Things Fall Apart Culture Research Paper

Maduena 1 Thomas Maduena Mrs. Aisola English 4 December 16, 2012 Unconventional Culture of the Ibo People in Nigeria The Ibo people, traditionally known as Igbo, are one of the largest and most significant ethnic groups of Southern Nigeria (Igboland). Their culture and traditions are so diverse because their group is fragmented into subgroups. Chinua Achebe explains the tough and cultural ways of the Ibo people in his novel Things Fall Apart.Their customs can be compared but, nevertheless they have kept their traditions stayed the same throughout their history. Origin; Ibo people originated in the Kingdom of Nri. â€Å"Nri Kingdom in the Awka area is the cradle of Igbo civilization and culture† (destee. com) It is also one of the most oldest Nigerian kingdoms. Although Nri people were a different group, they influenced the traditional Igbo people with their customs and practices. â€Å"There is a little bit of Nri in all of us†¦ Igbo is Nri and Nri is Igbo†¦ you ar e Nri and Nri is you†¦ † (destee. om) The orgin of the Igbo people can be argued about, but no doubt the originated from the Nri People. Traditional Society; Although some ill-informed people would only see that the Ibo people are very primitive and barbaric, they had their own form of government, leadership, and economy. â€Å"The basic unit of Igbo life was the village group†¦family head† (qub. ac. uk) The â€Å"family head† or modern colloquial, the man of the house, would be the older male, In most cases the father. He settled all issues within and outside his family, and was the one to Maduena 2 talk to higher members of the clan or in the village. Social status is based on wealth, regardless of occupation. The Igbo distinguish between obgenye or mbi (the poor), dinkpa (the moderately prosperous), and nnukwu madu or ogaranya (the rich). â€Å" (everyculture. com) Titles were a major role in every Nigerian tribe whether it be the Ibos, Yorubas, or Hausas. A title gave respect and honor to their family. â€Å"Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages†¦ fame rested on solid personal achievements. † (Things Fall Apart P. 1, Chinua Achebe) His title was earned throughout his life and solely on himself, which gave him a god reputation and being respected. There was a hierarchy of ascending titles that were to be taken in order, accompanied by an ascending scale of payments. † (qub. ac. uk) Titles were not easy to come by and had an extensive process. Rituals were acquired and having a title gave the person a sense of success. Their villages are very dependent on one another. Any interference with their village would be taken up to the leader of the clan and if necessary brought up to the elders. Decisions would affect their entire village or town and need to be thoroughly checked with. Oracles played a key role for Ibo villages because of their consistency of being dependable.In â€Å"Things Fall Apart † the Oracle was an important character in their decisions made. â€Å"And there were indeed occasions when the Oracle had forbidden Umuofia to wage a war. If the clan had disobeyed the Oracle they would surely have been beaten. † (Things Fall Apart P. 11, Chinua Achebe) The Umuofia people are so superstitious that they will not make any major decisions without first consulting the gods through the Oracle. Their thought is that only the Gods can justify when the time to war is right. Government; The Igbo leaders of the village and the common people all work together to form a democracy.They all participate to make their villages such a working Maduena 3 community. â€Å"Perhaps it was the small scale of their political institutions that made Igbo Land such a good example of what a democracy should be. Some of the first European visitors to this region were struck by the extent to which democracy was truly practiced. † (qub. ac. uk) Igbo people are not the barbari ans people think of them to be. They just have an unconventional way of having a stable society. Family and Marriage; Families would live in the village group, but all living in separate segments.Males and elders would receive the outmost respect. The oldest male was usually the leader of the compound and there were many different groups in that compound. The rule of seniority was usually the placement where the person would be in their status. Marriage was ideal for every woman especially. â€Å"When a boy betroths a girl, the matter does not end there. The families of the contracting parties will embark on a series of investigations about the character, home training, lineage, health, clan relationship They needed a man to provide for them and their future children. (kwenu. com) Marriage was not as simple as it is modern days. Marriage requires thoroughly planning to get the best for their child, presumably their daughter. Polygamy was common and looked upon. If they were a succe ssful man, they had as much wives as they could marry. Men would have multiple wives and several children. Wives were ranked according to the order in which they married the common husband. Seniority was also important in children. The first