Movies Historical Representation Essays

Movies Historical Representation Essays Movies Historical Representation Essay Movies Historical Representation Essay Essay Topic: Historical Name: Course: Lecturer: Date: Movies Historical Representation No country in the world has recorded its history through films as America has. America has created films about the major events in its history. It has served the memories of its past, and has acted as an educational tool. Apart from the documentaries concerning the specific events, many of the movies portray the events as they happened, with an additional touch of fiction and added or exaggerated heroism. These features appeal to the audiences as they add the entertainment value. Audiences across different sectors have different interpretations concerning the movie. This is largely influenced by the directors’ intention and objective when creating the movie. When the directors are more concerned about the entertainment, rather than the awareness or educational objective, they will not take keen interest about the accuracy of the events. They will instead seek to add visual effects and add other elements that appeal to the viewers. Movies can sometimes serve as a preserve for history, and they aim to represent the events as accurately as possible, but they often lack to show all the details concerning the event, thus making them less credible as sources of historical information. . The movie â€Å"Saving Private Ryan† by director Steven Spielberg is one of the most important and realistic movies about World War II. It is the story about a group of US soldiers who have to save Private Ryan. Many of the families suffered when their children went to the war. The government had set a policy that was aimed at making sure that family lines survived. Private Ryan had already lost three brothers in the war, and the government sent soldiers to save him since he was the only son left. The movie details the events of the operation. It shows the courage of the soldiers as they fight to save one of their own. It shows the loss and the heartbreak that the families suffered when their children went to war with no guarantee that they would ever see them again. The movie shows the bond that the soldiers developed as they fought the war, and the lengths they took to ensure that they survived. The battle scenes in the movie are violent, as they seek to show the real extent of the war. Spielberg has directed several movies about different wars. In a culture and country where war movies are released often, the characters and crew involved in the production of the movie might have watched several war movies. Many of the war movies glorify the individual bravery of the American soldiers. There is therefore a lot of influence of such ideologies in the movie. Sometimes, the directors do not research materials concerning the movie that is actually contrary to the obvious notion of heroism and bravery. They do not include material where soldiers from one country betray each other or make foolish decisions. In many movies, it seems like all the soldiers, and especially those in the leadership position, have a supernatural instinct to know the weaknesses of the enemy, and to know the right tactics to use to control the enemy. This is rarely the case however. Perhaps because of the limitation of time, the directors do not take time to know much about the war. However, it is possible that the main intent of the directors is to please the viewers and show them that the war was justified. Many Americans have lost loved ones in the war. Some of those who have fought in various wars feel that they have given something important to their country. They feel devoted to their country and they feel honored when their bravery is recognized. They are therefore pleased and excited when they get the chance to see such movies. Several printed records such as news articles and books that were written and published, as the war was ongoing give vivid descriptions of the war. In some cases, the soldiers did not always make the right decisions. They were often frightened and they ended up making costly mistakes. Many of the soldiers died in the hands of their fellow compatriots. Some of the soldiers made decisions that ended up putting the troops in danger. The soldiers fighting in the war were not always courageous despite the fact that they had been trained and well equipped for the war. They often made decisions out of fear, desperation, panic or pain (Lewis 134). If such accounts are considered, then it follows that many of the war movies, including â€Å"Saving Private Ryan†, may not be credible, and they do not reflect the war as it really happened. The movies usually show the ingenuity of the soldiers, the wisdom of the captains and other leaders, the obedience of the soldiers to their leaders and the courage of the men. In the movie, the captain chose one of the people who had not been trained for war to accompany them in the search for Ryan. The man did not know the intricacies of the war, and it is through him that the audience learns and sees the fear of the men. There are many factors that led to the end of the war, and that determined the winner of the war. In the