Saturday, October 5, 2019
Final reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1
Final reflection - Essay Example Through the various lessons that we have undertaken in class, especially those focusing on the images and viewer meaning, have all contributed to my ability to visually communicate successfully. Not only have I had the opportunity to improve my visual communication skills, I have also learnt the various factors that lead to poor visual communication, perception and meaning of what we see are the major factors. Visually, I can analyse anything that I see from different perspectives and later make a conclusion. Earlier, I used to make conclusions without going through the analysing process. Subsequently, I made numerous mistakes in most of my decisions. However, being a visually literate person, I make decisions without any fear or worry of making mistakes. Thus, I am more confident, surer and more decisive when am making my decisions from visual communication. Art is emotional and sentimental, as I have come to realize from the various classes that we have taken. The purpose of art is diverse and has a broad meaning. Not only is art a form of entertainment, it is also a form of communication that artists use to convey different messages to the audience. Artists use art to communicate on different social issues and problems generally affecting the society. Art influences our thinking and reasoning about life. Personally, I perceive art as a method in which artists use to educate people on important issues affecting the society. Moreover, I have come to realize that art takes many forms, not just the cultural art or art by a certain group of people. Media is a form of art in the post modernism era. However, there is a rift in the reasoning behind the modern and post modernism forms of art. While postmodern art holds that all stances are unstable and insincere, and therefore irony, parody, and humour, by critique or revision prevails, the modern art thinks otherwise. As such, many events happening around us incorporate the use of art, especially in advertising and explaining consumer behaviour and character. For an advert to be captivating, it should be creative and attractive. Beauty is attractive and captures the attention of the people. Through this understanding, businesses provide beautiful commodities to people especially those that capture their attention for the purpose of ma king a sale. Thus, even in the modern world, the art is still alive, only that this time, its application falls in different categories than in the past. Throughout the class, I came to realize several things that I was not aware about in the past. Although initially they appeared obvious, the reality in them did not occur to me until after taking the class. It was during the topic on ââ¬Å"the experience of lookingâ⬠that I experienced a break-through moment in my artistic abilities as well as visual communication. The different concepts learned in the class were a form of revelation that I did not have in the past. Positivism as I realized assumes that me aning exists out in the world, independent of our feelings, attitudes, or beliefs about them. Positivism holds that only the scientific knowledge is genuine knowledge, while other views are simply some forms of suspicion. Moreover, the empirical truths of experience of loo
Friday, October 4, 2019
Story Summary ( two old women ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Story Summary ( two old women ) - Essay Example The two women then move on to a place where they can avoid dreadful memories and probable enemies. They walk for an uncertain destination until they become exhausted. They halt the night there but the next morning, with their aching joints, freezing lungs and swollen feet and also fatigue, they continue on their journey up to the middle of a frozen lake. The next day, they become success to cross the lake despite Chââ¬â¢idzigyaakââ¬â¢s misery. When four days is gone over, they come to a slough that reminds Ssââ¬â¢ that they are in the right path. They smile first to their conversation after a long period of time. But, after a tiresome journey, they feel again of death. Being hungry, they eat the rabbit head and broth. Now, taking their belongings, they move on to follow the river. On the sixth day, Saâ⬠can see an opening to the creek. After crossing the river, they see there remains of the long desired fishracks. At the scenery of the fishracks, they feel at home. But, the next day the two older women prepare for colder weather ahead. At this time, they feel that they are much closed to be abandoned. Now, they begin to share their memories of their family and childhood. Chââ¬â¢idzigyaak remembers the time the family left her grandmother behind and Saââ¬â¢ remembers how she grew up more interested in what boys did than the girls and how her family accepted her. She tells Chââ¬â¢idzigyaak, women spend their idle time telling stories and weaving rabbit fur blanket and clothing. In this very day, they capture a grouse and get a change of meat from rabbit squirrel and beaver to the meat of grouse since they start their journey. Now, the winter is passed and it is spring. They catch muskrats and beaver and freeze dry the meat. Now they donââ¬â¢t trust ââ¬Ëthe young generationââ¬â¢. The women decide to move to a safe place where no one will want to go in the fear of mosquitoes. They spend the spring and arctic summer fishing and hunting. They use their ingenuity to store and
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Comparison of A Good Man is Hard Essay Example for Free
Comparison of A Good Man is Hard Essay SETTING The setting of A Good Man is Hard to Find is in a place in Georgia, but the reader is not exposed to the description of the original setting. The story begins in a city that is not named where the family lives and takes the reader to many places where the family travels. There is Plenty of local color there are the old plantations that get passed, and Red Sammys roadside barbeque joint. For Love in L.A the story takes place on the Freeway of Los Angeles, where Jake, protagonist, lazy, self-absorbed and irresponsible, is driving along the freeway (Dagoberto, 2004). The similarity in the setting of the two stories is the fact that story happens as an experience of persons travelling. However the two stories are different because in A Good Man is Hard to Find it involves a family and the relationship to one another. This is not the dame case in Love in L.A where the story involves Jake who is driving along a freeway. CHARACTERS In Love in L.A Jake is presented as an irresponsible, self absorbed and lazy protagonist. This is seen when he hits Marianas car due to his carelessness. Jake is also dishonest when he gives Mariana wrong information regarding his address, phone number, and insurance information (Dagoberto, 2004). The main reason as to why he does this is for him to walk free from the consequences he is likely to face for hitting Marianas car. Mariana is the storys antagonist. She believes the information given to him by Jake and she gives her correct information to Jake, with hopes of becoming good friends. Despite the fact that he hits her car does not make to feel anger against him, but instead accepts his proposal. In A Good Man is Hard to Find the grandmother is seen as a manipulator. She does not want to go to Florida because she has relatives in Tennessee sheà wants to see. She tries to change the mind of Bailey through a subtle style (Flannery, 1992). The Misfit despite being violent and a wanton killer, he has a different opinion to that of the grandmother. As much he knows that he is not morally upright, he also has the view that there are some people who are worse than him. He is consistent in these views, something that lacks in the grandmother. Bailey can be seen as submissive since he submits to his mothers request to visit the old plantation house. He is also ineffective when he fails to quiet his mother but in vain. Red Sammy Butts is honest as is seen by the trust that the grandmother has in him. He is gullible to fault. The two escaped criminals are cowards because they escape from the consequences that they are likely to face, having killed several people. The two children are adventurous as seen by their push to visit the old house their grandmother having said that it contained a secret panel. SYMBOLISM The freeway in Love in L.A is symbolic in that it makes Jake feel all the freedom provided by the open road, something that leads him into day dreaming. The car is also symbolic because it represents how well or bad he uses his freedom, basing on the fact that he is involved in an accident