male and female children of the domestic group were more important than the next children to be born.First-born children were given specific and responsible positions in their family. Rite of Passage; Children are normally the ones to have significant events happen to them. Circumcision is common in present day around the world. Ibo people too believe in this. â€Å"The difference is they also circumcise girls. The rite of Circumcision, whereby a child Maduena 4 is initiated into his culture, occurs on the eighth day after birth, when he or she is circumcised. † (kenwu. com) Another rite in Igbo culture would be Iru-mgbede (fattening of a girl before marriage).Igbo people believed that if the mother were physically healthy, the child woul d be born healthy and able to survive. Igba Mgba (wrestling) was how one became a warrior or well known throughout the community. This was the way Okonkwo first started to build his reputation as a fine skilled warrior. â€Å"As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalizine the Cat. † (Things Fall Apart P. 3 Chinua Achebe) Amalizine the Cat was an amazing wrestler whose back would never touch the ground, Okonkwo defeated him and with that gained his honor and respect. Every man wanted to be respected.Culture and beliefs; Spirits, gods and the unknown were not something to be interfered with and the Igbo people greatly feared the supernatural. † The darkness held a vague terror for these people†¦children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. † (Things Fall Apart P. 9 Chinua Achebe) Night was deeply feared. Animals were thought to become more vicious at night. Moonlight however would bring tranquility. People would go out for walks and children would be playing. Most marriages and festivities would be held in the evening leading on to the night. One of the biggest celebrations was the Feast of New Yam.Most West African countries celebrate this. The Feast of New Yam symbolized the end of a harvest and the beginning of the next work cycle. â€Å"†¦To honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. New yams could not be eaten until some head first been offered to these powers. † (Things Fall Apart P. 32 Chinua Achebe) They strongly believed in sacrifice and giving the their higher beings. Although beating their wives and children is looked upon as strength to keep things in order, many Maduena 5 African tribes including the Igbo culture practiced the Week of Peace.Any disrespect towards traditions was dealt with the elders of the elders of the tribe. No work or violence should happen during to week of peace in order to pray for his or her future crop to gr ow. â€Å"Okonkwo broke the peace, and was punished†¦ † (Things Fall Apart P. 25 Chinua Achebe) His punishment was to sacrifice a female goat, a hen, a length of cloth, and one hundred cowries in order to keep from harvest turning out bad. Respect to their culture is mandatory for everyone in the tribe. Modern Igbo culture; Today, there are as many churches as well as mosques and traditional religion worship centers in Enugu State.The state is predominantly made up of Christians, but also had many catholic and protestant churches in Enugu State. Much of the Igbo’s traditions are still celebrated, but things like abusing your children and wife is not kept. Monogamous relationships are much more common and they celebrate holidays because they are converted into Christians. † One of the most important events in Igboland is Christmas and it signifies home return in the village†¦Igbo families consider their one and only real home their house in the village. It is the two weeks around Christmas which bring families back together to the village. (igboguide. org) Modern Ibo people are more focused in unity within their family and their villages. Unlike in Things Fall Apart, masculinity is not a major attribute, peace and affection has replaced it. Although the Ibo culture and religion has changed, the tough and rigidness is something they will always have. Ibo people are very spiritual, as shown in Things Fall Apart. Ibo people in nature show respect, if respect is shown towards them. Their customs have changed, but that will never change who they are at heart. Maduena 6 Figure 1 http://www. globalsecurity. rg/military/world/nigeria/maps. htm Figure 2 http://amaigboyouth. wordpress. com/maps/ Maduena 7 Work Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: William Heinemann Limited, part of Reed Consumer Books, 1959. Print. Advameg Inc. â€Å"Countries and Their Cultures. † Economy. n. d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. Akbondu. â€Å"Black Pe ople : Nri Kingdom†¦ the Cradle of Igbo Civilization. † Black People Meet. . n. d. , 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 012. . Froiland, Andrew. â€Å"African Tribes – Ibo – Igbo Culture. † African Tribes – Ibo – Igbo Culture. Minnesota State University Mankato, n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . Onyemaechi, Uzoma, and Ann Arboy. â€Å"Igbo Culture and Socialization. † Igbo Culture. University of Michigan, n. d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012. .

