Essay --

HISTORY OF THE COMEDY FILM GENRE Types of Comedies: There has been many different types and forms of comedies down through the years, some of which include: †¢ Slapstick: this type of comedy was dominant in the early years of silent film. They didn’t need sound to be effective, which meant it there wasn’t a language barrier and it could be understood all over the world. Slapstick was all about well-timed performance skills. Slapstick comedy evolved and screwball comedy took over in the 1930’s and 1940’s. †¢ Screwball: these films where mainly made up of slapstick, farce and witty dialogue. They were generally light-hearted films with a romantic story, where the plot would be a battle between the sexes and they both try to outwit each other. †¢ Deadpan: this type of comedy is known as dry humour, where there would be no change in the characters facial or body language. Buster Keaton would be famous for this type of expression-less humour. †¢ Verbal Comedy: W.C. Fields used cruel verbal wit in his movies. Other forms of comedy include: †¢ Black or dark comedy †¢ Parody or spoof Slapstick Comedy Films from the comedy genre began in the early 1900’s, with screen legends such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd all leading the way. Technology at this time was limited so the humour of many of these films relied on slapstick comedy. The characters in these types of movies would play out their roles by using physical movements and over the top facial expressions to get the humour across to the audience. One of the first ever comedy movies was called â€Å"Watering the Gardener†, directed by the Lumiere brothers in 1985. It was a sketch that only lasted 49 seconds and was the first to use slapstick comedy. The plot is about a ga... ...st production companies in Hollywood decided to go with more serious topics for the audience. A good example of this would be Preston Sturges screwball comedy â€Å"The Lady Eve†. In the late 1940’s the British Black comedies were using serious subjects in a comical way, such as the film â€Å"The Ladykillers† (1955). In the 1950’s, the television industry was starting to become the main form of entertainment. Comedy films could no longer rely on only using verbal and visual wit, but they now had to add â€Å"excellent production values† (Cook 508) because more and more people were deciding to stay home to watch television rather then going to the cinema. As television shows were more family-oriented, comedy films in the 1950’s were becoming more adult related, and because television shows also had various comedy shows and acts, comedy films went into decline during this decade.

