Have you considered attending classes online to complete your undergraduate or graduate degree? As an adult with a busy schedule, I was in your shoes. I was canvassed by Ashford University in 2012. Because of my interest in designing and reconstructing programs for diverse learner, the student advisor suggested I take a look at their Bachelors of Arts in Instructional Design. I was new to the online classroom environment but with the continued support from Ashford, I soon was a champ! The classes are challenging and interesting.. When I completed my BA in 2014, I was given a partial scholarship to continue with my graduate education. August 2016, my journey came to an end with the achievement of my MAED –Masters of Education with a specialization in Cultural Responsive Education. Did I mention challenging? Don’t worry, Ashford has a strong network of instructors, student advisors and technology support to get you on your way and help you in need.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Poverty-Obesity Paradox
Food insufficiency and obesity…
“Food insufficiency and obesity often exist side by side – sometimes within the same household or even in the same person….research studies consistently show that the highest rates of obesity occur among those living in the greatest poverty and food insecurity” (Sizer & Whitney, 2014, p. 598). People tend to eat more in monetarily lean times and/or eat less some weeks or months to conserve money. As poverty rates increase, so do health issues. “As the latest US Census Bureau report revealed, the number of people living in poverty in 2010 rose for a third consecutive year, reaching a record high of 15.1% – 46.2 million, or one in six Americans, the highest number since the US Census Bureau began tracking such data more than 50 years ago” (Chaufan, Constantino, & Davis, 2012, p.147). We all know that being overweight can lead to diabetes and other health issues; however living in poverty and eating right has a few challenges. These challenges are socioeconomic, immigration status, language barriers, access to public supply networks, discrimination, access to healthcare, and lack of transportation. Above all, the most prevalent problem is the high cost of food and having to choose between low priced less nutritious food, paying the bills, and choosing higher priced nutritious food.
Who is affected?
Everyone is affected. Children who do not get enough of the proper nutrients may have problems learning, avoid participating in classroom activities, and may be develop poor interpersonal skills. If a child or adult is constantly hungry or malnourished, whether it is at work, a child at school, or at home, this can put strains on doing a job effectively, maintain concentration levels, learning, or make the difference in a good or bad marriage. The lack of food not only effects people in a physiologic way; but also psychologically.
The root causes…
A few root causes of this paradox are: growing up in a low income family, access to less nutritional food sources on a consistent basis, and the current economy. Both my husband and me grew up in leaner times and can remember food assistance programs providing both perishable goods and long term storage goods. Most of the time the items provided was cheese, butter, rice, and flour. While we may make more money now and things are a tad bit easier, we tend to stock up on canned goods and nonperishables to compliment what I preserve from my little city farm. My point is, even as fresh nutrient food sources become less expensive and available, people who have grown up in poverty tend to keep eating food that is going to cost less. These foods usually contain large amounts of starch, sugar and fat. I do notice that many people who are living in urban areas making less money tend to be overweight. I believe that this is strongly related to the type of food available at the cost they are willing or able to pay. It is important that when people do eat that they consume nutrient rich foods.
Eating healthy at fast food chains…
If we are to look at fast food chains today, there are many other choices other than hamburgers and fries. Both federal and local mandates have helped implement better cooking methods at fast food establishments; i.e., McDonald’s and Burger King. These mandates include calorie counts, nutrition information, changes in preparation from fried to grilled, types of oils for frying, and having alternative food choices; such as an apple instead of fries. These changes have not influenced the prices at the fast food chains so hopefully if all a person has a choice of is a fast food chain because it is more economical they will choose not to oversize their meal and also choose an alternative to fried and sugary foods. Education on how to eat on the go is just as important as eating properly.
Prevention…
A few ways to prevent hunger and malnutrition are, making a budget,” plan ahead, shop smart, reduce the amount of waste” (Sizer & Whitney, 2014, p. 611).
Fighting hunger in your community…
Most communities have resources to assist those in need. Hunger is not limited to poor communities. I encourage you to volunteer in your local soup kitchen or contribute to your local food bank or other local agency. Check out these and feel send me links to resources in your area so I can post them.
