The James Bond Phenomenon Essay Example for Free

The James Bond Phenomenon Essay The James Bond series of movies is unarguably the most successful film franchise of all time. This is so due to countless of reasons. The spy in the black tuxedo who prefers his Martini shaken and not stirred and possesses a genuine taste for extremely beautiful women is the embodiment of a lot of elements. The book has thoroughly explored what needs to be explored in the mystique surrounding the world’s most famous British super spy. The book in general was not only convincing, but it was of utmost believability. There were times in my own reading that I found myself having a smirk on my face because of the way Mr. Lindner stroked the obvious facts that everyday people like us can see and yet totally ignore or be unaware of. The book wanders on the realism of James Bond and its counterpart on the superficial side, and that was in my opinion, the most sensible asset the book has to offer. The phenomenon which James Bond brought about to the world, according to the book, could never be discounted, for it defined the contemporary and yet timeless tale of a spy against the bad folks. For Mr. Lindner, James Bond changed the mindsets of people in varying ways and how the world in general was perceived by mankind. On the other hand, stated Lindner, â€Å"how the people viewed crime totally changed when the phenomenon of James Bond occurred. † Christopher Lindner not only focused on how James Bond literally changed the world, but focused equally and emphasized on the ways he did it. Not only in the way it penetrated culture but on how the Bond franchise became a sort of a tradition among moviegoers and aficionados. From the perspective of the book, James Bond thrives in the world of popular art, and yet embedded in a world of his own. Not only was the James Bond the motion picture franchise touched by the book, but on how it became so enduringly successful and how it managed to hold its own against time, the generations, and the changing of the tastes and preferences of the merciless critics, moviegoers and the viewing public in general. The evolution of the James Bond as portrayed by actors and Bond’s hard road to finality and success were stunningly described in Mr. Lindner’s fabulous work. Concurrently, he had managed to be the voice of the ordinary moviegoer in how he had stated the differences of the impact that Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan had inflicted upon the tradition and at the same time being an avid showbiz insider in the way he elaborated all the negotiations and the processes in which the mere novel underwent en route to become a phenomenon. And moreover, not only the difference among the actors were thoroughly touched by Lindner, and their fortes, on how they captured the audience and most significantly, the figurative sense in which they wore the black tuxedo and their general appeal in the eyes of the world. Even though Lindner had tackled the personas of James Bond throughout the spy’s existence for almost half a century, he still managed to dig much, much deeper into the persona, the man with the most gentlemanly of manners, with the most cunning of ways, and those three sheer convincing eternal words that virtually every civilized individual on earth could recite. â€Å"Bond, James Bond. † No stone was left unturned in the book, no apparent detail about the world’s most famous spy was overlooked, and there no exaggerations, just plain and simple obviousness, a more elaborate and keen obviousness regarding the mystique, the thrill, the ways and the wave that James Bond infectiously swayed upon the world, yes, the whole world. Works Cited: Lindner, Christoph. The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003.

Pie Charts Essay examples -- essays research papers

Pie Charts An important part of decision making is having a clear understanding of the information used to base decisions from. Charts can be valuable when a need to represent numerical data would benefit communicating information visually. Some of the most important aspects of a good chart are to select the right type of chart (or graph) that can best characterize the data, also, to keep the design simple in order for an audience to easily understand the information. One of the most popular types of charts is the pie chart. The pie chart is used to visually represent the proportional value of individual parts to the whole. As the name describes, this is done by representing the numerical equivalence of each part as a piece of the whole pie, which in total equates to 100%. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (2001) says that pie charts are a good choice when a relatively small amount of parts, perhaps 3 to 7, need to be represented. With any more it becomes difficult to notice the differences in magnitude; thus, the pie chart loses its simplicity and impact. They can only be used when a total amount is known, one such example would be an election where the total of votes received by all candidates equals 100% of the votes. Or a budget where the total amount spending is divided in to categories such as labor, facilities costs, advertising, etc†¦ which always are a part of the total. However, according to McBride (2003), the pie chart could n ot be used to show a change in spending through out a period. A pie chart shows data at one instance, like a snapshot and cannot be used to show change in data over time (para. 4). With the advent of computers, 3D graphs have become somewhat popular, unfortunately a negative aspect is that they add complexity to the image and can distort visual proportional value. It is recommended to stick with flat â€Å"2D† charts (para. 6). Pie charts these days are typically generated by computer software, as a result people forget that there is actually a little math involved. To create a pie chart Concordia University (2000) explains that you have to find the total value for the entire category being studied and calculate the percentage for each segment or part. Convert the percentage values for each segment into degrees relative to the 360 degrees in the circle. (For example, 12% X 360 degrees = 43 degrees). Then, Draw a circle and d... ...chart should look like with the exception of one rule, the pieces were not arranged from largest to smallest in a clockwise manner. The sizes are mixed, making less clear the relative proportions of the pieces. Pie charts can be an excellent tool for presenting information in a simple, visual and comprehensible manner. If used in the right situation and best practices are followed, the pie chart may be the tool that most influences a decision. References Pennsylvania Department of Health. (2001). Pie charts and pictographs. Retrieved January 24, 2005 from, http://www.health.state.pa.us/hpa/stats/ techassist/piechart.htm Concordia University. (2000). Pie chart. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://web2.concordia.ca/Quality/tools/21piechart.pdf Sykes, A., & Smith, B. (1999). Getting started – A simple pie chart. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://www.causeway.co.uk/tutorial/rainpro/apl99/dyalog/start.htm Hodges, M. (2004). Grandfather economic report series. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://mwhodges.home.att.net/fed_budget.htm Perlman, H. (2003). Where is earth’s water located? Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html