Bahuvrihi Compounds

Bahuvrihi Compounds Bahuvrihi Compounds Bahuvrihi Compounds By Mark Nichol Have you ever described someone as a blockhead? Have you explained an action as heavy-handed? Have you ever referred to someone as white-collar? If so, then you’ve employed a bahuvrihi compound. Such terms are compounds in which the first word of each pair is a feature of the second; the composition is an adjective (or, occasionally, a noun) attached to a noun to itself serve as an adjective or a noun. The name, from Sanskrit, is itself a bahuvrihi compound that means â€Å"much rice† but refers, as a form of synecdoche, to a rich man. (A synecdoche is a term that uses a part of something to refer to the whole, such as hand in the direction â€Å"Give me a hand† when what one is asking for is the use of one’s entire person.) Bahuvrihi compounds often refer to a characteristic of a person. They can be neutral (barefoot) or derogatory (lowlife). They can refer to a physical feature (graybeard or redhead) or to status within a profession or pursuit (blue-collar and white-collar, or tenderfoot) or an attitude associated with one’s place in society (bluestocking or highbrow). Compounds such as heavy-handed can describe an approach or a personality trait. They can also pertain to an object (houndstooth, to describe a fabric pattern; also styled hound’s-tooth) or to an animal (sabretooth); other compounds that, like these, consist of two nouns include several pejorative terms for someone perceived to be dumb or foolish: blockhead, bonehead, half-wit, and knucklehead. By contrast, a person considered highly intelligent is called an egghead. Note that bahuvrihi compounds are usually closed; the aforementioned blue-collar and white-collar, as well as half-wit and heavy-handed, are exceptions, as is the term â€Å"old money,† to refer to a family that has been wealthy for generations (or an individual from such a family). Whether the compound is open, hyphenated, or closed, is, as is the case with compounds in general, random; note blue-collar and bluestocking, for example. Bahuvrihi compounds are useful resources for writers as expressive ways to describe a person or, occasionally, a place or a thing. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Punctuate References to Dates and TimesOn Behalf Of vs. In Behalf OfApostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns

E-Business (For Information Technology class) Essay

E-Business (For Information Technology class) - Essay Example The bank's mission is to provide value added services to its customers in an efficient, timely, robust and reliable manner. It strives to become the bank of choice for its customers around the country. In order to achieve its mission objectives the bank needs to implement information technology bases systems to upgrade its current manual system which is tardy, slow, non-responsive and unreliable. This report is developed with a view to establish a framework for strategic IT direction for the bank. In addition, the rationale, extent, and timelines for implementing the information systems and technology within the bank have been identified and discussed. The purpose of the report is to establish a strategic plan for IT for the bank, to apprise higher management with the benefits and the value addition that IT provides to the business, the contemporary approaches to implementing IT based systems in financial industry and to provide recommendations customized to ABC Bank's operations. The report begins with an introduction of E-Business, describing the key areas and applications that this term covers; it then provides an insight into the latest IT trends in businesses; specifically banks around the globe. It is then followed up with the current issues and strategies that the businesses are adopting and dealing with in order to provide state of the art services to stakeholders. Suitable e-business systems are identified for the bank and recommendations are provided for IT managers to develop, acquire and implement e-business solutions. A tentative timeline for each strategic proposed solution is also provided. 3. BACKGROUND E-Business or Electronic Business, a termed introduced by Lou Gerstner (CEO of IBM), is defined as a business process that relies on automated information systems to function (Wikipedia.org, 2007). E-business is not just e-commerce, a technique for establishing and maintaining relationships with customers and suppliers online and over the internet; rather an e-business system spans over the entire value chain of the organization. It integrates the internal and external processes of the business. E-business applications can be generally divided into three categories namely (Wikipedia.org, 2007): Internal business systems (customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, document management system, and human resource management); Enterprise communication and collaboration (VoIP - Voice Over IP, content management system, email, voice mail, web conferencing); and Electronic commerce (online marketing, internet shop, open catalog, supply chain management) The use of e-business techniques and applications allow the organizations, an ability to track resources, log expenses and revenues for proper

Pollution Of New Energy Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pollution Of New Energy Resource - Essay Example With the current issue of global warming, generation of energy from solar power is one of the best options for managing the problem. Use of solar power has a high likelihood of reducing the challenges of global warming affecting the world today. There are different ways in which solar energy can be used. It is as a result of this that there exist different forms of solar energy. For example, passive solar systems use absorptive structures of houses in heating water beside homes. Active solar energy systems are other types of solar systems that depend on solar collectors to harness solar energy. This type of solar can be used in the generation of electricity. The electricity generated by this solar is channeled to an electrical grid. It is as a result of this that I considered generating energy from a solar bag. Solar bags use the same principle of energy generation from the sun like other solar systems. The solar bag constitutes small, thin as well as durable solar panels. The solar panels in the solar bags are made up of photovoltaic cells which have the ability to generate electricity from the direct sunlight. As the light and energy from the sun hit the solar panel, the cells absorb the energy as well as the daylight making the flow freely since they become loose. The electric field created in the photovoltaic cells ensures the electrons have flown in one direction creating an electric current that is harnessed by metal contact cells that are attached to the top and bottom of the cells.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) Research Paper

