Reality TV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Reality TV - Essay Example In recent decades, the media has covered the analysis that the reality shows almost around the world have brought an enormous popularity as well as profitability, implicating a promising growing trend of such phenomenon in practice (Holmes & Jermyn, 2004, 302 pp.). However, not all the reality shows are very successful in particular, though they bring the attention of mass with its significant increasing popularity as well as cultural prominence. On the other hand, this does not necessarily imply that they are good in societal context or that they ought to be aired. This paper aims at criticising the essentiality of regulatory bodies to effectively ensure the respect for human dignity of participants in reality TV show by providing empirical evidences. The significant part of the popularity achieved by such programmes is primarily due to the involvement of ordinary individuals within extraordinary framework. Reality television shows possess the potentiality to portray an ordinary individual into national celebrities in the sense of encouraging his or her outwardly in endowment as well as making them to participate in performance-based programmes such as Pop Idol, however, programmes like Survivor as well as Big Brother have the capacity to make their participants to accomplish some level of celebrity phenomenon. Some of the critics of reality television shows have argued with its description as a 'r... he potentiality to portray an ordinary individual into national celebrities in the sense of encouraging his or her outwardly in endowment as well as making them to participate in performance-based programmes such as Pop Idol, however, programmes like Survivor as well as Big Brother have the capacity to make their participants to accomplish some level of celebrity phenomenon. Some of the critics of reality television shows have argued with its description as a 'reality-based show' as they explain several reasons for it such as the inclusion of several programmes under single genre. Big Brothers and Survivor, the reality based competitive programmes, as well as living arrangement shows like The Real World, the regulatory bodies essentially design the layout of the show and govern the daily activities of the participants in order to formulate the environment based on which the competition rules out which in essence involves the psycho-drama consisting of challenges, events, behaviours, emotions and conflicts in a pre-defined scenario (Anderson 1995, p.36). Mark Burnett, the originator of Survivor, also elucidates and agrees with the statement of not deszcribing the reality show as 'reality show'. He emphasizes the reality show as being a 'good stories of unscripted dramatization' (online). The second criticism mainly stems from the idea that the reality sho w producers may become highly premeditated in their editing process that may vary from altering chronology and selective appearance of the events to portraying specific participants as heroes or villains in particular (Anderson 1994, p. 8-13). The third criticism may be encountered as the counterpart of the second criticism in which it has been noticed that the participants by themselves modify their behaviour and

