Thursday, November 28, 2019

Aurally Alarming , Use Of Sound In Blue Velvet Essays - Fiction

Aurally Alarming , Use Of Sound In Blue Velvet Aurally Alarming With Blue Velvet, David Lynch did an effective job in dividing both popular and critical opinions about his odd piece of cinema. While some hail it as a masterpiece, others retain that it is pure perverse nonsense. Despite the initial shock of the overly violent sequences, Lynchs vivid revelation of baseness and depravity in small-town America makes its point clearly, if not bizarrely. One of the most obvious and effective ways by which the films themes are conveyed is through an absolutely brilliant utilization of sound and score. Similar to how advertising companies pair food ads with love-scene type music, or make sock-puppet dogs talk, there is more to a scene than the picture. The use of this filmic sense of audio gives Blue Velvet a heavy pulse to the deep, dark world beneath the superficiality of Lumberton. David Lynch, along with Angelo Badalamenti, composed the score to this film, working close with sound designer Alan Splet. The score, consisting mostly of sparse horns and strings, is subtle and dramatic, bringing to mind elements of classic suspense and murder-mystery film scoring. The climactic showdown scene, in which Frank and Jeffery confront each other a final time, captures what is essentially the films greatest use of score and sound to fortify (while, at times, ironically juxtaposing) the violent, exciting scene. Virtually no sound accompanies the scenes start, Jeffery climbing the stairs to and entering Dorothys apartment. The ambient sounds of his footfalls and the keys, supplemented by an occasional dramatic chord struck in a minor key create an ominous tension that is palpable to the viewer. The scene retains its practically silent tone as Jeffery steps into the apartment to the gruesome scene within. The silence here is purposeful in that Jeffery is silent as he skulks around, and the corpses of the Yellow man and Dorothys husband are silent at this moment because they are, well, dead. The quiet is pierced by a shrill whine, the television is smashed in but turned on, and is emitting a high pitched hum (Dirks). The sound that smashes the silence is a loud transmission from the Yellow mans police radio, eliciting a post-mortem twitch from the dead man, and a frightened jump from both Jeffery and the viewer. Everything returns to silence, until the radio barks up again, reporting the raid on Franks apartment. Next are scenes from the raid, cut with scenes of Jeffery in the apartment, as Love Letters begins to play. Jeffery realizes that the tableau before him truly is an example of one of Franks love letters straight from the heart. With tears in his eyes, and as the line Im not alone in the night plays over the scene, Jeffery says to the bodies, Im gonna let them find you on their own. The playing of this sweet love song contrasts resplendently with the violent police raid and the close ups of the deceased in the apartment. If one were to watch this sequence with closed eyes, the accompanying visuals would not be pictured logically in ones head. As in the scene where Frank and his cronies beat Jeffery to the strains of Candy Colored Clown, Lynch juxtaposes a scene of incredible violence with a soundtrack of whimsy and happiness. The song is also significant to the viewer, who has taken to associate the song, or at least its lyrics, with Frank Booth and his horrifying demeanor. Here, the song is used for symbolic and metadiegetic purposes (Ktepi), both to conflict with the visual frame and to remind us of Franks omnipresent malignancy. He leaves, and the music cuts abruptly as he shuts the apartment door. Descending the stairs to leave, he sees the well-dressed man approaching. Strains of what can only be described as bad guy music begin to swell, leaping in volume and intensity as Jeffery realizes that the man is Frank in disguise. Jeffery runs back to Dorothys apartment, the music seems to chase him as he goes. After he sets up Frank with his clever radio transmission, he hides in the closet. As Frank enters the apartment and begins to hunt Jeffery down, the music swells

Monday, November 25, 2019

Encouraging Trends in Trucking 2,800+ Jobs Since June!

