Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Essays

Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Essays Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Paper Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Paper Woodward Academy Quotation Notebook Spring Semester, Second Quarter Huston T. Collings English 8H-2 March 29, 2010 Collings 1 Transportation is one of the most important parts of society today and even five hundred years ago. In Elizabethan England, travel was very basic, just feet, hooves, and wheels on cobblestone streets (Singman 86). Ships were also very important to travel and colonization, for England is an island nation (Time Life Ed. 132). Many towns were put on navigable rivers just to make travel easier because many people in this time used rivers and oceans for transportation and sometimes delivery of goods (Singman 85). The most important components of transportation in Elizabethan England were land travel, sea travel, and streets. The first, land travel, was not very effective. Usually people had no need to travel, so most travelling was for professional or military reasons; but, during the Elizabethan era, tourism had evolved, and many people started to travel for fun. Most people would just walk on foot to places nearby. Usually if one was traveling by foot, one would only make about 12 miles per day, and this is why people would use horses. Horses could travel up to four times more than walking alone (Singman 89-91). If one saw the average English family traveling by horse, the man would ride on a horse; and the women and children would ride on baby horses (Dodd 142). When people were in a hurry, they would travel by post. To travel by post, people had to rent Collings 2 horses at each post-house set up along their route. If they were traveling alone, they would also have to hire a boy to take the horse back to the last post-house. This was originally meant for royal business only, but many wealthy people liked to ride by post because they could cover up to seven imes more ground than they could with a horse alone (Singman 89). Only the very rich would rent coaches or carts (Dodd 143). This was not a very good means of transportation because the coaches had no springs and made an extremely rough ride with cobblestone streets and unpaved roads (Singman 89). Long rides in coaches were sometimes even described as a â€Å"bone-jarring experience [especially] on rough Elizabethan road ways. †(W agner 306-307) Since the roads outside London were so bad, coaches were mainly used in London for short distances because the ride was so rough (Wagner 306-307). One of the very important parts to land transportation was delivery of goods. This was very important to the economy as well as the well-being of the English people because if they did not receive needed goods, they could not survive. Carts could carry massive volumes of goods, but packhorses could only handle about two hundred pounds (Singman 89). Since the roads were very dangerous from highwaymen and footpads, or robbers on foot, many travelled in bands of men with weapons handy to protect their goods (Dodd 145). Overall, this all shows that land travel was not the best way to travel in Elizabethan England. Collings 3 Next, there was another way to travel for people in Elizabethan England that was much more effective and efficient, sea travel (Dodd 157). In fact, many towns were put on navigable rivers to make travel easier (Singman 85). Although only one fourth of the ships were general merchant and trading ships and the rest were military ships, they still vastly helped England get many exotic goods and more land. Before anyone did any exploration past the surrounding oceans of England, many told myths that one would be swallowed up by a whirlpool if one sailed past the English seas; and, if one made it past that, one would crash on an island infested with demons. Later, some found that these myths were false, but others still believed them (Dodd 157). During this period, affordable bridges had not been invented yet so the only way to get across the larger rivers, like the Thames, one had to ride â€Å"wherries† or boats that carried people across rivers (Singman 90). In medieval and Elizabethan England, there were few ships that the king or queen actually owned. When they needed to move troops across sea or fight wars on water, the king or queen â€Å"collected a navy from port towns that owed [them] ships as part of their feudal service and from merchants who leased [them] their trade vessels† (Wagner 205). Commercial ships of the time would mainly carry a few guns, and war ships were very similar except they were narrower, and some of the larger ones could get much bigger than any commercial ship (Singman 90). Most ships had three masts, but some could have one or two and were made for trade. There were hundreds of names for different ships including pinnaces, Collings 4 barks, and galleons. A merchant ship of about one hundred feet would have exceeded two hundred tons of carrying capacity. Most English ships were built in England, but some were acquired from abroad by purchase, capture, or legal seizure (Friel). Whenever a person had to travel across seas, there were no passenger ships so one would have to rent passage on a cargo ship. All ships were very slow if traveling by sail and would only go about four to six knots (Singman 90-91). Queen Elizabeth changed the boats for warfare and made them platforms for large guns instead of platforms for troops (Wagner 206). Life at sea was very hazardous. A person aboard a ship was always at risk of a pirate attack, a Spanish attack, and disease. Bigger ships were much better at surviving an attack because they had more guns and men. As for diseases, every man was at risk. In a ship, there were cabins for senior officers, and normal sailors had to sleep in tight and bad conditions. In warships there would be hammocks, but this was rare for any other type of ship. Kitchens were deep in the ship, extremely rudimentary, and sometimes known as the unhealthiest part of a ship. They only served salted beef, pork and fish, cheese, pease, a baked vegetable dish made with split yellow peas, spices, and ham or bacon, butter, and hardtack with a mug of beer. Rats were very common on ships even if the ship was kept as clean as it could get. When they died and Collings 5 secreted wastes, they made a horrible smell on board. The kitchen conditions and rats helped diseases spread rapidly (Friel). Overall, if one was willing to take the risks, sea travel proved to be much more effective than all other types of travel of the time. The last and arguably the most important part of travel in the Elizabethan era were streets. They were known as a right for people to go in the queen’s land. England had no national road system, just hopeful injunctions. Many streets were dangerous to travel on because of the highwaymen and