Saturday, February 29, 2020
Americas Next Top Model Show in Light of Power Dynamics Essay
Americas Next Top Model Show in Light of Power Dynamics - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) as a big brother show in which successful women applicants come together to compete for America’s Next Top Model title. This show is meant to give the women a chance to start a modeling career. The show is hosted by a female professional and model by the name Tyra Banks. It is rated as one of the biggest television shows in the world. The show is professionally constructed with episodes ranging from nine to eighteen. In all the seasons, there are about ten to twenty five female participants who vie for the adorable title. Each episode is structured in a way that one of the participants considered weak is eliminated by a panel of judges, Tyra Banks being part. The shows also provides a makeover in the earlier part of the show where the participants who are considered weak is put on probation and the audience is allowed to vote to save their preferred contestant. During the show, contestants undergo vig orous training in line with the theme of the particular week. This is meant to coach the girls and teach them various aspects related to the modeling career including press interviewing skills, sales skills, and cat walking. This is followed by photo shooting of the contestants who are given dresses that barely cover the bodies; the girls are actually semi-nude as they pose. From the photos shot, the judges make a decision and the female contestants with the lowest marks are eliminated or put on probation for a makeover. Other events featured in the show include in-depth assessment of personality traits and general knowledge. Each of the episodes ends with the ruling by a panel of judges who are experts in the fashion industry, regular judges of the show. A special guest judge is also usually called upon to assist in making a judgment. This involves posing challenging questions on modeling and fashion to the contestants, and their video photos are displayed and analyzed by the panel ists. The contestants are often asked to leave the room to give the panelists a chance to deliberate on their decisions and make the rulings. The female contestants are then called upon to the show room and face their fate; the successful ones remain in the show while those who score low are put on probation or sent packing (Kowalski 47). In view of the above, it is beyond doubt that the show is, therefore, professionally structured in a way that real women contestants are put into unreal events in order to create a story. Criticism of the Reality Shows Most of the reality shows run for a bout thirty to sixty minutes, a constant duration. If the show could be real then the events would run for an unidentified period. This shows that there are some incidences behind the scene that the audience is not able to know. It also brings out an element of editing of the events behind the scene to enable the program run within the stipulated period. It also shows that the story being told is n ot real but is subject to a lot of editing and manipulation of the contestants or participants. The editors, therefore, become the storytellers and take the positions of the contestants by altering the sequence of events that actually happened behind the scenes. Meanwhile, the audience
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society Essay
The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society - Essay Example Sneakers, on the other hand, is a 1992 film starring Robert Redford as Martin Bishop. For 20 years, Bishop has done what he could to evade the arm of the law and has established a new identity for him. Knowing that he had not done anything wrong and that he was just wrongly accused, Bishop works to secure his freedom. The movie is about Bishop and his team of sneakers and a code breaker box they have been blackmailed into stealing. Failure to do so will mean that Bishop’s real identity will be revealed to authorities and may eventually lead to his capture. Several turns in the plot occur, the biggest one being that the Bishop finds himself in a situation where he can finally erase his bad record which will inevitably lead to his complete freedom. In the end, Bishop and his group develop a plan to make sure that no group makes use of the code breaker and at the same time ensure that Bishop remains free and all other members get what they’ve always dreamt of. As previousl y mentioned, freedom is a central theme in both works of art discussed. As with Valjean, Bishop makes use of all means possible to preserve his freedom. Both main characters are evading authorities determined to catch them. In fact, both Valjean and Bishop established new identities for themselves in order to avoid being arrested. Such a similarity exists because both stories focus on the lives of men on the run. Both show how protecting one’s freedom sometimes entails running away and turning one’s back on his past.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Knowledge Management - Essay Example Coming to the skills and ethics that I have and the skills that are required for carrying out the research, it is clear that there is some amount of gap between my current skills and what is required. I have very good and promising plans for the research, but these ideas can come to fruition only if they follow the set path of academic data gathering and research and knowing how to write properly. I have to carefully follow ethics and maintain the required ethical behavior while conducting the research. The ethical behavior can be compromised in a number of factors such as bias, plagiarism, reuse of data, institutional review board, reviewing and reporting results. Bias can occur from actions of the researcher as well as the respondents. It is true that many of my colleagues would be ready to help me complete the research and I also would have sufficient organizational support. However, this should not lead to a situation where ethics are compromised. I should not wittingly or unwitt ingly attempt to goad and direct the research subjects to give responses that I want. In effect, the research should be clear, unbiased and be natural. It is also important that all instances of plagiarism be avoided and this extends to beyond citing sources used in the paper. Efforts should be taken to carefully avoid any previously published research and the research should be original in content, thoughts and spirit. Plagiarism can be avoided by paraphrasing; carefully rewriting the content but this is not observing the spirit.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Everyday Use Essay: Lost Heritage :: Everyday Use essays
