Shrek Media Essay Example for Free

Shrek Media Essay Handsome princes and beautiful princess are things you expect to see in a fairytale. Shrek is a huge exception; it is not your average traditional fairytale. The things that make it unlike any other fairytale are its unique characters, the plot, language and music. Shrek includes plenty of familiar fairy tale faces popping up along the way and even more humour. In this essay I will be discussing how the makers of Shrek use presentational devices to reverse and represent the traditional fairytale. Firstly, the main character of this fairytale is an ogre, Shrek. Shrek, however, is not the usual ugly, smelly, cruel, threatening ogre. Although he may be ugly, and even a bit smelly he is kind, sensitive and has a heart of gold. He is simply misunderstood. The makers of Shrek manage to make Shrek sympathetic and easy to warm to. We see that Shrek is actually lonely and no one will give him a chance because he is ugly and they assume he is this horrendous creature. Another example is Princess Fiona. The usual fairytale princess is beautiful, sweet, kind and gentle. This princess is strong and feisty. Shes assertive and perfectly capable of fighting her own battles. Princesses hang around and wait to be saved, and then let things be done for them. Princess Fiona makes it clear that she is perfectly manageable. Lord Farquaad is another example. A conventional Prince/King is tall, handsome, heroic and kind. This is everything Lord Farquaad isnt, he is lacking in height, scheming and not at all heroic. These characters all go against what a traditional fairy tale would. This is one type of role reversal in the film. Shrek follows a the story of an large but friendly ogre who only wants to lead a peaceful life except he cant because his swamp has been filled with fairy tale creatures that have been banished to there by the short and cruel Lord Farquaad. In order to have all the creatures back where they belong, Shrek must rescue a beautiful young princess who shall become Farquaads bride; in order for him to own the whole kingdom. Shrek agrees to do so, and pairs up with Donkey, a witty mule who talks too much, to complete the quest. All goes well until Shrek begins to fall in love with Princess Fiona. The princess herself turns out to have many hidden talents and secrets. The narrative in itself tells us that this is different from an ordinary fairy tale but also things like exaggeration, incongruity and role reversal tell us this. In the opening scene Shrek is brushing his teeth, he smiles into the mirror and it cracks, he farts in the pond and a dead fish floats up, these are examples of exaggeration.. The language used is not suitable for fairytales, modern language is used and even though there are no rude words actually said, you know they were about to before an interruption. For instance in the opening scene where Shrek flushes the toilet at the same time that he says the word. Parodies make fun of another piece of art by mocking it. The parody is an imitation of the original, but exaggerating it, showing cliches which have been used, to make the original look ridiculous. The scene where Lord Farquaad has to pick which princess he would like to marry via selections put forth by a stolen Magic Mirror is a reference to Dating Game. In one scene, Fiona sings to the birds and accidentally kills one by singing in an extremely high-pitched tone. This is a parody of Disney princesses, who are often shown singing with woodland creatures such as birds. In Shreks swamp, when all the fairytale creatures are there, Papa Bear and Baby Bear are present, and later on we see that she has been turned into a rug. Throughout Shrek, the music is modern rock/pop. The songs used are to be easily recognised by most people. All these things help make Shrek unique, but the computer animations contribute towards the freedom of the cartoons. They are able to anything, therefore imagination and creativity is used well to take advantage of this. In the scene that Shrek, Fiona and Donkey bump into Robin Hood and his men in the woods role reversal is used. Instead of Shrek fighting off the merry men it is Fiona who does all the fighting single-handed. This is also exaggeration, as she takes on all of the men alone. Fiona jumps into the air and freezes in place; the camera hovers around her, giving her time to adjust her hair, before she finishes off two attackers in normal time. This is a reference to the movie The Matrix. This is also an example of incongruity. In this scene, Friar Tuck plays the accordion. When Robin Hood attempts to rescue Princess Fiona the background music changes to a fast jig. When Friar Tuck is knocked out the background music stops immediately. The camera looks down on the merry men from above where Fiona is stood, making them seem smaller and weaker. In conclusion, I think that the makers of Shrek used presentational devises well to reverse the traditional fairytale. Shrek is like the modern day fairytale. It is made unique because the usual stereotypes are reversed; the music is modern, as is the language. Although it is very different from other fairytales it still falls in the category and ends with the familiar happily ever after.