Business Studies Easter Project Essay Example for Free

Business Studies Easter Project Essay Introductinon As you probably already know Asda is one of the leading food superstores in Britain today. Asda is part of the Wal-Mart group however before this Asda was on its own. Asda has been part of the Wal-Mart retailers since 1999. Asda was formed in 1965 by a group of farmers from Yorkshire, today Asda has 245 stores, with 19 depots across the U.K. Asdas aim is to sell its products 10-15% cheaper than its main competitors. Asda sells a variety of products including fresh food, grocery, clothing, home, leisure and entertainment goods. In my report I have gained my information form the Asda website and I also interviewed the store manager of the Asda store in Longsight. In my report I will discuss the following performance indicators: Labour Turnover, Labour Productivity, Absenteeism and the Morale of workers. Performance of Company Asda has recently been valued at being worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.3 billion, which includes all its assets. Anyway I think that it will be too complicated to discuss the performance indicators on such a large scale. This is why I am going to just concentrate on the performance of the Asda store in Longsight. When I asked Sue (the manager) if labour turnover was high, she replied by saying that it is an average level. (i.e. not too high and not too low). I then said to her that this must mean that staff must feel demotivated and therefore leave. She replied by saying that it was because they employed a lot of young students and this was the reason for a lot of people leaving because they couldnt fit the shifts in with their work. I believe that this means that although labour turnover is high, it is not an extremely bad point. When we discussed the labour productivity of the workers, she said that the staff, work very hard in every department whether it is the deliveries, clothing, music or work on the checkout. Many products were sold in each department but obviously some were sold much more than others. The labour productivity really determines how many products are sold, as items are obviously not being produced at the store they are being sold there. She also mentioned that everyday there are at least 2 people who are around the store to just help customers or provide tasters of foods. I believe that this helps to increase productivity, because customers may feel more welcome and more sales may be made. I then asked what the turnover of the store was each day. Sue replied by saying that on the weekends they generally make more money and she said that last Saturday they had a turnover of approximately à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500,000. I believe that this clearly shows that labour productivity is high at the Asda store in Longsight. I then went on to talk about absenteeism. Sue said that this was generally low without any notice, and that there were hardly any people who didnt give notice when they were going to have a day off. But she also said that absenteeism was a good point because it gives workers a change because they can swap shifts with one another. I agree and believe absenteeism with notice is not so bad. Sue said the the morale of workers was generally high. She said that staff were paid at a time rate starting from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4.15 per hour. The following incentives could be motivating factors for the staff at Asda: Tell the team- putting your ideas across Stars- can be cashed in for gifts. ABCD- A certificate for dedicated workers. Bonus payments- for reaching certain targets Share plan Private Healthcare Discount on new cars Travel insurance Staff Discount Card I believe that the following incentives will make workers feel motivated. This is because it makes the workers feel that they are being recognised and that there work is appreciated. It is not only the financial incentives that are important for motivation. It is also for example the certificate for working hard which could motivate. And even the fact that workers can put their ideas across, which may make them feel a real part of the company. There are some improvements that could be made to the performance indicators. Firstly as we know labour turnover at the Longsight store is at an average level as many workers are students. We can solve this problem by allowing the shifts to fit in with the workers education, by offering them certain shifts. And then there is the labour productivity which is already very high, so I believe that this should just be kept at a constant level. And workers should just continue with the good work. Absenteeism is a problem when the workers dont come into work without any notice. To solve this problem I believe that managers should phone up absent workers to see where they are. And if they persist in not coming into work then this must mean that they feel demotivated, so managers should try to find out what the problem is. I know that the incentives that Asda offers are very good, but I generally believe that managers should talk to their staff a little more and just give them general assurance that they are doing the job in the right way and to show that their work is appreciated. Conclusion I believe that as Asda is worth over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1.3 billion this must mean that they are not going too wrong. And another fact that shows that Asda is doing well is that it was voted the best company to work for in the year 2000 by the Times Newspaper. And in 2001 it was also voted supermarket of the year.

Canals :: essays research papers

Explain changes that took place in Canals during 1750 – 1900 Water transport was a lot quicker than road transport, the only problem was that rivers meandered and flooded, some places were too shallow for boats to go through. A lot of trade was done by sea, coal mainly came to London by sea. Before 1750 improvement schemes were planned but the rivers still flooded travelling by land with goods ment they would get damaged and broken. IN the 18th century the main rivers were; The River Themes, Dee, Trent, Severn, and Humber. Here is a table of when the canals opened: <table border="1"> NAME AND LOCATIONLENGTH (KM/MI)YEAR OPENEDBaltic-White Sea, Russia226.91 / 141.001933Suez, Egypt162.13 / 100.761869Albert, Belgium130.36 / 81.001939Moscow, Russia128.75 / 80.001937Nord-Ostsee, Germany96.56 / 60.001895Gà ¶ta, Sweden86.91 / 54.001832Panama, Panama81.63 / 50.721914Houston Ship Channel, United States80.47 / 50.001914Amsterdam-Rhine, Netherlands62.76 / 39.001952Manchester Ship Canal, England57.13 / 35.501894Chicago Sanitary and Ship, United States48.28 / 30.001900Welland Ship, Canada*44.42 / 27.601932Juliana, Netherlands33.80 / 21.001934Chesapeake-Delaware, United States30.58 / 19.001829North Sea-Amsterdam, Netherlands28.97 / 18.001876Cape Cod, United States28.16 / 17.501914Kronshtadt-Leningrad, Russia27.36 / 17.001885Lake Washington Ship, United States12.88 / 8.001916New Orleans Industrial, United States9.66 / 6.001923Sault Sainte Marie (N.), United States2.57 / 1.601919Sault Sainte Marie, Canada2.09 / 1.301895 * Reconstructed from the old Welland Canal, which was originally completed in 1833. In 1757 the first canal was built, it was called Sankey Cut, it went from St. Hellans to the river Mersy to let barges carry coal from Lancastershire mines to Liverpool. The Duke of Bridgewater built a canal to get coal from his colliery in Worsley to Manchester, a few km away. He employed an engineer (James Brindley) to do so. The Duke made a profit of  £100,000 a year. James Brindleys most famouse canal was the Grand Trunk canal, it links the river Trent to the river mersy and runs through potteries, it was finished in 1777. By 1790, a canal network linked four major ports; Bristol, Liverpool, Hull and London. Enthusiasm continued in the 1790’s so canals were built in rural areas and never made very much profit from them, even if they did benefit people who live near them. Between 1760 and 1840 almost 6,500 km of canal had been built.Some people converted their barges to carry animals to market. From 1774 and comfortable passenger service ran from Altrichham to Manchester. Businessmen hired people like James Brindly, Thomas Telford and William Jessop to build canals to raise the money they set up campaigns.

