Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Drama of Ancient Greece Essay - 2207 Words

Drama of Ancient Greece The Greek dramatists have bequeathed immensely to the current mode of modern Western literature. Shakespeare and his contemporaries revered them for their distinct and explicit language, their dramatic scenes, and their extravagant processions. The language of their stories has connoted itself into both, the Western dialect and Western literature in general. The establishment of Ancient Greek culture that has left the most immutable impression on our current world is the myth. The many mortal heroes who are seen throughout the extensive deployment of myths are accompanied by the ostentatious and mighty immortals, led by Zeus in the palace on Mount Olympus. Their structural case is not restricted to†¦show more content†¦Her son, Eros, inherited both, her mischievous nature and her iconography. Apollo was the god of light, the intellect, the arts, and healing. He was the son of Zeus and the Titan, Leto. Also heralded as Phoebus, Apollo signifies light, order, and the sun. The most beautiful of all the gods, Apollo represents the more rational side of both the universe and man. His oracle at Delphi, on Mount Parnassus, was revered throughout the mortal world as a vessel of Apollo’s predictions for the future. Mortals sought the oracle from vast distances to discover the will of the gods. Ares/Mars was the god of war, and the son of Zeus and Hera. He loved to fight, and to cause torment and battle, although he lost his courage immediately after he himself was wounded. Followed by Panic, Terror, and Trembling, and accompanied by his sister, Eris, and her son, Strife, everywhere Ares walked he brought death and violence. Artemis, who was the twin sister to Apollo and goddess of the hunt and unmarried women, had vowed to remain chaste. Attended by her hunting hounds and nymphs, Artemis ranged throughout the mortal forests, hunting with her silver bow. Any mortal man who saw her bathing, or in any way harassed her, met with a horrible fate. She changed one man into a stag and set his own pack of hunting hounds on him. Like the moon she was always related to, though, Artemis had two sides. She was gentle and protective towards women and their young children.Show MoreRelated Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece2047 Words   |  9 PagesIndividual Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece The Greeks believed that too much power entrusted in one person was dangerous. They were the first democratic society in a tumultuous world of kings and emperors, and they were proud of their ideology. Considering their fervent belief in rule by many, its not surprising that many Greek dramas revolve around an individual hero or a kings fall from power because of pride or some other personality flaw. Well-knownRead MoreAncient Greek Theatre and Drama1648 Words   |  7 PagesAncient Greece, the birthplace of theatre, continues to greatly influence theatre today. Drama is a form of poetry, because dialogue was spoken or sung in verses. Many Greek plays are still relevant today. Some plays survived on their merits, while others were preserved from academic interest or by accident (Peter Arnott). The Great Dionysia was an important yearly religious celebration and festival, honoring Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. The Great Dionysia is where theatre firstRead MoreImpact Of Religion On Greek Theatre893 Words   |  4 Pagesvery large impact on Greek theatre. Religion was related to many everyday life tasks in ancient Greece such as festivals, initiations, and oracles. Religion was a very important subject and was something they used in their everyday lives. This is why, in my opinion ,religion had a high impact on Greek theatre. â€Å" The religion of Greek people is an important aspect of the Greek culture.†(Religion in Greece Source:www.greeka.com) Greek religion was a form of polytheism, which meant that they believedRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On Ancient Greece1107 Words   |  5 PagesAnnotated Bibliography Ancient Greece Annotated Bibliography Ancient Greece was the birth place of many sciences, famous philosophers and the arts. A time where humans where constantly discovering many different things, forming new ideas and opinions about life each and every day. Various gods ruled these different city states. Mythology was very huge in Ancient Greece. There are so many different folktales and myths from Ancient Greece. Do you ever wonder if any of those ancient Myth’s were true? EverRead MoreRoman Theatre : A Diverse Art Form1045 Words   |  5 PagesRoman theatre initially began in 240 BC when Greek theatre was discovered and translated to Latin, then being brought to Rome. The first drama was held at Ludi Romani, the Roman Festival or the Roman Games. This occurred just before Rome became an empire in 27BC. There were many types of these festivals during a year for all sorts of reasons according to history. Theatre was, and is a diverse art form. It ranged from festival performances, street theatre, and acrobatics to eloquent tragediesRead MoreAncient Greek Culture808 Words   |  3 PagesAncient Greek Culture The culture of Ancient Greece consists of many traditions, religious practices, music, and foods. The Greeks were very religious people. There are a large number of religious festivals that were celebrated by the Greeks with great enthusiasm. Dance was also very important to the Ancient Greeks. It is said that they believed dance t improve both physical and emotional health. Men and women rarely danced together. Some dances were danced by men while others by women. TheRead MoreEssay on Ancient Greek Theatre1179 Words   |  5 Pagesworship in its self. The City Dionysia happened