the prejudice can change. Overall both poems show a protest although I think half-caste is defiant outwards protest that chalenges the reader with clever imagery and language. Nothings changed seems to show protest and anger held within or inwards turning anger. It also shows frustration of accepting the harsh life of being an inferior in South Africa.

Essay On Hacking :: essays research papers

Essay On Hacking A topic that i know very well is computers and computer hacking. Computers seem very complicated and very hard to learn, but, if given time a computer can be very useful and very fun. Have you ever heard all of that weird computer terminology? for and example, Javascript. Javascript is basically a computer language used when programming internet web pages. Have you ever been on the internet and seen words go across the screen or moving images? This is all done by the Java language. If you don not see moving images then its because your web browser cannot read javascript. If you don't know what a web browser is then I will tell you, a web browser is simply a tool used to view the various websites on the internet. All web browsers are different, some only interpret html language, which is another programming language used to design web page and then there are some browsers that can play videos and sounds. Have you ever wondered why when you want to go to a website you have to type http://name of site.com? well I have been wondering for ages but still can't figure out, but sometimes you type ftp:// before the name of the site. This simply means File transfer protocol. You use this when download image files or any other files. Now, onto hacking. Most people stereotype people simply as "HACKERS," but what they don't know is that there are three different types of computer whizzes. First, there are hackers. Hackers simply make viruses and fool around on the internet and try to bug people. They make viruses so simple. The get a program called a virus creation kit. This program simply makes the virus of beholders choice. It can make viruses that simply put a constant beep in you computer speakers or it can be disastrous and ruin your computers hard-drive. Hackers also go onto chat rooms and cause trouble. Chat rooms are simply a service given by internet providers to allow people all over the world to talk. As I was saying, Hackers go into these rooms and basically try to take over because in chat rooms there is one person in control. This person has the ability to put you in control or simply ban you. These hackers use programs that allow them to take full control over any room and potentially, make the computers on the other side overload with commands which in end, makes their computer collapse. Another type of computer whiz is called a cracker, crackers are sort of malicious.

Social Classes Of Mid-Victorian England :: European Europe History

Social Classes Of Mid-Victorian England In the Mid-Victorian period in English history there were distinct class differences in its society. There were three classes in England. These were the Aristocracy, the Middle-Class (or Factory owners) and the working class. Each class had specific characteristics that defined its behavior. These characteristics were best seen in four areas of British society. During the time-period known by most historians as the Industrial Revolution, a great change overtook British culture. Aside from the political and economic change which occurred, a profound social alteration transpired. The populace seeking to better their lives, sought employment in newly-formed industries. Many of the workers which included women and children, labored through 12 hour work shifts, with poor nutrition, poor living conditions and completing tedious tasks1. These factors, accompanied by various ideological precepts by Britain's intellectual community, and those concepts imported from France, provoke a crucial social evolution. Though no government was overthrown, a distinct transformation took place causing rebellious behavior to erupt among the working class. This essay will address the questions of how and why this behavior was expressed by the lower order of British society. It will also discuss methods the ruling class used in suppressing and controlling the rebel lious behavior exhibited by the working class. The middle class held to two basic ideologies that served in the exploitation of the lower order of the British society. Richard Atlick identified them as Utilitarianism (or Benthamism) and Evangelicalism. Both served the self-interested inclinations of the middle class. Utilitarianism created the need to fulfill a principle of pleasure while minimalization pain. In the context of the "industrial revolution" this meant that the pleasure extracted from life would be at the working classes' expense. This provided a perfect justification for the middle class to capitalize on. The working class of Britain, throughout the industrial revolution and through the Victorian age, acted in a defiant manner toward both the aristocracy and middle class. This behavior extended from the everyday activities of the workers to radical anarchist movements that categorized the underground. The middle class seemed to be just as familiar with the inverse of Benthamism as they were with its normal application. The pleasure principle was measured in terms of minimalization of pain. If the sum of pain, in a given situation, is less than the sum of pleasure, than it should be deemed pleasurable. The inverse principle applied to the working class was how pain (work) can be inflicted, with the absolute minimum distribution of pleasure (wages), without creating an uprising.

