Modern Theatrical Practices Essay

The play ‘Macbethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ was written by William Shakespeare in 1606 and is thought to have been written for King James I. The play was found by Shakespeare in ‘The History of Scotland’ and in there it was suggested that Banquo had helped Macbeth in the killing of Duncan but Shakespeare cleverly left this out as King James I was an ancestor of Banquo and the thought of regicide in his family would have killed Shakespeare’s career and most probably, he would have been killed himself. For maximum effect, I believe the best stage for this play would be a proscenium arch. This is so the actors will always be facing the audience and when the apparitions happen, the audience will not be able to see being the gauze and alter which would spoil the effect given. Also the audience’s seat will not go that high up for the same reason. Originally, the audience should react normally to the acting going on, then when Macbeth enters with thunder booming about, and I feel like this should scare the audience to show that something bad is going to happen. Throughout the Apparitions I think the audience should feel a small bit of fear but I expect them to really understand what is happening on stage so the fear cannot be too strong. I believe fear is an important feeling as it symbolizes that something evil is happening on stage. At the same time I want the audience to be excited and on the edge of their seat, wondering what is going to happen next. In this scene Macbeth again visits the witches who he thinks are helping him. The Witches are of course evil characters and don’t have his good at heart. This is a fault of Macbethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s, as he doesn’t realize the Witches are evil an thinks he is unbeatable until it is too late and Macduff, with the help of Malcolm, has rallied support to overthrow him. The first time Macbeth meets the Witches they predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, King of Scotland and that the children of Banquo will also become kings. These predictions lead to the murders of Duncan and Banquo. This meeting tells Macbeth to ‘Beware Macduffà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (IV, i, 70) and leads to the murders of Lady Macduff, her children and the majority of the Macduff castle servants. The witches also lull Macbeth into a false sense of security by telling him that â€Å"†¦for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth† (lines 79-80). Macduff was born by Caesarean section and so ‘isn’tà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ born of woman. Macbethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s security is also lowered when he is told that he is safe until ‘Great Burnham Wood to High Dunsinane Hill† (line 92). Macbeth believes this to e impossible so sees himself as indestructible but this prophecy comes true when the English soldiers carry branches up to the hill to disguise how many of them there actually are. These two lapses in security will lead to the eventual downfall of Macbeth. The scene is described as a ‘miserable place near Forresà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (The royal castle of Scotland); Thunder is also described as happening. I think that it is vital to get across the fact that this place is barren and contaminated by immorality due to the company of the witches. I would set this scene in the hours of darkness, there will be fire-torches stuck in the ground providing some dim light to show that it is an isolated area and not a common rest ground for people. Light bulbs will be used, not actual fire as fire may cause a safety hazard. Also Lighting will be coming from behind a gauze, which is hanging towards the back of the stage. This will enhance the effect that the place is evil. The torches on the floor will give the audience the impression of a medieval setting. They will be randomly arranged around the stage to show a mild, or delicate case of the chaos that is linked with the Witches. The gauze will be hung towards the back and no light will be shone behind it until the apparitions, this is so the apparitions can come from behind the gauze so the audience cannot see them coming out of a cauldron for example. Seeing something rising from a cauldron cannot be made to look good in a theatre and may come off as looking tacky. The actual stage itself will be decorated to look like a cave, mould and dirt should be on the stage floor and small boulders scattered over the ground. I think that an actual cauldron would be a bit odd looking seen as nothing will be rising out of it and also a cauldron is slightly pantomime. So instead of a cauldron I think that a large, stone alter, with a large bowl shaped crevice carved into it will be well received. There will be a light bulb in the base of the bowl crevice, which will shine up into the witch’s faces as they move around it. This would create strange shadows; which would make the Witches look physically evil. My Witches don’t actually look evil, only ragged and dirty. This would make more sense to portray them as this as Macbeth does not see the witches as evil so if the looked normal, this could show why Macbeth is tricked by them. The audience would be able to see the evilness of the Witches as well as feel it in their actions. The rock effect would be more natural looking and a fire isn’t necessarily needed as the evil ingredients generate their own heat. The natural look would also mean that it doesn’t have to disappear in a puff of smoke like an iron cauldron would. The three Witches are moving around the rock whilst describing the evil ingredients they are throwing in. They will speak gently, but not essentially evilly. The voices used should be enough to tell the audience that these people are not pure and good. I think that although the witches are fundamentally evil and therefore don’t really need a reason to hate Macbeth it would be original to give them a reason. Macbeth will be wearing his feudal colours when he finds the witches. Two of the witches will be wearing ragged clothing but it will be obvious to the audience that some of this clothing bears the colours of Macbeth, suggesting that these too were once loyal servants to him but due to Macbeth committing an evil act against them, or by an evil such as the one that is corrupting Macbeth now, they have turned. Two of my Witches will be men, enhancing the idea that they were maybe soldiers of Macbeth who were punished by their master and so have decided to oppose him. The third will be wearing clothes that were once very expensive, a dress of a noble lady of the period, torn and ripped by time. She may have been an old love of Macbeth who was dropped by the man and is now bitter. The clothing of the witches will strengthen the atmosphere of evil that is opposing Macbeth; but that it is his own fault that evil has picked him out to be converted. The Witches won’t have evil cackling voices but instead keep normal human voices; showing that there is still some humanity left in them at the same time as showing that humanity can be so easily converted to evil. Once the spell is completed Hecate, the Queen of Witchcraft enters. Expanding the idea that the witches were once subjects of Macbeth I think that Hecate could also be an ex-subject. I however like that idea that Hecate is a ghost like figure of an old woman, maybe an ex queen or his mother, dressed out in normal clothes. She will not be raggedly dressed but instead his clothes will be fresh and clean. I believe she could be his mother and ghost like o show that it could all be his sub-conscience, screening that he really isn’t evil and feels bad about what he did. The three ‘witchesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ who accompany her will also be cleanly dressed, wearing the Armour and colours of their lord (they will be men-at-arms, footmen etc†¦). Hecate’s lines are often spoken in a cackling way but this won’t be very appropriate for my Hecate. As she speaks her lines the lord (Hecate) will slowly walk back and forth in front of the Witches. When this small speech is finished a song and dance is described as occurring. Instead of this my three main Witches will get down on one knee and bow to the lord. They will remain like this for several seconds until the lord (Hecate) and his entourage has exited the stage. When Macbeth enters there will be a loud clap of thunder issued in a surround sound bomb followed by the light behind the gauze flashing for a few seconds to simulate lightning. Macbeth will have a faint spotlight of white light will shine on him. The light will not be too strong to show that the good that is left in Macbeth is waning and it will take little persuasion from an evil force to drive him all the way to eternal damnation. The thunder and lighting will alert the audience that something important is happening. When Macbeth speaks he will have a deep, booming voice. Clearly belonging to the higher orders although now and again in his dialogue his voice will wobble and break into that of an underling, like the Stereotypical voice of the witches. His voice will do this when he speaks of murder or of other foul acts he has committed. This means that it will happen mainly after Lennox has informed him of Macduff’s flight to England. This will show the audience that Macbeth would be a strong (Psychologically) man if he could stand up to the handling and dishonesty of the Witches. When the witches speak to Macbeth they will not do so in a dissident manner as they will consider themselves to be his equal, as they know they have power over him. Shakespeare also reveals something by making them speak in blank verse, the manner usually reserved for upper class characters. Possibly the witches really are upper class characters? This is why I have decided to portray the witches as possible subjects of Macbeth. Shortly before the first apparition appears the 3 witches all speak together. I think this (Come high or low: Thyself and office deftly show.) should be spoken softly, inviting Macbeth to ‘follow’ them in the abyss. Then I shall have the stone alter to make an exploding sound and a bolt of lightning should fill the stage up with light. Then I would establish the gauze to its bursting effect. The whole area in front of the gauze would be blacked out apart from the dim spotlight still on Macbeth, as it is he who is being shown the apparition. The light behind the gauze will be a dreary grey/white glow and will appear rather dusty. Then as if from nowhere the first apparition will appear. Really the suit of armor will slowly rise from the ground, the actor get up from the floor, but due to the rock alter obstructing the audiences view, it will look as if it is rising from the altar. The apparition is an armored head. This doesn’t mean that it’s a head with arms. That would be stupid. It is in fact a head with a helmet on. I think that it is hard to actually portray a floating head on stage without special camera effects like in a film. Therefore I will make the ‘armed headà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ into an actual armored warrior. The helmet will be one that encloses the bearer’s head fully, so hiding the face inside. All the lights in front of the gauze will go out apart from the one in the alter and the light on Macbeth. The helmet may cause the voice of the ‘headà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to be muffled so I believe a pre recorded speech by the actor would be better to use in this case, and also it would have a surround sound effect to frighten the crowd maybe. This is to show that what the Witches are doing is evil. I would make my armored warrior wear exactly the same clothes as Macbeth, but he will not notice this. The identical clothing will act as a testament that is Macbeth himself who is causing him to fall from grace. The warrior will chant the word Macbeth louder and louder as he walks around. He will do this once until reaching the point from which he appeared. He will appear to leave but will turn around at the last moment and say, in a deep, booming voice, ‘beware Macduffà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. He will then go on with ‘Beware the Thane of Fifeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Macduff’s title) before ordering Macbeth ‘Dismiss me, enough!’ He will be one of the only characters in the play who will speak to Macbeth in such a way and not cause Macbeth to become angry. I think that the strong contrast of the long loud chants and the short booming ‘beware Macduffà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ will enhance the fact that Macduff is a major enemy of Macbeth and will end up killing him. The contrasting way that the apparition speaks to Macbeth will show the audience that it is Macbeth who is insulting or degrading himself, as the apparition will appear to be Macbeth himself. All the original lights in front of the gauze will come on again and the behind gauze light will slowly fade as the apparition disappears. The second apparition to appear to Macbeth is a bloody child, supposedly coming from a caesarean operation. This will be a difficult apparition to show as I think a baby is a hard member to work with and using an actual baby may be an infringement of human rights. Due to this I think that a child of maybe four or five years will be used. Once again, all the relevant lights will dim and this time a beam of light, hinted with red shall shine on the child who again rises behind the gauze. The high voice of this apparition (a pre-pubescent child) will contrast sharply with the mighty voice of Macbeth and again should be pre recorded, as a really young child cannot be expected to perform in front of that large a crowd. The child should be with his mother on stage and be cuddling the woman. This is so Macbeth has reason to think that no one is of woman born and he is indestructible. The audience should notice that the power of the Witches has caused Macbeth to focus all of his attention on a small child. After Macbeth has heard that ‘none of woman bornà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ can harm him Macbeth becomes happy as he thinks that he can defeat Macduff and is indestructible. He will turn away from the apparition towards the audience and smile and nod to himself. When the light comes on after this apparition as left the beam on Macbeth will be noticeably dimmer than before, showing that Macbeth has taken another step to eternity in the presence of Beelzebub. Macbeth has decided that Macduff must go, but he hasn’t decided on a time yet. The change in strength of the beam should be subtle but noticeable so that the audience will clearly notice, so only an alert member of the audience will realise the rapid fall of Macbeth. Finally the third apparition appears, for this I would have a projector behind the gauze, which has an animation of the apparition on. I shall have the apparition portrayed as a forest moving over the hills towards Macbethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s castle. Amidst the moving forest an army should be able to be just seen, barley noticeable unless you are an alert member of the audience, this is to show that the apparition is actually looking into the future and this is exactly what will happen, and those with previous knowledge of the play should realize this. The apparition will then be spoken, also in a pre recorded voice, but this one should be spoken in Macbethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s voice, This will indicate to the audience that it is Macbeth himself who is causing all the corruption and unrest. Macbeth is very happy at what the apparitions have said and fails to notice the many hidden symbols that they bear such as the identical clothing worn by the first apparition and the voice of Macbeth in the third. Only one thing troubles Macbeth now, the idea that it may be the offspring of Banquo who rule the kingdom instead of his own. Macbeth therefore orders the Witches to tell him about this. After he has made the question â€Å"†¦shall Banquo’s issue ever reign in this kingdom?† There will be a pause of about 3 seconds; long enough to alert the audience that something important is about to happen. Thee Witches will turn away from Macbeth and look to the floor before saying â€Å"Seek to know no more†; they know that the images that they must now show Macbeth will not please him, but he has demanded it and although the Witches have infinitely more power than Macbeth they will show him this apparition as they have shown him the apparitions that have pleased him. All of the lights will go out so that the stage is completely dark. Again the projector will be used for this apparition and a bright light will shine on the screen to make the vision stand out. Within the first few seconds of this apparition showing, a King, slightly resembling Banquo will appear on the screen. Then after about ten seconds a sound effect, similar to a camera click effect, will sound and the King will disappear and another King, resembling Banquo a little less will appear, then again the sound effect will sound and another King, resembling less of Banquo but similar to the previous King, to show the audience that they are indeed from the same family, will appear. And so on and so forth until all eight Kings have appeared on the projector. Then a loud boom of thunder in surround sound will echo around the theatre in addition to a lightning flash filling up the stage. The screen will then have all eight kings showing and then a computer character of Banquo will appear in the center of the screen, covering the Kings behind him to enhance the effect of him being there, will start laughing and mocking Macbeth, this will go on for about half a minute then the apparition will disappear. The Witches will now begin to smile and look pleased with their work. They will begin to mock Macbeth with the song they will sing and the first Witch praises Macbeth as a ‘great kingà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ in a voice of mock worship. Once more the audience will realise that Macbeth has no power over the Witches and how they are the real evil in the play. The Witches dance and vanish (the lights will go out again). When the lights come back on they will be noticeably brighter due to the departure of the Witches, showing that the Witches were really evil. Macbeth will be shouting out his lines while on his knees about how the Witches have abandoned him when Lennox enters accompanied by a messenger who will be muddy and look tired. In his hand he will be carrying a large leather bag. This man will be the messenger that Lennox will inform Macbeth about. Macbeth will still have his dim spotlight on him but Lennox will have a bright light, his uniform/armor will be clean and shining, showing that Lennox has not fallen from grace as Macbeth has. Lennox will inform Macbeth of Macduff who has fled to England to bring back an army. This will lead to Macbethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s final soliloquy of this scene. During this Macbeth will speak of his plans to murder Macduff. He will pace around the front stage whilst Lennox walks towards the back of the stage to talk with the messenger so it doesn’t look like that Lennox can actually hear what Macbeth is saying. Macbeth should look flustered and angry, he should look as if he has lost all sanity and means of rational thought, showing the audience that in this one scene Macbeth has gone from a murderer to a madman and is still plummeting to worse things. The spotlight over Macbeth will start to fade until it eventually is put out permanently. This is to show there is no way back for Macbeth now.

