Abstract This paper reviews the 2004 movie "Friday Night Lights" about high school sport in America. The author includes an introduction, analysis, justification for the movie, relationship of the movie to sport in American life, contribution to society and conclusion.
From the Paper ""Friday Night Lights" starred Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Lucas Black and Garrett Hedlund. "Friday Night Lights" is a movie that chronicles the true story of the Odessa Texas high school football team the Permian Panthers and ..."
Tags:Friday Night Lights, sports, obsession, movie review
Abstract The paper examines the day of the week and the month of the year effects on the stock market in Athens, with the expectation of negative or lower returns on Monday, the highest average returns on Friday and the higher average returns in January. The paper finds insignificant returns on Monday, but significant positive and higher average returns on Friday. The paper reaches the conclusion that the Athens stock market might not be characterized by market efficiency, as calendar anomalies are present. The paper includes graphs and tables as appendices to the paper.
Outline:
Introduction
Methodology
Data
Results
Conclusion
From the Paper "Many studies and researches have been made in calendar effects. One of them is the study of Aggarwal and Tandon (1994) test the day-of-the week found that Monday returns are negative in thirteen countries, but are significant only in seven countries. Also they found that Friday returns are significantly positive in almost all countries. Agathee (2008) examined the day of the week effect, who finds positive and significant ordinary least squares regression coefficients on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but however Fridays returns are the highest. Mills et al. (2000) haven't found Monday effect , but a Tuesday effect similar to other papers is presented. Aggarwal and Rivoli (1989) find that Monday and Tuesday returns are lower than the overall average, while the Friday returns are higher, as also the volatility measured by the standard deviation is highest on Mondays."
Abstract This essay includes analysis of the way Friday is described by the author in comparison to the way he is described in 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe, a look at the importance of Friday's feet and what they represent, dicussion of class implications,and the symbolism within the novel.
From the Paper "In this essay, I intend to discuss the opinion that the character of Friday is central in the book Foe by the South African writer, J. M. Coetzee. I will look at the importance of his character and how he influences the story as a whole. I feel that the quote below is very true, and I shall go on to prove this in this essay. ""J. M. Coetzee deconstructs the text of Robinson Crusoe in his novel Foe, which subtly centralises the character of Friday" (James McCorkle) Foe is a book in which Coetzee raises many interesting issues. The four main areas that are dealt with are: the treatment of the truth in narratives, pro-feminism, race and the treatment of ethnic minorities, and the truth about history. It also contains ideas about society and the class struggle. At one point when Susan speaks, it is almost as if Coetzee is talking about his own writing: "Alas my stories seem always to have more applications than I intend"" (Foe, 81) "
Abstract This paper introduces and analyzes the book "Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream" by H.G. Bissinger. Specifically, it discusses the philosophical, psychological, social and ethical views from the book, in regards to life, sports, coaching and the students/players. Football in Odessa is the only reason most people live, and "Friday Night Lights" vividly shows the petty small town bigotry, small mindedness and mentalities that create a culture out of football and create life or death drama over winning or losing.
From the Paper "Psychologically, the people of Odessa seem not only extremely simple minded, they obsess over the games as if they were life and death. One prominent businessman says, "'Life really wouldn't be worth livin' if you didn't have a high school football team to support'" (Bissinger 20). It would be funny if it were not so sad. These people, even those who are happy and successful, seem to have nothing else in their lives but these Friday night games. What causes them to lead such empty and superficial lives that football is the only entertainment? Admittedly, Odessa is a "wretched" place to live, and there seems to be little else to do there to keep society interested and involved."
Abstract This paper examines how, in Daniel Defoe's novel "The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" there are many supporting characters that offer readers insight in to the story and how Defoe's character Friday is one that allows readers insight into both the context and the main character of the novel as well as acts as a symbol through his role as a slave, a challenge and a protector. It looks at how one of Friday's most significant contributions to the novel is the information he offers readers on the context of the novel.
From the Paper "Friday allows readers insight in to the changing attitudes towards the economy and capitalism at the time the novel was written. One way in which this is achieved is through his ties to the theme of mastery in the novel. The relationship between Friday and Robinson is strongly defined by mastery. Upon their first meeting Robinson says "I made him know his name should be Friday, which was the day I saved his life...I likewise thought him to say master, and then let him know that was to be my name." (Defoe, 206). This particular event is important as it reveals the egocentric personality of Robinson. He is a "bourgeoisie" driven by capital and power."
