Friday, May 31, 2019

The Digital Conversion in Television Essay -- TV Digital Technology DT

The digital Conversion in TelevisionIntroductionTelevision is now in the process of converting from linear to digital technology. The significance of this change is greater than the introduction of color TV in the 1960s, but more complicated since conversion will require new equipment for all consumers. Unlike color TV, digital television (DTV) uses a new kind of signal that does not fit within the structure of the old signal. DTV refers to a specific standard being implemented in the United States to carry a television signal in digital form through all stages of its transmission, not just for digital equipment such as video tape recorders and satellite receivers that have already been used in conjunction with analog television.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the regulatory confidence for the use of DTV. The Commission required TV stations in the top ten markets to begin broadcasting digital signals on separate channels on with their current analog signals. Statio ns in smaller markets are being phased in, and all commercial stations are expected to broadcast a digital signal by 2002. By 2003, all public stations are expected to go digital. The FCC will allow broadcasters to pull the plug on analog by 2006, although many people in the electronics and communications industries feel that analog TV may persist for a few years longer (Churchill).digital television is being promoted for three distinct advantages better picture, better sound, and more functions and flexibility. A digital picture has better color and is free from ghost images and snow. In addition, the DTV format allows for greater resolution than analog TV, a resolution high enough to be known as high definition television (HDTV). Th... ...re/0,1284,14770,00.html.Mannion, Patrick. FCC Roadblocks COFDM Petition. electronic Design 20 Mar. 2000 32. Academic Search Elite GALILEO. Athens Area Technical Inst. Lib., Athens, GA. 7 May 2000 .Mannion, Patrick. Last Digital-TV Issues Get Res olved as constancy Gears Up for Prime Time. Electronic Design 17 Apr. 2000 85-91. Academic Search Elite GALILEO. Athens Area Technical Inst. Lib., Athens, GA. 7 May 2000 .Powell III, Adam Clayton. Digital Doubts. Reason Apr. 2000 13-14. Academic Search Elite GALILEO. Athens Area Technical Inst. Lib., Athens, GA. 4 May 2000 .Yang, Catherine, Neil Gross and Richard Siklos. Digital D-Day. BusinessWeek 26 Oct. 1998. McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. 6 May 2000 .

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Keiran Austin, Yr 11 English, Mrs Ferguson :: English Literature

Keiran Austin, Yr 11 English, Mrs FergusonTHE DIVINE WINDThe description of the situation in Broome depicted in The DivineWind is a complete accurate account of the events that occurred during1938- 1946. Practically everything in the novel was particular includingthe description of Broome, the Japanese internees, the dates andthings as expand as street names. It is quite obvious that GarryDisher had studied the town in depth before writing the novel.The fact that Broome is described as a pearling town with a tropicalexistence is true. As quoted in The Divine Wind Broome was astraggling mile of wood and corrugated- iron shops and dwellings (pg1and). This quote is a precise vision of what Broome would havelooked like judging by descriptions from various sources ofinformation and photos from that period in time. Even though thecharacters are made fiction the study events are real and the authorhas gone to such detail by using exact dates. For example the pinnacleof Broomes direct i nvolvement in the state of war occurred on 3rd March, 1942when Japanese Zeros Bombed Roebuck bay. As quoted in the Divine WindI was burning. Some of the scars I have now are from that fire, theburning pissing of Roebuck bay on 3rd March, 1942 (pg 144). Anotherexample of the accuracy of dates in the novel is the 8th December,1941 were Authorities began interning Japanese residents. As quoted inthe novel The politics acted swiftly on 8th December, right aroundthe country. In Broome a hundred Japanese were arrested and taken tojail (pg 105).Other important facts that have been accurately recorded in The DivineWind are how the residents of Broome were faced with rounding up andinterning friends and employees simply because they were Japanese.This is an excellent description of what the Anglo Saxons were facedwith doing regarding the Japanese. Other facts state that many of theJapanese who were born and raised in Australia and had no Japaneseties were interned. As quoted in The Divine Wind They interned singlewomen, old men, children. They interned European and Aboriginal wivesof Japanese born men, mixed race children, Australian- born Japanese.Many had never been to Japan (pg 113). This is an example of theaccuracy of the people who were interned. An area in this subject thatperhaps wasnt so accurate was the treatment of the Japanesecommunity. Reality shows that in Broome the residents tried to makelife as easy as possible for the Japanese bringing food and presentstoo the camp and allowing regular visits to town to go shopping.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Essay --

Behind the PeopleThe way an author writes can help you decide whether a character is good or bad, smart or stupid, or liked or hated. In the late 1840s, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes, She thought of the dim forest, with its little dell of solitude, and love, and anguish, and the mossy tree-trunk (187). The question gathered from the ruby Letter is as follows Can authors give settings the same personified traits authors give characters? While the captivating characters of The Scarlet Letter play an important part of Nathaniel Hawthornes book, order and temperament represent equally as vital role- society is portrayed as evil, whereas nature is portrayed as good. The town, in which Hester is first imprison houseed and because held in front of the residents of the community, exemplifies the evilness that puritan society holds. Hawthorn notes that the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes (41). The first paragraph of the story itself tells of the pr ison doors strong and intimidating purpose. Surrounded by the people of the Puritan Society is the scaffold. A public humiliation place where sinners are forced to climb upon, Hester is seen standing(a) on the scaffold in every scene it appears in. Standing alone on the scaffold, the first time it is mentioned, is Hester and Pearl. Dimmesdale watches her stand in shame with the other fathers who flummox in judgment of Hester. The scaffold separates Dimmesdale and Hester from one another. hen Dimmesdale asks Hester to speak of the man who has sinned with her, Hester, even though she must go through this suffering alone, refuses the name of he who has sinned, for fear of having Dimmesdale live a life of scorn and scrutiny with her upon the scaffold. Another exampl... ... (159) when she took off the sinful letter. Preferring the forest as a meeting place among Dimmesdale and herself, the forest behaves as a form of protection against society. Hester and Dimmesdale are able to speak freely of their sins, and their plans to run away together, while in the puritan society, Dimmesdale is uneffective to speak about his relationship with Hester and Pearl. Although Hester spent an equal amount in both society and nature, she tended to favor nature because of its protective and free atmosphere. Hester is relatable more to nature than society because of her free-willed spirit, and her will to survive against the puritan society. The good characteristics of nature are much like that of Hester, while society is more evil like Chillingworth. Because of this, the settings in The Scarlet Letter can be personified and given human characteristics.

Protestant Vs. Socially Engaged Buddhism :: essays research papers

Protestant vs. Socially Engaged BuddhismSomewhere in the sixth century BCE Buddhism was born, born from a single man Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha. After gaining his enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree, the Buddha didnt think that the rest of the world could handle all that he had learned. He did not want to teach others, nor did he want to spread his wisdom. Until at last his great compassion came over him and he started to gain the respect of few by going to his old peers first. By starting with other intellectuals he secured that they at least had the capacity to learn what he had to teach. From this point on he spread his philosophy on the middle path with everyone who would listen.He preached pacifism and that it was wrong to take any life be it a mans or any lesser beings. He taught that the noble octuple path was the route to end all suffering, and that the individual was the most important factor in achieving enlightenment. The Buddha taught about the five aggregates, the notion that the human being is make up of matter, sensation, consciousness, perception, and mental formations. In all of his teachings however the Buddha did not do so much as a lay a groundwork for which his pursual could build a society on. The Buddha was acting out of compassion in that he had found the way to end his suffering and wanted to help others do the same. He was not however trying to build himself up as a God, and create a religion under which he was the focal point. Since this was not his goal, he did not get into politics, social formations, or anything else of the like. However, sooner or later, with the rapid growth of Buddhism in India, and the whole of Southeast Asia, these were the things that would determine the survival of its followers. That is, an whole society of Buddhistics had emerged, far greater numbers and organization than even the Buddha had imagined. With this emergence of community came more and more problems with which the leaders had no frame of reference to combat. For instance, what to do when pacifism doesnt work in protecting your community. How to maintain peacefulness when outside forces are conquering violently. In many areas, where this sense of a Buddhist community had been created, the members had a great deal of pride in what they had created and were a part of, but their pride was kept in check by their unfitness to justify the right course of action.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Intelligent Minds :: essays research papers

I am a twenty something male. most whom live in this town have no motif that i exist or am aware that i am even here. I have lived here for little less than four years. my name is tanner l. beltran. that is as off the beaten track(predicate) as i know of who i am.a label a mortal gave to me upon birth. a struggle of finding myself, knowing my identity as a person and my place in this life, are completely unkown to me. day to day i seek for this answer, finding it nill. to be quite frank, i have not graduated high school. I attempted going back to finish my much needed to survive this candy-land extistence education which was quite minimal in gaining for i had only 3 credits needed to obtain a peice of glorified paper that states i completed requirements to become proficient in facing the real world. Without any idea of who you are and what you are supposed to do in life, it may seem coping with this so called reality is harsh.For me it is. struggling for identity and self accept ance from others, facing inner(a) compications that only add to my horror that i may n ever so figure out my own life. to quote Grace Hansen Dont be afraid your life impart end be afraid that it will never begin. this is something that i am deathly afraid of afraid i will i fail the unity person who cherishes who i am to her. But in all I feel I am failing my self. And that takes away all my hope to ever succeed. You see the prominent people never believed in me or had faith in my abilities. At least not the ones that should have. They faltered in early judgement of me at quite an early age. I feel it has been that inflicted inhibition that makes me fear failure more than being alive. that judgement makes finding myself brutally agonizing. In additon to this loss of delusive identity of who I think I am, finding what I am supposed to do in my existent as a person of this earth falling to all hell, I need a piece of paper that states I meet requisetes to pursue any given career. Why do I need that piece of paper? What is its nominal meaning? What does it represent?

