John Riekers Film, La Ciudad free essay sample

Film review of the Spanish film, La Ciudad (The City). This is a short, yet in-depth account of the John Rieker film, La Ciudad. The author takes you through the film as if you yourself were watching it. The author takes a personal look at the film and offers personal, subjective opinions. La Ciudad (which means The City) is a movie set in the mid to late 1990s. It was directed by John Rieker, and is in black and white. In La Ciudad, the audience is shown four examples of how Spanish-speaking immigrants are mistreated and abused in the United States. The film is geared towards the American audience, however all but a very small portion of the dialogue is in Spanish, with English subtitles. This method is effective because it puts you directly into the environment of the immigrants, and helps you understand the significance of the language barrier between the two cultures, and make you feel as if you are truly witnessing the events that take place. We will write a custom essay sample on John Riekers Film, La Ciudad or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches Essays

Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches Essays Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches Paper Does the film The Battle Of The Somme provide us with a realistic picture of what it was like to be a British soldier in the trenches Paper Essay Topic: Film During World War I the government and army officials constantly endeavoured to project a positive image of the war effort and any attempt to show negative aspects of the war were discouraged as it was felt that this would lower morale and discourage patriotism and recruitment to the army. Therefore it is always hard to know whether any source is reliable, especially those from official sources, and these should always be backed up by cross-referencing. One of these sources is the film The Battle Of The Somme which shows footage of soldiers recorded actually behind the lines of British fire. Now, you would assume as it was filmed in the trenches, and shows real soldiers, that it would al be true and there would be no need of cross-referencing to see if it is accurate. However, as it was filmed for the purpose of showing during war-time back at home and was obviously approved by officials, it was therefore intended to show war tactics, trench conditions and general life as a soldier in an extremely positive light, and can not always be taken at face value. For instance, the film portrays lots of soldiers with clean clothes, good food and in a generally happy environment, with no major hardships smiling and going about daily life. However, various sources challenge this view of trench life including Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon which asks: Do you remember the rats, and the stench of corpses rotting on the front line trench? which is quite a contrast to the images put forward by the film. And a poem of Sidney Chaplain says: you stand in a trench of vile stinking mud, and the bitter cold wind freezes your blood. These poems, and many others show that the trenches in fact werent the comfortable place the film suggests. The diaries and memoirs of soldiers also express a different view of trench life. Seargeant S. V. Britten says: Left at 6. 30 for reserve trenches. Just rat holes! found Germans feet sticking up through the ground. The Gurkhas had actually used human bodies instead of sandbags. Beside the stream where we were working, stench something awful and dead all around. However, this is not to say that the film was lying, but maybe it was hard to show the discomfort the troops were put through and the directors and producers have decided to show the good times in the trenches as the audience wanted an action film about brave soldiers, and did not want to see the trivialities of daily life. Also, if the film had shown the soldiers in major discomfort this may have been upsetting for friends or relatives back home. This theory is also supported by the fact that while, in their own poems or diaries the soldiers may have been less positive about trench conditions, in letters home to loved ones they usually tried to convey a positive attitude and not discuss hardships, as in this extract a letter of Rifleman Bert Bailey to his wife shows: I am still in the trenches and in good health. Although all day and night on Monday it rained steadily, yesterday it broke fair and fine and we had a nice day except that underneath was a l mud and slosh which shows how he is downplaying the discomfort of the trenches. Although, the film does have one scene showing British soldiers scrambling over the trenches with most making it but one of two being shot down. This was, in fact just a replication of a battle, as due to the unwieldy nature of the cameras it would have been impossible to get this during actual warfare. But though this may seem to be contradicting the films earlier messages about the safety of the British soldiers it says that the Germans would be blown up with massive guns, and a few brave soldiers would die. Of course, the film shows none of the slow, painful deaths of soldiers from infected wounds or hypothermia and the like. Many soldiers going in to war also shared this romanticised view of death in the army, as the poem The Soldier by Rupert Brooke shows when he says if I should die, think only this of me: that theres some corner in a foreign field that is for ever England. He obviously had a fairly positive view of the army and was extremely patriotic. However, the films attempts at making it appear that the British tactics were so effective are not supported by the fact the first day of the battle was a complete disaster, the worst day in British military history with casualty figures over 60,000 and 21,000 killed. The Allies had been confident that nothing would survive the bombardment mentioned in the intertitles and sent an order for the British soldiers to go over the top, essentially to their deaths. One extract from the memoirs of George Coppard shows the blatant foolishness of the commanders: hundreds of dead were strung out like wreckage How did out planners imagine that the Tommies, having survived all the other hazards would get past the German wire? Any Tommy could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often in a worse tangle than before. The film however fails to highlight these extremely important facts. This is the day of one of the worst leadership blunders in British military history. Another message that the film tries to convey to the audience is that the medical facilities were extremely good and that all wounded soldiers were quickly attended to. There are various sources supporting this, and some that oppose this view. Many poems tell of wounded being flung in to carts, which shows that they were at least cared for and not left to die. There is also a photo of two nurses tending to a wounded soldier, showing that care was so good there could be two nurses to a bed. However, this photograph was probably commissioned by the army, so could not have been expressing negative views about the care the soldiers received. Several paintings, such as Gassed by Singer Sargent, or The Harvest of Battle by C. R. W. Nevinson show wounded men being led back to the trenches by those who were able to help. So these are obviously supporting the evidence given in the film. However, an extract from the Diary of a Dead Officer, the memoirs of A. West reads: Doctors looked on every man as a skrim-shanker en wounded and minus an arm forced to have electric treatment. Knocked down and held on the bed people nearly crying with pain. Gloomy buildings meals never hot, worse than ordinary camp food. So this obviously shows the darker side to the armys medical service. Overall, I feel that this film, though a valuable piece of evidence from the point of view for technical reference, to see what kind of equipment the soldiers carried and so on and is a piece of World War I history, you have to bear in mind the situation under which it was created. The war office allowed a small group of camera men to cover the war on the Western front, all the footage of which was edited and produced by a team for the War Office. Indeed, the film was considered so important and expressive of the views the army wanted to promote, that at the first screening of the film a letter by David Lloyd George, Secretary of State for the War was read saying: You are invited here to witness by far the most important picture of the war our staff has yet procured I am convinced that when you have seen this wonderful picture, every heart will beat in sympathy with its purpose Now, gentlemen, be up and doing also! This letter clearly implies that the main point of the film is to increase patriotic feelings and rally civilian support for the war effort, and states very clearly that another aim is to encourage the signing up of other men. Therefore we have had to treat every area of this film with caution before stating the reliability. I have tried to do this and feel that while some of the basic facts are right, this is obviously an air-brushed view of the battle, and the government and army failed to inform of the massive losses incurred, which I feel was neglectful of their duty to keep the public informed with a realistic picture of events, and also ignores the duties carried out by the thousands of soldiers that gave their lives. This neglect of the facts also indicates the way other areas of the film, such as showing the comfort of the men, may have been skimmed over to give a better view of the army and I think that as this was the main purpose of the film from the beginning, it provides us with an extremely imprecise view of the lives the soldiers in the trenches actually experienced.

