Citizen Kane ,the mise-en-scene and cinematography Essay

Citizen Kane ,the mise-en-scene and cinematography - Essay Example It is an anomaly though, that, though the film was nominated for 9 Oscar categories, it only won in one. (Jackson & Merlock, 2006) The only plausible rationale for this discrepancy between its legendary status and lack of formal recognition by the Academy is that the film was way ahead of its time. The film pioneered and engendered so many facets of the filmmaking process that it took several years for members of the Academy to warm up to its accomplishments. This essay will focus on the cinematography of the film and highlight how it contributes to and enhances the overall cinematic excellence. The opening sequence of the film shows the funeral of the iconic American media baron Charles Foster Kane in his isolated residence in the monumental Xanadu. What follows is a10 minute obituary in the form of a newsreel that encompasses all the key moments in the life of the great man. Beginning with his childhood in the rural American wilderness, the newsreel traces how much wealth and power Kane was able to acquire during his peak. This newsreel sequence is one of the most original and brilliant in the history of cinema. The serious yet authoritative voice of the newsreel narrator ebb and flow in-tune with the events of Charles Kane’s life. The intonation, irony and subtle humour of this voiceover is executed to perfection. Matching this aural perfection is the visuals, which are some of the best montages ever assembled. The pace of the montage arrangement is brisk and the shots are short and crisp. The sequencing of these shots adheres to a musical rhythm, which is again in tune with the rhythmic oration in the voiceover. What is striking about this montage is its visual display of power – either political or economic. The shots of elephants and horses airlifted to the private zoo in Xanadu are forever etched in the mind. It is difficult to lose the symbolism of power in air-lifting one of the biggest mammals in the planet. Likewise, the bird’s e ye view of the sprawling Xanadu is a visual illustration of Kane’s wealth. When the voiceover narrates how politically influential Kane was, his image is embedded into a standard German propaganda shot of Hitler waving to a crowd. This is one of the earlier implementation of morphing and overlapping two discrete visuals into one shot. In the context of the film, not only was it humorous but also serves to illustrate the kind of political influence that Charles Kane wielded in his pomp. One of the most referenced scenes in the movie, illustrating Welles' and cinematographer Gregg Toland's use of deep-focus photography is the one about the childhood of young Charles Foster Kane. So much has been its impact that, â€Å"After Citizen Kane Deep focus photography became widespread, especially in the so-called film noir films of the following decade. Welles' audaciously effective idea of combining miniatures with full scale settings in sweeping camera moves harkens back to 1930's T he Bat Whispers, photographed by Ray June, ASC for Roland West. The Kane visuals also have much in common with those of Mad Love (1935). It is evident that Toland originated some of the ideas that Welles utilized so perfectly, and that Walker and Dunn also influenced Welles. The collaboration of unit art director Perry Ferguson was even stronger than is usual between director, cinematographer and designer. Ferguson worked closely throughout with Welles in

Maintenance And Redevelopment Of Aged Public Housing Estate Construction Essay

Maintenance And Redevelopment Of Aged Public Housing Estate Construction Essay Since the fire in Shek Kip Mei on 25 December 1953 that made 53,000 people homeless, due to the shantytowns of the China immigrants were destroyed. As the population growth of Hong Kong is very fast from the five decades ago due to the immigrants and birthrate. At present, Hong Kong Government is facing the problem of density populated. For this reason, Hong Kong Government assigns Hong Kong Housing Authority to develop public housing program of multi story building for immigrants to living there. Therefore, Hong Kong Housing Authority has been turn into the biggest public housing developer and the single proprietor in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, the housing condition and the practicability is the important consideration of the district, because the main concept of public housing is satisfy the basic and real need of townspeople, who cannot afford the private housing requirement. Nowadays, there are many public housing estate are out of the current standard and outmoded owing to the time is elapse. So, Hong Kong Housing Authority launches the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme to make an improvement of living quality to the tenant that living in old public housing estate, there are 566 target block about 231,403 flats which was built before 1973 are demolished and the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme was completed in January 2010. Otherwise, the Housing Authority carry out the Total Maintenance Scheme in 2006 approximately covering 600,000 flats, the Housing Authority article showing that the main concept of this scheme is Proactive and comprehensive approach to identify maintenance problems, then Prompt response to emergencies and tenants requests, finally, Enhanced promotional and educational programmes to improve the maintenance quality and service in public housing estate and enhance the quality of living environment to the tenant. At this moment in this time, Hong Kong Housing Authority had made two different programme which are maintenance and redevelopment in different period to enhance the living quality of public housing estate. Building maintenance is a method to sustainable of keeping and enhances the function of facilities of aged public housing. Redevelopment is a method that demolish the outmoded building and redevelopment, it is very complicated, because there are many factors are contained, (e.g. psychology affect of tenant, use of time, cost of finance, availability of the land). For this reason, the purpose of this study is research the benefit and disadvantage of maintenance and redevelopment of aged public housing, express the different and difficulties to precede the redevelopment and maintenance and bring up my recommendation that base on the opinion of public and the feasibility study on the actually condition for the future building