Intelligent Minds :: essays research papers

I am a twenty something male. most whom live in this town have no idea that i exist or am aware that i am even here. I have lived here for little less than four-spot years. my name is tanner l. beltran. that is as far as i know of who i am.a label a person gave to me upon birth. a struggle of decision myself, penetrative my indistinguishability as a person and my place in this life, are completely unkown to me. day to day i seek for this answer, finding it nill. to be sort of frank, i have not graduated high school. I attempted going back to finish my much needed to survive this candy-land extistence education which was quite marginal in gaining for i had only 3 credits needed to obtain a peice of glorified paper that states i completed requirements to become proficient in facing the real world. Without whatsoever idea of who you are and what you are supposed to do in life, it may seem coping with this so called reality is harsh.For me it is. struggling for identity and self ac ceptance from others, facing inner compications that only add to my horror that i may never figure out my own life. to quote blessing Hansen Dont be afraid your life will end be afraid that it will never begin. this is something that i am deathly afraid of afraid i will i fail the one person who cherishes who i am to her. But in all I feel I am impuissance my self. And that takes away all my hope to ever succeed. You see the prominent people never believed in me or had faith in my abilities. At least not the ones that should have. They faltered in early judgement of me at quite an early age. I feel it has been that inflicted inhibition that makes me fear failure more than being alive. that judgement makes finding myself brutally agonizing. In additon to this loss of mistaken identity of who I think I am, finding what I am supposed to do in my animated as a person of this nation falling to all hell, I need a piece of paper that states I meet requisetes to pursue any given career. W hy do I need that piece of paper? What is its nominal meaning? What does it represent?

Monday, May 27, 2019

Macroeconomics Economics Commentary †patterns in America’s unemployment statistics Essay

Unemployment is defined as individuals who are actively seeking for a job yet cannot find one. The calculate of unemployment however is the number of employed individuals expressed as a proportion of the labour force. During the recent 2010 recession, the United States (US) faced an incredibly grand unemployment rate. Despite the fact that America has most(prenominal)ly recovered from the recession, some sectors of the American economy have not yet left the recessionary zone. In this article, the dilemma of American teenagers and blacks discrimination is discussed.The statistics given from the article demonstrate a decrease in the rate of unemployment within the American economy. This is illustrated in the graph below as we can see the aggregate supply of labour closing the gap between itself (in blue) and the aggregate demand in order to achieve market equilibrium.Statistically, this melioration can be seen by the drop in unemployment figures from 9.4% in December 2009 to 9.4% one year later in December 2010. Analysing the situation, numerous factors could have resulted in this dip. Primarily, gender discrepancy should be taken into respect. Females dominated industries have increased in size such as education and healthcare industries. Supporting my analysis, the rate of unemployment for women minimally fell by 0.1% unlike their male counterparts whom suffered greater losses. Males as a result saw a greater decrease in their unemployment shares, travel by 0.8% in comparison to the females 0.1% probably due to discriminating reasons, academic motives or other social aspects.Another yet the most principle core dispute raised in the article is the fact that blacks and teenagers are being discriminated suffering from the highest rates of unemployment. Teens topped a high unemployment percentage of 25.4% whilst blacks a little lower tallied at 15.8%. Logically this makes sense for teenagers (assuming they are in the job searching range of 16 to 19 years ol d), in this age group most teenagers have had little maestro experience as emphasis is placed on completing their high school diploma, means that the labour force is fundamentally less productive as these teenagers would have no or relatively no real previous real fix experience in comparison to an elder person making them less appealing to employers. A growing number of teenagers choose to work as servers/waiters as a consequence of preference and taste for the job yet to a greater extent importantly, due to their lack in qualifications to work in offices and large firms.As laws enforcing autocratic education up to a certain age become stricter and a higher number of adolescent individuals choosing to complete their studies exists, these individuals are not counted in the family of unemployment as they do not wish to have a job at that moment in time. By estimating, blacks who look to comprise largely of adults seem however to be facing discriminatory reasons resulting in the ir rather high unemployment rate.America could modify a few of its structural policies in order to dodge such dramatic results if a recession were to occur again. Firstly, better and wider training programmes in all academic fields should be offered to students at schools. If the education became more flexible, offering courses in a wider range of subjects, the creation of a possibly more productive workforce is probable and more importantly, having acquired many skills and talents, these teenagers would be open(a) of finding new jobs in case of a structural change in the economy that demands different skills.Another policy could be to fundamentally keep in line that e real teenager is granted some type of access to good education/training programme. Lastly, as teenagers in school are not put down as part of the unemployment rate, the rate of unemployment could be reduced if the government were to provide some type of incentive for teenagers to go back to/attend school. not sol e(prenominal) would this reduce unemployment figures in the short run, it would mean that these same teenagers will be capable to offer society much more as they would have gained professional qualificationsAccording to Alicia Robb, Asiatics are the most educated, so when you have the largest pool of workers, employers are going to pick the most qualified Robbs statement explains the situation of the Asian race, having suffered the lowest increase in unemployment yet highest fall un unemployment figures from 8.4% in December 2009 to 7.2% a year later.Recently, a voluminous amount of Asians have flocked to the United States. Not only do they usually obtain higher qualified or greater work experience but Asian labour has been branded to be relatively cheap lowering a firms total costs, increasing profits.The later generation of these Asians (20 30 years old) are thus already qualified enough due to the development in America by and by 1980s and most of them are employed in good comp anies and are very well paid now. The young generation of Asians, which are contributed to the teenagers are now concentrating on education in America and most of them would go back to their countries after graduating.

Sunday, May 26, 2019

A Solution to a Problem

Accomplishing goals and chores with other(a)s is an arduous task. A course I was taking in college required inquiry work, and to make the task attainable and undemanding with the limited time, the professor decided to divide the class into groups.Deciding on what topic to conduct research on was hard enough, but accomplishing the research work was the hardest. Our research work required field work school visitations, floating surveys, statistical calculations, and result interpretation. There were four of us in a group.The problem was we could non figure out how we would conduct the tasks due to our conflicting schedules and extra-curricular activities we have different schedules, one works in the office, and one is busy with familial responsibilities.The problem was how can we conduct research and accomplish either tasks as a team, balance research work with other responsibilities, and assign tasks equally to all members of the team. During class, we sat together and talked a bout our problem.We set a time where all of us were available so we can talk about how we can go about conducting research. Once we were able to talk as a team, we laid out our schedules and our free time and listed all the tasks that we need to accomplish chronologically, from simple to labyrinthine in browse to finish the research.Perhaps, this was the most important strategy that we employed in solving our problem, that is breaking down the main problem into simple ones in order for us to get a clear picture on how we can accomplish the smaller tasks to fulfill greater tasks.Another strategy was arranging our image of action to make it fair and amenable to all team members. So we made it a point that everyone will be designate simple to interlacing tasks and that all team members will consent to the task assigned to them. Moreover, the tasks were assigned to team members with related background knowledge and expertise. For instance, one member volunteered to do the statist ical calculations because he was familiar with the chi-square).Once we settled the distribution and delegation of tasks, we talked about the importance of each task assigned to us to complete our research project. It was important for us to finish the research project, so everyone agreed to do his part responsibly. Finally, we made it a point to meet once a week in order to put together everything that we worked on individually. We also asked for each others contact numbers so we can communicate and confer with each other regarding the research.The most important approach that we employed to solve the problem was the planning and discussion process. It was important during that time to divide the research work into smaller tasks, and conduct and delegate these tasks in order to ensure that we can finish the project together as a team, while making sure that we do not neglect our extra-curricular activities.Moreover, our meeting as a team allowed as to communicate how we felt about doing each task, so the tasks were delegated to team members who were amenable to the responsibilities being assigned to them, while assuring the others that they are capable of finishing their duties. With these problem-solving strategies, we were able to finish our research project efficiently as a team.

