Perception and Reality in Existenz Essay Example for Free

Perception and Reality in Existenz Essay For me, eXistenZ is a film that is fairly confusing at best. If I’m not mistaken the film was released before The Matrix and had the same concept for the world the characters resided. A computer generated world inside the real world. In eXistenZ the protagonists start off in a room, they are about to beta test a revolutionary computer game called â€Å"eXistenZ†, the scene is set in such a way that we are led to believe that video games have finally reached the ultimate goal of becoming fully immersive and utterly real, not so much virtual reality but complete reality. Each actor is given a role that, in the game, they may or may not complete without knowing. This is where things already start to cross over. We as the audience are transported into a fictional world, viewed through a mechanical/computerized object (the camera) that is itself populated by fictional characters whom are just about to do the exact same thing. â€Å"The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe. † 1 berger We are told to believe that computerised realities identical to our own are now possible, and that these people will be â€Å"porting† into one. Nobody today, at least that I know, believes that our reality is computerised, simply because in our reality†¦a computer generated reality that is indistinguishable from our own has not been created. But if we all believed that, would we see this world differently as in eXistenZ? â€Å"An image is a sight which has been recreated or reproduced. It is an appearance, or set of appearances, which has been detached from the place and time in which it first made its appearance and preserved – for a few moments or a few centuries. † 2 berger. Once we are â€Å"ported† into the computerized reality of their reality, we realise that what we are viewing is not what we are seeing for ourselves, possibly not even in the same time or space. The camera is providing us with a series of still images that were captured by a â€Å"mechanical† eye (this alone provides us with a view of the world which is unlike our own i. e. widescreen, resolution, perspective etc). These images are producing a world that is similar to ours but unreal and from the viewpoint like that of a ghost or an angel (called â€Å"free cam† or â€Å"death cam† in the video game world†. The ability to view events from anywhere in the world whenever you want. ). This world then takes us into another world inside that one which is viewed the same way, except this world is supposed to be the false reality. I sometimes think this can be part of the explanation for the oddities we see†¦. like placing the lens of a camera next to the viewfinder of another camera and taking a picture. As your eye, a natural camera in itself sees through the first lens, the image is distorted via that lens and then the other lens. What is it you will really be seeing at the end? In the film we are always viewing the events through three mediums, our eyes, through the camera, which views those events through a virtual camera in the game. We can never be totally sure that the images we see represent the corresponding knowledge that we assign to it in our reality. Everything in eXistenZ looks exactly the same as our reality but doesn’t have the same meaning†¦. several tiers over. But whose eyes are we actually viewing these whole series of events from? A spectator. But who is this spectator? Are there testers ported into the game as mere observers? Are they developers or publishers? Or simply joe public who has no direct connection with the corporate mechanics of eXistenZ? In our reality, when you play a multiplayer game such as this and you die, you become a spectator†¦a ghost, until the end of the game, where you â€Å"respawn† (get another chance). Quite simply, whose interpretation of the events are we watching? Two quotes relating to music and technology but I believe are relevant; â€Å"†Liveness,† in short, whether defined in social or physiological terms, is not essential to musical meaning. On the other hand, it is equally clear that to record a work is just as much to interpret it as to perform it in any other way. † 3 Simon Firth â€Å"I don’t believe the engineer should intrude between the composer, or performer†¦Ã¢â‚¬  4 Goddard The â€Å"music† is the game, the â€Å"performer† being the people in the game, the â€Å"composer† is the game itself, the story and the â€Å"engineer† is the person or entity who is controlling our view of the final score (In game mechanics this could be referred to as the â€Å"Game Engine†, this decides what happens, how, why, when and where. ) The above quote can only exude one outcome, that the game should be viewed from each and every person by their own means in order to absorb the complete truth. Right now we are watching the events through someone else’s interpretation, each cut and angle change being a splice of the composition†¦a rewrite of the events. By the end of the film we find out unequivocally that because of this we have only half of the story. But we do realise that no matter what, the composition remains the same†¦. it’s just the way we hear it that is different. eXistenZ has what’s called a â€Å"linear† plotline but a â€Å"non linear† game play mechanic, there is only one outcome but the way in which you reach that outcome can have infinite possibilities, much like our lives. Existence is linear, but life is not. We will all die eventually, but how we die will have an infinite number of possibilities. A composer can write a piece of music that is the story, which never changes, but it is the performer and engineer that tell this story, depending on them both, the end will always be the same but the way in which the story is told will always be different. One thing that was mentioned by Walter Benjamin is that, â€Å"For the film, what matters primarily is that the actor represents himself to the public before the camera, rather than representing someone else. † 5 benjamin This maybe true, but the very nature of this film throws this ideal into chaos. The actors are playings actors in a film that has them playing actors in a game†¦that by the end of the film, has them playing actors of actors in some other situation. This quote I simply don’t agree with, it also seems to me that this is the complete opposite of what a method actor tries to accomplish on stage, which is to embody and represent someone else completely without thought. This goes against what Berger said about us relating what we see to what we know. If the actors on stage all represented themselves completely to the audience other than the camera before the part they were playing, then what we as an audience know about the character in relation to the actor playing the character conflict and ruin the immersion, it is easier to become someone else in front of the camera, that doesn’t know anything, than the audience that knows everything. The whole point of eXistenZ is to make you believe that these average people believe they are someone else who in turn believe they are someone else. At the end of the day this is what the object of the game was, to embody the character of someone else that has been thrust into a plot in a world that you have no knowledge of. This is the reason that people play video games. To escape the mundane trials and tribulations of everyday life and become a part of something that is out of the ordinary. Computer Generated Imagery, or CGI (CGI is a term that I find horrible, to me it is either Digital Animation or Digital Modeling, together Digital Media. CGI has connotations of the low tech ‘80’s to many people. ) is the main ingredient in this, where as the original way to escape was to either read a book, act in a play or hear a tale†¦now we are heading towards the era where you can become part of a tale that is ultra realistic. Where you can enter a virtual world that can fabricate the ends of your imagination and beyond. eXistenz is where the digital industry wants to end up, the applications of fabricating a reality that is false for individuals that cannot cope with the â€Å"real† thing are endless. If youre bored at work, why not become Bruce Willis during you’re lunch break? Want to experience terror? Port in and visit Silent Hill after a hard day at work. It all sounds simple enough, but right now we are at a point where we know for definite within our reality, where the line is between virtual and real. The day that our technology reaches the levels depicted in eXistenZ is the day that the troubles will start. This I think is one of the main lessons to me in this film. When do we say â€Å"enough† to technology? When do we stop? Or do we stop in one avenue and continue developing in others? A revolutionary game such as eXistenZ could wreak havoc on people who do not have the capacity to discern their reality from that of the software or hardware. It even has the possibility to blur the lines and boundaries you already have defined, or destroy your mental health completely. At the very end of the film we are enlightened to the fact that eXistenZ is not real, that it is a product of the game â€Å"tranScendanZ†. It is a game within a game within a film. The final line of the film â€Å"Are we still in the game† relates to how we see the world, relative. Who knows if that was the real reality or just the game, to me it looked very much like the two protagonists didn’t know either, or even questioned it. Perhaps they weren’t even â€Å"real† participants of the game, but mere NPC’s (non player characters). But this is where Digital Media is taking us, it’s job is to create the world as accurately as it can within the realms of it’s software, ironically designed by entities that are bound by laws of a universe not completely understood by the aformentioned but with none of the rules that limit our existence (The Matrix for example, identical reality, but the rules could be bent or broken by those who knew how to). For instance, if I wanted to walk through a wall right now I couldn’t, however, in a game it is as simple as typing a code into the console (usually â€Å"noclip 1†, 0 being false, 1 being true). But who is to say that I couldn’t walk through that wall now? Maybe it is as simple as being enlightened to the truth like Neo from The Matrix? In our lives we are exposed to images from the past, present and future that hold no bearing on our existence at that present time we experience them. But these images, performances or experiences can affect us in ways that we cannot perceive. The photographer, camera operator or composer does not know this either. But at the time of them creating these art works they are fabricating a reality and set of circumstances for others that have a multitude of meanings. There can be one definitive interpretation, but this will change depending on who is viewing it and how. Right now this essay almost makes sense to me, it may not make sense to you, but how do you make sense of things that have several meanings unless you were the person who conceived the premise in the first place? The answer is that you cannot. A picture taken one century for one purpose and meaning can translate as something else in another century. An actors affect in film during one era can mean something different on stage in the same era and an music studio can completely rewrite the meaning and feel of music without changing the notes or instruments. It is all down to perception. eXistenZ, Vanilla Sky, The Matrix, The Machinist, Gozu and many others all rely on images that are perceived as in any other art forms. Our own experiences colour the original â€Å"thought† of the creator, regardless of that creators perception.

