Charlie Chaplin Essays (1379 words) - American Comedy Films

Charlie Chaplin Essays (1379 words) - American Comedy Films Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin stars in the movie City Lights, a silent, black and white film, made in the 1930's. Chaplin, who portrays the character of a tramp, is the comic hero throughout the movie. It is odd that the film casts a tramp as the comic hero. Usually, no one laughs at a poor tramp; people tend to have pity and sympathy for a tramp or not even associate with one. Many of Chaplin's actions are common everyday routines for him, but his actions and gestures provide humor and comic relief in the film making him the comic hero. Henri Bergson discusses the comic in "Laughter". Bergson writes about the comic by breaking it down into different parts such as the comic in general, the comic in character and the expansive force of the comic. The Webster's Dictionary only goes as far as defining the comic as "an amusing person." Bergson, however, chooses to stay away from giving the comic a distinct, dictionary-like definition; instead he describes it, gives examples and dives deeper into the comic's meaning and purpose (62). Through diverse roles and Charlie Chaplin's simpleness, many aspects of humor grow out of accidental happenings and coincidence. Bergson provides reason and understanding to back up what people think is funny. The first part of the comic, which is the comic in general, kind of describes itself; this information is general to all comics. Comedy can be expressed in many ways, but laughter always accompanies it (71). Laughter always happens in a group or originates in a group because it is easier to laugh in a group (62). Since laughter is a social event, it acts as a form of social correction (71). While comedy can be demonstrated on purpose, comedy can also occur at unexpected times or during normal times. Bergson suggests that comedy is accidental (67). As in Chaplin's case, his normal actions are funny to onlookers but not for himself. For example, when he is in the restaurant with the rich man, he is walking across the dance floor and he can't manage to keep his feet under him. Laughter comes from people watching the film, but Chaplin is not laughing he is just trying to cross the dance floor to get to his table. The more normal the action, the more comic the action is to others (68). Comedy "aims at the general" because it will be more humorous if people can understand it with little or no thought involved (157). The comic in character is another part of the comic that takes in a wide range of elements. Mostly, the comic is always in character. Charlie Chaplin is the comic in the film and the character is himself, which isn't supposed to be funny. Only his actions are funny. Bergson says, comedy "begins, in fact with what might be called a growing callousness to social life" (147). This is true in Chaplin's role because he is a tramp. He does not have to worry about what people think of him. He can pretend to be blind to the ways of the world. For example, Charlie Chaplin wakes up on a new city statue on the day of its unveiling. He never thought to himself, "what effects will this have on my social status?" Chaplin was not concerned with the impressions he would make. Chaplin could be a gentleman though, even though he couldn't afford it. He certainly was kind to people he met, the rich man and the blind woman. Charles Spencer Chaplin was born into a poor London family of music hall entertainers called Hannah Chaplin and Charles Chaplin SR. Even as a child he found success as a performer, making his stage debut in 1894. Biographer David Robinson has gone so far as to say that Chaplin's life was the ultimate rags to riches tale. His early years were spent with his mother, who had no means of income, and brother in Kennington. Their father provided no support for his children causing Chaplin to be sent to the workhouse at the age of seven. Chaplin spent his childhood going in and out of the workhouse as well as being educated by a range of charitable schools. In 1898, his mother was committed to a mental asylum due to a psychosis caused by syphilis and malnutrition. She remained in care until her death in 1928, leaving the young Charles and his brother Sydney to look