In New York…
Community Resources and Programs: http://regionalfoodbank.net/services-programs/agency-resources/community-resources-and-programs/
Food Bank Services: http://www.foodbanknyc.org/news/other-resources#foodbankdirectservices
SNAP & Emergency Food Programs: http://www.nyc.gov/html/hra/html/services/snap.shtml
Westchester County, NY http://www.foodbankforwestchester.org/how-to-help
References
Chaufan, C., Constantino, S., & Davis, M. (2012). ‘It’s a full time job being poor’: understanding barriers to diabetes prevention in immigrant communities in the USA. Critical Public Health, 22(2), 147-158. doi:10.1080/09581596.2011.630383
Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. (Kindle Version).
Plastic Bags are Harmful!
In 2012, Americans alone produced over 250 million tons of garbage. One large component of this waste consisted of oil based plastic bags, which are utilized excessively by grocers, restaurants, and stores nationwide. In order to reduce this source of waste, many countries are banning plastic bags or taxing customers for their use. Bensel; & Turk (2014) suggest reusing materials multiple times or for another purpose can also save on solid wastes, this would include reusing plastic bags that we get from the super market for household garbage (Section 9.4).
A few environmental problems around the world that are caused by such extensive plastic bag use are “they take around 300 years to photo degrade and breakdown into tiny toxic particles that contaminate soils and water bodies and enter even the food chains” (Verma, 2009, p.589). Since grocery plastic bags are use to shop and carry worldwide, there is no shortage of these bags being not recycled. Many are found in ocean coast choking up the seaweed and polluting marine life. Verma (2009) further explains that India is known for the highest use of plastic bags and not only is fish affected but also cows in this region die of chewing the bags. Other animals get caught up and suffocate and die in bags that are not properly disposed of, reused or recycled. In China, “1.3 billion people use an estimated 3 billion plastic bags every day. This not only poses a serious environmental problem, but is also getting very expensive; China has to refine estimated 37million barrels of oil a year for plastic bags alone” (The Chemical Engineer, 2008). This not only is just too many bags use around the world, it cost more in using fossil fuel to keep making more bags every day; especially if they are not reused and/or recycled.
If I were in charge, the plan I might propose to reduce or eliminate their use is start making people being more responsible and use store supplied cloth bags or supply their own non paper or non plastic reusable bags when shopping. Let’s face it; the plastic bags at the supermarket are never strong enough to carry enough in them, so most people have to either double the plastic bag or use more than one, placing less in each one. Stores have moved away from using paper to save trees, so even if you were to reuse or recycle the paper bags, you no longer have that choice. Yes, people will complain that they have to pay for cloth bags, but that is the price to pay when some buyers refuse to reuse or recycle their plastic bags.
The economic impacts of implementing my plan versus the financial impacts of making no change in our current use are oil companies can stop using valuable fossil fuel for an everyday shopping bags, grocers can stop spending money on plastic bags, recycling plants can spend less when using energy to recycle plastic. Maybe the stores may even pass the savings off to the customer if they do not have to pay for something that is not being used. If nothing is done to use less plastic bags, or eliminate their use, the pollution, the use of oil, the energy to process the bags, and toxic waste in landfills will continue to build up.
References
Pollution survey spells green dawn for China. (2008). TCE: The Chemical Engineer, (800), 8.
Turk, J., & Bensel, T. (2014). Contemporary environmental issues (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
Verma, B. B. (2009). Continuous jute fibre reinforced laminated paper composite and reinforcement-fibre free paper laminate. Bulletin Of Materials Science, 32(6), 589-595. doi:10.1007/s12034-009-0090-0
Climate and Air Pollution
As increases in human population lead to expansive industrialization and cultivation, increased carbon emissions are resulting in global climate change. This atmospheric alteration may result in a number of detrimental environmental impacts including food insecurity, increased spread of disease, more intense storms, and sea level rise. As the United States is one of the largest contributors to atmospheric carbon emissions, I researched what the government is implementing to reduce the nations carbon footprint. “In 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama wrote, “As the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, America has the responsibility to lead” (Wold, 2012, p.304). Regarding domestic policy, Barack Obama worked with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) enact better “ fuel economy standards, imposed new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from major emitting facilities, and imposed limits on emissions relating to the development of oil and gas” (Wold, 2012, p.305). President Obama has pledged that the United States will reduce its greenhouse gases by 17% of 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83% by 2050. This will be done by considering renewable energy sources; such as, wind, solar, hydropower, nuclear power, natural gas; and coal.
