Free Essays on Almost Everyone Does It.

Almost Everyone Does It When it comes to children’s books, there are so many choices. It’s hard to find one that will have a good effect on your children. You want to find books that can entertain as well as inform your kids about life and what is good and or bad and how to distinguish which is which. Taro Gomi, a Japanese author of children’s books, has some of the best ideas on how to get their attention and keep them entertained for a long period of time. In Taro’s book, Everyone Poops, he gives us reasons to celebrate this natural act of every living, breathing, and eating organism. From mammals to reptiles, fish to birds, Taro takes us on an adventure through the different process of â€Å"evacuation† for every species. Everyone Poops is a book that taught millions of children including my self that making a number two is part of life, and it’s okay to do that even if it does smell funny. When I was young and learning how to use the toilet, I never felt comfortable using it for the act of â€Å"number two,† but when my mother noticed this she got the book I consider my childhood bible, Everyone Poops, from a friend who had visited Japan. This book gave me the knowledge of the magic â€Å"number two† and that it was ok to do it. The humorous illustrations and the wording keeps you laughing through the whole thing. The script is both simple and humorous. The book starts off, â€Å"An elephant makes a big poop. A mouse makes a tiny poop. A one-humped camel makes a one humped poop, and a two-humped camel makes a two humped poop.† (Gomi) That’s just the type of humor that kids can understand and laugh about while they learn. It gave me the courage to do it, and I’m sure it did the same for many others. To this day, I owe my bathroom skills to Everyone Poops. I was first introduced to Taro’s work as a young child when it was in its original Japanese text; but the illustrations were enough to get the whole idea, and t... Free Essays on Almost Everyone Does It. Free Essays on Almost Everyone Does It. Almost Everyone Does It When it comes to children’s books, there are so many choices. It’s hard to find one that will have a good effect on your children. You want to find books that can entertain as well as inform your kids about life and what is good and or bad and how to distinguish which is which. Taro Gomi, a Japanese author of children’s books, has some of the best ideas on how to get their attention and keep them entertained for a long period of time. In Taro’s book, Everyone Poops, he gives us reasons to celebrate this natural act of every living, breathing, and eating organism. From mammals to reptiles, fish to birds, Taro takes us on an adventure through the different process of â€Å"evacuation† for every species. Everyone Poops is a book that taught millions of children including my self that making a number two is part of life, and it’s okay to do that even if it does smell funny. When I was young and learning how to use the toilet, I never felt comfortable using it for the act of â€Å"number two,† but when my mother noticed this she got the book I consider my childhood bible, Everyone Poops, from a friend who had visited Japan. This book gave me the knowledge of the magic â€Å"number two† and that it was ok to do it. The humorous illustrations and the wording keeps you laughing through the whole thing. The script is both simple and humorous. The book starts off, â€Å"An elephant makes a big poop. A mouse makes a tiny poop. A one-humped camel makes a one humped poop, and a two-humped camel makes a two humped poop.† (Gomi) That’s just the type of humor that kids can understand and laugh about while they learn. It gave me the courage to do it, and I’m sure it did the same for many others. To this day, I owe my bathroom skills to Everyone Poops. I was first introduced to Taro’s work as a young child when it was in its original Japanese text; but the illustrations were enough to get the whole idea, and t...

How Does Shakespeare Influence Audience Opinion Of Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice Essays

How Does Shakespeare Influence Audience Opinion Of Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice Essays How Does Shakespeare Influence Audience Opinion Of Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice Paper How Does Shakespeare Influence Audience Opinion Of Shylock in The Merchant Of Venice Paper Essay Topic: Merchant Of Venice Opinion Play Shakespeare influences audience opinion in many different ways in The Merchant Of Venice. However, some of the devices he uses may have differing effects on Elizabethan and modern audiences. Elizabethans had many prejudiced stereotypes that Shakespeare includes in his play. There was less diversity of cultures when Shakespeare wrote the play, and therefore there was a lot more bad feeling towards different races and religions. Elizabethans were also more religious than people are nowadays, so there feelings towards religion and religious beliefs were much stronger than they would be today. The Elizabethans did not like the Jews, mainly because of the stereotypes that were portrayed of them. Jews were seen to be money grabbing and the Elizabethans disagreed with their ideas and values about life. The play was set in Venice, Italy where there was a law of equality which allowed trade to run smoothly as much of the Venetian way of life was based on trading. This would have an effect on the Elizabethan audience because Elizabethans believed that generosity was a great virtue to have, and they believed that Jews were not at all generous, something which is definite of Shylocks character. They also disliked usurers and merchants because they went against the Christian values. The play is a comedy and a lot of the humour was based on the Elizabethan reaction to Shylocks character and onstage appearance. However, in modern times society is a lot less prejudiced, thus creating more sympathy