An Introduction to Combustion (Burning) Reactions

Harrahs Entertainment free essay sample

What are the destinations of different Database Marketing Programs and are they working The targets of the different Database showcasing Programs is to gather data identified with Customer, for example, wagering designs, to define techniques and foresee client worth to expand the adequacy and productivity of the company’s Marketing Dollars. Truly, The projects are successful as they expanded the Net Income of the organization from $99388 in 1997 to $208,470 in 1999.With the assistance of their information base projects they had the option to decide client inclinations and foresee the prizes and administrations for them. This brought about increment in new clients and maintenance of the old clients. 2.Why it is essential to utilize â€Å"The client worth† in the Database Marketing Program endeavors instead of watched level of play. The expectation of Customer worth with the assistance of quantitative models helped them to assemble associations with Customers dependent on their future worth as opposed to their past practices. We will compose a custom paper test on Harrahs Entertainment or on the other hand any comparative point explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page For instance, with the assistance of watched level of play, they had the option to anticipate the customer’s conduct in their Casino as it were. In light of this perception they couldn't construe how commendable the client was to their Casino. With the assistance of expectation they had the option to screen the Customer’s conduct in different Casinos as well. This helped them figure techniques to secure customer’s from their rivals and hold their old clients by following their wagering designs. 3.How does Harrah’s incorporate different components of its promoting technique to convey more than the aftereffects of Data Base Marketing ? Will Harrah’s Strategy be reproduced? By coordinating different components of its promoting system Harrah’s had the option to follow its clients after some time. This helped them find the correct promoting instrument, for the correct conduct alteration, for the correct client. Along these lines they had the option to alter motivating forces paid to their clients. With the assistance of this they were likewise ready to connect all theirâ properties together and make a separation in Brand and Service. Indeed, Harrah’s technique can be recreated so they ought to continually ad lib on their dedication programs as they are key wellspring of their serious edge over their rivals.

Charleston

Charleston Charleston. 1 City (1990 pop. 20,398), seat of Coles co., E Ill.; inc. 1835. Charleston is an industrial, rail, and trade center located in an agricultural area; shoes are also made. Eastern Illinois Univ. is there. A Lincoln-Douglas debate was held in Charleston on Sept. 8, 1858. Local attractions include an enormous statue of Lincoln and nearby Lincoln Log Cabin State Park and Fox Ridge State Park. 2 City (1990 pop. 80,414), seat of Charleston co., SE S.C.; founded 1680, inc. 1783. The oldest city in the state and one of the chief ports of entry in the SE United States, Charleston lies on a low, narrow peninsula between the Ashley and Cooper rivers at the head of the bay formed by their confluence. In the bay or bordering it are Patriots Point, with the Yorktown and other warship museums; Sullivans Island, site of Fort Moultrie ; James Island; Morris Island, with a lighthouse; Fort Sumter ; and Castle Pinckney , on Shutes Folly. Many transportation routes converge at Cha rleston, and through its almost landlocked harbor extensive coastal and foreign trade is carried on; the city also is a cruise port. Until 1996, Charleston was headquarters for the 6th U.S. naval district and for the U.S. air force defense command. The extensive facilities included a submarine base and a huge navy yard (est. 1901) in North Charleston, which still houses a large naval electronics facility and has been redeveloped for private industry. Among the city's varied manufactures are chemicals, steel, motor vehicle parts, pulp and paper, textiles, and clothing. The city's old homes and winding streets, historic sites, and charm, together with its mild climate and nearby beaches and gardens (including Middleton Place, Magnolia Gardens, and Cypress Gardens), attract tourists. Many colonial buildings survive, among them St. Michael's Episcopal Church (begun 1752), noted for its chimes, and the Miles Brewton house (1765â€"69). Also here are the Powder Magazine (c.1713); the Gib bes Museum of Art; the Charleston Museum (1773) and the City Market (1804â€"41), each among the oldest of their kind in the country; and Fort Sumter National Monument. The waterfront, especially the Battery, and the Grace Memorial Bridge over the Cooper River, are famous Charleston landmarks; the South Carolina Aquarium is on a wharf in the harbor. Cabbage Row surrounds a court that was the Catfish Row of DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy. The annual azalea festival is a popular event, and the Spoleto U.S.A. music and arts festival (see Spoleto Festival ) has been held in the city since 1977. Charleston is the seat of the Citadel , the Medical Univ. of South Carolina, Charleston Southern Univ., and the College of Charleston (1790), which in 1837 became the first municipal college in the United States. Noted resorts lie east and west of the city. The English settled (1670) at Albemarle Point, on the western bank of the Ashley River, c.7 mi (11 km) from modern Charleston. They move d in 1680 to Oyster Point, where their capital, Charles Town, had been laid out. The city became the most important seaport, and the center of wealth and culture, in the southern colonies. Non-English immigrants, among whom French Huguenots were