Sunday, February 16, 2020

Political Parties and the Electoral Process Research Paper

Political Parties and the Electoral Process - Research Paper Example On the other hand, the republicans are adherent to conservative philosophy. Republicans hold that it is not the sole responsibility to care for every citizen even if it is charged with the responsibility of regulating and overseeing morality. Republicans believe on individual responsibility and minimal or no government interference on how people live their lives. Second, the republicans vehemently oppose the idea of abortion, which they perceive as murdering the fetus. On the other hand, the Democrats support abortion right, arguing that women should have the right to make preferred choices over what to do with their own bodies. Therefore, the republicans and the Democrats are pro-life and pro-choice respectively (Harrison, 2013). Third, republicans follow unilateralism ideology and believe that the United States should apply martial force without any help from other nations in case of security threat emergence. On the other hand, democrats believe that the united states need to work with strong alliances when acting in the international scene. Fourth, republicans accentuate power decentralization to states whereas democrats emphasize on high federalization. The democrats strongly believe that the federal government should have more power (Harrison, 2013). Despite the fact that third parties have been ever-present in the electoral process of the United States, they have never been successful at presidential elections. Third parties failure can be attributed to the fact that America’s two major parties (Democratic and Republican parties) have profound influence in the political system of the country. A two-party system has been the country’s political norm and most voters are accustomed to the two party system making third parties peripheral at the presidential level in the electoral process (Herrnson & Green, 2002). Third parties have therefore remained unfamiliar concept to voters

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Scientific Research Skills - Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Scientific Research Skills - Project - Essay Example Social media has immensely influenced individuals and their behaviors. The recent researchers claim that the excessive social media is becoming a major issue and leading to addictive behaviors and negative impacts on cognitive development and mental health among adult and children. O’Keeffe and Pearson in their study analyze the impacts of social media on individuals. The main objective of the research is to determine the impacts of social media on mental health of individuals. The findings of the research show that the excessive use of social media is leading to unhealthy and addictive behaviors among individuals, such as sexing, alcohol, pornography etc. In addition, the findings show that excessive use of social media is casting negative impacts on the cognitive development and academic performance of individual (OKeeffe & Pearson, 2011). In the similar fashion, Kuss & Griffith (2011) in their study cliam that the use of excessive social networking (facebook) is leading to negative impact on the academic performance of individuals as well as leading to variety of activities that have potential addictive behavior (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). Some of the researcher claims that the media content on the social websites is creating anxiety among individuals as social media portray a different aspect of the live. Fischer et al (2011) in the study determine quantity of media contents that is leading to risk-taking behaviors among individuals, such as extreme sports, violence and drinking. In order to conduct the study quantities research approach. Meta analysis was connected to determine the relationship between the media contents and its impact on individual behaviors. The findings of the study highlights that there is strong relation between media content and risk taking behaviors of individuals (Fischer, Greitemeyer, Kastenmà ¼ller, Vogrincic, & Sauer, 2011). Villanti et al (2011) in the study focuses on

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Film Noir in The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity

Film Noir in The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity Midterm Paper Film Noir Style in The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity What elements of a movie make up a film noir? According to many cinematographers, a film noir is a term used to describe Hollywood crime dramas, with emphasis on sex and violence. Never before in Hollywood had directors defied social norms to take a step towards the raw post-Depression American society. It was not until after the Second World War when Hollywood films began to portray the dark slick city streets, crime, and corruption of society. In early film noir cinemas, directors such as John Huston, of The Maltese Falcon, and Billy Wilder, of Double Indemnity, both incorporated different styles and elements to define the cinematic term that changed the film industry across the globe in the early 1940s-mid50s. The two films, with respect to different plots, both used similar cinematography ideals to create a new sense of film genre, better known as film noir. Films began to be painted black mainly due to the great influence of German Expressionism. Female characters changed from untarnished beauties to devilish divas smoking cigarettes and cocking a gun. Both Double Indemnitys and The Maltese Falcons screenplays were top notch, and took the audience on a non-stop thrill ride of deception and lies, and the acting of both films were nothing short of remarkable. In Double Indemnity, director Billy Wilder doesnt hesitate to bring drama and suspense immediately upon the audience. The film was the first of its kind that used film noir for what it in essence stood for, and became a hit from the day it was released. The movie begins with Walter Neff, a successful insurance salesman for Pacific All-Risk, first seen walking into his Los Angeles office. Walter, who is wounded, begins to record his story of his tragic downfall. The story starts with Walter meeting Mrs.Dietrichson to converse about life insurance. After deciding to purchase a Double Indemnity Clause, which ultimately pays the widow twice the normal amount if her husband was to die for whatever reason, Walter begins to realize that Mrs.Dietrichson plans to murder her husband for the clause. Phyllis then persuades Walter to be her associate in killing her husband. Their relationship becomes more than just work-related, as the lust between the two turn to an affair. When Mr.Dietrichson is found dead alongside the train tracks, everyone except investigator Barton and Lola, Phyllis daughter, accept it as an accidental occurrence. The daughter comes to Neff, and reveals to him that her mother had died suspiciously when Phyllis was her nurse. He then learns about Phyllis relationship with Lolas boyfriend and confronts her. She tells him that she only saw the boyfriend to provoke him into killing Lola. In a rage, Neff attempts to shoot her, but is shot first. Phyllis then gives her gun up to Walter, who shoots and kills her. Walter flees the scene of the crime to his office where he is seen at the beginning of the film. Walter tells Barton that he is going to flee to Mexico and escape a death sentence, but only manages to make it to the elevator where he suddenly collapses to the floor and dies. The Maltese Falcon opens with Sam Spade, a detective for the Spade and Archer Detective Agency in San Francisco, working in his office. A client, who goes by the name of Miss Wanderly, comes to Sam and asks him to follow Floyd Thursby, who supposedly has her younger sister. Later that night, Spade is informed that Archer, his partner, has been shot to death while following Floyd. Sam is soon an alleged suspect when the cops soon find out that Floyd has also been killed. The next day Spade is offered $5000 by Joel Cairo, if the detective can get hold of a small sculpture of a falcon. After a brief tussle in his office, Miss Wanderly (Brigid) contacts Spade, and mentions to her that he is with Cairo. Soon after, the three of them held a brief meeting, where they told Sam about â€Å"The Fat Man,† and how he is a danger to them all. The next morning, Sam is confronted by Casper Gutman, an extremely obese man, who wants to offer a large reward to Sam for the capture of The Maltes e Falcon. Following the story of the falcon, Sam blacks out (unknowingly drugged by Gutman) and only wakes up later to a mortally wounded Jacobi with the falcon. Afterward, Sam presents the falcon to Gutman, only to find out that its a fake. Casper then demands his reward money back, only to receive nine of the ten thousand dollars, and tells Sam that he is going to leave to further search for the falcon. Immediately following the conversation, Sam informs the police of Gutman and Wilmer, the men connected to the murder of Jacobi and Thursby, and Brigid, the murderer of Archer. When the police arrive, Brigid is arrested, and Sam is informed by the police of Gutmans recent homicide. The movie concludes with Sam handing over the leftover reward money and falcon to the police as evidence. Before analyzing both movies, one must be able to fully grasp and understand the defining elements that make up film noir, which ultimately drew upon a reservoir of different film techniques. During the era when film noir was most popular, directors often associated their movies with a low-key black-white visual. Many of the lights portrayed in both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon were hung low and floor lamps were infrequently high off the ground. Moreover, light tended to enter the rooms in jagged and odd shapes in due course creating a sinister motif and ideology. This could be rooted back to German Expressionism. Moreover, the key ideas in these films were derived from the raw school of crime fiction that emerged during the early 1900s when the Depression tore apart America. Film Noir, or â€Å"Black Film† in French, had started out as melodramas, but eventually became a distinct genre of its own. While this term encompassed a range of plots, the main figures of th e films typically included the detective or private-eye (Sam and Walter), police, slum portion of the city, law-abiding citizen gone corrupt, femme fatale character (Brigid and Phyllis), and victim. Both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon associated with many classic noir ideologies such as the small town just outside of the city, dark lighting, the detective, and the sex-driven femme fatale woman. During this period of filmmaking, sex was often symbolized through the use of cigarettes. Throughout both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon, scenes that appeared to be action packed or romantic were often followed by either character satisfyingly smoking their cigarette. While noir films typically incorporated and were identified by their visual styles, movies commonly associated as film noirs revolved around genres such as the gangster film, gothic romance, or melodrama. Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon both contain issues of fate, moral laws, and destructiveness which are the basic characteristics of a film noir. Nothing is more petrifying than a femme fatale character. The females raw outer beauty that covers her devilish thoughts and personality often seduces the most strong-willed of men. Private investigator Sam Spade and successful insurance salesman Walter Neff, both fell victim to the utter terror and attractiveness of femme fatale characters Brigid OShaughnessy (Ruth Wonderly) and Phyllis Dietrichson. In Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon, the femme fatale characters used sexual innuendos to seduce and control Walter and Sam. For example, when Walter Neff first stepped into the Dietrichsons stylish home in San Francisco, he was immediately welcomed by flirtatious Phyllis Dietrichson. As they conversed about insurance: â€Å"Phyllis (in a robe): Im Mrs. Dietrichson. Is there anything I can do? Walter Neff: The insurance ran out on the fifteenth. Id hate to think of you getting a smashed fender or something while youre not†¦ fully covered. Phyllis (with a little smile): Perhaps I know what you mean, Mr. Neff. Ive just been taking a sun bath.† It is quite apparent that Phyllis was trying to gain control upon first introducing herself to Walter. Clearly, Phyllis flirted with Walter after he said how she and her husband needed to renew their insurance or something threatening may occur to them. She immediately related not being covered by insurance to herself and how she wasnt clothed because she had finished a sun bath. An example of seduction in The Maltese Falcon, con artist Brigid OShaughnessy fakes her identity to use Sam Spade to apparently find her lost sister. Eventually, Sam learned about Brigids lies and confronts her: â€Å"Brigid OShaughnessy: Help me. Sam Spade: You wont need much of anybodys help. Youre good. Chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice when you say things like be generous, Mr. Spade. Brigid OShaughnessy: I deserve that. But the lie was in the way I said it, not at all in what I said. Its my own fault if you cant believe me now. Sam Spade: Ah, now you are dangerous.† †¦ â€Å"Sam Spade: All weve got is that maybe you love me and maybe I love you. Brigid OShaughnessy: You know whether you love me or not. Sam Spade: Maybe I do. Ill have some rotten nights after Ive sent you over, but thatll pass.† In those scenes, Brigids failed attempt to manipulate and seduce Sam was due to his awareness of her lies and con artist personality. In the end, the femme fatale character in both Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon could be recognized by their personality traits that made them dangerous to any man that got in their way. Their sexy personality clouded the perception of many characters, including Sam and Walter. But by the end of each film, their ego and evil personalities led to their downfall. Furthermore, the most associated elements that draw the audiences emotions out arent always the acting, rather the setting and background components. In Double Indemnity, the eerie background music was what greatly affected the overall tone of the film. While in certain scenes, the music was perceived as cheery and fast-paced, in darker settings, such as the introduction to the film, the heavy violin along with the drum and trumpets added much depth to the actual film, where the injured Walter Neff is seen limping ever-so-close to the audience. Not even a minute into the film, the viewer senses the pain coming from Walter as he struggles his way into his office, duly to the dark and heavy violin playing in the background. The music clearly added depth not just to Double Indemnity, but also to The Maltese Falcon. In one of the beginning scenes where Archer was seen walking down the street, the relatively soothing background music immediately changes to fast paced horror as hes shot t o death. The scene then transitioned to Sams house, which is shown engulfed in darkness, where he was seen sat down in his chair by his telephone. The music playing creepily in the background coincided well with the scenes tone as Sam is shown picking up the phone to be told the news of Archers death. While acting plays a key role in film noir, music and other background components play vital roles in creating the raw emotion and thrill of film noir. In conclusion, the film noir style has made Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon one of the most highly respected films of our lifetime. The usage of dark lighting and heart pulsing music is just a fraction of the elements that portray film noir in the two films. Both Double Indemnitys and The Maltese Falcons screenplays were top notch, and took the audience on a non-stop thrill ride of deception and lies. Moreover, the acting of both films was nothing short of remarkable. Film Noir has earned its spot in history as a life changing genre.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Administrative Policy