Gerrymandering - Congressional Districts on Census Data

Gerrymandering - Congressional Districts on Census Data Every decade, following the decennial census, the state legislatures of the United States are told how many representatives their state will send to the United States House of Representatives. Representation in the House is based on state population and there are a total of 435 representatives, so some states may gain representatives while others lose them. It is the responsibility of each state legislature to redistrict their state into the appropriate numbers of congressional districts. Since a single party usually controls each state legislature, it is in the best interest of the party in power to redistrict their state so that their party will have more seats in the House than the opposition party. This manipulation of electoral districts is known as gerrymandering. Although illegal, gerrymandering is the process of modifying congressional districts to benefit the party in power. A Little History The term gerrymandering is derived from Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), the governor of Massachusetts from 1810 to 1812. In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill into law that redistricted his state to overwhelmingly benefit his party, the Democratic-Republican Party. The opposition party, the Federalists, were quite upset. One of the congressional districts was shaped very strangely and, as the story goes, one Federalist remarked that the district looked like a salamander. No, said another Federalist, its a gerrymander. The Boston Weekly Messenger brought the term gerrymander into common usage, when it subsequently printed an editorial cartoon that showed the district in question with a monsters head, arms, and tail, and named the creature a gerrymander. Governor Gerry went on to become vice president under James Madison from 1813 until his death a year later. Gerry was the second vice president to die in office. Gerrymandering, which had taken place prior to the coinage of the name and continued for many decades thereafter, has been challenged many times in federal courts and has been legislated against. In 1842, the Reapportionment Act required that congressional districts be contiguous and compact. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that districts must follow the principle of one man, one vote and have fair borders and an appropriate population mixture. Most recently, the Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that manipulating district borders to give an advantage to one political party was unconstitutional. Three Methods There are three techniques used to gerrymander districts. All involve creating districts that have a goal of encompassing a certain percentage of voters from one political party. The first method is called the excess vote. It is an attempt to concentrate the voting power of the opposition into just a few districts, to dilute the power of the opposition party outside of those districts that contain an overwhelming majority of the oppositions voters.The second method is known as the wasted vote. This method of gerrymandering involves diluting the voting power of the opposition across many districts, preventing the opposition from having a majority vote in as many districts as possible.Finally, the stacked method involves drawing bizarre boundaries to concentrate the power of the majority party by linking distant areas into specific, party-in-power districts. When Its Done The process of reapportionment (to divide the 435 seats in the House of Representatives into the fifty states) takes place soon after every decennial census (the next will be 2020). Since the primary purpose of the census is to count the number of residents of the United States for purposes of representation, the Census Bureaus highest priority is to provide data for redistricting. Basic data must be provided to the states within one year of the Census - April 1, 2021. Computers and GIS were utilized in the 1990, 2000, and 2010 Census by the states to make redistricting as fair as possible. Despite the use of computers, politics does get in the way and many redistricting plans are challenged in the courts, with accusations of racial gerrymandering tossed about. We certainly wont expect accusations of gerrymandering to vanish anytime soon. The U.S. Census Bureaus Redistricting site provides additional information about their program.

My Career Goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My Career Goals - Essay Example In developing career goals we require two basic types of information i.e. knowledge about self and about career options that are compatible with our interest, values, and skills. Professional acumen, financial obligation, and physical requirements also play a major part in deciding career goals. Being a manager in a public sector Bank, which has already a well-charted career, plans for recruiting manager. Therefore our career goals have already been decided. But the Bank has certain provisions for flexible career growth through internal examinations. So eyeing on those provisions I set my career goal as to reach into the core top management team so that I could be the part of the strategic decision-making process. Changes in the Banking sector are very thick and fast. Adoption to information technology, geographical expansion of business, customer's requirement, new product, and services make it a challenging job. Global exposure and implementation of strict financial norms put our jobs at stake. Technology has changed the complete picture of today's banking. New orientation towards customer's services, facilities of net banking, automation of day-to-day activities of the banks has changed the role of the manager which ultimately results into the change in career goals both short term as well as long term. To accommodate the changes in the short term we have to reorient ourselves through short term training on soft and hard skills. For the long-term perspective, we have to take a comprehensive look at the technological changes, which may occur in the future and analyze our future requirements and then equip ourselves with relevant knowledge and skills. Setting clear cut career goals we have to follow certain well-defined path i.e. state the problems and objectives clearly and define goals, prepare temporary action plan containing every essential step and get ready for several alternatives and choices. Finally, develop a solid action plan to achieve that career goal. We have to be prepared to change the plan midway to suit any changes and setup midterm appraisals to check any deviation so that career goals could be achieved. Â  Accountants who want to catch the latest technology may have found themselves auditing information system, consulting business owners or even be a part of the system software development team. Today's accountants not only understand complex tax laws, accounting principals, business laws and information technologies, but they also have to know how to apply that knowledge in a business environment that is growing and changing rapidly. Â  