prominent, added a cosmopolitan touch. Charleston was an early theatrical center; the Dock Street Theatre (opened 1736) was one of the first established in the country. In the American Revolution, after being successfully defended (1776, 1779) by William Moultrie, Charleston was surrendered (May 12, 1780) by Benjamin Lincoln to the British under Sir Henry Clinton, who held it until Dec. 14, 1782. The capital was moved to Columbia in 1790, but Charleston remained the region's social and economic center. The South Carolina ordinance of secession (Dec., 1860) was passed in Charleston, and the city was the scene of the act precipitating the Civil Warâ€"the firing on Fort Sumter (Apr. 12, 1861). With its harbor blockaded and the city under virt ual siege by Union forces (1863â€"65), Charleston suffered partial destruction but did not fall until Feb., 1865, after it had been isolated by Sherman's army. A violent earthquake on Aug. 31, 1886, with an estimated magnitude of 7.3., took many lives and made thousands homeless; it was the most powerful earthquake on the E coast of the United States in historic times. Periodic storms, such as Hurricane Hugo (1989), have also caused great damage. The city's port experienced signficant growth during the late 20th cent. See R. N. Rosen, A Short History of Charleston (1982); Q. Bell et al., Charleston (1988); S. R. Wise, Gates of Hell (1994); P. Starobin, Madness Rules the Hour: Charleston, 1860 and the Mania for War (2017). 3 City (1990 pop. 57,287), state capital and seat of Kanawha co., W central W.Va., on the Kanawha River where it is joined by the Elk River; inc. 1794. Charleston is an important transportation and trading center for the highly industrialized Kanawh a valley and a producer of chemicals, fabricated pipe and sheet metal, machinery, food and beverages, concrete, and railroad ties. Salt, coal, natural gas, clay, sand, timber, and oil are found in the region. The city grew around the site of Fort Lee (1788). Daniel Boone lived there from 1788 to 1795. The capital was transferred there from Wheeling in 1870, then back to Wheeling in 1875, and finally to Charleston in 1885. The state capitol (completed 1932) has a dome higher than that of the U.S. capitol, and the cultural center around it contains an art gallery, museum, planetarium, and notable gardens. The city is the seat of the Univ. of Charleston, and West Virginia State Univ. is nearby. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. Political Geography

Definition and Examples of Therapeutic Metaphor

Abraham Lincoln And Stephen Douglas - 1674 Words

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were engaged in seven different debates across Illinois. At these debates Douglas was bating Lincoln during his speeches with the topic of race, then Lincoln would have to defend himself. A week after these debates Lincoln was welcomed to Dallas City with a banner that read â€Å"Equality.† According to Miller, Lincoln was arguing in favor of â€Å"Negro Equality,† and was arguing that he saw slavery as a monstrous injustice and a huge moral wrong. He was against slavery in the territories but Douglas did not see slavery to be an evil. A senate seat was at stake for these two men and race was a key focus of debate. Douglas’ main argument was that slavery should be permitted to spread to the territories while Lincoln disagreed. Lincoln was arguing for black humanity, because of his compassion of human beings and natural rights that African Americans should have. Lincoln did not have much contact with slavery in the early years o f his life, but did see slaves at labor, being sold, and being punished by their owners. It did not matter what he felt about slavery because of the law, slaves were personal property. Radical abolitionists attacked Lincoln during his political tenure, but agreed with constitutional stance. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but his family moved to free Indiana while Lincoln was a child. The presence of slavery in Kentucky was one reason for the move. Lincoln grew up in a free state and then as a young man he went on a flatboatShow MoreRelatedSlavery During The 19th Century895 Words   |  4 Pagesnation to grow into what it is today. The United States was split into two sections, the north and south, over the dispute of slavery. The south sought to further slavery while the north was in favor of abolishing slavery. Around 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, two politicians with completely different views on slavery fought each other with politicians trying to win the presidency election of 1860. This was known as the â€Å"Great Debates of 1858†. Slavery during the late 1800’s was at itsRead MoreLincoln-Douglas Debate Essay examples1458 Words   |  6 Pagestakes place in history arguably leaves an effect that lasts much longer than just the initial outcome. The Lincoln Douglas Debates are by far one of the truest examples of this happening. The seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas that took place in 1858 had extreme importance in Illinois that created effects that decided the presidential election of 1860. The Lincoln Douglas debates were a series of several debates that took place all over the state of Illinois. In these debatesRead MoreAbrahan Lincoln and the American Civil War782 Words   |  3 PagesPresident Abraham Lincoln was known for leading the bloodiest conflict in United States history during the Civil War. Lincoln successfully protected the slaves and the South from seceding. Lincoln’s career included the following influential positions: lawyer, senator, and eventually the President of the United States of America. The experiences of his personal life, career as a political man, and his ultimate contributions to America make him an important man in American history. On February 12Read More Debates Essay685 Words   |  3 PagesBefore engaging in the debates with Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln was relatively unknown in the political world and was just beginning his career in politics. Abraham Lincoln’s reputation was just starting to grow, and his life was about to make a drastic change. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a turning point in Abraham Lincoln’s political career. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; After being nominated to the Illinois legislature, Lincoln gave his famous â€Å"House Divided† speech whichRead More Abraham Lincoln was a Hypocrite Essay988 Words   |  4 PagesAbraham Lincoln was a Hypocrite   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Abraham Lincoln was always known as a good and honest man. There are many other opinions that refute this statement. Many theories say that Lincoln was far from good and honest. Throughout his life he tried to do good then as president he tried to hold a nation together by tactics that could be looked at as unpleasant. Abraham Lincoln is considered a hero to many, but he could also be looked at to be a hypocrite and a racist because of his ideas about the NegroRead MoreJohn Brown And The Civil War1719 Words   |  7 PagesEach of the persons ,John Brown, Stephen Douglas, and Abraham Lincoln, with their own niche roles contributed greatly to the coming and the inevitability of the Civil War. Lincoln being chief among these people in respects to importance to the coming of the Civil War was a huge catalyst to the civil war through his election to presidency without the votes of a single southern state, and his debates with Stephen Douglas. Douglas was another large part of the fruition of the Civil War through his CompromiseRead MoreThe Civil War : A Important Event843 Words   |  4 Pagesslavery through popular sovereignty and would pass a more effective fugitive slave law. Four years later in 1854, a man named Stephen Douglass wanted to build a railroad that went across the United States to the Pacific Ocean and in order to do this he needed supporters. Southern senators offered to support him if territory west of Missouri was open to slavery. So, Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act that would divide the rest of the Louisiana Purchase into Kansas and Nebraska which would decideRead MoreAbraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address1528 Words   |  6 Pagesminute particulars and the text’s historical context: otherwise, the text will be vastly misinterpreted and misrepresented in any discussion of the text. The students grossly mischaracterized Abraham Lincoln’s â€Å"Gettysburg Address â€Å"as a pro-abolitionist tra ct; they also seemed to think that President Lincoln was some divine martyr for anti-slavery sentiment, and that he was an exemplary person with regards to American identity. They could not be further from the truth. Historical context is paramountRead MoreThe Seven Lincoln Douglas Debates866 Words   |  4 PagesThe Seven Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of political debates for a Senate seat of Illinois between Abraham Lincoln, Illinois lawyer and the Republican candidate, and Stephen A. Douglas, senator from Illinois since 1847, for the Democratic Party. Lincoln and Douglas held one debate in each in seven congressional districts in Illinois. The first debate was held on August 21, 1858. Ottawa, north-central Illinois, The debates centered on the issue of slavery. Douglas accused Lincoln with tryingRead MoreThe Civil War On African Americans Essay1421 Words   |  6 PagesAct, John Brown’s raid, and the presidential election of 1860 because they grew disagreements b etween the North and the South of what should be done about slavery. In 1849 California had decided to apply for statehood as a free state after Stephen Douglas came up with the idea of popular sovereignty, the idea that â€Å"people should decide the status of slavery†. California’s decision brought about multiple political concerns and disagreements between the South and the North. Southerners didn’t want

Step Away from Them Free Essays

An Analysis of Frank O’hara’s â€Å"A Step Away From Them† At the turn of the 20th century, the movement of modern art began to distinguish itself by moving away from traditional and classical forms. Artists like Pablo Picasso were deconstructing their formal techniques by abstracting forms of conceptual art. We began to question and criticize: â€Å"Is that art? † By mid-20th century, the schools of the modern movement already began to echo into literature, dance, and music. We will write a custom essay sample on Step Away from Them or any similar topic only for you Order Now Abstract Expressionist literature emphasizes spontaneity of motions and their fleetingness. Once a detail is mentioned, it disappears but resurfaces in the subconscious in the form of a daydream. Frank O’Hara’s â€Å"A Step Away From Them† adapts his unique style of free verse with arbitrary line breaks and enjambment. There is a relay of split-second action followed by spontaneous thought. Overall, the poem ventures into synapses of the mind in an urban space. O’Hara is the observer, self-satisfied, and content. In the first line, there is a felt quality of impulsive action. â€Å"So I go† gives a sense of urgency that we experience the moment our lunch hour hits. The meter of each word can be equal stressed. The I is a soft vowel, therefore, there is emphasize is on so and go. O’Hara combines two senses of visual and sound with â€Å"hum-colored. † Both senses capture dynamic movements like when someone takes a still photo of a moving object. The image of a cab smears across the photo. There is a distinction of the way space moves. Hum-colored can resonate sound that an engine makes. When we walk out the door into the city, the