Discuss in Detail Ways in Which Variations in the English Language Reflect the Society They Are Situated in Essay

Discuss in detail ways in which variations in the English language reflect the society they are situated in. According to Walt Wolfram, â€Å"Language sows its own seeds of change. Social context gives it the fertile ground to grow and spread.† The global spread of English has inevitably led to the formation of new varieties such as Singlish and Hinglish, which are different in their own ways. The differences among these variations, in terms of lexical choice, structure and even pronunciation, are due to the different context and needs of the societies. These include the economical incentive of English in the society, social groups and their cultural make up. The economic incentive of learning English in the society plays a big role in the type of variation that distinguishes the new Englishes from other varieties. With the affluent and powerful recognizing the importance of English to connect, be a part of the global platform and even acquire well paying jobs, the aspiring mi ddle class, who makes up the majority in any societies, would find it very lucrative to learn English, so as to be associated with them. However, in most societies where English is considered a foreign language, learning it in language school is very expensive and usually is an option for the wealthy. As a result, they would pick up bits and pieces of lexical items from the English language, and use it in their speech, maintaining the structure of their native language. An example would be Hinglish, where â€Å"my head is eating circles,† is a direct translation of † mera sir chakkar kha raha hai.’, effectively keeping the structure of Hindi. In India, majority of good Standard English speakers are from the upper class due to the exorbitant fees of the language schools. As such, the variation of English in this case reflects the economical incentives and the income gap in the society, where there is a negative association of the variety due to speakers not being able to afford the education of Standard English. In Text B(i), lexical chain pertaining to negativity is adopted to be referred to code m ixed languages. They include, â€Å"gutter- speak†, â€Å"bad† and â€Å"consequence† However, as the use of the variation used by the lower and middle class increase due to the population distribution, it might lead to the acceptance of the dialect in the whole society, then coming up with a more organized and uniform variety that most members of society would understand. This uniformity of the variety reflects the social acceptance of the variation. In Text B(i), semantic field of uniqueness is adopted to

Family And Identity In Erasure, By Percival Everett

In the well-known novel â€Å"Erasure† author Percival Everett, entertains the reader by having a â€Å"story within the story.† The main character, Stagg Lee is the author of â€Å"My Pafology† a story about a black boy that depicts the typical black male in society. However, when Monk is not occupied by his profession, he struggles with identity crises in his personal life. Throughout his life, family has been an important aspect. His parents were one of the reasons why he had a sense of identity. However, that all changes when family secrets are revealed. Family and art, is used by Everett in the story to show how Monk struggles with his self-identity. Thelonious Ellison, also known as Monk, is intimidated by the success of other African American†¦show more content†¦Meaning that people look for acceptance through the eyes of others, especially the white populations. Dubois mentions that, an individual should be able to be a Negro and an American. DuB ois’s arguments about the efficiency of black Americans is useful in understanding the identity crisis faced by Monk Ellison. DuBois highlights that it is hard to be in a world with racial expectations, while still being artistic. In the beginning of Erasure, Monk mentions that, â€Å"The novel is finely crafted, with fully developed characters, rich language and subtle play with the plot, but one is lost to understand what this reworking of Aeschylus’ The Persians has to do with the African American experience† (Everett 2). Monk is creating art with his own personal, artistry and critical thinking skills. However, in Dubois opinion, he is still held to a certain extent, because he is black. It is the unbalance of being black and an author that creates a problem for Monk. Monk’s family, especially his parents, created Monk’s identity. Monk is confident, but also uncomfortable with who he is. He is comfortable with how people label and judge him, which also makesShow MoreRelatedReview Of Rowling s 1154 Words   |  5 Pagesreveals the pressure for an author to change their identity to fit a particular genre can be overwhelming, regardless of the level of respect one has earned in the literary world. In Rowling s case, her writing style gave her away, and her authentic identity became uncovered after her first novel as Galbraith. Would readers ultimately have discovered the link between Stagg R. Leigh and Thelonious Monk Ellison if Monk s ruse continued? Everett left the reader to ponder how Monk decided to handle