IRONY the Challenge of Acting Oscar Wilde And George Bernard Shaw Essay Example

IRONY the Challenge of Acting Oscar Wilde And George Bernard Shaw Essay the Challenge of Acting Oscar Wilde And George Bernard Shaw Irony is another staple tool of wit in Style acting, and it often seems to come effortlessly to British actors because the British rarely say what they mean. The speech we hear is an indication of what we dont hear One way of looking at speech is to say it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness, says British playwright Harold Pinter. But I notice that some American actors (other than native New Yorkers) are made uneasy by the notion that what they are saying is a decoy from the true intention, that the language distracts from what the character is actually thinking They worry that the underlying meaning is not obvious enough and in their attempts to communicate it they destroy all irony because if it isnt delicate, its not irony. Its nudge,nudge or worse. Meaning one thing while saying something else is like singing a harmony with yourself, and the dominant tune is the spoken words. If they are convincing in their own ri ght, and the audience realizes the unspoken irony a second later, its funny. The character need not necessarily grasp the irony: awareness is not always part of the equation. Another form of irony springs from the contradiction between words and actions. When this is deliberate it can be crude, such as how very amusing said with a straight face. Action should not reinforce an irony or it will overload it. For example, I like you already more than I can say should not be accompanied by a hostile stare. In fact, the action that accompanies irony should be ambiguously appropriate. In other words, it should be capable of being interpreted as the truth by the recipient, and recognizable cover up by the audience. Its a fine line to tread. Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest is a minefield of irony, and you will fall all too easily into leaden unfunniness if the you dont have a light touch.The structure of Oscar Wildes di

102 Rhetorical Analysis and Research Professor Ramos Blog

102 Rhetorical Analysis and Research Research for a Rhetorical Analysis Quick Write Imagine the rhetorical analysis essay you are writing as a speech or YouTube video. What would stay the same? What would change? Research for a Rhetorical Analysis The assignment asks you to research scholarly sources to add to your analysis. If your text is dealing with a major issue, you will want to find some scholarly research to help define, back up, and analyze the text. For example. If your text deals with gender issues, search for  gender AND media. Or  gender AND ads. Or  sexism and media. What else can you look up? Find keywords related to the broader topic and bring in research to use in your analysis. Grading Criteria Critical thinking and clarity of thought are the first two criteria for the rhetorical analysis. Take a minute and figure out which other possible criteria we should use. Critical Thinking Clarity of Thought Close reading of text, understand purpose, audience, and appeals MLA, sources, annotations Images and Title Homework Read Chapter 9, A Logician’s View: Deduction, Induction, Fallacies

Cyber-Activism and Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cyber-Activism and Democracy - Essay Example Both Republicans and Democrats agreed that majority of these young voters voted for Obama because of the contact campaign made to reach out the young voters through email and social networking sites. In fact it was as early as in February 2007 that President Nomination hopeful, Barak Obama launched his own social networking site (O'Hear, 2007). Therefore, it will be worthwhile to find out the kind of influence the cyber-activism had on the US democracy. Carr (2008) pointed out that the Obama campaign did not do anything innovative during the run up to the presidency. What it did was to tap the power of the social networking applications in the form of a mass movement and was successful in raising money, organize locally and fight out the smear campaign. Such ventures proved to be a historic milestone for the Obama campaigns, as it first ensured his win over the fellow democrat Hillary Clinton and subsequently over the Republican rival John McCain. Even after getting elected to the office Obama sought to continue the trend and argued his case to bring his Blackberry to the Oval office. The arguments from the administration about security concerns and a tradition of e-mail-free presidents did not help and Obama was successful in finding a secure way to hold on the communicator, his dependable ally during the run up to the presidency (Heussner, 2009). President Obama started off his tenure amidst uncertainty and gloom in the economy. People expected something concrete from him on this front. After 100 days in office, a survey carried out by Wall Street Journal/NBC News came out with the finding that 61 percent people approved the job Obama has done as the President (WSJ, 2009). Obama administration has been active on many fronts. The top five agendas taken up by the admin include; i. Economic Stimulus Plan: President Obama was able to convince the Congress to pass the $787 billion economic stimulus plan. Impact of the discussion taking place on social networking sites is certainly there on the steps being taken to control the damage on account of recessionary trends. While general public certainly wants that the corporate world requires a helping hand, but at the same time, it desires that the sanctity of public money should be maintained. Owing to such pressures, President Obama, blasted off the 165 million dollars largesse being offered by American International Group (AIG) to its executives in the form of bonuses. He instructed the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to make sure that the bailout money is not misused (BBC, 2009). ii. Setting up of Green Team: The damage being done to the environment by the rising levels of industrial pollution and some of the policies of the corporate world have been a topic of discussion at almost all SNS. Besides the individuals, a number of NGOs like AVAAZ took up the matter and sent across messages to the US administration (Avaaz, 2008). This seems to have an impact on the decision making and Barak Obama came out with a team of specialists to suggest remedial measures towards protecting the environment. Obama issued strict environmental directives calling on the EPA to1 'revisit a request from California and 13