pace is already set. By line 3, the mind quickly wanders to the next visual moment. â€Å"Down the sidewalk† tells our awareness to focus on lunch hour of laborers. We are walking and capturing still photos. â€Å"Dirty glistening torsos† signifies the way construction workers eat shirtless. Another interpretation can perceive oil rubbed on their shirt hence the term, blue collar workers. At this moment, O’Hara draws an unconscious connection with the â€Å"yellow† colored helmets from the previous visual of hum-colored cabs. Yellow was missed due to the motion and sound. The color resurfaces from our short-term memory. He interjects nonchalant irony and inner wit with â€Å"I guess†. Despite stuffing themselves, they must protect themselves from falling objects. We have a sense of O’Hara’s humor and his eye for function. As your visual context moves upward to falling bricks, O’Hara draws the attention of the movement around ground floor, â€Å"heels† and â€Å"grates†. He does not add a space between lines. He follows each line with heavy enjambment. â€Å"Then onto the avenue† has a progression of walking around the corner to the next street. There is a new scene, new spatter of paint. He refers to a movie scene in pop culture by stating: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Then onto the avenue where skirts are flipping above heels and blow up over grates. (lines 9-11) In 1955, Marilyn Monroe filmed The Seven Year Itch in New York City. The scene of her skirt being blown up had caused a spectacle making Marilyn a movie sex icon. Motion of upward movement is describe with gestures like â€Å"flipping above†, â€Å"up over†, and â€Å"stir up. † The city is hot. According to O’Hara, â€Å"cabs stir up the air† (line 12). In the city, there is always a cab in sight. How they motion around the city block without air conditioning. There is no escape from the heated engine but O’Hara is indifferent and aloof by the motion around him because â€Å"[he looks] at bargains in wristwatches† (line 13-14). He is still to himself, an observer. In line 14, â€Å"sawdust† draws back to previous space, down the street of laborers construction site. He allows the reader’s thoughts to dilate at each new scene. At the end of each moment of space, he draws inward almost as if he constricts his pupils to see an off detail. â€Å"There/ are cats playing in sawdust. † (line 13-14) It is as if he has seen them playing from the corner of his eye. He ends line 14 with a period and finally begins a new sentence on line 15. The poem opens up â€Å"On to Time Square,† O’Hara bring our attention to the skyline. †¦and higher/ the waterfalls pours lightly† (lines 16-17). There is a use of abstract imagery in comparing the sky to waterfalls. When scanning the space in between the building, it narrows down further as if we look further down Broadway. The blue image may look like water pouring out. The poem takes place in the summer heat. Waterfalls have a feelin g of cool air and openness but nature is contrasted by the â€Å"†¦ sign / blows smoke over head† (lines 15-16). To blow smoke is an idiom that describes someone telling falsehood or lie. Advertising in Time Square is saturated with hype of consumerism and billboard marketing. The same interaction of hype is exchanged by the people of Time Square, the poem follows: . †¦A Negro stands in a doorway with a toothpick, languorously agitating A blonde chorus girl clicks: he smiles and rubs his chin†¦. (lines 17-21) In the previous space, onto the Avenue, O’Hara makes a reference to Marilyn Monroe. She is idolized again in Time Square as the â€Å"blonde chorus girl†, a character she plays in most of her movies. An African-American male easily talks as if he is hounding around lazily. In an urban space, interracial lines are not separated or set by bounds. â€Å"Clicks† can describe how someone talks with gum in their mouth. The click can be an interpreted as the tapping sound of high heels walking by. â€Å"Everything/ suddenly honks† (line 21-22). Our attention is drawn to pause again to gridlock on Broadway. We may think it is the blonde who causes everyone to honk. O’Hara reverts back to time and day, â€Å"†¦. 12:40 / of a Thursday† (lines 22-23). We are reminded that the hour is coming to a close. O’Hara is consumed by time, like the bargain wristwatch on the avenue. To him, with whatever is going on, time marks the next. The poem changes momentum when O’Hara sits down to eat. He quickly writes in a style like Edwin Denby, a critic and poet of modern dance. Comparing â€Å"neon in the daylight is a / great pleasure† with â€Å"light bulb† we associate neon with bright color and light bulbs being plain white. Time Square is synonymous for its light and color at night. This is the place O’Hara has lunch. He finds the daylight enjoyable and adds texture by juxtaposing words that provide a mixture of different culture and art. He sets more periods and commons like he is itemizing a list. He spells out names as though he is thinking about them in association of. There is less action or verbs and more inward thinking. He has an American â€Å"cheeseburger† and â€Å"chocolate malt† in an Italian Actress’s restaurant, JULIET’S CORNER. I think about when people migrated to United States and how they take on the American tradition. Comparing â€Å"Juliet† with â€Å"Giuletta Masina†, it is typical to change name spelling to English form. Giuletta Masina’s husband, â€Å"Federico Fellini† writes and directs movie. His signature style is bizarre, foreign, and surreal. O’Hara writes in Italian â€Å"e bell’ attrice† which translates to beautiful actress. I imagine when O’Hara watched foreign movies they had English subtitle. So far, names mentioned are all artists who have an influence in the arts. O’Hara is an elitist. It is who he knows that allows him to separates himself from mainstream. He watches