The Film Stray Dog by Akira Kurosawa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Film Stray Dog by Akira Kurosawa - Essay Example Instead of using the real story of a detective who lost his pistol, Kurosawa searched for further possibilities of a detective cum social allegorical film. The director’s craft can be identified in his attempt to superimpose the story to the Japanese society which was facing the after-effects of the World War. Besides, choosing a detective as a protagonist instead of a policeman is a conscious attempt by the director to represent the mass, not the bureaucracy. From an analytical perspective, the film portrays the physical and mental torture felt by the mass in a war-torn society. The protagonist represents the citizens who were forced to endure the after-effects of a deadly war. In the film, hot weather is symbolic of the enduring capacity of the public. Besides, an unending search of the protagonist to regain his pistol, i.e. his identity is symbolic of Japanese society’s attempt to survive the political, social and economic effects of the war. Noel Burch in the work ‘To the Distant Observer: Form and Meaning in Japanese Cinema’ states that Akira Kurosawa made use of the film Stray Dog as an innovative medium for social criticism through film version (Burch 294). The image of the dog in the beginning of the film is symbolic of any individual who is forced to face a nuclear/ non-nuclear war and it’s after effects. Like other Kurosawa movies, the Stray Dog is closely related to Japanese history. For instance, in 1949, the same year of the film’s release is symbolic of the recovery of Japan from a nuclear war. Isolde Standish in the work ‘A new history of Japanese cinema: a century of narrative film’ opines that the film Stray Dog portrays the post world war condition in Japan by showing the transformation of an unemployed soldier to a thief and murderer (Standish 216).  Ã‚  

Is Jealousy Ever a Good Thing Essay Example for Free

Is Jealousy Ever a Good Thing Essay Jealousy has always been one of the meanest quality of mankind. What is worse is that, it is almost inevitable. In one way or another, jealousy enters our lives, naturally and sometimes unconsciously, creating suffering for ourselves and others. As events from history and daily life have shown, human’s failure to stay away from this instinct has led to ruined relationships, suffering for everyone involved, and even demoralization. Let’s take Cesare Borgia as an example of how dangerous jealousy is to human. As the oldest son of the powerful Pope Alexander VI of Vatican, Cesare is said to have everything, from wealth to land and power. Compared to his brother Giovanni, however, Cesare himself felt inferior. He was sick of seeing Giovanni taking away from him beautiful women and more affection from the Pope, as well as losing more important military duties and national honor in to his brother. In situations like this, it is human nature to feel jealous, but Cesare’s extreme envy led him to kill his brother. Now having gained absolute power, it is ironic that Cesare was still not happy. His father was so upset that he imprisoned himself in a palace for a long time, and Cesare was detested by Giovanni’s wife and many family members. From the story, it is startling how jealousy can make people do crazy things and turn brotherhood into rivalry, degrading moral values and causing agony to everyone. Daily life proves to be a huge source of evidences for the negative effects of jealousy. I feel sad to see the way some of my friends at school treat each other like rivals. Because of excessive competitiveness in academics, the scene of some classmates making fun of somebody else’s low grade is not uncommon. I am astonished at the way many students turn so indifferent whenever I ask them for help with my homework, and the way they wish each other to fail exams so that they can climb to the top of the class. People may argue that being jealous of others’ success gives them extra determination. They must have not realized that friendship is more important than superficial achievements. By being jealous, they actually develop a selfish attitude, and sacrifice what may have become their lifelong friendships. Among the many ways to achieve our goals, being jealous is absolutely the worst one, for proofs from both history and daily life have shown that it can destroy friendships and creates rivalry. Unless people can avoid it and take others’ success as a model and motivation for themselves to make progress, they will never have what they want.