Leadership Is the Capacity to Translate Vision into Reality Essay

Leadership Is the Capacity to Translate Vision into Reality - Essay Example From this study it is clear that  many researchers had contributed in explaining the concept of leadership, certainly, applying differing perspectives, which makes it difficult to be defined in a comprehensive and all-inclusive manner using specific wordings. However based on the accumulation of the statement and researches conducted by theorists, leaders fundamentally imply to the capacity of persons to make a vision turn into reality in the accomplishment of a determined goal, which ideally requires a collaborative effort of many. This requires the leader to be a motivator, organiser and an implementer as well as a monitor of the entire process to ensure the overall success in accomplishing the set target. It has been due to this reason that the contemporary organisation has been heavily found inclining towards the demand of leaders.This paper highlights that  the concept of leadership signifies the power to release and engage individuals for or from any responsibility. Corresp ondingly, the quote indicates that leadership always performs within a framework of purpose, mission, and vision and shared values, being directed by a common cause. In addition, the characteristic of effective leaders can be identified as seeking others interest and challenging their limits to conquer the envisioned goal.  It is always not necessary for the leaders to create the vision, but the presence of vision must be there in the organisation and it must be shared among others who bind themselves in a common cause.... Correspondingly, the quote indicates that leadership always performs within a framework of purpose, mission, and vision and shared values, being directed by a common cause. In addition, the characteristic of effective leaders can be identified as seeking others interest and challenging their limits to conquer the envisioned goal. It is always not necessary for the leaders to create the vision, but the presence of vision must be there in the organisation and it must be shared among others who bind themselves in a common cause (Moore & Diamond, â€Å"Academic Leadership† 2). Conceptually, leaders are referred to individuals who are assigned with the responsibility of seeking that operations are coordinated and managed efficiently. Leaders are also responsible for motivating employees/subordinates to perform their activities in accordance with the mission and vision of the organisation, towards the achievement of the common goal (Avolio, Sosik, Dong and Yair, â€Å"Leadership Mo dels, Methods, and Applications†). In this context, it can be inferred that leaders need higher levels of skills to maintain the hierarchy of huge bureaucratic organizations as commonly witnessed in the modern day context. Hence, it can be argued that effective leaders are distinguishable on the basis of their hard work, intelligence, ambitions and political skills to deal with the emerging challenges and manage the resources well (Hogan & Kaiser, â€Å"What We Know about Leadership†). MEANING OF THE QUOTE Apparently, the quote given by Warren G. Bennis, â€Å"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality†, signifies the importance of leaders in the formulation and completion of strategic tasks in the