Predicting Crime with the Uniform Crime Reporting System Assignment

Predicting Crime with the Uniform Crime Reporting System - Assignment Example It is also possible to tell which states and cities are the most dangerous in terms of prevalence of crime, in particular violent crimes like murder, robbery with violence and forced rape. It must be acknowledged that nowadays data is everything regardless of one’s profession or inclination. The most important attribute of UCR is its richness in terms of data; with this data prediction becomes a walk in the park for public safety officials and law enforcement organizations. UCR also facilitates the presentation of crime rates to the American public since public safety officials and law enforcement organizations have crime information at their fingertips. Whenever it is needed they can retrieve and present it (Lynch & Addington, 2006). Question 2 In this section, I will forecast criminal activity for the country, the state of California and the city of Los Angeles. The Country In order to forecast criminal activity for the nation, I examined tables 1 and 1A. ... This shows that there has been a marked reduction in both statistics. Between 2001 and 2010, for example, the percentage change in the volume of violent crime was -13.4, while the percentage change in the violent crime rate was -20.0. A look at other crimes also shows the same trend. My forecast for the nation is therefore that the volume and rate of criminal activity will continue to reduce in the coming years (U.S Department of Justice & the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004). The State of California Data for criminal activity in California displays similar attributes to that of the country. Between 2009 and 2010, the percentage changes in criminal activity (ranging from violent crime to motor vehicle theft) were negative; this is a pointer to a reduction in criminal activity. As a result of this, I also forecast a continued decline in criminal activity in the state of California as years go by. The City of Los Angeles In 2010, the city of Los Angeles had high volumes and rates of criminal activity compared to other cities in California. The reason for this is that Los Angeles is the largest city in California both by area and population, and therefore statistics like these are expected. However, since the state is showing steady reduction in criminal activity, I predict that the criminal activity rates and volumes in Los Angeles will also keep reducing, even though they might still be considered high. It is worth noting that this is a common attribute in large and populous cities (New York, Chicago, Detroit, etc). Question 3 In 1950, the murder rate in the United States was 4.6 while the volume of murders was 6,932. In 2010, the murder rate was 4.8 while the volume of murders was

The Causes of McCarthyism Essay examples -- Essays Papers

The Causes of McCarthyism As an individual in the middle of Twentieth century Joseph McCarthy had a rather intense effect on society. He started the movement that bears his name. McCarthyism was the movement that caused many changes in the lives of the people of the 1950's. McCarthy headed the charge against communism in the United States after the second World War. Through his actions many people were accused of being communists and hastilly judged to be so because of the general feeling toward communism. What causes such an incredible uprising. What caused so many people to rally behind, in many cases, unfounded accusations that would ruin other peoples lives unjustly? What caused not just a movement but the movement known as McCarthyism? It is historically proven that a simple action can have many complex causes, while a movement can have immeasurable causes underlying its begining and the momentum that keeps it alive. Leaving the little, but not insignificant causes alone, the major causes o f McCarthyism were the attitude of the United States toward communism, the sense of superiority within the United States, and McCarthy's own position. The attitude of the citizens of the United States was a tremendous influence on the development of McCarthyism. The people living in the post World War II United States felt fear and anger because communism was related with Germany, Italy, and Russia who had all at one point been enemies of the United States during the war. If the enemies were communists then, communists were enemies and any communists or even communist sympathizers were a threat to the American way of life. "From the Bolshevik Revolution on, radicals were seen as foreign agents or as those ... ...it was. Fear makes people do things they normally would not. Because of fear people overlook things they normally would notice imediately, especially in the case of something being moral or immoral. McCarthy was described as "paranoid" and for whom "...life was a sereis of conspiracies, the most fiendish of which were directed at him..."(Cook p77). Fear was the greatest underlying cause of the McCarthy movement; fear of communism, fear of the loss of freedom, fear of being accused or fear of what would happen if someone challenged the movement. Works Cited - Rogin, Paul. The Intellectuals and McCarthy: the Radical Speaker. The MIT Press, Clinton, Massachusettes. 1967. - Cook, Fred. The Nightmare Decade. Random House Publishing, New York, New York. 1971. - Theoharis, Athan. Seeds of Repression, Quadrangle Books, Chicago, Illinois. 1971.