Airborne Case Study Essay

Q1. How and why has the express mail industry structure evolved in recent years? How have the changes affected small competitors? The Express mail industry in the United States had a volume of $16-17 billion on expedited shipments in the year 1996. In the years before shipment volumes has risen 15-20% per year. However due to higher competition prices have fallen which resulted in a rise of only 10-15% in total revenues. As an example of this stands the revenue and the operating margin of the biggest player that make up 45% of the market. Federal Express’ revenue has more than quadrupled in the ten years prior 1996, however its operating margin has more than halved. (Exhibit 2) The increase in shipments is partly due to lower prices, which makes it more attractive for businesses to use shipments more frequently and reduce stocks and inventory to compete on the basis of time to market. Also the price sensitive businesses of catalogue retailers required urgent shipment. In order to cope with the quickly growing numbers of packages (1997 Federal Express delivered 2. million packages a day), the companies started using their own airplanes rather than using commercial airlines to do the job for them. Processes have become highly automated, starting with hand-held computers that give each parcel its own barcode to track it at each stage of its journey. The information is then passed on to central computers that allow customers to follow its deliveries online. Hub facilities are ever growing now being able to sort up to 300,000 packages per hour (UBS hub). Due to high automatization and low margins in the industry it becomes increasingly difficult for second-tier players to survive in the market. Since 85% of the market are in the hand of the three major players; Federal Express, United Parcel Service and Airborne Express, the six second tier players had to find their niche in the market. DHL specified on the international market. The company is responsible for 40% of all trans-border express shipments in America, which makes up to 80% of DHL’s shipments. DHL is also the specialist for services that include fast shipments to the far and hard to reach corners of the world, with hubs situated in Nairobi and Bahrain. TNT’s focus lies on international markets as well, however focuses its efforts on Europe. Another second tier player is BAX Global who specialized in business-to-business heavy cargo. Earlier BAX Global was focused on the market for overnight letters, which resulted in large losses, till the strategy was shifted towards heavy cargo. The company RPS does not offer overnight delivery but focuses on two-day delivery and a cheap group network with a sophisticated information technology, targeting price-sensitive business customers. Q2.  How has Airborne survived, and recently prospered, in express mail industry? In the fife years prior 1997 Airborne Express has grown faster than its two bigger rivals, giving it about 16% of domestic express mail market share in 1997. Airborne has achieved this by a couple of measures that allowed it to keep its costs down and guaranteed Airborne Express success in its niche. One of the key decisions of Airborne Express was to target regularly shipping business customers and purposely passing over residential deliveries and infrequent shippers. Ray Berry, vice president of Field Services Administration, commented this selection of customers: â€Å" Since we can’t be all things to all people, we pick our kind of customer deliberately. † And it has payed off; 1997 Airborne delivered 900,000 packages and documents each day. As a major hub for this serves an airbase in Wilmington, Ohio. In contrast to its competitors Airborne Express owns the airport, which brings some advantages. For example leases Airborne Express warehouse space on the airport to businesses, allowing them to ship merchandize the next day even if orders come in as late as 2AM. Another key factor for low costs is that Airborne Express relies less on automation and more on its human workforce than its competitors; hiring low part-time employees with wages of $7 per hours. Airborne Express’ air fleet distinguishes itself also from the competition. By primarily buying used aircrafts costs are held down. Also the aircrafts are on average 80% loaded; compared to 60% for Federal Express. Furthermore Airborne Express tries to avoid using airplanes whenever possible, resulting in 30% of non-air deliveries compared to 15% non-air deliveries at Federal Express. Since the cost of non-air deliveries is estimated to be only 1/3 of the cost of air deliveries, this depicts how well Airborne Express is able to save money. Another cost reducing factor are independent contractors hired for parcel pick up or delivery that save around 10% of costs compared to company employees. Airborne Express Marketing and Sales team does not invest in costly wide span advertising campaigns, but rather invest in advertising targeting logistic managers of major shippers. Known for its low prices it tries to gain customers, large businesses, with a 500-person sales force and the promise to tailor the services needed for its customers with solution-oriented approaches. Last but not least Airborne Express started to forge a relationship with RPS, an expert for cheap ground deliveries, trying to gain synergies and being able to offer integrated solutions on a case-by-case basis for customers. Q3. What would you recommend Robert Brazier, Airborne’s President and COO, to do in order to strengthen the company’s position?  As the world moves closer together and quick logistics and transportation are getting more and more important, the global express mail market is still growing. In order to secure growth and market share we would advise Airborne Express to push forward the relationship with RPS, maybe consider a merger, to fully gain the synergies. Also it is of key importance to strengthen the position in the market by gaining new customers, providing them with worldwide â€Å"flexible, solution-oriented express† services in the B2B area. This could be achieved by gradually increasing international activities on a customer case-to-case basis.