A Socio-Psychology Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Socio-Psychology Study - Essay Example Choosing people with the same overall qualities such as those mentioned will lower the chances of external causes of stress or fatigue causing emotional or irrational behavior. Interviews with potential participants in the study will help determine these characteristics and rule out people with cause for emotional reactions. In addition to the interviews, potential participants will need to be offered an informed consent document. This document will detail the ideas of the study, explain any potential risks to participating in the study, and assure the privacy and protection of participants' information. Additionally, potential participants will be encouraged to be completely honest regarding their personal lives; an inaccurate answer regarding issues, such as stress and sleeping patterns, can not only skew the results of the study but also place these participants at risk during the study. Once the list of participants has been finalized, a study of their normal behavior and reactions will need to be conducted. This portion of the study will involve analyzing their reactions to various things such as news, familial situations, job stress, and other problems that sometimes arise during daily life. Creating a controlled environment that limits the level of outside influence on emotions will prove to be the most difficult part of performing such a study. Additionally, participants must be told or shown situations that are real to them; natural reactions may not be had if the participants do not believe the situations they are being shown or cannot relate to these situations. During this time, each participant will be given a recommended level of restful sleep. Monitors can also be used to measure things not verbally or visually seen, such as heart rate, breathing, and swea--similar to the machines used by police departments during lie-detector tests. Additionally, the group of participants will be placed together to enable social interaction during the study. They will be introduced to each other under the pretenses of a social setting. During this meeting, activities and features that promote social mingling, such as board games, card games, and refreshments will be offered. Once participants are able to overcome the awkward introduction phase of social interaction, researchers can begin to study their reactions to each other in a social setting. This portion of the study will need to be performed for an extended time period; participants must interact with each other long enough to get to know the other participants in a variety of ways, including long enough for possible pet peeves to arise and cause reactions. After being satisfied with the level of analysis and an understanding of the behavioral patterns and reactions of each participant, the study group will be deprived of several hours of restful sleep over an extended period of time. This will ensure that their fatigue levels are high but not outside of safety levels for normal functioning. At this point, the study will be carried out in the same manner as before; this time watching for signs of emotional reactions, behaviors, and decisions. To minimize the chances of coincidence,