Cultural Diversity and Its Effect on Mnc’s Essay

These days cultural diversity plays a significant role in a company. The criteria discriminating these groups include race, geographic basis, civilization, gender, age, functional or educational background, physical and cognitive competence, language, lifestyles, beliefs, cultural background, economic category, occupancy with the organization and sexual preference. As a MNC works in a global market it must be ready to detect all possible changes in the global environment and it has to be able to communicate and adapt the identity of the company to them. For example in India women’s will not work for night so they have to manage time for their convenience. The company can’t offer quality products or services to the customers if it doesn’t understand and take in account the impact that the culture has in all the processes. Workers usually think that their behavior hasn’t got any influence on the final product or service, but to be effective, every part must have a clear vision of the company and a clear mission on it. The social, political and enterprise structure depends on everyone in the company, so the internal area and the human resources, one of the most important areas of a company, must be developed with the rest of the company to achieve their goals. The misunderstanding and ignoring of different cultures, language and historical background lead to disasters in the field of setting up multinational business. To avoid this, a general knowledge of another nation’s culture and history is essential. So general cultural knowledge, if coupled with prejudice and prejudgment, is an obstacle to effective global management. 2.1 Communication and language barriers One main challenge under culture is language barriers. Communication is necessary for management. Yet communication relies upon a common language, a condition that does not exist in many global business situations and that is when the problems start. The most pronounced sign of the language barrier at work can be found in the relationship between a multinational parent company and its network of global subsidiaries. Several factors contribute to the difficulty of achieving and sustaining effective communications and a productive, collaborative relationship. Even if an employee is relatively competent in the language of the other party, loss of rhetorical skills is always present as the use of humor, symbolism, sensitivity, negotiation, persuasion and motivation requires a very high level of fluency. 2.2 Attitudes towards Appointments and Deadlines In America, Americans were give strict obedience to time commitments and it was a basic principle of professionalism and polite behavior. Because everything tends to be strictly scheduled, postponements in one appointment or deadline can have a serious ripple effect on a coworker or customer’s other work commitments. But for example: The more flexible and open-ended approach to time of Indian and Sri Lankan businesses culture can create tensions and adverse impressions on American counterparts 3. MNC Workforce Diversity Multinational Companies (MNC) had to face a number of new challenges in their daily business over the past couple of years. Globalization changed various things for global players. In general MNC structure shows a focus on their main resources and departments like finance, technology, marketing, sales and production, because they want to have a large number of customers and to earn profit. A huge challenge MNC have to manage is their workforce diversity. The milestone research by Hofstede with 116,000 recruits of IBM, a giant MNC in 50 countries and 3 regions recognized four cultural values in the workplace: Individualism-collectivism, Power difference, Uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity. For example: the United States was the greatest and Guatemala was lowest in individualism. Malaysia was the highest and Austria was the lowest in the power distance values. Greece was the highest and Singapore was the lowest in the uncertainty avoidance values. Japan was the highest an d Sweden was the lowest in the masculinity values. There have been significant amount of intercultural and cross-cultural studies with these cultural values, and some studies demonstrated the relationship between communication styles with some of these values. Because of this diversity one of the key success factors of MNC is the recruitment and selection of human resources who offer valuable uniqueness. These individuals are forming the values and beliefs of a business. There are two key challenges within global HRM specifically building global corporate cultures and developing global leaders that have to be mastered in order to manage diversity and be successful in the global business surroundings. Managing diversity in MNC during HRM To manage workforce diversity in MNC it’s a challenge for the human resource management to set up a global corporate culture. To recognize with the corporate culture of the company is the most significant thing for the workforce. That is why building a global corporate culture is one of the most important challenges for Multinational Companies. Employee behavior is possibly the most critical challenge that multinational organizations have to deal with. In Multinational Companies there is a huge potential of conflicts, because of its diverse personalities. As a result of this anxieties will arise among employees. Individuals try to adapt their behaviors to fit the demands of a particular environment. In order to adapt to the environment, individuals sacrifice their individualities to fit in with their new cooperatives. Individuals become incorporated into the culture of an organization when they are successfully understood into the workplace. Successful cultural adaptation redu ces members’ anxiety, role conflict, and intentions to leave. Additionally, successful adaptation increases organizational obligation, job satisfaction, confidence, and job familiarity as well as successful acculturation and establishment of relationship. 4. Challenges of Working across Culture 4.1Stereotyping They are usually misrepresentations and inaccuracies fixed in false guesses and faulty analysis. Usually this valuation is seen in a negative perspective. The challenges to organizations are to acknowledge differences in positive terms. Power struggles and can be the result of stereotyping in organizations. For example, placing women, who stereotypically have had lower status than men in society; in senior management positions create status incongruence in the minds of many of the people. This can root complexities in the leader/subordinate relationship and can root power differences in a business. This is done in such a way that affiliates of minority groups may find it hard to use influence over decision processes in the organization. 4.2 Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism results when managers identify the differences in cultures – but have a propensity to think that their culture and their way of doing things is the right way, their way of doing things is the only way and the best way. Any difference from their culture or from their way of doing things is seen as â€Å"distortion† or as a â€Å"mistake† or as â€Å"Wrong way†. Most people have the propensity to pursue ethnocentrism. Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Germans, French, Scandinavians, and Russians are more prone to ethnocentrism than other cultures – when compared to other Asians, Latin Americans, British, Australians, Africans and Indians. 4.3Informal Integration Informal groups play a significant role in any business. They influence both the success of the business and the career success of individuals. Total quality plans depend heavily on employee contribution and informal networks can greatly impact this process. Informal groups are influenced by factors such as common language, perceived social similarity, and ethnocentrism. These collective networks are critical for communication in organizations. It has been found that race has a major effect on collective networking. This is not astonishing as you would expect people to have a preference for interaction with members of one’s own culture group, especially in an informal context. 4.4 Parochial Attitude Parochial attitude refers to a person’s incapability to see cultural diversity. This is exactly the reverse of ethnocentrism. Managers who are sent overseas frequently meet people who are also dressed in suits and speak their language – this prompts them to disregard all other cultural differences and make them feel that all others are â€Å"just like us†. In today’s business globe, most people are apt to dress similarly – in suits or other formulas and talk in English, but this does not indicate that all people have the same culture – but people often only see the surface and think that the other person shares the same cultural values. Managers from US/UK often tend to display a strong parochial attitude – mainly because the people with whom they relate on regular basis can speak English and are dressed similarly in suits or western dresses.