footpads that were on the roads ready to attack (Dodd 140-145). Most streets were just gravel or dirt, but some were paved or cobbled. Dirt streets would become a sea of mud when bad storms came and made travel extremely hard. Cobbled and paved roads were very rare and mainly found in London. In 1543, the government wanted the streets to become better; therefore, they forced homeowners to pay for the pavement of the streets on which they lived (Picard 30-31). Many of the streets were narrow and crooked and evolved from footpaths in medieval towns. Some were carefully directed, but most were not wide at all. They became very murky at night, and some were lighted but only because of a homeowners concern, not the government. The street conditions were absolutely horrible, and the only way to get very far was by horse (McMurtry 95-110). On Leicestershire roads, â€Å"‘you enter the deep clays, which are so Collings 6 surprisingly soft, that it is perfectly frightful to travelers. ’†(Williams 2-3) Roads were noisome and tedious to travel on and were often just a foul and noyful slough (Williams 2-3). Streets were very hard to keep in an average condition. The English government left upkeep of roads up to a local parish according to the Act of 1555. Each parish was elected as a volunteer surveyor for a one year term. After the elections, each parish had to work on the roads within his or her area for eight hours a day, four days in a row. Every single owner of land had to fix their carts and keep up with their oxen and horses. Then they had to help the parish and fix up the roads with their own spades, picks, and mattocks, but they were allowed to hire two laborers to help them (Dodd 140). Streets were generally awful and hard to travel on but without them land travel would have been pretty much impossible. Land travel, sea travel, and streets are the most important factors of transportation in Elizabethan England. Even though land transportation was very basic, just feet, hooves, and wheels, it was important to the Elizabethan lifestyle (Singman 86). Sea transportation was even more important because without it and colonization, America would not have been discovered (Time Life Ed 132). Transportation has been in use ever since the first man could walk and has always played a major role in helping society. Collings 7 Dodd, A. H. Life in Elizabethan England. Ruthin: Jones, 1962. Friel, Ian. â€Å"Guns, Gales God. † Vol. 60 Issue 1 historytoday. com/MainArticle. aspx? m=33787. History Today, 2010. McMurtry, Jo. Understanding Shakespeare’s England. Hamden: Archon, 1989. Picard, Liza. Elizabeth’s London. London: St. Martin’s, 2003. Singman, Jeffrey L. The Life and Times of Elizabethan England. Westport: Greenwood, 1995. Time Life Ed. What Life was Like in the Realm of Elizabeth. Alexandria: Time Life, 1998. Wagner, John A. Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World. Phoenix: Oryx 1984. Williams, Penry. Life in Tudor England. New York: Capricorn, 1964.

Admission to the Masters of Accounting Program

I have faced a number of knotty situations in life. On one occasion, I was working with the ADA or the American Diabetes Association. We worked as two groups and our principal task was to count and reconcile the checks, cash and credit card donations, which used to arrive in large quantities. One day an older man joined our team. Then our troubles started. Till that time we had worked without any mutual misgivings or bickering. With the advent of this person, our time schedules and procedures went haywire. I studied the situation and realized that all this was due to his reluctance to follow the established procedure. Every one, in both the groups, was compelled to go home late, due to this person’s obduracy. All felt that he should be suitably reprimanded, but no one was willing to undertake this unpleasant task. The question that was foremost on every one’s mind was ‘who would bell the cat?’ I jumped into the fray and gently but firmly convinced him that what he was doing was unacceptable. He was happy with this way of communication, because I had talked to him in private, so that his pride was not hurt. This had the desired effect and we were able to complete the work in time. In addition, I was also the secretary of the African Cultural Society. I was instrumental in planning and implementing the IREP Africa program at the College of William Mary. This task entailed coordination between and interaction with a number of fellow students, faculty and departments. I emerged much stronger as a coordinator, facilitator and administrator after this novel experience. The professed objective of this program was to unite African student organizations in Virginia and to improve their relations with each other.   I actively participated in several campaigns to raise funds for the underprivileged in Africa and one of them was in respect of poverty stricken women of Uganda. A successful and efficient accountant is one who is reliable, thorough, ingenious, a seeker of solutions, well organized and performance oriented. Of these the most important is trustworthiness, because accountants, in addition to their usual work, have to offer reliable advice regarding the conduct of business in the present day economic and legal context. Moreover, if accounting standards are not adhered to, then the company stands the risk of having to close down. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in the year 2002, in order to deal with such eventualities. Another important trait of an accountant is attention to detail. I possess this in ample measure. This fact was disclosed in my tenure as the treasurer of the African Cultural Society, between the years 2006 to 2007; and as the Vice President of the Syndicate. In these tasks, I maintained authentic and comprehensive financial records. I reviewed the internal financial controls and ensured that the organization’s moneys were safe. This club has a number of advantages and I took up aggressive marketing to ensure that its membership increased. The lack of ethical and moral accounting practices in business organizations results in financial frauds. This was clearly established in the following cases.In the year 2001, Enron announced a net loss of $ 618 million for its third quarter and that it would reduce the shareholders’ equity by $ 1.2 billion. The SEC immediately stepped in and demanded financial information from Enron. The Enron team of Auditor’s lead by their leader Anderson systematically destroyed a large number of financial documents. Subsequently, the Enron officials and its auditors were charged and convicted of fraud. This company had engaged in malpractices relating to financial accounting, with the result that the company became bankrupt. To conceal its malafide practices, this company indulged in complicated accounting practices. This illustrates the fact that accounting has to be ethical, transparent