Lost Heritage in Everyday Use  By contrasting the family characters in "Everyday Use," Walker illustrates the mistake by some of placing the significance of heritage solely in material objects. Walker presents Mama and Maggie, the younger daughter, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passes from one generation to another through a learning and experience connection. However, by a broken connection, Dee, the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as material. During Dee's visit to Mama and Maggie, the contrast of the characters becomes a conflict because Dee misplaces the significance of heritage in her desire for racial heritage.     Mama and Maggie symbolize the connection between generations and the heritage that passed between them. Mama and Maggie continue to live together in their humble home. Mama is a robust woman who does the needed upkeep of the land,             I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working          hands. In the winter, I wear overalls during the day.          I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. I          can work outside all day, One winter I knocked a bull          calf straight in the brain with a sledge hammer and          had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall. (Walker          289)  And Maggie is the daughter, "homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs," (Walker 288) who helps Mama by making "the yard so clean and wavy" (Walker 288) and washes dishes "in the kitchen over the dishpan" (Walker 293). Neither Mama nor Maggie are 'modernly' educated persons; "I [Mama] never had an education myself. Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good-naturedly She knows she is not bright" (Walker 290). However, by helping Mama, Maggie uses the hand-made items in her life, experiences the life of her ancestors, and learns the history of both, exemplified by Maggie's knowledge of the hand- made items and the people who made them--a knowledge which Dee does not possess.      Contrasting with Mama and Maggie, Dee seeks her heritage without understanding the heritage itself. Unlike Mama who is rough and man-like, and Maggie who is shy and scared, Dee is confident, where "Hesitation is no part of her nature," (Walker 289) and beautiful:           " first glimpse of leg out of the car tells me it is          Dee. Her feet were always neat-looking, as if God had          shaped them Dee next. A dress down to the ground           Earrings gold, too (Walker 291)  Also, Dee has a 'modern' education, having been sent "to a school in Augusta" (Walker 290). Dee attempts to connect with her racial heritage by taking
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Healing the World Through Literature Essay
Literature has influenced our lives in many ways. One is the way we perceive the events around us. The media have always been telling and informing the public about wars. Instead of informing us about how we can heal the world, all we hear is whose fault it was as soon as a war breaks out. The question here is: How can literature help to heal the world in terms of war and peace? This is important because there are so many wars in the world and instead of fighting we can use them to help create peace and heal the world. We will then be able look back to the past and think how we can progress for the next time. It will also help us create peace by allowing everyone to understand each other. Thomas Hardy, Anthony Hecht and Muriel Rukeyser are three authors that help show how literature can heal the world. The first poem, Thomas Hardy’s â€Å"The Man He Killed†focuses on the senselessness and futility of war, where a man has killed another quite simply because they were fighting on opposing sides at war. It was written in the point of view of one of the soldiers who was enlisted in the infantry. In the opening stanza he states, â€Å"Had he and I but met by some old ancient inn, we should have sat us down to wet right many a nipperkin! †(Hardy 347) By this he means if they met outside of a pub, they would have enjoyed some drinks together, but because of the war, they are forced to shoot at one another. Then it explains how they met as soldiers in opposing sides and one had to die so they both shot each other, but the narrator shot killed the other. In the third stanza, he explains why he had to kill him. Literature could help us with war by displaying this poem. The poem shows how even when people just meet that because of a war, they are forced and required to kill another man instead of having peace. People fight in wars for all different reasons. Some people were born to join the army and be soldiers while others just join to get by in life with financial support from the army. In the lines thirteen through sixteen, towards the end of the poem the author is saying how both the men enlisted into the army because they were out of work, and they needed to sell their traps to get money, and now because of the war one of the men was killed unwontedly by another man who joined because he was out of work as well. In the second poem called â€Å"More Light! More Light! †by Anthony Hecht, it talks about two different stories in the poem. In the first story there is a man who was being charged for a crime he prays to his God he didn’t commit. He states, â€Å"I implore my God to witness that I have made no crime†(Hecht 349). He was being burned to death and one of the soldiers who was burning him because of his crime felt badly for the prisoner’s suffering. So he threw gun powder hoping it would catch fire and to end the prisoner of his misery but the gunpowder did not ignite, and the prisoner was burnt to death. â€Å"And that was but one, and by no means one of the worst; permitted at least his pitiful dignity; and such as were by made prayers in the name of Christ, that shall judge all men, for his soul’s tranquility†(Hecht 349). The second story is about three prisoners who were brought to the woods, two Jewish prisoners and one Polish prisoner. The German guards forced the Polish man to bury the Jewish men alive, but the Polish man refused to do it. So the German guards instead changed the roles, and the Polish man was shot in the stomach, buried up to his head, and was left there for three hours to bleed to death. The second story seemed to be much worse than the first because the Polish man was suffering and was only left there with his thoughts and prayers as he slowly died. â€Å"No prayers or incense rose up in those hours which grew to be years, and every day came mute ghosts from the ovens, sifting through crisp air, and settled upon his eyes in a black soot†(Hecht 350). Literature help with war and peace because this poem shows the past how the Jews and Polish men and women were tortured by the Nazis and war. And this poem can teach us how even during the darkest times of war some people like the Polish did not keep his dignity. And not be forced to kill another man because war, even if the result of not listening is your own death. In the third poem â€Å"Letter to the Front†by Muriel