Brave New World: Correlation between the Dangers of a World State Society

Written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley, Brave New World is a novel still highly revered in today’s literary world. The novel sets itself in London, England, in the year 632 AF (After Ford). The world is a strikingly different place in Huxley’s futuristic World State than it is today – society’s technological advancements have come nowhere near the incredible developments in fertilization and population and control that the World State has. Yet despite this, the novel is still heavily referred to, both in instances within the literary world and outside.Thought written decades ago, Brave New World does not appear outdated in any way. The revelations and realizations of the characters within the novel could very well be the realizations of any 21st century man or woman. The novel Brave New World is still relevant in today’s modern world because its themes of government control, happiness conflicting with reality, and consumerism, are all prese nt in today’s society. Government control is a very large part of the society that Aldous Huxley has created in his novel. In the World State, not many people have the ability to achieve unbiased or preconditioned thought.The book starts at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where the Director of the Hatchery is giving a number of students a tour around. He is explaining their methods of population control and fertilization, known as the Bokanovskification Process (pg. 6, Huxley). The process in which a Bokanovskified egg will divide into 96 buds that grow into full embryos is the first step in the process of conditioning. The Bokanovskified eggs are conditioned with hormones and chemicals as needed to get them into the state that the Director wants them in.Huxley hints at the objective of this conditioning when a young worker at the Hatchery, Mr. Foster, says, â€Å" â€Å"We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future s ewage workers or future†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He was going to say ‘future World Controllers,’ but correcting himself, said ‘future Directors of Hatcheries’ instead† (pg. 13, Huxley). This shows that government figures in the book are responsible for the achievements and successes of all the humans they hatch, because they are the ones who essentially craft their personalities and character traits.When they are conditioning the eggs by rejecting defects and enhancing positive features such as physical perfection, they inherently choose the path in life that the embryo will follow. This is much like the new ability that expecting parents have today to choose certain genetic aspects of their future child’s body. Parents have the ability to choose hair colour, eye colour, skin colour, and with our expanding technology, more child customization seems possible.Another method of government control is sleep conditioning, more formally known as hypnopaedic con ditioning. The sleeping newborns and fertilized embryos all go through a process in which workers at the Hatchery put bits of information through a loudspeaker on repeat while they sleep. This brainwashing of the fertilized eggs is similar to the programming and propaganda that many oppressive governments have tried to use on their people to prevent free thought, such as Hitler’s intense use of propaganda speeches and posters to fuel Anti-Semitic thought.Lastly, the advancements in World State technology have allowed for the drug soma to be created. Its self-induced feelings of happiness and contentment to distract from society’s flaws are in a way very similar to North America’s prescription drug addiction. Anti-depressant pills to distract from life’s hardships are used both within the novel and society today. The controlling government in Brave New World can be seen as a metaphor for modern society and the dangers that technology and too much governmen t create.Happiness and a grasp on reality are two ideals that do not coincide within the novel. John, the son of the Director and his wife Linda, is the Savage within the novel. He is an outcast amongst the members of his father’s society. John was an intelligent boy who was taught to read by his mother at an early age, demonstrated by a passage in the novel that says, â€Å"Soon he could read all the words quite well. Even the longest. But what did they mean? He asked Linda; but even when she could answer it didn’t seem to make it very clear† (pg. 130, Huxley).This is a reflection on the fact that his society is constantly trying to prevent him from learning – when John is taken back to the civilized world, he realizes that in order to be accepted into the World State and finally achieve happiness, he must give up learning and reading about the true nature of the world. He cannot make this sacrifice, which leads to his eventual suicide. This is similar t o free thinkers in the past and present that have gone against the norms of society, who have either stopped rebelling against society and decided to conform, or continue their research for truth at their own expense.Many early scientists were forced to conform to outdated forms of research due to religious or cultural beliefs within their society. Another example of how happiness and reality are incompatible is the use of the drug soma within society. The character of Lenina, a vaccination nurse at the Hatchery, is a heavy soma user. Every occasion that she finds strange or unusual is another opportunity for her friends and colleagues to encourage her use of soma, which makes her feel relaxed and without worry. An example of this is after she felt quite rejected by John after their date:Drying her eyes, Lenina walked across the roof to the lift. On her way down to the twenty seventh floor, she pulled out her soma bottle. One gram would not be enough, but two would make her late for work the next morning†¦She compromised and, into her cupped left palm, she took out three half-gram tablets. (pg. 171, Huxley) Her dependence on mind and mood altering drugs is similar to anti-depressants and their role in modern civilization. When somebody has a different mental process than the norm, they are encouraged to take medication even if their mental state is not harming anyone, thus repressing these thoughts from occurring.Lastly, Brave New World shows another representation of choosing between happiness and reality with society’s promiscuous nature. People are highly discouraged to develop feelings for a single human, and encouraged to take on multiple sexual partners. When Lenina starts to develop feelings for a man, her colleagues are quick to dissuade her from pursuing those feelings any further, all to conform to the harsh reality of the World State’s lack of personal relationships. This is an example of characters being forced to choose truth in stead of happiness.Drug dependence, persecution of creative minds, and oppression of the family are all ways that Brave New World demonstrates that happiness and truth cannot coincide. The theme of consumerism is very important to the understanding of how society works in the World State. Consumerism is a major aspect of their society because it is the driving force that allows the government to control the people of the World State without resorting to tyrannical or violent rule. During hypnopaedic conditioning sessions, the embryos will be taught that â€Å"Ending is better than mending† (pg. 23, Huxley).This is meant to show their society’s encouragement when it comes to buying new things. The quote is in reference to purchasing new clothes, and how it is favored to attempting to fix old clothes. They are taught at a young age that this is the best option, which reflects on the world’s current driven consumer society. All over the globe today, it can be seen that what truly makes a country successful is not its politics, but rather its economy. Commercials, politicians, and public messages of any kind are constantly trying to insert their message into society’s mind – purchasing new items will help society and the economy.Buying things will somehow add to personal happiness. Even fixing broken or lower class products by oneself is discouraged as there exist paid services that allow others to do the fixing instead. A second important point worth nothing in Brave New World is the attitude towards things as simple as children’s toys. When a product breaks (for example, a child’s toy), instead of the same toy being bought once more, increasingly complicated toys are created instead. This is similar to today’s consumerist society where advertisers and consumers are always searching for something â€Å"better†.Though the search for better products may improve technology, it also puts emphasis on unnec essary materialistic items. The last and most important aspect of consumerism is its religious like status. The founder of the World State, a man called Ford, is named in reference to Henry Ford, the famous automobile maker. When talking to one another, members of the World State often make a capital-T with their hands. This is a reference to Ford’s famous T-model car, as well as the Christian symbol of the cross.These gestures heavily imply that Ford, a famous capitalist, is seen as a Christ-like figure, and consumerism has replaces religious belief. The manipulation of World State Citizens into thinking that they must spend money at a constant rate, idea that something â€Å"better† must all exist, and the religious-type undertones of society all show how consumerism is a major aspect of the novel. Brave New World is a novel that directly reflects modern society through its depictions of government, truth’s incompatibility with happiness, and consumerism. Unli ke many dystopian novels that depict futuristic governments s oppressive and dictatorial beings, Brave New World is a story that does not portray the people in command as a repressive, brutish force. Just as in our society today, the community within the World State are each given choices – there are no sections of the government that require people to take soma, yet they do. There are no sections of the government that require people to partake in sexual activities, yet they do. Aldous Huxley’s depiction of the World State is relevant to ours because it is a direct reflection upon what humans today have done to society.People are given an endless amount of choices as to whether or not they want to conform, but as presented through the characters in the novel and people in the 21st century, the society that people live in will inevitably modify those choices. Brave New World is a story that masterfully shows the correlation between the dangers of a World State society and the dangers of the modern world. Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1931

Stratovolcano the Composite Cones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stratovolcano the Composite Cones - Essay Example Stratovolcanoes are common at subduction zones forming a chain of volcanic features along plate tectonic boundaries where the oceanic crust is drawn under continental crust. The magma that is responsible for stratovolcanoes formation rises when water that is trapped both in the porous basalt rock and in hydrated minerals of the upper oceanic crust layer. It is then released into the mantle rock of the asthenosphere of earth’s crust that is above the sinking oceanic slab. After the occurrence of dewatering at high pressures and temperatures for each mineral, the plate descends to greater depths. The released water from this rock then lowers the melting point by cooling the temperatures of the overlying mantle rock. This in turn makes the rock to undergo partial melting and then rises due to its lighter density relative as compared to the surrounding mantle rock and the pools that form temporarily at the base of the lithosphere. The magma then rises thought the earth’s cr ust, carrying silica-rich crustal rock leading to a final intermediate composition. On reaching near the top surface, it then forms a pool in the magma chamber within the volcano, due to low pressure, water and other compounds such as chlorine sulphur and carbon dioxide dissolve in the magma to escape from the solution. Once a critical large volume of magma and gases accumulates the rock that acts as an obstacle is then overcame leading to a sudden explosive eruption (Biley ). Stratovolcanoes are rated as the most hazards to civilians as they cause large numbers of death when they occur. Many deaths are caused by mud and the pyroclastic flow that fast-moving mixture of hot volcanic debris ash and gases that can travel at high speed of about 160km/h. The eruption of Mt Pel’ee on Martinique Island in the Caribbean, El Chi chon volcano in Mexico which killed thousands of lives, the Pinatubo volcano that erupted in 1991 in Manila and the Unzen volcano on the island of Kyushu. Stratovolcanoes mainly form at the convergent plate margins usually where one plate descends beneath an adjacent denser plate at the site of a subduction zone.  

