ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Nobody Knows is a film by Hirokazu Koreeda that was produced in 2004. The plot and background of the film are remarkable as it is based on real events that occurred in Tokyo in 1988. Using a naturalistic approach to film-making, Koreeda depicted the dramatic situation of how four children survived in a small apartment in Tokyo after being abandoned by their young mother. 1 The purpose of this paper is to analyze such aspects of Nobody Knows as the theme of family, the genre combining elements of fiction and documentaries, a linear narrative, the children’s perspective, and camera work. Review of Nobody Knows The plot of Nobody Knows is based on a true story that was actively discussed in the media in 1988. Keiko, a young woman, leaves her four children abandoned in a rented apartment in Tokyo in order to start a new life with her new partner. Akira, a 12-year-old boy, becomes the head of their family when the mother leaves the siblings. All the children have different fathers, and only Akira is allowed to go outside because nobody knows that other three children also live in the rented apartment. They are told to behave quietly and avoid going outside or to school as their mother is absent most of the time. After the mother goes away for an extremely long period of time, providing a minimal sum of money, Akira tries to take care of his 11-year-old sister Kyōko, 7-year-old brother Shigeru, and 5-year-old sister Yuki. The film depicts the year in these children’s life with a focus on their daily activities and challenges they face. During the period presented in the film, the mother returns only once, and she promises to take the children after her marriage. However, she never returns again in spite of the fact that Akira knows that she is married. When Keiko and Akira talk for the last time, she asks: “What is this? I’m not allowed to be happy?”, and this claim explains the mother’s inability and unwillingness to take care of her children. 2 Yuki’s death because of falling off a stool can be viewed as the climax of the film. The children have to hide the body in the suitcase and bury her close to Haneda Airport’s runway. The film ends with depicting the siblings walking to their homes. Thus, in this work, much attention is paid to presenting the details of the children’s lives in order to resemble reality as accurately as possible. It is also important to note that Koreeda chooses to invite non-actors for the main roles in the film in order to ensure that the presentation of the story is naturalistic. The Theme of Family in Nobody Knows in the Context of the Japanese Tradition In Nobody Knows , the theme of family is discussed by Koreeda in a specific manner to attract the audience’s attention to the problem of relations between relatives with reference to the question of responsibility. According to Bingham, in this film, “the family becomes an increasingly abstract entity.” 3 In addition, there is a view that Koreeda tries to violate the tradition of representing families in cinema because
China has recently proved to be the fastest-growing economy in the world. The annual GDP growth in China totals 9.4% which is the highest figure around the world, while the average annual amount of foreign trade capital of the country amounted to $20.6 billion in 2005 (Bijian, 2005, p. 18). Accompanied by the immense population growth rates that make China the most populated country in the world with 1.3 billion citizens, China’s economy is doomed to succeed. In the modern age of information and technology, the sphere of telecommunication is viewed as the best area to start the development of the economy in China. The local telecommunications sphere is state-run and monopolized by the three major companies that include China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom (Chen, 2002, p. 49). Over 680 million people in China constitute the current and potential customer base for the further developing telecommunications industry. Conducting strict governmental control over the telecommunications sphere, China encourages cooperation with foreign telecommunications partners. The recent research works and surveys by Chen (2002), Bijian (2005), etc. report the increasing demand for 3G technology in China. This kind of connection increases the quality of communication and improves people’s lives through easy operations and acceptable prices. Thus, China considers “TD-SCDMA technology a vital 3G solution with a great opportunity to succeed in the world” (Chen, 2002, p. 52) and develops this technology in its domestic market. Moreover, understanding the global strategic importance of telecommunication and technological modernization, the Chinese Government pays lots of attention to the development of domestic 3G solutions and investing in the market of 3G connection. Thus, being equipped according to the recent updates, the Chinese telecommunication sphere can easily compete in the global market and benefit the country’s economy substantially (Lu et al., 2008). Further on, the investment in the telecommunications sphere related to the 3G technology development will provide the impact to the improvements started in all other areas including the mainline telephone connection, mobile connection, Internet opportunities, etc (Regan, 2005). Finally, the focused governmental work on telecommunications development can provide international promotion opportunities for the Chinese mobile phone manufacturers and operators. As well, this work might attract more foreign investors who would like to launch their businesses in the Chinese market. Driven by these factors, the Chinese government plans to invest over 280 billion Yuan in the development and modernization of the 3G networks around the country (Lu et al., 2008). Further on, the increase in social investment into the 3G development will be caused by the overall nationwide promotion of the strategic 3G importance for the country. As a result, it is expected that China