every spring in the Theatre of Dionysus, the first home of theatre and the form of the play. It was from the dithyramb that the roots of drama developed. In 534 B.C. the tyrant-ruler of Athens changed the City Dionysia by introducing the first of the drama competitions at the Theatre of Dionysus, a contest that would continue for well over one hundred years and that would involve playwrights that are still world famous in the twenty first centuryRead MoreHow Did Ancient Greece Influence Western Civilization951 Words   |  4 Pages The Western world was highly influenced by the ancient Greeks. The Greeks changed the way the world looks at art, math, architecture, philosophy, sports, and drama. Without the ancient Greeks, the modern world would not be the same. Men such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle changed the way we look at philosophy. The Athenians created the first known democracy, setting the stage for future governments. The Euclidian Theorem and the Pythagorean Theorem among others made mathematics easier and moreRead MoreEssay Greek Theater1157 Words   |  5 Pages Ancient Greek Theater is the first historical record of â€Å"drama,† which is the Greek term meaning â€Å"to do† or â€Å"to act.† Beginning in the 5th century BC, Greek Theater developed into an art that is still used today. During the golden age of the Athenians plays were created, plays that are considered among the greatest works of world drama. Today there are thousands of well-known plays and films based on the re-make of ancient drama. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Theater originated from the religiousRead MoreThe Festival Of The Gods Of Wine And Fertility1562 Words   |  7 PagesDionysus was celebrated by the ancient Greeks as the God of wine and fertility. Around 534 B.C.E., the Athenians and people from all parts of Greece started a tradition of coming together to worship Dionysus. All work and other activities in the City of Dionysia would come to a halt for a week so that the festivities could take place. The festival of Dionysus paved the way for plays and performances throughout history. For the first time actors started to be paid to rehearse their parts and perform

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Brain Controlled Artificial Legs - 2193 Words

BRAIN CONTROLLED ARTIFICIAL LEGS ABSTRACT: This paper describes a brain controlled robotic leg which is designed to perform the normal operations of a human leg. After implanting this leg in a human, the leg can be controlled with the help of user’s brain signals alone. This leg behaves similar to a normal human leg and it can perform operation like walking, running, climbing stairs etc. The entire system is controlled with the help of advanced microcontrollers and digital signal processors. The signals are taken out from the human brain with the help of electroencephalography technique. The person can perform operations like walking, running etc just by their thought. This system will be very much suitable for those who lost their†¦show more content†¦The following figure shows the different types of waves and also the mental state of the per-son. Those waves usually vary from a frequency of 1Hz to 40 HZ. Electrode cap is placed in the scalp of the person. The signals taken out from the human brain will be i n the range of mV and  µV. Hence they are fed to an amplifier. Then it is sent to a Analog to Digital Converter to convert the analog brain signals in to digital form. Then it is sent to a signal processor where parameter extraction, pattern classification and pattern identification are done. These digital signals are fed as input to microcontroller unit. The last four units (Amplifier, Signal Processor, Analog to Digital Converter and Microcontroller Unit) are placed inside the artificial leg. The output of the microcontroller unit is fed to the driving circuit. Let us see about these blocks in detail. Electrode Cap: a person wears an electrode cap. These electrode caps contains electrodes which are placed on the skull in an arrangement called 10-20 system, a placement scheme devised by the interna-tional federation of societies of EEG. In most applications 19 electrodes are placed in the scalp. Addi-tional electrodes can be added to the standard set-up when a clinical or research application demands in-creased spatial resolution for a particular area of the brain. High-density arrays (typically via cap orShow MoreRelatedArtificial Intelligence Essay656 Words   |  3 PagesArtificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence once something that people thought could only come out of science fiction novels and movies. But today that could all change because of a robot called Cog. Cog is an artificial intelligence that it’s creators have given a body. He is the future of AI and a new beginning for the field. His creator , Rogney Brooks, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, thought of creating cog, from inspiration from an artificial intelligenceRead MoreCognitive Science : The Scientific Study Of The Mind1193 Words   |  5 Pagesmethodology. One of the main features of cognitive science is the multifaceted method, and it uses linguistics, robotics, neuroscience, cognitive, the evolutionary approach, psychology, the emotion approach, the social approach, philosophy, and artificial intelligence (Friedenberg and Silverman, 2012). Cognitive Science uses all these different methods mentioned above, and this is why cognitive science is different. It takes form linguistic, philosophy, and neuroscience, etc. As a result, the traditionalRead MoreA Paper Presentation on Brain Controlled Car for Disabled Using Artificial Intelligence1667 Words   |  7 PagesA Paper Presentation on BRAIN CONTROLLED CAR FOR DISABLED USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Submitted on the event of Zeitgeist’09 At UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Read MoreNew Technologies Of Medicine And Their Effects On Reimbursement3402 Words   |  14 Pagesprinting. I continued looking and thinking about the world of medicine and all the things that researchers have found and what the human body is capable of. The technology that I found most interesting was movable, mind controlled prosthetic body parts, in particular the arms and legs. It’s amazing to see how far technology has come today in both cognitive neuroscience and biomedical engineering, and the many miracles that have been discovered through research. Today, over 100,000 people living in theRead MoreProsthetic Limb Research Paper3066 Words   |  13 Pagesall started with a very simple problem. Do you just give up hope when you lose an arm or a leg, or is there some other way to make the best of a situation? Hope was not given up by us persistent human beings and that is how artificial limbs were thought of. Instead trying to get around, we thought of artificial legs to help those who have lost them. Instead of only having one arm, we thought of artificial arms to be able to have two again. Prosthesis not only brought hope to those who were seriouslyRead MoreBrain-Computer Interfaces1221 Words   |  5 Pagescould change with this new technology called, brain-computer interfaces. This amazing technology will not only revamp military applications, but most importantly help the medical community substantially. It brings the possibility of sound to the deaf, sight to the blind and movement to the physically challenged. However, wit h all great ideas there is a downside, there are many technical and ethical issues that people are not willing to risk. A brain-computer interface, also known as a BCI, is technologyRead MorePhilosophy: â€Å"Explain the Differences Between Plato and Aristotle’s View of Reality†.818 Words   |  4 Pagesexisted) is erroneous thinking as no one can/has established such a link – real or otherwise. And even if a link is established it fails to explain all the Forms in the material world. At some point Plato fails to explain how this greater Form was controlled- how can Form control things? Was there energy in â€Å"Forms†? Aristotle’s assumption of the Theory of Forms was intimately integrated with his belief that we develop some type of biological and scientific wisdom of a primary substance (be it plantRead MoreWhat Is the Future of Bionics and Prosthetics?1111 Words   |  4 Pagesgetting close. Right now we have a bio-artificial liver device (BAL) that can take over the livers function until it has time to recover from liver failure. We also have artificial hearts that are used to keep a person alive until a heart can be ready for transplant. Prosthetics is also an awesome field. Right now we have hooks and other things to replace an arm but nothing that will give you feeling back or give you the dexterity you once had. We have artificial legs that are given to veterans and peopleRead MoreComparing Plato And Descartes The Matrix, The Allegory Of The Cave889 Words   |  4 Pagesliving life (Wachowski, A, Wachowski, L, 1999). Plato and Descartes paint a picture of perception of the Earth that rises questions of what is real. The Matrix is much different than the other stories, because it shows humans are controlled by an unknown artificial intelligent figure. The figure deceives individuals to believe that they are actually living a productive normal life in the world (Wachowski, A, Wachowski, L, 1999). Furthermore, the story of Descartes is different than the otherRead MoreImproving The Durability Of Prosthetic Limbs2065 Words   |  9 Pages I. INTRODUCTION I. Motivation and rational Did you ever think of how valuable any of your limbs really are? Did you ever try to imagine life without an arm or maybe even a leg? Well, it is not easy or it at least requires some getting used to. Even if you do not know it, many people have had their arm or leg severed during an accident, or to end the spread of a contagious disease throughout a person s body. As everything in this world has a history, so do replacement limbs. The first replacement

Monday, December 9, 2019

Concept of Total Factor Productivity-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a report on What is total factor productivity growth and why is it Important? Answer: Introduction Total factor productivity is a neo classical concept. The conventional growth model describes the output growth assuming constant return to scale with given technology. Total factor productivity was first accounted in Solow growth model. In Solow model, it is taken as a residual term that is portion of output that remains after considering the contribution of all other factors. The focus of the essay is to define total factor productivity and to explain its importance for the economy. Total Factor Productivity captures all the unexplained factors affecting output growth. In todays world, it has become a key determinant of economic growth. Most of the developed countries have accounted a higher rate of productivity growth. Even for developing nations, the contribution of Total Factor Productivity is notable. In this context, the development issues in Asia are discussed. After the global financial crisis, Total Factor Productivity contributed significantly in recovering the crisis. The growth of East and Southeast Asian countries accounted for huge growth rate in the late 1990s. The essay examines whether factor productivity is the driving factor for speculative growth experience in these countries. Total Factor Productivity Production Process comprise of utilizing the factor of production in the best efficient ways. The level of output depends on the scale of production. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) shows the production relation not in terms of quantity but in terms of quality (Van Beveren 2012). The amount of output depends on not only the quantity of input but also on how efficiently they are being used. It actually explains the residual output that is output beyond the quantity of input. There is a positive functional relation between the output of an economy and the physical and human capital invested in the production process. The future growth rate is computed by the observed growth of physical and human capital given the technology. The standard assumption of growth forecast is that the production function exhibits constant return to scale and there is perfect competition in the factor market. Mismatch between actual output and that is predicted is either due to violation of the standard assumption or due to change in the unexplained factors like institutional change, changes in the technology and so on (Erken, Donselaar and Thurik 2016). These deviating factors are together called growth in Total Factor Productivity. Measure of Total Factor Productivity Total factor Productivity traces out the contribution of technological progress in total output. This can be understood by using the following production function: Y = AF (L, K) Y= total output L= amount of labor input K= amount of Capital A is the technology used in production process. It is the measure of factor productivity. Economic growth is indicated by the growth of total output. The growth accounting expression looks as follows Growth in Output = Contribution + Contribution + Growth in Total Factor Of Capital of Labor Productivity This equation identifies three sources of economic growth; proportionate change in Capital, Proportionate change in Labor and change in factor productivity. and (1-) is the share of Capital and Labor in the production process following a Cobb-Douglas production function. Total factor Productivity cannot be measured directly. Cross Country, data are available on output growth, participation of labor, investment in capital. Using this information the growth of total factor productivity is calculated as output growth less the contribution of labor and capital. Thus, it gives an indirect measure of Productivity growth. A/A is the change in output that the physical factors fail to explain (Acs 2013) It is computed as a residual that is the proportion of output growth that is left after considering all the other components that can be observed directly. Importance of Total Factor Productivity The concept of Total Factor Productivity is crucial for growth accounting analysis. Nations with increasing factor productivity are able to attain a higher economic growth even when other factors remain constant (Van Ark 2014). Improvement in factor productivity can be achieved for various reasons. The most accounted reason is the change occurred from technological progress. With increasing knowledge about production technique, the factors can be used more productively. Apart from technological progress, there are other factors as well that can contribute to higher productive growth. Government intervention can increase or decrease total factor productivity. For example, if government raises its spending to improve the quality of education then the labor force become more productive and contribute to a higher output (Fontana and Setterfield 2016).On the other hand if the objective of the government is to protect the environment or to increase the workers safety then reverse result ca n be obtained. In this situation, government implements some law that forces the firms to invest more capital to reduce the pollution or to improve workers safety. Here, despite increase in capital investment output does not change. Hence, implies constant or decreasing total factor production. TFP provides explanation of short run and long run economic fluctuation, long run economic growth and Cross-country income differences (Fontana et al. 2016) The literature of real business cycle indicates a strong correlation of the productivity growth with the output and labor hours. The relation between TFP and long run growth is first traced by the growth accounting model developed by Robert Solow. In this model, technological progress is treated as exogenous. The effect of technological progress is captured with a slight extension of Solow growth model named as endogenous growth model where technology is taken as an endogenous factor affecting long run growth. By linking TFP with technological innovation, this has significant implication for business cycle fluctuation (Kurz and Salvadori 2014) Total Factor Productivity has become an important determinant of steady long run economic growth (Benigno,Ricci and Surico 2015).Economic growth is defined as a continuous increase in the per capita income, which in turn depends on the total output. A steady growth in output actually indicates Economic growth. Greater the return from the input higher is the output. Return from the invested input depends on the technology. Better technology means higher output per unit of input. Installation of advanced technology produces higher return from invested capital stock.TFP is also important in determining the output per worker. Change in the output per worker depends on the input per worker and growth in factor productivity. In Western and Southern Europe the combine, growth of measured input and Productivity is responsible for significant growth there ( Tung 2016). The inter country difference in per capita income is also explained by the Total Factor Productivity. Two nation endowed with same amount of natural resources may have different output growth. This is due to different return from input, which implies different factor productivity. Development