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Microbes or these tiny creatures have an extensive impact in the surroundings and also in our everyday lives, because they can step by step alter our biotic system, cause different diseases in the plants, creatures, or people or they might be utilized for the generation of mixes, as an example, antibiotics, vaccines, catalysts and various kinds of other products.
Get original essayIsolation of microbes from soil is an indispensible initial phase in numerous microbiology tests. When they are segregated, microscopic organisms can additionally investigated to find out different things, for example, their colonies and their role in different environments soil. Indeed, even a smallest measure of soil can contain a huge number of microbes. By this experiment, we shall learn to segregate the diverse microbes from the soil and study them under different affairs. We shall also be able to detect various unalike microbes and their particular colonies and the kind of physical forms they possess.
Microbiology or the learning of numerous microbes is an significant and beneficial field to know more about the microbes we are surrounded by. These microbes have been on us, within our bodies and around us.
Culture of microbe is a way cultivation or growing microbe in labs kind Environments. Microbial colonies or cultures are foundational and fundamental indicative techniques utilized broadly as an exploration tool in microbe science. Microbial colonies are utilized to find out the kind of life form, its richness in the tester being tested, or can be used to find both.
The essential growths from naturally occurring sources will stereotypically be a blended culture comprising organisms of various types. A growth which consist only 1 kind of microbe colony is known as a pure culture. The various processes of getting this culture is by isolation of 1 types of microorganism within a blend of different microbe varieties, this is known as isolating life forms.
Garden soil was collected as sample which encompasses heavy amount of metals. It is the home of various microbes since it can provide the optimum growth and other good growth conditions, garden soil was chosen. Certain environments give as good diversity of microorganisms as rich soil. Microorganisms like fungi, bacteria, algae etc. make up this mi¬croscopic zoological garden, which may achieve an aggregate of billions of living beings for each gram of soil. Since for any kind of cultivation , soil quality must be clearly determined, proper isolation of the microbes is necessary so as to find out the quality, fertility , porosity, and the most importantly, the type of microbes it possess for proper growth and cultivation . Hence, this isolation of small amount of soil is done mostly in laboratories.
Soil utilizes various kinds of microbes like actinomycetes, fungi, bacteria, Archae etc. They have been of great importance in recreation and recycling of nutrients in soil, fixation, and breakdown of matter. Some of the microbes that were isolated in in this experiment were as follows;
These Microbes are prokaryotic. Bacteria have been the most plenteous microbe found living in soils, and fill numerous critical needs, including fixing of nitrogen.
Actinomycetes amply thrive in soil. The phylum to which they belong is gram positive bacteria. They are a kind of microscopic organisms, yet they share a few attributes with parasites that are in all likelihood a consequence of concurrent advancement because of way of life.
Fungi are found in more amount and abundance in soils than bacterias. The quality and amount of biological element in soil has an immediate relationship to the development of fungi, on the grounds that max growths devour biological element for nutrition. Additionally, fungi develop well less water, parched soils since growths are high-impact, or subject to O2, and more the dampness content in the soil, the O2 that is obtainable for them is fewer. They are crucial for health of soil, in reciprocal relations with plants and roots obligatory for some important biological process of environment.
Yeast colonies and population is generally found low in soil conformation. Very little is known about yeast and its purpose in soils of the biome. This performed experiment the colonies obtained of yeast were comparatively low.
With the invention of the low-cost Microsoft Kinect sensor, high-resolution depth and visual (RGB) sensing has become available for widespread use. In recent years, Kinect has gained more popularity as a portable, low cost, markerless human motion capture device is easy software development. Microsoft Kinect sensor is a low cost, high-resolution, depth and visual (RGB) sensing device. As a result of these advantages and the advanced skeletal tracking capabilities, it has become an important tool for clinical assessment, physical therapy and rehabilitation. This paper contains an overview of evolution of different versions of Kinect and highlights the differences of their key features.
Get original essayKEYWORDS: Computer vision, depth image, information fusion, Kinect sensor.
Saving three-dimensional information about geometry of objects or scenes tends to be increasingly applied in the conventional workflow for documentation and analysis, of cultural heritage and archaeological objects or sites. In this particular field of study, the needs in terms of restoration, conservation, digital documentation, reconstruction or museum exhibitions can be mentioned [1,2]. The digitization process is nowadays greatly simplified thanks to several techniques available that provide 3D data [3]. In the case of large spaces or objects, terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) are preferred because this technology allows collecting a large amount of accurate data very quickly. While trying to reduce costs and working on smaller pieces, on the contrary, digital cameras are commonly used. They have the advantage of being rather easy to use, through image-based 3D reconstruction techniques [4]. Besides, both methodologies can also be merged in order to overcome their respective limitations and to provide more complete models [5,6]. Microsoft Kinect is a device originally designed for sensing human motion and developed as an controller for Xbox game console that is being sold since 2010. It did not take too long for researchers to notice that its applicability goes beyond playing video games, but to be used as a depth sensor that facilitates interaction using gestures and body motion.
In 2013, a new Kinect device is introduced with the new game console called as Kinect v2 or Kinect for Xbox One. The new Kinect replaced the older technologies and brought many advancements to the quality and performance of the system. The older Kinect named as Kinect v1 or Kinect for Xbox 360 after new Kinect’s arrival. Although it is categorized as a depth camera, the Kinect sensor is more than that. It has several advanced sensing hardware containing a color camera, a depth sensor, and a four-microphone array. These sensors ensure different opportunities at 3D motion capture, face and voice recognition areas [5]. While Kinect for Xbox 360 uses a structured light model to get a depth map of a scene, Kinect for Xbox One uses a faster and more accurate TOF sensor. Skeleton tracking features of Kinect are used to analyse human body movement for applications related to human computer interaction, motion capture, human activity recognition and more areas.
Moreover, it makes a great use for studies especially in physical therapy and rehabilitation. An economical time of flight (TOF) technology with potential for application to patient positioning verification in radiotherapy. In radiotherapy the patient is initially positioned during the simulation computed tomography (CT) scan, which is then used to create a treatment plan. The treatment plan is designed to deliver tumoricidal dose to a planning target volume (PTV), which encompasses the gross disease with an added margin to account for setup uncertainties. Once a treatment plan is approved, patients return for multiple treatment fractions over a period of days or weeks. Replicating precise patient positioning between fractions is critical to ensure accurate and effective delivery of the approved treatment plan. The motivation of this survey is to provide a comprehensive and systematic description of popular RGB-D datasets for the convenience of other researchers in this field.
Motion capture and depth sensing are two emerging areas of research in recent years. With the launch of Kinect in 2010, Microsoft opened doors for researchers to develop, test and optimize the algorithms for these two areas. Leyvand T [2] discussed about the Kinect technology. His work throws light on how the Identity of a person is tracked by the Kinect for XBox 360 sensor. Also a bit of information about how the changes are happening in the technology over the time is presented. With the launch of Kinect, expects a sea change in the identi?cation and tracking techniques. They discussed the possible challenges over the next few years in the domain of gaming and Kinect sensor identi?cation and tracking. Kinect identi?cation is done by two ways: Biometric sign-in and session tracking. They considered the face that players do not change their cloths or rearrange their hairstyle but they do change their facial expressions, gives different poses etc. He considers the biggest challenge in success of Kinect is the accuracy factor, both in terms of measuring and regressing. Key prospect of the method is they are considering a single depth image and are using an object recognition approach.
From a single input depth image, they inferred a per pixel body part distribution. Depth imaging refers to calculating depth of every pixel along with RGB image data. The Kinect sensor provides real-time depth data in isochronous mode[18]. Thus in order to track the movement correctly, every depth stream must be processed. Depth camera provides a lot of advantages over traditional camera. It can work in low light and is color invariant [1] the depth sensing can be performed either via time-of-?ight laser sensing or structured light patterns combined with stereo sensing [9]. The proposed system uses the stereo sensing technique provided by PrimeSense [21]. Kinect depth sensing works in real-time with greater accuracy than any other currently available depth sensing camera. The Kinect depth sensing camera uses laser beam to predict the distance between object and sensor. The technology behind This system is that the CMOS image sensor is directly connected to Socket-on-chip [21]. Also, a sophisticated deciphering algorithm (not released by PrimeSense) is used to decipher the input depth data.
