Reflection Of My Own Personal Development - 1637 Words

1. Within Sports Coaching Literature, it has been established that reflection is a generic term for intellectual and effective activities, in which individuals examine their experiences, in order to develop new understanding and intrapersonal appreciation (Knowles, et al., 2006). Research in this field has advocated reflective practice as an approach to professional development which positively impacts coaching effectiveness (Cropley, et al., 2012). This reflective report shall discuss, analyse and evaluate my own personal development throughout my first semester spent studying at UCFB, in order to develop new understanding and intrapersonal appreciation, and help explore my decisions and experiences, increasing understanding of†¦show more content†¦Reflecting daily upon these values will increase my ability to articulate a holistic coaching philosophy. A personal coaching philosophy can be used as a tool itself, enabling a coach to question their practices and develop their ow n understanding and knowledge (Nash, et al., 2008). Already being interested in Sports Psychology, the reflective learning practice was already something I was aware of and keen to know more about. Reflective practice is a self-analysis tool, by which practitioners can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and development (Kottkamp Osterman, 1993). Reflective practice allows professionals to assess their performance, make sense of what happened and learn from mistakes and experiences in order to develop, improve and adapt. (Cropley, et al., 2012). Kottkamp and Osterman (1993) write in Reflective Practice for Educators: Improving Schooling through Professional Development that reflective practice is essential for behavioural change and improvement. They go on to eloquently describe what is needed to reflect effectively: â€Å"To gain a new level of insight into personal behaviour, the reflective practitioner assumes a dual stance, being, on one hand, the actor in a drama and, on the other hand, the critic who sits in the audience watching and analysing the entire performance. To achieveShow MoreRelatedReflective Critique790 Words   |  4 Pageselicits critical thinking skills that spawns opportunities for further personal development. This course of Professional Development is one means of developing reflective practice, linking the internal and external worlds of the practitioner. II. The Model of Reflective Practice: With the preceding information in mind, I have come to realize that reflective practice can be a very beneficial process in my own professional development as an educator, because both teaching and learning processes requiresRead MorePersonal Reflection And Development Plan1431 Words   |  6 PagesPersonal Reflection and Development Plan Reflective practice has helped many people to improve their learning. It is a valuable tool often used by healthcare and education providers to improve their approach to work by questioning their actions. Throughout my short time spent in Higher Education (HE) I have learned many new aspects of learning like different learning styles and models of reflection and this provides me with an opportunity to look back over these ideas and reflect. This will allowRead MoreThe Development Of A Pdp917 Words   |  4 Pagestool that clearly indicates identified challenges (learning or development needs) in order of priority. Each competency in the PDP assessment informs specific outcomes with the help of this tool (Francis et al., 2014). I can easily monitor my progress towards my progress towards my set goals using the high competencies of my personal and professional skills to improve my areas of opportunities. My PDP shown in table 1, highlights my competencies that needs to be achieved by July 2016. This is withRead MoreIntroduction to Personal Development in Health and Social Care or Children S and Young Peoples Settings1470 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction to Personal Development in Health, Social Care or Children’s and Young People’s settings. 1.1.Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role. My current job role is as a care assistant. When I started this job management gave me a clear guidance and what is expected from me. They described the duties and responsibilities of the role to me. A responsibility is something a person is expected to do. I am responsible for providing support to the service users, which includesRead MoreEssay on importance of reflective practice1556 Words   |  7 Pageseffectiveness on the practitioners and one of the first people to research reflective Practice was Donald Schon in his book â€Å"The Reflective Practitioner† in 1983. Schon was an influential writer on reflection and had two main ways of identifying reflection and they were reflection in action and reflection on action. â€Å"The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon before him, and on theRead More1. Introduction. Reflective Practice Is A Key Part Of Working1646 Words   |  7 Pages1. Introduction Reflective practice is a key part of working as a health care professional, including speech and language therapists (SLT), and will be used throughout a practitioner’s career as part of their continuing professional development. It is the practice of experiencing situations and then reflecting on them, which is how clinicians may enhance their knowledge and skills and, thus, maintain their competence throughout their career as a practicing therapist (RCSLT, 2003). It is through thisRead MoreReflection1650 Words   |  7 PagesIan-Bradley Tancred This essay analyses and describes what reflection is and how it supports your personal and professional learning. It elaborates upon how and why recognizing your strengths and weaknesses are important and how they can enhance lifelong learning. It describes what arguments and assertions are, what the differences are between them and which one is better. Debnath describes reflection as a means of self-examination to learn from knowledge and experiences which will help transformRead MoreMy Nursing Philosophy : My Philosophy Of Nursing Practice1074 Words   |  5 PagesNursing philosophy My philosophy of nursing practice is being kind to others. I use my knowledge and skills to help people. I also respect patients’ preferences, values and choices even though they differ from mine. I will try to understand and show empathy to my patients through seeing them beyond their illness and provide holistic and culturally sensitive care. Nursing is not just a job that looks after the sickness, rather, it is about the humanity, about being a human for another human. As aRead MoreGenuine Reflection Paper1050 Words   |  5 PagesReflection is more than considering how we carried out a nursing action. Genuine reflection requires us not just to provide justifications for our behaviors, but to continue to study and appraise ourselves and own personal development including how we communicate and interact with others. Self-reflection ensures we carry out our nursing obligations according to the requirements of our practice and that we connect and consider our patients and coworkers in a caring way (Jacobs, 2016). Nurses alsoRead MoreSelf Reflection Essays817 Words   |  4 Pages  Self- ­Ã¢â‚¬ Observations   and   Self- ­Ã¢â‚¬    Reflections    Maximum   1000   words   each   term    The   purpose   of   these   three   reports   is   to   demonstrate   how   you   have   used   the   learning   journal   to    develop   your   self- ­Ã¢â‚¬ awareness   from   term   to   term.   (See   Section   11   about   the   Learning   Journal)    Each   report   is   due   at   the   first   class   meeting   after   each   reading   week.    Guidelines:    The   Reports   should   include   your   reflections   about:

Our Comprehensive Synthesis Of Available Evidence Showed A...

Our comprehensive synthesis of available evidence showed a strong association between the LISA and the risk of late/very late ST and MI during the post imaging follow up. The low incidence of ST events over 18,145 person-months follow up (≈1.4% ST per person-year) in LISA group explains the limited power of previous studies evaluating this association. Our results are consistent with a prior meta-analysis of five studies which found LISA to be associated with increased risk of late ST (OR = 6.51; 95% CI 1.34-34.91)(13). We extended these findings by including 11 additional studies and longer follow up of previous studies published subsequently. Also, we accounted for variable follow up period of included studies by using person-months as offset rather than the number of patients in each group. Moreover, as recommended in literature (17-18), we used multiple statistical methods as part of our sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of our findings. Our finding stood the test of these sensitivity analysis confirming a strong association between LISA ( and LAISA) and late/very late ST. Although we found a significant association between LISA and clinical events (ST and MI), our results do not establish a cause and effect relationship. The two cohorts, LISA and control, were unbalanced on one or more characteristics in all included studies. For instance, LISA group had longer stents and more commonly associated with acute coronary syndrome as the indication for PCI inShow MoreRelatedCharacteristics Of Patients At Lisa And Control Group Essay964 Words   |  4 Pagesstudy characteristics are shown in table 1. The characteristics of patients in LISA and control group are shown table 1S in supplement. The stent length was significantly longer in four studies, acute coronary syndrome as indication for PCI was more common in two studies and patients were younger in one study in LISA group compared to control. The independent predictors of LISA from multivariable analysis are shown in table 2S (Supplement). Nine studies did post-procedure imaging in addition to followRea d MoreNursing Essay41677 Words   |  167 PagesNational Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This study was supported by Contract No. 65815 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizationsRead MoreAn Evaluation of an on-Farm Food Safety Program for Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Producers; a Global Blueprint for Fruit and Vegetable Producers51659 Words   |  207 PagesFresh fruits and vegetables have been increasingly linked to cases of foodborne illness. Many produce farmers have implemented on-farm food safety strategies, employing good agricultural practices focusing on water, handling and sanitation to reduce risk. An il lustrative case study to examine implementation trends was developed through the examination of current on-farm food safety issues and programs, with specific focus on the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) hazard analysis criticalRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesArt Director: Kenny Beck Text and Cover Designer: Wanda Espana OB Poll Graphics: Electra Graphics Cover Art: honey comb and a bee working / Shutterstock / LilKar Sr. Media Project Manager, Editorial: Denise Vaughn Media Project Manager, Production: Lisa Rinaldi Full-Service Project Management: Christian Holdener, S4Carlisle Publishing Services Composition: S4Carlisle Publishing Services Printer/Binder: Courier/Kendallville Cover Printer: Courier/Kendalville Text Font: 10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std Read MoreInnovators Dna84615 Words   |  339 Pageshabits—habits that can boost anyone’s creative capacity.† author, e 7 Habits of Highly E ective People and e Leader in Me â€Å"Having worked with Clayton Christensen on innovation for over a decade, I can see that e Innovator’s DNA continues to stretch our thinking with insights that challenge convention and enable progress in the important cause of innovation . . . so critical to competitiveness and growth.† retired Chairman of the Board and CEO, e Procter Gamble Company Also by Clayton M. Christensen: Read MoreEssay about Summary of History of Graphic Design by Meggs14945 Words   |  60 PagesIslamic and European countries. - Most illuminated scripts were small enough to fit into a saddle bag. This allowed the transportation and portability of ideas. - The earliest surviving illustrated manuscript is the Vatican Vergil, created in the late 4th century by Publius Vergilius. - After the Western Roman Empire collapse in 476 AD, an era of dislocation and uncertainty ensued. - The thousand year medieval era lasted from the fifth century fall of Rome until the fifteenth century RenaissanceRead Morepreschool Essay46149 Words   |  185 PagesISBN 978-8011-1708-4 Ordering Information Copies of this publication are available for sale from the California Department of Education. For prices and ordering information, please visit the Department Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ re/pn or call the CDE Press Sales Office at 1-800-995-4099. An illustrated Educational Resource Catalog describing publications, videos, and other instructional media available from the Department can be obtained without charge by writing to the CDE Press Read MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 Pages978–1–59158–406–3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Library administration—United States. 2. Information services— United States—Management. I. Moran, Barbara B. II. Title. Z678.S799 2007 025.1—dc22 2007007922 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright  © 2007 by Robert D. Stueart and Barbara B. Moran All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:Read MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesManagement, Fourth Edition I. Management 17 17 2. The Evolution of Management Thought Hughes−Ginnett−Curphy †¢ Leadership, Fifth Edition I. Leadership is a Process, Not a Position 51 51 70 1. Leadership is Everyone’s Business 2. Interaction between the Leader, the Followers the Situation Cohen †¢ Effective Behavior in Organizations, Seventh Edition 11. Leadership: Exerting Influence and Power 94 94 Text Palmer−Dunford−Akin †¢ Managing Organizational Change 2. Images of Managing Change Read MoreDamodaran Book on Investment Valuation, 2nd Edition398423 Words   |  1594 Pageswill be available at the end of the year. This may seem like a bit of a free lunch, and I guess it is. I hope, though, that you can do me a favor as you go through the manuscript. If you find any mistakes - mathematical or grammatical - could you please let me know? It would help me ensure that the typos do not find their way into the final version. Chapter 1: Introduction to Valuation Chapter 2: Approaches to Valuation Chapter 3: Understanding Financial Statements Chapter 4: The Basics of Risk Chapter