Should Smoking Be Illegal

Introduction/Thesis Statement: People who smoke should have the right to smoke if that is their desire. The Bill of Rights states that as an American we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For some people, smoking makes them happy and calms them down in stressful situations. As an American it should be your choice as to whether or not you smoke. Our forefathers based our constitution on our basic human rights. Increasingly vocal â€Å"smokers'-rights† groups, allied with some civil libertarians, have decried the work of governmental â€Å"nannies† that â€Å"refuse to treat smokers as adults. † Clark, C. S. (1992, December 4). Crackdown on smoking. CQ Researcher, 2, 1049-1072. Retrieved November 3, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online,http://library. cqpress. com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1992120400. Jefferson City, Missouri just recently passed its own smoking ban, which is city wide. This means that any citizen that might want to smoke will have to hide somewhere to do it. Apparently the smokers, were absent during this election. Making smoking illegal will only have even more far reaching consequences. Small businesses, particularly restaurants, hotels and transit providers, have warned us that smoking bans will cost them the clientele that sustains their livelihoods. Due to current city ordinances in Columbia, Missouri that have banned smoking, there have been at least fifteen local businesses that have gone out of business. News Tribune (2010), Smoking Ban Passes Anti- smoking groups have also been accused of feathering their own nests, spending more on salaries and fund raising than on research. It has been accused of being an industry that provides â€Å"employment for an army of smoker-bashers, and for many, the opportunity to amass personal fortunes,† writes Fred Phillis, a Trumbull, Conn. , public relations consultant and smokers’-rights activist. There is no denying the health risks that are involved when someone smokes. There are over 400,000 deaths per year that have been directly linked to smoking. This should still be our choice to make, just as it is our choice about whether to watch TV or not. While there have been health issues related to second hand smoke, we cannot lose sight of the fact that, they can always go somewhere else to sit. Non-smokers do not have to sit by smokers. There is much to be said about not smoking, my own grandchildren are allergic to cigarette smoke. Also the University of North Carolina researchers reported that children of smokers showed a 38 percent higher chance of ear infections Clark, C. S. (1992, December 4). Crackdown on smoking. CQ Researcher, 2, 1049-1072. Retrieved November 3, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online,http://library. cqpress. com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1992120400. It is still our choice to not smoke around our grandchildren, someone didn’t tell us not to. In the classic mold of social scapegoating, smokers have been stigmatized, ghettoized and threatened with cultural annihilation. â€Å"Smokers are being made to feel like social pariahs,† declares John F. Banzhaf III, a George Washington University law professor who founded the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). Conclusion/Closing: â€Å"What we are also losing in this whole debate is science, which has become political,† says Walker Merryman, a vice president of The Tobacco Institute. Those are the business people who hav e to try to operate when their economic life is threatened? † In conclusion I have but one thought â€Å"Give me a place, even if it's outside. But you just can't legislate it out of my life. †

