Pay It Forward - We Can Change the World :: Film Movies Films Movie Essays

Pay It Forward - We Can Change the World If someone did you a favor, something big, something that you could not do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people. Imagine the next day, they each paid it forward to three more people. And imagine the day after, those 27 people each paid it forward to another three people. Then each day afterwards, everyone in turn paid it forward to three more people; in two weeks that comes to 4,782,969 people. This is the idea that gives the movie Pay It Forward such persuasive appeal. The specific persuasive purpose is to get people to think how such a simple idea can make a big difference. Another persuasive goal of the movie was to get people to not be afraid to help others, and tell those people to help other like they were helped. The idea must follow these three rules: First, It has to be something that really helps people. Second, It has to be something they can't do by themselves. Lastly, if I do it for them, they do it for three other people (Pay It Forward 2000). The title of the movie is Pay It Forward; it was released into the theatre on October 20, 2000 nationwide. The director was Mimi Leder who did other films such as Peacemaker and Deep Impact. The screenwriter was Leslie Dixon, known for Overboard, That Old Feeling, Mrs. Doubtfire, Look Who's Talking Now; co writer of The Thomas Crown Affair and Smoke & Mirrors. The basis of this movie is from the best-selling novel Pay It Forward written by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The movie received mixed reviews from film critics the most common was the one written by www.rottentomatoes.com, which said, â€Å"Pay It Forward has strong performances from Spacey, Hunt, and Osment, but the movie itself is too emotionally manipulative and the ending is bad.† This is not to say the movie is bad at being persuasive just because the movie is emotionally manipulative, and the fact that the ending is bad is purely opinionative. This shows the movie’s good use of pathos by using strong acting and a p ersuasive plot. The plot of the movie is a school social studies assignment leads to acts of kindness that spread from city-to-city. When assigned to come up with some idea that will improve the world, a seventh grader boy Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) decides that if he can do three good deeds for someone and they in turn can "pay it forward" and so forth, then the world might be a better place.

