Childhood Memories of Dad :: Personal Narrative

A memento is a reminder of the past, a keepsake. They come in many shapes and sizes. People save objects for many diverse reasons. In my case, I will forever keep and pass on my keepsake to my children because of the many good and bad memories it evokes from my childhood and about my father. It is a lime green 1976 KX250 dirt bike that my father had given to me as a child to restore and was exactly the same as the one he had bought as a teen. It is all black with a lime green gas tank that says Kawasaki and has two large knobby tires. It is one of the first race models that was produced for use on motocross dirt tracks and also the same as the first bike I would ever ride. The bike that would bring my father and I close together, and the bike that would make me love riding off road vehicles forever. I was only knee-high to a grasshopper when I first felt the wail of a two stroke engine underneath me. The noise that bike made was like a mother’s soft voice to a crying baby. I would usually just be sitting inside my grandparent’s house playing video games when I would here the loud purr of the motorcycle’s engine. I would light up with total excitement and usually run to the door to see if my Dad was going to take me for a ride. Most of the time I would end up in sheer joy, but occasionally, I would just get a feeling of disappointment. It’s the good times that I remember the best. I would put my worst clothes on because I knew I was going to get dirty. Then I would run outside to see my Dad putting his helmet on and revving the lime green bike up, while light blue smoke seeped from the exhaust pipe, which ran underneath the black engine. After I was done putting on the shiny new helmet and goggles that my Dad had bought me, he would pick me up and place me right in front of him, between him and the gas tank, so I could hold on to the crossbar on the handlebars. Then as he let the aluminum clutch lever out easy and gradually twisted the throttle, we would speed off around the gate and down the dirt road behind the house. Childhood Memories of Dad :: Personal Narrative A memento is a reminder of the past, a keepsake. They come in many shapes and sizes. People save objects for many diverse reasons. In my case, I will forever keep and pass on my keepsake to my children because of the many good and bad memories it evokes from my childhood and about my father. It is a lime green 1976 KX250 dirt bike that my father had given to me as a child to restore and was exactly the same as the one he had bought as a teen. It is all black with a lime green gas tank that says Kawasaki and has two large knobby tires. It is one of the first race models that was produced for use on motocross dirt tracks and also the same as the first bike I would ever ride. The bike that would bring my father and I close together, and the bike that would make me love riding off road vehicles forever. I was only knee-high to a grasshopper when I first felt the wail of a two stroke engine underneath me. The noise that bike made was like a mother’s soft voice to a crying baby. I would usually just be sitting inside my grandparent’s house playing video games when I would here the loud purr of the motorcycle’s engine. I would light up with total excitement and usually run to the door to see if my Dad was going to take me for a ride. Most of the time I would end up in sheer joy, but occasionally, I would just get a feeling of disappointment. It’s the good times that I remember the best. I would put my worst clothes on because I knew I was going to get dirty. Then I would run outside to see my Dad putting his helmet on and revving the lime green bike up, while light blue smoke seeped from the exhaust pipe, which ran underneath the black engine. After I was done putting on the shiny new helmet and goggles that my Dad had bought me, he would pick me up and place me right in front of him, between him and the gas tank, so I could hold on to the crossbar on the handlebars. Then as he let the aluminum clutch lever out easy and gradually twisted the throttle, we would speed off around the gate and down the dirt road behind the house.

Joining the Military Essay

Joining the military can be a great experience for some people, but for others it can be a terrible mistake. People enlist in the military for a variety of reasons. Some soldiers enlist to serve their country, just for the challenge and adventure, to see parts of the country or world that they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten the chance to see, to stay out of trouble, to pay for a college education, or simply because it is a steady income in a hard economy. Joining the military for me was both a great experience and a terrible mistake. I first enlisted in the Army National Guard when I was junior in high school. I joined because I thought that it would be a great way to pay for my education and still experience all the adventure of the military while serving my country at the same time. I went to Oklahoma and Virginia for training, got to see Iceland, an island in Portugal, and Germany two times, and ended up stationed at Fort Drum when I went active duty. Getting to meet people from all over and learning the variety of skills needed to be a soldier were some of the greatest experiences that I have ever had. Joining the military can end up being a pretty big mistake for many. When I joined I was really didn’t understand what a person has to give up to be a soldier. My obligations to my state and country prevented me from getting into college when I had originally planned. As a result I ended up not continuing my education for another thirteen years. Realizing that a military family isn’t so much a family unit as it is a single parent home with an occasional helper was the point when I knew that becoming a soldier was a mistake for me. I have learned that the reasons for joining the military may vary but don’t matter. It is more about what each individual person is willing to give up that ultimately determines the experience that one has.