issue in Asia and Total Factor Productivity Increasing total factor productivity growth is becoming a crucial factor for development of Asian economies especially after the global financial crisis recovery. Total Factor Productivity has increased significantly in the phase of recovery (Anand et al. 2014).Investment in human capital has improved the quality of labor force and hence productivity. The decision to open up the economy in different spheres and effective government intervention contribute positively to productivity growth. Most of the countries shifted their focus from physical capital accumulation to the growth of TFP. Previously the economy was suffering from a deficiency of capital and low per capita income. With the new strategy, it now shifted to middle-income group nations. The increasing stock of capital helped to handle the problem of diminishing marginal return to capital. Prior to 1990 capital accumulation was the driving factor of growth in Asia. Until 2002 this trend continued. Major shift in structural c omposition had taken place around 2002 (Imai et al 2014). Since then the importance of TFP in growth accounting started increasing. Prior to 2000 capital accumulation was significantly higher in Asia and the contribution of TFP was not that much. This is shown in the following table: Table 1: Average growth of output and input in Asia during 2000 Output growth 1.58 Capital 2.17 Human Capital 0.96 Total Factor Productivity 0.22 TFP relative to Output 0.14 (Source: Economic Planning Unit) Nations growth depends on both the manufacturing and service sector growth. The contribution of Total Factor productivity in development of service sector is also important. In this context, the case of Malaysia where service sector plays a dominant role in considered (Sufian and Habibullah 2014). The growth of service sector in Malaysia is primarily based on increasing efficiency. However, output growth in the concerned sectors and sub sectors are resulted from considerable technological progress along with labor and capital growth. As a result productivity growth is primarily targeted in different Malaysian plan. The targeted Factor Productivity Growth in 8th and 9th Malaysian plan is shown in the following table: Table 2: Contribution of Factors of Production Factor 8MP 9MP Growth (%) Contribution(%) Growth (%) Contribution(%) GDP 4.7 100 4.2 100 Labor 1.5 33.2 1.3 30.8 Capital 1.8 37.8 1.4 34.5 TFP 1.4 29.0 1.5 34.7 (Source: Economic Planning Unit) The increasing focus in TFP has proved fruitful for Malaysia (Lee and McKibbin 2014). The service sector growth is positive because of improvement in technical efficiency. The growth in sub industries is also contributed from the improved technical efficiency. Two sub sectors where TFP is a significant determinant of growth are real estate agents and advertising agencies. Though it is difficult for Malaysia to make its own technological innovation, focus should be given to the adaption of imported advance technology. Evidence from East Asia In the history of Asian growth experience, the speculative growth of some East Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan needs analysis. Given the importance of TFP growth, it is assumed that the main driving factor should be TFP growth. However, result turns to be opposite. Empirical evidence suggest that TFP growth of these countries was not that much high. In fact, it is zero for some countries. The growth resulted from rising capital accumulation. This gives a contrasting result to that fact that higher capital accumulation leads to technological enhancement (Gereffi and Wyman 2014). The evidence of output growth cannot be ignored for these East Asian Tigers. The growth of per capita income during 1960-1990 was even greater than that in United States. This moves the countries from world poorest countries to the world richest one (Jia and chao 2016). Detail study on the growth data found that increasing growth rate for East Asian Tigers is resulted from the massive increase in measured factor input. Participation of labor force, capital stock and educational attainment all increase simultaneously. For example, South Korea Investment GDP ratio reached 30% from a mere 5%. The percentage of working population having minimum high school education increased almost three fold from 26% to 75% (Cooke and Jiang 2017). Hence, most of the output growth is explained by the component of traditional growth theory like labor, capital stock and human capital. The special case of zero productive growth in Singapore is due to its own policy set up (Samaniego and Sun 2016). The government forced people there to save a significant portion of their income. Thus, the national saving is increased. Problem was in their way to adapt foreign technology. They skip several stages before launching the new technology to avoid cost. Hence, the ultimate result was a technological failure and zero productive growth. On the other hand, for China, Taipei a significant portion of overall growth is accounted by TFP. Conclusion The concept of Total Factor Productivity is important not only in explaining growth but also in explaining other important macroeconomic aspects. The long-term growth of nation is greatly influenced by the factor productivity. Business cycle fluctuation, inter country income differences are well explained with the help of total factor productivity. In neo-classical growth model, (Solow model) total factor productivity is computed as a residual term from the growth accounting equation. Later on, development of endogenous growth model made this concept clear by linking it with RD. With improvement in technology, factor productivity increases and hence output. Not only developed countries but also the developing countries are showing