Longer sentences offer no more guarantee of reducing criminal Essay

Longer sentences offer no more guarantee of reducing criminal propensities than do shorter terms (The effectiveness of sentencing, Home Office Resea - Essay Example confinement total included about 325,618 persons. In the next quarter century, American prisons more than quintupled in size, reaching a one-day population of 1,182,169 by the end of 1996. As of June 30, 1996, jails across the country grew to hold an estimated 518,492 persons. At midyear 1996, the total adult incarcerated population was 1,630,940 inmates. Taking the nations population growth into account, the U.S. incarceration rate had risen by a factor of 3.75, from 160 inmates per 100,000 general population in 1970 to 600 per 100,000 in 1995. This expansion was not planned in advance, and, even with the benefit of hindsight, its causes are not well understood. Deliberate or not, explicable or not, the upswing in the use of confinement appears to be ongoing. American prisons and jails were growing at a rate of 189 new inmates per day between mid-1995 and mid-1996. While theories of pendulum swings might foretell an eventual reversal of the incarceration explosion, so far there is little evidence of such a shift in the national statistics. Alongside the trend of escalation of confinement, there has been widespread experimentation across the country with new institutions and systems for the apportionment of criminal punishment. Rehabilitation, once the guiding theoretical light of American sentencing structures, has fallen by the wayside in the past two and a half decades, leaving policy makers scrambling for an alternative blueprint. Further, as criminal punishment has grown into an ever-more-sizable enterprise, governments have become increasingly interested in managerial tools for controlling systemic throughputs and outputs. Many jurisdictions have created sentencing commissions, some have abolished parole boards, all have enacted mandatory penalty statutes for selected crimes, and a growing number have adopted sentencing guidelines (Tonry, 2000). Sentencing has been radically refashioned in two ways. First, sentencing