Summation of the Virgin and the Dynamo

Ben McAllister English 190 10/4/2010 In Henry Adam’s â€Å"The Dynamo and the Virgin,† he starts to speculate about Christianity’s strength during the medieval times and how it can be related to the twentieth century energy, using the dynamos, that produced electricity. He says when he relates religion and energy,† As he grew accustomed to the gallery of machines, he began to feel the forty-foot dynamos as a moral force, much as the early Christians felt the Cross. By doing this he is explaining he believes the relation between the machines and their parts are just like the Christians being part of the Cathedral and their faith. Therefore, after his relation is given between faith and science, decides he is going to combine the two in his studies, and everything that is considered irrational, he would say it takes faith to believe. He goes on to say how there could never be an American Virgin, since we relate that to sin. As he gets older, continues to sear ch for reasons why the Virgin is still lost in our culture, and he explains it has always been there.He says the Virgin is a force that shaped our Western Civilization, but we had to find her. Word count: 199 Grade: 17/20. Overall, pretty solid here, Ben – the first half of the summation works very well, as you’ve got a clear opening sentence and a pretty clear link to what Adams sees the connection between the two symbols. But, one thing to think about adding here would be less about how Americans see the Virgin, and how of how Adams sees the dynamo – how does he see that symbol as power

Effect of presentation mode on recall of news infromation Essays

Effect of presentation mode on recall of news infromation Essays Effect of presentation mode on recall of news infromation Essay Effect of presentation mode on recall of news infromation Essay A media comparison study was conducted to compare undergraduates recall of news information presented in three different conditions; to establish which form of medium is most effective in conveying information. A sample of 93 psychology undergraduates were presented with a series of violent and non violent new stories; either audio-visually, in audio or in print. Immediately after presentation, subjects were tested for cued recall of story content. Significant result of presentation medium and content type was found. As predicted recall of information was best in the print and was worst in the audio condition. Overall violent content was recalled better than non-violent content, especially in the audio-only and print modes. Statistical results indicate that reading the news produces a much more effective retention of information than listening or watching the news. This also confirms previous findings on adults that recall of material presented in print medium is superior to that from radio or television presentation. Therefore results have implications for future presentation of news information It has always been part of human nature to obtain information about the world surrounding it and the people within it from some kind of source. In the past, it was often family or the church (religion) that provided information to the people. In modern society, however, we have various sources that provide us with the required information. The main ones include the radio, newspaper, magazines and the internet; however with the wide spread of technological advances television has become predominately the main source of information. In particularly when providing people with knowledge about what is currently happening in the world (current affairs). In public opinion surveys, people frequently claim television as their most important source of news information. The provision of news is also regarded as one of the key functions of television and as one of its major source of gratification for viewers. Despite the fact that many people claim that they refer to television for much of their news information, and that they learn a great deal from television bulletins. Research with broadcast news has shown that When subjects are tested immediately after presentation of news bulletins content; viewers and listeners frequently fail to remember very much from specific news programmes. There are many factors that lie within the audience that can account for the lack of retention, such as attention, motivation and background knowledge relating to the news content. Recently, researchers are becoming increasingly aware of the various presentation factors that can have significant effect on learning. The main question that arises out of this particular research is whether conveying important information via television medium compares favourably or unfavourably with either print or radio medium. The visual images of television are often said to set television news apart from other news media. The pictures, color, and motion help to make televisions portrayal of events quite real (Graber, 1988). As Ron Nessen, Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford, once said that Television is reality if it hasnt happened on television, it hasnt happened (Gunter, 1987). This element of reality associated with television pictures enhances the credibility of news reports. The majority of the public has come to rely heavily on television as their primary source of news and deems it more believable than radio, newspapers, and magazines. In America television was identified as a news source by 65% of the population in a recent national survey, compared to only 42% who mentioned newspapers, 14% radio, 4% magazines, and 5% other people. It was also discovered that if there were conflicting reports of the same story, television stories would be most believed by 49% of respondents, whereas 26% would believe newspapers, 7% radio, and 5% magazines (Stanley and Niemi, 1990). The ability to view events and to judge them for oneself through the visual images of television helps to make television believable. But does that mean that television visuals help people to learn and recall information presented better in comparison to other mediums?. Recently researchers have demonstrated considerable differences in the perception of actors as a function of the channel of communication. When comparing learning from print and television presentation of the same material, results have indicated that learning may be better from print. Therefore contradicting the publics subjective view that they learn a great deal more from television than print. In William, Paul and Ogilvie (1975) study , television, radio and print conditions of presentation were compared, it was found that there was significantly better memory performance for material from television than from radio, and with radio been significantly better than print. However, a more recent study, by Wilson (1974) in which these three mediums were compared it was found that retention was much better in the print condition than television or radio. One reason to explain the reverse of these results may be due to the difference in the tests employed by the researchers. In William et al. study they used the recognition method, whereas Wilson used the free recall method. It is possible that free recall performance is better after a print presentation than television; this may be because reading requires more cognitive effort and facilitates greater depth of information processing than television viewing. There are potential advantages that are gained when using any of these three media. The major advantage of using print over television and radio is that the reader has the opportunity to consume news at their own pace, unlike broadcasted news where the pace of presentation is determined by producers. Another learning advantage that is thought to exist when information is presented in print and to some extent in radio is that the reader or listener has the ability to produce his/her