Human Resources Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resources - Research Paper Example The function that oversees the employees concerns is called Human resource management at the workplace. In the organization, all employees are viewed as vital enterprise assets and their value is enhances by gradual development. Therefore, enterprises always engage themselves in a barrage of practicing human resources to capitalize on human assets. Organizations apply technics in governing human resources as suggested by (Renkly, 2004). The first technic is to classify employees in into demographic groups. In this trend, workforce or populations characteristic are categorized using age, social class and even gender. The trend unquestionably has effects in relations to offering of pension, packages of insurance and annual leaves. Another technic in managing human resources is to understand its diverse characteristics especially their culture. Strategic workforce planning Strategic human planning should address alignment of organizations human capital program with their current mission , emerging mission and programmatic objectives. Human resource management should develop long-term strategies for acquiring, training and developing workers to attain programmed goals. Approaches of managing human resources may vary from one manager to another or from one enterprise to another. However, there are some principals that guide managers in coming up with strategic workforce plan (Seijts, 2006). The principals address key issues to be considered irrespective of the context in which the planning is done. First, the top managers, workers and the stakeholders must involve themselves in communicating, developing and implementation of the strategic workforce plan. This will help supervisors, and employees’ agency managers understand the need to work as a team. It ensures entire agency understands benefits of changes as defined in the strategic workforce plan. Clear communications create transparent procedures and policies that help in utilization of human capital (Pinkl eton& Austin, 2006). Role of human resources in an organization The human resource management team in the organization has a mandate to manage employees in the organization. There are limitations and the advantages in of this function. The departments ensure all staff follows the general direction, rule and regulations of the work place. The departments constant remind and clarify the means set towards attainment of organizations goals. The department also is responsible for creating compensations or incentives to be awarded to employees in order to act as a motivation (Heneman& Judge, 2006). Human resource manager act as employees sponsor and advocate (Williams& Gilmore, 2009). The managers play an important role towards organizational success. The knowledge about advocacy of people is an essential skill that managers need to have. The managers foster effective methods in setting of goals and empowering workers through assigning them with responsibilities. This helps in creating or der in the organization. Professionals in human resources help establish culture and climate of the organization. The environment creates the commitment and efficiency in serving the customers. In this role, human resources manager provide the overall talent management strategies. The manager also develops opportunity and create workers assistance program (Jackson, 1992). The frequent evaluation of the organizatio

Microeconomics Article Summary Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microeconomics Article Summary Assignment - Essay Example Prior to the fall in share price were speculations by three stock exchange experts that offered lower values for the company’s prices. Further speculations noted that the set prices for the newly launched handsets were not as low as Apple claimed, with concerns that such a price level could not attract customers into purchasing the product. iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C were the launched products that yielded the change in stock prices and the company was to stop sales of its previous model of iPhone 5 (Woollaston 1). Another major aspect of the article is claim of dishonesty against Apple as critics noted that while the company presented the product at a cheaper price of $ 99 value, the company did not disclose that this was a contract term with undisclosed monthly payment. China is one of the major markets for Apple but the high price that equals Chinese monthly average salaries may limit the company and its product’s popularity in the country. Existence of other major comp etitors, such as Samsung, in the Chinese market is another threat to the new product launch and its price because they contributed to loss in market control in China to firms like ‘Huawei,’ Lenovo, and Coopland. The new launch also failed to capture immediate interest in the United Kingdom because no companies offered contracts. Besides inability to capture new markets, Apple has lost market control to Samsung. Apple has also reported reduced profit margin in its second quarter though its share price has been fluctuating. The major concern to the company’s trends, as the author reports, is its inability or lack of desire to offer affordable products to its customers (Woollaston 1). Relationship between the article and course concepts Key to the article’s theme is the change in stock price of Apple following announcement of its new products, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c and the main factor to the shift in stock prices is speculations by brokers and investorsâ₠¬â„¢ perception of Apple’s pricing strategy and potential market control. These factors relate to the course concepts of demand and supply with focus on demand for Apple’s stock. Demand is one of the factors that affect price and increase in demand, with other factors kept constant, leads to increase in a commodity’s prices while decrease in demand identifies with fall in prices. This explains the fall in price of Apple’s shares following announcement of release of the new product and suggest that investors lost interest in the company. Claims by investors that the company is not keen on offering competitive prices confirm this. Another major theme in the article that relates it to the course concepts of microeconomics is the demand for the company’s products into its market control and its profitability. Microeconomic principles of demand provides that price of complementary and supplementary products, people’s income, competition, and expe ctations dictates demand of a commodity and the article identifies all these factors. Apple’s share is a complementary commodity to the company’s product and this is evident as announcement of iPhone prices leads to reduction in share price. Prices of other phone models that are relatively cheaper have also led to un-competitiveness of Apple towards lost market control and poor profitability. Other factors to demand, based on the course concepts, are also applicable to the article and people’

Marketing Analysis of Whale Watch Tourism

Marketing Analysis of Whale Watch Tourism Whale Watch- New Zealand’s Ultimate Marine Experience and the Nature-Tourism Market Question One Market Segmentation in the nature-tourism market can be defined as the process through which potential customers with similar needs and characteristics are grouped together so that a tourism organization can apply marketing strategies for the selected market segment efficiently (Oohlala, 2013). Segmentation also involves learning more about customers and making the heterogeneous market into a homogenous market (Bowker, 2014). Segmenting the New Zealand nature-tourism market is viable because it assists in understanding the needs and wants of customers, allocating marketing expenses efficiently, further developing products/services and developing marketing strategies more precisely (Grewal Levy, 2012). The two segments I will divide the domestic nature-tourism market are the: â€Å"Being There† and â€Å"Embracing Life† segments. Comprising of over a quarter of New Zealand’s adult population, ‘Being There’ is definitely an identifiable segment which is large and old. A majority of this segment are aged 55 years or older. They havea female majority and a high percentage of people living alone. The segment can be found throughout all over in New Zealand meaning that it is substantial. Members of this segment have a strong interest in gardening and reading. They also have a positive interest in visiting natural/scenic locations, and are most likely to be a member of church or rotary group. Members of ‘Being There’ are motivated to travel by a yearning to spend time with people they love and appreciate natural/scenic locations. This segment is most interested in sightseeing, natural attractions and walking/hiking and meaning it is a responsive segment for the nature-tourism market. As this segment is relatively wealthy, money is less of a barrier to travel meaning that it is a profitable segment. There are many viable marketing channels that can be used to reach this segment which makes it reachable. These include: Major daily newspapers, special media (e.g. gardening channels/magazines/groups), affinity groups (churches, Rotary, other voluntary groups) are all channels that can be used to reach this market. Another segment for the New Zealand nature-tourism market makes up nearly a quarter of the adult population making it a substantial segment, ‘Living Life’ shares a philosophy to live life to the fullest and embrace nature. This segment is identifiable with a majority of members being aged between 25 and 60 years old. This segment has a dominant family structure of couples with children. Members of ‘Living Life’ can be found throughout all over New Zealand which enables the segment to be substantial. Members of this segment are most likely to have hobbies such as mountaineering, tramping, sight-seeing, boating and gardening at home. This segment is very responsive because vacations are important to them and they holiday frequently within New Zealand. When holidaying in New Zealand, they take part in their favourite activities with their children and partners, away from the pressures of daily life. The ideal holiday for ‘Living Life’ is spending well-earned money on an above all family-friendly, and involves outdoor experiences, scenery and landscapes meaning it is a profitable segment which will spend money on nature-tourism. Key barriers to travel are the amount of annual leave available, work and family commitments. This segment is reachable through channels such as newspaper, media/online (e.g. golf, outdoor, boating, fishing), newspapers and fairs. Question Two In order to evaluate how Whale Watching’s product is perceived by potential customers, it is vital to deconstruct the product into four different levels. This is called the Total Product Concept and we will use this model to deconstruct the product Whale Watch is offering, and evaluate how the company is positioned within the nature-tourism market. Firstly, the Core Product is the fundamental benefit that responds to a potential customer’s need or wants (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele Waller, 2010). For Whale Watch the core benefit for a customer would be being able to observe whales in their natural habitat. This could be for recreational or scientific and educational purposes depending on the motive of the customer. Secondly, the Expected Product is the relative factors that delivers the benefit which forms the core product and fulfil the customer’s most basic expectations (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele Waller, 2010), Whale Watch offers an exciting up-close encounter with the Giant Sperm Whale in their natural environment. In a typical Whale Watch tour, the customer can expect to encounter a wide variety of sea-life and birds. Vessels are crewed by an expert team who are experienced in interacting with the whales. Whale Watch ensures that passenger comfort and safety are always high priority. These are all expected features of the product/service Whale Watch is offering to customers. The Augmented Product offers a combination of benefits that is not a part of the basic level of needs for the customer. It is at the augmented product level where marketers are able to significantly differentiate their products/services from the competition (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele Waller, 2010). Whale Watch is New Zealand’s only vessel-based whale watching experience and the 95% success rate of trips at Whale Watch means that they guarantee an 80% refund and is an example of an augmented service that gives a competitive edge over other companies. Furthermore, it is based in Kaikoura, the Whale Watching capital of New Zealand which provides a unique experience over other locations. Whale Watch is committed to the care and protection of the environment and seeks to minimise waste, promote recycling, use eco-friendly product and minimise their impact on marine life (Whale Watch, 2013). These factors are important for customers who really care about then environment and are conce rned with conservation and the preservation of nature. All these special features and facilities are factors that would help customers to choose Whale Watch over other competitors. The Potential Product of the Product Concept Model comprises all possibilities that could become part of the expected or augmented product. This includes features that are being developed planned as well as features that have not yet been conceived (Elliott, Rundle-Thiele Waller, 2010). In the future, Whale Watch could offer new tours such as swimming with dolphins swimming with whales which would offer a unique, up-and-close, more personal experience. Whale Watch will need to do research on how to bring this programme to life and keep safety measures in mind. Whale Watch seems to be using a differentiation positioning strategies using conservation, nature preservation and a unique approach to attract customers. Whale Watch’s positioning statement is used to succinctly convey their philosophies and approach: â€Å"Whale Watch Kaikoura is New Zealand’s ultimate all year round nature experience offering visitors an exciting up-close encounter with The Giant Sperm Whale† (Whale Watch, 2013). â€Å"We are visitors to the world of the whales and respect it as such at all times. As a Maori owned company, Whale Watch cherishes the twin values of hospitality to visitors and reverence for the natural world† (Whale Watch, 2013). Question Three A service is an act or performance offered by one party to another. They are economic activities that create value and provide benefits for customers at specific times and places as a result of bringing desired change .One of the unique characteristics of a service is that it is inconsistent meaning the service provider cannot provide exactly the same service every time (Brown, 2008). Applying this to Whale Watch’s situation, because of the nature of their service, Whale Watch cannot guarantee the same Whale Watching experience to customers for every tour. Depending on seasonal variations or even the weather on a particular day, every trip will offer a different kind of experience. Customers are not guaranteed to be able to see a consistent number of whales and sea-life on every trip because Whale Watch has little control over this factor. In some seasons of the year, certain animals will not appear at all and on certain days no whales may be sighted at all. Because Whale Watch offers a conservative and completely nature-based experience it cannot â€Å"force† a service and experience for the customer. In order to manage these challenges Whale Watch seems to have particular strategies to target and solve these challenges. Firstly, Whale Watch offers an 80% refund if a tour does not see a whale. Furthermore, Whale Watch staff constantly monitor the weather and respond professionally to any changes. This could a result in a tour being cancelled or safety restrictions placed on children or passengers with medical problems. This is because Whale Watch wants to promote passenger comfort and safety as their number one priority. Furthermore, Whale Watch would want to decrease the chances of a trip a day with bad weather conditions resulting in zero or minimal whale sightings. The on-board plasma screens display a virtual animated tour while the tour is actually taking place so customers will have a larger than life experience even though there may be inconsistency in actual whale and other sea-life sightings. Also, the professional guides and skippers are there in order to maintain consistency in a service with inconsistent characteristics. Whale Watch will make sure that the staff provide a high level of professional service with passenger safety and comfort as their number one priority. This is evident in their constant monitoring of weather and responding professionally.to any changes. Looking at Whale Watch’s philosophy and positioning statement, the company emphasizes that it is Maori owned which has a reverence for the natural environment and is dedicated to conservation, preservation and respect for wildlife. This is a factor that Whale Watch seems to be using to manage challenges of inconsistency of its services. Many customer’s especially nature-lovers and conservationists will respect the company’s philosophies and understand the unavoidable, inconsistent nature of services that Whale Watch is offering. Word Count: 1590 References Grewal, D., Levy, M. (2013). Marketing (1st ed.). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin. Oohlala, R. (2013). Tourism market segmentation. Slideshare.net. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/reymarieoohlala/tourism-market-segmentation/ Whalewatch.co.nz. (2014). New Zealand Attractions | Kaikoura Whale Watching | Canterbury NZ. Retrieved from http://www.whalewatch.co.nz/ Brown, A. (2008). Alex Brown: teaching digital marketing and ending horse slaughter. Udel.edu. Retrieved from http://www.udel.edu/alex/index.html/ Bowker, M. (2014). Segmentation, targeting and positioning [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://cecil.auckland.ac.nz/