Mercy and Justice free essay sample

Mercy and Justice: Can they coexist? Abstract This paper is about if mercy and Justice can co-exist. The paper discusses Justice in todays society, mercys role in the Justice system, and Gods mercy and Justice. Mercy and Justice can be viewed as two separate virtues. While Justice seeks resolution, mercy seeks forgiveness. This paper will discuss Justice in todays society, mercys role in the Justice system, and Gods mercy and Justice. According to dictionary. om,Justice is the quality of being Just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the Justice of a cause. The virtue demands that people have equal rights and opportunities. Everyone, from the poorest person to the wealthiest deserves an even playing field. From a political point of view one can say Justice is equal rights. However, the law does not necessarily mean Justice. According to an article Wit or Wisdom, the law, or Justice, dictates that we all deserve hell forever. We will write a custom essay sample on Mercy and Justice or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We are sinners and a stench in the nose of God (Beckmann, 2007). This shows that while law is supposed to be right and Just and true, it is not always, and there are exceptions to many rules. Is Justice fair all of he time? In its narrower sense, Justice is fairness. For example, in the article Justice Versus Fairness, Maiese says, Justice is fairness. It is action that pays due regard to the proper interests, property, and safety of ones fellows The principles of Justice and fairness can be thought of as rules of fair play for issues of social Justice Social Justice requires both that the rules be fair, and also that people play by the rules (2003). Maiese says that Justice is fairness and that society requires both that the rules be fair, and also that people play by those rules. Mercy is often considered as an important virtue. According to dictionary. com, mercy is compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in ones power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner. However, mercy is not the matter of being nice and it is also does not mean the same thing as sympathy. For example, in article called Mercy vs. Justice on about . com, it says mercy entails that something less than Justice be one. If a convicted criminal asks for mercy, he is asking that he receive a punishment that is ess than what he is really due. This shows that mercy isnt always being nice and showing pity, it is Just giving a less punishment. When a Christian begs God for mercy, he or she is as king that God punish him or her less than what God is Justified in doing. Mercy is not the opposite of Justice, one would determine that mercy lies between the vices of cruelty and uncaring, while Justice lies between the vices of cruelty and softness (About. com). However, they are still not the same because if mercy is used to often or in the wrong situations, it can damage itself. For instance, if criminal asks for mercy and gets a lesser sentence than what his or her original sentence was, when he or she gets out of Jail, they would eventually go and commit proper price for their punishment. That is why Justice is needed because a good and working society requires presence of Justice. However, mercy is required because we all need mercy ourselves, according to A. C. Grayling. The writers of the Bible wrote a significant amount of material about two characteristics of God: mercy and Justice. An example of Gods mercy would be His merciful sacrifice and eternal presence allow s to talk with the Father (1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:27), and through Christ we receive Gods mercy (Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Peter 1:3). (Colley, 2004) This shows that we gain Gods mercy through Christs merciful sacrifice and eternal presence. When showing the Ten Commandments to Moses, God stated both his mercy and Justice. For example in Exodus 20:4-7 God shows his mercy and Justice, No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Dont bow down to them and dont serve them because I am God, your God, nd Im a most Jealous God, punishing th e children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But Im unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God wont put up with the irreverent use of his name. This shows that Just as Gods mercy continues to exist, the Justice of God similarly is not limited. God is still serious about people serving Him, and about the consequences for people who choose not to serve Him. According o Colley the Justice and mercy of God have never contradicted each other. In fact, our perfect Creator balances the two qualities masterfully.

Now Featuring Me free essay sample

â€Å"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough†, that is a quote that I live by and I feel that everyone else should believe this also! My name is TJ, I go to high school, I was born on August 4th, I am currently seventeen years old, I live in Oak Lawn, and life has really just begun for me. I am a three sport athlete, I play hockey, run cross country, and track. The reason I have changed into the person I am today is because of all of the sports that I do throughout the school year. I am responsible, trustworthy, and a strong leader because of all of my sports that I do. During my lifetime I have realized that there have been many influences on me that have changed my life from the past to what it is like now, some influences for the better and others not so much. We will write a custom essay sample on Now Featuring Me or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page One event that has made me the person I am today was joining cross country. In the summer I run with a dedicated group of people that want to achieve the same goal, winning. As I always say, â€Å"in order to be successful, you need to push yourself beyond your limits, and then once you’ve done that go even farther†. Most people think that us cross country runners are crazy, and they are probably right. In order to become good we must forget about the pain, and just run. As my coach says, â€Å"If you’re not dying, you’re not trying†. It is true that a person needs to be crazy to do cross country. Cross country also is one of the reasons why my personality changed from thinking I rule the world as a freshman, to realizing that everyone else has feelings and opinions as well. I have truly learned how to care about other people because of cross country. It is truly like a second family to me because we spend so much time together throughout the day. The other sport that has changed my life today is hockey. In order to play hockey, a person needs respect, discipline, and most importantly talent. Most people watch hockey on T.V. and think to themselves, â€Å"Wow that seems pretty easy, maybe I should try it†, but when they actually try, it is a lot harder than it looks. Everyone always pays attention to hockey especially during playoff time because they know how hard it is for the players, and the fans want to give them all of their support. One game that I will never forget about in my hockey season was probably the first game. We started the game off and for the first two periods I had a shutout going until tragedy struck. I got checked as goalie into the goal post and pretty much got destroyed in the process. The game ended up as a loss for my team afterwards because I couldn’t put pressure on my right ankle, which prevented me from being able to play my best. That is what taught me that hockey is a lot harder t han people think it can be. Hockey brought out the leadership for my personality because I was always telling my team what they needed to do to win. The other thing that made me the person I am today is my knowledge of my future career. Once I get past college, I want to open up my own restaurant that I can run for years to come afterwards. Ever since I started culinary arts here at Oak Lawn, I just can’t stop learning more about this topic. Thanks to this school program I learned one of my new passions for life. This program brought out my responsibility for my personality. During this class we always had to prepare the dishes and grab the right ingredients. This class also taught me how to follow directions very well which is very useful in the future. My mom always told me, â€Å"Really think about your plans for the future, and make sure that they are right for you†. The reason why I know so much about culinary arts right now is because of my parents. They would always have me help them cook dinner while they were in the kitchen. Without my parents I probably wouldn’t know half the stuff that I know righ t now. My parents are probably what gave me the inspiration to want to start a career in culinary arts. Cooking is probably one of the easiest professions in my opinion. I really look forward to advancing even farther into this profession and learning how to do even more special knife cuts, techniques, and many more ways to cook different cuisines. Cooking is so fun and is a very important job to keep because people always need to eat. Hopefully on my path to a great future I will meet some famous chefs and learn a couple things from them. Cooking really can bring out the personality of people especially during a full house. Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to go to different countries and learn what type of food that they eat every day. Just like people, meals can have a personality as well. During my lifetime I have realized that there have been many influences on me that have changed my life from the past to what it is like now, some influences for the better and others not so much. I have learned that living life to your fullest can be a very big decision for everyone. We have the choice to live life to the fullest, or completely blow it away and not do anything productive with it. What makes me different from other people is that I am a very good leader. I also managed to pick up good responsibility, trustworthiness, and inspiration on the way. My life truly shows a point of how people need to live their life to the fullest so they can be satisfied when they die. I will be one of those people!