The economic impact of these policy proposals would be that poorer people in other countries may have to pay for the creation of carbon emissions of the richer countries. I am referring to non-industrial countries that do not have the ability to produce the same amount of bad atmospheric carbon emissions. The question is who will pay for the changes that the EPA wants? For example, the United States, as a nation that is dependent on cows in the agricultural industry, we will always have methane pollution. Our nation is also dependent on gas driven cars. It takes time to charge up electric cars, and it takes considerable energy to dispose of the battery. Will we just have another tax to cover the abuse of natural resources while the government figures out a way to use energy to stop emission? The answers to these questions are political because the government may not be looking at the long term goals of conservation (Tol, 2009).
References
Tol, Richard S. J. 2009. “The Economic Effects of Climate Change.” Journal Of Economic Perspectives 23, no. 2: 29-51. Business Source Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed November 19, 2014).
Wold, C. (2012). CLIMATE CHANGE, PRESIDENTIAL POWER, AND LEADERSHIP: “WE CAN’T WAIT”. Case Western Reserve Journal Of International Law, 45(1/2), 303-359.
Gaseous fuels and Electricity (hydrogen cells)
As we know, our world is heavily dependent on oil. In Chapter 6 of Contemporary Environmental Issues, I have read that there is concern about the possibility of reaching a peak in oil production. For most of us, we have grown up in the Age of Oil. We depend on it for our cars, to make plastics, to make synthetic fibers, to make pesticides, and numerous other products. “Therefore, the possibility that we will soon pass, or have already passed, a peak in oil production should be a matter of great concern” (Turk & Bensel, 2014, Kindle Locations 5623-5624).
There are at least two alternatives to oil that are currently available: using gaseous fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas, and propane; alcohols such as ethanol, methanol, and butanol; vegetable and waste-derived oils; and electricity. Some cars are already equipped to take alternative types of gas. This means mixing a variety of gaseous fuels with regular gasoline to use less fossil fuel. This is also known as biofuel vehicles. In the late 1970’s, Sweden was the first to consider the use of Methanol because they lack enough fossil fuel to support their country and much of their gasoline in imported. The other alternative to fuel oil is electricity which is a hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen is considered very clean for emissions and would be a great alternative to fueling engines for cars instead of gasoline.
The barriers that keep these alternatives from replacing oil as our primary means of energy are: Methanol requires special vehicles that conform to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments which contain several new provisions governing emissions from motor vehicles. The three items that keep Methanol from being widely use to replaced are:
“the analysis of the costs and effectiveness of methanol and gasoline leads to the following conclusions: (1) transition issues are critical in evaluating the cost and cost-effectiveness of methanol– based fuels; (2) M85 and M100 are likely to be expensive relative to conventional gasoline, particularly in the near term and short term; (3) cost-effectiveness varies dramatically by region, with Los Angeles and New York substantially better than Houston; and (4) widespread introduction ofmethanol is riot likely to be a cost-effective approach for improving urban air quality”(Hahn & Borick, 1996, p. 133-155).
Electricity in the form of hydrogen cells is a great idea, but “in order to obtain hydrogen in a form that can be used as a fuel, we need to use up energy” (Anscombe, 2010). This is a problem because it takes a lot of electricity to make the hydrogen cells for electric cars. Then there is the problem of how to dispose the spent batteries and whether they will be recyclable. The use of alternative fuels also requires a significant amount of job retraining and ongoing educational expenses that many companies may not have incorporated into their budget.