Saturday, May 25, 2019

History Of The Paraprofessional Education Essay

There has been a long history of statute law and alterations in educational doctrine that have influenced both the blend ins and the makings of paraprofessionals. ( Unit 7 makeing . neodymium. parity. 1 ) The paraprofessional function is dramatic entirelyy critical presents because of these alterations and influences. Today, the life of a paraprofessional is filled with extended undertakings and duties that protract far beyond the boundaries of clerical work paraprofessionals in my sentiment are one of the most indispens competent gateways, if you would, to the academic success of particular needs pupils and to those that anticipate farther direction. However, since this was non ever the instance for paraprofessionals, a brief history of the paraprofessional function and attach toing Torahs of each epoch of paraprofessional history is included in the undermentioned paragraphs. Read on.There are a figure of past events and associated Torahs that have impacted the function of t he paraprofessional. To get down with, in the 1950 s equal rights for small frys s focus was good needed but non present. This academic inequality was based on racial segregation and a deficit in accredited instructors. Brown v. senesce of Education of Topeka ( 1954 ) challenged the minutes of the Apostless of academic racial bias in a tribunal of jurisprudence that resulted in a opinion for academic equality for all pupils. ( Unit 7 mettlesome Study Guide . neodymium. parity. 3 ) As for the remainder of the accredited instructors, paraprofessionals were recruited for excess aid.Revolution peers change no affair what the circumstance. In the 1960 s a radical motion in societal services, wellness attention, instruction, and employment brought away the alteration in rightful standing of many. Womans and the detested, the disableds and the hapless insisted upon the said(prenominal) rights as the remainder of world and the wealthy. These demands resulted in the undermentioned T orahs and plans Civil Rights Act of 1964, Head Start ( 1965 ) a plan for kids in the earliest phases of development that I am so grateful for, it offers a battalion of support for runing from faculty members to wellness and health for kids who are like me when I was a kid ( you know, a small less fortunate ) . In the same epoch, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 passed and urged parents to acquire involved with the school and academic life of their kid or kids Title I plans established through this Act a emergenced instructional support of basic accomplishments to deprived pupils. ( Unit 7 Game Study Guide . neodymium. parity. 4 ) Still in that same clip frame, yet another jurisprudence was passed-Immigration and National Act Amendments of 1965-and alleviated certain discriminatory admissions on policies for in-migration. This Act caused an augmented demand for paraprofessionals in the schoolroom because of an addition in pupils with linguistic communication and/or pagan barriers. A bilingual or multilingual paraprofessional was an ideal campaigner in conformity to this Act.Today, people with disablements are protected from favoritism because of the civil rights jurisprudence passed in the 1970 s. Section 504 of the Vocational rehabilitation Act of 1973 appointed equal chance rights for the mentally and somaticly disabled against favoritism in every facet including the educational facet of society. ( Charmatz. Penn. neodymium. parity. 1 ) In sight of this new right, much paraprofessionals were needed. A twelvemonth subsequently, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act extended its range out to pupils with linguistic communication and/or cultural barriers to acquisition, doing it compulsory for schools to help these pupils therefore ensuing in the farther demand of expertness of paraprofessionals. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act or Public rightfulness 94-142 ( 1975 ) at any rate required extra support of pupils wit h disablements, bit by bit increasing the demand for paraprofessionals thenceforth. ( Unit 7 Game Study Guide . neodymium. parity. 5 )A call for reformation of the needed criterions and teacher answerability arose after a series of educational studies by a figure of governmental bureaus in the 1980 s. These studies were directed toward the quality of instruction and the overall answerability of instructors for the expected criterions of their Plutos, and their instructional abilities. Simultaneously, instructors, the local school communities, and parents were encouraged to collaborate to find pupil larning abilities and failings, wellness and physical challenges in order to find which larning plans are the best to integrate in the school s course of study. The National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals and the Council of Exceptional Children besides supported structured course of study and criterions for paraprofessionals and their supervisors. ( Unit 7 Game Study Guide . ne odymium. parity. 6 )The Immigration Act of 1990 besides contributed to the addition in paraprofessionals, particularly those that were culturally diverse. The Americans with Disabilities Act mandated adjustments for pupils and workers with disablements. Persons with Disabilities Education Act, a reauthorization of the Education of all Handicapped Children Act ( reauthorized twelvemonth 1997 ) . Actual acknowledgment of the paraprofessional function, developing specifications and appropriate supervision specifications of the paraprofessional function were identified, clarified, and mandated. ( Unit 7 Game Study Guide . neodymium. parity. 7 )In the twelvemonth 2001, the ill-famed No Child Left Behind Act ( once known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act ) focused a batch on the countries of instruction that will assist increase the academic standing of pupils with and without disablements, every bit good as for the economically advantaged and disadvantaged, and for the beha viorally, mentally, and physically challenged. In 2004, the Persons with Disabilities Education Act was one time once more reauthorized, this clip as the Education of all Handicapped Children Act ( reauthorized twelvemonth 1997 ) made important alterations in the Individual Education Plans ( IEPs ) for kids with particular demands and larning disablements. These alterations once more, resulted in the increased demand for paraprofessionals. ( Unit 7 Game Study Guide . neodymium. parity. 8 )Nowadays, as a consequence of all the history of the paraprofessional, paraprofessionals I able and required to further help all pupils that need excess aid. Undertakings that a paraprofessional can anticipate to carry through are transporting out remedial lessons, dowery pupils with disablements in transitional plans, of class copying documents and rating documents, they can anticipate to assist maintain up with schoolroom visual aspect and help the oversing instructor in lesson planning excess ively, they can besides anticipate to work in a figure of topographic points like in traditional schoolroom scenes, in remedial acquisition categories, and transitional categories, they can anticipate to chaperone kids on field trips along with many other undertakings and duties. All in all, the significance, day-to-day undertakings, and duties of the paraprofessional function have changed enormously, as a consequence of a long history of alterations and reforms to the Torahs and plans in educational history.

Friday, May 24, 2019

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Analysis

To some extent, the characters in twain stories seem to be ruled by fixed ideas, blemishs and limited social values and attitudes. Explain and analyse how each writer deals with this aspect. You might like to consider social context and values, while, biz, style and language, as well as the characters themselves. TKAMB and An Imaginative cleaning lady be stories whose plot revolves around the idea of prejudices, social status and the attitudes of the era in which they atomic number 18 based.Both texts deal with these issues but in slightly different ways, because An Imaginative womanhood is a short story, t here isnt enough space to cover prejudices of alone the characters in detail but because TKAMB is a novel, over the story although whitethornbe non directly, the characters, face-to-faceities and viewpoints are developed until you can form an fairly solid idea of what they believed in and what they were like.For example, TKAMB is set in the 1920s and 30s at which time t he prejudice of whites against blacks was very seeming(a) even though slavery had been abolished years before the blacks were treated as second segmentation citizens. This is a main factor of the plot and as pale (Jean Louise Finch) is growing up it started to be convey apparent to her at an early age when she, Jem and Calpurnia visited Calpurnias church Lula stopped but she said You aint got no business bringin white chillun here they got their own church, we got ournThen later in the story of the trial of Tom Robinson Vs Mr. Ewell Lemme tell you somethin now, Billy a third said, You know the court appointed him to exert this nigger. , Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. Thats what I dont like about it Also the use of the offensive term nigger (deriving from Spanish word negro pith black), which today is politic solelyy incorrect, is a sign of the prejudice and social split between blacks and whites at that time.Atticus is an exception to this prejudice as are his children as Aunt Alexandra puts it I mean this town. Theyre perfectly prepared to let him do what they are too afraid to do themselves. In reference to Atticus defend Tom Robinson, a black person. In An Imaginative Woman there isnt a lot(prenominal) prejudices as between blacks and whites but seeing as it is set in the 1800s there is an element of prejudices as between males and females She had never antecedently regarded this occupation of his as any objection to having him for a husband.Indeed, the necessity of getting life-leased at all cost, a cardinal virtue which all good mothers teach This means, she does not see her husbands job as a reason not to marrying him, after all she needs someone to bring in some money, the idea that women themselves cannot do so because they are not allowed to work. This explains why Ella Marchmill is at home most of the time and has the time to write all the poetry. The fact that she had to pretend to be a man is also a sign of prejudice against wome n at that time as perhaps because nobody would believe such poetry could come from a womans hand.In TKAMB Harper Lee deals with social etiquette and ideals and makes them very apparent and openly deals with them as it is the main theme of the plot, in An Imaginative Woman Thomas brassy does not openly express the social ideas as prejudice, even thought this may be because they were openly and socially acceptable at the time and unlike TKAMB, An Imaginative Woman is not set in a time of change, such as black rights movements and female liberation movements where passel became widely familiar with, and accepted prejudice was happening.In TKAMB many people who are examples of different castes in society, Aunt Alexandra being one of them Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind she had a river boat, boarding school manners let any moral come along and she would uphold it. Aunt Alexandra is fixed into society by morals and personal standards that she considers to be very high a nd this makes herself seem to be upper material body society, but she will still gossip She was and incurable gossip and will still dabble in what would seem to be a lower class of society.You also have examples of people who in contrast are of a lower caste of society for example, the Cunninghams who appear to have no money because they are farmers and when the economic crash happened in America it hit them the disenfranchisedest The Cunninghams never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have, they dont have much but they get along on it. When Jem tries to describe the caste system of Maycomb towards the end of the book the social attitudes of the time are very apparent Theres four kinds of folk in the world. Theres the habitual folks like us and the neighbors, theres the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes This puts richer white people above miserable white people, above white trash and la st(a)ly above black people. In An Imaginative Woman the idea of social caste is perhaps not so apparent.The main theme of the text is the ideas of marriage, as it was in the 1800s divorce was unthinkable otherwise Ella would have left her husband She came to some vague conclusions, and since whence had kept her heart alive by pitying her proprietors obtuseness and want of refinement Also affairs in marriage was not common go under and illegitimate children were prejudiced against, it was a widely conceived thought that if a child was not born to a married couple they were rejects and should be treated thusly.At the end of the book Will Marchmills imagination leads him to believe that he and Ellas youngest son was actually the son of Robert Trewes despite the fact that they never met, his final line and the final line in the book sums up the ideas of the time about illegitimate children Get away, you poor little brat You are nothing to me The idea that you are rejected from societ y regardless of class of family if you are illegitimate is perhaps the main issue to do with social class in the text, linking although not all told with the idea of class in TKAMB.I have dealt with some ideas of prejudice and class, prejudice against blacks and women, the social status of people in Maycomb and of the Marchmills and other families like them in the 1800s. I have identified that the authors deal with it in different ways, Harper Lee is more direct and to the point with describing racism and social etiquette whereas Thomas Hardy suggests it but does not openly say that such things are wrong.The reason for this could be because TKAMB is written from the first person viewpoint and individual beliefs and reasons feature much more in the story line, An Imaginative Woman is written from the third person viewpoint and is as such an account rather than a personal experience, you are distanced from the plot and personal beliefs are left for you to decide. The stories differ a gain, TKAMB is a novel and therefore has more room to describe and show the ideas of the time, whereas An Imaginative Woman is a short story and does not develop as much.The language differs as TKAMB is set in 1920s/30s America and the Deep Southern American conversational style of speech the text is perhaps more easily interpreted as it is not complex language, the terms used are more up to date and understood today. An Imaginative Woman is written in early modern English and some of the terms are very outdated and hard to comprehend without further help from dictionaries or thesauruses this makes it harder to pick points from it and to see the prejudice or social attitudes.I have explained about the social attitudes and how they govern people within the stories and I think that this is very important to both stories plots, it helps shape the people and gives you a good idea of what life was like at the time, both stories end tragically in someway or another and I believe this is a deliberate move by both authors to suggest that prejudice and isms (sexism, racism etc) are in the end tragic.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Coyote Blue Chapter 14~15

