Development of Digital Television Technology

Development of Digital Television Technology Digital TV broadcasting and HDTV Introduction While Gugliemo Marconi is known as the inventor of wireless telegraphy in 1897 (Winston, 1998, p. 70), the inventor of television becomes a little more complicated as it entailed an evolution of over ten years to move from its concept to an actual picture transmission and reception. The patent for the electronic scanning tube, termed iconoscope, was held by Vladimir Zworykin, an Russian born inventor who worked for Westinghouse in 1923, however, Westinghouse did not see the utility in his invention and ordered Zworykin onto other projects (Bogart, 1956, p. 8, 348). Philo Farnsworth (Horvitz, 2002. p. 9, 92) advanced the concept, and it was John Logie Baird who accomplished the first transmissions of face shapes in 1924, who is also credited with the first television broadcast in 1926 (Horvitz, 2002, p. 101). From there, the development of television escalated with analog broadcasting representing the transmission method utilized in television until 2000 began the age of digital telev ision and radio broadcasting (Huff, 2001, pp. 4,8,69). To understand digital television, one needs a basic understanding of the manner in with analog television works. In the analog system a video camera takes pictures at 30 frames per second, which are then rasterized into rows of individual dots, termed pixels that are assigned specific color and intensity (howstuffworks.com, 2007a). Next, these pixel rows are then combined with synchronization signals termed horizontal and vertical sync, which permits the receiving television set understand how these rows should be displayed (howstuffworks.com, 2007a). The final signal that contains the preceding represents the composite video signal, which is separate from the sound (howstuffworks.com, 2007a). The difference between analog television and digital is that the analog system as a 4:3 aspect ration, which means the television screen is four units wide by three units high, thus a 25 inch analog television measured diagonally is 15 inches in height by 20 inches in width, with the aspect rat io for a digital television is represented by a 16:9 aspect ratio (Metallinos, 1996, pp. 27, 206 207). Digital broadcasting, as is the case in all broadcast formats, including radio, utilize part of the electromagnetic spectrum (Montgomery and Powell, 1985, pp. 20, 237). Electromagnetic wave frequencies consist of radio, infrared, light that is visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma and then cosmic rays, in order of the lowest to the highest (Weber, 1961, pp. 105, 184). In reality, digital television broadcasting is a subset of digital radio broadcasting, under the ‘one-way digital radio standards’, which not only includes digital radio and television broadcasting, but digital terrestrial television, DVB-T, ISDB-t, ATSC, T-DMB, mobile TV, Satellite TV, radio pagers, as well as the Eureka 147 standard (DAB) to name a few (Levy, 2001, pp. 7,10,11,33). This examination shall delve into an understanding of digital television broadcasting, DAB, DVB-T, HDTV, and its deployment in Europe as well as the United States. Television’s New Age The advantages of digital television is that it offers a broader array of viewing options for both the consumer as well as broadcast stations in that it provides a clear picture and sharper sound, along with the ability of broadcasters to offer multiple sub-channels as a result of its formats (Levy, 2001, p. 71). The three formats, consisting of 1. 480i, which is 704X480 pixels that is broadcast at 60 interlaced frames a second representing 30 complete frames each second, and 480p which is 704X480 pixels that is broadcast at 60 complete frames each second, 2. 720p, whereby the picture is at 1280X720 pixels that is broadcast at 60 complete frames a second, and thirdly, 1080i where the picture is at 1920X1080 pixels that is sent at 60 interlaced frames each second representing 30 complete frames each second, and 1080p whereby the picture is broadcast at 1920X1080 pixels that is broadcast at 60 complete frames each second (howstuffworks.com, 2007b). Note: The above indicates the 525 horizontal line scans whereby each contains approximately 680 pixels. Each pixel represents one element of the picture and contains three areas of red, green and blue phosphor, which may be either rectangular or dots. The electron gun send out electron beams that strike the phosphors causing them to glow, with electromagnets located near the guns directing the beams in sequence to each pixel, with the broadcast signal providing information on how bright the phosphors should be made, at what time and in what sequence. As digital television broadcasting and digital audio broadcasting, DAB, are both based upon the electromagnetic wave principle, they work in the same manner, with DAB providing a broader range of digital channels that are not available on FM, as well as less hiss and interference, tuning to a station format or name and the support of scrolling radio text, MP3 playback and pause and rewind features (Scott, 1998, p. 9, 210). DVB-T represents the Euopean standard for broadcast of digital terrestrial television. DVB-T, or Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is a new system whereby the digital audio and video data stream is compressed by use of a OFDM modulation that utilizes concatenated channel coding (Levy, 2001, pp. 3-21). Al-Askary et al (2005) advise that OFDM utilizes convolutional coding that does not have capability to adapt to variations of fading properties of individual sub-channels, thus providing clear distortion freer signals and reception. In the DVB-T method when utilized by broadcasters the signals transmitted are sent from one aerial antenna to another using a signal blaster to the home receivers (White, 2007). The broadcast is transmitted utilizing a digital audio-video stream that is compressed, based on the MPEG-2 standard, which is the result of the combination of one or more ‘Pactetised Elementary Streams’ (Chiariglione, 2000). Note: In summary, the source coding are multiplexed into programme streams, with one or more of these joined to create a MPEG-2 Transpot Stream that is transmitted to set top boxes in the home. It can accommodate six to eightMHz wide channels. Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), which is also termed ‘Eureka 147’ represents the technology employed for the broadcasting of audio through the use of digital radio transmmision (Huff, 2001, pp. 67-78). In order to achieve the sound reproduction quality attributable to DAB, the bit rate levels must be high enough for the audio codec in the MPEG Layer 2 to provide the quality inherent in the system, as well as high enough to enable the error correction coding (digitalradiotech.co.uk, 2007). Both the DAB as well as the DVB-T systems utilize ‘orthogonal frequency division multiplexing’ (OFDM) modulation, with each system being able to handle 1536 sub-carriers (digitalradiotech.co.uk, 2007). The DAB and DVB-T also use the QPSK singal constellation to modulate the subcarriers, and also use 2 bits per symbol which the signal constellations can transmit on each of the subcarriers (digitalradiotech.co.uk, 2007). DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) is particularly suited to utilization in multimedia transmission systems, such as sound, moving pictures and text along with data (Levy, 2001, p. 177). As a radio frequency signal, DAB’s ability in being picked up by radio receivers represents an advantage over DVB-T, whose mobile reception signal â€Å"†¦ is significantly affected by †¦Ã¢â‚¬  the fast changing nature of the transmission channel, thus it is needed to utilize two antennas on the received along with a more complex and â€Å"†¦ elaborate signal processing for †¦ channel tracking† (Lauterjung, 1999). And while DVB-T was developed orginally for stationary reception utilizing a roof-top directional antenna as well as a non-directional antenna contained on a portable receiver, it has been adapted for moble reception as indicated (Lauterjung, 1999). Recent developments in tests conducted in Germany as well as Singapore have shown that DBV-T can be utilized in mobile reception, however the drawback is battery life as a result of power consumption (dvb.org, 2004). HDTV, high-definition television, utilizes approximaetly ten times the amount of pixels as a standard analog television set, representing a high end 1920 X 1080 pixels, against an analog television set’s 704 X 480 pixels (Huf, 2001, pp. 140-141). The high resolution of HDTV requires greater bandwidth thus making broadcast operators make a major financial commitment to deploy the new standard (Brown and Picard, 2005, pp. 47-49). The deployment problem means that in order to make the system work with their current infrastructure, operators would have to reduce the number of channels being offered, a marketing and customer problem in that operators have built their competitive systems on offering a greater number of channel selections. Brown and Picard (2005, p. 336) advise â€Å"The significance of the SDTV/HDTV issue is that, because the transmission of HDTV requires much more spectrum than SDTV, a trade-off is involved for any DTV system between a greater number of SDTV channels and a smaller number of HDTV channels (currently 4 to 6 SDTV channels can be transmitted within the amount of spectrum required for one HDTV channel)†. In addition to the foregoing, there is a lack of uniform standards in â€Å"Standardization, compatibility, interoperability and application portability are essential pillars in the erection of a successful and competitive European digital television system† (Nolan, 1997, p. 610). The National Association of Broadcasters’ estimate that the cost of the new equipment to carry HDTV and retain the number of stations will be between $10 to $40 million based on the station size (Pommier, 1995). Deployment will represent a problem in that the wider TV format will be cut off on standard square type televisions thus necessitating consumers to switch to wide screen television receivers in addition to the special HDTV receiver need to watch high definition broadcasts which can be received over cable or satellite (Brown and Picard, 2005, pp. 110-115). The HD receiver being sold at  £299 by UK broadcaster BSkyB, along with an added  £10 for the service on top of the basic subscr iption charge are another example of the inhibiting factors in deployment O’Brien, 2006). HDTV basically represents what Dietrich Westerkamp who is the worldwide director of broadcast standards at the electronics giant Thomson, which is the largest European manufacturer of HD satellite receivers, calls â€Å"†¦ a chicken and egg situation† (O’Brien, 2006). The situation has been the case with HDTV in the United States as well as Europe, with broadcasters waiting to see enough purchasers of the new television sets before making the financial commitment concerning equipment changes, and consumers waiting to see stations available before making the financial commitment for the new HDTV sets. The answer could be coming from television manufacturers who are starting to turn out HD compatible sets. One such example is Samsung, who has announced that two-thirds of its flat panel production will be HD compatible (O’Brien, 2006). Something will be needed to help jump-start the HDTV situation as presently the size of the potential viewing audience is to sm all to justify the conversion expense, explains Rudi Kuffner, spokesperson for Germany’s largest broadcaster ARD (O’Brien, 2006). Conclusion Since the first television broadcast of face shapes by John Baird in 1924, and the first television broadcast in 1926 (Horvitz, 2002, p. 101) television has come a long way. The introduction of digital television and radio broadcasting in 2000 has increased the viewing experience in providing a broader array of channels, signal clarity and sound as well as giving broadcasters an expanded marketing option of more to offer consumers in a highly competitive market. The new flat panel television sets and digital broadcasting have expanded the ways in which consumers as well as broadcasters view the market. With mobile television systems and the new digital radio channels offering playback and other features, entertainment is getting another big boost. With the biggest new development, that has been around for over four years set to enhance broadcasting and viewing pleasure, when the financial justifications reach the investment levels. HDTV represents the next quantum leap in television despite all of its problems. Technology keeps improving the sphere of entertainment, and it is ultimately consumers who benefit. Bibliography Al-Askary, O., Sidiropoulos, L., Kunz, L., Vouzas, C., Nassif, C. (2005) Adaptive Coding for OFDM Based Systems using Generalized Concatenated Codes. Radio Communications Systems, Stockholm, Sweden Bogart, L. (1956) The Age of Television: A Study of Beijing Habits and the Impact of Television on American Life. Frederick Ugar Publishing. New York, United States Brown, A., Picard, R. (2005) Digital Terrestrial Television in Europe. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, N.J., United States Chiariglione, L. (2000) MPEG-2. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/standards/mpeg-2/mpeg-2.htm digitalradiotech.co.uk (2007) Comparison of the DAB, DMB DvB-H Systems. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dvb-h_dab_dmb.htm dvdaust.com (2007) Aspect Ratios. Retrieved on 30 March 2007 from http://www.dvdaust.com/aspect.htm dvb.org (2004) DVB-H Handheld. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.dvb.org/documents/white-papers/wp07.DVB-H.final.pdf Horvitz, L. (2002) Eureka! Stories of Scientific Discovery. Wiley, New York, United States howstuffworks.com (2007b) How Digital Television Works. Retrieved on 31 March 2007 from http://www.howstuffworks.com/dtv3.htm howstuffworks.com (2007a) Understanding Analog TV. Retrieved on 30 March 2007 from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/dtv1.htm Huff, A. (2001) Regulating the Future: Broadcasting Technology and Governmental Control. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, United States Kiiski, A. (2004) Mobile Virtual Network Operators. Research Seminar on Telecommunications Business, Helsinki University of Technology Levy, D. (2001) Europe’s Digital Revolution: Broadcasting Regulation, the EU and Nation State. Routledge, London, United Kingdom Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (2004) Electromagnetic Spectrum. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.lbl.gov/MicroWorlds/ALSTool/EMSpec/EMSpec2.html Lauterjung, J. (1999) An enhanced testbed for mobile DVB-T receivers. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.rohde-schwarz.com/www/dev_center.nsf/frameset?OpenAgentwebsite=comcontent=/www/dev_center.nsf/html/artikeldvb-t Metallinos, N. (1996) Television Aesthetics: Perceptual, Cognitive, and Compositional Bases. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, New Jersey, United States Montgomery, H., Powell, J. (1985) International Broadcasting by Satellite: Issues of Regulation, Barriers to Communication. Quorum Books, Westport, CT., United States Nolan, D. (1997) Bottlenecks in pay TV: Impact on market development in Europe. Vol. 21, No. 7. Telecommunications Policy O’Brien (2006) Broadcasters shrink from taking HDTV leap. 30 August 2006 PBS.org. (2006b) Electronic TV. Retrieved on 30 March 2007 from http://www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse/tv_grows_up/electronictv.html PBS.org (2006a) Mechanical TV. Retrieved on 30 March 2007 from http://www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse/tv_grows_up/mechanicaltv.html PBS.org (2006b) Widescreen. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.pbs.org/opb/crashcourse/aspect_ratio/widescreen.html Pommier, G. (1995) High Definition Television (HDTV). Retrieved on 3 April 2007 from http://gabriel.franciscan.edu/com326/gpommier.html Scott, R. (1998) Human Resource Management in the Electronic Media. Quorum Books, Westport, CT, United States University of Toledo (2005) Television. Retrieved on 2 April 2007 from http://www.physics.utoledo.edu/~lsa/_color/31_tv.htm Weber, J. (1961) General Relativity and Gravitational Waves. Interscience Publishers, New York, United States White, D. (2007) What is DVB-T? Retrieved on 1 April 2007 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dvb-t.htm Winston, B. (1998) Media Technology and Society: A History From the Telegraph to the Internet. Routledge, London, United Kingdom

Effect of Social Media on Travelling

Effect of Social Media on Travelling Social media and how it changes the world. Introduction. The definition of social media is a websites or an application that enable user to create and share content or to participate in social networking. there are platforms for social medias such as Facebook , Twitter , Youtube, Tumblr , Instagram , Schoology and etc. One of the function for Facebook is that one can post a status and pictures while instagram too can upload picture and recording video for 15 second for the world to see. Instagram , facebook too have social networking . Users can leave a comment or if they like their pictures or status. Users can give a LIKE too. Social media also can give information to the traveler and also to those who are doing business too. with social media it has changed the world in various ways. Method of Literature selection. I have conducted an electronic database search through Tunku Abdul Rahman University Colleges digital library and I have used the ACM Digital Library . The keyword that I used in the online database include social media, travels and tourist. I have also conducted searches on the How Big is the Crowd? Event and Location Based Population Modeling in Social Media archive, SocRoutes: Safe Routes Based on Tweet Sentiments archive, Event detection over twitter social media streams archive, Using Social Media to Find Places of Interest: A Case Study archive, GoThere: Travel Suggestions using Geotagged Photos archive and Near2me: An Authentic and Personalized Social Media-based Recommender for Travel Destinations. I have chosen only the articles that were published within 5 years ago. The three articles which I have chosen to reference on were selected based on the relevancy to the topic of the essay. Social media for travelling Social media is so popular these days and it is frequently used by the young and the old. Some of the purposes of the usage for social media is to get information about traveling, places that are popular and famous, places that usually attract tourists which in other term, it is also called the tourist