Poster proposal presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poster proposal presentation - Essay Example Application programs also fall in this category and a good example is the payroll check processor. An ecommerce database is a method of storage and presentation of large amounts of information which is then used by an ecommerce or by an online payment system. Ecommerce makes it possible for consumers to remotely from the internet make purchases or process relevant financial transactions. A secure database is needed by the company hosting the ecommerce process to store such valuable and sensitive information such as credit card information and product inventory. When making a decision on the best choice for an ecommerce solution, it is important to take careful consideration to ensure it is helpful in its untended purpose. It is important to consider if the database provides a secure environment when deciding on which ecommerce database to use so as to protect sensitive information such as personal, financial, and project information. It is very important to make the database application user friendly and easy to use as well as being flexible and adaptable to change. This is so that where need be, modifications or improvements can be made in the future. Customer information in a data base is stored in one file and the sales information is then stored in another separate file. each customers information is entered only once and then each customer is assigned a number unique to them. This makes it possible for the sales records to be entered using only the customer number to refer back to their specific customer file. This mode of database use helps to saves data entry time and also storage space. It also helps by making it easier and faster to retrieve information. Another advantage is that it makes it possible to get quick answers to important queries concerning your sales. For instance you can then be able to find out which product you sold the most in a very fast manner since all the system has to do is read the sales information. Most

Reflection in Business Research Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection in Business Research - Dissertation Example I could visualize a reality of applying and implementing suitable models, frameworks and theories that I choose and got surprised how I used it to base on realities of social research. According to Peter Jarvis (1995:75), learning from primary experience is essentially obtaining through sense experience. I believe it reaffirms what Weil and McGill’s (1989:3) described in the four ‘villages’ model. I can derive from the Village one my life and work experience at Coventry University drew from my ability to assess and accredit learning. Village two allowed me to focus on experiential learning on the platform of brings change to my perception of business research methods on how to write professional reports. In Village three, I aroused group consciousness of my colleagues as I sought their views regarding preparing administering questionnaires and carrying out interviews. Because of these concepts, I read through them then picked some ideas and implemented them by doi ng the above. In Village four, I came to the realization that I needed to engender personal growth and self awareness in graduate research. It taught me how to take advantage of hidden opportunities in academic institutions of identifying research areas, questions and designing research methodology. I was able to gather data through successful communication with respondents to allow me (source), conduct a knowledgeable conversation with the respondents (receiver), which relayed a message on marketing content (Kolb, 1984). The feedback was outstanding; I effectively executed my research tasks in the business discipline at Coventry University. I feel nurtured to become a distinguished scholar and researcher providing professional trainers, state of the art university facilities and equipment for training. I have felt that I needed to hone my communication and business skills including wring professional reports. With the help of 5Ws strategy, I utilized it to ignite my writing process (Mohan et al, 2008). In the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why), I used it as an effective strategy to enhance my creative thinking especially when it comes to writing business reports. In times of difficulty, I requested help from my tutor at the department in the university who assisted in proof reading my work and giving me feedback. I also applied (Mohan et al, 2008), the transition process of communication. In order to be more clear and concise, the set of questions provided by (Emerson, 2009), applied to all my questionnaires work. I also made sure to proofread and edit all my works. It proved to be an effective technique, especially when it came to communicating with Vodafone clients and suppliers. In addition, I developed a habit of applying the 5Ws strategy on every message and email that I write to ensure the key points stand out. According to Kolb’s learning styles, I felt that I was feeling and watching the different customer and product perspectives. I slowly found myself accommodative to the views by feeling and doing aggressive marketing. To improve on communication skills, I employed the communications model (Solomon, Charbonneau, Hughes, Chitty, Marshall and Stuart, 2008), to comprehend how ideas transforms into messages. They are then  relayed from the marketer to the consumer. In assimilating, I conjured the ideals of watching and thinking by updating with the latest business news, through joining online communities and utilizing social networking to make connections. I took the time to understand the operations and functions of Vodafone marketing research department. My strength was always in the willingness to research and investigate new ideas that I felt were beneficial to my tutor. It has helped me to undertake a

Roman and Byzantine Essay Example for Free

Roman and Byzantine Essay Between 200 B.C.E. and 1100 C.E. some aspects of cultural and political life changed between the Roman and Byzantine Empire while, other aspects continued. The aspects that continued politically are strong centralized political system, with an emperor overseeing. The aspects that changed politically are the way provinces of the empire were ruled. The aspects that continued culturally are the wealth, trade dependence, and pride. The aspects that changed are the religion, language, and military defense. Political aspects continued between the Roman and Byzantine Empire. The aspects that continued are the bureaucratic government and centralized political system with the emperor ruling everything. The Romans started this slightly during the reign of Julius Caesar, Caesar became a dictator and started this type of government in 47 B.C.E. after he was assassinated by his enemies. Julius’s grand-nephew Octavian Caesar rose up, defeated Julius’s enemies, and took over as the first emperor of Rome, renaming himself Augustus Caesar in 27 B.C.E. Augustus continued the type of government his uncle started where he as the emperor oversees all social, political, economic, religious, and military. The Byzantines took this cue from their predecessor and continued it by having such great emperors such as Justinian (527-656 C.E.) or Constantine (306-337 C.E.) who oversaw the whole Byzantine Empire and made decisions that allowed the empire to prosper. Another political aspect the Romans’ started was the standard of law which was continued by the Byzantines. Although the Byzantine Empire continued these political aspects of the Roman Empire, they changed some aspects.