Fraud :: Free Essay Writer

Fraud Cut-off Fraud Fraud involves purposeful attempts to deceive, not good-faith disagreements on accounting treatments. One of the five basic methods companies used to boost up their profits is fraud in timing, which is also called cut-off fraud. This is done by recognizing profits early and liabilities and expenses late. â€Å"According to GAAP, revenue is recognized when the earnings process is complete and the rights of ownership have passed from seller to buyer.† There are three categories in revenue recognition fraud: 1) playing with time, 2) recording revenue when services are still due, 3) shipping merchandise before the sale is final. Playing with time is the most common way to commit revenue recognition fraud. It involves holding the books open past the end of the accounting period to accumulate more sales. For example, one such company actually set to stop there clock at the end of each quarter until targets sales are made. And all the sales would be counted as in the accounting period to boost up their sales. Another method for recognizing revenue early is booking the entire revenue amount when service is not completely rendered. Many companies ignore the percentage-of-completion contracts by taking the cash payments into income, fail to record offsetting accruals for services paid for in advance, and record refundable deposits as income. The last category is shipping merchandise before the sale is final. Consignment merchandi se is counted as being sold. A few companies also shipped merchandise to private warehouse for storage and counted it as being sold. If one person handle the same transaction from beginning to end, premature revenue recognition is easier to accomplish. The responsibilities of order entry, shipping, billing, accounts receivable detail and general ledge should be distributed among different employees. With several different employees handling the process, it’ll be more difficult to commit fraud.

Defining Good Use :: Teaching Writing Education Essays

Defining Good Use In my opinion good use can depend on what you are writing, who you are writing for, and your purpose for writing. Good use can change from writing to your friend in North Carolina to writing a business memo for your boss to writing a paper for an English class. The good use of language can differ from one situation to another. Many of the writers we discussed in class had many different ideas on what good use is. Emerson wanted us to believe that "truth and sincerity unsullied by ulterior motives" constituted good use. The only problem in that is even though you may be telling the truth, does it actually make it "good"? As in the exercise we did for class that showed how using different words we could make the same place sound attractive and then not so attractive. In both cases, we were telling the truth, but can we consider one description "better" than the other. The truth of one person may not be the same as the truth for another person depending on their perspective. Robert Hall stated good use as "the most efficient way of saying whatever's being said." But is efficiency really good use? You may accomplish being efficient, but are you really saying exactly what you want to say. Maybe by being efficient you are leaving out important thoughts or feelings that could be used to relate what you are saying and cause your receiver to understand exactly what you are saying. Being efficient is not always being effective. Wouldn't you rather have the reader understand more fully what you are saying rather than being vague just to be efficient? Orwell considers good use as "letting the meaning choose the word, and not the other way about." To me, that seems somewhat more to what good use is. Your meaning in a letter to a friend and your meaning in a business memo to your employer may be different, and thus you need to choose words that fit your meaning. The words you write on a piece of paper should not dictate what you want to say but express your meaning in the words you write. I agree with the statement that "language is perceptive." Writing the same thing to two different people can cause different images for each person depending on the reader's perspective. A more descriptive paragraph may make a clearer picture for someone who is educated in that field and may cause a foggier picture for someone who knows nothing about the topic. Defining Good Use :: Teaching Writing Education Essays Defining Good Use In my opinion good use can depend on what you are writing, who you are writing for, and your purpose for writing. Good use can change from writing to your friend in North Carolina to writing a business memo for your boss to writing a paper for an English class. The good use of language can differ from one situation to another. Many of the writers we discussed in class had many different ideas on what good use is. Emerson wanted us to believe that "truth and sincerity unsullied by ulterior motives" constituted good use. The only problem in that is even though you may be telling the truth, does it actually make it "good"? As in the exercise we did for class that showed how using different words we could make the same place sound attractive and then not so attractive. In both cases, we were telling the truth, but can we consider one description "better" than the other. The truth of one person may not be the same as the truth for another person depending on their perspective. Robert Hall stated good use as "the most efficient way of saying whatever's being said." But is efficiency really good use? You may accomplish being efficient, but are you really saying exactly what you want to say. Maybe by being efficient you are leaving out important thoughts or feelings that could be used to relate what you are saying and cause your receiver to understand exactly what you are saying. Being efficient is not always being effective. Wouldn't you rather have the reader understand more fully what you are saying rather than being vague just to be efficient? Orwell considers good use as "letting the meaning choose the word, and not the other way about." To me, that seems somewhat more to what good use is. Your meaning in a letter to a friend and your meaning in a business memo to your employer may be different, and thus you need to choose words that fit your meaning. The words you write on a piece of paper should not dictate what you want to say but express your meaning in the words you write. I agree with the statement that "language is perceptive." Writing the same thing to two different people can cause different images for each person depending on the reader's perspective. A more descriptive paragraph may make a clearer picture for someone who is educated in that field and may cause a foggier picture for someone who knows nothing about the topic.