management for Hong Kong, . Introduction In this study, I will first provide some background information of aged public housing in Hong Kong. Then, I will present a clear conceptual background of maintenance and redevelopment, such as the definition of maintenance and redevelopment, and critically review the condition of aged public housing in Hong Kong. Then, I will evaluate and examine the intention of government policy for choice between maintenance and redevelopment of aged public housing, in order to make the best decision between adoption of maintenance and redevelopment of aged public housing in Hong Kong. In addition, I will outline and discuss the factors contributing to the decision. Besides, I will mainly focus on three factors, economic, environment and structural safety. And, I will then outline the advantages and disadvantages of maintenance and redevelopment, which can affect the decision between adoption of maintenance and redevelopment of aged public housing. Finally, I will summarize the factors which can affect the decision making and provide some recommendations for the future decision making and redevelopment for public housing estate. Aims and Objective The aim of this dissertation is to review and evaluate the decision for the old public building between maintenance and redevelopment of Hong Kong. Objective: A historical review the background of public housing in Hong Kong. A literature reviews the definition of maintenance and redevelopment and compares the factor which determines the decision between redevelopment and maintenance. Carry out research and interview with selected target building and group. Selection of public building for case study. A critical data analysis and information based on the conclusion drawn from all review and research. Conclusion and recommendation based on the critical analysis and result of the research. History of public housing in Hong Kong The appearance of public housing in Hong Kong mainly due to the fire in Shek Kip Mei on 25 December 1953, the fire destroyed the makeshift homes of refugees from Mainland China, leaving 53,000 people homeless. After the fire, and facing a surge of immigrant population, then the government launched a public housing program to introduce the idea of multi story building for the immigrant population living there, thus commencing a programme of mass public housing, providing affordable homes for those on low incomes. Some scholars have argued that the government has been overstating the role of the fire in the history of public housing in Hong Kong. Nowadays, public housing facility is the weightiest position of the society. Public housing estate major provided a home for peoples who cant afford the private accommodation in real need, because the rates of public housing are really lower than private housing. At present, there are 169 public housing estate (about 656,000 public rental flats and residence around 2.2 million people) under the Housing Authoritys (HA) management scope. Research methodology and significant of study Research is a process, which is the way to get the answer and question to hypothesis in different way of this study and support the conclusion from information of the research. Furthermore, methodology is use for prove the truth of the assumption, the methodology that is choose from literature review (e.g. news, article, journal, book) and investigation for target person (e.g. group interview, individual interview, questionnaire). Chapter outline Chapter one is the Introduction of this study, in this part, the history of Honk Kong public housing estate is introduced first, then define the main focus of this study clearly and explain the source of information about this study. Therefore, a clear concept of this study provided for the reader from this chapter. Chapter two is the Literature Review, in this chapter, the definition and characteristic of maintenance and redevelopment are identify by literature or article or journal, after that, the factor of influence that between maintenance and redevelopment is recognize base on the concept findings of maintenance and redevelopment, the important information from the article or journal are recap and compare the data on the most relevant. Chapter Three is the Methodology, in this part is to make a critical review on the decision for the old public building between maintenance and redevelopment of Hong Kong. The methodology consists of a literature review, followed by questionnaire survey and the subsequent interview. The conclusion from the analysis of the results of questionnaire and interview surveys would be served as a ground for formulating the recommendations. Chapter Four is the Findings and Data Analysis, in this part all information and data that collected would be organized in this chapter and detailed discussion and analysis would be presented from the interview and the questionnaire. Chapter Five is the Conclusion and Recommendations, in this chapter, final conclusion and recommendations will be made based on the discussion, collected information and analysis made in Chapter three and four. Literature review Definition of Maintenance According to British Standard 8210 defined maintenance as the combination of all technical and administrative action intended to retain an item in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform its required function. And the previous version of British Standard (BS 3811: 1964) stated that maintenance as a combination of any actions carried out to retain an item, or restore it to, an acceptable condition. There are few components are identified from the above definition. According to the British Standard stated that Action not only related to the physical execution of maintenance work, also concerned with its initiation, financing and organization. The notion of an acceptable condition, which implies and understanding of the requirement for the effective usage of the building and its parts, which in turn compels broader consideration of building performance, Chartered of Institute of Building offer the followings definition of maintenance: Works undertaken in order to keep, restore or improve every facility, e.g. every part of building, its services and surrounds, to an agreed standard, determined by the balance between need and available resources. The committee on Building Maintenance recommended the adoption of the followings: Definition of maintenance: Work undertaken in order to keep, restore or improve every facility e.g. every part of building, its