David Suzuki Food Connection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

David Suzuki Food Connection - Essay Example Here, Suzuki makes a contrast between cleanliness and dirt, and between the liveliness of the rural market of naturally grown food and the coldness of the experience of supermarket food items. The writer has given many examples to prove his point. First, he leads the reader to a market in a third world country which he calls a â€Å"collage of sounds† and where we see: Vendors hawking their products (and some of the live produce adding their own squawks) ; buyers haggling over price and old friends greeting and exchanging gossip; smells that range from the perfume of flowers and spices to non-refrigated meat and fish; and splashes of colours in clothing, fruits and flowers (Suzuki, 539). After describing this vivid scene, Suzuki has explained the cultural as well as health-wise importance of this scene (539). He has said, â€Å"Markets give us a sense of the people. ... He has also observed that, in poor countries, the market products are invariably 'indigenous' and grown locally† (Suzuki, 539). He has here, drawn attention to the fact that such produces â€Å"give us an idea of the kind of agriculture practiced in a locale and the variety of products grown or collected in the area† (Suzuki, 539). In this essay, one interesting fact has been that the author has only indirectly and subtly suggested the health benefits of eating naturally grown food. It is only when the chemicals used for agriculture are mentioned that a more direct connection with human health is made. Instead the focal point of this essay has been a more philosophical question regarding the danger of severing one's ties with nature. This becomes evident when we explore the number of instances when an abstract statement is made by the author pointing to th severing of ties with mother nature brought about by the new system of artificial cultivation and keeping of food. F or example, Suzuki has discussed organic food not because he wanted to stress upon its health value but because he felt that by labelling some thing as organic, we are imparting a special value to something which is actually the real normal thing (540). Then he has moved on to show the contradiction in our notions about normalcy. He has revealed that the, â€Å"food that has been treated with pesticides, herbicides, hormones, preservatives and antibiotics requires no special label† which surprises him (Suzuki, 540). Here, the question raised is whether is it not this kind of food that needs to be labelled as different from normal food. In the same vein, Suzuki has added, our overriding concern has been with the appearance, the looks, of the food product (540). To prove

The Power of Film as Propaganda

The Power of Film as Propaganda The power of film as propaganda reality or myth? Throughout history various persons and administrations in power have attempted to win the hearts and supports of their constituents, often through reframing or reinterpreting historical events in a light favourable to them. This was certainly the case in the Russian Revolution of1917. The Bolsheviks and Lenin, their leader, sought to use film to recast events of the revolution in such a way as to rally and unify the Russian peasantry. Filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein was one of those recruited for the task, and while many government-sponsored films of the time have disappeared into the massive pile of poor quality filmmaking, two of his works in particular, Battleship Potemkin and October, were powerful in framing the Russian Revolution in the eyes of the world and his own people. These works demonstrate the power of film, even those recognised as containing elements of propaganda. Hostility and outbreaks had been building prior to the1917 Revolution, with general dissatisfaction for the Tsarist regime. One such event, a naval uprising in Odessa, was chosen by Eisenstein to show the liberation needed by the working class under the csars, which he considered had been subsequently provided by the Bolsheviks. Historically, the event was a mutiny of the seamen against the officers, and had been a major event in the earlier Revolution of 1905. Commissioned by the Soviet Central Committee to create a film commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the 1905 Revolution, Eisenstein originally planned a sweeping series of eight films, forming a panoramic view of 1905 events. However, when confronted with the communist definition of a workable budget, he quickly reduced the number to one. The film included significant license with the actual historical events of the incident, as Eisenstein and his government backers both made changes to portray the situation in a way supportive of the then-current Bolshevik regime. For example, whilst in reality the sailors were