Moral Complexity in Kieslowskis the Decalogue (1989)

Moral Complexity in Kieslowskis the Decalogue (1989) Although the moral stories that constitute Polish director Krzyszto KieÅ›lowskis The Decalogue (1989) were inspired by the Ten Commandments (as per the films umbrella title), the way they relate to Gods Law as revealed to Moses is by no means straightforward or clear-cut; nor is the rich symbolism which Kieslowski weaves throughout the films. As this paper shall demonstrate, the ideas and themes in The Decalogue are complex and often ambiguous, especially with respect to two primary and recurring symbols: the huge apartment complex where the various characters reside and occasionally cross paths and an unnamed, mysterious male figure who hovers on the periphery of the action, silent and observing. KieÅ›lowski uses these two symbols to illustrate and develop the metaphysic that lies at the heart of the film. The films [that constitute The Decalogue] should be influenced by the individual commandments to the same degree that the commandments influence our daily lives†, KieÅ›lowski notes in the introduction to the published script of The Decalogue (quoted in Cunneen, 1997). Joseph Cunneen suggests that this influence is subtle and indirect. It is significant that the films do not have separate titles that contain text of the commandments; as a result, the viewer is â€Å"often unsure of the relationship between a film and a particular commandment; to the director, if the numbers of some episodes were reversed for example 6 and 9 it would make no difference† (Cunneen, 1997). KieÅ›lowski thus encourages intellectual guesswork on the part of his audience. â€Å"I merely announce, for example, Decalogue 1. The spectator looks at the film and . . . begins to think about the commandment(s)†. (KieÅ›lowski, as quoted in Cunneen, 1997). For example, in Decalogue VI th ere seem to be no reference to any one particular commandment, though it does contain references to stealing (the peeping-tom protagonist steals a telescope to spy on a female neighbor) and killing (the same character slashes his wrists near the end of the film). This â€Å"thoroughly un-didactic† approach enables KieÅ›lowski and his co-screenwriter, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, to develop their themes with subtlety and restraint (Porton, 50). In The Decalogue, as in life, nothing is cut and dried. â€Å"Each episode can be likened to a moral parable that suggests . . . how we can live ethically in a world where the false comfort of either a belief in God or dialectical materialism is unavailable†, states Porton (Porton, 48). Jonathan Rosenbaum would seem to agree that the films power is suggestive rather than didactic: â€Å"The finely sculpted scripts of these films become suggestions of how we might think about these people, not directives about how we should judge them† (Rosenbaum, 159). He goes on to say that the decision to produce a series of films that correspond to the Ten Commandments in name and number is essentially â€Å"a packaging idea, successfully designed to give KieÅ›lowski an international reputation and made in part for export† (Rosenbaum, 155). By the directors own admission, he and Piesiewicz avoided any overt political references to the Poland of the mid-1980s in order that the films could be marketed in other countries (Stok, 145). Yet none of this detracts from The Decalogues intellectual, moral and aesthetic stature. KieÅ›lowski is a serious artist whose ultimate concern is integrity that of his characters and also of himself, as a filmmaker. He does not teach morality (in the sense of â€Å"thou shalt not†) but rather contemplates and probes lifes so-called â€Å"grey areas†. According to him, â€Å"integrity is an extremely complicated combination and we can never ultimately say ‘I was honest or ‘I wasnt honest. In all our actions . . . we find ourselves in a position from which theres really no way out and even if there is, its not a better way out [but only] the lesser evil. This [choosing which way out to take], of course, defines integrity† (Stok, 146 149). The notion, then, that a set of ten rules is all we need is simplistic to the point of absurdity. The decisions we all must make in our lives are often difficult and painful; they are also dependent on a host of different factors which have to be weighed and taken into account. Where morality is concerned, perspectives have to be altered and sometimes replaced with new ones. Mario Sesti suggests that the complexity of the ideas at play in The Decalogue is symbolized, in part, by the high-rise apartment complex which is the central setting for all the episodes. â€Å"Throughout the work a system of hints, correspondences and allusions imperceptibly laces together the tangled plights of the characters who live in the [same] apartment block. Everyone either knows or ignores one another, but everyone is aware (however reluctantly) that they belong to the same narrative† (Sesti, 183). Portman remarks that KieÅ›lowskis signature theme in virtually all his films (not just The Decalogue) is â€Å"the ineffability of human experience through chance encounters or near-encounters of protagonists whose paths would never ordinarily intersect† (Portman, 2001). Locating most of the action in and around the huge apartment building where the various characters live, and where their paths occasionally cross, allows KieÅ›lowski to stage such chance encounters and near-encounters while â€Å"(weaving the) single episodes into an overall tapestry† (Sesti, 183). The director notes that the idea of choosing characters at random and observing how they act and interrelate is well-served by the apartment building setting: â€Å"We had the idea that the camera should pick somebody out, . . . then follow him or her throughout the rest of the film†, he says, adding that since the apartment building has â€Å"thousands of similar windows framed in the establishing shot†, it was an ideal setting for his purposes (Stock, 146). Cunneen explains that the apartment building helps â€Å"unify the series† since we see the same few buildings again and again (that is, from episode to episode), adding that â€Å"in such a context it becomes natural for a character we see on the stairs in one episode to become a major figure in a later one† (Cunneen, 2001). By extension, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the apartment building symbolizes the unity and interrelatedness of experience. Despite the interrelatedness, Michael Wilmington argues that all the characters in the series think of themselves as essentially â€Å"isolated† (Wilmington, 2001). Occasionally, to some minor degree, the setting shifts away from the Warsaw suburb and into the city, and even the countryside, yet the director has a nostalgic idea of a return the monotonous high-rise blocks (Wilmington, 2001). The symbolism of the notion to portray such areas of Warsaw is that only in those tall grey buildings can the audience get familiar with many different emotions of the inhabitants: love, hate, friendliness, politeness, curiosity and more. There is constant interaction between the neighbors, making KieÅ›lowskis series very realistic and simple to understand for his viewers. The apartment building is, in effect, an objective correlative to this very malaise. The â€Å"deliberately gray or brackish colors† of the building â€Å"capture an edifice that signifies both the State and the monotony of life in ‘Peoples Poland† (Porton, 2001). In a similar vein, Agnieszka Tennant makes reference to the â€Å"mass-produced, colorless buildings†, â€Å"cheerless wintry outdoors†, â€Å"cold flats† and â€Å"impersonal stairwells, elevators and offices† that constitute the films mise-en-scà ¨ne (Tenant, 2001). Another function