attraction. One of the function that social media has is called GeoTag. Geotaggingcan help users search and found out all kinds of location-specific information. Social media can also let users check into all the places that they have been to and leave a trace to show and prove that the particular user has been there before. Users can also leave some comments or critiques about the visited places so that the other users can get feedbacks, information and know better about that particular place and maybe too can find out about the services or products provided there, whether or not it is good or bad. Social media is not only for lifestyle, it is also for tourist guidance and to let them know more about the history of the place. As an example, one application that has these functions is called Foursquare. Social media can also let users share information via twitter to other users so that they can know whether if the route they are taking is experiencing a traffic jam or not so that other users can choose either to go the usual route or go for an alternative way to reach their destination. Social media can too let users share information about the weather condition to others so that other users are able to know whether a particular place is drizzling, raining heavily, sunny, windy, snowing or just nice. Of course in Malaysia, there will not be any snowing going on. Anyway, in short social media can let users connect to each other. The other example of what social media can do is that social media can let users know whether if their friends are nearby them via Foursquare check in. Since they are able to know where their friends are and if they found out that their f riends are nearby, they could simply just go to where their friends are just to greet and chit chat a little while. The other function of social media is that one can share information worldwide through the internet. In my opinion social media has turned travelling easier and more convenient for travelers around the world. First and foremost, I think that social media can connect people around the world. This is based on the article How Big is the Crowd? Event and Location Based Population Modeling in Social Media. It is stated that recently the emerged social network services like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare are some of the largest and fastest growing web communities, offering an immense platform for connecting people (Yuan Liang, James Caverlee, Zhiyuan Cheng, Krishna Y. Kamath 2013). I also think that social media can let travelers and tourist find popular places and events. Based on the writer of Event detection over twitter social media streams and Using Social Media to F ind Places of Interest:A Case Study, they claimed that there are 190 million geotagged Flickr photos and this kind of data is used to detect events, find popular places and tourist routes automatically(Steven Van Canneyt, Steven Schockaert, Olivier Van Laere, Bart Dhoedt 2012) and also in some cases, for example, for crisis management and decision making, monitoring some of the critical events over social streams can let the watch officers to analyze the whole situation carefully and accurately. This enables them to make the right decision based on the details shown over the social streams. They can easily identify what is exactly happening, where that particular event is taking place at and of course, who are those involved in it. (Xiangmin Zhou, Lei Chen 2013). Social media also helps travelers to find out and know more about a particular place based on the writer that writes the article GoThere: Travel Suggestions using Geotagged Photo. Assumptions made about tourist attractions is that those are the places that are often photographed and geotagged. Geotags annotated to photos have been exploited and used for many different things. For example, geotags annotated to photos are used for mapping geotags to places and also for suggesting recommendation of travel itineraries (Abdul Majid, Ling Chen, Gencai Chen, Hamid Turab Mirza, Ibrar Hussain 2012). Last but not least, the social media world is so advanced that someone actually created a prototype using social media for recommending places for tourist personal interest. Based on the writers of this article, they claimed that this prototype can allow users to explore, evaluate, and understand recommendations, control recommendation direction and discover informative supporting material (Christoph Kofler, Luz Caballero, Maria Menendez_, Valentina Occhialini, Martha Larson 2011). In my opinion, I think social media is very useful for travelers as it helps a lot in providing useful information, tips and feedbacks one needs for traveling. Conclusion In conclusion, social media can do a lot stuffs. It not only can be an immense platform that can help people connect to each other, it can also be an informative space for travelers and tourists to help them find useful information and tips about popular places and events. It really is a great help for the travelers to understand what they should be expecting before they go for a vacation at a particular place. This is how social media changed the world. Reference Abdul, M, Ling, C, Gencai, C, Hamid, M Ibrar, H 2012, GoThere: Travel Suggestions using Geotagged Photos, WWW 12 Companion Proceedings of the 21st international conference companion on World Wide Web, pp.577-578. Christoph, K, Luz, C, Maria, M, Valentina, O Martha, L 2011, Near2me: An Authentic and Personalized Social Media-based Recommender for Travel Destinations, WSM 11Â  Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGMM international workshop on Social media, pp. 47-52. Steven, C, Steven, S, Olivier, L Bart, D 2012, Using Social Media to Find Places of Interest: A Case Study , GEOCROWD 12:Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Crowdsourced and Volunteered Geographic Information, pp. 2-8. Xiangmin, Z Lei, C 2014, Event detection over twitter social media streams,The VLDB Journal — The International Journal on Very Large Data Bases,Vol.23, pp. 381-400. Yuan L, James, C, Zhiyuan, C Krishna, K 2013, How Big is the Crowd? Event and Location Based Population Modeling in Social Media, HT 13Proceedings of the 24th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media , pp. 99-108.