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - Research Paper Example Genetic engineering allows individual to identify genes that are weak and defective. This presents a source of an opportunity for them to be replaced by healthy ones. Such genes are normally resistant to diseases, bad weather conditions and enhance production of cells. Domestic Plants and animals which have undergone genetic engineering always have got greater productivity as compared to the indigenous ones. Different techniques can be used to create Genetically Modified Organisms depending on the level of technology applied. In order for one to make a GMO, he/she needs to have the gene you want to transfer, the recipient organism and a vector to carry the gene to the recipient of the transferred gene. The gene that is to be transported is first cut out and separated from its original organism. Different genes may be taken from different organisms depending on the types of traits that are needed. These cut genes are then dipped into a vector that can get into the cells of the recipient organism. This is because genes of an organism will always reject any foreign material and therefore in order to make it get used to a new environment and for the recipient to accept it; a vector is used. The genes can be sliced together depending on the requirement and the traits needed. After this, these genes are then inserted into the recipient organism/gene. Once in the recipients’ cell, the g ene will insert into the recipient’s genome. As a result, during any time of replication or gene transformation when new cells are made, the transferred gene will also be present in the DNA of each newly made cell. Whether in open air markets or supermarkets, GMO products are nowadays found everywhere. Though one cannot automatically know whether a product is a GMO or not, as there is no legal requirement to label GMO products, as a result, GMO find their way into the local markets and supermarkets. Some

Women’s Movement 1848-1970’s Essay Example for Free

Women’s Movement 1848-1970’s Essay Women have been â€Å"pushing† for equal rights, for a countless amount of time. Even before the United States â€Å"broke-free† of Great Britain, women have been trying to â€Å"gain† the equivalent rights granted to men. This essay focuses upon the women’s advancement for equal rights in the United States starting from the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, thru the 1970s.The Seneca Falls Convention (July 19-20, 1848) is known as the first Women’s Rights Convention to have ever taken place. This convention was organized by Women’s Rights Activists (as well as Antislavery activists) Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott. According to Stanton, the ultimate goal of this convention was to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and right[s] of woman. Neither Mott nor Stanton expected the ‘rally’ to have many visitors, however they were completely wrong. Their convention surprisingly had over 300 supporters. This proved that it was a highly valued topic amongst women in the United States. The Seneca Falls Convention marked the beginning of women organizing to ‘fight’ for their own rights / personal liberty. Two (2) years after the convention in 1850 the second women’s movement convention was held in Salem, Ohio, and 1850 was also the year for the first national women’s right convention which was held in Worcester, Massachusetts. Similar conventions regarding the women’s movement were held annually up to the Civil War Era. During the Civil War, many women’s rights conventions and activists put aside their movement to assist in the war effort. Many women took over the male’s role in society, while they were off fighting in the Civil War. After the war, while the United States was undergoing a period of reformation, Women begin to start organizing conventions, as they did before the war, and in 1867, Susan B. Anthony formed the Equal Rights Association, which worked for universal suffrage. This marks the time period when women began to push for women’s suffrage-the right to vote. Shortly after the establishment of the Equal Rights Association, the fourteenth amendment was ratified, and the fifteenth amendment passed Congress, giving the right to vote to black men. Women petitioned to be included but are ultimately turned down. The New England Woman Suffrage Association was formed (1868). In 1869, Women’s Rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton forms, and leads the National Woman Suffrage Association. Women finally begin to succeed with their suffrage movement when Wyoming Territory grants women’s suffrage, and allows women to hold elected positions. As time continued, it became increasingly harder for women to voice their concerns, mainly because males began to fight back. An example of this is the National Anti-Suffrage Association formed in 1871, or the multiple arrests, and imprisonment of women’s rights activists. Despite these hard times, women began to gradually move forward with their protests. Several laws and governmental programs assisted the women’s movement, and many controversial federal policies were either ratified, or became a decision on a local scale. The major component women’s movement, the suffrage movement came to an end August 18, 1920 with the passage of the 19th amendment which granted suffrage to women. Women strongly pushed for more equivalent rights, until the 1970s when legally declared equal, when all the U.S. amendments were finally to apply to all citizens, which included women. In conclusion, the woman’s movement was a slow and painful, but greatly appreciated movement which clearly showed off what freedom allows us to do. Gradually through time, as outlined in this essay, women were able to freely organize, gather, and protest / push for their voices to be heard. In doing so, Activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony fixed some major flaws with the ‘law of the land’, and because of them, the praise ‘All men and women are created equal’, has moved from being fiction, to becoming and remaining fact.