The case of Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Eldridge are different in nature. Mrs. Kelly is fighting for her welfare benefits, while Mr. Eldridge is fighting for his disability benefit. Under the same point, they are both claiming that the terminations of their benefits were made without giving them the opportunity to undergo a â€Å"pre-evidentiary hearing†, which they both believe is a deprivation of their rights to enjoy the benefits of due process of law.While both of them are entitled to be given pre-evidentiary hearing, but the nature of their benefits, and the circumstances that they are fighting are totally different. Mr. Eldridge’s case can be easily won; it only requires an effort of collecting medical information, as the case itself tackles disability benefit eligibility, Compared to Mrs. Kelly’s case, Mr. Eldridge has lots of options for proving his eligibility.On the other hand, Mrs. Kelly’s case requires a deeper type of inquiry to prove her eligibility. However, under both are entitled to be given due process. But the court had prioritized Mrs. Kelly’s case as it requires broader scope of study compared to Mr. Eldridge. The court just wants to set priorities on their caseloads at hand. Under the Goss v. Lopez, and the Ingraham v. Wright cases, again the weight of the interest and the liberty which is at stake is given higher value. In the first case, there were two major areas which are considered. First, students are entitled to avail education at schools. Second, expulsion, suspension, or any disciplinary actions imposed by schools can have an effect on the morality of the student.Considering these two points, the school can’t impose disciplinary actions to students without pre-evidentiary hearing, because the degree of risk associated with imposing penalties is very high, therefore, it should be cautiously done. On the second case, complainants were fighting against imposing corporal punishment at schools. Imposing physical punishments such as paddling, betting, or forcing students to do shameless activities is against the law.Students have the rights to be protected from such actions. However, this strategy of disciplining students has been traditionally applied by the school. Although this also involves degrading the morality of the students, or inflicting physical abuse, but this is still different from the Goss v. Lopez case.The first case was characterized by imposing suspension, or expulsion, therefore, the student’s right to avail the right education is suppressed. But in either case, the presence of pre-evidentiary hearing is required; however, this is again another issue of prioritizing caseloads at the hands of the courts. Pickering and Nurse Churchill’s cases differ in nature. Both employees were entitled to their rights to speak about their opinion. However, Pickering’s allegations are more viewed as an issue of public concern. The nature at which Mr. Pickerin g spoke of his idea is more reasonable and formal in nature, he wrote it in address to the people whom he wants to question.But Churchill’s case was somewhat like spreading rumors or hearsay. Mr. Pickering’s case can be easily protected under the rights to speech while Churchill has more complexities.All cases have good grounds on due process recognition. However, the aspect of how it can be processed under their claims requires more effort which the courts and other judicial system prioritize in terms of the validity of its claims and the level of interest and liberty of the different parties at stake.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Elizabeth And Lydia And The Social Context Of Pride