and morally upright. The consequence of the Enron case was that the law relating to accountancy was made more stringent. However, more than even legislation; personal attitude, morality and ethical behavior should have greater influence. WorldCom was another company, which also attempted to camouflage its fraudulent activities by resorting to fudging of figures and falsification of financial reports. The procedure adopted by its accountants was less sophisticated than that of the Enron team; nevertheless, it committed a much greater fraud than Enron. However, these cases were not isolated incidents and proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg. Several more such fraudulent corporations were investigated by the Federal and state regulators. The principal among these are Adelphia, HealthSouth and Tyco, to name a few. I have a flair for leadership and I often volunteer to lead in various academic projects. Recently, I took over the reins of project, involving the formulation of a business plan to be presented to the board of directors. This project emerged as a huge success, despite the difficulties encountered, due to having to lead a team of peers. The team comprised of persons with different temperaments and it required a lot of innovativeness and ingenuity to extract the best from them. I have tremendous patience, as can be attested to by the students of the second grade, whom I teach as a volunteer teacher in the Waller Mill Elementary school, in Williamsburg. The foregoing incidents from my life reveal that I possess a high level of integrity, reliability, planning and implementing capacity, motivational skills, inspiration, ability to work in a team and patience. 2.   What are you hoping to achieve during your studies in the MAcc Program? I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in accounting by the month of May, 2008. Subsequently, I intend to pursue the Masters of Accounting Program at the College of William and Mary’s School of Business. This course is truly outstanding and the faculty is the third best in the nation. Classes are typically small and informal. The emphasis is on acquiring expertise. The faculty is easily accessible, if one wants to clarify doubts. In conjunction with my considerable management and leadership skills, this knowledge in accountancy will render me highly suitable for obtaining the Certified Public Accountant license. My principal objective is to become a CPA. Admission to the Masters of Accounting Program I have faced a number of knotty situations in life. On one occasion, I was working with the ADA or the American Diabetes Association. We worked as two groups and our principal task was to count and reconcile the checks, cash and credit card donations, which used to arrive in large quantities. One day an older man joined our team. Then our troubles started. Till that time we had worked without any mutual misgivings or bickering. With the advent of this person, our time schedules and procedures went haywire. I studied the situation and realized that all this was due to his reluctance to follow the established procedure. Every one, in both the groups, was compelled to go home late, due to this person’s obduracy. All felt that he should be suitably reprimanded, but no one was willing to undertake this unpleasant task. The question that was foremost on every one’s mind was ‘who would bell the cat?’ I jumped into the fray and gently but firmly convinced him that what he was doing was unacceptable. He was happy with this way of communication, because I had talked to him in private, so that his pride was not hurt. This had the desired effect and we were able to complete the work in time. In addition, I was also the secretary of the African Cultural Society. I was instrumental in planning and implementing the IREP Africa program at the College of William Mary. This task entailed coordination between and interaction with a number of fellow students, faculty and departments. I emerged much stronger as a coordinator, facilitator and administrator after this novel experience. The professed objective of this program was to unite African student organizations in Virginia and to improve their relations with each other.   I actively participated in several campaigns to raise funds for the underprivileged in Africa and one of them was in respect of poverty stricken women of Uganda. A successful and efficient accountant is one who is reliable, thorough, ingenious, a seeker of solutions, well organized and performance oriented. Of these the most important is trustworthiness, because accountants, in addition to their usual work, have to offer reliable advice regarding the conduct of business in the present day economic and legal context. Moreover, if accounting standards are not adhered to, then the company stands the risk of having to close down. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in the year 2002, in order to deal with such eventualities. Another important trait of an accountant is attention to detail. I possess this in ample measure. This fact was disclosed in my tenure as the treasurer of the African Cultural Society, between the years 2006 to 2007; and as the Vice President of the Syndicate. In these tasks, I maintained authentic and comprehensive financial records. I reviewed the internal financial controls and ensured that the organization’s moneys were safe. This club has a number of advantages and I took up aggressive marketing to ensure that its membership increased. The lack of ethical and moral accounting practices in business organizations results in financial frauds. This was clearly established in the following cases.In the year 2001, Enron announced a net loss of $ 618 million for its third quarter and that it would reduce the shareholders’ equity by $ 1.2 billion. The SEC immediately stepped in and demanded financial information from Enron. The Enron team of Auditor’s lead by their leader Anderson systematically destroyed a large number of financial documents. Subsequently, the Enron officials and its auditors were charged and convicted of fraud. This company had engaged in malpractices relating to financial accounting, with the result that the company became bankrupt. To conceal its malafide practices, this company indulged in complicated accounting practices. This illustrates the fact that accounting has to be ethical, transparent and morally upright. The consequence of the Enron case was that the law relating to accountancy was made more stringent. However, more than even legislation; personal attitude, morality and ethical behavior should have greater influence. WorldCom was another company, which also attempted to camouflage its fraudulent activities by resorting to fudging of figures and falsification of financial reports. The procedure adopted by its accountants was less sophisticated than that of the Enron team; nevertheless, it committed a much