Facebook the Negative Effects Essay

Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself after being cyber bullied on MySpace by Josh Evans—not a real boy, it turned out, but a creation of neighbors. According to Oprah.com, Social networking has become a part the daily lives of Americans both young and old. The digital age that America finds itself in has made online social networking a top resource for communication. It is the ultimate test of ego, a new social acceptance, a place of danger, a growing addiction and obsession and over the past six years; social networking sites have become a social and cultural phenomenon. In the words of Noel Sheppard, It creates electronic relationships and makes it easy for a â€Å"friend† to misrepresent themselves under the â€Å"protective umbrella of anonymity†. It places distance between people who could communicate in person but instead choose to communicate online. Although social networking sites are increasing interactions among friends and family, it is decrea sing the quality of human interactions in real life. Social networking has facilitated communication, commerce, and information distribution. However, the downside to the social networking has become the topic of recent studies because of the rise of digital media and the ways the computer has penetrated human society. Popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, have caused many children to become obsessed and addicted, resulting in being incapable of having real conversations with people, to a larger effect, it is harming their health and work ethic in classrooms and the average teen now spends on average nine hours per week on social networking sites. This accumulates to 18 days out of the 365 days of the year. Those 18 days spent sitting on a chair in front of an artificial communicating device, an average person could walk from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back. Due to social networking sites, young teens are encountering alarming and harmful changes in their brains, and constant exposure to buzzing noises and bright lights, can cause shorter attention spans. Moreover, social networking sites are not only are harming the brains of children but it is resulting in low grades and low self-esteem. Furthermore, teachers are noticing that their student’s work is suffering because they constantly spend time on social networking sites rather than focusing on their homework. According to BBC News, 58% of teachers said that their children’s spelling was becoming worse and worse as  they enter the â€Å"digital age.† Spokeswoman Janie Burt asserts that â€Å"Rather than relying on life experiences, educational travel and face to face interaction with others, children are becoming obsessed with social networking sites and this is shaping their attitudes instead.† Online communicating is shaping our society into socialization, depression, and incapability to establish real life relationships. The distinction between genuine friends and acquaintances is becoming blurred. Users are spending time maintaining relationships with people with whom they do not really care. Cyperbullying has become more proliferated through social networking sites than emailing and text messaging. According to Procon.org, statistics show that 17.3% of middle school students have been victims of cyperbullying. Victims, often teens and young children experience lowered grades, self-esteem, and symptoms of depression. Social networking sites reveal personalities that are more â€Å"polished† and â€Å"bolder† thus creating a veiled stranger. Alex Gilbert, a teacher of creative writing, was puzzled that his friend- â€Å"a particularly masculine-type dude†- who is interested in metal bands and motorcycles, posts videos on Facebook of â€Å"uber cuteâ €  kittens (Sheppard 2). Topics discussions like these that are on social networking sites are not subsistent for real life conversations. Social networking also allows passive-aggressive behavior. Virtually anything can be said behind a screen. Furthermore, social networking sites have evolved into a social acceptance, a basic necessity for the common American and you can even be seen as rude or unprofessional to ignore this new evolved media. Because real personal socializing has decreased, people are becoming socially isolated and even parents and couples are spending less time with their loved ones because they use internet social networking as a tool of communication. One 35-year-old woman even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook. Conference organizer Emma Brady was distressed when she read that her marriage was over when her husband updated his status on the site to read: â€Å"Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady. Facebook, the most widely used social networking site has over 90 million users in the United States and over 300 million worldwide. Certainly, social networking sites are increasing interactions among friends and family, but it is decreasing the quality of real personal interactions. Social  networking sites were not developed to help people connect and improve their lives, but rather, so companies can make money by advertising to them. A statistic from procon.org states that advertisers in the U.S. spent almost 1.4 billion dollars to place advertisements on social networking sites in 2008. Social networking sites also have an effect on politics. In the presidential election of 2008, candidates campaigned to voters with many different types of sites. On November 3, 2008, the day before the Election Day, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had 2,379,102 Facebook fans while Republican candidate McCain had 620,359 according to procon.org. This illustrates the effect social networking can have on all aspects of social and even political life. As online communication gradually destroys our society, the problem is not only the tools we use to communicate, but it is what we choose to expose online that can be harming. Based on an article written by Melissa Ridenour, a poorly responsible driver crashed his car and posted on his Facebook wall â€Å"I’m not an alcoholic, I’m a drunkaholic† which later that very information he posted, was used to prosecute him in court. Sharing your personal information on social networking sites can create higher risks of robbery and invasion of security and privacy. In just recent cases, police, colleges, and schools are supervising MySpace and Facebook pages to obtain personality behaviors and conduct. Due to this, thousands of social network site users have lost their jobs or failed to launch new ones. What we choose to reveal online can be easily seen by predators. Such personal information is all that is needed for your identity to be stolen. According to procon.org, in February 2009, MySpace identified 90,000 sex offenders with profiles on the site. A statistic from the Internet Safety Technical Force says that 43% of online sexual solicitors were under the age eighteen and 30% were between eighteen and twenty, while the other nine percent were over the age 21. Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier’s death was not caused by a real person, but by an artificial world of social networking that creates danger, isolation, and harm to every element in society. Although proponents of social networking argue that online interaction connects people with friends and family around the world, society has turned social networking sites into toxic time carnivores. When balanced on a scale, social networking is  overweighed with negative effects. Like millions of users worldwide, Social networking has become part our daily lives but we cannot let it sink our society into the trap of the digital age.