There are far too many (women) who are discriminated against and far too many employers who are using every single legal argument and loophole to dodge their obligations under equal pay law

Introduction The Equality Act 2010 (EqA)[1] came into force on the 1st October 2010, replacing the earlier Equal Pay Act 1970[2], with the aim of offering greater certainty. Despite this, there is largely a replication of the terms of the 1970 Act and there remain difficulties in enforcing the fundamental rule of equal pay for equal work, which is set out in Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union[3] (TFEU). This has several elements which can potentially be argued by employers looking to discriminate against women, two of which areas will be looked at here, in order to confirm or deny the statement made at the outset that employers are using the legal argument to dodge their obligations. For the purposes of arguing this point, two issues will be considered, in more detail: the need for a comparator and the material justification defence. Comparator The sex equality requirement prohibits pay discrimination based on sex and therefore a woman looking to bring a claim of this nature will need to be able to compare her contractual terms with a comparable or sufficiently similar male comparator. This notion of a comparator is used across the whole area of discrimination however it is treated somewhat more stringently in the case of equal pay. In accordance with the EqA, it is necessary for the comparator to be actual. Unlike other areas of discrimination where the comparator can be hypothetical, it is necessary for the woman in this situation to find an actual comparator. It is also necessary for the comparator to be in the same employment, i.e. employed by the same employer or at least an associated employer. The comparator must also be a current or former employee, but cannot be a successor and the comparator is fundamentally the claimant’s choice. Bearing in mind all of these requirements, it is possible to see that there a re several options available to the employer, when it comes to arguing the validity of a comparator. In the case of Macarthys in 1980, it was held that there needed to be an actual comparator with the judge stating: â€Å"Comparisons are confined to parallels which may be drawn on the basis of concrete appraisals of the work actually performed by employees of different sex within the same establishment or service†[4]. It is noted that this is not the case with a direct pay discrimination claim, where a hypothetical comparator may be allowed for the purposes of evidencing sex discrimination and less pay for the same work. A similar difficulty emerges in the area of working in the same establishment. In the case of the City of Edinburgh Council, 2012[5], where the Inner House of the Court overturned the previous decision of the EAT that had previously argued that the terminology â€Å"establishment† could have a broad meaning. Instead, the Inner House restricted this substantially by saying that the comparator had to work at an establishment that was largely in the same geographical area. An employee looking to claim that they are being paid less will also need to find a comparator who is broadly employed on common terms (as stated in Section 1(6) of the 1970 Act and restated in EqA). For example, in the case of Leverton (1989)[6], it was possible for female nursery nurses to argue that they were being paid less than their comparators who were male clerical staff. All staff had a â€Å"purple book† of terms and conditions and this was sufficient to argue that they had common terms. Finally, there is the time frame over which the comparator has worked, with the ability of the claimant to look at a predecessor but not a successor. This was supported by the case of Walton, 2008[7], where it was held that a successor could not be used, as this would require the courts to hypothesise as to whether the comparator would have been treated differently, had they been employed at the same time. This is based on the argument that by looking into the future this would be hypothetical situation and impossible to consider how the employer would act in the future. It can therefore be seen that there are multiple issues involved in locating a comparator, which can potentially make it easier for an employer to escape their obligations and to allow them to look at ways of paying female employees less, either directly or indirectly, or at the very least making the matter difficult for an employee to prove, in the absence of an obvious and exact comparator. Material Justification Another area which presents a real opportunity for the employer to look at escaping liability is the use of the material factor defence contained in both the EqA and the 1970 Act. This defence allows an employer to pay an employee less than a comparator for whom they would otherwise be required to ensure equal pay, due to some non-discriminatory reason. There is non- specific requirement to deal with the notion of material defence, after the issue of equal pay has been discussed and it may be that the tribunal will in fact consider the material justification defence, at the outset, when looking at whether the jobs were of equal value[8]. The material factor defence is dealt with in Section 1(3) of the 1970 Act, where it is stated that the employer would have a defence, if they could show that the difference in salary â€Å"is genuinely due to a material factor which is not the difference of sex†. This is a genuine requirement and allows for employers to have a distinction between pay where it is required for the business need. An employer can show that they have a material factor defence where they can prove the following. Firstly that the explanation is genuine, secondly that the reason for less favourable