An assessment of the first section of the 1992 film Essay Example for Free

An assessment of the first section of the 1992 film Essay English Media Coursework: An assessment of the first section of the 1992 film Of Mice and Men, including some comparisons with part one of John Steinbecks novel In section one of the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, begins with a description of the pool and its surroundings in order to familiarize us with the setting, using poetic imagery to describe the golden foothill slopes of the Salinas river valley and the pool on the bank of which the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Some rabbits sit in the sand. There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores leading to the sandy rivers edge. The description conveys an idyllic peace to the scene which is disturbed as the novels two main characters emerge from the woods. The rabbits scurry into the scrubs and a heron flies from the pool before George and Lennie enter the clearing. George and Lennie are described as physical opposites, George being small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features while Lennie is described as a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders, and he walked heavily but despite the difference in physical appearance John Steinbeck stresses the similarities of dress Both were dressed in denim. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls, this suggests that Lennie maybe trying to copy George as he looks up to him and wants to be like him, as also imitates George actions at the river bank. In the following pages George and Lennies conversation and behaviour helps the reader learn that the two are migrant ranch workers, on their way to one job to another. They are going to work on a ranch in Soledad and George makes it clear he is to do all the talking when they arrive; George angrily discovers that Lennie has been concealing a dead mouse (I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along) This informs the reader that Lennie likes to pet soft things, which is to be carefully noted in light of future (and past) events, George has beans for dinner and when Lennie childishly sates he likes ketchup with his beans, George gets angry and muses on the life he could live if he wasnt with Lennie: I got you! You cant keep a job and you lose me ever job I get. Jus keep me shovin all over the country all the time You do bad things and I got to get you out. Through Georges anger we learn about one of the bad things which occurred at their last job, in Weed, when Lennie wanted to pet the girls dress because it was pretty and held on when she tried to jerk away. The two had to flee the town in the night as the town people were looking for them, Lennie responds to Georges anger with self-pity and uses a guilt trip, sorrowfully saying that if George doesnt want him around, he could go off and live in the hills by himself. This softens George into saying that he wants Lennie to stay, so we know these threats are not serious and that George does genuinely like Lennie as a friend. Lennie urges George to tell about the rabbits, this is when we are first introduced to the dream that George and Lennie share, that they will get their own piece of land and the money and means by which to live off of it. George describes how he and Lennie are different from other ranchers who drift from town to town, who dont belong no place. Lennie and George are different according to George, because they have future and each other. One day they will have enough money and live off the fatta the land. This shows the reader that George needs Lennie as a Friend so not to be lonely I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you this shows the loyalty and friendship which exists between George and Lennie, and the dream of a better life. All though George does become angry with Lennie resulting in some tension during this section of the novel, the atmosphere at the end is very peaceful and pleasant leavening the reader to feel positive and happy; this is the same in both the film and the novel. The 1992 film version Of Mice and Men opens with white on black credits which are simple and stand out clearly. Gradually sound effects of a wagon/train are added and lighting effects are faded in slowly to show the inside of an old fashioned goods wagon. There is also background music which is very atmospheric, building tension. This is followed by a slow fade and a close up shot of a mans face, which we later come to realize is George, played by Gary Sinise who is also the director. George pensively, sadly sits alone in a railway car, the shadows of the cars slats partially covering his face. At the end of the film the same shot is repeated, therefore the audience realise the film is in fact a flash back from Georges memory, The gentle and eerie background music and use of dark, gloomy colours convey a sense of mystery adding interest which makes the audience want to watch on to see whats going to happen; they also illustrate a mood of sadness along with the miserable expression stressed in the close up shot of Gary Sinises face. At the start of the narrative in the film, the camera jumps to a sequence of a woman in a vivid red dress, running though fields apparently in desperate escape of some undefined terror, She runs towards the camera, As she gets closer to the camera the audience can picks out details in which give clues about the woman such as the tear in her dress and her panicky face which is stressed in a close up shot but the mystery is continued when she runs past the camera and out of the audiences sight. The sound effects of the womans gasped breath are very frantic, adding drama and tension to grab the audiences intention and the red of her dress stands out clearly in contrast to the green fields. The director immediately makes the camera jump to a sequence showing two men, being chased by a group of men on horses armed with rifles and led by hunting dogs. The camera follows this chase, panning along to show the men running though long grass. The camera angle then changes to show the chase from the point of view of the men who are being chased, showing the dogs and men running towards the camera which makes the audience feel as if they are being chased and allowing them to see things from the mens point of view. Water from the horses splashes on the camera, showing the audience how close they are, adding tension and making the audience feel more involved, helping them to feel how the men are feeling by showing things from the mens point of view. The two men jump into an irrigation ditch. The man from the start of the film jumps in first, front view and then the other man jumps in after but from a side view. The camera is used as one of the mens view, to the audience; it helps them to feel how the men are feeling. It creates confusion because at first the audience may not know whose view it is and what they are looking at, since the men are in hiding and the viewer can see the weeds overhanging in front of them; this also creates