A Woman’s Place Essay

â€Å"Don’t read so much, he said, don’t study; get yourself good and tired out with homework, take exercise. He believes that her troubles would clear up if she got married. He believes this in spite of the fact that most of his nerve medicine is prescribed for married women. † The primary theme of Meneseteung by Alice Munro is the role of women in times of Victorian traditions and standards. The narrator, who is never identified, explains tasks and qualities that differentiate a real, marriageable woman from an outcast from society. The main character in this story is Almeda Joynt Roth, a respectable woman who has become famous in her small town for her poetry book. She has earned respect and admiration amongst others in the town for her works, but has also been criticized as a woman’s literary ambitions were thought to be hobby rather than vocation. Roth yearns to marry Jarvis Poulter, an idea that the rest of the town supports. Even Roth’s doctor, who prescribes nerve medicine to help Roth with her sleeplessness, says she would be much happier if she were married. However, Poulter does not find Roth to be a suitable wife and does not pursue her as such because she does not demonstrate the qualities that defined a marriageable woman of the times. The story, then, is not just about the role of women in the society but also about a lonely woman, an outcast of traditional society, and her search for companionship. Roth suffers from insomnia and goes to the doctor to get medication to help with her sleeplessness. The doctor suggests that Roth busies herself with things that are not considered womanly such as studying and writing. Her writing is considered an asset to the community, but not totally accepted as a woman is expected to marry and have a family. The town paper, the Vidette, which contains articles that would often be considered libelous by modern standards considers her young and fit enough to bear children, physically speaking she is marriageable material. The doctor suggests that she wear herself out by performing housewife tasks such as cleaning and exercising so that she may sleep. He also discourages her from reading and writing, as it is not required of her to do these things to ulfill her position in society. He suggests that marriage would solve most of her problems, though the medication he prescribes her is primarily prescribed to married women. The doctor is prescribing a remedy to her problems by becoming a housewife, while also prescribing medication that is given to housewives to treat the very condition she, as a single woman, had come to ameliorate. In the society portrayed in Meneseteung marriage is considered to be a cure-all for many of women’s problems. Why, asks the narrator, has Roth remained unmarried for so long? The narrator suspects that it is partly down to her desolate disposition. A caliginous personality is not one that is considered attractive and people tend to avoid developing social ties to her. Weighed down by burdens such as the loss of her family Roth is a loner with reading, writing, and the hopeless pursuit of Jarvis Poulter as her only aspirations in life and generally just does as she pleases. She dreams of marrying Poulter, an idea that the whole town supports, but he never showed an interest in her as she did not fit the imagine of a marriageable woman of the times. Despite this the narrator portrays Roth to be less of the â€Å"reckless hedonist† and more like a â€Å"tormented artist,† suffering as a result of her art. It is her particularity that makes her an eminent writer, but also not considered suitable to be taken as a wife. Women in this story are portrayed as weak and in need of men. One night, Roth is awoken by a drunk, abused woman at her fence. She is frightened and rushes to Poulter for help, and this is shown as being the first time in the story that she behaves like a typical woman of her time. She is no longer the poised, confident woman that Poulter has come to know her as and is attracted to her desperate vulnerability. Poulter was not attracted to her when she was poised and confident but once he had seen that she was weak, helpless, and in need of him he felt drawn to her as she finally fit the stereotypical image of a woman. Poulter deals with the drunken woman in a cruelly and insensitively and upon seeing this Roth loses interest in him. Poulter asks her to church and she declines and the two never pursue a relationship. Despite being portrayed as weak and in need of men, women are not powerless in marriage. One of a woman’s primary roles is to â€Å"create their husbands† by â€Å"ascribing preferences† to them. â€Å"This way, bewildered, sidelong-looking men are made over, made into husbands, heads of households. † Roth cannot see herself doing this, which urther separates her from the society in which she lives. After her rejection of Poulter’s interests Roth retreats into the vivid aberration brought upon her by the doctor’s nerve medicine and meets her death after becoming the target of menacing youths’ malevolent tormenting. This quote from the doctor, which I have chosen as the most profoundly meaningful, shows the thinking of the times. Women we re to marry to solve their own problems as well as to solve the problems of their husband. This short story is about a woman who is different from the social norm and her search for companionship and stability in her own life, as well as how breaking the norm had its own consequences. Her obsession with reading and writing, which was said to be more suitable as a hobby than profession, set her aside and earned her respect within her community while at the same time driving a wedge between her and a normal life because she did not spend her life marrying, becoming a wife, becoming a mother, and spending her days cleaning and caring for her family like a typical woman of the time. When Roth became vulnerable she became like every other woman and Poulter finally saw her as a possibility for marriage but his actions revolted Roth. The incident with the drunken woman disgusted her into a solitary existence with just her and her hallucinations brought on by the nerve medication prescribed by the doctor. The doctor suggested that by marrying, Roth would not require this medicine despite it being most commonly prescribed for married women. So, then, Almeda Roth could not live with herself as a normal woman yet not being a typical woman is what eventually led to her demise.

