The effect of clutch size on predation in birds Essay

The effect of clutch size on predation in birds - Essay Example Hypothetically, it is also logic to say that the bigger the clutch size, the more the mortality rate in birds. This is because the prey are large in number, hence, attracting more predators. Past studies on clutch size, have concentrated on the constant evolution in the size of the clutch. This has, therefore, guided researchers in coming up with theories such as the food limitation hypothesis of lack (Paul et al 824). This theory states that the clutch size gives a reflection on the relationship between the food limitation and the number of off springs that survive. In addition, another theory tries to explain how the clutch size is determined by parental behavior, for instance, the ability to feed and their success in reproduction. Nevertheless, predation patterns and the predators themselves are in more than one way affected by the clutch size. The effect of clutch size on predation in birds has been researched on in a number of models by different researchers since 1990s. However, there are two main models that act as the backbone to all other models. The first one explains how an increase in predation risk would be as a result of nestling begging, with or without spectral characteristics and avian mobbing (Paul et al 821). Parental behavior and nestling begging is usually seen a signal to increase in predation risk. This hypothesis was questioned since, in some cases, nestling begging could be there but the parents are also there to defend the young ones. To prove this, an experiment was carried out where bell miners Manorina melanophrys was observed and the cost of begging measured. The experiment was done by placing 168 attractive nests with wax egg and broadcasting speakers that produced sounds similar to the begging sound. Three conditions were put into considerations (Ekman 703). These conditions were silence, white noise pulses that was similar to the response no begging sounds and un-manipulated begging

Business Management Affairs Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Management Affairs - Coursework Example Sole Trading When a person individually initiates and operates his/her own business, it is called sole trading. The most obvious feature of sole proprietorship is that there is no legal distinction between the business and the owner. Usually, a sole trader uses a trade name or business name instead of his legal name. Under UK company law, the proprietors’ name must be shown on business emails, business stationery, and other business premises. It generally involves lower amount toward capital investment as compared to other modes of business ventures. It is best fitted to people with innovative business ideas and sufficient capital for running their business. The main benefit of this system is that the businessman owns everything what he acquires from the business. Moreover, with the feasibility of self guidance, the individual can grow without restrictions. In addition to this, as Tonkin (2006) states, sole trader can start the business with minimum set up cost and can continue operations without a tax file number. He is also exempted from many other legal charges and superannuation. Since the sole trading business specifically focuses on certain market segments, the sole trader can effectively satisfy the customer needs. In addition, the individual can take advantages of personal relationships for the business promotion. On the other hand, sole trader is not free from risks as he is the only person responsible for any loss incurred in the business. Therefore, if the sole trader faces business loss; his every asset including personal asset may be seized to discharge the liabilities he has incurred. This personal liability becomes the most threatening disadvantage of sole proprietorship. A series of legal obligations may also drag him out of the line; sometimes he needs to pay provisional taxes. Similarly, sole trader may face difficulties in the event of an unforeseen contingency since he has only restricted access to financial sources. The lack of access to financial sources also becomes a barrier for the sole trader to recruit high-caliber employees. Another major disadvantage of sole proprietorship is that it cannot allow credit sales since this type of business has limited access to working capital; this situation is an impediment to business expansion. A positive spell of possible success is foun d in the given discussion. As Matt is the winner of the TV show â€Å"You’re Hired†, he may have creative concepts as well as sufficient capital to start his business as a sole trader. Partnership When two or more persons join together with their capital and make contract to run a lawful business, it is called partnership business. This system ensures collective responsibility for all liabilities arising on the ground of the partnership business. As it is in the case of sole trader, registration of partnership is not necessary. This feature helps the partners in minimizing the struggles of legal formalities. All the strategies of partnership firms are formulated on shared opinion of partners which would make the policies rather balanced in their nature. At the same time, any partner may represent the business without giving prior information to other partners; therefore, one partner’

Analysis of the Australian Fashion Industry

Analysis of the Australian Fashion Industry Australian Fashion Well known Australian designers Lisa Ho, Collette Dinnigan, Sass Bide, Ksubi, Jayson Brunsdon, Leona Edmiston and Kit Willow are taking the world by storm and expanding into the international marketplace. Fashion is one of Australia’s key creative and design industries and there are now over 2000 active fashion exporters delivering their products and services in overseas markets. The export of Australian fashion is not limited to exclusive designers. Street wear, and surf wear are also famous worldwide. Quiksilver, Billabong and Rip Curl are famous for their boardshorts, T-shirts and wetsuits. â€Å"Getting your label overseas is important†, says designer Claus Maus, â€Å"Not only for building your brand but also for growing sales. The key markets include New Zealand, United Kingdom and the USA. Annual textile, clothing and footwear exports are worth $A277 million, of which $A289 million is clothing. This essay will examine the marketing strategies adopted by some of these fashion brands to launch their label internationally. International