Construction Technology 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Construction Technology 2 - Essay Example Because the fire curves are modelled on the basis of design fires, the analysis becomes vulnerable to the difference between design fire parameters and the real fire situations that may occur. Furthermore, varying conditions and the global proliferation of standards for fire tests make it imperative that an approximate approach to different situations/standards, for structures (at sea and on land) be adopted. This work aims to analyse fire curves in terms of their vital components/features, simultaneously considering the critical levels at which these vital variables of the standard curves experience a change, with the associated consequences of such, regarding the effectiveness of fire curves at carrying out their function of fire resistance determination. A further look will be taken at the applicability of these curves at sea, with analysis involving a look at the means and extent to which these applications vary, in the approach associated with them. The level of fire resistance in structures (onshore) is generally assessed or analysed by the use of engineering fire design curves. Different types of fire curves and standards are adopted in various parts of the world. Different assumptions are also associated with these different curves. Technically speaking, fire curves are applied to determine the fire resistance rating of passive fire protection systems. This rating is a measure of the time over which a passive fire protection system can resist or withstand a standard fire protection test. Some of the most commonly used standard fire curves include the ISO-834 (BS 476 or DIN 4102), which are relevant to cellulosic structures. There are also the ASTM E119 and UL 1709(or Eurocode 1), applicable to hydrocarbon situations. Engineering design practice generally uses these curves in the context of design fire temperatures, which attempt to

Budget 1. Describe the budget process apply appropriate budgeting Essay

Budget 1. Describe the budget process apply appropriate budgeting techniques and explain its significance in the business environment - Essay Example In any organization, budgets are a representation of the future revenues and costs. The main characteristic of budgets is that they are prepared in advance and are derived from long term strategy of a company. The budgets relate to the goals and objectives of the organization and express in quantitative form, the monetary and physical units of activities. The main activities in companies include control and planning, and budgets are the centre of these activities. Budgets are crucial control systems that show estimates of expenses and revenues of a company over a certain period of time. Budgets are usually compiled and evaluated after certain periods. There can be a surplus budget when the company anticipates to get a profit, it can be balanced when the company expects the expenses to equal the revenues, or it can be deficit budgets when the expenses are expected to exceed the revenues. Budgets are usually prepared in companies based on their goals. The process of planning budgets involves preparing detailed, short-term plans for the organizations. Budgets are prepared by starting with an overall budget for the whole organization, which can then be broken down into smaller budget based on departments. The planning process involves consultations with the whole organization in order for the objectives of the company are achieved. The process of developing a master budget starts by preparing the sales budget. This is because the sales budget acts as the limiting factor in this company. This budget also affects other components of the master budget directly or indirectly. This budget shows the sales expected over a period of time. It is simply a product of the expected units of sales and the expected price per unit. This budget needs to be prepared carefully because other components of the master plan rely on it; otherwise the master budget will be ineffective for control and planning purposes. Once the sales budget has been done,

Autopsy of a Crime Scene Essay Example for Free

Autopsy of a Crime Scene Essay 1.Which technique is the best choice when blood is found at a crime scene? In the genetics laboratory (under resources at the bottom of the window), who is one individual that contributed to modern genetic analysis? What did this person contribute? I would say that analyzing the blood in a lab would be the best technique. Alec Jeffreys is known as the father of genetic profiling. He invented what is now an essential technique, especially in forensic science, called a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. 2.How are computers used in fingerprint analysis? Experts examine tiny fingerprint details known as minutiae. These may be loops, dots, forks, islands, etc. Several comparison points must be perfectly matched for two fingerprints to be considered identical. 3.Who is a pioneer in fingerprint analysis? Describe a famous case that this person was involved in. Edward Foster studied fingerprint analysis in the US and introduced it to Canada. IN1911, Foster testified as a fingerprint expert in the Jennings case. Fingerprints in the wet paint next to Mr. Hiller, the murder victim, were the only clue. Foster demonstrated to the court that the prints of Thomas Jennings, who had been arrested as he was fleeing the scene, matched those left in the paint, and Jennings was convicted. 4.What is the role of the forensic chemist in crime scene investigation? These experts analyze all chemical, organic, and inorganic aspects of a sample. They separate the components and identify them using a variety of tests and devices. Their findings are used as evidence by the investigator and in court. 