case of the Second World War, the American soldiers were fighting with the Germans. The Germans had fought for several years during the Nazi invasion. They were short of supplies and resources, including soldiers, and this weakened them. Americans took considerable time before joining other countries to fight the Germans. They had enough resources when they joined other countries. They were therefore in a better position than the Germans and this enabled them to win the war (Lewis 134). Such accounts are not usually recorded in war movie. The fact that the movie directors and producers show scanty details concerning few aspects of the event, contributes to the lack of credibility seen in war movies. In many Hollywood war movies, someone is always willing to sacrifice his life for the others, and â€Å"Saving Private Ryan† is not an exception. In the movie, Captain Miller chooses to stay behind and fight alongside Ryan. He and his troops go through a lot in their quest for finding Ryan. Some of the men, including Captain Miller, end up dead. What the movie directors fail to realize is that in some of the cases, many of the soldiers are more concerned about saving their lives, than they are in sacrificing themselves for their compatriots. Many critics and audiences believe that the movie is one of the most realistic movies about the Second World War. This is largely because of the graphic violence shown in the movie. The movie starts with extremely violent scenes where the American soldiers are attacked and killed by the Germans on land, and in water. The rest of the movie also has other violent scenes although they are not as graphic as they are in the beginning. Despite its shortcomings, the movie was a good production, and it served to depict the horrors of the war. The movie’s graphic scenes helped in showing just how much the soldiers went through when fighting the war. America has continued to fight in other wars in modern time. It has fought in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many American soldiers have lost their lives. In the movie, Ryan was lucky enough to survive the war. Other families are not as lucky today, as they have continued to lose their children in the war. The movie makes one wonder whether there is any sense in getting involved in the war. In some cases, American troops are involved in wars, without perceived threat to the county. For instance, NATO’s decision to invade Libya led to the deaths of many people. The country was engaged in a civil war yet the international community, including America, felt the need to fight in the war. There are many ways of resolving conflicts between people, and they d o not have to kill each other as a means of finding peace. Wars are necessary in some cases, as the soldiers fight to protect the people and defend their country. Just like other war movies, â€Å"Saving Private Ryan† is meant to preserve the honor of the soldiers who fought in the war. The directors who direct these movies want to show that the soldiers who sacrificed their lives should be honored and remembered for their bravery. Spielberg aims to show the duty and sacrifice that was made by the soldiers. The movie seems to encourage other people to join in the war (Thompson et al., 56). They do not question the legality of the wars. Many films do not capture the fear of the men and the hatred they have for the war. In the movie, Captain Miller confesses that he feels further away from home every time he kills a person. He does not however do anything about it, but he instead chooses to follow orders. Many families detest wars since they end up losing their loved ones. They not only feel a sense of loss when their loved ones die in the war, but they also feel that their country has let them down. War movies do not capture these sentim ents. They do not capture the fact that many of the soldiers would want to be safe with their families. They seem to promote the stereotypical view that men are supposed to be courageous and they should fight for defense. Anyone who does not hold this view is seen as a coward. American war movies do not fail to show the bond that the soldiers develop with each other. They show how the soldiers sacrifice their lives for each other, and the friendship and the closeness that they develop when in the danger zone. They show the wisdom, ingenuity, courage, obedience and heroism of the soldiers. They sometimes show the fear of the soldiers. These are not usually the true representation of the reality on the battleground. The movies fail to show the cowardice that some of the soldiers feel. They fail to show how the soldiers feel whenever they kill a person. Many of the movies with violent scenes show the soldiers killing each other mercilessly and without remorse. This is not usually the case, as the soldiers will usually prefer to use other methods of dealing with the enemy. The movies fail to show the poor decisions that often put the soldiers at risk. They fail to show how the soldiers panic and they end up betraying and killing each other in battle. The movie is less credible because it contains inadequate details of the event, and it concentrates on the positive attributes of the American soldiers.