Essay The Psychology of Human Sexuality in The Bird Cage

The Psychology of Human Sexuality in The Bird Cage #9;The Bird Cage, Starring Nathan Lane and Robbin Williams is a film that explores societies views of homosexuals through the medium of humor. By creating outrageously stereotyped homosexual men, the director, Mike Nichols creates an awareness in his viewers of the biases and stereotypes that they hold . The two gay male leads, Albert and Armand are owners of a nightclub in South Beach Florida. Armand (played by Robin Williams) is in a long-term relationship with Albert (played by Nathan Lane). Armand has a grown son, Val, from a previous marriage. Trouble starts when Val announces his engagement to a girl named Barbara that he met at school. It turns out that Barbaras father is an†¦show more content†¦Society does not see men as responsible, or even suited for, domestic work. Many people may believe that a relationship will only work if each partner takes over either the tasks and expectations of a woman,or the tasks and expectations of the man. #9;In adherence to societies biases, this film shows Armand as the designated male in the relationship. Although it is never spoken aloud, it is obvious that the characteristics he displays are those considered to be traditionally male. He is the rock of the relationship. He thinks before he speaks, he is intelligent, and has control over his emotions. He constantly calms Albert down, while rolling his eyes at the foolishness of his antics. In addition Armand is the only homosexual lead to have been married before, and to have a son from that marriage. All of these traits package Armand as the least-gay male, and the homosexual displaying the least feminine characteristics. #9;Albert is the extreme opposite of Armand. Not only does he jump at the opportunity to pass himself off as a woman, but he displays the most stereotypical gay characteristics. Albert dances as a woman in Armbands cabaret-style nightclub, and is adored by all of its patrons. He seems to be very at ease in womens clothing, make-up and other regalia. Albert plays the female role in the relationship between him and Albert. Not only is he highly emotional, but he is unreasonable, irrational and flighty. He clings toShow MoreRelatedSelf Reflection1662 Words   |  7 Pagesdegree. All of these factors in my life contribute to my problems. On a macro level, a social worker can integrate policies into national account to create an intervention. September 5, the class focused on the system theory, a concept â€Å"that views human behavior as the result of interactions between people and their social systems† (Rogers, 2016). It is a way of looking at people, how they interact with other social groups and the institution. 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