The Effects of Junk Food on Health

The Effects of Junk Food on Health Junk foods are deemed to be trash foods as they are high in fat, sodium  and sugar. The apparent effect of junk food can lead to obesity and a range of attendant health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. Majority of junk food choices do not deliver beneficial nutritional values. Here are the facts about  how excessive junk food consumption affects your body. First of all, junk food doesn't contain the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. As a result, you may feel chronically fatigued and lack the energy you need to complete daily tasks.The high levels of sugar in junk food puts your metabolism under stress; when you eat refined sugar, your pancreas secretes high amounts of insulin to prevent a dangerous spike in blood sugar levels. Also, you can be less focused with anything you undertake at work and home because what you are acquiring from junk foods are mere fats, not healthy ingredients. Also, you will experience lack of important oxygen that eventually result to poor brain functioning. In fact, junk food will cause our body lacking of energy and less concentration and focus when doing work. Next, junk food contributes obesity.Junk food contains large amounts of fat, and as fat accumulates in your body, you'll gain weight and could become obese. The more weight you gain, the more you'll be at risk for serious chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. The high levels of fat and sodium in junk food can cause high blood pressure or hypertension. You'll feel tired and have trouble concentrating because your body might not be getting enough oxygen. Hence, fat will lead to weight gain and obese sickness, furthermore, high risk in suffering critical illness such as heart disease.Moreover, junk food can lead to diabetes. This happens because eating too much sugar puts your metabolism under stress, your body has to pump up insulin production to prevent a dangerous spike in blo od sugar levels. Because junk food doesn't contain the protein or complex carbohydrates that your body needs to maintain consistent blood sugar levels, your blood sugar levels will drop suddenly soon after eating. You'll crave sugar and likely end up eating more junk food. Over time, this stress damages your body's ability to use the insulin secreted by your pancrease.A healthy diet can help maintain your body's insulin sensitivity. As can be seen, over amount of sugar will cause pancrease problem and diabetes which will affect the ability of controlling sugar level. In conclusion, junk food caused diabetes, obesity and lack of nutrients for a healthy body. We must be disciplined in indulging in these types of food because they are initially unhealthy to have. Too much of anything sweet or salty is health threatening, to prevent it, we can pick fruits and high-fiber food for good snacks and meals.

Two Tramps In Mud Time Essays - British Poetry, Mud Time

Two Tramps In Mud Time Essays - British Poetry, Mud Time Two Tramps in Mud Time On the surface, "Two Tramps in Mud Time" seems to display Robert Frost's narrow individualism. The poem, upon first reading it, seems incongruent, with some of the ezzas having no apparent connection to the whole poem. The poem as a whole also does not appear to have a single definable theme. At one point, the narrator seems wholly narcissistic, and then turns to the power and beauty of nature. It is, however, in the final third of the poem where the narrator reveals his true thoughts to the reader, bringing resolution to the poem as a single entity, not merely a disharmonious collection of words. At the outset of the poem, the narrator gives a very superficial view of himself, almost seeming angered when one of the tramps interferes with his wood chopping: "one of them put me off my aim". This statement, along with many others, seems to focus on "me" or "my", indicating the apparrent selfishness and arrogance of the narrator: "The blows that a life of self-control/Spares to strike for the common good/That day, giving a loose to my soul,/I spent on the unimportant wood." The narrator refers to releasing his suppressed anger not upon evils that threaten "the common good", but upon the "unimportant wood". The appparent arrogance of the narrator is revealed as well by his reference to himself as a Herculean figure ezding not alongside nature, but over it: "The grip on earth of outspread feet,/The life of muscles rocking soft/And smooth and moist in vernal heat." Unexpectedly, the narrator then turns toward nature, apparently abandoning his initial train of thought. He reveals the unpredictability of nature, saying that even in the middle of spring, it can be "two months back in the middle of March." Even the fauna of the land is involved with this chicanery; the arrival of the bluebird would to most indicate the arrival of spring, yet "he wouldn't advise a thing to blossom." The narrator points to the conclusion that, while on the surface, things appear to be one thing, there is always something hidden below, much like "The lurking frost in the earth beneath..." In the final three ezzas of the poem, the "frost" within the narrator comes to the surface. The humility of the narrator comes to light, with the narrator saying that the tramps' right to chop wood for a living "was the better rightagreed." The narrator also says, "Except as a fellow handled an ax,/They had no way of knowing a fool," insomuch as admitting to his foolishness. On the surface, the poem seems to be two poems with diverging themes. However, Robert Frost guides there two apparently unrelated thoughts into one idea from the heart: "My object in living is to unite/My avocation and my vocation/As my two eyes make one in sight." Perhaps the narrator is the true Frost coming to the surface.