Fashion Videos Aesthetics Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fashion Videos Aesthetics Analysis - Essay Example The essay "Fashion Videos Aesthetics Analysis" provides a review of two films of fashion. A three point effect has been used in most of the close ups to create a low key effect which in turn produces an effect of depth and intensity while at the same time eliminating shadows. A good example of this is the close of of the woman’s face. Different camera movements are also used to create effects of proximity or distance as well as illusions of speed and movement, sudden zooming creates an effect of intensity and this is used to make the character appear as such. Overhead shots are also employed through and a man is seen from high up a camera rapidly descends, possibly from a crane and it shows him standing and this emphasizes his isolation creating a somber and thoughtful mood. The quick movement of the camera from right to left just as the driver in the car spins the wheel is also used to create a superficial effect of a sudden turn while the close front view of the vehicle crea tes an impression of great speed as well as accentuating the beautiful effect created by the splashing water. Continuity or eyeliner matching is achieved with smooth perfection when the male character is pictured staring intensely to his front and the next shot directly shifts to what he had been staring at which was the woman. Another continuity techniques used is the match in action, throughout the film; the same song is playing continuously without a pause or variation except those that are part of the music itself. However the events in the film are not continuous and there are many and often sudden shift in screen for instance some are shot indoors while other are shot outdoors in the city and even in the beach. The continuity of the music however gives the impression that all the action is not only related but actually follows each other, in a sort of artificial chronology which allows a blend of virtually unrelated events presented after each other to somehow blend and make s ense. Film 2 Kenzo Resort 2013?s Electric Jungle video is an animated and powerful look book that is designed to put the viewer through a range of amazing sensory experiences by combining different aspects of lighting, music and artistic designs. The video is appropriately named electric jungle because it creates that effect by combining a range of animal collages as well as African inspired print all played to the highly pulsating background electro music. The film’s director wanted to animate the illustrative world that could only exist in the imagination and to achieve this he had to create a surreal sort of alternative universe ins which the jungle patens mixed and alternated with the real world moving in and out. The film has a dream like quality as is evidence in the blending of the models the background and the clothes as they seem to move in synch at some points and at others interweave such that the background animal patterns take over the modes face. The models and animals appearing on the stage are in form of clear and sharp images which have either been taken with backlight or the shadows were eliminated in the editing with this clarity making the merging of radically different images more abrupt and noticeable. Through the pictorial collage, the director is able to match and include a variety of animal themed patterns from elephant, zebra and leopard among others, in addition,

Wikis International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wikis International Business - Assignment Example However, the runaway corruption in these countries complicates the operation of the multinational companies. This situation gives rise to the problem of bribery that intertwines with corruption. It is almost impossible to mention bribery without thinking of corruption. The corruption that arises out of bribery erodes the economic and social lives of people and businesses. It is important to fight corruption because it discourages investor confidence that lowers the economic growth of a country. A weak economy puts a heavy burden on people by lowering their living standards. Corruption in these developing countries has adversely affected the ethics of international business. Bribery in international business usually takes place in big tendering processes and contracts. The Rolls-Royce case is an example of such a deal where a company pays significant amounts in bribery to secure a lucrative deal. Many companies have resorted to illegal means of obtaining contracts due to the stiff competition in the international market. Corruption has become a legitimate cost of doing business with countries that require infrastructure or are rich in natural resources. Countries such as Nigeria and Brazil have an abundance of natural resources yet at the same time still require infrastructural development. These companies’ primary goal is to make profits, and they are, therefore, willing to do anything to beat their competitors and stay in business. However, there are a few measures that the MNEs can implement to put a stop to the scourge of bribery. Multinational companies often pay hefty bribes to corrupt officials who are immune from judicial processes in these emerging markets. It, therefore, demands collective action on the part of these companies in order to change the dynamics of this corrupt game. They should further form a partnership with the civil society. Intermediaries are the ones that conduct most transactions for MNEs working abroad. The