captured and incarcerated, Eisenstein ends the movie with the sailors in a rallying cry of class solidarity, rather than being herded off to prison. Eisenstein also used a variety of cinematic devices to reinforce his theme, regardless of historical accuracy. He staged the slaughter of civilians by the Cossacks on a series of steps in Odessa, undercutting close-ups of guns and faces with scenes of fleeing civilians and attacking soldiers to depict the slaughter of the populace by the czars troops. Overseas the film was a rousing success. European and American viewers and critics alike were impressed with the realism of the film and its filmmaking firsts. Eisenstein was the first to use editing to juxtapose apparently unrelated images, to create rapid and dynamic shifts in rhythm, and to compress and expand physical action rather than function simply as a storytelling device. The newsreel-like style of the film was another innovation praised by foreign critics. Americas National Board of Review reported at the time the faithful reproduction of this historical event by adhering as much as possible to a literal transcription and reproduction of officially documented facts Nothing approaching the reality of these scenes has ever occurred in cinematicsbefore. Interestingly, most American audiences regarded Potemkin as a celebration of freedom and liberation, rather than a support of a particular political agenda(Browne 182). Initial critics, with the exception of Gerstein who briefly mentions the propagandistic nature of the final scene, also viewed the film as historically accurate. Given only the partial and fragmentary information about the Soviet Union, the American agencies of interpretation the journalists and the critics sought to sketch a picture of something very new and unknown and used the figure of Eisenstein and the realism of his film to do so. However, by the late 1920s, critics were reconsidering the propaganda elements in Soviet films. For example, in his profile on Eisenstein in 1928, Alfred Barr openly explained the Russian governments involvement in the Potemkin and filmmaking in general, and the propagandistic elements of the movie. Intellects on both sides of the Atlantic appeared to have been quite taken with the reality of the movie, enough to overlook such elements of propaganda, and praise the Soviet filmmaker for his reality, a stark contrast to the to the fictionality and to t he vulgar artifice of the Hollywood image so despised by many of the intellectual elite. The film was not so well received in Russia. While by the 1930s, the Civil War became something of a focus for the revolutionary myth in Soviet cinema just the way the West was won fulfilled a similar function in Hollywood, at the time of its release Soviet audiences preferred lighter and more conventional faire. The problem was that, as long as Soviet audiences had a choice, they preferred the films that were popular elsewhere in Europe, and were happy with a diet of Hollywood hits or Soviet imitations. In addition, Potemkin featured no central hero with whom audiences could identify; the main character of the movie is best described as the collective masses. While Eisensteins lack of a central character fascinated Western audiences, it dehumanised Soviets, who were uninterested in the Cine-Eyes more perfect visions of reality. Potemkin had to be taken off after only two weeks, to be replaced with are turn of Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks, the film featured before its releas e. While the power of Potemkin as propaganda was far more convincing, at least initially, abroad, Eisensteins next great work, October, enjoyed tremendous success at home and was valuable as a way of reframing the October events for decades. Scholar recognise the inaccuracies and license of the film. Figes, for example, contends October is Eisensteins brilliant but largely fictional propaganda film. Rosenstone also acknowledges both the initial impact and lasting influence of the film.  October  has become and remains one of the best known and most enduring accounts of October so well known that it seems no exaggeration to suggest that more people have probably learned about the Bolshevik Revolution from the film than from any other single source. As October had a much stronger impact on the Russian public, both as a movie and as propaganda, it is important to consider the situation in Russia at the time and how it influenced the films creation and support. The Russian peasantry, accounting for eighty percent of the population, was largely hostile and overwhelmingly illiterate speaking more than a hundred different languages. In addition, peasants as a group were largely politically ignorant, and needed, it was felt by government leaders, to be properly informed. Peasants were inclined to believe naively in every printed word, and therefore