Portrayal Of African Americans In Film

Portrayal Of African Americans In Film In the assignment, I investigated the portrayal of black female in Hollywood films. Which I started off by watching an old time romantic classic film Gone with the Wind, which at first I thought it was a non racial film as slaves were portrayed as normal employees, and were rewarded with presents like the masters pocket watch if theyve been appropriately loyal. Black women involvement in changing African American culture in all black setting was from their outsider experience in White family home. Black women saw white women elites, both actual and aspiring. Black women didnt only perform domestic duties; they also performed a close relationship with the children they nurtured. Moreover, black women noticed that the myth of the domestic worker was becoming an increasing racial ideology. Nancy White, a black inner-city-resident, explores the connection between experience and beliefs: Now, I understand all these things from living. But you cant lay up on these flowery beds of ease and think that you are running your life, too. Some women, white women, can run their husbands lives for a while, but most of them have to..see what he tells them there is to see. If he tells them that they aint seeing what they know they are seeing, then they have to just go like it wasnt there! (In Gwaltney 1980, 148). (Name the Book). This passage illustrates that being an outsider; black women will foster a new angle of vision on domination. It suggests that Black female worker could never be a White middle class women lying on a Flowery bed of ease. But her duties leading for caring her White women allowed her an insiders view of some of contradiction that is being played between White women thinking that they are running their lives and the patriarchal power and authority in their households. To an extent, I did some research on what stereotypical views American people had for African Americans; as a result I found that the slaves contained a little truth surrounded by a large lie for example the mummy at GWTW played by Hattie McDaniel, portrayed as an obese, coarse, maternal figure. The lie that is behind this according to Professor of African American and African studies Patricia Turner is that she claimed that one of the many brutal aspects of slavery was that slave owners sexually exploited their slaves especially light skinned ones which are the mainstream definition of female sexual attractiveness. Therefore mummy was then deliberately constructed to suggest ugliness. The white women felt threaten by this assumption; so therefore the attempt were to desexualise mammy and by extension, the white family could feel safe. The actor Hattie McDaniel who played the well known mummy portrayal has won herself an Oscar for the best supporting actress. The actor who she played Scarlett OHaras sassy but loyal servant in Gone with the Wind, was the first Black to win an Academy Award. Hattie McDaniel not only did she starred in Gone with the wind as a mummy but did lot more in her previous films for example The Story of Temple Drake (1933) and The Gold West (1932) as she played an unobtrusive, weak mummies. Furthermore she was criticized by Blacks by allowing herself portray as a mummy caricature. She responded that Why should I complain about making seven thousand dollars a week playing a maid? If I didnt, Id be making seven dollars a week actually being one. This statement tells us how black women were given choice whether to endure the stereotype ridicule from both her African American to receive an Oscar, people still argue until today whether she sold out or did she succeed in her life. However she stated in her appearance at the Oscar and quotes that I sincerely hope that I will be a credit to my race suggesting that she has come far in life as Black American to achieve such an award which then would have been impossible, she claims that anyone could succeed if they work hard for it. The Cosby shows is a comedy about a middle class black family. the main character Bill Cosbyis played by Cliff Huxtable. He is gynaecologist and obstetrician, and his wife Claire is a lawyer. The show has become popular over the years as they were the first black people to have a leading role on a TV show. However there are speculation whether the show is constructed or reflective in This is part of the white fantasy: blacks should stop complaining and work hard. Hence the reference to The Cosby Show, which I have only just remembered You now need to conclude this introduction. Is the Hattie McDaniel character a racist image? Yes because it conforms to the stereotype. No because the actor playing the part is doing well in white society and might be called a role model. Yes because the stereotype limits the ways in which she can be successful. You have to make the point that different readings are possible, hence The Cosby Show study. Methodology- In the 21st century the portrayal of black female in Hollywood still continues, therefore I want to find out how teenagers in todays society handle the stereotype that the media with holds and what affects has it caused in how black female view themselves. In my investigation I got a group of black teenagers to discuss the issue of the portrayal of black women in films. In addition, I have chosen four film trailers for the teenagers to watch; which where