Activity 2 Foundations Essay

Activity 2 Foundations Essay Activity 2 Foundations Essay Heterogeneous Catalyst: The Catalytic Converter Within the field of chemistry, catalysts are used to lower the activation energy (Ea) required in order to kick start a desired reaction. There are multiple ways scientists have been able to utilize this implementation into everyday life. There are three types of catalysts: heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts as well as enzymes. The type of interest here is the heterogeneous catalyst. A heterogeneous catalyst is one that exists in a different phase as the reactants it is being introduced to. For example, a solid being introduced into a reaction that contains two different liquids and speeds up the reaction of those two liquids is considered a heterogeneous catalyst. A perfect example to evaluate in more depth is one that most of us use every single day. A catalytic converter is something that is required on the exhaust system of all present-day vehicles. It can be found attached to an exhaust pipe just as it comes out of the engine. Most common converters do exactly as the name refers, they catalyze chemical reactions that in short convert otherwise harmful chemicals to less harmful molecules to be released into the air. A typical converter consists of multiple sheets of platinum that carry out three important reactions. These platinum sheets act as heterogeneous catalysts in said reactions. Within the two primary reactions the catalyst is used as an oxidizing agent, adding oxygen to incoming molecules and releasing

Samuel Coleridge

Samuel Coleridge The Romantic writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge advanced a theory in his Biographia Literaria that distinguished two important and often confused concepts of his day, Imagination and Fancy. In viewing several of his written works, it is evident that he strove to include a steady balance of both.Coleridge proposed that Fancy plays with ?fixities and definites, ? things already common to perception. It reshapes memories in the absence of time and space, without barriers. It is a sort of mosaic reordering of natural perceptions, a collage of reality. It lacks the ability to create something completely original but rather uniquely juxtaposes tangible and sensual elements without losing their distinguishing characteristics.Imagination, on the other hand, leads specifically to original creativity. In the section of Biographia Literaria titled ?On the Imagination, or Esempastic Power? Coleridge illuminates the distinction between Fancy and Imagination. There are two degrees of Imagination, prim ary and secondary.English: Image of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Fr...Primary Imagination is central to human perception and is analogous to the ?eternal act of creation in the infinite I AM.? This type of Imagination is solely attributed to God and His progressive acts of creation. Secondary Imagination, however, is but a whisper of the Primary. God has embedded this innate ability to create in the human conscious will. It differs only in the degree to which it can be utilized and the modes of its operation; it seeks to unify and idealize, ?dissolving, diffusing, and dissipating in order to recreate.? Coleridge clarifies these concepts further in his Lectures On Shakespeare. He marvels at Shakespeare?s ability to utilize Imagination in his writing, which he calls ?a sort of fusion to force many into one.? Taking several lines from Venus and Adonis he demonstrates the multiplicity of feelings and images the Imagination generates. As for Fancy, he clarifies this concept also...