The effects of Performance on Audience

Music soothes and relaxes the mind of audiences. It is one way of showcasing talent and at the same time give entertainment. An exquisite performance can eventually bring audiences to a moment of joy or sorrow. It depends upon the performer’s capability and musical knowledge. One can easily transform a beautiful mood into something bad when the performance is atrocious. On the other hand a pleasant performance can negate the sadness and anger of an audience. A good performance is not only the ability to convey the music’s notated structure but also the emotional metadata of the piece. Overall performance is assessed by how the audience goes out of the performance hall. If they go out wearing a smile, it means that the performance was a success. On the contrary, crumpled faces of the audiences will mean failure of the performance. It is vital for performers to know who their target audiences are. This way the chances of having negative outcome will be prevented. The performance will also determine if the quality of music and the message that the performer wanted to imply is grasp wholeheartedly by the audience. The goal of every performance is to catch the audience attention and at the same time absorb the theme or message as a whole. Although there are performance for a cause, the main point of having a performance is to keep the crowd alive and in union with the performer. A boring performance will eventually lead to audience walk out. It is also important for the performance to be adaptive to the audience. This way the listener’s musical interest is kept intact. The effects of performing on audience also boost the confidence and moral of the performer. A performer who stands in front of a crowd lively and intelligently assures that the flow of the performance is best. More audiences may trigger the performer’s nervousness and stage fright but this is the usual feeling of performers. After having performed many times, the performer will get use with the feeling and sees himself/herself not afraid anymore. Performing on audience also helps in looking for positive and negative traits of the performer. It will be based on the feed backs after the show which is given by jurors if it is a competition or by critics if it is just a program, concert r performance. Over all the effect of performing on audience is to know what makes the performer stand out and what needs to be improved. A performer’s attitude is also seen when performing before audiences. This is on how he/she relates with the kind of crowd. There are instances that the performance is held on a strange place and it is for the performer to adjust to the environment and continue the show without getting distracted and keeping his/her focus. Regardless of who your audiences are, you are compelled to perform with the best of your abilities. Performers often finds themselves having goose bumps and cold feelings upon seeing audiences but then it will also make them more motivated to perform. Performing also inhibits positivism on the performance and the perception of musical expression by the performer.

Night Mother by Kurt Vonnegut

Mother Night What intrigued me the most when reading Mother Night, by Kurt Vonnegut, were the quotes. He says things in a way that really make you step back and think. You could almost tell this book??? ‚a„? s story by discussing some of the quotes. In Mother Night, apolitical expatriate American playwright Howard W. Campbell, Jr. refashions himself as a Nazi propagandist in order to pass coded messages on to the U. S. generals and preserve his marriage to a German woman??? ‚aâ‚ ¬? their "nation of two," as he calls it. But in serving multiple masters, Campbell ends up ruining his life and becoming an unwitting inspiration to bigots. quot;We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. " Vonnegut introduces this as the moral of his book. "There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too. " It's never been more true: Left or right, Christian or Muslim, those convinced they're doing violence in service of a higher power and against an irretrievably inhuman enemy are the most dangerous creatures of all. But is Howard really such a bad man?All throughout reading the book, I would ask myself that question. No he doesn??? ‚a„? t seem to show much emotion, but doesn??? ‚a„? t that in a way seem understandable when you think about all he??? ‚a„? s done and seen? If he were to show emotion, he would go crazy. I know I would. Though he does seem to have a conscience, somehow, somewhere, deep down inside he is trapped. Trapped inside of the mess he??? ‚a„? s gotten himself into. I think he knows to that there is no way out, so he remains as this man he has pretended to be for so many years.Howard writes his story from a jail cell in old Jerusalem in 1961, while awaiting a fair trial for his war crimes by the republic of Israel. He is has a d ifferent guard for different parts of the day and night. One of them is Mengel. You are the only man I ever heard of,??? ‚N? Mengel says to me this morning, ??? ‚Nswho has a bad conscience about what he did in the war. Everybody else, no matter what he did, is sure a good man could not have acted in any other way.??? ‚N? ??? ‚NsWhat makes you think I have a bad conscience???? ‚N? I said. ??? ‚NsThe way you sleep, the way you dream,??? ‚N? e said. Howard tells Mengel about New York. ??? ‚Ns ??? ‚NsNew York must be Heaven,??? ‚N? said Mengel. ??? ‚NsIt might well be for you??? ‚N? , I said. ??? ‚NsIt was Hell for me,- or not Hell, something worse then Hell.??? ‚N? ??? ‚NsWhat could be worse then Hell???? ‚N? he said. ??? ‚NsPurgatory,??? ‚N? I said. ??? ‚Ns It??? ‚a„? s interesting that he says that, because that proves right there that Howard Campbell is very aware of the crimes he??? ‚a„? s committed, the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. He knows that he is there in that cell because he is paying the price.He must suffer for all that he has done. ??? ‚NsI was deposited on to the streets of New York, restored to the mainstream of life. I took several steps down the sidewalk when something happened. It was not guilt that froze me; I had taught myself never to feel guilt. It wasn't the fear of death; I had taught myself to think of death as a friend. It was not the thought of being unloved that froze me; I had taught myself to do without love. What froze me was the fact that I had absolutely no reason to move in any direction. What had made me move through so many dead and pointless years was curiosity.Now even that flickered out.??? ‚N? What a lonely life that must be, to feel you have nothing to live for. To know that all that has kept you going in the past was curiosity. Helga is dead, (or so he assumes) Resi is dead, the man he called his best friend had intentions of betraying him for so long, and now he is gone. People hate him, want to kill him, others think he is dead and are glad, and then there are those that admire him for all the terrible things he??? ‚a„? s done. Though he can??? ‚a„? t even seem to feel proud, because unlike so many others who committed such crimes as his, he is not a sociopath.