due to carelessness. In A Good Man is Hard to Find the grandmothers hat which she puts to show that she is a lady is symbolic in a way that it represents her moral code, which is misguided (Flannery, 1992). This is illustrated when she dresses in that specific manner, so that in case there is an accident, everyone would easily identify her as a lady. The Toomsboro town is mentioned in a manner that it sounds like a Tomb meaning that the family is headed for doom. Through the description of Misfits car, the writer brings out the picture of the ultimatum of the family. He uses a big black battered hearse-like automobile, instead of brand names like Cadillac, Lincoln and many others. THEMES In A Good Man is Hard to Find the main theme is good versus evil whereà there is a confrontation with a superficial logic of goodness and a person who is embodies aspects of evil. She treats goodness just to appear decent, with the right manners and to paint of a picture of coming from a family of right people, which is a contrast as is seen when she meets the Misfit who acknowledges and accepts his true nature. In this piece, the writer brings out the nature of people to paint a picture which is in contrast of their true natures just to gain a social status among the people they interact with. In Love in L.A the main theme is love for self. This is seen as Jake is consumed with himself and the obsession he has with his car. He wants more for himself and for the main reason of getting more women. The author illustrates the nature of people in the society to always want more in life (Dagoberto, 2004). TONE In Love in L.A, The tone of the author brings out the fact that he might see himself in the main character, Jake. The author could be a good person who at one time struggled in the place of a bad guy. In A good Man is Hard to Find, the overall tone used plays a fundamental role in developing the plot of the story, which is retro respect, based upon the unforgiving terrain especially during the writing of the story. IRONY The title of the story,A Good man is hard to find is ironic because the grandmother refers the Misfit as a good man when she says, I know youre a good man I know you must come from nice people, (Flannery, 1992). which is not the case since the Misfit has escaped from prison and has killed his father. Irony is also evident in Love in L.A because of the continual longing for love which does not occur. Through Jake, love is developed in different fashions which do not suggest anything positive. He is seen as one with a love for image, daydreaming and self conceit, which does not represent the true meaning of the word love. MORAL CODES In Love in L.A, Jake has no moral codes. Despite the fact that he knocks Mirandas car, he does not make any efforts to honor the responsibility but instead tries hard to evade the situation by telling Miranda lies and giving him false information. He does not also mind about the conditions of other people but instead thinks about himself and does everything to get what he wants. In A Good Man is Hard to Find I think the grandmother does not have the qualities to be looked at as a good man since the image that she tries to paint is not what she truly is, she lives in deceit and does everything to get recognized (Flannery, 1992). This is the same scenario in the case of Misfit, who despite the fact that he sees himself as perfect, and that there are others even more dangerous than him, does not mean that he is morally upright. This is because he does not make any efforts in changing what evil he has done in the past. FINAL THOUGHTS I have learnt that there are many ways in which perceive love. Having read the two short stories, I discovered that people are of different opinions. This is illustrated by Jake as being in love with his car and self image, the same thing is seen with the grandmother, where he only loves the image that can be represented by her and not about the affairs of the other people. This is a moral lesson that we should learn and try as hard to always consider the affairs and statuses of other people before putting ours ahead. REFERENCES Flannery, O. (1992) A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories Chicago: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Dagoberto. G, (2004) Love in L.A. Chicago: Cengage Learning
Project Development Approach And Justification
Project Development Approach And Justification To solve actual problems in an industry setting, software engineer or a team of engineers must incorporate a development strategy that encompasses the process, methods and tools layers and generic phases. This strategy is often referred to as process model or a software engineering paradigm or project development approach. A process model for software engineering is chosen based on the nature of the project and application, the methods and tools to be used, and the controls and deliverables that are required. Our software is based on Rapid Application Development (RAD) Model. This software development approach is as described as below. Rapid Application Development Model RAD model is an incremental software development process model that emphasizes an extremely short development cycle. If requirements are well understood and project scope is constrained, the RAD process enables a development team to create a fully functional system within short time periods (60-90 days). RAD approach encompasses the following phases: Business Modeling: The flow of information among business functions is modeled in such a way that answers following questions: What Information drives the business? What Information generated? Who generates it? Where does Information go? Who Process it? Data Modeling: The flow defined as part of business modeling phase is refined into a set of data object that are needed to support the business. Data Modeling answers a set of specific questions that are relevant to any data processing application. It enables software engineer to identify data objects and their relationship using a graphical notation. C:Documents and SettingshiralsMy DocumentsMy Picturesuntitled.bmp Figure 2. RAD Model (Rapid Application Development Model) Process Modeling: The data objects defined in the data modeling phase are transformed to achieve the information flow necessary to implement a business function processing description s are created for adding, modifying, deleting or retrieving a data object. Application generation: RAD process works to reuse existing program components or create reusable components. Testing and turnover: The RAD process emphasizes reuse; many of the program components have already been tested. This reduces overall testing time. However, new components must be tested and all interfaces must be fully exercised. Advantages of RAD Model: Emphasizes an extremely short development cycle Fully functional system within very short time periods Drawbacks of RAD Model: Like all process models RAD approach has drawbacks: For large but scalable projects, RAD requires human resources to create the right number of RAD teams. RAD requires developers and customers who are committed to the rapid-fire activities necessary to get a system complete in a much-abbreviated time frame. If commitment is lacking from either constituency, RAD projects will fail. Not all type of applications are appropriate for RAD. If system cannot be properly modularized, building the components necessary for RAD will be problematic. RAD is not appropriate when technical risks are high. Weeks Months Week l Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 1st Month 1)Orientation program 2)Introduction session 3)Overview of training training Program 4)Introduction to system setup 5)ISO introduction 6)Study of ACTL intranet sites 1) Seminar on ACTL coding standards 2) Database standards and practices. 3) Implementation of demo project named Inventory Management System 1) Testing of demo project named Inventory Management System 2) Lecture on quality assurance 3) Lecture on SDLC 4) Introduction to CRS 1) Study Project definition and requirement analysis of proposed system 2) Data flow analysis of proposed system 3) Decided the software process model for the proposed System. 4) Prepare required diagrams. 