own images from the presented information. Whereas with television viewers they are already supplied with ready-made images, and therefore they may not be able to undergo this cognitive processing while viewing television. Additional processing advantage of learning material from print or radio is that they require less focused attention compared to when viewing television. Viewers observing television not only have to focus on the image to understand what is happening but also at the same time attend to t he information that is been narrated. Visual images are know to improve memory, but only if they are relevant to the message been portrayed otherwise they can interfere with learning. Gunter (1979) found that free recall was much better for brief headline items when the pictures presented with it were still pictures. Gunter (1980) also found that the presence of slightly irrelevant film accompaniment on TV news stories can interfere to a certain degree with retention of the narrative content. This evidence clearly validates the above point that images can interfere with recall. Beside the medium presentation, the nature of story content may also affect learning. Kleinsmith and Kaplan (1964) revealed that memory may be relatively impeded when the test material is highly arousing but is relatively much better for non-arousing content. Cohen, Wigand and Harrison reported that young viewers had a better recall for violent items judged to be emotional than items judged to be neutral. This clearly reveals that memory for different types of story content does vary, especially according to the channel of presentation. Recently Gunter, Furnham and Gieston (1984) explored memory for the news as a function of the channel of communication. The experiment intended to report the effect of medium presentation and its relation with story type on memory for news material. In the experiment subjects were presented with a sequence of violent and non-violent news stories either audio-visually, in audio only or in print. Subjects were tested for cued recall of story content immediately after presentation. Results showed that recall of story content was best following the print presentation and worst for radio presentation. Violent content was recalled better than non-violent content, and significantly so in the audio-only and print modes. It was found that males had a higher recall level than females; however in the present study such comparison would not be made. The focus of the present study is to compare learning and memory recall from television, print and radio conditions of presentation, as a result shedding more light on the effects of medium presentation and of its interaction with story type (violent versus non-violent) on memory for news material. Therefore directly replicating the experiment of Gunter, Furnham and Gieston (1984). The three different conditions of news presentation (television, radio and print) are the independent variables. The dependent variable is the memory performance of each condition which was measured via a questionnaire test requiring free recall of information presented. From previous findings of Gunter, Furnham and Gieston (1984) research established that memory performance was best following print presentation of the news narrative, and worst for radio presentation. Their study also established that violent news were remember far better than non-violent, which is what this study also aims to demonstrate. As a result, the present study hypothesises that memory performance would be much better in the print condition, followed by the television condition and the worst performance been in the radio condition. Therefore hypothesising as Gunter, Furnham and Gieston (1984) research concluded. Subjects Ninety three male and female psychology undergraduates between the ages of 18-45 from the university college London participated in this experiment as part of a course fulfilment. 26 were randomly assigned to receive information in print (print mod), 34 to receive information audio-visually (television mode) and 33 to receive information through the radio (radio mode). Each subject in the visual condition was assumed to have a normal or corrected to normal vision and subjects assigned to the audio only condition were also assumed to have normal hearing. Design and material Subjects were assigned randomly and independently to each of the three conditions with the limitation that each group should contain approximately equal number of participants. The news information presented consisted of four news stories with each one lasting approximately one minute. The information provided had been originally pre-recorded from TV news bulletins months before the experiment. The items had been recorded from transmissions put out by an experimental TV service and had not been previously shown in normal network TV Bulletins in the UK. The items presented were all common in format, with each one consisting of a film report with a narrative voiceover. Two of the items contained violent events, which included scenes of street clashes between rioters and the police in El Salvador and the other in South Korea. The other two items contained non-violent events, one about the lifting of trade restrictions by Japan and the other about a visit to Yugoslavia by the Greek prime minister. The film footage from El Salvador was made of individuals crouching behind barricades with hand-guns shooting at others across the street; in the mean time the narrator described the reason for the rioting. Meanwhile footage from South Korea was of rioters throwing rocks and stones at the police and in return the police are clubbing any captured demonstrator. The story was mainly concerned with the reasons for rioting and how this related to the dissatisfaction of the government with certain sections of the public. Film footage of the Japans trade restrictions depicted of delegates arriving and settling down into a meeting concerning this and other Versailles matters. The item from Yugoslavia was made of scenes from the visit of the Greek prime minister and the narrator spoke of reasons for the visit. In the television condition, the items were presented to subjects over a colour screen monitor, in the radio condition subjects were asked to face away from the colour screen monitor, facing the wall while the items were played and in the print condition transcripts were of the items were handed out to each subject. All the stories were presented in the same order to all subjects in all conditions as follows; violent non-violent violent non-violent. A questionnaire was devised containing twenty questions (five per news item) requiring some detailed information from the stories. These questionnaires tested each subject recall of the news stories presented, for example Why were people demonstrating in the streets in Seoul? Subjects were awarded for each question that they got completely right three marks and two marks if the answer was partially right, and one if the answer can be understood (vague answer). The maximum mark that a subject can get was sixty marks. Procedure Subjects were randomly divided into the three different conditions. Subjects in each condition received the same instruction; they were told that they would be presented with news information either through television screen, a sound recorder or written transcript depending on the condition they are in. subjects in the television and radio condition were told that the presented information would last approximately four minutes and thirty seconds, whereas those in the print condition were informed that they would have about four minutes in which they should read the transcript. Subjects were told that immediately following the presentation, they would be given a series of questions based on the content of the news to test recall. The question test lasted approximately 10-15 minutes.