Essay --

Have you heard of any famous African Americans who contributed greatly to the United States of America? Whether you answered the question yes, or no, I know of one African American who did great things for America. Gwendolyn Brooks was an African American poet who wrote about the lives of an every day African American during the 1900’s. She struggled in her lifetime just as everyone else in the world. Only, she did something about her struggles. Whenever she saw something interesting and/or shocking, she would write her poetry about the very thing. People all around could relate to her poetry, therefore having a great impact on their lives. Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born on June 7 of 1917. Even though she was born in Topeka, Kansas, she grew up in Chicago. As a part of the Great Migration, her family moved over to Chicago. As I said before, Brooks’ writing was mostly influenced by the rest of the world. From going to three different high schools, Gwendolyn picked up on so much racial prejudice that it shaped how her writing would later be. At the age of thirteen, G...

Agriculture In More and Less Developed Countries Essay -- Agriculture

Dark, thick smoke rises from the engine of a huge tractor that is plowing the plains of Dumas, Texas with enough power and technology to plow fifteen rows at one time. While just overseas in Pakistan a farmer works to plow one row in his field with the help of his oxen. Both farmers come home late at night, one just the same as the other, but the work they have accomplished for the day will be drastically different. The farmer in Pakistan farms 2.5 acres of land hoping to use what he harvests for feeding his family and his village. The farmer in Dumas farms 500 acres of land, which is 200 times the size of the farmer's land in Pakistan, and he uses what he harvests to make a living and to sell to grocery stores in the United States. Agriculture is practiced all over the world but agriculture in one country can be far different than in another country. The world can be divided into the less developed countries, where the output of the farm is used on or near the farm where it i s produced, and the more developed countries, where the farmer sells the crops and livestock. There are some major differences between what we do in the United States and what others do in other countries concerning agriculture. As one can see, agriculture is a very important way of life for many different people all over the world. The uses of agriculture are very different throughout the world considering whether the country is more or less developed. First, we must define agriculture and determine how agriculture began. Agriculture is the deliberate modification of Earth's surface by cultivating or caring for plants and rearing animals to obtain sustenance or economic gain (1). So how did agriculture begin in the United States? Before agric... ..., so maybe someday they can be more fortunate in their living conditions. Through agriculture, we as humans are surviving together as we provide for each other. Works Cited: 1. Rubenstein, James M. An Introduction To Human Geography. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996. Sources of Information 2. "History of Agriculture." 199?. http://www.ag.usask.ca/cofa/displays/college/plains/history.html (16 April 1998) 3. "The Nation and the People." 1996. http://www.prica.org/indonesia/nation_people/econ2.html#Agri (16 April 1998) 4. "Pakistan Goverment - Agriculture." 199?. http://www.pak.gov.pk/govt/agri7.htm(16 April 1998) 5. http://www.ext.missouri.-edu/agebb/commag/index.htm (16 April 1998) 6. Deterling, Del. "Grain Growers Look South for Markets" 1998. http://www.progressivefarmer.com/markets/0498/south/index.html (16 April 1998)

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood :: essays research papers

The role of a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead is ultimately to breed, and nothing more. Cooped up in a nondescript room with nothing but her own thoughts and painful memories for company, the narrator, Offred, shows many signs of retreating further and further into her own world, and becoming slowly more unstable throughout the course of the novel as her terrible new life continues. The most common and by far the most disturbing example of this is the use of imagery and symbolism in the book. Many everyday items and observations are likened to some kind of sickening or violent image, which indicate that Offred isn’t really all that stable; for example a removed light fixture is described as being â€Å"like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out.† Other examples of this are describing a Guardian of the Faith’s face as â€Å"unwholesomely tender, like the skin under a scab† and likening â€Å"half-dead, flexible and pink† worms to lips. A tourist’s stiletto heels are â€Å"delicate instruments of torture†; fluffy clouds are thought of as â€Å"headless sheep† and urinals â€Å"look oddly like babies’ coffins†. The Commander’s Wife herself is described as having a chin â€Å"clenched like a fist†. Further on in the book, when Moira has been violently punished for faking an illness; â€Å"... she could not walk for a week... They looked like drowned feet, swollen and boneless, except for the colour. They looked like lungs.† All these violent, disgusting images are evidence for Offred’s deteriorating state of health. Other similes mentioned are not so much violent as they are strange; at one stage, Offred compares herself to a piece of toast. The author also uses colour as a powerful symbolic device. The colour red is referred to many times in the novel, most notably when Offred describes herself as â€Å"a Sister, dipped in blood.† This image in particular refers to menstruation, a process the Handmaids have grown to dread as it proves they have ‘failed’ once again. The reoccurring image of the tulips in the garden also relates to this – they are also red and compared to blood: â€Å"... a darker crimson toward the stem, as if they had been cut and are beginning to heal there.† and all of the references can be likened to â€Å"Tulips†, a poem by Sylvia Plath, written about her time in a mental illness ward. We are informed, primarily in Chapter Two, that any object that may aid suicide is strictly out of bounds in Offred’s accommodation.