Because of their attractiveness and imaging capacities, lots of works have been dedicated to RGB-D cameras during the last decade. The aim of this section is to outline the state-of-the-art related to this technology, considering aspects such as fields of application, calibration methods or metrological approaches. Fields of application of RGB-D cameras is a wide range of applications can be explored while considering RGB-D cameras. The main advantages are the cost, which is low for most of them compared to laser scanners, but also their high portability which enables a use on board of mobile platforms. Towards 3D modeling of objects with a RGB-D camera is the creation of 3D models represents a common and interesting solution for the documentation and visualization of heritage and archaeological materials. Because of its remarkable results and its affordability, the probably most used technique by the archaeological community remains photogrammetry. Error sources and calibration methods is the main problem while working with ToF cameras is due to the fact that the measurements realized are distorted by several phenomena. For guarantying the reliability of the acquired point clouds, especially for an accurate 3D modeling purpose, a prior removal of these distortions must be carried out. To do that, a good knowledge of the multiple error sources that affect the measurements is useful.
Outlook for the Future: By analyzing above papers, we believe that there are cer- tainly many future works in this research community. Here, we discuss potential ideas for each of main vision topics separately. Object tracking and recognition is from the background subtraction based on depth images can easily solve practical problems that have hindered object tracking and recognition for a long time. It will not be surprising if tiny devices equipped with Kinect-like RGB and depth cameras appear in normal of?ce environments in the near future. However, the limited range of the depth camera may not allow it to be used for standard in- door surveillance applications. To address this problem, the combination of multiple Kinects may be a potential solution.
This will of course require the communication between the Kinects and object reidenti?cation across different views. Human activity analysis is achieving a reliable algorithm that can estimate complex human poses (such as gymnastic or acrobatic poses) and the poses of tightly interacting people will de?nitely be active topics in the future. For activity recognition, further investigations for low-latency systems, such as the system described in, may become the trend in this ?led, as more and more practical applications demand online recognition. Hand gesture analysis is it can be seen that many approaches avoid the problem of detecting hands from a realistic situation by assuming that the hands are the closest objects to the camera.
These methods are experimental and their use is limited to laboratory environments. In the future, methods that can handle arbitrary, high degree of freedom hand motions in realistic situations may attract more attention. Moreover, there is a dilemma between shape based and 3-D model based methods. The former allows high speed operation with a loss of generality while the latter provides generality at a higher cost of computational power. Therefore, the balance and trade-off between them will become an active topic. Indoor 3D mapping is according to the evaluation results from the most current approaches fail when erroneous edges are created during the mapping. Hence, the methods that are able to detect erroneous edges and repair them autonomously will be very useful in the future. In sparse feature-based approaches, there might be a need to optimize the key point matching scheme, by either adding a feature look-up table or eliminating non-matched features. In dense point-matching approaches, it is worth trying to reconstruct larger scenes such as the interior of a whole building. Here, more memory ef?cient representations will be needed.
Our system implements Augmented Reality using processing capabilities of Kinect. The system consists of 4 major components as Tracking Device, Processing Device, Input Device and Display Device. We use Kinect as a Tracking device. It contains three sensors for processing of depth images, RGB images and voice. Depth camera and Multi-Array Mic of Kinect are used to capture Real-Time image stream and audio data respectively. Depth sensor is used to obtain the distance between sensor and tracking object. The input device to our set-up is a high de?nition camera which is used to get input image stream and run as the background to all Augmented Reality components. On this background stream, we superimpose event-speci?c 3D models to provide virtual reality experience. The processing Device, consisting of Data Processing Unit, Audio Unit and software associated with it takes care of which model to superimpose at which time. Processing Unit passes the input video stream and the 3D model to display device for visualization purpose. The Kinect system plays an important role in working of overall system. This system works as tracking unit for the Augmented Reality System. This system uses some of most exciting functionalities of Kinect such as skeletal tracking, joint estimation and Speech recognition for a human body. Skeletal tracking is useful for determining the user’s position from Kinect, when user is in frame, which will be used for guiding him through assembly procedure. Also, it helps in gesture recognition.
This system guides the user through complete assembly of product using speech and gesture recognition. The assembly of product includes bringing together individual constituent parts and assembling them as a product. There are two assembly modes for this system, Full Assembly and Part Assembly. In Full Assembly mode, Kinect will guide technician on how to assemble a whole product sequentially. This mode will be useful when whole product has to be assembled. In Part Assembly mode, technician has to select a part to be assembled and then Kinect will guide him on how to assemble a selected part. When assembly of that part is completed, technician can select another part or quit. This mode will be useful when a part/parts needs to be assembled. The system has been developed to work in 2 modes, Speech Mode and Gesture mode. The choice to select a mode has been given to user based on his familiarity to system and convenience to use it. If user has opted for speech mode, he has to use voice commands to interact with the system and system will guide him through voice commands. On the other hand, if user has opted for gesture mode, he has to use gesture to interact with the system and system will guide him through voice commands. The ‘START' command is used in both modes to initiate the system. After system initiation, user will select a speech mode or gesture mode and will continue working in the same.
Kinect Hardware: The Kinect sensor, the first low cost depth camera, was introduced by Microsoft in November 2010. Firstly, it was typically a motion controlled game playing device. Then it was extended a new version for windows. Here in this section, we will discuss the evolution of Kinect from v1 to the recent version v2. Kinect v1: Microsoft Kinect v1 was released in February 2012 and started competing with several other motion controllers available in the market. The hardware of Kinect consists of a sensor bar that comprises of 3D depth sensors, an RGB camera, a multi-array microphone and a motorized pivot. The sensor provides full body 3D motion capture, facial recognition and voice recognition. The depth sensor consists of an IR projector and an IR camera, which is a monochrome complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. The IR projector projects IR laser which passes through a diffraction grating and turns into a set of IR dots. The projected dots into the 3D scene is invisible to the color camera but is visible to IR camera. The relative left-right translation of the dot pattern gives the depth of a point. Kinect v2: Microsoft Kinect v1 got an upgradation to v2 in November 2013. The second generation Kinect v2 is completely different based on its ToF technology. Its basic principle is, an array of emitters send out a modulated signal that travels to the measured point, gets reflected and received by the CCD of the sensor. The sensor acquires a 512 *424 depth map and a 1920 * 1080 RGB image at the rate of 15 to 30 frames per second. Kinect Software: OpenKinect is a free, open source library maintained by an open community of Kinect people. Majority of users are uses first two libraries, which is OpenNI and Microsoft SDK. The Microsoft SDK is only available for Windows whereas OpenNI is a multiplatform and open-source tool. Microsoft Kinect includes free downloadable software, which is Kinect development library tool.
Kinect, in this paper, refers to both the advanced RGB/depth sensing hardware and the software-based technology that interprets the RGB/depth signals. The hardware contains a normal RGB camera, a depth sensor and a four-microphone array, which are able to provide depth signals, RGB images, and audio signals simultaneously. With respect to the soft- ware, several tools are available, allowing users to develop products for various applications. These tools provide facilities to synchronize image signals, capture human 3-D motion, identify human faces, and recognize human voice, and others. Here, recognizing human voice is achieved by a distant speech recognition technique, thanks to the recent progresses on the surround sound echo cancelation and the microphone array processing. More details about Kinect audio processing can be found in [5] and [6]. In this paper, we focus on techniques relevant to computer vision, and so leave out the discussion of the audio component. [image: ]RGB Camera is to delivers three basic color components of the video.
The camera operates at 30 Hz, and can offer images at 640×480 pixels with 8-bit per channel. Kinect also has the option to produce higher resolution images, running at 10 frames/s at the resolution of 1280×1024 pixels. [image: ]3-D Depth Sensor is consists of an IR laser projector and an IR camera. Together, the projector and the camera create a depth map, which provides the distance infor- mation between an object and the camera. The sensor has a practical ranging limit of 0. 8m?3. 5m distance, and outputs video at a frame rate of 30 frames/s with the resolution of 640×480 pixels. Microsoft Kinect v1 got an upgradation to v2 in November 2013. The second generation Kinect v2 is completely different based on its ToF technology [1]. Its basic principle is, an array of emitters send out a modulated signal that travels to the measured point, gets reflected and received by the CCD of the sensor. The sensor acquires a 512 *424 depth map and a 1920 * 1080 RGB image at the rate of 15 to 30 frames per second [1][10]. First of all, a central matrix of 10 × 10 pixels is considered in the input images acquired during the experiment. This enables to compute mean measured distances from the sensor for each position. Then, the deviations between real and measured distances are plotted on a graph as a function of the range. Each of the 50 deviations obtained from the 50 depthmaps acquired per station is represented as a point. As depicted in a B-spline function is estimated within these values. Since the sensor was accurately placed on the tripod with respect to its fixing screw, a systematic offset occurs on raw measurements because the reference point for the measurement does not correspond to the optical center of the lens.