two modern and two classic films the reason I have chosen classic and modern is because I want to prove the point of how Hollywood still continues these portrayal of black women, whether its a black comedy or black drama it still de-humanizes black women and creates humour from this. The film trailers that I showed to the teenagers were the following: Norbit Precious Gone With the Wind Birth of the Nation The group discussions were vital as it provided me crucial information about the teenagers view point of the media portrayal. However its not only films that are constantly shown portraying black women negatively its also in the media; these stereotypes been presented in the music videos. As these black women are shown dancing all over these men while half naked, allowing champagne to be poured on to them, all for just money. However, to young teenagers it looks like these women are living the best life. Research suggests that when negative images are repeatedly exposed over a long period of time, we use these images and measure ourselves and others against them. Therefore, when young teenagers are being exposed to the media that portrayal people of colour are less likely to succeed, less beautiful and less worthwhile than white people, they tend to believe those ideas. In the group meeting I have asked the students an open question of what they have thought of the film trailers, and successfully I got a useful responds which I will utilise in my investigation. The following are the questions that I asked the students: From watching these trailers what were your thought? Which one in particular did you find disturbing to watch? Which one of these trailers did you find racist? Which film do you think portrays black female in a negative way What elements did they use to stereotype black women? As a young black female teenager how did these trailers make you feel? Did you think GWTW is a racist film? If yes why? Do you think this negative stereotype still carries into the 21st century? The film Gone with the Wind (1939) was one of the most controversial films that depicts of race relations. Through freed from the novels positives portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, Gone with the Wind depiction of slavery still remains particularly naive. The writer of the film Birth of the Nation Thomas F. Dixon Jr has written a letter to praise Margaret Mitchell about how great Gone with the Wind was: the greatest story of the South ever put down on paper, you have given the world The Great American Novel. Margaret replied back with the great praise for Dixons extremist Klan-praising books and quotes In truth, the film Gone with the wind is Birth of Nation without the bed sheets and hoods of the Klan suggesting that the truth of Gone with the wind hides the important elements that happened to Blacks. The extremely dehumanizing, exploitative, and bloody reality of slavery, with its great violence against (including much rape of black women) enslaved African Americans, is missing from th e novel and the movie. In the film blacks appear mostly as slaves: loyal servants like Prissy . . . , or clownish servants. Whites are seen as worthy of the subservience, loyalty, and love of faithful servants. This is because the genre of the film is romantic Happiness and wholeness and one with antiseptic slavery without whips, chains, or rape is shown to create the mood. To an extent, the sense of the collective identity produced by laughing at others, those who are perceived as different and possibly a treat. For example when blacks appear alongside whites in comedies, racial issues become a main focus for the humour. Hattie McDaniel in her mummy role in Gone with the Wind, black women has been stereotyped since then. She had a very aggressive personality and was overly possessive even when she is preserving the female master. Her powerful aggressive is where the portrayal of African American tradition started off, as people often stereotype women as being overly aggressive and disrespectful. The mummy represented the black mother figures in white homes; the matriarch symbolized the mother figure in Black homes. Which therefore the representation that is been stereotyped is that the mummy symbolizes the good black mother, whereas the black matriarch symbolizes the bad black mothers. This has been introduced widely through a government reported titled The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, the black matriarchy thesis argued that African -American women who failed to fulfil their traditional Womanly duties at home contributed to social problems in Black civil society (Moynihan 1965). The mummy of the house is seen being strong and her dignity is largely intact but her grammar is chopped down into broken English with an extremely simplistic level. However they deliberately constructed this type of character to suggest that all black people are sexually unattractive. They portrayed them as being dark skinned, often pitch black which in the society they regarded black people being ugly. GWTW uses black over weight maid that looks old. The reason they used this is because that no reasonable white man would choose a fat, elderly black women instead of the idealized white women. The white family would feel safe, by de-eroticism of all black mummy by portraying them of lacking all sexual and sensual qualities. Historically, it is