The Transgenic Tomato Essay examples -- Science Genetics Papers

The Transgenic Tomato The Need for Genetic Engineering of Crops For most Americans, fresh vegetables come from the supermarket. One only has to walk down an aisle loaded with gleaming red tomatoes, juicy melons, fresh potatoes, and a plethora of other vegetables and fruits and gather whatever captures one's fancy or appetite. A person living in a Westernized culture often takes for granted the hard work, resource usage, and waste that occurs to bring food to him. Tomatoes, for example, currently follow a long and difficult route to the supermarket. To begin with, field workers must pick the tomatoes by hand while they are still green. The unripe tomatoes are then trucked to facilities where they are gassed with ethylene to artificially induce ripening (Engel 108). Treating green tomatoes with gas to make the red color appear before the tomato ripens allows them to be shipped with less bruising and spoilage because they are still hard, but this practice detracts from their flavor and makes them taste, as some like to say, like cardboard! After the tomatoes are gassed, the red (but tough) tomatoes are distributed to the supermarkets. The "cardboard" tomato problem illustrates a larger problem in agriculture - crop spoilage associated with the predations of insects and fungi and with shipping. We saw that picking fruits such as tomatoes while they are green and chemically ripening them is a solution to some of the spoilage problem in crops, while using other chemicals can prevent some damage by pests. However, these chemicals often create environmental hazards in areas where they are used, and pests can often develop resistance to chemicals used to destroy them, making the release of even more pesticides and fungicides int... ...ill form a string, and the tRNA molecules will be released into the cell. When this string of amino acids is completed, it is called a protein. Some proteins provide structure in living things (such as the protein in muscle tissue), while others can promote certain chemical reactions in cells (such as the breakdown of pectin in tomato cell walls). The above information was taken from Biology, Neil Campbell, et. al., New York: Addison Wesley, 1999, p.316. Works Cited Campbell, Neil et. al. (1999). Biology. New York: Addison Wesley Engel, Karl-Heinz et al., editors. (1995). Genetically Modified Foods: Safety Aspects, Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. Nettleton, Joyce. (1999, January). Wedging Science into Public Policy, Food Technology, p. 20. Wilson, Edward O. (1999). The Diversity of Life. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

How to be a good student Essay

To become a good student, you need to get motivated! Motivation can come from seeing the situation of many poor children around the world who are not lucky enough to get a proper education. This is a good thing to keep in mind when you find yourself not wanting to attend class or study at home. Another reason to get motivated to study is that you will enjoy a better quality of life as an educated person. You can go to educational websites, like this one, and surf them with interest. You must not force yourself to study, as this will make learning a chore and you will not feel like even opening your books. You will have many academically good students in your courses. Try becoming friends with them (or encourage your current friends to be better students), and you’ll be immersed in an academic environment which will help you feel motivated! Above all, you need confidence! For that, we need to feel that we are working for ourselves and not for others! Good luck! Chapter 2 – Concentration On Studies Concentration follows eagerness. This section provides you with the basics of â€Å"Concentration† and also provides you with advice as to how to get aroused with concentration. You need to pay attention in a class. Don’t start chatting with your peers/friends when the teacher turns their back to you. Even better; don’t associate with distracting people. You should realize that the people in your class play an important role in how everybody progresses. However, if you are a good student you will do better and achieve your goals. Your friends will be there for you at that time, if they are trustful and of a good reputation. At home, study and do your homework in a place that doesn’t make you sleep. It is advisable to have a dedicated study table or desk. Don’t do your study work on the bed or in front of the TV, radio, stereo, etc. That would be pointless because you are meant to be thinking about your studies.

Did Women Have a Renaissance?

The Renaissance was the time period between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries that led to the beginning of many new ideas and developments. It was a time period of prosperity for many European countries especially Italy. Economic and intellectual changes occurred and it also gave the opportunity for many new doors to open to new directions in art, social, scientific, and political beliefs. Although during this time of great reform women had minimal amounts of influence. It is argued, that because of this lack of power, the term Renaissance does not necessarily apply to omen, and it was a title that was given to them afterwards.Women were excluded from the opportunity to take part in the rebirth of classical ideas due to lack of education, stereotypical beliefs about women, and because many women married young making it very challenging to pursue further education. Women were denied opportunities to participate in the Renaissance due to the lack of education the majority of wom en during this time received. However, as in many cases there is an exception to this statement. An example of this very rare exception during this time erred is a letter from Angelo Boliviano to an upper class maiden Cassandra Fiddle.Angelo observes that she is one of the few educated women of her age. (DOC 1 One should approach this document with caution because the source is a humanist letter to a wealthy upper class woman. On the other hand John Knox once observed that it would be awful if women ever reigned supreme over men. (DOC . ) John Knox in some ways was correct and in some ways was incorrect. John Knox was correct if he was commenting on the overall intellectual ability of most women at the time. However, urine this time there were a few women who were well educated and some who even reigned over men.Women during the Renaissance carried around a large amount of stereotypes. Many of which were very critical about the way women should act, the way they should be nothing mo re than a house keeper, and how women were not able to become well educated enough to do anything worthwhile in their life's. Francesco Barbara observed that women should never speak in public unless spoken to. (Doc. ) However, one should take count of the point of view of the source because Francesco was Presbyterian. Presbyterian at this time listened very closely to anything that the founder of their religion said.In which case Presbyterian did anything John Knox said or did. John Knox highly disliked the Queen of Scotland Mary because she was not a Presbyterian. John Nook's teachings brought along many stereotypes women would have to burden during this time. The most major reason women of this time weren't able to pursue further education is because of the age at which they would become married. When these women would become married many of them would not even be considered a legal adult by today's standards. According to (Doc. The majority of women would get married at the age of 17 or 18.However, one should be able to see that this source doesn't account for women that were forced to marry at a younger age then they would've preferred. This source does show that this would more than likely not allow women to pursue a higher education unless the family could afford a private tutor. Which were only possible if the woman was from a very wealthy upper class family. It is argued that many women during this time period wished not to be women. (Doc. ) Shows that Siesta Angola once wrote that she wondered why she was born a women when here were already some many in the world.Women were excluded from the chance to take part in the rebirth of classical ideas due to lack of education, stereotypical beliefs about women, and because many women married young making it very difficult to pursue further schooling. Women did not experience a renaissance because the view on women were very critical and primarily demanded women were only made to reproduce and house keep. Du ring this time period many women around the world experienced this kind of treatment from men. With the exceptions off few places like Japan.