Mystery of Genghis Khan

Why is the great warrior and Mongolian icon Genghis Khan perceived as a destructive and genocidal warlord? Why is there a negative perception about him in spite of his achievements and glories? Genghis Khan was a political and military leader of Mongolia. He is revered as the greatest Mongolian ever born. He is credited with uniting the nomadic Mongol tribes and creating the Mongol empire, the largest contiguous empire in World History. The chronicler Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani left a description of Genghis Khan, written when Genghis Khan was in his later years: â€Å"[Genghis Khan was] a man of tall stature, of vigorous build, robust in body, the hair on his face scanty and turned white, with cat's eyes, possessed of dedicated energy, discernment, genius, and understanding, awe-striking, a butcher, just, resolute, an over thrower of enemies, intrepid, sanguinary, and cruel.† The Mongol Empire ended up ruling, or at least briefly conquering, large parts of modern day China, Mongolia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, South Korea, North Korea, and Kuwait under his military rule. He was not only a great warrior but also a great ruler. He created the Yassa code which was the military and civil code for Mongolian Empire. The Mongol Empire was one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse empires in history, as befitted its size. There were tax exemptions for religious figures and so to some extent teachers and doctors. The Mongol Empire practiced religious tolerance to a large degree because it was generally indifferent to religious beliefs. Genghis Khan had a lot of virtues worthy of a true leader and statesman. Simplicity, honesty and loyalty were the cornerstones of his life. Yet, accounts of Genghis Khan's life are marked by claims of a series of betrayals and conspiracies. These include rifts with his early allies such as Jamuqa (who also wanted to be a ruler of Mongol tribes) and Wang Khan (his and his father's ally), his son Jochi, and problems with the most important Shaman who was allegedly trying break him up with brother Qasar who was serving Genghis Khan loyally. Many modern scholars doubt that all of the conspiracies existed and suggest that Genghis Khan was inclined to paranoia. He was largely tolerant of religions. The exception was when religious groups challenged the state. For example Ismaili Muslims that resisted the Mongols were exterminated. In Iraq and Iran, he is looked on as a destructive and genocidal warlord who caused enormous damage and destruction. Similarly, in Afghanistan and Pakistan (along with other non-Turkic Muslim countries) he is not looked with favor though some are ambivalent. It is believed that the Hazara of Afghanistan is descendants of a large Mongol garrison stationed therein. Nevertheless, the invasions of Baghdad and Samarkand caused mass murders, for example, and much of southern Khuzestan was completely destroyed. His descendant Hulagu Khan destroyed much of Iran's northern part. Among the Iranian peoples he is regarded as one of the most despised conquerors of Iran, along with Alexander and Tamerlane. In much of Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Hungary, Genghis Khan, his descendants and the Mongols and/or Tartars are generally described as causing considerable damage and destruction. Presently Genghis Khan, his descendants, his generals and in general the Mongols are remembered for their ferocious military, toughness, ruthless and destructive conquests in much of the world in history books. In military strategy, Genghis Khan generally preferred to offer opponents the chance to submit to his rule without a fight and become vassals by sending tribute, accepting residents, contributing troops. He guaranteed them protection only if they abided by the rules under his administration and domain, but his and others' policy was mass destruction and murder if he encountered a resistance. For example David Nicole states in The Mongol Warlords, â€Å"terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them was a well tested Mongol tactic.† In such cases he would not give an alternative but ordered massive collective slaughter of the population of resisting cities and destruction of their property, usually by burning it to the ground. Only the skilled engineers and artists were spared from death and maintained as slaves. Documents written during or just after Genghis Khan's reign say that after a conquest, the Mongol soldiers looted, pillaged, and raped; however, the Khan got the first pick of the beautiful women. Some troops who submitted were incorporated into the Mongol system in order to expand their manpower; this also allowed the Mongols to absorb new technology, manpower, knowledge and skill for use in military campaigns against other possible opponents. There also were instances of mass slaughter even where there was no resistance, especially in Northern China where the vast majority of the population had a long history of accepting nomadic rulers. Many ancient sources described Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale, causing radical changes in the demographics of Asia. For example, over much of Central Asia speakers of Iranian languages were replaced by speakers of Turkic languages. According to the works of Iranian historian Rashid al-Din, the Mongols killed more than 70,000 people in Merv and more than a million in Nishapur. China suffered a drastic decline in population during 13th and 14th centuries. For instance, before the Mongol invasion, unified China had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60 million people. How many of these deaths were attributable directly to Genghis Khan and his forces are unclear, as are the highly generalized numbers themselves. In addition, some modern scholars question the validity of such estimates, since the methodology of the 1300 census likely underestimated the population. [citation  needed] His campaigns in Northern China, Central Asia and the Middle East caused massive property destruction for those who resisted his invasion; however, there are no exact factual numbers available at this time. For example, the cities of Ray and Tus, the two largest and most populous cities in Iran at the time, both centers of literature, culture, trade and commerce, were completely destroyed by order of Genghis Khan. Nishapur, Merv, Baghdad and Samarkand suffered similar destruction. There is a noticeable lack of Chinese literature that has survived from the Jin Dynasty, due to the Mongol conquests. In Mongolia the topic of Genghis Khan was taboo and was heavily suppressed by the Soviet-backed Mongolian communist government. He was largely described as a bad person and a tyrant. However, after the fall of the communist government and the onset of democracy in Mongolia, the memory of Genghis Khan has been catapulted to legendary status. Mongols today celebrate him as the founding father of Mongolia. Negative views of Genghis Khan are very persistent with histories written by many different people from various different geographical regions often citing the cruelties and destructions brought upon by Mongol armies, but some historians are looking into positive aspects of Genghis Khan's conquests. Genghis Khan is sometimes credited with bringing the Silk Road under one cohesive political environment. Theoretically this allowed increased communication and trade between the West, Middle East and Asia by expanding the horizon of all three areas. In more recent times some historians point out that Genghis Khan instituted certain levels of meritocracy in his rule and was quite tolerant of many religions. For instance in much of modern-day Turkey, Genghis Khan is looked on as a great military leader and even many male children are named after him with pride.         