markets can provide opportunities for growth. To achieve this, companies need to develop and perform marketing activities aimed at their target customer. A detailed analysis of the environment is critical before a company enters an overseas market. This analysis should include cultural, social, ethical economic, technological, political and legal issues. Cultural differences may affect marketing negotiations and product use. Australian fashion is becoming more popular. Australian Fashion Week is one of the first shows of the fashion season which mean Australian designers can be early in setting trends. It was during Australian Fashion Week that Easton Pearson got their start globally. It is all about timing. Fashion does well in neighbouring markets such as New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore. In order to stay competitive in the global fashion market, brand management and positioning is crucial. It is important for designers to have a presence at major international fashion events with an eye to being picked up by overseas retailers and boutiques. It is important to listen to your consumer and listen to your retailer. The retailer will have some very specific requirements – will it turn up on time, it will be price correctly and it will make your consumer feel special. The type of product will obviously determine the right market. For example, red-carpet fashion will do well in wealthy, affluent markets, whereas swimwear will do well in big resort areas. The international fashion industry is tough, competitive and constantly evolving. Fashion can be very market and culture specific, so fashion labels should be aware that what is considered fashionable and stylish will differ considerably between markets. When going international fashion exporters need to consider the lifestyle of the customer they are targeting and adapt colour, garment practicality and fabric choices to suit the target climate, lifestyle and market group Social laws will dictate to what extend certain parts of the body should be covered and even the models displaying products should reflect the target market. Immodest clothes are considered inappropriate for many Middle-Eastern women and in Mexico the colour purpose is associated with funerals. Easton Pearson, a successful fashion exporter had to adapt their sizing and hemlines for markets such as Japan and the Middle East. Successful jeans label Tsubi underwent a brand name change to Ksubi. . A shoe label in the United States called Tsubo claimed the name infringed its trademark and challenged the businesses’ use of the name. This case exemplifies how much a brand name means to the business. Colour can also be associated with a brand. Cadbury unsuccessfully took Darrel Lea to court over their use of a shade of purple. Within every brand there is a product. But not every product is a brand. A product is something tangible, it has physical attributes, styles, features and price. A brand is the total consumer experience of a product, its personality, the trust you have in it, the status it gives you, the experiences you share with it. The cultural aspect of launching a brand can’t be overlooked. Sometimes there are language issues, For example, The Ford Pinto did miserably when first introduced in Brazil, and it was discovered that â€Å"pinto† is slang for â€Å"small male sex organ†. Ford changed the name to â€Å"corcel† which means â€Å"horse† and sales improved. Billabong is now the leading brand in Peru. One of the ways in which they have made this brand so well know in Peru has been through providing sponsorship to leading athletes. They sponsor surfers, skateboarders and snowboarders and host many of the event that make up the surfing World Championships Tours as well as region-specific events. They know their customers well and develop innovative and functional products for them, Breaking into overseas markets is exciting but also challenging. Developing an overseas market gives rise to opportunities to grow and prosper with increased sales and profits, improved domestic competitiveness and a reduced dependence on the Australian market and seasonal fluctuations. To enter the overseas market there are certain strategies that must be undertaken to improve success. Breaking into the international market can be costly in time, money and resources. Thorough preparation is essential. Preparation should include professional advice, the ability to balance domestic and export market, do not assume all markets are the same and modify the product to meet regulations and cultural preferences of other countries. Planning is essential. Companies must be capable and ready to export and must have total commitment from all staff. Research is essential and a thorough analysis should be made of the market, taking into account size and distribution capabilities and competition. Companies should respond to perceived demands in overseas markets such as niche markets and acquire resources and technology. A successful marketing strategy used by Sass Bide to launch their label internationally was having celebrities wear their clothing. Basically they asked people through fashion editors to ‘try their jeans’ and first begun by sending their jeans to all of the editors in New York and London presented beautifully with a covering letter. This strategy worked as out of a dozen gifts sent, 6 would write back saying â€Å"OH, my God, we love this†, and as a result celebrities would endorse them. They just had to get their product to the right people. They took this approach as they did not have the money to spend on advertising and marketing, and thought that word of mouth marketing was the way to go. Working with influential people (celebrities) is an important of word of mouth marketing. â€Å"Nobody counts the number of ads you run, they just remember the impression your make.