Economics of immigration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics of immigration - Research Paper Example This paper highlights different theories on economic perspective of immigration, the causes and determinants of immigration and how it is going to affect the productivity and growth of the destination.Immigration is a prominent issue in many parts of the world nowadays. Around 3% of the world’s population lives outside their country of birth. Immigration is an economic phenomenon which is part of a process referred to as globalization. As immigrants move from their source country to their destination country in search of a better living, worthy lifestyle and deserving income, the lives of the people residing in the destination countries is often affected and taken for granted (Bodvarsson and Berg 2). In the survey of 1990s, 60% of Americans thought of immigration as a bad thing and that immigration level should be reduced. After the terrorist attack on World Trade Center in September, 2001, 58% of Americans stated that they favored reducing immigration. In 2004, 61% of America ns agreed that the government was not hard on the immigration issue. Immigration is considered a big threat in every country. In 2002, when the German government recommended hiring engineers from India to fill the vacant positions of high-tech workers, the political parties opposed it and made immigrants a major issue. They were ready to prefer children over the foreigners (Bodvarsson and Berg 5). ... However, over the past decades, the issue of immigration has become prominent. Still, even now, not only economics but also people in many countries tend to agree with the fact that there should be freedom to move from one country to other; it is a basic human right (Bodvarsson and Berg 5). Immigrants are also consumers; their arrival in the country boosts demand for all factors of production, including immigrants’ own labor. Immigrants do not give a downward effect on the wages of other nationals. A key fact to consider in this whole process is that the immigrants come with knowledge and new ideas. People are carriers of innovative ideas. This spread of ideas from one country to another is a key to economic growth and productivity in the country resulting in long-term improvements in standard of living (Bodvarsson and Berg 4). Cause of Immigration Immigrants are often attracted by higher income, better career opportunities and comfortable living conditions for their children, lower levels of tax and less discrimination. The determinants causing immigration have been divided into four categories: -There could be negative incentives that might push people to migrate. -There could be positive incentives that might pull immigrants to the destination country. -There could be positive incentives that induce people to stay at home. -There could be incentives that cause people to stay away from a foreign country. When push and pull factors are strong enough as compared to stay and stay away factors, immigration will grow as observed in the recent decades (Bodvarsson and Berg 6). Economic Argument for Free Immigration This is a big issue for any country in the world whether

Leadership Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Leadership Philosophy - Essay Example The effective leader is a person who has already developed a leadership philosophy which includes the core values that he holds to be important. The modern effective leader imbues these values into every action he or she takes so that the people around see him or her as an example that should be emulated. The incorporation of the leader’s own values into his or her own life means that the leader has effectively chosen the right direction in life. Not every person has the strength required to determine his or her direction and to stick to it in life as challenges arrive. The leader is effectively a person who has chosen a path and chooses to persevere on this path no matter what obstacles appear. In choosing the path, the leader has to sacrifice a number of things in life to set his or her priorities in the right order. Only this method of setting personal values allows a true leader to gain a direction that other people can emulate.

Answer the two questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer the two questions - Essay Example s the executive sword (commander in chief of the country’s armed forces) and the legislature purse (which endorses all the government’s spending measures and tax). The only thing the judiciary possesses is the ability to judge. Because of its weakness, it is protected from the other two branches of the government (the legislature and the executive) by the U.S. Constitution. According to Hamilton, making the judges permanent through the Constitution makes sure that they cannot be changed according to the executive’s or the legislature’s interests (law.jrank.org, 2011). In conclusion, the Federalist 78 aimed at making sure that the judiciary was protected from interests of the executive or the legislature. This is because it was the weakest of the government branches and it did not possess the purse of the legislature and the sword of the executive. The only power left for the judiciary was the ability to judge. In Hamilton’s essay Federalist 78, the judiciary was supposed to be provided with the judicial review power. This is to enable it to declare laws that deemed unconstitutional as not binding (law.jrank.org, 2011). The judicial review power is important for the judiciary since it is the one that is capable of interpreting the law and the constitution. In other words, the judicial review power serves the purpose of protecting the particular privileges or rights of the American people. The purpose of the judicial review power given was to protect the particular privileges or rights of the people as indicated in the Constitution. In order to protect these rights, the judiciary has to be given the judicial review power to declare any law that is unconstitutional null and void. There are other people who claim that the judiciary has been given power superior to that of the executive and the legislature. However, the people’s power is superior to that of the government branches, and the role of the judiciary is to make sure that the legislature does