services and surrounds to a currently acceptable standard and to sustain the utility and value of the facility. Proper maintenance can extend the useful life of a building substantially. Renovation of old buildings is sometimes a viable alternative to redevelopment as it causes much less disruption to the affected residents. It can also improve the environment and reduce the need for urban renewal from the Planning environment and Lands Branch, 1996 British standard (BS 3811: 1984) classified maintenance as three parts as follow, i. Planned maintenance; described as organized maintenance and carried out with forethought, control, and the use of records to predetermined plan. ii. Preventive maintenance, it is carried out at predetermined or to other prescribed criteria and intended to reduce the likelihood of an item not meeting an acceptable condition. iii. Running maintenance, which can be carried out whilst an item is in service. Definition of Redevelopment Redevelopment means that the society shall demolish and redevelop the old dilapidated building with poor living condition into a productive and desirable use in order to utilize the land resources. Hong Kong Housing Authority described that the redevelopment and clearance aims to improve the living standard for residents in older estates and to ensure that facilities and benefits do not lag too far behind the newer estates. The opinion focuses on demolishing old and dilapidated buildings which providing poor living conditions and improving living conditions by assembling large pieces of land for comprehensive planning and the restructuring of the community through providing better and appropriate community facilities and open space. (P.K. Kam 2002) Housing Authority stated that the land use within the community, new opportunities may be identified which may lead to better planning and development within the district, including opportunities for housing. (HKHA) Redevelopment as an effective means to comprehensively revamp an old area by upgrading the street design and the community amenities as well as to better utilize the in shortage supply of land resources. (Urban Renewal Authority) Comprehensive housing renewal can provide greater open space and community facilities. Typical objective include: suitable re-housing; increased amenities; community preservation architectural conservation and fiscal outcomes, among others that base on Couch 1990, Rapkin 1980 Factors which Determining the Decision between Redevelopment and Maintenance The reason for redevelopment mainly as the following: Replacement of whole elements of components When the whole elements of components are functionally unsatisfactory; incur high maintenance or running costs and aesthetically unacceptable (Lee Maintenance Management), the components will be redeveloped. 2. Design constraints, lack of amenities Since, the publics expectation for improving the standard of living environment is rising. A redeveloped component will provide a better living environment to the residents. Areas concern such as to improve the condition, value and life span of public housing assets, enhance local communities and support the local construction industry. 3. Maximize the usage of land Redevelop a component not only can increase the efficiency of land usage, but also provide a better integration of transportation and commercial facilities and the provision of new district facilities. 4. Change of plot ratio Plot ratio control was under the Building Ordinance is a device used by planning authorities, to restrict the amount of floor space provided in new building in relation to their site area. The population grows at (the rate of population growth is roughly one million per decade in Hong Kong) roughly a million every decade in Hong Kong. With limited land resources, further increase in density in high of housing development is inevitable. In addition, provide more occupancy ratio, the occupancy ratio of 2.23sq m per person that had been established in the 1950s and changed over time to 4.25sq m per person in the 1980s, up to date, the current occupancy ratio stands at 7 sq m per person. Economy The large assembly of land through the Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) comcept has two major benefits from the planners point of view, Booth (1996) and Listokin (1974); Waver and Blabcock (1979); all cited by Tse (2001) The CDA sites can achieve the maximum plot ratio; It can achieve a better designed layout and block disposition and provide adequate communal facilities for the development. structural and building safety American Planning Association elaborated that the building in which it is unsafe for persons and unhealthy to live or work due to dilapidation; deterioration; defective design or physical construction; inadequate utilities; lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities contamination by hazardous substances and redevelopment might be considered. The reasons for maintenance mainly as the following: 1. Environmental impact Environmental impacts arising from the demolition, construction and operation of the redevelopment project and related activities, therefore the environmental impact of maintenance works are much better to avoid and minimize the potential environmental impacts to the public. 2. Long time for the completion of new estates The total lead-time for the completion of new estates is about 4 years including: planning, design, tendering and construction. 3. Lower operation and maintenance cost in the long run Preventive maintenance concept has developed in Housing Authority. In view of the fact that regular repair and maintenance cannot fundamentally solve the problems arising from ageing, such as water seepage in the balcony, rusting of water pipes, wear and tear of concrete, etc. the Housing Department is exploring ways to upgrade or maintain aged estates comprehensively in order to improve tenants living environment Building rehabilitation is one of the options being explored in dealing with aged estates. 