Representations of media in film

Representations of media in film Question 2: Compare and Contrast the Approaches to the Representations of the two different Media in Almost Famous (2000) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). Word count: 2305 Almost Famous is a 1998 American film directed by Cameron Crowe, it tells the story of the 1970s American hard rock band Stillwater struggling in the harsh face of stardom from the perspective of a Rolling Stone Magazine journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit). Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 American parody film directed by Adam McKay, it tells the story of how Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), a famous television news anchor in San Diego, descends from fame and later comeback. I choose these two films as both protagonists William Miller and Ron Burgundy are from San Diego and these two different stories happened in the same period of time – mid 1970s. They both portray the media effects on audiences and their reaction to these audiences. In Almost Famous, audiences are portrayed as active to the music industry and have a good knowledge of the entertainment business. In contrast, audiences in Anchorman are presumed as passive receivers of TV news information rig ht at the beginning. It lacks serious critics of events. Females are presented considerably in both films as important but a menace to the male characters. Almost Famous treats women less seriously but females are free to do what they like. On the contrary, female characters in Anchorman are constantly under male power and cannot do what they want but they are treated more justly as a practitioner within the industry. Both films shed light upon the gender inequality in a serious tone. I am going to use theories of ‘reflexivity’ to examine how audiences are portrayed respectively in two different types of media. I will also use the theories of ‘self-reflexivity’ to compare the difference between two industries in terms of the production and competition. I will use ‘intertextuality’ to discuss the genres of two films. Reflexivity, argued by Rosenberg (1990. p3), refers to the process of an entity acting back upon itself. Almost Famous and Anchorman both reflected the media effects on audiences. Almost Famous started its story in the house of the Millers. The first actual audience mentioned in the film is William Miller’s sister Anita Miller (Zooey Deschanel) who is a real fan of rock n’ roll music. She is an inner-directed person and regards rock n’ roll music as an integral part of her life and her future. Elaine Miller (Frances McDormand), mother of William and Anita, is a traditional-minded woman who teaches in a local college. Her ideas would not allow Anita to get involved with the low culture she deemed. Anita angrily leaves her home at the age of 18 and starts her career as an air stewardess. At the very beginning of the film, the notion of ‘audience’ is seriously examined. The first audience of music is portrayed as brave and, most-importantly, fully awar e of their own behaviours and wants. Before Anita leaves home, she holds her brother William and tells him ‘Look under your bed’. Judging from those worn surfaces of records and the notes she made on each one of them, we can speculate here Anita has been a very loyal fan and has spent much time, energy and money on the medium she consumes. William is clearly influenced by her sister as he later grows up to be an even more loyal fan to rock music. It would be hard to imagine that in such a strict household, an obedient young child like William Miller will grow up to be a journalist on rock n’ roll which is against his mother’s will. He often writes for Creem magazine and knows every song from his lyrics. The devotion wins the chance for him to make friends with musicians as he uses the word ‘incendiary’ to describe the ‘Fever Dog’ song of Stillwater right in front of its members. His passion in pursuing his career as a journalist e ven makes him give up the chance of attending his graduation ceremony. Another important character inside the film is Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), the founder of Band Aid. She gathers friends to support bands they love instead of just passively listening to their songs without thinking. Penny and William sometime challenge the thoughts of their idols and will give them some constructive ideas. The sad thing is that they have never been regarded seriously until the very end of the film. Anchorman also examines the media effect on audiences but in a less serious tone. From the beginning, a non-diegetic voice narrates the traits of television audiences in the 1970s – ‘There was a time, a time before cable, when the local anchorman reigned supreme, when people believed everything they heard on TV’. This statement at the very beginning positions TV audiences as passive receivers of information. The first time