for Shylock. The Elizabethan audience would also be much more religious than a modern audience, and Shylock was a character that went against everything they believed in as Christians. Most of the Christian values are opposed to the stereotypical portrayal of Jews, especially as they are portrayed in Merchant Of Venice. Therefore, especially with an Elizabethan audience, the main feeling towards Shylock would not be sympathy, but hostility and loathing. The Elizabethan audience would immediately recognise Shylock as Jewish because he would we be dressed in stereotypical Jewish clothes and he would be wearing a red wig which was another stereotypical image of Jews. Everything about him would be stereotypical of a Jewish person, most of it in a degrading way as Shakespeare himself would have been a Christian. A lot of Shylocks speech reflects his character, for instance, he is a miser with words, similar to the way he is a miser with his money. He does not live in the world of aristocrats, but instead the world of merchants, which is why his money is so important to him. In Act One, Scene Three Shylock speaks first and his words are Three thousand ducats; well. This gives us an immediate first impression that his main concern in life is his money and wealth. He also repeats a lot of his words and phrases which shows he has a materialistic mind and a lack of imagination. He is very narrow and literal minded as we see in the way that he speaks. Ho, no, no, no, no and there be land-rats and water-rats, land-thieves and water-thieves It is significant that he used the term rats, because the Elizabethans had strong views on the sense of order of being. They thought that the order of society reflected the universe. Animals were at the bottom of this chain and therefore the least important. Elizabethan philosophers thought that man would lapse into beastliness if he allowed himself to become selfish. Therefore, the fact that Shylock uses animals as metaphors shows that he is preoccupied with the animal world. This tells us that Shylock is at about the same level as animals in the order of being, giving the audience little respect for him. However, a modern audience may not see this link as they do not have the same ideas as the Elizabethans on the order of being. Other characters in the play also refer to Shylock as a bird of prey which shows us that they perceive him as being the least important person around, and that he is selfish. The audience may react to this differently because it might, for some people, increase their sympathies towards Shylock as he is being mistreated and mocked by the other characters, but other people may see it as a reinforcement to the idea that Shylock is a selfish, unlikeable character. However, I dont think it would influence a modern audiences opinion towards Shylock because they would not associate the animal references with the chain of being. Therefore, it would only affect the Elizabethan audiences who would understand the references. He also repeats short, blunt phrases, showing his stubborn personality and his repetition of the adjectives rats and thieves show, again, that he lacks imagination and it is a great contrast to the metaphorical way of speaking of Antonio and the other Christians. [Antonio]The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul, producing holy witness, is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly rotten apple at the heart. This is an example of the poetic speech of Antonio and his fellow Christians. This gives the audience a negative opinion about Shylock compared to Antonio already, as Shakespeare wanted his audience to think that Christians were much more sensitive and open hearted then the Jews. It also means that the a udience will subconsciously prefer Antonio to Shylock as his words are much more poetical and less blunt. It also gives us a bad impression of Shylock because we see that Antonio is speaking harsh words about him and we know that there must be a reason for this because Antonio is Christian and is therefore good and speaks the truth. The contrasts between Shylock and Antonio influence audience opinion greatly. The main reason for disliking Shylock is the fact that he is a Jew and most of the Elizabethan audience, as well as the majority of the characters in the play, are Christians. Therefore, a lot of the influences on the audience for disliking Shylock, come from the constant comparisons to Antonio who is seen to be automatically a good character, simply because he is a Christian. This is hypocritical because, although Antonio is not an obvious merchant like Shylock, he still makes money in the same way that Shylock does, but through his ships. However, there are some similarities between the two characters. Although it is more obvious with Shylock, both of the characters are outsiders. Shylock, because he is a Jew and Antonio because he is unmarried. Also, neither of them accept the others religion and they both hate each other because of it. Both of them are lonely, isolated figures amongst the happy youth of Venice. They also both equate their property with their life and they both have a power over the others life at some time in the play. This means that although the audience may dislike Shylock and like Antonio, there are still similarities between them, which might make their opinions change or differ throughout the play. There is a irony in the way that one of the reasons the Christians (and Antonio) despise Shylock is because of what he does with his money (lend it out for profit) but Antonio does the same thing with his trading, but in a different way. This irony is highlighted in Act Four, Scene One, by Portia [Portia]Which is the merchant here? And which is the Jew? This would show the audience that some of the reasons for disliking Shylock are unfair, as they apply to themselves and the other Christian characters in the play. There are, however, a lot of differences and contrasts