The previous sections have shown that Mr. Darcy becomes attracted to Elizabeth’s intelligence, compassion and imprudent behavior. But if Elizabeth’s liveliness and transgression enhance her beauty, why doesn’t Mr. Darcy fall in love with Lydia, whose transgression and vigor are even more accentuated? By comparing Elizabeth and Lydia and by analyzing the openness of their transgressions as related to the social context of Pride, it is possible to understand why Austen favors Elizabeth as her heroine. Elizabeth asserts agency, but follows protocol (though she exploits it for her own ends). Lydia, on the other hand, openly goes against conventions and, though she ends up married to Mr. Wickham, a glimpse at her future suggests that she will not have a happy life. As previously stated, Austen could not be too revolutionary in her writing and needed to conform to the social expectation that transgressive women be punished. 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Monday, December 23, 2019

Alice Hoffman Biography Essay example - 1024 Words

â€Å"Be careful what you wish for. I know that for a fact. Wishes are brutal, unforgiving things. They burn your tongue the moment they’re spoken and you can never take them back.†-Alice Hoffman (Alice Hoffman Quotes, 2014). Alice Hoffman was born on March 16th, 1952 in New York City, New York. She grew up in Long Island, New York and graduated in 1969 from high school (Biography, 2014). Her parents got divorced when she was young, but they both worked and attended college, and out of their neighborhood, they were the only people that attended college (OHara, 2014). Alice Hoffman attended two different colleges during her time in school. She attended Adelphi University and the Stanford University Creative Writing Center. During her†¦show more content†¦(OHara, 2014). Alice Hoffman uses this belief to make her writing better. She will write a book that has something to do with the phobia or tragedy that she is going through at the moment, such as tre atment for cancer. Alice Hoffman also uses tragedies that happen in America, such as 9/11, as a way to write books. This writing technique that she uses helped her most popular book get that title. Alice Hoffman’s most popular book is The Dovekeepers (Biography, 2014). During the process of writing this book, Hoffman found that writing helped her during chemotherapy and while she was sick during her treatment time (OHara, 2014). Hoffman would often write during this time to make her feel better. Due to her focusing on writing so much as an exit of treatment and sickness, Hoffman came out with a book that was â€Å"beautiful, harrowing, a major contribution to the twenty-first century literature† (The Dovekeepers Synopsis, 2014). Also, The Dovekeepers is believed to be â€Å"ambitious and mesmerizing† (The Dovekeepers Synopsis, 2014), which is why it is thought to have been so popular. This book is set in Ancient Israel. â€Å"In 70 CE, nine hundred Jew s held out for months against armies of Romans on a mountain in the Judean, desert, Masada. Only two women and five children survived.† (The Dovekeepers Synopsis, 2014). The Dovekeepers is based off of this event that occurred. In the book, four women meet in the desperate days of the siege. â€Å"All are dovekeepers, and allShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesWesterman, Appalachian State University William J. White, Northwestern University David Whitlock, Southwest Baptist University Dan Wiljanen, Grand Valley State University Dean Williamson, Brewton-Parker College Hilda Williamson, Hampton University Alice Wilson, Cedar Crest College Barry Wisdom, Southeast Missouri State University Craig Wishart, Fayetteville State University Laura Wolfe, Louisiana State University Melody Wollan, Eastern Illinois University Evan Wood, Taylor University Fort Wayne Chun-Sh engRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 Pagesof Trustees. What will you plan to say to Mr. Dewey? Now switch roles and imagine that you are Melvil Dewey. How would you justify your actions to the board? The information for this case was taken from Wayne A. Wiegand, Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melvil Dewey (Chicago: American Library Association, 1996), chap. 4. tHe HuManistic aPProacH During the 1930s, management studies began to give more attention to the concerns of individuals working in organizations. No longer were workers