Belonging Essay on Strictly Ballroom & the Sisters Anthology Essay Example for Free

Belonging Essay on Strictly Ballroom the Sisters Anthology Essay â€Å"An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.† The intrinsic nature of mankind strives for a sense of belonging; this sense of belonging is fulfilled when one has reached a physical or emotional affinity with an entity. One’s sense of belonging emerges from positive and negative experiences and notions of identity, relationships, understanding and acceptance. Moreover, positive connections allow one to feel security, acceptance and input meaning into their lives. In contrast, negative connections are the reverse; one may feel alienated, depressed and feel a need to create or deteriorate a personal or cultural identification. Positive and negative interactions, imparting an essential role in influencing one’s sense of personal, familial and social belonging is effectively explored in Baz Luhrmann’s romantic comedy film Strictly Ballroom (1992) and the anthology Sisters. An authority figure, head of an organisation, expectations of conformity by followers negatively affects the followers’ or one’s sense of personal belonging. Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom effectively undertakes the exploration of this idea through the portrayal of the young ‘non-conformist’ Scott Hastings struggle to win the Pan Pacifics competition by the pursuit of his own personal dance; a rebellious action ensured to disrupt the natural order of the Australian Dance federation or ballroom dancing world, operated by the corruptive Barry Fife. As Scott throws his polka dot t-shirt in a corner of the studio revealing a simple shirt underneath, this is a simultaneous suggestion of his ‘breaking away’ from his old ballroom partnership with Liz and reliance on ‘flashy clothes’ to self-express himself in ballroom dance; further suggesting that his sense of belonging towards traditional ballroom dance has been shifted into feeling a sense of belonging towards his own personal dance. An agreement on a partnership ensues when both Scott and Fran, a girl with a Spanish background, share similar desire s to dance non-federation steps at the Pan Pacifics. However, Barry attempts to deceive Scott into dancing the traditional federation steps at the Pan Pacific’s. He asserts: â€Å"We are hoping you will win the trophy that he could not. He wouldn’t want me to do this, but I’m begging you, dance with Liz.† The natural lighting on Scott and his long-sleeved, loose cotton white shirt effectively capturing his youth and grace and illustrating a sense of freedom contrasts to Barry, as a dim light surrounds him and he is wearing a  formal black suit that hints towards self restriction. Lurhmann has intentioned this to foreshadow what style of dance will prevail in the Pan Pacifics and to demonstrate the freedom that follows with choosing not to conform, and, to highlight the imbalance of power, encouraging audience empathy for Scott. After Scott does not see through the deception and familial belonging drives him into agreeing to dance federation steps instead of pursuing his own personal style in the Pan Pacific’s he is inevitably affected in a way, as his sense of personal belonging received through his personal non- federation dancing is limited. An individual who has undertaken a physical transformation into a more appealing image by another individual can positively influence their sense of social and physical belonging. This notion is effectively explored in Lurhmann’s Strictly Ballroom (1992) through the portrayal of Fran’s progression from a meek unattractive woman into the ideal representation of a female ballroom dancer. Luhrmann’s constant use of high power shot when filming her on her parts by herself and the symbolic meaning of her glasses of meekness in comparison to the norm, reflect on her little power. Fran’s unattractiveness as a result of her neglected like state makes her a representation of reality in the ‘unrealistic’ and ‘fake’ world of traditional ballroom dancing reliant on flashy costume and heavy make-up, and is what successfully separates her from it. Therefore, as a result of her appearance, her sense of belonging is limited. However, pressures and expectations placed on her to conform to the ideologies of ballroom dancing women instigate her transition from an unattractive woman into a more appealing woman, where she becomes no longer a representation of reality. Liz compliments Fran’s more appealing appearance: â€Å"You look lovely Fran. You have been using that Buff puff I gave you haven’t you?’’ Second person device and rhetorical question is used to reveal to the responder that her physical transformation was a result of living up to the ballroom dancing pressures and expectations of conformity, and not an act from personal decision. Within this scene, medium shot is simultaneously used to emphasise Fran’s now surpassing beauty than her elders and the shot positioning Fran of equal height to Liz, Les and Doug suggests that since now she is at a higher attractive level the balance of power is equal despite age, rank and gender. As they converse, the positive expressions on Fran’s, Les, Liz and  Doug’s face and Fran’s open and confident stance illustrates that this physical transformation into a more appealing image has enriched Fran’s social and physical belonging. (These two paragraphs and conclusion done all in Biology) The restriction’s placed on an individual due to the unavoidable interactions with others and parts of the world limits their sense of personal belonging and can be dealt with escape and interaction with the wider world. The nonfiction extract from Sisters, an Anthology, undergoes the exploration of this idea through the reflection of a narrator’s relationship with her two sisters, Mary and Phoebe and her best friend, Beth. The narrator articulates that the inevitable differing perspectives of her blood-related sisters lead to an incomprehension which further leads to a state in their relationship where â€Å"too much cannot be spoken† as â€Å"too much hangs on whose version prevails†. Hence, this imperfect relationship is contrasted with her relationship with Beth where â€Å"there is not a sliver of difference between us† and â€Å"where I cannot imagine the life I lived before, a world without the most perfect of sisters† to draw out the imperfection and forced nature in terms of the bonds of sisterhood. She has an exile to enrich her sense of personal belonging that is limited at home and finds it with interaction with the landscape and experiences with the world. â€Å"I had a life brimming over with sparkling stories which I sent to them on the back of postcards of shinny harbours and bright reefs. They had drizzle and guinea pigs to bury, and dogs to drag out of the river.† The positive connotation of â€Å"shinny†, â€Å"sparkling† and â€Å"bright† highlights a key and unforgettable moment of the narrators life to the responder whilst these words contrary to death, indicate her feelings of youth and vitality, and hence belonging, which is further contrary to the negative connotation of ‘drag’; that relates to a restriction of choice and images of death. Also, the great vastness, lighter colour and greater height of water of the ‘reef’s’ and ‘harbours’ juxtaposed with the restrictive nature, dullness of the ‘river’ highlights her feelings of freedom and reiterates her vitality and hence again, greater sense of belonging. Overall, this reflects the narrator’s greater sense of belonging in interaction with the wider world, allowed from her exile, rather than the restricted space of sisterhood or unavoidable interactions with others.  The conception of family, appearance and expectations of conformity by the authorities and the world around them negatively and positively affects an individual’s sense of personal belonging.