Eating Disorders Essay -- essays research papers

Eating Disorders are extremely prevalent in today's society. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are characterized by gross disturbances in eating behavior. These disorders typically begin in adolescence or early adult life, affecting as many as "1 in 100 females between the ages of 12 and 18 (Bronwell & Foreyt 312)." Anorexia Nervosa is a complex disorder where the individaul refuses to maintain body weight over a normal weight for age and height. Also present, is an intense fer of gaining weight or becoming fat (Waller, Quinton, & Watson 127). People of this disorder say they "feel fat" even though they are obviously underweight or even emaciated. They become preoccupied with their body size and are usually dissatisfied with some feature of their physical apperarance (Bronwell & Foreyt 322). Weight loss is accomplished by a reduction of food intake. Self- induced vomiting or use of laxatives or diuretics are also common methods used to achieve weight loss. Many people with this disorder minimize the severity of their illness and are uninterested in, or resistant, to any type of therapy (Waller, Quinton, & Watson 152). Severe weight loss may eventually lead to hospitalization to prevent death by starvation. Bulimia Nervosa is a disorder in which the individual has recurrent episodes of binge eating. Self-induced vomiting usually terminates the binge (Browwell & Forey 335). Vomiting decreases the physical abdominal pain that occurs after an individual binges. Although binges may be pleasurble, self-criticism and a depressed mood often follow. People with this disorder exhibit great concern about their weight and make repeated attempts to control it by dieting, vomiting, or the use of diuretics (Bronwell & Forey 342). Weight fluctuations are common due to alternating fasts and binges. These people often feel that their life is dominated by conflicts surrounding eating. The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) is a reliable and valid measure of symptoms commonly found in an eating disorder. The test was designed by Garner and Garfinkle in 1979. It was designed as a screening device for the detection of clinical eating disorders (Boyadjieva & Steinhausen 1996). Many clinicians have suggested that eating disorders are caused by extreme body focus. The EAT-26 is a twenty-six item test which focuses on body self-evaluati... ... likely to gain internal control by disturbed eating patterns. Once again, the EAT-26 was given to 406 girls who attended sxhools in England. As a result, the Asian girls had more unhealthy eating patterns overall. Parental overprotection showed a significant effect upon the results. Ethical differences did remain significant (McCourt & Waller 1995). Poor eating attitudes are also a product of the contradicting social pressures that affect the whole family. Asian girls found their mother to be overcontroling, thus it was the mother who attempted to control the children's behavior. It is not yet known whether these perceptions are correlated with reality. However, the possible influences may be used during family therapy (McCourt & Waller 1995). Eating disorders are prevelant in many different kinds of cultures. There are many internal and external factors that play into the disorder. The EAT-26 is a reliable test used in detecting possible disordered eating patterns in individuals. With this disorder on the rise, these tests are needed in the detection of the unhealthy patterns. Detection leads to education, which leads to intervention, which leads to eventual termination.

Typical 360-Degree Feedback System

360 – Degree Feedback This usually means an individual being rated by peers, supervisors and sometimes clients, as well as doing self-assessment. All indications are that 360-degree appraisal in one form or another is probable to be used more extensively – it is not some provisional fad. An example of a Traditional Feedback versus a 360 – Degree Feedback, you can see below. Basically you can see at the Traditional Feedback, there is only one direction Feedback, from Supervisor to Employee. On the other hand, there are a variety of canals of Feedback to employees. Typical 360-Degree feedback System The 360-Degree feedback system works with the following two ways: †¢The Questionnaire: This basically shows a series of statements about the â€Å"target† manager’s performance and efficiency, and frequently is linked to the key competencies described in an organisation. For example, if there are eight competencies thought to be pertinent to the organization, there might be somewhat like five to eight questions asked in relation to each of them. More or less there would be sixty questions. Some organizations mix all questions together; some group them under related capability direction. †¢The Raters: The focal manager (meaning the person on whom the feedback is being given), completes a self-rating while being rated by others. Many companies allow the individuals to decide who contributes to the rating procedure, according to who is in the best place to remark on their performance. Most often the number of raters scope between: three to twenty, depending on conditions. The Feedback process There are three major elements to this process: †¢First is the individual who collects the feedback †¢Second is the feedback report and how the data are represented within in it †¢Third is the supervisor in which this information is conveyed the focal manager The whole rating forms usually go either to a designed basis in HR or to an external expert; less often, they go to a senior manager. Whoever collects the data has the task to gather them in a form that will help the receiver. He/She has to combine the ratings and present an average â€Å"score†, on each competency, broken down by rating group (peers,etc), perhaps place the self-rating together with it. Provided that the numbers in each group are adequate, this preserves secrecy for the respondents.

How to Write a Persuasive Speech

How to Write a Persuasive Speech? Public persuasive speech is a kind of art, when you use words with the purpose to influence the audience. It must involve directing and guiding, appealing to thinking, emotions and logic of a person or an audience. The purpose is to push listeners to accept your attitude, idea or action presented by you. Plus, the position and idea should be supported by confirming arguments, reasons and supportive information. The main goal of your persuasive speech is to receive your most wanted response. To reach the goal, you need to look at your audience: who they are, what they want and everything else you need to know about your listeners to persuade them successfully. Like any other speech or writing, the persuasive speech must contain introduction, body text and the conclusion. Speech is characterized by more personal attitude to the problem or topic discussed. Your personality will play the major role, sometimes it will influence even more than words. Starting the speech you need to say something to attract your listeners attention. It can be just a sentence or two. It may be startling, controversial or novel – anything that can make the audience interested. When you get the attention, you can explain, what is going to be discussed in your speech next. You can point out several lines that will give them general idea of what they are about to hear. For example, you can use the following model: First of all, explain to the audience what you meant in the first attention-taking statement. Second, start from this point (and it should be the key point of the entire speech) and outline the overall theme of your speech. After that you set out the need. You show the problem to be solved or a misconception to be cleared up. In this step you appeal and call for active actions. Here you use the persuasion itself. The model is rather easy-to-follow and can really bring a lot of positive feedbacks on your speech. Also remember to be confident in your words and you will definitely achieve your goals.