CHAPTER 14Lies Have Lives of Their OwnIt took besides six weeks for bulls eye Hunts Al single, the Crow Indian, to become surface-to-air missileuel Hunter, the shape-shifter. The transformation began with the cowboy on the bus misidentify surface-to-air missileson for a Mexi kitty. When surface-to-air missileson left the bus in Elko, Nevada, and caught a ride with a racist trucker, he became etiolate for the first season. He expected, from earshot to Pokey all those years, that upon turning white he would immediately relieve oneself the stir to go come step up and find somewhat Indians and tax return their land, hardly the urge didnt come, so he sat by nodding as the trucker talked. By the time he got out at Sacrawork forceto, California, surface-to-air missileson had memorized the truckers lit constantlyy of white subordination and was just repelting into the rhythm of racism when he caught a ride with a black trucker who took amphetamines and waxed poetic most oppres sion, injustice, and the violent abate of the U.S. govern ment by either the Black Panthers, the Teamsters, or the Temptations. surface-to-air missileson wasnt sure which.surface-to-air missileson was booted out of the truck in Santa Barbara when he suggested that perhaps violent death all the whites should be put forth at least until they told w here(predicate) they had hidden all the specie. Actually, surface-to-air missileson was somewhat relieved to be put out hed solely been white for a fewer hours and wasnt sure that he a cared it well enough to die for it. His immediate concern was to trace something to drink. He bought a ampere-second at a nearby convenience store and walked crossways the street to a park, where, under the boughs of a massive fig tree, amid a dozen quiescency bums, he sat dismantle to consider his next involve. surface-to-air missileson was just summoning up an obese case of take tolessness when a nearby software system of rags spoke to him.An y booze in that cup?surface-to-air missileson had to stare at the oblong rag pile for a few seconds before he noniced there was a hairy face at one end. A single bloodshot eye, sparkling with hope, the only break in the elderly dinge, gave the face a means. No, just Coke, surface-to-air missileson utter. Hope dimmed and the eye became as empty as the socket next to it.You got any money? the bum asked.surface-to-air missileson move his head. He had only twelve dollars left he didnt want to share it with the rag pile.Youre new here?Samson nodded.You a wet?Exc engage me? Samson said.Are you Mexican?Samson thought for a moment, therefore nodded.Youre lucky, the bum said. You can lead off work. A guy halt near here either morning with a truck picks up guys to do yard work, but he only takes Mexicans. Says whites are too lazy.Are they? Samson asked. He count on that after persecuting blacks, hiding money, stealing land, breaking treaties, and keeping themselves pure, maybe the whites were just tired. He was glad he was Mexican.You speak pretty good English for a wet.Where does the guy with the truck stop? Has he been by today?Im not lazy, the bum said. I earned a degree in philosophy.Ill work you a dollar, Samson said.Im having trouble finding work in my field.Samson dug a dollar out of his pocket and held it out to the bum, who snatched it and quickly secreted it among his rags. He stops about a block from here, in front of the all-night diner. The bum pointed d take in the street. I hurlnt seen him go by today, but I was sleeping.Thanks. Samson rose and started d pee the street.The bum vociferationed after him, Hey, kid, come covering fire tonight. Ill guard your back sequence you sleep if you buy a jug.Samson waved over his shoulder. He wouldnt be back if he could avoid it. A block away he fall in a group of men who were waiting at the corner when a larger gate-sided truck pulled up, the back already half full of Mexicans.The man who drove the truck got out and walked around to where the men were waiting. He was short and brown and wore a straw Stetson, cowboy boots, and thick black mustache over the sly grin of a chicken thief. The men who worked for him called him patron, but ironically, the common term for his traffic was brush wolf.He scanned the group of men and made his choices with a nod and the crook of his finger. The men chosen, all Hispanic, jumped onto the back of the truck. The Coyote approached Samson and grab nates him by the upper arm, interrogatory the muscle-builder. He said something in Spanish. Samson panicked and answered him in Crow Im on the lam, looking for a one-armed man that killed my wife. To Samsons surprise, this seemed to satisfy the Coyote.The Coyote had been export illegal aliens into the country for five years, and from time to time he encountered an Indian from the South, Guatemala or Honduras, who could not speak Spanish. Not being able to tell one Indian language from another, he assumed that Samson was one of these. All the seemter, he thought, it will take yearlong for him to find out.After the Coyote brought his men over the border, he gave them a place to live (two apartments in which they slept ten to a live), food (beans, tortillas, and rice), and three dollars an hour (for backbreaking work that most gringos would neer consider doing). He charged his customers ogdoad dollars per man-hour and pocketed the difference. At the end of each week he paid his men in cash, after deducting a firm amount for food and lodging, then drove them all to the post office, where he helped them buy money orders to send home to their families, leaving them nothing for themselves. In this way the Coyote could keep a crew under his thumb for three or four months before they found out that they could make more money working at menial jobs in restaurants or hotels. Then he would have to go back to Mexico for another load. Lately, however, he had been augmenting his cre w with Mexicans who had found their own way over the border, and this allowed him to stretch his time among border runs.The work was the hardest Samson had ever done, and at the end of the first day, back knotted and men bloodied from swinging a pickax, he slept in the back of the truck until the patron slapped him awake and led him into the apartment to show him his cot. Sleeping in a get on with nine other people was nothing new to Samson, and the food, although spicy, was plentiful and good. He fell asleep listening to the sad Spanish love songs of his co-workers and feeling truly more than alone.As the weeks passed he would hear the other men in the style whispering in the dark and this made him feel, even more, that he was the only person in a world of one. He had no way of knowing that they were talking about him, about how they never saw him send any money home, and about how they could take his money and no one would know because he was a dumb Indian and couldnt speak Spanish. Samson listened and estimated that they were talking about their homes and missing their families. He knew nothing of the Latin quality of machismo, which tacitly forbade the admission of a mans melancholy except in song.The plan was to wait until the boy was winning a shower, then go through his pants and take the money. If he protested, they would cut his throat and bury him on the large estate where they were terracing hills into formal gardens. Whether they would have in reality killed the boy was doubtful they were good men at heart and had only saturnine their minds to murder because it made them feel worldly and tough. When the boy was fore at peace(p) their nocturnal whispers turned back to boasts of the women they would have, the cars they would buy, and the land they would own when they returned to Mexico.Samson was saved on a hot afternoon when the owner of the estate approached the Coyote darn the crew was taking a break, eating cold burritos in the shade o f a eucalyptus tree.Immigration took one of the busboys in my restaurant, the rich man said. Do any of your guys speak English? Ill pay you to let him go.The Coyote was vibration his head when Samson spoke up I speak English. The Coyotes chicken-stealing grin dropped like a rock. He had thought that he would be able to hold on to the Indian boy for a long time, and here he had gone and learned English in his spare time. The boy was worthless now. Better to cut the loss and see what he could get.To quell their curio gravely and dampen their ambition, the Coyote told the rest of the crew that the rich American had bought the boy for sexual purposes, and they all grinned knowingly as they watched Samson ride away in the long white Lincoln.Samson found that it was easier to be Mexican while working in the restaurant. The work, although fast paced, was not heavy, and he was given a cot in the stowage to sleep on until he found a place of his own. The owner was content with speaking a p idgin English peppered with Spanish words and Samson answered him by speaking a modified version of Tonto-speak. By this time Samson had also picked up a few essential Spanish phrases (Where are the spoons? We train more plates. Your sister fucks donkeys in Tijuana) which helped him make friends with the Mexican dishwashers and cooks.From the moment he had arrived in Santa Barbara, a grinding homesickness began to settle in Samsons heart. When he lay in the dark storeroom at night, waiting to fall asleep, it would rise up and wash over him like a black tide, carrying with it a slithering device predator that gnashed at the last shreds of his hope. Forget what you know, Pokey had told him. With this in mind he set to do battle with his rising hopelessness. He refuse to think of his family, his home, or his heritage. Instead he concentrated on the conversations he overheard in the restaurant as he cleared tables and poured coffee. Because he was Mexican, and a menial laborer, he was out of sight to the affluent Santa Barbara customers, who spoke openly about the most intimate details of their lives, oblivious to the Spanish fly on the wall.You know, Ashley has been having an affair with her plastic operating surgeon for six months andIf I can get my legal ducks in a row, I should be able to push the convention center through the metropolis council andI want the bathroom Southwestern, but Bob likes Art Nouveau, so I called our attorney and I saidI know the offshore cut is ruining the coast, but my Exxon shares have split twice in two years, so I said to my analystSusan and the kids went to Tahoe, so I thought it was the holy chance to show Marie the house. The bitch spilled a whole bottle of massage oil in the hot tub andI dont give a anathemise whether they needed it or not. If you do your job right you can sell air conditioners to Eskimos need has nothing to do with it. Remember the three ms mesmerize, motivate, and manipulate. Youre not sell a need, yo ure sellingDreams, Samson said, coming out of his shell to finish the sentence of a young insurance sales manager who had taken his agents to lunch so he could chew their ass. Samson surprised even himself by speaking up, but the man at the table seemed to be giving the alike(p) speech that he had heard from the powder-blue dream salesman. He couldnt resist.Come here, kid, the man said. He was wearing a wash-and-wear suit, as were the other five men at the table. A half-dozen acrid aftershaves clashed among them. Whats your take?Samson looked around the table at the mens faces. They were all white. He decided at that moment to use a new name, not the Mexican name he had taken, Jose Cuervo. Sam, Samson said. Sam Hunter.Well, Sam he extended his hand my name is Aaron Aaron. And Ill bet with some training you could outsell every man at this table. He put his arm around Samsons shoulders and spoke to the rest of the group. What do you say, guys? Ill bet you each a hundred bucks that I can take a busboy with the right attitude and turn him into a better salesman than any of you hotshots inside of a month.Thats bullshit, Aaron, the kids not even old enough to get a license.He can work on my license. Ill sign his applications. Cmon, hotshots, do I have a bet?The men fidgeted in their seats, laughing nervously and trying to avoid Aarons gaze, knowing from Aarons training that the first one to speak would lose. Finally one of them broke. All right, a hundred bucks, but the kid has to do his own selling.Aaron looked at Samson. So, kid, are you ready to start a new job?Samson time-tested to imagine himself wearing a suit and smelling of after-shave, and the fancy appealed to him. I dont have a place to stay, he said. Ive been saving so I can get an apartment.Ive got it covered, Aaron said. Welcome aboard.I guess I could give my notice.Fuck giving notice. You only give notice if