of the apartment-building setting is that it allows for an open narrative structure a structure which â€Å"invites the viewer to interpret the actions of [the] protagonists, to follow their struggles with destiny in an abundance of chance encounters† (Haltof, 79), while serving as a convenient symbol for voyeurism and shifting perspectives (that is to say, the viewers as well as the directors gaze). Cunneen is correct to stress that KieÅ›lowskis camera is â€Å"fond of windows, mirrors, or any objects that offer possibilities of reflections† (Cunneen, 2001). This tendency opens new perspectives on the protagonists of the film series. They are viewed from behind the glass, lens or mirror which highlights that their actions could not be what they seem and have more dimensions to them. In KieÅ›lowskis films, glass serves to self-consciously foreground the act of looking†, according to Annette Insdorf (Cunneen, 2001, quoting Insdorf in the latters Double Lives, p. 91). In Decalogue V, Piotr, the lawyer of Jacek the killer, is â€Å"framed in a mirror† before we actually see him. As well, â€Å"the driver [victim] is presented as glass reflects the apartment complex† and â€Å"Jacek is introduced in the street, reflected in a mirror as well† (Insdorf quoted in Cunneen, 2001). Sesti refers to KieÅ›lowskis themes of â€Å"uncertainty† and â€Å"bewilderment†, noting that â€Å"the most typical image in The Decalogue is a shadowy interior, a character at the window, or a gaze without rancor, happiness or hope† (Sesti, 187). A case in point is Decalogue VI, which begins with Olaf, the peeping tom character, spying on Magda, the older woman who is his neighbor, but ends in reverse, with Magda spying on him. KieÅ›low ski concedes that this â€Å"change in perspective† is essential to the episodes structure (Stok, 169). Other examples of the gaze may be found in Decalogue I when the boy Pawel watches a pigeon on his windowsill in the beginning. Later, after Pawel drowns, his aunt watches slow-motion memorial footage of him on a TV screen in a shop window. In Decalogue V the gaze is noticed during the murder of the cab driver when the killer Jacek hesitates for a brief moment when the victim â€Å"looks up at him and Jacek sees his suffering†; he responds by covering the mans head (Hogan, 2008). Curiously, KieÅ›lowski here seems to be equating the gaze with death. Another significant and symbolic link between the episodes is the presence of the mysterious, silent young man whom the audience sees only occasionally. He is absent from episodes 7 and 10. This omnipresent figure â€Å"with searingly watchful eyes and an Old Testament intensity† (Cunneen, 2001) usually shows up â€Å"just before [a] character makes a difficult ethical decision, or just before something unexpected happens† (Tennant, 2001). He can be observed in Decalogue I sitting at a campfire; in Decalogue V, as a road inspector and also as a painter in prison; in Decalogue VI, as a man in a white suit; in Decalogue VIII, as a student listening to the lecture of one of the two main characters; and in Decalogue IX, as a cyclist who watches the protagonist try to kill himself. This mysterious man can be identified with a guardian angel or the â€Å"walking consciousness†. He is present at the times of crucial decisions by the protagonists, but he never judges. On the contrary the â€Å"angel† is trying to push the troubled heroes to a better moral choice, as with Jacek in Dekalogue V he shakes his head to silently protest the murder or in Dekalogue IX saving Roman from succeeding in his suicidal attempt. The figure is still puzzling because he seems to have very little to no influence on the action and therefore cannot be considered a character in the proper sense. Tenant believes he â€Å"symbolizes Gods presence among us, Christian conscience, or at least for a secular audience fate† (Tenant, 2001), while Haltof sees him as an â€Å"Angel of Fate† who â€Å"adds an almost metaphysical dimension† to the films (Haltof, 81). As Sesti explains, although the figure â€Å"never interferes with the action, [he is] perfectly aware of it to the point of foreseeing its conclusion†. He never utters a word but rather â€Å"looks directly into the camera, and his disquieting silence seems to comment on the story†. Sesti agrees that this â€Å"kind of chorus figure† acts as a unifying link for the episodes but points out that â€Å"we do not identify with him, for his presence suggests the inflexibility of fate and the vulnerability of every individua l. . . . [His gaze is] the gaze of some divine figure, distressed by his uselessness and by the impossibility of redeeming the world† (Sesti, 184). The ambiguity and symbolic richness of the â€Å"angel† figure and of the apartment complex testifies to KieÅ›lowskis mastery as a filmmaker. The Decalogue does not lend itself to a reductionist reading; quite the opposite. A â€Å"vast fresco of private emotions and subtle interactions† (Wilmington, 2000) on the one hand, it is also a work that is rich in themes and ideas. As Wilmington observes, these themes are in fact common to all of KieÅ›lowskis films: â€Å"Choice is fate. Pain underlies beauty. Isolation is an illusion. Disparate are we. Sin is inescapable. Soul is flesh. Film is life. The Decalogue, [KieÅ›lowskis] prime act of cinematic voyeurism, draws those threads together† (Wilmington, 2000). By turning to such methods as a common setting of high-rises in Warsaw and a small trace of a mystic messenger from God, KieÅ›lowski is able to unite and add coherence to ten short films from his Dekalogue series. The films are complex and deep. They require thorough analysis and knowledge of the Biblical context. The author is making it easier to understand for his audience by bringing in common threads to each episode and opening the conclusions for different interpretations and room for opinions. References Cunneen, Joseph. â€Å"‘Being Alive is a Gift: Krzysztof KieÅ›lowskis ‘The Decalogue†Ã‚  Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality. 1:1. 2001. pp. 79-85. John Hopkins University Press. (Note: Cunneen quotes KieÅ›lowski in the introduction to the  published script of The Decalogue, for which, see bibliographic entry.) Cunneen, Joseph. â€Å"Kieslowski on the mountaintop†. Commonweal. 124:14, Aug. 15,  1997. New York, N.Y., 1997. pp. 11-14 Haltof, Marek. The Cinema of Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski: Variations on Destiny and Chance.  Wallflower Press: London. 2004. pp. 75-107. Hogan, Patrick Colm. â€Å"Tragic Lives: On the Incompatibility of Law and Ethics. College  Literature. West Chester: 35:3, Summer 2008. 30 pp. KieÅ›lowski, Krzysztof. â€Å"Introduction†, in KieÅ›lowski, K. and Piesiewica, P., Decalogue The Ten Commandments [translated by Phil Cavendish and Suzanna Bluh].  London: Faber and Faber, 1991. Kieslowski, Krzystof and Krzysztof Piesiewicz. The Decalogue. VHS. Distributor:  Band à   Part. 10 episodes on 5 cassettes. Directed by K. Kieslowski. 1987. Porton, Richard. â€Å"The Decalogue†. Cineaste. New York: Summer 2001. 26:3; pp. 48-50. Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons. John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore. 2004. pp. 152-159. Sesti, Mario. â€Å"DEKALOG 1 10†. In The Hidden God: Film and Faith. Mary Lea Brandy and Antonio Monda, eds. The Museum of Modern Art: New York, N.Y.  2003. pp. 183-187. Stok, Danusia, ed. KieÅ›lowski on KieÅ›lowski. Faber and Faber Limited: London, 1993. Tennant, Agnieszka. â€Å"The Ten Commandments become flesh†. Christianity Today.  Carol Stream: 45:2, Feb 5, 2001. pp. 75-76 Michael Wilmington. â€Å"Long decades journey into light†. Film Comment. New York,  N.Y.: 36:2, March/April 2000. pp. 9-10

Influence of Twitter and Social Media in UK Elections