open to persuasion from a variety of sources. Lack of vocabulary amongst the group and misunderstandings with speakers sent by the Bolshevik regime to educate them further compounded the communication problem. Furthermore, the peasants had not supported the Bolsheviks coming into power. Immediately after the overthrow in October, in November 1917, the Bolsheviks held an election as they had promised. Unfortunately for them, they were not the most supported party, although no group received a majority vote. The Bolsheviks lost the November 1917 election to the Socialist Revolutionaries, who received forty-four percent of the vote to the Bolsheviks twenty-seven percent. Although they lost, the Bolsheviks nonetheless seized and consolidated power. This left the government as one in need of persuasive means to address its constituents. Not having been elected by the people, it depended largely on the power of the word to establish its authority. The Civil War that occurred following the Revolution necessitated urgent, cheap and effective measures to win over the hearts and minds of the people in whose name the Bolsheviks claimed to govern. In response, Lenin realised the importance of the dyna mic visual propaganda that cinema could offer and set the government on a course of creating propaganda films. Films would serve to not only entertain, but to allow the Bolsheviks to construct their particular utopia out of the ruins of Tsarist Russia. However, By the 1930s, the Party functionaries recognized that the films were not useful propaganda instruments as long as they could not attract a mass audience. Russians clearly preferred Hollywood-type films, and had similar response to government-produced propaganda films as they had to Potemkin, although such works had little of its quality or creativity. Government leaders recognised that their greatest artists, who made experimental, innovative films, could not communicate with the simple people who wanted to be entertained. They developed a new slogan for art in the Soviet Republics, loosely translated as movies for the masses. Experimentation was denounced as formalism, as something alien to Soviet art, and now each film had to be immediately comprehensible even to the least educated. Many artists and writers immediately following the 1917 Revolution also recognised the need to enlighten the peasantry, and the potential for creative media to communicate new life options to them, and initially joined in government efforts. Filmmakers such as Eisenstein and Kozintsev, for example, were determined in their different ways to use their new art form to construct a new Sovietman. However, with the increasing and ever more intrusive censorship, in combination with limitations on creativity and severe punishments for violations of government guidelines, many film producers simply stopped making movies. Whilst the cinema became increasingly popular, movie selection decreased. By the 1930s, foreign films had been banned; Soviet films also decreased. Whilst in the 1920s over one hundred movies were made annually, but this number had dropped to less than forty by the 1930s. Content was for the most part centred on the benefits of the Bolshevik regime and the evils of the Tsarist one. Class consciousness could usually be reduced to an understanding that there were enemies everywhere, that the Soviet was of life was superior, that it was the duty of decent people to participate in the building of socialism, that the primary allegiance one owes is to Soviet society and not to the family. As Kenez wryly notes, if one judged the world entirely on the basis of Soviet films, one might have imagined that the task of Soviet border guards was to keep out all those who hoped to enter. The Bolshevik government needed to rally illiterate masses to its support, whilst the Soviet Republic spanned a gigantic geographical and cultural plethora, and a number of events leading up to the current regime seizing power were morally questionable, at best. The question is whether propaganda films really exerted the influence over the public that many have long held unquestionably that they do. The Soviets certainly committed a surprising amount of scarce resources, although not as much as the filmmakers would have liked, to this novel form of propaganda, recognising the apparent potential of the medium of cinema for powerful, mass, political propaganda. Reeves contends that in many countries, including the UK and Soviet Republic, the power of film propaganda was simply assumed. Through the 1950s,politicians and commentators alike seem to have become only more convinced that the mass media in general, cinema in particular, provided a weapon uniquely capable of effectively moulding the ideology of the masses. Reeves further contends that empirical studies in Britain between the First and Second World Wars are