between Antonio and Shylock apart from the obvious different religions. Shylock lends his money to his enemies for a profit, whereas Antonio lends his money to his friends for free. Antonio risks his life for Bassanio because he is his friend, but Shylock tries to take the life of Antonio because he is his enemy. They also have very different characters. Antonio is mainly optimistic and merciful, whereas Shylock is pessimistic and vengeful. This influences the audience opinion because they think of Antonio as a good character because he shows better characteristics. The audience will also have a negative opinion of Shylock because he is surrounded by enemies while Antonio is surrounded by friends. This is part of the way the scene is structured which affects the audience opinion of Shylock. The way the scenes are structured has a lot to do with our opinion of Shylock. For example, in most of the scenes we either see Shylock in the middle of a conversation, or entering in the middle of a scene with other characters. This means that we never see whether Shylock stops talking about money when he is not talking about the deal, because we never see him start a conversation. This means that we have a negative view of him, because we always see the same business side of him. We also never see Shylock on his own, he always enters the stage to join a social grouping, which automatically makes him seem like an outsider. This also means that we rarely see Shylock as he sees himself, just as other people see him. Because most of the other characters in the play are Christians, and therefore dislike Shylock, we see their image of him, which is obviously going to be negative. However, through the use of asides, Shylock reveals some of his inner thoughts to the audience, which is the only time we get to see what Shylock is really feeling. [Shylock talking about Antonio]How like a fawning publican he is: I hate him for he is Christian This shows us that Shylock is capable of human emotion and he does have feelings, which is a contrast to the narrow minded image we have of him, due to his cold, monosyllabic talk. However, these emotions are negative so they do not necessarily create a good image of his personality, but they still show that he has emotions. This creates a better image for Shylock and we feel more sympathy towards him because as we realise that he does have feelings, we realise that he does get hurt by the way he is treated and we see that it is unfair. However, Shylock is being hypocritical because he is being prejudiced against Antonio which is one of the reasons that he (Shylock) is treated unfairly himself. In a modern audience, however, where religion is less important they may see that Shylocks prejudices are justified because of the way that he is treated. In Act three, Scene one the language that Shylock uses influences our opinion a lot. Shylock learns of the disappearance of his daughter, Jessica and he does not seem to be very concerned. She is damned for it This suggests that Shylock does not care about what has happened to her and he blames her, saying she is damned. A lot of the reactions he has towards his daughter would influence audience opinion greatly. A lot of Act Three, Scene One is about the disappearance of Shylocks daughter Jessica. Shylock fears that she has run away with a Christian, his greatest enemies. At first we think that he is genuinely interested in his daughters well-being. [Shylock]Hast thou found my daughter? The first thing he thinks about is his daughter, which shows us that he does have some good sides to him and he wants to know what has happened to his daughter. This will make the audience see him in a good light as he has shown us that he cares about someone. However, Shylock then proves that he is a slave to his money [Shylock]a diamond gone! Cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfurt I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear Shylock has openly admitted that he would rather have his jewels and his daughter dead, than the other way around. This is a shocking thing to admit and it will influence the audience greatly into having a negative opinion about him, because the fact that he cares more about his money than his daughter gives the impression that he is extremely cold hearted and money is his life. Although Shylock repeatedly talks about his loyalty to the Jewish faith, it is shown to be less important to him than his wealth [Shylock]a diamond gone, cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfurt! The curse never fell upon our nation until now; I never felt it till now This shows that his priorities lie not with his faith which he talks about so much, but with his money because he admits that the supposed curse on his race has not affected him until now, when his money has been taken away. By saying this the audience gets an impression of him that until things affect him personally they do not bother him, which emphasises his selfish personality. It also shows that he is feeling bitter about being a Jew. He then calls his daughter a thief, which shows that he doesnt seem to have any compassion towards her because she has taken the most important thing in his life from him: money. This reinforces our opinions and ideas about his character, and the audience will continue to see him in a bad light. We then see more of Shylocks bad side when he learns about Antonios ships. [Shylock]What, what, what? ill luck? ill luck? From this we see that he is keen for someone else to suffer bad luck as well as him. It also shows us that he is happy again now he knows that he will get his money. Again we see that money is extremely important to him because he has become happier when he realises that he Antonio will not be able to pay him back and therefore broken the bond. This shows us again the bitterness and selfishness of his character. However, he does show us that he has some feelings because he mentions