† (Wiliam Bernbach). Sass and Bide partners, Heidi Middleton and Sarah Clarke spend a lot of time travelling making connections with the customers on a one to one level. They do not want to advertise they are more interested in intimate marketing as well as Public Relations. They relied on word of mouth marketing early on however this has changed over the years. The US market is very competitive so they now have a marketing plan and strategy in place to target the whole of the country. They target celebrities like Naomi Watts and Kylie Minogue. They also do in-store appearances and hold tea parties and invite all the stylists and editors to these tea parties. The SWOT analysis is a tool used to assess a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses come from within the company and are directly controllable. Strengths are attributes of the organisation that are helpful to achieving the objective. If a SWOT analysis does not start with defining a desired objective it may be useless. Identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is essential as steps in the process of planning for achievement of the objective may be derived from them. Strengths include a strong brand name and a good reputation among customers Weaknesses include limited finances and lack of key distribution channels. Opportunities include new technologies, a new international market and loosening of international trade barriers. Threats are shifts in customer’s tastes, new competition and the introduction of new regulations. Firstly, the company has to determine whether the objective of launching internationally is attainable. The organisation should ask how they use each strength, how they can stop each weakness, how to exploit each opportunity and how to defend against each threat. A fashion label needs competitive advantages that give it an advantage in meeting the needs of a targeted market (strengths). To be successful fashion labels need to be an innovative product combined into excellent design that bring together individual style. Brand ambassadors are also a key element in brand acknowledgement overseas. Limitations that a business faces in developing are a weakness. Weaknesses are harmful to achieving the final objective. Limited financial resources can contribute to weakness. The label must be able to generate sales rapidly after the launch. This entails reaching enough people with marketing efforts and creating a retail network. Opportunities and threats exist independently of the business. Opportunities are favourable conditions and business can be rewarded from these benefits if it acts on them properly. Threats are conditions or barriers that may prevent the organisation reaching its objectives. Threats must be acted on or avoided to prevent them from limiting the company’s capabilities. When launching a fashion label internationally it is important to make sure the opportunities are used properly and the strengths made even stronger in order to find new arising opportunities. All the Australian fashion labels entering the international market are in direct competition with one another and are rivals. They all operate in similar fields and their target customers are similar. Billabong and Quiksilver are well established and have loyal followers. Even though competition is very hard it creates opportunity. Competition keeps the companies moving forward. Creating word of mouth marketing campaign can make a big difference in the perception and image of the brand. According to Andy Sernovitz, author of â€Å"Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking† there is a five T method to create efficient word of mouth campaigns. Getting the campaign to function is based on Business to Customer to Customer communication. The real message comes from the customer. The five Ts are Talkers Topics, Tools, Taking Part and Tracking Word of mouth marketing is fully actionable, trackable and plannable. The Internet provides excellent ways to track blogs and other forums. It is very important to identify who and why people are talking about the brand. Find people who will talk about the label and give people a reason to talk. Tools help the message spread faster and further. Track, measure an understand what people are saying. It is important to be successful internationally to find people who will talk about you such as retailers, bloggers and retailers. Also the fashion label should give people a reason to talk through excellent products and great service. They can help the message spread faster and farther by blogs, message boards and the internet. The company itself can take part by posting blogs, answering emails and offering personal service. Also you should measure and understand what people are saying by searching blogs and listening to feedback. The fashion product must also make the most of opportunities. The product image must appeal strongly to people who want to dress stylish but do not want to sacrifice their comfort. With a successful marketing campaign and image building the brand can become very valuable in a short period for time and generate lucrative offers from investors and competitors. Most South East Asiancountries correlate imported brand names and higher prices with superior quality. They generally pay close attention to the country of origin when evaluating quality and making purchasing decisions on apparel products. The average arget age of consumers in South East Asion for imported apparel is becoming younger from people in their 30s to people in their 20s. Given the growth South East Asian casual wear and sportswear market. Australian apparel in these segments has some distinct advantages that provide a good basis for establishing a storng brand image. Designer brands that are successful in the interntional marketplace have a high market potential to be successful in the South East Asian market. Department stores in south east asia are highly positioned and any international fashion brand ensure that is a priority to denter the department stores. Sociuakl Responsibility Socially responsible organisations strive for marketing citizenship by adopting a strategic focus for fulfilling the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic social responsibilities that their stakeholders expect of them. At the most basic level all, companies have an economic responsibility to be profitable so they can provide a return on investment to their owners and investors, crete jobs for the community and contribute goods and services to the economy. Marketers re also expected to obey laws and regulations. Examples of social responsibility issues include environment, consumerism and community relations. Being socially responsible means an organisation shows concern for the people and environment in which it transacts business. In some cases social responsibility incorporates supporting social causes to help society. For example, some marketers sponsor charity events. Social responsibility does not automatically translate into increased revenue or public image. However, companies who adopt social responsibility tend to have a strong reputation which pays dividends in the form of increased customer loyalty.