Arts and pornography Essay

?No-one ever asks ‘When does art become realistic? ‘, or ‘When does art become abstract? ‘, or ‘When does art become literary? ‘, although questions like these make as much sense because art can be all or any of these things. This is because we can usually distinguish an abstract work from a realistic or literary one, whereas what pornography is, is unclear in the minds of most people. Pornography derives from two Greek words: porne, which means harlot, and graphos, which refers to writing; however, we use the term today to describe much more than stories about prostitutes. And when we use it, it is as more than the definition of a class of writing and visual art: it has an ethical (usually pejorative) connotation also. And, like most ethical and aesthetic terms, its use is intensely personal. Just as beautiful really means no more than ‘I like it (although I cannot clearly explain why)’, pornographic means ‘I find this offensive (although I cannot really explain why)’. There is no generally agreed meaning for either of these terms – which bedevils our discussion of both. Art exists in many different forms. Sculpture, paintings, graphics, drawings and such are part of the visual art. Dance, film, music and theater, as well as literature, are also forms of art. Throughout the years, art has, in all of its forms, interpreted, presented, or made allusion to nudity. Many famous masterpieces or important art represent nude people, and sometimes even persons making love; yet, it is recognized as beautiful art by many people. What difference is there, if any, in the interpretation and importance that we humans give to nude art and pornography? So it leads to my first knowledge issue: When does art become pornography? Here is a real life example. As we all know, our school invites some nude models for art class, they expose their nude bodies to the art students. I am not sure if it is the reason why many guys take art. Do you think it is art, nasty art, performance art or pornography? Art, nudity and pornography are different, and every individual’s sense perception of what these are will also be different. The area of knowledge of art is one of the most subjective of all the areas of knowledge, which explains why persons interpret it differently. Nudity may or may not be included in the AoK of Art, but it is a part of many art pieces. Nudity is present in many forms, for example, the famous sculpture of David by Michelangelo Buonarroti. This 5. 17 meter tall statue represents the biblical King David, nude, and it is recognized by many as a masterpiece, and some even consider it a symbol of the defense of civil rights. Vitruvian Man, by Leonardo Da Vinci, is the drawing of a nude man, legs and arms stretched. Michelangelo did not limit himself to sculpting nude man, but also painted many important figures nude on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, such as Adam, Eve, Jesus, and others. All these art pieces, famous and important, widely recognized masterpieces include nudity. Of course, the importance and recognition of these art pieces is debatable and can be argued, but many people and important art communities consider them to be masterpieces. These art pieces illustrate both, men and women, sometimes together, other times separated, but share many things in common. All of these art pieces include nudity, and are recognized by many as important art. But then, when does art become pornography? Is it just like crossing a line, on one side its art and the closer you get to that line, it becomes less art until you cross that line and it becomes pornography? If that is the case, what if you stand on the line, would it be neither art nor pornography, or both? Every single person can interpret it as they want, but as I see it, many factors affect the decision of whether it is art or pornography. I see it as a line, on one side it is art, and on the other it is pornography, because I don’t think that an art piece can be both art and pornography at the same time for a single person. I emphasize on the fact that it is for a single person, as this is very subjective. Although this is very subjective, as mentioned before, it is also very cultural. In most of Western Europe, nudity is seen in a very different way than in the Middle East, due to cultural and historical differences. In the Middle East, for example, Muslim women must wear the burkha, while in Western Europe there are many semi-nudist or nudist beaches that anyone, regardless of age and gender, can enjoy. This, however, does not justify or imply anything else than the fact that there are higher chances for western Europeans to have higher limits and Middle Eastern people to have lower. It only means higher chances, because as mentioned before, although culture is a factor that affects where the individual puts the limit, it still is subjective, based on beliefs, ideals, past experiences, and many other factors. The Ways of Knowing apply to this judgment or decision of whether it is art or pornography in different ways for each individual. Sense perception, which includes the five senses, is the main element that allows the interpreter to perceive the art piece, whether it is through hearing, seeing, or touching. The other two senses, smelling and tasting, are not as relevant for the interpretation of the forms of art mentioned earlier. With the three senses mentioned (sight, hear and touch), a person can interpret a work of art and decide what it is, give an interpretation, a symbol, a meaning to it. Then, through emotions, the person can associate feelings and ideas to the work of art. If the person feels shocked or offended (emotions) from seeing (sense perception) a nude sculpture, he or she might decide it is pornography. Finally language is very important as it is one of the most important filters affecting the decision between art and pornography. The simple definitions of what is art and what is pornography are evidences of the implications of language. Art can be defined as â€Å"the quality, production, expression or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance† in