Meanings, Examples and Observations of the Word Lexicon

Meanings, Examples and Observations of the Word Lexicon A lexicon is the collection of words- or the internalized dictionary- that every speaker of a  language has. It is also called lexis. Lexicon may also refer to a  stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject or style. The word itself is the Anglicized version of the Greek word lexis (which means word in Greek). It basically means dictionary. Lexicology describes the study of lexis and lexicon. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: JargonLanguage AcquisitionLexemeLexical CompetenceLexical DiffusionLexical-Functional Grammar (LFG)Lexical IntegrityLexicalizationLexical SetLexicogrammarLexicographerLexicographicolatryLexicograpyLexicologyLexisListemeMental LexiconMorphologyVocabularyVocabulary Acquisition Examples and Observations The lexicon of soccer (called football outside of the United States) includes terms such as linesman, friendly match, yellow card, penalty shootout, pitch, result, and draw.The lexicon of a stock trader includes terms such as delayed quotes, futures contract, limit order, margin account, short selling, stop order, trend line and watch list. Words by the Numbers [T]here are currently about 600,000 words in the English language, with educated adults using about 2,000 words in daily conversation. For the 500 most-frequently used words, there are some 14,000 dictionary meanings. (Wallace V. Schmidt, et al., Communicating Globally. Sage, 2007)  The English lexicon grew by 70 percent from 1950 to 2000, with roughly 8,500 new words entering the language each year. Dictionaries dont reflect a lot of those words. (Marc Parry, Scholars Elicit a Cultural Genome From 5.2 Million Google-Digitized Books. The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 16, 2010) Myths of Word Learning If you attend a class on language acquisition, or read any good introductory chapter on the subject, you are likely to learn the following facts about word learning. Childrens first words are odd; they have funny meanings that violate certain semantic principles that hold for adult language and are learned in a slow and haphazard way. Then, at about 16 months, or after learning about fifty words, there is a sudden acceleration in the rate of word learning- a word spurt or vocabulary explosion. From this point on, children learn words at the rate of five, ten, or even fifteen new words a day. I will suggest here that none of these claims are true. They are myths of word learning. There is no reason to believe that childrens first words are learned and understood in an immature fashion- and there is considerable evidence to the contrary. There is no such thing as word spurt, and two-year-olds are not learning anywhere near five words per day. (Paul Bloom, Myths of Word Learning. Weavin g a Lexicon, ed. by D. Geoffrey Hall and Sandra R. Waxman. MIT Press, 2004) Language Acquisition: Grammar and Lexicon In a review of findings from language development, language breakdown and real-time processing, we conclude that the case for a modular distinction between grammar and the lexicon has been overstated, and that the evidence to date is compatible with a unified lexicalist account. Studies of normal children show that the emergence of grammar is highly dependent upon vocabulary size, a finding confirmed and extended in atypical populations. Studies of language breakdown in older children and adults provide no evidence for a modular dissociation between grammar and the lexicon; some structures are especially vulnerable to brain damage (e.g., function words, non-canonical word orders), but this vulnerability is also observed in neurologically intact individuals under perceptual degradation or cognitive overload. Finally, online studies provide evidence for early and intricate interactions between lexical and grammatical information in normal adults. (Elizabeth Bates and Judith C. Goodman, On the Inseparability of Grammar and the Lexicon: Evidence from Acquisition, Aphasia and Real-time Processing. Language and Cognitive Processes. The Chronicles of Higher Education. December 1997) Acquisition of the lexicon and acquisition of the grammar are ... parts of a single underlying process. (Jesse Snedeker and Lila R. Gleitman, Why It Is Hard to Label Our Concepts. Weaving a Lexicon, ed. by D. Geoffrey Hall and Sandra R. Waxman. MIT Press, 2004)

