Opera - Carmen Essay Example for Free

Opera Carmen Essay This was an amazing Opera, I only wish that I had the opportunity to see it in person. I have never watched anything like it, and probably would not have had it not been part of this class. Let me say Thank you for opening my eyes to this amazing experience. The theatrical performance, choreography and music were very moving and to my surprise drew me in to continue watching and trying to interpret. I have to say I was very shocked at the sexuality used in this performance, it seemed as thought it was wrote long before its time. Carmens sexuality was very much a large part of the performance and I found it intriguing. I decided to rent the movie Carmen to compare the performances and found them to be very similar in character however the Opera was much more captivating. The music alone is wonderful but when added to the stage performance it was absolutely mesmerizing. Carmen is a direct conflict of the expectations for women of this time period. Women were to be gentle, biddable and sinned against. However Carmen used her beauty and sexuality to her advantage. She perfectly combined her acting, singing, and dancing abilities to portray a seductive and enticing personality that even Don Jose could not resist. The musical transitions for each character and scene were for me the amateur at times overwhelming and difficult to take it all in. As the music and people become loud during the bullfight in the background you can hear Carmen and Don Jose characters in the music. In the beginning of the Opera Don Jose appears to be very strong and powerful with an ability to ignore Carmen. Again the music helps portray this image. Obviously he changes throughout the performance to become ravaged with lust and jealousy towards Carmen. You can hear in his voice his defeat and it leaves you to believe that although he will no longer be jealous he also will mourn Carmen forever. Although the orchestra was not shown often it appeared that it consisted primarily of men, which I found rather interesting. The sets were also incredible which made me wonder how the original sets were designed. This Opera appears to have been a monumental changes in the French Opera it is a shame that Bizet, due to his early death, was unable to realize his impact not only of his time but still today 100 years later.

Software Piracy in India and the Developed World :: Software Computers Technology Essays

Software Piracy in India and the Developed World Introduction: Software Piracy in India Software is one of the easiest and a very lucrative medium to steal. The copies made are as good as the original software and can be made quickly in large quantities. This makes it very difficult to effectively enforce anti-piracy laws, as the officials cannot raid each and every home in search of illegal copies of copyrighted software. In India, with a population of over 1 billion, effective enforcement of anti-piracy laws is a ponderous task. The government of India possesses neither the will nor the finances to dedicate a chunk of its budget to enforcing copyright infringement laws. Another problem is that to control expenditure of monitoring and convicting such a huge number of offenders is a complicated and time consuming process. Latest figures show that the Personal Computer market in India is rocketing skywards. In the quarter ending December 31st, 2003, 800,000 units were sold. Out of these 55 percent of the computer sales were of regional brands and unbranded systems. It should be noted that not all of these brands conform to software copyright laws as in the United States and Europe, or even in India. By the end of March 2004, an estimated 3 million personal computers are expected to sell. 2 The regional brands are the most responsible for propagating software piracy. In order to sell the computers cheap, pirated versions of software are installed on all machines sold. It can easily be deduced how much loss software piracy will cause the industry in the recent future. The use of illegal or copied versions of software costs the worldwide software industry more than 13 Billion Dollars a year in revenues, out of which 1.96 billion dollars are lost in the US alone, which has a software piracy rate of 23 percent. In some East-Asian, Latin American and European countries, 95 percent of the software used is pirated. So, India is better off but still has a long way to go in the fight against software piracy. India is unarguably one of the software hubs of the world, yet software piracy is rampant in this country. The software piracy rate in India is nearly 65 percent. No illegal activity of this scale can survive unless and until it has the support or involvement of a large number of users. The more concrete manner in which software piracy can be precluded is to pro-actively involve the public in the anti-piracy initiative.