Influence of Twitter and Social Media in UK Elections Role and Influence of Twitter and other social media platforms during recent UK elections Introduction: Over the years, social media platforms have rapidly grown as a sphere for political activism due to its wide outreach. Sharing of information and news available across the social media networking sites in various ways is now turning into a vital strategy for the political leaders and parties to campaign (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). Political leaders across the world have begun using Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites as a medium for political communication and marketing during election campaigns. The political parties try to increase the reach of their election campaign by channelling their message through the young audiences’ personal networks (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). The leaders are able to gain support either through direct interaction with the individuals or through messages that are shared within their connected social circle (Bright et al., 2017) This study talks about the extent to which Twitter and other social media networking sites played a decisive role in the recently held two elections in United Kingdom in relatively quick succession in 2015 and 2017. It will also assess how much did these platforms influence the political parties’ strategy during the campaigning.   Twitter and 2015 UK General Election The social media has been a part of the Britain’s electoral scenario for a while since the 2015 general elections. With Twitter being a well-established social media tool in UK, Segesten and Bossetta (2017) notes that the UK became the second largest country after United States following the British Twittersphere having an estimated 14.8 million accounts in 2015. The 2015 general elections which was influenced by the social media for the first time saw Twitter being dominated by left-wing Labour party with 58,000 uses of #votelabour as compared to centre-right Conservatives 25,000 uses of #voteconservative (Bartlett and Jones, 2015). Other parties including UK Independent Party had 15,000 mentions with #voteukip and 27,000 #votesnp for SNP (Bartlett and Jones, 2015) Margetts (2017) highlights that while the electoral success of the Conservatives was attributed to the giant expenditure of  £1.2 million on the negative Facebook advertising targeted at Labour candidate Ed Miliband, it was the Labour’s â€Å"bottom-up† campaign on Twitter which drew the attention of the users. The Twitter campaign accounts of all the 8 political parties and leaders had produced a total of 22,397 tweets throughout the elections (Jensen, 2016) but of those about 13% of tweets were informative while generating only 2 % of mobilizing content (Segesten and Bossetta, 2017). Even though the Labour and Conservatives tried to drive voter engagement, the mobilizing messages by them lacked as against the UK Independent Party (UKIP) and Scottish National Party (SNP), who tweeted number of times a day targeting specific constituencies (Segesten and Bossetta, 2017) As (Lewis, 2015) notes that most of the politicians and their party used the social media platform as a digital marketing tool without interacting with the voters personally. Even the content posted on Twitter and Facebook appeared to prove the loyalty of the party rather than drawing the attention of the new potential voters. 2017 UK General Election: The â€Å"first-social media† election The GE 2015 had the potential to be the first social media election (Reuters, 2015) but the 2017 UK general elections was dubbed as the first social media election in the country. The GE 2017 which was announced as a â€Å"snap election† by Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of the 2020 date in order to make Brexit a success (Boyle and Maidment, 2017) saw social media platforms specially Twitter turning into a political battleground for the political parties while attracting many first-time young voters (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). The number of Twitter users in 2017 rose to 16.4 million from 14.8 million in 2015 within the election period (Bright et al., 2017 cited Statista, 2017). The social media became the dominant source of political news and information (Gallacher and Kaminska, 2017) more than the traditional media which influenced both the political candidates and public’s opinions throughout the election. â€Å"Labour† was yet again the most active political party on social media to strategically plan and use their social media presence innovatively on a larger scale as compared to Conservatives. The party began its online campaigning even before the elections began to appeal and target the young voters while investing in a huge effort in using Twitter and Facebook to encourage them to register their vote (Booth and Hern, 2017). Polonski (2017) notes that even though the Labour lagged in the election polls throughout the campaigning, it won the battle for â€Å"votes† on â€Å"social media election† by gaining the highest number of votes as against the Conservatives (Booth and Hern, 2017). The impact of Crosbyn and Labour party’s active engagement with the voters led to 622,000 people (GetSet, 2017) supporting the party in the final 24 hours of the registration period alone. Jeremy Corbyn himself tweeted on his personal Twitter account on a regular basis as a result of which 26% of his posts urged the public to vote for the party (MarketMakers’, 2017). During the entire campaign as Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker (2017) note, Labour garnered over 1 million shares on Facebook, which was three times more than the Conservatives besides posting over three times as often. While the Conservatives spent over  £1 million on negative Facebook adverts attacking Labour candidate Jeremy Corbyn (Kentish, 2017) and focusing on strengths of Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour focused more on gaining supporters by uplifting their campaign on both Twitter and Facebook (Kentish, 2017)   Even though Labour party did not win the election, the social media did increase candidate Jeremy Corbyn’s online popularity among the new age voters on Twitter (Polonski, 2017), which led to the Labour’s election result witnessing its share of vote rise by 9.6 points to 40 %, considered to be the highest increase in a single election since 1945 (GetSet cited The Guardian, 2017) Twitter as a news source and sharing of junk news: During the 2016 US presidential elections, the presence and sharing of fake news and targeted advertising on social media platforms were largely debated. Though there were distribution of strongly opiniated content with a political twist, but fake news was unable to make its way on Facebook and affect the outcome of elections (Littunen, 2017). Similarly, in a study by Oxford Internet Institute highlighted by (Littunen, 2017) it was found that only 11.4% of â€Å"junk news† stories were shared as compared to 33.8% during US election. Though social media users shared five links to professional news and information, they even shared one link to junk news during election campaign (Howard et al., 2017). However, in another study by Bournemouth, it was found that while 13 % tweets were regarding junk news, 54% tweets were linked to the professional news and information sources and about 16.5% of traffic was generated by highly automated accounts about UK politics (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) The BBC was the most popular news source being shared with 22.7% of the content coming from this source, followed by 17.7% links directing to the Guardian’s website (Howard et al., 2017).   