Planning for the Chevy Volt Essay Example for Free

Planning for the Chevy Volt Essay Question 1 The nature of strategic decision making at a large complex organization like GM appears to be done without having a thorough plan outlay to the planning groups or the business development unit within the company. There were several areas that put the company into the situation of making inappropriate strategic decision. The project was initially proposed by top two managements. Due to lack of thorough analysis and plan, they could not convince other managers in order to pursue this Chevy Volt project. This implied the missing link of strategic leadership that should have been a transformational force. In addition, the shareholder’s wealth creation had not been properly addressed and the well-defined business plan had not been emphasized and communicated when decisions were made. This implied that the management’s responsibility and expertise were all taken for granted that put the company in the threshold of a gamble betting on the success of this project. The accountability of management was disappeared. Question 2 The external environment trends that favor this project were the rising oil price, economic slowdown that made people to be more cautious about spending, the falling costs of manufacturing lithium ion batteries that help make the car price become more affordable, and global warming concern together with going-green concept. The Chevy Volt project could help promote the CSR of GM, which is favorable to the image and brand. These trends had signified that the external environment had been changed. As a green concept car, the Chevy Volt makes a point as far as cost saving for users goes in context of rising oil prices. However, what is crucial also can be exemplified in context of sustainable development process that the Chevy Volt can impact. Limiting carbon gas emission in the backdrop of global warming and greenhouse effect can significantly present a wider socio-economic relevancy and impact. Question 3 Cost is the most critical hurdle in pursuing with Chevy Volt. The cost factor is unfavorable given that GM had already invested substantial capital for the development of lithium ion batteries. The relevant cause for that could be observed from top management who were skeptical of Chevy Volt project. When the EV1 hybrid model, a green concept electric car running on conventional fuel cell, was introduced by the company way back in the 1990s and did not succeed, such model was a crucial loss in term of resource and brand image. In addition, the missing link among the strategy planning, formulation and lifecycles were also another internal obstacle unfavorable for pursuing the Chevy Volt project. Question 4.a The strategic plans are based on how well the company analyzes the existing market situation, competitors and the market trend. The external environment analysis such as the macro and micro-economic factors should also be emphasized and properly addressed. The economic theory of demand and supply should also be brought in contention when making the decision and planning the strategy. The plan should be flexible enough to reflect the dynamic business environment when the revision and amendment to the strategic plan are necessary for business to gain competitive advantages over the competitors in a timely manner. Question 4.b The Chevy Volt project strategic plan was based on assuming that oil prices would continue in rising trends which could then be able to market the company’s electric car model and generate profitability. Thus, falling oil prices could negatively affect the potential success of Chevy Volt. Question 4.c When supply is relatively limited, while the demand can increase once the global economy recovers, it would be difficult for oil prices to remain low in the future. Rising oil prices demonstrates the typical economic basis of the law of demand, in which the price depends on the market equilibrium for a product. In addition, there are no substitute product as far as fuel goes. There is still no other alternative energy or technology that can match or surpass the oil in all aspects. Question 5: What will it take for the Chevy Volt to be a successful car? For the success of the Chevy Volt project, effective marketing strategy has to be formulated. Marketing aspects should capitalize on the internal and external forces that influence the products within the industry and against its rival for the competitive factors. As the Chevy Volt is a high-tech car, the external analysis from operational and business perspective should focus on the competitive structure of the industry and factors; such as, innovations, socio-economic and environmental impact that defines value added product and the opportunistic cost that comes with it. Thus, innovation in the development process of the car should be fostered as one factor to benchmark against competitors in the industry, which is critical for success for a profitable outcome and goals achievements. Part of it also should focus on the strategic marketing aspects that give the car and its salient feature to reach the people through advertisement and awareness created in that regard are interrelated and need to be present for the Chevy Volt to be a successful car. Last but not least is the price and related costs of Chevy Volt. The price must be affordable for target group of GM’s customers in order to boost the demand and achieve cost advantage over competitors in term of economies of scale, and the related maintenance cost and useful life of lithium ion battery must be reasonable enough to be able to convince target consumers to purchase the car. It is also suggested that the strategic plan has taken into account of effect of the capitalization on the capability and expertise the company has; effective strategic management of operational process and procedures; top management involvement, responsibility and accountability; collaborative approaches to leadership; cultural and structural upgrade of the corporate echelon and strategic management panel and process; careful analysis of the opportunities and threat; and the facilitation of a dynamic leadership culture. Question 5: How risky is this venture for GM? Launching this project is very risky for GM as it involved significant resources, time and capital investment. Given that GM has already exposed to potential bankruptcy, the success of Chevy Volt will be one of the critical factors affecting the possibility of GM to diminish the bankruptcy risk and boost the future cash flows. Question 5: What are the costs of failure? The cost of failure as far as Chevy Volt car concerns is huge and tremendous. Less involvement from the managers also brought to fore the cost and its effect to directly hit the company that brought it to the stage of total shutdown of its operations. Since the company has already been in the situation of potential bankruptcy, the Chevy Volt project that failed to impact the company strategic goals and its achievements posed the total effect of bankruptcy of GM and huge economic consequences as an aftermath, because the company is already on the process of huge public debt facilitated by the government to save itself from bankruptcy. Question 5: What are the costs of not pursuing the project? There are substantial costs and adverse impacts as far as Chevy Volt project concerns when it is not pursued at all. Example costs are the huge opportunistic cost lost in between; operational and business capability that went for a toss; marketing research that has not been capitalized effectively and efficiently for result outcome; change factor and organizational learning experience; cost factors in term of direct financial investments to investors, and stakeholders; resource accumulation; brand image and identity; corporation competencies that have not been capitalized; sustainable development plans; CSR; exposure to bankruptcy risk; and economic consequences.