The role that government plays in ensuring a transition to such alternatives in a post peak-oil world is to make policies that help with environmental cost of oil use. This includes controlling unnecessary oil spills and the increasing greenhouse gases. “To meet the pollution reduction challenges, energy producers are blazing trails in energy efficiency and reviving alternative energy sources” (Stone & Szuromi , 1999, p.677). Without government requiring a decrease in personal use and requiring commercial companies to decrease use of fossil fuels and gasoline, the next generation will not have the resources to heat, travel and to create new products; ensuring an economical depression.
References
Anscombe, N. (2010). Hydrogen: hype or hope?. Engineering & Technology (17509637), 5(7), 44-48. doi:10.1049/et.2010.0709
Hahn, R. W., & Borick, M. S. (1996). Why Energy Transitions Matter: A Case Study of Methanol. Journal Of Regulatory Economics, 9(2), 133-155.
Stone, R., & Szuromi, P. (1999). Powering the Next Century. (Cover story). Science, 285(5428), 677.
Turk, J., & Bensel, T. (2014). Contemporary environmental issues (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Aquaculture and Industrial Agriculture
In the United States, we are fortunate to have an abundant supply of food. However, this abundance is largely due to advances in agricultural technology, which have in turn created numerous concerns surrounding our food sources. Two modern examples of how the United States has increased its food production are: aquaculture and industrial agriculture. Aquaculture is the farming of the sea to decrease the overuse of land agriculture. Industrial agriculture is the use of is the use of technology “combined with agrochemical use with mechanization and improved water control (irrigation and/or drainage) and the selection of crop varieties adapted to thrive when provided with them” (Woodhouse, 2010, p.437).
These changes have affected the environment by increasing the productivity of the modern food supply. “Aquaculture has become increasing important to the supply of seafood. In the 1970’s Aquaculture production has went from 3.5 million tons to 63 million tons 2005 which made up 40% of the 157.5 million tons of seafood produced and has been a growing trend in the increased food production” (Asche, 2008, p.527). For my other example, industrial agriculture, “the majority of American farmland is dominated by industrial agriculture; the system of chemically intensive food production developed in the decades after World War II, featuring enormous single-crop farms and animal production facilities” (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014). In the past industrial agriculture was all the rage; however it is highly controversial because the system, said to be:
“Monoculture farming, relies heavily on chemical inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The fertilizers are needed because growing the same plant (and nothing else) in the same place year after year quickly depletes the nutrients that the plant relies on, and these nutrients have to be replenished somehow. The pesticides are needed because monoculture fields are highly attractive to certain weeds and insect pests” (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014).
These two changes have impacted food safety because aquaculture tends to have multitudes of seafood and other fish that are farmed in areas that are segregated to small area, not allowing the potential food supply to be exposed to fresh living conditions. The fish eat and defecate in the same living area that they will be harvested from. This can lead to contamination similar to plants that are harvested from areas that are farmed exposed to human waste run off. As I mentioned in the above quote, industrial farming produces large amounts of food for mass populations; however, the constant use of the same land over and over, using chemicals and pesticides lead to poor nutrition in the soil that our plant type foods are grown in. Industrial agriculture does not just include vegetable farming; it also includes the mass production of farm livestock that is forced to live in close quarters, eat food to bulk up for slaughter and often injected with antibiotics that may harm sensitive digestive systems. Animal industrial farming is quite similar to aquaculture farms where the overall nutrition is not the main goal but instead mass production at a rapid pace to feed the multitudes which can lead to unsafe food practices and overall food safety.
References
Asche, F. (2008). Farming the Sea. Marine Resource Economics, 23(4), 527-547.
Union of Concerned Scientists. (2014). Industrial Agriculture-The outdated, unsustainable system that dominates U.S. food production. Food and Agriculture. Retrieved from http://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/food-agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture#.VFrPrvnF98E
Woodhouse, P. (2010). Beyond Industrial Agriculture? Some Questions about Farm Size, Productivity and Sustainability. Journal Of Agrarian Change, 10(3), 437-453. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0366.2010.00278.x
Should Humans be Concerned?