primarily supportive of the power of film propaganda and the media to influence the general populace. Almost without exception int er-war studies stressed their enormous power, using metaphors like hypodermic needle or magic bullet to characterise that power in contrast to the weakness of the mass of people who, whether they liked it or not, received the messages which the media generated. While there have been more recent challenges to these findings, Eisensteins October is widely held to have had a profound impact both on the Russian people and foreigners in shaping their perception and understanding of the Bolsheviks rise to power. Although October was made before the changes to filmmaking of the 1930s, it very much followed the type of movie propaganda scheme the government would later require. The film was commissioned by the Soviet agency in charge of the production and distribution of films, Sovkino, as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of the 1917events. Ever the visionary, Eisenstein first planned to create a heroic epic, spanning from the February 1917 overthrow of the Czar to the end of the Civil War in 1921.Pressures of time (both on the screen and in the production process) led to aversion that covered a smaller slice of the past: from February through October1917. The story the movie tells, and the way it tells that story are surely part of along tradition of explaining why and how the Bolsheviks took power. One might even argue that October had a significant role in creating that tradition. The film neither accurately represents what happened nor entirely fictionalises events, instead combining the two to create a picture in the minds of many of the Revolution. The film opens with the downfall of the Russian Czar in February of 1917.While it overdoes the evilness of the Tsarist regime a bit from an historical standpoint, this presents a strong contrast for the following events. Of particular note is the handling of the July Days protests in July of 1917.The Bolsheviks had assembled over fifty thousand supporters, had surrounded the Tauride Palace, and had taken hostage a representative of the Provisional Government during the protest. Bolshevik leaders truly did decide not to overthrown the government during this time, calming the crowd and a voiding bloodshed. Eisenstein is considered by many scholars to be relatively accurate in his rendition of the July events, although he creates from a decidedly Bolshevik point of view. Eisenstein shows us the masses of marching protesters, the bloodshed on the Nevsky Prospekt, the anger of the middle classes against the lower orders, the Bolshevik speakers calming the soldiers, insisting it is not time to seize power. Similarly, Rosenstone states that historians have little dissent over much of the things that led up to the October events, or how Eisenstein handled them. The February Revolution, he contends, was truly popular and necessary, while the Provisional Government was inept, inefficient, stupid or criminal in its attempt to continue the war. Eisensteins portrayal of Kerenskys handling of the entire situation is alsosupported by historians. Figes states that during the event, Kerensky began to strut around with comic self-importance, puffing up his puny chest and striking the pose of a Bonaparte.Rosenstone notes Eisenstein shows Kerensky as a would-be Bonaparte, by cutting from a close-up of him directly to a statue of Napoleon, and he is hardly the only historian to suggest the prime minister saw himself in that kind of heroic role. Figes and Rosenstone both note that Eisenstein used similar techniques to highlight the ineptitude of General Kornilov. Eisenstein suggests that the attempt to overthrow the Provisional Government was really based on a misunderstanding, exacerbated by Kornliov, who also saw himself as a Bonaparte figure and did not realise that most of those supporting him did so with the hope to use him in the governments overthrow .Eisenstein presents Kornilov as yet another potential Napoleon by cutting from his image to that of the same statue previously linked to Kerensky. The film shows how the generals march on Petrograd is undermined by Bolshevik agitators, who are able to convince the Cossacks of his Savage Division that the Soviet programme of Peace, Land, Bread is not meant just for the worker sof Petrograd but for everyone, including them. It is the ending of the movie, as he did in Potemkin, where Eisenstein takes the greatest license. The movie climaxes with the storming of the Winter Palace, an event that did not actually occur. Indeed the Palace was largely unoccupied by the time of the October events, and any Bolsheviks attacking it would have only had to rebuff a few women and elderly men left to tend to maintenance. While Kerenskys cabinet was inside, they were cut off from the outside and posed no threat. The