The Omega House Hospice free essay sample

This case study is based on a hospice by the name of Omega House. Due to financial distress, the Omega House was closed for several years. Thankfully, the Social Action Consortium (SAC) assumed responsibility for the Omega House; and it was able to reopen for those terminally ill patients who were in need of the best care during their remaining days. Ellen started off as a full-time nurse at Omega House who was deprived of sleep. Although the position as a nurse was exhausting, Ellen was able to go home from a day of work and leave any problems she had right there. However, three years into working at Omega House, Ellen was given a temporary position as the program director there. As the program director at Omega House, Ellen took on the managerial responsibilities as well as clinical oversight of patient care. At the time of being given this position, Ellen had no managerial experience on her. We will write a custom essay sample on The Omega House Hospice or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When she agreed to the position, she also agreed to managerial training by the Social Action Consortium. Unfortunately, two years later with this â€Å"temporary† position still in tow, Ellen still awaits that training. Luckily, Ellen had a strong clinical staff, a devoted kitchen crew, and a dedicated volunteer coordinator. The one thing Ellen always found herself discomforted taking on was her managerial duties when it came to her Social Action Consortium relations. Before the Social Action Consortium took responsibility of the Omega House, many employees remember the structured hospice; when mandated changes come about, these very employees are skeptical and tend to hesitate. However, they are left with no choice but to follow the orders of the Social Action Consortium. Ellen took great concern about the Omega House’s financial history, which is why she thought George, Omega House’s new development officer, would be of great assistance to the hospice. George came with an expertise in professional fundraising, which obviously could be of great use to the Omega House considering they still suffered from financial distress. Ellen felt that since George had been hired with money from a development grant previously given to the Omega House, he should spend most of his time serving the needs of the Omega House. However, that was not the case once Ellen decided to take interest in what George had been doing for the Omega House. Ellen found it difficult to completely trust George when she found out based on gossip that George’s past job history involved a personal indiscretion that had led to his termination with another employee. After learning from a fellow employee, Dan, that George comes into work at different hours every day, Ellen took it upon herself to confront George later on that day. Moreover, Ellen felt that need for a talk when she came to an understanding that the numbers in fundraising efforts hardly changed from the last year. Being that Omega House employs George, these numbers need to be showing significant change. As Ellen went to approach George, she finds him at the photo copy machine making his own personal copies. Although he provided his own ream of paper, the three hundred copies were still costing Omega House. Even though Ellen does not enjoy putting on this tone, she felt the need to mention that very fact to him. George was nice enough to offer a reimbursement for the copies. As they sat in the office to discuss George’s work for the Omega House, Ellen started by complimenting George on the â€Å"casino night† fundraising event that took place a week ago and went very well. Ellen felt the need to change the mood from the disciplinary one it was just in. George was supposed to be leading an internal committee formed by Ellen in order to advance fundraising tactics for Omega House. Lisa, the temporary intern, was taking on the leadership role more than George even attempted. This was a problem considering George was assigned to Omega House for the purpose of raising money so Ellen can fulfill her facility needs. When Ellen asked George to participate more in the committee meetings, George said that he needed to focus his energy more on SAC’s needs rather than Omega House. At the end of the conversation, Ellen made it very clear that George’s salary comes out of Omega House and not SAC’s, hence he needs to reconsider where he’d like to invest his energies. Issues/Factors Issues at hand of this case study would be in regards to employees knowing their positions. George, in my opinion, seems to think due to his expertise, attending those meetings and completing work-related duties at his workplace are unnecessary. Some may describe this behavior as arrogance, and I happen to agree with that. Furthermore, George is displaying more loyalty to the Social Action Consortium rather than to the actual workplace that provides his salary, Omega House. He also lacks respect when speaking to ones above him. Ellen clearly did not appreciate his tone when she approached him. As an employee for Omega House and working under the orders of Ellen, George should not have the ability to question where his loyalty lies or whose orders he should be following. I feel that George thinks he was assigned to Omega House as a favor to Ellen and he doesn’t need to follow her orders. George has the idea that he only has do what the Social Action Consortium tells him versus what Ellen at Omega House orders him to do. In any workplace, ethics plays a hefty role. Knowing right from wrong is something George needs a better understanding of. All in all, both insubordination and unclear loyalties are the problems. Furthermore, Ellen is still unsure of herself as a program director and the managerial functions that come with that title. In order to carry through her duties, including disciplinary ones, Ellen must have full confidence in herself. Despite walking into this position with no experience and no intentions on doing it for a long period of time, Ellen seems to be doing a fairly good job and should always remain rest assured of just that. Strategies/Recommendations If I were in Ellen’s place, I would conduct an extensive meeting amongst myself, George, and Lisa. At this meeting, everyone’s position will be made crystal clear including me. George will grasp a better understanding of who pays him, what duties he must complete, as well as, what tone to use when speaking to those above him. Ellen did not approach him with an intention of disrespect, she just wanted to know why attending those committee meetings were not happening for George. He claims his energies needed to be more focused on the needs of the Social Action Consortium rather than Omega House. George needs to understand that he was assigned to Omega House to help raise funds to facilitate needs of Omega House; if he cannot show improvement in numbers from the last year than he needs to step his game up. If attending those meetings has proven to be beneficial to Omega House’s financial aspect, then George should do so considering he’s the expert in fundraising. Lisa, the temporary intern, should not be attending those meetings as the leader. Lisa should also be aware of her duties and whose orders she should follow. It’s great that she wants to take on a bigger role and it’s an even greater learning experience for her; however, because of that George does not display cooperation in these meetings. As for Ellen, Ellen needs to always be sure of herself and her managerial responsibilities. It seems that she is doing a pretty good job as the program director at Omega House, she should be confident. She knows where she stands in the business; she just has to reassure others of their positions every now and then. At the end of the meeting, neither harm nor disrespect should have been relayed to anyone. If anything, everyone should have a clearer understanding of their positions at Omega House and what they should be contributing to the success of Omega House. Insubordination will no longer be tolerated. Unclear loyalties will now be crystal clear. Considering that George’s salary comes from Omega House’s budget, his time should be well invested into Omega House’s fundraising activities. Ellen has proven to be a good program director and should continue to do so. Conclusion I feel that meetings where everyone brings their issues to the table and contribute to finding ways to resolve them are always resourceful in a business. Ellen needed to make sure George knew his place at Omega House and with a meeting she had the ability to do so. George had the ability to learn where he should focus his energies. Insubordination is defined as defiant of authority or disobedient to orders. That is exactly what George displayed to Ellen and Omega House. George being more concerned with fulfilling his duties for the Social Action Consortium rather than Omega House is an example of unclear loyalties. Insubordination and unclear loyalties were the issues at hand with George. Hopefully a meeting set out strictly for clarification helped in eliminating those issues for Ellen.

Interrupting Conversations in English

Interrupting Conversations in English Interrupting a discussion can seem impolite, but is often necessary for a number of reasons. For example, you might interrupt a conversation to: Give a message to someoneAsk a quick question that has nothing to do with the conversationGive your opinion about something that has been saidInterrupt to join the conversation Here are forms and phrases used to interrupt conversations and meetings arranged by purpose. Interrupting to Give Someone Information Use these short forms to quickly and efficiently interrupt a conversation to deliver a message. Im sorry to interrupt but youre needed (on the phone / in the office / in the classroom / etc.)Sorry for the interruption. Its Jim / Peter / Mary on the phone.Pardon me, but I have John on the phone.Excuse me, could I get a signature / an answer / a cup of coffee quickly? Interrupting to Ask a Quick Unrelated Question At times we need to interrupt to ask an unrelated question. These short phrases quickly interrupt to ask for something else. Im sorry to interrupt, but this will only take a minute.Sorry for the interruption, but could you (answer a quick question / help me for a moment / give me an opinion on ...)?Im so sorry. This will just take a minute.I apologize for the interruption, but I have an important question. Interrupting to Join the Conversation With a Question Using questions are a polite way of interrupting. Here are some of the most common questions we ask in order to be allowed to join the conversation. Could I jump in?Could I add something?Can I say something?May I interject? Interrupting to Join the Conversation During a conversation we might need to interrupt the conversation if we are not asked for our opinion. In this case, these phrases will help. Would you mind if I joined the conversation?I couldnt help overhearing. (Use when listening to a conversation that you are not a part of)Sorry to butt in, but I think / feel ...If I may, I think / feel ... Interrupting Someone Who Has Interrupted You Sometimes we dont want to allow an interruption. In this case, use the following phrases to bring the conversation back to your point of view. Please let me finish.Let me complete my thought.Would you please let me finish?Can I continue, please? Allowing an Interruption If you want to allow an interruption, use one of these short phrases to allow the person to ask a question, express an opinion, etc.   No problem. Go ahead.Sure, what do you think?Thats OK. What do you need / want? Continuing After an Interruption Once youve been interrupted you can continue your point after the interruption by using one of these phrases. As I was saying, I think / feel ...To get back to what I was saying, I think / feel ...Id like to return to my argument.Continuing where I left off... Example Dialogue Example 1: Interrupting for Something Else Helen: ... its really amazing how beautiful Hawaii is. I mean, you couldnt think of anywhere more beautiful. Anna: Excuse me, but Tom is on the phone. Helen: Thanks Anna. This will only take a moment. Anna: Can I bring you some coffee while she takes the call? George: No thanks. Im fine. Anna: Shell be just a moment.    Example 2: Interrupting to Join the Conversation Marko: If we continue to improve our sales in Europe we should be able to open new branches. Stan: Could I add something? Marko: Of course, go ahead. Stan: Thanks Marko. I think we should open new branches in any case. If we improve sales great, but if we dont we still need to open stores. Marko: Thank you Stan. As I was saying, if we improve sales we can afford to open new branches.

ZAPPOS another successful venture of AMAZON.COM Essay

ZAPPOS another successful venture of AMAZON.COM - Essay Example ..the paramount concern †¦.as banks, food manufacturers and government officials suffer from losing people’s trust† (Need, n.d.). The benefit and success in business go hand in hand with trust. None of the businesses in the entire world would ever wish to run losses in the market however crowded it may seems to be. To be successful, business would want consumers to buy and try more and comfortably pay for the goods and services. This is where brand trust comes in. Defining brand trust remains challenging as any retailers would prefer its definition left to the consumers’ view of their products and services (Weinberg, 2009). However, my ideas seem to differ from that: it is the responsibility of the business to build trustworthy relationship with the consumers. A good example of brand trust can be taken from the printing industry. If you buy a printing machine allegedly printing one thousand copies in one minute, yet in reality it can only produce one hundred copies in one minute, then there is no trust towards the producers of the machine. The above example introduces another important factor in brand trust, which is honesty and clarity. Honesty and clarity are very much essential in building brand trust. According to the study conducted in 2010 by the Reader’s Digest European Trusted Brands, 13% of consumers trust advertising and 32% of consumers trust international companies. However, according to Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, 48% of consumers trust their work colleagues, friends and neighbors, 90% of consumers, trust recommendations from friends while 70% trust opinion posted online (Grimes, 2012). A question then may arise: do many clients understand key factors required to build trust? Perhaps we can say they do or they do not; it depends on the kind of scenario presented before the consumer. The only reality you can bank on is that every client wants to build trust. But how can we achieve trust for products and ser vices? This is a question many entrepreneurs and marketing officers attempt to answer on a daily basis. Just like people build trust in relationships, the same way clients build trust for brands and business. This is achieved through trust drivers as illustrated below. Factors influencing the effects of online Trust The steady growth of the Internet has in the recent past promoted e-commerce to a great extent. The Internet is now an essential part of a multichannel strategy for firms. In order to create a long term relationship guided by trust, companies are required to build on customer trust (Bhusry, 2005). This is very necessary in the world of e-commerce because consumers depend on the Internet for extraction of useful information and purchasing of products/services offered. Successful e-commerce requires a wide evaluation and understanding of how brand trust is achieved and the effects it has on consumer behavior (Epstein, 2004). In the case of Zappos e-business, quite a number of trust drivers come into plays. We must note that the web site design is also a very important part of e-commerce, and thus very essential factor in building trust. In addition, the web site design strategies of different web sites classification emphasize different characteristics like navigation, privacy and advice that are very crucial in building trust (Weinberg, 2009). Quite a number of factors may affect online trust of Zappos e-business, namely, risk of information, price of the product/service on the web site, financial risk and the navigation ability of the web site. The above factors can be broken down into details as follows: (a) Risk of Information. The risk of