Is Conflict Inevitable in the Employment Relationship? Essay

The relationship between employers and employees has long been the subject of widespread study and debate within the business world. This employment relationship can be defined as a complex system in which social, economic and political factors combine with an employee who exchanges mental and manual labour for rewards allocated by the employer (Encarta Encyclopaedia Deluxe. 2004). Industrial relations and human resource management advocates have traditionally held different views on the subject of organisational conflict. Many authors have argued that organisational conflict is inevitable in most work settings and that the employment relationship is essentially a trade-off ground (Alexander and Lewer, 1998; Deery, Plowman, Walsh and Brown 2001; Edwards, 1986). Supporting this argument, this essay will argue that conflict is both inevitable in the employment relationship and also potentially productive. When employers and employees come together in the workplace, sooner or later there is invariably some conflict that will arise. Once conflict has arisen, there is many different ways in which employees will show their discontent for their working conditions. Some forms will be shown in overt and obvious ways, the most blatant and publicised of these being strikes (Alexander and Lewer, 1998). Strikes involve a removal of labour by employees from the whole or, sometimes, a part of an organisation. The purpose of the strike is to enforce demands relating to employment conditions on the employer or of protesting unfair labour practices (Hyman, 1984). During the twelve months ended May 2003, there were 241,900 working days lost due to industrial disputes (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003). Other forms of overt conflict include stop-work meetings, work bans and boycotts. The traditional view of industrial relations was that a lack of strikes meant that all was well and conflict was being kept to a minimum. But in recent years widespread study has found that there are many other forms of conflict that are carried out in a much more covert manner (Alexander and Lewer, 1998; Deery et al. 2001). These can include absenteeism, high employee turnover, accidents, slow downs, sabotage, theft, low morale, slackness and  inefficiency. This type of response to conflict tends to be undertaken by disgruntled individuals rather than groups due to its covert nature (Edwards, 1986). Alexander and Lewer (1998) found that the losses caused by covert expressions of conflict far outweigh the overt. They reported that in 1997, absenteeism alone cost Australian business over $15 billion, or 6.75% of each company’s payroll. Both these forms of dealing with conflict relate back to the underlying principle that employers and employees have different objectives, thus ensuring conflict is inevitable. There are five key actors in the employment relationship: Employees, Employers, Trade Unions, Employee Associations and The role of the State. Each of these actors interact to and exchange conflict and resolutions. Trade unions are responsible for enterprise-level bargaining on behalf of the employees, though recently there has been more reliance on the arbitration system. By giving workers a united voice, a union can often negotiate higher wages, shorter hours, and better fringe benefits (such as insurance and pension plans) than individual workers can negotiate on their own (Davis & Lansbury, 1993). The last 30 years have seen a steep decline in the union density and power than unions hold. In 1976, 51% of all employees were in trade unions, by august 2002 this had fallen to 23.1% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003). Multi-unionism at the workplace has tended to fragment authority and obstruct union-management relationships, in cases causing workplace uncertainty and conflict from employees over who is representing them (Deery et al. 2001). Employer associations represent employers and help defend against the often well organised assault from trade unions. The role of the state is to oversee the employment relationship and ensure that employers, and employees and their representatives are able to cooperate in a manner that provides high inventory turnover, in an unbiased, safe workplace (Bamber & Davis, 2000). Employers, unions and governments have mainly divergent concerns about the future directions and impacts of workplace conflict and the effect it has on their objectives. Employers are concerned about economic performance and viability in the face of an increasingly competitive local marketplace.  Staff or wages cuts which may be necessary to stay economically viable will almost certainly cause conflict with employees. Unions are concerned that poor performance in the business economy will cause higher unemployment and put workers current terms of employment at jeopardy, a potential cause of great conflict. Unions also fear that continuing measures by the state to reduce their powers will cause further falls in membership levels, mean reduced influence onto employers. Identifying the underlying causes of this widespread conflict is important as it allows management to determine what resolution approach to take. The causes of this conflict will generally fall into two broad categories, collective and individual reasons (Deery et al. 1998). Collective causes of conflict generally are to deal with an employee’s disagreement with the structural make up of