his ex-wife Leah. I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. This shows us that he does in fact care for some people, and he does have feelings and emotions as he would not have given the ring away because of its sentimental value. This shows the audience that he cared for his wife and it creates audience sympathy towards him because he obviously cares/cared for her, proving he does have emotions and he is not completely bitter. Another of the main devices in the play which influence our opinion of Shylock occurs with the main twist in the plot: the ending where the tables are turned on Shylock. In the court he is insisting on carrying out the bond he had with Antonio, even though both the judge and Portia are against him and have offered him three times the money Antonio owed him instead of the pound of flesh. However, Portia points out that Shylock cannot have his pound of flesh because the bond would not allow him to spill any of Antonios blood, and Shylock would not be able to take a pound of flesh from Antonio without taking any of his blood. [Portia]Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh; But, in cutting it, if thou dost shed One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate Unto the state of Venice This comes as a shock to both the audience and Shylock because neither of them would foresee this. It is also an example of irony because Portia is being as p edantic about the law as Shylock was earlier in the scene. There is even more dramatic irony when Shylock is forced to be a Christian. [Antonio] He presently become a Christian This is ironic because Christians are supposed to believe in mercy and forgiveness, so this is going against their religious beliefs. It also makes the audience feel sympathy towards Shylock because he is facing having to lose everything or to change his beliefs. It is also ironic that Antonio and the other Christians despise Shylock because he lends money for profit, because they do exactly the same thing, just in a different way. Antonio sends his ships out to buy goods cheaply from other places, and then he will sell them on for more money, which is effectively the same as what Shylock is doing. Christians also believe that everyone is equal but they do not show these qualities in their inhuman treatment of their slaves. This hypocrisy increases audience sympathy for Shylock because we see, again, that he is being mistreated, even more clearly than before. Because Shylocks religion was one of the main reasons that he was mistreated, the audience will see it as unfair that it is now being taken away from him, when it has been the reason for years of suffering on his part. The trial scene in the play is very important because it is where the two main plots come together. The scene starts without Shylock (which is the case for much of the play) and when he enters he knows that everyone in the court is Christian so he does not expect much sympathy from them. At the beginning Shylock tells the Court that he wants Antonios flesh because it is his whim although he does not give reasons for this, except that he is only insisting on the bond because he bears a grudge. He points out that other men would do the same thing, only in different situations. This influences the audience opinion as they think he is just being stubborn and difficult, an unlikeable trait. Shylock also refuses to listen to the Dukes pleas of humanity, but the Dukes views are from a Christian point of view so Shylock may not agree with them. We can also see the extremity of Shylocks hatred towards Antonio when Bassanio asks a reasonable question [Bassanio]Do all men kill the things they do not love? Shylock response has extreme implications [Shylock]Hates any man the thing he would not kill? Shylock is saying that Antonio symbolises everything he hates, and that is why he is so insistent on the bond being carried out. The characters in this scene are all human, but they also stand for concepts. Shylock is inflexible and inhuman and he stands for law, an end in itself. Portia represents law in the service of man and we can see this when Bassanio tries to convince Portia to stop Shylock taking his pound of flesh by telling her that to do a great right, do a little wrong. However, she refuses, saying that it must not be. By refusing to stop Shylock she is proving that she represents law in the service of man because she is carrying out the law completely. She is also, by contrast to Shylock, flexible and merciful. However, this emphasises the hypocrisy that Portia shows when she does not show any mercy to Shylock in the end. Portia continuously offers Shylock three times the money that Antonio owed him to let the bond drop, but Shylock refuses. In doing this we see his stubborn nature and his strict adherence to the law. It also shows us that he is hard-hearted and sadistic, certainly not merciful. We see more of a reason to dislike Shylock when he refuses to let a doctor stand by while he takes his pound of flesh because it is not in the bond. This reinforces our opinion that Shylock is dark, sinister and dislikable. Portias pleas for Shylock to accept the money are impassioned and lyrical, but Shylock is unmoved. His lack of emotion makes the audience automatically opposed to him, in that they do not want him to be successful in his fight to take his pound of flesh. Then Antonio makes a speech which greatly influences the audience opinion for both himself and Shylock. He talks about his loyalty to Bassanio and says that he is prepared to die for him, making us see him as a brave, loyal friend. He does not appear to be scared of death and says he will be at least remembered as old and strong rather than old and feeble. He is also keen for Bassanio to tell Portia how he (Antonio) cared for him (Bassanio). This is because he feels an outcast because of the lack of love in his life (another similarity between him and Shylock) and he wants to prove that he