5.Who helped pioneer forensic chemistry? Describe one of her famous cases. France McGill became a pathologist and teacher is Saskatchewan. When Dr. McGill examined the stomachs of an elderly couple who had died on Christmas Day, she found a large quantity of strychnine, a powerful poison, along with the bran. The murder weapon was soon identified: the two of the victims had eaten bran muffins baked by their granddaughter. She had actually intended them for her father. She was charged with murder, but later acquitted. 6.In the ballistics laboratory, what is the water tank used for? Describe the analysis. To determine whether a bullet found at the crime scene actually came from the suspects weapon, it must be compared with  another bullet from the same gun. Ballistics experts fire it into a special water tank that slows and stops the bullet so that they can collect it intact. 7.Who helped pioneer ballistics analysis? What did he contribute? Wilfrid Derome was a multitalented Quebec doctor: a medico-legal expert, toxicologist, forensic photographer, medical examiner and scientific communicator. He founded the Laboratoire de recherchà © medico-legales de Montreal, the first laboratory in North America and only the third in the world. His motto: â€Å"Never allege anything you can’t prove.† 8.Why is measuring and diagramming the scene important? A police officer makes a sketch of the scene, measuring distances using measuring tapes and a laser meter. He notes the specific location of objects, Clues, and the body. The photos of this sketch will later be used to draw an accurate plan of the site on the computer. 9.What materials or tools would a crime scene technician use? A crime scene technician would use a camera to photograph the scene, a polilight to find clues that a rent visible to the naked eye, he would make diagrams and take measurements, they would use a magna brush and some type of colored powder to make any fingerprints more visible, and anything to properly take samples with. 10.From the activity and the information it had, what aspect of an investigation do you think you’d most like to work in? For example, would you prefer one of the laboratories? What appeals to you about this particular aspect of the investigation? I think I would like to work in a lab doing ballistics examination because I like to do a lot of puzzles and I believe that in some aspects it is like a big puzzle trying to figure out which gun fired the bullets at the scene.

A Health Promotion Initiative for Smoking Cessation

A Health Promotion Initiative for Smoking Cessation Many health promotion initiatives had been undertaken everywhere. However, the most important is that such initiatives should establish certain aspects of characteristics based on best practice in order to be described as successful. This means that the initiative must be consistent with health promotion values, theories, evidence and understating of the environment (Kahan Goodstadt 2005). Although the definition of health promotion practice is broadly accepted, it is not fixed to any rigorously defined discipline, and is said to be practised by individuals in diverse organizations, trained in a multiplicity of disciplines (Boutilier et al. 2000). Generally speaking, health promotion initiatives emphasize elements of empowerment, participation, multidisciplinary collaboration, capacity building, equity and sustainable development (Judd et al. 2001). The Ottawa Charter is considered to be the backbone of any health promotion practice and it is acting as the wheel that guides all heal th professionals into an ideal and best practice of health promotion related issues. In addition, the best practice is provided through effective planning and evaluation. A working guide to help in successfully achieving the goal is by an approach focusing on the following points: identifying the issue, gaining support and forming a working group, conducting a needs assessment and get to knowing your community, developing an action plan, encouraging participation, communicating with the public through the media, implementing change, monitoring, evaluation and adjustments (NLHHP 2003). In this assay, I will critically review a health promotion initiative by comparing the characteristics of this initiative against the principles of best practice. The initiative example: (Attention: the abstract is attached at the end of the assignment). Secker-Walker, Roger H ; Flynn, Brian S. ; Solomon, Laura J. ; Skelly, Joan M. ; Dorwaldt, Anne L.; Ashikaga, Takamaru (2000) Helping Women Quit Smoking: Results of a Community Intervention Program, American Public Health Association, Inc. Volume 90(6), June 2000, pp 940-946. Smoking lends to health promotion solution: Smoking is a challenging health problem world-wide and it is considered to be the second major cause of death. It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults (WHO 2005). It is clear that smoking cessation is a priority for preventing many diseases and reducing their burden. There is a real need to expand the implementation of strategies to reduce tobacco use such as increasing the cost of cigarettes and implementing comprehensive tobacco-useprevention and cessation programs. (CDC 2003). Consequently, promoting smoking cessation can have a great impact in reducing the burden of diseases and improving the population health (Ezzati Lopez 2003). However, the health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life styles to well being (WHO 2005). As a result, a lot of efforts at different levels are needed in order to control smoking. This could be achieved well only through proper health promotion intervention. Moreover, the hea lth promotion is defined as a set of activities designed to achieve optimal health for all by monitoring and enhancing the heath of everyone and facilitating individual control over the determinants of health (Kahan Goodstadt 2005). The definition itself sounds a logical solution for the high smoking prevalence among women. This is because of that in order to solve such problem, the women themselves should be actively