Value vs. Vanity Marketing Metrics With Andy Crestodina From Orbit Media

Value vs. Vanity Marketing Metrics With Andy Crestodina From Orbit Media Marketers have unprecedented access to marketing measurables. They’re inundated with data. So, which marketing metrics matter the most? Today, we’re talking to Andy Crestodina, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Orbit Media Studios. Also, he’s the author of Content Chemistry. Andy believes that the most visible marketing metrics are usually the least useful. He identifies and ranks metrics that matter. Inverse correlation between the visibility of a metric and its importance/success Metrics correlated with business success are difficult to get and require analysis Social, Search, and Email Metrics: Easy-to-see metrics that offer low to medium importance that correlate to business success Easy to see which post gets the most traffic, but it takes analysis to calculate conversion rate from visitor to downloader/subscriber/registrant per article Critical Metrics: Revenue, margin, profit, utilization, and capacity are difficult to measure, but are critical to business success Rather than trying to get reviews, try listening to your customers to make them happy enough to give testimonials and referrals Deliberately seek out sales, revenue, invoice, leads, and other critical metrics Look at your own biases as a marketer; deeper down you go in your funnel, the more impact of each action Best ways/tools to track metrics include UTM campaign tracking codes and Google Analytics; avoid influencer marketing Links: Orbit Media Studios Content Chemistry A Guide for Content Marketing Metrics: The 37 Most (and Least) Useful Metrics SEMrush Google Analytics Garrett Moon at Content Marketing World Barry Feldman QuickBooks How To Avoid The Most Costly Mistake In Influencer Marketing With Shane Barker [AMP 115] Write and send a review to receive a care package If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Andy Crestodina: â€Å"The problem is that those super visible metricsare the ones that are the least closely connected with business success.† â€Å"We tend to overvalue things that we can easily find. The hardest-to-find stuff is where we should be focused more.† â€Å"I don’t think you should start by trying to get reviews. Start by trying to listen to your customers.† â€Å"We all have to look for our own biases as marketers. The deeper down you go in your funnel, the more impact each action has.†