does have the capability of loving someone so much he would die for them. This is also ironic because Portia is there and she hears what he says without him realising. When he makes this speech the contrast between him and Shylock is huge because they both have such different values and views on life. The audience will think that Antonio is brave and loyal, and that will lower their opinion of Shylock because Shylock still wants to take his pound of flesh. We see how un-noble Shylock is when he is compared to Antonios loyal outlook. One of the main differences in the two characters opinions of what should happen is caused by their religion. Shylock thinks that he has done nothing wrong and that he is only following the law, therefore he seeks only justice. On the other hand, the Christian outlook is that all men are sinful and depend on Gods mercy. Shylock justifies his opinion by quoting from the bible (3:1). In doing this he is pointing out that the law of the Jews is that of an eye for an eye and the law of Christ is mercy and forgiveness. He is showing how different the two religions views are, and therefore allowing him to contravene the spirit of the law. However the trial scene highlights the fact that Shylocks mind is so twisted that he cannot even admit the bitterness and evil in his own soul. However, in the end, Portia points out that Shylock is unable to get his pound of flesh without letting any blood be shed, which is not allowed in the bond. This is ironic because Portia is being as pedantic about the law as Shylock was being earlier. Then Shylock decides that he would like to just take the money but Portia says that he has already turned them down so he should have nothing but a penalty. Compared to his behaviour and attitude at the beginning of the scene Shylock now becomes more apologetic and begging. Then we see how the way the other characters treat and refer to Shylock will affect the audience opinion. Shylock is treated very badly in this scene. He is not referred to by his name, but by Jew which is made to sound like an insult and it takes away his equality and individuality. They also suggest that Shylock is an outsider of Venice and therefore does not have equal rights. It is enacted in the laws of Venice If it be provd against an alien This is not fair to Shylock as he is as much as a part of Venice as Antonio, Portia and all the other Christians. Here we see a lot of hypocrisy as one of the reasons that they condone Shylock is that he makes money for nothing. However they either dont realise or choose to ignore the fact that they all do the same thing to make a living: buy things and sell them off at a higher price. The audience may be slightly more sympathetic towards Shylock because of the lack of respect and hypocrisy shown to him. It also shows that all the people in the court view Shylock as an outside, although he is as much of a citizen of Venice as they are. The only reason that they dont accept him is that he is a Jew whilst they are Christians. To a modern audience this would seem like a minor difference because there is a much larger diversity amongst the people in Britain then there would have been in Elizabethan times. Therefore, modern audience would not totally understand the seemingly irrational hatred of Shylock, simply for the fact that he is a Jew. Then the Duke decides that Shylock must become Christian and he must leave his money to Jessica and Lorenzo when he dies. This is another example of hypocrisy because Christians should so mercy and forgiveness and they are not showing that at all in the way that they are treating Shylock because they presume that they have the right to change his faith when it is nothing to do with them and it just highlights their prejudices. Shylock is often judged externally which means that the audience do not get to see him as he sees himself. It also means that we only get to see other peoples views on Shylock so the audience only ever gets a secondary view of Shylocks character, which will obviously affect their own opinion of him. For example, a lot of the adjectives used to describe Shylock in Act Four, Scene One vary greatly from those used to describe Antonio. Shylock is described by adjectives such as an inhuman wretch, unfeeling man, harsh, inexecrable dog and the offender. None of these are very complimentary and they would influence the audience opinion. However, Antonio is described as a poor merchant, touchd with human gentleness and love and royal merchant. These words are very complimentary and they would affect the audience view of Shylock because they would compare the adjectives used to describe both characters. Another example of external judging of Shylock comes after his reaction to the abduction of his daughter. Salerio mocks Shylock because of the reaction that he was more concerned about the loss of his money than the loss of his daughter. This, again, will influence audience opinion. Also, the audience would judge Shylock as a Jew through the references of others and through the costume he wears. All of this external judging will influence audience opinion because much of it is negative and if the other characters are constantly mocking or saying negative things about Shylock then the audience will be affected by these views, especially if they do not get to see how Shylock views himself. There would also be differing opinions between modern and Elizabethan audiences because nowadays different cultures, races and religions are much more common around Britain and so any prejudices against someone because of their religion would be seen as racist, and an undesirable characteristic. Elizabethan audiences, however, would see Shylock as inferior to Antonio simply because he is a Jew and Jews were disliked in their times. Therefore, a modern audience may feel sympathy towards Shylock in a lot of the situations, whereas an Elizabethan audience would feel that Shylock deserved what he got.