2nd Month 1)Learn how JQuery works 2)Study about CRS Restaurant modules 3)Database design 1) Study about amenities module 2) Implement amenities module 3)Testing of created module 1) Study about policy module 2) Implement policy module 3)Testing of created module 1) Study about promotion module 2) Implement promotion module 3)Testing of created module 3rd Month 1) Study about Servings module 2) Implement Servings module 3)Testing of created module 1) Study about Cuisine, Hall, Price List module 2) Implement module 3)Testing of created module 1) Study about booking , Cancelation , Stop Sales module 2) Implement of it 3)Testing of created module 1) Study of Event, Loyalty, User module 2) Implement Events, Loyalty module 3)Testing of created module 4rd Month 1) compliance, Roles , Themes module 2) Implement module 1)Testing created module Report Development 2)Integration of all modules 1) Integration testing 2) Add facility of multi lingual facility 1) Test system on different browsers. 2) Solve Issues. Figure 2.2 Project Planning Milestones: Every task or group of tasks should be associated with project milestone. A milestone is accomplished when one or more work products has been reviewed for quality and has been approved. Project Milestones include completion of some defines tasks in defined time limits. The milestones associated with this project are shown below: Study of ACTL Framework JQuery First milestone includes study of ACTL framework, SDLC, study of JQuery documents. JQuery documents includes JQGrid, JQuery Wizard, JQuery Validation, Menu, JQuery Date picker, etc., Database coding standards, query optimization, etc Project planning Scheduling Second milestone includes analysis of project and designing. Then we have started coding to develop first prototype which includes Servings Halls. Cuisine Items setup also includes setup of Items and based on selection of Cuisine, Finally all these modules are debugged and tested. Development of various modules Third milestone includes developing price list module, stop sell module, search booking module. Item Price List module includes setup of rates for different items hall wise. Booking search includes guest searching. Also these modules are debugged and tested. Development continued Fourth milestone includes developing reports module, business setup module, compliance module, etc. These all modules are again tested and reviewed. Testing and Documentation Fifth milestone includes the integration testing and documentation. Deliverables: Every task that is scheduled should have a defined outcome. For software projects, the outcome is normally a work product (e.g., the design of a module) or a part of a work product. Work products are often combined in deliverables. They are delivered at end of some major phase such as specification, design etc. Deliverables for this project are shown below: Project Specification It includes the requirement analysis and specification of each module to be developed. It includes description of each module containing what that module does, how it interacts with another module, what is input to that module and the outputs from that module. Project Design It includes structural design for each module. Design is used for better understanding of each modules functionality and interface. Designing consists of many diagrams which help us to view a system as a whole. Developed Product It is the working product or prototype delivered to customer. Documentation It includes some facilities to help the customer while using this project. Roles: After careful review of requirements, this project requires following different modes for interaction: programming mode, test mode, monitoring mode, and troubleshooting mode. Therefore, roles can be defined as programmer, tester, monitor, and troubleshooter. Here we are three peoples in our team. We all play these four roles as per requirements of project and as per our scheduling. Project Managers role is to review the project and suggest the improvements to be done. Responsibilities: Every task that is scheduled is assigned to a specific team member. Each members responsibility is to develop the assigned module, test it and troubleshooting for that module. Resources: The first step in building the project schedule is to identify the resources required to perform each of the tasks required to complete the project. A resource is any person, item, tool, or service that is needed by the project that is either scarce or has limited availability. The project could include computer resources (like shared computer room, mainframe, or server time), locations (training rooms, temporary office space), services (like time from contractors, trainers, or a support team), and special equipment that will be temporarily acquired for the project. One or more resources must be allocated to each task. To do this, the project manager must first assign the task to people who will perform it. For each task, the project manager must identify one or more people on the resource list capable of doing that task and assign it to them. Once a task is assigned, the team member who is performing it is not available for other tasks until the assigned task is completed. While some tasks can be assigned to any team member, most can be performed only by certain people. If those people are not available, the task must wait. In our team each and every member is assigned specific modules. Resources required by these modules are also allocated to him/her only. Dependencies: Once resources are allocated, the next step is to identify dependencies between tasks. A task has a dependency if it involves an activity, resource, or work product that is subsequently required by another task. Dependencies come in many forms: a test plan cant be executed until a build of the software is delivered; code might depend on classes or modules built in earlier stages; a user interface cant be built until the design is reviewed. It is the project managers responsibility to work with everyone on the engineering team to identify these dependencies. The project manager should start by taking the each module and adding dependency information to it: each task in the selected module is given a number, and the number of any task that it is dependent on should be listed next to it as a predecessor. Figure 2.3 shows the four ways in which one task can be dependent on another. Figure 2.3: Dependency among Modules We have also identified dependencies among the modules and sub modules in our project. Then we have divided our work as per dependencies. Schedule Representation Software project scheduling is an activity that distributes estimated efforts across the planned duration by allocating the effort to specific software engineering tasks. Time Line Chart (Weekly) 1st February To 29th February Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Work Task Introduction to CRS Study Project Definition Analysis Analysis of Amenities Module Analysis of Policy Module Milestone Implementation of Amenities Policy Module Figure 2.4: Project Schedule Representation Work Task Week 4 Week 3 Week 2 Week 11st March To 29th March Testing of developed modules Servings, Cuisine, Halls Implementation of price list, Bookings, stop sell, Testing of developed modules Loyalty, Events Analysis of multilingual Milestone Implementation of Search booking Stop sell Module Work Task Week 4 Week 3 Week 2 Week 11st April To 26th April Testing of developed modules Analysis of Compliance Module Implementation Testing of Compliance Module Integration Testing Solve Issues Creating Themes Multi lingual Milestone Implementation of CRS RISK MANAGEMENT It is the process of measuring or assessing risk and then developing strategies to manage the risk. In general, the strategies employed include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk. Traditional risk management focuses on risks stemming from physical or legal causes (e.g. natural disasters or fires, accidents, death, and lawsuits). Financial risk management, on the other hand, focuses on risks that can be managed using traded financial instruments. Project Risks are risks, which affect the project schedule or resources. Product Risks are risks, which affect quality or performance of the software being developed. Business Risks are risks which affect the organization developing or procuring the software. In ideal risk management, a prioritization process is followed whereby the risks with the greatest loss and the greatest probability of occurring are handled first, and risks with lower probability of occurrence and lower loss are handled later. In practice this process can be very difficult, and balancing between risks with a high probability of occurrence but lower loss vs. a risk with high loss but lower probability of occurrence can often be mishandled. Risk Identification Risk identification is a systematic attempt to specify threats to the project plan (estimates, schedule, resource loading, etc.) By identifying known and predictable risks, the project manager takes a first step towards avoiding them when possible and controlling them when necessary. There are two distinct types