The influence of this offset corresponding to the constant distance between fixing point and lens (approximately 2 cm) is removed on this graph. It appears that the distortions for the averaged central area vary from ?1. 5 cm to 7 mm, which is rather low regarding the technology investigated. At 4. 5 m range, a substantial variation is observed. Under 4. 5 m range, the deviations are rather included within an interval of variation of almost 1 cm (from ?1. 5 cm to 7 mm). Since a set of 50 successive depthmaps is acquired for each position of the sensor, a standard deviation can also be computed over each sample presents a separate graph showing the evolution of the computed standard deviations as a function of the range. As it can be seen, the standard deviation increases with the range. This means that the scattering of the measurements increases around the mean estimated distance when the sensor moves away from the scene. Moreover, for the nearest range (0. 8 m), the standard deviation reported stands out among all other positions. As a matter of fact, measurements realized at the minimal announced range of 0. 5 m would probably be still less precise. Since a clear degradation with depth is showed, it makes sense to bring a correction.
The dream of building a computer that can recognize and understand scenes like human has already brought many challenges for computer-vision researchers and engineers. The emergence of Microsoft Kinect (both hardware and software) and subsequent research efforts have brought us closer to this goal. In this review, we summarized the main methods that were explored for addressing various vision problems. The covered topics included object tracking and recognition, human activity analysis, hand gesture analysis, and indoor 3-D mapping. We also suggested several technical and intellectual challenges that need to be studied in the future.
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Get custom essayThis paper surveys the studies that use Microsoft Kinect technology to develop applications and games in physical rehabilitation field. Kinect shows a great potential with its low-cost and portability and fast application development times against its rivals using markers for human motion sensing. There is an ongoing interest in developing Kinect-based systems for physical rehabilitation purposes, and the new studies improves as in the accuracy and performance, and reveals new usage areas for Kinect in the field of rehabilitation.
Today, Microsoft is a household name. It is the name of a multi-billion dollar corporation whose software is in the vast majority of computers today. Its operating system, Windows, can be found on nearly all computers that can be bought from a store. One of its founders, Bill Gates, is the richest and one of the most well-known people in the world. However, all this success did not come with controversy and questionable business ethics. There is evidence that supports the claim that Microsoft created a software monopoly through unfair business practices.
Get original essayMicrosoft has been determined by a court that the corporation has violated sections of the Sherman act, which was created to preserve a competitive marketplace to protect consumers from abuses and prevent things that could harm competition. Documents from the court case state, “Section 1 governs combinations, and prohibits those that restrain trade. Agreements to fix prices, divide markets, and tie unrelated goods are most likely in violation of section 1” (Cohen). The fact that Microsoft paired Internet Explorer with their OS seem to have violated this rule. The documents also state that “certain behavior by monopolists, companies that can charge a supracompetitive price in a defined market. Under section 2, monopolists may not intentionally garner their market power, nor may they willfully maintain market power achieved by superior business sense or accident” (Cohen) Also, “Finally, a firm is liable for attempted monopolization if, intending to monopolize, it engages in anticompetitive behavior and has a dangerous probability of success” (Cohen). Microsoft seems to have violated this rule by pairing Windows OS with the nearly all of the computers on the market.
There was a case involving Microsoft that planned to solve those problems, United States v. Microsoft. The violations and accusations of monopolization go further into detail in the case. The court had “affirmed the district court's holding that Microsoft had unlawfully maintained a monopoly in Intel-compatible PC operating systems.” (Cohen) This shows that the court agrees with the accusation. However, “Citing Microsoft 's reduced liability, the Court of Appeals vacated the breakup order issued by the district court” (Cohen) This means that the order to break Microsoft up into multiple companies has been canceled. Instead, a negotiation was to be made. This was seen when Cohen writes, “On remand, the setting states and the DOJ dropped the tying claim and proceeded to negotiate a settlement” (Cohen). However, will the negotiation plan be enough to limit Microsoft?
A subheader in the paper written by Cohen, “Anti-Retaliation and Uniform Licensing Provisions,” list the various unethical business practises that Microsoft has done. One says that “Microsoft threatened to support the '3DX' technology of AMD, an Intel competitor, if Intel did not stop aiding Sun Microsystems by developing a fast, cross-platform virtual machine using Sun's Java standards” (Cohen). Another also says that “Microsoft also threatened to stop supporting and developing its Mac Office program, used by ninety percent of Macintosh users running an office suite, if Apple Computer continued to include Netscape as its default browser” (Cohen). As a result of these actions, the court found that Microsoft was “in violation of section 2 of the Sherman Act” (Cohen). More violations can be seen.
In conclusion, Microsoft has used unethical practices to secure a monopolizing position in the industry. For example, they have paired Windows OS with Intel computers. This prevents any competitors from being able to install their OS on Intel computers on the market. Additionally, the corporation has paired their internet browser, Internet Explorer with their operating system. This also creates a monopoly as a result of the inability to remove it and the possibility of confusing end users. Also, Microsoft used threats, such as threatening to stop development of the Mac Office program. Despite being found of several violations, Microsoft is still one of the biggest corporations in the world.
Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, published in 1857, expresses his dislike of the French bourgeoisie. He mocks anyone not upper class declaring that they have no firm morals and survive solely on Romanticism. Flaubert uses literary techniques such as diction, figurative language, and syntax to openly criticize the middle class for abandoning their morals when it becomes convenient and beneficial for them.
Get original essayFlaubert utilizes powerful diction to criticize the feelings of the middle class as they abandon their morals, finding that it can advance their place in the social caste. Emma Bovary, the protagonist of the novel, is in desperate need of money to pay a debt. In search of money she visits a notary of the town, when he desires sexual favors in return she accuses him of “taking shameless advantage of [her] distress… [She] is to be pitied- not to be sold” (Flaubert 280). Soon after, Flaubert mocks her for this statement as she voluntarily turns to thoughts of prostitution when she has previously declared that it is beneath her. Emma is unknowingly describing herself as “shameless”, subsequently abandoning her integrity when she feels it is needed. Afterwards, as part of her outrage and disgust at the thought of prostituting herself she launches into several invectives, exclaiming “What a wretch! What a scoundrel! What an infamy!” (280). Her strong application of “wretch”, “scoundrel”, and the “infamy” of his suggestions are a passionate response to the attack on her virtue, however, these words will perfectly describe her own personage a few pages further. She had not previously thought to use her attractiveness to men as a means of monetary advancement but now realizes that abandoning the morals she had hitherto believed is beneficial to her. Flaubert offers another view of the lack of morals found in the middle class as Emma quickly alters her opinion of what is right and wrong after accusing another of having no integrity. Then, not only is Emma easily swayed in her stance of what is right, she begins to feel inferior to those who have managed to maintain their morals. The “thought of [her husband’s] superiority to her exasperated her” (281) and drove her to abandon her distaste for prostitution in order for her to feel more in control of her own destiny. Through the word “superiority” Flaubert points to the fact that those with high morals and integrity are superior and have strength and class that those of middle class society do not have because of their pursuit of power and advancement. The diction used in this passage to describe Emma and her feelings illustrates Flaubert’s low opinion of the proletariat that surrounded him as they disposed of their morality for what they believed to be better circumstances.
Gustave Flaubert’s implementation of figurative language is an attempt to point out the flawed morals of the French Bourgeoisie, as they struggle to claim status and wealth.. He believes that those of the upper class can overcome all obstacles without lowering their standards and contrasts this with the middle-class citizens who are smothered with problems and difficulties yet fail to maintain their values. Emma feels bombarded by “a thousand blandishments” (280) as the notary attempts to gain her affections. Exaggeration is used here to exhibit how overwhelmed Emma feels and the heights to which she is willing to climb to escape her seducer. The author portrays the middle class of this novel as petty and wavering in their values, even willing to abandon them for money and flattery. Next, while Emma continues on her quest to find money, as well as save her home and reputation she goes against her previous beliefs of moral behavior, “not in the least conscious of her prostitution” (284). Though she has just declined an offer that may have paid her debts, the situation was not in her favor so she proceeds to solicit herself in a manner that was previously disgusting to her. Emma’s ironic actions illustrate the ridiculousness of the choices of the middle class and their willingness to abandon morality. Emma is disgusted by the men that she feels make it necessary for her to offer herself up to them. She “walked…searching the empty horizon…rejoicing in the hate that was choking her” (281). The personification of the “hate that was choking her” reveals how trapped Emma feels by her situation and the hate she feels around her. With this trapped feeling comes desperation and an intense desire to remove herself from it, no matter the cost. Emma, throughout the novel, occasionally returns to her basic Christian beliefs and attempts to stay faithful. However, by the end of the novel, Emma perceives her Romantic views of life and status in life as more valuable to her than the standards she once held. This demonstrates Flaubert’s feeling that the middle class felt that bettering their situation and finding acceptance in society was more important than maintaining their morals.