foreign films, speaks Italian, and wonders about the function of clothing. He loves all forms of art. Still, the humble, ubiquitous cab captures his eye, O’Hara states: A lady in foxes on such a day puts her poodle in a cab. (lines30-32) In line 31, â€Å"on such a day† reminds us about the heat. There is a surreal moment about a lady wearing fur carrying a dog while he drinks a cold drink. She is out of place by wearing something out of season. He does not linger in the thought. He moves on to the avenue, on an upbeat, pointing out that it is the Puerto Ricans that â€Å"makes it beautiful and warm. † The poem makes another iconic turn. He mentions the deaths of three friends, a writer, a musician, and a painter. O’Hara poses a question: â€Å"But is the / earth as full of life was full, of them? † (lines 33-34) Lang Bunny, John Latouche, Jackson Pollack were able to capture life through their art. When they passed away was the world done with them? Puerto Ricans, in the avenue, were carrying on. Everything around still was beating and alive. It was through life moved on, O’Hara writes: And one has eaten and one walks, past the magazines with nudes and the posters for BULLFIGHT and the Manhattan Storage Warehouse, which they’ll soon tear down. I used to think they had the Armory Show there. (lines 40-46) It makes me think about how the modern art movement started. The impressionist painting of Manet’s Le Dejeuner Dur L’herbe had shocked the art world because clothed men were painted having a Luncheon with a nude woman. Goya’s realist painting of Bullfighting spoke about humanity. He was the first to paint blood during the Spanish Revolution. However, where mass production of magazine and poster were sold, people ate and walk pass, the world was full of life. The world keeps moving. It feels like an end of an era when the poem mentioned â€Å"Manhattan Storage Warehouse† was being torn down. The â€Å"Armory Show† is also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art which was formed in New York. O’Hara thought that exhibition was here. There is a feeling that the exhibition is held somewhere else. O’Hara ends on a brighter note. He is self-satified. Before he heads back to work, he has papaya juice. â€Å"My heart is in my / pocket, it is Poems by Pierre Reverdy. †(lines 49-50) The heart symbolizes love and affection. To have it in your pocket means that it is carried close to him. Pierre Reverdy is a critic, writer, poet of Cubism, Pablo Picasso. O’Hara love for the art will always be with him. Imitation of â€Å"Step Away From Them† I’m waking up from my first nap of day, the phone rings underneath a noise of pigeons. The angular sun peeks through lace curtains while dust particles slowly attempt to move. After the 10th ring, I’m wondering if it was important mostly likely, not. I’m out the door; down the three flights of winding stairs, let the kid from Apartment K through the security gate. K collects bright colored cans around the neighborhood. I refused to make eye contact. Someone is still buzzing him in, speaking inaudible sounds through a muffled rattling speaker. A van drives by. How many rings does it take? On Mission Street, the 14 runs every 5 minutes. Stores are tagged but stocked with novelty items of Golden Gates, painted ladies, and cable cars. Whoever wears these shirts, might as well, give up their wallets. A bootleg VHS copy of Natural Born Killers is being sold by a street vendor. Tiny feet hurry up the second floor. The Haitian drums resonated across the wooden floors, bouncing off high ceiling. It’s a Wednesday; another day same as the others. We are warming up for the next class. It’s was only a year ago that they decided to robbed Muddy’s. Ran, Rich, and Joker were in jail now. I’m swinging my arm trying to break the chain. Were they ever free? Was it the squeak in their voice that gave it away? Swinging and stomping. I am raising my machete to cut through sugar cane fields. My heart is in-sync with the drums. How to cite Step Away from Them, Papers

Millenium Mambo

The later films of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien, including Millennium Mambo, appear to have garnered the director a reputation of being cinematically â€Å"difficult† (Wood, 2001).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Millenium Mambo specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Released in 2001,Millennium Mambo represents the â€Å"15th film from Hou, a leader in Taiwan’s cinematic new wave of the 1980s. Although widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers working today, with each new movie considered a major event,† Millennium Mambo nonetheless was the first of Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films to secure a North American release (Dargis, 2004: p. 2). Hou Hsiao-hsien belongs to Taiwan’s â€Å"New Cinema† group, a collective of Taiwanese directors that emerged in the 1980s. The â€Å"New Cinema† movement collaborated on each other’s films, and enjoyed solid backing from film critics working in Taiwan at the time. Taiwanese cinema was dominated by â€Å"escapist romances and propaganda films† at that time, thus the â€Å"New Cinema† collective broke from tradition and â€Å"used a realistic style to convey their socially concerned themes†¦and their films â€Å"recognized the fact that Taiwan was not synonymous with China† (Huang, 1999: no page). Hou Hsiao Hsien’s work garners the most international recognition amongst the â€Å"New Cinema† directors. His subject matter remains almost exclusively grounded in the experience of living in Taiwan, which is in fact his experience, as Hou has spent the lion share of his life living and working in Taiwan (Huang, 1999: no page). Huang (1999) also notes that â€Å"contrasted with the positive influences one can gain from country life in most of Hou’s films are the attractions of the city, with its opportunities for a living wage and concomitant confusion of an alie n social structure, and its dissimilar types of human relationships,† which we see evidenced in Millennium Mambo (no page). Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films remain under the cinematic radar, largely unknown and for the most part unavailable to North American and European cinephiles. This paper will make a case for the distinguishing form of filmmaking applied by Hou Hsiao-Hsien in Millennium Mambo, with a particular emphasis on the director’s dramatisation of discrete scenes and his use of long shots and master shots to simultaneously create mood while maintaining an emotional distance from his characters.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a rule, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films tend to favour aestheticism and mood over narrative structure, largely as a result of Hou Hsiao Hsien’s â€Å"intransigent refusal to â€Å"help† the audience by making obvious p oints, spelling out meanings, telling us what to think of the characters, or carefully explaining their motivation† (Wood, 2001: p. 12). Apt to rub critics the wrong way, this creative obstinacy of Hou’s can sometimes be read as self-aggrandisement, and results in unflattering criticism such as this dismissal by Jones (1999): â€Å"Hou joined the ever growing number of filmmakers who appear to have climbed too far out on the limb of aestheticism, showing no regard whatsoever for their paying customers† (Jones, 1999: no page). In order to fully appreciate Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films, Wood (2001) argues that audiences must â€Å"first†¦unlearn the indoctrinations of contemporary Hollywood and become active observers rather than passive receptacles, noticing even the smallest details, pondering their significance, making thematic connections beyond those of narrative, reaching our own decisions rather than having them foisted on us† (Wood, 2001:p. 12) . Other critics view Hou Hsiao Hsien’s work as deeply personal. In her essay Looking for Nostalgia: Memory and National Identity in Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s a Time to Live, a Time to Die, Wu (2003) holds that â€Å"Hou Hsiao Hsien consistently drew on his personal life experiences and those of his co-writers’ in the overall structure of the narratives, through which he represented the history of the increasingly industrialised and westernised Taiwan† (Wu, 2003: p.45). Hou Hsiao Hsien often collaborators with the same writers and cinematographers, all of whom make a conscious attempt to â€Å"project†¦themselves into their films† (Wu, 2003: p. 46). In Wu’s (2003) mind, Hou Hsiao Hsien and his screenwriters â€Å"offer the cinematic equivalent of historical representation, raising questions of identity on a symbolic level, in which they appeared to articulate themselves while simultaneously being articulated into history† (Wu, 2003: p. 46 ). As such, Hou Hsiao Hsien remain one of a handful of filmmakers concerned with â€Å"national soul searching, [and] reconstructing history as a function of reflecting the present† (Wu, 2003: p. 47). Millennium Mambo constructs a loose narrative around main character Vicky’s experience as a hostess in a trendy Taiwanese bar and her relationships with two men: her abusive boyfriend, and an older gangster who befriends her. Kaicer (2001) called Millennium Mambo â€Å"an urban youth film, set in the bars, clubs, and dingy apartments of contemporary Taipei† (no page).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Millenium Mambo specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The techno inspired soundtrack â€Å"dance music of his Taipei slackers defines the beat of its shots, the drift of its camera, the endless loops within loops of its spiralling chronology† (Kaicer, 2001: no page). For Sklar, (2002), Millennium Mambo represents Hou Hsiao Hsien’s â€Å"least compelling†¦narratives, but it’s reassuring to know that the film casts his remarkable artistry and moral seriousness at least another decade into the future† (Sklar, 2002: p.12). The film’s critical welcome, according to Wood (2001), was mainly mixed. Jacobowitz (2005) raved that Millennium Mambo perfectly depicted â€Å"the cool edginess of the alienated youth† of Taiwan (p.65). Berry and Lu (2005) saw Millennium Mambo as a work of art that â€Å"pursues innovation into a future setting† (p. 7). Los Angeles Times film critic Manohola Dargis (2004) found that: â€Å"Unlike the characters in director Hou Hsiao Hsien’s previous films – including his masterpieces â€Å"The Puppetmaster† and â€Å"Flowers of Shanghai† – Vicky and her friends don’t have strong connections to specific places, to a home or a history†¦[yet] as always with this filmma ker, the visual pleasures are enormous and often deeply touching. One of the most ravishing images in a film filled with ravishing images is of Vicky gently lowering her face into some freshly fallen snow. As she raises her head laughing, the camera lingers on the impression she’s left behind. In the snow, we see the traces of a self already melting into a memory† (p. 3). However, when the film premiered at the Cannes festival in 2001, Millennium Mambo garnered the dubious honour of being â€Å"the first of Hou Hsiao Hsien’s mature films to receive a less than enthusiastic reception† (Wood, 2001: p. 12). Millennium Mambo was â€Å"dismissed by critics in a perfunctory line or two with no attempt to relate it to Hou Hsiao Hsien’s previous work† (Wood, 2001: p. 12). Like Hou Hsiao Hsien’s other works, Millennium Mambo is backward looking, and told from memory. Sklar (2002) remarks that in Millennium Mambo â€Å"Hou Hsiao Hsien returned to [the] curious aspect of his penchant for the past [in] that the film opens with a voice-over explaining that its events â€Å"happened ten years ago in the year 2001,† casting the present as history† (Sklar, 2002: p.12). Though set in the recognizable present, Millennium Mambo continues Hou Hsiao Hsien’s tradition of looking to the past to offer commentary on the present. In Millennium Mambo, Sklar (2002) understand â€Å"Hou Hsiao Hsien’s strategy for taking on today’s chaotic, incoherent postmodern culture – as he makes it appear to be – involves viewing it as evanescent, as having already happened and, presumably, later been transformed into something else† (Sklar, 2002: p.12).Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Culturevulture.net (2004) describes Hou Hsiao Hsien â€Å"as a member of the â€Å"master shot† school of filmmaking† (No page). In standard filmmaking, the master or establishing shot happens first and presents the key elements of any given scene. The filmmaker then repositions the camera in nearer proximity to the subjects held within the frame, be they actors or objects, culminating usually in a close-up. When it comes time to edit, the filmmaker typically intercuts between the establishing shot and the medium and close shots to generate the intensity of the scene (Culturevulture.net, 2004: no page). Culturevulture.net (2004) highlights the fact that â€Å"Hou Hsiao Hsien almost never engages in this latter aspect of standard film technique. A movie composed mostly of long shots, especially extended takes as is usual for Hou Hsiao Hsien, tends to keep the audience emotionally distanced from the characters and the action. As a result, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films are criticized as boring, and sometimes they are. But at his best, Hou Hsiao Hsien can provoke overwhelmingly intense emotions precisely because the viewer has worked to earn it. Hou Hsiao-Hsien films offer a generous store of images and feelings that lavishly reward time and patience† (No page). Hou Hsiao Hsien’s shooting style and camera work in Millennium Mambo relays a similar technique, although according to Sea (2002), Millennium Mambo â€Å"is the first of six films†¦to be realized in the next ten years†¦that deals with Taiwan’s present youth, and is devoid of the long pans, evocative images and detached shooting style that have typified Hou Hsiao Hsien’s work† (No page). Millennium Mambo contains a disconnected, emotionally frozen feeling, evoked mainly by the performances, but also by the way that the film is shot. An example of this occurs in the seduction scene (Millennium Mambo, 2001). Vicky returns from her hostess job to find her boyfriend, Hao Hao, at home and in the mood for love (Millennium Mambo, 2001).. Hou Hsiao Hsien’s camera stays far back from the scene as Hao Hao attempts to seduce Vicky, first through romantic kissing and finally through cunnilingus (Millennium Mambo, 2001).. Vicky, meanwhile, keeps her lips turned away from Hao Hao’s, and while he takes off her clothes she drinks a cup of tea and smokes a cigarette (Millennium Mambo, 2001).. Eventually, Hao Hao gives up and returns to the bedroom (Millennium Mambo, 2001).. The indifference and boredom that Vicky extends towards Hao Hao’s attempted lovemaking is exquisitely captured through the remoteness of the shooting style (Millennium Mambo, 2001). Like Vicky, the camera feels passively disinterested, essentially standing back from the action, offering no encouragement to the viewer, and waiting for Hao Hao’s frisky moment to be over (Millennium Mambo, 2001). The lack of passion in the shooting style perfectly mirrors the lack of passion and apathy that forms the heart of the scene, and of Vicky and Hao Hao’s relationship (Millennium Mambo, 2001). Critical response to the shooting style Hou Hsiao Hsien exhibited in Millennium Mambo was again mixed. Wilmington (2004) found that â€Å"Hou Hsiao Hsien, who often shoots his scenes in single takes with a roving camera, used only the sketchiest of scripts. Most of the heavily emotional scenes were improvised from brief outlines. Yet, working in this minimalist, seize-the-moment way†¦rivets our eyes and often wrings our heart† (p. 2). Halcyon Realms (2005) lamented that â€Å"in the case of Millennium Mambo the potential bore factor skyrockets because the photographer is Lee Pingbin, who loves to lock down his camera and shoot empty compositions where the actors are completely out of frame† (No page). Similarly, Thom (2002) remarked that â€Å"Hou Hsiao Hsien’s film could pass for a documentary, if it weren†™t for his extreme aesthetic approach† (no page). Kaicer (2001) found: â€Å"Contemporary Hou Hsiao Hsien†¦disorienting, experimental, jarring. Unprecedented for him, most of Millennium Mambo is shot in shallow focus and medium close-up, with a roaming, exploratory camera always in motion. A Hou Hsiao Hsien who directs the viewer’s eye, too, is something new: we’re used to slowly, patiently exploring the spaces he lays out for us, to exercising a certain autonomy as we read meaning into his films. Hou Hsiao Hsien controls our eyes in Millennium Mambo and shows us what he himself seems to be in the process of discovering, in something like real time† (No page). Bingham (2003) described Millennium Mambo’s â€Å"intensely claustrophobic tone and oblique compositions†¦characters half-viewed through doorways etc,† yet also pointed to the similarity in content between Millennium Mambo and Hou Hsiao Hsien’s earlier work Flowers of Shanghai. â€Å"Thematically, in its portrait of a girl building up to dumping her unemployed, layabout boyfriend whom she supports, it can be seen as a companion piece to Flowers of Shanghai, in that both films feature a protagonist desperate for freedom from an aimless relationship†¦or series of them in the earlier film†¦and independence in a culture still largely unsympathetic to their plight (No page). Huang (1999) echoes Wood in her suggestion that to