of risks Generic risks and Product-specific risks. Generic risks are a potential threat to the project and Product-specific risks are those that can be identified by only those with clear understanding of the technology, the people and the environment that is specific to that project. Possible risks involved in developing Central Reservation System are technical risks and project risks. First risk Central Reservation System is totally dependent on ACTL Framework. Second risk is that our system needs to be integrated to booking engine via Dxchange middleware that uses XML format data as communication standard . Third risk is associated with authorization; if in the software the anonymous or wrong user is authorized or assign role by mistake then he may do changes that cause the system in dangerous mode. We are planning to give multilingual co-branding system. The risk is associated with time period, the degree of uncertainty that project schedule will be meet, maintained and that the product will be on time. Project Risk includes personnel (staffing and organization) risk and schedule risk. Currently our team size is 3. We can follow our schedule as per planning. If team size gets reduced then schedule and planning must be changed. Risk Analysis Risk analysis = Risk Assessment + Risk Management + Risk Communication. Risk Assessment:- It involves identifying sources of potential harm, assessing the likelihood that harm will occur and the consequences if harm does occur. Risk Management:- It evaluates which risks identified in the risk assessment process require management and selects and implements the plans or actions that are required to ensure that those risks are controlled. Risk Communication:- It involves an interactive dialogue between stakeholders and risk assessors and risk managers which actively informs the other processes. There are two points to keep in mind when analyzing risk: Where is the risk? How significant is the risk? By analyzing the identified risks we have the following conclusion. The probability that algorithm risk becomes reality is very high. We have to study and implement JQuery components. So there is possibility that some of the components cannot fit into current structure. Without these components our current system can run efficiently but either we have to change our desired component. Risk Planning Once risks have been identified and assessed, all techniques to manage the risk fall into one or more of these four major categories: Risk Avoidance It includes not performing an activity that could carry risk. An example would be not buying a property or business in order to not take on the liability that comes with it. Avoidance may seem the answer to all risks, but avoiding risks also means losing out on the potential gain that accepting the risk may have allowed. To avoid the risk also avoids the possibility of earning profits. Risk Reduction It involves methods that reduce the severity of the loss. Modern software development methodologies reduce risk by developing and delivering software incrementally. Early methodologies suffered from the fact that they only delivered software in the final phase of development; any problems encountered in earlier phases meant costly rework and often jeopardized the whole project. By developing in iterations, software projects can limit effort wasted to a single iteration. A current trend in software development, spearheaded by the Extreme Programming community, is to reduce the size of iterations to the smallest size possible, sometimes as little as one week is allocated to an iteration. Risk Retention It involves accepting the loss when it occurs. Risk retention is a viable strategy for small risks where the cost of insuring against the risk would be greater over time than the total losses sustained. All risks that are not avoided or transferred are retained by default. This includes risks that are so large or catastrophic that they either cannot be insured against or the premiums would be infeasible. This may also be acceptable if the chance of a very large loss is small or if the cost to insure for greater coverage amounts is so great it would hinder the goals of the organization too much. Risk transfer It means causing another party to accept the risk, typically by contract or by hedging. Insurance is one type of risk transfer that uses contracts. Other times it may involve contract language that transfers a risk to another party without the payment of an insurance premium. Liability among construction or other contractors is very often transferred this way. On the other hand, taking offsetting positions in derivatives is typically how firms use hedging to financially manage risk. Some ways of managing risk fall into multiple categories. Risk retention pools are technically retaining the risk for the group, but spreading it over the whole group involves transfer among individual members of the group. This is different from traditional insurance, in that no premium is exchanged between members of the group up front, but instead losses are assessed to all members of the group. The planning by which the identified risks for this project are handled is described as following: We have planned to build sample application in ACTL Framework so all team members can be familiar with framework. We planned to use OTA standard to communicate with booking engine. We have also planned to use compliance driven system so even if a user is assigned a role accidently then also users changes need to be approved by super administrator. ESTIMATION Effective software project estimation is one of the most challenging and important activities in software development. Estimation is one of the cornerstones of effective project planning: effective project planning and control is not possible without a sound and reliable estimate. Under-estimating a project leads to under-staffing it (which often results in staff burnout), under-scoping the quality assurance effort (running the risk of low quality deliverables), and setting too short a schedule (resulting in loss of credibility as deadlines are missed). This negatively impacts staff productivity, product quality, customer relationships and overall credibility. Conversely, overestimating a project can be just as detrimental. Since most projects expand to fit their estimated schedule, allocating appropriate resources to future projects can quickly become an issue, creating scheduling bottle necks and planning difficulties. Good software estimation and planning goes beyond tools, techniques and processes. Its also about the right attitude, understanding and mutual expectations not just from the software developers but also from senior management. When we understand together what can be done, what has been done, and what is being put before us, we can successfully plan projects to make them more predictable. A sound estimate starts with dividing project in some phases. Each phase is that, if completed, will produce the final product. There are many ways to decompose a project into tasks. The project can be broken down by feature, by project phase (requirements tasks, design tasks, programming tasks, etc.), or by some combination of the two. Now the team must create an estimate of the effort required to perform each task. The most accurate estimates are those that rely on prior experience. Team members should review previous project results and find how long similar tasks in previous projects took to complete. Sources of delays in the past should be taken into account when making current estimates. No estimate is guaranteed to be accurate. People get sick or leave the organization; teams run into unforeseen technical problems; the needs of the organization change. The unexpected will almost certainly happen. Therefore, the goal of estimation is not to predict the future. Instead, it is to gauge an honest, well-informed opinion of the effort required to do a task from those people in the organization who have the most applicable training and knowledge. Effort Estimation Software costs and effort estimation will never be an exact science. Too many variables human, technical, environmental, political can affect the ultimate cost of software and effort applied to develop it. However, software project estimation can be transformed from a black art to a series of systematic steps that provide estimates with acceptable risks. To achieve reliable cost and effort estimates, a number of options arise: Delay estimation until late in the project Base estimates on similar projects that have already been completed. Use relatively simple decomposition techniques to generate project cost and effort estimates. Use on or more empirical models for software cost and effort estimation. We are adapting following criteria to estimate the effort. Step 1: We are computing the count total which will be used to define the complexity of a project. You will do that by completing the Figure 2.5. Top of Form Measurement Parameter Count Simple Average Complex Total Number of user inputs X 3 4 6 = Number of user outputs X 4 5 7 = Number of user inquiries X 3 4 6 = Number of files X 7 10 15 = Number of external interfaces X 5 7 10 = Count Total Figure 2.5: Table to compute Count Total Step 2: We are finding the complexity adjustment values based on responses to the questions shown in Figure 2.6. Question 0 1 2 3 4 5 1. Does the system require reliable backup and recovery? 