Siegfried Kracauer and Visual Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Siegfried Kracauer and Visual Culture - Essay Example Distraction in the forms of flickering images on an enormous silver screen during Kracauer's time presented an ephemeral discharge from the mind-numbing dehumanisation at the factories where most of the moviegoing audience worked. One of the reflections on modernity is that it exists as a complex experience that typically is made up of several individualised constituents that serve to empower the prevailing status quo. As the underclass grows to depend more on leisure and entertainment for the fulfillment that is absent from their alienation from the product they create during work, consumer products become an increasingly more essential ingredient in maintaining economic dominance. This process creates the aura of consumerism on a mass scale. For many, this mixture of state with rising power of production has only one destination: fascism. The still images flickering on a large wall appear to have motion in the minds of the viewers, when in fact they do not. This is a perfect encaps ulation of how cinema infiltrates authentic reality to create a false consciousness and, in turn, that can be metaphor for how distraction works to create false socio-economic consciousness (Aitken, 1998, p. 125). Kracauer's scrutiny of capitalism takes this idea as starting poi... This is an essential element of modernity, reflecting the disjointed sense of reality. Therefore, cinema must be engaged as a means of exposing the attributes of modern life that can be understood frame by frame within static images that are just as disjointed as the society in which they are joined. Kracauer apprehends the static images given movement and meaning by the workings of the human eye and brain as an agent of distraction from society. There is a palpable ideological need to serve up a distraction to the masses in order to keep them from seeing through the consciousness of domination by naturalizing the concept. That distraction results in mass audience eventually becoming more than mere spectators; they become actual accomplices. Kracauer's views on capitalism are such that feels that under the capitalist idea film production becomes a mirror of the existing society and serves to maintain its structures of domination, insisting that the capitalism was not just a means, but an end in getting the proletariat to first apprehend the structures and then embrace them. The capitalism mentality lay at the heart of the disenfranchisement of the masses and fragmented quality of society (Mlder-Bach, 1997, p. 44) . The "Tiller Girls" presents itself as an excellent illustration of the crowds in a modern metropolis, and the upper class saw them as a distraction for the common masses but the masses are like clockwork and could be controlled. Kracauer believed deeply and sincerely that the cinematic techniques that expose aspects of modern life could best be seen frame by frame and in those choppy and fragmented images were much like our modern world (Ward, 2001, p. 34). An example of the extremes of this process becomes apparent in

Summary of a Bibliobase document Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary of a Bibliobase document - Essay Example He further describes that how cold and heartless the attendance as well as women/wives has become when it comes to a child. He proposed that abortion can only be induced when the termination of the gestation is necessary to relief the mother from fatality and nothing such as religion or professional courtesy should be taken into consideration to make the basis of abortion. Moreover, he goes about speaking that nowadays women have become so unemotional that they enter marriage bed on the condition that they will not reproduce as they don’t have any desire to be a ‘mom’ or have offspring, since it is inconvenient for them. Ill argues that laws and regulations should be established which would make termination of an unborn baby a crime, even if the consent of the parent is given, apart from the situation when the baby is constructing dangers for the mother. Likewise, he adds that an unborn baby should be regarded with as much concern and value as the mother and use o f new therapeutic, be it surgical or medical, should be promoted to keep both the child and parent healthy and alive. Now moving towards the analysis of the document, it is important to take help of couple of other sources and explicitly jot down the intentions, agenda, audience and reasons for this composition to analyze its standards as a foremost source. If one dig deep into the work of Edward J Ill he played his card in a way to portray abortion as an illegitimate and offensive crime, though most of gynecologist will agree with him but individuals have different criteria of dealing with every situation. He further aims to gather such legal steps that will ensure safety of the unborn child and increase his/her chances of getting out alive. However, taking such incentive needs time. For example, Alston in his article states that human right instrument are meant for the people living and it is bit

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Annotated Bibliography

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - Annotated Bibliography Example The researcher of this essay aims to analyze and discuss studies, that were conducted by the researchers on the subject of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia disease, that is a cancer that mainly attacks the bone marrow and arises from cancerous and immature white blood cells called lymphoblast. The two subtypes of lymphocytes are T and B cells. The authors of the studies, that were discussed stipulate that 80% of acute lymphoblastic leukemia arise from immature B-lymphocytes. The disease is most prevalent in children; nevertheless, it has also increased in elderly populace mostly of ages 60 years and over. The main symptoms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia are buildup of the abnormal and immature white blood cells within the bone marrow and blood. Blast cells collect out of the normal cells within the bone marrow thus lowering blood counts. The disease results to decrease in normal white cells making an individual to be susceptible to infection such as sinuses, bronchitis, and pneumonia. T he main signs are; enlargement of the lymph nodes within the neck and arms coupled with enlargement of the spleen. This journal also describes the treatment options for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is treated by multiple chemotherapy drugs via mouth or via special intravenous line that is normally placed within a vein in the arm or chest and maintain for several months. According to Knowles, the chromosomes that lead to the development of Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia is sill not known today.