Encouraging Trends in Trucking 2,800+ Jobs Since June! According to the U.S. Labor Department, the for-hire trucking sector gained 2,800 jobs in July, putting its total employment figure at more than 1.46 million, the highest it’s seen in more than 8 years. More broadly, the transportation and warehousing industry saw an increase of 14,400 jobs. Total non-farm employment jobs went up by 215,000 this month too- the overall unemployment rate is still at 5.3%, the lowest it’s been longer than seven years. Factors for the increases include baby boomers retiring, women leaving the workforce, or job skills no longer matching up. Other fields that saw major gains this quarter were retail, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities.While the rise may have fallen short of economists’ expectations, it’s good news for truckers and warehouse and transportation professionals across the country.Stay tuned for further updates as the next quarter looms!Economic Watch: Trucking, Overall Employme nt ImproveRead More at TruckingInfo

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Characteristics of the Green Roof and How It Reduces Energy Cost Assignment

Characteristics of the Green Roof and How It Reduces Energy Cost - Assignment Example This layer of materials accommodates water and contains nutrients for the green roof plants. Another characteristic feature of the green roof is its potential to emulate a real garden. This feature allows the roofing system to be used as an economic and social resource. It makes an economic contribution from its potential as a garden and social impacts from its capacity to be used for recreation purposes. In its application, the green roof shelters dwellers of a building in the same way as the traditional roofing works but doubles as natural vegetation (Voelz and Loux, p. 2). Based on its features, the green roof plays significant economic roles. The agricultural aspect, for instance, generates food resources among other materials. The system particularly plays a significant economic role in regulating expenditure in energy costs. Since it is a poor heat conductor, the green roof is able to maintain a favorable room temperature irrespective of the environment. It subsequently saves the amount of money that could be used in warming houses during cold seasons and cooling houses during hot seasons. The technology is however not yet popular among people and has therefore not been appreciated (Voelz and Loux, p. 4, 5). EPA regulations, for EPA buildings, are associated with a number of efficiencies to the environment. Examples of the efficiencies include â€Å"water efficiency, waste reduction, toxics reduction, and indoor air quality† (Epa, p. 1). Departments in the Environmental Protection Agency with the aim of ensuring safety and improving environmental conditions run these efficiency programs. The water efficiency program facilitates manufacture and distribution of water facilities and water services to the public. As a result, water efficiency provides for quality in water supply and services to promote healthy living standards among the public. Waste reduction efficiency, on the other hand, protects the environment from pollution.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Review - Essay Example The article mentions that in the year of 1999, 38% of the teenagers in the United States spent their money in churches. The article states that young adults have lower income resources and financial stability as compared to adults of the society and still, in 2004, the researchers found that 3 out of every 10 young adults donated money to churches as compared to 6 out of 10 adults. So, we see that the rate of donor young adults is almost half of the older adults, which is very good for the age of young adults. The article further mentions that the government of the United States expects to project nearly $15 trillion as an â€Å"intergenerational transfer of wealth† between years 2006 and 2021. This is a significant amount of money that is transferred among the peers of a generation, and the generation being discussed here is the young adults. This means, that young adults of the society are responsible enough to think how to save extra bucks and spend them in charities so tha t some poor person is helped out of his miseries. This is actually the actual love for humanity which is the real essence of philanthropy. The article also suggests that young adults tend to give more volunteer time as compared to older adults, if they have very little to donate to charities.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Respond to question 2 on attach instructions Essay

