Quality Television Program Essay

As the channels available on America’s cable programs exceed a thousand and as television becomes more readily available through mobile electronic devices, the criteria for what makes for a quality television program has certainly become more intricate and competitive. There are many different genres of television programs that appeal to a certain type of audience. As a huge fan of drama movies and television, I will be evaluating the recently new spin-off television show 90210 which is currently aired on CW. The American teen drama series revolves around a series of characters attending a fictional high school in Beverly Hills. The program seems to attempt to capture many of the same audiences that enjoy shows such as Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries which are also popular TV programs on CW. To evaluate and determine the quality level of 90210 I will be looking at a set of criteria that includes the appeal that the characters bring to the show, how realistic the show is, and a look at the development of plots throughout the last few seasons. To shed some light on the television program I will introduce some of the main characters that have been present in the four seasons the show has been airing. Lori Loughlin and Rob Hestes play Harry and Debbie Wilson as mother and father of daughter Annie Wilson and adopted son, Dixon Wilson. After a move from Kansas, the family of four enters season one as a new family to Beverly Hills and with Harry as the principal of Annie and Dixon’s new high school. Jessica Stroup plays Erin ‘Silver’ Silver who has a bipolar disorder and tends to hang out with some of the less popular of those at Beverly Hills High. Annalynne McCord plays the infamous Naomi Clark who is the most popular, gorgeous, untouchable girl available at her school. Then there is Michael Steger who plays Navid Shirazi who in the first season plays as role as Dixon’s quirky sidekick and then slowly falls into a leading role as he gets involved in a relationship with Jessica Lowndes who plays Adrianna Tate-Duncan. And it certainly would not be a teen drama without the good looking guy, Matt Lanter playing Liam Court who soon gets together with Annie Wilson. As far as criteria is concerned for evaluating the show’s characters I want to look at how engaging the characters are for the audience, how unique and identifiable they are, and what the relationships between the characters are like. After watching all four seasons of the show, they did a great job of picking actors/actresses that fit their different roles. With that said, each of the characters definitely has their own unique characteristics and personalities.