Psychoanalytic-Feminist Study of American Slasher Film

Psychoanalytic-Feminist Study of American Slasher Film Free Online Research Papers Woman as castrator: A psychoanalytic-feminist study of the castrating mother and Final Girl in the American slasher film. This dissertation will explore how the woman is portrayed as castrator in the American slasher film using the critical approach of psychoanalytic-feminism. This will be achieved by analysing the female character as castrating mother and Final Girl. Gregory Waller states that the landscape of the modern American horror film is characterised by displaying pornographic violence against women (Waller, 1987: 8). For example, one of the most emblematic modern American horror sub-genres is the slasher film. The slasher film promotes sexual violence against women by categorically portraying the patriarchal male monster who subjects women to a subordinate and misogynistic position by butchering sexually promiscuous females with his phallic knife, punishing sexually active women who participate in pre-marital intercourse and other transgressive sexual activities (Neale in Schneider, 2004: 4). Thus, a character such as Michael Myers from the Halloween series personifies that ideology of patriarchal masculinity associated with male power, dominance and aggression, perpetuating the primordial patriarchal unconscious governed by the desire to subdue ‘woman’ and the feminine (Neale in Grant, 1996: 342). Thus, the male monster is represented as the sadist who unconsciously releases sexual repressed desires and castrates the female victim with his phallic weapon. However, the sexually active female victim or ‘bad girl’ could be argued to occupy a masochistic position. Thus, her castration implies that she receives sexual pleasure from unconscious fantasies of domination and torture from the sexually repressed slasher (Williams in Grant, 2004: 150). Nonetheless, the rise of psychoanalytic-feminist film criticism during the second stage of feminist film theory between 1975 and 1983 (Hayward, 2000: 115), attempted to suggest that women throughout the horror film were not represented as castrated; on the contrary, women were fundamentally empowered and portrayed as castrators. For instance, Barbara Creed challenged the archetypical view that the monsters throughout the modern American horror film were gendered as male. Creed argued that female monsters have populated the horror film since the 1940s including the woman as an animal in the Cat People (dir. Jacques Tourneur, 1942), the mature female psycho (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? dir. Robert Aldrich, 1962), the female witch in Carrie (dir. Brian De Palma, 1976) and woman as the bleeding gash in Dressed to Kill (dir. Brian De Palma, 1980) (Creed, 1993: 1). The slasher film illustrates the castrating woman by portraying the female monster as the castrating mother and female heroine known as the Final Girl. The mother’s castrating monstrosity is centred on Xavier Mendik’s suggestion that through Julia Kristeva’s notion of abjection, it is the evil castrating mother who presents an unconscious castrating threat to patriarchal superiority (Kristeva-Mendik in Chandler, 2000). This is echoed by Mark Jancovich’s notion of how at the nucleus of horror cinema is the unconscious patriarchal apprehension of woman’s ‘difference’ and her monstrous and unsettling active and castrating sexuality (Jancovich, 1992: 10). Although Creed’s argument expresses that the monster is not invariably gendered as male, the adolescent male spectator participates in a sadistic pleasurable experience. This is where the male viewer identifies with the male slasher through the subjective cinematography of the killer and acquires the slasher’s sadistic-voyeuristic ‘controlling gaze’ (Mulvey in Chandler, 2000). Nonetheless, this sadistic-voyeuristic relationship between the male slasher and spectator is essentially sabotaged when the male audience are encouraged to identify with the other manifestation of the castrating woman: the Final Girl. Unlike her sexually promiscuous and castrated companions, she is signified by her independence, survival instincts and the active female, yet masculine gaze. The passive, asexual woman essentially manifests into an active and powerful phallic female, releasing her unconscious sexually repressed desires and symbolically castrates the male slasher in an angry fashion (Williams in Grant, 2004: 151). Thus, the gender relationship between the male monster, Final Girl and implied male spectator is confusing and ambiguous. This is where the male audience are essentially encouraged to identify across genders and to adopt, however temporarily, both sadistic and masochistic positions in the horror scenario. The two particular character types representing the woman as castrator that will be unpicked in the following investigation will be how the woman is portrayed as the castrating mother and Final Girl. The castrating mother The discourse of the villainous castrating mother arose throughout the post-war period in American society as a response to the loving and nurturing relationship between father and daughter. This disturbing image of the mother was a prelude to the representative figure of the ‘Mom’ (Gant, 2006: 82). Momism was released into the American public consciousness with the 1943 publication of Philip Wylie’s misogynistic essay of American society entitled Generation of Vipers. Wylie’s central argument was how the depiction of Momism in post-war films was symptomatic of a failure of masculinity and paternalism (Wylie in Gant, 2006: 82). This corresponds to Gorer who recognised that the phobic Mom was illustrative of the ‘clinging mother,’ symptomatic of how American men have a clear fear and uncertain attitude towards American post-war mothers (Gorer in Gant, 2006: 89). After the Second World War, the fabric of American family life was heavily damaged. Academic commentators including Marynia Farnham and Ferdinand Lundberg describe the change in family attitudes as a result of the fathers at war in the military and the resulting convergence of mother-child relationships. This produced oedipal and disconcerting maternal undertones, contributing to a loss of positive paternal family values through the absent father and the abject Mom (Gant, 2006: 93). Kenneth Phillips argues that during the 1950s and 1960s, the American suburban Dream was underpinned by maternal separation and the domesticated mother. This ultimately led to the mother’s frustration and loneliness over the child’s health and wealthfare. Thus, the apparent absence of the father and mother’s domestic dominance was reflective of the over-protective nature of Momism (Phillips, 2005: 66-67). This maternal threat of Momism was exacerbated by other 1970s political events including the reduction of male capitalism as a result of de-industrialisation, the rise of feminism and the decrease in American masculine dominance. Thus, American middle-class motherhood became more actively threatening and unsettling (Genter, 2006: 3). It is this particular alarming representation of motherhood that underpins the portrayal of the castrating mother in the modern slasher film. The image of the castrating mother throughout the slasher film is rooted in two particular Freudian critiques entitled Little Hans and the Wolf Man. Freud discovered that it was the unconscious mother who acted as the castrator and punished sexually promiscuous women. Melanie Klein expands Freud’s notion of the unconscious mother by theorising two perceptions of the mother. One perspective is the way that the child’s encounter with the mother’s breast is symbolised as the â€Å"phallic† and evil unconscious mother (Freud-Klein in Kaplan, 1992: 107). This dominating image of the mother corresponds to her â€Å"monstrous† symbolic threat, theorised by Julia Kristeva as the child’s profound abject fear. This monstrosity centred on maternal melancholy is reflective of Hitchcock’s image of mothers, disrupting the unconscious patriarchal order in a violent and disturbing fashion (Kristeva in Kaplan, 1992: 117). The Hitchcock horror film that encapsulates the unconscious threat of the castrating mother is his masterpiece, Psycho. Psycho (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) is simply the ‘quintessential’ horror film (Modleski in Creed, 1993: 140), described by Adam Rockoff as the grandfather of all slasher films (Rockoff, 2002: 26). Psycho was the very first cinematic slasher film, which inspired the American horror film landscape in the late 1970s and early 1980s to become inundated with visceral and violent slasher films (Dika in Waller, 1987: 86). Psycho is also an exemplary slasher film that explicitly illustrates Freud’s notion of the monstrous, castrating mother known as Mrs. Norma Bates. The threat of the castrating mother is presaged in Psycho’s opening title sequence. Christopher Palmer states that the music ‘inform(s) the audience that something traumatic is going to happen’ (Palmer in Sullivan, 2006: 253). This is emphasised by Spellbound’s composer Miklos Rozsa who suggests that the ‘stark, jagged music, so redolent of Bartà ³k and Stravinsky, is sufficient to grip the spectators in their seats, filling them with a nightmarish apprehension of the terror to come’ (Rozsa in Sullivan, 2006: 253). Thus, Palmer and Rozsa are expressing the appropriateness of the terrifying soundtrack that effectively foreshadows and conveniently interpellates the narrative’s initial equilibrium with a dramatic sense of horror. This prefigures the future arrival of the castrating mother in a shocking and unsettling fashion. The castrating power of Mrs. Bates is exemplified by her dominating and possessive psychic control over her son, Norman Bates. The omnipotent threat of Norman’s psychological torture from his castrating mother is a perpetual unconscious fear (Modleski, 2005: 109). This is symptomatic of the powers of the horror genre, relating to masculine fears of maternal abjection. Thus, the fear is not just of castration, but of the loss of total self (Kristeva in Modleski, 2005: 109). However, in order to prevent complete castration, Norman becomes mother. Thus, he essentially manifests into the castrator, rather than being castrated (Creed, 1993: 140). Norman’s transformation from the conscious Norman Bates to his unconscious evil mother is symptomatic of mother’s psychological attachment to Norman. American psychoanalyst Edmund Bergler argues that the unconscious attachment of the mother to Norman carries oedipal undertones, where: ‘The boy considers himself the innocent victim of a witch who is capable of starving, devouring, poisoning, choking, chopping to pieces, draining, and castrating him’ (Bergler in Genter, 2006: 1). Although Bergler’s statement is centred on the pre-oedipal child’s over-attachment to the castrating threat of the mother, Robert Genter suggests that this specific psychoanalytic situation of the infant is applicable to the psychotic behaviour of Norman Bates, centred on the victimisation from his castrating mother (Genter, 2006: 1). Moreover, what is particularly verbally castrating to Norman is mother labelling him as ‘boy,’ even though Norman is now an adolescent. This infantilises Norman and also expresses that he will always remain a child from mother’s perspective (Creed, 1993: 142). In one of the initial conversations between Norman and ‘his’ first victim Marion Crane, Norman informs her that ‘we’re all in our private trap. We scratch and claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it