the African American women, has been the rock of the family, who is strong both in emotion and in honour, she has kept the family together through hardship and poverty, preserving in the most difficult of times. The African American women has protected and raised her family for generation in the worst of circumstance. Butterfly McQueen plays the character Prissy, the stupid, loud and annoying house girl. The character Prissy is a squeamish, a liar and becomes hysterical over the smallest things. As the Jim Crow minstrel entertainment era this portrayal was being used to entertain the white audience. The minstrel stereotyped black people of being a clown, something funny to watch so therefore watching this character makes the humour of the film to the white audience as it was successful in the early minstrel time, including it on a movie would be greater success on their believes. I watched this The film Precious stars by Gabourey Sidibe who plays an obese black girl Claireece Jones, known as Precious. The film is set in 1986 Harlem, Precious daydreams of having glamorous life, with a light skinned boyfriend and the paparazzi in love with her. In reality Precious experiences and suffers constant sexual abuse by her father, the father of daughter who suffers from Down s syndrome, and Precious is now carrying her second child by him. The film is also narrated by Gabourey Sidibe, she takes us through her day dreams and the things she hungers for. As in her day dreams she says she wants to be on a BET videos this shows videos that degrades women. The parent television council claimed that BET rap programming, which they believed contained gratuitously sexual, violent, and profane content, was targeting teenagers. Furthermore scholars within the African American community maintain that BET perpetuates and justifies racism by affecting the interpersonal beliefs others may generali ze about African American and also the young teenagers viewers through its negative image of African American. The image of the welfare mothers that is being portrayed in the film provides ideological justifications for intersecting oppressions of race, gender and class. African American can be racially stereotyped as being lazy by blaming black welfare mother for falling to pass on the work ethic. She is portrayed as being content to sit around and collect welfare mother the image of the welfare mother represents another failed mummy, one who is unwilling to become de mule uh de world which this links back to Precious of instead of her mother encourage to stay in school, she forces to go to the welfare. Welfare queen is a phrase that describes the economic dependency- the lack of a job and/ income (which equal degeneracy in the Calvinist United States); the presence of a child or children with no father and/or husband (moral deviance); and finally, a charge on the collective U.S. treasury- a human debit. The cumulative totality, circulation, and effect of these meanings in a time of scarce resources among the working class and the lower middle class are devastatingly intense. The welfare queen represents moral aberration and an economic drain, but the figures problematic status becomes all the more threatening once responsibility for the destruction of the American way of life is attributed to it. (Lubiano 1992, 337-38), (Patricia Hill Collins, Black feminist thought). Book The welfare queen held a portrayal of being selfish, money-oriented women, who are manless, working class people. The image of the welfare queen portrayal represents black welfare queen happy taking money from hard earned money of taxpaying Americans and remains married to the state. The welfare queen image signals efforts to use the situation of working class black women as a sign of the deterioration of the state. Reference the book Political scientist Martin Gilens did a study of the way in which poverty was being represented in USAs leading news magazines (Times, Newsweek and US News and World Report). Following key figures were produced by Gilens: Gilens found 182 stories concerning poverty in these magazines during the period under analysis. 635 people were pictured as Poor in these stories, in 214 pictures (photographs and drawings). Gilens interest was primarily in the representation of poverty in terms of race and ethnicity. He excluded 75 people in eight stories whose race could not be identified; 637 minus 75 left 560 people pictured. Gilens found that of those 560 people pictured in news stories as poor, 62 per cent were African- American. He claims that African American make up only 25% on government statistics of the US poor. Gilens suggests that A reader of these news magazines is likely to develop the impression that Americans poor are predominantly black. This distorted portrait of the America poor cannot help but reinforce negative stereotype of blacks as mired in poverty and contribute to the belief that poverty is primarily a Blacks problem (THE books name) the politician Gilens examines the survey that he took, and he found out that the media over exaggerate the percentage of African American being poor, he suggests that the negative stereotype leads to a situation which many white people do not support government welfare provision because they perceive poverty and/or unemployment as a black problem. The film precious has been shown primarily black people being Poor as to