An Analysis of South Park, The American Adult Animated Sitcom and The Issues It Tackles In Society

An Analysis of South Park, The American Adult Animated Sitcom and The Issues It Tackles In Society South Park is an American adult animated sitcom, a production of South Park Digital Studios, LLC that started airing on August 13, 1997, till now. with 20 seasons and over 270 episodes in total, South Park has received numerous awards and even ranked as the tenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time by TVGuid. Being famous for its dark, surreal humor that covers a wide range of topics including social problems, politics, and internet sensations. South Park became a popular entertainment among adults all over the world, mainly in the United States. Although South Park had been famous for its well-scripted comedy that applies to different situations, groups and even individuals, according to Roland Barthes’s concepts discussed in Mythologies, there are still tricks played on us that causes us to invest in the ones in greater power willingly or even wholeheartedly. Through the book Mythologies, Roland Barthes shows how truths are hidden behind the banalest and natural aspects of everyday life. According to Barthes, things often present themselves as being natural, therefore, are transparent to the public. His analysis of different â€Å"natural† mythologies today reveals the ideological nature of the products. Barthes considers Myths as speech, that it is a system of communication which bears meaning in itself. He expresses his view on how every symbol conveys a meaning, unlimited by the nature of the symbol, be it a text, an image or even human actions. As Barthes explained in Mythologies â€Å"Every object in the world can pass from a closed, silent existence to an oral state, open to appropriation by society, for there is no law, whether natural or not, which forbids talking about things. A tree is a tree. Yes, of course.† (Mythologies 1972 p.1) He considers every cultural product as a symbol itself, conveying at least a meanin g conditioned by a myth. Any cultural product can be analyzed and reviewed in Barthes’s consideration since there is always a realm of second-class signification which distinguishes its symbolic meaning from its denotation through analysis. Barthes’s explanation of his analysis in the article ‘The Romans in films’, â€Å"Signs ought to present themselves only in two extreme forms: either openly intellectual and so remote that they are reduced to an algebra, as in the Chinese theatre, where a flag on its own signifies a regiment; or deeply rooted, invented, so to speak, on each occasion, revealing an internal, a hidden facet, and indicative of a moment in time, no longer of a concept†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Mythologies 2009 p.28) Applying Barthes’s concept presented in Mythologies on South Park, as an American animated sitcom, it often expresses people’s view and thoughts through comedy and satire, presenting themselves to be true and universal. Ironically, similar to its own c haracteristic of presenting ideas through imaginary characters and stories, South Park is actually a fiction that tricks us into benefiting the more powerful members of the society. Its use of comedic approach to expressing ideas and thoughts increase social acceptability on transgressions. It also decreases the viewers tendency on voicing out, through fulfilling their will of express and reflecting on social issues or problems when they are enjoying the show. The mixing of highly-realistic setting and contents with surreal situations cuts back imagination and expectations of the public on different aspects. South Park slowly dull viewers’ individual and critical thinking and tricks them into being an easier public to mass media or governance by slipping ideas and myths into the show. South Park is famous for its use of humor relating to social issues or taboos, the use of comedy encourages the acceptance of transgressions such as racism and sexism. South Park often over-exaggerate public’s reactions and social problems to create comic yet relatable stories or situations. Although it is considered done ironically to encourage social participation or awareness, it also encourages social acceptance on transgression. Suggested by Brain L. Ott, ‘South Park does not simply depict the violation of social taboos; it enlists viewers participation in them. By watching the show repeatedly transgress the boundaries of social acceptability, public complete the communication circuit vital to the shows violations.’ (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.41-42) The constant violation of social taboos in the show made viewers dull towards transgression, which increases their acceptance of the violation of social taboos. In South Park season 20, the theme focuses on internet trolls, the 2016 United States presidential election, and nostalgia. Multiple social taboos are comically discussed and over-exaggerated, in the episodes of the 20th season, numerous racist, sexist jokes and ideas are presented. In the episodes, the Member Berries speaks of memories of older days some quotes that over-exaggerates nostalgia like â€Å"Member when there werent so many Mexicans?†, â€Å"Member when a white man kissing a black woman on national television was considered daring?†, â€Å"Member when interracial marriage wasnt legal?†[1] are racist comments relatable to Americans. Similarly, sexist jokes about women being not funny and irrational are constantly made throughout the season, such as â€Å"Whats the one thing women dont have? Semen and a sense of humor.† Not only in one or two seasons but throughout all airings of South Park, offensive jokes or remarks and extended use of slurs and foul languages often appear in the show . Since it is considered as an â€Å"Adult-only† sitcom, viewer automatically considers them to be only for comical effects. The overuse of offensive jokes with the excuse of â€Å"only for comedic effects† slowly dulls viewer’s negative feelings on the violations of social taboos, by creating the myth of not needing to take violations of social taboos seriously if it’s comical. With long-term exposure of such remarks and language, viewers are unconsciously brainwashed into the acceptance of transgression, believing that it’s not a serious problem. South Park fulfills the viewers’ needs of expressing and reflecting on social issues or problems through the fictional characters’ highly-relatable expressions on up-to-date topics, which my decrease the viewers’ need of expressing themselves in real life. According to Fiske, â€Å"Cartoons and comedies frequently invert normal relationships and show the adults as incompetent, unable to understand, and the children as superior in insight and ability.