The Appeal of Urban Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

The Appeal of Urban Tourism - Essay Example In order to fully understand the explanations as to why urban tourism has become so popular, especially recently for that matter, specific European cities of particular popularity in regards to tourism must be taken and thoroughly addressed in regards to the reasons for their popularity, what features and qualities they have, as well as any and all other key elements in relation to this. Ð ¡ities and the reasons behind the sudden surge of interest in urban tourism in this area, we can come to a clearer and more knowledgeable understanding on this issue. The aim of this paper is to discuss all of this, as well as the factors in relation to this, in order to bring the reader to a more intellectual point of view on the subject at hand. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Madrid is the capital and in fact the largest city in all of Spain, and is located on the river Manzanares in the center of the country. Because of its central location and high altitude, the climate of Madrid is characterized by warm dry summers and cool winters. The population of the city is estimated at roughly 3.2 million, with the urban area population estimated at approximately 5 million. Madrid is an incredibly popular city in Europe, highly in regards to the vast array of tourist attractions and nightlife which are available in the city. Madrid is considered to be among the top European destinations concerning art museums. In Madrid can be found the following three most important art museums, which are: Prado Museum (the most popular Golden Triangle of Art member which is known for such highlights as Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas and Francisco De Goya's La Maja Vestida and La Maja Desnuda. Thyssen Bornemisza Museum (established from a private mixed collection) Reina Sofia Museum (Modern art museum where Pablo Picasso's Guernica hangs) Madrid is also highly noted for its nightlife, and is famous for its discotheques. Bilbao, Tribunal, Alonso Martinez, in the geographical center, Moncloa on the west end, are populous night places, Sol and Huertas in the historic center, and quite abundant with tourists by day and night (especially Huertas). "Also popular is the practice of meeting in parks or streets with friends and drinking together (called 'botellion', from 'botella', bottle), but from a few years back drinking in the street is sanctioned with a fine and now young madrilenos drink together all around the city instead of in some well known places." (Wikipedia, 2006). In regards to transportation in and around Madrid, the city is served by Barajas International Airport; current passenger volumes for this airport range upwards of 40 million passengers per year, putting it in the top 20 busiest airports in the world. There is also the national railway system, Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Espanoles (Renfe) which operates the vast majority of Spain's railways. As well, there is the metro - the Madrid Metro in this case - which, serving the city's population of some five million, is easily one of the most extensive and fastest-growing metro networks in the world. Madrid is a city of great monuments, whose highlights include such things as the medieval center dating back to the Habsburg Empire and the Prado Museum; however, Madrid is not just a cultural destination, and its lively metropolis is filled with many pubs, cafes, discotheques and nightclubs which are open late into the night. Amsterdam This city's title is highly recognizable and yet surprisingly enough there are only few people who

Research Methods in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research Methods in Education - Essay Example Qulittive reserch tends to be ssocited with prticipnt observtion nd unstructured, in-depth interviewing. The methods of dt collection with which qulittive reserch is ssocited hve been employed by socil scientists for mny yers. The best-known of these methods is prticipnt observtion, which entils the sustined immersion of the resercher mong those whom he or she seeks to study with view to generting rounded, in-depth ccount of the group, orgniztion, or whtever. Unstructured interviewing, in which the resercher provides miniml guidnce nd llows considerble ltitude for interviewees, is lso fvoured technique. Most prticipnt observers conduct t lest modicum of such interviewing, but some qulittive reserchers use it more or less exclusively. The ims of such interviewing re quite different from the fmilir survey pproch. While some qulittive reserchers mke use of n interview schedule, others operte with loose collection of themes which qulittive reserch strtegy ws used in this study becuse this method fits better the chosen topic. Prticipnt observtion nd unstructured interviewing re the centrl dt gthering plnks since in this wy it ws possible to get closer to the people tht were investigted nd be less inclined to impose inpproprite conceptul frmeworks on them. Quntittive reserch is ssocited with number of different pproches to dt co... qulittive reserch strtegy ws used in this study becuse this method fits better the chosen topic. Prticipnt observtion nd unstructured interviewing re the centrl dt gthering plnks since in this wy it ws possible to get closer to the people tht were investigted nd be less inclined to impose inpproprite conceptul frmeworks on them. Quntittive Reserch Quntittive reserch is ssocited with number of different pproches to dt collection. In sociology in prticulr, the socil survey is one of the min methods of dt collection which embodies the fetures of quntittive reserch to be explored below. The survey's cpcity for generting quntifible dt on lrge numbers of people who re known to be representtive of wider popultion in order to test theories or hypotheses hs been viewed by mny prctitioners s mens of cpturing mny of the ingredients of science. (Hirschi's 1969) In frmes of quntittive reserch tht dt re collected on cross-section of people t single point in time in order to discover the wys nd degrees to which vribles relte to ech other. 2.2. The popultion nd smpling Prticipnts were 3 techers completing their Msters degrees nd plnning to work s secondry school prctitioners. Interviews were conduscted during the week. Every meeting took bout 30 minutes. ll nswers were recorded nd then noted down on the pper. ll prticipnts where told it ws strictly confidentil nd the interviews where rrnged by myself, we communicted by telephone nd emil. 2.3. Piloting Leedy & Ormrod (2001) recommend the use of brief pilot study to test the vlidity nd relibility of mesurement instrument, developed for specific purpose nd never previously tested or used in prctice. The mesurement instrument used in this reserch ws subjected to pilot test. The min reson

Cooperative marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cooperative marketing - Essay Example Cooperative marketing alliances will help both the parties to access distributions channels which are normally unavailable to them. Moreover, cost cutting, additional exposure to some specific or targeted segments of customers, etc are some other advantages of cooperative marketing. For example, the Intel inside advertisement will help not only the computer manufacturers, but also the software developers like Microsoft as well. Moreover this advertisement can increase the reputation of the small computer manufacturing companies since the customers will respect tie ups with such high profile companies immensely. Cooperative marketing help the companies to reach out non-competing businesses in the market that have the same type of clientele and resources. Cooperative marketing often results in cross-product advertising which may encourage the customers to think that "if you like this, then you'll probably like that". In other words, the reputation of one company can be exploited by the other company in cooperative marketing and advertising. Moreover, the companies in cooperative marketing alliances can swap their mailing lists or may agree to include the other's marketing ads in their mailings. Thus cooperative marketing can save money; at the same time it can reach out more customers. Many people have the false belief that cooperative marketing is all about cooperative advertising. This is not true. Besides advertising, cooperative marketing can help companies to increase their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations. For example, the Intel inside advertisement is not only helping the computer manufactures; but it is helping the Intel Company as well. When more computers were sold as a result of the Intel inside ad, Intel can sell more of their microprocessors and thus they will also be benefitted economically out of the cooperative marketing. Cooperative marketing will also increase the bargaining power of the product manufacturers and it ca n help the company to deal directly with the end users or the customers. Cooperative marketing can also help companies to gather market intelligence. â€Å"The first step in moving towards a cooperative market ­ing arrangement is to make sure all individuals are on the same page. This is achieved by making sure that all mem ­bers are onboard to operate for the same purpose† (West, 2008, p.2). It is impossible to conduct cooperative marketing by two entirely different companies. The companies which are engaged in cooperative marketing should have similar products and interests. For example, both Intel and Microsoft are working in the computer industry and hence they can easily engage in a cooperative marketing tie up. On the other hand it is difficult to anticipate a cooperative marketing collaboration between Microsoft and BP Oil Company because of the huge differences in their product portfolios. The second requirement for cooperative marketing is the mutual trust and be liefs. It is difficult to conduct cooperative marketing if the parties watch each other suspiciously. For example, it is difficult to see a cooperative marketing campaign by Microsoft and Apple Inc together since they are the fierce competitors in the market. Global Gadgets Imports (GGI) Company is an importer of home decor and gift items and hence they can

Compare and contrast governmental structure of the Republic of Rome Term Paper

Compare and contrast governmental structure of the Republic of Rome and Ancient Greece - Term Paper Example Ancient Egypt’s leadership is based on the divine rule of the Pharaoh while the Republic of Rome believes to a certain extent in democracy where people are recognized to have a say in the government. II. The new kingdom of ancient Egypt c. 1570 - 1090 The new kingdom of ancient Egypt began when the pharaohs of the eighteenth Dynasty reunited Egypt after the second intermediate period (Edgar et al Chapter 1). In governance, the leadership of ancient Egypt does not recognize democracy (old, middle and new kingdom). People are treated as a subject of a Pharaoh who was believed to be a living god. The pharaoh’s power is not subject to check and balance like those of Rome’s Republic. The pharaoh is the sole authority and needs not confer with a Senate, magistrates or assemblies in its rule. It does not have a tribune because it does not recognize any representation in the form of check and balance. Ancient Egypt adopts the theocratic form of government. Unlike Rome, r eligion plays a central role in Egypt that became a basis of its government and structure (Bauval 35). Due to its theocratic nature, the priests (aside from the pharaoh) were the most esteemed class in ancient Egypt. They also hold vast power because they carry out the decrees of the pharaoh. The government structure of the new kingdom of ancient Egypt was also simple because of the theocratic form of government where all powers in the government emanate from a single person which was the pharaoh. There was also no constitution in ancient Egypt. Perhaps the only thing ancient Egypt shared with the Republic of Rome was that its laws were not written. But unlike in Rome where laws can be proposed and ratified, the laws in Egypt were absolutely based on Ma’at which meant truth and justice, which was to be fair all except the slaves. The officials of ancient Egypt were few unlike in Rome where it has a Senate that is composed of few hundred men, and relatively large number of rep resentatives in its assemblies and magistrates. The officers in ancient Egypt’s government structure are as follows; a. The pharaoh – the ancient Egyptian state was embodied by its king, which was called the pharaoh, a term which literally meant a â€Å"big house† referring to the royal palace but was later referred to the king himself. The king is believed to have supernatural powers and was worshipped and obeyed as a god. The king or the pharaoh is very powerful. In the old kingdom of ancient Egypt, he literally owns the entire land of Egypt and is entitled to all its produce (Thompson 26). Ma’at One of the pharaoh’s primary functions was to mediate between the gods and man, especially in dispensing Ma’at which is the code of behavior and standard of morality of how to do things in ancient Egypt. Ma’at meant â€Å"truth, order, proper behavior and justice (Thompson 26). To sin against Ma' at is to bring chaos into life (Verharen 93 ) b. The viziers – is also known as the tjaty. The vizier is considered as the pharaoh’s right hand. He is also a judge of ancient Egypt’s high court which is the equivalent of Supreme Court today. And just like the Supreme Court, his judgment is final and non appealable. The vizier was also in-charge of the economy and oversees the construction of magnificent temples and buildings (Bob Hobbs 66). c. Nomarch –