suspense as the audience can see the two mens point of view of the situation. The opening film sequence has a very dramatic and tense start in order to grab the audiences intention, making them want to watch on. In comparison to the novel Of Mice and Men which is very different as it opens with a peaceful, happy and serene scene, making the reader build up hope and creating a joyful atmosphere. The camera jumps from the irrigation ditch to the two men (George and Lennie) hitching a freight train at night in order to escape. Another jump follows to a studio location of a 1930s Californian town (Salinas); this scene is added to show the audience the time in which the film is set in and giving them an idea of George and Lennies surrounds and their way of life. While they are in the town Lennie asks George were they are going George said were going to a ranch to work this dialog has been added to inform the audience of were they are going and of there current situation. George and Lennie take a bus to the ranch but they are dropped off in the countryside a few miles from the ranch. The serene and tranquil scene was probably set on location. The dialog they use is almost the same as the book, the camera pans along while they walk and talk setting them both in frame emphasizing that they have a close relationship. As the bus goes by George and Lennie, George realises that they have been dropped off in the wrong place and yells out son of a bitch to the bus driver, Lennie copies George and also yells son of a bitch this is improvisation as it is not in the book, it has been added to show how Lennie copies George and what he does suggesting that he looks up to him and wants to be like him, showing the audience a bit about his character. Lennies (played by John Malkovitch )voice is very child like, portraying Lennie like a child trapped in a mans body, which makes sense but at times also seem over the top as in the book I felt that Lennie was just very simple minded, but in the film Lennie seems to be seriously retarded. While George and Lennie are sitting by the pool Lennie decides to drink from the pool then spit the water out of his mouth in a child like fashion, again this is improvisation to show how child like Lennie is, George reacts to this by laughing at him showing he is used to Lennie and his childish behaviour almost to like how a parent would laugh at a child. The camera uses close up shots of Lennies face in order to emphases his odd facial expressions and medium close-ups to show George and Lennies body language especially Lennie who tends to use various funny hand jesters in order to help express himself which he cant do very well. During George and Lennies argument about ketchup the camera is shot in separate frames to show they are now separate, because they are angry. The camera also uses medium close ups of George and Lennie while George is kneeling and Lennie is standing up to show how much bigger Lennie is compared to George and their differences in physical appearance, it also shows that Lennie could be seen as a treat to George. The camera tilts up when showing Lennie to make him seem taller and he probably has used padding in his clothes to make him appear bigger, while when the camera is on George it tends to tilt down to make him appear smaller. During the argument George doesnt mention the girl in the red dress which he does in the novel, he just said you do bad things, he doesnt mention it because he doesnt need to explain this to the audience as the girl in the film as this has already been shown at the start unlike the novel. The argument shows the audience that George and Lennie do fall out sometimes. When the augment is over Lennie uses a guilt trip on George, the guilt is empathised in close up of Georges face. The camera jumps to George and Lennie sitting by a camp fire, this is the last sequence of this section of the film. It is set outside in the dark but the lighting effects make it light enough to see whats happening, the light from the fire reflects on there faces in order to emphasis them there are many off screen natural sound effects such as cricket noises and other types of bugs and birds. Lennie asks George to tell him about the dream and as George begins to tell the dream background music gradually comes in which is very soft and genital to create an dream like atmosphere. The camera puts both George and Lennie in the frame while telling the dream maybe to show that they both share this dream and to show the friendship between them. When George stops telling the dream he saids oh the hell with it at this point the background music suddenly stops showing that they have come out of the dream and are now back to reality. At the end they are both in frame, lying by the camp fire, the atmosphere is quite and peaceful with the natural sound effects of bugs est. off screen in the background leaving the audiences feeling happy and positive. Overall, I thought the first section of the Of Mice and Men film was good and very well done by Gary Sinise. In the movie you can actually see and hear things that you probably would not catch on to in the book. For example there are the facial expressions of George and Lennie. The music soundtrack to the film Of Mice and Men is very well composed; I especially liked how the music is classical, which is very appealing to all age groups and genders. The music was important as it set the mood for the scene the audience was seeing. The landscaping and camera work was also very good. The setting of the pool was just as it was described in the book. Also, the clothing worn by Lennie and George fitted the time frame allowing the audience to feel that they are back in that time period by watching, and also showed that they were not well off. In many ways the first section of the film is similar to the novel such as the dialog they use is almost identical to the novel and the appearance of the characters in the film are almost exactly like how they are described in the novel, Lennie is very big and bulky, while George is small with a tanned face. The director changed the order of the story at the beginning by starting with the girl in the red dress, this was probably changed in order to grab the audience intension at the beginning of the film so then they would want to watch on to see whats happening. Right from the start of the movie you can see that Lennie has a mental illness, and George is taking care of him like a father the same as it is with the novel. Also, you can tell that George gets impatient with Lennie numerous times and that he gets frustrated very easily. I thought the role of George was played very well by Gary Sinise who seems to bring out the role of George perfectly as he coveys Georges caring side as well. As for Lennie this role is probably more of a challenge as he is difficult to convey without sounding cartoonish, John Malkovich didnt work wonders for the role as he used such a silly voice, though if he had used a normal way of speaking the audience would probably find it difficult to see him as mentally handy capped.