Journals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journals - Essay Example Therefore, Sufi orders otherwise known as turuql could either be Sunni Shii, or a combination of both doctrines. However, it is interesting to know that most of the turuql originate from Islamic Prophet  Muhammad. Very interesting though, is the fact that sufis strongly believe in the ideologies of peace, pacifism, and tolerance. Nevertheless, although sufi devotion is appreciated by many tenets of muslims, Wahhabi  and Salafist  Muslims have a strong opposition to sufi devotion. Learning and understanding sufi devotion has indeed enlightened me on this unique way of Islamic worship. I certainly support this kind of devotion since it encourages the followers to purify their hearts as they do so. However, I find it very interesting that sufi devotion is somewhat similar to Christian worship especially when Christian go for fasting and prayer. However, what I fail to perceive is the reason why Wahhabi  and Salafist  Muslims have a strong opposition to sufi devotion considerin g the way sufi devotion seems good and interesting. I also think that sufi devotion was the ultimate God’s idea of having an intimate relationship with his people. Looking at Buddhism, Buddha’s appreciate the need for meditation as a way of connecting with divine power. Therefore, sufi devotion is a form of worship done in different ways in different religions but having different names. Modernity Undeniably, the term modernity has different dimensions of definition depending on what is being studied. However, modernity simply means the paradigm shift from feudalism to secularized world. Modernity is often seen through different lens such as capitalism, industrialization, technological advancement, religious ideologies among others. Modernity can also refer to as the element of enlightenment. Modernity within the Islamic context arguably began in Turkey where tremendous change of religious, cultural, scientific, as well as legal ideologies surfaced. Interestingly, the adoption of modernity was not a uniform phenomenon. Indeed, there existed different groups of people that did not embrace modernity. This explains why we still have conservatism in all religions. For instance, Islam is arguably divided into different significant groups. However, conservatism is still appreciated in many Islamic tenets. Nevertheless, those who appreciate modernism have very often maintained that the spirit of reason in the original message of Islam be incorporated in modern lifestyle. Although I am not old enough to have seen the change from the traditional aspect to modernity, I can still perceive the idea through the reading. I strongly feel that modernity has changed many aspects of life including religious thoughts and ideologies. However, I think God, in his mighty power, had foreseen the modern lifestyle and had therefore made religion compatible with modernity. Therefore, as we seek to embrace modernity in all other aspects, I believe that modernity should als o be embraced within the religious context. However, the arguments presented by those who do not support modernity in religion are also important in making sure that modernists do not go beyond what is expected of them. Reading about modernity and conservatism in the same reading is indeed a worthwhile endeavor. Muhammad Muhammad is believed to be the spiritual leader of the Islamic religion. Muhammad born in approximately 570 CE was a religious leader but more notably, he was also a religious and political leader as well.

Self-introduction Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self-introduction - Personal Statement Example Although I spent much more time than other people in studying, I could not achieve high scores. Fortunately two years ago I chose to continue my education in the U.S., and it was here where my ideas and thoughts about studying changed significantly. First, I realized that as a teenager, studying at school could not be taken for granted. There are many overage students who go back to school after they have already been working in society. Many reasons can be attributed to this phenomenon, but I would say that for most it would be due to financial problems in the family. The fact that some of these people sacrificed their careers in order to receive more education shows how important it is for teenagers to be studying at school. Hence, I must cherish my time studying because I dont want to have to go back and redo it later on. Second, in comparing teaching methods between my home country and the U.S., I would say that here the college professors explored my interest in learning more and made learning fun. Now, although I feel like I have achieved success in college, I believe I must keep stepping forward in my specific field because I understand that knowledge is the most precious property in my life. In view of values, knowledge creates wealth. Therefore, I must prepare well for my future now so that I can reap the benefits once I have finished my education and look to enter the workforce. In the era of the knowledge economy, it is becoming increasingly hard for people to progress without having knowledge. It must be said that no knowledge is worthless because you never know when it will become useful later on. Under the ethos, values, and rights in the United States, I believe that I am more adept to study here instead of my home country. This is because the United States provides many opportunities to students to pursue and fulfill their dreams, something which cannot be applied to every student in my home country. Therefore, I set my

Development of Play in a Museum

Development of Play in a Museum Introduction The concept of play has been regarded as a critical part of early cognitive development of a child, and there are countless studies showing the process by which play fosters learning both in formal and informal educational settings [1]. Museums are often seen as an informal learning environment, where visitors gain knowledge through engaging with the artefacts presented to them [2]. The museum has under-explored potential to be an educational playground [3] [4] that enhance and support the engagement of visitors with the museum exhibits. The research identifies with the museum as a place to learn, that is a playground, where the visitor is presented with options that support open-ended exploration and learning through play. The aim of the work is to research and define playful practices that enhance the effective design and development of playful environments within the context of the evolving museum and with the support of embedded or invisible technologies; moving the visitor from a traditional role of consuming content in a curated space to an active participant. The interest is in encouraging playful practices and cultivating engagement with the museum and its artefacts. Existing technological frameworks, and emerging technologies, including tactile, location, sensor-based, and networked technologies, such as those technologies underpinning the Internet of Things’ will be brought to bear on the visitors’ experience. The research uses creative design methods to hypothesize about and evaluate visitor engagement while simultaneously exploring the opportunities and boundaries of existing technological frameworks in novel interaction scenarios and defining design frameworks for future development. Work to Date The research has adopted a grounded approach and iterative design methods. It has been situated at Cork City Gaol Museum (CCGM), a heritage centre in Cork City that has been a test base for observations and small scale interventions thus far. The research has progressed from a literature review; which gathered research from several fields including interaction design, embodied interaction design, museum studies and play research. This led to the development of initial design guidelines. These guidelines were a reference point for initial brainstorming solutions, early prototypes and focus groups. Observations were carried out in the museum space to identify typical visitor patterns and behaviour. Insights from these observations were used to identify potential visitor patterns and develop a series of prototypes, built using off-the-shelf technologies, such as Arduino and open-source coding platforms including, the Arduino IDE and Processing. These prototypes were tested in a controlled environment initially and then also presented as interventions in the museum space. Feedback from initial testing and observations was used to refine the prototypes, the design guidelines and the proposed scenarios. A comprehensive research review document is available for further reading. Future Objectives Research Questions The research is concerned with the experience of the individuals engaging with the museum and its exhibits. It aims to use available embedded, emerging technologies, to probe the visitor experience and to creatively apply these technologies to design an engaging, social experience. To this end the research project asks the following question: How can the digital enhancement of a conventional museum space foster playfulness, co-creation between visitors and open-ended exploration and learning? To further explore this question, the research aims to investigate the following questions: How can playful practices enhance emerging exhibition design and digital enhancement of the exhibition space? What are the principle characteristics of playful practices? How can an embedded technology framework support the implementation of playful practices and what opportunities and limitations do these technologies have in supporting social interaction in complex public environments such as the museum? What design implications do the identified opportunities and limitations have for future design and development? Research Objectives The primary objective is to examine the adoption of playful practices in museum exhibit design and to investigate how ubiquitous embedded technologies, either bespoke or off-the-shelf solutions can enhance or limit playful practices, and social and collaborative experiences. The research will delineate a framework for the application of invisible embedded technologies which underlines the Internet of Things, and playful practices which augment the social and collaboratve museum experience. The research is influenced by the ideas of Hiroshi [4] and his investigations at the MIT Media lab in moving the interface â€Å"off-the-screen† and the intersection of the fields of science, art and experience design. (The explorations of Chris Speed [5] in network technology and the Internet of Things, the intersection of Art and Science and social experience are of particular interest also.) The research aims to: Identify how best to integrate playful practices within a museum that supports the existing objectives/goals of the environments while engaging visitors in a creative and collaborative way. Develop a comprehensive lexicon of terms to describe playful practices. Develop a framework for implementing technological interventions in the museum that enhance the visitor experience through encouraging sociability, collaboration and other playful practices. Evaluate existing technological frameworks in terms of supporting playful practices and social interaction within the museum. Implement a series of technological interventions across several distinct public spaces. Develop comprehensive guidelines for implementing playful practices and designing playful environments within the context of a museum Demonstrate the opportunities and limitations of existing technological frameworks, and off-the-shelf tactile, location, or sensor-based technologies when applied to open public environments such as the museum space and develop a design framework for future development. Methodological Approach To answer the research questions, this study will combine a mix of methods [7], theoretical investigation with design practice, including but not limited to design thinking and iterative design methods. The research will examine the characteristics and connections between the following elements; the visitor, the museum space, playful practices and digital technologies and frameworks. Existing methods of visitor engagement will be reviewed and existing digital frameworks will be analysed. A new framework for implementing playful practices and digital enhancements will be created that emphasises social engagement and collaboration between visitors. This model will then serve as a theoretical framework for further investigation. In-gallery observations of visitors will be used as a key method to gather comparable data before and after any design interventions. Cork City Gaol Museum has been chosen as a test environment, it is envisioned that two other open and public text environments w ill be identified and investigated also. References [1] Ginsburg, K. The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds The American Academy of Paediatrics, 2007 [2] Falk, J. The director’s cut: Toward an improved understanding of learning from museums. Science Education v88 nS1 pS83-96, 2004 [3]Frà ³es, I., Walker, K (2012)The Art of Play: Exploring the Roles of Technology and Social Play in Museums, Museums at Play, MIT Press, p486-498 [4]Semper, R. J. (1990). Science museums as environments for learning. Physics Today, 43(11), 50-56. [5] [6]http://www.chrisspeed.net/, http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/chris-speed (Creswell Plano Clark 2011, pp.71-72)

