Friend Ship Essay Example for Free

Friend Ship Essay friendshipWhen is Friendship Day? Celebrate Friendship Day 2013 on August 4, Sunday Human beings are social creatures and have always valued the importance of friends in their lives. To celebrate this noble feeling it was deemed fit to have a day dedicated to friends and friendship. Accordingly, first Sunday of August was declared as a holiday in US in honor of friends by a Proclamation made by US Congress in 1935. Since then, World Friendship Day is being celebrated every year on the first Sunday in the month of August. | This beautiful idea of celebrating Friendship Day was joyfully accepted by several other countries across the world. And today, many countries including India, celebrate the first Sunday of August as Friendship Day every year. Celebrating Friendship Day in a traditional manner, people meet their friends and exchange cards and flowers to honor their friends. Lot many social and cultural organization too celebrate the occasion and mark Friendship Day by hosting programs and get together. It may be noted that some associations celebrate Friendship Day in an entirely different time of the year and with different customs. For instance, * National Friendship Day is on the first Sunday in August. * Womens Friendship Day is on the third Sunday in August * International Friendship Month is February * Old Friends, New Friends Week is the third week of May However, what is remarkably same is the idea behind the celebration of the day. Everywhere, people express love for their friends and cherish their presence in life. Friendship Day History There is not much literature on Friendship Day history as we celebrate today. However, there are numerous folktales and several instance in mythological legends that shows that friends and friendship have been valued since the beginning of civilized world. As an intrinsically social creature, men love to make friends to further this process of socialization. Friendship Day in IndiaFriendship Day has come to be celebrated in a big way in India. The noble idea of honoring friends and friendship has really caught on with the youth in India and one can see the festival being enthusiastically celebrated by the youth especially, students. Day Dedicated to Friends In tune with the spirit of the occasion, people dedicate Friendship Day festival to their best friends. Most choose to celebrate the entire day in the loving company of their dearest friends. Recollecting sweet memories of the time spent together and catching up with their lives over a cup of coffee is the idea of ideal Friendship Day celebration for many. Friends separated by geographical distances, call up their friends to express love and warmth for each other and to wish a Happy Friendship Day. With more and more people getting hooked to the net, many people also choose to chat with their friends with the help of Internet. Sending SMS and Friendship Day e-cards is another popular way of greetings friends. Friendship Day Celebrations in Schools and Colleges Friendship Day celebrations are particularly marked in schools and colleges in India. Euphoria of the day sets in days before the festival as everybody gets excited to wish their best friends in their own special way. Children make Friendship Day Cards or other special gift to thank their friends for their wonderful presence in their life. Exchange of Friendship Bands is the other most prominent feature of Friendship Day celebrations. Friends vie with each other as to who gets the most stylish band or who gets the maximum number of bands. In several colleges, special programs are also organized to mark the occasion. Most of these programs and events intend to give youth an opportunity to dance and sing with friends and have a good time. Friendship Day Parties Following their counterparts in the west, youth in India too mark Friendship Day by participating in Friendship Day parties or organizing bashes for their friends. Major crowd for Friendship Day can be seen in discotheques and pubs where people dance with friends on fast pace music and cherish the loving company of their pals. Such parties also give youth a chance to make new friends and widen their friendship circle. At present such bashes are more popular in metros and other big cities, however, youth in small towns too are warming up to the idea of partying on Friendship Day. Commercialization of Friendship Day Just as in US and several other countries, Friendship Day has been commercialized to a great extent in India. Days before the festival, gift marketers run an extensive campaign to lure the people to buy cards and gifts for their friends. Restaurateurs too try to entice people by offering special discounts or holding bashes. Several people criticize such excessive campaigning. They feel commercialization has marred to the idea behind observing Friendship Day and has turned it into a mere formality. Some people however feel that advertising campaign has helped to generate awareness about Friendship Day festival and the idea of having a day dedicated to friends. |

I Wish to Follow in the Steps of Hubert Harrison Essay -- Personal Nar

Diversity Statement - I Wish to Follow in the Steps of Hubert Harrison    Hubert Henry Harrison was born in 1883 in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and became, by the 1920s, one of the nation's most prominent atheists.    Harrison was a controversial figure from an early age. Coming to New York City at 17, he used his knowledge of foreign languages to land a job with the postal service. This permitted him to pursue his passions for learning and writing. This latter pursuit soon landed him in hot water with his bosses, however, when he wrote an article critical of Booker T. Washington, a darling of the establishment.    In 1905 he turned to the law as a profession, but continued his writing, and also became a popular speaker. By age 24 he was contributing book reviews to the Sun, the Tribune, The Nation, and The New Republic.    Harrison served as editor of the magazine The Masses for four years. Soon, Harrison was one of the foremost intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance, which was marked by a number of exciting, talented freethinkers.    Harrison's knowledge ... ...as too much to overcome, especially in addition to the racial prejudice which Harrison faced.    The measure of his success is not to be found in the history books, but in the recollections of those who knew and were influenced by him, and the contemporary press accounts of his achievements.    Harrison died in New York at the age of only 44. He left a legacy as one of the most outstanding persons of his day, a champion of the underprivileged and oppressed, a freethinker who overcame many obstacles to become a man to be admired by all.