treatment was down to that explanation, thirdly that the reason was not considered to be the difference of sex and finally that the reason is a significant and relevant difference between the man and woman in the instance[9]. When looking at the genuineness of the situation, the House of Lords stated in Bury Metropolitan Council that tribunals should not become too concerned over the issue of genuineness and should instead simply look at the facts surrounding the situation[10]. In this case, it was also stated that the difference will only be a sham, if it â€Å"has been deliberately fabricated in order to present things otherwise than as they are†. Crucially, it is also necessary for the factor to be material meaning, in accordance with Rainey, 1987, where the difference is significant and relevant, but this could be with reference to external factors, such as the market and not necessarily simply down to the skills and knowledge of the individuals in question[11]. When it comes to material justification, the burden of proof shifts from party to party in such a way that offers a real opportunity for the employer to escape liability. Once the employee has shown that there is a prima facie case for an equal pay claim, the employer then has the burden of showing a material factor defence, before the burden then travelling back to the employee to show that this was not genuine or in error in some way. For example, it may be argued, as was the case in Cooksey and Others (2011)[12], that the use of an on call allowance had the impact of men getting paid more than women, due to men being typically more available to undertake such work; this was sufficient to constitute a material factor defence and the case was allowed, with the employer being culpable. Conclusion It is concluded here that the original statement made that employers have been able to use legal argument and loopholes as a key way of escaping liability under the equal pay legislation is not merely a theoretical argument, but one that is supported and shown time and time again through the tribunals and court system. It is argued here that by just looking at the area of identifying a comparator and the area of a material factor defence, there is a multitude of complexities that can be used by the employer to evade liability. This area needs to be revisited carefully, if there is to be sufficient protection offered to women, in the future. As it stands, all but the most obvious of discriminatory scenarios are likely to evade the full extent of the legislation and this matter requires review, as a matter of urgency. Practicality is such that there are a variety of factors which may lead to a discrepancy of pay yet this needs to be addressed to ensure that any differences are material ly justifiable and are appropriate in all circumstances so as to reduce the overall pay gap as far as possible. Bibliography Bury Metropolitan Borough Council v Hamilton and other cases [2011] IRLR 358 City of Edinburgh Council v Wilkinson and others [2012] IRLR 202, Cooksey and Others v Trafford Borough Council and others UKEAT/0255/11 Equality Act 2010 Equal Pay Act 1970 Forex Neptune (Overseas) Ltd v Miller [1987] ICR 170, Glasgow City Council v Marshall [2000] ICR 196 (HL) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Leverton v Clwyd County Council [1989] IRLR 28 (HL). Macarthys Ltd v Smith [1980] IRLR 210 Prentis D, Unison. 2013. commenting on North and ors v Dumfries and Galloway Council 2013 SC 45 Rainey v Greater Glasgow Health Board [1987] ICR 129 Walton Centre for Neurology & Neuro Surgery NHS Trust v Bewley [2008] IRLR 588

Gangs & sub-cultural theories Essay

A gang is a group of individuals that have a common identity and works towards a common goal. The current usage of the term implies a criminal group. Its early usage was to refer to a faction of workmen. In the United Kingdom the term is still used to refer to workmen, but it has undergone semantic change. The term is one that carries a negative meaning; nevertheless, within a group that identifies itself with antagonism to social norms, associates of the gang might decide to use the term as a declaration of identity or rebelliousness. There are a lot of reports of criminal actions committed by gangs throughout the world. There are parts of the world and societies where gang activities are so prevalent causing major problems to different countries. There are cases of documented gangs and gang members in criminology literature. Some of these gangs are well known, not only by the law enforcers, but also by the members of the society. Gang formation is a concept that has been in place since the 13th century. During this time, it is said that children from poor families and the orphans in the United Kingdom obtained their means of survival through becoming members of gangs that were managed by adult crime perpetrators (Allen, 2005). These gangs were basically involved in pick pocketing. Gangs identify themselves by the use of distinct signs, symbols and names. They are known to cause harm, threaten, harass and intimidate other members of the society. Gang violence is a term that is used to refer to criminal activities that are perpetrated by gangs. Throughout history, such activities have been known to be perpetrated by gang members. There is a time in history when all the major cities around the world were haunted by gangs. During this time gang violence became prevalent all over the world. Contemporary gangs have introduced fresh kinds of violence. These acts are in most cases used as rite of passage for those wishing to become part of the group (Allen, 2005). There have been a lot of theories developed to explain the causes of gangs and gang violence. Some of the theories are similar while other others are different in explaining gang formation and crime in the society. These theories