Reading Response to Devil in a Blue Dress

I enjoyed the manner with which Moslem used these two themes In particular to discuss some societal Issues. Starting with a brief summary of the novel, I intend to expatiate on these two themes in subsequent paragraphs. The Plot Set in Los Angels in 1948, the Devil in a Blue Dress is centered on the character of Ezekiel ‘Easy† Railings a black man who had fought in World War II and who has Just lost his Job at an aircraft company and desperate to find a means of earning an income to meet his financial needs especially his mortgage payment.Ease's aspiration leads him to accepting a Job from Dewitt Albright to find a young white lady Daphne Monet. Although Dewitt Albright had a questionable personality, Easy accepted the job after assurance from Albright that the task does not portend any significant problem with the law. Moreover, it was an opportunity to earn some money and considering his financial situation he had to accept the Job. As the story progresses, Easy comes t o realize that things are far more complicated than he could have thought. He Is accused of murder, at risk of being hurt by Albright henchmen Easy is expected to track down is not who they say she is.Easy along with Mouse have to find their way out of the predicament they find themselves while avoiding being dragged in by the nets of the law. The plot of the novel is typical of what to expect from a top-notch detective fiction novel, lots of deaths and intrigues and a proper dose of suspense. Moslem ensured that the chapters were brief yet; almost each of the chapters carried a new twist to the overall plot. Although the overriding theme is that or race and racism and the influence of money on the inhabitants of society, one can identify other inconspicuous issues raised in the novel such as sexual perversity, independence and war.Theme: Race and Racism A major theme in the novel is that of race and racism, the setting of 1948 is obviously a time when the United States of America h ad very visible racial segregation lines and it was refreshing to read a novel that captured this issue as it were back then. Moslem sought to highlight how racial inclinations dictated how the different characters relate with each other and/or how it affects the manner in which they respond to events. Even from Ease's first encounter with Albright- a white man, it was clear that their different racial backgrounds indicated problems ahead.Having fought alongside white men during the war, Easy must have been very disappointed to return only to see that segregation lines are still very visible. In a way, I think Ease's bewilderment was captured in his explanations of his wartime relationship with white men. Stating how he ate and slept with them, and even killed some blue-eyed young men during the war. For Easy, it was refreshing to know that white people were Just as afraid to die as he was (Moslem, 1990) the theme of racism was also inked to authority and how those who believe they are racially superior exerted it.This was evident in the way Albright consistently called Easy â€Å"boy' to send a clear message as to be racial superiority. Moreover, it was quite fascinating to see how Moslem used the novel to highlight and dispel insinuations that the issue of race and racism is well defined. For instance, Moslem showed that race and racism are not that clearly defined; for someone like Daphne Monet who feels lost not being able to clearly establish which side of the divide she belongs. Another case is that of Benny, Ease's former boss.Benny is of mixed racial background and despite Ease's description of him as being darker than most mixed-race blacks around, Benny considers himself racially superior to Easy. Furthermore, Moslem tries to show us how undefined race and racism is with the information that Daphne Monet is not white but black. Ease's response to this revelation is that of disbelief and rightly so. As far as Easy is concerned, Daphne Monet is white. â€Å"l looked at her to see the truth. But it wasn't there. Her nose, cheeks, and her skin color – they were white. Daphne was a white woman† (Moslem, 1990).Moreover, it is not all about the dark for race and racism in the Moslems work. The author in my view sought to highlight how people from different racial backgrounds can along well with each other. Ease's reasonable relationship with Primp as well as his statement about the Negro and Mexican being the same lays credence to this as both blacks and Mexicans are both at the receiving end of racial discrimination from the whites (Moslem, 1990). Theme: Money The theme of money and how it directs the actions of the various characters in the novel Just like race and racism is a recurring issue in the novel.Throughout the plot, pushes some of the characters to the extreme. In fact, so evident is the theme of money in the plot of this novel that most of the deaths that occurred can be traced to the influence of money. Ea se's financial constraint and his acceptance of Albright offer sets the tone for the theme of money and from then we start to see how each character's financial gain influences their actions. Moreover, I found it interesting that Moslem sought to separate Easy from the rest of the pack. From the beginning, Moslem tried to show what was behind Ease's quest to achieve financial stability and reducibility.We are made to see Easy as a man that was so passionate of keeping his most priced assets, which is his house. Easy speaks dearly of his house as the only thing he has got and the only thing worth fighting for and this influences his decision to accept the Job from Albright with a view to earning some money to make his mortgage payment. This is in stark contrast to other characters in the novel whose aim to achieve some level of financial freedom stem from greed. Violence and War I believe a reader response on the Devil in a Blue Dress will not be complete without brief commentary on the theme of violence and war.Although in my opinion, nothing in particular stands out on these two issues in the novel, one cannot ignore the recurring nature of physical violence and war in the novel. Moslem did not disappoint in the area of physical violence as will be expected from a detective fiction novel, there are lots of deaths to evoke the air of mystery and to build up suspense. As for the theme of war, Easy could not shake off his experience of fighting in the Second World War and this is understandable considering the abundance of events hat sees him reminiscing and relating happenings in his environment to memories of the way.It is refreshing to see how his experience of war helps him to develop a balanced approach to things. Ease's war experience also helps him to see other ways of solving problems rather than resorting to violence like most other characters in the novel. To this, we have to acknowledge the influence of â€Å"the Voice† in helping Easy make the right choices and it worthy of note that â€Å"the Voice† was created in Ease's war days. Reference Moslem, W. (1990). Devil in a blue dress. Washington Square Press: New York

Comparing domestic and internation news reports Essay

Comparing domestic and internation news reports - Essay Example A recent survey of the National Center for Health Statistics shows that as of year 2002, there is "an estimated 757,000 pregnancies among teenagers ages 15 to 19 years although it is nine percent fewer than in 2000 and about one-fourth fewer than the peak number estimated for 1990 which is 1,017,000" (Ventura, Abma, Mosher, & Henshaw, 2007). While a decline in statistics of teenage pregnancy has been noted, the number is still high and should not be taken for granted. How are parents, the academe, and the teenagers deal with it And, how is it presented to the public through the news published in various newspapers To be able to determine the answer to these questions, I consulted San Diego State University's Online Library for two news articles on teenage pregnancy written in publications in the United States and another two from Asian newspapers. An article by Kim Vo on San Jose Mercury News carries this headline: "District introduces new sex education program" (2005). Vo's news story tackles the importance of a newer and innovative approach on teaching sex education even towards the elementary pupils. The news has been written in a factual yet sensitive manner, taking into consideration the views of the parents, the students, the teenage mothers, and the academe. This was published on 2005. Two years later, The Houston Chronicle published a more straightforward news article on teenage pregnancy with a headline: "Baytown teens plan pregnancy forum" ("Baytown Teens," 2007). Contrary to San Jose Mercury News' story, the statistics and background of teenage pregnancy is no longer included in the recent article. It shows that the youth are already active in taking part to arrest the problem with unwanted pregnancies during puberty. The two articles mentioned are both published in the United States. Not much difference has been noted on the grammatical structure of the headlines; however, the second story could have been more compelling if the writer included some statistics on teenage pregnancy incidence in the area. As a reader, I "felt" the article on San Jose Mercury News more than the one published by The Houston Chronicle, because of the manner in which the first article is presented. Meanwhile, in Asia, which is known to be conservative, teenage pregnancies have also ballooned. Experts have openly discussed ways to salvage the youth from this alarming situation. In Taiwan, the Central News Agency - Taiwan reports on the very high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the area. However, instead of directly stating that Taiwan's teenagers have gotten pregnant more often than Japanese or a South Korean girl had, journalist Lilian Wu writes about the proposed solution to the problem. The article has this headline: "Sex education needed to address teenage pregnancy: Expert" (Wu, 2007). The news also opens with a lead on the sex education expert's view on the reason of high incidence of