†(Television Culture 1992 p.197) South Park uses the same tactic, revolving around four 4th grade boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, and their bizarre adventures. In season 19, the adult’s greed leads to the growing intelligence of online advertisements, while the children are the ones understanding and noticing the problems, being the main force of defeating the â€Å"evil ads† that the adults had created. The reverse in relations are even more vivid in Season 2 0, some adults trolls and bullies people online leading to a potential world war, adults fail to resist the temptation of nostalgia that causes poor decision making, and professionals failed to complete the right formula for the discovery of a new energy; while all the problems are solved with the children’s intelligence and insights. In all episodes of South Park, it’s the children often speaking the truth or intelligence with surreal abilities and ways, while adults are often the ones who cause trouble. As Brain L. Ott had pointed out, â€Å"They are invited to engage the show and the world not as responsible individual adults, but as children at play. Such liberation is an intense but fleeting pleasure because when one turns off South Park, he or she must re-enter the world of social rules and conventions.†(Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.44) The highly-relatable expressions in the show pleasure the viewer’s need of expressing or reflecting on the s ocial issues and problems they encounter, leading them to believe that their thoughts are similar to concepts and ideas presented by only children with their surreal abilities. And since they are invited to engage the show as children at play, the viewers’ will to express or reflect on those topics are automatically diminished when they turn off South Park. Not realizing that the show had invert the relationships, showing the children to be superior in insight and ability, viewers are tricked into believing in the myth of being a responsible individual adult, is to not fully expressing and voicing out their own thoughts. South Park uses highly-realistic, up-to-date setting and contents but adds in some surreal and imaginary situations. Although the surreal situations on realistic events actually reflect the viewers’ imagination and expectations, the situations often turn out to be delusional or disappointing, which cuts back the viewers’ imagination and expectations on different aspects. The setting and characters are highly relatable and realistic. The show mainly locates in the fictional small town that is within the real-life South Park basin in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. There are prominent settings, including bus stops, the local elementary school, even various neighborhoods and the snowy landscape. Actual Colorado landmarks and the shops and businesses along the towns main street, are also prominent and are based on the appearance of similar locations in a real town in Colorado— Fairplay. The choice Colorado is simply because of the creators, Trey Parker and M att Stones origin[2], but the realistic setting made the show easily relatable. The shows do not only create relatable characters but also uses real names and persons, depicting an extremely realistic social setting. Although the show is highly relatable and realistic itself, each episode of South Park opens with a simple disclaimer— †All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated..poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone. The comical disclaimers remind viewers of its fictional content while the truth is that most of the content is based off real-time, up-to-date events of since each episode is written and produced during the week preceding its broadcast. Since they are based off real-time events, expectations and imagination of the public on related topics are also depicted, such as the common expecta tion of Americans on NASA having great discoveries on projects of Mars, or the wish of having a peaceful cyber-community. Just like all the other common depiction of dreams or expectations, the expectation on great discoveries of Mars as well as the dream a peaceful cyber-community turns out to be dilution and disappointing in South Park Season 20, since the project on bringing mankind to Mars is destructed by an explosion and first mail of the newly built cyber-community is still about trolling. Both situations is a common imagination or expectation of the public, but through the mixing up of realistic characteristics with scripted delusional outcome, viewers might unconsciously expect the same delusional outcome in real life. They might cut back their own imagination and expectations on different aspects, believing in the myth that imaginations and expectations will always end up as a disappointment. â€Å"One learns how to watch South Park as surely as one learns how to take in Shakespeare (we learn for instance that Kyle is almost always right and Cartman is almost always wrong; that if Kenny dies, he most likely will be back again in the next episode; that Chef’s advice invariably has more to do with libido than with the actual problem at hand, and so forth)† (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.19) Ironically similar to the hidden rules among the characters in South Park as well as the show itself being an American animated sitcom, South Park is actually a scripted fiction that tricks us into benefiting the more powerful members of the society. The show slowly shapes the viewers into an easier public for mass media and governance through the myths hidden in the show itself, causing viewers to be more accepting on transgression, being less criticising on social issues, and being less sensitive to the cutting back of imagination or expectations. And by simply putti ng on a disclaimer and listing itself as a satirical American animated sitcom for adult viewers only, South Park can protect itself from all the possible critics with the expectation of the viewers themselves.

Global Marketing Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Marketing Communication - Essay Example The project was built with a support from the Australian filmmaker, Darius Devas. The inclusion of Devas was important as he had already travelled to Goa, India. He was allowed to document the reunion of his old friends who were there as part of Goa hippy Mecca in the 1970s. The documentary was built by collecting response from the significant personalities which were key in the entire story. At the first stage, the Dubs has come up with 13 video vignettes on the platform of Facebook. This was done on a regular basis throughout the months of March and April, 2010. The platform was chosen in the wake of customers’ growing attraction towards the online content. The project was an effort by the leading broadcast medium SBS, Freehand Television, Screen Australia and Screen NSW. The strategy was implemented in two stages. At the first stage, the Facebook Group was considered to attract the audiences. At the later stage, the Facebook fan page was included to communicate with the tar get audiences. The project started off with the introduction of ‘Goa Hippy Tribe’, an online community to connect the relevant people and communities. The community page put its effort to be linked and associated with the audience group who is passionate about the group and emotionally tied up with the Goa hippy community. The videos were related to certain themes like drug subculture, young age spirituality and trance music which can be