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Depression is a chronic mood disorder characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and irritability. Many people do not realized that depression is a disease, it’s a real medical disorder where changes occur in the brain, and they have medicine that helps correct these imbalances. Depression has been described as a â€Å"whole-body illness† because it doesn’t only affect the person’s mood but can affect every aspect of a person’s life. Depression is an illness, not a state of mind or a weakness. Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, but there are also other factors that may play a role as well, such as: environment - a significant loss, a difficult relationship or financial problems all produce stress. The body, by secreting extra amounts of certain hormones persisting for a long time, can produce changes in the brain actually killing some of the nerve cells. psychological - peoples whose personalities involve pessimistic thinking, low self-esteem and excessive worrying are more likely to develop depression. Genetics could also play a part - parents, siblings and children of depressed people are four times more likely to get depressed than a non-relative. Depression can affect anyone, any age. Even infants can become depressed, and may even die when they receive only a limited amount of human contact. Out of the estimated 17.6 million Americans suffering from depression each year, 1.5 million are children under eighteen. In teens depression is sometimes masked, shown in different ways like drugs, alcohol use, trouble in school, at home or with the law, withdrawal from social activities and sulkiness, grouchiness, and over-sensitivity. Sadness may be shown by wearing black clothes, writing poetry with morbid themes or music with nihilistic themes. Sleep disturbances may be shown by watching television all night, difficulty in getting up for school, or sleeping during the day. Lack of motivation and lowered energy level is reflected by missed classes. Getting lower grades than usual can show loss of concentration and slowed thinking. Boredom could also be a sign of depression in teens, loss of appetite may become anorexia or bulimia. Depression can appear to come out of nowhere, or it can be triggered by a life event such as the death of ones mother or the divorce of ones parents. According to the American Psychiatric Association, someone is depressed when loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities, or feelings of sadness last without relief for at least two weeks.