Glee Essay

Topic 2. ‘There is nothing ironic about show choir! ’ – Rachel Cohen Is Rachel’s assessment of the musical performances on Glee correct? Discuss the interplay of melodrama, irony and intertextuality in Glee. Your essay should contain detailed analysis of at least two scenes from Glee’s 1st season. Your essay should also make reference to your core course readings on television and postmodernism. Due 14 September heir true voice; and this one was, to me, ultimately about the series demonstrating its own voice and its space within the world of contemporary musicals. I don’t know what exactly I expected when I heard Joss Whedon would be directing, although it did send me diving for my Buffy The Vampire Slayer sing-along DVD. What I didn’t expect was an episode that didn’t feel like Whedon at all but felt intensely like Glee, more specifically the Glee that endeared itself to me in the first half of the season.What has always appeale d to me about Glee, and apparently to Joss Whedon based on this episode and his interview on Fox’s website , was the show’s delicate balance of tongue-in-cheek bitter cynicism, which keeps Glee blessedly away from High School Musical territory, and a sometimes heartbreakingly authentic sentimentality that draws me into a deeply emotional engagement with the characters and a desire to see them triumph.As others on this blog have mentioned, the stunt shows, focusing around a musical theme or dance conceit, are fun but can bring the show away from its narrative engagement and this mix of sincerity and cynicism that musical numbers have often been harnessed in service of. â€Å"Dream On† brought back this dynamic and foregrounded it in contrast to some of the more music-themed recent episodes. Neil Patrick Harris is the king of bitter(sweet) cynicism, and his performance as Bryan Ryan maintained the comedy in what otherwise was in danger of becoming a maudlin episod e.Rachel and Artie’s storylines gave both characters an opportunity for growth. Artie’s triumphantly joyful flash mob scene (fangirl moment – thank you Glee, for a flash mob! ) in particular made his final moments of aching vulnerability that much more poignant. There has been reflection on this blog about the way that Glee sometimes uses, one might even say exploits, disabled characters for emotional endings and to humanize its more difficult characters (Sue and Rachel), and Artie’s storyline comes dangerously close to becoming part of this trend.There are certainly issues with how Artie’s storyline is presented in this episode, and I leave those issues for other commentators more knowledgeable in these areas. Problematic though this is, it is consistent with the series’ ethos from the beginning. The show has always undermined its own after-school special themes, or at least made them less saccharine, by unabashedly drawing on stereotypes a nd refusing after-school special endings: Artie cannot dance, Tina doesn’t do the â€Å"right† thing. All is not well in McKinley High.If it were, it wouldn’t be Glee. That this episode spoke most clearly with what I feel is Glee’s unique voice is made even more important through its intertextuality, which evoked a self-awareness on the part of the series about its place amongst contemporary musicals. Here again we return to Joss Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris. Both figures have had important roles in bringing contemporary uses of the musical to television and the web. They worked together on the web series Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.Neil Patrick Harris has performed in musical episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Whedon’s musical episode of Buffy often makes lists of the best musical television episodes of all time. In this same episode that the guest director and guest star positioned Glee within th e contemporary use of the musical on television, we discover that Shelby Corcoran is Rachel’s mother. Shelby is played by Idina Menzel, who originated Maureen in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, with Glee guest star Kristin Chenoweth.Menzel and Chenoweth further link Glee to the tradition of the contemporary musical that may be a much more appropriate reference here than for the more obvious, but deceptive, High School Musical. Contemporary musicals have become increasingly mature, cynical, parodic and subversive, trends that Glee falls squarely within. In an episode so drenched in references to the contemporary musical context, it was all the more important that Glee followed the examples of its characters in the last episode and emphasized its own unique voice.Whedon showed himself to be a true Gleek by emphasizing the voice of the show over his own. egardless of whether you are a Gleek (if you don’t know this term, read on), you may have noticed the buzz surr ounding FOX’s musical comedy, which returned Tuesday to the second-best ratings of the night after a â€Å"Gleek Week† of promotional appearances and news coverage. Created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, and Ryan Murphy, Glee focuses on a diverse group of teenagers participating in a high school show choir, treating the participants in â€Å"New Directions† with alternating doses of warmth and snark.It also is one of the first series in the last few decades to successfully incorporate musical numbers; its music has become a lucrative cross-promotional element of the Glee phenomenon. The series has garnered ardent fans, or Gleeks, around the world — evident in the many websites dedicated to it, such as Gleeks United, Glee Club Online, Forum Francais de Glee, Glee Brazil, and my favorite, What Would Emma Pillsbury Wear? , inspired by the fashions worn by the eponymous guidance counselor with a penchant for all things sterile and for sexy-librarian sweaters.J ust as notable, it appears to have been embraced as particularly American. The cast was invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to sing at the White House’s annual Easter egg roll last weekend, and they followed that up with a Glee-themed episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show (she praised them as the â€Å"hardest working cast on television†). News coverage on the return of Glee and spoilers have followed in most major news outlets—including two dueling reviews in The New York Times—and in scholarly forums (a shout out to In Media Res, which recently hosted a Glee-themed week).What is it about Glee that has inspired this phenomenon? Based on my own experience, as a Gleek and as a scholar focusing on the series in my research, I find the show’s play with diversity equally satisfying and frustrating, and always compelling (arguably, it is â€Å"post-racial† and reinforcing of traditional racial stereotypes). And it seems that for many fans, the showà ¢â‚¬â„¢s focus on underdogs overcoming challenge, sly satire, and feel-good musical numbers are clear pulls.With respect to these and other appeals, Glee is a prime illustration of what Valerie Wee has described as hyper-postmodern media culture. A mash-up of generic influences, intertextual references, music, and ideological content that is both eerily nostalgic and forward-thinking, the series can be read and enjoyed by fans in multiple and diverging ways. This week’s episode, â€Å"Hell-o,† provided a full helping of these and other pleasures.We witnessed cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch)’s return to the high school and renewed mission of obliterating the glee club and the long-awaited blossoming of two romantic relationships, Mr. Shuester and Emma and Rachel and Finn, although difficulties naturally arise for both couples. In these and other entanglements as New Directions looks toward regionals, the timing and humor are spot on, not the least of which was the limiting of the musical numbers to songs with the word â€Å"hell† in the title.The hilarious mix that ensues includes â€Å"Hello, I Love You,† â€Å"Highway to Hell,† and â€Å"Hello, Goodbye. † And the narrative may not be important as the sum of Glee’s parts; they include the hyper-postmodern mash-up described above, exciting and talented performers, upbeat music that can be enjoyed in other arenas, sweetly geeky fandom, and the overall ethos of embracing the loveable loser in all of us. Are you a Gleek, and if so, what do you think encourages its appeal? What do you make of the series as a contemporary television, music, or theatrical text?In response to this complicated series we plan to follow Glee, its paratexts, and its fandom on a weekly basis as it continues to air this season. We hope you’ll take part in the discussion Reprinted with permission from our good friends at InsideCatholic. com, the leading online journa l of Catholic faith, culture, and politics. The musical comedy-drama Glee debuted on Fox just over a year ago. The story of a high school Spanish teacher's attempts to resurrect the Lima, Ohio, high school glee club surprised critics by ending its first season ranked at 33 in the Nielsen ratings.Now in its second season, the show's ratings have only gone up, as it climbed to the #15 spot last week. On May 23, the plans for a third season of Glee were announced. While there's no reason its popularity won't continue to climb, the challenge of producing a primetime musical series to appeal to a generation not brought up on the traditional musicals like Camelot, West Side Story, and The Sound of Music is obvious: How do you combine a contemporary story and characters with music and dance in a way that does not send viewers, especially younger ones, groaning in the direction of their PS3s and iPhones?The producers of Glee found their solution in the example of Chicago, the Broadway show where the musical numbers were always performed in the context of a cabaret. The characters of Glee don't burst into song in the manner of, say, Rodgers and Hammerstein; rather, the strongly choreographed musical numbers – five to eight each episode – are usually staged as the glee club's performances or rehearsals. Thus, Glee retains enough of a realistic feel to appeal to a younger audience. The music, a combination of pop and Broadway standards newly rranged by Adam Anders, appeals to all ages and has been a phenomenal success on CD and downloads, with over $2 million in digital sales. The cast of Glee had 25 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009, more than any artist since the Beatles in 1964. Their performance of â€Å"Don't Stop Believin'† went gold last November, with over half a million dollars in sales. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Glee's achievement its ability to keep three generations of viewers – children, parents, and grandparent s – in front of the TV together.The choreography of Zachary Woodlee, sexy without being sleazy, evokes Broadway's Jerome Robbins rather than Bob Fosse, much less the crotch-grabbing antics of tuneless rappers. Viewers with memories of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, or even the June Taylor Dancers on The Jackie Gleason Show, find themselves smiling once again. The producers and cast members also maintain tasteful control over material chosen – from older classics like â€Å"Over the Rainbow,† â€Å"One Less Bell to Answer,† â€Å"Smile,† and â€Å"I Could Have Danced All Night,† with newer ones such as â€Å"Proud Mary,† â€Å"Piano Man,† â€Å"Jump,† â€Å"Bootylicious,† and Josh Groban's â€Å"You Raise Me Up. When a Rolling Stone critic snidely chides Glee's leading actor, Matthew Morrison, saying he â€Å"couldn't rap his way out of 98 ° rehearsal,† he seems oblivious to the fact that more than an occas ional nod to rap would immediately begin thinning its audience (starting with me). The choice to offset the Disney-like innocence of Will Schuester, played by Morrison, with the cynical cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), works perfectly. The conflict between Schuester and Sylvester becomes nothing less than the perennial clash of ars gratia artis (arts for arts sake) with the cultural philistines.The writing for Sylvester's character is so good it has spawned its own wiki thread. Take, for example, her attitude toward intimacy in marriage: â€Å"I, for one, think intimacy has no place in a marriage. Walked in on my parents once, and it was like seeing two walruses wrestling. † But beyond the Schuester and Sylvester rivalry, Glee fails to achieve the generational integration of taste in its characters and storyline that it has attained with its music and dancing. Will's wife, Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig), seems like a refugee from John Sayles' Serial Mom, where the ent irety of middle-class family life is cynically, and hilariously, parodied.The viewer is left constantly questioning how Will, whose fundamental decency and kindness are repeatedly evoked, could have married such a demented twit as Terri. Such jarring contrasts of character abound in Glee. Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), the lead singer of the glee club and quarterback of the football team, doesn't seem to know a hot tub cannot serve as a medium for impregnating his cheerleader girlfriend, Quinn Fabray; meanwhile, his best friend, Puck Puckerman (Mark Salling), who did get Quinn pregnant, is rampaging though the neighborhood sleeping with the â€Å"cougar† mothers of his classmates.There are also politically correct touches. Kurt Hummel (Chris Kolfer), the member of the glee club who likes to dress in black lace, not only â€Å"comes out† in the course of the first season but also leads the winless football team to their first victory by teaching them all how to dance. Yet Kurt's character is not made into a complete caricature: While his achievement on the gridiron is simply silly, the scene where he admits to his blue-collar father his same-sex attraction is quite affecting – and, I might add, realistic.Not to be outdone, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), who has the best voice in the cast, is also the most neurotic, having been raised by two homosexual fathers. Rachel eventually discovers that her birth mother is the coach of the rival glee club. Such is the search for postmodern innocence in Glee – there is too much water under the cultural bridge to directly revive the musical idiom and heritage of the 1940s and 1950s that became second nature to so many baby-boomers.Before Glee, of course, there was Stephen Sondheim, who throughout his career as a composer and lyricist struggled with the same question of how to extend the musical to an audience that no longer believed in the univocal meaning of â€Å"I love you. † We can be grate ful to the creators of Glee for making an effort to bring us a popular entertainment with such a high level of singing and dancing. The temptation will be to lose sight of the initial choices that have led to its success and, particularly, the generational breadth of its audience.Just as American Idol has found out the hard way from its plunging ratings, once you start trying to please only the teenagers, the whole enterprise will quickly collapse Mid-April, with its tax deadline, is a time that many people dread; this year, however, millions looked forward to it with great eagerness, because April 13th brought the first episode of â€Å"Glee† after a four-month hiatus. The Fox show, set in the fictional William McKinley High School, inLima, Ohio, is part satirical comedy, part musical, and—since its setting is high school—a bit of a drama. It’s not exactly a high-school musical, and it’s not exactly â€Å"High School Musical,† the Disney so ng-and-dance franchise, although, like that TV movie and its brand extensions, it has a long tail of tie-in merchandise and live performances. It also has over-the-moon fans—â€Å"gleeks,† they happily call themselves—which is a notable thing for a mainstream, non-niche network show that began only last fall.The first post-hiatus episode had more than thirteen million viewers; the second, which featured the songs of Madonna, was close behind. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the show follows â€Å"American Idol† on Tuesday nights—though the pairing did pain many people a couple of weeks ago, when a live edition of â€Å"Idol† ran long, causing DVRs across the land to cut off the last minutes of â€Å"Glee. † And â€Å"Glee,† although a work of fiction, is â€Å"Idol† ’s spawn, part of the current craze for watching star-making (and dream-crushing) machinery at work. Glee† was created and is written by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. Of the three, Murphy is the best known, having created the just ended FX psychomelodrama â€Å"Nip/Tuck† (for which Falchuk was a writer and a producer) and the 1999 WB comedy â€Å"Popular,† which was also a sendup of teen-age archetypes—as in â€Å"Glee,† there was a star football player who was torn between sports and the stage—but involved much more extracurricular activity among parents and families.Except for the teachers and the administrators at McKinley High, few adults appear in â€Å"Glee,† which gives the series a cartoonish feel that’s reinforced by the fact that the grownups we do see, well meaning though they may be, are as cluelessly wrapped up in themselves as the young people are. (Oddly, or not, of the group of about ten students we hang out with two have lost a parent.It seems like a lot. ) The success of â€Å"Glee† depends on the energy and the obvious talent of its young (but way beyond high-school age) performers, and on Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester, the acid-tongued, sneaky, and completely loony cheerleading coach, whose every line of dialogue is quotable (and is duly quoted, minutes after being delivered, on Facebook pages and in Twitter feeds).Sue’s counterbalance, and nemesis, is Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison, who has a solid Broadway background and Leyendecker good looks, including thick, wavy hair that Sue mocks, in elegant variations, pretty much every time she sees Will), a youngish Spanish teacher and a graduate of McKinley High in the days when it had a top-notch show choir. Will makes it his project to bring back that glory, and he starts by tricking the captain of the football team (Cory Monteith), whom he hears singing in the shower after practice one day, into joining his ragtag crew.If Will gets funding for his group, the economy being tough—Sue’s cheerleading crew will lose theirs. Will also wants some of Sue’s girls—the Cheerios—for his group. She tells him that he doesn’t get it—that he can’t blur the lines in the rigid caste system that is high school: â€Å"Your jocks and your popular kids—up in the penthouse. Your invisibles and the kids playing live-action druids and trolls out in the forest—bottom floor. † What about the Glee kids? Will asks. What category are they in? â€Å"Sub-basement,† she says. from the issue * cartoon bank * e-mail this The real engine of the show isn’t the machinations of its characters or its unfolding plot but its basic structure. Because â€Å"Glee† is actually about a group of singers, it doesn’t seem artificial when the cast breaks into song; the music fits into the proceedings organically. The songs—which Murphy chooses—range from oldies to newies, so that there is, theoretically, something for everybody, from â€Å"Sing Sing Sin g† and â€Å"Sweet Caroline† to â€Å"Gives You Hell† and â€Å"Single Ladies. Still, it must be said, even people who love these songs may find something to hate in the style of singing sometimes showcased in â€Å"Glee†Ã¢â‚¬â€the earsplitting, maniacally melismatic car-alarm whine that Whitney Houston popularized—but, thankfully, there are quiet ballads to balance things out. Rachel, one of the choir members, has a bit of that pleading quality in her voice, but it suits her desperate ambition. She’s played by Lea Michele, who, at twenty-three, is a fifteen-year Broadway veteran.Yet her large talent doesn’t extend to the non-singing parts of her performance. I give it up for her gifts, but I don’t feel soul there. Rachel takes herself very seriously, and things very literally; one of the other kids, Artie (Kevin McHale), is wheelchair-bound, and Rachel complains to Will that Artie shouldn’t be singing â€Å"Sit Down Y ou’re Rockin’ the Boat† because he’s already sitting down. Artie’s take is that Will’s choice was meant to be ironic, and Rachel responds, â€Å"There’s nothing ironic about show choir! Of course there is, but there’s more, too—there’s also real glee, when things come together and when the characters get as much fleshing out as the stereotyping and the time constraints allow. With several production numbers per episode, almost all of which have remarkably weak choreography and poorly synched lip-synching, the writers haven’t been able to go very deep into anyone’s lif Read more http://www. newyorker. com/arts/critics/television/2010/05/10/100510crte_television_franklin#ixzz25UpjRdrc And then there’s Glee.Because there are no original songs, they’ve got to reference other works multiple times in every episode. When the show is at its best it takes cultural referents such as the video for Beyonce’s â€Å"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)† and turns it into something else by putting it in the context of trying to win a football game. It’s an utterly ridiculous and goofy scene that belies the reality of the way football works, but it’s also enormously satisfying and pretty funny to boot.The show’s musical numbers are to me more successful when they transport their sources to locales away from the stage or the classroom. And even when a musical number starts within the walls of William McKinley High School, if there are sequences that take us to other places and/or elsewhere in time, such as when Kurt recently sang â€Å"I Want to Hold Your Hand† for his classmates, that can also work incredibly well.But when their numbers are stagebound things often become stagnant, sucking the life out of the song and leaving a strong distaste in the mouths of many viewers, or at least those who know the original. Kurt poses for photos when he ’s not transporting us through time via the power of song. The apotheoses of these occurrences take place in the episode titled â€Å"The Substitute,† which features renditions of classic numbers from Singin’ in the Rain (Donen/Kelly 1952), which were themselves new takes on old songs.I’m not saying some texts are untouchable, but if you’re going to cover something so culturally iconic, you might want to do something totally new with it. So Gus Van Sant’s shot for shot remake of Psycho (1998)? Probably not a good idea. Conversely, Martin Scorsese’s reimagining of Ford’s The Searchers (1956) as an urban western in Taxi Driver (1976)? That works. If you don’t approach homage in this way it becomes nothing more than imitation, which might be the highest form of flattery but doesn’t make for good TV or cinema.So Glee’s rendition of Singin’ in the Rain’s title song incorporates a mash-up with Rihan na’s â€Å"Umbrella† and takes place on a stage full of water featuring the cast re-enacting moves from Gene Kelly’s classic sequence while also incorporating new moves into their set-piece number. There’s revision, and there’s imitation, and then there’s shitting on sanctity. I’m no purist and I’m not saying they shouldn’t have done it, but I would argue that despite the attempt at innovation, it doesn’t go far enough in its departure from either original.And the one thing that it’s missing that makes the movie’s original so great is passion you can feel. Kelly’s rendition takes place within the context of his falling in love with Kathy (Debbie Reynolds) and it results in Dionysian abandon, bringing to Technicolor life the giddy exhilaration that comes with new love, whereas Glee’s version is akin to watching craftsmen make shoes: there’s artistry in their production and the fin ished product is expertly made, but it lacks the soul that still makes Kelly’s sequence so resonant.Worse still is their take on â€Å"Make ‘Em Laugh,† which features Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) and Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr. ) in a duet that is at times a near step for step imitation of Donald O’Connor’s version. Again, failing to revise the setting and context in an interesting way leaves their rendition flat. It lacks the visceral joy of O’Connor’s sequence, the best part of which is that it makes the audience do what the title suggests, which is laugh.Will and Chang are great dancers, but as there’s no real reason for the scene other than to show that they can do a rote imitation of the steps, their version is totally devoid of life and spontaneity, making it seem as though it’s performed by technically proficient but non-sentient automatons. There’s no reason you can’t do a scene that’s al most identical to the original, so long as you update it in such a way so as to give the audience a new way to interpret it. Take Spike Lee’s incorporation of the Love/Hate tattoo sequence from Night of the Hunter (Laughton 1955) into Do the Right Thing (1989).Robert Mitchum’s iconic scene is as seemingly inviolable as anything from Singin’ in the Rain, but by transposing it from a depression era white psychopathic murdering preacher in the deep south to Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), a socially aware young African-American male living in what was at the time contemporary Bedford-Stuyvesant, Lee both pays homage and avoids pastiche, creating something new in the process, a model of artistic quotation that I’m afraid might be falling out of favor in our current media landscape, as evidenced on Glee and elsewhere * Why a blog and not a website? TUESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2011 Project: Art History. † Evolution of musical film genre†. â€Å"Williams and Hall both have argued that culture is not so much a set of things (television shows or paintings, for example) as a set of processes or practices through which individuals and groups come to make sense of things, including their own identities within and even against or outside the group† Stunken ; Cartwright (2009) The intention of the essay is to link evolution in cinema genres with the changes in the structure of popular culture.The quotation expresses the approach to culture as a process in which individuals interact, and this is the way the essay would like culture to be seen. Cinema is the perfect method to analyse popular culture from this point of view. Since its invention, it has given human beings a new and different opportunity of enjoying simulated worlds. Musical genre is particularly interesting because it has been present since the beginnings of cinema as one of the main Hollywood genres, and it has needed to introduce new strategies to survive. There are periods whe n it nearly disappeared before coming back in a new form (Hayward 2000).This essay is structured in such a way that it describes the periods of the genre and how its codes and conventions have been applied in each, and then analyses the main ideas from a social and theoretical point of view. But first, it may prove useful to discuss genre theory. Genre can be considered a strategy created by the cinema industry to identify a category of film. But it also can be described as a cognitive mechanism to help the viewer and filmmaker to know the expectations and hypothesis of the viewers when sitting in front of a screen to watch a film.Any genre is formed by a set of codes and conventions that the spectator has learned and can decode automatically and unconsciously. He or she feels pleasure in identification. This last point of view agrees with the one of the essay, as its aim is to connect the research on genre with what spectators experience when watching a film (Nelmes 2007) (Hayward 2000). It is also interesting to analyse what makes the spectator enjoy watching a film. Hayward (2000) identifies three stages in spectatorship theory. The first stage in the 70's treats the spectator as a passive subject.It is inspired on Freud's idea of the Oedipal complex and on Lacan's idea of the â€Å"mirror stage† that says that our identity is not coming from within, but