Analyse the opening sequence of desperate housewives Essay

Analyse the opening sequence of desperate housewives - Essay Example The pop-up format is reminiscent of childish cartoons, with sudden swerves and changes in viewpoint. It serves the dual purpose of maintaing a pretend childlike environment, where serious syntagms and paradigms are displayed under the cloak of lighthearted comedy and of speedily moving the viewer from one realm of intertextuality to another.The undercurrent of dark humor flows through the entire sequence, mainly through the subversion of iconic signs in order to show unusual meanings that invoke surprise and incongruity, and hence laughter. The sequence opens with the iconic images of Adam and Eve at the very moment of temptation.In the original painting, Lucas Cranach the Elder, known for some of the most explicit nudes in the history of art, uniquely captures the instant of original sin in the salacious expression of Eve. She is not seen here as the traditionally naive primal woman, but one fully aware of her sexual prowess, hence becoming a coded sign for woman as the femme fatale. "....... the color "red" implies different things. .....If a woman wears a red dress, or a man wears a red armband, it means something different. So red in western culture means usually danger, hot, sexy.....". ( Yildiz, 2002) The moment The moment gains a new meaning when the animated Adam, instead of eating the proverbial apple, is promptly squashed by a car-sized, shining red apple that falls on him. Despite being farcical at the denotation level, the falling of the apple becomes a symbol of female power within the bounds of the sequence. It is a power not yet understood by the iconic woman Eve, who is still holding her proffered apple, but nonetheless lethal. The next pop-upshows the painting of a hapless Egyptian lady of rank, who is overwhelmed by a flood of children, and drowns in the process.This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the various goddesses of fertility, who were invariably connected with the yearly flooding of the river Nile as this was what gave Egypt its fertility.Fertility for an Egyptian woman was as important as that of the land, and despite possessing equal regal rights as men, women were only considered as successful as the number of children they could produce. As Caroline Seawright says about ancient Egyptian sexuality, "To the ancient Egyptians, the most attractive women tended to be the fertile ones. A women who had children was seen to be more fortunate than ones without... In the Egyptian community, men had to prove their masculinity by fathering children, while the women had to be able to bear these sons and daughters. Being a mother meant being able to keep her marriage secure and to gain a better position in society." (Seawright, 2001) The animation sequence takes this Egyptian way of living and turns it on its head, attributing on a symbol of fertility a completely different meaning by showing the cause of a woman's misery or downfall to be her children! This is a comic, modern take on the pains of motherhood never openly spoken of in our society.It is clearly seen in Lynette's character played in the series by Felicity Huffman whose name

Employee Assistance Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Employee Assistance Program - Essay Example The EAP can be the place where a grieved employee could approach and seek advice on family issues that nag him or her. Also find ways to set right their own thoughts on the happenings in the company; whether these are for the good or the bad. As a matter of fact, the supervisors in the company should encourage EAP and resorting to EAP when behavior of a person is not in line with his usual performances. Since the advice given is from professionals in the trade and they do not cost to the company or to the employee, the EAP will stabilize and produce the expected results over a period of time (Dept of Employee Relations, 2004). One, EAP will be a place where people could go for any of their not so obvious problems. Many times, men and women are bogged down by problems that come out of mental stress. This created either by an event or sometimes by presumptions. One of my friends, who was married for nearly two years, had a kid out of the marriage, suddenly found herself at a loss when her husband died suddenly in an accident. She used to be young and agile. She was a qualified computer programmer but mentally she was shocked at the turn of events. Her own working performance shattered in face of this personal calamity. To make matters worse, the company could not appreciate the reason behind her lack of performance and found that she was not worthy of what they were paying her. She was shunted out of the company nine months after her husband’s death. Jobless and with no heart to hunt for one, kid to take care, she was really in a soup. Good that some of her friends could spend time with her, counsel her and put her slowly back to normalcy. It took almost another year for her to get back to work in full swing and produce results in a different company. Another incident of importance happened with one of my friends. He became an addict; I am not sure what drugs he employed. But it was certainly spoiling his high flying career.