Abstract The character of Friday in Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" is a controversial one, certainly, but he is also significant. This paper shows that Friday reveals many things throughout the narrative of "Robinson Crusoe," and his significance to the novel is shown through his appearance, personality, and culture.
From the Paper "With the development of Friday's character and personality, readers begin to see the differences between Crusoe and his servant. In many ways, Friday is more charismatic and colourful than Crusoe, and this underlines Crusoe's almost wooden personality. One such event is when Friday is reunited with his father, and jumps and sings for joy at the reunion. Here again Friday shows the contrast between his character and that of Crusoe. Throughout the entire novel Crusoe never mentions missing his family, nor does he dream of a happy reunion with them. Friday's display shows readers what is missing from Crusoe's heart, the emotion that comes with caring for others and being a meaningful part of a family."
Abstract The writer of this article discusses that in the book 'Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream', H.G. Bissinger writes about the central role of high school football in the community life of Odessa, Texas. The writer notes that the author is attracted to the story when he learns that as many as 20,000 people attend the football games on Friday night, eager to root for a team called the Permian Panthers. The writer discusses that football holds a more important place in the lives of the people of this area than would be true for people elsewhere. The writer points out that the author analyzes not just the games and the crowds but the demographics and economics of the region, suggesting a link between the poor economic life of the region and the focus on a winning football team for community spirit and a relatively inexpensive and reliable source of entertainment.
From the Paper "The elevation of athletes to a favored position in schools is nothing new and is common in high school and college alike, though Odessa may have exceeded the norm in this regard. The community's dedication to football has much less to do with the athletes themselves than with the need on the part of the rest of the community to have something that raises them above the unsettled nature of the region in which they live. Bissinger notes from the first how the area suffers from economic problems and intermittent violence. Life is described as hard in Odessa, and people find that football can be an escape. The way the people of Odessa respond to football is not unlike what is seen in other communities, Midland included, but as a rule, a community reacts to the local football team to the degree that members of the community are associated with the school because they have children in the school or because they themselves are alumni of the school. In Odessa, on the other hand, the high school football team appeals to people with no direct association with the school at all. The high school has been made the central feature of the community, at least during football season."
Abstract This paper describes the origins of the rituals practiced on the Christian holy days of Good Friday and Easter, explaining, that more than any other rituals of the Christian Church, these are the most holiest of all. The paper goes on to explain what these holy days celebrate and mean to Christianity and why they are sacred to that religion.
From the Paper "The importance of these days, culminating in Easter are the basis for the Christian beliefs in Christ as the Son of God, and the Resurrection is not just the proof thereof, but the foundation for the involvement of all Christian religions in the expectations that all deserving faithful will find an entrance into Heaven, by following the words and expectations of Jesus. Death and Resurrection are what this "weekend" is all about: the despair of death on the cross, and the joy at the resurrection. Modern theologians may consider the resurrection of the soul, rather than mortal remains, as proof that the Christian faithful will be rewarded for having led a good life on earth. If nothing else, the Good Friday ritual enables the faithful Christian to "enter into Jesus' death with the confidence that we will be raised with Christ.""
Abstract This paper examines one of the most profound and best-known of all the psychological phenomena in the stock market: The January effect. It discusses this trend, asking if it is a real phenomena or simply a mass marketing campaign. It provides an extensive look at the psyche of the stock market junkie. Many graphs are displayed.
From the paper:
"Nothing is a sure bet in the world of investing in stocks ? maybe even not death and certainly not taxes, as revelations about Enron have recently reminded us. And it is precisely this high level of insecurity that prompts people ? even against all possible rational reasons ? to look for patterns in the stock market that will help them invest, just as a person desperate to have a winning day at the track will bet on every fifth horse, or every horse wearing green and white, or every jockey whose name begins with K. One essential difference between horse-racing and the stock market, however, is that the actions of those "betting" ? i.e. buying and selling shares ? can have a real effect on the end result."
Abstract This paper studies the concept of market efficiency as it applies to the United Kingdom. The paper begins with a definition of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, followed by an analysis of anomalies to this concept. Empirical observations about the January effect and the weekend effect are offered. The paper concludes with a comparison between the concept of market efficiency in the UK and other European countries. Market Efficiency January Effect Weekend Effect Anomalies and the Efficiency Market
From the Paper "Market Efficiency could be defined as a concept of Efficient Markets Hypothesis. EMH follows that stock prices reflect information. The basic concept is that if markets are efficient then information of abnormal nature could be reflected simultaneously into the market. As a result of this effect, prices are also effected. On the other hand if markets are inefficient newly generated information will have a slower effect into the market thereby change in prices is also slow."
From the Paper "This study will examine the relationship among colonialism, the representation of the "other" (Friday, Xury, the cannibals, etc.), and the plot of domination and conquest in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Michel Tournier's Friday, or The Other Island.
Tournier's work is offered as an antidote to the work of Defoe, and this fact is made clear in the Prologue to Tournier's book. In that Prologue, the Captain of the Virginia (from which Crusoe will shortly be swept overboard, destined for adventures singularly different from those he experienced in Defoe's story) is doing a reading for Crusoe from the tarot cards. Tournier makes obvious the nature of his book's argument. The Captain reads the meaning of the first card Robinson turns up: "This means that in you there is an organizer, one who does battle with..."
This paper describes two books, "Friday Night Lights", by H. G. Bissinger, and "There Are No Children Here", by Alex Kotlowitz.and compares their portrayals of teenage problems, violence and economic struggles in American communities
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 2 sources, 1994, $ 55.95
From the Paper "Two books, "Friday Night Lights", by H. G. Bissinger, and "There Are No Children Here", by Alex Kotlowitz, both begin in the late 1980s. Both books are also about teenage boys struggling in urban and rural towns of America. Both authors document specific instances of violence which occur in the American communities. The citizens of both cities are greatly affected by the shocking events which occur within their cities as well as by local police forces, schools, and unemployment rates. But the similarities end there. The lives which the football players lead in Odessa, Texas are very different from the lives Pharoah and Lafayette lead in Chicago, Illinois.
The crime is so bad in the Lafayette's home town that he ... "
This paper is a critical review of H.G. Bissinger in "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and A Dream", which discusses the impact of high school football on socioeconomically deprived Odessa, Texas.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 1 source, 1994, $ 39.95
From the Paper "H.G. Bissinger, in "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and A Dream", uses high school football as a window through which we can study the soul of a Texas town. It is clear that Bissinger's study is meant to shine a light on the problems of American society in general, because the social and economic troubles of Odessa, Texas, are the troubles of the country as a whole. The book must be seen as a pessimistic one, because the problems of the town are not faced honestly and courageously, but are instead buried in the town's obsession with football, just as an addict would bury his troubles in his obsession with drugs.
The book might be seen as an academic, judgmental indictment from on high, the product of a writer from the big city who comes to the little town to study the inhabitants like a scientist studying rats. But it is clear that that is not what Bissinger ... "
Abstract This paper explores the roles of women in three films, starting with "His Girl Friday" from the 1940's, "Semi-Tough" from the 1970's and "Flirting With Disaster" from the 1990's. The various roles and stereotypes played by the female stars of these films are contrasted and compared as to their characters and their motivations.
From the Paper "The history of women in the cinema can be traced back to the early days of film production, beginning ca. 1896 with films by director Alice Guy Blache, such as "The Cabbage Fairy" and "The Bewitched Fianc".? With the advent and popularity of the so-called "silent era" of film production, women began to be depicted as various stereotypes, such as ?damsels in distress,? weak-minded, timid city girls and impoverished ?white trash,? while men played an overwhelming majority of lead roles, usually as heroic figures who rescue these "damsels" from a plethora of dangerous situations. In a study of one hundred films released between 1930 and 1940, part of the "Golden Age" of American cinema, "eighty percent focused on the love/hate of a man with a good/bad girl, while fifty percent had the good/bad girl opposing another bad girl" (Doane 134)."
Abstract This paper outlines the history of women in the cinema since the early days of film production in 1896. It examines the different stereotypes women have been depicted as over the years such as ?damsels in distress,? weak-minded, timid city girls and impoverished ?white trash,? while men played an overwhelming majority of lead roles, usually as heroic figures who rescue these "damsels" from a plethora of dangerous situations. It analyzes three different films made in three different decades, "His Girl Friday," "Semi-Tough" and "Flirting With Disaster" and looks at how the roles of women in the cinema are are ever changing and constantly presenting new dimensions which need to be explored, especially in the ways women develop cinematic relationships and how they interact with one another.
From the Paper "However, recent feminist views have maintained that the women in these film noirs are outside the standard acceptance of femininity. By using their sexuality to overwhelm their male counterparts, these women gained power and used it to ?get what they want,? usually in the form of revenge, money or sexual satisfaction. These traits of the strong, powerful woman also influenced the audience through what is referred to as a gender blind construct or that which blinds the dominant cultural definitions of pleasure and desire so as to show that women are also sexual predators."