we never budge an inch’ (Wood, 2002: 145). Norman is subliminally describing his traumatic, psychotic attachment to his deceased mother, Norma Bates. This produces his psychotic behaviour and a clear sense of converging to the psychoanalytic notion of the Oedipus complex. However, Freud associated the Oedipus complex with ‘falling in love with the mother and jealousy of the father’ (Freud in Mitchell, 2000: 61). Thus, the mother-child relationship that is depicted in Psycho is not totally indicative of the Oedipus complex, since Norman’s father is fundamentally absent. This creates an omnipotent maternal relationship between Norman and mother. Thus, the oedipal metaphor is only realised through mother’s a ttachment to Norman, an entrapment where there is no escape for Norman. The castrating Mrs. Bates is illustrated in a variety of ways. For example, she is explicitly portrayed as a rotting skeleton corpse that surveys and watches Norman from the window on the top floor of the Victorian mansion. Thus, Mrs. Bates embodies Kristeva’s notion of mother as abject, fearful object (Kristeva in Kaplan, 1992: 117). This demonstrates that Norman is somewhat trapped in the Oedipus complex and also expresses mother’s evil and apprehensive power over Norman. This also symbolises the inferior and apparently absent paternal role of the father. Mother’s dominance is also symbolised by the large, gothic, Freudian-like mansion that towers and essentially gazes down on the smaller Bates’ motel. The motel symbolises Norman, which is the location of promiscuous sexual activity. Norman is the proverbial voyeur, peeping through a tiny hole in the wall to spy on the naked bodies of his next victims. However, the walls of his office are filled with a range of stuffed birds of prey. The birds act as the voyeuristic ominous mother, featuring their piercing, threatening eyes. They have also been conveniently murdered by Norman at the precise moment of attack. This symbolises mother’s alert, observant presence and her perpetual internal attack on Norman’s psyche (Creed, 1993: 143). Furthermore, the beak of the black crow in Norman’s office is also symbolic of the evil castrating mother. The projection of the crow’s shadow and stabbing the picture on the wall is illustrative of mother’s demonic phallus. This is symbolic of mother’s phallic, castrating and devouring power (Creed, 1993: 144). These mummified birds of prey also represent the predatory castrating mother, ready to strike, where Norman and mother are voyeuristically spying on their prey. Thus, this could suggest that mother punishes Norman by forcing him to dress up as mother and kill with the phallic knife, for gaining scopophilic sexual pleasure from peering at sexually active women (Creed, 1993: 146). However, Elizabeth Bronfen suggests that the character of Norman Bates: ‘Is and is not mother, both is and is not dead, is neither masculine nor feminine, mother nor son, fetish, corpse, nor living body. Rather it is all these states amalgamated into one phantastic body, into whose presence Hitchcock has drawn us’ (Bronfen in Wells, 2000: 74). Thus, Bronfen is arguing that Norman Bates is a paradoxical character, whose psychotic behaviour as mother and the domesticated male who manages the Bates’ motel produces a character of contradictions, mystification, sudden horror and extreme rage (Wells, 2000: 76). The first instance of Norman’s sudden intense fury as the castrating mother is during the shower scene, described by Frederic Jameson as the most ‘horrific and immediate scene in motion picture history’ (Jameson in Creed, 1993: 148). The way that Bernard Herrman’s non-diegetic soundtrack functions is particularly significant to Hitchcock’s divergence from classic cinema sound conventions of placing music in the background and instead using it beneficially in the foreground (Sullivan, 2006: 244). When the shower curtain is pulled back, the non-diegetic soundtrack bursts into a violin screech bird-like sound. This high pitched screech intensifies the atmosphere and enhances the image of Norman as the castrating mother with even more phallic power and terror. Thus, the ‘beaked’ mother has arrived with her phallic knife, as a fetishistic phallic mother (Bellour in Creed, 1993: 147). Marion’s symbolically sexual enjoyment of the hot cleansing water mirrors the initial sexual intercourse scene at the beginning of Psycho. Thus, mother punishes Marion for performing unconscious sexual activity whilst in the shower (Bellour in Creed, 1993: 146-147). However, Roger Dadoun argues that the all-powerful and controlling castrating power is explicitly realised at the film’s finale. The penultimate scene occurs in the cellar. Lila has apparently discovered the location of the mummified Mrs. Bates. However, when she turns the chair around, it reveals the hideous, rotting skeleton face with piercing black holes that is essentially captured in close-up shot. Thus, Hitchcock’s cinematography illustrates mother’s devilish, castrating omnipresence, expressing her invulnerability and abject undying nature (Dadoun in Creed, 1993: 150). This also reveals Psycho’s sexist subtext of what happens to mother when she is left alone without father. This is her failure to exert appropriate moral and wise maternal authority towards Norman. When Norman attacks Lila dressed as his mother in the cellar, the camera jump cuts to a close-up shot of mother’s grinning yet lifeless skull. Thus, Norman’s attempted assault is symbolic of mother’s psychic active participation with the castrating attack. This also conforms to Norman’s schizophrenic conflict as associated with life and death: the conscious, sexually repressed mind of Norman and the psychotic, unconscious phallic power of his mother (Creed, 1993: 150). Nevertheless, the closure of Psycho confirms that Norman’s contradictory and conflicting character manifests into one defining persona, a metamorphosis into the unconscious castrating mother. Mrs. Bates’s symbolic castration of Norman strips him of all sense of patriarchal masculinity. Gorer expresses that Norman ‘carries around, as it were, encapsulated inside him, an ethical, admonitory, censorious mother (Gorer in Gant, 2006: 91). Thus, Norman essentially manifests into mother, a severe psychological disease that eventually devours and pollutes all areas of his conscious mind. When Norman-mother utters ‘It’s sad when a mother has to speak the words that condemn her own son’ (Williams, 1996: 77), it implies that mother has supernaturally internalised her evil, devouring spirit inside Norman. This signifies her spiritual and psychic possession of Norman’s mind, dominating his internal psychological structure and influencing his castrati ng behaviour. This is externally portrayed by the momentary superimposition of mother’s perturbed smile over Norman’s face. This theory of mother’s total unconscious possession of Norman is echoed by Michael Chion, suggesting that the threatening disembodied voice of mother has finally found what he labels its acousmatic (Chion in Zizek, 1992: 233-234). Thus, the abject spirit of mother has located a body, which is conveniently her son Norman. The perturbing smile from Norman-mother confirms the attachment of mother’s voice to Norman’s body. This manifests Norman into a definite Other, where the terrifying voice of mother emanating from Norman’s body creates a zombified figure. This symbolic zombie is the production of the superego. The unconscious maternal power of mother has magically entered the conscious mind of Norman. Thus, he has essentially become the unconscious castrating mother to prevent his own castration (Zizek, 1992: 234). The closure of Psycho II (dir. Richard Franklin, 1983) also indicates the dominating presence of the castrating mother. Norman murders his supposedly real mother, Norma Bates’ sister Emma Spool. He carries her upstairs acting as a substitute for Norma’s body, which was buried in a coffin at the end of Psycho. The final image is a long empowering shot of the Victorian house with a silhouette image of mother looking down at Norman as he looks up to her, waiting for the next visitors. The cloudy and thundery conditions and the chilling non-diegetic soundtrack not only create a horrifying closure; however, this also symbolically reveals a deep cultural view of American suburban mundanity, centred on the oedipal relationship between Norman and mother. Mother’s castrating presence is also portrayed by the cinematography. For instance, the dominating house and mother looking down at Norman on the left side of the frame juxtaposes with just Norman standing outside to the right side of the frame. Symbolically, Norman is still just a ‘boy,’ belittled, infantilised and essentially dominated by his watchful, castrating mother. Mother’s castrating threat is still apparent throughout the dà ©nouement of Psycho III (dir. Anthony Perkins, 1986). Upon discovering from a journalist that Emma Spool was actually Norman’s aunt who killed Norman’s father in a jealous frenzy since Norman’s mother intercepted Norman’s father, Norman, dressed as mother, was about to butcher the reporter when he instead castrated the mummified corpse of Emma Spool with his butchers knife. Norman’s sexually phallic actions psychoanalytically suggest his release of sexual energies from his repressed sexuality and liberation from his oedipal relationship with his mother. Thus, Norman is re-phallicised and his castration of mother deems patriarchy as victorious. However, this patriarchal victory is only temporary. Mother’s castrating threat is realised in the final scene where Norman is taken back to prison. In the back seat of the police car, he pulls out mother’s arm and begins stroking her hand. Simultaneously, he stares into the camera with a perturbed grin, which is a clear intertextual echo to the end of the first Psycho. Thus, this portrayal of the castrating mother is not as visually threatening as the end of Psycho and Psycho II. However, although mother has been castrated, she returns unconsciously as re-phallicised. Thus, this is still significantly suggestive of Norman’s entrapment within the Oedipus complex and his perennial psychological attachment to the castrating mother. The symbolic incestuous desire of their relationship is represented during Psycho IV: The Beginning (dir. Mick Garris, 1990). One particular scene features young Norman Bates and mother on a hot summer’s night. Mother suddenly asks Norman to block her with skin oil. She instructs Norman to begin at the legs and slowly work his way up. This is symbolically sexually stimulating for mother as she receives satisfaction, releasing repressed sexual gratifications. Unexpectedly, she pushes Norman to the floor and they frolic and roll around together. Whilst this may denote innocent adolescent love, mother’s actions connote her sexual domination of Norman. Thus, mother is unconsciously using and imagining Norman as her fantasised boyfriend or sexual ‘toy boy.’ Her sexual desires also correspond with Freud’s theory of ‘mother-in-love-action,’ an illustration of an incestuous perversion of normal instinct (Freud in Kaplan, 1992: 115). However, mother’s unconscious incestuous sexual desires for Norman are disrupted when Norman is inadvertently lying on top of his mother, positioned symbolically for sexual intercourse. This phallically stimulates Norman. At the point of incest, mother is immediately angry and recognises his erection. Thus, she instantly acts to castrate Norman by forcing him to wear her clothes, putting on her make-up, claiming that his phallus is restricted only to urination and calls him Norma. This is the ultimate masculine insult, symptomatic of mother’s castrating control and dominance over Norman. However, the narrative closure of Psycho IV: The Beginning signifies the psychoanalytic significance of the American dream. The finale begins in an unsettling fashion when Norman instructs his fiancà © Fran to meet him at his mother’s house. Norman’s castrating thoughts return as he threatens to stab her because he wishes not to become a father. In the cellar, Norman attempts to kill Fran with his phallic knife. However, for the very first time, his conscious feelings of love and compassion overpower his unconscious thoughts of the menacing evil mother. Norman eventually relinquishes the knife and hugs Fran, confirming his personal liberation from his castrating mother. Nevertheless, Norman is determined to completely exorcise his castrating mother. Thus, he decides to burn the old Victorian house. He manages to escape and utters â€Å"I am free.† His new heterosexual relationship with Fran not only signifies the American Dream and a new chapter in Norman’s life, it also conforms to the positive new equilibrium associated with classical narrative cinema (Blandford et al, 2001: 47), an uplifting resolution from his oedipal anxieties. This sense of positivity is finally confirmed with a baby’s scream, a crucial aural signifier that expresses a new era in Norman’s life. This new relationship liberates Norman from the spirit of his dominating, castrating mother. Thus, the closure of Psycho IV: The Beginning represents Kristeva’s statement where ‘that other sex, the feminine, becomes synonymous with a radical evil that is to be suppressed’ (Kristeva in Kaplan, 1992: 117). Kristeva’s notion of the suppressed feminine evil monster applies to the closure of Psycho IV: The Beginning as the evil mother is ultimately suppressed to the unconscious. The fact that Norman burned the house symbolically sentenced mother to an eternal imprisonment in the evil depths of hell. Patriarchal masculinity is finally restored and paternalism is also victorious over motherhood. Thus, Norman has fundamentally become the one entity that has been absent throughout the entire Psycho series: a father. Although the central figure of evil in Halloween (dir. John Carpenter, 1978) is the implied male monster Michael Myers, Steve Neale argues that Myers is also unconsciously indicative of the castrating mother, reasserting the fantasy of the mother-child relationship. However, the concrete absence of the maternal figure throughout Halloween’s opening sequence suggests that the relationship between Michael and mother is essentially fragmented. This sense of detachment manifests the image of mother into an unconscious object of threat and menace (Neale in Grant, 1996: 345). Thus, the horrific symbolic image of the mother is inherently internalised into Michael as he has been endowed with castrating supremacy. This positions the infantile Michael as an overtly aggressive and all-powerful slasher, modelling is new omnipotence from his mother. Myers’ image as unconscious castrating mother mirrors the character of Norman Bates, due to his phallicisation with the butcher’ s knife to prevent his own castration. Thus, Michael’s castrating and phallic power originates from the locus of all abject phallic power, the castrating mother. The alien mother in Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979) is portrayed as the dehumanised castrating mother. The metaphor of the ‘mother alien’ inscribed into the alien has the indiscriminating killing power of destroying humanity and producing alien offspring (Creed, 1993: 22). This castrating power is apparent when Dallas experiences the alien in the womb-like air corridors, where the alien’s razor-sharp teeth and oceanic, over-domination, creates an ‘all-incorporating’ phallic, fetishistic power; a metaphor of the all-dominant mother. The mother is also portrayed by the life-support voice of the Nostromo ‘mother’ ship and appropriately ignores Ripley’s instructions of deactivating the ship’s self-destruct system, during the climax. This results in Ripley shouting at mother saying ‘mother, you bitch!’ (Kavanagh in Kuhn, 1990: 76-77). Thus, the mother figure that is signified through the images of the alien and compu ter voice represents a deviant, mechanised and somewhat evil castrating figure that is devoid of humanised emotions. In A Nightmare on Elm Street (dir. Wes Craven, 1984), Marge Thompson acts as the castrating mother, where upon participating in the burning of the child murderer Freddie Krueger, she stole and is now the owner of Krueger’s metallic fingered glove. Marge is symbolically phallicised and has thus castrated Krueger. Marge also infantilises and somewhat castrates her daughter Nancy by providing her with warm milk, ironic tender mother care and also imprisons Nancy and herself in their house, placing iron bars across the windows and front door. This connotes a possessive maternal relationship between mother and daughter (Genter, 2006: 3). During the dà ©nouement of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Krueger castrates Marge and she is subsequently transformed into a corpse that descends symbolically into the unconscious. Moreover, the mummified carcass of Leatherface’s mother is symbolically positioned as a threatening castrating presence, crowned on the chair at the family’s house in Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part II (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1986). The tombstone of Judith Myers also acts metaphorically as an abject dead corpse, after her murder by her brother Michael Myers in Halloween (Genter, 2006: 3). The male monster throughout the Friday the 13th series is the psychotic madman named Jason Voorhees. However, the slasher in Friday the 13th Part I (dir. Sean S. Cunningham, 1980) is his mother Mrs. Voorhees, where Jason is permanently psychically attached to his castrating mother. Richard Genter states that Mrs. Voorhees is the embodiment of traditional Freudian psychoanalysis in Friday the 13th Part I. For instance, she alleviates her own penis envy through phallicising herself with various phallic weapons such as screwdrivers and a butcher’s knife. She also suppresses her own acceptance of losing her son Jason by allowing his spirit to speak to her through her mouth (Genter, 2006: 4). However, the representation of Jason’s deceased and castrating mother Mrs. Voorhees is depicted in an abject horrifying manner in Friday the 13th Part II (dir. Steve Miner, 1981). When Ginny is being chased by Jason and approaches his lair, the non-diegetic piano refrained soundtrack is disconcerting and eerie. Thus, the soundtrack enhances the representation of the isolated, derelict and death-like rural hut as the central location of unconscious threat and terror. When Ginny arrives at the hut in an attempt to escape from the slasher, she inadvertently arrives in an area far more terrifying. The image of the decaying head of Jason’s castrating mother is symbolically illustrated as a shrine, with Mrs. Voorhees’s head depicting an unholy object of abjection and evil, surrounded by candles. This demonstrates the demonic castrating power of Mrs. Voorhees. When Ginny slashes Jason on his shoulder with the machete, she perceives that he is dead. However, his dramatic crash through the window at the film’s closure not only restores Jason’s patriarchal masculinity, but also indicates a symbolic victory for the castrating mother. This is highlighted by the final close-up shot of Mrs. Voorhees’ putrid head, revealing her subliminally active and castrating participation. Thus, this is also an allusion to the revengeful castrating spirit of Mrs. Bates, the quintessential castrating abject mother (Genter, 2006: 4). The Final Girl The woman is also portrayed as castrator in the American slasher film as the Final Girl. She is denoted as the female survivor who usually does not die. Throughout the era of the slasher film, there have been numerous Final Girls including Sally from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Marti (Hell Night), Valerie (Slumber Party Massacre), Laurie (Halloween) and Nancy (A Nightmare on Elm Street) (Humphries, 2002: 150). Reynold Humphries explains that one theory suggesting her invariable survival from the menacing slasher is because she is asexual and not sexually active (Humphries, 2002: 150). Marti, the female sole survivor in Hell Night (dir. Tom DeSimone, 1981) has a high degree of feminine honour and is also a car mechanic that connotes her as a masculine female. This is juxtaposed by one of the sexually active females who actually invites the slasher to kill her, where the victim’s promiscuity is denoted by her erotic lingerie (Clover, 1992: 151). Thus, she is positioned as masochistic. The victim’s masochism is signified by her symbolic orgasmic screech. This aural diegetic element not only demonstrates her submission to unconscious fantasies of pain and torment; it also reveals the occurrence of the slasher’s sexual sadistic attack, where the adolescent male spectator engages in sadistic-voyeuristic participation. Thus, through her masochistic depiction, she is also the misogynistic object of the slasher’s sadistic-voyeuristic gaze, encouraging his phallic threat (Chion in Conrich and Woods, 2004: 58). While it is clearly the sexually active females who are murdered, the Final Girl is also subject to misogyny by being chased, stalked and even injured by the slasher. Thus, although the Final Girl survives the slasher’s murderous rampage, it could be argued that the Final Girl’s emotional victimisation and her embodiment of abject terror towards the slasher is just as misogynistic as the death of the promiscuous women (Clover, 1992: 35). However, the Final Girl’s victory over the slasher indicates a triumph for feminism. This could be coded as masculine, where the slasher’s inability and lack of masculine determination to kill the final female throughout the dà ©nouement depicts the slasher has castrated and somewhat feminised. This is due to the Final Girl’s courage to survive the slasher’s onslaught. Her implied masculinity is also indicated by her boyish name such as Stevie, Marti, Laurie, Stretch and Max (Clover, 1992: 40). Thus, the Final Girl’s masculinised nature could also be symptomatic of the male spectator identifying with the Final Girl’s masculinity. This is due to the male audience’s unconscious refusal of accepting the social stereotypical view of passive, inferior females and active, responsible males. Rather, the adolescent male spectator is diverging from the sadistic-voyeuristic relationship between the slasher and male viewer, participating with the Final Girl in a desirable shared experience of masculinity and self-importance (Clover, 1992: 151-152). An example of the Final Girl’s implicit masculinity is Alice’s heroism during the finale of Friday the 13th Part I. Although Alice is traditionally a feminised name, her symbolic castration of the castrating mother Mrs. Voorhees could be coded as a masculine victory. She is phallicised through being armed with the phallic pick axe and decapitates the mother, punishing her as the conscious mass murderer and unconsciously for acting in a masculine fashion. Thus, these actions could be symptomatic of masculinity, especially as afterwards Alice returns to her usual role in society as a typical feminine female (Clover, 1992: 152). Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street also conforms to the masculinised Final Girl. She acquires the ‘active investigating gaze,’ searching for the killer Freddy Krueger with initial trepidation and ultimately bringing him aggressively back into reality, where she can castrate Krueger at the films finale (Clover, 1992: 48). The dà ©nouement of A Nightmare on Elm Street begins when Nancy sets various phallic booby traps around her house for Krueger. These include a sledgehammer that she ties to the door, so that when Krueger opens it, the phallic hammer will symbolically castrate him. She has her alarm set to go off at a particular point and envisages that in her dream, she can successfully bring Krueger back into reality and ultimately kill the slasher. Whilst in her dream, she acquires the active investigating gaze of the Final Girl, searching for Krueger in his boiler room. Although primarily the subjective cinematography indicates Krueger’s omnipresence, her locating gaze signifies focus and determination. Eventually she discovers Krueger and with only seconds remaining until the alarm goes off; she expresses no fear and launches herself on him in an animalistic fashion. This symbolically releases her sexually repressed desires on Krueger, as she manages to transfer him from the unconscious b ack into reality. Once Krueger returns to reality, the chase begins between Nancy and Krueger. However, he is struck in the lower abdomen by the sledgehammer, acting as symbolic castration. Nevertheless, she finally castrates Krueger by not being terrified and denying his existence. However, Krueger still attempts to butcher Nancy. He is unsuccessful and instantly disintegrates, symbolically returning to the depths of the unconscious. Thus, the active investigating gaze emitting from the Final Girl contravenes the characterisation of the typical male gaze and manifests it into an active female gaze. This also flouts the notion from traditional cinema that it is not the man that maintains narrative direction and pace; it is the Final Girl who drives the narrative resolution to its cathartic new equilibrium (Mulvey in Clover, 1992: 60). However, the slasher invariably returns as re-phallicised and masculinised at the film’s closure. Thus, the Final Girl’s victory is only temporary. Either the slasher returns in the sequel and is unsuccessful in killing the Final Girl such as the survival of Laurie in Halloween II (dir. Rick Rosenthal, 1981) or the demise of the Final Girl in another film including Alice, the Final Girl of Friday the 13th Part I, who is instantly murdered by Jason at the beginning of Friday the 13th Part II, the killing of Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part III: Dream Warriors (dir. Chuck Russell, 1987), Ripley’s death in Alien III (dir. David Fincher, 1992) and Laurie’s eventual demise in Halloween Resurrection (dir. Rick Rosenthal, 2002) (Pinedo, 1997: 86). Thus, this initially suggests that the image of the Final Girl is a positive portrayal of feminism. However, this sense of positivity is only momentary and could even be symptomatic that her emotional and physical misogyny is no less misogynistic than the victimisation of the sexually promiscuous females. This may also state that it does not matter whether you are promiscuous or asexual; you are still eventually going to be subjected to misogyny and ultimately murdered. However, although the Final Girl’s masculine victory is only temporary and somewhat misogynistic, her implied masculine character expresses that the female heroine symbolically manifests into the masculine hero. Thus, the equation of feminine equal’s heroine has been fundamentally replaced with hero equals masculine. For example, Ripley, the Final Girl from Alien is appropriately titled as Lieutenant. Her ability to survive and blast the Alien into space implies masculine skill, courage and determination. This demonstrates that Ripley’s victory is a triumph for feminism. However, her heroism also implicitly indicates a fundamental convergence with masculinity (Clover, 1992: 152). Ripley’s masculine character is also highlighted significantly throughout the Alien sequels. For instance, the dà ©nouement of Aliens (dir. James Cameron, 1986) begins with Ripley’s quest to kill the alien queen and locate Newt before the space station explodes. Ripley is coded as overtly masculine as the other male character is wounded and unable to fight. Her masculinity is phallicised as she is equipped with many large guns and also adopts the active investigative gaze. This indicates her determination to discover Newt and destroy the alien queen. However, after saving Newt, Ripley’s masculinity is visually emphasised in spectacular fashion during the final battle between Ripley and the alien queen. She confronts and eventually kills the alien wearing a metallic robot costume. Thus, Ripley has manifested from the implied masculinised Final Girl into an explicitly aggressive, powerful and robotised masculine hero. John Carpenter states that the killer and the Final Girl also have a symbolic sexually repressed connection (Carpenter in Clover, 1992: 49), complying with Carol Clover’s notion of a ‘shared masculinity’ (Clover, 1992: 49). However, it is clear during the dà ©nouement that the slasher’s inherent masculinity begins to diminish as the Final Girl’s masculinity, phallic threat and unfeminine behaviour increases. The complete phallicisation of the survivor is when the horror of the slasher ceases to exist, with a cathartic closure. For example, Stretch, the Final Girl from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre II escapes from the evil maniacs of Saw, Knife and Hammer. The concluding battle between Stretch and the final antagonist ensues only momentarily as she tears open his lower abdomen with her chain saw and throws him off the cliff’s edge. Thus, Stretch acquires potent phallic masculinity acting as an explicit form of castration to the antagonists (Clo ver, 1992: 49). Thus, the Final Girl’s internalised masculinity within a female body expresses a convergence between masculinity and femininity, where the identities of male and female are amalgamated into one figure. The Final Girl is unconsciously coded masculine for her active gaze and castrating thwarting strength of the slasher. This creates a phallic killer. However, she is still consciously physically feminine, which is indicated by her screaming and abject fear of the slasher (Clover, 1992: 58). Furthermore, her characteristics of masculinity and femininity create an oppositional character. For instance, she is subordinated and portrayed as vulnerable whilst being chased by the monster. However, the Final Girl is empowered by either surviving or killing the slasher. The stabbings and injuries she suffers connote her anger and frustration; however, this also simultaneously displays fear and apprehension. Thus, she is what Clover labels the ‘characterological androgyne’ (Clover, 1992: 63). She is neither entirely masculine nor feminine. She is a combination of both genders. This also partly conforms to Marc O’Day’s notion of the ‘action babe heroine’ (O’Day in Tasker, 2004: 205). Although the Final Girl is fundamentally asexual, her combination of both masculine and feminine elements mirrors the hyperbolic-heroine representations of, for example, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider (dir. Simon West, 2001) and Sarah Conner from Terminator (dir. James Cameron, 1984). This creates a symbolic masculine killer essentially emanating from a female body (O’Day in Tasker, 2004: 201, 204). Her gender during the final battle between the survivor and slasher is thus ambiguous, contradictory and continually in dynamic flux. The final conflict between the masculine Final Girl and feminised slasher is clearly a battle between two separate characters. However, Vera Dika describes the opposition between the heroine and killer as ego/id (Dika, 1987: 92). The ego demonstrates the controlled and judicious conscious mind of the female survivor and the id represents the slasher’s instinctive and unconscious desire to kill (Arrowsmith, 2001). Thus, Dika suggests that this combat between heroine and slasher is symbolically a Freudian-charged internal battle between one single self. For example, the dà ©nouement of Halloween H20 (dir. Steve Miner, 1998) features the killer Michael Myers and the Final Girl Laurie Strode. Michael and Laurie are involved in a van accident that sends the van falling off a cliff with Michael and Laurie inside. Laurie survives and Michael unfortunately lands on a tree and the van crashes onto his back. The close-up shot of Michael and Laurie stretching their hands to barely touch each other signifies the intimate convergence of the conscious ego and unconscious id. However, Laurie is armed with an axe and castrates Michael by beheading him. Thus, the Final Girl’s invariable success demonstrates the cathartic resolution of the ‘masculine’ conscious mind over the ‘feminine’ unconscious instinct. Nevertheless, if the assumption is made that the image of the masculinised Final Girl is an appropriate way of describing her gender identity, Clover also suggests that future slasher films should also feature Final Boys and Final Girls. For example, Scream (dir. Wes Craven, 1996) initiated the postmodernist cycle of the slasher film and also represents the progressive representation of the Final Girl. Sidney as the Final Girl is not only sexually attractive; she also experiences sexual intercourse with one of the killers, her boyfriend Billy. During the finale, Sidney becomes aggressively masculine and kills the other killer Stu by pushing a television on his head. She also symbolically transforms into the slasher by wearing the mask and black gown to castrate Billy with the phallic umbrella rod. Sidney ultimately castrates him when he magically resurrects and shoots him in the forehead. However, Sidney is not the only Final Girl. The television reporter Gail Weathers also survives with the Final Boys named Sheriff Dewie and Randy. This particular multiple survival pattern is intertextually echoed in future slasher films. For example Scream 2 (dir. Wes Craven, 1997) also features two Final Boys and Final Girls, where Sidney, Gail, Dewie and Cotton all survive. In Scream 3 (dir. Wes Craven, 2000), both Dewie and Gail survive along with the ultimate Final Girl Sidney. Ray and Julie survive in I Know What You Did Last Summer (dir. Jim Gillespie, 1997), Carla, Julie and Ray all remain alive in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (dir. Danny Cannon, 1998) and there is a Final Boy and Final Girl in Jason X (dir. James Isaac, 2001), Freddy Vs. Jason (dir. Ronny Yu, 2003), Halloween Resurrection, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (dir. Sylvain White, 2006) and the remake of Friday the 13th (dir. Marcus Nispel, 2009). Although there are two physical Final Girls in Alien Resurrection (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997), it could be argued that Ripley’s masculine portrayal symbolises one Final ‘B oy’ and Final Girl. Thus, this confirms that Clover’s suggestion of the masculine Final Girl and future Final Boys was correct. Since Scream, the slasher film has progressed within the postmodern era. There have been multiple survivors of both girls and boys. Thus, there has been a progressive explicit convergence to a masculinised vision of the final female survivor. This would seem appropriate as in order to survive, you have to be tenacious and determined not to die, which is a cultural masculine trait. The