A majority of various other political content shared was from public generated sources like blogs and civil society organisations, whose links were more as compared to the links to junk news. However, unlike the 2016 elections where it was claimed that the spreading of fake news propelled Donald Trump to office (Tait, 2017), the UK election results did not see any influence of fake news circulation. An analysis by Buzzfeed (Bauchowitz and Hà ¤nska, 2017) noted that among the 30 most frequently shared URLs, the Conservative supporters had shared almost 13 story links attacking Corbyn and Labour and only 2 stories were related to Conservative policy. On the other hand, Labour supporters shared 14 stories attacking conservatives while 7 focused on Labour’s policy (Bauchowitz and Hà ¤nska, 2017). Meanwhile, on Facebook there were more links to negative stories about Corbyn and absence of positive story links to May. Twitter Analysis: Hern (2017) highlighted a study by the Oxford Internet Institute which stated that the â€Å"Labour† party dominated the conversation on Twitter, with almost 40% of tweets on election-related hashtags and provided the digital strategists an analysis of Labour winning the ‘social media election’ (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). On the other hand, the Twitter saw only 26% tweets about Conservative party, with the SNP, UKIP and Liberal Democrats receiving 19 per cent, 9.6 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively (Hern, 2017). According to Twitter data (Gallacher and Kaminska, 2017), about 88% of the Labour candidates created account as compared to 73% of Conservative candidates.   With almost 63% of the online population (Polonski, 2017) using Facebook each week, of which 80% constitute the younger generation aged between 18 to 24, it makes Facebook the most widely used social networking site in the UK. During the 2017 election campaigning, Facebook was the most crucial social media channel on which content of articles or videos were shared 16 million times (Littunen, 2017) related to Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. Even though the most talked about politicians in the top 20 political subjects during the election on Facebook were Theresa May and the Tories, it was the Labour which gained popularity and whose posts were shared almost a million times (Shammas, 2017). This proved how the social media influenced and enhanced a serious political engagement while leading to young voters expressing their political opinion.   But (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) notes that Twitter had the most crucial role to play throughout the GE 2017 campaign as the retweets made were more than the number of tweets as compared to the original tweets being only about one-quarter of the total GE2017 discussion. The Twitter debate around GE 2017 which was dominated by the pro-Labour conversation hashtags (Cram et al., 2017) also witnessed the ongoing issue of â€Å"Brexit† as one of the top three most popular hashtag. Not only the external issues but also the hashtags introduced by various broadcast media outlets heavily influenced the GE 2017 Twitter debate (Cram et al., 2017) Brexit, which continues to be the hottest topic till date, saw an increase in the tweets and posts by the Conservatives from 20 per cent to almost a third while the Labour did not post any content related to it during the campaign (Express, 2017) With the Labour party focusing on social issues especially healthcare as a part of the online campaigning, the posts on the party’s Facebook and Twitter pages were being shared almost three times more in total by the users (Cecil, 2017).   Twitter was the most powerful tool used by the Labour for which the party (Booth and Hern, 2017) had spent a huge amount of money just to promote its single #forthemany  hashtag. Corcoran notes (2017) that Corbyn’s video message on the day of the election had over 88,000 engagements and 1.6 million views which prompted his followers to vote for him whereas May’s  lengthy status update attracted only 12,000 engagements (Corcoran, 2017) The Labour which was much more active in posting content more than the Conservatives and any other party successfully generated about 2.5 total interactions as compared to the latter which had only 1 million interactions. Although 90% of shares, likes and comments for Labour was a result of their video posts (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) Even though Labour was a way ahead of the conservatives, the Conservatives did saw a jump in its page for a brief period on May 27 following a video post encouraging its followers to share it if they didn’t want to elect Corbyn as their PM (Corcoran, 2017). The video had about 150,000 engagements and almost 9 million views. Despite being considered to be the highest number of views for any other political campaign video in the British history, the young voters were more inspired by the positive messages by Labour than the negative tone of the Conservatives (Reid and Ma, 2017) The GE 2017 online campaigning witnessed a tough war between the two major parties with the Labour page receiving more number of shares, likes and love reactions as against Conservatives page which saw more comments on less posts besides receiving angry reactions to majority of their posts (Corcoran, 2017) Out of every five posts on Twitter or Facebook by Conservatives, four posts had mentions of either Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn, an increase from 75% to 84% (Express, 2017) Due to the elections being called early only 63 per cent of the 2015 candidates used Twitter during GE 2017 as compared to 76% percent of the candidates in GE 2015.   But, the twitter activity increased, with candidates having a Twitter account posting 86 tweets in 2015 (Technology Review, 2017) to 123.5 tweets in 2017. Frequent Mentions and Postings: Twitter witnessed Jeremy Corbyn as the most mentioned account with 1,367,392 and Theresa May at only 654,417, much more than their respective parties where @uklabour was mentioned in 323.027 tweets and @conservatives was mentioned almost 307,550 times (Cram et al., 2017) While #BBCqt was the most used hashtags followed by #GE2017, #VoteLabour was the third most used Labour hashtags (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). Here, mainstream media also pla During the beginning of the election campaign, Corbyn had more than twice the number of followers on both Twitter and Facebook as that of May’s accounts (Cecil, 2017) and by the end of the election Corbyn also gained more supporters than May. With a 45 per cent increase in the number of followers on Twitter and Facebook pages of Corbyn over the campaign, the numbers reached from 850,000 each to more than 1.2 million (Cecil, 2017) More than the Labour’s account, Corbyn’s personal Twitter account had Labour supporting engagement which led to Twitter attracting more Labour supporters as compared to Conservative engagement driven by May’s account (Bauchowitz and Hà ¤nska, 2017) The generation of famous femes by @laboureoin ended up being an exceptionally effective strategy for encouraging retweets conveying a socialist message (Cram et al., 2017). While conservatives posted about 10 to 20 posts a single day, the Labour interacted more with its supporters through social media by posting over 30 posts (GetSet, 2017) each day across all the social media platforms. Though the savvy use of social media platforms effectively by Corbyn and Labour helped them drive reach out to young first-time voters (Cram et al., 2017), the microtargeting advertising strategy of Conservatives was effective (Wendling, 2017) but because it did not go down well with the public’s view led to their failure over social media (Wendling, 2017). It can be said that instead of shaping the public