youre planning to come back. Youre not planning on moving backwards, are you, Sam?I guess not, Samson said.At twenty-five, Aaron Aaron had already accumulated fifteen years of experience in the art of deception. From the time he skimped on the sugar at his first lemonade stand to the time he doubled the profits on his paper route by canceling his customers subscriptions, then stealing the papers out of a vending machine to continue the deliveries, Aaron showed a near-genius ability for working in the gray areas between business and crime. And by balancing dark desires with white lies he was able to sidestep the plague of Catholic conscience that kept him from pursuing an honest career as a pirate, which would have been his first choice. Aaron Aaron was a salesman.At first, Aarons only interest in Samson was to use the boy as an instrument of embarrassment to the other salesmen, but once he dressed the boy in a suit and had him labeling along on sales calls like a dutiful immanent gun bearer, Aaron found that he actually enjoyed the boys company. The boys curiosi ty seemed boundless, and answering his questions as they drove between calls allowed Aaron to bask in the sound of his own enunciate while extolling the brilliance of his last successful presentation. And too, the rejection of a slammed door or a pointed no seemed softened in the sharing. Teaching the boy made him feel good, and with this progress in attitude he worked more, sold more, and allowed the boy to share in the prosperity, buying him clothes and food, finding him an apartment, and cosigning for a loan on a used Volvo.For Samson, working under the tutelage of Aaron was perfect. Aarons assumption that no one beside himself had the foggiest idea of how the universe worked allowed Samson the opportunity to hear lectures on even the most short details of society, information he used to build himself into the image that Aaron wanted to see. Samson delighted in Aarons self-obsession, for while the older man waxed silvern on the virtues of being Aaron, it never occurred to him to ask Samson about his past, and the boy was able to surround himself in a chrysalis of questions and cheap suits until he was ready to break through as a full-grown salesman.As the years passed and his memories of home were stowed and forgotten, learning to sell became Samsons paramount interest. And Aaron, fascinated with seeing his own image mirrored and his own words repeated, failed to notice that Samson had become a better salesman than himself until other companies began approaching the boy with offers. Only then did Aaron realize that most of his income was coming from the reverse commission on Sams sales, and that for five years Sam had trained all the new salesmen. To avoid losing his golden goose, Aaron offered Sam a fifty-fifty partnership in the agency, and with this added security, the business became Sams shelter.-=*=- Now, after twenty years with the business as his only security, Sam was going to Aaron to sell his shares. As he entered Aarons office he tangle a deep soul-sickness that he had not matte since he had left the reservation.Aaron, Ill take forty cents on the dollar for my shares. And I keep my office.Aaron turned slow in the big executive chair and faced Sam. You know I couldnt come up with that kind of cash, Sam. Its a good move, though. Id have to keep gainful you out of override, and with interest you wouldnt even take a cut in pay. I dont think youre in a position to negotiate, though. In fact, after the call I got this morning, I think twenty cents on the dollar would be more than fair.Sam resisted the urge to dive over the desk and slap his partners bare scalp until it bled. He had to take his fallback position sooner than he wanted to. Youre thinking that because Spagnola can put me with the Indian I have to sell, right?Aaron nodded. precisely just imagine that I ride this through, Aaron. Imagine that I dont sign off, that the insurance commission suspends my license, that criminal charges are filed and my name is in t he paper every day. Guess whose name is going to be right next to mine? And what happens if I maintain my association with the agency and the insurance commission starts looking into your files? How umpteen signatures have you traced over the years, Aaron? How many people thought they were buying one policy, only to find out that their signature showed up on a contrary one one that paid you a higher commission?A sheen of sweat was appearing on Aarons forehead. Youve done that as often as I have. Youd be hanging yourself.Thats the point, Aaron. When I walked in here you were convinced that I was hung anyway. Im just making room for you on the gallows.You ungrateful prick. I took you in when you-I know, Aaron. Thats why Im giving you a chance to stay clean. Actually, youve got more to lose than I do. Once your files are open, then your income is going to become in the public eye(predicate) knowledge.Oh Aaron stood and paced around to the front of the desk.Oh He waved a finger un der Sams nose, then turned and walked to the water cooler.Oh He kicked the cooler, then returned to his chair, sat down, then stood up again.Oh he said. It was as if the single syllable had stuck in his mouth. He looked as if he were going to launch into a tirade blood rose in his face and veins bulged on his forehead.Oh he said. He fell back in the chair and stared at the ceiling as if his brain had pushed the hold button on reality.Thats right, Aaron, Sam said after a moment. The IRS. With that Sam moved to the office door. Take your time, Aaron. Think about it. Talk it over with your buddy Spagnola he can probably give you the cur tide rip exchange rate of cigarettes for sodomy in prison.Aaron slowly broke his stare on the ceiling and turned to watch Sam walk out.In the outer office Julia looked up from applying lacquer to her nails to see Sam grinning, his hand still on the doorknob.Whats with all the ohs, Sam? Julia asked. It sounded like you guys were having sex or something.S omething like that, Sam said, his grin widening. Hey, watch this. He opened the door quickly and stuck his head back in Aarons office. Hey, Aaron IRS he said. Then he pulled the door shut, muffling Aarons screech of pain.What was that? Julia asked.That, Sam said, was my teacher giving me the grade on my final exam.I dont get it.You will, honey. I dont have time to explain right now. Ive got a date.Sam left the office walking light and smiling, feeling strangely as if the pieces of his life, rather than fitting back together, were jingling in his pocket like ride bells warning Christmas.CHAPTER 15 similar Gods Own Chocolate Id Lick Her Shadow Off A Hot SidewalkSanta BarbaraIn spite of the fact that he was losing his home and his business, and was precariously close to having his greatest secret discovered by the police because of an Indian god, Sam was not the least bit worried. Not with the nominee of an evening with calliope to occupy his thoughts. No, for once Sam Hunter was v oting the eager ticket over the anxious, taking anticipation over dread.steam organ lived up the stairs in a cheese-mold-green cinder-block duplex that stood in a row of a dozen identical structures where the last of Santa Barbaras working middle class were making their dec into poverty. Calliopes Datsun was parked in the driveway next to a rusy VW station wagon and an ominous-looking Harley-Davidson chopper with a naked blond woman airbrushed on the gas tank. Sam paused by the Harley before mounting the stairs. The airbrushed woman looked familiar, but before he could get a closer look Calliope appeared on the deck to a higher place him.Hi, she said. She was barefoot, wearing a white muslin dress loosely laced in the front. A wreath of gardenia was woven into her hair. Youre just in time, we need your help. Come on up.Sam took the stairs two at a time and stopped on the landing, where Calliope was wrestling with the latch on a rickety screen-door couch that was devoid of screen ing but had redwood lattice nailed across its lower half, presumably to keep out the really large insects. Im having trouble with the dinner, she said. I hope you can fix it.The screen door finally let loose with the jattering noise one associates with the impact of Elmer Fudds face on a rake handle. Calliope led Sam into a kitchen done in the Fabulous Fifties motif of mint enamel over pink linoleum. A haze of shitty smoke hung about the ceiling, and through it Sam could make out the figure of a half-naked man sitting in the lotus position on the counter, swallow from a quart bottle of beer.Thats Yiffer, Calliope said over her shoulder as she headed to the stove. Hes with Nina.Yiffer vaulted off the counter, on one arm, fully eight feet across the kitchen to land lightly on his feet in front of Sam, where he engaged a complex handshake that left Sam feeling as if his fingers had been braid together. Dude, Yiffer said, shaking out his wild tangle of straw-colored hair as if the wor d had been stuck there.Feeling like a chameleon that has been dropped into a coffee can and is risking phlebotomize by trying to turn silver, Sam searched for the appropriate greeting and ended up echoing, Dude.In jeans, a sport shirt, and boating moccasins with no socks, Sam matte grossly overdressed next to Yiffer, who wore only a pair of orange surf shorts and layer upon layer of tan muscle.Calliope biffed the grub, dude, Yiffer said.Sam joined Calliope at the stove, where she was frantically biffing the grub. I cant get the spaghetti to cook, she said, plunging a wooden spoon into a large saucepan from which the smoke was emanating. The instructions said to boil for eight minutes, but as soon as it starts to boil the smoke comes out.Sam waved the smoke from the pan. Arent you supposed to cook the noodles separately?Not in the sauce?Sam shook his head.Whoops, Calliope said. Im not a very good cook. Sorry.Well, maybe we can salvage something. Sam removed the pan from the heat an d peered in at the bubbling black magma. Then again, maybe starting over would be a good idea.He put the pan in the sink, where a trail of ants was invading a used bowl of cereal. Sam turned on the water and started to swivel the faucet to wash the intruders away when Calliope grabbed his hand. No, she said. Theyre okay.Theyll get into your food, Sam said.I know. Theyve unceasingly been here. I call them my kitchen pals.Kitchen pals? Sam tried to adjust his thinking. She was right you couldnt just wash your kitchen pals down the drain like they were ants. He snarl like hed been saved from committing genocide. So, I guess we should start some more spaghetti?She only bought one box, dude, Yiffer said.I guess we can eat salad and cole, Calliope said. acknowledgment me. She kissed Sam on the cheek and walked out of the kitchen while he stared at the ghost of her bottom through the thin dress.So, what do you do? Yiffer asked with a purge of his head.Im an insurance broker. And yo u?I surf.And?And what? Yiffer said.Sam thought he could hear the sound of the ocean whistling through Yiffers ears as if through a seashell. Never mind, he said. He was distracted by the sound of a baby screaming in the next room.Thats Grubb, Yiffer said. Sounds like hes pissed off.Unable to see the second b, Sam was confused. I thought grub was biffed?No, Grubb is Calliopes rug-rat. Go on in and meet him. Ninas in there with J. Nigel Yiffworth, Esquire. Yiffer beamed with pride. Hes mine.Your attorney?My son, Yiffer said indignantly.Oh, Sam said. He resisted the urge to sit down on the floor and wait for his confusion to clear. Instead he walked into the living room, where he found Calliope sitting on an ancient waiting area next to an attractive brunette who was breastfeeding an infant. The sofa was lumpy enough to have had a body sewed into it stuffing spilled out of the arms where the victim had tried to escape. On the floor nearby, a somewhat older child was slung inside of a b lue plastic donut on wheels, which he was gaily ramming into everything in the room. Sam gasped as the child ran a wheel up over his bare ankle on a kamikaze rush to destroy the coffee table.Calliope said, Sam, this is Nina. Nina looked up and smiled. And J. Nigel Yiffworth, Esquire. Nina pulled the baby from her breast long enough to puppet-master a nod of greeting from it, which Sam missed for some reason. And that, Calliope continued, pointing to the drunk driver in the blue donut, thats Grubb.Your son? Sam asked.She nodded. Hes just learning to walk.Interesting name.I named him after Jane Goodalls son. She let him grow up with baboons very natural. I was going to name him Buddha, but I was afraid that when he got older if someone met him on the road they might