when Ron Burgundy starts broadcasting, an old rocker-like man yells in a bar ‘hey everybody, shut the hell up, Ron Burgundy is on’. The following scene is a toddler saying her first words ‘Ron Burgundy’. It is a clearly a computer generated scene. However, it is a metaphor of the overwhelming power of television in 1970s. ‘Stay classy San Diego’ is what Ron Burgundy says every time at the end of his broadcasting. Then we see people from different places (home, bar, work place), young or old, white or black , repeat after Ron. This scene fortifies the idea of Television’s manipulation over audiences. In a general case in film, males are often portrayed as heroes who struggle and females are put to a less important position (Mortimer, 1997). In both films, females play a great part of the plot but inevitably become portrayed as sex objects. In Almost Famous, Penny Lane and her band aid claim to be supporters of band only, however, ironically, they failed to escape the fate as groupies. Penny Lane is in a very subtle but intimate relationship with Stillwater’s guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup). In many occasions Penny is braless and wears a very thin top or blouse. When the band Stillwater travels to Cleveland, Penny Lane and Russell Hammond are flirting with each other and Penny only wears her panties. There is even short scene showing her breasts and her full naked back. Other girls, for example, Polexia (Anna Paquin) is one hundred percent a groupie who tried every time to make out with rock stars and even travels all the way from America to Europe to be with Deep Purple. When William Miller is writing his ideas for Rolling Stone magazine in a bathtub, Penny comes straight in to pee just in front of him. Later William is dragged out by three other young women into bedroom. They claim to ‘deflower Opie’ and ‘Opie should die’. Later we see the pace of imaged has been slowed down, the vibe on the screen becomes highly erotic when they start to undress William and themselves. In Anchorman there is only one woman who has been seriously portrayed – Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). When she enters the Channel 4 News station for the first day, members from Channel 4 News Team try to seduce her and refuse to take her seriously as a journalist or a colleague. Veronica became the object of their sexual imagination when they talk about her good body inside the office. Later Ron tries to date her and succeeds at that night and has sex with her. When Ron talks about her life with Veronica in the future with his teammates, Veronica is only wearing a cook apron. The conversation is highly erotic too and Veronica in his imagination is a full-time housewife without any careerism. The image of women is degraded and the relationship between male and female protagonists becomes obvious. Women are portrayed as men’s most important and shiny ‘accessories’, however, to a certain extent, they are a threat to the career of the male prota gonists. The flight scene in Almost Famous exposes the promiscuous relationships between band members which cause a huge brawl between them. In Anchorman, Veronica, with her talent and hard work, makes Ron out of job and takes over as the Channel 4 New anchor. In both films, ‘women function as erotic objects both for the characters within the story and for the spectator, who identifies with the main male protagonist and derives a sense of omnipotence from this identification’ (Mulvey, 1975. p14). Talking about gender inequality, it is a different landscape between these two films. Women in the music industry are more likely to be themselves. They choose their favourite music, the bands they watch, the food they eat, the place they are and the life they want. Being a journalist in the Television industry, Veronica is not lucky enough to be like them and choose the things she likes to do. As she mentions ‘it is the same everywhere that men make jokes of women. To be the best journalist is the way to get respect’. The good thing is that Veronica achieved success and became the first female anchor in America. And later the configuration of having two anchors, one male and one female, report news is nowadays a fixed form. Females inside television industry are treated more seriously as ‘women’ in contrast to ‘sex objects’ in music industry. ‘Self-reflexivity is used to describe films or texts which self-consciously acknowledge or reflect upon their own status as fictional artefacts or the processes involved in their creation’ (Krenn, 2007. p36). Almost Famous exposes some of the ugliest facts about the rock music industry. Hypocrisy is the most severe problem within the industry and inside people. The first time William meets Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee), Jeff tries to glorify himself by stating ‘rock n’ roll is a way of thinking, a life style. Fame and money are not important but the chicks are great’. He sounds like a