Phonological and Writing Systems of English and Thai

In the second language and foreign language (FL) classroom literature, it has been claimed that several variables related to the interface between L1 and L2/ FL, i. e. psychological aspects, contribute to language learners’ perception and production of a foreign language. A study of these variables could have important implications for the teaching of foreign languages. More recently, the role of spoken and written L2 input (e. g. Bassetti, 2008; Moyer, 2009) has been studied in greater detail, and there is an abundance of such studies.In this chapter, the relevant literature will be illustrated and critiqued, with particular attention to the works on phonological systems and writing systems across languages and the interaction between the two systems. In addition, the influence of affective factors on the productive skills of Thai learners is reviewed. The first section of the chapter is a discussion of the relevant literature on the differences between phonological and writi ng systems across languages and the resulting language learner output, followed by a review of the framework to be used in this study.The final section is a review of the effects of the affective factors on the learners’ language achievement and language performance as well as on language learning. 1. The related literature The findings reported in the literature that the majority of Thai learners of English demonstrate a low degree of proficiency, especially in the productive skills (speaking and writing) reflect the fact that â€Å"English language pedagogy in Thailand †¦ is still in its infancy† (Wongsothorn, A. , Hiranburana, K. & Chinnawongs, S. 2002; Laopongharn & Sercombe, 2009, among others). As reported in the national survey (1999) conducted by the Office of Educational Testing of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (in Khamkhien, 2010), â€Å"high school sstudents’ productive skills were generally below 50 per cent, i. e. below average, leading to the recommendation in the report for immediate improvements of writing ability in all educational institutions in the country† (Wongsothorn et al. , 2002: 112). There are several factors that could prevent Thai learners of English from aining a sthrong command of productive skills in English. In terms of the phonological system, Yangklang (2006) investigated the improvement in pronunciation of English final [l] in 40 Thai sstudents in Matthayom Suksa 4 at Assumption Convent Lamnarai School who had used the Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) programme she was testing. The CAI in the study, as described by Yangklang: â€Å"contained drill and practice exercises. Drill and practice activities aimed to provide learners with adequate practices and also to review items that were new to learners.The goal of the drill and practice activities was to teach sstudents to pronounce words with final /-l/ accurately and automatically. † These practices and exercises were, therefore, provided by the computer programme as part of the post-lesson activities. The participants were divided into two groups according to their competence of pronunciation of English, one with good pronunciation and the other with poor ability. Prior to the experimental task, each participant had taken a placement test to classify their pronunciation competence.Subsequently, they all took three pronunciation post-tests every week for three weeks. It was found that both groups of sstudents improved their pronunciation significantly after they used the CAI programme. In general, both groups had positive reactions to the use of the CAI programme for improving their pronunciation. Obviously, the programme helped the participants improve their pronunciation, given that they had intensive training on pronunciation practice of specific English consonant sounds, and the post-test of pronouncing the sound was administered immediately after the programme training.As Graham (1997) and M acaro (2006), among others, have pointed out, effective language learning is about mastering communicative skills, i. e. speaking, writing, listening, and reading. This indicates that the more learners practise, the better their communicative performance in a language. In line with this, the results did not show anything unexpected. The point at issue, which I shall leave for future study, is how can accurate pronunciation, e. g. of the /l/ sound, be maintained after short-term, intensive training?In Yangklang’s findings, the English consonant sound /l/ which constitutes the coda, i. e. word-final ending in /l/, (see Figure 1 below) could be realised as [l], [n], and [w] by the participants. The participants with good pronunciation appeared to produce the [l], whilst the participants from the poorer group appeared to generate [n] and [w] instead of [l] or [? ]. The [n] was produced more frequently than [w] by these participants, however. Yangklang did not discuss why [n] and [w] constitute allophones of /l/.In the study, it was the poorer group who produced such allophones, and it was reported from interviews that the participants had not yet been exposed to an environment where English is used as a medium of communication. In the word list, part of the research instrument which consisted of pronunciation tests contained words like ‘ball’, ‘mile’, etc. which are English loanwords. I assume that there is some force of segmental alternation with regard to English loanwords.As /l/ is not available at coda position, the notion of final consonant phoneme alternation appears plausible. That is to say, [n] and [w] appear to be alternatives. Paradis (1996) in Kentowicz & Suchato (2006), claimed that the location of such segments in feature geometry and prosodic structure was relevant in dealing with segmental alternation in loanwords. Based on the data, /l/ and /n/ fall into the same natural class, in that both of them are sonorant con sonants, which can be represented by the feature matrices

Worldview Assignment The Bible - 813 Words

Worldview Assignment We live in a world where Christians are constantly challenged and forced to comply with â€Å"political correctness† on a daily basis. The adverse impact is intended to erode away morals and values outlined in the Bible. School children are indoctrinated that to be a â€Å"good† Americans, they must be sensitive to other subversive groups under the guise of diversity. For this challenge Christians must have a worldview that incorporate Biblical principles in a unified forum to respond with true convictions. Worldview is a perception in which an individual interprets the world in relation to their understanding of reality. It governors our response that â€Å"ideas that have consequences† and attitudes to define awareness in all human endeavours. â€Å" In the beginning God created the heavens and Earth.† Genesis 1:1 EVS. By the third day God said â€Å"let the land produce vegetation. Genesis 1:9 ESV. It was the spoken word of God, that allowed life to start here on Earth.The fifth day â€Å"brought creatures from the sea and in the air† Genesis 1:20-22 EVS. and the sixth day God created â€Å" livestock and creatures that moved along the ground.† Genesis 1:24-25 ESV. Life began for man â€Å"when God formed man from the dust in the ground and breathed life into his nostrils thus becoming a living creature.† Genesis 2:7 ESV. Only man would receive the â€Å"breath of life† from the Creator, thus giving him a spirit to separate him from the beast of the field. Man also hasShow MoreRelatedEssay Jesus and Christian Worldview1033 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿CWV-101: Bible Story Worksheet and Journal #1 Module 1 - Part 1 – Bible Story Worksheet For Part 1 of this assignment, you will complete this worksheet by reviewing the The Story of the Bible flags and fulfill each writing requirement. http://lc.gcumedia.com/zwebassets/courseMaterialPages/cwv101_biblical-timeline-v1.1.php Please keep your answers brief. Solid academic writing is expected. Refer to the GCU Academic Writing Guidelines in the Student Success Center. Briefly answer each sectionRead MoreFinding Scripture: Humanity and Ethics Worksheet and Journal #41108 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ CWV-101: Bible Story Worksheet and Journal #1 Module 1 - Part 1 – Bible Story Worksheet For Part 1 of this assignment, you will need to read each section in the â€Å"Story of the Bible† media piece. 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A worldview is a persons concept of what the world is, how the world operates, and the place he or she has in the world. The worldview can also encompass the philosophy of life held by the person, because life philosophy and understanding of the world are generally linked to one another. In other words, a person who has a highly religious worldview would very likely have a philosophy of life that encompassed the need for a kinder world, and that includedRead MoreDeath Penalty and Life in Prison1623 Words   |  7 PagesCWV 301 Christian Worldview Characteristics of God Worksheet amp; Essay For Part I of this assignment, you will look up the following passages in the Bible to learn about certain characteristics of God and how they shape the Christian Worldview. This is a brainstorming exercise, in which the listing of ideas is more important than writing. Consider using a bullet list or outline to discuss elements and sub elements. 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In this book, the basis of a biblical worldview can be illustrated by Paul when it comes to explaining the natural world, our human identity, human relationships, and culture. The Natural World With regards to the natural world, Romans 1:20 clearly states that â€Å"For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky