Analysis of JFK (1991) and Thin Blue Line

Analysis of JFK (1991) and Thin Blue Line Both films, for example, pore over minutae that may or may not be significant (umbrellas opening in JFK, a dropped thickshake in The Thin Blue Line) to draw the viewer ever more deeply into the world of the crime scene. Yet neither film stops at a simple recitation of facts: both look at the States role in events and suggest an explanation for the alleged cover up. In JFK, this is Stones highly controversial suggestion that the CIA and the military-industrial complex had a vested interest in seeing President Kennedy dead because he was shortly to scale down Americas involvement in Vietnam. In The Thin Blue Line, two related theories are suggested for the official insistence on trying Randall Adams: firstly, that David Harris account had the advantage of providing the police with an eye-witness, while if Harris was himself the murderer, no reliable witness existed; and secondly, that Harris could not be tried as an adult, thus robbing the District Attorney of the much-sought death sentence for the murder of a policeman. These theories are communicated through devices commonly associated with fictional narratives, such as a highly evocative musical score (Phillip Glass music for The Thin Blue Line invokes a melancholy sense of helplessness, while John Williams score for JFK has a more urgent tone, suggestive of furtive conspiracies and forces careening out of control). And both counterpoint different modes of filmmaking as they do so, contrasting invented material filmed in a classical Hollywood style with documentary or faux-documentary footage. The similarity in effect of the two films fast-paced juxtaposition of styles is striking, and suggests Stones approach may have been influenced by Morris work. Yet while both films have an over-riding concern with the filmmaker uncovering facts, that might be called the outer narrative, each constructs a contrasting relationship between the narrative and documentary elements within the text. In JFK, Stone uses an interior narrative of Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) investigating the case. While Garrison is essentially a surrogate for the filmmaker, so that the film cannot be considered as the story of Jim Garrison,3 this narrative is provided moments that function simply as character drama with little or no relationship to the larger argument (such as Garrisons arguments and reconciliation with his wife, or a Norman Rockwell moment4 with his children). This, then, is an example of classical Hollywood-style fictional filmmaking. This is then ruptured by the moments of documentary and faux-documentary that expand on Stones argument as it is being expressed by Garrison. This includes what we might call genuine documentary material: the Zapruder film of the assassination and archival photographs (such as of Kennedys autopsy, or the photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald holding the rifle). It also includes a large number of re-enactments, which are very often presented in a simulated documentary style (grainy or black and white film stock, hand-held cameras). This faux-documentary material is often juxtaposed with the genuine documentary material in a manner that blends the two together (the Zapruder footage is matched by staged footage using similar film stock, and the autopsy photographs are intercut with shots of a wax dummy of Kennedy). The Thin Blue Line shares the same outer narrative (filmmaker investigating), but the inner narrative (the story of Randall Adams) is not constructed in a classical Hollywood style. Instead, it is told through one of the standard modes of documentary filmmaking identified by Bill Nichols5: direct address by participants in an interview format (with the interviewer removed through editing). As with Stones film, this inner narrative is supported by evidence, but again the mode of presentation is reversed: the principal method used to support the witnesses testimony is through reconstructions of the crime scene that, while stylized and fragmented, are constructed as a miniature classically constructed narrative. This nesting of different modes might be tabulated as follows: My point, however, is that the films differ in mode, but use mirror-image forms of the same structure. JFK is primarily a fictional film, which employs a documentary style when re-enacting speculated events. The Thin Blue Line is primarily a documentary, but employs a style borrowed from fictional films in its re-enactments. If the two films share so much in common, and slide so fluidly from documentary to fictional modes so quickly, does this suggest the difference in the two forms might be largely cosmetic? Fiction can be used to express truths about the real world, and the documentary is can be used in ways that obscure the truth or construct falsehoods. If the fundamental difference between fiction and non-fiction is taken as the link to the real, and it is shown that documentaries and fictions share similar relationships to the real, then the two forms start to look more alike: not the same, exactly, but similar. JFK and The Thin Blue Line, by this way of thinking, are then only superficially different types of movies. They share the same structure and the fiction versus documentary dichotomy is more like a difference in genre than a fundamental distinction. This is not to invest the superficial crossover of techniques between the two forms with a significance it does not posses. Documentaries are not fictions just because The Blair Witch Project (1999) does such a good job of pretending to be a real document, or even because Rats in the Ranks (1996) works so well as a narrative. Rather, the downplaying of the documentary / fiction division is based upon a deep-seated cynicism about claims to truth in documentary. That there is such reluctance to accept truth at face value in documentary should not be surprising. Early or classic film studies was based largely on arguments about the relationships between film and reality. While this debate is too detailed to fully explore, it is important to touch upon briefly because much writing upon documentary echoes the arguments of these early writers. The direct link to reality might be seen as a defining feature of the documentary, but it was also seen in the first half of the century as one of the defining features of the film medium itself. The cinema appeared to be an even more perfect method for mechanically reproducing reality than the still photographs that preceded it. This added urgency to arguments of aesthetics that centred on whether the role of the artist was to attempt to recreate the real world, or rather to interpret or even transcend the real.6 These arguments were therefore central to classic film theory and resolved into two broad strands of argument that echo the aesthetic positions described. Thus writers such as Siegfried Kraceur and Andre Bazin had approaches that emphasised films role as a mirror to the real. Of more interest to the current discussion, however, are early anti-realists such as Rudolf Arnheim. In his Film as Art, his defence for cinemas status as serious artistic medium (rather than a mechanical process) is built a round a series of explanations of the way in which film differs from the real.7 Three dimensional surfaces are projected on a plane surface. Perception of depth is lost. In the black and white cinema with reference to which Arnheim formulated his thesis, colour is eliminated. Lighting distorts. Editing interrupts the flow of time and creates artistic possibilities through the use of montage. Non-visual stimulus is absent (or, after the coming of sound, limited), and even the visual world is limited by the edge of the screen. This catalogue of distortions is, for Arnheim, the very basis for the creation of aesthetic systems by which films can signify meanings. After establishing the above points, he sets about demonstrating how each of these limitations in depicting the real is used as a method of artistic expression8. Subsequent film theory moved beyond Arnheims formulations, but has tended to take them as a given in the sense that few would still argue that the central project of film is limited to the reproduction or reflection of reality. Given that such formulations are at the foundation of later film theory, it should not be surprising that they were echoed when subsequent theorists turned their minds to issues regarding documentary, and particularly its relation to the real. Noà «l Carroll attributes much of this writing to a backlash against premature claims by proponents of direct cinema that their method of cinema provided unmitigated access to the real.9 These documentarists attempted to avoid the filmmakers intervention and interpretation, reacting to the overt imposition of a viewpoint present in traditional Griersonian forms of documentary. However, as Carroll puts it, [d]irect cinema opened a can of worms and then got eaten by them.10 It was quickly argued that direct cinema was every bit as interpretive as Griersonian documentaries. For the distortions of reality that were identified by Arnheim are equally present in documentary cinema, but with different implications. Instead of being the unambiguously positive means to artistic expression, every limitation of the medium is instead a problematic point of mediation by the filmmaker. The limitations of the film frame, for example, force choices upon even the most non-interventionist direct cinema filmmaker. And with every choice the filmmaker is placing the film at a greater distance from reality. Carroll quotes Eric Barnouw making this point: To be sure, some documentarists claim to be objective a term that seems to renounce an interpretive role. The claim may be strategic, but it is surely meaningless. The documentarist, like any communicator in any medium, makes endless choices. He [sic] selects topics, people, vistas, angles, lens, juxtapositions, sounds, words. Each selection is an expression of his point of view, whether he is aware of it or not, whether he acknowledges it or not. Even behind the first step, selection of a topic, there is a motive It is in selecting and arranging his findings that he expresses himself; these choices are, in effect, comments. And whether he adopts the stance of observer, or chronicler or whatever, he cannot escape his subjectivity. He presents his version of the world.11 Such an argument certainly seems to cast doubt over the potential for objectivity in documentary cinema. Carried to an extreme, it is the presentation of a version of the world rather than the world itself that can be seen as rendering documentary a form of fiction. Either way, the prospects for documentary truth in such a model seem grim indeed. It should be noted that Carroll puts little faith in such an approach to documentary, and his counter-argument will be returned to. Before doing so, however, it is worth noting that more recently, Carroll has drawn the distinction between what he calls the selectivity argument (recited above) and more global postmodern scepticism of claims to truth.12 The latter is based not in the assumptions of classical film studies, but rather the wider discussions about the way any human discourse imposes meaning and structure on real events. For example, historical accounts impose a narrative structure onto events to make them intelligible, and a distinction must be drawn between the real events (which actually occurred) and the account (which lacks an independent historical existence): The states of affairs and events the historian alludes to do have a basis in historical reality, and the historians claims about those states of affairs and events can be literally true or false. But the narratives in which those states of affairs and events figure are inventions, constructions, indeed, fictions. The narrative structure in the historical recounting is not true or false; it is fictional.13 This point of such an observation may seem a little obscure. If the narrative structure imposed in a historical account is considered independently of the statements of historical fact that it is used to explain, then of course it must be considered fictional. If, however, a documentary text is considered in its entirety, then it is open to questioning about the validity of the historians factual claims (including analysis as to whether the narrative structure is an accurate or fair way of interpreting the real events) in a way that fiction is not. Certainly the argument is here being posed by Carroll (albeit following Michael Renov and Hayden White) as a prelude to arguing that it is unsupportable14. However, Carroll also refers to an alternative model for looking at the link between non-fiction and fiction, mounted by Bill Nichols in his book Representing Reality, which is more subtle and worth dealing with directly. Nichols, unlike the other theorists alluded to by Carroll, does not argue that documentaries must be considered fiction. He recognises that the existence of an external, real-world referent is an important distinction that cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. The world of a fiction film is a unique, imaginary domain, but the world of documentary is different: Instead of a world, we are offered access to the world.15 This claim to representation of the real means that documentaries are not simply narratives: they are also argumentative, if only in the sense that they make claims (even if only implicitly) about what is true. They are therefore a fiction (un)like any other.16 However, Nichols remains troubled by these claims to truth. While the documentary is distinguished from fiction by its links to the real, this representation is rendered problematic by the apparent impossibility of rendering truth objectively. Documentaries, while not fiction, share with fiction those very qualities that thoroughly compromise any rigorous objectivity, if they dont make it impossible Objectivity has been under no less siege than realism, and for many of the same reasons. It, too, is a way of representing the world that denies its own processes of construction and their formative effect. Any given standard for objectivity will have embedded political assumptions In documentary, these assumptions might include belief in the self-evident nature of facts, in rhetorical persuasion as a necessary and appropriate part of representation, and in the capacity of the documentary text to affect its audience through its implicit or explicit claim of This is so, isnt it?17 Nichols argument is reminiscent of those strands of theoretical thought that view ideology as an inescapable and all pervasive force. Documentaries do make claims about the truth that are open to evaluation, but unfortunately, according to Nichols, our institutional mechanisms for assessing such claims are themselves suspect. If such an approach is accepted, evaluation of the arguments made by Oliver Stone and Errol Morris might be highly problematic. Carroll, however, is not willing to concede that any of these arguments establish either that non-fiction is a form of fiction, or that objectivity is impossible. Firstly, he argues that the cinema does not posses any unique tendency towards bias compared to other media. The same arguments about selectivity that Barnouw raises with respect to film are equally applicable to other media and fields of enquiry.18 The particular causes of distortion may be different, but any historian for example may select, manipulate, interpret or emphasise aspects of their material just as a documentary maker can. Thus if non-fiction film is said to be subjective due to its selectivity, so must any field of human enquiry, such as history and science. In the earlier of the two articles I have discussed (written in 1983), Carroll is confident that such a wide-ranging scepticism would not be seriously proposed.19 As we have seen, by 1996 that was exactly the argument Carroll was responding to. Nevertheless, in 1983 his defence against the selectivity argument is based upon the notion of objectivity. In any given field of argument, at any given time, there are patterns of reasoning, standards for observation, and methods for assessing evidence which are used for getting to the truth.20 A piece of research is considered objective insofar as it abides by these norms. Likewise, non-fiction films may be assessed against similar codes, and will be considered biased or subjective if they fail to meet them. That selectivity may make bias possible, or even likely, does not preclude the possibility of a film according with established standards of objectivity. The obvious differences between the real world and the filmed presentation prevent film from substituting for lived experience, but they do not prevent documentaries from being objective. This central assumption of this argument that there are standards of objectivity that can be used to judge the truth is exactly the assumption that we have seen Bill Nichols question. Carroll, however, disputes all of Nichols contentions that are cited above. Firstly, he does not accept that objectivity demands that a film call attention to its processes of construction. After all, the fact that a non-fiction film is constructed is understood by any audience and does not need to be spelt out. Self-reflexive analyses of the filmmaking process or the authors own subjectivity might be a feature of many recent documentaries, but for Carrol this is an artistic device, rather than a necessary benchmark for objectivity. Nor does he accept that any standard for objectivity has embedded political assumptions, even accepting Nichols very broad definitions (outlined above) of what constitutes a political assumption. A belief in the self-evident nature of facts, for example, might be a political assumption when the facts being presented are politically charged falsehoods. Yet the acceptance that some claims of self-evident truth are suspect does not mean that there can be no self-evident facts. With regards to rhetorical persuasion, he argues that films can either eschew such devices altogether (he cites nature documentaries as an example),21 or employ rhetorical structures in the service of objective discourse. Similarly, he regards the implicit claim that this is so, isnt it as present in virtually any assertion and hence neither a political assumption nor a barrier to objectivity. Carrolls approach to these arguments about the prospects for truth or objectivity in documentary is often to return to examples where the truth claimed by the documentary seems clear and uncontentious (as with his common use of nature documentaries as discussion points). The linking thread of the arguments he presents is that the theorists he criticises have mistaken the difficulty in presenting objective truth for an impossibility, often by focussing on exactly the texts where the truth is most problematic.22 It is worth returning to The Thin Blue Line and JFK at this point, since these films both explore events that are subject to considerable conjecture. Neither could be accused of assuming the truth about these events is self-evident (quite the opposite), yet both nevertheless ultimately make vital factual claims. As noted already, these claims question state-sanctioned verdicts, and both films led to a public discussion that forced official re-examination of the cases: The Thin Blue Line forced the retrial of Randall Adams, while JFK contributed to the passing of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which appointed an Assassination Records Review Board (AARB) to re-examine unreleased information about the assassination.23 More than a decade later, with Randall Adams freed from jail, it seems fair to say that Morris case has been widely accepted as true. Oliver Stone, too, has been partially vindicated by subsequent re-examination of the case, with records released by the AARB that support some of his allegations (such as tampering with records of Kennedys autopsy).24 Yet, despite such small victories, and acceptance by many filmgoers of Stones theory of the assassination, JFK remains subject to fierce scholarly criticism of both its methods and conclusions that stands in contrast to the reception of The Thin Blue Line. Linda Williams, in her discussion of the two films, dismisses JFK as paranoid fiction,25 and the widespread condemnation of Stones film by both popular and academic press is well documented.26 Clearly this has much to do with the nature of the case Stone discusses. The Kennedy assassination, for obvious reasons, is a much more familiar event and one that had been the subject of considerably more public discussion than the Randall Adams prosecution. Furthermore, while The Thin Blue Line avoids underlining the political implications of its own conclusions, JFK is explicitly critical of the government and media, calling the assassination a coup detat and coming very close to suggesting former president Lyndon Johnson was involved.27 However, the difference in the reception of the two films cannot be explained simply through reference to the argument each presents. Within the very similar structures outlined at the start of this essay, there are also crucial differences that also explain much of the negative response to Stones film compared to Morris. In his consideration of JFK, Robert Rosenstone notes that there are considerable constraints over the depiction of historical events on the screen.28 In particular, he sees the need to invent detail and compress events to shape a narrative as a limitation that must be negotiated by any historical film. While he is referring to narrative features such as JFK, his argument is equally applicable to the summaries of and suppositions regarding events in The Thin Blue Line. This argument has clear overtones of the discussions of documentaries distortions of truth through selectivity that have already been cited. Like Carroll, Rosenstone argues that when a historical filmmaker such as Stone invents or compresses events, he or she is exercising the same type of discretion that the author of any written history must.29 Such inventions can be considered true (at least to a point) in the sense that they can be verified, documented, or reasonably argued. The problem, notes Rosenstone, is that the verification must occur outside the world of the film. When Stone argues in JFK that President Kennedy was about to withdraw troops from Vietnam, the information is justified by reference to a real memorandum (National Security Action Memo 263), but a fictitious character makes the reference. Assuming no foreknowledge of the case, the audience has no way while watching the film of even knowing that the memorandum really existed, let alone being sure that it supports the conclusion Stone draws. If Stones conclusion is to be examined, the audience must go beyond viewing and read the relevant documents (or scholarly discussion of them) for themselves. If they do so, they will, as Rosenstone states, be undertaking the same kind of critique and review that a work of written history is subjected to. This process of measuring a film against standards of objectivity is exactly that which Carroll highlights as the means of linking non-fiction films to the truth. Stone has actively sought to enter into such debates, mounting extensive defences of the historical accuracy of JFK and his other works.30 That JFK was so controversial was perhaps partly due to the fact that audiences do not necessarily judge films within such evaluative frameworks: unlike the target audience for written history, they may assume that what they see is true and not enter into the debates as to the films veracity. Even assuming an engaged, sceptical audience, however, it is also the case that Stones film does not make the separation of truth from fiction a straightforward task. I have already suggested that the film possesses three layers of exposition: an outer narrative (Stones case), an inner narrative (Garrisons story), and evidence (presented as documentary material and re-enactments). The inner narrative story of Jim Garrison (which is likely to be understood by most audiences as at least partially fictional and not taken as literally true) is often weaved seamlessly in with the evidence (more likely to be seen as Stones presentation of true material). Garrison, for example, meets the mysterious Mr X (Donald Sutherland) in Washington, who outlines a hypothesis about who killed Kennedy and why. This calls forth a series of re-enactments of high level discussions between officials that are weaved into Mr Xs account. The narrative is calling forth evidence, but the difficulty with this sequence is in separating what material is a fictional narrative device, what is speculated, and what is documented truth. For example, are we to accept that Garrison really did meet an anonymous official who told him this information, and take that as evidence that Stones case is true? Or are we to take this as simply part of the inner narrative, a method of presenting evidence? As mentioned, Mr X talks in detail of a real memorandum in order to put Stones case that Kennedy wished to withdraw from Vietnam. An audience might correctly surmise that the existence of such a memo (putting aside its meaning) is a documented fact. However, this quickly leads into discussions of the reaction to this memo within high levels of the government, and the point at which history slides into speculation in this sequence is by no means readily apparent. The re-enactment portions of the sequence are presented in a stylised style using black and white photography, but this does not flag them as conjectural, since Stone switches between film stocks throughout the film without drawing such distinctions. (Elsewhere in the film, for example, the Zapruder film of the assassination, is alternated with simulated footage shot in the same style.) The effect of these aesthetic decisions by Stone is to confuse the boundaries between non-fiction and fiction in a way that makes application of objective standards for assessing truth difficult. The audience can only infer which sections of the film are intended to be read as non-fiction and subject to such examination. Written in October 2001 for the Melbourne University subject Ethnographic and Documentary Cinema. Notes 1. This is the concluding sentence of Eric Barnouw, Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film, (Oxford University Press, New York Oxford, 1993, 2nd Revised Edition), p. 349. 2. The list of similarities between the two films that follows draws partly on Linda Williams, Mirrors without Memories: Truth, History and The Thin Blue Line in Barry Keith Grant Jeanette Sloniowski (eds), Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video (Wayne State UP, Detroit, 1998), p 381. 3. The films Garrison, for example, has access to information the real Garrison did not, in order to allow Stone to communicate it to audiences. For example, In the movie we attributed to Garrison the information about Shaws background but in real life Jim did not have access to that information at that time. (Oliver Stone audio commentary, JFK DVD, Region 4 Special Edition Directors Cut release, Warner Brothers, 1 hour 28 mins approx.) 4. This phrase is Stones own: JFK audio commentary, op. cit., 2 hours 10 mins approx. While these scenes are also used to communicate information about the larger case, this is an example of narrative efficiency, and does not contradict my point that they do contain aspects (such as the melodromatic touch of Garrisons children asking Dont you love us any more?) which function simply as domestic drama, with no relation to the case against Clay Shaw. 5. Nichols has revisited and slightly reformulated these modes over time, but they can be summarised as expository (ie voice-of-God documentaries that use direct address to tell the audience a truth), observational (cinema verite style films that aim to observe events without participating), interactive (interview based films that allows for direct address by participants, while allowing for filmmakers interaction through questioning), reflexive (films that draw attention to the documentarys own methods), and performative (stressing an individual, subjective position, while downplaying objective or referential aspects). See Bill Nichols: The Voice of Documentary, Film Quarterly 36, no 3 (Spring 1983); Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary (1991, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis), Chapter 2; and (for the perfomative mode) Performing Documentary, Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture (c. 1994, Indiana UP, Bloomington), pp 92-106. 6. This point and the subsequent discussion of classical film theory draw on the discussions in the anthologies Gerald Mast et al. (eds.), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, (Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 1992), pp. 3-7, and Antony Easthorpe, Contemporary Film Theory (Longman, London New York, 1993), pp. 2-5. 7. Rudolf Arnheim, Film as Art (Faber Faber, London, 1958), esp. pp. 17-37. 8. Ibid., p. 37-114. 9. Noà «l Carroll, From Real to Reel: Entangled in Nonfiction film, in Noà «l Carroll, Theorizing the Moving Image (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996), p. 224-252. (Originally published in Philosophic Exchange in 1983, and will be cited in future as Carroll (1996/1983) to distinguish it from his piece in Post-Theory cited below). Reference to direct cinema is p. 225. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid., p. 226. Carroll is quoting from the first edition of Barnouws Documentary, citing p. 287-288 of that edition (Oxford University Press, New York, 1974). The nearest equivalent to this quote I can find in the third edition (op. cit.) is at p. 344. 12. Noà «l Carroll, Nonfiction films and Postmodernist Skepticism in Noà «l Carrol David Bordwell (eds.), Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies, (University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1996), pp. 283-306. 13. Ibid., p. 288. Emphasis is Carrolls. 14. Carroll is frequently belligerent about the texts he discusses but is particularly so about Renovs Theorizing Documentary, describing it as a state of the art compendium of received thinking about the documentary film, and dismissing Renovs argument as a red herring. Ibid., p. 285 291. 15. Both quotes Nichols, 1991, op. cit., p. 109. Emphasis is Nichols. 16. This is the title of the second part of Nichols book. How helpful this argumentative nature is as a distinction between fiction and documentary (and how unlike any other form of fiction documentary can be said to be) is debatable given that fiction can be every bit as argumentative as documentary (as JFK demonstrates). 17. Ibid., p. 195. 18. Carroll (1996/1983), op. cit., p. 226. 19. Carroll: I mention this because I do not think that commentators who conclude that the nonfiction film is subjective intend their remarks as a mere gloss on the notion that everything is subjective. But that, I fear, is the untoward implication of their attack. Ibid., p. 226. 20. Ibid., p. 230. See also Carroll, 1996, op. cit. pp. 283-285. 21. Carroll, 1996, p. 294. 22. See, for example, Ibid., p. 293, regarding film scholars focus on art-documentary. 23. Michael L. Kurtz, Oliver Stone, JFK, and History, in Robert Brent Toplin (ed), Oliver Analysis of JFK (1991) and Thin Blue Line Analysis of JFK (1991) and Thin Blue Line Both films, for example, pore over minutae that may or may not be significant (umbrellas opening in JFK, a dropped thickshake in The Thin Blue Line) to draw the viewer ever more deeply into the world of the crime scene. Yet neither film stops at a simple recitation of facts: both look at the States role in events and suggest an explanation for the alleged cover up. In JFK, this is Stones highly controversial suggestion that the CIA and the military-industrial complex had a vested interest in seeing President Kennedy dead because he was shortly to scale down Americas involvement in Vietnam. In The Thin Blue Line, two related theories are suggested for the official insistence on trying Randall Adams: firstly, that David Harris account had the advantage of providing the police with an eye-witness, while if Harris was himself the murderer, no reliable witness existed; and secondly, that Harris could not be tried as an adult, thus robbing the District Attorney of the much-sought death sentence for the murder of a policeman. These theories are communicated through devices commonly associated with fictional narratives, such as a highly evocative musical score (Phillip Glass music for The Thin Blue Line invokes a melancholy sense of helplessness, while John Williams score for JFK has a more urgent tone, suggestive of furtive conspiracies and forces careening out of control). And both counterpoint different modes of filmmaking as they do so, contrasting invented material filmed in a classical Hollywood style with documentary or faux-documentary footage. The similarity in effect of the two films fast-paced juxtaposition of styles is striking, and suggests Stones approach may have been influenced by Morris work. Yet while both films have an over-riding concern with the filmmaker uncovering facts, that might be called the outer narrative, each constructs a contrasting relationship between the narrative and documentary elements within the text. In JFK, Stone uses an interior narrative of Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) investigating the case. While Garrison is essentially a surrogate for the filmmaker, so that the film cannot be considered as the story of Jim Garrison,3 this narrative is provided moments that function simply as character drama with little or no relationship to the larger argument (such as Garrisons arguments and reconciliation with his wife, or a Norman Rockwell moment4 with his children). This, then, is an example of classical Hollywood-style fictional filmmaking. This is then ruptured by the moments of documentary and faux-documentary that expand on Stones argument as it is being expressed by Garrison. This includes what we might call genuine documentary material: the Zapruder film of the assassination and archival photographs (such as of Kennedys autopsy, or the photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald holding the rifle). It also includes a large number of re-enactments, which are very often presented in a simulated documentary style (grainy or black and white film stock, hand-held cameras). This faux-documentary material is often juxtaposed with the genuine documentary material in a manner that blends the two together (the Zapruder footage is matched by staged footage using similar film stock, and the autopsy photographs are intercut with shots of a wax dummy of Kennedy). The Thin Blue Line shares the same outer narrative (filmmaker investigating), but the inner narrative (the story of Randall Adams) is not constructed in a classical Hollywood style. Instead, it is told through one of the standard modes of documentary filmmaking identified by Bill Nichols5: direct address by participants in an interview format (with the interviewer removed through editing). As with Stones film, this inner narrative is supported by evidence, but again the mode of presentation is reversed: the principal method used to support the witnesses testimony is through reconstructions of the crime scene that, while stylized and fragmented, are constructed as a miniature classically constructed narrative. This nesting of different modes might be tabulated as follows: My point, however, is that the films differ in mode, but use mirror-image forms of the same structure. JFK is primarily a fictional film, which employs a documentary style when re-enacting speculated events. The Thin Blue Line is primarily a documentary, but employs a style borrowed from fictional films in its re-enactments. If the two films share so much in common, and slide so fluidly from documentary to fictional modes so quickly, does this suggest the difference in the two forms might be largely cosmetic? Fiction can be used to express truths about the real world, and the documentary is can be used in ways that obscure the truth or construct falsehoods. If the fundamental difference between fiction and non-fiction is taken as the link to the real, and it is shown that documentaries and fictions share similar relationships to the real, then the two forms start to look more alike: not the same, exactly, but similar. JFK and The Thin Blue Line, by this way of thinking, are then only superficially different types of movies. They share the same structure and the fiction versus documentary dichotomy is more like a difference in genre than a fundamental distinction. This is not to invest the superficial crossover of techniques between the two forms with a significance it does not posses. Documentaries are not fictions just because The Blair Witch Project (1999) does such a good job of pretending to be a real document, or even because Rats in the Ranks (1996) works so well as a narrative. Rather, the downplaying of the documentary / fiction division is based upon a deep-seated cynicism about claims to truth in documentary. That there is such reluctance to accept truth at face value in documentary should not be surprising. Early or classic film studies was based largely on arguments about the relationships between film and reality. While this debate is too detailed to fully explore, it is important to touch upon briefly because much writing upon documentary echoes the arguments of these early writers. The direct link to reality might be seen as a defining feature of the documentary, but it was also seen in the first half of the century as one of the defining features of the film medium itself. The cinema appeared to be an even more perfect method for mechanically reproducing reality than the still photographs that preceded it. This added urgency to arguments of aesthetics that centred on whether the role of the artist was to attempt to recreate the real world, or rather to interpret or even transcend the real.6 These arguments were therefore central to classic film theory and resolved into two broad strands of argument that echo the aesthetic positions described. Thus writers such as Siegfried Kraceur and Andre Bazin had approaches that emphasised films role as a mirror to the real. Of more interest to the current discussion, however, are early anti-realists such as Rudolf Arnheim. In his Film as Art, his defence for cinemas status as serious artistic medium (rather than a mechanical process) is built a round a series of explanations of the way in which film differs from the real.7 Three dimensional surfaces are projected on a plane surface. Perception of depth is lost. In the black and white cinema with reference to which Arnheim formulated his thesis, colour is eliminated. Lighting distorts. Editing interrupts the flow of time and creates artistic possibilities through the use of montage. Non-visual stimulus is absent (or, after the coming of sound, limited), and even the visual world is limited by the edge of the screen. This catalogue of distortions is, for Arnheim, the very basis for the creation of aesthetic systems by which films can signify meanings. After establishing the above points, he sets about demonstrating how each of these limitations in depicting the real is used as a method of artistic expression8. Subsequent film theory moved beyond Arnheims formulations, but has tended to take them as a given in the sense that few would still argue that the central project of film is limited to the reproduction or reflection of reality. Given that such formulations are at the foundation of later film theory, it should not be surprising that they were echoed when subsequent theorists turned their minds to issues regarding documentary, and particularly its relation to the real. Noà «l Carroll attributes much of this writing to a backlash against premature claims by proponents of direct cinema that their method of cinema provided unmitigated access to the real.9 These documentarists attempted to avoid the filmmakers intervention and interpretation, reacting to the overt imposition of a viewpoint present in traditional Griersonian forms of documentary. However, as Carroll puts it, [d]irect cinema opened a can of worms and then got eaten by them.10 It was quickly argued that direct cinema was every bit as interpretive as Griersonian documentaries. For the distortions of reality that were identified by Arnheim are equally present in documentary cinema, but with different implications. Instead of being the unambiguously positive means to artistic expression, every limitation of the medium is instead a problematic point of mediation by the filmmaker. The limitations of the film frame, for example, force choices upon even the most non-interventionist direct cinema filmmaker. And with every choice the filmmaker is placing the film at a greater distance from reality. Carroll quotes Eric Barnouw making this point: To be sure, some documentarists claim to be objective a term that seems to renounce an interpretive role. The claim may be strategic, but it is surely meaningless. The documentarist, like any communicator in any medium, makes endless choices. He [sic] selects topics, people, vistas, angles, lens, juxtapositions, sounds, words. Each selection is an expression of his point of view, whether he is aware of it or not, whether he acknowledges it or not. Even behind the first step, selection of a topic, there is a motive It is in selecting and arranging his findings that he expresses himself; these choices are, in effect, comments. And whether he adopts the stance of observer, or chronicler or whatever, he cannot escape his subjectivity. He presents his version of the world.11 Such an argument certainly seems to cast doubt over the potential for objectivity in documentary cinema. Carried to an extreme, it is the presentation of a version of the world rather than the world itself that can be seen as rendering documentary a form of fiction. Either way, the prospects for documentary truth in such a model seem grim indeed. It should be noted that Carroll puts little faith in such an approach to documentary, and his counter-argument will be returned to. Before doing so, however, it is worth noting that more recently, Carroll has drawn the distinction between what he calls the selectivity argument (recited above) and more global postmodern scepticism of claims to truth.12 The latter is based not in the assumptions of classical film studies, but rather the wider discussions about the way any human discourse imposes meaning and structure on real events. For example, historical accounts impose a narrative structure onto events to make them intelligible, and a distinction must be drawn between the real events (which actually occurred) and the account (which lacks an independent historical existence): The states of affairs and events the historian alludes to do have a basis in historical reality, and the historians claims about those states of affairs and events can be literally true or false. But the narratives in which those states of affairs and events figure are inventions, constructions, indeed, fictions. The narrative structure in the historical recounting is not true or false; it is fictional.13 This point of such an observation may seem a little obscure. If the narrative structure imposed in a historical account is considered independently of the statements of historical fact that it is used to explain, then of course it must be considered fictional. If, however, a documentary text is considered in its entirety, then it is open to questioning about the validity of the historians factual claims (including analysis as to whether the narrative structure is an accurate or fair way of interpreting the real events) in a way that fiction is not. Certainly the argument is here being posed by Carroll (albeit following Michael Renov and Hayden White) as a prelude to arguing that it is unsupportable14. However, Carroll