Respond to question 2 on attach instructions - Essay Example A problem is a major social feature that affects the society thereby implying that everyone would have a definition of the problem. People define a social problem based on its effects. After explaining the problem as it manifests itself in the society, the next stage in the definition process is determining the causes of the problem. This requires the consideration of the current features of the problems (Stone, 2011). While the history of a problem may provide vital information on both its effects and causes, the stage dictates that one concentrates on the current features of the problem since its manifestation is a result of prevailing lapses in the social structure. By investigating the current features of the problems, it becomes possible to determine the lapses that perpetuate the prevalence of the problem. Such factors may fuel the problem thereby spiraling its effects to a vast margin. Additionally, while investigating the features of the problems, it becomes prudent to avoid the troubles the problem may cause. A problem is likely to have ripple effects, which in most cases constitute trouble. While investigating the problem especially at a preliminary stage, Stone explains that concentrating on the troubles arising from the problem is likely to compound the issue. Such a social problem as increase in crime rate in a society may have myriad effects in the society including the rise of vigilante activities in the society. When defining such, Stone postulates that the investigator must major on the on the present features of the problem such as the regions with the highest cases and the manifestation of the problem in the society (Kingdon, 2010). This way, it becomes possible for the investigator to manage the investigation and keep them to the vital features of the problems. After achieving an objective understanding of the problem, the next process is to brainstorm some of the common causes to the problem.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Nursing Retention in South Africa

Nursing Retention in South Africa 2nd Paper Quantitative Research Title Mokoka,K.E., Ehlers, V.J. Oosthuizen, M.J. (2011). Factors influencing the retention of registered nurses in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Curationis, 34(1), 9. Retrieved from http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/curationis. v34i1.16 Introduction South African Nursing Council has predicted a critical nursing staff shortage within the country in the near future. This phenomena occurred as the number of nurse graduates has reduced by 42% over a period of 10 years. The authors carried out this exploratory descriptive quantitative study with the intention to investigate work related factors that influence nurses decision to stay with current employer. Questionnaires were posted to 536 registered nurses selected using random sampling method. Authors employed postal questionnaires as data collection instrument to targeted respondents with covering letters and stamped addressed return envelope. However, only 108 questionnaires returned where 73.1% of responded nurses expressed thoughts of leaving their job. Data analysis of this study employed quantitative descriptive procedures using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) tool. As a result, financial factors was the most important factor influencing nurses retention. Re commendations based on the results of this study made to the employers for implementation to reduce turnover and enhance retention. Data collection method will be discussed in this study. Data collection method Structured self report survey-based method was used by the authors in the data collection. Researchers have the options of face to face interview, phone interview, postal questionnaires and online (electronic) questionnaires. Since this cross sectional quantitative survey consisted of large number of sample to achieve generalization of the study, postal questionnaires as data collection instrument is favored (Stenhammar et al., 2011). In addition to that, Ashby et al. (2010) reported that postal questionnaires tool is frequently used for health services research. In fact, postal questionnaires approach used by researchers can be distributed throughout a wider geographic area thus increases the number of return samples. McDonald and Adam (2003) claimed that postal data collection received twice response rate than online method. Similarly, Shih and Fan (2007) reported that postal mail survey gives better response rate as compare to electronic mail after a review into 35 studies. Subsequently, high questionnaires response rate will ensure studys validity and avoid bias (Stenhammar et al., 2011). However, postal survey with incomplete questionnaires is excluded hence the occurrence of item-missing data reduce s data quality. Meanwhile, force function set up to ensure completion of questionnaire for online data is not possible for postal data. Indeed, Basi (1999) found that completion of data by online respondent is more than that of postal respondent. On the contrary, Stanton (1998) compared postal and online questionnaires and suggested that there were no differences in the item variability and amount of incomplete data. Even so, there were variety of findings in the studies that compare the postal and online methods (e.g. Buchanan,2003; Epstein et al., 2001; Lewis et al., 2009). As many researchers begin to recognize the impending trend where network interactions progressively gain popularity among the population, it is highly possible that electronic devices will play an active role in time. According to McDonald and Adam (2003), online technologies might include interactive television, handphones and 3D simulations touch screen devices. However in 1999, Dommeyer and Moriarty concluded that online data collection methods do not result in higher response levels and Cobanoglu et al. (2001) stated that postal survey was a common research method in year 2000. When exploring the social background of the participants, mail response samples showed conventional and introvert profiles. Whereas, the online response samples showed profile of technology savvy group (Schillewaert Meulemeester, 2005). Clearly, penetration of technologies and adaptation of users are other important factors to consider by researchers while referring to the social-demographics pattern of t he population. There were total of 89 questions in this study that may reduce the response rate significantly. Given the circumstances that nurses in the sample group have been busy at workplace and back home (handling household chore), they are less likely to participate in the study actively. In this case, question designs by researchers must be focused and short to extract required information and encourage participation. As pointed out in a pilot study carried out by Jepson et al. (2004) the threshold for questionnaire length on a favorable response rate was approximately 1000 words. In addition, Edwards et al. (2003) supported this hypothesis after the review of 251 relevant reports concluding that using shorter questionnaire increases response rate. In another word, questionnaire design is important to speed up returns. All things considered, novice researchers consider the use of questionnaires are advised to refer experts and literature on the similar study ( Drummond et al., 2007; Dunn et al., 2002; Marshall, 2004 ). Then again, traditional research method such as postal survey costs more as compared to online survey. Postal cost includes those of printing, preparing mail cover and two way postage (MacDonald Adam, 2003; Mehta Sivadas, 1995; Weibie Wallace, 1998). Moreover, to improve postal questionnaire response rates few measures were introduced for examples including pencils and erasers in the postage package, sending reminder in the form of text messages or electronic mail. For the study on cost effectiveness of including pencils and erasers, Aveyard et al. (2001) found that there was no benefit shown to set off the cost. Nevertheless, text messages as suggested can be conveniently implemented as a strategy to increase response rate by researchers because participants take shorter time to access text messages on phone than electronic mail ( Keding et al., 2016; Man et al., 2010). Conclusion Selection of data collection instrument is essential to enhance survey quality while taking into consideration the aspect of accuracy, cost and timeliness. Unfortunately, studies looking at comparative result among different data collection methods over the years has produced conflicting outcome (Weigold et al., 2013). In time, health care providers being the technologically sophisticated population may be able to provide higher response rate in web-based survey with the improvement of internet accessibility and successful technology adoption (Weible Wallace, 1998). On the whole, ongoing study is required to monitor the evolution of health care research so that the researchers can decide on the suitable method for their studies.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Short Story, The Yellow Wallpaper :: Essay on The Yellow Wallpaper