Summary and Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Summary and Response - Essay Example The delegates argue that the rural areas receive fewer funds as compared to the big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Notably, the allocation of funds has been discriminating against the students who come from the neglected areas including Henan province. The poor funding of the university education in the remote regions has attracted complaints from the residents. In fact, people have demanded equality in the allocation of the funds for higher education. Such inequality resulted in delegates demanding for the equal treatment of the students from all the regions. The quota system of recruiting students to join the universities is discriminating. Primarily, the quota targets the students from the rich areas such as Beijing and Shanghai. According to the article, the political interference in the process of distributing the quotas tends to disadvantage the students from provinces with a large population such as Henan. The household registration that restricts free movement from one region to the other has advanced the discrimination against students from the rural areas (Buckley). The implication of the restriction in movement is that the students cannot acquire the best education in prestigious universities located away from the rural areas. Hence, students from the remote areas are victims of the unequal allocation of slots in the universities. The system of recruiting students to join the universities continues to widen inequality gap in education. Majorly, political favoritism affects the efforts of the China’s government to ensure all the students enjoy fair recruitment in the universities. The university entrance exams tend to reduce the number of the students joining the higher education. According to the article, Henan received 85 positions out of the 758,000 students who attempted the entrance examinations (Buckley). In contrast, students from Beijing got 226 slots out

Internal audit and corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Internal audit and corporate governance - Essay Example Although internal auditors are characteristically accountants, this activity can also be carried out by other qualified experts who are knowledgeable with the company's functions as well the necessary regulatory requirements. (Friedberg, 2004) The span of internal auditing in an organization is expansive and it may engage internal control issues such as the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes, the consistency of financial reporting, preventing and inspecting fraud, protecting resources and other important assets, and observance with the laws and organizational strategies. (Friedberg, 2004) Internal auditing repeatedly requires measuring observance with the businesses' policies and procedures. Nevertheless, internal auditors are not accountable for the implementation of business activities; they give advice to the senior management on the subject of how to better accomplish their responsibilities. Management is responsible for internal control. (Friedberg, 2004) Management sets up the course of action and designs processes to facilitate the organization in achieving particular objectives in each particular field. Internal auditors perform audits to evaluate whether the policies and processes designed are operating effectively and provide recommendations for improvement. (Friedberg, 2004) To execute their responsibility efficiently, internal auditors have need of self-rule from management, to facilitate open and clear assessment of organizational activities and personnel. Although, internal auditors are part of company management and are paid by the company, but the most important client of internal audit activity is the body charged with supervision of management's actions. (Friedberg, 2004) Internal auditors may also help businesses' commence and retain Enterprise Risk Management processes. The Internal auditors also play an imperative task in facilitating businesses' to carry out a top-down risk assessment. In these concluding two fields, internal auditors usually are part of the project team in an advisory position. Based on a risk evaluation of the business, the internal auditors, and the senior management determines where to concentrate the internal auditing uphill struggle. (Rezaee, 2002) Internal auditing activity is normally carried out as solitary or as more distinct projects. A characteristic internal audit plan comprises of the subsequent measures. First and fore mostly, it begins with establishing and sharing the degree and purpose for the audit to appropriate management. This is followed by developing an understanding of the business division in evaluation. This encompasses objectives and significant operation types, it involves analysis of credentials and dialogues; flowcharts and accounts may be created if necessary. (Rezaee, 2002) Then the identified control measures are used to make certain that each crucial business transaction is correctly controlled and scrutinized. After that, the internal auditors work out and execute a risk-based sampling and examining approach to find out whether the a good number of important controls are working