other words, something exceptional according to a set of principles (decided by a majority of people). According to this definition, the masterpieces mentioned before are still art. Pornography is more difficult to define. The first definition (from dictionary. com) describes pornography as â€Å"obscene writings, drawings, photographs especially those having little or no artistic merit†. The definition states â€Å"obscene† materials, but obscenity is very subjective and varies from person to person, just like the limit at which art becomes pornography. The second part of the definition is very interesting, and I would agree with it: materials with â€Å"little or no artistic merit† so that would mean that is not exceptional according to the set of principles previously mentioned, which again supports the idea that it’s subjective. Another definition of pornography (from The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition) states it is â€Å"sexually explicit [material] whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal†. This definition is more ambiguous then the first mentioned. According to this definition, two factors are needed in order for something to be pornography: it needs to be sexually explicit, and it needs to primarily cause sexual arousal. The problem with this definition is that anything containing nudity is sexually explicit, so all the masterpieces mentioned above have at least the first factor needed to be considered pornography (according to this definition). The second part of the definition is very subjective, because we cannot know what the purpose of the nude sculpture, drawing or painting was unless the author tells us. To conclude, in my personal point of view, art cannot â€Å"become† pornography, it is either born as art, or born as pornography, and this depends on each individual’s interpretation of the material in question. Not only the visual arts, but other forms of arts, especially Medias, have many influences on young people. Anyone who watches television, goes to the movies, or picks up a magazine today knows sex is prominent across all media. Discussions regarding the early sexualization of children and young people are an increasingly hot topic with celebrities and politicians alike having something to say. An analysis of use of the term sexualisation published on the Global Media Insight blogspot showed that in early 2010 use of the term ‘sexualisation’ in both mainstream and social media more than doubled (fig. 1). This is not to say that the concerns behind the idea of sexualised childhood are new ones; it does however suggest that this is a concept which is increasingly in the collective public consciousness. Although the effects of sexual content have received little attention from researchers in the 1980s, there are strong theoretical reasons to believe that media may play an especially important role in the socialization of sexual knowledge, attitudes and behavior. These were well summarized by Elizabeth Roberts (1982): â€Å"(1) the adult nature of most programming children watch; (2) children’s limited access to or experience with countervailing information or ideas; (3) the ‘realism’ with which roles, relationships, and lifestyles are portrayed; and (4) the overwhelming consistency of the messages about sexuality that are communicated† (Roberts, 1982, p. 209). Each of these points is even more pertinent in 1998 than in 1982. Children watch a great deal of adult programming, and there has been a steady increase in the frequency and explicitness of sexual content on broadcast television. Young people have access to a much wider range of video content as well as to other entertainment media than they did in the early 1980s. Movies Adolescents see movies in theaters, and the same movies are soon available on pay TV channels and video tape. Many of these movies are â€Å"R-rated. † They contain more frequent and more explicit portrayals of sexual behavior than broadcast TV – an average of 17. 5 per film in one analysis (Greenberg, Siemicki, Dorfman, Heeter, Stanley, Soderman, &Linsangan, 1993). Like TV, the most frequent sexual activity shown is unmarried sexual intercourse. Sex is often in the context of profanity, alcohol and drug use, and nudity. Not only have the movies, music world confronted similar problem as well. Let’s see a real example. Modern music is becoming increasingly pornographic. It is not about being old-fashioned. It’s about keeping values that are important in the modern world. We can’t watch modern stars like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga with a two-year-old. 99 percent of the charts in R&B and 99 percent of that is soft pornography. Children and young people are being forced to grow up too young. A researcher named Larson (1995) used an experience sampling technique to analyze the relationship between emotional states and the use of television and other media. He argues that adolescents experience increased emotionality and that such emotionality may be related to increased use of music because â€Å"it both speaks to adolescents’ personal issues and helps them create a separate experiential space at home†¦ music is also important to adolescents because it helps define their public self outside the family†. Private, solitary use of both music and television use by adolescents is important in providing them an opportunity to deal with the stress and emotionality of this stage of development. Young people select media which entertain them, contribute to their identity formation, help them cope with their problems and emotional mood states, and form the basis of their selection into youth subcultures. Today’s generation of youth has easier access to sexual content. From television, movies, magazines, and advertisements (billboards, print, and electronic), to music (on radio and in music videos) and the Internet, youth who are interested in nudity, sexual role models, romance and depictions of sex and intercourse, have a range of media options readily available. Media provide perhaps the least embarrassing way to get information about sex and romance.