rascal who is desperately for staying the spotlight, a hobo who is desperately to be cool. When he says all these things, we can see that Russell is looking at him contemptuously which shows that he knows Jeff is pretending to be someone he is not. Russell, compared to Jeff, has a more honest attitude on music. He tells William what makes a song is actually those tiny mistakes. You need only one in the song, and it is what makes fans remember it. The production process in Anchorman seems not very professional. The film constantly shows the mistakes inside Channel 4 News Studio such as the mistakes on the teleprompter and Ron Burgundy’s grumpy character and his low IQ (e.g. He reads out anything he sees). The sense of responsibility is different in two films. Stillwater gives up a show half way and leaves the venue straight away. In television news industry however, when some emergencies happened, there is always a back-up plan to keep thing going. Mead (1934) and Cooley (1902) showed clearly that ‘reflexivity among human beings is rooted in the social process, particularly the process of taking the role of the other and of seeing the self from the others perspective’ (Rosenburg, M. 1990, p3). The Rolling Stone magazine which trashed Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ also ended the career of Stillwater. They hasted too much to be famous but lost themselves. William’s article wakes them up but it is already too late to re-establish a good public image. Ron Burgundy learnt from his failure and realised the hard work of Veronica, he finally got to know who he should be and together they made a huge progress for television news industry. The most hilarious sequence in Anchorman is the fight between five news teams. They fight each other near a factory which make people think of the typical gang fight scenes in other films. The fight is fierce and the casualties are heavy. The siren of the police ends this chaos. This is a satire of the vicious and sometimes illegal competitions for higher ratings inside the television news industry. ‘Intertextuality strongly linked with postmodernism, designates, in its narrow sense, the ways in which a film either explicitly or implicitly refers to others films (e.g. through allusion, imitation, parody or pastiche), or in its broader sense, the various relationships on (film) text may have with other texts’ (Nelmes, 2012. p191). Both films are based on historical events, so they are themselves inherently examples of ‘intertextuality’. Almost Famous is a drama in terms of genre. It vividly retells the stories of a band which failed to become a hit. It tells us a story about chasing dreams and making mistakes. Those pieces of fine music are an intertext of nostalgia for old good times. Anchorman is a parody and this decides it will not analyse events in a more serious fashion, but it shows a historic event of women being recognised in the television broadcasting industry. It is these use of techniques of intertextuality that add power of credibility to the films. Compare and contrast the representation of media in these two films, the media’s effect over audiences has been examined in both films. Almost Famous tends to analyse the audience’s reaction to media effect from the perspective of individuals. Most notably, it uses three characters, William, Anita and Penny, to show audiences’ active reaction to the medium they love and live on. Anchorman tends to present television news audiences as a passive whole group. The individual characteristics are diminished. Both films recognise the importance of females inside the society. Females in Almost Famous have more freedom to do what they like but failed to be taken seriously as ‘women’ by the society. In Anchorman, the gender inequality is a more prominent problem but females are justly treated as ‘women’ with dignity and characteristics. They both used ‘intertextuality’ to create the sense of reality, but one with a more serious tone as a drama and the other less critical as a parody. Bibliography: Cooley, C. H. (1902) Human Nature and Social Order. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Krenn, S. (2007) Oriental and Postmodern Elements in Moulin Rouge!. Università ¤t Stuttgart Deutschland Mead, G. H. (1934) Mind, Self and Society: From the Standpoint of s Social Behaviourist. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Mulvey L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. In: L. Braudy and Marshall Cohen (eds), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp.6-18. Nelmes, J. (2012). Introduction to Film Studies. 5th Edition. London: Routledge. Rosenberg, M. (1990) ‘Reflexivity and Emotions’ in Social Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 1. (Mar, 1990), pp 3-12. Fimography: Almost Famous (2000). [Film] Directed by Cameron CROWE. USA: Dreamworks. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). [Film] Directed by Andy MCKAY. USA: Dreamworks. 1