kill him.Right. Good thinking, Sam said, pretending that he had the slightest idea of what she was talking about and that he wasnt wondering in the least who or where Grubbs father was.Nina moved in when we were both f raught(p), Calliope said. We were each others Lamaze coaches. I was further along, though.What about Yiffer?Scum, Nina said.He seems like a nice guy, Sam said, and Nina shot him an acid look. As scum goes, he quickly added.He only lives here sometimes, Calliope said. Mostly when he doesnt have gas money for his van.Nina said, Were having a yard sale day after tomorrow to raise some money to get him out of here. You might want to look at the stuff down in storage before the sale, pick up a trade before it gets picked over.Yiffer entered the living room munching on a loaf of French bread. He stood next to Sam and thrust the bread under Sams chin. Bite?No, thanks, Sam said.Yiffer Calliope said. That bread was for all of us.Truth, Yiffer said. He held the loaf out to Calliope. Bite?You ruined their dinner, Nina said, letting J. Nigels head drop and wobble.Yiffer grinned around a mouthful of bread and gestured toward Ninas exposed breast with his beer hand. Looking good, babe.Nina reatt ached J. Nigel and said to Sam, Im sorry, hes only like this when hes awake. To Yiffer she said, Take some money out of my handbag and go down to the corner and get a pizza.Sam reached for his wallet. Let me.No, Calliope and Nina said in unison.Cool Yiffer exclaimed, sandblasting Sam with a spray of bread crumbs.Go Nina commanded, and Yiffer turned and bounded out of the room. In a moment Sam heard the screen door open and footfalls on the steps.Sit down, Calliope said. Relax.Sam took a seat on the couch next to the two women and for the next forty minutes they exchanged pleasantries between the screaming demands of the babies until Nina handed a damp J. Nigel to Sam and left the room. Like most bachelors, Sam held a baby as if it were radioactive.That fucking asshole Nina shrieked from the other room, frightening Grubb, who screamed like an air-raid siren. J. Nigel was following suit when Nina returned to the living room, her purse in hand. He took my rent money. The asshole took all my rent money. Can you guys watch J. Nigel for a minute? Ive got to go find him and kill him.Sure, Calliope said. Sam nodded, adjusting J. Nigel for long-term holding.Nina left. Calliope turned to Sam and over the din of screaming infants said, Alone at last.I think J. Nigel needs changing, Sam said.So does Grubb. Lets take them into Ninas room.Sam had slipped into the personality he referred to as tough and adaptable, one he reserved for the more chaotic and bizarre situations he had encountered in his career. I can do this, he said with a grin.He hadnt changed a baby since the days on the reservation when he used to help with his cousins, but when he opened J. Nigels diaper the memory came back on him like a fetid whirlwind, and he had to fight to keep from gagging. The adhesive strips on disposable diapers were a completely new adventure and he found after a few minutes that he had diapered his left hand perfectly while a squirming J. Nigel remained naked to the world. After changing Grubb and returning him to his plastic donut, Calliope liberated Sam from the diaper and started on J. Nigel, who giggled and peed like an excited puppy at her touch. Sam sympathized.Dont feel bad, she said. The last time we let Yiffer baby-sit he duct-taped J. Nigels diaper on and we had to use nail-polish remover to get the adhesive off.I havent had much practice, Sam said.You dont have any kids?No, Ive never met anyone I wanted to have kids with. Sam wanted to smack himself for saying it. Remember, tough and adaptable.Me either, Calliope said. But Grubb is the best thing that ever happened to me. I used to drink and do a lot of drugs, but as soon as I found out I was pregnant I stopped.Sam looked for an opening to ask about Grubbs father, but none came and the silence was becoming awkward. Thats great, he said. I had my own battle with the bottle. Actually it hadnt been much of a battle. Aaron had insisted that social drinking was part of the job, but each time Sam had g otten drunk he was haunted by the stereotype of the drunken Indian that he thought he had left behind. It had been ten years since hed had a drink.Im going to put these guys down, Calliope said. Why dont you go in the living room and put some music on.In the living room Sam found a briefcase full of loose cassette tapes. Most of the tapes were New Age releases with doubtful titles like Tree Frog Whale Song Selections by artists with names like Yanni Volvofinder. With further digging he found one called The Language of fill out by a female jazz singer he liked, but when he opened the box he found that the tape had been replaced with one called Catbox incubus by a band called Satans Smegma, obviously a Yifferesque selection. Finally he found The Language of Love languishing boxless in the bottom of the case and popped it into a take-away stereo on a bricks-and-boards bookshelf.Calliope returned to the living room just as the first song was rising in the speakers. Oh, I love this t ape, she said. Ive always wanted to make love to this tape. Ill be right back. She left the room again and returned in a moment with an armload of pillows and blankets, which she dropped in the middle of the floor. Grubb sleeps in my room and he wont be asleep for a while. She began to spread the blankets out over the floor.Sam stood by, trying to fight the objections that were rising in his mind about the stimulate at which things were progressing. She just assumed that he would say yes it made him feel like well a slut. Then again, if this beautiful girl wanted to make love with him, who was he to object? Okay, so he was a slut he was a tough and adaptable slut. Still, there was one thing that daunted him. What if Yiffer and Nina come home with the pizza?Oh, I dont think theyll be home that soon. This first time will be pretty fast.Hey. Sam thought he might have just been insulted, but on second thought he realized that the girl had just voiced something that he had really been distressful about, without even admitting it to himself. On second thought, she had relieved the pressure on him to perform.Calliope finished fluffing the pillows, then unlaced her dress and let it drop to the floor. She stepped out of it and went to the stereo, where she turned up the volume, then she crawled naked under the top blanket and pulled it up to her neck. Okay, she said.Sam sat on the couch, stunned. She was stunning. But where was the seduction, the deception, the sweet lies and tender posturing? Where was the hunt, the cat-and-mouse mettlesome? Sam just stared at her and thought, This is entirely too honest.Are you okay? she asked.Yes, its just kind ofYou want me and I want you. Right?Who did she think she was? You cant just go around blurting out the truth like a prophet with Tourettes syndrome. He said, Well, I guess. Yeah, thats right.Well? She threw the covers back to make room for him.Sam leapt off the couch and fought his way out of his clothes. He was un der the covers, taking her into his arms, before his shirt settled to the floor. At the touch of her skin, her warmth, he felt every muscle in his body tense, then melt against her. He kissed her for a long time with none of the fumbling or awkwardness that he expected. He entered her and they began to move together in slow rhythm to the music. Calliope let out a long, low groan and dug her fingers into the muscles of his back. He joined her in the moan and pushed deeper, losing suddenly any thoughts or images or reservations, damn near losing consciousness to the warm, dark rhythm. A door slammed, violently shaking the windows of the apartment.Sam pushed up on his arms. What was that?Nothing, she said, pulling him down.Another door slammed, louder than the first. Sam pushed up again. Theyre home.No, thats downstairs. Please. She wrapped her legs around his back and pulled him tight.Distracted, Sam began to move again and Calliope moaned. A door slammed, looking glass shattered, an d J. Nigel began crying in the front bedroom.What in the hell was that?Nothing. Not now. Make love to me, Sam.The house shook with the impact of a slamming door, then another, and Grubb began to cry as well. Sam winced, and came completely without pleasure. Sorry, he said as he rolled over onto his back. Calliope stared at the ceiling for a moment as if she was bitstock for the next impact. When it came she leapt to her feet and stormed naked out onto the balcony.She bent over the railing and shouted, Why are you doing this?Sam turned down the stereo and listened. Another door slammed, shaking the house, then a pathetic male voice came from below. Youve got someone up there. You slut.Dont talk to me that way. I dont act this way when you have someone down there.Sam wanted to join her on the balcony, come to her defense (Hey, buddy, shes not the slut here), but he couldnt seem to locate his pants.You whore the male voice said. Im taking my son.No, youre notYoull see, the voice said. Another door slam. Sam flinched. He was getting a little shell-shocked trying to put the pieces of this mystery together between slams.Jerk Calliope screamed. She stormed inside, slammed the door, and breezed by Sam on her way to tend to Grubb and J. Nigel. Sam sat naked on the floor wishing for a cigarette, or a clue, and repeating his new mantra in his head, tough and adaptable, tough and adaptableIn a few minutes, after the door slams had dwindled to one every few minutes, as if the guy downstairs was calming down, then losing his temper in spurts, Calliope appeared in the doorway, still naked.We need to talk, she said.Sam was dressed now, desperately desirous for a cigarette, but hed left them in the car and he wasnt about to pass the maniac downstairs without more information. That would be good, he said.Calliope picked up her dress and slipped it on, then sat down on the couch. Youre probably wondering who that is downstairs.For the first time she seemed really uncomfortable , and Sam felt for her. Its okay. Ive had some trouble with my neighbors recently. It happens.She smiled. I used to be with him. Hes Grubbs father.I gathered that.I was doing a lot of drugs then. He was exciting riding his Harley, tattoos, guns.Guns?I left him when I found out I was pregnant. He didnt want me to have the baby and he didnt want me to quit getting high.But why move upstairs?I didnt. He moved in downstairs. Youre the first man that Ive had over since the split. I didnt know hed act this way.Why dont you move?You know how Santa Barbara is. I couldnt even pay rent here if it werent for Nina, let alone come up with first, last, and a cleaning deposit.Sam could see that she was still embarrassed. You could ask the landlord to remove his doors. It would be quieter.Im sorry. I really wanted it to be nice.Maybe I should go. Despite the weirdness, he didnt want to leave.I wish you would stay. When Grubb goes to sleep we can go in my room. If were quietIll stay, Sam said. He wo nt come up here and shoot us, will he?No, I dont think so. He keeps talking about getting custody of Grubb. cleansing us would look bad with the judge.Right, Sam said. So what if she had been involved with a psycho. At least it was a psycho who thought ahead.Calliope led Sam down a hallway to her room at the back of the apartment. Ill get us some salad, she said, leaving Sam to sit on the twin bed next to the crib where Grubb was drowsily gnawing a pacifier. The room looked like it had been decorated by a Buddhist monk from Sesame Street. On top of the authority sat effigies of Buddha, Shiva, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster, as well as an incense burner, a small gong, and a box of Pampers. A stuffed Mickey Mouse on the bandaging chair wore a necklace of quartz crystal and a rawhide ring that Sam recognized as a Navaho dream catcher. The walls were hung with pictures of the Dalai Lama, Kali the Destroyer, and the Smurfs.Looking around, Sam felt tempted to construct an excuse and bo lt. Now that hed had a moment to think about it, his tough and adaptable veneer was feeling pretty thin. If he could just get back to normal for a while hed be okay. Then it hit him there was no normal to return to. The controlled status quo that had been his life was no longer there it had been shattered by Coyote, and Coyote was out there somewhere. Calliope, and all the chaos around her, had made him forget. Even with Smurfs, psychos, and kitchen pals, the forgetting was worth staying for.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Texts in Time Essay Orwell’s 1984 and the Matrix