As I have learned in the readings, extinction is a natural selection process. I have also read that humans are often responsible for accelerating this process. Bensel; & Turk (2014) indicate that our fundamental dependence on the natural world makes the study of environmental science relevant to all of us. Environmental issues including deforestation, ozone depletion, water pollution, and climate change affect us all. What humans do can affect the whole or part of the ecosystem and many cause unintentional extinction by simply living every day.
Should humans be concerned with the extinction rate? I believe that humans should be concerned about how they are causing the extinction to increase by not focusing on their individual actions. I read an interesting article about the high frequency of functional extinction; the numbers of a certain species that has been made extinct by human harvesting, or environmental interference where the set number of expected population is driven below the norm and may not recover. “Furthermore, we find that large-bodied species that can be found at the top of the food chains can only be exposed to small increases of the mortality rate and small decreases in abundance before going functionally extinct compared to small-bodied species lower in the food chains” (Säterberg, Sellman, & Ebenman, 2013). When I think of large-bodied species, I think of humans who can live off of smaller species. An example is the fishing industry. Humans have over harvested the natural shrimp to the point of having to farm raise them in pens out in the ocean. Humans should also be concerned about the immediate actions of fishing because methods use to catching one specific species, may cause another unintended species to go extinct; such as, killing off dolphins because they tend to get caught and drown in the next used to tuna fish.
Additionally, should humans strive to preserve representative samples of all biomes on the planet? To study and keep a sample of all biomes can lead to further study of human development and how we affect biomes; major world communities of vegetation and the adaption of life that sustained from the vegetation. In article about West African grasses that were divided in three biomes: desert C4 grassland, short grass savanna, and tall grass savanna, I read that “this study presents a method for assigning phytolith assemblages to tropical grass-dominated biomes, with the objective of offering a new tool for combining pollen and phytolith data in the reconstruction of tropical biomes”(Bremond, Alexandre, Peyron, & Guiot, 2008). The affect humans have on earth constantly changes the basic biomes. To learn where humans have helped or destroyed the environment, a sample of the original biomes will be necessary.
References
Bremond, L., Alexandre, A., Peyron, O., & Guiot, J. (2008). Definition of grassland biomes from phytoliths in West Africa. Journal Of Biogeography, 35(11), 2039-2048. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01944.x
Säterberg, T., Sellman, S., & Ebenman, B. (2013). High frequency of functional extinctions in ecological networks. Nature, 499(7459), 468-470. doi:10.1038/nature12277
Bensel, T. & Turk, T. (2014). Contemporary Environmental Issues (Kindle Locations 102-104). Bridgepoint Education Inc. Kindle Edition.
Film Critique – Summer In February
The film Summer in February is a beautiful film, similar to the style of a Shakespearian tragedy, that invites the viewer into a private group of people to experience their love, hardships, blessings and losses. The screenplay, Summer in February, directed by Christopher Menaul is based on a novel originally written by Jonathan Smith. The story is based on true events that took place in a Bohemian artist community in the early 20th century. This film portrays close friends finding love, beauty, possession, and jealousy and how it affects the lives two men who are friends and a woman who is involved with both.
Storytelling
The narrative structure of the story is introduced by the actors in the opening lines of the film by the artist walking on the rocky Cornish coast of the Lamorna Valley estate. A woman is is lying on the beach nude while being painted. It is here her and her student painter friend discuss why they are there and how they arrived. From this point of the film, the main character, Florence, acted by Emily Browning, is explaining to another artist about her schooling here.
The plot in chronological order starting sometime about 1914. The story take place of the Cornish coast in England. There is a conflict between “the incendiary anti-Modernist Munnings, now regarded as one of Britain’s most sought-after artists, who is at the centre of the complex love triangle, involving aspiring artist Florence Carter-Wood and Gilbert Evans, the land agent in charge of the Lamorna Valley estate” (IMDb, 2013). The characters experience an internal conflict because the lead artist Munnings seeks to possess and cherish the pretty and refined Florence but he does not love her the way Gilbert Evans does. Florence always struggles with the feelings of being bored and looking for excitement that artist Munnings provides but he is a wild card and does not provide the love that she knows Gilbert Evans can provide her. Gibert Evans seeks the male companionship of artist Munnings but also seeks the love and affection of Florence even though she still believes artist Munnings loves her and will some someday be famous.
