Abstract This paper begins with a discussion of the roots and definition of the word 'rhetoric' by Greek philosophers. It uses as an example of 'rhetoric criticism', a review of the television series by the name of "Survivor" where sixteen carefully chosen people are "cast away" on a movie set that happens to be on an exotic island. The significance of the phenomenal success of the television show "Survivor" is based upon its supposed reality and has evoked much controversy and debate.
From the Paper "Rhetoric is defined as a counterpart of Dialectic where, in the literal sense of the word, the former is the art of speaking or writing. Rhetoric comes from the Greek word for speech. It has not always been considered a respectable academic discipline. Plato was critical of the idea that rhetoric should be called an art, while Aristotle argued in On Rhetoric that it was indeed an art. Plato's perspective on rhetoric has not been uncommon throughout the ages, namely, that rhetoric is no art at all but merely practiced flattery where rhetoric is labeled as the art of persuasion."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the development of DVDs, comparable technologies, the current technology and the future of the technology. Disk types and sizes and discussed as well as the different uses for the medium.
From the Paper "In 1993, Nimbus demonstrated a Red Book audio disc at a show in Cannes, France. The disc was recorded with MPEG-1 audio at double density. This occurrence sent the technology sector into a race to create a universally supported, high capacity, CD like disc. In 1995 that disc format was finally released and became known as the Digital Video Disc ("A Brief History" 1)."
Abstract The paper examines the history of the American show, "Saturday Night Live", including specific examples of skits and actors (and the importance of both in the shaping of the show). The paper covers the content of the show and the reasons why it is still so popular today.
From the Paper "Herb Schlosser, president of the National Broadcasting Company, was desperate. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was airing six nights a week, with reruns on Saturday nights. Both Carson and Schlosser wanted to get rid of the reruns, and produce a late night program that would appeal to the generation that grew up with Beaver Cleaver. Schlosser hired a man named Dick Ebersol to oversee the creation of such a show. Ebersol turned to Lorne Michaels, simply giving him almost complete freedom and control. Within six months, Michaels had gathered a cast, the ?Not Ready for Prime Time Players,? and a show was literally thrown together. Critics said that the show would be a dismal failure, because none of the young target audience was going to sit home on Saturday Night to watch television (Hill and Weingrad 36). But when Chevy Chase stepped onto the stage on October 11, 1975, and said, ?Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!? He marked the start of the longest running television comedy show to date, proving all the critics wrong (Fitzgerald 390)."
Reviews the films "Liar, Liar" and "Trial and Error" focusing on how they treat the issues of honesty and the legal system, specifically the propensity for dishonesty among lawyers.
2,025 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 0 sources, 2001, $ 71.95
From the Paper "Two recent comedy films explore the same essential theme--the importance of telling the truth--though they do so in very different ways. As it happens, both films also feature characters who are lawyers. "Liar Liar"'s main character is a lawyer who embodies the stereotype of the lawyer who is unable to tell the truth and who can lie with great facility because he has been trained to do just that. He is on the verge of achieving great success and becoming a partner in his firm precisely because he is able to lie with such abandon. One of the principle characters in Trial and Error is also a lawyer who in this case has just made partner in his firm, but he is a man with scruples far exceeding those of the head of that firm, leaving the viewer to wonder how he did make partner without compromising himself. He is now faced with a situation which forces him to lie..."
From the Paper "The overall color scheme of "Full Metal Jacket" involves a shift toward the green in art direction and toward the blue in terms of lighting. The green is seen in the tinge of the walls of the barracks, in the uniforms, and in the choices made throughout the movie for the surroundings (the green of the foliage at Paris Island, what is left of the green in the war zone of Vietnam, the sickly cast to the war scenes, the green of military bases everywhere, and so on).
The blue shift in the light and the prevalence of green places a distance between viewer and action. These are cold colors, and the blue adds a sense of documentary to scenes like the opening where the soldiers are getting their haircuts. Blue is emphasized in the night scenes, with a blue filter adding an ominous and mysterious tinge to the action. Blue makes the inter..."
From the Paper "This paper is an examination of some basic concepts of organizational communications, using examples from the workplace depicted in Ron Howard's movie, The Paper. This film, set in the newsroom of a major New York City tabloid, provides interesting examples of a distinctive corporate culture and the communication process at work. Three of its principal characters are managers, and their interrelationships demonstrate contrasting leadership styles, showing some of the different ways in which managers try to communicate organizational goals and motivate employees.
William W. Neher (1997) notes, "Organizing requires getting people together to accomplish some purpose" (p. 19). The people in the office depicted in The Paper (1994) have come together in order to produce a daily tabloid. Although some of the individuals working at the fictitious New York Sun are concerned..."
From the Paper "Introduction
At one time, a "Disney" film was one which was appropriate for the entire family, from grandparents to grandchildren, and Mickey Mouse was recognized as a lovable character lacking the worldliness or sarcasm of Warner Brothers' signature character, Bugs Bunny. However, the Walt Disney company now bears little resemblance to the animation studio formed by Walt Elias Disney in the early part of the twentieth century, and the company now participates in nearly every segment of the entertainment market, including theme parks and resorts, on an international scale.
When Michael Eisner came to the Disney company in the mid-1980s, the company was drifting with a lack of focus that characterized its performance since the death of its founder in the mid-1960s. Eisner, and Frank Wells, brought new visions to the organization which included..."