from the way we see ourselves for the first time from the outside. In our adulthood we are in a constant state of desire that cannot be fulfilled because our unconscious mind cannot be influenced by the world around us. Freud's ideas associate the mirror stage with the relationship between the child and his mother. The male character sees his mother as an object and identifies with the father to try to meet the child's feeling of â€Å"castration† of not having access to the mother (Ward 2003).The spectator identifies the cinema screen with this â€Å"mirror†. The second stage, from the middle of the 70’s, is influenced by Laura Mulvey. She introduces the idea of sexual difference in identification with personalities and criticises the masculine point of view in cinema narrative that fetishizes women. The option for the female spectator is to identify with the passive female or with a masculine third character. In the third stage, from the 80's, we find investigations derived from the debate started by Mulvey. Some ideas talk about the bisexual position of the female child after her mirror stage.She first has the mother as her object of desire and then she has to change to the father as her object of desire. And the male spectator can also position himself bisexually, when identifying with the active and passive modes of the male character. The spectator is treated as an active subject, he or she does not occupy just one position in relation to the characters. Dyer considers that there are three periods in a genre: primitive, mature and decadent (Hayward 20 00). On the experimental primitive period, before the 30's, musical is generated as a hybrid from European operetta and American vaudeville and music hall (Hayward 2000).On the mature period, from the 30's to the 60's, first we find a director such as Busby Berkeley. His films do not pay attention to the plot, but rather, are vehicles for song and dance that are introduced in an artificial way. It is pure spectacle and sensuality. Sex is offered through the gaze (Hayward 2000). Later, songs and dances move with the narrative and are introduced on a more natural way. Fred Astaire develops an elegant, stylised style and Gene Kelly develops a more energetic one. The music was often composed by talented authors brought from Broadway.In the 50's, it is the first time the studio system pay special attention to the youth audience, linked to the rise in the music record industry. Singers as Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard became actors (Hayward 2000). For Altman musicals of the mature perio d are an â€Å"ode to marriage†. The narrative is based on the principle of pairing and mirroring. Male and female are paired, maturity is paired to immaturity. The main characters are mirrored in other couples; settings are mirrored in other settings (Hayward 2000). This conclusion was made following a synchronic analysis, i. . , just focusing in a moment in the film, specifically in the final scene. Recently, this same author has reflected about that approach and has analysed musical films diachronically. He proposes two hypotheses. Following the first one, in musicals main characters are first paired with a â€Å"wrong† partner to be finally paired to the â€Å"right† one. Films such as â€Å"An American in Paris† (Minnelli, 1951) follow this structure. The second hypothesis is more speculative. It is based in the idea that the relationships of the characters turn from homosocial to heterosexual.This structure is found in many films, from â€Å"An Ame rican in Paris† (Minnelli, 1951), to â€Å"Grease† (Kleiser, 1978). In â€Å"Grease†, the main actress and actor belong to a group where all members are women or all men, respectively, and eventually left these groups to become a couple. This can be seen as an evolution from childhood to adulthood. The author also speculates on whether this structure tries to avoid the character moving from a homosocial relationship to a homosexual relationship (Altman 2010). Cohan (2010) considers that the dual register between narrative and performance is one of the distinctive conventions of the genre.It breaks the dominant codes of realism in cinema, whose aim is to guide the audience through the story, so the codes and conventions become â€Å"transparent† to avoid distracting them (Nelmes 2007). The concept of diegesis refers to the fictional world described inside the story. In musicals, filmmakers can add extra-diegetic shots that have no logical reason for being t here. And they can add a diegetic to call public attention to the star, to show that they are amazed when they see and hear the main characters dancing or singing, and to create the illusion that the real non-diegetic audience is part of that public (Hayward 2000).Dyer (2002) distinguishes three tendencies of musicals: one that keeps narrative and number separate, another that identifies narrative with problems and numbers with scape, but trying to integrate the number through signals, and a last one that dissolves this distinction between narrative and number, which makes this narrative also utopian. Richard Dyer writes that the strategy of the genre is to â€Å"provide the spectator with an utopia through the form of entertainment†.Any film reflects these categories: abundance, energy, intensity, transparency and community in opposition to the real society, where we can find: scarcity, exhaustion, dreariness, manipulation and fragmentation. Abundance is shown through the lu xurious costumes and huge settings. Energy is shown through the dance and also the camera work. Intensity refers to experiencing emotions directly. Transparency refers to spontaneity. Community refers to the sense of belonging. This utopia is associated with the specific mainstream ideology of this period: capitalism, economic and social stability (Hayward 2000), (Stacey 1994).Of the decadent period, from the 60's, codes and conventions are questioned. Musicals are more realistic; subjects such as racism and delinquency are treated. Examples are â€Å"West Side Story† (Wise, 1961), â€Å"Saturday Night Fever† (Badham, 1977) and â€Å"Grease† (Kleiser, 1978). We also find Julie Andrew's films such as â€Å"The Sound of Music† (Wise, 1965). This is identified as a family film that follows traditional conventions. But its structure differs from the classical one. There is no more a duality, instead, there is a female main character and the male character has a secondary role.She represents liberated femininity. In Barbra Streisand's films – â€Å"The Way We Were† (Pollack, 1973) – the girl needs a partner but does not always achieve it. When she fails to do it, the film shows her drive for freedom and female independence (Farmer 2010), (Robertsib Wojcik 2010). This reflects how conventions in cinema have changed with changes in society; in the 70's women rebelled against the traditional patriarchal society. It has been almost 50 years since the period of decline of the musical genre begun. It looked as if it was going to disappear. But lately, we are seeing a revival of the genre.Sometimes it is successful, such as â€Å"Moulin Rouge! † (Luhrman, 2001), â€Å"Chicago† (Marshall, 2002) and â€Å"Mamma Mia† (Lloyd, 2008), sometimes it is not, such as â€Å"Nine† (Marshall, 2009). At this point, we can ask ourselves about the reasons for bringing back musicals. Cohan (2010) mentions David R ooney and Jonathan Bing describing them. They mention how development of new technology can help with the task of shooting and editing, and reducing costs. Also, the after-market of the fans of musical can be economically attractive, as they are repeating viewers, so DVDs and soundtracks would sell well – as well as merchandising would do.Another interesting fact is that the youth audience has grown up watching music videos and Disney's animated films. Finally, another reason can be that the golden period of musicals happened during the 30's Big Depression. Maybe it is not a coincidence that in the actual moment of economic recession, the public is going back to watch films that supply escapism (Burgess-Alllen 2010). Feuer (2010) argues that in the decline period, there are reconstructive musicals and deconstructive musicals. Reconstructive musicals can be â€Å"Moulin Rouge† (Luhrman, 2001), â€Å"Chicago† (Marshall, 2002), â€Å"Nine† (Marshall, 2009). Cabaret† (Fosse) in 1972 already has influences of art cinema (Hayward 2000). They are targeted at art-house audiences, while keep the classical conventions, and show an interest in aesthetic and nostalgia for the past. Following the these, â€Å"Moulin Rouge† (Luhrman, 2001) mixes cinematic references, historical intertexts and cultural allusions, this makes it difficult to define which genre it belongs to as it can be considered a musical, a melodrama, and author film, or even a music video (Nelmes 2007).Deconstructive Musicals are oriented towards the teenage public and create new conventions, they do not represent lead performers but amateurs that love singing and dancing, they â€Å"take up the position of spectators of Old Hollywood musicals in a world where it is no longer possible to be Fred Astaire† (Daldry, 2000). Following these, there are productions for TV, such as â€Å"High School Musical† (Ortega, 2006) and, more recently, â€Å"Glee† (Murphy, 2009). Conventions in â€Å"High School Musical† (Ortega, 2006) follow the traditional ones. It follows the principle of duality with two main characters.What it adds new to the genre is a contrast between authenticity, represented by the main couple, and manipulated artistry, represented by another couple. It also adds a reflection of a rigidly hierarchical world, where the characters move between conformism and rebellion. The characters are stereotypes: jocks, cheerleaders, and brainiacs. â€Å"Glee† (Murphy, 2009) takes the idea of â€Å"High School Musical† and exaggerates it. We again find the same stereotypes but they are taken to the extreme of satire. All the characters know that to be someone at the school they have to belong to a group: cheerleaders, football team†¦Wearing a distinctive uniform is important for them. â€Å"Glee† also adds being playful with reality. It highlights being a simulation of reality and reminds us often about it, advising us not to take it too seriously. The narrative is an utopia in the same way as the performances. And this utopia again follows a specific ideology. Subjects that affect teenagers are treated: pregnancy, alcohol, sexuality, family relationships, †¦ (Cohan 2010), (Payne 2010). Another thing these films have changed from classic films is that musical soundtracks are not created specifically for the film, now it appropriates pop music or music from other films.The concept of film genre is directly related to the concept of intertextuality. The film is always going to be framed by the genre as each film belonging to it uses conventions previously used by other members of it (Nelmes 2007). But this can be a contradiction, because intertextuality is also associated with taking the text beyond the boundaries of the genre. This semiotic term was first used by Julia Kristeva, who understands that the text connects in two ways, first the author to the reader and then t he text to other texts (Chandler 2009). The growing preponderance of visuals in ads has enhanced the ambiguity of meaning embedded in message structures. Earlier advertising usually states its message quite explicitly through the medium of written text†¦ , but starting in the mid-1920s visual representation became more common, and the relationship between text and visual image became complementary – that is, the text explained the visual. In the post-war period, and especially since the early 1960s, the function of text moved away from explaining the visual and towards a more cryptic form, in which text appeared as a kind of ‘key' to the visual.In all, the effect was to make the commercial message more ambiguous; a ‘reading' of it depended on relating elements in the ad's internal structure to each other, as well as drawing in references from the external world. † Leiss (1997) This paragraph talks specifically about the use of intertextuality in adverti sing, which is not the subject of the essay, but it is included here because it expresses that the way creatives communicate messages has evolved from being explicit to being ambiguous. Leiss talks about how the â€Å"receiver's brain is an indispensable component of the total communication system†.Explaining it clearly, the spectator is no longer considered stupid. Viewers have a wider visual knowledge that make them able to understand messages transmitted on ambiguous ways. We have grown with the rapid association of images in film, TV, and advertisement (Kolker 2002). The visual knowledge of the spectator has helped to make it more sophisticated. The basis of the plot remains simple but the filmmaker can and must introduce mechanisms to appeal a target audience that has become highly media literate.As a result of the the research can be taken the most interesting ideas about the way contemporaneous filmmakers apply the codes and conventions of the genre. They follow some o f the conventions of films from the classical era: keeping a simple plot, selling an ideology. And they add to the genre: using soundtracks from pop music or other films instead of creating it specifically for the film, the creation of fictional worlds that make reference to another fictional world, playing with reality and stereotypes, playing with the dual register between narrative and performance.It can be found in several essays and articles that talk about contemporaneous musical films being postmodern, as the following one written by Edwards (Cohan 2010): â€Å"The charm and artistic merit of the original High School Musical movie lies in its ability to consider a sophisticated theatrical and musical heritage and consequently revise it for a modern audience †¦ it simultaneously conforms to genre expectations and pays homage to its textual influences while taking a postmodern delight in exposing its own limitations and playing with some gentle