Hong Kong Disneyland: Where Is The Magic Essay

The case study, â€Å"Hong Kong Disneyland: Where is the Magic†, analyzed Disney’s strategic decision to expand their product into Hong Kong. Disney entered into a joint venture with the Hong Kong government to build their third international theme park. The following analysis reviews why and how Disney entered the South-East Asian market using the CAGE analysis. We review the strategic management issues and decisions that were made as complications arose from the entry into Hong Kong market and opening of the new Hong Kong Disney. Also, we provide the major takeaways from Disney’s entry into the South-East Asian market. Hong Kong Environment By 1999, the year of Disney’s announcement, it was clear Hong Kong was in the throes of a recession for the first time in 20 years. Just two years earlier the Asian financial crisis swept through Hong Kong as reflected in the material drop in property prices and the 1998 contraction of the GDP from first quarter’s 2.6% to 5.1%, 6.9%, and 5.7% in the following quarters resulting in an overall reduction of 5.1%, nearly reversing in full the growth observed in 1997. The pain was felt in all sectors of the economy. While wages stagnated, spending on superfluous wants dropped significantly including tourism – Disney’s target sector in Hong Kong. Total spending dropped 2.4% from 1997 to 1998 though inbound visitors from China crept up 13.1% over 1997. Nevertheless, China’s population was booming and Hong Kong was the beneficiary of their tourism dollars at a time Disney was excited to gain direct access to the fastest growing country in the world. The American market for Disney was mature. They carefully managed the evolution of their theme parks in such a way that uniquely positioned them to branch out into growing markets with a seemingly seamless approach, which they observed in their successful Tokyo endeavor. Their proprietary theme park experience was an untapped opportunity in Hong Kong. Theme parks in general were not in short supply in Asia in the late ‘90s, highlighting their popularity. Between 1994 and ‘99 2,000 new parks were built in China alone. Disney had the benefit of coming in with an established brand and product to take advantage of the popular theme park sector. Since the Disney name and all that comes with it were internationally popular and the notion of the American Dream was popular in Asia, the cultural and even language differences were thought to be largely inconsequential. Decision to Go Global The American market was stagnant which made expansion into global markets an attractive option. Disney has great success operating as a holiday destination so setting up shop in a large city abroad filled with tourists would create a great potential market. One of Disney’s boasted strengths was their ability to create a happy and magical place, where their guests can relive fond memories and become inspired. Disney has been very successful using architecture, landscaping, costumes, music, entertainment, attractions, merchandise and food to create exotic, fairy tale like, and adventurous atmospheres within one theme park at the same time. The parks in America were extremely well managed and organized in which the guest routes throughout the park were pre-determined and the staff had been rigorously trained. The company was confident with local research and hired expertise they could easily adapt for Chinese culture differences and have similar success as Tokyo Disney. The company planned to make a few modifications to Disney’s current management style to meet local expectations, such as architecture and menu items. Disney did not see Ocean Park as a serious competitor and therefore made few changes to their marketing plan. The park was established in 1977, and was marketed as a nature-centered park though performance was described as â€Å"lackluster† and â€Å"not aggressive enough† where advertising and product development were concerned. Disney priced tickets at nearly double the price  of Ocean Park’s tickets and gave little incentive to travel agents for tickets booked. Target: Hong Kong After two vastly different experiences opening international Disney parks, an ownership venture into an Asian country was a given. Tokyo Disneyland had been extremely successful from day one with little demand for cultural assimilation; Disney was ready to open their own park in Asia. In the early 2000’s Hong Kong was showing signs of recovery from the recession. In 2004, the economy experienced an 8.1% increase in GDP and in increase in local consumer spending and confidence. That same year the region also received an enormous number of tourists a year, approximately 21.8 million visitors with 12.45 from mainland China. With the expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) the growing presence of the Chinese visitors could be counted on. It was a known fact that the Chinese enjoyed visiting theme parks from the massive number built throughout the mainland in the 90’s. However, the only attraction park in the region was becoming outdated and was no longer viewed as a main attraction. The region’s government was interested in joining Disney in a joint venture which would ease some of the financial concerns of company expansion. With the growing presence of Chinese tourists, one direct