Critical Thinking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Critical Thinking - Assignment Example This paper analyses whether Nancy Cantor, who were once a Syracuse University chancellor, used critical thinking in a piece of work that she wrote in reply to the filing of affirmative action cases with U.S. Supreme Court. Cantor is rational and objective. Her argument does not portray emotional or subjective perceptions. Cantor developed her argument on justifiable reasons. In her first sentence, she recognizes the existence of collective fears, sins, and stereotypes between races. In the fourth paragraph, Cantor points out that race, is an essential aspect of life in America. The existence of Asian-American, Hispanics, Native Americans, Whites, African –Americans, and Native Americans in American society, support the view of Cantor. Students thus have historical and cultural experiences associated to their races. Cantor recognizes the existence of inequality and the need to factor in the issue of inequality in College admissions. Cantor is honest in her argument. She does not argue for a particular race. According to her, the decision of Justice Lewis F. Powell, urged the educator to create a truthfully integrated community of learners. Even though, the decision was aimed at helping students of color, Cantor looks at it as a benefit to the different races in Americans. Cantor sees the use of race-consciousness as way to build a positive society. According to her, the recognition of race as a factor in America would help solve the mistake made by racially segregated public districts schools that failed to recognize American history and possible impacts of race. In this way, Cantor recognizes the weight and extent of evidence and thus shows her use of judgment. Cantor’s consideration of President Bush’s argument shows her open-mindedness. The former president had earlier labeled the use of affirmative action program at the University of Michigan a quote system. Cantor responded by claiming that all students

Sodium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sodium - Essay Example Despite the fact that sodium is very significant to the body, too much intake can have adverse effects especially on individuals who are sensitive to sodium. Excessive consumption of sodium can lead to hypertensions which can cause complex health problems (Gazzaniga 23). Sodium helps in muscle and nerve function because it is a mineral that has an electrical charge or electrolyte. The electrolyte facilitates transmission of nerve cells and muscle contraction. For example sodium ions such as chloride and potassium trigger nerve impulses and muscle contractions when the change places across cell membranes. Sodium maintains fluid balance in the body. For example, via its ions (potassium), it attracts water to itself which ensures that hydration level in the body is optimal. It is significant to note that sodium is found in food such as fish, meat, pickled foods, olives, eggs, table salt, dairy foods and poultry (Gazzaniga 45). Excessive overdose of sodium causes hypertension which can cause many health problems. However, deficiency of sodium in the body can lead to serious health problems. For instance, deficiency of sodium in the body leads to hyponatremia which means the body can not be in a position to regulate sodium.

Narrative criticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Narrative criticism - Essay Example es of narrative criticism have emerged; some people have claimed that narrative criticism is a fundamental tool in communication processes owing to the fact that it facilitates the understanding of texts and how they reflect on human life structures, thus creating a platform for information sharing and exchange (Pullman, 7). As a method of literary analysis, this approach has been a subject of negative and positive criticism. To begin with, some scholars have claimed that the application narrative criticism is majorly based on a dimension of literary analysis that allows readers to assess literary works in a holistic manner, by noting different characteristics and styles that are similar to other literary works, taking into consideration, the beginning, middle as well as the end (Powell, 3). On the other hand, some narrative critics have asserted that it is basically a method that does not focus on a holistic analysis of literary works, but rather focus on specific elements of literary works, which seem relevant to the story line or the main theme. Moreover, this group of critics has claimed the narrative criticism is a basic tool for literary analysis that engages its readers through understanding how the literary works relate with real life experiences (Byron, 13). This is usually achieved through various points of view passed by the narrators and relating them to the real life experiences of its readers. According to Allan Powell (1990), Narrative criticism can be considered a function of events. This is because in its application, a high sense of priority is given to the text from the ideas of ‘implied readers’ and ‘implied author’: The essence of implied author as well as implied reader are usually determined by signatures emerging from the text. Powell also asserts that narrative criticism is a function of events, basically due to the fact that it involves taking into consideration characters and settings of a literary analysis that forms its