The film contains obvious symbolism. Artist Munnings has a love for horses. He does not subscribe to an organized society. He likes to be wild and free like the horses that run along the ocean side. The land agent Gilbert Evans owns the Lamorna Valley estate and the co-owner, has a beautiful car representing his wealth. The car is another internal conflict for artist Munnings because it represents a life style that is stuffy but he wants to be well known and rich at the same time.
The irony in this film is the father of the daughter also lives close to this community on this estate and when approached by artist Munnings for his daughters hand in marriage, her father automatically assumes because he is living a gypy styly life that she is not wealthy enough to support her but he tells him he and procedes to marry her. The day of Florences wedding, the day that is supposed to be her happiest day, she attempts to kill herself with poison but lives. Further irony, her father insists that she, artist Munnings and the land agent Gilbert Events, her other love interest, all live in the same accommodations for her own sake. Her love grows Gilbert and Munnings grows angry and his relationship with both his wife and his male friend falters drastically. Later, she stows away in her drawing hut supplied by her lover and becomes pregnant. While they are lying on the hillside he and she look up at the sun and she says it is like summer and he says it is like “Summer in February”. This was symbolic for a love at the wrong time. He then goes off to war.
At a party three months later, one of the gypsy artist girls notices artist Munnings wife stomach showing with pregnancy and artist Munnings observers this conversations and stops the party and banishes his wife to her hut on the coastal cliff. It is here she commits suicide with the rest of the poison. When Gilbert Evans returns from war in Africa, his friends great him and the owner of the estate gives him the painting that artist Munnings painted of his wife. Artist Munnigs left the painting as a gift to his old friend Gilbert Evans before his left the artist colony for good. The message here could be that he forgave him his love for his wife. The film helps you relate to the characters in the storyline making you feel like you were a part of their world. The characters were realistic to everyday people and the film addressed everyday situations and issues in relationships.
Acting
The main actors in this film are Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, and Dan Stevens. They are acting out the true events of three main people which include, Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning), and Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens). These specific actors are classified as impersonators since they are replicating the life and behaviors of the actual lives of the historical individuals that the screenplay is about. Since this screenplay is based on a novel that written about true events and about real people, the supporting actors in this film are character actors and actresses. They are trained to act out a specific genre and time period to make it believable. The type of acting is stylized for period acting. The actors and actresses appeared to be natural in their roles for the early 1900s. The actors convey the story’s meaning by the way that they interpret their characters by the way they use facial expressions, English dialect, and wearing period costumes. The actors’ performances might attribute to the director because they had to mimic the story in the novel originally written by Jonathan Smith. Sometimes it can be challenging to the actors to incorporate their acting skills and performance knowledge with what the director wants to convey to the audience being there is a preconception about how the movie should be. The ways the actors are placed and move around in the settings contribute to my understanding of their characters and of the story by placing the characters in small groups that interacted on a personal level. The conversations between the characters were simple and uncomplicated. The only time multiple characters were placed together on a set was for a party or artist gathering.
Cinematography
The mise en scène is mostly bright and shows many scenic views of the coast of England. When a scene is inside and it is a group shot, the background is usually dark and rich hued and the camera light is bright on the faces on the actors. When a party was being held, the colors were very cloudy and saturated; however, when a breakfast scene was taking place the colors were bright and very clear. The sunlight shone brightly through the windows illuminating the room creating a warm feeling.