Rukeyser, talks about being a Jew in the twentieth century. This poem explains how Jewish people should be proud of being Jewish, and they shouldn’t hide it. The Jewish people went through a lot with World War II, with all the deaths and sufferings, but the Jewish population shouldn’t try to hide what they are. â€Å"Wishing to be invisible, you choose death of the spirit, the stone insanity†(Rukeyser 351). Hiding meant reducing God to nothing more than what you are. The author is saying that the Jews should be proud of who they are and what they believe in. To believe in God and pray for freedom to all people, and pray to live the impossible which can only happen with faith to their God. Not by hiding who they really are and their beliefs. Literature can help with War and peace by using this poem to show that belief in your God can help you get through any situation and not by hiding from your beliefs and who you truly are. Some people are already used to wars and violence that it doesn’t affect them. In order to find peace, we must first make an effort to understand all types of people. In terms of race, ethnicity, culture, values, religion, beliefs, etc. When people see life through someone else’s eyes they understand what they go through. That would be the only way to avoid violence. Literature can heal the world after devastation from war. Maybe one day we won’t have to worry about the war because there would be peace. Work Cited: Hardy, Thomas. â€Å"The Man He Killed. †Writing about the World. By Susan H. McLeod, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear. Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 346-48. Print. Hecht, Anthony. â€Å"More Light! More Light! †Writing about the World. By Susan H. McLeod, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear. Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 349-50. Print. Rukeyser, Muriel. â€Å"Letter to the Front. †Writing about the World. By Susan H. McLeod, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear. Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 351-52. Print.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Y-DNA Testing for Genealogyâ€How Does it Work
Y-DNA testing looks at the DNA in the Y-chromosome, a sex chromosome that is responsible for maleness. All biological males have one Y-chromosome in each cell and copies are passed down (virtually) unchanged from father to son each generation. How Its Used Y-DNA tests can be used to test your direct paternal lineageâ€â€your father, your fathers father, your fathers fathers father, etc. Along this direct paternal line, Y-DNA can be used to verify whether two individuals are descendants from the same distant paternal ancestor, as well as potentially find connections to others who are linked to your paternal lineage.  Y-DNA tests specific markers on the Y-chromosome of your DNA known as Short Tandem Repeat or STR markers. Because females do not carry the Y-chromosome, the Y-DNA test can only be used by males. A female can have their father or paternal grandfather tested. If that is not an option, look for a brother, uncle, cousin, or other direct male descendants of the male line youre interested in testing. How Y-DNA Testing Works When you take a Y-line DNA test, your results will return both a general haplogroup and a string of numbers. These numbers represent the repeats (stutters) found for each of the tested markers on the Y chromosome. The specific set of results from the tested STR markers determines your Y-DNA haplotype, a unique genetic code for your paternal ancestral line. Your haplotype will be the same as, or extremely similar to, all of the males who have come before you on your paternal lineâ€â€your father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. Y-DNA results have no real meaning when taken on their own. The value comes in comparing your specific results, or haplotype, with other individuals to whom you think you are related to see how many of your markers match. Matching numbers at most or all of the tested markers can indicate a shared ancestor. Depending upon the number of exact matches, and the number of markers tested, you can also determine approximately how recently this common ancestor was likely to have lived (within 5 generations, 16 generations, etc.). Short Tandem Repeat (STR) Markets Y-DNA tests a specific set of Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat (STR) markers. The number of markers tested by most DNA testing companies can range from a minimum of 12 to as many as 111, with 67 being commonly considered a useful amount. Having additional markers tested will generally refine the predicted time period in which two individuals are related, helpful for affirming or disproving a genealogical connection on the direct paternal line. Example: You have 12 markers tested, and you find that you are an exact (12 for 12) match to another individual. This tells you that there is about a 50% chance that the two of you share a common ancestor within 7 generations and a 95% chance that the common ancestor is within 23 generations. If you tested 67 markers, however, and found an exact (67 for 67) match with another individual, then there is a 50% chance that the two of you share a common ancestor within two generations and a 95% chance that the common ancestor is within 6 generations. The more STR markers, the higher the cost of the test. If cost is a serious factor for you, then you may want to consider starting with a smaller number of markers, and then upgrade at a later date if warranted. Generally, a test of at least 37-markers is preferred if your goal is to determine whether you descend from a specific ancestor or ancestral line. Very rare surnames may be able to obtain a useful result with as few as 12-markers. Join a Surname Project Since DNA testing cannot on its own identify the common ancestor that you share with another individual, a useful application of the Y-DNA test is the Surname Project, which brings together the results of many tested males with the same surname to help determine how (and if) they are related to each other. Many Surname Projects are hosted by testing companies, and you can often receive a discount on your DNA test if you order it directly through a DNA surname project. Some testing companies also give people the option to only share their results with people in their surname project, so you could potentially miss some matches if you are not a member of the project. Surname projects generally have their own website run by a project administrator. Many are hosted by the testing companies, while some are hosted privately. If you cant locate a project for your surname, you can also start one. The International Society of Genetic Genealogy offers tips for starting and running a DNA Surname Projectâ€â€select the For Admins link on the left-hand side of the page.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)