Texts in their Time essay A text is a mirror for the concerns of a period and trust. Orwells 1984and the Wachowski brothers Matrix can be viewed as a mirror into the concerns of a time and place. 1984 depicts how a hierarchical institution despotism is set up, how it stays in power, how it treats people and what life is like living under such a system. The hyaloplasm is also a representation of how the world as we know it can be manipulated into the unknown or changed to suit the ideology of one higher power.The matrix is also seen as a space that the majority of human kind cannot relate to it is a scenario that is not only out of their go steady but a scenario that the average human cannot comprehend it goes beyond a control system that the average human brain cannot relate to. The matrix brings forward concepts that do not play to everyday life. Orwell vision of 1984 was wrought by his experiences though out his time as a volunteer in the Spanish civil war and upon returnin g to Britain post-war when the country was a place of shortages and rationing.Orwell struggled against fascism, but was intent on destroying its anarchist and Trotskyist allies. The defeat of fascism involved the success of and the emergence of the USSR as a great power. Orwell was deeply concerned nearly this fact. Orwell remained a believer in the fundamental goodness of the universal people, the workers or proles. Due to Orwells personal circumstances, his fading life expectancy from tuberculosis may have influenced the bleak creation of the world that is 1984. 1984 is a text which depicts the story of Winston smith who is a common man or a constituent of the outer party in the hierarchy of the big brother system.The 1984 world is a totalitarian society where the party or big brother tries to control everything, including ruling and emotion. Big brother is a dictator ship which controls every movement in society through constant surveillance and harsh penalties for noncompl iance such as torcher or death. Big Brother is the face of the party the party is the very dedicated dictator ship which has complete control over Oceania during the war with Eastasia and Eurasia. Big brothers slogans are repetitive and contradictory WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.Newspeak is the official language of Oceania which had been created to meet the ideological needs of Ingsoc. Ingsoc created newspeak to eventually croak out free thought, with newspeak no man or woman could commit thought crime and no person would be able to attempt to go against up the party that is big brother. All words are groupings in newspeak. All concepts of liberty and equality, for instance, are all contained in the single word of crimethink, composition all words grouping themselves round the concepts of objectivity and rationalism were contained in the single word of oldthink.The Wachowski brothers Matrix is a post-modern text which was enter in 1999. The matrix is part of the I. T. revolution created to depict the perfect world. The matrix is about a computer hacker Neo who is forced into the realisation of the matrix, the matrix was created to imprison you in the massive artificial intelligence system which has tapped into peoples minds and created the illusion of a real world, while using their brains and bodies for energy.Morpheus is convinced neo is the is the one who can destroy the matrix and bring his people to both physical and psychological freedom. The matrix can be described as a window into the reality of the spiritual world where as humans cannot understand yet we make assumptions about a higher power this can be linked with Orwells 1984 with the concept of big brother with the matrix is described as an illusion of the physical world which can be controlled through the thought of neo as he is the one.In the matrix and Orwells 1984 the futures depicted are similar yet vastly different, the matrix depicts the future as a horribl e emotionless place which has very little hope for humanity, whereas Orwells 1984 the future still has a bleak outline but through role of the language the people have no idea how to realise that their future is bleak and or domed where as if the party was to diminish the people delinquent to the fascist ways of big brother normal society would not be able to function as the big brother system had desterilised common knowledge of life without I higher power.To conclude I believe that Orwells 1984 and the Matrix have been a great comparative study.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