Word for word hearing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Word for word hearing - Essay Example t terminals for nearly a year until a partial agreement was reached in April, and in Iraq, we’ve only recently begun to see that country tap the potential of it proven oil reserves which is the source of 90% of its budget but now that Iraq’s second largest city, Mosel, fell this week to Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic state of Iraq, _ ISIL and the increase deterioration of the security situation in that country, there’s no telling what the future has in store for its energy sector. But that just highlights the problem; most of those countries relay heavily on the sale of oil or gas as their main driver for their economies and anything upsets the delicate balance can be extremely detrimental to their economic outlook and has the potential upend the global energy market. Then of course we have the recent discovery of large oil, natural gas sorry off the coast of Israel. This has huge implications for our friend and democratically the Jewish state of Israel because seemingly overnight, Israel has gone from energy dependent on some unreliable partners to now to now commanding a large sum of natural gas that can transform its relations with its neighbors. The instability of Egypt over the last few years, coupled with large energy subsidy providers to Egyptians, has seen overconsumption in Egypt and has harmed its energy outlook. Both Israel and Jordan had been reliant on gas from Egypt but now that Israel has the potential to export large sums of gas that Jordan needs, this could be an opportunity for those nations to strengthen their ties. Israel’s potential could also transform its relationship with Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries as they look for regional solutions to the energy needs. Yet Israel’s natural gas boom hasn’t just affected its relationship in the middle east and north Africa region, it is also seen a promising and expanding relationship with Greece and Cyprus. The recent discovery of large hydrocarbons in the east Mediterranean has

Telecommunication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Telecommunication - Essay Example Today communication is carried out over long distances using pictures and audio, which compromises of music and voice. The sound at present, transfers throughout the world through electricity. Electricity is, therefore, an important part of communication. Radios and television produce the output of various visual and audio signals. They act as the final point where the data that has been transferred from the stations offering audio and video. The audio and video are transmitted through equipment that helps in converting to electrical signals, which are then transferred over long distances (Noll, 1995). Signals are an important part of communication. They are classified according to the frequencies they have. The various signals are used in radios and television where audio and video are transmitted over different frequencies. UHF and VHF are the frequency bands related to television. The transmitter sends the audio and video through the communication channel. Signal carry visual and audio through transmission channels to the point of final output. The radios and television receiver the signals from the receiver and a person can tune to get the audio or videos. Spectra helps to differentiate between the various waves and the frequencies of the waves. Different electromagnetic waves characterize the signals transmitted over a communication channel. They are used in delineating the various media and communication channels and signals. Bandwidth is usually allocated to communication channels depending on the different frequencies in the signal. Electricity plays an important part in communication since in the modern world signals transmitted with the help of electricity. Power circuits are affected by inductance and capacities, which helps in filtering the various signals. Inductance and capacitance play a greater role in differentiating the signals into the different frequencies and thereby enabling the transmitted message to reach the intended point. The