opinion, the social media was simply contemplating the opinion. According to the data by YouGov (Yaxley, 2017) the Brits believed that the broadcast media including 42% of television, print media including 32% of newspapers and magazines had more influence on them over social media, which only had 26 % influence, regarding how they decided to vote. But about 50 % young voters (Yaxley, 2017) believed that it was the social media which helped them choose whom to vote for as it was not only primary source of political information but also helped them communicate with the politicians directly. While television still remained the first influence for the votes, social media turned out to be the second most influence on votes by younger voters aged between 18-24 years old (Yaxley, 2017) With the social media campaign which encouraged young voters to register their votes, the Labour party was able to add a total of 33 parliamentary seats and outnumber the majority held by the Conservatives. The Labour party believed that the effective use of social media helped them win the seats they lost during the GE 2015 with their message videos being able to reach to 30% of the UK Facebook users (Crabtree, 2017). Conclusion: The result of the GE 2017 would have been quite different if social media did not play a major role and influenced the campaign, as Twitter and Facebook only helped the Labour party transform its fate and gain support through its powerful messages. The GE 2017 saw a massive use of Facebook and Twitter but the political leaders and parties did not make their presence felt on other popular social networking apps including â€Å"Instagram† and â€Å"Snapchat† much. Even though they lack the share feature, these apps are built around close ties which would have helped the parties and leaders make the content strongly effective among peer to peer (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017). While Snapchat was hardly used during the election, Instagram too saw only 33,200 followers of Labour and 6,555 followers of Tories (Thorsen, Jackson and Lilleker, 2017) The social media networks give the politicians and their parties an opportunity to engage in new forms of community building and allow the general public to enter their political arena through direct interaction (Gibson, 2015; Gibson et al. 2016). The parties are able to mobilise not only members but also non-members to raise their voice and put forward their opinions on their behalf during elections (Bright et al., 2017 cited Karpf et al). The new resources that such tools generate clearly offer a considerable boost to parties’ capacity to fight and win elections (Lilleker et al., 2017) In order to reach out to the users, the political parties made use of the social media as a powerful tool by sharing video messages only because the broadcasting of any political advertising outside of official party is banned from UK television (GetSet, 2017). The emergence of political attack ads (GetSet, 2017) which was prevalent in the 2016 Presidential campaign was also seen for the first time during the 2017 general elections. The success of the leftist Labour party in UK during the 2017 election on social media and the right Republican party by Donald Trump during 2016 US elections has been given to savvy use of Twitter and the immediate sharing facilities of social media by the leaders and followers (Segesten and Bossetta, 2017). Even the results of the election show how a well-planned social media campaign with a targeted audience can prove beneficial to any political party.   Witnessing the huge reach of social media in the US 2016 GE and UK GE 2017, it can be said that the social media platforms are now providing the politicians a new way of utilising their power. But, it is also to be noted that with social media becoming increasingly crowded and dripped with fake articles and clickbait articles (Polonski, 2017) it gets difficult for many political leaders and parties to build meaningful relationship with the public (Polonski, 2017) The social media especially Twitter brought the volatility and change within the political mobilisation and collective action in the GE 2017 (Margetts, 2017) Twitter is obviously not illustrative of the voters as a whole and along these lines it is not really a clear impression of the many, not the few. While Twitter cant be utilized to anticipate elections and (Cram et al., 2017) the mind-boggling support that GE 2017 saw for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn may not be completely reflected in the polling booths, it is a helpful tool in giving us the mind-set of the individuals who are spurred enough to remark on social media platforms. References: Bartlett, J. and Jones, A. K. (2015) ‘Who won the Twitter election campaign battle?’, The Telegraph, May. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11590772/Who-won-the-Twitter-campaign-battle.html. Bauchowitz, S. and Hà ¤nska, M. (2017) How the General Election 2017 Campaign is Shaping Up on Twitter, LSE. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2017/06/05/how-the-general-election-2017-campaign-is-shaping-up-on-twitter/ (Accessed: 1 January 2018). Booth, R. and Hern, A. (2017) Labour won social media election, digital strategists say, The Gaurdian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/09/digital-strategists-give-victory-to-labour-in-social-media-election-facebook-twitter (Accessed: 29 December 2017). Boyle, D. and Maidment, J. (2017) ‘Theresa May announces snap general election on June 8 to â€Å"make a success of Brexit†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, The Telegraph, April. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/18/breaking-theresa-may-make-statement-downing-street-1115am1/. Bright, J. et al. (2017) ‘Does Campaigning on Social Media Make a Difference? Evidence from candidate use of Twitter during the 2015 and 2017 UK Elections’, (June), pp. 1–33. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1710.07087. Cecil, N. (2017) How Jeremy Corbyn beat Theresa May in the social media election war, Evening Standard. Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/how-jeremy-corbyn-beat-theresa-may-in-the-social-media-election-war-a3564746.html (Accessed: 30 December 2017). Corcoran, L. (2017) Here’s how the UK election is playing out on social media, Newswhip. Available at: http://www.newswhip.com/2017/05/heres-how-the-uk-election-is-playing-out-on-social-media/ (Accessed: 1 January 2018). Crabtree, J. (2017) Facebook is playing a decisive role in UK politics and regulators are starting to take note, CNBC. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/23/facebook-social-media-influence-on-elections-and-democracy.html (Accessed: 4 January 2018). Cram, L. et al. (2017) ‘UK General Election 2017: a Twitter Analysis’, Neuropolitics Research Lab, 2017, pp. 1–11. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/1706.02271. Express (2017) ‘General Election 2017: Labour races into lead over Conservatives’, Sunday Express. Available at: https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/806658/General-Election-Labour-Conservatives-social-media. Gallacher, J. and Kaminska, M. (2017) ‘Facebook needs to be more open about its effect on democracy’, The Guardian, June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/general-election-social-media-facebook-twitter. GetSet (2017) THE IMPACT OF GETTING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY RIGHT: UK ELECTION 2017, GetSet for Growth. Available at: The impact of getting your social media strategy right: UK Election 2017 (Accessed: 1 January 2018). Hern, A. (2017) Labour dominating election conversation on Twitter, study finds, The Gaurdian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/31/labour-dominating-election-conversation-on-twitter-study-finds (Accessed: 29 December 2017). Howard, P. N. et al. (2017) ‘Social Media and News Sources during the 2017 UK General Election’, (JUNE), pp. 1–7. Jensen, M. J. (2016) In the 2015 General Election campaign, politicians used social media to broadcast to voters rather than converse with them, Democratic Audit UK. Available at: http://www.democraticaudit.com/2016/02/02/social-media-and-political-campaigning-a-look-at-the-2015-uk-general-election-campaign/ (Accessed: 03 January 2018). Kentish, B. (2017) ‘Tories â€Å"spent more than  £1m† on negative Facebook adverts attacking Jeremy Corbyn’, Independent, June. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservative-social-media-strategy-attack-jeremy-corbyn-labouir-twitter-facebook-video-stormzy-akala-a7784406.html. Lilleker, D. G. et al. (2017) ‘Social media campaigning in Europe: mapping the terrain’, Journal of Information Technology & Politics. Routledge, 0(0), p. 19331681.2017.1397239. doi: 10.1080/19331681.2017.1397239. Littunen, M. (2017) An analysis of news and advertising in the UK general election, openDemocracyUK. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/analysis-of-news-and-advertising-in-uk-general-election (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Margetts, H. (2017) ‘Why Social Media May Have Won the 2017 General Election’, Political Quarterly, 88(3), pp. 386–390. doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.12408. MarketMakers’ (2017) The UK’s most social election yet?, MarketMakers’. Available at: http://www.marketmakers.co.uk/the-uks-most-social-election-yet/ (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Polonski, V. (2017) From voices to votes: how young people used social media to influence the General Election, Election Analysis. Available at: http://www.electionanalysis.uk/uk-election-analysis-2017/section-5-the-digital-campaign/from-voices-to-votes-how-young-people-used-social-media-to-influence-the-general-election/ (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Reid, A. and Ma, A. (2017) ‘Conservatives did not once use social media to encourage voter registration, study finds’, Independent, May. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-voter-registration-social-media-not-use-encourage-facebook-twitter-election-2017-a7756736.html. Reuters (2015) Social media and the 2015 general election, Reuters Institute. Available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/social-media-and-2015-general-election (Accessed: 03 January 2018). Segesten, A. D. and Bossetta, M. (2017) ‘A typology of political participation online: how citizens used Twitter to mobilize during the 2015 British general elections’, Information Communication and Society. Taylor & Francis, 20(11), pp. 1625–1643. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2016.1252413. Shammas, J. (2017) ‘Facebook may have lost Theresa May her majority as young general election voters flooded social media with pro-Labour posts’, The Sun, June. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3767326/facebook-theresa-may-majority-general-election-voters-pro-labour-posts/. Technology Review (2017) How Tweets Translate into Votes, MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609229/how-tweets-translate-into-votes/ (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Thorsen, E., Jackson, D. and Lilleker, D. (2017) UK Election Analysis 2017: Media, Voters and the Campaign Early reflections from leading academics. Bournemouth: Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community. Wendling, M. (2017) Election 2017: Was it Facebook wot swung it?, BBC. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40209711 (Accessed: 02 January 2018). Yaxley, D. (2017) Brits believe traditional media mattered more in the 2017 general election, YouGov UK. Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/08/04/brits-believe-traditional-media-mattered-more-2017/ (Accessed: 01 January 2018).

The Relationship between Divisive Primaries and General Election Outcom

The Relationship between Divisive Primaries and General Election Outcomes Patrick Kenney and Tom Rice’s article explores the effect of primary elections on the general presidential elections. Kenney and Rice attempt to determine whether supporters of losing primary candidates refrain from voting for their party in the general election. In order to better understand this concept of divisive primaries, it is imperative to know its definition. Webster defines divisive as: Creating, or tending to create, division, separation, or difference. However, I feel that divisiveness arises out of the need to superior and the topic of voter turnout and primary significance has been a long running question. According to Kenney and Rice the primary campaign is a struggle between groups, fighting for a â€Å"scarce resource,† the nomination. As research has shown, supporters of a losing candidate have been shown to retain bitterness towards the winning side of a primary. Our authors also mention the introduction of in-group loyalties, and out-gr oup hostilities, which affect a voter’s attitude. The in-group loyalties tend to be formed because of the length of primary elections, thus voters feel very strong and passionate about their candidate, and because the stakes are greater. The out-group hostilities are formed for the same reasons. In general, the longer the campaigns the stronger the in-group and out-group feelings are. With the definition of divisive primaries being k...

Computer Games :: Descriptive Writing Examples

Computer Games Crouching behind a twisted chunk of metal, I waited for the mortar blasts to subside. As soon as I could not hear the thunderous roar of explosions, I ducked out of my hiding place and ran up the beach. The whining ring of a bullet sounded through the silence, and I looked to see where the gunner was hiding. The enemy locked another bullet into the chamber and fired his scoped rifle. The bullet met flesh, and I fell to the ground. Only minutes before Willis and I had been sitting on the couch, listening to loud punk music. It was too hot outside to do anything, and the flies were out anyway. Inside was cooler and more hospitable, but boredom had set in. "Day of Defeat?" asked Willis in a muted drawl. "Yah," I responded, and bounded up the stairs. Within minutes, Willis and I had booted up his computer, connected to the internet, and logged onto a clan server of Day of Defeat. Suddenly we were not in the messy upstairs of Willis' house, but on a virtual battlefield, slowly working up towards an enemy encampment up the beach. In a matter of seconds I was killed by an enemy sniper, who was carefully protecting his team's base, Willis took over, choosing a more accurate rifle over the clunky machine gun I had chosen. Willis' computer desk was a heap of gaming equipment and disks. On the shelf above the desk, a row of outdated games were lined up with surgical precision. The old games were never used, so they were never out of order. Below the shelf, on the desk, lay a stack of new games, their wrappers and cases, handbooks and strategy guides. A PC Gamer magazine lay in among the countless piles of demo disks Willis had picked up here and there. Rising from the mess was the brand new Elements 19-inch monitor, emitting a cold, bluish glow. The keyboard sported a custom key cover, changing the standard set of keys into the control panel of a complex helicopter, and the W, A, D and S keys-- the keys which are commonly used to control a character-- were smudges and worn down compared to the rest of the clean new keys. The brand new high accuracy optical mouse glowed a dull reddish color, and sat on top of a cat-theme mouse pad Willis' dad had bought.