progress in technological front either directly investing in RD or imitating foreign technology. TFP has contributed a significant portion of output in Asian countries. Most of them have successfully adapt advanced technology by following learning by doing. Exception has obtained only in case of East Asian Tigers. Their higher growth rate is not resulted from high growth of productivity but it is explained by the accumulation of physical and human Capital. Special case is observed in Singapore that accounted virtually zero productive growth. As a whole Total Factor productivity is important for growth. Government should give increasing focus for the improvement in productivity growth by increasing investment in education, technology and the like to improve the growth scenario. References Acs, Zoltan J. "Economic growth, national systems of entrepreneurship and the solow residual."National Systems of Entrepreneurship and the Solow Residual (February 8, 2013)(2013). Anand, Rahul, Mr Kevin C. Cheng, Sidra Rehman, and Ms Longmei Zhang.Potential growth in emerging Asia. International Monetary Fund, 2014. Benigno, Pierpaolo, Luca Antonio Ricci, and Paolo Surico. "Unemployment and productivity in the long run: the role of macroeconomic volatility."Review of Economics and Statistics97, no. 3 (2015): 698-709. Cooke, Fang Lee, and Yumei Jiang. "The growth of non?standard employment in Japan and South Korea: the role of institutional actors and impact on workers and the labour market."Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources55, no. 2 (2017): 155-176. Erken, Hugo, Piet Donselaar, and Roy Thurik. "Total factor productivity and the role of entrepreneurship."The Journal of Technology Transfer(2016): 1-29. Fontana, Giuseppe, and Mark Setterfield, eds.Macroeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Pedagogy. Springer, 2016. Gereffi, Gary, and Donald L. Wyman, eds.Manufacturing miracles: paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia. Princeton University Press, 2014. Imai, Katsushi S., Raghav Gaiha, Abdilahi Ali, and Nidhi Kaicker. "Remittances, growth and poverty: New evidence from Asian countries."Journal of Policy Modeling36, no. 3 (2014): 524-538. Jia, Junxue, and Yunxia Chao. "Growth strategy and TFP growth: comparing China and four Asian tigers."Economic and Political Studies4, no. 2 (2016): 156-170. Kurz, Heinz D., and Neri Salvadori. "12 Endogenous growth in a stylised classicalmodel."Revisiting Classical Economics: Studies in Long-Period Analysis(2014): 247. Lee, Jong-Wha, and Warwick J. McKibbin. "Service sector productivity and economic growth in Asia." (2014). Samaniego, Roberto M., and Juliana Y. Sun. "Productivity growth and structural transformation."Review of Economic Dynamics21 (2016): 266-285. Sufian, Fadzlan, and Muzafar Shah Habibullah. "The impact of forced mergers and acquisitions on banks total factor productivity: empirical evidence from Malaysia."Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy19, no. 1 (2014): 151-185. Tung, Jia Jun, Wee Wee Lau, Yi Hwee Lim, Zhen Siew Toh, and Iong Jiun Chua. "Economic Analysis on Foreign Labour and Total Factor Productivity Growth: The Case of Europe, United States, Canada and Malaysia." PhD diss., UTAR, 2016. Van Ark, Bart.Total factor productivity: Lessons from the past and directions for the future. No. 271. Working Paper Research, 2014. Van Beveren, Ilke. "Total factor productivity estimation: A practical review."Journal of Economic Surveys26, no. 1 (2012): 98-128

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Evolving The Gangster Genre Essay Example

Evolving The Gangster Genre Paper The word Genre is used in film to describe and categorize the different types of films that have certain elements that make them the same as the other films that would fit into that genre. The audience of the films should be able to recognise what the genre is through the way the characters act during the film, the certain places that its set in, and the actors chosen. These are the code and conventions that make a genre film. There are different types of genre like Horror, Comedy, Sci-fi, etc, but a popular one is the gangster genre. This genre includes many classic films of the genre such as Public Enemy (W. Wellman, US, 1931), Ones that you think might be a bit of a parody on the genre such as Goodfellas (M. Scorsese, US, 1991) and the films that completely question whether it should even be part of the genre like Pulp Fiction (Q. Tarantino, US, 1994). However, all 3 of these films, use the same codes and conventions, which put them all together in the gangster genre, even though these three films are completely different When I think of a film within the gangster genre movie I think of things like lots of bloody and gory violence, machine guns, the expensive cars, and the mafia family. I also think of two main characters that take themselves from the bottom of the society food chain, and work their way up to be one of the top gangster in the family. The gang or gangs in every different film will always have a don who runs the gang overall. As part of one of the main codes and conventions for gangster films, revenge always plays a big part. There is never a happy ending in any gangster film. We will write a custom essay sample on Evolving The Gangster Genre specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Evolving The Gangster Genre specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Evolving The Gangster Genre specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer At least one of the anti-heroes ends ups dieing at the end or during the course of the film. Most films in the gangster genre are set in cities like Chicago, New York, etc and normally have the characters exposing the myth of the American dream by showing that you dont