Advertising- the seven sins of memory Essay Example for Free

Advertising- the seven sins of memory Essay INTRODUCTION As if effective marketing communication were not hard enough to achieve, even if we succeed in getting our message attended to and processed, and a positive intention formed, the very nature of memory may step in and upset everything. Memory distortion and plain old forgetting are unfortunate facts of life. The important question, however, is: can we do anything about it? As with most things, if we are to have any hope of dealing with memory problems and their impact upon advertising and other marketing communications, we must first understand what is going on. In this paper we will be looking at what Daniel Schacter (2001) has called the seven sins of memory: transcience, absent-mindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias and persistence. Most of what Schacter is dealing with involves declarative memory and not procedural memory, and as a result is highly dependent upon activity in the hippocampus. Although other brain structures are involved in mediating declarative memory, the hippocampus is critical, especially for tasks emphasising the representational as opposed to temporal properties of declarative memory. The hippocampus is always active in encoding new information for declarative memory. Nondeclarative emotional memory is also involved here, especially in the cases of bias and persistence, which means activity in the amygdala as well. There is compelling evidence that the amygdala is critical to emotional learning and memory (cf. Griffiths 1997). Imperfections in memory have obvious implications for the successful processing of advertising. Even if a positive intention is formed as a result of exposure to an advert, if a memory malfunction interferes with that intention, the advertising will be ineffective. The problems associated with these seven sins of memory, and what advertisers can do about it, are discussed below. THE SIN OF TRANSIENCE Forgetting that naturally occurs over time may be thought of as transcience. While the memory of what one did yesterday may be all but perfect, over time those memories tend to become more a generic description of what one expects to happen under those circumstances rather than what actually did happen. †¢Advertising implication: The sin of transience implies that what people recall from advertising is much more likely to reflect a generic description of what is expected about a brand rather than the specific benefits that are part of the message. This has clear implications for interpreting recall measures of advertising messages. But, more importantly, it also suggests that the specific content of marketing communication should be consistent with, or carefully integrated with, prior understandings of the brand. A recent advert for Reynolds Wrap illustrates this can be done with a headline Sticky Foods Wont Stic spelled out in cheese on a pan of lasagne, with a portion cut out of the corner cutting off the last letter of stick, revealing the aluminium foil, clean, beneath. Transcience increases with age. While older adults those over 50 years of age have the same ability to remember in the short term as younger people, over time, memory of specific detail deteriorates more rap idly. As a result, older adults tend to rely upon a general sense of knowing rather than specific recall. The problem of memory transience can be mediated by more elaborative encoding, essentially by stimulating the lower left frontal cortex. One popular way of trying to encourage more elaborate encoding is by using visual imagery mnemonics to facilitate memory. In fact, this idea goes back to the early Greeks. Unfortunately for marketing communication, not only does using visual mnemonics require a great deal of concentration and effort (and there is no easy way to encourage such effort), but for most people there is really very little evidence of general memory improvement using such techniques. †¢Advertising implication: However, one way to encourage more elaborative encoding to help reduce transcience is to relate information the target audience is interested in remembering with something they already know. In advertising, this could be encouraged with questions in the copy to stimulate elaboration: for example, in a recent advert for the Dodge Caravan with the headline What Idiot Coined the Phrase Stay at Home Mom? THE SIN OF ABSENT-MINDEDNESS When one fails to pay proper attention to something and as a result does not encode it properly, or when the information is actually in memory, but overlooked when needed to be retrieved, one experiences the sin of absent-mindedness. Absent-mindedness manifests itself both in failing to  remember past experiences as well as in failing to remember to do something in the future. Both, of course, can prove troublesome for marketing communication. Also, the fact that absentmindedness is more likely for routine experiences that do not in and of themselves require elaborative encoding (e.g. exposure to advertising) adds to the problem. Unfortunately, routine behaviour (which certainly includes such things as reading magazines and watching television) is associated with low levels of prefrontal cortex activity in the left inferior area, which makes it difficult to form vivid memories. Such automatic or superficial levels of encoding can also lead to something known as change blindness (Si mons Levin 1998), where people fail to detect changes over time, because of an inability to recall details. This has obvious implications for the introduction of new benefits over time in advertising campaigns, or for repositioning. Memories for past experiences may be classified as either recollections or familiarity. Recalling specific details from memory (e.g. remembering specific benefit claims from an advert) is defined as recollection. Familiarity is when one has a sense of simply being aware of something without recalling specific details (e.g. remembering seeing an advert, but not particular content). This difference is important, because when there is divided attention during exposure, there is a significant effect upon recollection, but little or no effect upon familiarity (cf. studies by Craik et al. 1996). †¢Advertising implication: Because one is more likely to pay partial attention rather than full attention to advertising, familiarity with advertising is more likely than recollection of specifics from the advertisement. This underscores the importance of maintaining a consistent look and feel over time (Percy et al. 2001), encouraging familiarity, and utilising imagery that will elicit a positive benefit (associated with the brand) even at low or even sub-cognitive levels of attention. Additionally, too much exposure, especially massed exposure, could lead to lower levels of specific recollection (as we understand from as long ago as Ebbinghaus 1885). Spaced exposures generally result in better memory, a finding demonstrated in Strongs simulations (1974) of various media schedules based upon Zielskes work, and more recently in fMRI studies conducted by Wagner et al. (1998). Remembering to do something in the future (e.g. buying an advertised brand the next time you are shopping) is described by psychologists as  prospective memory. Einstein and McDaniel (1990, 1997 with Shaw) have offered a useful way of looking at this idea of prospective memory, distinguishing between what they call event-based prospective memory, where we want to remember to do something at a specific event, and time-based prospective memory, when one wishes to remember to do something at a specific time in the future. An example of event-based prospective memory would be wanting to buy a new brand the next time you are at the store. An example of time-based prospective memory would be making sure you are home at 3p.m. to meet the delivery man. Why people experience prospective memory failure is that they are usually so preoccupied with other things in their lives that when the event occurs, or the time arrives when it is necessary to remember to do something, the correct associations in memory are not activated. †¢Advertising implication: Prospective memory failure may be minimised in advertising by using distinctive cues that are unlikely to be associated with other long-term memories (especially for competitive brands). It is important to establish links in memory with the appropriate category need in such a way that when a purchase or usage occasion occurs, it will trigger a memory of the intention to act. This is especially true for recognition-driven brand awareness, which means for most package goods products. In the store point-of-purchase material as well as packaging must be both sufficiently informative to trigger the stored memory of an intention to buy, and be distinctive enough to minimise confusion with other brand memories. Shoppers are almost always in a hurry and preoccupied with other things when they are in a store, and this may get in the way of attending to the appropriate prospective memory cue. This is just the sort of thing that goes on when a salesman creates a distraction, hoping you will forget all about your initial good intentions not to be influenced by his pitch, as we know from the literature on compliant behaviour (cf. Cialdini 2001). THE SIN OF BLOCKING We are all familiar with the sin of blocking, that all-too-familiar experience of recognising someone but not being able to remember their name. According to Schacter (2001), blocking is not the same thing as absent-mindedness or transience. In the case of blocking, the memory has been encoded and stored, unlike absent-mindedness. In fact, an appropriate  retrieval cue could be in place, but the association is just not made. Unlike transience, with blocking, the information is still in memory, but remains just out of reach when required. Because blocking generally occurs when trying to remember names, it potentially can be a problem for brand names. Blocking seems to originate in the left temporal pole, where there is a breakdown in the link made between the characteristics associated with something and the name by which it is known. The reason people often have trouble remembering someones name is that a persons name tends to be isolated in memory from any conceptual knowledge about that person and, as a result, difficult to retrieve. Most models of name retrieval hold that activation of phonological representations in memory occur only after activation of conceptual and visual representations. This is why it is easier to recall something about a person than to recall their name. It is also what can lead to remembering something about a product without being able to recall the brand name. Interestingly, names that are most likely to be blocked are familiar ones which have not recently been encountered (Burke et al. 1991. †¢Advertising implication: Brand names that are not well integrated or related to obvious associations with category need will be highly susceptible to blocking. If there are no logical and immediate links in memory between a brand name and the category need, there is the risk of occasional blocking. Arbitrary or more abstract brand names will be blocked more often than descriptive brand names, even when those names are equally familiar to people (cf. Brdant Valentine 1998). Brand names such as Vitalegs (a herbal gel that relieves tired legs) and Soft Scrub (a cleanser that enables you to clean without harsh scratching) illustrate good descriptive brand names that are less likely to be susceptible to blocking. To minimise blocking, it is necessary to suppress the retrieval of recently encountered information that is related to a recall cue so that the mind is not cluttered with irrelevancies that could interfere with the desired memory. †¢Advertising implication: When a brand possesses identical or similar benefits as the leading brand in its category, it will be that much harder to build an association for those benefits with the brand because of learned interference from advertising for the leading brand. This again suggests the need to have copy (and packaging as well as other marketing communication) unique to a brand in order to avoid multiple connections in  memory that could minimise or override the desired brand-related memory. Certain retrieval inhibitions that lead to blocking can be released if we encounter a sufficiently powerful cue (e.g. nondeclarative emotional memories) that helps us re-experience something in the same way in which it was initially experienced. Appropriate triggers in advertising or other marketing communication that elicit the correct emotional memories may help overcome retrieval inhibitions, and release positive memories for a brand. A wonderful advert for Nestls Toll House chocolate chips showing a mother with a pan of chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven with a little girl looking on in anticipation perfectly illustrates this point. THE SIN OF MISATTRIBUTION If one correctly remembers something learned, but attributes it to the wrong source, this is misattribution. Often referred to as unconscioustransference, it causes real problems with eyewitness identification. The problem stems from a strong sense of general familiarity, coupled with an absence of specific recollection. While the consequences of misattribution in advertising are obviously not as serious as they are with eyewitness identification, it can nevertheless cause marketers real problems. †¢Advertising implication: Avoiding misattribution requires more than simply retrieving appropriate benefits from memory. The benefit must be linked together in memory in such a way that you make the correct association of the brand with its benefit claim. This linking process is known as memory binding. All of the important brandbenefit associations in advertising must be bound together by the receiver into a unifying whole at the time of encoding. When advertising for different brands is visually or verbally similar, this memory binding is unlikely to occur, leading to memory conjunction error. Memory conjunction errors occur because people misattribute strong familiarity with similar (even if not identical) things from more than one source as coming from a single source; brand advertising in our case. Interestingly, a strong visualverbal congruence can help minimise misattribution (cf. Schacter et al. 1999). A recent series of adverts for Good Humor-Breyers uses the exact format and headline (Less fat, fewer calories, no guilt) for three brands: Popsicle, Breyers and Klondike. This would seem to almost encourage misattribution. THE SIN OF SUGGESTIBILITY Suggestibility in memory occurs because one tends to include information that has been learned from an outside source as something personally experienced. This information may come from any external source, including advertising or other marketing communication. While suggestibility is similar to the sin of misattribution, misattribution does not require suggestions from outside sources. But when the two combine, it is quite possible for us to develop memories of something which in fact never occurred. †¢Advertising implication: Interestingly, while suggestibility may be a sin of memory, in the world of marketing communication this sin may often become a blessing. For example, suggestive questions may produce memory distortions by creating source memory problems. As a result, advertising that utilises questions that remind people of a favourable brand association could occasion a memory for that positive experience, even if it never occurred, e.g.: Remember how easy it is to remove those nasty stains when you use our brand? Schacter has suggested that if you embellish a fake memory with vivid mental images it should make it look and feel like a true memory. This is based upon work done by Hyman and Pentland (1996) in successfully creating false childhood memories via suggestion, simply by asking subjects about things that never occurred. One of the important conclusions they drew from their work is that these false memories produce vivid visual images. †¢Advertising implication: The application to advertising is obvious. If a suggested favourable experience with a brand is reinforced with a strong visual image of such an experience, it should help seed a memory of a positive experience. In an extension of these ideas, we know that one of the best ways to elicit early childhood memories is to ask someone to visualise themselves as children. While there is no evidence that anyone can remember anything much earlier than about two years of age, because the areas of the brain needed for episodic memory are not fully mature until that age, with suggestive visualisation techniques one can create false memories for events going back almost to birth (cf. Spanos et al. 1999). The key here, as in all suggestibility, is expectancy. If one is instructed to expect something, and it seems plausible, it is possible to create rather strong false memories. †¢Advertising implication: It is very difficult to  suggest a false memory for something that runs counter to a recent or strong existing memory. If you dont like a brand, advertising is not likely to create a false memory that you do; nor should you try. But if a brand is one of a set of brands used by the receiver, it is certainly possible to suggest more positive experiences with that brand. And if it is a brand they have not used, if the advertising can relate it to a posit ive experience from childhood, it is quite possible to suggest positive memories for the benefit, and then link it to the brand. THE SIN OF BIAS The sin of bias reflects how current understandings, beliefs and feelings have the ability to distort how one interprets new experiences and the memory of them. Biases that are associated with memory of past experiences will greatly influence how one perceives and understands new information or situations. Schacter talks about five major types of bias: consistency, change, hindsight, egocentric and stereotypical biases. Gazzaniga (1998) has identified something in the left brain that he calls an interpreter that continuously draws upon peoples experiences and understanding of things in order to provide some stability to their psychological world. This would seem to be the neurological source of biases, and utilises such things as inferences, rationalisations and generalisations in relating the past with the present, enabling people to justify their present attitudes with past experiences and feelings. The left brain interpreter, however, is mediated by systems in the right brain that are more attuned to actual representations of what is going on in the world around us. Consistency and change bias Consistency bias reflects a tendency to behave (or believe) today in a fashion consistent with how one remembers similar previous experiences. When this happens, current experiences and feelings are filtered through and made to match memories of those past experiences and feelings. Because memories are not exact, people tend to infer their past beliefs, attitudes and feelings from what they are experiencing today. †¢Advertising implication: This suggests that for people who hold current positive attitudes toward a brand, advertising could imply they are of long standing. For brand switchers who include a particular brand in their purchase set, advertising  could imply a long standing preference for that brand: You know you have always liked this brand, why not buy more? Something similar occurs with change bias, where one remembers something being worse than it actually was, making what they feel now an improvement by comparison. Both consistency and change bias can occur beca use they help reduce cognitive dissonance, even when someone is not really aware of the source of the inconsistency they are trying to manage (Lieberman et al. 2000). Hindsight bias Hindsight bias is that familiar feeling that one has always known something would happen after becoming aware of the outcome. One is reconstructing the past to make it consistent with the present. The key here seems to be an activation of general knowledge. The new information is integrated with other general knowledge in semantic memory, and is not distinguished as such in making judgements. There is evidence that this selective recall is a function of the general knowledge that influences perception and comprehension, and a vulnerability to misattribution. †¢Advertising implication: Hindsight bias would seem to indicate that when exposed to advertising or other marketing communication one will recall benefit claims that are not actually made, but which would have been expected to be there because of the claims that actually were made. Work by Carli (1999) tends to support this idea. Recent adverts for Infusium 23 set up a beforeafter case, but leave out the before picture, wit h the headline You really think I would let them publish the before picture? This clever execution encourages hindsight bias as you imagine the before hair problem. Egocentric bias The self plays an important role in ones ongoing mental life, and is at the root of egocentric bias. When encoding new information by relating it to the self, memory for that information will be better than other types of encoding. This is because people are more likely to value their own understanding of things, among other reasons because the self-concept plays a key role in regulating mental activity. As Taylor (1989) and her colleagues have pointed out, individuals do not see themselves objectively. †¢Advertising implication: The implication is obvious: include personal references in advertising and other marketing communication. Moreover, given  our tendency to see ourselves in a positive light, it follows that memories related to ourselves will be seen in a self-enhancing light. This suggests that copy asking people to remember a situation in a positive light should encourage an egocentric memory bias, e.g.: remember when you . In the same way, egocentric bias can resul t from exaggerating the difficulty of past experiences: remember how hard it was to . This idea is well illustrated in a campaign for National Rails Senior Railcard, where a dated-looking picture of a young child is featured, with headlines like Remember what it was like to go somewhere for the first time and Remember how it felt just to let yourself go. THE SIN OF PERSISTENCE Research has shown that emotionally charged experiences are better remembered than less emotional occasions. The sin of persistence involves remembering things you wish you would forget, and it is strongly associated with ones emotional experiences. †¢Advertising implication: Emotionally-charged information automatically attracts attention; and even in the briefest exposure, the emotional significance of it will be retrieved from nondeclarative emotional memory, and evaluated as to how that information will be encoded. Understanding the emotional associations generated by specific advertising is critical. Because people are more likely to remember the central focus of emotionally arousing information rather than peripheral details, it is essential to tie the brand in marketing communication to the appropriate emotion. Otherwise, it will become peripheral to the information conveyed (a problem with a lot of highly entertaining advertising). There is evidence that persistence thri ves in negative emotional situations such as disappointment, sadness and regret. Ones memory of traumatic experiences is persistent, and while these unwanted memories may occur in any of the senses, visual memories are by far the most common. Research reported by Ochsner (2000) supports this idea. He found that when people recognise a positive visual image they tend to just say it is familiar to them. But when they recognise negative visual images, people relate detailed, specific memories of what they thought and felt when they were originally exposed to the picture. †¢Advertising implication: All of this underscores the importance of the visual images in advertising and other forms of marketing communication. Because persistence thrives in a negative emotional climate,  if advertising illustrates disappointment or problems dealing with a situation, which is resolved by using the brand, this should tap into any persistent memories of product dissatisfaction (always assuming such dissatisfaction). It also suggests that for appropriate product categories (especially those reflecting high-involvement informational decisions such as medical or other insurance, financial planning, and so forth) visual reminders of past problems which could be avoided with a brand should be an effective strategy. Such a strategy should also be equally effective in situations where there is strong psychological risk involved, e.g. reminding young people of a social disaster which would never occur if they used our brand. The root of much of this kind of activity is centred within the amygdala, the source of nondeclarative emotional memory. It is the amygdala that regulates memory storage, and can release hormones that can force us to remember an experience vividly (LeDoux 1996). And as we have already noted, this response by the amygdala is much more likely to occur for negative than positive experience. †¢Advertising implication: For appropriate product categories, it could make sense to create situations in advertising that suggest possible threats to the receivers wellbeing. This threat may then well intrude upon active memory when thinking about the category, with our brand linked to avoiding the trouble. This is well illustrated in a recent advert for Imitrex, an ethical drug for migraine, that uses the headline I cant let a migraine call the shots thats why I use Imitrex. SUMMARY Schacter has provided us with an extremely useful framework for looking at memory problems: his seven sins of memory. Each of these imperfections (in his words) has the potential for interfering with the successful processing of advertising and other marketing communication. Recent work in neurobiology, utilising the recent technology of fMRIs (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and PET scans (positron emission tomography), has shown us that our earlier understanding of memories as snapshots stored away in the mind ready to be recalled is not how the brain works. Memories for objects and experiences are decomposed into a number of different parts and those parts are stored in various areas of the brain, waiting to be reassembled and remembered. This underscores why memories are rarely  perfect, and why they can be potentially unreliable. As this discussion makes clear, effective communication faces a number of formidable hurdles in memory. However, forewarned with this knowledg e, we are in a better position to avoid or at least minimise some of these potential problems. To help advertising communication overcome the seven sins of memory, advertisers should: †¢ensure the message is carefully integrated with how a brand is understood (transcience) †¢encourage elaboration of points the target is interested in remembering (transcience) †¢use personal references, especially to positive memories (bias) †¢imply current positive brand attitudes are of long standing (bias) †¢tie brands to appropriate emotions (blocking, persistence) †¢use distinctive cues not likely to be associated with other longterm memories (absent-mindedness) †¢create a unique brandbenefit claim link (misattribution) †¢establish links in memory to appropriate category need (absentmindedness) †¢make sure those links are well integrated with obvious associations to the category need (blocking) †¢ensure a consistent look and feel over time to encourage familiarity (absent-mindedness) †¢use strong visual images to create or reinforce positive memories associated with the brand (suggestibility) †¢utilise reminders of past problems that could be avoided or solved by the brand (persistence). If these points are considered in the creation of advertising executions, one is well on the way to avoiding, or at least minimising, problems inherent in how memory works. REFERENCES Brdant, S. Valentine, T. (1998) Descriptiveness and proper name retrieval. Memory, 6, pp. 199206. Burke, A., Mackay, D.G., Worthley, J.S. E. Wade (1991) On the tip of the tongue: what causes word failure in young and older adults? Journal of Memory and Language, 30, pp. 237246. Carli, I.L.L. (1999) Cognitive reconstruction, hindsight, and reactions to victims and perpetrators. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, pp. 966979. Cialdini, R. (2001) Influence: Science and Practice (4th edn). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Craik, F.I.M., Govoni, R., Naveh-Benjamin, M. Anderson, N.D. (1996) The effects of divided attention on encoding and retrieval processes in human memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 125, pp. 159180. Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1964) Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. New York: Dover. Einstein, G.O. McDaniel, M.A. (1990) Normal  aging and prospective memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, pp. 7 17726. Einstein, G.O., McDaniel, M.A. Shaw, P. (1997) Aging and prospective memory: the influence of increased task demands at encoding and retrieval. Psychology and Aging, 12, pp. 479488. Gazzaniga, M.S. (1998) The split brain revisited. Scientific American, 279, pp. 5055. Griffiths, R.E. (1997) What Emotions Really Are. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Hyman, I.E. Jr. Pentland, J. (1996) The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, pp. 101117. LeDoux, J.E. (1996) The Emotional Brain. New York: Simon and Schuster. Lieberman, M.D., Ochsner, K.N., Gilbert, D.T. Schacter, D.L. (2000) Do amnesiacs exhibit cognitive dissonance reduction? The role of explicit memory and attention in attitude change. Psychological Science. Ochsner, K.N. (2000) Are affective events richly recalled or simply familiar? The experience and process of recognizing feelings past. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, pp. 242261. Percy, L., Rossiter, J.R. Elliott R. (2001) Strategic Advertising Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schacter, D.L. (2001) The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Schacter, D.L., Israel, L. Racine, C. (1999) Suppressing false recognition: the distinctiveness heuristic. Journal of Memory and Language, 40, pp. 124. Simons, D.J. Levin, D.T. (1998) Failure to detect changes to people during realworld interactions. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 4, pp. 501506. Spanos, N.P., Burgess, C.A., Burgess, M.F., Samuels, C. Blois, W.O. (1999) Creating false memories of infancy with hypnotic and non-hypnotic procedures. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, pp. 201218. Strong, E.C. (1974) The use of field experiment al observations in estimating advertising recall. Journal of Marketing Research, 11, pp. 369378. Taylor, S.E. (1989) Positive Illusions. New York: Basic Books. Wagner, A.D., Schacter, D.L., Rolfe, M., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Dale, A.M., Rosen, B.R. Buckner, R.L. (1998) Building memories: remembering and forgetting of verbal experiences as predicted by brain activity. Science, 281, pp. 11881191.