What is Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is Language - Essay Example This essay will look into Smith and Wilson’s theory of what a language is, and their arguments on the idea that language is rule-governed. What is a Language? There have been a number of definitions on what a language is and in each definition, there is an aspect that points out language is rule-governed. This is where Neil Smith and Deidre Wilson come in to justify the claim that language is governed by rules. Language uses the concept of grammar. Grammar is a set of rules whose main tasks are to separate grammatically from ungrammatical sentences and to provide a description of grammatical sentences. Individuals who are fluent in a particular language often correct themselves when they make mistakes in grammar while talking even when no one has corrected them (Smith and Deirdre 327). A language speaker will also feel and know when someone from a different language makes a mistake in grammar when trying to speak his language. For example, an American will feel and know the mi stake when a German pronounces the word ‘what’ as ‘vat’. When two speakers of different dialects of the same language meet and talk, each will feel the other one is making grammatical mistakes in their sentences and would want to correct them but out of politeness will keep away from correcting the other. A speaker of British English will for example see a fault in a sentence like ‘I done gone to school’. He will feel like the sentence is supposed to be ‘I had gone to school’. The speaker of the other English dialect will similarly feel that the British English speaker’s sentence needs some correcting. This not only shows that languages have a set of rules that they follow but it also shows that these rules do differ (Smith and Deirdre 327). Rules can be created and operated by a single individual easily. There are two such instances in language. One of them is when children are learning how to speak and the case of grownups with idiosyncratic speech patterns. Kids learning their first language often make their own rules on how they pronounce the words and how their sentence structure should be. These rules are more often than not wrong according to the adults but to them they cannot be more right. An instance of such a grammar rule is when a child asks: mummy what that was? Instead of: mummy what was that? Adults on the other hand could have a difference in their linguistic rules (Smith and Deirdre 329). A sentence like ‘’what did you want to do before going out’’ might seem wrong to another individual. People who have also suffered a brain damage and consequently suffered aphasia or speech loss also fall in this category of creating their own rules. This results in the construction of sentences that are ungrammatical pronounce words in the wrong way (Smith and Deirdre 330). Rules’ patterns cannot be reversed and still have the same meaning. Sometimes they become mean ingless when reversed. The same applies to language. A pattern of a sentence construction loses its meaning or becomes meaningless when changed. A sentence like ‘’we ate the food ourselves’’ when changed to ‘’ourselves ate the food we’’ it becomes meaningless though the words are still the same. Therefore, like rules, language pattern loses its meaning when changed (Smith and Deirdre 332). Like rules, language has a feature of being universal (Smith and Deirdre 337). There is a striking similarity in the language that cuts across all language patterns of the globe. The pattern of a sentence structure of different languages pointing out to the same thing will have almost of not exactly the same pattern when all of them are translated into one language. A sentence like â€Å"

Business Models and Planning Chapter Questions Assignment - 1

Business Models and Planning Chapter Questions - Assignment Example This saw poorly thought out business models become the downfalls of many dotcoms. On the other hand, however, business model is said to date back to the earliest days when business just begun and merely used to describe how a company generates it money. There is a variation in simplicity or complexity of a business model. For this case, business model can be either simple or very complex. Looking at an example of a business model, a restaurant’s business model is described as to make money through cooking and serving food to the hungry lot of customers. This is an example of a simple business model. A television’s business model may seem to be not clear as it is not very vivid how they make their money. Some make money through advertising for other companies while others get money by selling particular products. This makes this kind of business model to look very complex. 2. What does it mean to innovate the business model? Sometimes a business can reach a stage where it does not make any positive proceeds anymore. Mostly, this takes place at a stage in a business known as decline stage. At this point, the business has lost competition in the market to new entrants or aggressive competitors. The level of revenues has reduced and the business is nearing its end time of closure. To enable the business stay alive and regain its competitive edge so much that it makes profit once again and stimulate company growth, the management must reinvent the business. By this, new strategies must be put in place and all such strategies must be aimed at a major element which is customer satisfaction. This is process of business reinventing itself to regain competitive edge and improve business growth is what is known as business model innovation. When working on a business innovation model, the management needs to consider factors such as the weakness of the current business. This gives the management a point of action in order to improve competitive edge by working to

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Assignment Example In cyanobacteria, strains with a clock period length that matched the environmental photoperiod outgrow strains with no clock or with an out of phase period length in competitive culture conditions (Woefle et al., 2004). This does gesture to the probability of the clock being an important evolutionary step that allowed survival of early organisms. Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature and other important intrinsic functions. Organization and function Function: The main principle of circadian clocks is oscillatory gene activation. The initial gene activation is regulated by the last one in the sequence, making up an auto-regulatory feedback loop that lasts about 24 hours. That is, feedback loops of transcription and translation, whereby the protein product of a clock gene will indirectly shut off its own expression. Such feedback loops are controlled and probably lengthened by post-translational modifications of most proteins involved (Ha rms et al., 2004) Organization: They have three major components: 1) A central oscillating mechanism with a period of about 24 hours. 2) Several output pathways associated with distinct phases of the oscillator. These control the activities of the organism. 3) Several input pathways to this central oscillator to allow programming of the circadian clock. Metazoans possess circadian clocks in most cells of the body. Each of these clocks is autonomous (Welsh et al., 1995). This means that each of the cells has to be entrained autonomously as well. But, since the oscillations of the clocks are roughly 24 hours in length, there has to be a form of synchronization. In the case of direct light entrained organisms, such as the drosophila, this entrainment occurs in cells independently (Plautz et al.,1997) (Whitmore et al., 2000). In drosophila, the Drosophila ring gland and Malpighian tubules show some sort of rhythms. This autonomous cell entrainment may also be seen in higher organisms wh ere the parasympathetic system is responsible for entrainment (Ishida et al., 2005). It is itself entrained by the central master clock. In higher organisms, the process is more complex and requires what is known as hierarchical entrainment. This is discussed below. In higher organisms such as man, the entrainment of the clock is hierarchical. This is similar to most other vertebrates. In mammals, the suprachiasmic nucleus acts as the main/master clock. It is a paired neuronal structure located at the base of the hypothalamus. It is just above the optic chiasm/bifurcation (Klein et al.1991). It facilitates entrainment and synchrony of all other tissues by direct and indirect methods. These include use of hormones, temperature regulation, feeding regulation and metabolism. The suprachiasmic nucleus undergoes entrainment by relation with the optic apparatus via optic tract. This is the retionohypothalamic tract (Ben-Schlomo and Kyriacou, 2002). The SCN consists of a mixed population o f neuronal and glial cells, but which types of cells might be capable of acting as circadian oscillators is presently unknown . Since they are autonomous in function, several theories have been proposed as to their synchronization. One is the synchrony of circadian rhythm due to production of melatonin by the pineal gland. It

Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free

Arthur Miller Essay In this essay I will explain how Arthur Miller creates a dramatically effective opening by writing about the initial perceptions of the Carbone family. The tone is created through the characters before the two cousins arrive and the outcome of their onset is the transformation in atmosphere of the Carbone family. I will explain the effect of the historical context, knowing that Marco and Rudolfo are illegal immigrants, and what outcome this has on the audience. The role of Alfieri is also clearly explained, how he is portrayed and how he creates a tense, anxious atmosphere with his narrative, to the audience. Additionally I will explain why the majority of citizens immigrated to America initially and how knowing that, affects the audience. Furthermore how the concluding dramatic scene affects ALL the characters, the atmosphere and the effect on the audience at the end of Act One. Immigrants left Italy, Russia and Germany in 1955 because they thought America was rich had political, economic and religious freedom and a lot of space for growth. Education was of a higher standard and there was supposed to be full employment. They also believed that America was a very wealthy country and glamorous because of the ideas and images portrayed in the Hollywood movies. The reality of this was somewhat different. There was a lot of exploitation and conflict, the accommodation was over-crowded, people were intolerant, and there was mass unemployment and poverty. Knowing what peoples perception were, created suspense and tension, as the audience insight is of the cousins being sent back or getting found out, explained by the quote from Eddie: if everyone just keeps his mouth shut nothin can happen. This also creates dramatic suspense as the audience does not yet know how Eddie will react and whether he will turn Rudolfo and Marco in to the Authorities. Also there is tension as to whether Rudolfo is using Catherine to obtain American passport and American citizenship, if he marries you, he has got a right to an American citizen. Arthur Miller creates a dramatically effective beginning in Act1 of A View from the Bridge by firstly introducing an introductory speech by Alfieri. We know that Alfieri is the Narrator as he is the first to speak and introduce the main character. He links the scenes in the play and he prepares the audience for what is going to happen. An example of this is where he suggests in the quote, and watch it run its bloody course that a dreadful tragedy is clearly going to occur further on in the play. This tells the audience that blood may be shed or its something so terrible its unbearable. The audience know the main character is Eddie Carbone and he has something to do with an incident that will soon occur, this ones name was Eddie Carbone. Alfieri creates suspense and tension through this. We know the key theme in this play is justice referred in Alifieris first speech, justice is very important here which suggests a crime will be committed, creating a dramatic effective making you wan t to continue on with the play. The perceptions that we obtain from the Carbone family are that Beatrice is quite nervous about the cousins coming to stay, no, im just nervous thats all but happy, Catherine: laughing. We observed that Eddie is very protective especially over Catherine, responsible, Katie, I promised your mother on her deathbed. I am responsible or you, and caring, listen you been givin me the willies the way you walk down the street, I mean it! but obstinate and controlling, what job? Shes going to finish school. This indicates that Eddie is a good father figure for Catherine. They seem like a very warm-hearted, affectionate and hospitable, go baby, and set the table. We know Catherine is the best student out of her class mates, best in her class, which shows she is a very talented and educated young women. a very talented and educated person the best in her class. When the two cousins who are illegal immigrants, Marco and Rudulfo arrive, there is a transformation in atmosphere. The relationship between Catherine and Eddie also begins to change because Eddie is jealous of Rudolfos and Catherines relationship, Embarrassed now, angered. There is also a problem with Eddie and Beatrices marriage, when am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie? Eddie tries to avoid a discussion about this while on the other hand Beatrice wants to discuss the situation. This suggests a breakdown of communication. The family also seem to show more strain and anxiety, if everybody keeps his mouth shut, nothin can happen, said by Eddie. When Rudolfo and Catherine announce that they are now an item, Eddies protectiveness over her kicks in. He has now gone further than protective. He is now controlling and manipulative, I just dont want her hangin around., his patience warring. Rudolfo is seen as a lady figure. He sings, hes blond and self-centred, and then I want to go back to Italy when I am rich, and I will buy a motorcycle. While on the other hand Marco is the opposite hes darker and more reserved, Marco comes with a certain formal stiffness. He is also more responsible, my wife, I want to send it right away, maybe twenty dollars. Eddie is the only person to have a problem with Rudolfo. Mike and Louis tell Eddie that Rudolfo has a good sense of humour, which Eddie could perceive in one of several ways. This could make Eddie feel unfavourable as they see Rudolfo in a positive way on the other hand it could confirm Eddies view that hes right and that Rudolfo is insensible and defiantly not mature. This could also confirm eddies view that Rudolfo is a figure to laugh at Mike: Louis and he explode in laughter, you take one look at him everybodys happy Eddie: troubled. Also there are a lot more problems in Eddies and Beatrices relationship; it is rapidly deteriorating now after their row. Beatrice is now feeling furious and frightened Beatrice: suddenly with open fright and fury this shows conflict and a tense atmosphere. The final dramatic scene starts with tension, when Eddie and Rudolfo are arguing or disagreeing through conversation, Eddie: resenting his instruction, for Christ sakes. Eddie is being rude and insulting towards Marco, they count the kids and theres a couple extra than when they left? suggesting that Marcos wife may be committing adultery. The atmosphere becomes extremely tense, now Eddie is frustrated and unsettled with Rudolfo Eddie: (rises, paces up and down). Eddie tries to perceive the others by caring for Rudolfo, the more you run around like that the more chance youre takin', by doing this he can guide Catherine into breaking up with him. We know Eddies is alone on his argument, (holding back a voice full of anger) we know he is doing this through his actions, this builds tension, is he going to explode? Whats going to happen next? We know he feels this way because the rest of his family are on Catherine and Rudolfos side which could make Eddie very frustrated as he cant get his views across. By this he could also be very angry, tense and stressed. Eddie starts to be very intimidating towards Rudolfo, feeling Eddies eyes on his back which shows he is jealous and angry as if hes sending a personal warning to Rudolfo. Beatrice tries to distract Eddie be nice to go all over in one of those fishin boats which would help ease the tension. We know at this point that Eddie despises Rudolfo and starts to act in an immature and childish way he could make dresses he is ridiculing Rudolfo. Eddie invites Marco to a boxing match, you ever seen a fight, did you? he is know trying to act tough and to show that hes strong and masculine, like hes better or more of a manly figure. He also shows this through his actions as if hes getting ready to fight, rubbing his fists into his palms this shows he is very tense at this point and very unhappy or maybe he has a plan, still being nice and generous on the outside. The atmosphere seems to ease down a little at this point and becomes more relaxed and laid-back, (Rudolfo laughs) but the author is demonstrating an example of dramatic irony as this is false. As we know this is fake so dramatic irony is being used. Not forgetting the audience knows more about what is happening and has a more truthful perception of the characters than they do themselves. This makes the audience very suspicious and concerned as if something is about to happen, this causes tension and suspense for the audience, that a manly event of some sort is stirring. Eddie tries to teach Rudolfo how to fight, is it a trap? He boosts Rudolfos confidence by handing him compliments, hes terrific then Eddie hits him, watch out, here I come this is portrayed like a threat or a warning as if to say, stay away from Catherine. Marco, getting his revenge in some way challenges Eddie, Can you lift this chair?. But as Eddie soon realises its more than that. Eddie was only ale to lift it 1inch above the ground whereas Marco raised the chair over his head. This was to let Eddie know that he is stronger than him and that he understands what he is up to, protecting his brother and giving him a warning. He laughs this off, appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph which shows the others he is not threatening him but Eddie obviously knows what he meant. The atmosphere is now tense and formal.  Therefore Arthur Miller creates a dramatically effective beginning through out the play. He creates tone; suspense, tense atmosphere and historical context which make the audiences want to continue to watch the play and keep them guessing the whole way through.