appreciate Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films, audience members must remove the lens of Hollywood and open their minds to a filmmaker whose narrative bias leans towards indirectness (No page). In Huang’s (1999) mind, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s films â€Å"present the viewer with certain problems, and not only because they demand some awareness of Taiwanese political and cultural history during the second half of the last century [but because] †¦their treatment of narrative structure has become increasingly chall enging and unorthodox (No page). This is especially true of his shooting style. In Huang’s (1999) words, â€Å"one feels at times that Hou Hsiao Hsien shoots only the sequences that really engage him, leaving the audience to fill in narrative hiatuses with a combination of common sense and imagination. The many characters are seldom given the careful, emphatic introductions to which Hollywood has accustomed us, and close ups are rare, point-of-view shots non-existent; sequences are often entirely in long-shot. In short, Hou Hsiao Hsien expects us to work, concentrate, be vigilant; the films construct a spectator who is at once detached but sympathetic† (No page). In essence, Hou Hsiao Hsien’s shooting style emulates Vicky’s experience of life in Taiwan – disconnected, emotionally detached, non participatory, and boring. The absence of a real narrative in Millennium Mambo echoes Vicky aimless existence. As Wilmington (2004) describes â€Å"Hou Hsia o Hsien has evolved an almost rarefied technique, suggesting a life that seems to rush past his camera, unmediated and unaware† (p. 2). In the case of Vicky, the speed of the bar contrast sharply with the slow pace of change she exacts in her relationship with Hao Hao. How Hou Hsiao Hsien shoots Vicky’s world is exactly how Vicky sees the world – as a passive spectator, never really coming close to anything. Hou Hsiao Hsien’s shooting style appears to be patterned after his protagonist’s lived experience of life in Taiwan – passive, fleeting, distance. Burnett (2004) points to Hou Hsiao Hsien’s ability to â€Å"manipulate†¦the device of the fade or the dissolve to deflect spectator attention away from the amount of time that has elapsed between segments and other such questions of plot and to direct he/she towards pondering the evolution of the film’s style† (No page). In conclusion, director Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Millennium Mambo contains many of the filmmaker’s trademark touches. It is an aesthetically beautiful film, peopled by beautiful actors and replete with lush imagery. However, the shooting style, the lack of nearness to the characters, creates an emotional distance that imbues the film with a lost quality that lingers throughout. Hou Hsiao Hsien shoots and stages Millennium Mambo in a way that renders Vicky’s actual experience of life – disengaged, severed from any real emotional engagement with the world or with others, and drifting somewhat directionless through life. Reference List Berry, Chris and Lu, Feiyi. (2005) Island on the edge: Taiwan new cinema and after. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press. Bingham, A. (2003) Cinema of Sadness: Hou Hsiao-hsien and ‘New Taiwanese Film’. Cinetext [online]. Available from: http://cinetext.philo.at/magazine/bingham/cinema_of_sadness.html . Burnett, C. (2004) Parametric narration and optical transition de vices: Hou Hsiao-hsien and Robert Bresson in comparison. Senses of Cinema [online] 57. Available from: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2004/feature-articles/hou_hsiao_hsien_bresson/ . culturevulture.net (17 January 2004 ) Films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien. China Through a Lens [online]. Available from: http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/84923.htm . Dargis, M. (2004) Woman held captive to love in ‘Mambo’. Los Angeles Times [online]. Available from: http://articles.latimes.com/2004/mar/26/entertainment/et-mambo26 . Halcyonrealms.com (December 4, 2005) Millenium mambo. Halcyon Realms [online]. Available from: http://halcyonrealms.com/film/millenium-mambo/ . Huang, V. (1999) Hou Hsiao-hsien. Film Reference [online]. Available from: http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ha-Ji/Hou-Hsiao-Hsien.html . Jacobowitz, F. (2005) Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Cafe Lumiere. CineAction [online] 65. Available from: http://cineaction.ca/ . Jones, K. (1999) Cinema with a roof over its head. Film Commen t [online]. Available from: http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/9-10-99/hou.htm . Kraicer, S. (2001) Millennium mambo. A Chinese Cinema Site [online]. Available from: http://www.chinesecinemas.org/millenniummambo.html . Sea, L. (2002) Millennium mambo. LoveHKFilm.com [online], Available from: http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/millennium_mambo.htm . Sklar, R. (2002) Hidden history, modern hedonism: The films of Hou Hsiao-hsien. Cineaste [online], Fall. Available from: http://www.cineaste.com/ . Thom, F. (2002) Millennium mambo. Plume Noire. Available from: http://www.plume-noire.com/movies/cult/millenniummambo.html . Wilmington, M. (2004) `Mambo’ a raw film poem about the pain of desire. Chicago Tribune [online]. Available from: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-04-16/features/0404150458_1_bar-girl-hao-hao-shu-qi . Wood, R. (2001) Flowers of Shanghai. CineAction [online], 11. Available from: http://cineaction.ca/ . Wu, I. (2003) Looking for nostalgia: memory and national identit y in Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s a time to live, a time to die. CineAction [online] 45. Available from: http://cineaction.ca/ . This essay on Millenium Mambo was written and submitted by user Bryant B. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.