pastiche of literary and ci nematic predecessors†.Flanagan (2002) wrote about the features of a film that can be identified as postmodern. The first ones are playfulness and self reference. It reminds us that it is a construction, that is not real, and that we must not take it seriously. The musical film's creators play with the way they integrate the performances in the narrative, with the stereotypes. It follows the tendency of dissolving the distinction between narrative and number, meaning that this narrative is also utopian. The second ones are generic blurring and intertextuality.The use of references to other texts is very usual in musicals. The third ones are popular and commercial media mixed with high culture. Current musical films do not have a soundtrack created for them, but they appropriate music. The fourth ones are fragmentation and death of representation. This refers to the way audience make sense of things through representations of reality instead of doing it through the reality itsel f. And finally uncertainty and the loss of context as consequence of the previous ones. According to this, films such as â€Å"Glee† (Murphy, 2009) can be considered postmodern.But probably to label a film as postmodern is not going to influence the audience as to whether to be interested on it or not, what probably can be considered more important is the â€Å"sophisticated hyperconsciousness† in contemporaneous popular entertainment, i. e. , the high degree of media literacy in the audience that allows playing with the conventions (Collins 1993), (Nelmes 2007). Why is Glee Postmodern In this blog and our discussion of postmodern television, the TV showGlee  has come up as an example.. One of the theories we’ve learned about postmodernism is that it rejects the idea of metanarratives (stories about stories).In postmodernism there is not black and white, good vs. evil, etc. In the show  Glee  there is the character Puck, a football player who seems to be y our typical tough-guy bully. However, even though Puck is a bully and even shoves around some of the other characters that we like, we still do not dislike him. We don’t see him as the villain even though typically the jock/bully is seen as the â€Å"bad guy. † Plurality is another term we learned regarding postmodernism, and this is when there are multiple stories and multiple identities.This show has so many characters, each with their own personal story and all of their stories get told in one way or another. Within Season 2 episode 8 the character ‘David’ is focused on and he is being questioned about whether he is gay or not. The glee club is a dance singing club but within this is another story. This gives the program room to expand and here for example the program deals with modern day issues that are publicised in the media. Grand narratives are clearly contradicted in this episode as homosexuality is put in the limelight and is praised.One of the male characters shows very feminine attributes and in their rehearsal wears a top which says â€Å"Likes Boys. † This is done to try to numb the shock of homosexuals coming out and normalise it so that the program can move forward. There are different races, different personalities, different handicaps; different cliques, all represented in this show and all of their stories are being told. Nostalgia is another postmodern term represented in  Glee. Many of the songs performed on this show are songs from the past for example Les Miserables – Kareoke and Born this Way.The teacher in charge of Glee Club, Mr. Schuester, loves doing songs from when he was younger and this really brings nostalgia to the show. Convergence, the flow of media content across a range of different platforms is also part of this show. You can download the songs performed on the show, many viewers discuss the show online, and many people attempt to win parts on the show by creating videos of thems elves singing and performing and posting them online. There are many forms of media involved with this show other than simply watching the show.Not to mention the fact that you can also watch the show online, just one more form of media regarding this show Glee draws people in by creating stereotypical situations and characters, each with their own flaws that the audience can easily identify with. This identification process allows viewers to become more intimate with the show, especially when the actors begin to sing songs that modern viewers already know and love. Fox originally took a chance on the new musical project, but hedged their bets with innovative marketing strategies and with a huge lead in audience from American Idol.The use of cultural classics and songs that recently premiered on the top 40, drew in the American Idol audience members specifically, and music lovers generally. This target audience was strong in the 18-49 demographic, and particularly strong with women. The strength in these demographics enabled Glee to become the 3rd most expensive show to buy advertisements on. This advertising revenue is supplemented with a steady stream of money made from selling singles on ITunes. This model has been so successful that Glee has now become a tent-pole of its own and anchors the entire comedy lineup on Tuesdays. contrast, in recent years American television has brought us Scrubs, Ugly Betty and now Glee, shows that combine boldly imaginative approaches to narrative with a humour and humanity that is often exhilarating to behold. While we seem to be mired in an endless debate about platforms, content, news values and the multimedia revolution, the Americans have managed to retain an enthusiasm for the dramatic possibilities of television. And what's clear is that those possibilities are founded upon an enduring belief in sharp, savvy writing and deeply committed performances.At first sight, Glee (C4) follows a stupefyingly familiar path. It's se t in a midwest high school, amid the over-fictionalised world of geeks and jocks. And in a nod to the High School Musical fad, it focuses on a glee club, or singing society. However, Glee takes these tropes and cliches and stretches them in surprising directions to create a whole new form, as different to its original source as a butterfly is to a caterpillar. Last week, teen pregnancy, the difficulty of coming out in high school, and sexual attraction between teacher and pupil were plot themes but, unlike many American shows, not moral â€Å"issues†.Glee is possessed of a liberal heart but its balls, as well as some of its most memorable lines, belong to the politically incorrect coach, Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch). Like two opposing grammarians, kitsch sentiment and killer sarcasm wrestle over every line. Yet, at the point where conventional drama plunges into pathos, Glee slips into song. At one moment the school quarterback was singing â€Å"I'll Stand by Youâ₠¬  to the ultrasound of his unwanted child (which isn't his), the next his friends were rallying round in a stirring rendition of â€Å"Lean on Me†.A lot of the humour stems from snappy social observation, but the show also boasts the kind of verbal extravagance that, in the wrong hands, can sound written rather than said. Typical was the scene in which a former schoolgirl stalker, who once responded to rejection by eating a lethally hot pepper, advised her equally deluded successor: â€Å"Let me tell you a few things I learned from two years of intense psychotherapy and an oesophagus transplant. The reason that line worked is the same reason the songs and outrageous storylines work: because the characters are immersed in their own reality. They never act as if they've said something funny. There's no pause for laughter, no nods or winks, as Glee shows the same faith in its audience as it does in its characterisations. Laughter isn't forced, so isn't false. In common with U gly Betty and Scrubs, there is plenty of cultural commentary and knowing asides but failure to spot the reference doesn't undermine the scene. The action just moves swiftly on.If Glee is postmodern, it doesn't bother knocking twice. The show has attracted a lot of plaudits, particularly in America, so it's probably soon due for a backlash. This might be an opportune moment, then, to say that the hype is deserved. It's a rare and heartening pleasure to watch so much energy and emotion expended in the unfashionable cause of family entertainment. Some of its fans might say Doctor Who performs a similar feat, though really the nearest British television comes, or attempts to come, to Glee is in shows like Strictly Come Dancing.Where US networks can be persuaded to invest in good writing and acting, our TV executives prefer to back the all-dancing duo of celebrity and reality. Only in an atmosphere in which originality is viewed as marginal or suspect could a series like Life of Riley (B BC1) be produced. It may seem unfair to pick out this harmless sitcom as an illustration of the failings of British comedy drama, but perhaps not quite as unfair as the decision to recommission another series. Why is Glee Postmodern?Glee is an American musical-comedy drama series. It started in 2009 and is produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, who originally wanted Glee to be a film, but decided to make it more interesting as a series. The episode I have chosen to focus on is the ‘Britney/Brittany’ episode, which pays tribute to Britney Spears when a member of the club Brittany Pierce experiences an anesthesia-induced hallucination in which she recreates iconic Spears moments, and comes to self-realization.I believe that this episode shows examples of being postmodern, as for a start the songs are in the past, and therefore have been created from an idea that’s already happened, Postmodernism postulates that many, if not all, apparent realities a re only social constructs and are therefore subject to change so Glee supports this view, it highlights that it is taking the original idea (song) that we all know from Britney Spears, and constructing it into their own, like the ‘Toxic’ version they performed on stage, straight away it’s obvious that this episode is showing pastiche, as the hole episode is making tributes to classic pop culture, and it gives us as audience ( or those who are old enough) a nostalgic feeling. One of the theories learned about postmodernism is that it rejects the idea of metanarratives (stories about stories). In postmodernism there is not black and white, good vs. evil, etc. There is the character Puck, a football player who seems to be your typical tough-guy bully.However, even though Puck is a bully and even shoves around some of the other characters that we like, we still do not dislike him. We don’t see him as the villain even though typically the jock/bully is seen as the â€Å"bad guy,† and in this episode, he shows examples of this by fitting in with the rest of the club and wanting to perform the Britney songs, when typically you’d expect the ‘jock’ to go against this idea as it wasn’t ‘cool enough’.Plurality is another term regarding postmodernism, and this is when there are multiple stories and multiple identities, and this is shown in this particular episode when although the focus is on Britney, there are several storylines going ahead with each individual character like with Will coming to terms that the girl he loves if with someone else, and then the high school problems the glee club members are all facing.The characters are also known for having multiple identities, this episode especially shows the members like Brittany and Rachel dressed up mimicking Britney Spears, and Santana also comes across as being tough, but in this episode she performs with Brittany in ‘Me Against the Musi c’ and we find out she is also in love with Brittany. Many of the songs performed on this show are songs from the past. The teacher in charge of Glee Club, Mr.Schuster, loves doing songs from when he was younger and this really brings nostalgia to the show, but in this episode he rejects the idea of doing Britney week, as he believes she gives out the wrong messages, but eventually he comes around and performs with them, which causes outrage to the school, which is also very postmodern, although Glee is a fun, light-hearted comedy series, it can also have many adult references in, especially in this episode, which I believe to be very postmodern as it ignores the typical conventions of a ‘high school drama’ and actually takes the stereotypes to an extreme but twists them.Glee has also been quoted to be described as hyper-postmodern media culture. A mash-up of generic influences, intertextual references, music, and ideological content that is both eerily nostalgic and forward-thinking, and this episode is a prime example showing all these things, the fact that the students go to the dentist to get their teeth fixed which is an ‘underlying’ important message, influencing the audience to take care of their selves, its then twisted when they get put under an anesthesia, and hallucinate Britney Spears fantasies, Glee is known for taking simple, conventional ideas and turning them to almost inappropriate. Like two opposing grammarians, kitsch sentiment and killer sarcasm wrestle over every line. Yet, at the point where conventional drama plunges into pathos, Glee slips into song† was quoted by a news article, showing how Glee takes a completely different take on high school drama. Convergence, the flow of media content across a range of different platforms is also part of this show.You can download the songs performed on the show, many viewers discuss the show online, and many people attempt to win parts on the show by creating videos of themselves singing and performing and posting them online. There are many forms of media involved with this show other than simply watching the show. Not to mention the fact that you can also watch the show online, just one more form of media regarding this show. In conclusion, I believe that Glee is postmodern because it uses examples of hyperreality, pastiche, intertextuality and is not your ordinary high school drama.