have to stick to the rules to get rich, and lead a good life quickly. In gangster films we see the actors that we look as gangster actors today such as Robert DeNiro. The narrative structure in a gangster film would be the same structure that every other film made would have. It would have equilibrium to start off with, followed by a dis-equilibrium which is the middle of the film and then end it with the new equilibrium. The first gangster film that we watched was Public Enemy. When you watch the film, you immediately know you are watching a gangster film because all of the basic codes and conventions that are used within the genre. It is set in the city of Chicago, and through most of the film you see the illegal dealings that you associate with the gangster films. In the public enemys case it the dealing of alcohol due to the fact that the film is set in the time where the prohibition in America was around. The Public Enemy boasts one of the biggest gangster stars to ever appear in a gangster film called James Cagney who plays the role of one of the main characters, Tom Powers. What makes Public Enemy different to the two other films (Goodfellas, and Pulp Fiction) that is that the main character Tom Powers is a very violent man and cannot stay settled down to one women at a time, as you see throughout the film when he jumps between two women. Public Enemy is not an Italian gangster film like most of the audience would expect before they sit to watch it. The gang members are mostly Irish, which shows they used to timing correctly when they made this film because at the time the film is set, the Irish were at the bottom of society in America, because they were the immigrants and had to do the things we see in the film, to give themselves power. The director also shows the Irish descent of the gangsters because Powers and Doyle are typical Irish names and their Irish descent is mentioned near the beginning of the film. The Public Enemy also exposes the myth of the American dream in great detail. They do this when they show Mike (Tommys brother) getting married working hard in the army and earning very little money whereas we have Tommy who purposely breaks the law and does no hard work whatsoever, yet hes earning a lot of money. Because of Tom doing this all through the film, it is giving the impression that he is telling the audience that you can get a job but you will have to work hard and never earn anything as much as you would being in a gangster movement through lying to people, robbing people, and performing heists. But what it doesnt say is that theres always a massive consequence if you choose the life that Tom and Matt chose. You see this at the end of the film when first off all Matt is killed by the rival gang, and as Tom goes to seek out revenge, he is beaten up, then kidnapped from the hospital and killed. This also shows the death of the anti-hero code that goes together with the gangster genre. The second film that we watched was Goodfellas which (in a lot of ways) is very similar to Public Enemy. Like Public Enemy, we have a character called Tom (played By Joe Pesci). He is very similar to the Tom from Public Enemy because they are both very violent and unhinged figures in both films and both of them are murdered at the end of each film. Tommy in Goodfellas is not one of the two main characters that you get in gangster films. However, he does play one of the most important parts in the film because he is so unpredictable. The film is set around two Irish Americans, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro). Both Henry (Goodfellas) and Tommy (Public Enemy) show no remorse when it comes to women. You see this when they both cheat on their partners and show violence towards them as well, and both have very similar childhoods where both films show them in their past getting beatings from their fathers. This gives out the message that they were bound to live for committing crimes. The main focus in both films (Public Enemy and Goodfellas) is that the main characters are part of the surrogate or the gang family that Tommy and Henry are both adopted into at a young age and that their lives subsequently belong to those families. As you would expect in the gangster film, there are illegal substances being shipped around in Goodfellas as there was in Public Enemy, the only difference is that in Goodfellas it is cocaine and in Public Enemy it was alcohol. Both of the main characters when the join their gangs are introduced to the group of gangsters and are told and shown how you have to work your way up the gang hierarchy. The don or the gangs leader acts as the second father to both Henry in Goodfellas and Tommy in Public Enemy. A massive similarity between Goodfellas and Public Enemy is that both main characters have brothers called Mike. It is things like this that we can use to back ourselves up when the point of Scorsese basing some of Goodfellas on Public Enemy comes into play. However, Goodfellas does have its differences. For example the film starts at a point thats also shown half way through in Goodfellas. But with Goodfellas, its a good way to start as it is a big part in the film where everything starts to go wrong and the fortunes change for Jimmy and Henry. However, after they do that, it does go back to the beginning to show the audience how they got into that situation and how they get out of it. Scorsese plays with the order of the film, by putting the dis-equilibrium at the start to keep the audience interested and make them want to watch to see how they got into that situation, and to make them think and get involved with the film. Goodfellas is set around the typical mafia family that you would expect to see in gangster films. As you see near the start, Henry messes his women about and cheats on