2. Are data communications required? 3. Are there distributed processing functions? 4. Is performance critical? 5. Will the system run in an existing, heavily utilized operational environment? 6. Does the system require on-line data entry? 7. Does the on-line data entry require the input transaction? 8. Are the master file updated on-line? 9. Are the inputs, outputs, files, or inquiries complex? 10. Is the internal processing complex? 11. In the code designed to be reusable? 12. Are conversion and installation included in the design? 13. Is the system designed for multiple installations in different organizations? 14. Is the application designed to facilitate change and ease of use by the user? Total fi Complexity Weighting Factors (0 = No influence, 1 = Incidental, 2 = Moderate, 3 = Average, 4 = Significant, 5 = Essential): Figure 2.6: Table to compute Complexity Adjustment Values The Function Points is: (FP=Count Total + {0.65+0.01*(Efi)}) Step 3: We are finding LOC (Lines of Code), and we do this by choosing a programming language that we will use when developing a project. Figure 2.7 shows LOC/FP for different programming languages. Programming Language LOC/FP (average) Select Assembly Language 320 C 128 COBOL 105 Fortran 105 Pascal 90 Ada 70 Object-Oriented Languages 30 Fourth Generation Languages (4GLs) 20 Code Generators 15 Spreadsheets 6 Graphical Languages (icons) 4 Figure 2.7: LOC/FP Values for Different Programming Languages So LOC/FP for our project is Step 4: Final Step is to select complexity of the software project. Figure 2.8 is used to calculate effort and duration of the project. Software Project ab bb cb db Select Organic 2.4 1.05 2.5 0.38 Semi-detached 3.0 1.12 2.5 0.35 Embedded 3.6 1.20 2.5 0.32 Figure 2.8: Table to compute Effort and Duration From Figure 2.8 calculated effort and duration are: Effort (E) = ab(KLOC)bb = Duration (D) = cb(E)db = Cost Analysis: A cost-benefit analysis is necessary to determine economic feasibility. The primary objective of the cost-benefit analysis is to find out whether it is economically worthwhile to invest in the project. If the return on the investments is good, then the project is considered economically worthwhile. Cost-benefit analysis is performed by first listing all the costs associated with the project. Costs consist of direct costs and indirect costs. Benefits can be broadly classified as tangible benefit and intangible benefits. Tangible benefits are directly measurable and intangible are not. The sum of all costs is compared with the sum of all the savings (tangible and intangible). It is not always easy to assign money value to intangible benefits. It is arrived at by discussion amongst users of the system. Figure 2.9 shows general cost associated with project. Procurement Cost Installation cost for installing supporting software like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visual Studio etc. The company already has the license for this software. Project Related Cost Cost of Data Collection for System Analysis. Cost of preparing Documentation. Cost of Development Management. Cost of Organization Resources. Ongoing Cost System Maintenance cost. Depreciation cost. Figure 2.9: Cost Representation Estimation of Cost is not provided to us as it is against the policy of Avani Cimcon Technologies Ltd. and due to some security reason.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Essay on Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - Evils of Society Exposed
The Evils of Society Exposed in The Lotteryà à In Shirley Jacksonââ¬â¢s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives. In todayââ¬â¢s society we often have an all too-casual attitude toward misfortune; Jackson shows us this aspect of human nature through the townââ¬â¢s casual attitude toward the lottery. The men talk of "rain, tractors and taxes" and the women gossipââ¬âall the time knowing they are about to kill someone or be perhaps even be killed themselves (Jackson 863). The thing that is most important to them is to hurry up and finish so they can eat lunch. Perhaps the feeling of being in a hurry makes what theyââ¬â¢re about to do easier; they donââ¬â¢t have time to let it bother them. How often in todayââ¬â¢s society do we hear the phrase, "just hurry up and get it over with"? The townspeople seem to have mixed emotions about the lottery; they fear it yet on a very barbaric level they enjoy it. By standing "away from the pile of stones," and keeping their distance from the black box, the villagers show their fear of the lottery (Jackson 863). However, once they find out who is going to be stoned, Tessie Hutchinson, they seem to actually enjoy the stoning. One villager picks up a stone so big she can barely carry it; someone even gives Tessieââ¬â¢s youngest son a few pebbles to throw at his mother. Their overall attitude about the stoning is summed up by the phrase "and then they were... ...f their family (Jackson 867). In everyday life, we posses the same selfish attitude portrayed in the story. What is one of a childââ¬â¢s favorite words? Itââ¬â¢s "mine!" We constantly say well "itââ¬â¢s better you than me" and "itââ¬â¢s every man for himself." Itââ¬â¢s pretty scary _when you actually think about it, because you realize we really are that selfish. "The Lottery" is "symbolic of any number of social ills that mankind blindly perpetrates" (Friedman 108). The story is very shocking, but the reality of mankind is even more shocking. Isnââ¬â¢t it funny that Jackson gives us a description of our nature, and not only do we not recognize it for what it is , but it shocks us. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 989. Friedman , Lenemgia. Shirley Jackson. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1975. à Ã
On Ibsens A Dolls House :: A Dolls House
On Ibsen's A Doll's House [This is the text of a lecture delivered, in part, in Liberal Studies 310 at Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada. References to Ibsen's text are to the translation by James McFarlane and Jens Arup (Oxford: OUP, 1981). This text is in the public domain, released July 2000] For comments or questions, please contact Ian Johnston Those of you who have just read A Doll's House for the first time will, I suspect, have little trouble forming an initial sense of what it is about, and, if past experience is any guide, many of you will quickly reach a consensus that the major thrust of this play has something to do with gender relations in modern society and offers us, in the actions of the heroine, a vision of the need for a new-found freedom for women (or a woman) amid a suffocating society governed wholly by unsympathetic and insensitive men. I say this because there is no doubt that A Doll's House has long been seen as a landmark in our century's most important social struggle, the fight against the dehumanizing oppression of women, particularly in the middle-class family. Nora's final exit away from all her traditional social obligations is the most famous dramatic statement in fictional depictions of this struggle, and it helped to turn Ibsen (with or without his consent) into an applauded or vilified champion of women's rights and this play into a vital statement which feminists have repeatedly invoked to further their cause. So in reading responses to and interpretations of this play, one frequently comes across statements like the following: Patriarchy's socialization of women into servicing creatures is the major accusation in Nora's painful account to Torvald of how first her father, and then he, used her for their amusement. . . how she had no right to think for herself, only the duty to accept their opinions. Excluded from meaning anything, Nora has never been subject, only object. (Templeton 142). Furthermore, if we go to see a production of this play (at least among English-speaking theatre companies), the chances are we will see something based more or less on this interpretative line: heroic Nora fighting for her freedom against oppressive males and winning out in the end by her courageous final departure. The sympathies will almost certainly be distributed so that our hearts are with Nora, however much we might carry some reservations about her leaving her children.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