4. High construction costs are not cost-effective Tight budget of Housing Authority incurring such high construction costs is not cost-effective and will also affect the environment during construction stage. Advantages of redevelopment There are several benefits for the Housing Authority during redevelopment First of all, the rationalization of land use and the opportunity for increasing housing production, particularly for Housing Authority redevelopment site where boundaries may be modified to optimize development intensity. The ability to bring in other resources to facilitate redevelopment of existing public housing estates, including the private sector and other quasi-government agencies. This could enable some older estates to be redeveloped for higher and more productive uses that would otherwise remain for a long time due to a lack of suitable reception housing. One of the benefits is that the improvement to the physical conditions of the area that would benefit existing public housing residents and at the sme time enhances the attractiveness and desirability of Housing Authority developments. Besides, the grater diversity of land use and type of developments will assist in improving the secio-economic mix in the area and provide housing residents with more choices and housing opportunities. Furthermore, construction jobs created by the development of new buildings and new infrastructure and the remodeling in existing buildings Redeveloping building can stop the spread of deterioration and blight of aging building and improving the safety and environment of adjacent areas Deficiencies of redevelopment Governments redevelopment programs have the following deficiencies: Migration of vast number of people is a complicated process requiring detailed planning, monitoring and documentation. A high percentage (up to 40%) of Hong Kong population is housed in Public Housing Estates. An extensive re-housing and redevelopment program is required, which exerts heavy pressure on manpower, time and money. Demolition of a building is a costly process. Moreover it creates construction waste undesitably unavoidably. The waste, if unsuitably reused, can result in pollution of the environment and depletion of resources. Also noise and visual pollutions can become nuisances to nearby residents. New estate designs are often based on economic values. Also, cost efficiency and high practicality had been the approach adopted in the new developments, lacking in the encouragement of communal interactions. The new estates have more monotonous and self-enclosed living environment. Significances and Advantages of Maintenance According to David Highfield (2000) defined that the cost of refurbishing and re-using and existing building is generally considerably less than the cost of demolition and new construction since many of the building elements are already constructed. One of the principles advantages of opting of refurbishment and re-use of existing building rather than demolition and construction is that, in he majority of cases. The renewed or redeveloped accommodations will be available in a much shorter time. And the shorter contract duration reduces the effects of inflation on building costs, also the overall development period could be shorter and reduces the cost of financing the scheme The work required refurbishing and existing building would normally take considerably less time than the alternative if demolition, site clearance and the construction of a new building. Time savings, during the pre-contract design, planning permission and building works phases of development. The client obtains the building sooner and therefore begins the earn reveue from it (e.g. rentals, retail sales of manufacturing profits) at an earlier date. With the increasing cost of new-build work, effective maintenance of existing building stock is become more important and building maintenance now represents a significant proportion of construction output. About unstable supply of construction works, according to Patricia Hillebrandt (2000) stated that the determination of demand for construction activity is a very complex affair and heavily depends on the policy of government either directly through its intervention in the public sector, or through its influence on the general level of economics activity in the private sector. The standard of maintenance achieved has an important influence on the quality of the built environment and there seems little doubt that society will continue to expect higher standards in new and existing buildings. Nowadays, maintenance is a significant and important part of the work of the constrctuion industry. The environmental advantages, one of the many ways in which energy consumption can be reduced is to recycle and re-use exising resouces as much as possible, in preference to consuming even more energy by replacing them. E.g. when major alterations are made, will generally use less energy than demolition and new build. Housing Authority stressed that maintenance can facilitate early defect deteration and rectifection. This canavoid the additional expenses arising from further deterioration and it enables building elemets and services installations to be replaced at the optimum time in order to achieve the maximum serviceable life (Press Release: Home CARE Maintenance for Public Housing Estate, 1 March,2001) Disadvantage of Maintenance Although maintenance is beneficial to the aged building and many articles are supporting this view, but there are no perfect views of any matter, so in this part, the disadvantage of maintenance is shown as the follows: The resultant standard of living may not live up to contemporary expectations. Very limited potential for positive impact with regard to lad use and building performance. The current mismatch in housing type supply and demand and the general inefficient layout of the site would remain. This approach dose not count for the relatively short life span of the existing housing. Deterioration and Obsolescence The life cycle analysis by Flanagan (1989), which includes the following items: Physical deterioration; economic obsolescence; functional obsolescence; technological obsolescence; social obsolescence; location obsolescence; legal obsolescence; aesthetic and visual obsolescence; image obsolescence; and environmental obsolescence. Base on Aikivuori (1995) asserts that the defects of building are relative, not absolute and therefore difficult to measure objectively. The replacement due to obsolescence is not technically rational since it does not optimize the use of structures until the end of their durability. Since corrective replacement is defined as the project aimed at deteriorated structures in unacceptable physical condition. According to Taylor (1980) proposes that deterioration has no part in the accumulated inferiority caused by obsolescence and the deterioration and obsolescence are 2 separable issues. Both Taylor (1980) have categorized the causes of replacement into these 2 classes, e.g. deterioration