Characteristics And Features Of Capital Markets Finance Essay

Characteristics And Features Of Capital Markets Finance Essay Capital market in any country consists of equity and the debt markets. Within the debt market there are govt securities and the corporate bond market. For developing countries, a liquid corporate bond market can play a critical role in supporting economic development as It supplements the banking system to meet corporate sector requirements for long-term capital investment and asset creation. It provides a stable source of finance when the equity market is volatile. A well structures corporate bond market can have implications on monetary policy of a country as bond markets can provide relevant information about risks to price stability Despite rapidly transforming financial sector and a fast growing economy Indias corporate bond market remains underdeveloped. It is still dominated by the plain vanilla bank loans and govt securities. The dominance of equities and banking system can be gauged from the fact that since 1996, Indias stock market capitalisation as a percentage of GDP has increased to 108% from 32.1%, while the banking sectors ratio to GDP has risen from 46.3% to 78.2% in 2008. In contrast, the bond markets grew to a modest 43.4 percent of GDP from 21.3 percent. Of this corporate bonds account for around 3.2% of GDP and government bond market accounts for 38.3% of GDP. (Graph1) Graph1 Source: RBI Indias government bond market stands ahead of most East-Asian emerging markets but most of it is used as a source of financing the deficit. The size of the Indian corporate debt market is very small in comparison with not only developed markets, but also some of the emerging market economies in Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand and China (Graph 2) Graph 2 Source: RBI Characteristics and features Innovation and a Plethora of options: Over time great innovations have been witnessed in the corporate bond issuances, like floating rate instruments, convertible bonds, callable (put-able) bonds, zero coupon bonds and step-redemption bonds. This has brought a variety that caters to a wider customer base and helps them maintain strike a risk-return balance. Preference for private placement: In India, issuers tend to prefer Private Placement over public issue as against USA where majority of corporate bonds are publically issued. In India while private placement grew 6.23 times to Rs. 62461.80 crores in 2000-01 since 1995-96, the corresponding increase in public issues of debt has been merely 40.95 percent from the 1995-96 levels. (graph 3).This leads to a crunch in market liquidity. A number of factors are responsible for such preference. First, the companies can avoid the lengthy issuance procedure for public issues. Second is the low cost of private placement. Third, the amounts that can be raised through private placements are typically larger. Fourth, the structure of debt can be negotiated according to the needs of the issuer. Finally, a corporate can expect to raise debt from the market at finer rates than the PLR of banks and financial institutions only with an AAA rated paper. This limits the number of entities that would find it profitable to enter the market directly. Even though the listing of privately placed bonds has been made mandatory, a proper screening mechanism is missing to take care of t he quality and transparency issues of private placement deals. Graph 3: Resource mobilization through debt Source: Equity and corporate debt report: RBI Graph 4 Source: RBI Dominance of financial institutions: The public issues market has over the years been dominated by financial institutions. The issuers who are the main participants in other corporate bond markets (that is, private sector, non-financial), represent only a small proportion of the corporate debt issues in the Indian market. Most of the privately placed bonds (which are about 90% of the total issue of corporate bonds) are issued by the financial and the public sector. (Graph 4) Inefficient secondary market: Further the secondary market for non-sovereign debt, especially corporate paper still remains plagued by inefficiencies. The primary problem is the total lack of market making in these securities, which consequently leads to poor liquidity. The biggest investors in this segment of the market, namely LIC, UTI prefer to hold these instruments to maturity, thereby holding the supply of paper in the market. The listed corporate bonds also trade on the Wholesale Debt Segment of NSE. But the percentage of the bonds trading on the exchange is small. Number of trades in debt compared to equity on average for August 2007 is just 0.003%. Graph 5 Figures are turnover on the wholesale debt market segment of NSE. Source: NSE Challenges and issues Dominance of private placements Dominance of large corporations. The credit rating system encourages only the large corporations with an AAA rating. (Table 1) Non-existent repo market for corporate bonds unlike the government bonds where there is an active repo market. Complicated and slow issuance procedure. Regulators in India are reactive rather than proactive. Illiquid secondary market- part of it is due to the fact that the number of issuers is low and part of it is due to the fact that the large investors prefer to hold these securities till maturity. Lack of formal market makers Limited demand for bond financing. The corporate debt market in India continues to be dominated by banks Limited investor base. A successful corporate bond market requires non banking investors which are limited and restricted in case of India. Inadequate credit assessment skills coupled with lack of transparency in trades There is a lot of confusion in the market regarding both regulations and the trading floors. To sum up, corporate bond the market in India suffers from deficiencies of participants, products and a comprehensive institutional framework. Table 1: Distribution of corporate bond issues by credit ratings Recent developments Given the importance of a well developed corporate bond market, the government, the RBI and SEBI have initiated measure to develop the corporate bond market in India. Most measures were aimed at improving the disclosure norms. The corporate bond market got its due attention by the government in the Union Budget of 2004-05where in the High Level Expert Committee on Corporate Bonds and Securitisation, chaired by Dr. R. H. Patil, was set up to look into the regulatory, legal, tax and mortgage design issues for the development of the corporate bond markets. The suggestions made by the committee were to develop the market infrastructure. Some of the suggestions made in the report include the removing the stamp duty, simplifying the issuance and disclosure norms, to bring the cost of corporate bonds at par with those of government securities by having similar TDS norms, enhance the investor base by encouraging participation of mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies and gratuity funds and also retail participation through better primary and secondary markets. It also suggested a regulatory framework for a transparent and efficient secondary market for corporate bonds should be put in place by SEBI in a phased manner. It also recommended having a trade reporting system, introduction of repo in corporate bonds and better clearing and settlement system. Both RBI and SEBI have fundamentally agreed to these recommendations and steps are being taken to implement the same. Some of the steps include: Dematerialization of holdings, as required by SEBI since 2002; increased trading transparency from compulsory reporting of trades, linking local rating agencies to international rating agencies. In January 2007 SEBI was declared as the sole body responsible for regulating and coordinating the primary and secondary corporate bond market. It was a major step in remove the lack of coordination that existed due to two regulators (SEBI and RBI). In April 2007, SEBI permitted both BSE and NSE to set up trading platforms. In April 2007, SEBI reduced the shut period in corporate bonds, to align it with that applicable for Government Securities, and tradable lots in corporate bonds. In December 2007 SEBI made further amendments in issuance procedures to reduce the cost and ease issuance. It also gave green signal to FMMIDA to start trade reporting platform for CBs. Moreover, the government has made changes in the Companies Act and on simplification and reduction in the stamp duty w.e.f. 2007. From December 1, 2009 all corporate bonds traded OTC or on the debt segment of the stock exchanges will have to be cleared and settled through the National Securities Clearing Corporation Ltd (NSCCL) or the Indian Clearing Corporation Ltd (ICCL). It will help in eliminating the counter party risk in trade settlement and ensure a smooth receipt and payment system. In June 2008, the investment limit for FIIs in corporate debt was increased from $1.5 billion to $3 billion and further to $15 billion in January 2009. Ministry of Finance has hinted towards corporate market becoming Repo-able from 2010. Asia Bond Monitor- ADB, April 2008 Indias Bond Market-Development and Challenges Ahead, Stephen Wells and Lotte Schou-Zibell, Working paper series on regional economic integration no.22, ADB, December 2008. CS Update, august 2008, ICSI Equity and corporate debt report 2007, RBI NSE