The camera angle was focused toward the faces the actors, but, the background rarely was close up in any of the scenes. The only close up facial shots were when Florence, the wife of artist Munnings, was in distress or took poison. This helped create an intense feeling. In the scene where of her taking the final poison she lay dead across the distressed wood floor of the disheveled ocean hut that overlooks the sea. She is alone and the colors are soft hued. Her layers of silken dress frills are strewn about her as she was beautiful even death. The wind catches the broken window shutter and fiercely slams it open and shut creating the feeling of absolute defeat. The camera pans out to the sea and the water crashes against the rocks and the wind howls. The scenic coastline is classic to a romance genre and creates the feel of longing for yesterday or the future.
Editing
The screen play opens with a long establishing shot with a woman observing another woman painting a nude woman lying on a beach. The shots were in chronological order and easy to follow. There was very little material cut out of information left to the viewer’s imagination. The scene transitions flowed smoothly from a gentle fade from one shot to another. The use of continuity editing helped the viewer keep track of the passing time without getting confused. There was only one scene were the editing led the viewer to believe that the wife of the artist and the land agent had intimate relations but you did not actually see it. The couple starts to kiss and that is all you actually see. It was day one moment and night the next and then it was the next day and the couple was still together. To create this sense of time, the scene fades out to dark as in the passing of the day into the night and gradually fades in to express the new day. When using this type of editing, an editor “can also make audiences believe they saw something that never really happened, sometimes eliminating the need for expensive special effects that might simulate it” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, Kindle Location 2857). This is accomplished by cutting out scenes but keeping the scene shots in a certain order and a certain eye height, also referred to as the eye line match (180 degrees), to help the viewer believe watch the film with minimal choppiness and confusion in the timeline.
Sound
The kind of sound is present in the film is predominantly dialogue accented by occasional music. The dialogue we hear most in the film is between artist Munnings, Florence, and Gilbert Evens. The only significant sound effects that we hear in this film are horse neighing, a gunshot that scares a horse, a car driving down the street, and the rush of waves against the gorgeous coast line. Light classical music is present when a couple is kissing or having a romantic stare but it is not a predominant feature of the film. There is no there a voice–over narrators. The story is told by the films characters as they are acting the story out, which makes it very easy to understand the characters and their purpose in this film.
Style and Directing
The director of this film, Christopher Menaul is a British film and television drama director. While he has many credits for made for television sitcoms and movies, is has two newer films that were in theater; Summer in February (2013) and First Night (2010). His style is mostly driven from real events that are reenacted. In the Summer in February, he is replicating a novel written by Jonathan Smith so he is using his technical skills to create a pleasing film that is not going to disappoint an audience that may already know the storyline. His directing does not take on the high publicity that an auteur; because as a director, he is not portraying his own point of view or interjecting his own personality. He is contributing to the overall film by overseeing the creation of the period customs, the set, choosing the acting location and the cast.
Impact of Society on the Film and Vice Versa
When watching period romance movies like this one, it makes me feel as if escaping my daily life. While this version of the movie did not have any censorship evident, it would be best not shown to pre-teen children because of the full front nudity poses. The few female nude poses for art class paintings and the one scene of a man and woman running nude on the ocean were in general context but probably not appropriate for young children under thirteen. In the movie, the director seems to imply that the artist colony to have many relations with the gypsy girls they paint nude. There appears to be an external society conflict or issue concerning sex with unwed partners. The evidence is shown at the parties when the artists get together and multiple men are seeking the attention of the younger girls they paint for the art classes.
Genre
The genres this film fit most closely with are biography, drama and romance. The biography is about a group of Bohemian artist on the Cornish Coast of England and is set as a period romance during a time where artist flourished across the country side and life was carefree. The main characters that this biography is about are: Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper), Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning), and Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens). These three actors participate in drama where romance leads to a forbidden love that turns into a dangerous love triangle.
Approach to Analysis and Interpretation
This film focused on the use of the culturist approach; “seeing the film as symptomatic of the culture in which it was created” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, Kindle Location 5852). This means the director is creating this screenplay using the culture of the Bohemian artist life style of the early 20th century to help us to relate in the characters and storyline of the novel that he was recreating for film. The Bohemian lifestyle has many different ideals in many groups of people. For this group of artist of the coast of England, it meant a life free of conventional living and rules made and adhered to by themselves. In The Doctrine of Bohemianism “Bohemians believe that life is a wonderful gift that is meant to be enjoyed. Life is not merely a test. It should be cherished and celebrated, each in his or her own way” (Subculturelist.com, 2014).