The syntax Flaubert employs in this passage also demonstrates the desperation and loss of morals that Emma experiences at this point in her degradation. The lengthy asyndeton he utilizes allows the reader to comprehend the lack of control Emma is feeling over her own life as she is overwhelmed by her situation. She “at last, weary of waiting, assailed by fears that she thrust from her, no longer conscious whether she had been here a century or a moment, she sat down in a corner, closed her eyes” (284). In an attempt to gain stability in her life as well as lessen the intense stream of consciousness plaguing her mind, Emma forgoes her values becoming an amoral person simply because of the middle-class in which she was placed. In this scene, Flaubert finally allows his audience to see that the moral choices of the bourgeois were the only means through which they could control their situation and advance in society. Emma becomes even more desperate when she discovers that her Romantic views and plans for life have failed. A syntactical anomaly also appears in this passage, surrounded by lengthy sentences with little or no conjunctions. Emma’s mood is altered as “a spirit of warfare transformed her” (281). Emma had previously only slightly acted upon her feelings of inferiority within society and now she chooses a dark path of immorality and poor decisions. This short sentence clearly points out the quick decision Emma has made in wavering from her prior beliefs. Flaubert deliberately makes this sentence stand out in an effort to display his negative opinion of Emma’s reactions to her situation. Using this syntax, Flaubert is able to demonstrate his distaste for members of the middle-class, such as Emma Bovary, who choose to live without morals, trying to gain control of their miserable lives and advance socially.
Gustave Flaubert depicts the French Bourgeoisie as spineless people who are willing to sacrifice their morals and class for money and position. He portrays Emma Bovary in this light, revealing his views for the rest of the proletariat such as her and the citizens of her town. They are depicted as viewing the world around them with Romantic ideas and living without moral consequences. Using various literary techniques such as diction and figurative language, Flaubert effectively demonstrates the lack of morality apparent in the middle-class as its members waver from their beliefs, consistently choosing wealth and recognition over a sense of values.
North Korea is situated in East Asia, consisting of the northern section of Korean land. The ruler of this country is Kim Jong-un. It has a population of 25.49million people. Tourism or emigration in North Korea is strictly controlled by its government. Foreign tourists encountering local citizens have been strictly controlled. However, from photos seen around the Internet and, evidence from tourists to North Korea, few of those restrictions have been relaxed in the past few years. On the other hand, tax rates are very high if you would decide to purchase a motor vehicle.
Get original essayThe mission of Sweden's diplomacy to North Korea indicates the contempt against the North Korean nation, its leaders are regarded by the North Korean government, as very provoking. The United States Department of State prevents and prohibits the usage of U.S. passports to travel to North Korea, unless they have a special validation or priority. Russia and China did not prohibit the American-authored new sanctions against North Korea in the UN Security Council. Although China went along with a new set of restrictive measures banning North Korean exports of coal, iron, etc. The United States, Russia, China, and the rest of the lesser states face the political dilemma, of what kind of foreign policy to pursue. With despots like Kim Jong-un, who could not adapt himself to discipline at all, particularly those who would secure domestic tranquillity and decent standard of living towards the people to create international relationships, which would be impossible.
Due to the absence of political freedom and economic opportunities in North Korea, it rapidly loses its attraction towards the upcoming foreign labourers. Most of the citizens are unable to leave the country as it is strictly restricted. Within North Korea, people are not allowed to travel around the country, unless prior permission is granted. Citizens are not aware of what happens out of the country, as they do not have access to newspapers, televisions, and radios except for whatever the government propaganda machine creates, so they have been led to believe that the standard of living in other countries is worse than their own. However, foreign tourists require special permission to speak to local citizens.
What would happen if the law is relaxed and citizens are able to travel out of the country?
The North Korean government strictly monitors the activities done by foreign visitors. There human rights have been the worst in the world. North Korea has no contemporary parallel. Tourism is strictly controlled, they are not permitted to speak to local people, so that citizens are unaware of their surroundings (excluding their country).
Travel agents can help potential visitors to visit to North Korea (designated tour areas) but they have to go through a bureaucratic process. Guides are usually appointed by the country’s ministry of tourism (Illegal for tourists to independently enter). High-levels of officials are only allowed to access the global internet. North Korea has been experiencing a change of leadership from 17 years of rule, under Kim Jong Il, to a new generation under his young son, Kim Jong-Un, who took influence and power following his father’s death in December 2011. As Kim seeks to strengthen his leadership, the climate of scepticism is sure-to-persist. North Koreans live in the world’s most isolated-nations. These citizens do not have the right to leave the country or travel within the country. One of the reasons locals are not allowed to leave the country is to prevent citizens from rebelling against the government and to keep them ignorant and unknowing of what goes on outside the boarders. Kim-Jong-un wants to gain power by using his people. North Korea’s recent strides towards building nuclear weapons indicates that the dictator of North Korea is in greed of power. It is an isolated and paranoid nation that tightly controls what the outside world sees.
Leaving North Korea is very difficult and almost impossible due to the strict restrictions implemented by the ruler. Although most citizens who successfully leave the country, pay-brokers an amount of money and then smuggle them to China. As people are-ambitious they tend to leave the country for economic reasons to achieve better conditions for themselves-and their family. Criticism of the regime or the-leadership in North Korea, if-reported, is enough to make you end up in a political prison camp. There is no human right more important than the right to life in North Korea as people say. The government has been accused of viciously persecuting citizens while ruthlessly pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.
As I was interpreting this report, my viewpoint was to find out why people are not allowed to leave from North Korea. Immensely I figured out that these citizens do not have equal human rights, which is really devastating to know. However they are also not free and are under the government’s control.
Therefore, I have reached to my conclusion that North Korea’s citizens should be able to leave their country with legal permission and have equal human rights.
The images of the Dust Bowl migrants, made famous in John Steinbeck's best selling novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), tend to dominate the historical memory of migrant workers during the Great Depression era. However, while thousands of Okies and Arkies did take to the road in search of survival, they joined migrant workers who had traveled the nation in search of work long before the Depression and who would continue to do so for decades thereafter. These migrants, many of them racial and ethnic minorities, had always worked for low wages and lived in horrible conditions. The Great Depression merely exacerbated their harsh circumstances.
Get original essayAssessing the absolute number of migrant workers during any decade is difficult. In 1937, sociologist Paul S. Taylor tentatively estimated that there were between 200,000 and 350,000 migrant workers traveling yearly throughout the United States. Although many migrants worked in California, where some would be displaced by incoming Dust Bowl migrants, migrant labor was not just a West Coast phenomenon. For example, thousands of Mexican and Mexican-American migrant workers toiled throughout the nation—from the cotton fields of Texas to the sugar beet fields of Colorado, Michigan, and Ohio. Thousands of southern African Americans and whites (mostly displaced sharecroppers from Georgia and Alabama) regularly worked along the Atlantic Coast, toiling in the winter months in Florida's Everglades and in the northern states during the summer. And finally, thousands of other migrant workers traveled less clear paths throughout dozens of states in search of work.
The Great Depression, which had begun in the 1920s for many of the nation's agricultural regions, worsened the difficulties migrant workers faced. While the numbers of workers in search of work rose during the Depression, the amount of land in production decreased. Moreover, farmers who also faced economic difficulties—falling prices for their crops, higher taxes, and increased debt—looked for places to cut costs, and reducing workers' wages was often the only option they had. The surplus labor (in 1933 in California there were roughly 2.36 workers for each available job) made it extremely difficult for workers to get paid for the full value of their labor. As a result, wages throughout the nation fell during the Depression. Migrant workers in California who had been making 35 cents per hour in 1928 made only 14 cents per hour in 1933. Sugar beet workers in Colorado saw their wages decrease from $27 an acre in 1930 to $12.37 an acre three years later. In Texas, migrant families during the Depression could expect yearly earnings of between $278 and $500, hundreds of dollars below what experts at the time estimated it would cost a family of four merely to survive.