their work environment. Examples of this are poor employee reward systems, limited work resources, poorly constructed policies and work requirements conflict. Edwards (1979) believes that the underlying reason in this category is because there is a strong conflict of interest between employers and employees. What is good for one party is frequently costly for the other. An example of this is management’s objective of maximising the level of effort that employees apply to their work while also attempting to minimise wage expenditure (Deery et al. 1998). Studies also suggest that if workers feel they are being underpaid and cannot take collective action, they may very well adjust their work effort down to match the wage (Deery et al. 1998; Edwards, 1979). These points strengthen the aim of this essay because the wage-effort trade off will continue to exist fu rther causing conflict amongst the employment relationship. The general approach to negotiation response to collective causes of conflict is through a process called collective bargaining. There are three main levels of collective bargaining in the Australian system: National level bargaining, industry level bargaining and workplace level bargaining (Macklin, Goodwin & Docherty. 1993). At the national level of bargaining, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) plays an arbitration  role in industrial relations matters which cannot be resolved at lower levels. Industry level bargaining occurs within a particular industry, generally between trade unions and employer associations, with both these parties representing their members. This level of bargaining can determine industry-wide agreements on terms of employment. In recent years workplace and individual bargain has become a more preferred method of conflict negotiation (Alexander & Lewer. 1998). This level allows individual employers and employees to bargain without the need for representatives. These different approaches to collective conflict negotiation allow employees and employers to come to some agreement in a fair and formal manner. Individual causes of conflict can be provoked by a large combination of issues. Biases and prejudices, inaccurate perception, personality differences, cultural differences, differing ethical beliefs, poor communication and lack of skill in conflict resolutions are all pieces that can make up a larger picture of organisational conflict. Robbins, Bergman, Stagg and Coulter (2003), found that there are 5 main techniques to reducing individual conflicts: forcing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating. Which approach to use depends on the manger’s desire to be more or less cooperative and more or less assertive (Robbins et al. 2003). Not all conflicting situations are bad. Several authors have argued that, when the level of conflict is low or nil, internal work characteristics tend to be apathetic, stagnant, unresponsive to change and lacking in new ideas (Robbins et al. 2003, Lewicki & Litterer 1985). By directing conflict from a position of disagreement to an exchange of ideas, an environment of cooperation and trust is possible which can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes (DeChurch Marks, 2001; Van Slyke, 1997). References Alexander, R., & Lewer, J., (1998). Understanding Australian Industrial Relations (5th ed.). Sydney: Harcourt House, Chapter 7. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d). Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia. Retreived September 1, 2003, from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookupMF/88F55138D00A58E4CA2568A9001393B9 Australian Bureau of Statistics. (n.d). Industrial Disputes, Australia. Retreived September 1, 2003, from http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/490A908AFCBB9B06CA2568A90013936D Bamber , G. J., & Davis, E. M. (2000). Changing approaches to employment relations in Australia. In Bamber. G., Park. F., Lee. C., Ross. P. K. & Broadbent. K. Employment Relations in the Asia-Pacific, London: Business Press, pp. 23-45. Davis, E & Lansbury, R. D. 1993, ‘Industrial relations in Australia’, Bamber, G. and Lansbury, R. (eds) (2nd ed) International and Comparative Industrial Relations: a study of industrialised market economics, IRRC, Australia. pp. 100-12. DeChurch, L. A. & Marks, M. A. (2001). Maximising the benefits of task conflict: The role of conflict management. International Journal of Conflict Management, 12(1), 4-22. Retrieved August 27, 2003, from the ProQuest database. Deery, S., Plowman, D., Walsh, J & Brown. (2001). Industrial Relations: A contemporary Analysis (2nd ed.). Sydney: McGraw-Hill Edwards, P.K (1986). Conflict at work, Blackwell: Oxford. Encarta Encyclopaedia Deluxe (13th ed.). (2004). Redmond, WA: Microsoft. Hyman, R. (1984). Srikes. Great Britain: Fontana. Lewicki, R. J. and Litterer J. A. (1985). Negotiation, Homewood: IL. Macklin, R., Goowin, M. & Docherty, J. (1993). Workplace bargaining structures and processes in Australia. In D. Peetz, A. Preston. & Docherty, J. Workplace Bargaining in the International Context, Canberra: AGPS. Extracts, pp 3-12 Robbins, S. P., Bergman, R., Stagg, I., Coulter, M. (2003). Foundations of Management, (1st Ed). Sydney: Pearson Education Australia. Robbins, S. P., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. (1997). Management, Sydney: Prentice Hall. Van Slyke, E, J. (1997). Facilitating productive conflict. HR Focus, 74(4). Retrieved August 27, 2003, from the ProQuest database.