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - Hamlets Madness :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet's Madness         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   `What is madness?   Is someone mad merely because they are different, and do they in return see the same about the world?   The dictionary defines madness as, â€Å"1.   the state of being mad; insanity.   2.   senseless folly.   3.   frenzy; rage.   4.   intense excitement or hilarity.†Ã‚   Though is there a difference between madness and wrath or rage? Was Hamlet mad, or was it one big act in order to give reason for his irrational actions and to keep his vengeful motives confidential?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, these questions are continually asked and some are answered.   Hamlet, the protagonist, has lost his father by murder, and is urged to seek vengeance by his father who appears to him as a ghost. This raises the first bit of suspicion of madness.   Hamlet talks with his father and is told,      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet: If thou didst ever thy dear father love-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most would say that the fact that he saw the ghost of his dead father would be enough to warrant that he is insane.   The only fact that hinders this observation is the fact that others saw the ghost as well and were even the ones who told young Hamlet of his appearance.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many may see Hamlet being insane only by the worldly view of him being different. Though towards the end of the play in Act III, Gertrude calls her son to her chambers to discuss the reasoning of his putting on a play so closely related to the death of his father.   She tells him how upset Claudius is and is weary of Hamlet's recent actions.   At this Hamlet explodes on his mother and threatens to kill her.   Gertrude cries for help, and Pilonius answers this cry. Hamlet runs him through with his rapier without even thinking.   Hamlet tells her to report to Claudius this message:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gertrude:   Mad as the sea and wind when both contend   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Which is mightier.   In his lawless fit,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Behind the arras hearing something stir,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whips out his rapier, cries â€Å"A rat, a rat,†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And in this brainish apprehension kills   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The unseen good old man.    This incident shows Hamlet's wanting others to think that he is truly mad.   But was it his insanity that brought about the rash action of killing the unknown man behind the tapestry or was it his postponed revenge that consumed him. Is there a difference?      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet in many incidence's tells people of his insanity, he tells Guildenstern that he is mad.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Guildenstern: My lord, we were sent for.

Crash Review

Crash (2004) Paragraph 1: Crash tells the story of people from wildly disparate walks of life as they collide and intersect with one another. Each life is in some way personally affected, changed, damaged, or victimized by racism. They’re also all in some way guilty of racism themselves. via interlocking stories, the cultural, racial, and spiritual isolation of Los Angelinos. Due to the sprawling city's decentralized, car-reliant layout, Haggis's characters have become sheltered from those not in their own socio-economic sphere, and this seclusion has led to virulent narrow-mindedness. Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser) is the white District Attorney of Los Angeles who participates in racial politics in order to further his career. Rick and his wife Jean are carjacked by Anthony and Peter, both of whom are black. To preserve his support in the black community as the election approaches, Rick arranges for his assistant to blackmail Detective Graham Waters, who is black, into testifying against a white cop whom Graham thinks is innocent in order to create a press event that will reassure voters of Cabot's racial sensitivity. The film alludes to the possibility Rick might be having an affair with his black assistant. Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) is Rick's wife, whose racial prejudices escalate after she and her husband experience a carjacking. When a tattooed, Mexican-American locksmith changes the locks to her house, she insists that the locks be changed again in fear that he is keeping an extra copy of their house key. Following an accident in her home, she comes to the realization that the person who is her only true friend is Maria, her Hispanic maid who she has belittled and treated sub-human up until this point. Anthony (Ludacris) is a black, inner-city car thief who steals cars to sell to a chop shop. Anthony brings awareness to many racial and stereotypical views others hold to blacks even though some of his actions at the same time reinforce them. He provides a good example of the term ‘double consciousness. ’ Anthony steals a van which was full of trafficked people from South East