Airline Distribution Systems in 2013 Essay Example for Free

Airline Distribution Systems in 2013 Essay Web based commerce and internet technology have dramatically transformed the airline industry throughout the past thirteen years. The internet has enabled travelers to bypass the traditional distribution pattern of travel agencies and enabled airlines to sell more directly to passengers (European Commission, 2006). Since the mid-1990s there have been some major changes to the airline ticket distribution industry which were both a result of internet technologies (GAO, 2003). Major U. S. Airlines claimed a net operating loss of nearly $10 billion in 2002 and had paid over $7 billion to distribute tickets to consumers (GAO, 2013). These distribution expenses include booking fees to global distributions system to the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars (GAO, 2003). Airlines would receive a set booking fee each time an airline ticket was purchased through a travel agent by the global distribution system used by the travel agent (GAO, 2003). Due to most U. S. carriers being largely dependent on each of the global distribution systems for distributing tickets to different travel agent and consumers and consumers having to subscribe and pay fees to each, there are concerns that the global distributions systems may exercise market ower over them (GAO, 2013). Market power would allow global distribution systems to charge high, noncompetitive fees to airlines and in turn, these costs may be passed on to consumers (GAO, 2013). Environment Two major changes have occurred in the airline ticket distribution industry since the 1990s that have produced cost savings for some major U. S. airlines (GAO, 2013). The airlines have developed less expensive internet ticketing sites that bypass global distribution systems and their fees and encourage consumers to book directly rather than through travel agencies (GAO, 2013). Between the years 1999 and 2002 the average percentage of tickets booked on-line either from airlines or travel agencies grew from 7% to 30% (GAO, 2013). (See Appendix A). The next effort to reduce costs that airlines made was the cutting the amount of commissions they would pay to travel agencies (GAO, 2013). These attempts have still not eliminated the dependence airlines have on global distribution systems. In the report made by the U. S.  Government Accountability Office (GAO), they were unable to determine the exact relationship between global distribution system booking fees and related costs and were not able to reach any conclusions towards the potential exercise of market power by global distribution systems in the airline ticket distribution industry (GAO, 2013). Despite these reports there have still been numerous complaints from airlines that the companies who distribute airline flight and fare information are stifling competition and violating federal anti-trust laws (Koenig, 2011). Government reports help airlines because they investigate claims which are made that could possibly violate anti-trust laws and act as a middleman to solve disputes. Travelport and Sabre are two large global distribution systems which have had investigations against them (Koenig, 2011). A third company, Amadeus, is another global distribution system and the three of them make up for all of the distribution systems in the U. S. (Koenig, 2011). The justice department has clearly stepped into the mix by investigating claims of monopoly power and anti-trust. Only announcements of such investigations have taken place with no more real information being handed to the public. American and US Airways have both filed lawsuits against the global distribution giant, Sabre (Koenig, 2011). Sabre was actually created by American Airlines but later spun off as a separate company (Koenig, 2011). American also sued Travelport for using monopoly tactics and burying their flight information (Koenig, 2011). With Travelport accounting for nearly $2. billion of American’s ticket sales last year, it is hard to see where the complaint lies yet American is intent of wrongdoing and is asking for government assistance through lawsuits (Koenig, 2011). Government institutions try to protect consumers and smaller companies in tourism by imposing anti-discrimination and anti-trust regulation to ensure that real information is presented and competition levels remain satisfactory (Beatrice, Cezar, Alexandra, 2013). Industry Airlines and independent travel agencies were amongst the first to take advantage of the marketing and sales opportunities the internet provided (Borenstein, Rose, 2013). Airlines saw the internet as a way to bypass the traditional sales channel of travel agents in order to gain control of lower costing electronic ticketing methods (Borenstein, Rose, 2013). The internet provided an alternative for airlines and lowered their fears of sales being blocked by ticketing agencies (Borenstein, Rose, 2013). Domestic airlines in Mumbai, India are attempting to not follow the conventional fixed commission system (Cuckoo, 2005). The issue of commission reduction has caused a huge stand-off between travel agents and international airlines (Cuckoo, 2005). Legacy airlines let by flag carrier Air-India announced in May, 2005 that they would cut commissions from 9% to 5% (Cuckoo, 2005). British Airways joined in with this plan and other European and Southeast Asian carriers were expected to follow suit (Cuckoo, 2005). Travel agents are planning to fight the commission cuts through the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) (Cuckoo, 2005). Just as many U. S. Carriers have claimed fear of, agents in India announced a plan to boycott Air-India and to stop selling their airline tickets in the event of commissions being cut (Cuckoo, 2005). Low-cost carriers have an advantage to the internet because they can start off with new models of distribution whereas legacy carriers have been using agents for decades and it is hard for them to step out (Cuckoo, 2005). Air Decan is a low-cost airline in India that sells 35% of its tickets online and has been knowingly boycotted by agents because it offers a lower price, usually around 5% less, to consumers who book directly from them (Cuckoo, 2005). An International low-cost airline, Air-Arabia, will not pay any commissions to travel agents with its India flights (Cuckoo, 2005). Air-India’s low-cost subsidiary, Air-India Express will also have their passengers pay handling fees instead of the airlines (Cuckoo, 2005). Another Airline to consider is Frontier who makes their lowest fares available on both their own website and on the big online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Priceline and Expedia (Perkins, 2012). There is a difference however, when passengers purchase from any other site or agency other than Frontier, they only earn half of the amount of frequent flyer miles, do not get advanced seating, and will face higher fees for various changes (Perkins, 2012). Marketing Strategy and Situational Analysis Some may find it peculiar that companies are now battling other companies that they themselves created. The three major GDS systems that control most airline ticket distribution worldwide, Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport provide OTAs with fare information and transact sales (Perkins, 2012). OTAs are used by most airlines in order to sell their tickets along with their own websites. In addition to providing airfares OTAs also provide hotel accommodations, rental cars, and most other popular travel services (Perkins, 2012). Airlines now want to avoid fees which were once