involved and the community should be empowered. In addition, the physical and social supportive environment should be ensured in order to maintain smoking cessation. This is only ensured through a health promotion initiative. The best way to reduce the prevalence of smoking may be to use community-wide programs because smoking behavior is determined by social context. A community approach will remain an important part of health promotion activities (Secker-Walker et al. 2002). It has been proved that health promotion initiative will encourage smoking cessation and could prevent substantial numbers of deaths in the UK (Lewis et al. 2005). Needs assessment and its accountability for population wishes: It is crucial, first of all, to identify the issue through the need assessment. This is done by collecting the necessary information that specifies the needs that are considered as priority by the community. This provides an opportunity for the community to become involved in the planning from the beginning (Territory Health Services 2005). The health needs are defined as those states, conditions or factors in the community that, if absent, will prevent people from achieving complete physical, mental and social health (Ritchie et al. 2004). In this project, the need assessment is not well conducted and the different needs were not well assessed. It is not mentioned in this article whether the community profile was analyzed or not. However, the project investigators sat with local people, conducted interviews with key informants and shared information with them. Nevertheless, the following needs could be figured out: The decline in smoking prevalence among United States women was lagging behind that of men. This necessities the need of research on strategies to accomplish smoking cessation among women. There is real womens needs for social support while quitting In addition, their need for assistance with coping with negative affect in the absence of smoking, and their concerns about weight gain following quitting. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The smoking is a major health problem that can cause death. Many community based programs have been conducted to reduce cardiovascular risk factors, including cigarette smoking. Some of these programs showed the intervention effects on smoking behavior are effective. After analyzing this article, it is obvious that the need assessment indicates that smoking reduction among women is a priority public health in United States. This is a normative need. The best practice of health promotion emphasizing the sharing of need assessment with local people in order to improve the chance of success of any intervention. In this way, the success is ensured because sharing the results of the needs assessment will raise community awareness about the issues and possible underlying causes, stimulate discussion about ways to address the issues and get the community more involved in planning and decision-making (Territory Health Services 2005). There is clear information in the article that the community members were involved in the planning and implementation of the intervention throughout the five years period. On the other hand, it is not mentioned clearly how they assess the felt needs (i.e. whether the community groups say what they want, or address the proble ms that they think are important (Territory Health Services 2005)). Nevertheless, the participatory community organization was used to plan and provide widespread support to women smokers as they tried to change their smoking behavior. The comparative and expressed needs were not assessed. Goals and objectives of the initiative: It is essential after the needs assessment is over, to set up appropriate goals and objectives. The first step in critical analysis of goal and objectives is whether these had been stated clearly. The goal of this intervention was to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among women aged 18 to 64 years old in Vermont and New Hampshire. This goal is specific, measurable, achievable and includes the nature of change expected. It will be more comprehensive if it was mentioned that it was limited to five years, which is the duration of the project and to specify the amount of smoking prevalence reduction in order to know exactly what intervention success means. However, this goal does identify the broad long term changed that was expected to be achieved ultimately (Hawe et al. 1990). The objective is not mentioned in this article. Instead they mentioned the sub-objectives. However, by analyzing the article I feel the objective should closely serve the goal. This means that achieving reduction in the smoking prevalence through a positive change in the women smoking behavior. As a result, the objective should be stated as to increase the number of serious quit attempts among women aged 18 to 64 years old in Vermont and New Hampshire by 20% for example. So the objectives will be also specific, measurable, achievable, includes the nature of change expected and time limited (SACHRU 2005). The sub-objectives were clearly mentioned. These were to increase motivation and intention to quit smoking and confidence in staying quit despite weight gain and negative affect, to increase awareness of cessation activities and to strengthen perceived norms and available support to help women quit smoking. It is known that a sub-objective should happen before the objective in the pathway and it might create a change in favour of the objective (Hawe et al. 1990). Keeping this in mind, there is a clear description task of these sub-objectives and they closely serve the objective by taking in account how to overcome womens negative feeling affect and thus create a change in the behavior. On the contrary, they were not time limited and some of them seems be difficult to be measured like increase confidence in staying quit despite weight gain and negative affect and also perceptions of norms. It