The Advantage and Disadvantage of Using Social Media Essay

The advantages: Based on my own experiences, there are several advantages for marketers to use social media as part of their marketing communications strategies. Social media represent a revolutionary new trend in communication. More and more people begin to use social media to communicate. It is freer, more convenient, faster and cheaper than the old ways, people also can get more information what they want, what is more, people can get in touch with their friend easier. For the company, it can face to their target market precisely. Social media hold a great deal of customers’ information, through the information that people share, company can easily know customers’ hobbits and the goods they like. Social media also increase the communication between customers and marketers. Company can get lots of users’ feedback information and use that information to improve their product. It also help the organization leave a good impression in customers’ minds. One of the most important things is that social media not only can help companies advertising well but also nearly have no costs. What social media bring for the company cannot be measured but the cost of it is really low. It lowers the company’s advertisement costs. Read more:  Essay on advantages and disadvantages of social media Disadvantages: Based on my own experience, the disadvantages or risks for marketers in using social media as part of their marketing communications strategy are as follows. Company’s web page can be attacked by hackers and viruses; it may lose company’s important information, company may lose their competitive advantages. Customers can be deceived by the false information online and the extra information may let them get annoyed. The negative comments may damage companies’ image. The use of the internet may cause the reduction of production efficiency, because employees may busy use the internet to solve the problem online or update their software so that waste times. Company should learn how to handle a social media and that may waste company’s time. Because the social media is not a â€Å"face to face† communication, so it can have many incredible situations, the information may be not real, the likelihood of people been fooled are greatly increased.

Civil Right Movement essays

Civil Right Movement essays The Civil Rights Movement grew out of a need to gain enfranchisement for African Americans. Between the years1954 and 1959, African American had it the worst out of all of the people who lived in the United States of America. Extreme racism and lynching was popular to the white people who dislike or saw the African Americans as an inferior race. People in the past were the type that would put up blunt objects and throw or strike an African American who would be usually blamed for anything that has happen within the town or city which that person lives in. Back then African American only had only a few leaders that would stand up to the hate, racism, and violence that would occur around African American's culture. A couple of those people were Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. Rules and regulations were in order as well due to Jim Crow and the trail, which lead to the Jim Crow laws (the separation of blacks and white in the everyday public). Such as the restroom, hotel , restaurants, water fountains, and many others. The scopes that I see that was revolving around the Civil Right Movement are the causes that started it all, the people who helped one another, the events that took place, and the effect on society itself. The Jim Crow was just a basic title that stood for laws aimed at separating the races. The laws forbade marriage between blacks and whites and set up many other restrictions on social and religious contact between the races. There was separate schools, as well as separate streetcars, etc. They pretty much had signs that separated the people. By the early 1900's, Jim Crow described a far-reaching; institutional segregated that affected every aspect of American life. And in South Carolina black and white cotton-mill workers were prohibited from looking out the same window. During the segregation system many African-American tried to move to the north but for some it was hard to make money that would take...

Punctuation Marks as Transitional Signposts

Punctuation Marks as Transitional Signposts Punctuation Marks as Transitional Signposts Punctuation Marks as Transitional Signposts By Mark Nichol Punctuation is a support system to enhance the organizational flow of a sentence. Often, it also provides transitional cues, and for clarity, it’s important to make that distinction by using specific punctuation marks. Here are three sentences improved by choosing the correct punctuation from various alternatives. 1. She has seen this happen before, several times in fact. When a sentence takes an abrupt turn in syntactical flow, as here, the sturdy em dash (usually called simply a dash) should be called in to strengthen the transition; a comma is also required between the primary modifying phrase â€Å"several times† and â€Å"in fact,† which in turn modifies the previous phrase: â€Å"She has seen this happen before- several times, in fact.† (Using a dash in place of what is now the first of two commas also clarifies to the reader that the dash represents a more significant transition than the weaker comma does.) 2. The country has benefited from an influx of young workers- namely undocumented immigrants. Here, a dash correctly signals an abrupt transition, but the sentence displays the common error of failing to punctuate after the adverb namely. (The equivalent phrases â€Å"that is to say† and â€Å"to wit† would be supplied with a comma, so for consistency, namely should also.) In this case, a comma would be correct in place of the dash, but as in the previous example, the dash sends a message that it represents the more significant of two punctuation marks: â€Å"The country has benefited from an influx of young workers- namely, undocumented immigrants.† 3. He’s sending a message by his actions is what he’s doing. A grammatically flawed statement such as this should never be published unless the writer is reporting a direct quotation, and even then, the idea can be expressed in a paraphrase. Instead of â€Å"‘He’s sending a message by his actions is what he’s doing,’ said Smith,† the writer can report, â€Å"Smith said that, by his actions, Jones is sending a message.† (A careful speaker would render the sentence more print friendly by saying, â€Å"What he’s doing by his actions is sending a message,† but reporters should not correct the grammar of those they interview.) If the quotation must be published verbatim, insert a comma before â€Å"is what he’s doing† to indicate that this is a tacked-on addendum to the main clause: â€Å"He’s sending a message by his actions, is what he’s doing.† Technically, a stronger punctuation mark such as a semicolon or a dash is called for, to suggest that the second part of the sentence is a truncation of an independent clause (â€Å"that is what he is doing†), but these marks seem intrusive; a comma is a more subtle marker of a change in the sentence’s syntactical structure. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader†How to Punctuate Descriptions of ColorsHow often is "bimonthly"?