also refers to an alternative model for looking at the link between non-fiction and fiction, mounted by Bill Nichols in his book Representing Reality, which is more subtle and worth dealing with directly. Nichols, unlike the other theorists alluded to by Carroll, does not argue that documentaries must be considered fiction. He recognises that the existence of an external, real-world referent is an important distinction that cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. The world of a fiction film is a unique, imaginary domain, but the world of documentary is different: Instead of a world, we are offered access to the world.15 This claim to representation of the real means that documentaries are not simply narratives: they are also argumentative, if only in the sense that they make claims (even if only implicitly) about what is true. They are therefore a fiction (un)like any other.16 However, Nichols remains troubled by these claims to truth. While the documentary is distinguished from fiction by its links to the real, this representation is rendered problematic by the apparent impossibility of rendering truth objectively. Documentaries, while not fiction, share with fiction those very qualities that thoroughly compromise any rigorous objectivity, if they dont make it impossible Objectivity has been under no less siege than realism, and for many of the same reasons. It, too, is a way of representing the world that denies its own processes of construction and their formative effect. Any given standard for objectivity will have embedded political assumptions In documentary, these assumptions might include belief in the self-evident nature of facts, in rhetorical persuasion as a necessary and appropriate part of representation, and in the capacity of the documentary text to affect its audience through its implicit or explicit claim of This is so, isnt it?17 Nichols argument is reminiscent of those strands of theoretical thought that view ideology as an inescapable and all pervasive force. Documentaries do make claims about the truth that are open to evaluation, but unfortunately, according to Nichols, our institutional mechanisms for assessing such claims are themselves suspect. If such an approach is accepted, evaluation of the arguments made by Oliver Stone and Errol Morris might be highly problematic. Carroll, however, is not willing to concede that any of these arguments establish either that non-fiction is a form of fiction, or that objectivity is impossible. Firstly, he argues that the cinema does not posses any unique tendency towards bias compared to other media. The same arguments about selectivity that Barnouw raises with respect to film are equally applicable to other media and fields of enquiry.18 The particular causes of distortion may be different, but any historian for example may select, manipulate, interpret or emphasise aspects of their material just as a documentary maker can. Thus if non-fiction film is said to be subjective due to its selectivity, so must any field of human enquiry, such as history and science. In the earlier of the two articles I have discussed (written in 1983), Carroll is confident that such a wide-ranging scepticism would not be seriously proposed.19 As we have seen, by 1996 that was exactly the argument Carroll was responding to. Nevertheless, in 1983 his defence against the selectivity argument is based upon the notion of objectivity. In any given field of argument, at any given time, there are patterns of reasoning, standards for observation, and methods for assessing evidence which are used for getting to the truth.20 A piece of research is considered objective insofar as it abides by these norms. Likewise, non-fiction films may be assessed against similar codes, and will be considered biased or subjective if they fail to meet them. That selectivity may make bias possible, or even likely, does not preclude the possibility of a film according with established standards of objectivity. The obvious differences between the real world and the filmed presentation prevent film from substituting for lived experience, but they do not prevent documentaries from being objective. This central assumption of this argument that there are standards of objectivity that can be used to judge the truth is exactly the assumption that we have seen Bill Nichols question. Carroll, however, disputes all of Nichols contentions that are cited above. Firstly, he does not accept that objectivity demands that a film call attention to its processes of construction. After all, the fact that a non-fiction film is constructed is understood by any audience and does not need to be spelt out. Self-reflexive analyses of the filmmaking process or the authors own subjectivity might be a feature of many recent documentaries, but for Carrol this is an artistic device, rather than a necessary benchmark for objectivity. Nor does he accept that any standard for objectivity has embedded political assumptions, even accepting Nichols very broad definitions (outlined above) of what constitutes a political assumption. A belief in the self-evident nature of facts, for example, might be a political assumption when the facts being presented are politically charged falsehoods. Yet the acceptance that some claims of self-evident truth are suspect does not mean that there can be no self-evident facts. With regards to rhetorical persuasion, he argues that films can either eschew such devices altogether (he cites nature documentaries as an example),21 or employ rhetorical structures in the service of objective discourse. Similarly, he regards the implicit claim that this is so, isnt it as present in virtually any assertion and hence neither a political assumption nor a barrier to objectivity. Carrolls approach to these arguments about the prospects for truth or objectivity in documentary is often to return to examples where the truth claimed by the documentary seems clear and uncontentious (as with his common use of nature documentaries as discussion points). The linking thread of the arguments he presents is that the theorists he criticises have mistaken the difficulty in presenting objective truth for an impossibility, often by focussing on exactly the texts where the truth is most problematic.22 It is worth returning to The Thin Blue Line and JFK at this point, since these films both explore events that are subject to considerable conjecture. Neither could be accused of assuming the truth about these events is self-evident (quite the opposite), yet both nevertheless ultimately make vital factual claims. As noted already, these claims question state-sanctioned verdicts, and both films led to a public discussion that forced official re-examination of the cases: The Thin Blue Line forced the retrial of Randall Adams, while JFK contributed to the passing of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which appointed an Assassination Records Review Board (AARB) to re-examine unreleased information about the assassination.23 More than a decade later, with Randall Adams freed from jail, it seems fair to say that Morris case has been widely accepted as true. Oliver Stone, too, has been partially vindicated by subsequent re-examination of the case, with records released by the AARB that support some of his allegations (such as tampering with records of Kennedys autopsy).24 Yet, despite such small victories, and acceptance by many filmgoers of Stones theory of the assassination, JFK remains subject to fierce scholarly criticism of both its methods and conclusions that stands in contrast to the reception of The Thin Blue Line. Linda Williams, in her discussion of the two films, dismisses JFK as paranoid fiction,25 and the widespread condemnation of Stones film by both popular and academic press is well documented.26 Clearly this has much to do with the nature of the case Stone discusses. The Kennedy assassination, for obvious reasons, is a much more familiar event and one that had been the subject of considerably more public discussion than the Randall Adams prosecution. Furthermore, while The Thin Blue Line avoids underlining the political implications of its own conclusions, JFK is explicitly critical of the government and media, calling the assassination a coup detat and coming very close to suggesting former president Lyndon Johnson was involved.27 However, the difference in the reception of the two films cannot be explained simply through reference to the argument each presents. Within the very similar structures outlined at the start of this essay, there are also crucial differences that also explain much of the negative response to Stones film compared to Morris. In his consideration of JFK, Robert Rosenstone notes that there are considerable constraints over the depiction of historical events on the screen.28 In particular, he sees the need to invent detail and compress events to shape a narrative as a limitation that must be negotiated by any historical film. While he is referring to narrative features such as JFK, his argument is equally applicable to the summaries of and suppositions regarding events in The Thin Blue Line. This argument has clear overtones of the discussions of documentaries distortions of truth through selectivity that have already been cited. Like Carroll, Rosenstone argues that when a historical filmmaker such as Stone invents or compresses events, he or she is exercising the same type of discretion that the author of any written history must.29 Such inventions can be considered true (at least to a point) in the sense that they can be verified, documented, or reasonably argued. The problem, notes Rosenstone, is that the verification must occur outside the world of the film. When Stone argues in JFK that President Kennedy was about to withdraw troops from Vietnam, the information is justified by reference to a real memorandum (National Security Action Memo 263), but a fictitious character makes the reference. Assuming no foreknowledge of the case, the audience has no way while watching the film of even knowing that the memorandum really existed, let alone being sure that it supports the conclusion Stone draws. If Stones conclusion is to be examined, the audience must go beyond viewing and read the relevant documents (or scholarly discussion of them) for themselves. If they do so, they will, as Rosenstone states, be undertaking the same kind of critique and review that a work of written history is subjected to. This process of measuring a film against standards of objectivity is exactly that which Carroll highlights as the means of linking non-fiction films to the truth. Stone has actively sought to enter into such debates, mounting extensive defences of the historical accuracy of JFK and his other works.30 That JFK was so controversial was perhaps partly due to the fact that audiences do not necessarily judge films within such evaluative frameworks: unlike the target audience for written history, they may assume that what they see is true and not enter into the debates as to the films veracity. Even assuming an engaged, sceptical audience, however, it is also the case that Stones film does not make the separation of truth from fiction a straightforward task. I have already suggested that the film possesses three layers of exposition: an outer narrative (Stones case), an inner narrative (Garrisons story), and evidence (presented as documentary material and re-enactments). The inner narrative story of Jim Garrison (which is likely to be understood by most audiences as at least partially fictional and not taken as literally true) is often weaved seamlessly in with the evidence (more likely to be seen as Stones presentation of true material). Garrison, for example, meets the mysterious Mr X (Donald Sutherland) in Washington, who outlines a hypothesis about who killed Kennedy and why. This calls forth a series of re-enactments of high level discussions between officials that are weaved into Mr Xs account. The narrative is calling forth evidence, but the difficulty with this sequence is in separating what material is a fictional narrative device, what is speculated, and what is documented truth. For example, are we to accept that Garrison really did meet an anonymous official who told him this information, and take that as evidence that Stones case is true? Or are we to take this as simply part of the inner narrative, a method of presenting evidence? As mentioned, Mr X talks in detail of a real memorandum in order to put Stones case that Kennedy wished to withdraw from Vietnam. An audience might correctly surmise that the existence of such a memo (putting aside its meaning) is a documented fact. However, this quickly leads into discussions of the reaction to this memo within high levels of the government, and the point at which history slides into speculation in this sequence is by no means readily apparent. The re-enactment portions of the sequence are presented in a stylised style using black and white photography, but this does not flag them as conjectural, since Stone switches between film stocks throughout the film without drawing such distinctions. (Elsewhere in the film, for example, the Zapruder film of the assassination, is alternated with simulated footage shot in the same style.) The effect of these aesthetic decisions by Stone is to confuse the boundaries between non-fiction and fiction in a way that makes application of objective standards for assessing truth difficult. The audience can only infer which sections of the film are intended to be read as non-fiction and subject to such examination. Written in October 2001 for the Melbourne University subject Ethnographic and Documentary Cinema. Notes 1. This is the concluding sentence of Eric Barnouw, Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film, (Oxford University Press, New York Oxford, 1993, 2nd Revised Edition), p. 349. 2. The list of similarities between the two films that follows draws partly on Linda Williams, Mirrors without Memories: Truth, History and The Thin Blue Line in Barry Keith Grant Jeanette Sloniowski (eds), Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video (Wayne State UP, Detroit, 1998), p 381. 3. The films Garrison, for example, has access to information the real Garrison did not, in order to allow Stone to communicate it to audiences. For example, In the movie we attributed to Garrison the information about Shaws background but in real life Jim did not have access to that information at that time. (Oliver Stone audio commentary, JFK DVD, Region 4 Special Edition Directors Cut release, Warner Brothers, 1 hour 28 mins approx.) 