The concept of “gender roles” is often applied to the analysis and comprehension of writings from various historical periods. These responsibilities appear to have been firmly defined during the Anglo-Saxon period. The poem Beowulf belongs to the epic or heroic poetry genre, which has poems that commemorate the characters’ brave and martial actions. Women are portrayed as belongings for the advantage of the men throughout Beowulf and are made to support the male characters. In addition, women are utilized as plot devices to advance the story tale of men. Women, on the other hand, are a minor character in the plot, their presence being overshadowed by the men. The queen of the Swedes was given no name, her identity being secondary to her status as the king’s wife, Onela. The males, such as Hrothgar, Beowulf, Wiglaf, and Unferth, occupied the majority of the storyline of the poem. As a result, mentions of women are few and far between in comparison. “…the Helming woman went on her rounds…treating the family and the collected troop,” the poem says of a woman who fulfills traditional gender responsibilities as a character Beowulf (Heaney 620). The passage represents the expectation of women in the eleventh century, that they should look after males and be gentle. Queen Modthryth was presented later in the tale as the antithesis to Queen Hygd, who was autonomous and despised by men. “Even a queen of great beauty must not overstep like that,” they said dismissively. (Beowulf 1940-1941), until she married Offa, who rewarded her for her self-control. Queen Modthryth was only considered acceptable by society once she married, implying that women had less value unless they were married. Work Cited Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf . Faber & Faber, 2000.
Life in society as a whole is comprised of numerous elements that are interrelated in many ways. There exist numerous aspects of that life, such as economic processes, social and cultural phenomena, as well as political and religious elements, and a dominating ideology. All these aspects are related, and they have a great impact on one another. In particular, the economic processes tend to have a defining impact on political, religious, and ideological formations within a society, and these have an effect on the social and cultural life; however, it should be noted that the economic life does not always solely define the other aspects of the life in a society, for these aspects may be influenced by the previously existing social, cultural, religious, etc. phenomena. This paper provides three historical examples to show the influence and interrelatedness of the named elements of society. Medieval Western Europe prior to the Black Death may serve as an example of the impact of the economic processes that take place in a region and the political power of certain strata on the social, cultural, religious, and ideological formations which exist in that region. In Europe, the economic climate was that of feudalism; in other words, the knight warlords forced the peasants to work for them and imposed taxes. The ruling knights and feudal lords forbade peasants to carry weapons, which, in fact, deprived them of freedom, for the peasants were no longer able to protect themselves. The system of castles permitted for controlling the territories and protecting the knights from possible attacks. This had an impact on the social life; the peasantry had to engage in forced labor, and their daily lives were shaped by this; the warlords controlled the lives of the peasants in a rather exhaustive manner. This state of affairs was supported by Christianity, the influence of which was widespread throughout Europe; the Church, which supported the knights and was supported by them, was a powerful institution capable of shaping the religious life of the society and had a major impact on the culture of Europe throughout the Middle Ages. The power of knights and the Church, as well as their economic strength, allowed them to shape the political landscape of Western Europe and to form the ideology which would support their rule. In fact, the Church and the feudal lords were what allowed for the
Vote Smart is a website presenting the activity of an organization with the same name. The organization positions itself as a unique project which unites volunteers who are interested in the ideas of freedom and self-government (“About Vote Smart”). This non-profit organization and its members “have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century” (“About Vote Smart”). Vote Smart states that its mission is to “provide free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to all Americans” (“About Vote Smart”). Vote Smart is an organization with goals and values which are not typical of organizations involved in politics. It unites diverse citizens who come together without any selfish aims or interests such as to promote a candidate but to support and protect democratic ideas. One of its objectives is to empower the most significant and powerful component of politics as a whole and democracy in particular, which is access to information. Although constantly attacked by the representatives of different political parties for depriving them of the opportunity to manipulate information and deceive voters, the organization follows its purposes and has many supporters. The organization is based on volunteer grounds. The majority of its members are not paid for their activity. Vote Smart has the following structure. There are the founders, board member emeritus, the active board, and the executive committee (“Board”). Its staff includes administration, development and communicators, information technology department, elections and candidates research team, and official research team. Every team has its functions and contributes to the success of the organization (“Meet Our Staff”). The organization has some leaders who are responsible for the management of its functioning. Richard Kimball is the President of Vote Smart. His sphere of responsibility is fundraising and the integrity of Board-approved policies and standards. Jessika Arrigoni is a National Board Chair. Her sphere of activity is the national board of Vote Smart. Adelaide Kimball is a senior advisor and a founding board member. Her responsibility is the major giver development and media. Walker McKusick, the National Director, cares for everyday Vote Smart programs, staff, administration, and facilities. Andrew Buenger is an internship coordinator and office manager. Thus, his responsibility is the coordination of the internship program of Vote Smart (“Meet Our Staff”). The organi