In addition to earning low wages—the lowest of any workers in the country—migrant workers also tended to live in horrible conditions. It was not uncommon for farmers to house migrant workers in shanties, shacks, chicken coops, barns, portable wagons, and even open fields. Those who found shelter inside small cabins or abandoned farm houses often had to contend with broken windows, torn screens, missing doors, and leaky roofs. Most migrants, whether living by themselves in the fields or in specially designated migrant camps, remained isolated from the surrounding communities. Often viewed as racial and class outcasts, migrant workers were shunned by the local communities.
While the nation's industrial workers could look to the New Deal to address some of their problems, migrant workers found themselves largely outside of the scope of most of the programs and legislation. When discussing the status of migrant workers in the United States, historian Cindy Hahamovitch argued that they were, in fact, "stateless." Unlike industrial workers who gained the right to organize unions and bargain collectively, migrant workers were left outside of the bounds of the most important New Deal legislation. Neither section 7a of the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act nor the 1935 National Labor Relations Act included migrant agricultural workers. When Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act instituting minimum wage provisions in 1938, agricultural workers were once again exempted from the federal protections afforded other kinds of workers.
Certainly the political clout of agricultural interestshelped to keep agricultural workers outside of the New Deal protections. Idealistic notions about agricultural labor and rural America may have also made it difficult to pass legislation to protect or empower migrant workers. Even legislation passed explicitly to address the problems plaguing rural America—the Agricultural Adjustment Act—did little to help migrant workers. In fact, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) probably worsened the conditions for many migrant workers who saw their jobs disappear along with the crop reductions required by the AAA. In addition, the jobs of many agricultural workers were eliminated when farmers used their government stipends to buy new machinery. The only New Deal agency that attempted to address the needs of migrant workers was the Resettlement Administration, which was replaced by the Farm Security Administration (FSA). By 1942, the FSA had built ninetyfive camps, which could house approximately 75,000 workers. Many of these camps provided housing, health services, schools, laundry facilities, and adult-educationprograms.
With the exception of the FSA camps, when migrant workers looked to the state for relief, they faced an uphill battle. Racist private and public relief agencies throughout the nation, but especially in the South and West, often denied migrant workers benefits or granted them benefits much lower than those awarded to other workers. Even the federal relief agencies, including the Works Progress Administration and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, worked in conjunction with local officials to schedule relief benefits according to the growing seasons. Migrant workers often found their meager benefits cut at the same time that their labor would be needed in the fields. In this way, the federal government helped to maintain a vulnerable, low-income workforce.
Mexican and Mexican-American migrant workers felt the full force of state power during the Great Depression. As non-citizens, many Mexicans were banned from public works projects available to other destitute workers. Moreover, communities looking for a scapegoat to explain the Depression often blamed Mexicans. Working together, private relief charities, municipal governments, and Mexican consuls helped to repatriate thousands of Mexicans and even Mexican Americans back to Mexico. Many of these men, women, and children had been migrant workers.
Even though migrant workers were excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, thousands joined unions and engaged in strikes to garner better wages and living conditions. In fact, in the early years of the Depression, the number of agricultural unions increased, as did the number of strikes. In his exhaustively researched study on unions in agriculture, Stuart Jamieson recounted ten strikes involving 3,200 workers in 1932. The following year, 1933, over 56,800 workers in seventeen different states took part in at least sixty-one strikes. By 1935 nearly one hundred agricultural unions represented thousands of workers. Although California remained the bastion of labor organizing among agricultural workers, states in the Midwest and East, including Michigan and New Jersey, also witnessed unions and strikes. This militancy is essential for understanding the experiences of migrant workers during the Great Depression. Even though they were often viewed as the bottom rung of society, traveling from place to place and doing jobs others would not do, and even though they were excluded from the benefits awarded other workers, migrant workers nonetheless tried to make a New Deal of their own.
Mikhail Baryshnikov was born in Latvia in 1948. Baryshnikov was a very talented and respected ballet dancer of the Soviet Union during the late 20th century, Baryshnikov was a beloved by many in the USSR. Unfortunately, he could not reciprocate those same feelings. He moved from the Soviet Union to Canada in 1974 before moving to the United States in hopes of having a better opportunity to express himself creatively in a free country. His technique transcended any cultural barriers he experienced through immigrating, as Americans loved his technical excellence and grace as a ballet dancer just as the Soviets did. Baryshnikov worked with the American Ballet Theatre until 1978 before becoming its artistic director in the 1980s.
Get original essayMikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov was born on January 27 1948, in Riga, Latvia, to the Russian parents Nikolay Baryshnikov, an engineer, and Alexandra, a dressmaker. At that time, Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, on the cusp of The Cold War. He had a difficult childhood as he and his father never got along and as a young teen, his mother commited suicide. However, later as he grew up, he began draw inspiration from his father’s discipline, manners, and military habits. At the age of 9, He began to take ballet lessons. In 1964, he joined a school of classical ballet named the Vaganova School in Leningrad. He got the opportunity to learn from the very famous choreographer, Alexander Pushkin. In 1967, Baryshnikov made his stage debut with the Kirov Ballet in Giselle. Baryshnikov landed his first major honor in 1966, winning a gold medal at the Varna, Bulgaria, dance competition, and went on to win another gold medal at the First International Ballet Competition in Moscow in 1969. Baryshnikov’s fame began to grow; amazing audiences with his technical skill and physical expressiveness. By the late 1960s, he was one of the Soviet Union’s most famous ballet dancers.
In 1967, Mikhail Baryshnikov joined up with the Kirov Ballet as a soloist. His performance and excellent technique was well consumed and thusly he did not have to undergo the routine apprenticeship that many others did. He made his first on-stage performance with Giselle. Taking note of his versatility and perfection in technique, several choreographers choreographed ballet performances just for him. He has worked with great artists, such as: Igor Tchernichov, Oleg Vinogradov, Leonid Jakobson and Konstantin Sergeyev in this same manner. Later, he became the premier danseur noble of Kirov Ballet playing the leading roles in Gorianka in 1968 and Vestris in 1969. The roles that he depicted in these performances were exclusively choreographed for him to show off his technical skill and went on to become his signature pieces. He was very well-known among Soviet crowds, however, he was becoming uncomfortable with several restrictions that were imposed on him such as the ban on his performance of contemporary foreign ballet. In 1974, following a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet in Toronto with the Kirov Ballet, he requested refuge in Toronto in search of greater personal and creative freedom, stating that he would not go back to the USSR. He later explained his departure from his native country to the New Statesman, saying, “I am individualist and there it is a crime”. He consequently joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Within two years of living in Canada, he got the opportunity to work with several creative choreographers and explored the combination of traditional and contemporary technique. During this period he danced as a freelance artist with popular choreographers and companies like Alvin Ailey, Glen Tetley, Twyla Tharp and Jerome Robbins. Between 1974 and 1978, he was working with the American Ballet Theatre as principal dancer partnering with famous ballerina Gelsey Kirkland. During this period he improvised and choreographed Russian classics like The Nutcracker in 1976 and Don Quixote in 1978. He made his debut performance in television in 1976 in In Performance Live with Wolf Trap.
The following year, television network CBS bought his very popular ballet theatre performance of The Nutcracker for television. Outside of ballet, Baryshnikov explored other professional opportunities like television and film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his acting in the dance drama The Turning Point in 1977, featuring Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine, which cemented popular interest in ballet. Between 1978 and 1979, he left the American Ballet Theatre and started working with the New York City ballet under choreographer George Balanchine. Here, several ballet roles were designed for him like the roles in Jerome Robbins’s Opus 19: The Dreamer in 1979, Other Dances, and Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody in 1980. He also made regular guest performances with the Royal Ballet. In 1980, he returned to American Ballet Theatre and served as Artistic Director and principal dancer until 1989. From 1990 to 2002, he was partnered with the White Oak Dance Project, a touring dance company as the Artistic Director, a dance company co-founded by himself and dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Between the 1970s and the 1980s he made several appearances on television with ballet performances on shows like Live from Lincoln Centre and Great Performances. Other movies that he was part of include White Nights in 1985, That’s Dancing! in 1985, Dancers in 1987, and Company Business in 1991.