4. This phrase is Stones own: JFK audio commentary, op. cit., 2 hours 10 mins approx. While these scenes are also used to communicate information about the larger case, this is an example of narrative efficiency, and does not contradict my point that they do contain aspects (such as the melodromatic touch of Garrisons children asking Dont you love us any more?) which function simply as domestic drama, with no relation to the case against Clay Shaw. 5. Nichols has revisited and slightly reformulated these modes over time, but they can be summarised as expository (ie voice-of-God documentaries that use direct address to tell the audience a truth), observational (cinema verite style films that aim to observe events without participating), interactive (interview based films that allows for direct address by participants, while allowing for filmmakers interaction through questioning), reflexive (films that draw attention to the documentarys own methods), and performative (stressing an individual, subjective position, while downplaying objective or referential aspects). See Bill Nichols: The Voice of Documentary, Film Quarterly 36, no 3 (Spring 1983); Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary (1991, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis), Chapter 2; and (for the perfomative mode) Performing Documentary, Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture (c. 1994, Indiana UP, Bloomington), pp 92-106. 6. This point and the subsequent discussion of classical film theory draw on the discussions in the anthologies Gerald Mast et al. (eds.), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, (Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 1992), pp. 3-7, and Antony Easthorpe, Contemporary Film Theory (Longman, London New York, 1993), pp. 2-5. 7. Rudolf Arnheim, Film as Art (Faber Faber, London, 1958), esp. pp. 17-37. 8. Ibid., p. 37-114. 9. Noà «l Carroll, From Real to Reel: Entangled in Nonfiction film, in Noà «l Carroll, Theorizing the Moving Image (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996), p. 224-252. (Originally published in Philosophic Exchange in 1983, and will be cited in future as Carroll (1996/1983) to distinguish it from his piece in Post-Theory cited below). Reference to direct cinema is p. 225. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid., p. 226. Carroll is quoting from the first edition of Barnouws Documentary, citing p. 287-288 of that edition (Oxford University Press, New York, 1974). The nearest equivalent to this quote I can find in the third edition (op. cit.) is at p. 344. 12. Noà «l Carroll, Nonfiction films and Postmodernist Skepticism in Noà «l Carrol David Bordwell (eds.), Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies, (University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1996), pp. 283-306. 13. Ibid., p. 288. Emphasis is Carrolls. 14. Carroll is frequently belligerent about the texts he discusses but is particularly so about Renovs Theorizing Documentary, describing it as a state of the art compendium of received thinking about the documentary film, and dismissing Renovs argument as a red herring. Ibid., p. 285 291. 15. Both quotes Nichols, 1991, op. cit., p. 109. Emphasis is Nichols. 16. This is the title of the second part of Nichols book. How helpful this argumentative nature is as a distinction between fiction and documentary (and how unlike any other form of fiction documentary can be said to be) is debatable given that fiction can be every bit as argumentative as documentary (as JFK demonstrates). 17. Ibid., p. 195. 18. Carroll (1996/1983), op. cit., p. 226. 19. Carroll: I mention this because I do not think that commentators who conclude that the nonfiction film is subjective intend their remarks as a mere gloss on the notion that everything is subjective. But that, I fear, is the untoward implication of their attack. Ibid., p. 226. 20. Ibid., p. 230. See also Carroll, 1996, op. cit. pp. 283-285. 21. Carroll, 1996, p. 294. 22. See, for example, Ibid., p. 293, regarding film scholars focus on art-documentary. 23. Michael L. Kurtz, Oliver Stone, JFK, and History, in Robert Brent Toplin (ed), Oliver

Black Hand †The Conspiracy that started War Essay

In 1911 ten politically important men of Serbia formed a secret society called the Black Hand in one of their sister’s basements. Three years later, the Black Hand had started World War one. Fifteen million people died, 20 million people wounded; all because of the bad judgement of one man and the death of another. The cause the Black Hand was fighting for was a worthy one for they were simply liberating themselves from Austro-Hungarian control. They wanted to be free people and many powerful and political people of Serbia joined the leader ranks of the Black Hand. They operated through stealth and if a perpetrator of the Black Hand was caught by the enemy then they were under strict orders to commit suicide at the first opportunity, if not then the Black Hand would kill that person themselves in case they had become a spy for the enemy; One bad move and the foundation of which they formed would be ripped apart; They had to be cautious and very clear on what they intended to d o or their enemy would pick them off one by one. The cause of the First World War is quite memorably famous; well I’d say it is to anyone who’s studied WWI in school but what may seem interesting is how one small rock that is the assassination of a prince, tied to many other bigger rocks that are the empires and the countries, could miraculously pull them all in to a never-ending hole in such short time. Many speculate that the tension between the two sides of the war was at such a high standing point that even a feather could make that tension blow up colossally; others who think otherwise are quite stupid. So generally it wasn’t the small innocent(well I wouldn’t exactly say innocent) rock that pulled the larger rocks into deep oblivion, no, it was the powerful winds abided and helped by the small rock that made it all happen, a small rock made such a big difference in a much larger world, anything’s possible eh? The Black Hand was a secret organisation whose sole goal was to disrupt Austria-Hun gary plans, terrorise them in their most crucial points and in the end game; kick them out of Serbia so the country could once again be whole and free. They would go to any measures to extrapolate their plans and many people died. They formed in 1911 and by 1914 there were several hundreds of members, perhaps even more accurately two thousand five hundred. They had spies everywhere. Perhaps their biggest act and possibly their biggest overestimated one was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. They could never possibly see that it would some short time later cause World War one. They had hoped to shake Austria-Hungary and perhaps cite some fear into the King but never to cause a war of mass scale. Unfortunately any one thing, however small, was enough to pop that tension filled balloon and cause a war. So If they didn’t cause the war, something else was obviously have done it. The assassination wasn’t professionally done. By that I mean the leaders behind the plot didn’t go to great measures to ensure that Franz Ferdinand would die. They relied on the number of men they had enrolled to do the job. There were a lot of their men on the scene and many were not captured, being transparent in the luminous crowd. Perhaps they did not want to hurt their fellow Serbs for something such as a 20 metre range bomb would surely kill and harm a lot of innocent people. But never the less the prince was assassinated after fruitless attempts; He was assassinated by a young man called Gavrillo Princip who made no hesitation to kill the prince after spotting him across the road, his colleagues were obviously unsuccessful in the act and without a seconds thought Gavrillo ran out and fired two shots, killing the prince and his wife Sophie. Years after the war had ended Gavrillo Princip was questioned. At the end of the interview, they asked him if he knew what would have happened when he fired those shots, would he have done it? This proved that the Black Hands intentions were clean at heart even to the lowest members for he said â€Å"god hell no, Commend millions of people to death because of my own stupid judgement? Hell no†.

Symptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder - 1441 Words

Bipolar disorder is a chemical imbalance in the mind that has yet to be unwound; it causes numerous emotional episodes that can happen immediately without a word. With a number of mental illnesses to diagnose them, it requires significant time and perception with a health care provider. Treatment is additionally a viewpoint that takes arranging and reflection, generally on how the patient feels in response to the solution that they are taking and different types of treatment. Albeit, bipolar disorder is a complex ailment to diagnose, there are a few option medicines utilized as a part of conjunction with drugs that can be successful in dealing with this mental illness. By definition Bipolar Disorder is connected with emotional episodes that range from the lows of misery to the highs of mania; overall known as obsession (The Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). These two different feelings could come on any time of the day or may just occur a couple of times each year; it all relies on upon the seriousness of the patient s disorder. Presently, there is no known reason for bipolar disorder; although, there are a few contributing elements thought to bring about the disorder. A few of the components included with the causing of bipolar disorder are neurotransmitters, acquired characteristics, hormones, environment, and an existing injury or a noteworthy life minute, for example, a passing in the family or separation of the folks. Neurotransmitters appear to have a critical part inShow MoreRelatedBipolar Disorder : Symptoms And Treatment854 Words   |  4 Pagesmedical condition known as bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is when a person suffers from severe shifts in mood and energy. In most cases, bipolar disorder can be treated and people with the illness can live normal and productive lives with the help of medication and or therapy. Aiken, C. (2010). Family Experiences of Bipolar Disorder: The Ups, the Downs and the Bits in Between. Retrieved from Ebsco Host. In this book the author discusses her own dealings with Bipolar Disorder. She goes on to say howRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder1489 Words   |  6 PagesDiego City College Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive disorder, is a disease that affects thousands of people all over the United States of America. According to Sarris (2011) approximately 1-2% of adults will be affected by bipolar disorder in their lifetime. While some individuals may go undiagnosed, the prevalence percentage can raise to as much as 4% when including milder subclinical presentations (Sarris, 2011). Bipolar disorder can cause severe dysfunction in theRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder1125 Words   |  5 Pageswith several mental disorders. The major diagnosis would be bipolar disorder. She also suffers from borderline personality disorder, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety. The American Psychiatric Association s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder defines bipolar disorder as a recurrent mood disorder that includes periods of mania or mixed episodes of mania and depression (Murphy, 2012, p. 44-50). It was previously kn own as manic depressive disorder. It is most commonRead MoreBipolar Disorder Treatments : Symptoms And Symptoms2309 Words   |  10 Pages Bipolar Disorder Treatments Kelly Miazga Metropolitan State University December 8th 2014 â€Æ' Bipolar disorder treatments Introduction Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression or bipolar affective disorder is a mood disorder where the patient experiences episodes of extreme highs known as mania and extreme lows known as depression. Periods of mania and depression vary per person. A person who is displaying a manic episode shows typical symptoms of elevated mood, extreme happiness or irritabilityRead MoreBipolar Disorder : Symptoms And Treatment2115 Words   |  9 Pages Bipolar Disorder The Bipolar disorder or you can call it manic depression, it is a often diagnosed and draining frame or state of mind disorder which causes huge shifts in temperament and frame of mind. The word bipolar means that the two main polar extremes in which a person with the disorder experiences. According a part of the National Institutes of Health that watches over neurological and psychological research this disorder affects about 2.1 million adultsRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder963 Words   |  4 Pagesthat goes by we hear someone being labeled as bipolar or another celebrity is getting diagnosed as being bipolar after their spurts of erratic behavior. I had to ask the question, does anyone really know what it means to be bipolar? Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks (NIMH). Suffering from bipolar disorder can mean su ffering from drastic changes in moodRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder1274 Words   |  6 Pagesconclusion, Ben Tang was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder indicated by DSM-5 at age 47. He experienced symptoms such as feeling depressed, suicidal thoughts, and worthlessness in depressive episodes. He experienced symptoms such as racing mind, trouble falling asleep, and committing reckless behaviors in hypomanic episodes. It can be challenging to live with bipolar disorder because the symptoms can be hard to deal with. There are several ways to manage bipolar disorder, include medications, support groupRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder1220 Words   |  5 PagesThe history of bipolar disorder is perhaps just as complex as the condition itself. Bipolar is highly recognized as a treatable disorder. The more we learn about bipolar disorder, the more people may be able to receive the help that they need. Centuries passed and little new was discovered about bipolar disorder until French psychiatrist Jean-Pierre Falret published an article in 1851 describing what he called â€Å"la folie circulaire,† which translates to circular insanity. The article details peopleRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder762 Words   |  4 Pages Bipolar Disorder 2 Disorder history, In the 19th century psychiatry, mania had a broad meaning of craziness, hypomania was equated by some concepts of â€Å"partial insanity† or monomania. Bipolar disorder origins in 1854, Jules Baillarger and Jean-Pierre Falret, independently present descriptions of the disorder to Academie de Medicine in Paris. German neuropsychiatrist Emanuel Mendel in 1881 wrote â€Å"that heRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder1442 Words   |  6 Pagesmental illness. For example, manic depressive illness, or bipolar disorder, is a cognitive disease which affects â€Å"about 2.6% of the U.S. population† every year (DBSA). Along with the vast number of patients stricken with bipolar, are also a plethora of symptoms, with researchers and patients reporting, â€Å"unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and (an inability) to carry out day-to-day tasks† (NIMH). Along with the symptoms of bipolar are several factors that contribute to the presence of the