‘The Passenger’ in Terms of David Bordwell’s
Essay Question: Discuss The Passenger in terms of David Bordwellââ¬â¢s analysis of the elements that characterise art cinema. Cherish Perez de Tagle (12339949) [emailà protected] com European Cinema Since 1945 Module Code: 2FLM7H9 Ian Green January 10, 2011 Bordwell (1979) criticizes the idea that art cinema exists as an offshoot of classic narrative cinema. He argues that it is a way of storytelling in its own right. According to him, art cinema has a set of formal conventions relating to modes of production/consumption as well as having a discrete film practice and particular viewing conventions.Art cinema is likewise situated within the historical existence of film practice. In this essay I will discuss how Antonioniââ¬â¢s The Passenger (1975) can be classed as an art film according to the elements that characterise art cinema as put forth by Bordwell. Historically speaking, the Passenger was made in 1975, post World War II, one of the conditions Bordwell states as being a contributor to the emergence of art cinema. Changes to the courtââ¬â¢s statutes regarding film, the wane of the dominance of Hollywood cinema, together with an increase in international commerce, made the production of films for an international audience desirable.Correspondingly, branching out into foreign markets opened up a niche for co-productions. The Passenger was likewise an Italian-French-Spanish co-production with American star Jack Nicholson, shot on location in Spain, Germany, North Africa, and the UK. Bordwell argues that whilst themes may differ across the broad range of films classified as art cinema, the functions of these themes within the individual films are in fact consistent and make use of certain narrative and stylistic principles. Of these he cites three principal traits that can be identified with art cinema ââ¬â realism, authorship, and ambiguity.It can be argued that in terms of these traits The Passenger is a good example of art cinema. Realism Tak en in opposition to the classical narrative structure of dominant Hollywood cinema, a number of differing characteristics can be drawn in contrast to art cinema. In classical narratives, a narrative structure based on cause and effect logic motivates the cinematic representation. This is generally present alongside narrative parallelism or psychologically defined, goal-oriented characters. To this end narrative time and space are constructed to serve the telling of the story in a linear fashion.In terms of cinematic style, the use of specific types of cutting such as continuity, cross-cutting, and montage serve these ends, and characteristics of the mise-en-scene, cinematography, and sound further the plausibility and unity of the story-world. These techniques are employed for the primary goal of advancing the story. Other devices are utilized to create this unity of form such as the use of genre in order to not only create and likewise fulfil audience expectations but also to creat e discrete markets for production and distribution.Whereas classical narrative cinema is founded on the above, Bordwell argues that the structure of art cinema is far looser, and not driven by the cause-effect linkage of events insomuch as the motivations of art cinema differ form those of classical narrative. Of the three predominant characteristics of art cinema identified, Bordwell states that the use of realism and authorship create unity and serve as the motivations in the art film rather than cause and effect or the pursuit of a goal.Realism, meaning the use of real locations and real problems, also refers to what is considered ââ¬Å"realisticâ⬠. By this, what is meant is psychologically complex characters and psychological causation as opposed to external situations and events that serve as the motivations for action or moving the story forward. Whereas in the classical narrative film the characters are defined by clearly defined goals/desires/objectives and clearly def ined traits, art cinema characters can be inconsistent, and prone to question themselves about their goals.Their choices are vague or non-existent. Realism in The Passenger After an initial decision to assume the identity of an acquaintance he finds dead in an adjacent room, protagonist David Locke throughout the rest of the film finds himself caught within situations as opposed to activating those situations. Superficially resembling a film from the thriller genre, Locke moves from city to city, according to a set of appointments defined by the diary of the deceased Robertson.Upon changing identities by swapping passport pictures, Locke is taken from one situation to the next by events not of his own design but by those determined by the identity he has assumed. He finds plane tickets directing him to his next destination, and he goes to an airport security locker not knowing what he will find inside. Following the appointments, the man who was David Robertson unfolds, his work in Africa and elsewhere, his drives and purpose as a gunrunner to the African rebels.There ensue further mysteries as Locke follows the trail of the diary including the unresolved mystery of the names within it. Who is Daisy? Inasmuch as these motivations are revealed to Locke they do not enable him to internally take them on for himself. Whilst externally assuming the person of Robertson the gunrunner, he is internally and psychologically trapped to forever be himself, David Locke. He questions himself throughout the film in regards to whether he will continue to live out Robertsonââ¬â¢s mission as when he falters about whether or not to go to the appointment in Tangier.Although he follows Robertsonââ¬â¢s real and situation-driven commitments, his own reasons for taking on the new identity are psychologically driven. This psychological causation is what defines Nicholsonââ¬â¢s character and the realism of his inner psychological torment. The desire to be someone other than hi mself, to run away from himself and his reality, are what drive him. Even so, these are not stated or admitted to himself. The film has little dialogue, and likewise even less of what could be considered as exposition. It is through the treatment of the film that Lockeââ¬â¢s psychological drives are indicated.Long shots, choice of framings in the extreme wide, focus on what may be regarded as empty space, and a drifting camera, serve to show not what would be thought of as important or regarded as the focal point in classical narrative. Rather the protagonist is placed in the context of the landscape, places, and situations around him. The camera seems at many times distant, disengaged from the action, wandering across a car-rental sign, or onto a small detail such as ants walking up a wall, or sometimes panning to nothing.Thusly it is the opposite of causality in the classical narrative sense. In the way the camera moves are not motivated by an action, they emphasise isolation, leaving and being left. Rather than being told what to think via exposition, the audience is given opportunity to think about how the outer despondence of the central character are linked to his inner psychological workings, as those of a man in regards to his feeling of alienation; his failures in life are placed in context by the images of the barren, desolate, suburban landscape juxtaposed against him.Likewise the realistic construction of Lockeââ¬â¢s world is also achieved through the filmââ¬â¢s use of sound. Throughout the entire film there are only four pieces of music. The choice to use a minimal use of music, instead emphasising the background, diagetic sounds draw attention to the feeling of being in Lockeââ¬â¢s world, ââ¬Å"You practically hear Nicholsonââ¬â¢s sweat, hear his breath, feel his pulseâ⬠. [1] Moreover the quality of self-consciousness and the de-dramatisation of the action result in acting and characterization that are spare, subtle, restrain ed, forcing us to pay attention to every small movement or look.The character is naturalistically portrayed through the understated use of body language and gestures. Although little action is occurring, the reading is directed toward tiny mimics, the look in Nicholsonââ¬â¢s eyes, a flapping of his arms. Nicholson as a character and as an actor can also be said to be on his own in the film. He is psychologically alone, and physically there is no competition