From the Paper "Spike Lee's films offer social problems in the form of interesting, well made stories that never limit themselves to a single point of view. His film Jungle Fever, therefore, seemed like an excellent choice for analysis in terms of private troubles and public issues, racism, sexism, and other social ills, and the processes by which oppressive and dominating ideas and attitudes are internalized--both by the characters and by this writer. Jungle Fever is, basically, the story of a black architect (Flipper Purify) who is married to a Bloomingdales buyer (Drew Purify) but has an affair with his white, working class secretary (Angie Tucci), who is engaged to a man from her neighborhood (Paulie Carbone). Although the affair, and its effects on the families and friends of the principals, is at the center of the film, other problems--such as the drug addiction of..."
From the Paper "In the 1970s, nurses in films tended to be either sex objects or harridans engendering fear, in both cases rather than caring professionals. This division also generally reflected an age difference as well, with the sex-object nurses being young and beautiful, and with older nurses presented as overbearing and unattractive. This division was and continues to be most evident in comedies, though it also seeps into more serious dramas which include nurses as well. Certainly, there are exceptions, but the fact that this has been a more apparent choice is shown in complaints by professionals that "negative stereotypes of shallow or seductive female nurses continue to be reinforced in movies and on television" (Forgacs, 1996). This sex-object nurse has a long history, appearing in the late 1950s in comedies like Operation Petticoat (1959) and emerging in even.."
From the Paper " The film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest handles the elements in the novel very well and produces a work that is true to the spirit of the original and largely to the letter as well. Changes have been made, of course, and they have been managed in a way that serves the letter of the original in a more dramatic fashion. At the same time, the film does veer more into overt comedy and is also weighted more heavily toward McMurphy as a sheer personality than may be necessary. However, he is well-balanced against Nurse Ratchet so that what emerges does seem a duel between the two. It is less apparent in the film where the power may lie in this situation, for the fantasy element of McMurphy's play-acting is so strong it is seductive and lulls the viewer into seeing the film as less grounded in reality than it means to be, so his.."
From the Paper " This paper examines the translation of a novel into a film, through the comparison between Peter Hedges' novel, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and the film directed by Lasse Hallstrom from Hedges' screenplay. While the film is faithful to many of the principal characters and incidents in the book, it differs in several minor respects. More importantly, it makes only a brief, introductory attempt to retain the book's first-person narrative structure, thereby dramatically altering essential elements in the story and its central theme. This paper looks at the ways in which these two contrasting media are used to tell the story of small-town longing, frustration, and hope.
Gilbert Grape is still living at home in a highly dysfunctional family. His older brother, Larry, has managed to get away from the Iowa town on Endora which has trapped all the other..."
From the Paper "Luchino Visconti's filmed version of Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice is an excellent example of a literary adaptation. The amount and type of material in the book was so well suited to a film that it required only a few changes to suit the story to a visual presentation. The film's story has the same simple, direct plot as the book and very little is added in terms of incidents. The principal change that was made was to alter Aschenbach's occupation. He is a novelist in the book but becomes a composer in the film. The other major addition is the flashbacks to Aschenbach's life prior to the trip to Venice. Much of the short novel is devoted to simple, direct description of Aschenbach's actions, accompanied by the narrator's commentary on what Aschenbach thinks. The book is written in the third person and its style is suitable--in many parts--to the way..."
From the Paper "The films of Takeshi Kitano mimic American genre films in some respects but do so in a unique way, and his later films have developed more levels of meaning and layers of plot and character development that extend the nature of the genre in new directions. Kitano generally favors the crime drama, usually in stories about the Japanese crime groups known as the Yakuza and the police. Kitano himself plays the hero, who is usually a troubled policeman or gangster with a complex and dual involvement in family matters and violent crime at the same time. Kitano thus deals in contrasts, and his directorial style emphasizes and balances the competing interests of the main character as well as the ambiguities of modern society. This is evident in early films like Boiling Point (1990) and Violent Cop (1989), but Kitano makes such contrasts even more central ..."
From the Paper "This paper is an examination of ethnic stereotypes in American films and the psychological impact that those stereotypes have on audiences of all ethnicities. Mainstream films perpetuate in-group perceptions about out-group members, both consciously and unconsciously, even when trying to be liberal-minded. By making specific casting decisions, filmmakers designate the ethnicity of characters that either reinforce the audience's opinions of the ethnicity represented or provide individual exceptions to the accepted stereotypes. Such representations can have a powerful effect on audiences of all races. Stereotypes in some form are almost impossible to avoid, whether they are examples of institutionalized racism (intentional or inadvertent) or attempts to counteract prejudice. Some of the most recent mainstream films demonstrate..."
From the Paper "Feminist theorists often analyze society in terms of gender relations and specifically in terms of how issues of differential power affect gender relations. Society today asserts that men and women are equal, but this is not the case in practical terms. They may be treated equally under the law, but they are not treated equally in most respects. They simply do not have the same opportunities in the business world, for instance, and even gender relations are shaped more by what society decides is correct than by individual desires. The plight of women in society has been addressed by a number of feminist theorists as diverse as Mary Wollstonecraft in the eighteenth century and Catherine MacKinnon and Carole Gilligan more recently. These issues have also been addressed in a number of films as well, and a film like American Beauty..."