greater fraud than Enron. However, these cases were not isolated incidents and proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg. Several more such fraudulent corporations were investigated by the Federal and state regulators. The principal among these are Adelphia, HealthSouth and Tyco, to name a few. I have a flair for leadership and I often volunteer to lead in various academic projects. Recently, I took over the reins of project, involving the formulation of a business plan to be presented to the board of directors. This project emerged as a huge success, despite the difficulties encountered, due to having to lead a team of peers. The team comprised of persons with different temperaments and it required a lot of innovativeness and ingenuity to extract the best from them. I have tremendous patience, as can be attested to by the students of the second grade, whom I teach as a volunteer teacher in the Waller Mill Elementary school, in Williamsburg. The foregoing incidents from my life reveal that I possess a high level of integrity, reliability, planning and implementing capacity, motivational skills, inspiration, ability to work in a team and patience. 2.   What are you hoping to achieve during your studies in the MAcc Program? I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in accounting by the month of May, 2008. Subsequently, I intend to pursue the Masters of Accounting Program at the College of William and Mary’s School of Business. This course is truly outstanding and the faculty is the third best in the nation. Classes are typically small and informal. The emphasis is on acquiring expertise. The faculty is easily accessible, if one wants to clarify doubts. In conjunction with my considerable management and leadership skills, this knowledge in accountancy will render me highly suitable for obtaining the Certified Public Accountant license. My principal objective is to become a CPA.

America as a Christian Nation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

America as a Christian Nation - Essay Example And that they do it only by necessity. According to him "injustice is more profitable to an individual than justice." (360 B.C.) However, it has been a popular teaching in Christianity that God gave men free will. And according to C.S Lewis, it is that same free will that made evil possible. (1943) Men are then free to do good as well as evil. Therefore, because of this free will, in my opinion, it doesn't matter whether or not men are born just or not. Nor is the reason why men are unjust, whether by whim or necessity. All that matters is that men have the capacity to be unjust. And it is that capability for injustice that should be constrained, but how It has been argued that the best of all things is "to do injustice and not be punished," the worst is "to suffer injustice without power of retaliation," (Devine 2004) hence the middle ground is what we call justice as imposed by government. And I agree. I believe that it is the existence of the government that constrains this capability of evil. It provides for laws, renders judgment and imposes punishment. I agree with Rousseau when he stated that even if God did not have a hand on the legitimacy of the government, it is God that gave the individuals inalienable rights. (Devine, 2004) And this includes the right to form a unified body to govern them. You need not be Christian. You can be Muslim or Jewish. You may even call your God different names. But I think, if one believes that all men has inalienable rights, he or she must believe that there is a higher power bestowing that right. Because if the contrary was true, that there is no higher power, then men would be the highest power. We are all gods. I don't think that's right. If we are all gods, that would lead to chaos. As such, since the power of the American government emanates from the people, America as a nation must believe in a higher power, a religion. Why Christianity One main reason why America leans towards Christianity more than the other religions is because of history. We have learned in the readings that through conquests, Christianity was spread from Europe, to the American continent. However, there are also other religions brought by immigrants inside America. There is also the fact that there are many who prefers not to believe in any religion at all. But despite that, I still believe that America is still a Christian nation. Why Because of its teachings. No matter if you call yourself an atheist or declare that you believe in some other god, if you practice what Christianity preach, I call you a Christian. So what are these teachings Firstly, Christianity teaches us to be just, to respect and to do no harm to another. These are the basic virtues that lead to the very goal of our Constitution: the protection of life, liberty and property. Secondly, Christianity t

PaY For Play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PaY For Play - Essay Example Sports players are a huge asset for the colleges because they enhance the college reputation and prestige. One of the realities of the current university and college system is that they derive a residual level of profitability from whatever sports programs that the school offers. This residual level of revenue has come to be an important funding stream that colleges and universities rely on to ameliorate the economic pressures of hard times. However, regardless of the degree of revenue that these institutions are able to garner as a result of their sports programs, the student athletes are not paid for their work outside the scholarships that they are oftentimes offered as an incentive to play the game. However, it is normally seen that the athletes or sportsmen have not given much consideration when it comes to upholding their rights. When it came to my college, I saw that our college athletes were not given due respect with regard to the reward structure. In our society college ath letes undergo much sacrifice and bring money but not be paid in return. I myself have been a football player in college and I understand what it means to be able to have spending money to survive during the university experience; a luxury that those not playing sports can readily achieve merely by picking up a part time job while in school. Thus, following inductive reasoning I can say that those college athletes who participate in major money making sports, such as football in the SEC, should be paid and not just in kind. The approach of ethos, pathos and logos is used in this paper to prove the point. For logical approach inductive reasoning is used based on facts, ethical appeal is used after considering views of different authors regarding payment of college athletes and an emotional appeal also lies underneath the arguments presented in the paper. Background of Sports Play at College and Problems in Pay for Play: Regulation regarding paying college athletes should be changed in order to compensate athletes and payment should be made mandatory. This is because these players bring in a lot of money and put in too much work for that without earning a paycheck. The idea of sports played in college came into existence during 1850. Soon after, sports achieved its place in the curriculum of the college activities. Gradually colleges started to prepare for the intercollegiate competition as a mean of boosting the self confidence and as a method of learning to overcome the obstacles in life. The first intercollegiate athletic competition held in America was secondary to the promotional wishes and was launched as a commercial venture. It has been regarded as the perfect physical activity and the desire of the young men. The competitive spirit and vigor which are parts of college sports enhanced the mental and physical pleasure of the students. The college authorities elaborately planned sports activities which motivated the students immensely and sports events at c ollege and national levels became a prestigious venture and money making phenomena for college authorities. The media kept the young athletes in the lime light and the scholarship provided by colleges to them stood as a bonus (Smith, 2011, pp. 1-8). However one should consider their importance to the colleges and their role as revenue earners in order to compensate them in cash and kind. Here lies the ethical appeal. Playing college sports has evolved to be an honor

Economic Development in Kenya Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economic Development in Kenya - Assignment Example It will also lead to the digitization of the Kenyan education system, where every pupil in Kenya will receive the same quality of education be it in private or public schools and finally Kenyans technological knowledge will increase immensely, and in the future Kenyans might produce one of the best IT innovative gurus, such as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Therefore, with this project in mind, the hypothesis that would be tested by the RCT is whether the laptop project will improve the education quality in pupils from rural Kenya and make it at par with that of students learning in urban private schools. The randomized control trials, in this case, will be identifying two schools one from rural Kenya, where there are minimal facilities and learning is a very cumbersome task for its pupils (treatment group). The other school will be from urban Kenya, where facilities are in plenty, and the learning institution has everything it needs to make learning a sweet and enjoyable experience for its students, (control group). The target population will be all pupils joining class one in both schools, where the students in the rural school, will be provided with laptops that have been loaded with adequate learning material and a well-defined syllabus. The same syllabus will be the one student from the urban school will be studying as well, the rural school will also have teachers that will help the students understand how to use and retrieve the information they want from the laptops. After the RCT is implemented, a series of tests will be administered to both the treatment group and the contro l group, where our intended outcome is that the treatment group will perform equally as the control group if not better. Our hypothesis is whether the laptop project will improve the education quality in pupils from rural Kenya and make it at par with that  of students learning in urban private schools.  

Alfred Hitchcock The Birds Analysis

Alfred Hitchcock The Birds Analysis The Birds was one of the most successful suspense films of its time and possibly all time. It is a superbly directed film by the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. The Birds was based on a novella by Daphne Du Maurier of the same name. I think this is an astounding, unbelievably, remarkable film because it does everything a suspense film should have, and more. In this article I am going to explore the suspense used in the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I will examine how through lighting, colour and camera angles this was one of Hitchcocks most renowned motion picture. Hitchcock was very impressive in his dramatic techniques because the tension is built in various scenes which also makes this film accomplish the horror genre in addition to suspense. Initially the audience believe the film is a comedy because it is incredibly ordinary in addition to the use of bright lights and warm colours. Hitchcock makes us as the viewer get an understanding of the characters back story before unleashing the terror in the rest of the film. The movie was very modern for its era, as a result of the use of new technology to the 60s hence the scenes are realistic which adds to its unrevealing storyline. The use of Technicolor added to the horror during the film because it was very new. Through pathetic fallacy the atmosphere is set in most scenes, for example when Melanie Daniels and Mitch Brenner are in the bird shop it is very bright and colourful which is reflected in the characters behavior in the scene. Also towards the end the lighting and colour create a dark and eerie atmosphere. The killers in The Birds and Psycho were believable however the characters remained odd and innocent characters. The introduction of the film with the character is familiar shows her sense of security however when she moves to a rural area we see a vulnerable character with unfamiliar surroundings. Hitchcock may have chosen a small town because it is seen to be more dangerous but in this setting it is more dangerous as it is isolated. The film features a mass use of the colour green for example in the scenery whilst Melanie is driving the boat the landscape is green and blue to Hitchcocks liking and also Melanie wears the same green coat throughout the film. This makes the colour green significant to Hitchcocks films. Green is not usually associated with terror and fear but Hitchcock used this to make the audience feel uncertainty in the film. When Melanie is taking the birdcage to Mitch she is viewed from the waist down showing her in a green dress. This is a reference to birds being women because Melanie is blonde haired and is wearing green, the love birds are yellow headed with green bodies. This suggestion is also made in the beginning when Melanie is walking down a busy street and hears a wolf whistle towards her. This sound is similar to a birds sound. Hitchcock also used the colour green in Vertigo the Female lead wears green. Hitchcock also uses sharp objects in many ways for example the beaks in The Bird s and the weapon in Psycho. Most of the film is set during the day which makes the viewer unsuspecting of the birds. Hitchcock does this to show the calm and peaceful atmosphere which is maintained throughout the film until the ending. Vibrant colours take