Teen pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teen pregnancy - Essay Example In relation to the idea of making valuable ideas, my stand in this case will significantly focus on the cons of teen pregnancy as opposed to the pros. Teen pregnancy may be viewed as something profitable to mothers since they are considered to be a milestone ahead in the reproductive category and thus considering teen pregnancy not as an immoral action but as an action of negligence of failure to take actions (Arai, p.199). However, the cons are so alarming than the pros. For instance, early pregnancy has a higher percentage of causing obstetric complications which most often than not result into complications in the newborn (Baker p, 81). Again, people in different cultures in the world especially on the religious point of view agree that a child is a blessing, but the truth is the bearer will be economically affected. Take for example a young girl who happens to get unplanned pregnancy instead of going on with her education, the implications are that, she will have completely disoriented her life both socially and academically, since she is most likely to find problems in planning anything (Wakle, p,105, 107) further notes that the teen in question will be in deep stress of wanting to terminate the pregnancy or not to as well as pressure from her parents who always would want her to continue with her studies. Moreover, another disadvantage of teen pregnancy is that teens who have been affected end up living as social handicapped since they end up living as single mothers (Hoffman p, 52). Economically, they are more vulnerable to living under the line of poverty as indicated by Hoffman (P, 52) who further argues that statistically, bearing a child at an early age results in to the social effects under the economic trends.They live so poorly with a lot of stress of making the ends meet. Academic wise they either decide to bear the responsibility of having the

Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work Article by Kohn Alfie

Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work by Kohn Alfie - Article Example Most of organizations in the United States have implemented programs with the aim of motivating employees through compensation. The belief that individuals will perform better in the workplace if they are rewarded has not been thoroughly examined. However, there are findings that indicate the failure of these incentive programs due to various reasons (Kohn 2). Research indicates that rewards are effective in securing temporary compliance. Just like punishment, rewards do not effectively produce lasting change in behavior and attitudes. Individuals go back to their old behaviors when the rewards run out. Psychologists regard incentives as extrinsic motivators and they state that they do not change the attitudes that accompany people’s behaviors. Incentives do not develop a lasting commitment to any action or value. Rather, they simply and temporarily change what individual do. In regard to productivity, research shows that rewards do not produce better work. Thus, there is no c orrelation between performance and pay (Kohn 3). The main reason why most executives continue relying on the incentive programs is that few individuals have taken the step to assess the link between incentive programs and problems associated with workplace morale and productivity. The author asserts that rewards only buy temporary compliance (Kohn 4). Kohn gives six frameworks that give the exact cost of the incentive programs. Firstly, pay is not a motivator. Though individuals are very concerned with what they get as salaries, this is not an indication that money is the motivator. There is no solid basis that when people are paid more, it will motivate them to perform better at work. Secondly, rewards punish. Just like punishment, rewards are manipulative. In both situations, individuals are being caught (that is, if one is found doing the right thing he will be rewarded, if he is caught doing the wrong thing he will be punished). The managers are making the people feel controlled in the workplace instead of making the environment suitable for progress, learning, and exploration. Thirdly, rewards destroy relationships. Employee relationships are destroyed when they scramble for rewards. Cooperation and organizational excellence is destroyed when individuals are forced to compete for recognition or rewards. Individual who cannot win feel worthless and the more these awards are exposed, the more destructive their effect can be. Additionally, competition for limited incentives among the employees can make them view each other as hindrance to their success. Fourthly, reasons are ignored by rewards. For the managers to solve workplace problems, they must know what caused them. Each problem in the organization requires a different response. Reliance on incentives to improve productivity does not address the problems and cannot bring about significant change. At times, managers usually use incentive systems as an alternative for providing workers with what they req uire in order to do a good job. Research shows that paying for performance hinders the capability of the managers to manage. Fifthly, risk-taking is discouraged by rewards. When individuals are motivated to think about what they will receive for getting involved in a task, they will less likely explore possibilities or take risks. Some of the individuals will participate in illegal and unethical behavior because they want to benefit from the incentive program. Studies show that people will tend to minimize challenges when working for a reward (Kohn 6). Lastly, interest is undermined by reward. Like punishment, rewards undermine the intrinsic stimulus that leads to optimal performance. The employee becomes less interested in the work when the manager keeps on emphasizing on what the employee can