is essential for any good health promotion planning to focus on underlying causes and factors that could possibly contribute or lead to the problem (Kahan Goodstadt 2005). Therefore, development of clear and organized goal and objectives based on a critical analysis of the problem in terms of contributing and risk factors is essential (Territory Health Services 2005). It is not mentioned clearly in this article about the underlying causes of or contributing factors to smoking among women. However, specific health related behavioral and environmental factors linked to smoking were mentioned. It was stated that the smoking was most prevalent among lower income class. This implicates that poverty play an important role as an underlying cause of smoking. It sound logic that one of the sub-objectives should be stated clearly to take care of improving socio-economic situation or more accurately to tackle poverty related issues. It is also mentioned that the womens concerns about weight gain following quitting act as a barrier to stop smoking. Luckily, More than one sub-objective took care of this factor. Description of the intervention: A good description of the intervention is provided in the article under specific headings. It was directed to two pairs of demographically matched counties in Vermont and New Hampshire in United States which were assessed preintervention and postintervention during the period 1989 to 1994. The project was initiated by organizing community planning groups and the program was called Breath Easy. Each countys planning group formed a coalition, and each coalition formed 5 working groups. The planning process was taken up by the local planning group along with its coalition with very little input from the investigators except for the first year. Different activities were conducted during each year after the starting of the program. In the first year, the focus was to develop support systems to help women quit smoking through individual proactive telephone peer support. During the second year, videotape showing the process of quitting smoking was produced and distributed at no cost. In the third year, free smoking cessation classes were organized with a focus on dealing with negative affect. Later, the health professionals were involved in the Breath Easy program. Also, workplaces initiatives included presentations to businesses and worksites and assistance with smoking policies were started. Moreover, there was involvement of media initiatives included newsprint and radio (Secker-Walker et al. 2000). The conceptual frame work and underlying theories and values: The conceptual framework and underlying theories are not described in details in this article. It is only mentioned that they used social cognitive theory, the transtheoretical model of behavior change, diffusion of innovation theory, and communications theory. It was stated in the article that the project intervention was based on the proven effectiveness of this type of community intervention in promoting smoking cessation among women in Smoke Free North Side study. However, as I am reading the article it becomes clearer to me how well these theories could be fit into a community based health promotion project. The five basic stages of a behavior change as identified by the transtheoretical model of behavior change are pre-contemplation, contemplation, determination or preparation, action and maintenance (Nutbeam Harris 2004). These stages could be applied to explain the change of smoking behavior among women especially ensuring maintenance through peer support. According to the social cognitive theory an individual, the environment and behavior are continuously interacting and influence each other (Nutbeam Harris 2004). This is clearly noticed in the modifications of community norms concerning women smoking. The people decision to smoke is made within a broad context and influence by the surrounding environment which shapes the health behaviors such as smoking. In addition, diffusion of innovations refers to the spread of new ideas, techniques, behaviors or products throughout a population (Ferrence 1996) and this is exactly what had happened in this project where the message of smoking cessation was spread through mass media, videos and classes. Lastly, the communications theory is also applicable to this project. The values are important things because they affect which issues we choose to address and how we are going to address them (Kahan Goodstadt 2005). The values of community intervention and development were not mentioned in this article. After literature review, it became obvious that some of these values are respect, equity, participation and meaningful process (http://www.wrha.mb.ca/howcare/commdev/). The process of community participation allows removal of inequality barrier and ensures fair distribution of resources. Moreover, respecting of local people and their involvement in determining their own health problems resulted in a positive outcome of this project. Application of Ottawa Charter action areas: There are many social factors that affect the diseases risk factors such as smoking and thus affecting the health. This includes low levels of social support and lack of personal control. These issues were well addressed in this initiative through the proper applications of Ottawa charter action areas. It is well stated that the achievement of the project objectives is through community members participation in planning and implementation. The community action is strengthened by involving local people to participate actively in order to improve their own health. The community organization is set up by forming local planning groups and from each group, the annual plans are drawn up. The supportive environment is provided through the supportive telephone communications networks which were arranged to encourage women to stop smoking. In addition, a healthy and supportive environment was ensured in