and obsolescence. Thus, Aikivuori (1995) view the reasons for the decision to initiate a redevelopment project as a basis of the demand. The phenomena causing redevelopment are classified into 5 categories in his study as follows: failure in the building due to deterioration: change in use: optimization of economic factors: subject features of the decision maker: and the change of circumstances. Life Span of Building Components Base on the main theme of this study, the life span of building components is a very critical part to provide the sustainable development environment and enhance the value and practicability of the aged building. Also, it is a critical part to affect the decision between maintenance and redevelopment, so the building components should be coordinate with the methodology to present result that meet the international standard, the methodology is really simple to included multifarious application and give a suitable advice of the analysis or review for different type of building in Hong Kong or other country. According to the related RICS journals Assessing the Life Expectancies of Building for Life Cycle Costing by Ashworth (1996) bring up the idea is about the rate of depreciation of building components depend on different information or data supporting and the selection of relevant life span reviews. Base on the theory from this journal, the expectancies may be uncertain, due to a proper design and maintenance arrangement or physical deterioration and obsolescence affect or the quality of refurbishment phase. Anyhow, different types or use of building have different refurbishment lives and the argument of expectancies incidence is important than overall building life span. Macdonald (2003) indentified the building requirement and intention of life is at least 50 years or above, if there is good workmanship in construction stage and arrange inspection and maintenance work on cycle. Actuality, most of the building may be demolished before the end of time and rebuild, if there is any economical profit of that place or may be change the use of building to meet the new requirement. Base on the information from RICS, the serviceable life span of aged public housing can be extending about 10-15 years, due to a systematic and cycle maintenance arrangement. Therefore, the aged public housings are structurally safe, that mean it is unnecessary to demolish and redevelopment. . The life span components of public housing estates as follow: Building Components Life Span (year) Window glazing 20 Plumbing 25-30 External wall tile 20-25 Vinyl sheet or tile 20-30 External paint 5-10 Internal wall paint 5-10 Waterproofing, bituminous coating 10 Wooden door 20-30 Hence, there are many factors affecting the life expectancy of building components and need to be considered when making replacement decisions, including the quality of the components, the quality of the installation, level of the maintenance, weather and climatic conditions and intensity of their use. Some components remain functional but become obsolete because of changing styles and styles and taste or because of product improvement. RICS defined that the building structure may be designed using materials, components and technology that may last for about 100 years or more, depending on the quality and standards expected from users. Methodology Research aim This research aims is to evaluate and critical review on the factor contributing to the decision between the adoption of maintenance and redevelopment of aged public housing estate in Hong Kong with determine the decision between maintenance and redevelopment in public housing estate from the questionnaire and interview and technical record of the building structure life span. The methodology consists of literature research, survey through questionnaires and interviews and reviews the opinion of tenant and government. With a view to do this, I will use the questionnaire and case study in the dissertation respectively. As a new research area, the researcher adopted a multi-faceted approach employing multiple methods for the collection of research materials. There are several methods to do the research. The first method is to visit relevant government departments and officials in order to have a deep understanding to the research. The second method is that, by reviewing some electronic and printed documents as well as participant observations in order to have an up-dated and comprehensive understanding of the issues. The main methodologies used for the dissertation are documentary review on relevant public housing policies particularly on the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme (CPR) and Home CARE Maintenance in both printed and electronic form has been conducted. Besides, case study is used to examine the intention of government policy for redevelopment and maintenance for old public housing estate. The reasons for choosing the above case study for this dissertation can be specifically elaborated into 2 aspects: financial and environment impacts between redevelopment and maintenance that take place in public housing estates. Furthermore, questionnaires were also used to serve the purpose of providing a through understanding of the old public housing estates physical environment, where the tenants live and socialize and their true-wish or desires on maintenance and redevelopment. Research the existing old public housing estate in Hong Kong In 2010, the public housing estate in Hong Kong which is less than 30 years old nearly 87% and about 13% estates were built before 1980. The most common aged public housing estate is Choi Hung Estate, Kwai Shing Estate, Lai King Estate, which is over 35 years old. With a view to maintain the housing standards, public housing estates which are 30 years old or above are require upgrading by improvement measures or facilities. However, some other 30 plus years old public housing estates require to have redevelopment, because its structure is not fulfill the safe standard or becoming uneconomical to take maintenance. For the reason that the oldest block design Mark I to Mark VI public housing estates and the former government low cost housing estates built in the 1950s and 1960s are obsolete by todays standards, the above block designs were cleared for redevelopment in June 1999. The Government started to redevelop these buildings in the 1970s. Up to 31 December 2004, 694 blocks of these estates containing some 249,360 households were redeveloped. Review of building conditions in public