seussical essays

seussical essays The second play I saw for our assignment was Seussical The Musical. This was my second experience seeing a play and I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did with Bat Boy The Musical. I saw the production on Wednesday July 21st at the Workshop Theatre downtown. It was the theatres second week for performing the play. I believe the Workshop Theatre had more seats than the Trustus Threatre, but on the night we saw the performance, the crowd was not as large as it was when I went and saw Bat Boy at Trustus. Seussical the Musical follows the adventures of Horton, an elephant who one day hears voices coming from a speck of dust. He soon discovers that inside this tiny speck exists the smallest planet in the universe. And upon this tiny planet, lived creatures known as Whos. Although other characters disagreed with what Horton believed about the Whos, Horton knew they still existed. Jojo, a child in the city of Who, follows Horton's journey as he is picked on for the unpopular act of thinking. Jojo and Horton attempt to do what they think is right, and together they sing the duet "Alone in the Universe." Horton is sold to the Circus McGurkus and eventually goes on trial before Judge Yertle the Turtle before the other animals of the jungle come to recognize, as Horton has always known, that "a person's a person, no matter how small." During the play, the Cat in the Hat is in and out of scenes, narrating, playing numerous characters, and helping young audience members understand what is go ing on. I think the theme of this play is empowerment. The play focuses on the concept of trusting your instincts, and your abilities and not being afraid to dream, just as Horton did. I chose to go see this play because as a child my parents read Dr. Seuss books to me and this was a way to remember those times and to relate to something I had been exposed to. The children in attendance seemed to be mesmerized by the ...