Peer review-corrections Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peer review-corrections - Coursework Example News of vicious treatment in the media hit the waves such as that of Sean Bell, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Rodney King’s death in 1991 put modern day lynching of the black man in the spotlight. It put across a black man defined by the infamous beatings and role of media in the society and ignited an issue that has stayed ablaze. Some people believe Blacks are unfairly mistreated by police; whose duty is to give protection (Maurantonio, 2014). A study was done by Gallup poll on public perception of how Blacks felt treated by the police. Tests of whether Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites to believe the police mistreated blacks. Also, if individuals who reported race relations were good or more likely poor believed police were vicious to blacks (Gabbidon & Higgins, 2008). Results showed that in the public opinion race played a significant role in how Blacks and Latinos were viciously treated by police. A study showed that African Americans and Hispanics are dissatisfied with how police protect and serve the neighborhoods and cities they live in. African Americans hold low regard to police officers than the whites (Weitzer & Tuch, 2005). This is due to a preconceived idea or notion with regards to areas that experience high crime. African Americans are less satisfied when it comes to personal security. There is increased behavior of racial profiling by police and documented racial disparities done to minority citizens (Cochran & Warren, 2012). A study data from BJS police Public Contact Survey on police behavior showed that, when stopped by a white officer, Black males and female hold a negative behavior evaluation of the officer. Also, a same race officer was reviewed with minimal racial profiling. Officers face challenges such as fear and stress while confronting a dangerous individual and savagely violence can result. Questions would arise in the media as to

Medieval Roman Catholicism in Christianity Essay

Medieval Roman Catholicism in Christianity - Essay Example The contributions of two prominent popes in the medieval times paved the way for the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312 who â€Å"legalized Christianity, promoted its interests, and took an active role in its institutional and doctrinal development† (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010). The name Christianity was coined from Jesus Christ. Christianity is the name given to that definite system of religious belief and practice which was taught by Jesus Christ in the country of Palestine, during the reign of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius, and was promulgated, after Jesus’ death, for the acceptance of the whole world, by certain chosen men among His followers. The role of medieval Roman Catholicism, therefore, is the promulgation of evangelization of various peoples all over the world. In addition, the church instigated roles of education, engaging in charitable activities, and promotion of the family as the sole unit of social and moral values. As revealed in the history of Roman Catholicism, â€Å"one of the most significant developments of the late ancient and early medieval periods—for Roman Catholicism and all forms of Christianity—was the emergence of Christian theology. During the late ancient and early medieval periods there was also a significant growth in monasticism, the origins of which are traditionally associated with the Apostles in Jerusalem† (Britannica, 2010). The teachings from the Apostles became the basis for their compilations of the Bible. As indicated in the article on Roman Catholicism stating that â€Å"the churchs role in mediating salvation has been emphasized more than in other Christian traditions. Supernatural life is mediated to Christians through the sacraments administered by the hierarchy to whom obedience is due† (Roman Catholic Church, 2010). The origins of Roman Catholicism were instrumental in proffering the existence of God, as proven in five ways, to wit: from motion, from the nature of efficient cause,