Palace was taken peacefully, with cabinet members arrested. However, Eisenstein realised the film must have a strong climatic event, and as Lenin had previously used the Palace as an emblem of the Revolution conquering old regimes in the name of the masses, he used a dramatic battle to climax his historical rendition. Many Russian critics at the time were appalled that he had even considered dramatising or reframing such an important event in their history. Additional complaints included Eisensteins omission of the collapse at the front and the growth of the workers movement were also directed at the film.Rosenstone would counter that a filmmaker can never forget the demands of the medium no matter how much you are committed to putting the past on the screen, and no matter how accurate you wish that past to be, the one thing you can never do is to mirror a moment all those moments that have vanished. Even in contemporary viewing of October, however, Eisensteins theme is repeatedly that it was the stupidity and oppression of the Provisional Government, not the political desires of the Bolsheviks, that led to the October 1917 Revolution. It was the desires and action of the masses, not Lenin or a few organising leaders, that led to the governments overthrow. As propaganda, the film has long served to reinforce the validity of the Bolsheviks seizure of power, and therefore to instigate major changes on the Soviet populace. It remains the way many, both in Russia and in Western countries, view the events of 1917, an as such speaks to the effective and lasting power of film as a propaganda device. History can be recast, reinterpreted, expressed in film, and many will believe what they see .Eisensteins work reinforces both independent research and policies ofgovernments worldwide that support film propaganda as a convincing tool. BIBLIOGRAPHY Battleship Potemkin. Dirs. Sergei M. Eisenstein and GrigoriAleksandrov. White Star, 1925. Behind the screen. TheTimes (UK) 18 September 2004: Features, Films 29. Balio, Tino. Eisenstein. 21 May 2005.http://members.tripod.com/~afronord/eisen.html Browne, Nick. Eisenstein inAmerica: The First Phase. Emergences 12.2 (2002): 181-197. Encyclopedia:Propaganda Film.January 2005. 21 May 2005.. Figes, Orlando. The Russian Revolutionand Its Language in the Village. The Russian Review 56 (July 1997):323-345. Figes, Orlando. A Peoples Tragedy:The Russian Revolution 1891-1924. New York: Penguin Books. 1998. Forging the Shipof State: The Bolsheviks in Power. 21 May 2005.. Kenez, Peter. Jewish Themes in StalinistFilms. Journal of Popular Culture 31.2 Spring 1998: 159-169. October. Dirs. Sergei M. Eisenstein and Grigori Aleksandrov. WhiteStar, 1927. Reeves, Nicholas.The Power of Film Proaganda Myth or Reality? Historical Journal of Film,Radio Television 13.2 (1993). . Rosenstone, RobertA. October as History. Rethinking History 5:2 (2001): 255-274. Taylor, Richard.Russian and Soviet Cinema: Continuity and Change, Imperial War Museum,London, 17-19 July 1990. Historical Journal of Film, Radio Television 11.1 (1991). . Taylor, Richard.Soviet Cinema: The Path to Stalin. History Today July 1990: 43-48. The OctoberRevolution of 1917.21 May 2005. . Yangirov, Rashitand Taylor, Richard. Soviet Cinema in the Twenties: National Alternatives.Historical Journal of Film, Radio Television 11.2 (1991)..

Write an evaluation of how effective you think the Dubble campaign has

Write an evaluation of how effective you think the Dubble campaign has been so far and how your advertising has aimed to reach Dubble’s target audience eff. The Dubble Campaign: ‘Write an evaluation of how effective you think the Dubble campaign has been so far and how your advertising has aimed to reach Dubble’s target audience effectively.’ In October 2000, Comic Relief and The Day Chocolate Company teamed up with Kuapa Kokoo, a co-operative of 35,000 Ghanaian cocoa farmers, to launch Dubble, a unique chocolate bar aimed at 10 -16 year olds. In January 2001, Dubble was introduced to the public through a ‘chocolate challenge’ competition launched by Comic Relief on the Live and kicking show. The competition was to design a wrapper for Dubble. In October, Dubble was launched onto the shelves of supermarkets and outlets. Free bars were given away in Smash Hits and Match magazines. A Dubble website was developed featuring a web link between schools in Ghana and the U.K. Dubble advertisements were featured on T.V, magazines and the Internet, all media widely used by teenagers. Dubble is part of the Fair Trade campaign, which ensures that farmers in developing countries, who grow crops like cocoa used in chocolate making, are paid fairly for their products. Fair Trading and links with Comic Relief are important attributes for Dubble. The Fair Trade link helps children understand Dubble’s aim- helping Ghanaian cocoa farmers. Additionally, the f...