housing in Hong Kong In this section, I will present an overview of the current status of old public housing estates in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the remaining early authority estates included, Shek Kip Mei Estate, Fuk Loi Estate, Choi Hung Estate. Although the living environment basically can meet the normal standards, it is not a fine condition in comparing with the public housing estate which built after 70s. In the 1960s, there were some marginal improvement for the public housing design. The improvements not only increase a little more living space in the public housing units, but also the community facilities were significantly improved. Besides, the building block is bigger than before, the stories were increased to 16 and corridors were moved indoors, but neighborliness was discouraged by the long monstrous slab blocks. Nowadays, all units in the ageing public housing estates are self-contained with basic facilities such as shower tray and water closet in the toilet, cooking bench and sink in the kitchen, drying rack, electricity, not and cold water supplies etc. In order to upgrade the facilities, a more energy-saving lift system will be introduced. Also, a security system will be installed in all rental blocks, which includes electronically controlled security gates and door phones for each unit and television surveillance system in common areas from the security counter next to the main entrance on ground floor. Questionnaires Survey In this questionnaire, there are 10 questions to collect tenant opinion on this topic of Choi Hung Estate and Lai King Estate, also, it can collect more basic information of the selected estate In order to ensure accuracy in the collected data by all interviewers, structured questionnaires was adopted in which similar ques

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury :: essays research papers

Fahrenheit 451  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel Fahrenheit 451 was wrote by Ray Bradbury. The setting takes place in future times. The main character (protagonist) in Fahrenheit 451 is, ‘Guy Montag’. Guy Montag has been a fireman for ten years and he doesn’t realize that he is not joyful towards his life. He never questioned the joy of midnight runs. The plot of the story is basically how Guy turned from being an ignorant person into being a person filled with intelligence and a new outlook on life. Guy is a normal man that can’t find his true happiness within. 451 degrees is the temperature that books burn. Literature is taboo in this futuristic society, and Guy’s job is to burn any books or news clippings he sees, however his views change for the better further in the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author Ray Bradbury created a world where literature is not allowed. He’s trying to show how bad our world would be without writings and poetry. Guy is one of the many firemen who are supposed to burn every book or writing that they see. People caught with books in their house were forced out of the house while the firemen would burn the house down. The climax of the story is when Guy meets a seventeen-year-old professor who brings the life of writings back into vision. Guy soon realizes that he is unhappy, because he can’t express himself through reading novels and most of all poetry. â€Å"†¦And Guy Montag the same person suddenly realized what he had to do†(Bradbury 89) this is the climax of the story because; Guy realizes that he doesn’t want to live in a world without Literature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The best scene in the novel was when Guy met his old professor Faber for the first time in thirty years. Faber impounded the thoughts and beauty of Literature into Guy’s head making him a more out going person. This was truly the time when Guy realized that he use to love reading. Faber would read some poems to Guy, and Guy loved every minute of it. Guy was seeing things in life much more beautiful through poems. Faber taught guy to look at the moon and the clouds as beauty. This was the final turning point in Guy’s life. â€Å"I haven’t read writings to anyone for forty years ago when schools were starting to die off.†(Faber said to guy)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I can’t understand how these people in the future of this novel were able to give up reading.

Living in a dysfunctional family Essay

â€Å"I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours†. These were the inspiring words of a famous writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau that has been etched in my heart as I have envisioned and prepared myself to follow the path that would lead me towards the achievement of my dreams. Living in a dysfunctional family and belonging to the minority are challenges that may either strengthen a person’s character or break a person’s life. Growing up without the full support and presence of my parents was not easy but these circumstances did not dampen my spirit. Instead, being in this situation has awakened my consciousness and I learned to be independent and responsible at an early age. Being the eldest among my siblings, I also became protective and nurturing and I managed to provide a balance between my studies and my responsibilities. At school, I developed a strong interest in subjects like Mathematics, English and History and I have engaged in various sports activities, e. g. soccer, basketball and hockey. Academics and sports have strengthened my mind, body and spirit and have taught me the importance of discipline, team work and camaraderie. In addition, my grandmother, whom I have lived with in the last few years, has instilled the value of obedience, hard work and integrity in my heart. These teachings and qualities will serve as my guiding principle in preparation for a career in law enforcement. Protecting lives and properties and preserving peace are part of my goals in life. I also want to make a difference in the lives of the youth who are lost and who find security in the company of those who violate the law. When I become a law enforcer, I would bridge the gap between my colleagues and the Hispanics and other immigrants so a relationship of trust will be built and strengthened. My entry in the university will not only allow me to interact with people with diverse cultural background. Most importantly, earning a degree in law enforcement will provide me with the skills and knowledge in reaching my dreams and in making a difference in the lives of the youth offenders.