Management case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Management case study - Essay Example Organizations are also realizing the importance of ethical behavior in managing a diverse workforce. Diversity can be defined as the presence of members of different ages, genders, ethnic groups, and/or educational backgrounds in an organization. Since the composition of the workforce has been changing over the past few years, managing diversity has become a challenge to organizations. In the past, in many organizations in the United States, while male employees' occupied prominent managerial positions. However, the situation today has undergone a radical change with people from diverse backgrounds occupying managerial positions. The reasons for the emergence of this kind of diversity may be changing demographic structure of the workforce, competitive Pressures, rapidly growing increase in International Business etc. A major reason for emergence of diversity is changes in the demographic structure. Government legislation against discrimination and the increasing globalization of the firms have also led to the diversity of the workforce. In addition, modern organizations have realized that diversity should be encouraged because it enhances their competitiveness. Changing demographics is one of the most important reasons for the emergence of diversity. ... The increase in skills and education levels across the entire population combined with legal provision of equal opportunity for all have led to an increase in the number of people from diverse backgrounds occupying managerial positions. Diversity will help organizations to remain competitive. This fact is slowly being realized by organizations these days. Those firms that adopt a proactive, affirmative approach to recruiting people from diverse backgrounds generally have a talented and capable workforce. Moreover, organizations which hire people from diverse backgrounds are likely to gain a reputation as fair employers and are more likely to attract competent employees. Qualified employees in such organizations feel that they have better opportunities for growth as these organizations tend to follow fair and progressive policies. Increasing globalization of firms An organization faces the challenge of blending different cultures when it expands its operations beyond its national boundaries. Managers and technical personnel who go to a foreign country to put an organizational system in place will have to change their leadership styles, communication patterns and other practices to suit the culture of the foreign country. By so doing, they assist in bringing about a fusion of cultures and increasing employee productivity for the benefit of both the organization and the country. Those organizations which value diversity are in a better position to work with people from different cultures, customer and social norms when they go global. Therefore, in a business environment, where geographical borders no longer act as a constraint, organizations have to ensure that people of the host country are part of its workforce so that

Diabetes WA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diabetes WA - Research Paper Example The support of the NDSS is also shown carefully in this paper. In this particular paper most of the information are taken from the diabetes WA website and from some relevant secondary sources like books, journals and online reviews. Introduction: The Diabetes WA is a noble organization which is been helping people since long time in Western Australia. However, to have a strong position within the market the proper and suitable funds are required and at the same time the awareness must be distributed accordingly to attract more people towards it. The advertising and the marketing communication tools play a vital role in this matter. The proper advertising strategy is a must to keep the sustainability intact within the market for a longer time. The target group, micro and macro environmental factors are very much important in this scenario. It is very important to understand that no matter how strong a company is, but if it doesn’t have the potential to reach the target customer s or the target group then all of its strength will be lost very soon. Industry background: Diabetes is one of the most dangerous diseases in the medical field. It can create many problems like feeling weak, Wight loss, etc. the type 2 1 diabetes can be very stressful, it can have major effects on the human health (Weiner et al; 2003, 197). Diabetes has become a most common disease in Australia. It is been predicted that the diabetes would affect more than one million people in Australia (Hastings 2007, 322). It has been seen that one hundred and fifty people are diagnosed with diabetes every day in Australia. There are basically two types of diabetes and they are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Among these, the type 2 diabetes is the fastest growing form of diabetes (Hastings 2007, 322). And this type of diabetes is mostly seen among the adults who are aged above forty. In the recent time almost 7 percent of the population in Australia had been detected with diabetes and it was predict ed that it would be almost 3.3 million Australians would carry diabetes within 2031 (Diabetes WA annual report 2010, 4). Within this industrial back ground a proper advertising strategy is very much important for the organization to attract the target group. The DAGMAR approach is important in this scenario and the innovative promotional activities are also very vital. From these figures it is very clear that the diabetes industry is growing very fast and it is taking a shape which is huge enough to rule the medical industry as well as the pharmaceutical industry. However, in this case the main mission of the Diabetes WA is not to create more diabetic patient it basically to help the people to prevent the diabetes. There are many micro and macro environmental factors are involved in this factor. The diabetes is a chronic disease and it can be fetal in some cases. However, the growth of the diabetes depends on many factors like living style, food habit, sugar intake etc. the macro an d micro environmental factors are very much involved in this case. And all these factors are closely related with the advertising strategies. The advertising campaign is basically to build the brand awareness about the NDSS and Diabetes WA. The growing industry and the growing number of diabetic people in the Western Australia have given a great potential to this particular advertising campa