over the screen predominantly, during the relaxed scenes whereas before and for the duration of the bird attacks dim, shady colours are used. For instance in the Tides Restaurant when the birds attack the atmosphere is dark which is reflected on the clothes worn, the weather and the colour of the birds (see image 1). The colour plays a key part in why The Birds is a successful suspense film. Through its use of high key lighting contrasted with low key lighting which creates a mysterious impression to the audience. An example of lighting is offered proficiently in the dead famer scene. In this scene we see the lighting symbolising the mood in the scene. It begins with Lydia walking down with very bright sunlight, as she walks towards the door the lighting begins to dim down. Entering the house we see a window with natural light but no false light in the house. This absence of light begins to suggest something bad has happened. The director has used this superbly in many of his films to create unease with the observer. Hitchcock was superior when it came to using mise-en-scene to alter the appearance of things. The room where the famer is found is bright but as the camera begins to reveal his body the lighting is darker. The shadows cover the body only exposing his face with his pitch-black eye sockets. As Lydia runs out the weather has changed to a dark stormy sky. The audience feels that this symbolises the man has died and the birds will attack again. Hitchcock creates a parallel to the book because the main character finds his neighbours killed because of the birds. The director does this because he is trying to use visual techniques such as camera angles and lighting to create a horror film atmosphere which also creates a more effective suspense film. This scene is effective because of the drama portrayed by Lydia it is also good because we begin to see different aspects to Lydias character. During the scene where the old woman talks about the scientific facts concerning the birds we see bright colours and vivid lighting but as the birds begin to attack it seems to get darker. When the man is set alight the fire signifies death and evil, as well as a warning that more birds are coming to attack. This is another scene where lighting causes suspense. The use of Chiaroscuro is very effective in scaring the audience. Also the use of long dialogue to create suspense is extremely effective because the audience is eager to find out the cause of the attacks and when they will attack again but this explanation creates the anticipating effect on the audience. The MacGuffin changes throughout the film. At the beginning the audience feels the film is a cheerful film about love but when the storyline develops the viewer thinks: Why are the birds attacking? When are they going to attack next? These questions cannot be answered because they were even analysed by the characters in the Tides Restaurant scene after the birds attacked the school but there was no rational reason. Hitchcock used the MacGuffin in many of his films for example in Psycho the characters wonder Where Is Marion Crane with the money? MacGuffin is one of Hitchcocks strong points because he uses it to make the audience have a different attitude to every scene wondering what is going to happen and why is it happening. This works well because the audience does feel the urge to find out what will happen and a number of other questions. The performance portrayed by the actors in this film is very effective as the actors and actresses are very realistic and can relate to the audience through this. Also the use of something as ordinary and everyday as birds instead of monsters and aliens used in modern films makes the film relate to the audiences life. This is a film that can affect a wide range of audiences because it would have frightened people in the 60s because of the fear of bombs attacking. Nowadays it could be a relation to global warming attacking us. Due to the death of the farmer Lydia was in more need of Mitchs protection but felt she had to compete with Melanie because both were women in Mitchs life and they felt helpless. The very moving portrayal of a needy mother by Jessica Tandy is amazing and still makes an impact to people today because this emphasises Oedipus complex. Mitch is the central character and the women seem to revolve around him which could be another cause for the bird attacks. The protagonist in the novella by Du Maurier is a farmer and Mitch lives in a barn. This is one of many similarities between the film and the book. Hitchcock developed the characters relationships in different ways to create an unsuspecting atmosphere. Melanie is the centre of this as she is a problem to Lydia Brenner and Annie Hayworth (the school teacher) as they are both women who are dependent of Mitchs love. Kathy Brenner (Mitchs sister) likes Melanie because of the love birds she received from her for her birthday and is not one of the main focuses of the film. The handing of the love birds guides to a very misleading storyline making us think it is about the love birds only because Hitchcock spent a lot of time building the characters feelings and behaviours to create an intense atmosphere for the audience thus creating suspense. In the opening credits the title The Birds was slowly pecked away by the passing crows. This use of bright light and medium shots for an introduction creates a mysterious tone for the audience. For modern audiences this could be seen as a very emotive film but long however this makes the audience even more eager to watch the film because it does not give away much information in many scenes. The power of the movie is through the use of camera angles due to the absence of a music soundtrack. Hitchcock uses a variety of methods which are incredibly effective to produce the vast suspense in the film. In many scenes tension is built to create fear and uncertainty in when the birds attack. The film is not extremely graphical in the scenes where the birds attack yet the terror is shown through his use of camera angles. For example Melanies phone booth scene, the camera moves around in the point of view of the birds then switches to Melanies view however when she is getting more and more vulnerable low angle shots are used to make her look defenceless (see image 2). As Melanie enters the phone booth a medium long shot is used. Birds-eye view is used to show her alone with the birds attacking the booth. Extreme close ups show her emotion as scared. The attack from the birds is shown with fast paced point of view shots from Melanie and the birds. Extreme close ups are used to show the characters emotions during bird attacks. At the start of the film this is used showing the characters behaviour. Predominantly when we see Melanie she looks like an upper class woman with no worries in the world through extreme close ups. She is very sophisticated which makes her