Career Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Career Management - Essay Example According to Kossek & Roberts, self-set managing activities mainly includes acquiring knowledge about one's personality, set of connections and appreciation on successfully completion of the assignments in the course of career development within an institution. (ELLEN ERNST KOSSEK, KAREN ROBERTS, 1998) On the other hand, "organizational career management" expresses the course of action adapted by the organizations to manage the careers of its workers. As per the theories of Stump, the Organizational career management is "actions and prospects that organizations support to help guarantee they will congregate or surpass their expected human resource necessities." (ELLEN ERNST KOSSEK, KAREN ROBERTS, 1998) Stumpf also reveals in his theory that the career corridors, worker education & development, employment postings, vocation therapies, outplacement psychotherapies and mentoring are merely few measures that are usually implemented in organizational career management agendas. (STUMPF, S.A., 1988) Loads of scholars have cited the work of Arnold (1997) who in his theories had explained career management as an endeavor to influence the career development of others. ... (ARNOLD, John, 1997) There has been occurrence of elementary shifts in the management of careers however, while previously careers were managed by the organizations by way of conventional and secure progress upwards on organizationally-defined ladders on the other hand the present-day arrangement of career management focuses on attaining knowledge and proficiencies as an alternative of making headway through a preset sequence of positions. (THITE, Mohan, 2001) Acquirement of novel acquaintance and talents increase the chances of "employability," i.e. the capability for the member of staff to achieve and sustain employment, facilitating the worker to budge around what Thite had referred to as a "jungle gym" of designations. (CLARKE, Marilyn, 2007) This novel conceptual framework of career management constitutes diverse meaning for mutually, the individual and the organization, getting forward to a dual way approach towards "career management, individual career management and organizational career manageme nt." (BARUCH, Y., 2006) This paper hereby evaluates the significance of career Management as an essential component of Human Resource activities from the joint perception of the organization as well as individual employees. This paper also highlights the obstructions that are usually encountered by HR professionals in implementing the career management program in an organization in addition with the measures that could be implemented to evade these barricades. This paper provides brief opinions of a number of researchers and authors on the topic. 2. Significance of Career Management The incorporation of the career management practice in HRM permits the shifting from a scheme of administration

Work Breakdown Structure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Work Breakdown Structure - Assignment Example The time frame for completing all activities at the terminal ends must be within the confines of one reporting period. If the activity may spill over to the next period, then it should be further subdivided. It is possible to contract out the terminal elements of work as single units of activities. For instance, all the activities in the above WBS can be contracted to specific individuals or groups. The terminal elements should represent work activities that realistically are not possible to break further (Miller 98). The Tree Structure Format was employed in developing the work breakdown structure. This is the commonly used format in presenting the WBS. The major advantage over other methods is that it is easy to understand just by taking a quick glance (Miller 109). Users can quickly be able to view the flow of work and what they are expected to do. The downside is that it may be difficult to create compared to others such as the Tabular Format. In project management, certain activities or whole project may spiral out of control and take longer than usual to complete. This may occur due to lack of proper planning of the scope of the project ahead of its implementation. This is referred to as the scope creep. IT projects are highly susceptible to scope creep. For example, FoxMeyer Drug, a large pharmaceutical company experienced scope creep on trying to install a multimillion IT system that would manage all critical operations. The scope of the project experienced a continuous growth until the costs became prohibitive (Schwalbe 209). The IT system also experienced billing errors. The cause of scope creep in this case was the lack of a clearly defined scope of work. There were no elaborate work limits during the initial stages of the project. Product testing could also have helped eliminate failures in the new system which resulted to errors (Schwalbe 210). Northrop Grumman, a manufacturing company experienced scope creep during implementation

Value Chain Analysis Of DHL And Aramex Assignment

Value Chain Analysis Of DHL And Aramex - Assignment Example Both secondary as well as primary data would be collected in order to present a comprehensive report to the readers. Among these major business operations, supply chain is the common element that has been considered for this report. Though supply chain plays a significant role for both DHL Express and Aramex, but DHL Express is a bigger company and supply chain is segregated for different segment such as, health care, oil and gas, etc. Aramex on the other hand is present worldwide, but yet the company is not as large as DHL, so they have a sophisticated and technology integrated supply chain. I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The express transportation and logistics industry can be regarded as one of the steady growing segments in the world economy. More than 1.25 million individuals are an example, as well as primary data, recently, which is even more than the size of the petroleum and oil industry. Apart from this, it supports more than 2.65 million other jobs around the world (Oxford Economic Forecasting, 2005). There are many industries around the world which functions with the help of express service industry, such as pharmaceutical, manufacturing, financial services and other technology companies (Transport Intelligence, 2012). The global leaders in this industry are the big four companies; DHL Express, UPS, TNT and FedEx (Thompson and Martin, 2010). The aim of this report is to analyse the business operations of two well-know express transportation and logistics industry, so as to identify a common element in their business operation and compare and contrast them. The companies chosen for this study is DHL Express and Aramex. A specific focus towards the business operation and function of these companies in the Gulf countries, such as Bahrain, etc would be also taken into account. 1.2 Procedure This report will include a comparative study of two companies in the express transportation and logistics industry.