Effective partnership working Essay Example for Free

Effective partnership working Essay A partnership is an arrangement between two or more groups, organizations or individuals to work together to achieve common aims. Effective partnership working must have some sort of personal stake in the partnership. All partners should work towards the same goal. The partners should have similar system of beliefs and work together over a reasonable period of time. Partners should understand the value of what each of them can contribute to the set aim. Both should respect and trust each other. Partnership working also shares creativity, and responsibility. Working together can highlight different issues, problem and solutions and there is more potential for productivity or effectiveness. All partners must always tell each other what is planned and consult everything together before making any decisions. They must act together as everyone working towards the same outcome. 1.2 Working in partnership with colleagues it’s very important .We all need to work in the same way and be consistent. People I work with on daily basis are the best source of advice and information needed when some issues may arise. By working together I am able to see all recorded information and being able to use them when needed .Communication within the home is a key to effective support .By working together everyone can be supported and all ideas can be taken into consideration on meetings and solving issues become easiest. Working with other professionals like Learning Disability team or Intensive support team also gives me a different point of view on situation and this way I receive support from qualified and understanding people. I can share information and seek advice .This way I get an excellent feedback and much needed support .Some individuals have a complex needs which are very difficult to cope and seeking support from others is very important .Organization receive different training and do specialize in giving help .Therefore maintaining good relationship with them is important to provide the quality support for Service Users. Working in partnership with advocates is needed when Individuals have a lack of capacity and have no one who can act on their behalf . Working together with independent advocates shows that setting follows the guidelines and regulations .Independent person can see the different point of the situations discussed and help to decide what is  the best for the person concerned .As a support staff will share all relevant information with them and act on the best interest of the individual. Working with families, Service users, friend of individuals give me a never ending source of information’s so I’m able to provide the care they want .By working together we gain information and that can help make Individuals live easier in the care setting. This way parents feel valued and respected. Parents and family feel comfortable when visiting the setting talking to and planning with workers .Every opinion must be valued and treated seriously as we all want the best for the Service Users .Talking and working together with individuals gives us a chance to get to know they likes and dislikes and be able to make them happy. 1.3 Partnership is about relationship between people and the aim of it is to achieve what couldn’t be achieved alone. By working together we build a relationship. We improve outcomes and achieve more equal life for the individuals and better future for them. Because everyone works together Service User can feel safe and have choice of where and how they want to live. As staff I need to listen to them and give them choice and information’s must be available in the right format .Individuals feel valued and respected. They know that there is a lot of different people who are happy to help and give advice .It also makes staff feel more valued as they have they say and their opinion is more valued what means that they are more happy to stay in the work place like that.

