Tomboy Essay Example for Free

Tomboy Essay The elder sister, Laure, is a little â€Å"different†. Not much attention is given to her at first until her â€Å"differences† start to cause problems in the neighborhood, and for the family. Laure is a tomboy, which by definition is: â€Å"an energetic, sometimes boisterous girl whose behavior and pursuits are considered more typical of a boy than a girl†. Laure is not only like this with her behavior, but also with her appearance! If the information of her being female was not splayed to the viewer in the film, it wouldn’t be apparent she was a girl. At first, it seems as though she sees herself as a female, but dresses and acts like a boy. But, once the neighborhood kids mistake her for a boy, she fills the role and does everything in her power to make sure it stays that way, whether it be by lying, hiding, changing her name, altering her body, or mimicking the behavioral or realational values of a male. A main point in the film is that Laure made a friend, a female friend named Lisa, and nobody thought, not even Laure, that she’d ever have a female companion besides her little sister. Laure walked, talked, and dressed like a boy, and told everybody she had a boy’s name. It was pretty obvious that everybody took a liking to â€Å"him†. Childhood love soon bloomed, but, let’s not forget the fact that Laure is actually a girl. Laure has a loving family. At the age of six, Jeanne, Laure’s younger sister is dragged into the situation. She is wildly confused by her sister’s behavior, it seems at one out, but unusually accepting of it at the same time. When the odds of her deceiving behavior stack against her, Laure finds herself having to face her peers, and a bewildered mom who asks her, â€Å"Why did you tell everyone in the neighborhood you were a boy? †, and a frazzled and upset Laure just looks up at her mom and says, â€Å"I don’t know†. In a child’s mind, what could they be thinking? She is only ten, in yet, has spun herself into something so complicated that even adults, cultures, and societies still cannot grasp it. My inquiry is: What compels Laure to do this? Why would she pretend to be a boy? The world today has many contemporary issues. Many times in the movie the issue of sexuality is breached. In â€Å"Tomboy†, it is highly implied that the main character, Laure, may be a closeted transgender boy; She, of course ,does not understand this. In the film, when the way she thinks and feels is challenged by her peers and family, Laure becomes very upset. My point being that something so complex to understand, and then be able to put it on a big screen, had to take some amazing actors. The majority of the cast were children, and I could honestly say the thespians of the screenplay were so superb with their acting, that this movie could be mistaken for a visual documentary instead of a fiction film. The setting is summertime in modern day France right outside of Paris in a small neighborhood. This setting is so fitting for this type of heart-warming drama. Summer in France is fun and festive, and it enjoys pleasantly hot temperatures, and experiences occasional rain showers in the night. Expect to see beautiful flowers blooming and exquisite gardens. In the film, the child would roam about the woods near the home, giving the viewer multiple chances to see the beautiful trees, and weather of France! When watching this display of gorgeous visuals and the seemingly relaxed atmosphere, it gives you the illusion that the small area of complexes holds no secrets, and the summer is lazy, serene and full of fun! Like the children in the movie, after seeing the scenery, all I wanted to do was go down to the creek, and bask in the warm afternoon sun. Like the director’s debut film, â€Å"Water Lilies†, â€Å"this film deals with early formative concepts of gender in a truly beautiful, emotive, captivating and accurate way†. Both films were also primarily about females. Although the films were similar on the storyline concept, they were also very different. In the film â€Å"Tomboy†, it was implied that the main character, Laure, had done some similar behavior as such before, as her little sister, Jeanne, threatened to tell their mom that Laure was â€Å"acting like a boy†. The main female character in the film â€Å"Water Lilies†, was friends with her companions in the film for years, it was portrayed as it was because they’d been on a competing swim team together. Her exploration of this concept seemed to be totally new, and very much unintended. Overall, I liked â€Å"Tomboy† better as a movie, because it was just so tender and warming, whereas â€Å"Water Lilies† was, in a way, awkward. The movie definitely puts an interesting aspect on a troublesome issue in society, international film critic, John Frosch, states, â€Å"Brisk, Precisely observed, and bracingly non-preachy in its examination of a very tricky subject. I couldn’t have agreed more with his statement, simply because this is a very slippery subject. New York Times critic, Manohla Dargis, disagrees on the films superb approach, â€Å"The story that emerges in programmatic and largely unsurprising, but these children give it messiness, joy, and life. I can’t say I agree with her whole statement, but at least she acknowledges that the children did a phenomenal job with acting. The film to me is beautifully and daringly crafted because it implies that sometimes these things are judged in ways they shouldn’t be when it is not fully understood. Laure cannot comprehend the â€Å"troubles† society and her culture may give her, she doesn’t even understand why she acted this way. So, how can anyone judge her actions? Furthermore, I want to say again that the story, acting, and setting of this film was marvelous, and the film is an absolute must see for anyone who understands the value of the simplicity of childhood.