are very important in understanding why some people are more prone to crime then others and why some people are more likely to join gangs than others. Two of the most common theories on crime include the strain theory and the sub-cultural theory (Akers, 2000). The main similarity between the two theories is that they both describe gang formation from a social point of view. They are however different in a number of ways, one of them being the fact that their focus is on different elements of the society (Allen, 2005). This paper compares and contrasts strain and sub-cultural theories in explaining gangs and gang violence. The paper first discusses the meaning and background information of the two theories. The Strain theory The strain theory holds that the social structures that are within a society may be contributing factors to some individuals becoming members of a gang and being involved in crime. Strain refers to the elements in the society or in a person that leads to committing of crime. There are two kinds of strain: structural or individual. Structural is the processes within the culture that filter down and control individual’s perceptions of their needs. For example, a state of inadequacy in social structures and regulations can lead to transformation in the way a person perceives his or her needs. Individual perceptions to the means and opportunities can also be transformed (Akers, 2000). This is what causes people perpetrate crime either as individuals or in a gang. From the individual viewpoint, it refers to the pressures and afflictions that a person suffers as he or she searches for ways and means to cater for his or her requirements. This means that the objectives of the society becomes very important to a person such that their achievement becomes more important that the ways of achieving them (Cohen, 1965). People live in a society that is full of requirements and expectations. Where individuals cannot access their needs through the conventional legitimate ways, they tend to use the unconventional ways. Where individuals are in a society where they cannot access their needs normally with the use of the conventional legitimate needs, they tend to become disappointed. This feeling of despair that is associated with the incapability to acquire the requirements is the one that is being referred to as strain. It is this feeling that causes people who are unable to acquire their needs to be involved in crime (Akers, 2000). In many instances, young people will be able to access the unconventional or illegitimate means through becoming members of gangs. This reveals the fact that gangs are as a result of strains that act upon individuals in striving to achieve expectation. In a gang, young people tend to get what they were unable to get in living within the social norms. They find company, finances and most of all the means to acquire what they desire. The theory explains how social elements like poverty, homelessness, and lack of proper parental care can lead to formation of delinquent activities and groups (Cohen, 1965). Sub-cultural theory The sub-cultural theory as used in criminology originated from the efforts of the Chicago School on gangs. This theory was then advanced via the symbolic interactionism school. The theory was advanced into a series of premises that put forward the argument that some factions or sub-cultures in the community have some principles and approaches that are favourable for crime and aggression. This supports the argument that crime is dominant in some cultures or societies than others. This theory focuses on crime committed by young people, mostly in gangs. It is argued that when crime is not controlled from this level, it moves on to adolescent and finally to adulthood (Akers, 2000). Gangs that are formed at the early age in life, tend to graduate to maturity, and continue recruiting the youths. The theory states that if the patterns of crime can be comprehended and controlled from the level of juvenile delinquency, it would be possible to prevent the move to teenage offender and also to adult criminals. It is believed that where the sub-culture is favourable for crime, it begins from an early age, graduating to adolescent and ultimately to adulthood (Miller, 1959). Culture stands for the traditions, ways of life and principles that act as the guide to personality. It is also from these aspects that personality is judged by people. Passage of culture is essentially through social rather than biological ways. This is where the values and principles within a society are transmitted from one generation to the following. A sub-culture is a culture that exists within the larger culture. This culture consist of distinct elements of values, norms and customs that are different from the larger culture but does not essentially stand for a culture considered non-standard by many people. A sub-culture is distinguished from the larger culture for opposition that acts against the larger culture. This offers the explanation why in some parts of a society, especially the poorest regions, there are some kinds of behaviour that have developed into a standard and tend to be passed from one generation to the next. Successful crime perpetrators tend to be role models to the others, revealing likelihood success through criminal activities and its normality. This is where the older members of gangs tend to influence youths into their activities. The cultural arrangement is directed by many principles, traditions, and standards that force people to establish gangs that have unique characters. The sub-cultures that are developed tend to be more diverse than the main stream culture (Miller, 1959). Similarities between the two theories in explaining gangs The two theories take a social perspective in explaining gang formation and gang violence. They both offer