with other cast members. Even the female protagonist goes as ââ¬Å"The Girlâ⬠in the credits.And while the audience is on the one hand observing him from afar by way of the wide shots that donââ¬â¢t ââ¬Å"get in thereâ⬠, at the same time it is intertwined in Lockeââ¬â¢s fate through a foreknowledge that he is doomed. Authorship According to Bordwell, authorial expressivity is the second salient characteristic of art cinema. Through the use of various conventions of style including technical touches, motifs, r eferencing to other films, and conscious choices in storytelling, the author is foregrounded as the narrative intelligence, as the shaping hand of the film. This is achieved by ay of certain authorial codes, including the conscious production of enigmas, not in terms of story, but of plot. For instance, rather than questioning who the murderer is, the audience is made to question who is telling the story, or why it is being told from a certain point of view as opposed to another. Other evidence of authorship include reference to other films as a means of situating the film within a certain ouvre, as well as playing with the idea of genre in order to set itself against genre as it is regarded and understood in classical narrative film.For while The Passenger from the outset could be regarded as a thriller with the motifs of changing identity, the mystery surrounding the Robertson character, and the idea of being chased, the way in which these elements are treated do not hold true to the genreââ¬â¢s stereotypes in terms of moving the story forward or playing to audience expectations. Although these elements are utilized they do not pan out according to the expectations and outcomes they hold in the classical narrative genre film.In the car chase sequence, the pursuit of Locke by the ââ¬Å"bad guysâ⬠, would in a classical narrative genre film would be utilised for the building of tension and would end with a predictably expected getaway. In The Passenger, the car chase begins then ends abruptly and without the excitement of the good guys smartly and swiftly getting away. Likewise, the mystery of unravelling the Robertson character, of finding out who he actually was, is secondary to understanding the psychology of Locke that prompts his identity change.And despite the fact that the penultimate scene fits in with the idea of a ââ¬Å"big endingâ⬠characteristic of a thriller, it is done in an art house way. Authorship in The Passenger In The Passenge r the camera functions as a character/protagonist in its own right. The audience sees what the camera chooses it see. And in this way, the audience sees what the author chooses it to see, at what time, and from what vantage point. These choices highlight the authorââ¬â¢s presence in the shaping of the narrative.Antonioni is notably known for his use of technical style and motifs in the film, for which alone the film has become famous. While some touches are more subtle and could go by almost unnoticed or are even noted only within the subconscious, others have become a spectacle discussed throughout film circles since the filmââ¬â¢s release. Smaller motifs include the use of duplications such as when Locke sees The Girl in both London and Barcelona sitting in the same position. Others are the use of the image of a ceiling fan in different locations.Homage or reference is also made to other films and directorial styles such as in the scene in the cafe where the focus does not s tay on the characters but moves across to the cars outside reminiscent of scenes from Godard films like in the conversation between Paul and Camille in their apartment in Le Mepris. Self-reflexivity is also widely used as when Locke reads his own obituary or watches his obituary film on TV. Other instances include images of a film within a film, in news reports on TV, and interviews framed within a TV in the news room.A highly notable way in which the authorââ¬â¢s hand is evidenced in the film is through the disjunctures in time and space and how these are created. Antonioni utilizes elaborate set-ups both aurally and visually in order to achieve jumps in time without cutting in the camera. For example aural devices such as the sound of a knock are used when Locke is listening to a tape recording of a conversation he had with Robertson. The knock on the tape recording transitions the scene into the past when Robertson knocks and enters the room.The use of the aural transition is further used when during the tape recording conversation the conversation with Robertson on the balcony flows seamlessly from present to past and back again. If this were not impressive enough, the flashback aural syncing is combined with a visual technical flourish when the camera pans from Locke in present time swapping photos between passports, to the window which frames Locke in the past with Robertson, their conversation from the tape recording flowing into the flashback.The action within the onscreen image is able to remain fluid throughout these changes in time. In another instance Locke is about to meet the rebel supporters and the church he enters shifts from a site of a funeral to a wedding, separated by a shot of his feet walking over petals on the floor. The sophistication in which Antonioni blends the aural, visual, time and space in this scene are then repeated if not trumped by the much talked about penultimate scene of the film, regarded by some as the most famous sc ene in film history.Although discussed countless times, this essay would not seem to do justice to the analysis of The Passenger without detailing it yet again in brief. In this seven-minute shot the camera captures Locke lying on his bed as The Girl leaves the room. Without any cutting in the shot, the camera tracks forwards, out the bars of the window, and into the courtyard and back round to frame the room from outside the bars wherein the next time Lockeââ¬â¢s body is seen through the window from afar he is dead. In this scene, once again the hand of the author is seen on multiple levels.On the most obvious level is the visual technique, on another is the use of sound and image to create ambiguities. These ambiguities will be discussed further in the next section. Ambiguity For Bordwell ambiguity in the art film is the way by which the contradiction between the disjuncture created by the interplay of realism and authorship can be resolved. Through the conscious and deliberate use of ambiguity, the gaps created by the contradictory use of realism and very self-conscious authorial commentary are resituated so that the violation of the norm is made to be questioned as part of the meaning of the film.The conscious use of ambiguity forces the audience, when presented with a gap, to ask itself the question whether that gap was the result of a realistic motivation, psychologically driven, or an authorially significant statement or comment about the place of that event or situation in philosophical terms; whether that gap is something to be considered in the context of the world in which the characters, and moreover, people in life are faced with.Antonioni, talking about The Passenger says that ââ¬Å"I [also] consider it a political film as it is topical and fits with the dramatic rapport of the individual in todayââ¬â¢s societyâ⬠¦We are all dissatisfiedâ⬠¦The international situation, politically and otherwise, is so unstable that the lack of stabil ity is reflected within each individual. â⬠(Dignam, 1975).Consequently, in The Passenger one is made to question the impact of the Third World struggle, the banality and norms of modern Western life, the alienation of the individual in society, and death amongst other things. Ambiguity in The Passenger Ambiguity is used throughout the film and even into the filmââ¬â¢s end where the lack of clear-cut resolution creates an open-ended narrative, in which ââ¬Å"the play of thematic interpretationâ⬠continues after the filmââ¬â¢s end thereby baring the complexities of life. The art film reasserts that ambiguity is the dominant principle of intelligibility, that we are to watch less for the tale than the tellingâ⬠(Bordwell, 1979:61) Ambiguity, lack of resolution, things leading to nowhere, are made explicit from the start when a man riding a camel approaches Locke in the desert and leaves, ignoring Lockeââ¬â¢s attempt at greeting; furthermore the camera chooses to follow the man riding the camel as opposed to staying on Locke, illustrating immediately upon the filmââ¬â¢s commencement the filmââ¬â¢s major themes of alienation, being an outsider in the world, what it is to be invisible/meaningless (Walsh).Likewise the identity of Nicholsonââ¬â¢s character within the film is ambiguous. As a British