Understanding the Scientific Field of Social Psychology Essay

Social psychology is a study which seeks to study and understand social behavior. It tells us more about the group behavior, how we interact and how it impacts our decision. According to scientist Gordon Alliport, Social psychology is a discipline that uses scientific method to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, implied or imagined presence of other human beings. Social psychology is not limited to any social topics but looks at a wide range of social topics such as group behavior, social perception, leadership, non verbal behavior, conformity, aggression and prejudice. In short social psychology aims at understanding each and every aspect of the social behavior of the†¦show more content†¦Very few people have the will power or the determination to preserve their originality even in changing social environments. Among the various factors that affect human behavior, culture and society are the 2 main factors. The society is composed of a full range of learned behavioral patterns. These patterns have great influence on an individual as it shapes their personality from the day they are born. Let us take an example of situation. Mr. X is a fresher in Orlando Institute of Technology and he is very happy to have earned a seat in one of the most reputed institutes of Michigan. Mr. X is a very good student but his problem is that he has a very weak moral character. During his college years he was not exposed to any kinds of bad habits hence his behavior wasn’t affected much but suddenly he enters into an environment where he is exposed to students who have acquired all kinds of bad habits such as smoking and drinking. From day 1 he sees students doing all the things he hadn’t seen before, this has a very deep impact in his thinking and his behavior. His parents witness a sudden behavio ral change in him and are astonished to see their little boy smoking tobacco in the local pub. These kinds of situations are quite normal in the society. Generally youngsters are highly vulnerable to all kinds of sudden and astonishing behavioral changes. This is seen inShow MoreRelatedIndustrial and Organizational Psychology Essay1154 Words   |  5 Pages than their European counter parts (King, 2013). Industrial Organizational Psychology (I/O psychology) applies the science of psychology to work and the workplace (King, 2013) to enhance worker efficiency and productivity. Researchers in the field of I/O psychology looked to find a broad range of topics related to the work environment including; job placement, influences of attitudes on job performance, understanding the ways people work in groups (King, 2013). These topics are also the subjectRead More Psychology Religion: The Spirtual Side to Counseling Essay1104 Words   |  5 Pages Abstract: In today’s society the field of psychology and the study of religion have hardly ever set will with one another. New information is being composed about the two fields working together, this paper is a brief description of those ideas and thoughts. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The psychological study of religion in the United States illustrates tensions and opportunities that exist between psychology and religion. It also demonstrates the multifaceted viewsRead MoreAbnormal Psychology1154 Words   |  5 Pages Abnormal Psychology: The field of abnormal psychology is a scientific discipline that focuses on examining the causes of mental dysfunction or abnormal behavior. Some of the major areas of study in this field include emotional disturbance, psychopathology, mental illness, and maladjustment. This scientific discipline examines abnormal behavior since such actions are expressed due to psychological dysfunction that contains some features of deviance, potential injury, and distress. As various typesRead MoreDevelopmental Psychology : Understanding And Theoretical Understanding1573 Words   |  7 Pages Developmental Psychology also can be thought as how a person develops though out their life. Developmental Psychology started out being concerned with earliest stage of a child now it has broadened to add teenagers, adult, and the whole life of a person. Developmental psychology consider development over a wide area of issues like motor skill, emotional intellectual associated with topics like problem solving, moral understanding and theoretical understanding. From the beginning of birth toRead MoreAdolescent Psychology Essay 31067 Words   |  5 PagesQuestion: What Is Psychology? One of the most common questions asked by students new to the study of psychology is What is psychology? Misperceptions created by popular media as well as the diverse careers paths of those holding psychology degrees have contributed this confusion. Psychology is both an applied and academic field that studies the human mind and behavior. Research in psychology seeks to understand and explain thought, emotion, and behavior. Applications of psychology include mentalRead MoreThe Nature Of Psychology As A Discipline1714 Words   |  7 PagesIn the media we often encounter rather unfavourable portrayals of psychology, which characterize it as a â€Å"soft†, intuitive subject. It receives a lot of criticism for failing to precisely test and predict the examined phenomena. Psychology is falsely perceived by many as the pure study of the abstract, metaphysical â€Å"mind†. The ambiguity of the concept makes any scientific investigation of human behaviour questionable. However, this belief is a misconception. Although there are aspects of human behaviourRead MoreIs Psychology A Science?998 Words   |  4 PagesThe question that ‘psychology is a Science’ motivates a substantially critical debate amongst many professions, having very strong opinions. To come to a vigorous conclusion on this subject we must take into recognition both sides of the argument, what is science, and weather Psychology meets the principles of Science. In doing this the following essay will be debating the principles of science, the scientific unifying approach, poppers opinion on whether psychology is a science through his theoryRead MoreAssessing Psychology s Public Image Essay1397 Words   |  6 PagesIn assessing psychology’s public image, two dimensions are paramount in the issue: â€Å"popularity† (or how the public feels toward psychology and psychologists), and â€Å"understanding† (what the public knows about psychology and what psychologists do) (Benjamin, 1986, p. 945). While overall, psychologists are met with a moderately favorable attitude (Guest, 1948), several studies have revealed a deficiency in the knowledge of who psychologists are and what they do (Wood et al., 1986; Wol lersheim WalshRead MoreSocial Psychology Definition Paper1122 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Psychology Definition Paper Sinthia Brye PSY/ 400 August 30, 2010 Joyce Willis Social Psychology Introduction Social psychology it observes as the influence of our situations with special attention on how we view and affect one another. Social psychology perceives the way we think, influence people, and relates to others. Social psychology lies at psychology’s boundary with sociology, which sociology is the study of people in groups and societies? Social psychology isRead MoreOrganizational Behaviour1633 Words   |  7 Pagescreated to serve the needs of the societies or communities in which they operate and are influenced by both their internal environment (culture) and their external environment. As defined by Robins â€Å"an organization is a continuously co-ordinated social unit of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals† (Robins 2005). Organizational Behaviour Defined Behaviour on the other hand, he defines simply as â€Å"the actions of people (Robins

Pudding - 659 Words

Pudding is a kind of food that can be either a dessert or a savory dish. The word pudding is believed to come from the French boudin, originally from the Latin botellus, meaning small sausage, referring to encased meats used in Medieval European puddings. Terminology In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries, pudding can be used to describe both sweet and savory dishes. Unless qualified, however, the term in everyday usage typically denotes a dessert; in the UK, pudding is used as a synonym for a dessert course. Savory dishes include Yorkshire pudding, black pudding, suet pudding and steak and kidney pudding. In the United States and some parts of Canada, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert†¦show more content†¦The phrase is widely attributed to the Spanish author Cervantes in his novel The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote. The phrase is often incorrectly stated as the proof is in the pudding. Puddnhead Wilson written by Mark Twain reflects the terms use as a metaphor for someone with the mind of a fool. See also List of puddings List of desserts References External links Bibliography: WikipediaShow MoreRelatedDemonstration Speech966 Words   |  4 PagesSpecific Purpose: To demonstrate to my audience how to make dirt pudding or as some people call it a garbage can desert. Central Idea: By following many simple steps, making dirt pudding can be made easily in your home. |LEFT COLUMN |MIDDLE COLUMN |RIGHT COLUMN | | |INTRODUCTION Read MoreEssay about How to Make a Chocolate Trifle715 Words   |  3 Pagesingredients in front of you and understand the language then you are ready to begin! The ingredients for a Chocolate Trifle are as follows: 1-package of brownie mix (I have always preferred Duncan Hines), 1 (3.4oz.) package of instant chocolate pudding mix,  ½ cup of water, 1 (14oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 (8oz.) container of chocolate Cool Whip, thawed, 1 (12oz.) container of regular Cool Whip, thawed, and if you prefer some chocolate swirls, chocolate shavings or maybe even fresh strawberriesRead MoreKozy Shack Essay1327 Words   |  6 Pagesfamily. In that market positioning, people are associating their products with the same type of vision that the company has made for itself. * Kozy Shack made a name for itself as being the pioneer in the adult dessert market. Before Kozy Shack, pudding was mainly a child’s dessert; this company made for a new segment in the dairy dessert market. Weaknesses: * Short shelf life- Due to its lack of preservatives, its shelf life is considerably shorter compared to its competitors, (i.e., Jell-ORead MoreSc300 Unit 6 Project Kaplan Univ.1107 Words   |  5 Pagescomponents of two of your meals. Meal 1: For breakfast I had eggs, Conecuh sausage, peaches, and iced sweet tea. Meal 2: For lunch I had a ham sandwich with Sargento Colby- jack cheese, Lays brand sour cream and onion potato chips, and a Jell-O pudding cup. I had a bottle of Aquafina water to drink. A. Where did each component of your meal originate? List the country that each part of your meal came from. (i.e., Did that glass of red wine come from Australia? Is the cheese from France?) MealRead MoreRisk Assessment Of A Health Or Social Care Setting1801 Words   |  8 Pagesmight taste burned. If they were going to make christmas pudding then the people with Down’s syndrome should make sure that when using the steamer, they be careful so that they won’t get burned and they might end up leaving the puddings for too long which would cause the pudding to overcook. To prevent this, the person handling the steamer should know when to take the pudding out which is normally for four hours and keep on checking on the puddings to see when they are made. When the food is served, itRead MoreThe Plumb Pudding In Danger Analysis854 Words   |  4 PagesThe Plumb-pudding in Danger by James Gillray depicts British Prime Minister William Pitt, sitting on the left, and French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who is seated on the right, both tearing haphazardly into a plum pudding shaped like the globe. This cartoon is one of Gillray’s most famous satirical pieces covering the Anglo-French rivalry during the Napoleonic wars of the 19th century. Published by Hannah Humphrey on February 28, 1805, The Plumb-pudding in Danger first appeared in London. JohnRead MoreArticle Review : The Magic Pudding Essay1810 Words   |  8 PagesBlinky Bill and The magic pudding. My existing understanding of children Australian literacy I believe comes from a young age when my primary school teachers pushed the importance of how wonderful and rare these Australian books for children were and how special we were to have them read to us and available in our libraries. Growing up in the Blue Mountains a lot of focus was on the late Author Norman Lindsay as he was once a local in our area. The book The magic pudding was our focus on one particularRead More Comparing Poor Mans Pudding, Bartleby, Ministers Black Veil, or Masque of the Red Death1056 Words   |  5 PagesLack of Epiphany in Poor Mans Pudding, Bartleby, Ministers Black Veil, or Masque of the Red Death In the Melville stories, Poor Mans Pudding and Rich Mans Crumbs and Bartleby, the Scrivener, the narrators go through what appear to be life-changing experiences. Hawthorne offers a similar outline in The Ministers Black Veil as does Poe in Masque of the Red Death. Yet, at the conclusion of each of these stories, there is no evidence to suggest that the narrator is affected by theRead MoreEssay on Ernest Rutherford and The Gold Foil Experiment 755 Words   |  4 Pagesusing the Plum Pudding model, an out dated and incorrect model, and we would have less of an understanding of how atoms form the world around us. Before Rutherford’s Geiger-Marsden experiment the most popular model of the atom was the â€Å"plum pudding model† developed in 1904 by the person who also discovered the electron in 1897, J.J. Thompson. It was the most common model of the atom and stated that electrons (plum) floated around with free movement in a mass of positive charge (pudding), hence the

Ethnography Paper Free Essays