Scream trilogy also encapsulates the postmodernisation of the slasher film by breaching the generic conventions associated with the traditional slasher narrative formula (Phillips, 2005: 166). Initially, Scream features two adolescent killers named Billy and Stu instead of one chief male monster. Billy is the primary implied slasher, who is seeking revenge on Sidney because her sexually promiscuous mother had an affair with his father, which led Billy’s parent’s marriage to fragment. Billy claims that he murdered Sidney’s mother and now intends on killing Sidney to complete his vengeance. Thus, this could suggest that Sidney’s sexually active phallic mother is the central catalyst that initiates the unsettling relationship between Sidney and Billy, and also influences the psychotic behaviour of Billy, which reaches terrifying heights at the film’s closure. Another example of the postmodern fashion of Scream is the sadomasochistic representation of the two teenage slashers (Genter, 2006: 11). Throughout the finale, Billy and Stu stab and symbolically castrate each other to provide the impression that it was Sidney’s father who victimised them in a violent and bloody attack. However, their unconscious sadomasochistic desires overthrow their conscious commitment of surviving and not losing copious amounts of blood. Rather than the archetypal portrayal of the sadistic male slasher, Billy and Stu are collectively the postmodern emblem of not just experiencing pleasure when stabbing other individuals; they are also slashers that are victims of their own castration and masochistic fantasies of torture and self-suffering. Thus, the masochistic position and the castrating threat of the sexually promiscuous female has fundamentally shifted to the sadomasochistic and self-castrating postmodern slasher. Another exemplary example of the progressive and postmodern representation of the Final Girl is depicted throughout the climax of Scream 3. Although Scream demonstrates Sidney’s aggressive and phallic power when she metaphorically becomes the slasher and castrates both Billy and Stu, her portrayal during the closure of Scream 3 is far more visually significant. It is realised during the dà ©nouement of Scream 3 that the slasher is discovered as Sidney’s brother Roman, claiming to be disowned by Sidney’s mother. When she initially shot Rowan after tricking him to believe that she only possessed one gun, Sidney only shot him in the chest. It was later revealed that he was wearing a bulletproof vest. Thus, because of Roman’s survival, the fight continues between Roman and Sidney. Just as it seems that Sidney is going to castrate Roman with her phallic knife, he shoots her twice. Nonetheless, he only shoots her in the chest. When Rowan believes that Sidney is dead, his celebration is interrupted by the other two survivors, Gail and Dewie. However, when he stares back at the fallen Sidney, she has mysteriously disappeared. Thus, this empowers the position of Sidney and subordinates the role of Roman, who is now the object of Sidney’s and the male spectator’s sadistic-voyeuristic gaze. Sidney has now symbolically manifested into the all-powerful castrating masculine slasher and Rowan is now the feminised victim. The cinematography also indicates the castrating power of Sidney by presenting a close-up shot of Sidney’s hand slowly grabbing another phallic knife. She ultimately castrates Roman by stabbing him numerous times and once more in the heart. She reveals to Roman that she tenaciously acted in reciprocal preservation by also wearing a bulletproof vest when she was shot twice in the chest by Roman. Sidney’s hyperbolic and symbolic and transformation into the phallic, castrating slasher implies an amalgamation of the character types of the Final Girl and male slasher. However, this may also indicate the unconscious maternal presence of the monstrous castrating mother. This is where the deceased and ultra liberated spirit of Sidney’s active phallic mother Maureen Prescott becomes internalised in Sidney’s psyche, which influences her castrating and evil behaviour over Rowan. Thus, Sidney as a blend of Final Girl and castrating mother represents a powerful postmodern representation of the female masculine survivor. This injection of the castrating mother is also a revolutionary way of portraying feminine masculinity in order to provide a positive, cathartic and essentially closed narrative closure. Thus, unlike the ending of the vast majority of slasher films, the slasher has finally departed. Thus, the postmodern slasher film depicts a progressive portrayal of the Final Girl with the addition of Final Boy(s) and the Final Girl. Her masculine and phallic power is further emphasised by the sadomasochistic, feminine slasher and is also enhanced by amalgamating her masculine aspects with the unconscious castrating mother-slasher. Conclusion In conclusion, this psychoanalytic-feminist critique of the American slasher film demonstrates that the woman is not the masochistic, castrated victim and object of the sadistic, patriarchal slasher’s and male spectator’s voyeuristic, predatory gaze. The woman is fundamentally positioned as a powerful castrating entity and this is illustrated by the dominating image of the castrating mother and the masculinised hero known as the Final Girl. Thus, this demonstrates that the representation of the castrating mother and Final Girl in the slasher film contravenes the widespread notion of the victimised and castrated female in the modern American horror film and portrays the woman as castrator. However, this notion of woman as castrator is essentially contradicted by the devious and conniving nature of the patriarchal unconscious. The image of the castrating mother reveals a profound ‘dark side’ of the patriarchal unconscious (Creed, 1993: 165-166). This is where patriarchy represents an intense unconscious fear of the phallic mother. The slasher film responds to this unconscious patriarchal peril by abjectifying the woman in a misogynistic fashion as the ‘monstrous-feminine,’ in order to maintain patriarchal power and restore the patriarchal unconscious (Creed, 1993: 166). The patriarchal unconscious relating to the Final Girl is centred on gender power warfare between the male slasher and Final Girl throughout the archetypal slasher film. The patriarchal dominance of the slasher is portrayed at the beginning of the film, which is usually governed by an unconscious maternal, castrating menace. However, during the dà ©nouement, the patriarchal masculinity and symbolic castrating maternal power of the slasher fundamentally shifts to the Final Girl. She is represented symbolically as the male castrating Other; phallicised and masculinised through her investigative and active masculine gaze and competent and successful use of various phallic weapons to either survive or ‘kill’ the slasher herself. However, the male slasher’s patriarchal superiority is restored at the film’s finale. Although the Final Girl’s ego castrates the slasher’s id and subliminally indicates a feminist triumph, her victory is only momentary. The patriarchal unconscious is ultimately re-established at the film’s closure when the slasher magically returns from the unconscious as re-phallicised and reveals his devilish terror and masculine dominance. The Final Girl is thus represented as the terrified feminine female once again. Thus, the castrating mother and Final Girl throughout the slasher film may essentially express the woman as castrator. However, lurking underneath these powerfully castrating images is the deceitful notion of the patriarchal unconscious; centred on subordinating feminism by ultimately restoring patriarchy as a symbolic misogynistic counterattack and anti-feminist backlash to the phallic threat of the castrating mother and Final Girl. Bibliography Arrowsmith, A (2001) Critical Concepts some literary/cultural theory keywords. Available at: http://royal-holloway.org.uk/ltsn/english/events/past/staffs/Holland_Arrowsmith/Critical%20Concepts%20edit.htm. Date accessed: 2nd March 2009. Blandford, S et al (2001) The Film Studies Dictionary (London: Hodder) Chandler, D (2000) ‘Notes on The Gaze: Laura Mulvey on film spectatorship.’ Available at: . Date accessed: 23rd April, 2009. Clover, J.C (1992) Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (London: BFI) Conrich, I and Woods, D (2004) The Cinema of John Carpenter: the technique of terror (London: Wallflower Press) Creed, B (1993) The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (London: Routledge) Dika, V ‘The Stalker Film, 1978-81’ in Waller, A.G (1987) American Horrors: Essays on the modern American horror film (Chicago: University of Illinois Press) Gant, C.M (2006) Hollywood genres and post-war America: Masculinity, Family and Nation in Popular Movies and Film Noir (London: I.B. Tauris) Genter, R (2006) ‘Imagining murderous mothers: male spectatorship and the American slasher film.’ Available at . Date accessed: 2nd April, 2009. Hayward, S (2000) Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts 2nd Edition (Oxon: Routledge) Humphries, R (2002) The American Horror Film: An Introduction (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press) Jancovich, M (1992) Horror (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd) Kaplan, A.E (1992) Motherhood and Representation: The Mother in Popular Culture and Melodrama (London: Routledge) Kavanagh, H. J ‘Feminism, Humanism and Science in Alien’ in Kuhn, A (1990) Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema (London: Verso) Modleski, T (2005) The women who knew too much 2nd edition: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory (Oxon: Routledge) Mitchell, J (2000) Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis (London: Penguin Books Ltd) Neale, S ‘Halloween: Suspense, Aggression and the Look’ in Grant, K.B (1996) Planks of reason: Essays on the Horror Film (London: Scarecrow Press) O’Day, M ‘Beauty in Motion: Gender, spectacle and action babe cinema’ in Tasker, Y (2004) Action and Adventure Cinema (Oxon: Routledge) Pinedo, C.I (1997) Recreational Terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing (Albany: State University of New York Press) Phillips, R.K (2005) Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture (Westport: Praeger) Rockoff, A (2002) Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978-1986 (London: McFarland Company Inc) Schneider, J.S (2004) Horror film and Psychoanalysis: Freud’s worst nightmare (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) Sullivan, J (2006) Hitchcock’s Music (London: Yale University Press) Waller, A.G (1987) American Horrors: Essays on the modern American horror film (Chicago: University of Illinois Press) Wells, P (2000) The Horror Genre: From Beelzebub to Blair Witch (London: Wallflower Publishing) Williams, L ‘Film Bodies: gender, genre and excess’ in Grant, B.K (2004) Film Genre Reader 3rd Edition (Austin: University of Texas Press) Williams, T (1996) Hearths of Darkness: The Family in the American Horror Film (London: Associated University Press) Wood, R (2002) Hitchcock’s Film’s Revisited: Revised Edition (New York: Columbia University Press) Zizek, S (1992) Everything you’ve always wanted to know about Lacan: But were afraid to ask Hitchcock (London: Verso) Research Papers on Psychoanalytic-Feminist Study of American Slasher FilmWhere Wild and West MeetHip-Hop is ArtAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyMind TravelEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionThe Fifth HorsemanResearch Process Part One