Reviewing Indian Culture And Society Senarios Film Studies Essay

Reviewing Indian Culture And Society Senarios Film Studies Essay Hindi cinema has always been a major point of reference for Indian culture and society. Not only has it shaped but also expressed the changing scenarios and contours of Indias cultural and societal sentiments to such an extent that no other preceding art form could ever achieve. Hindi cinema has influenced the way in which people perceive and deal with various aspects of their own lives. Movies now portray live-in relationships, girlfriends and boyfriends, pre-marital sex, corruption, people following live and let live policy in life and family, liberal parents, colleges are depicted like dating parties and professors like friends. Of course one has to admit that it is all exaggerated and blown up, sometimes even in epic proportions, but the core idea, the crux, the central theme, comes from the society itself. Obviously those situations and reflections of life and society are exaggerated and blown up converting it all into a motion picture with elements of drama, suspense and comedy so as to attract spectators. The society and the world that we live in is changing and these changes are echoed in the cinema. Lets take the example of the humble and illiterate mother or ma depicted in the Hindi movies of 60s, through the 70s right till the 80. The ma was a female figure, an epitome of sacrifice and hard work, caring and bothered about nothing but her children. She burned the midnight oil to stitch clothes to afford two meals a day and to pay for the heros BA degree, has slowly got replaced with the modern, educated and sometimes even independent mom. The heroine who was normally a simple homely girl has now been replaced by a woman who is not only educated and bold but is also confident about her sexuality. The hero no longer falls in love with a innocent uneducated gaon-ki-gori. He has now been replaced by a simple boy next door with no palaces to live in, with human capabilities, flaws and aspirations. The result is that the audience can now easily relate with the lead characters of the film. But there is a different aspect, a different side to the coin, as well; cinema itself can herald or bring about changes in the society. It inspires fashion and crimes when people try to mimic what they see in movies, failing to realise that what they see on screen is an altered or modified version of reality that is made to look glamorous though instruments and technology and that life like cinema is not predictable. But, there are some movies that bring about positive changes as well like the recent change in the old policy followed by CBSE as a result the movie Tare Zameen Par (2007). CBSE now gives extra time to dyslexic students for their board exams. Similarly, public interest in hockey was renewed after the hit movie Chak De (2007). So it wouldnt be wrong to say that cinema isnt just a source of popular entertainment for families and individuals, but also a vehicle of social change, as it should be. Audiences like to see the familiar on screen. They like to see what they know, what they are aware of, what they believe and it is this reflection on screen that caters to the tastes and sensibilities of the masses. People derive joy, pleasure and amusement when they watch such films and therefore it is the audience that decides what goes into a film. Next it is the investor. The producer of a film would want to invest in something that would fetch him some returns on his investment and therefore they put their money in films that would make the audience happy and consequently bring in the greens for the investors. Unless a film caters to the mass audience, it will not be economically viable. The representation of women is often used as a selling point of the films. Audience likes to watch women on screen in various song and dance routines, in stereotypical images, in various costumes ( as discussed in chapter 2) and the reflection of women on screen change from time to time with changing trends in the continuously evolving society ( as discussed in chapter 3). It is true that the changing ideologies of a society have the power over what is depicted on screen and how it is depicted but another truth is the fact that the patriarchal undercurrents in our society are still the same. Women are still depicted in a way that caters to the male gaze. Women are still categorised and this has been achieved through song and dance sequences, through various forms of dress and through stereotypical images. All these factors help to compartmentalise women, turn them into a fetish leaving no room for the real woman to be depicted on screen. A cursory glance on the history on Hindi cinema and the changing trends of society and cinema leads one to believe that Bollywood has progressed over time in terms of depiction of women. Globalization and western culture has had a strong influence and a huge impact on the content films, the locations where they are shot and even the settings. But a closer examination of the films reveal that indeed there has been progress, but only in terms of technological devices that are used for special effects, locations as in they are more scenic, the films have begun to represent N.R.Is, the speech has westernised, the dresses have a modern influence and the entire aspect of film making and marketing has becoming more commercial and corporate like. It has truly become an Industry, a business. Women are still depicted or portrayed in the old moulds of feminity. Heroines are westernised, as is everything around them, but this has resulted in turning a woman into a commodity that needs to be made a spectacle of so that the film can sell well. The western influence and modernisation has led to more skin show in order to make the film commercially viable as it is now sold to Indian as well as western audiences. Mythology, religion, notions and ideas about family and tradition, cultural ethos, all of these strongly influence Bollywood and consequently the representation of women on screen. But one must understand that all these values that dictate the trends of Bollywood are ruled and dominated by the premise of patriarchy and therefore women are represented in a manner which is submissive to these values and therefore subject to control by men. The women are shown in subordinate roles, upholding traditional values. They represent the community and are seen as repository of community values. Women authenticate a national/cultural identity. The body of the woman is the carrier of cultural signs. Symbols of marriage like the mangalsutra, sindoor etc. are fetishized.  [1]   Women are represented as prototypes, one dimensional characters as daughters, wives, daughter-in-law, courtesan, lover, widow. Such stereotypes have no personal traits, no substance in terms of character and temperament; they only exist in relation to men, to heroes on screen. They are there as foils to the male characters so as to highlight their characteristics. Feminity as it is outlined by the premise of patriarchy is more often than not adhered to in Indian films. However, through an analysis of new emerging trends in Bollywood cinema as well as the parallel cinema, it becomes clearly visible that some women break this mould. There are films that portray women in bold and strong characters and sometimes even as individuals but such films are not very successful commercially. And also the answer to the question whether women in Hindi cinema are constructed so as to attract male gaze remains yes because even in those films, the heroines who played the bold, strong and individual characters were good looking and attractive, they were used in various song and dance sequences and were objectified through the use of costumes and other cinematic tools. There have been attempts to emancipate women from the constraining stereotypical moulds through representation of strong women characters in powerful roles in mainstream cinema but they have been only partially successful because those films were made but they werent very successful. The art movies or parallel cinema as they call it, emerging in the 1970s, avoided objectifying women, and focussed on showcasing the prevalent oppression and exploitation of women in our society. But the overriding themes, ideologies and concepts of religion, culture and tradition have a very strong foothold when it comes to Hindi cinema and they entrap representation of women in fixed moulds of stereotypes strengthened by patriarchy. Events seldom catapult women characters of Indian cinema to a white-hot spotlight. They are dumped into the quagmires of tension-packed fireworks of the home-prison or the ambitious exploitations of healers and killers, lovers and betrayers. The women are shown as having no spheres of their own, no independent identity, no living space. They go down in collective memory as organic imperfections, ramshackle, rickety, unhinged creations, mere fictional constructs of the fragile handle with care male ego.  [2]   Hindi films with excellent photography, picturesque locations, designer costumes and gorgeous heroines enthral and influence audiences in a manner which slowly and steadily transforms the way they think and perceive the world around them. The youth that forms a large chunk of the audience start aping what is shown in screen in terms of costumes, language, style and above all the norms and ideologies highlighted by the films. These ideologies prescribe that domestic bliss and societal recognition is achievable only through submission to the pre-established hierarchies. One of the dictates of such ideologies is that women should be submissive and subordinate to the males in family and in society in general. Films often show heroes pursuing the heroines not with poetry, as the idea of chivalry preaches, but with songs and sequences that manhandle the heroine, pestering her with antics like playing with her dupatta, pulling and pinching her cheeks, blocking her path, coming too close for comfort and sometimes even kissing her without her permission. The girl initially tries to get away from this brute but finally gives in to him and accepts his love. The marvel of marvels happens when she succumbs to such degrading antics and is won over by his charm. Is it any wonder that eve teasing is rampant in this country when films show women giving in to such demeaning and crude gestures used by the male in the film in order to court her? In case a girl is raped in a film, the girl is compelled to marry the perpetuator of such a deplorable and detestable act. The girl isnt even asked if she wants to spend the rest of her life with the man responsible for violating her physically and psychologically in such a horrendous manner and robbing her of her freedom. The woman becomes the property of the man who ruined her life. If she refuses to marry her rapist she is immediately alienated from the society and is deemed undeserving of anyones sympathy and support for she refused to marry the man who violated her and then was willing to provide for her as his wife. The perpetuator, the criminal here becomes noble and self-righteous for in the act of agreeing to marry the woman he raped hes redeemed himself. The victim, if she refuses to marry him, becomes ungrateful, perverted and promiscuous for she refused a mans offer of marriage, a man who as per the norm, could have shrugged off all responsibility towards her. Most Hindi films portray love stories between a rich boy and a poor girl or vice versa. The predictable and often repeated story line being that they meet, fall in love, encounter opposition from their respective families, communities and society and finally they get married after innumerable trials and tribulations. The rich boy who wants to marry below his station is considered noble, heroic, sacrificing and generous while a rich girl who wants to marry the poor boy is often portrayed as fashionable, independent, spoilt, pampered and bratty who desperately needs to be tamed and domesticated so as to bring her in line with what the society expects. In other words she needs to wear Indian dresses with bindi and bangles, should be able cook and serve to the family and finally should see her husband as her sole reason for existence. This she is transformed into by the poor boy who as reward gets the woman as a trophy in the end. The whole idea defies logic. Why would a rich and pampere d girl want to marry a poor boy for there are enough good men in the world with the same moneyed background? The underlying patriarchal assumption being that any man is good enough to marry a girl, rich or poor doesnt matter. A woman, in a film, who puts her aspirations, ambitions and career before family is considered ruthless and also at time unwomanly but if a man does the same he becomes noble and virtuous. If a woman does it she is to be condemned for her professional goals come in the way of serving the family and her husband but if a man does it he is doing so to provide for his family which is commendable. The double standards of the society and hypocrisy of the patriarchal ideologies promoted by films are more than evident but such films are accepted by the audiences and they go on to become hits. The same ideology and story is repeated film after film transforming the ideology into a norm that soon becomes a trend followed by the people. Wielding the camera is probably a more onerous responsibility than wielding the pen, as the visual medium is several times more powerful than the written one. Add to this the sway that tinsel towns charismatic heartthrobs have over the masses and the job of film makers as arbiters of taste and public opinion becomes that much more accountable.  [3]   The ideology of patriarchy works through the concept of female morality setting territorial limits for the whole idea of feminine identity and exposing the hypocrisy of male attitude that ultimately seeks patriarchal domination of women. A females body remains central to the societys as well as her realization of self. Patriarchy, that asserts itself through marriage, adultery and rape, works through the female body. On the other hand a female who tries to resist patriarchy uses her body to express her freedom, desire and sexuality. Powerful woman characters and their impact is eclipsed by the manner in which she is depicted as stereotypes trapping a woman in roles that submit to the dictatorial conventions of our society in the process inhibiting the qualities of a woman as an individual at peace with herself and comfortable in the world of her personal aspirations and interests. This is because a girl child in the formative years of growing up is conditioned through the process of socialization where her freedom and liberty is cut down drastically. At a very young age she learns to submit to the whims and fancies of the patriarchal society. She gives in to the tyrannies of our society and forgets all about her own emotional, social and financial needs along with her individual aspirations. Women in our society are perceived and therefore represented as inferior beings. The realities of the patriarchal society and the standards set by it make the woman under confident and make her believe that the only form of security she can achieve is through obedience to the society that terrorizes her to begin with. This ideology perpetuated by the masculine world around her makes a woman consent to the unreasonable emotional, social and financial demands made upon her, all in the name of peace, happiness, order and security.