workplaces, community college and high schools. Moreover, the organization of free smoking classes that focus on dealing with negative affect following quitting played an important role to maintain the quitting process. Healthy public policies were built in the community. An example is that smoking cessation policies were introduced into the workplaces. Another example was the active involvement of media which included newsprint and radio and made use of paid advertisements and thus information for quitting were available in each community. The personal skills of targeted females were developed. This was by training the female ex-smokers to provide support to current smokers to quit smoking through proactive telephone support. In addition, they were involved in the production of videos showing their own process of quitting smoking. Re-orientation of health services took place to some extent. This was by mobilizing the health workers towards focusing on smoking cessation activities rather than providing the medical care only. This was through making referrals to the telephone peer support system and they were trained in a brief smoking cessation protocol. It is quit obvious that by analyzing the interventions of the project, the Ottawa charter definition of health promotion is clear. This is because the project interventions could be understood as a process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health (WHO 2005). Evaluation: The evaluation process plays an essential role in ensuring the best achievement of any given program as it will affect the way in which the program will be conducted and the amount of effort needed (Ewles Simnett 1999). For the evaluation to be accepted, it should consist of process, impact and outcome evaluation. It is important to have the three parts otherwise it will be difficult to understand how the evaluation took place (Springett et al. 1995). The evaluation starts by evaluating the process including measuring the strategies, the activities and the quality of the project. Then, measuring the immediate effect of the project and this is called impact evaluation. At the end, it should measure the outcome or long term effect (Territory Health Services 2005). The evaluation was well planned and was well in place for this project. They used PRECEDE frame work to integrate the overall objectives of the program with the evaluation plan. This model takes into account multiple factors that determine health and quality of life and generates specific objectives and criteria for evaluation (Green Kreuter 1999). The design of the study was non-randomized with two pairs of demographically matched countries assessed peintervention and postintervension. This established a relationship between the intervention and observed outcome by comparing the situation before and after the intervention. In addition, they have set specific measurable objectives for each working group to be accomplished or initiated during the following 12 months. The stages of evaluation were done as follows: Process evaluation: Specific factors were set to evaluate predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors. These includes attitudes and beliefs towards quitting smoking, perceptions of norms and social supports, availability of smoking cessation materials and services, program recognition and media coverage. Suitable indicators were used to measure the above factors such as social support scale, measures of confidence in being able to stop smoking and confidence in being able to control weight gain after quitting smoking and measures for availability of smoking cessation resources. Impact evaluation: The impact was evaluated through a change in the smokers behavior. The indicators which were used are average daily cigarette consumption and average number of serious quit attempts. Outcome evaluation: This was evaluated by measuring the smoking prevalence among women aged 18 to 46 years old. It was found that the prevalence had declined significantly. This indicates the effectiveness of this project through achieving its main goal. Summative evaluation: It is the last step to be done and it involves considering the project as a whole, from beginning to end (SACHRU 2005). The investigators did not evaluate all different aspects of the project. However, they mentioned about strengths, limitations, response rate and their recommendations. The strengths of the study were small size and rural nature of these communities. On the other hand, the major limitations were nonrandomized design, the inclusion of only two counties in each condition, lack of prior measures of smoking prevalence in these counties and lack of ethnic diversity in the study population which limit the generalizability of the results. The overall sample size was 6436 with response rates of 89.9%. Their recommendations were that any future community interventions designed to effect reductions in smoking should place greater emphasis on the provision of a broad range of support for quitting smoking that is readily accessible to all smokers (Secker-Walker et al. 2000). Conclusion: Adoption of health promotion best practice is the only way to ensure effective and successful results of any intervention. However, this practice is not an easy mission. It requires a lot of augmentive efforts. The application of Ottawa charter and the reliance on justifying theories and values is essential. Moreover, the quality of the initiative is based on effective planning and evaluation from the initial stages. The community involvement in promoting smoking cessation was ensured in this project from the initial stages. Also, the evaluation process was proceeding well with PRECEDE framework. In conclusion, this initiative was about to be an excellent example of best practice except improper statement of objective, values behind the intervention and insufficient statement of needs assessment

Peeling Back the Label Essay -- Sociology