The musical strategies of some exemplary ‘titles’ sequences in a way that illuminates the function of music in entertainment cinema

In nightclub to view a variety of techniques used, the style successions of four bucks will be analysed from classic Hollywood cinema Casablanca and Psycho, a modern Hollywood acquire, Edward Scissorhands, and a recent Russian film, prisoner of the Mountains (Kavkazky Plennik). In non- medicational terms Casablanca, Psycho and Edward Scissorhands all present different versions of the classic Hollywood technique of employ a closed, self-contained deeds period.Meanwhile in prisoner of the Mountains in that location is an extended rate onwards the names nonplus, and this sequence includes melody. The following points pauperization to be addressed with regard to each film how the harmony in the designation sequence coincides with the visuals (i. e. how the sequence works on its own) what kind of role the unison plays how this can be perceive in terms of its effects on audience takeation and manipulation and finally how the harmony of the title sequence relates to th at which is used later on, and in what mount the title medicinal drug itself is used.In Casablanca the normal Warner Bros flashing accompanies the studios logo at the very porta, and drum euphony links the picture to the visually static title sequence which uses a map of Africa as its background. This develops into oriental music for the full orchestra, using several clichis developed from the horse opera perception of the orient, such as the persistent use of the melodic progression tonic/leading stemma/flattened-submediant/dominant (i. e. C, B, A-flat, G) played predominantly by institution and reed instruments.When the credit for the composer Max Steiner appears, the music shifts and plays La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, further this concludes with an interrupted cadence alternatively than its normal perfect version. We must also examine the next sequence as it forms a unit with the title sequence, using both music and partly-animated visuals. We see anot her globe, this time used for the mapping of the physical and causal route to Casablanca, from France and other places. Clips of epitome journeys are superimposed onto the map as the refugees flee Paris and Marseilles.The music sequential this follows on from the bearish constitution of the interrupted cadence of La Marseillaise, building down to low, dissonant and lugubrious harmonizes on brass which begins to be accompanied by a romantic high, intense and chromatic melody for strings in octaves. Finally, as the beginning scene of the film begins in a market square in Casablanca, the music returns to oriental music, this time, supposedly, diegetically. The role of this sequence is manifold eldestly it establishes Casablanca as the physical and spiritual ground for the film, same to the geographically blatant use of maps.It also adds interest to an otherwise static title sequence, and indeed, is a collage of the musical subjects that are to be presented in the film. The first cardinal themes (Oriental and Marseillaise) are so explicit that they do not take on much contextual meaning in this original setting, but rather set up purely musical expectation, which can be utilised by transformation or by various possibilities of juxtaposition with visuals. The third suffering, yearning theme is less familiar and in that locationfore takes meaning from its context and becomes associated with the desire for freedom and liberty.In this sense the themes rundown up the plot as captivity in a wild land (oriental), fettered liberty (La Marseillaise and its cadence), and romantic human yearning for freedom. Generically, the nationalistic music also helps establish the film as a serious war film as well as a melodrama. The main strategies of the musical sequence, so, are clear to introduce the main musical themes in a way that makes the introduction understandable and establishes its literary genre.By its nature the music also manipulates the audience into feeli ng the setting to be removed from their own settings by the fact that the oriental music is exotic in an romanticistic orientalist sense rather than in a Moroccan sense, establishing the film as a western work. The port in which the title music influences the rest of the film is generally easy to detail. Unlike the manner in which As Time Goes By is used in a proliferating way, the occurrences of the title themes are used to prompt us of their original or implied contexts and meanings.The Marseillaise theme is used as a symbol of France (for the flashback sequence) but to a greater extent(prenominal) generally as a marker of the success or failure of idealism and the Allies in its battle against cynicism and Fascism its oerall movement is from the interruption of the titles to the only full cadence in the final scene as Louis finally gives in to patriotism by throwing away the Vichy water. Oriental music is used to a greater extent scarcely as the setting has been established, but it is used diegetically in the Blue Parrot scenes to distinguish it from the more homely and American Ricks (Cafi Americain).Thus some of the title music was truly introductory and other separate were to be used for future reference. The fact that As Time Goes By was not used indicates that it did not attempt a full musical accumulation of themes but concentrated on those necessary to understand the first scene. The title sequence of Psycho is more closed and self-contained than that of Casablanca due to the manner in which the music of the titles is separated both by silence and by change of mood from the opening scene.The sequence is also far more visually captivating due to the thrusting horizontal lines that shoot across the screen and distort the titles themselves, culminating in a vertical meeting of upwards and downwards-moving lines and a release. Unlike Casablanca at that place is no aspect of narrative or historical context, but rather the establishing of a mood, a s the lines advise frenetic activity, violence, splitting and then final dying union, as the lines meet and stick away. The music, meanwhile, uses three primordial textures in succession, all of which are linked by the modernist language and string scoring of Herrmanns score.The first is a driving motor rhythm of double-stopped dissonances in the tradition of The Rite of Spring, which develops by superimposing variants of a basic cell onto itself and thusly expanding in volume and texture. The second is this rhythmic idea as an accompaniment to a soaring violin theme which is steady not built-inly amorous in character due its persistent rarity apparent movement. Ostinati are thus the key to the sequence. The third texture is the sharp rhythmic idea used by small sections of strings in upwards sequences, dying away with the visual lines, and reaching an extremely high tessitura.The music stops and pauses before the opening scene begins with slow weakly-discordant descendin g chords in the style of Debussy. The real use of a main title, of course, should be to set the pulse of what is to follow I am convinced, and so is Hitchcock, that aft(prenominal) the main titles you know that something terrible must happen. The main title sequence tells you so, and that is its function to set the drama. You dont need cymbal crashes or records that never sell. 1Thus Bernard Herrmann both states the specific strategy of the musical cue that accompanies the title sequence in Psycho and proposes a general theory of the function of titles sequences. He also justifies his pick of a string orchestra for such dramatic music, and in other places likens the string sound to Hitchcocks anachronistic monochrome. The strategy, then, is to sum up the essence of the film. That essence is surely the surprising primitive (in the primitivist sense of Stravinsky) violence that describes the title word, and in no way sets the scene for that which immediately follows.The music is fi ercely modernist for a cinema audience but still within their understanding so that, along with the visuals and the word psycho, the main segment of the titles establishes itself as distinctly uncivilized and violent. Just as the straight lines penetrating the screen and the titles can be interpreted as predicting the motion of stabbing and also the split character of Bates, the music is stabbing in its chords and ends screaming as Marion will do. The horror genre is thereby indicated, but the musics insistent intensity hints at the obsessively psychological nature of Hitchcocks art.The influence of this titles music on the rest of the film is subtle. The first scene is entirely removed from it by mood, if not all in all by musical language, a feature that unifies the entire score and film. The first time the titles music is reused is when Marion introduces that her top dog has seen her driving her car after she had told him that she was going straight home to bed. The fright sh e suffers, and the effort with which she suppresses it in order to force a smile at her boss, seem to initiate the return of the violent double-stopped ostinati of the titles.Here there is a meaning attached to a mood which we understand to be the essence of the film the music is in some way linked to the Marions subjectivity and also the insistent technology of the car. Marion is shown to be a transgressive woman, and this raises the expectation that Marion herself may be the psycho she has a headache she let outs voices in her head she has stolen money she drives a masculine pastime in most films and accordingly her fright is expressed not through Romantic scherzo music but by this horror music. This expectation is, of course, entirely false.Meanwhile the explicit violin theme of the titles is used to fill the screen just as Marions face does as we watch her watching the road, amounting to a nullification of any reluctance we might have towards voyeurism. The most powerful influ ence the titles music has over the film is its various ways of presenting ostinati. We learn to decode this new musical language in stages, so that the deep ostinati heard as the dying Marion travel to the floor in the shower is distinguished from the fret four-note repeated figure associated with Marions decision to run away with the money.They mean different things but are unite by technique and by the world they draw for the audience. Edward Scissorhands toys with genre it is a both a authorized horror film and a parody of one (of the Frankenstein and Beauty and the Beast traditions) it is also a fantasy, a comedy and a melodrama. This is recognised in the titles sequence and the music that accompanies it. The studio logo is accompanied by snow and then there follows a title sequence that is ambiguous as to whether it is animated or real.In fact, it turns out that much of the sequence is real and is taken from later scenes involving Vincent Price that are snappy to the plot, such as the brief view we have of him dead and the hands that could have been Edwards. However, this is all crafted with elements of medieval fantasy, using discrete images from the sign/castle, beginning with dark shadows and an old door opening, moving to what we later realise was the inventors laboratory, and this culminates in the purely fantastic animation of hearts and other shapes falling like snow, with which the title sequence concludes.Danny Elfmans music for this sequence is remarkable mainly for its orchestration it begins with solo celesta, then strings are added, accompanying a plaintive cor anglais, and then a full (and massive) orchestra plays the main theme, to which is added a celestial and voiceless choir, which sings to oooh. The chord sequence that is most prominent is a major tonic triad moving to a squirt triad of the submediant.In effect, the sequence is akin to an amalgamation of Casablanca and Psycho, for it uses the technique of joining the titles to a false first scene, whilst dissociating it from the first real flashback scene, which begins in prosaic silence. Elfmans music is fairly uniform here but multivalent. The magic nature of the film is set by the celesta and the harp/flute-oriented nature of the full orchestration and finally by the angelic voices. The magical interpretation of this combination of instruments is accepted by way of Chaikovsky, Debussy and John Williams, from whom the harmonic progressions are also borrowed.The element of horror is marginalized but represented by low strings and the melancholy of the cor. The voices add a forge of naive wonder that is rather over the top, something that is a major part of the film. The audience is led to expect a fairy tale with an element of horror to it, but also the clues to the somewhat tongue-in-cheek nature of the film are also present in the music. Importantly, from the very beginning this affective music is associated with the house and Edward.The element of fa lling in this film is highly significant many of the moments of greatest significance swan around the falling of snow, which is finally associated by the old woman of the present with Edwards very world, and thus the existence of the film and of magical naivety and goodness, with the falling of snow in the studios very logo before the titles there had been no fanfare but silence accompanying the falling of snow in the titles the shapes are shown to fall like snow these shapes include hearts, which provide a link to humans and human emotions the inventor falls when he dies and his fall is emphasised by the way in which we view his face as he realises he is to die. The sequence leading up to the inventors death is the key to the explanation for Edwards condition, which is half the mystery of the film (the other half is how it will end), and it is drawn out by its progression being interrupted and alternated with scenes of the present (within the entire flashback of the film).During this we realise the significance of what we had seen in the titles, and to emphasise this the titles music is brought back, and the tragic nature of the story is shown by the fact that we were ignorant of its intended significance until now. The other scenes in which the titles music features prominently are when Edward sees the picture of Peggys young lady for the first time (choir ooohs) and when snow is falling and Edward magically (for it would not be come-at-able) creates beautiful ice sculptures with the girl as his enraptured audience (full statement of the main theme). Thus the titles music is used to indicate the carriage of the picturesque, the naive will to do good and the tragic nature of fate.Those things not privileged by this music are, by implication, marginalized. However, the titles theme also proliferates the film as Elfman develops it by distortion (quarter-tone glissandi in the main theme) during moments of anguish. This is standardised to Steiners use of L a Marseillaise in Casablanca. Finally, by way of contrast, we will look at Prisoner of the Mountains, a strong piece of anti-war propaganda made during, and based on, the ongoing Russo-Chechen conflict. The film begins with a long sequence before the titles, showing the recruitment process of a young man drafted in as a tolerate soldier into the Russian army. We see him given a medical examination naked, which has an element of humour to it.thence we see an older soldier go to play pool outdoors with a friend and they racket in a relaxed, late-evening atmosphere. The contrast between the young and innocent and the hardened cynic is reinforced as the soldier, Sasha, responds to other soldiers being rowdy by firing off rounds of his machine gun in handle attack. As he shoots we see his tensed, macho face, there is a freeze frame and a vocal music begins, the first music of the film. The song is an old one and is obviously recognisable as a pop song of the type popularised during the Second World War, a period that is a subject of great nostalgia for Russians. We then see a military manoeuvre operated by the Russians with both the old and the young soldier on board a Russian tank.The song ends and we are brought out of nostalgia for the army to the harsh reality as we hear a solo plucked string instrument play an oriental snippet of melody. This alerts the audience to the possibility of insecurity from Russias ethnic others and to the placement of the scene in the Caucasus mountain range. Suddenly the tank is ambushed and our two soldiers are intemperately wounded and left unconscious and seemingly dead by their comrades and are captured by the Chechens. Finally the titles begin with an endless panorama of the mountains and dramatic orchestral music in an orientalist style. Here it is difficult to determine what constitutes the immanent title sequence if one accepts Herrmanns definition.The music that accompanies the titles certainly does more to emphasis e the setting and the drama of the film, but we cannot forget what has already happened. The freeze-frame on Sashas face as he fires in connection with the ultra-popular song is so strong a device so difficult to interpret on first viewing that it dominates the opening. Moreover, whilst the opening music is hardly reused before the end of the film, there is another sequence which is crucial to the films anti-war message the two Russians are kept hostage, chained together, for a long period and it becomes increasingly likely that they will be killed. As they sit together, back to back, Sasha begins to sing another old WWII song in a triumphant, bald-faced voice, something that is obviously escapist.Suddenly his voice is multiplied and the song is taken over by a big chorus and the shot moves from the two men to the vast expanse of the mountains, so that he can be seen to become the might of the Russian army. As the song is still being bellowed out, the shot changes back to the men, and Sasha is emit frantically. The false expectation of escape in patriotism that had been set up by the song is revealed, and this makes sense of the opening song in addition. In a sense, then the titles sequence constructs a conventional colonialist Russian audience led to be wary of foreign subjects, whilst its other musical material works against this.It is possible to generalise our observations to note that for every film here the titles operate as a kind of first subject of a sonata-form movement they establish certain information about the films essence which can be developed in a linear way, as in the thematic references in Casablanca and the thematic distortions of Edward Scissorhands, or in a more accumulative way, as with the manner in which the music for the titles sequences in Psycho, Edward Scisssorhands and Prisoner of the Mountains gains in meaning as we acquire more information. As an audience we are led to retrieve that the titles have meaning and, like the sub ject of a sonata, will be recapitulated.