Metaphor: exam[les of using Essay

A metaphor is the use of something familiar to understand something less familiar. For instance, if a news report says â€Å"unemployment went down this month,† the familiar feeling of â€Å"going down† helps everyone to understand that the number of people looking for work has reduced. Metaphors are more common than many people think. If you look up the origin of almost any word in the dictionary, you will find a metaphor if you go back far enough. Some psychologists suggest that all of our thinking comes from metaphors, based on how our senses allow us to perceive everyday experiences. In this activity, you will use what you have learned about perception and the embodied mind to make discoveries about how you think. Please answer in complete sentences. Part 1 1. Which of your everyday physical experiences tell you that this hand isn’t actually holding a cloud? How did you learn that clouds are too far away to touch? (5 points) 2. What is the principle of perception that supports the idea that your brain expects that the puff of white between the fingers is a cloud; that is much farther away than the hand? (5 points) 3. Imagine that you are in the scene shown here. You are on a beach, looking out. In the two-track mind model, what are two examples of what the brain is doing on the unconscious level, and what are two examples of what the brain is doing on the conscious level? (10 points) Part 2 1. Think of the concept of leadership. a. What picture comes to your mind when you think, â€Å"leadership†? (3 points) b. What past experiences have you had that make you think of this? (3 points) c. How did your perceptual set and two-track mind contribute to these experiences? (4 points) 2. Think of the concept of unjust. a. What picture comes to your mind when you think, â€Å"unjust†? (3 points) b. What past experiences have you had that make you think of this? (3 points) c. How did your perceptual set and two-track mind contribute to these experiences? (4 points) 3. Think of any concept you have learned about from experience, one where you remember a particular event in your life that helped you learn what this concept meant. a. What picture comes to your mind when you think of that concept? (3 points) b. What past experiences have you had that give you this picture? (3 points) c. How did your perceptual set and two-track mind contribute to these experiences?

Free Essays on Italian Immigration

Italians have migrated to the United States more than any other European group. Poverty and overpopulation started Italian emigration. Italy’s populations rose in the late 1800’s. Population numbers became severe, especially in some poor southern provinces of Italy. The Italian government was basically run by mostly northerners. The southerners were hurt by high taxes on northern industrial goods. Southerners also suffered from not having large amounts of good farming land, and a lack of coal and iron ore needed by industry. This all brought about poverty in southern Italy. This poverty in Italy started migrations to other countries. More Italians migrated to South American than to North America. The first Italian immigrants to the United States were the northern Italians. Later, larger amounts of migrants came from the south. The Italians that came to the United States settled to areas that were completely Italian. The Italian Immigration article mentions, â€Å"Newly arriving immigrants were also known to seek out those who had emigrated earlier from their same town in Italy† (â€Å"Italian†) this kind of states the fact that these communities set up by the Italian’s were based on place of birth and kinship. Most Italians were not planning on staying in the United States. They planned to stay for approximately a year or two. After that they were going to return to Italy, but instead women and children started coming to the United States with the hopes of starting a new life. Most of the Italians went right for cities, like New York and Chicago, to become unskilled laborers. This made competition between Italians and Irish for the jobs.... Free Essays on Italian Immigration Free Essays on Italian Immigration Italians have migrated to the United States more than any other European group. Poverty and overpopulation started Italian emigration. Italy’s populations rose in the late 1800’s. Population numbers became severe, especially in some poor southern provinces of Italy. The Italian government was basically run by mostly northerners. The southerners were hurt by high taxes on northern industrial goods. Southerners also suffered from not having large amounts of good farming land, and a lack of coal and iron ore needed by industry. This all brought about poverty in southern Italy. This poverty in Italy started migrations to other countries. More Italians migrated to South American than to North America. The first Italian immigrants to the United States were the northern Italians. Later, larger amounts of migrants came from the south. The Italians that came to the United States settled to areas that were completely Italian. The Italian Immigration article mentions, â€Å"Newly arriving immigrants were also known to seek out those who had emigrated earlier from their same town in Italy† (â€Å"Italian†) this kind of states the fact that these communities set up by the Italian’s were based on place of birth and kinship. Most Italians were not planning on staying in the United States. They planned to stay for approximately a year or two. After that they were going to return to Italy, but instead women and children started coming to the United States with the hopes of starting a new life. Most of the Italians went right for cities, like New York and Chicago, to become unskilled laborers. This made competition between Italians and Irish for the jobs....