Losing Patients and Gaining Insight :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

On Losing Patients and Gaining Insight "Call 911!" I shouted to my friend as I sprinted down the street. The young Caucasian male had been thrown fifteen yards from the site of impact and surprisingly was still conscious upon my arrival. "My name is Michael. Can you tell me your name?" In his late twenties, he gasped in response as his eyes searched desperately in every direction for help, for comfort, for assurance, for loved ones, for death, until his eyes met mine. "Flail chest", I thought to myself as I unbuttoned his shirt and placed my backpack upon his right side. "Pulse 98, respiration 28 short and quick. Help is on the way. Hang in there buddy." I urged. After assessing the patient, the gravity of the situation struck me with sobriety. The adrenaline was no longer running through my veins - this was real. His right leg was mangled with a compound fracture, and his left leg was also obviously broken. The tow-truck that had hit him looked as though it had run into a telephone pole. Traffic had ceased on the six-lan e road, and a large crowd had gathered. However, no one was by my side to help. "Get me some blankets from that motel!" I yelled to a bystander and three people immediately fled. I was in charge. The patient was no longer conscious; his pulse was faint and respiration was low. "Stay with me, man!" I yelled. "15 to 1, 15 to 1", I thought as I rehearsed CPR in my mind. Suddenly he stopped breathing. Without hesitation, I removed my T-shirt and created a makeshift barrier between his mouth and mine through which I proceeded to administer two breaths. No response. And furthermore, there was no pulse. I began CPR. I continued for approximately five minutes until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late. I had lost my first patient. Medicine. I had always imagined it as saving lives, curing ailments, alleviating pain, overall making life better for everyone. However, as I watched the paramedics pull the sheets over the victim's head, I began to tremble. I had learned my first lesson of medicine: for all its power, medicine cannot always prevail. I had experienced one of the most disheartening and demoralizing aspects of medicine and faced it. I also demonstrated then that I know how to cope with a life and death emergency with confidence, a confidence instilled in me by my certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, a confidence that I had the ability to take charge of a desperate situation and help someone in critical need.

Leadership Experience

Leadership experience I naturaly very communicative person and can get on with people easily. This make people around me to feel comfortable and more open. As a result it gives me an opportunity to encourage and enspire them to achieve goal. I have experienced leadership position in high school by organising various event which need to operate defferent tasks and motivate my collegue to work. Afterwards, in my recent summer internship, I explored my leadership potential by being able to conrol people at my work place during compliting the task, evethough I was a new member of company.I very value fairness. In my high school teacher were putting the grades unfairly. It was depending on personal connections, whereas meant to level of knowledge and hard work done. At the end of the studying year my tutor came to a few students and asked them to buy some presents or flowers for those teachers who did put a lower grade. So I was very unhappy about this situation, some students were studyi ng harder but got lower result. If it continuous students might not have too much interest and motivation.I came to my tutor and explained that everyone aware of their way of putting grades. I made an appointment with priciple and told him about situation and asked for some actions against this. As a result he took more close surepvisory under tutors and other teachers. I am very interested on traveling. In my young age I visited various parts of the World. I have seen developing Bali/Seichells Island/Botswana/Zimbabve/Jamaica/Cuba, progressing South Africa/Mexico/Argentina/Cayman Islands, competative Brazil and other countries.It gives me an overview of differce between regions. It is not only about language it about the whole culture. It is interesting to watch how some countries developing whereas other are already developed and fight for market place I would like to apply my theoretic knowledge into the practice. Also, I am very communicative person and I find it usefull to meet with different people in order to exchange the knowledge, ideas and expereince and I believe that Royal Bank of Scotland will be able to provide it for me!

Societys Dependence On Technology - 1405 Words

Since the beginning of time, the human population has strived to live simpler lives. We have spent generations, creating innovations within technology to ensure our lives would always be more simplistic than those who lived centuries before us. People now have the ability to update their Facebook status’, map the human genome to target strands of DNA that can be disastrous to one’s health, send out amber alerts nationwide, and create plants that are resistant to pesticides. Many fields, such as medicine, law enforcement, and entertainment have benefited greatly from advancements in technology which has inevitably changed the way society operates. However, with the abundance of technology available, society has developed an unhealthy relationship where we now rely on technology too heavily. Technology has rendered our minds incapable of the ability to play, communicate, and live our lives in the moment, despite its positive additions to our society. The issues that arise from society s dependency on technology begins with the individuals that are now entering our world. The market for app designers has begun to shift, and now they are targeting today’s youth with games that are accessible through phones, tablets, and computers. Most parents have noticed their children adopting an interest with technology and are openly giving their children these devices, instead of having them play hands-on with real objects such as play dough or three-dimensional blocks. Research hasShow MoreRelatedEssay on Societys Dependence On Technology2170 Words   |  9 PagesTechnology surrounds us. Like water in the ocean, people are swimming in technology each and every day. From the radio playing a favorite song to a text received about the results of a game, people use technology constantly. However, there is a point at which people are overtaken by technology; when the wave engulfs us and there is no way out. 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