reporter raised in America played by the quintessentially American Nicholson, inherent contradictions and questions foreground the film from the onset. His occupation as a reporter/foreign correspondent and what that is generally thought to evoke includes stereotypes of a thoughtful, politically attuned, ideals-driven individual.If these stereotypes may have been held by the viewer at the outset, they are immediately challenged and stripped away in the first scenes where Lockeââ¬â¢s helplessness, despondence, ideological weakness, and lack of inner purpose are revealed. When his jeep breaks down he futilely beats against the wheels with a shovel and in a position of weakness, failure, and submission he kneels beside the jeep stuck in the sand and throws up his arms saying ââ¬Å"I donââ¬â¢t careâ⬠.This is matched by further series of events that show his repeated failure: he fails to get information from the child he questions about the location of the rebel hideouts, only later to the trek up the rock face with a guide who is supposed to be taking him to the hideout but subsequently abandons him. Later in an interview with a rebel leader, the leader remarks without malice that the questions posed by the interviewer can be much more telling about the person asking the questions than the responses from the person they are asked of.These instances early on reveal and challenge any such stereotypes and give the viewer an insight into Lockeââ¬â¢s psychology from the outset. Meanwhile, on more obvious levels ambiguity is created in the resemblance between Locke and Robertson as in the fact that both of their first names are David. Throughout the film ambiguity, interchangeability and recurrence are used and explored (Gilliatt, 1975:6). The Passenger is rife with metaphors and double entendres.In the scene with the cable car, Locke flaps his arms in a gesture that implies freedom, yet framed in the tiny car, dangling above the sea, Locke does not take on the look of the carefree. Instead the scene carries a weight of tension as he hovers, arms flapping as though not in control; quite the opposite to a show of joy or exhilaration. Later, when The Girl asks Locke what he is escaping from, he tells her to turn around while they are driving in the open-top car through the tree-lined boulevard. Memorable too is the story of the blind man Locke tells The Girl, one of the only keys the protagonist openly and verbally shares of himself.Where metaphors colour the film, the contradictions which abound likewise serve to form a unified whole. The story, or perhaps better put, what is to be taken aw ay by the audience from the lack of story, is made more striking and powerful through the interplay of such contradictory devices. For one thing Locke is a foreign correspondent yet he has an embarrassingly poor grasp of foreign languages, French and Spanish. He is a ridicule, a farce in his attempts to communicate or garner information. In the scene where Locke returns home, he approaches his own house but he approaches suspiciously as a burglar would.The familiar is far-removed; the foreign is comforting; the distant places he travels to with The Girl are the only time it seems he can truly relax. Although she is a stranger she offers more support and comfort than the people in his family such as his wife and the adopted child that the film only so fleetingly refers to. His wife, his home, the familiar and closeââ¬âthese are the very things which undermine him and which he is trying to run away from; the foreign is where he is more at home and where he can simply stop and look at the view. Alternately, we are not made to empathize with the character.The use of predominantly subjective shots results in creating little sympathy for Locke, nor do the depiction of his character as unprincipled, weak, and lacking in self-determination. Yet on the other hand we are made to see the universality of his situation, as an everyman character, he is made to represent the dissatisfaction inherent within modern society. Through him and his psychological plight the audience is made to question social norms through the vehicle of a subjective character study. Inevitably the viewer cannot but ask himself questions.Antonioni uses all these aspects of camera, sound, non-linear structure, and ambiguity, so that the viewer cannot escape the philosophic questions of manââ¬â¢s place in the world, the search for meaning or non-search for it, as when witnessing the discontent, dissatisfaction, and desperation of the Locke character who on the surface fails to ask himself the s tringent questions of life. Yet over the course of the film, the internal psychological workings of what he is not saying become inescapable even as we watch a man who seems to suppress asking himself those questions.In the silences, as we are made to watch the details that he himself sees, we are brought to think about what is going on in the inner-workings of his mind, revealed only by his eyes, looks, gestures, and subtle movements. There are numerous narrative ambiguities or enigmas, random events that lead to nothing, as when Locke is waiting for someone on a bench when an old man approaches, stops to chat and makes a diversion from the story at hand to tell his life story. The image then changes as the manââ¬â¢s story is told against a newsreel of executions on a beach.These then take the audience back to the newsroom where it is left to make the connection for itself of the relation between these events to one another. And what about The Girl? Does he really see her twice, sitting in the same position? If so what does this represent? Even as the penultimate scene serves a visual and technical spectacle tying up all the various threads of the story, ambiguity remains and is further generated in this scene. Is the sound of the car engine kicking actually the sound of a gunshot? Is The Girl implicated in Lockeââ¬â¢s murder? Was she actually Robertsonââ¬â¢s wife? 2] Locke is in the backseat, he is the passengerââ¬âthe passenger in the former life he exchanged (his wife was cheating on him, he was not finding success in his job); a passenger in terms of life in a larger sense ââ¬â without purpose or motivations of his own and simply taking on those of the new identity heââ¬â¢s adopted; passenger even as heââ¬â¢s taken on a new identity, his last chance so to speak, as he contemplates over whether to go to the next appointment in the diary in Tangier to fulfil a commitment that is not his own for a purpose that he cannot embody despite taking on the persona.His very name ââ¬Å"Lockeâ⬠speaks to the plight of the characterââ¬â¢s situation itselfââ¬âhe is locked in, running away, trapped. Multi-layered, open-ended, and open to multiple interpretations, the ambiguity that surround the meaning of the filmââ¬â¢s title itself have sparked debate. Whether the title refers to the originally designed script wherein Locke is the passenger in the car[3], or whether it refers to The Girl in that she is the real hero of the film (Gilliat, 1975:7) attests to the success with which the film has and will continually challenge and provoke.With each layer exposed, another unfolds. By all intents and purposes, art cinema as described by Bordwell is exemplified to the highest degree in Antonioniââ¬â¢s timeless masterpiece. Bibliography Bordwell, David. ââ¬ËThe Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practiceââ¬â¢, Film Criticism, vol. IV, no. 1 (Fall 1979). Bordwell, David. Narration in the Fiction Film (Chapter 10) Met huen, 1985). Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. ââ¬ËArt Cinemaââ¬â¢, in Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (ed. The Oxford History of World Cinema (Oxford, 1996). Lev, Peter. ââ¬ËThe Art Filmââ¬â¢, from his The Euro-American Cinema (University of Texas Press, 1993). Rosenbaum, Jonathon. Profesione: Reporter (The Passenger). Gilliatt, Penelope. ââ¬ËAbout Reprieveâ⬠from Dossier of Reviews: The Passenger in The New Yorker (14/04/1975). Robinson, David. The Passenger review in The Times (06/06/1975). Dignam, Virginia. The Passenger review in Morning Star (06/06/1975).Andrews, Nigel. The Passenger review in Financial Times (06/06/1975). Walsh, Martin. Program Notes. (from reading packet given in the lectures) http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0073580/usercomments http://www. bookrags. com/wiki/The_Passenger_(film) ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â [1] http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0073580/usercomments [2] http://www. bookrags. com/wiki/The_Passenger_(film) [3] htt p://www. bookrags. com/wiki/The_Passenger_(film)
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