Is Death Natural? :: essays research papers

Is Death Natural? Many of the most beautiful and meaningful facets of life are the way they are £Ã‚ ¬ because they are ephemeral. I know that death is natural; Life runs its course before coming around again. Something present in or produced by nature is natural, such as an earthquake or typhoon, or a poisonous mushroom. Death is natural in the sense that to die is to conform to the ordinary course of living things in nature. Death has been modeled as an exponential increase in the rate of illnesses with age. Even with no micro-organisms attacking, the body is not well enough designed to function indefinitely. Something always breaks down eventually. What breakdowns, how many, and when they happen, is randomly distributed among individuals, except for conformance to average delays which may have been sculpted by evolution. Some of those functions our medicine can't re-establish or substitute for and some of those are necessary for life. In general, death is an unremarkable event in nature. To die of "natural causes" is not to expire in old age, as is the case in modern human societies, but to typically die young. Average human life spans between 20 and 30 years for most of our species history. Most people today are thus living highly unnaturally long lives. Because of the high incidence of infectious disease, accidents, starvation, and violent death among our ancestors, very few of them lived much beyond 60 or 70. There was therefore little selection pressure to evolve the cellular repair mechanisms (and pay their metabolic costs). As a result of these circumstances in the distant past, we now suffer the inevitable decline of old age: damage accumulates at a faster pace than it can be repaired; tissues and organs begin to malfunction; and then we die. It may turn out to be impossible to live forever, strictly speaking, even for those who are lucky enough to survive to such a time when technology has been perfected, and even under ideal conditions. The amount of matter and energy that our civilization can lay its hands on before they recede forever beyond our reach is finite in the current most favored cosmological models. As for age and death, one of the biggest factors actually has to do with cell replication. Most of our cells are not meant to live forever  ¡Ã‚ ­. We are meant to die. Your cells divide and divide and divide and their daughter cells do the same, so one and such forth.

Four Geometry Formulas Essay -- Geometry

As you begin the course of geometry students are generally familiarized with frequently used formulas in mathematics. These formulas include finding the perimeter and area of two-dimensional figures and finding the volume and surface area of three-dimensional figures. For every diverse shape there is a related formula for finding its perimeter, area, volume, or surface area. Therefore, we will only focus on four formulas for four singular shapes or figures. We will find the perimeter of a square, the area of a triangle, the volume of a right circular cylinder and the total surface area of a sphere. The first formula will correspond to finding the perimeter of a square. For the following formula P will stand for the perimeter and s will represent the side length of the square. The perimeter of a square is found by multiplying four by the side length of the square. Thus, the formula would be P=4s. The motive that the four is in the formula is because a square has four sides. Now let’s use an example, if a square has a side length of 4 inches on every of its four sides the formul...

Youth and Its Power for India

India,now aged at 65 is in my view one of the largest reservoir of Youth population. Generally defined in the age group of 16-30 years constitute of more than 40% of India’s population which is indeed a large force. We are energetic, enthusiastic and always full of zeal to do the impossible. If we exclude the youth, the rest of the population of India will comprises of old people and children. They cannot be called the real manpower of the nation. So it is evident that if the youth of the country are not enthused to devote their energies to the task of national reconstruction,the whole Youth Power for India is wasted,or the other way why we youth should wait for someone to enthuse us to show the Youth Power of India. This is our land,our country and it totally depends on us(Indian Youths) how we take our country forward. But having such a massive youth population in India will not do any good if our youth population is not shown the right path. Most of the youth in India are generally without any direction,If we can harness this powerhouse of the nation in the right direction then the country can reach untold heights. Being said that we should not completely depend on our Government to harness this powerhouse,contribution of all sides is required for this. The best and the first and foremost way to strengthen our youth are to provide them Education. Education plays a vital role for this,we should be able to educate all our youth from the initial stages of their life,We should be able to make them understand the importance of Education. Not just any kind of Education, but the right kind of Education which makes them scientific, logical, open-minded, self-respecting, responsible, honest and patriotic. Without these virtues being developed, our youth cannot walk in the desired way and they will stay in a deep slumber of complacency. Even education to some extent will not help as we see many educated young population working overseas,The question is why can’t they do it here,the nswer lies in lack of opportunities which is in plenty in other countires. Why our country is unable to offer such opportunities to us? Its because the Government have not taken any initiative or we the youth have not taken any steps to make government realise the power of youth. Have we forgotten that today India is Independent because of the youth power in our freedom struggle,we owe Independent India to the youth power of our past and to make it better for our future generation we must rise once again together. Youth of India must be able to come up with new ideas of Entrepreneurship which is very vital for the country’s growth. For a youth educated in India he/she must think about the development in India which now have utmost important for our country’s development. Let us focus on constructively using the power of the youth for the betterment of the nation. Let us frame such policies which aim at empowering our youth so that we can be assured of a better future and a brighter tomorrow.