Asia. Even though he is aware of racism suffered by black people, he refers to the immigrants as Chinamen, a stereotype in itself. After refusing to sell the trafficked people to the chop shop owner, he instead shows compassion for them and lets them out onto the Asian district of Los Angeles and gives them money to eat. Peter Waters (Larenz Tate) is Anthony's friend and partner in crime. He is also Detective Waters' younger brother. Like Anthony, he is black. Peter is shot to death by Officer Hansen, who picks him up in the Valley, hours after their failed carjacking of Cameron's Lincoln Navigator and mistakenly shoots him after assuming he is drawing a gun during an escalating argument. In reality he was reaching into his pocket to show the cop a figure of Saint Christopher, identical to the one Officer Hansen had stuck to his dashboard. As he is dying, he has an expression of shock/surprise and holds out his hand to reveal he had no weapon. Detective Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) is an African-American detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. He is disconnected from his poor family, which consists of his drug-addicted mother and criminal younger brother. He promises his mother that he will find his younger brother, but he is preoccupied with a case concerning a suspected racist white cop who shot a corrupt black cop. Flanagan (William Fichtner), an assistant to the district attorney, offers Graham the chance to further his career in exchange for withholding evidence that could possibly have helped the white cop's case. Flanagan also tries to convince Graham that the black community needs to see the black cop as a hero, and not as a drug dealer, as Graham suspects that he may have been. Graham is both offended and opposed, and is ready to storm out, when Flanagan mentions that there is a warrant out for Graham's brother's arrest, and that this is his third felony, which carries a life sentence in the state of California. Graham makes a very difficult personal decision to withhold evidence and possibly corrupt a case in order to have the District Attorney forget about his brother. That brother is eventually revealed to be Peter, the hitchhiker who is killed by Officer Hansen. Graham's detachment from his mother culminates when his mother, having learned of Pete's death, blames Graham as the reason behind his brother's murder. It is shown that she has always favored the younger brother. This fact exasperates Graham at the end when his mother claims Pete came home and brought groceries for her, when in reality, it was Graham that took the time to restock her previously desolate food supply. Ria (Jennifer Esposito) is a Latina detective, as well as Graham's partner and girlfriend. When a phone call from Graham's mother interrupts his sexual romp with Ria, she becomes upset with Graham for being disrespectful to his mother and his subsequently racially insensitive remark towards Hispanics after implying she was a Mexican, which she was in fact Puerto Rican and Salvadorean. She is shown to be racist toward Asians, as she criticizes an Asian woman's driving. Officer Tommy Hansen (Ryan Phillippe) is a Los Angeles police officer who, after observing his partner Officer John Ryan pull over Cameron Thayer and Christine Thayer and sexually molest Christine, requests a change of partner because of feelings of guilt over the incident. His supervisor, Lieutenant Dixon, tells him he will transfer him if he claims his â€Å"uncontrollable flatulence† requires him to drive a one-man car. The next day, after he presumably files the request, he is reassigned to a single-man patrol car. While on patrol he joins a police chase of Cameron Thayer, who was being car-jacked, but fought off his carjackers and is fleeing the scene with one carjacker still in the car. After driving into a dead-end, Cameron, now resentful of the LAPD, confronts the police officers. Tommy jumps in front of Cameron and tries to convince him to stand down to avoid a confrontation which could possibly result in Cameron's death. He then vouches for Cameron, stating that he is a friend of his, and lets him off with a â€Å"harsh warning. Tommy is later seen driving in his car when he picks up Peter Waters, who is hitch-hiking. He ultimately reveals his own insecurities with other races (African-Americans in particular) through his treatment of Peter Waters and how he quickly dismisses Waters' attempts to compare similarities between them. He pulls over when he assumes that Peter is laughing at him, and tells him to get out of the car. As Peter reaches into his pocket, Tommy wrongly assumes that P eter is reaching for a hidden gun, and shoots him dead. He removes Peter from the car to cover up the incident. We later see Peter, who is the brother of Graham Waters, dead in the grass near where Tommy pulled over. Finally, we see Tommy walking away from his burning car wearing a pair of latex gloves, thus concealing his involvement in the shooting. Officer John Ryan (Matt Dillon) is a bigoted white police officer who sexually molests Cameron's wife, Christine, under the pretense of searching for a weapon after pulling over their vehicle and accusing them of endangerment due to Christine performing fellatio on Cameron while he was driving. Meanwhile, Ryan is trying to get help for