Let 90s Nostalgia Rock Your Content Marketing

Let 90s Nostalgia Rock Your Content Marketing New research shows that we are more likely to spend money when were feeling nostalgic. According to the Journal of Consumer Research: Consumers that were asked to think about the past were willing to pay more for a set of products than consumers asked to think about new or future memories. Did that get your attention? Interesting results, but thats not all. Another study showed an increased willingness to give more money to others after recalling, reflecting, or writing about a nostalgic past life event. This got me thinking – how does this nostalgia effect influence your content marketing? Are readers more likely to share your content when they are feeling nostalgic? Will  they be more likely to convert? Will they be more likely to buy your product or service? The evidence seems to indicate that they  might. The first step to applying this to your content marketing is to understand what nostalgia is in the first place. What Is Nostalgia? Technically, the term  nostalgia  describes a  particular sentimentality towards  a former experience. In simpler terms, it is a positive reflection  of the past, and a powerful one at that. Nostalgia is generally  triggered by some sort of  cue  from the past. This  sentimentality is then  associated with  a period or place with happy personal memories. The term itself  was coined by a 17th-century medical student as a way to describe the anxieties displayed by  Swiss  mercenaries fighting away from home. In later years, as science has learned more about the phenomena, nostalgia  has been  widely considered  an independent and even positive emotion that people experience often. There are four commonly understood functions of nostalgia. They include, improve mood, increase social connectedness, enhance positive self-regard, and provide existential meaning. This is where things really start to get interesting for marketers. Improve Mood Nostalgia has often been found to increase one’s mood and heighten positive emotions. This reaction seems to stem from feelings of warmth or coping resulting from nostalgic reflections. In essence, the presence of nostalgic emotions give us a method for coping with things that could hinder our own happiness. This natural coping method instinctively seems to improve our mood and function. Increase Social Connectedness Interestingly, nostalgia also seems to increase our sense of social connectedness. This is a very important factor for the use of nostalgia in modern marketing. In essence, nostalgia is  triggered by a feeling of  loneliness, but counteracts such feelings with reflections of close relationships. Enhance Positive Self-Regard Nostalgia can also help us feel better about ourselves.  Researchers  found that subjects who thought of nostalgic memories showed more positive characteristics than those who thought of exciting future experiences. This research also revealed that a lack nostalgic experiences reflected a pattern of selfish and self-centered behavior. As nostalgic experiences were introduced, so was the positive  behavior. Provide Existential Meaning You may be surprised to learn that  nostalgia also helps increase one’s self-esteem and meaning in life. It does this by removing  threats to our well-being, and also by initiating a desire to deal with problems or stress.  Studies  have  found that nostalgia correlates positively with one’s sense of meaning in life. Nostalgia is a known way to boost peoples mood. It allows people to live (and re-live) something familiar,  something  they remember, a positive emotional experience. –  Gabriel Trionfi (Pinterests  user experience researcher) Nostalgia is a powerful neuropsychiatric force that  can frequently becoming a  driving force for our behavior.  Its effects can be seen in who we select to marry (we frequently marry spouses with characteristics reminiscent of those of our parents), and  our adoption of political affiliations (we may become  Democrats, Republicans, or even racists simply because our parents were). So, if it can effect these major life decisions, certainly it can also affect our purchasing and consuming behavior. And that is where nostalgia comes in for  a  content marketing pro life yourself. Examples Of  Nostalgia In Internet Marketing One of the best examples of nostalgia in internet culture is the popular photo-sharing service Instagram. These user-shared photos are soaked in nostalgia. Reminiscent of photos from old Polaroid cameras,  the photos  are frequently  wrapped in a white border. In addition, by allowing users to select from a variety of filters (including some with labels  like  1970), users are able to re-create the faded and worn appearance that is recognizable from  photos of the past. Instagram fosters a huge sense of nostalgia. Blogger David Yoon calls this fake nostalgia, and he certainly has a point – it is manufactured. But Instagrams features still do a great job of highlighting the power of nostalgia. In his piece, David points out that  our  digital photographs have lost the nostalgic feel because they did not age like more traditional photographs.   This is a good point, and it helps us understand the rise in popularity of tools like Instagram. While Instagrams nostalgia is purely manufactured, it is a harkening back to the good old days  of photography and obviously brings with it some powerful emotions. We have to wonder: would Instagram have been as popular without the throwback? Well never know, but the theory is certainly worth considering. One place we can see this theory come to light is with something called throwback Thursday, the  popular internet  practice of posting an old photo, thought, or idea on social media. Originally made popular on Instagram itself,  #TBT is now a practice that is used across the web as a way to reminisce and remember the past. It is nostalgia in action. In recent months, Facebook has also started feeding our nostalgic urges. This February, as it celebrated its  own  10 year anniversary, Facebook gave its  users the opportunity to watch a video of their history on Facebook. The short videos contained  Ã‚  15 or so of the  users  most-liked photos, statuses, and life events set to a catchy tune. While a  bit cheesy, these videos  are a great example of nostalgia in action, and reminder of the cultural significance of sites like Facebook. Other services like Timehop, have embraced the power of nostalgia in a similar way.  Promising to be a time capsule of you, Timehop allows users to see their  photos and updates from an  exact day in history (usually a year prior). Timehop promises to help you celebrate the best moments of the past with your friends. Nostalgia much? Traditional brands have been long-aware of the power of nostalgia. Recently, General Mills  went retro with several of their major cereal brands, a practice already proven to be popular by other brands like Pepsi and Mountain Dew with their throwback product line.  Krafts Macaroni Cheese line also introduced a bit of 90s nostalgia recently by bringing their product, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Vanilla Ice to the same stage. The results were fairly, nostalgic, to say the least. So, nostalgia is not necessarily a new marketing tactic, but in content marketing, I think it is often left unexplored. Can it work? Thats the question we need to ask ourselves now. How To Take Advantage of Nostalgia In Content Marketing Before we get too far, we need to set some ground rules. The folks over at Scripted have cleverly identified three conditions that should be met  before  we try to  use nostalgia in our content marketing. They are: We  must consider our  target market’s age range in order to choose a time era that demographic can identify with. We  have to choose an event, style, etc. that invokes positive memories and a sense of trust. The chosen era or event should invoke the emotions that we want  people to associate with our  brand. In other words, dont go harkening back to the roaring twenties (and expect a nostalgic reaction) if your audience is primarily comprised of skater-kids that were popping zits in the 90s. Take for example Krafts placement of Vanilla Ice and the  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These are both throwbacks to my early days as youth. I clearly remember being in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan club and I  know for sure that I owned a Vanilla Ice cassette tape at some point. These are both fond memories now that I am in my 30s. Not only that, but I am also the parent of three small children. I am a prime target for Kraft Macaroni Cheese. Well played Kraft, well played. If you dont  align your marketing and your audience properly, you are fighting an uphill battle already. Nostalgia only works if it is actually nostalgic for your readers. So,  if you dont know the demographic of your readers, you can do some digging in Google Analytics, or complete this short exercise that will help you identify your audience. Nostalgia only works in #contentmarketing if your content is  actually nostalgic for your readers.5 Ways To Apply Nostalgia To Our Content Marketing So you may be thinking that  this nostalgia thing sounds great, but I havent really provided any conclusive methods for introducing it to your content marketing. I am glad you brought it up. While this is by no means a conclusive list, here are 5 quick ideas that Ive found for applying nostalgia to  content marketing. #1: Weave Nostalgic  References  Into Your Content Through Storytelling One of the easiest ways to incorporate the effects of nostalgia is through the art of storytelling and reference. Our own content creator, Julie Neidlinger, wrote a post a few years back bringing together the art of content marketing and the beloved mix tape of the 80s. In this type of post, the nostalgic reference is merely an element used to engage the reader in the work. It is simple and effective. #2: Add Nostalgic Reminders To Your Visual Elements In many cases, nostalgic elements can be incorporated into the design of page elements, like they were on this post about audience fragmentation from just a few weeks ago. The visual elements on the page harken to a time and idea past, reflecting and fostering a feeling of nostalgia. #3: Interact With Your Audience In A Nostalgic Way Whenever someone becomes a new paying customer of , we love to thank them with a physical notebook that they can use to jot down blog ideas when they are on the go. is a digital product  so this  is somewhat counterintuitive, but it has proven to be a great program. It encourages us and our users to think about the days of old when we used to write thing in places other than the computer. #4: Create Content That Allows Readers To Experience Greater Nostalgia Love them or hate them, Buzzfeed has garnered a great deal of attention by actually allowing us to interact with their own sense of nostalgia. On their site, you will find dozens of (basically meaningless) quizzes that allow us to discover which 90s soundtrack we are, or which Friends character we should hide in our basement. These may be silly, but they are also popular and are shared like crazy on Facebook. â€Å"The quiz is kind of like the broken-down-to-its-core of what BuzzFeed is,† Summer Anne Burton, Buzzfeed’s managing editorial director and the head of its quiz initiative, told Nieman Lab. â€Å"It gives someone something that they can relate to well enough that they can share it with others.† Buzzfeed built a custom template so that its staffers and its community contributors can easily create these identity-focused questionnaires. (source: The Atlantic) #5: Throwback For A day Microsoft has done an excellent job of using throwback nostalgia to improve its brand and reputation. After taking a beating for years with an error-ridden browser, their marketing team began using nostalgia (ironically) to make amends with the web developers that they have offended along the way – even going as far as releasing a throwback version of their website, an idea that will never get old for a generation of web developers who grew up using tables and font tags on this new thing called the world wide web. The Effects Of Nostalgia In Content Marketing Perhaps Don Draper said it best. Nostalgia is powerful, but delicate. Used correctly, though, it can help us accomplish many things – including better content marketing. Teddy told me that in Greek nostalgia literally means, the pain from an old wound. Its a twinge, in your heart. Far more powerful then memory alone. This device isnt a spaceship, its a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place, where we ache to go again. Its not called The Wheel. Its called The Carousel. It lets us travel in a way a child travels. Round and round, and then back home again. To a place where we know we are loved. Don Draper   Nostalgia can make users more likely to share. #ContentMarketingJust take a look at Buzzfeeds quiz page, which  now contains  some of the most shared and most  nostalgic  content on an already popular site. Nostalgia can make users more likely to convert. #ContentMarketingIf nostalgia makes visitors more likely to buy, then it is fair to assume that it would also make them more likely to convert as an inbound lead. Maybe its time to incorporate some nostalgia into your inbound process.