In conclusion, the film Summer in February is a beautiful film, similar to the style of a Shakespearian tragedy, that invites the viewer into a private group of people to experience their love, hardships, blessings and losses. The screenplay, Summer in February, helps the viewer understand the internal conflict that develop inside a person when they are faced with decisions that are hard to make. The movie also helps understand the external conflict between multiple characters when these issues are not resolved.
References
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
IMDb (2013). Summer in February. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2184287/
Subculture List (2014). The Doctrine of Bohemianism. Retrieved from http://subcultureslist.com/bohemianism/
A Case For Animal Rights…..
“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for human any more than black people were made for whites or women for men – Alice Walker (Easyaspeace, 2008).
It is not hard to imagine that we, both people humans and animal humans, wake up each day having our own agenda about what we would like to do or accomplish in our lives. This includes who we marry, where we live, if and when we bear children and if we believe religion or not. These are basic fundamentals but we, as defined above, all feel pain, and all recognize that there is a hierarchy in the food chain and must survive; but must we in the interest of money and greed torture another being for profit? As humans who are on the top of the food chain we need only look to the animals for example because only humans are capable of causing such harm and injury the factory farming industry causes. In nature, only what is needed for survival is killed and eaten. Half of the meat that is the supermarket that is never sold goes to the garbage and that is many animals that suffered, in concentration camps, aka farms, for nothing.
I think Singer would agree that game hunting for winter survival by a skilled hunter would be preferable to the techniques today in the factory farming. Many people in my family and my friend’s families share resources like this and we find this more humane and efficient than buying meat from a store that one does not know how the animal was treated or injected with. Of course there is nothing 100% humane about separating an animal from its family but if it came down to surviving it is a better choice.
Happy Sheep June 2014 Sharon CT.
Note: while I have watched plenty of disturbing videos on factory farming in the past, this past one made me reach out to each of my five cats and give them a big hug to let them know how much I appreciate them.
References
Easyaspeace. (2008, April 7). Tom Regan, a case for animal rights [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5RRLBC1S3w
Tyranny Of The Majority
Simply put, “Utilitarianism can lead to unintended consequences that bring upon more suffering”(Mosser, 2014, Kindle location: 5171). Sometimes trying to make something better can cause more harm than good. Our text explains that many times in history that government policy that was aimed to please the majority instead caused extreme pain and difficulty to the minority; for example, African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, homosexuals, or many others (Mosser, 2014, Kindle location: 5171).
I like to take this concept one step further to a more recent event in the farming industries that does not involve skin color. Does anyone remember the California drought of 2007? Seems too far ago? Not really because the families out west are still suffering from extreme activist who aimed to protect one species of smelt.
- In May 2007, a Federal District Court Judge ruled that increased amounts of water had to be re-allocated towards protecting the Delta smelt – a three-inch fish on the Endangered Species List. (CNR, 2014)
- Because of this ruling, in 2009 and 2010 more than 300 billion gallons (or 1 million acre-feet) of water were diverted away from farmers in the Central Valley and into the San Francisco Bay – eventually going out into the Pacific Ocean. (CNR, 2014)
- This man-made drought cost thousands of farm workers their jobs, inflicted up to 40 percent unemployment in certain communities, and fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland. (CNR, 2014)
- Unemployment remains at a regional average of 17%. With current precipitation at near-record lows, the same regulations will be imposed pushing unemployment even higher. (CNR, 2014)
Yes, there is an issue of protecting wildlife, but instead of relocating a batch of this species elsewhere and expanding its population, the government has placed into policy to reroute water in order to save the fish (who have rights to exist) and destroy a community and the livelihood of many families in a destructible way that is not fixable without an non artificial water source.
References
Committee on Natural Resources (2014). The Man-Made California Drought. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved from: http://naturalresources.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=5921
Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
The Cat's Meow 