The Situation from an Ethical Perspective The human behaviour is usually guided by ethics. On this ground, ethics are the drivers that are used to determine the action of an individual to either be rights or wrong (Menzel, 2012). However, before and action can be considered to be right or wrong, it is essential to consider the nature and extent of the act. It is with regards to this that professionals in their various fields of expertise are guided with ethics and codes of conduct. These ethics ensure that the actions and decisions that they make with regards to their work are professional and will result to the achievement of the overall goals and objectives in the projects of processes that they are involved in. In the case, a lot of ethical considerations that had been put in place and at the same time, there are instances in which ethics were not considered. The main goal that I wanted to achieve was to transform the improve the ability of students to locate, access and utilize data and information within the campus using up to date technology. This knowledge was to be passed to students through a unit that was taught by the library department. However, it was essential to develop a budget due to financial constrains. In this respect therefore, the order of preference was to finance the remuneration of senior students who were to teach the freshmen, to purchase teaching software and finally to buy office furniture for the library team. Once the budget was formulated, copies were sent to all the staff members including the library manager. Therefore, as professionals, the hierarchy o
Introduction The bombing of Hiroshima on 6 th August, 1945 and of Nagasaki three days later by the US led to the death of more than 200,000 men, women and children. More than 130,000 inhabitants died of radiation related poisoning over the next five years. Despite bringing an end to the 2 nd World War, the wartime experience and its aftermath has continued to be discussed by the Japanese and non-Japanese literary writers. 50 years after the end of the war, the effects of the war have continued to influence the Japanese culture and have also affected its relations with other countries. Aim The aim of this paper is to discuss how the violence and war in Japan have influenced the culture of its people. Discussions The Japanese culture has been greatly influenced by the experiences from the war, a look at the popular comic series, Manga, heavily reveals this (Penney, para.1). According to Lamarre Thomas’ Speciesism, part I: Translating races into Animals in Wartime Animation, the use of racial conscious themes in both the Japanese and American media, was very widespread (Lammare 2). The author points to the Japanese depicting the Americans as failures, demons or ogres in retaliation to the US media referring to them as animals, the most commonly used animal was the monkey or ape (Lammare 1). The idea behind this animalization of the Japanese was to strip away their humanity thereby apply the animal qualities to them during the post-war period. It is this animalization that is referred to as speciesism and is defined as a displacement of race and racism. It involves the attribution of negative characteristics to animated beings and extending the traits to humans. In the animated film Momotaro: umi no shinpei , the representation of the Americans and Britons in human forms with horns depicted them as demonic creatures who would be ch
Introduction The state of freedom in America has evolved culturally, politically, socially, and even economically. Earlier on before the 19th century, discrimination against women and free blacks in America was highly evident. The blacks were for example not allowed to use various facilities that were only reserved for white Americans. Such services included schools and colleges, buses, restaurants, and other public facilities. This inequality and discrimination have however changed over the years. Certain reasons for these changes include the formation of certain social movements that aimed at enhancing political, social, and economic freedom, equality, and self-sufficiency. Such movements include the Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) that fought for black freedom and equality, the Women’s Rights Movement of 1848 to1998 that has continued to fight for the achievement of complete civil, religious, and social rights. The market revolution is another reason for the evolvement of the changes in the status of American women and the free blacks. Market Revolution This is described as the changes in the economy that included a chain of innovations in the transport and communication sector. (Foner, p 309). At this time, new freedom ideas were formed while the old ones got reinforced. The revolution brought about business and commercial relations among people from cross-cutting regions as well as self-independence among the Americans (Foner, p 332). Though the idea of self-economic independence targeted all Americans, women and the free blacks did not acquire this freedom and independence. Most of the black people were enslaved while the free blacks lacked access to equal market benefits as those accessed by the whites. It was against the law for them to access not just public land but also certain states such as Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, and Illinois. Discrimination against the blacks was evident through their poor living conditions in designated parts of America such as Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and New York. Segregation was the way of life where every quality public facility was reserved for the whites. The free blacks were further oppressed by the lack of opportunity to practice and enhance their skills. In the 18th century, for example, northern black craftsmen were denied the chance to market their products by the white craftsmen hence confining them to their poor living conditions and low economic class. The northern blacks could only work as unskilled laborers that were hired as servants for the whites and had negligible wages. (Foner, p 337). The market revolution gradually changed the status of women in the 19th century. Due to the decline in the household products to the economy, women found their cultural and usual roles diluted by increased production of goods that were formerly