the claim that gangs are as a result of the kind of society within which people live. Despite the fact that the two theories describe different ways that the society contributes to gangs, the two argue that society is the main causative element to gang formation and gang violence. In strain theory, people become members of gangs and commit gang violence as a result of residing in a society where their needs are not able to be met. It is as a result of the social class where a person exists that determines the kind of behaviour that he or she exhibits. In the United Kingdom, individuals are always in pursuit of wealth property, power, education, and other things that ensure a comfortable life (Akers, 2000). It is due to their living conditions that the lower class is not in a position to meet these needs adequately. They are not in a position to acquire these needs in conventional legal means. This according to the strain theory is what leads people to join gangs where there opportunities to acquire their needs. Sub-cultural theory explains that it is in a society that is predisposed to crime that people are influenced to join gangs. In a sub-culture where crime is condoned and pardoned, there tends to be many gangs. The young people tend to be influenced by the older members of gangs. In fact, the older members act as role models to the youths. It is therefore evident from the two theories that the society plays the central role in gang formation and consequently to the gang violence. The two theories introduce blocked-goals as the producing factors of deviant characteristics, like gang formation (Shaw, 1930). The strain theory in explaining violence is described similarly to functionalist theory under sub-cultural theories. Functionalist holds that gangs are motivated by financial requirements. This is the same case with the strain theory that holds that financial requirements lead people to commit crime. The functionalist theory states that adolescents are motivated by material gain to be involved in gangs. From this point of view, the sub-cultural theory becomes similar to the strain theory in explaining crime. Here the motivating factor to crime under the two theories is the acquisition of material gain in a society where this is not possible through conventional legitimate needs. Where youths are faced with situations where they are not in a position to fulfil their requirements due to the elements in the society that leads to inadequacy, they tend to join others who share their predicaments. These groups, the gangs, operate in unison, sharing the same identity and motivated by a common goal, which is achievement of their needs. This leads to the fact that the end results of the two theories are similar (Shaw, 1930). The end results of gangs and gang violence as explained by the two theories are similar. The strain theory presents the claim that individuals are influenced by the need to obtain their requirements in an inadequate social environment. This is what leads them to use of illegitimate means. The end result of the act is acquisition of finances or property through illegitimate means. As per the sub-cultural theory, the basic values of a group are what cause a person to be involved in crime. Given situations where the children in the working class cannot to achieve academically as a result of social or cultural factors, they tend to feel that it is impossible to obtain anything through conventional means (Akers, 2000). Such children gather themselves in groups or gangs of people that share their predicaments. They involve themselves in crime and gang violence means to acquire wealth and property. The end result of the action is acquisition of finances or property through illegitimate means. This reveals the fact that the result of gangs as explained by the two theories is acquisition of finances and property. The two theories reveal means to the same end (Akers, 2000). The society has put a lot of pressure on people to attain high achievement and success. Competition and the need for success is one value that is glorified in the society. This means that as per the two theories there are forces and pressures that lead to gang formation and involvement. These are the forces and pressures that lead people to strive to achieve and become powerful, without caring about the means for doing so. The legitimate means may be difficult to acquire, making the illegitimate means more preferable. According to the sub-cultural theory, the forces are the structural constraints. The individuals who join gangs are people who feel completely powerless. They are pushed by the society and end up defying the rules and regulations. The forces as per the sub-cultural theory push people to act as per the society’s expectations (Akers, 2000). According to the strain theory, the forces that act on individuals are the strains. Individuals tend to be involved in gang activities where they are not in a position to cope with the strains. There are series of events and circumstances that hamper individuals from attaining their expectations. This could be major or minor state of affairs and circumstances that upsurge and discourage with time. Dissatisfaction causes displeasure, abhorrence and annoyance. All these are attitudes connected with strain in gang formation. It is a normal human nature to develop feeling of desperation and frustration where they are not in a position to get what they want (Shaw, 1930). Differences between the two theories in explaining gangs Despite the fact that the two theories agree on the fact that the social environment is responsible for causing gang formation, the ways in which the society is responsible tend to differ. The strain theory emphasises on strain and stressing forces of gang formation. The sub-cultural theory on the other hand emphasises on factions as