A Christmas Carol (English Coursework)

During 1843 Charles Dickens wrote a novel ‘A Christmas Carol'. The novel was influences by the experience Charles Dickens had of the social divide of the rich and the poor during the Victorian times. Charles Dickens had a terrible childhood, his family spent several years in increasing poverty. Dickens was sent to work long hours in a blacking factory. This was because his father was imprisoned for debt in 1824. Dickens spent ten hours a day sticking labels on pots of boot blacking. His life was miserable and he was determined to improve the quality of his and those of other poor people. Crime rates increased dramatically due to poverty and destitution. The memories of these hard times haunted dickens for the rest of his life. He felt bad about the neglect of the poor. In a lot of his work he describes the issues with poverty and the social and physical conditions of Victorian London. He compares these conditions to the wealthy, luxurious lifestyles of the upper class to bring awareness of the disgusting standards of living at the lower end of society, so that everyone could be educated on this subject, he even gave public reading of his own work. London's industrial age helped the UK to become rich and successful. However, this era had affected the country physically, socially, and culturally, because of the establishment of the factory system. Many people began moving to cities in search of a secure job, this lead to a huge growth in the population. This caused there to be three times more people living in Great Britain at the end of the century than the beginning. The overcrowding resulted in conditions that were dangerous and caused an increase in crime and poverty. In London the river Thames was full of sewage and the air was full of soot and pollution. Young children and adults were forced to work 14 hours a day and were paid rock bottom wages even though they were working in life threatening conditions. The poor had no jobs, not enough food and had a low life expectancy of twenty nine. This was because most people in the bottom end of society were malnourished which was caused by starvation they also couldn't afford healthcare. However, the higher classes made increasing profits at the expense of the poor. The rich took advantage of the poor by forcing them to work long hours in life threatening conditions for little pay. The rich thought the poor were poor because they were lazy and couldn't be bothered to do anything. At the beginning of the novel the reader is immediately given a negative impression of scrooge being a stingy old man. Dickens emphasises the point by describing Scrooge with many words that all mean nearly the same: â€Å"Oh but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! This is effective in showing the reader that his desire for money comes before anything else. It shows that his number one priority is making as much profit as possible. This makes the reader get the impression that Scrooge is extremely horrible and greedy. When Dickens uses weather to describe Scrooge he makes him sound as horrible as possible, a man who has no feelings. â€Å"External heat and cold has little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. † Dickens suggests that no weather has an affect on him whether it's cold or hot. Scrooge is much too cold hearted to be affected by anything or anyone, no matter what time of year. Scrooge is presented as being unattractive and having no emotions. â€Å"The cold within him froze his old features,† this makes the reader think the cold from inside him has made him ugly on the outside. This description of Scrooge is made even more unpleasant when it is compared to that of Scrooges cheerful nephew. When Scrooges nephew, Fred comes to wish Scrooge a merry Christmas Scrooge replies by saying, â€Å"what reason do you have to be merry? This shows the reader that Scrooge has no respect for his nephew. It is also ironic as he thinks no poor person has anything to be merry about, But he is rich and miserable. He, like many of the rich at that time believed the poor are poor because they are lazy. When two men come to Scrooge to ask for money to give to charity he replies, â€Å"I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry. † This shows that scrooge is hard-hearted and doesn't see the poor as people but sees them as a problem. Scrooge thinks that the poor should be left to die to decrease the population as there was overcrowding in London at the time this novel was written. ‘If they would rather die' Said Scrooge, ‘they had better do it, ‘and decrease the surplus population. The miserable and gloomy mood of Scrooge is further emphasised by Dickens use of pathetic fallacy. â€Å"The fog comes pouring in at every chink and keyhole†¦ â€Å"The houses opposite were mere phantoms. † The use of pathetic fallacy creates a dull atmosphere which matches the atmosphere created by Scrooge. The use of the word ‘Phantoms' creates an even spookier atmosphere. It is almost as if what ever Scrooge is feeling he will make the same atmosphere and weather as he is feeling. In stave three Dickens describes the Market Place and the poor part of town: both give a different impression to the reader. â€Å"There were great round potbellied baskets of chest nuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentleman,† By Dickens using this simile it makes the reader think of father Christmas because he is often described as being happy and joyful. This is effective in showing that people don't have to be rich to be joyful. This description of the market place is made even more cheerful when compared to the miserable and unpleasant, poor part of town which is shown to be a depressing and disheartening place to live. The description of the poor part of town is shown as being even more unattractive, â€Å"The people half naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly. † The comparison between the cheerful market place and the poor part of town is really important because it shows how the rich people live and how depressing the lives of poor people are. This is effective in showing people how lucky they are compared to the poor people's lifestyles. Victorian society is reflected as being greedy and non-caring and also shows the massive social divide between the rich and the poor. By the end of the novel Scrooge has completely transformed from being a bitter and miserable old sinner into a more cheerful and energetic youthful man. He used to be, â€Å"A squeezing, wrenching, clutching, covetous, old sinner! † whereas at the end of the novel he describes himself as, â€Å"I am as light as a feather. I am as happy as a school boy, I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! † This description of Scrooge shows that he is no longer a grumpy old man and now has changed into a much more youthful and jolly man. He no longer thinks that he is better than all poor people and that poor people can't be merry. In this section of the novel there is a lot of exclamation marks and short sentences used to show that he is peaking excitedly, this enhances the fact that he is in a happy and enthusiastic mood. This use of short sentences and exclamation marks almost makes Scrooge sound younger. In my opinion ‘A Christmas Carol' is really effective in informing the reader of the social divide between the rich and the poor during Victorian times. I think that the book would have been good at informing the rich about the appalling living standards of the poor par of town. There was no other way for the rich people to find out about this because they had never been to this part of the town. I think that Charles Dickens was trying to make everyone aware of the poverty and overcrowding the poor people were going through, he was emotionally attached because he had been through this for most of his childhood and early adulthood.