The Global Trade Distribution Processes of Coca-Cola company Essay

The Global Trade Distribution Processes of Coca-Cola company - Essay Example Entry into a new market may require products to be changed in order to suit the preferences and tastes of the new foreign market. Multinationals are to be aware of the best stores for their products, the features most valued by the foreign audience, and the right prices to set for the products. This document covers Coca-Cola Company (from here on known as Coke); a beverage company that sells and distributes more than four hundred brands in two hundred countries around the globe (Coca-Cola, 2011); critically analyzing its success with respect to its international distribution strategies and processes while evaluating the issues involved in its quest for global dominance in the soft drinks and beverages industry. Distribution is defined by Daniels, Radebaugh and Sullivan (2011) as â€Å"the course, physical path or legal title that goods take between production and consumption. In international marketing, a company must decide on the method of distribution among countries as well as t he method within the country where final sale occurs.† The choice of a distributor and channel is the first step towards foreign market distribution. According to Daniels, Radebaugh and Sullivan (2011), a new company in a new market should rely entirely on external distributors as it is economical. This is a case where the new company distributes its products via other local distributors due to an under-developed market. However, the company can assume in house distribution once the market share is large. In Belarus, the market is not large and as a result, Coke relies on local distributors to handle transportation of products to retailers and final consumers in order to cut on their transportation costs (Daniels, Radebaugh and Sullivan, 2011). The US is one of the largest markets for the company’s products and as a result, the company has developed a business model that is mature and with distribution. Here, the company has outsourced its distribution and production to its distribution and bottling companies. The process involves marketers distributing Coke products (syrup) from Coke plants to bottling plants from where the canned and bottled products are distributed to centres and later they find their way to the final consumer or retail outlets (Kant, Jacks and Aantjes, 2008). Reports reveal that China will eventually surpass the U.S to become the Coke’s largest market (Chung, 2003). In China, Coke operates its own direct-to-retail distribution but the operation is faced by a slow growth accounting for just a fraction of the country’s Coke sales. The company has at least one sales centre in most Chinese cities housing more than one million people but most are owned by bottling companies (Weisert, 2001). The poor distribution of these stores in the country can be associated with inaccessibility and the culture of the Chinese people. A company looking for foreign distributors will typically opt for potential distributors. Among the common criteria followed when choosing these distributors is the financial strength of the company as well as its well-established connections. Since the relationship between the producer and the distributor is expected to be long lasting, the financial strength of the distributor is vital. In addition, the relationship will involve maintenance of certain things like inventories and as such assurances need to be made

Managing Information Technology in Small Business Term Paper

Managing Information Technology in Small Business - Term Paper Example Tebrak is a construction company that was established in 1979. The company was registered and started its operations in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. It was initially started as a family business and had 30 employees at the time it was being incorporated. Tebrak managed to grow its workforce and by 1995, the company had employed more than 250 workers. In the year 2000, the company was classified level B. The company also managed to diversify its operations and in 2005 it commenced the supply of medical equipment and devices to hospitals. The company has been managed by a family with the assistance of twelve management-level employees in each company. It has also recorded approximately 200 million Saudi Riyal in sales revenue. This has seen Tebrak grow into a large company that has been offering significant employment opportunities to the residents of Riyadh city. Despite the robust growth of Tebrak, there was the issue of centralization of decision making. Decision making was for a long time restricted to top level management. The lower level of management was never involved in any decision-making process. This restricted participation in decision making never provided freedom of decision making (Aksoy & DeNardis, 2007). The top level of management was involved in strategic planning while the lower level was involved in the implementation of policies devised by the top management. The organization managed to emerge as the market leader in an industry that was very competitive with large firms dominating the industry. Tebrak had adequate capital that saw the company invest in a number of economically viable projects that sustained its profitability for a very long time. There was less use of technology during the early 1990s and most of the firms were unable to remain competitive. This resulted in the exit of a number of companies because of decreasing profit margins.