them but eventually he settles down and marries Karen which you dont see with Tom in Public Enemy. In Goodfellas, our main character does not die but because he tells on his fellow gang members, he is forced to live in secrecy which because of this, it is as if he is dead, because he cant contact anybody from his previous life as a gangster. In Goodfellas, Henry is shown to be the nice guy gangster as he is really not into killing people and we see this in the scene with one of the other gangsters in the boot of the car. Henry steps back as the other two gangsters stab and finish the body off. At one point in the film, we get Karens point of view which shows a shift in representation and treatment of women from the 1930s in Public Enemy to the 1990s in Goodfellas. Also, in Goodfellas there are a lot more bent law enforcement people ranging from policemen through to lawyers, judges and also prison officers. You can still say that Goodfellas as a gangster film even though there are a lot of differences between the Public Enemy and Goodfellas. You can see that things used in a documentary are used throughout for example the voice over, and the freeze frames. There is also a sense with Goodfellas that Scorsese makes fun of the gangster genre with mockery and the fact that they are so well off they buy things even though they are tacky and horrible for example the T. V. area that turns around that Harry and Karen buy during the film, and with the name Jimmy two times because he ends sentences by saying the same word twice. Scorsese also puts a lot of upbeat music some shocking violence; this gives the impression that it is not such a big deal to kill someone in that kind of lifestyle. Also with the character Tommy we can see that the character is happy to kill anyone he can, so Scorsese is tries to make us happy and feel easier that the mafia is killing people in his film. The final film that we sat, watched and studied was Pulp Fiction. Pulp fiction is not like any of the other gangster films and some, may even say that you cant really class it as a gangster film. I personally think you can class it as part of the gangster genre; I think this because you can see that is doesnt have many things in common with classic gangster films like Public Enemy and Goodfellas which is what is good about the film, because it makes it completely different from the other gangster films, which would make fans of the genre want to sit down and watch it. Like Public Enemy and Goodfellas it has the basic elements of violence and guns, and has the main characters in men in suits, but hat makes them different are the fact that you can tell they are not expensive suits, because they look so tacky. And also another basic element with gangster films, are illegal substances, but this time they are getting used for personal use instead of being sold of to others by the gangsters. The gang has another don style character who is called Marsellus Wallace. There is also a revenge factor with Butch getting back at Marsellus. And just like Public Enemy our anti-hero, Vince, is killed. But for every similarity Pulp Fiction has with Goodfellas and Public Enemy there are also the differences that make it a completely different film. Tarantino plays mainly with the narrative structure of Pulp Fiction. By doing this he leaves the audience confused but thinking about what is going on and what is going to happen. He also has put multiple narrative structures into the film which focuses on the different characters. The reason Tarantino does this is because he knows that his own gangster film can be so much different from the likes of Goodfellas, and Public Enemy. Tarantino also plays with the basic codes and conventions that you would expect to be in a gangster film. A prime example of him doing this is when he puts in a happy ending which is not common in the gangster genre, because with gangsters you never expect a happy ending. There is no money making schemes at all in the film and we dont see any illegal substances being sold to other dealers. In another uncommon scene we see a different way as to how women in gangster films are shown with Mia Wallace (Uma Thurmann) being powerful and the subject of a rumour that is going around that makes Vince fear for her when he takes her out as a favour for Marcellus and also when she overdoses on the drugs she finds in his jacket pocket. I dont think that any of the 3 films I have descried are the same because I have shown so many differences between each of them, that in my opinion, can swing anyones views on these 3 films if they thought differently to me. I know that they are very different from eachother, because if every film of its genre was the same, then I wouldnt want to watch them because I would know what is going to happen and it would become boring. Also because of the changes in society that happen every single day, it would become very hard to make the same film because we see the changes that are representing the social groups such as women so if we were to make a film like Public Enemy, It would come under a lot of criticism because of what happens in public enemy when it comes to women, and it wouldnt happen nowadays to women. However, the similarities between the 3 films are needed so we can categorize them into the gangster genre but we also need differences to tell the genres apart and also to tell the films apart, so the films end up making us feel familiar with the genre that its part of, but at the same time, gives us some original ideas that could also help us define it as a gangster film, and the audience also like to be able to know what is going to happen in the film but at the same time they want to have the element of surprise that most of the time actually ends up making the film as good as its meant to be.