competitor, and involvement of the regional government Hong Kong was a very attractive market opportunity. Joint Venture Decision Entering foreign markets is accomplished via three major approaches: export/import, licensing, and/or foreign investment. Disney had experience with all methods prior to entering Hong Kong with varying degrees of success. They have exported products throughout the world, used a licensing approach to enter Japan, and a direct investment approach to enter France/Europe. In deciding the entry mode to Hong Kong, past experiences may have contributed to selecting joint venture as the best entry mode to Hong Kong. The overwhelming success of Tokyo Disneyland suggests licensing is not the best strategy. Disney was not able to fully capitalize on the success of Tokyo Disneyland. They only collected licensing fees, thus missing out on  the opportunity to enhance revenues by limiting their stake to just licensing fees. The success of this entity was at least partially due to the ‘aspirational quality’ of American culture exhibited by the Japanese. Further analysis of past market entry experience suggested direct investment may not be the best option either. Disney chose direct investment when entering the European market being a controlling shareholder in the Euro Disney entity. Euro Disney found itself saddled with large debt struggling to survive. Unlike the Japanese experience, the French believed Disney was practicing cultural imperialism through its operation. Needless to say the French do not share the same aspirational quality of American culture as the Japanese. In looking to Hong Kong, Disney had to look at these past experiences to find a happy medium between the success of Tokyo and the less successful entry to Europe. Thus a joint venture with the government of Hong Kong was born. This entry mode allows Disney to share more risk, unlike Euro Disney, but also reap a greater benefit in the event Hong Kong proves to be as successful as Tokyo Disneyland. The joint venture setup with the Hong Kong government should, in theory at least, allow Disney to avoid the cultural missteps of Euro Disney while making entry smoother and paving the way to greater profits. Having selected a joint venture as the entry method, was their entry successful? The price to enter the park was nearly double the competition. Not necessarily a problem until you look at survey results showing ~70% of respondents expected a lower admission price. Coupled with a poor commission structure for travel agents, Disney was off to a rough start once the park opened. Even before the park opened there were problems. Public criticism was directed at the nature of the joint venture; operating the park as a private entity with public funding was not well-received. Fire ant colonies were found throughout the property. Testing of firework displays led to complaints from area residents and local officials. In response, Disney  refused to use a less noisy system used in other Disney properties as they argued they were following local regulations. This inflexible approach led to animosity between the company and locals. Additionally, packs of wild dogs were using the park as a location to scour for food leading to visitor safety concerns. Attempting to learn from their experience in France, Disney endeavored to integrate local customs and practices into park design including using feng shui. However, the decision to offer shark’s fin soup caused another problem. Local conservationists argued this was a status symbol and not a local custom. They pointed to the competition not offering this delicacy as a good example. Once the park opened, there were further issues. Reaching park capacity, turning people away and long queues were unforeseen operational issues resulting in further headaches for Disney. Despite looking to their past for guidance, taken as a whole, Disney’s initial entry into Hong Kong was not very successful. Lessons Learned Disney has numerous lessons to be learned from the opening of the Hong Kong theme park, some of which were available to them before making the Hong Kong decision based on their moves into other countries. The common theme among these lessons is that Disney needed to better understand the context of their business venture before starting, throughout the implementation process and post opening. In the case of Disney and Hong Kong, the relevant context includes competition, supporting industries, the cultural setting, and understanding the target customers’ wants and measurement of satisfaction. The first lesson the Walt Disney Company learned while expanding into Hong Kong is to understand pricing structure. Their main competitor, Ocean Park was more aggressive in sales on mainland China by offering better commission rates to travel agents. The university study showed expectations for adult pricing ranged would be in the range of HK$200 – HK$300 while the actual price was HK$295 on weekdays and HK$350 on weekends. This pushed potential  guests out of the Disney market to lower priced Ocean Park. The second lesson learned from the Hong Kong Disney expansion is a better understanding of the overall Honk Kong theme park marketplace. Disney seemed to be fighting back. They were not acting proactively towards employee union work conditions, green initiatives, animal rights