Have you ever heard yourself mentioned by someone else as â€Å"mature or immature?† This status is so easy to place on people that they often don’t even realize that they are slapping a label on someone. Have you ever pondered why this person is acting immature? Often people see someone do something obnoxious or stupid and their first thought is â€Å"that person is so immature.† However, what about the effects that leads up to them behaving in this manner? Within my paper I plan to broaden your viewpoint and ideology and show you that immaturity and maturity aren’t just labels, but are the results of many leading affects in a person’s life. The first idea we want to look at would be, â€Å"what does maturity or immaturity really mean and what all does it involve? Maturity and immaturity are only two parts, and the most commonly heard, however there is a third aspect; pseudomaturity. According to the International Journal Of Behavioral Development, pseudomaturity is an attained social maturity without the psychological maturity. Drug abuse can be categorized in the pseudomature area because people who become addicted to drugs do it to look cool, or fit in, not because it is a better way to understand themselves or because is it healthy for them. Maturity is often used to define someone, or their actions, instead of themselves. A teen graciously takes over watching her little siblings without being asked and her Mom instantly praises her with, â€Å"sweetheart, you are becoming so mature these days.† This type of labeling is becoming so common in our culture, because parents throw the word out and the teen comes to connect the word mature with their actions. Maturity in actual reality is not whether you perform a task correctly or what you did, but... ...o, David, Seung Hee Yoo, and Johnny Fontaine. "Hypocrisy Or Maturity? Culture And Context Differentiation." European Journal Of Personality 23.3 (2009): 251-264. PsycINFO. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. NIV Bible Rutger C. M. E. Engels, et al. "Parent-Child Relationships, Partner Relationships, And Emotional Adjustment: A Birth-To-Maturity Prospective Study." Developmental Psychology 43.2 (2007): 429-437. PsycARTICLES. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. S. Alexandra Burt, et al. "Genetic And Environmental Influences On Personality Trait Stability And Growth During The Transition To Adulthood: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study." Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology 100.3 (2011): 545-556. PsycARTICLES. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. Wim H. J. Meeus, et al. "Maturation Of Personality In Adolescence." Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology 96.4 (2009): 898-912. PsycARTICLES. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

Minstrels :: essays research papers

Minstrels   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Minstrels, or traveling thespians, thrived throughout Europe in medieval times. The term minstrel referred to a professional entertainer of any kind from the 12th century to the 17th century. Minstrels were instrumentalist, but were also often jugglers, acrobats, and storytellers. Although minstrels no longer exist, they played an important role in medieval history and, at one time, could be found, in one form or another, throughout the entire continent of Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Different countries had different names for minstrels. In Germany, they were called minnesingers. In France, they were known as troubadours and joungleurs. The Scandinavian minstrels were called skalds. The Irish called their minstrels bards, while the English minstrels were referred to as scops.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Minstrels were primarily singers and musicians. These wandering performers were also story tellers, jugglers, clowns, and tumblers. Often minstrels were an important part of prominent house holds providing entertainment for the upper class of society. Those minstrels who were not part of a noble's homestead, traveled from town to town providing entertainment not only to noble classes but also to common village folk as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were not many forms of entertainment, nor was there a means for people to learn about news events. There was no television or radio in medieval times. Even books were very scarce. Minstrels served to entertain the public. They made up songs, stories, and repeated ballads and folk tales popular during this time. Traveling from town to town minstrels were also a source of news. This would share information with the townspeople of the village. The townspeople would share this news with the minstrels who would then share this news with the townspeople in the next village in which they performed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each country in medieval Europe had their own type of minstrel. Each, while similar in their general role of entertainer, they were different in many ways. Troubadour's, French minstrels, flourished in from the 11th century through the 13th century. Troubadours were found in the southern part of France. The troubadours were among the first minstrels to use their native tongue rather than Latin. The Latin language was considered the literary language of the middle ages. There were approximately 400 troubadours who were known to have lived. The majority of them were nobles and some were even kings (Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Originally troubadours sang their poems, later they were accompanied by jongleurs who played musical instruments. The musical instruments the jongleurs played were the fiddle and the lute. The subject of their songs were based on topics such as love ,politics, religion, war, and death. Approximately 400 melodies and 4000 poems have been preserved from medieval troubadours (Microsoft

How Typical Are X Factor and Csi of Their Genres?