the causing factors of gang formation. The strain theory states that individuals will be forced to join gangs where they are not in a position to gather financial success through legitimate ways. The sub-cultural theory claims that people are pushed into gangs where they belong to sub-cultures that excuse, justify or approve of gangs. Societies that excuses and tolerates acts of violence and stealing, tend to produce more gangs than others (Miller, 1959). The two theories differ in their explanation of the primary cause of gang formation. While the strain theory presents the argument that gang formation is motivated by financial success, the sub-cultural theory argues that gangs are not motivated by money success as the strain theory suggests, but by the pressure of all the dominant values in the society. The adolescent tend to develop what Merton refers to â€Å"social status frustration,† where they are not able to achieve academically. This is what convinces them that they are not capable of gaining anything through conventional means. In this case, their motivating factor is not primarily financial success. They end up in gangs through this conviction, although the ultimate goal is financial success. The difference in the two theories comes up in the motivating factors to gang formation and involvement. As per the strain theory the key motivation is money success, while for the sub-cultural theory the key motivation factor is the failure to succeed through legitimate means in a society that is prone to crime (Shaw, 1930). There is a difference in the nature of the environment as explained by the two theories. However, this does not nullify the fact that the social environment is what basically explains crime and gangs. In the sub-cultural theory, the social environment is one where there is prevalence of crime that is passed from one generation to the following. This means that the theory explains a society where crime is almost a norm. This kind of social environment is not revealed in the strain theory. According to the sub-cultural theory, in most cases, the society has already established illegitimate opportunity structure. The younger members of gangs learn criminal actions from the older members. This is what it basically referred to as learning the ‘tricks of the trade’ (Akers, 2000). The sub-culture makes it clear to the youths that crime is a norm. As per the strain theory, the social environment is one where are goals that need to be achieved. Individuals in this kind of environment are aware of the objectives and how it is crucial to achieve them. There are however some individuals in this environment who lacks the means to attain the social expectations. For the serious need to realize these expectations and the importance of achieving them, some people result to gang involvement. From this perspective, gangs are formed by the society through creation of expectations without availing the means to achieve them (Shaw, 1930). The social environments in which gangs are formed are different for the two theories. While sub-cultural revealed the argument that gangs can be formed in a negative social environment that is already prone to crime, the strain theory presents the crime that gangs can either be formed in a positive or negative social environment. The argument according to the strain theory is that individual’s real expectations or the expected failure to attain positive values set up by the society, real or elimination of positive incentive, and real or expected presentation of negatively valued incentive all cause strain. In a positive social environment, individuals turn to gangs where they are not in a position to live up to the standards set up by the society. Where individuals are not treated in the way they expect, they loose trust with the ability of others to help them meet their expectations. Frustration and dissatisfaction establish negative interactions. This is so because of the desire to keep off hostile rejections. This is what leads to people finding those of their kind; people who are in a position to help them create a sense of belonging and acceptance. This kind of environment is achieved through membership to gangs. Gangs are basically constituted by people who feel that the society is not supportive. The sub-cultural theory operates from the conflicting side. This kind of society is one that does not expect anything positive from its people. The reason for this is that the society is already predisposed to crime. This reveals that unlike the strain theory, this theory operates solely from a negative environment (Miller, 1959). There is another contradiction under the two theories, where in the sub-cultural theory gangs are a way of living up to the social expectations of roughness and smartness, while under the other theory gangs are established due to the inability to live up to social expectations. It is expected under the sub-cultural theory for individuals in the lower class to be involved in gang violence. This is indirectly by the need from the society to be tough and street-wise. This is what motivates then to join groups, begin getting involved in criminal activities, and find fun in defying the regulations of the land. From the strain theory perspective, failure to live up to the expectations of the society is what forces individuals into gangs and gang violence. Every society has set up expectations that its members are supposed to live up to. Where people lack the means to achieve these expectations they tend to become members of groups that help them in attaining them. Failure to reach the expectations may also make some to defy against the law as a way of revealing or dealing with their frustration (Shaw, 1930). Strengths and weaknesses of the theories The two theories are good resources in explaining gangs, but this can be best