his father, who possibly suffers from prostate cancer but has been diagnosed with a bladder infection, despite the ineffectiveness of treatment. His anger manifests in prejudice, as is evident when he exhibits a racist attitude towards an HMO employee preventing his father from seeing an out of network, non-HMO physician. His racial prejudices seem to stem from the destructive impact that local affirmative action policies had on his father's business. After Hansen requests solo patrol, Ryan is partnered with a Hispanic-American with whom he seems to get along. Ryan later puts his own life on the line to save Christine, the woman he molested earlier, from certain death in a fiery car wreck. Lieutenant Dixon (Keith David) is Officers Ryan and Hansen's shift Lieutenant. An African American, Dixon believes that the LAPD is a racist organization that he personally had to work extra hard in to earn a ranking position. When Hansen requests to change partners, Dixon refuses stating that doing so because of Officer Ryan's racism will reflect poorly on their unit. He claims that going on record about supervising racist officers such as Ryan can be a move that will cost both Hansen and Dixon their jobs. In order to get away from Officer Ryan, he then suggests that Officer Hansen ride in a solo car claiming to have a condition of â€Å"uncontrollable flatulence. † Cameron Thayer (Terrence Howard) is a black television director. He witnesses Officer Ryan molesting his wife and later realises that the producers of his television show propagate racist stereotypes about black people. In an emotional moment, he fights off Anthony and Peter when they try to steal his car, takes away Anthony's gun, and argues fiercely with armed white police officers. Just when it is very likely that he will be shot to death, Hansen intervenes on his behalf and prevents any outbreak of violence. After being let off with a warning, Cameron then proceeds to let Anthony go and even gives him his gun back. At the scene of Hansen's burning car (to eliminate evidence of a murder), he is able to find contentment and reconnnects with his wife. Christine Thayer (Thandie Newton) is Cameron's wife. She is molested by Ryan after she and Cameron are pulled over for her giving oral sex to her husband while he was driving them home. She becomes furious with her husband because he didn't defend her. The two insult each other over their upbringings – as both Cameron and Christine have grown up in more privileged environments than many other African Americans. The next day she is trapped in an overturned car due to a car accident and, by a twist of fate, Officer Ryan is the man who willingly endangers himself to save her life. Daniel Ruiz (Michael Pena) is a Mexican-American locksmith who faces discrimination from Jean and others because he looks like a gangbanger to them, when he is actually a devoted family man. After Anthony and Peter steal Jean and Rick's car, Daniel comes over and changes the locks on their home. Daniel seeks a safe environment for his young daughter, Elizabeth, who had a bullet go through her window in their previous home. That is why he moved to a safer neighborhood and enrolled her in a private school. Near the beginning he gives Elizabeth an invisible â€Å"cloak† that he says will protect her should someone try to shoot at her. Farhad shoots at Elizabeth and Daniel but they escape unhurt, because the gun contains blanks chosen by Dorri earlier in the film. However, Elizabeth believes that this is due to the protective powers of the â€Å"cloak. † Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Persian store owner who is afraid for his safety. He is depicted as frustrated by the racial harassment he experiences in the United States (despite being an American citizen), as well as deterred by difficulties with speaking English. To protect his store – the only thing his family has – he goes to a gun shop and attempts to buy a gun. The gun store owner quickly becomes frustrated with Farhad's conversation with his daughter Dorri in Persian, leading to harassment from the owner, who believes that Persians are Arabs and therefore, terrorists, one of these comments being â€Å"Yo, Osama, plan the jihad on your own time. † The owner refuses to sell Farhad a gun, but finally sells the gun to Farhad's daughter after being cryptic and lecherous about which bullets she needs. The store run by Farhad and his wife Shereen (Marina Sirtis) has a door which will not close properly, so they call a locksmith, Daniel. Farhad's suspicion of others is compounded by his difficulty understanding English; he does not heed Daniel's warning that his shop door needs replacing, believing Daniel intends to cheat him, and as a result suffers a break-in. Shereen reacts to the slurs written on the walls of the store: â€Å"They think we're Arab. When did Persian become Arab? † Blaming Daniel for the invasion and racially-motivated destruction of his store, and angered by the insurance company rejecting his claim on the grounds of negligence, he confronts Daniel at his house, wielding his gun. Farhad fires at Daniel but accidentally shoots Daniel's daughter Lara, to the horror of both Daniel and Farhad. Fortunately, unknowingly to Farhad, the gun contains blanks. Farhad leaves without further incident, later telling his daughter