activists and the â€Å"Disney Hunters† who brought to light inhuman labor practices. Disney spent a lot of time repairing its reputation from marketplace issues rather than projecting the Disney image to potential guests. The third lesson learned is an operational issue. Disney should have had smaller more manageable openings, leading to larger crowds. Opening the park to maximum occupancy for a charity event was noble but created only downside risk to Disney operations. They saw quickly they could not handle the crowds in every aspect. After the fact they basically blamed their customers believing the problems stemmed from a lack of understanding the flexible ticking system. The last lesson learned is for Disney to be more local in all regards. First, hire local high level managers to run parts of the operation. This could have avoided several issues like the Chinese New Year ticketing problem, management turnover, inspections and catering menu options. Also, the Hong Kong people working on the project would not have felt they were being forced to manage to the Disney policies. In summary, Disney’s strategic decision to enter into the Hong Kong market via joint venture with the government was a logical decision. Tapping into the China market, home to the worlds most populated country and a fast growing economy, Honk Kong Disneyland seem destined for success. However, as with past international expansions Disney faced a whirlwind of cultural, economic and management issues that tainted the original vision to spread Disney magic into South-East Asian market

Microeconomics - Help and Resources for Students

Microeconomics - Help and Resources for Students This page contains links to economics articles on this site. Most of the major topics in microeconomics have at least one article associated with them, but this is a work in progress and more will be added every month.   Collective Action - Microeconomics The Logic of Collective Action Costs - Microeconomics How to Understand and Calculate Cost Measures (Note: Includes Marginal Cost, Total Cost, Fixed Cost, Total Variable Cost, Average Total Cost, Average Fixed Cost, and Average Variable Cost.) Demand - Microeconomics What Is The Demand For Money?Price Elasticity of DemandIncome Elasticity of DemandCross-Price Elasticity of DemandCost-Push Inflation vs. Demand-Pull Inflation Economic Scale - Microeconomics Increasing, Decreasing, and Constant Returns to Scale Elasticity - Microeconomics Beginners Guide to ElasticityPrice Elasticity of DemandIncome Elasticity of DemandCross-Price Elasticity of DemandPrice Elasticity of SupplyArc Elasticity Income - Microeconomics The Effect of Income Taxes on Economic GrowthIncome Elasticity of DemandFairTax - Income Taxes vs. Sales Taxes Inflation and Deflation - Microeconomics Cost-Push Inflation vs. Demand-Pull InflationWhy Dont Prices Decline During A Recession?What is Deflation and How Can It Be Prevented? Markets - Microeconomics How Markets Use Information To Set Prices Money - Microeconomics What Was The Gold Standard?What Is The Demand For Money?How Much Is The Per-Capita Money Supply?Why Does Money Have Value?Are Credit Cards a Form of Money?When Stock Prices Go Down, Where Does the Money Go?Expansionary Monetary Policy vs. Contractionary Monetary PolicyWhy Not Just Print More Money? Prices - Microeconomics Price Elasticity of DemandCross-Price Elasticity of DemandPrice Elasticity of SupplyWhy Dont Prices Decline During A Recession?What is Arbitrage?When Stock Prices Go Down, Where Does the Money Go?How Markets Use Information To Set Prices Quotas and Tariffs - Microeconomics Why Are Tariffs Preferable to Quotas?The Economic Effect of Tariffs Short Run vs. Long Run - Microeconomics The Difference Between Short and Long Run Supply - Microeconomics How Much is the Per Capita Money Supply in the U.S.?The Oil SupplyPrice Elasticity of Supply Taxes and Subsidies - Microeconomics The Effect of Income Taxes on Economic GrowthWhy Are Tariffs Preferable to Quotas? Voting Systems - Microeconomics Proportional Representation vs. First-Past-The-Post

Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin Introduction Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 film Battleship Potemkin represents a classical example of formalist editing in cinematography. According to most well-known enthusiasts of this style of editing, such as Pudovkin and Eisenstein himself, the semantic significance of film’s mise en scene should not be dialectically explored but rather constructed.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Battleship Potemkin specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Both individuals tended to perceive the process of movie’s editing as being similar to the process of composing music – just as composer constructs a melody out of individually sounding and often dissonant musical notes, film’s director endows a particular scene with semiotic significance by the mean of providing scene’s takes with contextual wholesomeness. While outlining the essence of formalist editing, Gianetti (2001) states: â€Å"The envir onment of the scene is the source of the images. Long shots are rare. Instead, a barrage of close-ups (often of objects) provides the audience with the necessary associations to link together the meaning† (p. 157). Given the fact that Eisenstein never ceased being