Large Corporations Essay

Large corporations such as Wal-Mart or Home Depot often come under criticism for putting mom-and-pop shops out of business. While this may be a valid criticism, the consumers neglect to realize that they play the biggest part in shutting these businesses down. Consumers across the country are always looking for the best deals or the lowest prices, and in most cases the larger corporations are where products can be found at the lowest price. Many small business owners and the populations of small towns dislike large corporations moving into the area because they believe it negatively effects the local economy. In reality, we should embrace large corporations moving into our communities because they boost the local economy, they lower prices on products we use every day, and they create hundreds of jobs. Some believe that large corporations harm the local economy. While this is true in some cases, studies have shown that placing a Wal-Mart in an area actually increased sales for businesses in or around the area. In a study conducted in 2002 by Jim Simmons, a retired University of Toronto geography professor, the professor states: â€Å"We tried to see if there was a substantial sales decline in the nearby areas, but it was difficult to find,† said Mr. Simmons. â€Å"We couldn’t find any situation where people lost sales or went out of business.† (Shaw, H. 2002). This is just one of the many findings from the study. In an effort to further boost the local economies of the areas new Wal-marts are opened in, Wal-Mart has implemented a Locally Grown program that has been enacted since 2008. Pam Kohn, who is a senior vice president and general grocery merchandise manager, had this to say about the program. â€Å"At Walmart we are committed to increasing our locally grown offerings and the number of local small farms we work with. Through this program we are able to cut shipping costs and decrease food miles, but most importantly we are offering our customers an opportunity to support their local farmers without worrying about the impact on their wallets.† (Economics Week, 2008) This means that not only are they benefitting the stores around the area, but also the farmers in the area as well. This leads to a stronger local economy, and ultimately a thriving community. Stores like Wal-Mart are famous for keeping their prices so low. This is one reason why they are able to maintain a grip on the consumers of an area. They accomplish this by keeping the cost to produce and transport the goods low. In January, a study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. found that, â€Å"an individual family could save $589 a year on groceries by shopping at a supercenter. Overall, shoppers could save $3.76 billion in merchandise nationwide.† (Blazier, A, 2004) A major reason they can keep prices lower than mom-and-pop run businesses is their ability to buy merchandise in bulk. Buying in bulk works the same way it does for a consumer. The more of a product that is purchased, the less the cost is per unit. Consumers see this every day when they go to stores like Sam’s Club or Costco. When they buy their merchandise in bulk, they are able to offer it to the consumer at a lower price. (Kale, 2011) This is what could eventually drive the mom-and-pop owned businesses out of the area, and draw a negative criticism from the public. The interesting thing about this criticism is that the public complains about Wal-Mart driving these smaller businesses out, yet continue to shop at the Wal-Mart to save money. It would seem as though all that would be needed to be done would be to stop shopping at Wal-Mart and start shopping at the locally owned businesses. On the topic of jobs, there is a general increase in the availability of jobs after a large corporation moves in. Going back to the Wal-Mart example, a study was conducted to show how Wal-Mart affected job creation. In a study conducted by University of Missouri-Columbia professor Emek Basker, Wal-Mart creates a net value of 50 jobs more than it â€Å"destroys.† In her study, she presents these findings: â€Å"I find that immediately after entry, retail employment in the county increases by approximately 100 jobs; this figure declines by half over the next five years as some small and medium-sized retail establishments close. Wholesale employment declines by approximately 20 jobs over five years. Restaurant employment increases slightly; there is no change in employment in manufacturing or in automobile dealerships and service stations.† (Basker, 2005) In addition to the new jobs that are created, most Wal-Mart employees can enroll in health benefit programs, whether part time or full time workers. This means that smaller communities where health insurance options may have been limited will now have jobs where health insurance is a benefit. Also the low income families who can not afford pricey health insurance have the opportunity to receive benefits. Another benefit of having a Wal-Mart move into a community is the money it brings into the area. As with all businesses, large corporations have to pay taxes that go to local governments in the area they operate. In a bi-monthly publishing by the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, Mitch Renkow writes, â€Å"Wal-Mart generates substantial sales tax and property tax revenues for the county in which it locates. This could potentially be of great benefit to the fiscal well-being of the local government in the town or county where the Wal-Mart is located.