Music Concert Paper

Emily Scott Music Appreciation 28 Feburary 2013 West Michigan Concert Winds Concert On February 24th, I attended the West Michigan Concert Winds â€Å"Winner and Winds† concert. West Michigan Concert Winds is a volunteer group that performs instrumental music to the community. This ensemble contains a wide range of musical talents from all different backgrounds. Some members are college students, some teachers. There was also many current or retired band directors apart of the ensemble. They performed all different genres of music from a Sousa march to an Irish wake by A.J. Potter. There was also a scholarship acceptance performance by a local high school junior who was amazing at the clarinet. The first song was titled â€Å"Fanfare for Saint Cecilia. † This piece was composed for Saint Cecilia on a special occasion called â€Å"Three Countries Day. † This is an example like we talked about in class where a composer had a job of composing music for a certain eve nt because prerecorded music wasn’t available at that time. The song had a magnificent and triumphant feel to it with many brass heavy parts specifically trumpet.Woodwinds played the accompaniment underneath but were not heard exclusively. Some parts I liked about this piece was the overall excitement that it had and the energy that the ensemble put into it. It was very easy to tell that the instrumentalists enjoyed playing the song. Polka and Fugue from the Opera â€Å"Schwanda, The Bag Piper† was another piece I found fascinating. It was a Chek Folk tale which told the story about the lonely bag piper and his adventures. It started out with the woodwinds playing the theme of a cheery thrill note and triplet.The feel of the music was cheery and you were almost able to hear the story being told. I also enjoyed hearing the Fugue part of the song because that was also something we discussed in class. The fugue was characterized by imitation and variation on the imitation by different sections throughout the band. The band also played a Sousa but surprisingly this piece was not a march but a waltz. Although this song was characterized as a waltz, I felt like it had the elements of a march in it like clearly defined beats and ascending and descending full ensemble runs.The music was very bouncy and you could almost picture the dancers waltzing on stage. I was very impressed with the brass section because of their strong tone and intensity. I throughly enjoyed my experience of listening to The West Michigan Concert winds. I was impressed with the talent of the ensemble and the professional way they looked on stage. They provided a wide variety of music compositions and kept me entertained throughout the concert.

Relationship Between Drop Height and Diameter of Plasticine Sphere Essay

PROBLEM: A student suggest that there is a proportional relationship between height at which a plasticine sphere is dropped and the diameter of the flattened part after dropping. Design an experiment to determine if this suggestion is true or not. AIM:To investigate the relationship between the drop height and the flattened part of a plasticine sphere after being dropped. HYPOTHESIS: As the height of the sphere plasticine increases the diameter increases. VARIABLES: Manipulating: The drop height of the sphere plasticine Responding: The diameter of the flattened part of the sphere. Controlled: The size of the ball, the surface area of the drop height and the material from which the sphere is made. APPARATUS: Sphere plasticine, meter ruler, Vernier caliper, string, marker METHOD: Make a sphere out of plasticine and measure its size using the Vernier caliper to maintain a constant size throughout the experiment. Get a flat and smooth surface area.  Use a meter ruler to measure 60m above the surface area and hold the plasticine to the ruler at the 60m and drop it. Wrap a piece of string around the flattened part of the sphere and use a marker to mark off where the string stops. Measure the length of the string up to where the mark stops using a meter ruler. Divide the length of the string by 3.14 (pi) to get the diameter. Record the drop height and the diameter of the sphere in a table. Roll the plasticine back into a sphere using the measurements from the Vernier caliper. Measure 40m above the surface area using a meter ruler and hold the plasticine to the ruler and drop it from that height. Wrap a piece of string around the flattened part of the sphere and use a marker to mark off where the string stops. Measure the length of the string up to where the mark stops using a meter ruler. Divide the length of the string by 3.14 (pi) to get the diameter. Record the drop height and the diameter of the sphere in a table. Roll the plasticine back into a sphere using the measurements from the Vernier caliper. Measure 20m above the surface area using a meter ruler and hold the plasticine to the ruler and drop it from  that height. Wrap a piece of string around the flattened part of the sphere and use a marker to mark off where the string stops. Measure the length of the string up to where the mark stops using a meter ruler. Divide the length of the string by 3.14 (pi) to get the diameter. Record the drop height and the diameter of the sphere in a table. EXPECTED RESULTS The sphere that has a drop height of 60m should have a larger diameter than the sphere with a drop height of 40m and 20m. The results should be recorded in a table. Height  Diameter DATA ANALYSIS: The height at which the sphere plasticine is dropped and the diameter are directly proportional therefore as the height increases so should the diameter. If the sphere dropped at 60m has a larger diameter than the sphere dropped at 40m or 20m then the hypothesis is accepted. If the sphere dropped at 20m has a larger diameter than the sphere dropped at 40m or 60m then the hypothesis is rejected. SOURCES OF ERRORS / PRECAUTIONS: A source of error is parallax error and a precaution to take to prevent this error is to do readings more than once, record them and find the average. Another source of error is not reading the Vernier scale on the Vernier caliper from the zero mark a precaution to take is to make sure that you start reading the Vernier scale from the zero mark.