The Rule of Six of Film Editing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Rule of Six of Film Editing - Essay Example I believe that what Murch quintessentially intends to say in The Rule of Six is that while working in the cutting room, and editor ought to pay heed to one’s heart and intuition and opt for a cut that one finds most compelling. Many times while being in the cutting room, an editor may come across situations where one may need to execute a compromise between emotion and continuity. Technicalities and continuity do matter; yet, the mastery of an editor’s skill actually depends on one’s ability to opt for a cut that accentuates the emotive content and force of a particular scene. For in the end what the audience tend to remember is the emotional force that a particular scene had over them, the extent to which a scene succeeded in playing with their sense of fear and hope, and the power with which it kept them engaged and riveted. If a cut succeeds in honoring these expectations, it is perfect even if it slips a little on the continuity scale. Considering the fact that young editors do come across situations when they feel that their inner conviction invokes them to compromise some fundamental aspects of editing, Murch has been benign to lay down the criteria for dealing with such dilemmas. He has given a sequential list of criteria in a decreasing order of importance and the sequence in which they could be compromised to come out with an emotionally and rhythmically correct cut. Coming out with a seamless edit is no doubt an art. However, the primary function of editing is to respect the importance of emotion, story and rhythm, which are the essence of a scene. Continuity is really important, but, it stands subservient to the actual emotional flavor of a  scene.     Ã‚  Ã‚  

Film Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Film Analysis - Essay Example The film has assumed its rightful place in the pantheon of American film for its sweeping depiction of the events surrounding the Civil War. Still, it’s clear that in keeping with Hollywood trends the film bends and shapes history to meet its narrative ends. This essay considers Gone With the Wind’s depiction of historical events and examines the effect they have on the film’s overall ideological message. One of the major areas in which Gone With the Wind demonstrates various degrees of historical accuracies is the articulation of African-Americans and the 19th century African-American throughout the film. When viewing Gone With the Wind the audience will become aware of the limited reference to the Ku Klux Klan and to the incendiary word ‘nigger’. Even as the original novel and screenplay contained references to these objects, they were removed by producer David Selznick after receiving the first copy of the draft. While one might not believe that t his indicates a significant historical inaccuracy as they represent instances of withholding information rather than articulating it in a wrong way, upon further inspection it’s clear that neglecting this material constituted a significant gap in the actual depiction of 19th-century Southern existence. After the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan demonstrated a significant presence in the Southern states. In response to screenwriter Howard, Selznick indicated, â€Å"A group of men can go out to 'get' the perpetrators of an attempted rape without having long white sheets over them and without having their membership in a society as a motive" (Leff). In these regards, it appears that the primary concern in implementing the Ku Klux Klan was it being referred to as an organization; one can surmise the fear was that references could be used as a motivation tool for existing Ku Klux Klan organizations. While these concerns held reasonable points, it seems clear that as they do hold this incendiary power, they also represent a significant historical inaccuracy. As civil rights concerns sought to conceal this aspect of American history, they may have actually contributed to understandings of 19th-century existence as not being as oppressive and organizationally challenging as in reality they were. In addition to Selznick’s deletion of reference to the Ku Klux Klan, the deletion was made to the word nigger. There were a variety of reasons behind this deletion and it wasn’t as clear-cut as many might imagine. After speaking with a broad array of black leaders Selznick determined that the use of the word would not be appropriate in the current social climate. One interesting side-note is that the film censorship board reviewed these concerns as well. In these regards, â€Å"The movie industry's censors had ruled only that "nigger" "should not be put in the mouth of white people† (Leff). One notes that the contemporary acceptable social incarnation o f the word nigger in media outputs also is divided along these race lines, indicating the power the film industry plays in shaping socially acceptable views and interactions regarding race. Still, similar to the deletion of the Ku Klux Klan, one must consider the extent that the deletion actually contributes to civil rights, or whitewashes a particularly troubling period in American history.