Relate the structure of the retina to its function. Explain how the Essay

Relate the structure of the retina to its function. Explain how the retina changes due to retinitis pigmentosa - Essay Example The photoreceptors function by receiving information transmitted in the form of light. This information is then transferred to the optic nerves, to the brain through the optic disc, the spot on the lower outside of the retina. The eye has two major cavities filled with clear water liquid. One, is located between the lens and the cornea, which is filled by the aqueous humor. The other is located behind the lens within the eyeball itself, just touching the retina. This is filled by the jellylike vitreous humour which constitutes the bulk of the eye. These liquids function as liquid lenses. Similar to the cornea and most parts of the eye, their function is to focus the light into the retina as liquid lenses. As said earlier, the retina houses the photoreceptors so that information can then be transferred to the brain for interpretation (Vander, et. Al, 2001). The main question now is why is the retina placed as far inside the eye where information has to be passed from many different parts like cornea, pupil and liquid lenses, and when speed of information transmission is very necessary especially in sensory organs. The last thought exactly answers the structural question of the anatomy of the eye. The retina is structured to layer the inner cavity of the eye to allow more surface area for information to be passed to the many different photoreceptors housed in the retina. The liquid vitreous humor helps disperse this light so that information can pass to the photoreceptors at a single instant instead of the light being directed at a single line and spreading to the many different photoreceptors in the retina. This means that the retina is perfectly structured for speed in processing of information. It is also easier to vascularize this way than if the whole cavity is filled with retinal cells (Feinberg, 2004). What is it with the retina that allows its function? The retina contains two types of

Marketers and the child consumer Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Marketers and the child consumer - Thesis Example The paper tells that marketing to children has been of immense interest to marketers in recent times. Marketers use advertising to inform, communicate, persuade, entertain, and sell to the viewer. Children have become attractive markets not only because they can influence their parents’ purchase decision but also because they have their own income through jobs or allowances from parents. Their immense purchasing power has tempted the marketers to exploit the situation. Besides, certain characteristics such as repetition, branded characters, celebrity endorsements, and interesting production features enhance the importance of television as a medium. Advertisers use stealth marketing techniques and have started embedding or placing the product in movies or TV shows. They also use advergames where the tweens feel the flow of information. The fast food restaurants entice the vulnerable minds with the promise of a toy on their visit. Advertisers have also exploited the school arena to reach out to the children. Advertisements can be found on report cards, on school book covers, on school buses and the intention is to demonstrate their commitment to academic excellence. While there are debates and studies on how food advertising has led to increased incidences of obesity in tweens, there is no conclusive study to confirm this. However, advertising for children has certainly enhanced consumerism and the children feel they can decide what they want and when they want. Suddenly the children feel grown up and want to look and feel older. This may not be a positive impact as the childish innocence is lost a very early age. The study concludes the materialism and consumerism should not be promoted through advertisements directed at tweens. The appropriate marketing technique should contain relevant and important information about the product, its benefits and the potential adverse impact. Recommendations for further studies were made and limitations highlighted. Table of Contents Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Rationale for the study 2 1.3 Research aims and objectives 3 1.4 Structure of the study 4 1.5 Significance of the study 5 Chapter II Literature review 2.1 Chapter overview 6 2.2 Definition of tweens 6 2.3 The child consumer 7 2.4 Media used for marketing to children 10 2.5 Marketing techniques used by advertisers 13 2.6 Impact of advertisements on children 15 Chapter III Methodology 3.1 Chapter Overview 17 3.2 Research Philosophy 17 3.3 Purpose of the research and phenomenon 17 3.4 Epistemology 17 3. 5 Research Strategy 19 3.6 Data collection 19 3.7 Justification for secondary data 20 3.8 Data analysis 20 3.9 Limitations 20 Chapter IV Findings 4.1 Chapter Overview 21 4.2 Cause of changes in tweens’ consumer behavior 21 4.3 Marketing techniques used by advertisers 22 4.4 Impact of advertising and marketing 26 4.5 Television as the most important medium 29 4.6 Discussions 29 Chapter V Conclusion & Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 31 5.2 Recommendations 33 References 34 Tables & Figures Table 2.1 Media Channels that reach the tweens 11 Table 2.2 Media use by Tweens 12 Figure 4.1 Tweens shopping without parents 22 Figure 4.2 Pleasure & Fun 23 Figure 4.3 Excitement and surprise 26 Figure 4.4 Lollipop as a â€Å"popping candy† 26 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background Marketing to children has been of immense interest to marketers in recent times. Marketing campaigns have three-fold purpose –