Fires of Jubilee Part One Essays

Fires of Jubilee Part One Essays Fires of Jubilee Part One Essay Fires of Jubilee Part One Essay When reading part one of Fires of Jubilee, there was a lot of things that stood out to me and had me thinking. The first thing that stood out to me was that Nat’s mother tried to kill him when he was a baby because she didn’t want him to grow up a slave. She didn’t want him to grow up in such a harsh environment and be treated poorly all his life and didn’t want to see those things happening to her own child. When everyone started recognizing that Nat was very bright for his age and that he could recall things that happened before he was born was when I started to really get into the book. I also thought it was crazy that he could read and write because no one recalls someone teaching him his letters and how to read. I don’t see why Nat’s father left behind him and his mother but I can see why he escaped to the north to not be enslaved by the white man anymore. When Samuel would use Christianity to scare the slaves into obedience and I though t that was a captivating spot in the chapter. Most southerners were very religious and dedicated Christians. The main thought that slave owners would try and scare slaves with was that God was supreme and allows slavery because whites are superior to blacks. Lazy slaves and ones who questioned would burn in hell for eternity, and even thinking about escaping was the work of the devil. To me, this was something i read over a few times because these owners were so worried about them running away and escaping that they would turn around the word of God and use it in such a twisted way just to scare people into staying and not running away to their freedom. The point that the author is trying to get across is that the life of African slaves was very hard. They were living a good life in the homeland just doing what they could to strive in that land until the white man came and starting taking all of them by force. In Nats instance, he was born into slavery so he didn’t have to go throug :

Promoting School Support Throughout Your Community

Promoting School Support Throughout Your Community Every school would benefit from increased community support. Research has proven that schools with a greater support system thrive compared to those who do not have such support. School support comes from a variety of places both internally and externally. An effective school leader will leverage a variety of strategies to get the entire community to support the school. The following strategies are designed to promote your school and gain more community support from a variety of stakeholder groups. Write a Weekly Newspaper Column How: It will highlight the school’s successes, focus on individual teacher’s efforts, and give student recognition. It will also deal with challenges that the school is facing and needs that it has. Why: Writing the newspaper column will allow the public the opportunity to see what is going on within the school on a weekly basis. It will allow them the opportunity to see both the successes and obstacles that the school is facing. Have a Monthly Open House/Game Night How: Every third Thursday night of each month from 6-7 p.m., have an open house/game night. Each teacher will design games or activities geared towards the particular subject area they are teaching at the time. Parents and students and students will be invited to come in and participate in the activities together. Why: This will allow parents the opportunity to come into their children’s classroom, visit with their teachers, and participate in activities about subject areas that they are currently learning. It will allow them to be more actively involved in their children’s education and allow them to have more communication with their teachers.​ Thursday Lunch With the Parents How: Each Thursday a group of 10 parents will be invited to eat lunch with the principal. They will have lunch in a conference room and talk about issues that are current with the school. Why: This allows parents the opportunity to become comfortable with the principal and to express both concerns and positives about the school. It also allows the school to be more personalized and gives them the opportunity to provide input. Implement a Greeter Program How: Each nine weeks students will be selected to participate in the greeter program. There will be two students greeting per class period. Those students will greet all visitors at the door, walk them to the office, and assist them as needed. Why: This program will make visitors seem more welcomed. It will also allow the school to have a more friendly and personalized environment. Good first impressions are important. With friendly greeters at the door, most people will come away with a good first impression. Have Monthly Potluck Lunch How: Each month the teachers will get together and bring food for a potluck lunch. There will be doors prizes at each of these lunches. Teachers are free to socialize with other teachers and staff while enjoying good food. Why: This will allow the staff to sit down together once a month and relax while they eat. It will provide an opportunity for relationships and friendships to develop. It will provide time for the staff to pull together and have some fun. Recognize Teacher of the Month How: Each month, recognize a special teacher. The teacher of the month will be voted on by the faculty. Each teacher who wins the award will receive recognition in the paper, their own personal parking space for the month, a $50 gift card to the mall, and a $25 gift card for a nice restaurant. Why: This will allow individual teachers to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to education. It will mean more to that individual since they were voted on by their peers. It will allow that teacher to feel good about themselves and the jobs that they are doing. Conduct a Yearly Business Fair How: Every April, invite several businesses in the community to participate in the annual business fair. The entire school will spend a few hours learning important things about those businesses such as what they do, how many people work there, and what skills are needed to work there. Why: This allows the business community the opportunity to come to the school and show kids what all they do. It also allows the business community the opportunity to be a part of the students’ education. It provides the students with opportunities to see if they are interested in working a particular business. Presentation by Business Professionals for Students How: About every two months guests from within the community will be invited to discuss the how’s and what’s of their particular career. People will be chosen so that their particular career relates to a specific subject area. For example, a geologist might speak in the science class or a news anchor might speak in a language arts class. Why: This allows businessmen and women from the community the opportunity to share what their career is all about with the students. It allows the students to see a variety of possible career choices, asks questions, and find out interesting things about various careers. Begin a Volunteer Reading Program How: Ask people in the community who would like to get involved with the school, but do not have children who are in school, to volunteer as part of a reading program for students with lower reading levels. The volunteers may come in as often as they wish and read books one-on-one with the students. Why: This allows people the opportunity to volunteer and get involved in the school even if they are not the parent of an individual within the school district. It also provides students the opportunity to better their reading abilities and to get to know people within the community. Start a Living History Program How: Once every three months a social studies class will be assigned an individual from the community who volunteers to be interviewed. The student will interview that person about their lives and events that have happened during their lives. The student will then write a paper about that person and give a presentation to the class over that person. The community members who have been interviewed will be invited to the classroom to hear the students’ presentations and to have a cake and ice cream party afterward. Why: This allows students the opportunity to get to know people within the community. It also allows members of the community to assist the school system and to get involved with the school. It involves people from the community that may not have been involved in the school system before.

English court hierarchy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English court hierarchy - Essay Example There are two main questions that need to be asked and answered in this case; (i) whether Edward's acceptance of David's offer is binding on David, and (ii) whether David's revocation of his offer is effective against EdwardAn offer is made when a person makes a definite promise to do or to abstain from doing something and it becomes binding when it is accepted by whom it is addressed to An offer may be either verbal and written. In this case, David's action by writing to Edward on 1st December offering to sell him a range of office supplies would constitute a written offer.An acceptance is where the offeree indicates his assent to the offer by words or conduct. The general rule is that an acceptance must be communicated to the person making the offer1. If the person making the offer prescribes the specific manner in which the acceptance must be conveyed, then the acceptance must follow such prescribed manner2. David had not indicated in his offer of the manner that the acceptance is to be conveyed and as such Edward's action of writing to David on 14 December accepting his offer would tantamount to a valid acceptance.Communication of acceptance is binding on the offeror when the acceptor puts his acceptance in a course of transmission to the offeror in such a manner that is beyond the acceptor's control. When Edward puts his acceptance letter in the post at 3.00 p.m. on 14 December, this would tantamount to an act of communicating his acceptance to David of his offer. Once the acceptance letter is in the post, it is no longer within Edward's control and the Postal Rule would be applicable in this case i.e. where acceptance by post is an appropriate and reasonable means of communication between the parties, then acceptance is complete as soon as the letter of acceptance is posted, even if the letter is delayed, destroyed or lost in the post so that it never reaches the offeror3. The postal rule applies to communications of acceptance by cable, including telegra m, but not to instantaneous modes such as telephone, telex and fax. It is submitted that acceptance by Edward of David's offer is completed upon Edward putting the acceptance letter in the post. However, the facts of the case also state that David had in fact revoked his offer to Edward by sending him a telegram at 3.00 p.m. on 14 December. A revocation is one of the ways to terminate an offer and it is the withdrawal of an offer before acceptance. The offer may be revoked by the offeror at any time until it is accepted. However, the revocation of the offer must be communicated to the offeree. Unless and until the revocation is so communicated, it is ineffective4. When David sent a telegram to Edward at 3.00 p.m. on 14 December, this would tantamount to an action of communicating the revocation of his offer to Edward in a manner that is beyond David's control and in the case of telegram, as mentioned above, the Postal Rule would also be applicable. In this case, both communication of acceptance and communication of revocation were sent at the same time and on the same date. The issue would be which of these two would prevail. It is submitted that this would depend on which communication would come to the knowledge of the intended party first. If the acceptance so communicated by Edward comes to the knowledge of David before Edward knows that David has sent a revocation notice, Edward's acceptance would be binding on David. On the other hand, if the revocation notice so communicated by David reaches Edward before David knows about the acceptance, David's revocation notice of the offer would be effective against Edward. Part III - Tort Speedy-Fit's potential liability for the injuries suffered by Jennifer, Toby and Molly would depend on whether it can be established that Speedy-Fit owes a duty to take care5 and that the injuries suffered by the victims was caused by breach of Speedy-Fit of its duty. The burden of