National Health Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

National Health Care - Essay Example However it lags behind when it comes to the quality of the service it renders for the welfare of its citizens. In a report published by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000. the United States was ranked 37th in the world in health care (Neergaard, 2000). This only shows that America's opulence and superpower status does not mean that it has the healthiest populace. How come that despite the huge budget of Americans, compared to the French and the Japanese, in health care they are still left behind in terms of medical care What are the yardsticks by which we measure the effectiveness of the health care system of a nation According to the same WHO report that mentioned the poor heath care performance of the United States, the criteria that wherein they base their criteria on the three primary goals that a superb health system should do. The first criteria is the status of health of the people, the second refers to the responsiveness of the health care system to the medical needs to the citizenry, and the last refers to the fairness in financing the costs that the public incurs. There are many different indicators that present the overall health status and well being of a country's population. Among the most important of them are infant mortality rates and "disability-adjusted life expectancy ('the number of healthy years that can be expected on average in a given population.'). In 1998, the infant mortality of the United States was 7.2 per 1000 live births. This figure makes US 26th among the industrialized nations. Though, in the same report, the US ranked first in its responsiveness to client/patient health expectations, it does not provide an accurate picture of the real events that take place in the US soil. Though it is true that US health care provides the best service, another unfortunate revelation is the unfortunate fact that US has the most expensive health care system in the world. In 1998, the US spent $4,178 per person on health, more than twice the amount of the median of developed and industrialized countries, which was pegged at $1,783 per person. On top of this is the unequal access of Americans to health care. Millions of Americans do not have insurance or have limited access to finance health care. The United States is one of the two industrialized countries (the other is South Africa) that do not provide health care for all its citizens (World Health Organization, as cited by The University of Maine, pp.2-5). This leaves millions of Americans incapable of enjoying the quality of medical care service that is touted as the best in the world. All the above data were published in a WHO report published in 2000. What is alarming is after seven years this issue has not been resolved. In 2005, more than 46 million US residents are still uninsured and desperately need adequate health care. By increasingly shifting health care costs to employees, employers pass their responsibility of providing health coverage to US workers, leaving them struggling to pay higher premiums, deductibles, and co-payments. Because of this, most of them opted to forgo health insurance, risking their lives to be subjected to health hazards without appropriate and timely financial relief (American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations). Another glaring issue that haunts US health care is the existence of corporate