In everyday day life we go through changes and sometimes we even break down to the point we do not know what to do with ourselves, but in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story† The Yellow Wallpaper† the narrator is an obsessive person. The story focuses on a woman who is going through postpartum depression and has had a nervous breakdown. Her husband John moves her into a home where he wants her to rest in isolation to recover from her disorder. Throughout her time in the room the narrator discovers new things and finally understands life. The narrator is trying to get better from her illness but her husband â€Å"He laughs at me so about this wallpaper† (515). He puts her down and her insecurities do not make it any better. She is treated like a child. John says to his wife â€Å"What is it little girl† (518)? Since he is taking care of her she must obey him â€Å"There comes John, and I must put this away, he hates to have me write a word†. The narrator thinks John is the reason why she cannot get better because he wants her to stay in a room instead of communicating with the world and working outside the house. The room describes the narrator. The room was once a nursery so it reminds her that she has a baby which she is not able to see or hold. The room was also a playroom so it reminds her once again that she cannot play with or watch her baby play. The room has two windows which she looks out of and sees all the beautiful places she cannot go because of her husband. The bars on the windows represent a prison which her husband has put her in to heal from her illness. Throughout her time in the room she notices the wallpaper â€Å"a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight† (514). After a couple of days in her opinion the wallpaper is starting to change. She sees â€Å"a women stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern† (518). In the daytime she sees the women outside the house â€Å"I see her in that long shaded lane, creeping up and down. I see her in those dark grapes arbors, creeping all around the gardenâ€Å"(521). The places where the women is creeping is where the narrator can’t go so she he creeps in the daytime â€Å"I always lock the door when I creep by daylight† (520).