† (Renkow, 2005) This means that there is more money being generated for local spending, With all of the business that Wal-Mart can do, that is that much more money for the local area, much more than any mom-and-pop shops could provide. We should embrace bigger corporations moving into the area because it ultimately creates a stronger local economy. These corporations bring in products from around the world to communities that would have never gotten a chance to purchase them. They also keep the prices low so that low income families can afford them. Through job creation, slashing prices, and the attention to the area that comes with a big store such as Wal-Mart, it can be said that local economies benefit from these new stores opening in the area. WORKS CITED: Shaw, H. (2002). Wal-mart boosts local economies: Study: Finding shows retail behemoth benefits neighbouring stores. National Post. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/329926525?accountid=32521 Sailee, Kale (2011) How Does Walmart Keep Its Prices So Low? Retrieved from: http://www.business-online-news.com/how-does-walmart-keep-its-prices-so-low.html Blazier, A. (2004, Apr 15). Study concludes Wal-Mart creates more jobs than Retail chain chases away. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/464131659?accountid=32521 Matthews, C. (2012, 07). Ten Ways Wal-Mart Changed the World. Retrieved from http://business.time.com/2012/07/02/ten-ways-walmart-changed-the-world/#ixzz2IYS1yFFm Renkow, M. (2005). N.C. State Economist. Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics. retrieved from: www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/VIRTUAL_LIBRARY/ECONOMIST/novdec05.pdf Basker, Emek, (2005) Job Creation or Destruction? Labor-Market Effects of Wal-Mart Expansion. Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 87, No. 1, February 2005. retrieved from SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=371102 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.371102

malthus essays

malthus essays Increase of wealth †¡ Increase of happiness (universal opulence) More demand for labor -†¡ value of labor rises †¡ more funds to share between same number of workers Increase of wealth †¡ No change in the comforts (health, necessaries, conveniences of life) of laboring part of society Comforts of the laboring poor depend upon the increase of the funds destined for the maintenance of labor. If the increase arises only from the manufacturing production, and not from the agricultural production †¡ There will be a distinction between the number of hands which the stock of the society can employ and the number which its territory can maintain. (ex. I) Increase in the price of labor when the stock of provisions remains the same, it is only a nominal rise, because it will be shortly followed by a proportional rise in price of provisions. Increase of the price of labor (only nominal) †¡ no effect on the laboring poor or if there is an effect, it will be rather negative, because most of the poor will worked in unhealthier conditions than before. (in manufactures) Malthus states that importation of provisions would be possible in certain cases, for example: Holland (becauseit is a small country with great inland accommodations for carriage and distribution of provision) Malthus gives examples from England: Manufacturing production increases but not the agricultural production †¡ Wealth of nation advances, but the funds for the maintenance of labor increase very slowly †¡ Condition of the poor does not improve. He claims that the agricultural production has already been decreasing or stationary during the last century. (even if many enclosure of commons and waste lands) 1) Formal corn field have been converted into pasture lands †¡ they now produce smaller quantities of human subsistence. ...

Word Choice Duel vs. Dual - Proofread My Papers Writing Tips

Word Choice Duel vs. Dual - Proofread My Papers Writing Tips Word Choice: Duel vs. Dual The words duel and dual sound similar but have completely different meanings. Mixing up words like these can lose you marks on a paper and make your work look unprofessional. As such, its always important to check for errors if you are unsure what a word means. Duel (A Fight) A duel is a prearranged fight between two people over a disagreement. It is mostly a historical term, usually for a battle using guns or swords: The two gentlemen met at dawn, guns in hand, ready for the duel. It can also be used as a verb to describe the act of participating in such a fight: President Andrew Jackson cocked his pistol as he faced his opponent. All right, sucker, he said, Its dueling time! 1 These days, youre more likely to find duel used metaphorically to describe an argument or rivalry between two people or groups: The duel for the presidency began with a debate between the candidates. Dual (Double) Dual means double or twofold. It therefore indicates that something is doubled or includes two parts, such as in dual nationality. This term is also used to describe something with two functions. We could describe a spork, for example, as a dual-purpose tool, since it combines the qualities of a spoon and a fork. Duel or Dual? The difference between these terms is significant, so mixing them up in your written work could look bad. Thankfully, their differing definitions also means that the main challenge is learning how each word is spelled. Remember: Duel (with an e) = A fight Dual (with an a) = Double 1 Although President Andrew Jackson took part in up to 100 duels during his life, we cant confirm that the dialogue is historically accurate.