illustrated through the sub-cultural theory. Thrasher (1927) defines gang through the process that they undertake in formation of groups. â€Å"The gang is an interstitial group originally formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict. It is characterized by the following types of behavior: meeting face to face, milling, movement through space as a unit, conflict, and planning. The result of this collective behavior is the development of tradition, unreflective internal structure, esprit de corps, solidarity, morale, group awareness, and attachment to a local territory† (Thrasher, 1927, p. 46). The theory explains the fact that gangs originate from a very early age, through formation of play groups. The groups begin getting involved in simple mischief. They culminate into gangs when they begin to excite themselves with disproval and misbehavior. This is where they begin developing a clear-cut group-consciousness. The social environment encourages gang crimes because of the fact that it is already predisposed to crime. Thrasher gives a description of the way the society can be favorable to delinquent behavior. He claims that gang sub-cultures came up from cracks or interstices of neglect in the teenage years. The argument of Thrasher is supported by Shaw (1930), through the claim that gang acts are passed by older boys to the younger ones. Such gangs are found in areas with high rate of single-parent homes, joblessness and low education. These are the areas of ghettos, and slums. The theories explain the reasons why gangs tend to be more in the lower class than in the middle class. The theory that is preferable here is the sub-cultural theory. This is apparent in the arguments of Miller (1959), who supports the arguments of Cohen. Miller supports the fact that delinquency is a sub-culture, but one that is found within the lower class. There is a clear-cut division between the lower and the middle class. The two classes stand for different traditions and principles. The middle class tend focus on accomplishment and social goals. The other class focuses on the need of their children to stay out is trouble. This class expects their children to be rough and street-wise. This becomes the motivation behind establishing and joining gang groups. Considering the fact that their lives tend to be boring for lack of exciting social activities, they tend to embrace crime as an exciting social activity. This is what makes them start to engage in unlawful activities. They get a sense of freedom by going against the social system that is established by the society. For the lower class, there is another practice that plays a major responsibility in their social life. This institution is same-sex peer groups. To them, this institution is more significant than any other in the society. This is because of the social belonging that it renders. It is from these groups that they are in a position to gain status, one thing they cannot access in the conventional society. They develop a unique identity and work towards a particular goal (Miller, 1959). Despite the fact that the two theories are significant in explaining the reasons behind the formation of gangs, they do not reveal the origins of the motivating factors and forces, which would be helpful in defining possible solutions. This is a weakness revealed by the two theories. This reveals the fact that the explanation of the two theories is incomplete. Up to the point where the strain theory is explained by Akers (2000), there are only kinds of the strains that are discussed and nothing is discussed about their sources. The frictions of situations are only revealed as hindering the attainment or expectations. There is no discussion about where they come from. Even in the sub-cultural theory, there is no much discussion on the structural constraints that are shown to be the forces behind delinquency. The theories fail in finding out the solutions to the problem. The theories can only be used in describing the source of the problem and not the effects and solution to the problem (Akers, 2000). Conclusion This paper compares and contrasts strain and sub-cultural theories explain gangs and gang violence. These two are very crucial in criminology for offering an insight as to the causes of crime in the society. The two have some common as well as different aspects in explaining gang formation and gang-related crimes. The two explain the causes of crime from social perspective and reveal similar end results, which is crime for attainment of wealth and property. The theories reveal strong forces that lead people to committing crime. The two forces are structural constraints for the sub-cultural theory and strains for the strain theory. These are some of the similarities but there are a number of differences between the two. The focus of the two is on varying elements of the social environment. The two also give varying accounts of the reasons why the society leads to crime. The theories are a crucial way of explaining gangs are formed in the society. This is achieved by describing their causes. There is need for further studies to come up with solutions to this problem. (Word count=4,065) References: Shaw, C. (1930). The Jackroller: A Delinquent Boy’s Own Story. Reprint edition: 1966. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Miller, W. (1959). â€Å"Implications of Urban Lower-Class Culture for Social Work. † The Social Service Review. Vol. 33, 219-236. Cohen, A. (1965). â€Å"The Sociology of the Deviant Act: Anomie Theory and Beyond,† American Sociological Review 30: 5-14. Akers, R. (2000). Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application. Los Angeles: Roxbury. Allen, M. (2005). Textbook on Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Thrasher, F. M. (1927). The Gang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.