associated with the Goa. Furthermore, the Dubs also used other media platforms like YouTube and Flickr to push its product to additional audiences. The project was a success as there was audience engagement in the making of this documentary TV series. As the people felt that they were actually involved in the making of the process. The loyalty was enormous with the feel of joint ownership. The audience base also increased through word of mouth communication. At the end stage, after the documentary was done, a fan page was created to rea ch out to a larger audience group. Through the group and fan page, the project was able to reach out to 9000 fans without spending a dollar on traditional marketing or advertising on air. Traditionally in a documentary film, there is enough research involved with a considerable number of interview processes. These are never released to the audiences (Tay, 2010). However, as those were released and were used to shape up the documentary films, people felt connected to the making process of the same leading to an emotional feeling and passion for the documentary series. Facebook also allowed the audience sot take part in the group discussion for this project leading to fetching a considerable attraction from its fans. This feeling of involvement was possible through Facebook and led to the success of the documentary series. Link between the Case and Relevant Theories Communication is one unique activity which establishes the relationship. The communication has been central to the integ rative marketing process. Dunca and Moriaty have come up with a communication based marketing model to manage the relationships. They developed a model displaying the significance of communication in the foundation of the marketing efforts. The communication seems to be one of the most significant elements of the marketing leading to the establishment of the brand relationships with

Financing A Healthcare Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financing A Healthcare Organization - Essay Example If a firm has sufficient net working capital it is assumed to have enough liquidity (ICFAI Center for Management Research ICMR, 2004). In the operating cycle of the firm current assets are converted into cash to provide funds for the payment of current liabilities. Hence, if the current ratio is higher it means that the short-term liquidity of the firm is also higher. Long-term Solvency Ratio - This is one of the leverage ratios. When the analysis of a firm is extended to the long-term solvency, we come into the category of leverage ratios. The leverage ratios are structural ratios and coverage ratios. Structural ratios are based on the proportions are derived from the relationships between debt servicing commitments and sources of funds for meeting these obligations. This ratio measures the extent to which borrowed funds support the firm’s assets. The denominator in the ratio is total of all assets as indicated in the balance sheet. The type of assets an organization employs in its operations should determine to some extent the sources of funds used to finance them. Management/Expense Ratio - An expense ratio is determined through an annual  calculation,  where  a funds operating expenses  are divided by the average dollar value of its assets under management. Operating expenses are taken out of a funds assets and lower the return to a funds investors (Investopedia). Line-item Budget: Line item budgets are used in private industry for the comparison and budgeting of selected object groups and their previous and future estimated expenditure levels within an organization. The line-item budget should include all income and expense associated with the proposed project. The major advantages of the line-item budget are that is easy to prepare, understand and justify. The big disadvantage is that there is no relationship between the budget request and objectives and priorities, and it is different to transfer

How Secure is Your Data, Information and Information Systems Assignment

How Secure is Your Data, Information and Information Systems Technology - Assignment Example As the discussion this will ensure that in cases where virus wipe out important information, there can still be a source of reference. In the author's own organization, he believes upgrading our antivirus system as exists in your organization will do us a lot of good. The issue of insider threat is something that we both touched on as part of the trends in security issues. The reporter however did not mention the case of employee negligence. He believes that from the elaboration that you give about employee negligence and how it applies to your organization, having much emphasis on employee training will be a solution to the problem that you currently face. This is because through training, most of the cases of negligence can be dealt with as employees will gain the needed experience to handle all forms of security system cases. In the reporter's own organization, he is going to take a lot of inspiration from your organization on the use of specific employee based rules to ensure tha t all forms of insider breaches are dealt away with.

Kachin Insurgency in Myanmar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kachin Insurgency in Myanmar - Essay Example Thus, in this regard, the department of defense defines the current insurgency as an organized opposition movement that employs subversion, incapacitation and armed conflict to realize its objectives (Bortnyk). Therefore, insurgencies usually seek to overthrow the recurrent social order by altering power within a nation. A number of factors contribute to an insurgency in various occurrences but often political power is the primary issue in both insurgencies and counterinsurgencies with each faction aiming at gaining a people’s patronage. Major contributors are economic deprivation, poor governance and lack of government legitimacy. For instance, economic deprivation leads to poverty that leaves young men with fewer options in life or less to lose; thus, leaving them with no choice but to join insurgent groups (Bortnyk). In addition, poverty leads to increased crimes, a premonition of a population’s desensitization to lawlessness and aggression, which creates an illegal market in support of insurgencies (Army). That notwithstanding, most repressive systems of governances deny second or alternative voices from surfacing to question or criticize government operations and activities; thus leaving oppositions and alternative resort to insurgency to force the government to deliver on its mandate or to relinquish power. Thus, with the above understanding, this paper features the insurgency efforts of the Kachin Independence Army and its affiliates such as Myanmar military. The study focuses on the history of movements with no choice but to resort to insurgency. Lastly, besides governance, governments are expected to provide their citizens with security, justice, economic needs and allow space for ideology sharing (Aylwin-Foster and Army). Therefore, failure to provide such services to citizens, they often the Myanmar insurgency, the underlying causes, the army’s tactics and