Theater History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theater History - Essay Example Entertainment in these early times involved travelling productions. With the rise however of very popular stars and the clamor of audiences to see their performances as often as they possibly could, the stage theaters started to be strongly patronized. This also marked the beginning of the single play with long-running stage productions. Significantly thereafter, the theater started to become one of the oldest forms of entertainment, and this, even long before the televisions and the cinemas were born. This paper will particularly focus on the following key points: realism, the resurgence of new melodrama and that of political censorship, with the end in view of not only discovering the correlations between the aforementioned key points and the rise of the stars, but that of their linkage as well, to the future growth of theater itself. (Germany) and Konstantin Stranislavsky (Moscow) advocated realism, the true depictions of life. Eventually, this soon became the dominant mode in most of the theatrical productions not only in Europe but also in the West (www.wsu.edu/brians/hum_303/naturalism.html). Most of the playwrights and production directors centered on the lives of shining stars like French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844 -1923) and Italian stage player Eleonora Duse (1858 -1924). The renowned Sarah with the reputation of being a very serious dramatic actress then was referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world". She would later in this artistic profession earn the nickname of "The Divine Sarah" (Wikipedia). Injuring her right leg in 1905, an amputation was done in 1915, but this did not stop the ambivalent Sarah from continuing to tour and perform. She succumbed to a lingering ailment and made her final goodbye in 1923 while filming La Voyante (www.who2.com/sarahbernhardt.html). E leonora Duse, on the other hand, was considered as the greatest Italian player of her age, marking her American debut in 1893. With nineteen years hiatus, she made her farewell tour in 1923 (Fuse). Both Sarah and Eleonora had beautiful golden voices and each shared their respective abilities to breathe their emotional lives into the classic roles that they performed. Consequently, in their own respective rights, they would each further the movement toward the bringing about of remarkable realistic acting. Their professional careers became major successes despite of the fact that both their real lives were wrought and harrowed by the characters that they played. This fusion of realism and drama that are seen in turn in both these dramatic performers ushered in many changes in scenic and costume design, acting styles and staging. Similarly, in real life, both of them from frequent bouts of physical ailments, most of the time some financial difficulties, and the common problem of havin g countless love affairs. In any event, together, the two great stage actresses were most instrumental to making the concept of realism, the most dominant mode in the history of playwriting and theatrical productions during the 19th century. RESURGENCE OF NEW MELODRAMA "Melodrama was the primary form of