Preventing Falls in the Elderly

Preventing Falls in the Elderly Natalie StJohn University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville As health care becomes more sophisticated and better, other concerns are starting to surface. Such interests that started as mere nuisances are now becoming the focal point of involvement that aims to correct and improve the welfare of individuals. One such clinical concern is the phenomenon of falls, especially with the older population.Falling in elderly individuals is a significant, yet under-recognized and underestimated public health concern (Woolcott et al. , 2009). About 30% of people over 65 years old and living in their respective communities fall annually, with such figures even higher in health institutions and about a fifth of such incidents requires medical attention (Gillespie, Gillespie, Robertson, Lamb, Cumming, & Rowe, 2009).In a one year follow-up study of persons aged 75 years and above living in the community, about one-third reported at least one incident of fall (Tinetti, Speechley, & Ginter, 1988), with a higher annual fall risk of up to 50%, occurred in the oldest population or with the individuals living in nursing homes, with the consequences of injuries and fractures because of falls (like mortality, hospitalization, disability and institutionalization) rise as with the age (Berdot et al. , 2009).The estimated costs associated with falls and fall-related complications are at billions of dollars worldwide (Scuffham, Chaplin, & Legood, 2003; Lewin Group, 2000; Smartrisk Foundation, 2009). Hence, research regarding the factors why elder people fall becomes all the more necessary (Woolcott et al. , 2009). There are several reasons why people fall. Fall risk is multifactoral in nature, with risk factors being intrinsic and extrinsic (Graafmans et al. , 1996). The most common reasons are uncontrolled hypertension, orthostatic hypotension, and use or inappropriate use of certain medications (Gangavati et al. 2011); Woolcott et al. , 2009; Be rdot et al. , 2009). With regards to hypertension and systolic orthostatic hypertension, older individuals suffering from such conditions are at greater risk for falls within a year (Gangavatti et al. , 2011). The study also noted that older patients with their hypertension controlled have no effect with regards to falls (Gangavatti et al. , 2011). The older populations with an increase use of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, hypnotics, and sedatives have a larger and increase chances of falls with elderly persons (Woolcott et al. 2009). This marked increase is most due to the long-lasting effects of benzodiazepines as well as inappropriate psychotropics, and since these medications have anticholinergic properties (Berdot et al. , 2009). There are several ways to mitigate, lessen, or even prevent the chances of the elder population from falling. Interventions with multidisciplinary properties are proven effective in minimizing fall incidents, as well as muscle strengthening balance retraining prescribed at home and assisted by a trained health professional (Gillespie et al. 2009). Tai Chi is also another effective alternative intervention for mitigating falls (Gillespie et al. , 2009). For those with a history of falling, home hazard assessment and modification by a healthcare professional could also minimize chances of falls (Gillespie et al. , 2009). Cardiac pacing for individuals with high risk of falls due to cardio-inhibitory carotid sinus hypersensitivity also has a high chance of being beneficial, as is the withdrawal of psychotropic medications (Gillespie et al. , 2009).Studies have also shown that individually tailored interventions delivered by healthcare professionals are more effective than standard or group delivered programs (Gillespie et al. , 2009). Falls is a highly preventable, yet still highly prevalent cause of injury and even mortality with the elderly. The abovementioned interventions could help in minimizing its detrimental effects. Ref erence: Berdot, S. , Bertrand, M. , Dartigues, J. F. , Fourrier, A. , Tavernier, B. , Ritchie, K. , & Alperovitch, A. , (2009). Inappropriate Medication Use and Risk of Falls-A Prospective Study in a Large Community-Dwelling Elderly Cohort.BMC Geriatrics, 9(30). doi:10. 1186/1471-2318-9-30. Lewin Group (2000). Estimated savings from falls prevented by targeted home modifications. Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute. Gangavati, A. , Hajjar, I. , Quach, L. , Jones, R. , Kiely, D. , Gagnon, P. , & Lipsitz, L. (2011). Hypertension, Orthostatic Hypotension, and the Risk of Falls in a Community-Dwelling Elderly Population: The Maintenance of Balance, Independent Living, Intellect, and Zest in the Elderly of Boston Study. Journal of American Geriatric Society, 59(3), 383-389. doi:  Ã‚  10. 1111/j. 1532-5415. 2011. 03317. x Gillespie, L. D. , Gillespie, W. J. , Robertson, M.C. , Lamb, S. E. , Cumming, R. G. , & Rowe, B. H. (2009). Interventions for preventing falls in elderly peo ple. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4). DOI:  10. 1002/14651858. CD000340. Graafmans,  WC. , Ooms,  M. E. , Hofstee, H. M. , Bezemer,  P. D. , Bouter,  L. M. , & Lips, P. (1996). Falls in the elderly: a prospective study of risk factors and risk profiles. American Journal of Epidemiology, 143(11), 1129-  1136. Scuffham P. , Chaplin,  S. , & Legood,  R. (2003). Incidence and costs of unintentional falls in older people in the United Kingdom. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57(9) 740-  744. Smartrisk Foundation. 2009). The Economic Burden of Unintentional Injury in Canada. Smartrisk Foundation Website. Retrieved from http://www. smartrisk. ca/researchers/economic_burden_studies/canada. html. Accessed October 20, 2012. Tinetti ME, Speechley M, Ginter SF, (1988). Risk Factors for Falls among Elderly Persons Living in the Community. New England Journal of Medicine,  319,1701-1707. Woolcot, J. , Richardson, K. , Wiens, M. , Patel, B. , Marin, J . , Khan, K. , & Marra, C. (2009). Meta-analysis of the impact of 9 Medication Classes on Falls in Elderly Persons. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(21), 1952-1960. doi:10. 1001/archinternmed. 2009. 357.

”The Knife Sharpener” by Bonnie Burnard Essay

The Knife Sharpener a short story written by Bonnie Burnard. This story is very interesting you never know that the knife sharpener will appear as a bad person because he appeared as a good old man who just borrowed a knives to sharpening and said â€Å"Maybe you’ve heard from your neighbours. I come around every March. Do mowers as well† as he was offering to do he mower for her in the beginning. Janet is a mother of three children. She do all the work in the house since her kids are still young to do some of the house work. Erin is six years old eldest child of Janet. The Knife Sharpener is an old man who sharpen knives and do mowers. The story happened in Janet’s place. The story happened during the day. The incident started happening when the knife sharpener took Erin’s hand and brought her somewhere. The story gets more intense when Janet starts panicking and decided to go after Erin and look for her. Janet saw Erin’s scarf on the ground stuccoed corner of a garage twenty yard ahead. Janet saw the knife sharpener talking to Erin in a gentle old man’s voice and Janet took Erin’s hand and questioned the knife sharpener. The knife sharpener said â€Å"Please don’t call the police†. The knife Sharpener by Bonnie Burnard is about the family, intense and it tells us not to trust any stranger and reveals the certain personality of some stranger when the old man took Erin away from her home. Why Janet didn’t call the police? And Why Janet having thoughts whether she’s going to tell about it to her husband or just keep it by herself and not to tell to anyone? The Knife Sharpener might have a bad intension to the family of Janet. The knife sharpener appeared to be a good old man who just a knife to use for sharpening and offered to do their mower so he can go inside the house. He even made Janet’s feelings comfortable around with him and he suddenly changed his mood when Janet said that her eldest is going to be home soon for lunch. The knife sharpener waited for Erin to go out again and reached her hand and brought Erin somewhere. I think that the knife sharpener will going to do something bad to Erin or kidnap Erin since he took her twenty yards away from her home. There is only two possible thing he will do it is either the knife sharpener will rape Erin or he will kidnap Erin.