weak and in danger of attack. Hitchcock uses a female protagonists in many of his films such as Psycho, Marion is alone and vulnerable and Vertigo, the female is calm and alone. Through camera angles we can see the similarities in the characters feelings. Point of view shots are used a great number of times during the film to give you an idea about what they can see and how they see things. For instance when Lydia sees the farmer we walk with her because a point of view shot is used. The body of the farmer zooms in three times to show his eyes. This triple close up shot works well with point of view shot to create a tense atmosphere. Lydia is a frightened old woman who walks in a certain way through Camera angles we find out about her need to be a woman in authority. In the playground scene of The Birds the camera shots are used to develop the still surrounding before the assembly of the birds. The long shot of Melanie Daniels walking to the bench illustrates she is alone and the empty climbing frame in the playground. She is unaware of what is going on and has her back to the birds in the climbing frame (see image 3). By doing this suggests she is exposed and vulnerable and open to attack as she is unaware of the further gathering of the birds but the audience can see this through the medium long shot. She is lower down under the birds showing she is in danger of attack by the birds. Hitchcock is trying to explore the audiences reaction to this calm place being the home of the villains of the film because the playground seems like a place of purity so the audience believes it is a cheerful place. Usually in suspense films something begins calm but changes unsuspectingly. Hitchcock used suspense to its extent because the wait in many of his scene s for the birds to come are long. This change is when the first bird lands on the climbing frame creates a sinister atmosphere. The camera cuts from mid shots of Melanie smoking and the birds building up number on the climbing frame. Mise-en-scene is used because Hitchcock makes the landscape reflect onto Melanies loneliness. The school playground and the hills in the background make the atmosphere normal and make her appear defenceless and alone. Hitchcock is trying to explore how colours and bright scenery creates a cold scary atmosphere without the use of non-diagetic sounds or speech of Melanie. The argument that the bird attacks are drawn by Mitch could be proved wrong as it has three female characters: Kathy, Melanie, Annie. The sounds are very loud and show tension such as in psycho the only sound in the shower scene is the water touching the basin. Melanie is a very vulnerable character because she is an outsider to the community and Hitchcock emphasises this in many scenes. Annie seems to be dominant and have power over Melanie because she is accepted by the community. Also Annie feels threatened by Melanie because we see her ordering Melanie to sit outside instead of staying with her in the classroom. Tilted angle shots are used in the end scene when we hear the birds approaching. The characters look up towards the ceiling where the bird sounds are coming from. The squawks could be a diegetic or non diegetic sound because they set the mood and as the volume increases the characters are more frightened and the mood is intense. Afterwards a low angle shot is used to show the defencelessness of the characters. Wide shots (Extreme long shots) are used to show the landscape and the characters surroundings and usually it is not visibly detailed. This is incredibly thrilling and terrifying and is shown in many scenes to show the birds plotting and attacking. A birds eye view camera angle is a very strange and unnatural shot but is used frequently in the film, not only in the phone booth scene (see image 4). Hitchcock could have used this as a literal birds-eye view however the shot puts the audience in a god like position because we see it from above. This could be a direct link to the judgement day explanation of the film as this shot is used when the birds begin attacking at the gas station. The first attack is referenced in the Tides Restaurant scene when the woman accuses Melanie of the bird attacks because she is the first person to be attacked in the boat. Long shots are used to show the landscape. The warm, calm atmosphere in the scene is shown by the landscape and Melanies clothing. The long shot doubles as a point of view shot for Mitch. We see what Mitch sees as she is attacked by a seagull. The bird attack could be interpreted as Melanies need be noticed by Mitch because Melanie would have gone home straight afterwards if it wasnt for the bird attacking her. Hitchcock uses a range of dramatic techniques to introduce the characters and their relation with each other. He does this to create a sense of unease and make the film have a deeper meaning than just bird attacks. This film could be about a number of other things because this scene shows the emotions between the two characters which seems to cause the first bird attack. If Hitchcock really wanted to make th e film only about birds he would have based it more around the book because the novella has a conclusion and an explanation. Also it focuses more on the bird attacks and the science than the relationship between the characters. The mother and son relationship is shown in many of Hitchcocks film for example the dominant mother in Psycho. Throughout the film Mitch refers to his mother as darling and kisses her frequently. This is a suggestion of Oedipus Complex. Mitch is in love with his mother and the absence of his father makes the mother needy. In addition to that Lydia and Melanie look extremely alike which tells us that Mitch wants his wife to be his jus like his mother. One of the most successful scenes in the film is Kathys birthday scene. It has a sense of being a very unsuspecting scene because it uses very vivid colours and has an absence of birds altogether in the landscape. This use of bright lights and bright colours make the scene seem innocent which makes the audience anticipating a bird attack or wondering why they arent attacking. This gives an idea of innocence because we see Mitch and Melanies relationship develop before the bird attack and we see their characters revealed which also adds to a build up to the climax of the birds attacking. We see Lydia is helpless by the uses of camera angles such as point-of-view shots and extreme close ups. She is scared when the birds begin to attack and is needy of Mitchs attention but he is focused on the other two women in his life Melanie and Annie. When the birds pop the balloons we hear sounds like bombs which could be a link to the Daphne Du Maurier novella because her book was based in Englan d to show the fear of bomb attacks in post war Britain. Hitchcock was trying to explore what humans are afraid of which is nature attacking the human race. Hitchcock played on