Dental Essay Writing Tips

Dental Essay Writing Tips For individuals interested in going to dental school, the admissions process can be a bear. From the written application to the dental essay, applying to dental school is just as difficult as applying to any medical program. Fortunately, I have a bit of experience in proofing dental statements and would like to offer some suggestions on how I believe you can write a stellar one. The biggest piece of advice I can offer towards writing dental papers is to get personal. The biggest mistake that you can make when composing a personal statement is to remain detached. A personal statement is called such because it is supposed to be about you! Write about specific personality traits that you possess use detailed life experiences to get your point across do whatever it takes to express your individuality. While it is important to be intimate in your essay, it is also crucial to deliver that intimacy in a professional package. While dental admissions directors want a glimpse into your personal life, they do not want to read a page that appears to have been ripped from your diary. Use discretion when writing your paper. Be real, be candid, but write it respectfully. A dental essay differs from other college admissions programs only in field. The same attention to detail, information, and individual voice is required. For more information about medical school essays or if you would like help in writing your nursing essay, please access the link provided. This link will direct you to an excellent personal essay resource where you can find help, tips, and info.

Data Structure Using C++ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Data Structure Using C++ - Essay Example In the context of the above brief discussion, Big O notation can be defined as a description of the growth rate of the order of a function T(N) as N becomes very large (Ellard 1997). In C++, the only difference between classes and structures is that all the members and base classes in structure are public by default, whereas, classes have private members and base classes by default. Dynamic Objects are those objects whose lifetimes are independent of the existence of the scope in which they were created and therefore, they give programmers a greater flexibility in managing the objects (Kafura 1996). In C++, a dynamic object can be created using a â€Å"new† operator which returns a pointer to a newly constructed object. On the other hand, to destruct a dynamic object in C++, a â€Å"delete† operator is used which takes an argument of a pointer variable that holds the pointer to the object that is returned by the â€Å"new† operator at the time of creating a dynamic object (Kafura 1996). The free store is a dynamic memory area which is available to allocate (by using the â€Å"new† operator) and deallocate (by using the â€Å"delete† operator) storage for objects during the execution of the program. A â€Å"null pointer† is a special kind of pointer which is distinguishable from all other pointer values and is not the address of any object or function. It is used to refer to the pointer which is â€Å"not allocated† or â€Å"not pointing anywhere yet†. However, it is important to note that a null pointer is not the same as an uninitialized value (Summit 1994). (a) A destructors is the special kind of function with the same name as its class prefixed by a ~ (tilde) which is called for a class object to deallocate memory and do other cleanup for a class object and its class members when the object passes out of scope or is explicitly deleted. For example: An AVL tree, also called height balanced, is

Small Group Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Small Group Communication - Essay Example Relations have a very major role to play in understand group communication vis-à  -vis the society. This is because no man can survive successfully in an environment alone. There shall inevitably be more individuals around him from the same species for him to live in a manner conforming to the definition of a social group, if not a society. Here the concept of mutual; regards, norms and values if very important. Relations, where may be defined as a rather subjective or relative term with reference to human understand, but it shall have to given some limits when we are discussing social structure. Relations can be very simply taken as appreciating and realizing the social norms in their very basic context. These relations, in even more simpler terms can possibly be linked to common sense. But then again, this shall vary greatly from culture to culture, and within that, from community to community. â€Å"One important task we face in attempting to understand the persons around us, is that of determining their present moods, group communication and feelings† (Barn et al, 1980). No matter how close people are, or how much they are in the same band width of thought processes, the ultimate recipe for rationalizing a social situation can never be the same; even for the same person. As was mentioned earlier, relations are the concept that involves actualizing with the prevalent norms. A very intelligent person is less likely to conform to the demands and ways of a group as compared to a person with optimal intelligence. Similarly, being mature does not necessarily confirm the presence of rationalistic and pragmatic frame of reference. Coleman believes that â€Å"Orthodox conceptions of relations are evidently internally deficient and inadequate for explaining human interaction† (2003). This extrapolates upon the conception that relations are a