A Rose for Emily Essay Example for Free

A Rose for Emily Essay Foreshadowing is an advance sign or warning of what is to come in the future. Foreshadowing is used as a literary device to tease readers about plot turns that will occur later in the story. In the story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† by William Faulkner, several examples are used to achieve the surprising but believable ending. The extremely strong scent about Ms. Emily’s house and the purchase of the poison are just what of these examples of foreshadowing in this story. The first example of foreshadowing is the horrible stench that the townspeople complain about. In the quote, â€Å"just as if a man any man- could keep a kitchen properly,† it shows how the women accuse the male servant of the smell because they stereotype how bad men are in the kitchen since it isn’t their place. Anthor accusation of the smell from the butler is Judge Steven when he states â€Å" its probably just a snake or rat that nigger of hers killed in the yard.† These two quotes suggest the smell to be from the butler but kept us on the edge of what the smell really was. The townspeople tried to resolve the issue, as some of the men decided to sprinkle lime around her house in hopes it would alleviate the stench. However, the smell did not dissipate for another week or two. If the odor had come from a mere snake or rat, the smell would have persisted for only a few days. In anthor section of the story Emily plans on buying arsenic. This is the next example of foreshadowing. â€Å"I want the best you have. I don’t care what kind,† this quote made by Emily to the town druggist when she wants the strongest poison. This questions the reader what she might need it for and why the strongest one. The druggist answers back to her, â€Å"they’ll kill anything up to an elephant,† the druggist made this point to let Miss Emily know that it kills huge animals not only just rats. When Emily goes home she finds written on the box, under the skull and cross bones- â€Å" for rats,† this suggest to the reader to think whether she might use it on herself or for someone else. Therefore in the ending of the story, when Miss Emily dies and the townspeople discover the corpse of Homer Barron, the reader recalls the use of foreshadowing, Miss Emily buying the poison and the horrible stench that was coming from the house. Faulkner in fact prepares the reader for Homer Barron’s death at the ha nds of Miss Emily almost from the very beginning. The use of foreshadowing throughout the story contributes to the unity of the story and allows the reader to accept the lovers’ fate as inevitable.

Children With Behavioral Disorders in Single Parent Homes Essays

Unfortunately, we live in a world were economic times are tough. It can be a struggle for parents to adequately support children - especially if there is only one parent. According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development about 15.9 percent of children world wide live in single-parent households. In the United states alone there are approximately 13.7 million single parents today, and those parents are responsible for raising 21.8 million children (approximately 26% of children under 21 in the U.S. today). The question we must ask is, What struggles and psychological effect does separation and divorce have on the parents as well as the children? Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties. In most countries divorce requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process. The legal process for divorce may also involve issues of spousal support, child custody, child support, distribution of property and division of debt. Shared custody is awarded in approximately twenty percent of all divorce child custody cases. When shared custody is not awarded, the court will award one parent sole custody of the child. A court may also award a parent joint custody. Joint custody is a court order whereby custody of a child is awarded to both parties. In joint custody both parents are "custodial parents" and neither parent is a non-custodial parent; or, in other words, the child has two custodial parents. Seventy percent of all child custody cases name the mother as the custodial parent. A â€Å"b roken family† will effect the mother, father and child in different ways; with mothers usua... ...1%) as likely to have one or more total problems than those from two-parent families, twice as likely to have an emotional disorder, etc(National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth ). Works Cited See e.g., Cal. Fam. Code sect. 3004 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fam&group=02001-03000&file=3000-3007 1988 Census "Child Support and Alimony: 1989 Series" P-60, No. 173 p.6-7, and "U.S. General Accounting Office Report" GAO/HRD-92-39FS January 1992 Center for Disease Control National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools Fulton County Georgia Jail Populations and Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992 GROWING UP IN CANADA, National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (Human Resources Development Canada, Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 89-550-MPE, no.1, November 1996, p. 91) Available from StatCan.

Indian Stereotypes Essay

A stereotype is a conforming idea about a group or race of people. When discussing Native Americans, many stereotypes do not accurately describe the identity of us. Racial stereotypes have always been around for as long as I can remember. Being a Native American male myself I can honestly say that I and my family have been subjected to it. I have been called a drunken Indian and my three and six year old daughters have been called â€Å"untamed heathens and savages† in public at a store by white people. The hurt and confusion on their little faces made me angry and hurt that they were subjected to that type of ignorant behavior and language by an adult. While I’ve experienced first- hand stereotyping I’ve come up with these stereotypes us Native Americans are subjected to. Native American’s in the US and Canada have always been portrayed as alcoholics, lazy, the wise elder, the aggressive drunk, Pocahontas (Indian princess), the loyal sidekick, obese and impoverished. In Hollywood films we’re portrayed as trackers and nature lovers. In the west we have to be tamed by the Cowboy because apparently we are so â€Å"wild†. While, historically American Indians were thought of as animals and are treated as such. Many still think that ALL Native Americans live in tipis, wear feathered war bonnets, lived only in the past, and Indians are stoic while having no sense of humor. Also that Indians are a vanished race. Native American’s are also portrayed as Warriors and Braves that you can find on the shirt of a high school student in North Dakota or on the Jersey of a football player in Kansas City. There’s also a notion that all Indians receive casino revenue per capita and free government money. One stereotype that persists is the idea that Native Americans great one another by putting a palm up and saying, â€Å"How†. Native Americans are commonly associated with many negative stereotypes and most of them do not accurately describe our culture.