Despite old age, Baryshnikov continued his career around dance. At age 55, he acted in a minor part in the last season of television series “Sex and the City” from 2003 to 2004. In addition to performing on stage and in film, Baryshnikov branded his own perfume line, named after his nickname, Misha. In 2005, he founded an art complex named Baryshnikov Arts Center. It provides production facilities and space for performing arts like music, theatre, dance, film design etc. In 2006, he made an appearance on an episode of Sundance Channel’s series Iconoclasts. The following year, the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer featured an episode of Mikhail Baryshnikov and his arts center. Despite knee troubles, Baryshnikov continued to dance into his 50s and 60s. Baryshnikov put aside his love for performance for some of his most recent pursuits, however. He starred in the play In Paris in 2011 and 2012, which is based on a story by Ivan Bunin. The following year, Baryshnikov was the star in an experimental theater production called Man in a Case in Hartford, Connecticut. Awards and Achievements
In 1999, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by the United States Congress in 2000. In 2003, he was awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse by the International Dance Association in Moscow for lifetime achievement. In 2012, he received the Vilcek Prize in Dance by the Vilcek Foundation. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from prestigious universities like the New York University in 2006, Shenandoah University in 2007, and Montclair State University in 2008.
Mikhail Baryshnikov was born a Russian citizen and later became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1986. He got into a relationship with an American actress, Jessica Lange. They ended up having a daughter in 1981, and she was named Aleksandra Baryshnikova. It is widely known that he had romantic relationships with former ballerinas, Natalia Makarova and Gelsey Kirkland. He was in a long-term relationship with former ballerina, writer, and video journalist Lisa Rinehart.
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1948) is a dynamic film that attempts to reconstruct a post-war economy by teaching lessons about the importance of gender roles and a balanced family to the men and women in the theaters. Mildred Pierce illuminates “the historical need to reconstruct an economy based on a division of labor by which men command the means of production and women remain within the family, in other words the need to reconstruct a failing patriarchal structure” (Cook, 69). The film also touches on a fear of women by men returning from the war. Women were more independent and less feminine that before the war. “The films themselves seem to indicate just how threatened and unsure hegemonic patriarchy was during the postwar years” (Benshoff, 264).
Get original essayThis essay will deal with a scene from Mildred’s first flashback within the film beginning with Mildred fixing up her newly purchased restaurant as Monty enters and flirtatiously invites her to the beach house and ending with Mildred and Monty’s exchanged words of affection pertaining to their beating hearts. This scene overlaps Kay and Veda’s trip to the beach with their father Bert during which Kay comes down with pneumonia. This essay deals with the symptomatic meaning of the film Mildred Pierce. “This is abstract and general. It situates the film within a trend of thought that is assumed to be characteristic of American society during a certain time period” (Bordwell, 62).
This film deals with the deterioration of a family in postwar America. “While birth rates did soar after the war, so did divorce rates. Men and women had very different experiences of the war, and the two often did not easily mesh” (Benshoff, 262). The film teaches its audience how to avoid such a failed family ideal. “The first sign of deterioration comes when Mildred’s one night of illicit passion with Monty is followed by Kay’s death” (Cook, 74). This film establishes ideal gender roles for the redevelopment of society while defining the fear of women present in postwar America.
It is important to point out that this scene is Mildred’s flashback. Mildred Pierce has two distinct points of view: Mildred, the woman, and the detective, the man. “The basic split is created in the film between melodrama and film noir, between ‘Woman’s Picture’ and Man’s Film, a split which indicates the presence of two ‘voices’, female and male” (Cook, 72). Mildred’s flashbacks are evenly lit, but cannot be trusted. “The viewer’s process of picking up cues, developing expectations, and constructing an ongoing story out of the plot will be partially shaped by what the narrator tells or doesn’t tell” (Bordwell, 92).
The detective’s perspective explains the truth of the narrative, but is presented in shadows and low-key lighting. “Mildred’s discourse is the discourse of melodrama, her story is the stuff of which the ‘Woman’s Picture’ was made in pre-war and war years when woman were seen to have an active part to play in society and the problems of passion, desire, and emotional excess” (Cook, 71). The melodramatic tone to Mildred’s narration helps to pull the woman in the theater into the storyline. This is crucial considering the message the film presents to women to stand behind their men and to go back into the kitchen and cook pies. The detective’s discourse is a representation of the man’s role to find the truth through hard evidence.“ The detective is simply concerned with establishing the Truth, with resolving the enigma, while Mildred’s story contains complexity and ambiguity, showing a concern for feelings rather than facts.” (Cook, 71).
This scene begins with an establishing shot of the exterior restaurant, still under construction, and quickly dissolves into the interior of the restaurant with Mildred’s legs, detached from her body, in the upper right side of the screen. Mildred’s legs are fetish sized in order to control her sexuality. “One part of a fragmented body destroys the Renaissance space, the illusion of depth demanded by the narrative, it gives flatness” (Mulvey, 838). By the man taking a small part of the woman and focusing in on it, the woman, as a whole, is no longer a threat to the man. This entire scene sexualizes Mildred. First a close up of her legs is presented and then her in a two piece bathing suit. At this point in the film the viewer has not yet seen the epitome of Veda’s evil actions, nor the reverse shot revealing Veda as a killer; therefore, Mildred is still under great suspicion for the murder in the first scene.
Mildred appears to be using her sexual prowess to control Monty in this scene. Joan Crawford’s acting is that of a confident woman in control. Monty asks if she needs help with her zipper and she replies “no” with a large smirk on her face. Her business is not yet a success, but she is on her way due to the property Monty has loaned her. “Joan Crawford, who plays Mildred, is an ambiguous sexual figure as a star with a history of playing ‘independent women’ roles” (Cook, 77). It is almost as if Mildred is “sealing the deal” with her body in this scene. Men in postwar America were threatened by the woman’s sexual prowess and often tried to repress it. The film gives an example of the “brutal and enforced repression of female sexuality, and the institutionalization of a social place for both men (as fathers and husbands) and women (as mothers and wives) which rests uneasily on this repression” (Cook, 69). Mildred’s sexuality is repressed by the realization later in the film that it is Monty who is using Mildred and not the other way around.
The most interesting cinematic shot in this scene shows Mildred entering a room at the beach house with Monty close behind. Monty stops in the doorway while Mildred approaches the closet to look for a bathing suit. Initially, nothing appears unordinary or strange about this camera shot. However, As Mildred moves closer to the camera something the viewer was not expecting happens: Mildred enters the frame from screen left, when just moments before, she was moving downward from right to left on the screen. Then two images of Mildred are presented and the viewer realizes that the initial shot was not real. It was only a reflection on a closet door mirror. This cinematic trick causes the viewer to question what is real and what is simply an illusion. At this point, the viewer can question the validity of Mildred’s flashback all together. Even though Mildred is not the femme fatale in this film, but she is a woman. In postwar America women could not be trusted.
This scene is all a flashback sequence told from Mildred’s point of view. One could argue that the flashback sequences, such as the one in question, are being presented according to how Mildred remembers them. “Mildred’s story is revealed as duplicitous, thus foregrounding the work of repression involved in narrative resolution” (Cook, 73). Curtiz’s choice of high-key lighting is appropriate because this appears to be a happy time in Mildred’s life. There is no need for stark contrasts between light and dark, like so many other less light-hearted scenes in the film. “Low-key lighting has usually been applied to somber and mysterious scenes” (Bordwell, 130). Instead, Curtiz relies on double meanings to highlight the question of what is real and what is an illusion.
One example is when Mildred, looking at the ocean from the window in the beach house, replies, “You have a wonderful view.” Monty, looking at her body, responds, “Well, I wouldn’t say that...I hope the suit fits better than the robe.” Monty knows that she is speaking about the ocean and not her appearance, but twists her question. There are other ways to interpret Mildred’s question. Mildred could be drawing attention to Monty’s point of view, the point of view of a man. The point of view of a man represents truth in this film and in postwar America a man’s point of view is what mattered. Through denial of the woman’s point of view, man can take over again. “As if to restore proper patriarchal order, American culture attempted to deny or degenerate the stronger woman that wartime conditions had created” (Benshoff, 262). After a wide shot of Mildred and Monty jumping into the ocean together, the film dissolves into the interior of the beach house where Mildred is drying off by the fire. Another illusion is presented here through Mildred’s reflection in the mirror while Monty makes a drink to the left of the screen. Curtiz is once again playing with the viewer’s perception of reality versus illusion, who to trust in this scene, and if the scene should be trusted at all.