that his â€Å"farishta,† his guardian angel, protected him and his family. Dorri (Bahar Soomekh) is Farhad's daughter, and is more acclimated than her father to American culture. She purposefully purchases blanks after her father has upset the man at the counter in the gun store. She is constantly trying to calm her father down during his emotional outbursts. She is also an employee at the hospital; she escorts Graham and his mother to Peter's body after it is discovered in a field. Paragraph 2: Thirty-six hours in the life of a disparate group of Los Angelinos linked together by a car crash. The debut film from Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis as succession of characters become involved in heated exchanges that either bring to the surface long-buried prejudices or fan the flames of hatred already out in the open. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. Reminiscent of Magnolia and Short Cuts, Crash comprises a number of separate stories that are loosely connected. Set over a period of 24 hours, each vignette offers a different perspective of the multi-ethnic melting pot that is life in Los Angeles. The film uses its characters not so much to tell a story, but to express an opinion, from the racial cop (Matt Dillon), to the campaigning District Attorney (Brendan Fraser) anxious to capture the black vote, to the black television director (Terence Howard) toning down his ethnicity in a predominantly white industry. All fit into well-defined stereotypes and engage in the kind of dialogue reserved more for an impassioned polemic than everyday conversation. Paragraph 3: Conclusion: It's a bold effort that initially attempts to tackle the issue of racial conflict in a refreshingly unstinting way for a mainstream film. Crash taps into the underlying tension of city where the haves and have nots might pull up next to each other in traffic, but are still a world apart. Haggis ventures beyond the more commonly explored white black issue to encompass a gamut of ethnic vantage points including Hispanic, Korean and Iranian.

Book report of Man from the South Essay

One day, on an accidental occasion, a stranger is willing to bet with you on one of you skills which is not so critical, and you are likely to win. If you do succeed, according to the serious bet, you can get a quite new limousine from the man which is worth millions of dollars; If not, however, what you have to do is just to dedicate your little finger, which means, have that poor finger chopped instantly by the man and then you will be rushed to the hospital in the car you have not won. Thus, here comes your choice, to bet or not? Coincidentally, there is someone else facing the same situation as yours, who is a character in the short story, Man from the South, which was published in 2008 and proved to be an intriguing thriller full of twists and turns and with appalling consequences. Roald Dahl, the author of Man from the South, as Michael Caldon defined, is the master of creating surprises, in whose stories, readers can hardly predict the results unless they’ve turned into the last page because there are so many transitions. 2008) And here, this piece of book report is focused on some information about this article and readers’ reaction to it, which include the plot, author’s purpose, the main theme and Bloom’s opinions about it. The plot of Man from the South is about an intriguing story which starts in a relaxing place and at a comfortable moment with a casual beginning, a suspenseful development and a surprising result. On a very occasional afternoon when I, the narrator, am si tting in the chair at the swimming pool enjoying the sunshine, I meet a small old man there who is immaculately dressed. We are having a casual talk about the weather and the people in the pool. Soon later, a young naval cadet with his girlfriend, who have been swimming in the pool, join us. When he is lighting the cigarette he has offered us, he says that his lighter never failed, by which the old man was animated. Then the old man proposes a bet on whether the young man can light the lighter for ten times running without missing one. If he fulfills it, he can get a new Cadillac from the old man; and on the other way around, if he loses, what he is about to lose more is his little finger as well as the Cadillac. After fiercely wrestling with himself, the young man finally agrees, leaving behind his girlfriend’s dissuasion as well as mine. When everything of the experiment has been ready in the man’s house in annex and there are only two flicks left, which means that the brave young man has passed eight tests before, a strange old woman opens the door and then rushes forward shouting at the old man. Through her narration, people on the scene all know that the old man is a menace who is so addicted to betting that he has taken altogether forty-seven fingers from different people and lost eleven cars, and ended up owning nothing in the world. And the old woman herself, who has won everything from the old man a long time ago, only has one finger on her left hand, a thumb. In this short story, the author’s main purpose is to reveal the dark side of humanity through the small old man, which is mainly from two clues. Firstly, the full text stretches around the event, â€Å"betting†, which was provoked by