closely affiliated with promotion of Communist agenda, it comes as not a particular surprise that he had chosen in favor of formalist editing – by juxtaposing scenes’ seemingly unrelated shots, he was able to endow his films with clearly defined ideological sounding. In the same book from which we have already quoted, Gianetti provides us with the insight onto the actual technique of Eisenstein’s style of editing: â€Å"The conflict of two shots (thesis and antithesis) produces a wholly new idea (synthesis). Thus, in film terms, the conflict between shot A and shot B is not AB but a qualitatively new factor- C† (p. 158). In the next part of this paper, we will explore how Eisenstein went a bout applying the methods of formalist editing in Battleship Potemkin at length. Analytical part Even the very beginning of Battleship Potemkin is being perfectly illustrative of how the utilization of formalist editing in film can achieve a strong dramatic effect. At first, there is a take of battleship’s physician wearing a monocle, meant to emphasize his association with the class of bourgeoisie (00.05.43). After that, follows the shot of maggots crawling all over the piece of meat, which was supposed to serve ship’s sailors as food (00.05.45). After having exposed viewers to this take for a while, Eisenstein sharply replaces it with the shot of angry expression on sailors’ faces (00.05.60). It is needless to mention, of course, that from purely semantic perspective, the sequence of these shots does not make much of a sense.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn Mo re Nevertheless, after having watched this particular scene, viewers quite unintentionally get to absorb the idea that Eisenstein wanted them to absorb – namely, the fact that, while serving in Russian Imperial Fleet, sailors used to be subjected to a number of different abuses, which had prompted them to revolt. Just as it is being often the case with today’s TV commercials, the main idea that combined earlier mentioned shots into something that conveyed cognitively recognizable ideological message, only existed in director’s imagination. And, it is namely the fact that Eisenstein was a master of psychological manipulation, which had allowed him to impose his obscure and morally repugnant ideas upon viewers as representing some objective value. Another clue as to the actual essence of Eisenstein’s formalist editing can be found in the scene where revolutionary speakers address angry mob (00.41.32 – 00.42.19). Given the fact that Battleship Potemkin is a silent movie, exposing viewers to the sight of crazed revolutionaries encouraging marginalized crowds to kill nobles, while intensely gesturing, making angry faces and spewing saliva, during the course of the process, does not appear rationally motivated – after all, there is no sound in the movie. Nevertheless, by having this particular scene presented in his film, Eisenstein did not aim at subjecting viewers to Communist propaganda per se, but rather at making them cognitively comfortable with this propaganda as a concept, because on subconscious level, people tend to associate emotional intensity with intellectual honesty. In other words, just as it is being the case with the shots of maggots crawling over the piece of meat, the shots of hook-nosed political activists instigating ‘proletarians’ to overthrow Czar had served the cause of psychological manipulation, on director’s part – a clearly formalist editing technique. Neverthel ess, it is specifically the scene of czarist police shooting at civilians in Odessa, which provides us with the full understanding of how the utilization of formalist editing had helped Battleship Potemkin to attain a cult status. After police fires a salvo at demonstrators, we get to watch the following sequence of structurally unrelated takes: people running down the ‘Potemkin stairs’ (00.49.23), some kids laying on these stairs and crying, while being stepped upon (00.50.08), a bug-eyed woman experiencing an emotional distress (00.50.12), the older woman making jesters with her hands (00.51.18), one-legged man maneuvering through the running people on his crutches (00.51.48), police officers firing another salvo (00.51.51), woman with a baby in her hands catching the bullet (00.52.53), people running again in a chaotic manner (00.53.07), and finally the baby-carriage with a baby rolling down the stairs on its own (00.54.57), with this shot climaxing the whole scene.A dvertising We will write a custom essay sample on Battleship Potemkin specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Apparently, Einstein was well aware of the fact that, even though the scenes of police shooting at civilians do not occur very often in reality, his depiction of such a scene nevertheless would be perceived by viewers as perfectly plausible, due to its strongly defined emotional undertones. In their turn, these undertones had been brought about by director’s mastery in utilization of formalist editing. Conclusion Even though that in ‘artsy’ circles, the application of formalist editing in cinematography is being often considered as the only appropriate, due to such editing’s ‘sophistication’, the majority of movie goers do not subscribe to this point of view. And, this has nothing to do with their lessened intellectual abilities, as is being