Ethnography Paper This is my first time that I come to New York, so I am curious about many things in this new place, such as the famous resorts, and the people here. As we know, the Times Square is very famous in New York. When I was in China, I hope I can visit Times Square, because I saw Times Square was very great in some of the opening of American series. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethnography Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Now, I am in New York, and I have enough chances to visit Times Square whenever I want. In there, it gives me a new horizon to understand the culture that is different from China. I have been to Times Square for two times, and I have a very deep impression on it. It locates in the interchange of Manhattan 42 west street and Broadway avenue. It is interesting that Times Square is not a square area, but a triangular square. I must say it is really the most prosperous place in the world, although it is not very huge as other squares in our mind. There are many theaters, clothing stores, as well as some famous companies. The buildings there are very high, which reflects the boom of this popular city. In Times Square, there is a huge advertising board that presenting various kinds of advertisements, also including Chinese advertisements. On August 28th, the first time I went to Times Square, I saw my friends and I were on this advertising board, which was very exciting for us. I heard from a local friend that Times Square is a crazy area in New York, because you can find museums, hotels, and whatever you want, and all of these things are full of popular elements. It only takes people about ten minutes get to another famous place, the Fifth Avenue, where people can see many luxury brands. Moreover, Times Square is also near to the Central Park, appearing in many renowned movies. It is the symbol of New York City, and it also presents the luxuriousness of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Besides the magnificent buildings, people in there are also worth to consider. People must be amazing that there are various kinds of people there. They are white, yellow, black, coming from everywhere in the world. Some of them are the local people, and they come here to go shopping or watching a movie. Some of them are tourists, and they come here to go sightseeing, feeling the culture of American. It is a fashionable place, but if you think that only young people come here, and then you are wrong. People from all ages prefer to come to Times Square. Young people can enjoy themselves, as well as elderly. Young people can find the fashionable elements that suit their tastes, while old people prefer to come here to watch a refined opera. Even the children would like to come here, though they are too young to feel the fashion or the culture, but they like the toy stores here. There are different kinds of toy stores and candy shops that are for children, so that children can be adjusted to their wonderful world. What’s more, it is a great place that attracts both men and women. There are a lot of make-up stores and clothing that like a heaven to women. And for men, there are many sports stores that appeal to them. At night, Times Square is also a popular place, due to the various pubs. Many beautiful young ladies and handsome gentlemen go in and out these pubs, which is also a wonderful scenery in this prosperous city. There are diverse kinds of people come here for different reasons, and everyone enjoys himself very much. Every time I came here, I would encounter some interesting activities. The first time I came to Times Square, I saw a naked man, singing at the roadside, with his guitar. I was astonished, as this was the first time for me to see a man with an underwear singing in the busy square. Many people took pictures with him, and everyone was friendly to each other. On the other side of the street, a band, consisting of four children, sang a song with their instruments. This band attracted many tourists, because they were so young, but they played very well. After they sang a song, all the people gave their applause. What’s more, people could see the staffs that wore costumes wandering everywhere. Every tourist could take pictures with them, if they wanted to. The staffs were very kind, and sometimes they would tell you some interesting things that happened in Times Square. When I came to Times Square on the second time, I saw a group of people having a parade there. They promoted that Taiwan should become free from the mainland of China. They gave me their leaflets, but I didn’t take, as I am the member of the mainland of China. It was also worth to state that people communicated with each other friendly, though they were from different countries. They shared their experiences and cultures with each other, which could really broaden the horizon. It is an amazing place that people will have passion here, and prefer to talk with others just like old friends. In Times Square, everyday likes a festival, because it is always a lively square where all the people can enjoy themselves. After I saw the place, the people, and their interaction, I got the deep understanding of the United States. I have to admit that America is the busiest city in the world. In Beijing, which is the best city in China, I have never seen so many grand buildings in one area as in Times Square. As Times Square is the symbol of New York, I can see the fashion of this city. And I also find that people here prefer to watch opera, because there is a long line in front of every theater. From the restaurant, I can obtain the American’s taste that they prefer the fast-food, which is convenient and cheap. Furthermore, from the clothing stores, I can get their clothing style that the casual style of the clothes will suit them. In addition, I find that the United States is a diverse society. It welcomes all the people that come from every corner of the world, ignoring the races and ages. In Times Square, you can find there are different kinds of people with different races and colors, and they all have a good time. In this nowadays’ United States, everyone is equal, and there is no discrimination, so all the people can play together and have a happy time in their life. Most people in the world prefer to have a chance to come to the United States, because not only it is a prosperous country, but also it is equal to everyone. As a result, all the people feel comfortable here. Through observing the people in Times Square, I find that even the old people have the passion toward the life. In other countries, like in China, elderly do not prefer to join activities in a busy area. In the contrast, the old people in America still have the energy to join the activities and live a life that they want. In New York, everyone is very happy, and I can feel their happiness in their heart, from their expressions and actions. It is obvious that America is a good country that welcomes everyone in different countries. From the interaction of the people in Times Square, I find that Americans are very friendly to all the people, even though they do not recognize. The staffs there are very kind to provide the help, when the tourists meet some difficulties. The local people are very nice, and they often share the local cultures with the newcomers. When I was there, I don’t feel lonely, because I can see the smile on everyone’s face, which makes me feel comfortable. Americans are a group of people that are full of passion and energy. They would like to pass this happiness to every other people, so whenever you come to Times Square, you will find that this place is filled with happiness. From the activities there, I would like to say that it is a country that is full of openness and freedom. In China, you may never have a chance to see a naked man singing a song in a square. China is a traditional country, so sometimes it cannot accept the open thought. However, the United States is a country, full of its traditions, as well as its openness. In addition, I think America is a freedom country. Times Square is one of the busiest places in New York. Everyone can tell their inner voices here, not banned by the government. On the second time I went to Times Square, I saw a group people stating that Taiwan should be free from China. Although I don’t agree with this idea, I believe that everyone has the right to say what they want. In China, this kind of parade must be forbidden, not to mention that holding an activity like this in a famous square, such as Tiananmen Square. Therefore, the United States is a country that people can have a freedom of speech. Here, people can say whatever they want, even though their saying may be not the same as the government’s. In China, if people say that Taiwan should be free from China, they must be banned. Although I do not agree with this idea, I think people have the right to say out their opinion, and no one can bother them. I think that is the reason that why most of people prefer to come to the United States. People will be treated equally, and they can feel free in this country. The most outstanding advantage of this country is that every people will get freedom that is valuable to everyone. Under the visiting Times Square for two times, I can draw a conclusion of the American culture. Trough seeing, hearing and feeling of the busiest square in New York, I know that Manhattan is one of the luxuriant places in the world, with numerous great buildings. In addition, I also learned American custom, like their clothes style and their food style. Moreover, I liked the people here, because they are friendly and kind to everyone, ignoring your countries, races and colors. From observing a symbol place of America, I admire this country’s openness and its freedom. It shows that every citizen is the host of this country, and every of them can say the opposite ideas. In fact, because of these opposite voices, the country can make more progress than before, so that people can live a happy life. How to cite Ethnography Paper, Essay examples Ethnography Paper Free Essays Ethnography Paper This is my first time that I come to New York, so I am curious about many things in this new place, such as the famous resorts, and the people here. As we know, the Times Square is very famous in New York. When I was in China, I hope I can visit Times Square, because I saw Times Square was very great in some of the opening of American series. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethnography Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Now, I am in New York, and I have enough chances to visit Times Square whenever I want. In there, it gives me a new horizon to understand the culture that is different from China. I have been to Times Square for two times, and I have a very deep impression on it. It locates in the interchange of Manhattan 42 west street and Broadway avenue. It is interesting that Times Square is not a square area, but a triangular square. I must say it is really the most prosperous place in the world, although it is not very huge as other squares in our mind. There are many theaters, clothing stores, as well as some famous companies. The buildings there are very high, which reflects the boom of this popular city. In Times Square, there is a huge advertising board that presenting various kinds of advertisements, also including Chinese advertisements. On August 28th, the first time I went to Times Square, I saw my friends and I were on this advertising board, which was very exciting for us. I heard from a local friend that Times Square is a crazy area in New York, because you can find museums, hotels, and whatever you want, and all of these things are full of popular elements. It only takes people about ten minutes get to another famous place, the Fifth Avenue, where people can see many luxury brands. Moreover, Times Square is also near to the Central Park, appearing in many renowned movies. It is the symbol of New York City, and it also presents the luxuriousness of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Besides the magnificent buildings, people in there are also worth to consider. People must be amazing that there are various kinds of people there. They are white, yellow, black, coming from everywhere in the world. Some of them are the local people, and they come here to go shopping or watching a movie. Some of them are tourists, and they come here to go sightseeing, feeling the culture of American. It is a fashionable place, but if you think that only young people come here, and then you are wrong. People from all ages prefer to come to Times Square. Young people can enjoy themselves, as well as elderly. Young people can find the fashionable elements that suit their tastes, while old people prefer to come here to watch a refined opera. Even the children would like to come here, though they are too young to feel the fashion or the culture, but they like the toy stores here. There are different kinds of toy stores and candy shops that are for children, so that children can be adjusted to their wonderful world. What’s more, it is a great place that attracts both men and women. There are a lot of make-up stores and clothing that like a heaven to women. And for men, there are many sports stores that appeal to them. At night, Times Square is also a popular place, due to the various pubs. Many beautiful young ladies and handsome gentlemen go in and out these pubs, which is also a wonderful scenery in this prosperous city. There are diverse kinds of people come here for different reasons, and everyone enjoys himself very much. Every time I came here, I would encounter some interesting activities. The first time I came to Times Square, I saw a naked man, singing at the roadside, with his guitar. I was astonished, as this was the first time for me to see a man with an underwear singing in the busy square. Many people took pictures with him, and everyone was friendly to each other. On the other side of the street, a band, consisting of four children, sang a song with their instruments. This band attracted many tourists, because they were so young, but they played very well. After they sang a song, all the people gave their applause. What’s more, people could see the staffs that wore costumes wandering everywhere. Every tourist could take pictures with them, if they wanted to. The staffs were very kind, and sometimes they would tell you some interesting things that happened in Times Square. When I came to Times Square on the second time, I saw a group of people having a parade there. They promoted that Taiwan should become free from the mainland of China. They gave me their leaflets, but I didn’t take, as I am the member of the mainland of China. It was also worth to