therefore suggesting that majority of the black people in America is poor. However, going back to the newspaper, the portrayal of black people could have been escalated by one media featuring more black people than usual, which then could have exaggerated the results. In addition, I watched Norbit. The film is about a young man named Norbit. Eddie Murphy co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in the film. I found this film humorous to watch, of the repetitive hate humour that it represents. I found myself to be expected to laugh at the portrayals of verbal and physical abuse that it creates through the film. The film starts off with the character Norbit; he is skinny, insidiously shy, irreproachably geeky and a painfully awkward guy. His childhood was not very kind to him, as he was given away at birth to an orphanage home. He then meets Rasputia. She helps Norbit from the bullies which she manhandles two older teenagers. Rasputia (Eddy Murphy), introduces herself to Norbit at a playground. She is enormous for a 10 year old, and when she finds out that his single, she makes a decision right then and there that Norbit will be her new boyfriend whether he wants to or not. The film tells us that black skinned women are unattractive and lighter women are. This creates an enormous affect on teenagers who are watching this, as portrayal that it tells through the film is that light skinned are beautiful than darker skinned. Rasputia later becomes Norbits new wife. She is shown as a bigger, bossy, sassy, mean spirited, and unfaithful, holding Norbit emotionally captive. The film Norbit stereotypes black women into the following three categories. They are: Mummy Jezebel Sapphire Moreover, while I was researching I came across by statement which states that Aggressive, assertive women are penalized-they are abandoned by their men, end up impoverished, and are stigmatized as being unfeminine. Book Therefore suggesting that the stereotype has been used penalize black understands of black masculinity. The image of the matriarch also supports racial oppression. Much social science research implicitly uses gender relation in African American communities as one seeing measure of black cultural disadvantage. For example the Maynihan report (1965) contends the slavery destroyed black families by creating deviant because they challenge the patriarchal assumptions underpinning the traditional family idea. The image Rasputia portrays is unattractive and weight black women. She shows off her tiny bathing suit; when the attendant asks her if she is wearing bottoms because her belly obscures it. However, Rasputia beyond large breasts hitting the steering wheel, and claiming that Norbit adjusted the seats, as she slaps him across the face when he denies it. This shows that she is violently abusive and stupid as to think she is right when she is clearly not. Rasputia is loud, bossy, and dishonest, but these are seen as the sure fire in the society, this is identifiable traits of the modern of black women. Rasputias type is historically been portrayed of them driving all good men away, leaving only emasculated Norbits and feminized girlie men (like the exercise guru forced to sleep with her in order to get ahead), who are the inevitable byproducts of a matriarchal culture run amok. Jasmyne A. Cannick is a well known and respected public policy and communications professional with a successful track record in the areas of public policy, issue and campaign strategies. She has recently written a review of the film Norbit of its negative stereotype of obese black women (Why Norbit Sent Me Intro Orbit). She states that the trailer for Norbit encouraged a strange ambivalence of laughing at something that in reality shouldnt be funny, because the comedy relates to the social and historic tragedies about body image/obesity and skin colour preference, respectively Tim Cogshell, in a review of Norbit, comments about this: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is a great deal of mockery of the obese in Norbit, but therein lies a bit of truth, too: We do mock the obese, dont we? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The lithe Kate (who seems to transform into a white girl post her childhood persona) juxtaposed with the big, fat, mean Rasputia may simply look like more of the same fat-bashing humour weve come to expect in movies such as this, and it is, but thats not all it is. There is a mirror in this movie, reflecting a lot of things, not the least of which is that we are a mean, fat country that ironically doesnt like mean fat people. Rasputia is shown on as a sexualized freak show; her short hair is did. Her flawless make-up does not mask a teethy, hideous smile. Her fingernails are manicured and claw-like. This Black womens sexuality lie at the heart of black womens oppression, historical jezebels and contemporary Hoochies represent a deviant black female sexuality. The image of jezebel originated under slavery when black women were portrayed as being, to use Jewelle Gomezs words, sexually aggressive we nurses (Clarke et al. 1983, 99). Jezebels function was to relegate all black women to the category of sexually aggressive women, thus providing a powerful rationale for the widespread sexual assaults by White men typically reported by Black slave women (Davies 1981; D. White 1985). Jezebel served yet another function. If