Shanghai Baby essays

Shanghai Baby essays This book was just what the Chinese government did not want the public to see. It contained very graphic and intimate details were the main aspect of the scandal with the novel. The Chinese government saw the novel as a threat to the political and mental well-being of its citizens. It talks about things that China is trying to abolish, like the increase in prostitution and drug abuse. There are a few categories that place this book on the banned list in China. The first and most obvious is the content of pornography. There is quite an extent of indecent material, reports inaccurate, fabricated or sensationalist stories. It also offers other materials that the government probably deems to have an unhealthy impact on readers. A large portion of the book is filled up with indecency or pornography. This book is definitely not considered to be G-rated with its graphic mention of sex acts, masturbation, pleasure, sexual organs and promiscuity. Even though it is a fictitious novel, there are many points that tend to shock the reader and these points are viewed to be unhealthy by the Chinese government. There is a few times that the author ties in sex with the city of Shanghai. Standing on the roof, we looked at the sihouttes of the building lit up by the streetlights on both sides of the Huangpu River, specially the Oriental Pearl TV tower, Asias tallest. Its long, long steel column pierces the sky, proof of the citys phallic worship (page 14). Another comment Shanghai is a city obsessed with pleasure (page 40). Some people call Shanghai the Womans city...in comparison to the macho cities of northern China (page 116). Another possibility is that the book was banned for political reasons. After all, the Chinese government banned anything that puts a negative light on Chinas affairs including government and economy. There are eight billion peasants in our cou...

I am not a Phantom I am a rat Julian Sands as Erik essays

I am not a Phantom I am a rat Julian Sands as Erik essays A child is born, shunned by his own mother. He is brilliant and artistic, possessing skills untouched by even the greatest masters in many areas. Perhaps he is also insane, not relating to the human race. Eventually, he will come to be known as a ghost, haunting the world of normal people as he passes in and out of sight in one of the greatest centers of musical performance in the world. Passionate, he falls in love, and in jealousy he falls even further. This plot line has the potential to be studied in depth by sociologists, psychologists, historians, and artists on so many levels, exploring the child himself and the life and events that build around him. Similar to any number of ancient myths and fairy tales, this love story about an extraordinary outsider was first introduced as "Le Fantome de l'Opera" by Gaston Leroux, a French journalist in the late 1800's who happened upon bits and pieces of historical truths and superstitious rumors that were incorporated into this groundbreaking and originally under appreciated novel. Nearly a century later, after dozens of film versions of this classic tale had already populated popular and independent movie databases, one of the greatest horror movie directors of our time decided to take a stab at re-exploring this haunting character. In 1998, Dario Argento released "Il Fantasma Del l'opera," an Italian remake of the Phantom story filmed in Hungary. Not an attempt to accurately transpose Leroux's novel into film version, nor an attempt to remake any of the previous films, Argento took many liberties with the basic plot elements known by Phantom fans. However, Argento nonetheless stayed true to the spirit and basic artistic essence of this tale. Argento opens his film with an abandoned child floating down the underground waterways of Paris in a basket, abandoned like the baby Moses. However, instead of being found by ...