accumulated through the use of agents and GDSs charge them anywhere between $5 and $12 to book a flight while a transaction through their own system probably costs less than $1 (Perkins, 2012). Now that the internet source is available and extremely efficient the airlines want to gain control back of their customers in order to be able to sell them additional services (Perkins, 2012). On their own sites they could have the ability to present upgraded options such as a bundled no-fee fare packages and can provide passengers with the ability to book semi-premium economy seats (Perkins, 2012). Airlines also want to avoid the easiness of price comparisons passengers have with OTAs in order to maximize their profits once again. The problem, as stated earlier in this paper, is that GDSs account for more than half of their business and to cut them out of the transaction stream completely would be extremely difficult (Perkins, 2012). Airlines are also signed into long-term GDS contracts that require that they provide the same fares to GDS that they have available on their website (Perkins, 2012). A third problem is that large buyers and managers of business travel are extremely dependents on GDS for various reasons such as fare, price, and other information that is required to control travel costs (Perkins, 2012). Attempts to move completely from GDS systems by most airlines have been unsuccessful but many have been able to find ways to shun them. Southwest is one who has managed to have their own system entirely because if you want to fly Southwest, you have to go to Southwest (Perkins, 2012). Allegiant and Spirit also provide only limited participation with GDS (Perkins, 2012). Others get around the contractual agreement of having the same fares available by offering discount promotional codes for direct bookings (Perkins, 2012). With the advantages of control of ticket distribution for the airlines stated and the various strategies used by each airline along with their strengths discussed, let us now look at the weaknesses of these distribution systems. The main weakness is that with the amount of passengers that do use OTAs, there’s a chance they will not use airlines that are not on these sites due to their popularity. Passengers want to be able to compare prices and OTAs provide just that. Passengers may not be willing to research fares on their own and may only go to their preferred airline if OTAs aren’t available. Airlines win if they are the airline of choice but if they aren’t they could be losing potential customers. Commercial Websites This study will look at two individual airlines and their websites and discuss how successful they are. According to Google Trends, the internet is the number one source for both business and leisure travel and roughly 83% of personal travelers use it as well as 77% of business travelers (The Economist, 2009). The two airlines in this review will be United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Commercial websites need to consider what customers experience when searching for information, evaluating alternative products, and purchasing them (Peter, Donnelly, 2013). We will be reviewing these three basic areas of which web site designers should consider for each United and Continental Airlines. With information search, there needs to be ease of navigation, fast page downloads, effective search features, and frequent product updates (Peter, Donnelly, 2013). When evaluating alternatives, designers need to consider the ease of product comparisons, product descriptions, ease of contacting customer service representatives, and a status of the availability of items (Peter, Donnelly, 2013). With the purchase evaluation, designers need to consider security and privacy issues, the checkout process, payment options, delivery options, and the ordering instructions (Peter, Donnelly, 2013). United Airlines makes navigation simple by placing their flight search table right on the home page. They also include a section for members to sign in, passengers to print their boarding pass, check a flight status, and to change or view reservations right on the home page. These are some of their most used services which are placed right in plain sight on their home page making the information users are looking for easily obtainable. When searching for a flight the speed of the page downloads is quite fast especially considering that a query is being made and information has to be sorted. The results of the search used for this study came back fast and with more information than even requested. The site included many additional options to narrow the search down and was very up to date. When a search for a flight is made the results make it easy to compare similar flights available and even points to the direction of which options could/would give passengers a lower fare. The descriptions are accurate, clear, and comprehensive enough for customers to make informed decisions when choosing a flight. Customer service can easily be reached by clicking on the top right corner of the screen no matter what page of the site you are on. When a search is made unavailable flights or booked flights are not even visible making it easy for customers to view the availability of their options. When considering the purchase made on a web site, it is clear that United has all of the issues covered from security and privacy issues to ordering instructions. United airlines guides customers from the start of their home page all the way to the end purchase with ease. The steps are clear and the purchase can be made in a reasonable amount of time. Customers have various payment options such as credit card, PayPal, or buy it now as well. Southwest Airlines uses a more simplified homepage yet still has the flight search on their home screen to allow for ease of navigation. On top of providing ease of navigation they also use their home page to advertise promotions. The speed of pages downloads is quick, the returned information was effective, and the flight schedules were all up to date on Southwest’s site. They also provided multiple flights to choose from that incorporated a variety of different prices. The promotions continued through the flight selection process as well going on to add discounts if a hotel were to be booked as well. Flight comparisons and descriptions were easy to compare and were accurate, clear, and comprehensive enough to allow consumers to make informed decisions. Something I was surprised to find about the site was that the customer service phone number was not extremely easy to locate. Customers have to click through about 3 pages before a number is given and that is after they find the tiny help icon at the top of the screen. The status of availability is done the same whereas unavailable seating or options are not even displayed to customers. Southwest covers issues of security and privacy all the way to ordering instructions. Southwest Airlines guides customers from the start of their home page all the way to the end purchase with ease. The steps are clear and the purchase can be made in a reasonable amount of time. Customers have various payment options such as credit card, PayPal, or buy it now as well. Comparing the two directly, Southwest’s homepage is more simple and easier for consumers to take in whereas United has an abundant amount of options to choose from. They are both however, very effective and successful commercial websites and follow all of the guidelines mentioned above from the text with the exception of a number for customer service being more difficult to find on Southwest’s website (Peter, Donnelly, 2013).