The Validity of Cognitive Dissonance Theory Essay examples -- communic

Description of Theory The term dissonance refers to when one cognitive element is inconsistent with another cognitive element according to the lecture notes of Professor Soreno. Cognitive elements can be categorized in four groups called beliefs, attitudes, values, and perceptions of behavior. Beliefs can be defined as a perception that something exists or not. This perception can range from a central or peripheral type of belief. The more central a belief is, the harder it is to change that belief. An attitude describes the positive or negative feelings we have toward people, things, or ideas. Values are beliefs that are so important to a person, that they practically guide a person’s life. There are two types of values, instrumental and terminal. Perceptions of behavior simply refer to the interpretation of actions by another. For example, when someone waves at a person, in America, it is often perceived as a friendly gesture. When two of these cognitive elements are incongruent, it leads to diss onance, which can very in intensity. People often experience dissonance on a daily basis, but because it is so minute, it is not bothersome. The Cognitive Dissonance theory deals with these small occurrences, but for the sake of understanding, extreme examples help to explain the theory in better detail. According to Festinger, all of the cognitive elements held the same value in producing cognitive dissonance, but some scholars have challenged his theory. In the book, The Handbook of Motivation Science, the authors claim that attitude cognitive element holds a heavier value over the other elements by saying it can change the behavior of a person. They quote, â€Å"In experimental tests of the theory, knowledge about recent behavior is usua... ...s communication studies continue, there will be more tests and conclusions on the Cognitive Dissonance theory that will reveal more about human communication. After all, learning how we communicate with each other is how we are able to grow as a society. References Harmon-Jones, E. (2008). Cognitive Dissonance Theory. In J. Shah, W. Gardener, & V. Gardener, Handbook of Motivational Science (pp. 71-83). New York City: The Guilford Press. Helwig-Larson, M., & Collins, B. (1997, April 1). A Social Psychological Perspective on the Role of Knowledge about AIDS in AIDS Prevention. Current Directions in Psychological Science , Vol. 6 (No. 2). Lepper, M. R., & Greene, D. (1975). Turning Play into Work: Effects of Adult Surveillance and Extrinsic Rewards on Children's Intrinsic Motivation. Journal ol Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 31, 479-486.