the old man. For instance, when the young naval cadet says that his lighter always works, the old man just focuses on the word, †always† and immediately becomes excited, because it is possible for him to carry out another bet. Next, the story displays the dark side of the old man by describing his obsession with betting. When the old woman exposes the truth that he has taken forty-seven fingers and lost eleven cars so that in the end he has nothing at all of his own, the cruelty and abnormality of the man is entirely cleared. The theme of Man from the South is to sing the praises of the battle between two sides of human nature, the good and the dark side. From the article, it can be drawn that good side of humanity can eventually defeat the dark side, though it would take a lot of sacrifices and time. Undisputedly, in this story, the small old man is the symbol of the dark side, who is absolutely a betting psycho and is keen on mutilating others’ physical fitness, from which he can get pleasure. On the other hand, the other characters, including the young cadet, his girlfriend, I and the old woman are on the side of good nature. The young man is courageous enough to take that bet in risk of his left pinky finger, who is fighting against the old man’s insanity in person. As Leiv Arild Haugland insinuates, the self-confident young cadet is the critical character without whom the story cannot continue any further. (2012) And when the old man puts forward the absurd bet, the girl and I try to prevent the young man from getting into it to avoid a bloody consequence. In addition, the woman who has spent a lot of time winning everything from the old man to suppress his persecution of betting, is the genuine symbol of the good side of humanity. As Haakon Hoel Bakker reveals, the old woman who s thought to be unlikely to appear in the article turns out to be so natural and shocking a character as a result of her unusual experiences. (2012) Generally speaking, Man from the South, in Leiv Arild Haugland’s assertion, is an intriguing story which develops compactly and ends unexpectedly because of Roald’s competent creation,(2013) and my opinions about it are illustrated in the following five aspects. Firstly, in my opinion, the author does achieve his purpose of this story to reveal the dark side of human nature through the crazy old man. By describing his sensitivity towards the word â€Å"always† and his excitement about carrying out the experiment, the author portrayed a man who is mentally disturbed and addicted to betting. After his past is exposed, the dark nature of the old man, which drove him to get joy from hurting others, is exposed as well. Secondly, I think the writing of this article is quite powerful and fascinating, which often holds my breath especially when it comes to the suspenseful part. I would not deny that when the test goes on where the young man is flicking for the eighth time, I am frightened by the cliffhanging plot and I just want to escape from the oncoming cruel scene and to skip to the last part to see if it has a good ending. Just as Annie claims that Roald Dahl is inspired and experienced in writing from the other side compared to everyman and thus, has a good understanding of the art of story. (2010) Next, I suppose the strength of this story is very obvious, including the compact plot, eye-catchy description and surprising results. What’s more, as Haakon Hoel Bakker maintains, another attraction of this article is the usage of the old man’s English dialect in the dialogues, such as the â€Å"pleees† instead of â€Å"please†, â€Å"dat† instead of â€Å"that†, which proves the man is from south and matches the title(2012); the weakness of this story, however, is that some settings are not clearly stated, which can be quite puzzling. For example, what is the relationship between the old man and the woman, why the old woman bet with the old man a long time ago and why it is her that took the old man here? At last, my overall response to this short article is â€Å"thriller†, no matter the plot or the description. As to the plot, it is betting in a price of the little finger and especially when the old woman shows her finger that is quite scary; in addition, the thriller in description embodies in the process of the experiment, when it is approaching hard to the final tenth try. Therefore, seeing that how exciting the story is, I will absolutely recommend it to my friends to make them experience such a wonderful and frightening journey as well. In conclusion, Man from the South, which is outstanding in plot construction, description and coherent writing, is worth reading for a thousand times. When the old man puts forward the conditions, when the young man agrees to take the bet, when the experiment is carried out in the eighth flick and when the old woman shows her left hand with only a thumb, the story succeeds in attracting readers’ attention and then twisting their expectation into a totally different direction. As Tazar presumes, Man from the South is right the reflection of Roald Dahl’s attainments in producing a fascinating world in his works,(2011) which speaks highly of both this story and his creative writing. Man from the South not only shows the dark side of someone, but also indicates that righteous people can finally defeat the insanity.