In this scene the viewer is not yet aware that it is Veda whom is the true femme fatale and not Mildred, however Mildred is still a woman in postwar cinema and therefore is painted in a negative light. Her narrative can not be trusted and she oozes sexuality. Mildred’s character is paralleled by Veda’s character. “The film asks us, through the device of metaphorical substitution , to confuse the wicked Veda with the honest Mildred, thus establishing Mildred’s innate guilt, even though she is not guilty of the actual murder” (Cook, 71). Although Mildred did not kill Monty, she is guilty of an even bigger crime in postwar America: pursuing a career and becoming the head of a family. “Mildred’s take-over of the place of the father has brought about the collapse of all social and moral order in her world” (Cook, 75).
At the end of this scene, Monty and Mildred embrace and exchange words of affection. However, through camera movement, Curtiz allows the viewer to see past Mildred and Monty’s false feelings for each other. As Monty and Mildred embrace there is music in the background coming from a record player off screen. The record begins to skip and Mildred replies, “The record Monty, the record.” Just before Mildred says this Monty says, “When I’m close to you like this there’s a sound in the air like the beating of wings. Do you know what it is? My heart beating like a school boy’s.” To which Mildred replies: “I thought it was mine.” The camera then slowly pans right until it reveals the record player and the mirror image of Monty and Mildred embracing in the same shot. The viewer can now make the connection and understand that it is not their hearts beating. It is only the sound of the record player skipping along.
The setting of the beach house is important to the entire narrative of the film. The beach house in this scene provides the location for romance between Mildred and Monty and will later provide a location for Monty’s murder. Monty’s murder is a direct result of his bond with Mildred; therefore the beach house should provide a sense of foreshadowing for the viewer. A parallel can be drawn between Mildred and Veda through their intimate happenings with the same man at the same location (Mildred later discovers Veda and Monty kissing at the beach house). It is clear that “cinema setting can come to the forefront; it need not be only a container for human events but can dynamically enter the narrative action” (Bordwell, 115).
As Mildred opens Monty’s closet at the beach house she finds a large collection of bathing suits. Monty jokes, “They belong to my sisters”. However, they clearly belong to other lady friends of his because towards the end of the scene, in front of the fire, Monty states, “You’re very beautiful like that.” And Mildred jokingly replies, “I’ll bet you say that to all your sisters.” There is a very serious issue being alluded to here: the taboo of incest. This scene is foreshadowing the eventual relationship between Veda and her stepfather Monty. Incest is one of the worst ways a family can fall apart and it appears to be Mildred’s punishment in the film for her choice to be an independent career woman. This film sends a message to the audience of postwar America that women should find their places back in the home or their families will fall apart.
As Mildred and Monte converse in front of the fire another interesting point is brought up. Another message seems present and this one is intended to teach the men in the audience. Mildred asks, “And just what do you do, Mr. Beragon?” Monty replies, “Oh, I loaf in a decorative and highly charming manner.” Monte clearly lacks a career or any ambition to pursue one. In postwar America “woman were unceremoniously fired from their jobs in order to create employment opportunities for returning men” (Benshoff, 262). Society demanded that woman be in the home and that men be at the workplace. Mildred’s involvement with a man that doesn’t fit this mold consequently ends in her downfall and the deterioration of her family. The message presented in the film clearly outlines gender roles and what is expected of each sex in order to restore patriarichal order to America at this time. This message is also seen earlier in the film through Bert’s character. He cannot hold down a job and temporarily looses his family. He however has ambition to work and reunites with Mildred in the end of the film. Monte, however, is punished with death.
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Get custom essayMildred Pierce is an entertaining film with ulterior motives. In 1947, America was recovering from an economic crisis, altered gender roles, a deteriorated male population, and high divorce rates. Leave it to Hollywood to instruct American’s on how to set everything straight again. Not only does this film present a number of messages detailing the woman’s place in the home and the man’s place at work, but it also reflects a fear that woman had gained too much control, become too masculine, and would no longer be a link in healthy family units. Sixty years later, society has come a long way towards accepting women as important figures in the world’s career market. Although this film and others like it were successful in creating the “leave it to beaver” atmosphere of the 1950’s. It was only a short while before this ideal crumbled. Now men and women can compete on a more even playing field. Women need not be punished, like Mildred Pierce was, for pursuing a career.
Among all the music genres, jazz places a significant role in art history. The American jazz critic Ted Gioia states that “Jazz has always been a music of fusion. ‘Nothing from New Orleans is ever pure’ — so goes an old throwaway phrase”. If speaking from the whole course of development of jazz, its history is long. Jazz is the result of black African’s traditional folk music and the European classical music of fusion. They collided with each other in the 19th century. Impure at its birth, jazz separates into a myriad of kinds. And jazz fusion is a hybrid derivative based on the evolution of jazz music. It refers to a specific type of rock-influenced jazz from the 1970s to the 80s. For assimilating more in-depth knowledge on the evolution of jazz, this essay will take an omnidirectional view on the jazz fusion history on the formation and development, and there is an outstanding master influenced a lot in the jazz-rock history: Davis Miles and his band.
Get original essayAfter the American Civil War, the African slaves won their freedom but still lived in poverty. Most of them were uneducated. So, they could only entertain themselves by the music cultivated from their hometown. That is the process that how jazz derived from the African- American’s community in New Orleans in the late 19th century. It started from scratch and became the most distinguished native American music art genre in one century. No matter Blues, Ragtime, March or Swing, each of them stands apart from others and owns their unique features. Until today, every category is active on the stage with different interpretations of jazz. The strong and lasting vitality broke the geography, race and national boundaries.
Whenever there is a music style becomes rigid, a more eye-catching one will be generated to satisfy people’s appetites. Jazz fusion is one of the branches of jazz and a typical musical expression form. In the late 1960s, jazz was encountered a crisis: rock music came to the stage, and young audiences prefer to rock music, old audiences were no longer obsessed with abstract and simplex jazz. Hence, musicians realized that if they want to take audiences’ hearts back, they have to add and combine different musical elements to create a unique and novel one to attract audiences’ attention. Since the city’s population was diverse, the music also interacted with another. Jazz fusion absorbed different musical styles from different cultures, and inherited New Orleans Traditional Jazz, and gradually form a variety of fusion music today. The author of Genre of Popular Music Fabian also demonstrates that “This fusion primarily appealed to younger generations but not to specialists with a solid grounding in the tradition. Commercial interests among producers were strong because a musical blend with popular styles has the potential to cross over and thus reach a large market”. The charisma of fusion is it highlights contemporary electric bass instead of using acoustic bass, electronic synthesizer instead of piano, etc. It also adds more integration with classical and rock styles to make it sounds more modern and bolder. Any music element can be used as a recipe to cook the jazz feast, which is refreshing and jazz-colored and is loved by more people. Comparing to traditional jazz, fusion is a big reform in jazz history. From the 20th century, the crossover music went virus throughout the world.
How does fusion come to existence? For elaborating on the existence of fusion, there is one man should be nominated — Miles Davis. Miles Davis was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Throughout his life, he has conducted in-depth research on many styles of jazz music. More importantly, he is the grandfather of Fusion jazz. He studied in The Juilliard School in New York and left the school and started performing in the 52th street bar. In 1964, when the Beatles went virus in the world, Davis found that the traditional rock music matched the potential market of jazz, and created Jazz Rock, later was known as Fusion, which attracted many rock fans to join the jazz market. He was known for his slow, resentful and singular tastes. He liked to imitate the train, the voice of old men and the electric guitars sound. The author of Miles Davis: A New Revolution in Sound evaluates that “A major characteristic of Davis's playing was a new and different way of phrasing in which a major emphasis and focus on the relationship of space to tempo and melody (and the intervals between notes) became the hallmark of his style. In the process, Davis dramatically redefined and expanded the expressive and creative range of the tonal palette and instrumental timbre of the trumpet”. The appreciation from Kofi describes Mile Davis’s work accurately. As long as his songs came out, it became of an object of worship for musicians to follow. He is a musician that always hold a learning mood to observe new objects every day and be willing to accept new ideas. His obsession with jazz and his self-subversive persisted for many years and made his success. Miles Davis is a real revolutionist, he has been breaking through on himself and the entire history of music.