The deterance the death penalty offers Research Paper

The deterance the death penalty offers - Research Paper Example The work at hand presents the point that death penalty indeed has the capability to control the prevalence of murder and other related capital crimes. Critical analysis of the available literature concerning the issue is included. Anti-death-penalty proponents like John Blume, a law professor with the Cornell Death Penalty Project, concludes that there is no credible evidence to support deterrence of murder and capital crimes with the implementation of death penalty. The main justification of their points stands on the ground that â€Å"If deterrence worked, how could Texas which executes a dozen inmates a year, have a higher murder rate than Colorado, which has executed one murderer in more than four decades?† (Booth). In 2009 survey, more than 88% of criminologists believe that the death penalty was not a deterrent to murder, a result showing strong link to the consistent lower murder rate of non-Death penalty states compared to those that are employing the Death penalty (Th e Death Penalty and Deterrence). Daniel Nagin, expert in criminology and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University, said in an interview, â€Å"The studies have reached widely varying, even contradictory, conclusions. Some studies conclude that executions save large numbers of lives; others conclude that executions actually increase homicides; and still others conclude that executions have no effect on homicide rate† (National Journal staff). In 2002, part of the annual Texas Crime Poll revealed that majority of the respondents showed support for the death penalty, but a substantial number of them also showed lack confidence on its use while others supported moratorium on executions (Vollum and Longmire 521). After concluding a research study that says each execution saves five lives, H. Naci Mocan, an economist at Louisiana State University, said, â€Å"I personally am opposed to the death penalty, but my research shows that there is deterrent effect† (Liptak). Mocan a dds, â€Å"Science does really draw a conclusion. It did. There is no question about it. The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect† (Tanner). However, legal scholars refuted this idea, specifying the point that theories of economists do not apply to the violent world of crime and punishment, as they might be linked to faulty premises, insufficient data and flawed methodologies (Liptak). This is all the same point which by Fox and Radelet state against the research study of Ehrlich and Layson. The measurement of the deterrent effect of death penalty has been critically considered from another wider point of view when Ehrlich’s and Layson’s works reveal the importance of using the economic perspective on the issue by employing economic model, which could show further that every execution may possibly deter as many as 18 homicides (Fox and Radelet 30). However, Ehrlich’s economic model is said to have failed to provide conclusive evidence supporting the deterrent effect of capital punishment (Chan and Oxley 1). However, Fox and Radelet scrutinized Ehrlich’s and Layson’s methodology by understanding the flaws involved in using econometric model, data quality, time period, negative bias, and aggregation bias and even the misinterpretation of Layson’s findings. Unconvinced of the above general claim, the proponents of the death penalty argued that the murder rate could

Chick-Fil-A - Servant Leadership and Success Research Paper - 1

Chick-Fil-A - Servant Leadership and Success - Research Paper Example Samuel Truett Cathy, the Chief Executive and founder of the restaurant believes that individuals must have the opportunities to enhance their living standards through serving the communities (Chic-fil-A, 2013). Some customer offerings include chicken entrees, salads, waffle fries, sandwiches, desserts and fresh-squeezed lemonade. The high expansion success can be dedicated to the committed franchise owners and emphasis on product quality (Chic-fil-A, 2013). In 1946, Samuel Truett Cathy opened the first Dwarf Grill restaurant in Atlanta. He introduced Christian values to the restaurant since its inception (Chic-fil-A, 2013). Cathy has overseen the expansion of the restaurant to more than 1,700 outlets in 39 states across the United States. He is a committed servant leader who believes in serving others without expecting a return and making a difference in the communities (Chic-fil-A, 2013). Cathy has built his restaurant bases on the values of quality, hard work, biblical principles, humility and the restaurants have a ‘closed-on-Sunday’ policy. Cathy holds several awards and recognitions including the President’s Call to Service Award (2008), William. E. Simon prize for Philanthropic leadership (2008) and Cecil B. Day Ethics Award (2007). Chic-fil-A has grown to become the second largest quick-service restaurant in the United States based on annual sales (Chic-fil-A, 2013). The mission of Chic-fil-A is to ‘glorify God by being faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us; and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with the restaurant’ (Amason, 2010). The company has remained faithful to the mission through its corporate sponsorships, WinShape Foundation and several social responsibility initiatives that aim at helping the needy in the communities. The vision of Chic-fil-A is to become a leader fast food restaurant industry and satisfy the changing needs of the customer (Amason, 2010). The