The Other Fort Knox :: Personal Narrative Papers

The Other Fort Knox The first Wednesday in July found me crammed into a fourteen-passenger van with enough adolescents to fill it to capacity. Actually, it was only four girls and three boys, plus the three other leaders, but stuffed in the very back with three smelly boys – Jonathan, Andrew, and Aaron – it seemed like the van was about to burst. They could have had more room if they had chosen to spread out, but then they would have been forced to occupy seats adjacent to girls, a horrible situation for any ten year old boy. We were headed to Bucksport, Maine, a two-hour trip from my house, to tour and explore Fort Knox. It is probably not the Fort Knox that one immediately thinks of; there are actually two Fort Knox’s in the United States. James Bond was never at this Fort Knox, nor was any gold. Just in case, though, I told the boys that I would give my car to anyone who found gold. This would have been a threat to person over the age of eighteen, but their eyes got quite large at the prospect of winning something that had four tires. This Fort Knox was built for protecting the independence newly won from the British in the mid nineteenth century. Located at the mouth of the Penobscot River, Fort Knox is a heavily fortified defensive point. The fort boasts of remarkable engineering and a fascinating labyrinth of passageways. With thirty foot high walls of huge granite blocks, and cannons that could fire a four hundred and fifty pound ball a distance of three miles, Fort Knox would have been a brutal foe for the British navy. When we arrived, two of the group leaders, Sarah and Josh, went to go set up lunch, while my wife, Mary Ella, and I took the kids on a brief pre-tour. Since it was only half an hour before lunch, we decided to go down to explore one of the batteries. A battery is a small point outside the fort for artillery. Fort Knox is on a large hill overlooking the mouth of the river. At Fort Knox, there are two batteries located a little way down the hill from the fort. This allows the fort to fire on an enemy from multiple locations, and it allows for more artillery than the fort alone could hold.

Principles of Microeconomics Essay

Supply and Demand is a phrase that every one hears in one way or another, Supply and demand phrase according to Colander, (2010) is the most used phrase by economist and the reason is because the phrase provides a good â€Å"off-the-cuff† answer for many question that have to do with economy. Example why are interest rates to Low? Because supply and demand. Why is Gasoline so high? supply and demand. This paper will speak about a simulation found on University of Phoenix student website, simulation named â€Å"Applying Supply and Demand Concepts† This paper will speak about macroeconomics and microeconomics principles, Paper will also refer to shift of the supply curve and shift of the demand curve. Also how the how concepts of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics help understand the factors that affect shifts in supply and demand on the equilibrium price and quantity, and last how the price elasticity of demand affects a consumer’s purchasing and the firm’s pricing strategy. Microeconomics and Macroeconomic Principles According to Colander (2010) Microeconomics is define as â€Å"the study of individual choice, and how that choice is influenced by economic forces.† With this in mind, principles present on the â€Å"Applying Supply and Demand Concepts† simulation are Rental unit Prices and Rental units supply. According to Colander (2010) Macroeconomics is defines â€Å"is the study of the economy as a whole.† With this in mind one can say that macroeconomics principles on this simulation are population trends that lead people to choose to rent or not rest and factors that lead people to make this type of choices. According to Colander (2010), states that Demand can be defined as â€Å"Quantity demanded rises as price falls, other things constant. Or alternatively: Quantity demanded falls as price rises, other things constant.† And on the other hand Supply can be defined as â€Å"Quantity supplied rises as price rises, other things constant. Or alternatively: Quantity supplied falls as price falls, other things constant.† (Colander, 2010) On the simulation supply of two bedrooms apartment has reach 2,000 and according to the analyst, company need to decrease vacancy rates to 15% in order to increase revenue. By decreasing rent demand will increase vacancy will decrease and revenue will increase. Shifts of the Supply and Demand Curves As the supply of apartment increases the supply curve shifts towards the right as direct result of apartment supply increase rental rate also increases. Total of apartment supply is 2,500 and by leasing all of the apartment rental rate will be driven to $1,500. Because demand curve shift downwards when rent rate and apartment supply increases, by increasing rent rate to $1,500 demand will lower and in order to accomplish equilibrium, company would need to lower rental rate to $1,050. This is where the supply and demand reaches equilibrium. Relevance in Real World and at the Workplace Supply and demand is a famous phrase as previously mention and one don’t realize that this phrase or concept applies to one personal life in a lot of ways. For example I work for a bank and we sell services to customer in the form of banking, saving or investment products. From a Macroeconomic prospective all of us a one point need to have a bank account of in order to accomplish many financial needs, it is because of these need that there is always demand for banking products. It is based on this demand that interest rates for savings accounts varies based on the demand the supply (interest rates) varies. From a microeconomics prospective if outside indicators like market condition or unemployment rate changes rates for saving account will also change. It is based on those factors that sometimes people decides to stop saving and bank will to increase saving rates but bank can only do it to a certain point because increasing saving rates to much will mean that lending money will have a higher rate. There is got to be balance. Understanding the concepts of macroeconomics and  microeconomics help understand factor that affects shifts in supply and demand because now one can see with clarity what are the categories and what those categories are, the ones influence supply and demand and how this same factor may bring equilibrium. Price Elasticity of Demand According to Colander (2010), the price elasticity of demand is the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price. As for this simulation, if the demand experiences a negative percentage change (if it decreases) the price of renting an apartment will also decrease. So, rental rate will decreases as the demand decreases. On the other hand, when the supply decreases or increases, the rental rate will remain constant. If the demand increases, the rental rate will be increased, since more people will want apartments (the company is able to increase the prices – the law of demand). According to Colander (2010) Price Elasticity of Demand can be defined as â€Å"the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price: Conclusion This paper has referred to various terms from the macroeconomic and microeconomic environment. It has analyzed trends and also shifts of the supply and demand curve for a company that rents two-bedroom apartments in Atlantis. The paper has also referred to situation from the real world where microeconomic concepts can be applied. Last, it has talked about price elasticity of demand with respect to the company that rents apartments. The paper serves as an element of understanding supply and demand concepts when it comes to the microeconomic environment. Reference Colander, D. C. (2010). Economics (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. University of Phoenix. (). Applying Supply and Demand Concepts [Multimedia]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, ECO/265 – Principles of Microeconomics website.

America Moves Westward