Beware these Dangerous E-Z Pass Scams

Beware these Dangerous E-Z Pass Scams Want to jump on the fast lane to becoming an identity theft victim? Simple! Just fall for the dangerous and tricky E-Z Pass email phishing scam. The E-Z Pass system  automatic toll collection system  allows subscribers to avoid having to stop at crowded highway toll plazas. Once the driver has set up an E-Z Pass prepaid account, they receive a small electronic transponder that attaches to the inside of the windshield of their vehicle. When they travel thru a toll facility where E-Z Pass is accepted, an antenna at the toll plaza reads their transponder and automatically debits their account the appropriate amount for the toll. E-Z Pass is currently available in 17 states, with over 35 million E‑Z Pass devices in circulation.   According to the Federal Trade Commission, potential victims targeted by this scam get an email appearing to be from their state E-Z Pass toll road agency. The email will have a realistic E-Z Pass logo and will use pretty threatening language to informing you that you owe money for driving on a toll road without paying or using E-Z Pass. The email also contains the â€Å"hook† in the form of a link to a website where you can view your supposed invoice and take care of your supposed fine without fear of further legal action against you. The scam email is not from the real E-Z Pass Group, an association of toll agencies in 17 states that manages the popular E-Z Pass program. While the E-Z Pass system  operates in only 17  states, and your state may not even have any toll roads, you may still be targeted by the E-Z Pass scam, because  the scam emails are being sent to consumers nationwide. The Worst That Can Happen If you click on the link given in the email, the scumbags running the scam will try to put malware on your computer. And if you give the fake E-Z Pass website any of your personal information, they will almost certainly use it to steal your identity. Goodbye money, credit rating, and personal security. How to Protect Yourself from the Scam The FTC recommends that if you get the E-Z Pass email, do not click on any links in the message or try to reply to it. If you think the email may really be from E-Z Pass or if you think you might actually owe a toll road payment, contact E-Z Pass customer service to confirm that it is really from them. The E-Z Pass email is only one of a seemingly endless list of similar phishing scams, in which scammers pose as legitimate businesses in an attempt to steal consumers’ personal information. To help stay safe from these dangerous scams, the FTC advises: Never click on any links in emails unless you are certain you know or do business with the sender.Never reply to any emails that ask for personal or financial information. Even if the sender is legitimate, email is not a secure way to send such information. In fact, it is never a good idea to include things like your Social Security number or bank account information in any email message, including those you send.Always keep your computer security software current and active. How to Turn the Scammers In If you think you might have gotten a phishing scam email or be a victim of one, you can: Forward the suspect email to spamuce.gov and to the company impersonated in the email.File an official complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s online FTC Complain Assistant. The E-Z Pass Transponder Theft Scam Another dangerous E-Z Pass scam has nothing to do with email. In this simple act of costly mayhem, thieves find cars and trucks that have been left unlocked so they do not have to break in. Once inside the vehicle, the thief simply steals the victim’s E-Z Pass device and replaces it with a non-operating fake one. In a matter of seconds, the crime that can cost the victim for months, or at least until they figure it out. In 2016, one stolen EZ Pass transponder in Pennsylvania racked up more than $11,000 in fraudulent charges before its real owner discovered the crime. As police advise, avoiding the E-Z Pass transponder theft scam is simple: Lock your car or truck.