Analysis on Postmodernist Shrek

Analysis on Postmodernist Shrek Usually, in most of the traditional fairy tales, ogre is used to be the man-eating beast and the prince is used to rescue the princess and then live happily together ever after. However, in the season of the movie Shrek, especially Shrek I, the makers use decipherable devices to reverse this tradition and use three basic elements to show the idea of postmodernism, i.e. ironic interfacing, intertextuality, and self-reflexivity. Lets begin by explaining the first one, ironic interfacing. To begin with, Shrek I includes a lot of ironic interfacing and one is that its lack of a narrator. Unlike other tales, it is told in a linear custom, but not from the point of view of an omniscient narrator. The story in fact is told through the interactions and dialogue of the central characters, like in the film Shrek, we need to know what Shrek and Donkey would do by watching their action and conversation. It is non-linear narrative technique. But in those Disney movies, for example in Snow White, theres always a narrator telling the audience what is going to happen next and he is omniscient. It results the ironic interfacing between the characters and the authors. Also, at the end of the movie Shrek I, all the audiences see that Shrek, the main character discovers the camera and lots of audiences watching him. Therefore, he turns away the camera and uses his hand to block it before he kisses Fiona. It can be considered as ironic interfacing because it shows the unconventional interaction between the author and Shrek. What Shrek does in the movie lets us recognize that he can look at the audiences and the author through the known camera. So he knows how to maintain his privacy during kissing with Fiona by blocking their view. Besides, from this scene, we all can see clearly that the animation company makes use of Shrek to mock the traditional Disney stories and genre. Shrek uses the stereotypical way of Disney movies and fairytales, which is used to create the distance between the present and the reality. This acts as inviting the viewers to enter another world, a world that can only exist in the stories but not in real. Thus, the company uses it to mimic Disney by including the stories traditional beginning, which Disney always uses. This does not only mock Disney but also helps us to see the unreal world and in the realism of a fairytale. Another stronger example showing Shrek includes ironic interfacing is at the very first part of the movie. At the beginning of the movie, Shrek starts just as a typical Disney cliche fairytale by opening a book and starts with these few words Once upon a time, there is an imprisoned princess waiting for her true love this kind of old style of tales. However, theres a green hand suddenly rips a page from the book, uses it to wipe his bottom and Shrek interrupts it and said to the audiences, Yeah, right! This scene strongly shows us the ironic situation between the characters and the author. Those are the examples of ironic interfacing in Shrek. Next, we are going to talk about intertextuality. Intertextuality means that there are countless references to other movies, texts, plays, and even some parts of the other movies. Especially in Shrek III, there are several main animated Disney characters appearing in the film, but not in their usual form. By referring these Disney characters, the film requires us to have a self-conscious awareness of something that is used to be. Like Snow White and the other princess appearing in the movie, normally they are very delicate and used to be rescued. However, this time, they rescue themselves when they are imprisoned. Also, in Shrek I, Fiona is imprisoned in a castle with a dragon guarding her. In most of the Disney movies, the princesses are used to be so delicate that they cant leave and rescue themselves. But, we notice that Fiona is different from them, as she knows Karate. And the only reason why she does not leave is that she imagines the traditional fairy tale happening to her so she has to wait for her prince. It mocks the Disney movies that those princesses are not really delicate. Furthermore, Shrek has also obtained some scenes from other movies, for example: Fiona freezes in the mid-air like Neo in The Matrix; Shrek fights in a beer-covered ring, making reference to Transporter, Gladiator etc. Last but not least, lets talk about self-reflexivity. At the end of the movie, Shrek discovers that there is a camera shooting at him and Fiona and it means that hes aware of the narrative mechanics or storytelling techniques of traditional fairy tales. Besides, at the beginning of the movie, when Shrek is hunted and chase by the people, he shouts at them and whispers, This is the part you should run away. Although this scene does not directly illustrate that the character does takes notice of the filmmaking process or the camera, it is still a very strong example of self-reflexivity. What he has said does not only remind that group of people how to react, but also reminds the audiences that normally people should run after the ogre yells at them. It shows that Shrek is conscious of the traditional circumstance in fairy tales. In addition, when we focus on the menu of the movie Shrek, it contains details that recognizes you its a movie. Especially when you want to play the movie press the Play button, theres a pig coming out and shouting, Play the movie. It does let you acknowledge that it is a movie. All in all, Shrek is a very excellent example of movies showing postmodernism as the filmmakers has included ironic interfacing, intertextuality, and self-reflexivity. If you want to analyze the cartoon postmodern and feel bored of watching The Simpsons again, Shrek will be a great suggestion for you.