Miles Davis’s fusion transformation involves his second impressive quintet. He took a larger variety of musical views into his band. His group has been shifted and changed for several years at the beginning of the 1960s. He finally settled for a classic quintet for four years. The band consists of Miles Davis on trumpet, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams. Davis hired the rhythm section of Hancock, Carter, and Williams in 1963, and Shorter joined the group until September 1964. The group interacted at a high level in the jazz’s history and developed Jazz-rock later. The band incorporated electric bass, guitar, and keys into their sound. Wayne Shorter became the principal composer of the band, and they published six studio recordings from 1964-1968. Miles Davis even took over the composing duty and composed one of his masterpieces-- In a Silent Way. While the cooperation with Miles Davis, the quintet explored a host of improvisational and accompanied techniques that departed from standard practice. The performers cooperated with unique strategies and formed their jazz playing style. In the book The Studio Recordings of Miles Davis, 1965-1968, author Waters states that “They (Quintet) also explored a host of improvisational and accompaniment techniques that departed from standard hard bop practice. The players redefined spontaneous small-group interaction, particularly by working through techniques of harmonic substitution and superimposition, metrical conflict, and metric modulation. In works that used repeated chorus structure during improvisation, these techniques had important implications for musical form since they could work either to delineate or disguise important formal junctures.” Through using these techniques, quintet did not flow the ordinary way of cooperation, what they did is to add more extraordinary techniques to make the brand stand out. During the four years, the band released six recordings together: They are: E.S.P, Davis Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro. Among them, Miles in the Sky and Filles de Kilimanjaro pointed the fusion phrase of Miles Davis's career. They differed qualitatively from the earlier recordings, and it was a turning point for the group. The differences are distinctive, Waters demonstrates that “For example, the use of electric piano and bass, and the use of single extended tonal centers for improvisation, and the importation of rock-based straight-eight rhythm all adumbrated an imminent shift to jazz-rock fusion”. The quintet was seminal, through their compositional, melodic and harmonic strategies. With the use of rock rhythms and pedal points of improvisation, Miles Davis and his quintet use electrical devices to alter the acoustic sounds of instruments and entered specific innovations in their work.
On 19 August 1969, after the end of the Woodstock festival, Davis and other musicians have approached soul and rock. His work Bitches Brew was recognized as the greatest jazz albums that have an influential effect on jazz history. Fabian mentioned, “Many of the young musicians in Miles’s band were not initially keen on doing rock-influenced jazz, but this album made fusion seem financially attractive, and they would soon adopt his model and form their fusion bands”. Bitches Brew quickly sold over 400,000 copies and became the first big commercial success of rock-influenced jazz. It is not only a symbol of the beginning of fusion, but also inspires tons of people to imitate and expand the jazz enthusiasm; it is not only a creation of a style but also a refreshing of music worldview and cultural quality. Miles Davis laid the foundation for Jazz Fusion. The song has achieved great commercial success and extended the jazz audience to a wider range. It becomes a revolutionary album and sets a model for other musicians. After Davis underwent a car accident, his larynx constricted his breath and left him short-winded when he played the trump. His drug and alcohol problem deteriorate his health condition. Soon Davis had retired from the music scene.
Another contribution that Miles Davis has been done is the not only constantly broke through his music, but also affirmed a bunch of his cooperators and juniors. Miles Davis is the one who sets the foundation of Fusion, and Herbie Hancock is the one who develops Jazz fusion. Herbie Hancock is a modern jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader. He experienced Jazz fusion, funk and electro styles. In 1963, Hancock joined Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet and played as a pianist. After Davis continued his work on Jazz function, the band disbanded. In 1968, he yielded his band, and all the work was all original work composed by himself. The band became the most influential one on Jazz-rock. In 1969, Hancock widely used electronic pianos and other electronic instruments, including some synthesizers. In 1973, Hancock underwent a financial issue, and he was forced to change his band into Jazz-funk, but the style is still fusion. In Herbie Hancock’s discovery in music, he transcended all the limitations and styles, and also kept his unique voice.
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Get custom essayMiles Davis’s role goes beyond as a leader of the Quintet, he also invented and created a brand new genre in Jazz. His quintet contributed an artistic inspiration for his innovation, and became not only a notable jazz player but also the founder of Jazz-rock fusion and promoted the development of jazz in music history. Among his supreme honors, the endeavors of Miles Davis are hard to pinpoint.
Nowadays, there are a lot of new jazz albums had been published every year, buy different new and old artirsts. But there is one that was rated as one of the greatest album jazz of all time, the one that no one can forget listening to since the first time, that is “Kind of Blue”. The album was released in 1959, by Miles Davis, an American jazz artirst, also known as a trumpeter.
Get original essayMiles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music. Davis had nearly fifty years in his career, started as a member of saxophonist Charlie Parker's bebop quintet from 1944, until the day he passed away, he was always a person with highest enthusiasm in jazz music. In his adolescent years, instead of keeping with his studies, Davis was more concerned with his career as a musician in a band. Davis made some of his first recordings in 1945, though Miles was not as developed during this time, his style was already easily recognizable and distinguished. In 1959, August 17th, he released “Kind of Blue”, with his ensemble sextet, the album that was departed further from his earlier work's hard bop style of jazz. “Kind of Blue” was was recorded on March 2 and April 22, 1959, at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, and released on August 17 of that year by Columbia Records, now as known as Sony. It was performed by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Julian 'Cannonball' Adderley, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, pianist Bill Evans appearing on most of the tracks.
All players were to have legendary careers, but it was Coltrane who took Miles' modal template and went furthest with it, with spectacular results. No other recording in jazz has come remotely near acquiring the kind of cachet “Kind of Blue” has accumulated over the decades. It’s an album that has probably been responsible for more conversions of non-believers into the jazz faith than any other, it has been the base-station from where countless fans have begun their journey into jazz and it’s an album that crops-up in the record collections of classical, rock, pop and Country and Western devotees who would not otherwise give jazz house room.
The first track of the album is “So What”, the standard song of modal jazz, and I did pay attention to the lightness, space, and relaxed structure within which an improvising instrument can breathe, I can feel Coltrane move effortlessly with that tenor saxophone. That's framework is the genius of Miles Davis, and the exquisite performance by Bill Evans on piano.
The second track is “Freddie Freeloader” is a much more straightforward Blues piece, but it's a stunner, and I can really hear how much pianist Wynton Kelly was enjoying it, provided some excellent comping to all the soloists. Cannonball made the most of the changes, with some phrases coming out in a growling sputter. Bill Evans is the star of Blue in Green, and anchored by an authoritative bassline, he produces a devastatingly subtle sound, which Miles and Coltrane solo over in a whisper.
The third track is “Blue In Green”, which was composed by both Miles Davis and Bill Evans. Evans opened with a short intro, followed by Davis’ solo. Using a Harmon mute, his horn was like a wounded lover in the night to me. Evans provides a thoughtful interlude and then Coltrane plays an all-too-brief solo that demonstrates what sweet sound he could emit from his tenor saxophone. Evans returns with another interlude and sets up Miles Davis for a final statement.
The fourth track is “All Blue”, the longest one with about twelve minutes. A piano intro led into Davis’ muted statement of the theme with the saxophone gliding it along. Miles gave a stately solo like the international jazz icon he was. It is crisp, efficient, and direct. By contrast, Coltrane’s solo swings as he loses himself in the rhythm provided by Evans, Chambers, and Cobb. Adderley’s sonorous alto sounds like he came straight out of church to the studio. It soaks up both gospel and blues elements. Cobb hits the percussion blocks behind Evans’ meditative solo. The band regroups to play the theme once more, but before the fade-out Miles manages to squeeze in a few more ideas.
The last track is “Flamenco Sketches”, which has 2 different versions. The alternate take was released after and also counted as the last track of the album, I will tell about this music piece. The track has much of the “sketch” about it and little of the “flamenco”, is gorgeously sad. It begins with a bass that sounds as if it is slowly dying, and Miles' trumpet provides an eulogy. It encompasses a heartbreakingly beautiful feel that is the perfect conclusion to this perfect album. Miles Davis seems to use this track to send us away with lumps in our throats, but big smiles on our faces. Like so many other moments on this album, it's perfect, and it's just right. There a theory that the titles of All Blues and Flamenco Sketches were switched on the CD lately, but if the Davis calls it Flamenco Sketches, that's proof that it was called that all along. So, switching the song titles seems to describe each piece more effectively.
This masterpiece “Kind of Blue” is still the best jazz album ever in the history, and it really made me addicted to jazz after listening to it.