Code Of Hummurabi :: Hummurabi Code of Law

History is the past, which for the most part can not be scientificately proven. The real; goal of History is to rediscover past. A dramatic error happens when past is rediscovered from our own bias that is from the way we see it. Even certain artifacts and works pf literature that we have left from earlier civilizations can be interpreted in several different ways, or misinterpreted to a certain extend or entirely. Usually interpretation or even misinterpretation is affected bu the concept of ethnocentrism, where different communities have an already set up establishment of certain norms based on their own believes, traditions, social, legislative, and personal values and ethics from which they judge other foreign communities. When considering other societies, it is usually a difficult task to view â€Å"other world† without any observer prejudices. Each world, our and their can evoke its own realities that are more or less comparable from one period to another, or from one cu lture to another. One of the obvious misinterpretations, discussed in this paper, took place considering historical document written by king of Mesopotamia. Our textbook, Arts and Culture,(p 98) presents Hammurabi’s Code as a â€Å"Law Code† of king Hammurabi. It was, in turn something quite different from a Code of Laws existing in our judicial and legislative structure of government and society. Hammurabi’s Code- â€Å"A law Code† or a set of royal decisions As written in Mesopotamia: The Mighty Kings, (p26), the code consists if 282 laws that are branched at the beginning and end by a prologue and epilogue. The â€Å"Code† touches almost every aspect of everyday life in Babylonya. As the prologue states, the laws were supposedly written â€Å"to promote the welfare of the people,†¦to cause just to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak† ( The Human Record, p 12). Furthermor e, just like a real Law Code, each â€Å"law† is written in the form of conditional sentence: in which the phrase is introduced by a certain condition, â€Å"if† and the consequence follows â€Å"then†. Another fact makes Hammurabi’s â€Å"Code† so similar to the U.S. Constitutional Law Code is that it follows specific order, consisting of separate â€Å"chapters† associated with similar issues. For instance;† The Administration of Justice† â€Å"chapter† is followed by â€Å"Felons and Victums†, which is in turn followed by â€Å"chapter† that talks about â€Å"Property† issues.

Personal Identity and Mind Essay

From the Latin word â€Å"duo†, or two, dualism seeks to explain the relationship between the mind and body. Put simply, it purports that mind and body are categorically distinct and separate from each other and, thus, can not be reduced to each other in any way. In order to understand this theory better, we take into account all the external stimuli received by our sensory organs that bring about changes in our mental state. As a result, our body starts to feel sensation/s. Note that whenever our bodies feel sensation, be it pleasant or unpleasant, it drives it to move or act in a certain way. For instance, we crave for fried chicken and suddenly smell the aroma of fried chicken wafting through the air, and hear the cracklings of chicken being fried. Suppose, this dish is served to you, your body then starts to move towards the dish and start eating. It appears therefore, that there is interaction between mind and body in such a way that physical events cause mental events and mental events cause physical events. In the case of Captain Picard, regardless of the fact that his body and brains were just â€Å"exact replicas† of his previous self, his mind and body are still considered as two distinct and separate entities. His body or physical state will function in a way that may interact with hid mind but will still remain its distinction as separate entities. This is the contention of property dualism, which claims that although there may not be a distinction in substance, mental and physical properties are still categorically distinct, and not reducible to each other. Captain Picard’s mind state will change upon receiving external stimuli and from there, his body will start to feel sensation that will goad it to act in a certain way. Yet, both are separate entities. According to mind-brain identity theory, Picard’s mental states are each identical to his brain states. What does this mean? How would the identity theorist respond to the argument you provided for dualism? In contrast to dualism, the mind-brain identity theory asserts that mental states are identical with brain states. The theory further asserts that for every mental state, there is a brain-state with which it is identical. For instance, â€Å"every pain event is identical with the C-fibers firing. † (â€Å"Mind-brain Identity Theory†) The same article attempts to explain this theory further by providing details about the physiological functions of the brain and relating it to the said theory, thus: The main support for mind-brain identity theory is the phenomenon of localization. Mental events appear to be associated with specific parts of the brain. Mental activity appears to be localized in identifiable areas of the brain. This is shown by the fact that inhibiting brain activity inhibits mental activity. Those who suffer localized brain damage also have such localized damage to the mind. The most natural explanation of this localization is that the mind is the brain. Captain Picard’s mind and brain, according to the mind-brain identity theorists, are one and the same thing. Any damage to his brain, therefore, produces damage to the mind also. Works Cited â€Å"Mind-brain Identity Theory†. Philosophy of Mind. Info. 2005. 22 June 2009 â€Å" Mind Body Dualism Theory†. Wikipedia. 2009. 20 June 2009