Genre is a way of classifying and then categorising a particular text, they are made up of their own codes and conventions for example narrative, characters and themes which standardise the way in which a story is told. X Factor and CSI have all been huge successes in their own respective genres and this essay will study how conventional these texts are to their genre and how this effects their audience. X Factor is a reality TV programme which attempts to turn an ordinary person into a pop star through its talent contest narrative.It relates to the ‘American Dream’ ideology in the way that it can turn people’s lives from ‘rags to riches’. A conventional representation of reality TV would feature very ordinary people and often trying to make their lives better, or to fix their problems, and then other conventions are more specific to narrative, for example in this case the conventions of a talent show is a high production value which includes viewing luxuries such a flashy lights, extravagant camera angles (such as Birdseye), special effects, and celebrities. The X Factor is no different and seems to embed all these values associated with reality talent shows.However, the X Factor started back in 2004 and has influenced the typical representation of other talent shows ever since, so this would include the Two Step Flow theory as the X Factor has acted as an opinion leader, and has set down the modern conventions for reality talent shows. X Factor has clear intertextuality with more early talent shows such as opportunity knocks. Although the main and considerable difference nowadays is the increased production values and technology, there are also conventions across the two that can be linked.For example the use of a presenter, Hughie Green for opportunity knocks and Dermot O’Leary for the X Factor. Also, the public voting system, opportunity knocks was the original and first talent show to use this method of voting as opp ose to having a panel of ‘experts’ or music celebrities. X Factor also has this same public voting system which connotes them to be using typical and previously used conventions in order to attract audience. A talent show relies specifically on audience is order to be a success. The contestants of the show are mainly battling for fame and fortune, and therefore publicity.If there is no publicity or interest from an audience, then the show is redundant. The X Factor certainly lives up to this typical feature of talent shows, as it has pulled in an average of 8. 4 million viewers in 2012, and although that is a considerable decrease from its earlier years, it is still sufficient for the advancement of the show. However, the X Factor produces much controversy and therefore more media attention. For example, very recently there has been an article in the Daily Mail discussing an incident where a producer whispered in Louis Walsh’s ear just as he was about to make his vote.His vote was then very unpredicted and controversial causing outrage to the British public. Such articles and outrage to the X Factor, fuels and benefits the show and puts the X Factor in the spotlight. This relates to Social Integration, as people would start watching X Factor to see what all the controversy is about, and to feel up to date with the social media trends. All of this results in increased X Factor ratings. CSI has a thriller type genre, with the main focus on crime and police procedural elements.Within the crime genre there is always a focus on gathering clues, in modern crime this is viewed as a chase as evidence deteriorates. This has overrun the typical convention of the car chase although this is still used to provide nostalgia the resemblance between the two is symbolic of fast changing crime. This is a form of iconography in CSI where there is a chase to gather and process evidence to solve the crime and restore order. The iconic image of the police which remains constant throughout the genre is one of evidence gathering, uniform, fast cars, hard work, and the criminal underclass all feature in the crime genre.Vladimir Propp’s narrative theory can be applied to CSI and most other crime investigation programmes as it is standard within the crime genre. The main focus is on the ‘attempt to repair disruption’ and almost every episode ends with the resolution which connotes the programme to have a closed narrative, as the audience are always anticipating that the police beat the crime, and the ‘good guys’ win. It enables channels to fulfil their Public service Broadcasting (PSB) remit whilst not committing to commoditisation, therefore maintaining the realistic aspect which the genre relies upon.The use of an ensemble cast/recurring list of characters allows the programme to maintain a set structure, some characters appear in all episodes such as Nick Stokes in CSI, allowing the audience to gather ‘ evidence’ on the characters and depict their lifestyles. The focus of the audience is maintained on a main character either from episode to episode or series to series. Understanding the main character is key to the crime genre as it helps the audience to understand the programmes and themes. Characters often reflect the characteristics or expectations of the audience and develop with time.As previously mentioned, the crime genre has many realism conventions, and CSI is no different. The use of lighting is often low key and natural to create a dark and gloomy effect. This connotes realism as it represents reality with all the disruptions present, as opposed to a light and more fantasy world. CSI also uses Noir lighting to give a dark and forlorn mood and again give an element of realism all designed to relate to the audience in the form of personal identity and surveillance according to the uses and gratifications theory.Overall, both genres follow many of their genre convent ions to attract audience and remain stereotypical to the values and ideologies that they represent. However, it should be noted that CSI and X Factor are the leading texts for their respective genres, and this may cause them to have an influence on what is considered a typicality of their genre. Similarities that the genres have are that they both use a reality aspect to relate to their audience (social integration) and this is very common across multiple genres in modern day media.