Longs Peak :: essays research papers

LONGS PEAK Deep in the heart of the Rockies lies the small mountain village of Estes Park, Colorado. Estes Park borders Rocky Mountain National Park and it was my summer retreat. Never in my life had I seen someplace taken directly out of a fairy tale. The mountains swallowed the town. One particular mountain immediately caught my eye. I knew that it had to be the tallest, for it was the only mountain that was still covered in May snow. I later learned that the enormous mountain was Longs Peak. Longs Peak happened to be a “fourteener", a Colorado mountain over fourteen thousand feet. The mountain could be seen from every corner of the park as well as from distant cities such as Denver or Boulder, which were well over fifty miles away. The mountain held an intense mystification for me. It reminded me of a Cardinals game, which I saw prior to my visit to Estes Park. Mark McGuire was coming up to bat, and shocks rippled down my spine when I saw him. An atomic power radiated from him. Even though there were several other players on the field I simply could not keep my eyes off him. Longs Peak also stood head and shoulders over the other players. I had to climb Longs Peak before I left Estes Park. I felt a call that told me if I failed to climb the mountain I would be missing out on a life changing opportunity. Perhaps I wanted to climb it because everyday when I went outside, it was the first thing I saw. Maybe I wanted simply to prove to myself that I could do anything that I set my mind and body to. I am not sure what it was; all I know is that it was constantly in the back of my head pushing me. Longs Peak is an extremely difficult and technical climb. It offers challenges to every level of climbers, especially to a slacker like myself. The trail is only a little over eight miles long. It has a very steep elevation gain of over four thousand feet. The climb takes over two days of intensely strenuous hiking. Water is the most important thing in climbing; the body must remain fully hydrated at all times in order to maximize best performance. It is extremely unsafe to climb alone; therefore, my friend Bobby accompanied me on the expedition.

The Name of War Essay -- Essays Papers

The Name of War In this historical and culturally divided book, Jill Lepore examines and tries to define the King Philips War and how people wrote about it. At the beginning of the colonies it was a start of a â€Å"New England" and after the King Philip’s War with all of the religious conflicts and war stories, a new American identity was born. Throughout this book she tells gruesome tales about murders, massacres, and battles. Even thought his book jumps a lot in chronically order she successfully tells the tales for both sides pretty accurately. I enjoyed reading some parts of this book. Especially the beginning and the middle because I thought the End dropped off and slowed down. Starting even before the war begins, she tells the tale of John Sassamon which she uses as the basis of ideas. This is a center point of the first part of her book. Why Sassamon was either killed for no reason or assassinated? New England Indians at the time were to become accustom to English goods and some were even converting to Christianity. Soon after the war begins she shows how the Indians use Christianity as a part of their war. Also after the war begins she writes about how many writers try to capture the war in words so that the colonies don't loose their "Englishness". This is ironic because by trying not to loose their "Englishness" they form an American identity. Inside the John Sassamon story lays the true reason why he was killed. Sassamon was an educated man, which was very rare considering he was a Native American. Even though he was growing apart from some of his friends in the colonies he still had strong ties with them. There are many reasons why he would be killed but none as strong as turning on your own people. Treason is considered a great offence to our country, imagine the offence taken by the Native Americans. Reading this book I found great similarities with the Native American culture and one with a gang or a mob family. All of them seem to have great penalties for one of their own turning against them. The major difference would be that the Native Americans religion was also a great deal of their culture. A mob family’s religion (catholic or instance) would conflict with the killing of another human. But the Native Americans were not that way, if one was killed and they took hostages then the one killed could be reveng ed by killing a hostage.... ...re not doing any of the torturing and only watching they don’t loose their ties with the mother land. This was completely wrong, the Colonists were there not the English. The English might have read about it somewhere in a newspaper or a book but the Colonists had to live through it. This is the reason why the Colonists lost their Englishness and began a new American identity. Lepore also used writers of that time to distinguish between how they told their truth and what she thought was the truth. This was a very useful part of the book, it showed to us the reader, that not all the stories that we read about the in history books or books from that time are entirely correct. That in every writing there is some type of biases ness. She did a very good job on representing both sides very well. This book was the study of war and how people wrote about it. But also the book makes it apparently clear that this was the start of a new American identity. Throughout the writings, stories, and all of the religious battles that were fought one true thing remained the colonist’s Englishness was gone. This was not New England any more this was something new. This was a â€Å"New† New England.