state that people communicated with each other friendly, though they were from different countries. They shared their experiences and cultures with each other, which could really broaden the horizon. It is an amazing place that people will have passion here, and prefer to talk with others just like old friends. In Times Square, everyday likes a festival, because it is always a lively square where all the people can enjoy themselves. After I saw the place, the people, and their interaction, I got the deep understanding of the United States. I have to admit that America is the busiest city in the world. In Beijing, which is the best city in China, I have never seen so many grand buildings in one area as in Times Square. As Times Square is the symbol of New York, I can see the fashion of this city. And I also find that people here prefer to watch opera, because there is a long line in front of every theater. From the restaurant, I can obtain the American’s taste that they prefer the fast-food, which is convenient and cheap. Furthermore, from the clothing stores, I can get their clothing style that the casual style of the clothes will suit them. In addition, I find that the United States is a diverse society. It welcomes all the people that come from every corner of the world, ignoring the races and ages. In Times Square, you can find there are different kinds of people with different races and colors, and they all have a good time. In this nowadays’ United States, everyone is equal, and there is no discrimination, so all the people can play together and have a happy time in their life. Most people in the world prefer to have a chance to come to the United States, because not only it is a prosperous country, but also it is equal to everyone. As a result, all the people feel comfortable here. Through observing the people in Times Square, I find that even the old people have the passion toward the life. In other countries, like in China, elderly do not prefer to join activities in a busy area. In the contrast, the old people in America still have the energy to join the activities and live a life that they want. In New York, everyone is very happy, and I can feel their happiness in their heart, from their expressions and actions. It is obvious that America is a good country that welcomes everyone in different countries. From the interaction of the people in Times Square, I find that Americans are very friendly to all the people, even though they do not recognize. The staffs there are very kind to provide the help, when the tourists meet some difficulties. The local people are very nice, and they often share the local cultures with the newcomers. When I was there, I don’t feel lonely, because I can see the smile on everyone’s face, which makes me feel comfortable. Americans are a group of people that are full of passion and energy. They would like to pass this happiness to every other people, so whenever you come to Times Square, you will find that this place is filled with happiness. From the activities there, I would like to say that it is a country that is full of openness and freedom. In China, you may never have a chance to see a naked man singing a song in a square. China is a traditional country, so sometimes it cannot accept the open thought. However, the United States is a country, full of its traditions, as well as its openness. In addition, I think America is a freedom country. Times Square is one of the busiest places in New York. Everyone can tell their inner voices here, not banned by the government. On the second time I went to Times Square, I saw a group people stating that Taiwan should be free from China. Although I don’t agree with this idea, I believe that everyone has the right to say what they want. In China, this kind of parade must be forbidden, not to mention that holding an activity like this in a famous square, such as Tiananmen Square. Therefore, the United States is a country that people can have a freedom of speech. Here, people can say whatever they want, even though their saying may be not the same as the government’s. In China, if people say that Taiwan should be free from China, they must be banned. Although I do not agree with this idea, I think people have the right to say out their opinion, and no one can bother them. I think that is the reason that why most of people prefer to come to the United States. People will be treated equally, and they can feel free in this country. The most outstanding advantage of this country is that every people will get freedom that is valuable to everyone. Under the visiting Times Square for two times, I can draw a conclusion of the American culture. Trough seeing, hearing and feeling of the busiest square in New York, I know that Manhattan is one of the luxuriant places in the world, with numerous great buildings. In addition, I also learned American custom, like their clothes style and their food style. Moreover, I liked the people here, because they are friendly and kind to everyone, ignoring your countries, races and colors. From observing a symbol place of America, I admire this country’s openness and its freedom. It shows that every citizen is the host of this country, and every of them can say the opposite ideas. In fact, because of these opposite voices, the country can make more progress than before, so that people can live a happy life. How to cite Ethnography Paper, Papers

Four Poems by Derek Mahon free essay sample

Four Poems by Derek Mahon INTRODUCTION Derek Mahon belongs to the same generation of Northern Ireland poets as Seamus Heaney. But, whereas many of Heaneys poems are rooted firmly in the rural landscape of Ulster where he grew up, Mahons poems reflect his childhood spent in Belfast. His familiar places were the streets of the city, the Harland and Wolff shipyard where his g-andfather and father worked, and the flax-spinning factory where his mother worked. Later on, Mahon would come to study at Trinity College Dublin and from there he spread his wings to travel and work in many different places, from France, Canada and America, to London and Kinsale in Co. Cork. , †¢DAY TRIP TO DONEGAL Tie shift, in both meaning and feeling, that :sxes place between the first and final lines of ~ s poem makes it memorable. The title :=e~s ordinary: Day Trip to Donegal suggests :- :~ :od days out at the seaside or even a school trip with classmates and teachers. ~~ opening stanza is conversational in tone. I : ,al at his seaside destination, the poet s n familiar surroundings. There were to be seen and as ever the hills a deeper green/Than anywhere in the : : seems at this point that we are r: r :: share a pleasant day at the seaside in Donegal with the poet. However, just as we . rev. ~~ comfortable with this expectation, -:::†¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ appears. We are disturbed by the 2. Deration in the final line and the image : ^reduces: the grave/Grey of the sea Me grwnmer in that enclave. : — : _s -rial line of the opening stanza , a similar scenario in stanza two. The poet watches the fishing-boats arriving back at the pier with their catch. This familiar scene is often described in attractive terms by songwriters and painters. But here Mahon startles us in the second line by describing the catch as A writhing glimmer offish. The word writhing is very vivid. The fish are seen as suffering and this notion becomes more intense in the concluding lines of the stanza where he sees them flopping about the deck/In attitudes of agony and heartbreak. A story is told about Mahon as an only child who spent a lot of time alone. His imagination had free rein and in the bicycle shed in the garden at home the Mahons also kept coal. Apparently the boy Derek Mahon suffered guilt when he went to the shed to get his bicycle. He felt pity for the coal which was, to him, imprisoned in that dark, cold, shed. His compassion was evident even then; he felt sorry for the coal! In Day Trip to Donegal we see that the poets day is changed by the sight of the caught fish. He feels compassion for them in their dying moments. In stanza three the return journey to Belfast is described. This poem is poised between two worlds — the seaside one in rural Donegal and the urban one in Belfast. Have you noticed how Mahon chooses to describe his arrival back in Belfast? We changed down into suburbs/Sunk in a sleep no gale-force wind disturbs. There is a suggestion here of a tamer world than the wild gale-beaten one of Donegal. The phrase changed down refers to the gear-change of the car, but it also shows how the poet is struck by the difference between the rural and the urban worlds he has experienced on that particular day. The sleeping suburbs seem slow and quiet after the drama of the Donegal landscape. Exam Career Guide 241 I t/2 _i O Z LU LU h-U LU U Nightmare Stanza four picks up again on the disturbing imagery of stanza two. There is an intense feeling of terror here as the poet recalls his dream after his day out at the seaside. In his nightmare, the sea is seen as a powerful force of destruction. We can be chilled by his description of the sea performing its immeasurable erosions — Spilling into the skull. The combination of words here is powerful: immeasurable erosions and the alliteration of spilling and skull. The choice of the word erosion is worth noting here. It suggests eating away at something — the action of the sea on the coastline over many years. Why does the poet draw a parallel between himself and the eroding coastline, at the mercy of the infinite onslaught of the sea? Could this be an oblique reference to the political circumstances in which he lived in Northern Ireland? We remember that Donegal was described in stanza one as a green enclave. He has travelled there from Belfast — another political entity to which he returns after his day across the border. In the nightmare he is the helpless victim at the mercy of the relentless sea. It mutters its threat — the poet does not enjoy a peaceful sleep after his day-trip to Donegal. Instead he has a kind of nightmare, a surreal vision which is frightening and sinister. The nightmarish journey continues into the final stanza. Now the sea has become a metaphor for the poets own view of his life. He is alone and drifting, has not taken enough caution to prevent this danger and feels surrounded on all sides by the vindictive wind and rain, i. . , the malevolent forces that control his life and which cannot be placated. The poem ends on a note of hopelessness and despair. There is no promise of rescue. His predicament recalls that of the fish described in stanza two — flopping about the deck/In attitudes of agony and heartbreak. †¢ ECCLESIASTES The title of this poem situates it immediately in the context of religion — Ecclesiastes being the title of a book in the Old T estament, used frequently by preachers in their sermons. The context of the poem is the Ulster of the religious preachers and the churchmen which Mahon knew very well, being an Ulster Protestant by birth. The opening three lines of the poem are full of feeling. We notice the repetition of God and the rhythm created by purist and puritan, and wiles and smiles. Mahon is imagining himself as a member of the preaching classes and he tries in this poer-look closely at his identity as an Ulster Protestant. There is self-mockery in h s _s= of the phrase purist little puritan. The preacher is narrow minded (little) and rigid his attitudes — a purist puritan would be 3 extreme version of an ordinary puritan *^ would have been very strict in religious :. -†¢ moral matters. There is mockery and contempt as he describes the preache (Ecclesiastes) as God-chosen and God-fearing. He sees himself as occupying tr-e high moral ground while at the same t~-= basing his morality on fear rather than genuine conviction. The world inhabited by the Ecclesiastes (preachers) is a grim one. The images in ine 4 and 5 convey this most powerfully. The choice of the word dank (meaning da-x sr damp and cold) for the churches and the tied up swings on Sundays paint a joyless picture. Sunday was a particularly gloorny ~ in Protestant Ulster as it was strictly designated for prayer and church-going. Pleasure of any kind was frowned on. Marc then contrasts this life-denying way of lrvrgt;f with the real life of the world — the heat i the world. He mentions how such a rigic code of behaviour allows those Churchmer to avoid the humanising interaction with women and the bright eyes of children. He continues with this train of thought in lines to 16. His tone is very critical. He sees tr-e preacher as using his public morality tc 2*c the real challenges of life — the call on eac of us to understand and forgive. The red bandana and stick and the ban? c referred to represent the antithesis of the preachers life. The red is a lively contrast n the dork doors mentioned before and the bandana and stick would be used on journe to brighter, livelier places than the dark r of Antrim which are washed by the cole January rains. This dark, cold place is the natural habitat of the preacher. He is following in the tradition of his forebears — the heaped graves of your fathers. Here he can close one eye and be king. This is an allusion to Erasmus, who once said: In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is King. Is this a reference to the closed mm and the bigotry of Mahons Ulster? The preacher can lord it over the ordinary peoc whose heavy washing flaps in the housing estates. They are credulous. But Mahons preacher has nothing to offer them. The ft imagery of the poem is filled with contemp 42 Exam Career Guide cts the preacher stiff with rhetoric forth to the captive audience yet lothing whatever to offer them — ng nothing under the sun. eamus Heaney writes about Ulster :es in the memory of The Forge, in scape of Bogland, The Harvest Bow and Mahon, on the other hand, has a vision of Ulster — and he shares gt;n with us in Ecclesiastes. It is a place ;tants and Puritans and Preachers. He :dges that this is part of his own oo, and we find that he has a very ew of the narrow, life-denying f the culture which formed him. IT SHOULD BE m, the mindset of another type of explored. This time it is that of the jrderer — who kills another man ie sees as a just cause. When ;ntions the Moon in the Yellow ire reminded of the Irish Civil War. :hat name was written by Denis ;et in 1927. Its story is of a man e who tried to blow up a generator ydroelectric station which was and was a symbol of the progress Irish Free State. Blake was shot by gt;f the Free State called Lanigan. The = officer of the Free State is the ir in this poem, as he justifies his nd even takes pride in it. : of Murder titeous tone is struck at the