The use of diesel power generator as an alternative source of energy is facing yet another hurdle as EPA enforces new environmental laws to be adhered to by all operators. As Labno (2010) observes, the newly instituted National Ambient Air Quality Standard is a real threat to the main users such as institutions and industries. The new regulation is aimed at reducing the volume of Nitrogen oxides emitted in the atmosphere at any given time by the major users of diesel generators. Diesel engine generators have several merits ranging from meeting the power loads during peak time to ease with which they can be operated and maintained. Although this appliance presents additional cost, its popularity has grown and attracted large number of users perhaps due to the ability of the device to deliver power without delay whenever there is interruption of electricity. Nonetheless, concerns over air quality are gradually gripping in especially in regard to the use of diesel power as a quick solution to emergency power demands. Although diesel generated power has been found to be largely convenient, the threat posed to the environment by a string of harmful emissions cannot be ignored. Both the by-products and much of the end products when diesel undergoes combustion are not friendly to the environment. They include oxides of nitrogen which are mainly acidic in nature, the toxic carbon monoxide that may irritate as well as lead to suffocation in addition to organic compounds that are highly volatile and toxic to the environment. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards should be set by EPA in line with the existing legislations such as the Clean Air Act and Amendments. These standards are not fixed but are reviewed regularly whenever there is need. For instance, the one-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standards stipulated for all emissions of gaseous nitrogenous compounds was adopted in April 2010. Nonetheless, the use of diesel generators only when demand for power is at its peak seems to meet the current yearly requirement on emission quotas. The only challenge is the hourly compliance which may be quite an uphill task to accomplish owing to s
Different groups of people have a varied but similar definition of crime although it may seem to have a straightforward legal definition. Some crimes have been described as natural, while others legal. As such, it is important for all those involved in the Criminal Justice System to understand what each of them consists of. According to Robinson (2009), crime is naturally defined as any act that could be viewed as fundamentally wrong, thus, is strongly disapproved, and is seen as deserving punishment irrespective of whether the crime is legal or not. This view is almost comparable to the legal meaning of crime. A crime is legally defined as an act that goes against the criminal law. Natural crime is therefore described as a crime against the fundamental laws of nature as well as personal crimes which could or may sometimes not be against the laws of the land. According to the natural law, if an individual, society, or government does not follow the laws of nature, the person or the society/institution may not function effectively, and as a result, becomes vulnerable to harm or destruction. On the other hand, Legal Crime is an offense that while is unlawful, may not necessarily disturb the course of nature. It is an entirely legal crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigations provides the standard definitions for crimes in the United States. The FBI lists homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, arson, as well as motor vehicle theft as the major crimes in its crime index. All these crimes can be classified as mala in se or natural crimes since they may cause severe personal harm to those whom they are committed against or destruction to their property as well as loss of their money. However, depending on how the crimes are committed, they could be considered legal crimes. According to Robinson (2009), criminal homicide covers both non-negligent manslaughter and murder. It also includes the willful killing of another person. This means that willful killing, non-negligent manslaughter, and murder are classified under natural crime since they are wrong in themselves and are against the natural law. They cause loss of life as well as bodily harm to the victim. In some cases, the criminal or killer is hired to kill and therefore intentionally schemes to commit the crime (Kindig, (2007). Generally, murder, non-negligent murder, suicide, attempt to kill, and willful murder are committed with intent. Even though suicide is intentional, it is not targeted at causing loss of life to another except for the person committing the act. On the other hand, an attempt to kill is wrong in itself since the killer has a motive, but the intended mission is not achieved. However, such acts are still against the natural law. On the contrary, some instances of criminal homicide may not be classified as a natural crime. Such includes deaths that are caused by negligence and accidental deaths like traffic fatalities. These are categorized under legal crimes because they are only wrong since the law makes them illegal. These crimes though also cause loss of life; are not committed with intent. However, the offender has