implied by enthusiasts of ‘auteur’ genr e in cinematography, but simply with the fact that this style of editing does not correspond to the linearly defined workings of Westerners’ psyche. In formalistically edited movie, there is very little of an actual movie, but mostly theory. The watching of Einstein’s Battleship Potemkin is like observing Malevich’s Black Square painting – without having been introduced to both individuals’ highly irrational and superficially sophisticate life-philosophies, it would prove quite impossible to define the actual significance of their cinematographic/artistic creations’ themes and motifs, if we assume that they do exist. As Gianetti had put it: â€Å"Eisensteins theories of collision montage have been explored primarily in the avant-garde cinema, music videos, and TV commercials. Most fiction film ­makers have found them too intrusive and heavy-handed† (p. 168). Thus, even though in Battleship Potemkin Einstein did succeed with providin g an emotional appeal to the Communist cause, he nevertheless had failed in making this particular movie watchable – after all, viewers do not particularly enjoy the feeling of being intellectually manipulated by the mean of being forced to accept director’s own ideological agenda as representing an undeniable truth-value. References Gianetti, L. (2001). Understanding movies. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Learning Pronouns - Beginner Level ESL Lesson Plan

Learning Pronouns - Beginner Level ESL Lesson Plan The use of pronouns often seeps into the lessons in a number of different aspects: Subject pronouns are discussed when forming and conjugating sentences in the various tenses, object pronouns are introduced through questions words such as who or by a discussion of transitive and intransitive verbs, possessive pronouns and adjectives also get thrown into the mix by discussing the question word whose, or when pointing out how the possessive adjective modifies the noun. I find it helpful to to wrap all these together in a single lesson, as well as the demonstrative pronouns this, that, these and those to help students understand the relationship between the various forms. The lesson comes in two parts: First, students review, identify and create a pronoun chart. Next, students begin to use the pronouns to refer to objects that they have placed on a table. Finally, once students have become relatively comfortable with using personal pronouns, they can add demonstrative pronouns to the mix. Here is an outline of the lesson. This lesson can be used as a means of review, or, as an introduction to the various uses of pronouns (and the possessive adjective) for exceptionally motivated classes. Aim: Develop a deeper understanding of personal and demonstrative pronouns Activity: Chart fill-in, personal object questioning Level: Beginning to lower-intermediate Outline: Reviewing the Forms with a Chart Write four sentences on the board each containing a different type of pronoun (or possessive adjective), preferably using the same person. For example:He has an interesting book.Give him that interesting book.Thats his interesting book.That interesting book is his.Point out the grammatical differences in form between each of these forms. If students have never studied these forms before in an overview, print out this pronoun chart or write on the board.Using the same sentence with minor variations, go through each pronoun and possessive form for various subjects. Ask students to provide the correct change for each sentence as a class.Once students have become comfortable with these changes, ask them to fill out the first chart providing the correct pronoun or adjective form. Understanding Demonstrative Pronouns Now that the explicit learning has been accomplished, its time for some fun. Place a table at the front or in the middle of the classroom.Ask each student to provide an object or objects on the table.Begin asking questions using the objects. At this point it is also a good idea to introduce the idea of demonstrative pronouns. First model the questions and answers: For example:Teacher: Whose is this backpack here? - That is Marcos backpack there.Is this Annas pencil? - No, that isnt Annas pencil.etc.Explain that this and that are used with single objects, these and those are used in the plural. Point out that this and these are used with objects that are here (or close by), and that and those are used objects there (or far away). Phrases such as this - here / that - there are helpful.Continue asking questions with this and these eliciting students responses of these and those. Real World Task to Tie it All Together Ask students to come forward and choose an item which does not belong to them. Each student should create four sentences about the object(s) they choose. For example:This is Annas pencil.She has a pencil.It is her pencil.The pencil is hers.I give her the pencil.(student walks over and hands the item back)Feel free to model this a few times until the students understand what is expected.Repeat with different personal objects. The activity of getting up and retrieving items while using the various forms will help students acquire the grammar through real world application. Pronoun Chart Subject Pronoun Object Pronoun Possessive Adjective Possessive Pronoun I you his hers its none we your theirs