the idea of being afraid of the sky and used birds instead of bombs. This scene shows how the director makes a calm peaceful scene make us think about the world and nature. Modern movies have followed this example by the master of suspense such as 2012 which shows nature attacking humans and ending the world. Towards the end when the birds attack the house the feeling of being paranoid is conveyed through the actor which implies the feeling of things coming out of the sky. This is a reference to the cold war. This also makes us as humans feel that anything can happen to us and nature can make us vulnerable. The book comes to a conclusion that the birds are influenced by the tide levels. In the beginning the humans are in control of the birds as they are caged. The tables turn when the humans are locked in their homes with the birds intimidating them. The Birds is arguably a film about the tension between families because the birds attack when different things happen to each character. The bird attacks when Melanie starts to get feelings for Mitch and when there is tension between Lydia and Melanie. Lydia is the overprotective mother and Melanie is a woman without a mother. Melanie is wealthy and has everything she wants apart from a mother. At the end we see Melanie powerless she can barely look up to Lydia but still does in a way saying that she has found her mother figure and is need of help. Also another interpretation of the bird attacks is that because the birds will never stop until humans change. The birds almost fight back after the humans treat them with cruelty trapped in zoos and cages. The phone booth scene also emphasises that because Melanie is surrounding by birds mocking her in a phone booth which looks like a bird helpless in a cage. This tells us there could be a biblical message to the film, Judgement day as discussed in the Tides restaurant. In Psycho, there is a psychologist who concludes the film by explaining why Norman Bates chose those actions, similarly The Birds an ornithologist explains the facts about birds and possible answers to their behaviour in the Tides Restaurant. The birds could be a warning from something greater than humans due to the fact that birds are traditionally a symbol of peace but in the film they connote death and evil. Hitchcock reinforces the idea that humans are in constant fear that nature will turn against them. Humans a re usually the predators of birds but in the book they are shown as eating the humans because of the weather. However in the book they kill the humans but no mention of eating. The humans are left helpless to die. Hitchcock could have also based this on the bird attacks in San Francisco because the birds attacked without an explanation. Also Psycho, Normans hobby is stuffing dead birds which could be a reference to the cruelty of humans to birds. In the beginning the lack of any non-diegetic sounds in the film makes us believe there is no music score. However Hitchcock uses the sounds of the school children and birds during the film. The squawking of the birds is very intense. When it is calm the sounds are quiet and high pitched. Before and during attacks the bird sounds range in pitch and volume terrifying the viewer. Hitchcock refers to Bernard Herrmann, a composer as a music consultant. Herrmann has worked with Hitchcock on many films such as Vertigo. Hitchcock seemed to not use non-diegetic sounds to create a nervous atmosphere which is preserved throughout the film but the bird noises seems to be internal but is a non-diagetic sound with different pitched squawks. When we are introduced to Mitchs family home Melanie on the piano is another sound which creates and atmosphere. Whist Kathy is pleading for Melanie to stay. The piano sets the mood and slows down in pace as Kathy is turned down. In the Playground Scene the childrens nursery rhyme is the only sound which gives the same effect as a non-diegetic sound. This sound is well used to create tension in the atmosphere. The children sing repeatedly to make the scene feel innocent and to show Melanie is still naive to the birds gathering behind her. Although the sound is internal it still builds up tension and fear in the film. To conclude the film was incredibly triumphant in creating suspense for the audience. The whole film has a mixture of horror and suspense. This made me feel Hitchcock deserved to be called the master of suspense. Although others may feel this is not one of Hitchcocks best films because of bad visual effects I think it is worthy of being in the top five of Hitchcocks films. Through camera angles, colour and lighting and the drama portrayed by the actors and actresses the birds continues to be a success due to it being able to frighten audiences from different time periods. The absence of a musical soundtrack is very efficient in creating suspense. The film also produces an amazingly compelling storyline and for those reasons Hitchcock will never be forgotten for his amazing works.

Confederation vs. Federation The need for change :: essays research papers

The US government transformed itself from a very weak government to a strong central government from 1776 to 1876. The maitenance and creation of order was deeply needed in america at this time. Due to the US Constitution, The Articles of Confederation, and the Bill of Rights America went through so much needed changes. Around 1776 America wanted a weak government because they had such a fear of monoarchy. When the trasformation of the new strong central government began many more problems occured and even contributed to the Civil War. The first attempt for a new government was in 1781 when the Articles of Confederation was formed. The Articles of Confederation was like a contract that bounded the 13 colonies together which gave each individual state power over its own decisions. Some conflicts arose from this. So, the next step was the creation of the US Constitution. The Constituion was a set of laws that defined the powers of the government. This fell through when there was nothing mentioned about slavery. Many, many conflicts arose from the states slavery issue. After much thought it was deceided to come up with a comprimise. "For every free state there will be a slave state". This seemed to work until Lincoln was elected in 1860 and then slavery was abolished. This played a key role in the beginning of the civel war where 600,000 people lost there lives. This is a great example of why the Constitution had failed. So the 13 amendment was formed and slavery was officially abolished. Now around 1865 America was in great need for some reconstruction. With the states having their local powers revoked they did not want to lose their right to life, liberty and the persuit of happiness. With the new central government in control new federal supremacy was formed and initiated new checks and balances to ensure the government was running properly.