black slave women could be portrayed as having excessive sexual appetites, then increased fertility should be the expected outcome. Rasputia is shown singing to the Pussy Cat Dolls Dont Cha, this creates the humour of the film. In the scene she is shown washing the car while PCD Dont Cha is being played. It also shows her in a low angle shot and slow motion while she washes the car. This overall suggests while its portraying black women extreme, Raspuita is shown, of her being proud of who she is, almost creating a positive view. However it also could be argued that excessive portrayal of the stereotypes might affect young teenagers on their behavior of what they see in films such as Norbit. These constructed stereotype images represents by Black Director, writer and Actor to entertain the audience of allowing the image to escalate into the black community. Moreover, I started to watch Birth of the nation is Directed by David Llewelyn Wark Griffith. The film was made in 1915 and caused extream controversy with individulas and orgaisation across the country. The film had expilicit rasism, as one scenes portrays black men as savages possessed by animalistic lust, sexually assaulting white women. in the film black roles were mainly white actors, as they painted their face with burnt cork. American films has popularized the stereotype that are held by the soicety. Griffith exploited as many of the stereotype in his film Birth of the Nation. For example, Mulattos were represented as being evil , while those who has full black in them have the choice to be either Good (i.e. faithful to whites or bad (i.e. interested in self-preservation and equality). The black actors that worked in the film were given roles for them to create humor and humanity in their characters. the historical and contemporary challenege of race relation, was the begining of cultural identity in American cinema.

The Art of Leadership Essay -- Papers Leading Personality Essays Paper

The Art of Leadership What is leadership? Leadership is having the ability to give guidance to those that will follow. Those that follow will help to complete the mission. Leadership is an immature science and the body of knowledge in the field has developed through a series of fits and starts. Leadership is a soft science, just as anthropology, sociology and psychology. It cannot be proven exactly what it is. Leadership is an art; the skillful application of leadership behaviors beyond techniques is much the same as the skillful application of brushstrokes by a master painter. Leadership is both rational and emotional. Some people take several years and even several classes and still can’t quite be a good leader. I even took a test, which more or less states that I need to relax and calm down. The test covers several different areas ranging from personality quirks to communication and even how I prefer to handle conflicts. Introduction This paper will be discussing several areas that were examined through the test on leadership and personality that was taken by the author. Some of the major points that will be discussed are how the author rates himself against others on his team or in his group. A couple of other major points that will be touched on are conflict management and communication skills. Also, the author will be covering some of his ideas on leadership and whether or not any one individual can perfect it. The author has quite a bit of experience in these areas and conveyed some of his ideas in this paper. Strategy Leadership is a social process shared among all members of a group. Leadership development comes t... ...e people to totally change their way of doing things but if there are some problems, I hope those individuals were able to pull some ideas out of this in the long run. Conclusion While writing this paper I concluded several different things about leadership. Most people are very mistaken when it comes to the topic of leadership. It is a common belief that everyone has the potential to be a good leader, which is not true. This is proven time and time again by people who try to start their own business and it goes under in one or two years because they don’t know how to get the most out of their employees and keep them happy at the same time. In the end, a leader will always accomplish the mission and never fail his subordinates. Bibliography: 1. Robbins, Stephen P. Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice. Hall, 2000.

The Health Risk Associated with a Missing Ingredient in Bottled Water E

The Health Risk Associated with a Missing Ingredient in Bottled Water Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts. * Henry Adams "We can’t change the bottled water industry, but we can change our own ignorance." –Paul W. Mason You may think that drinking bottled water is healthier than drinking tap water. However, according to a recent Dateline NBC top story on the quality of bottled water, this healthy move is not so healthy after all. Recently, a bottled water company in California was found to be bottling its brand of Yosemite water from a well in Fullerton, right below the LA freeway system (Verhovek 2). While this is happening the American public remains unaware of the dangers of their "healthy" bottled water. This shouldn’t be happening, but due to lax Food and Drug Administration standards and our own ignorance, bottled water sales are up to an amazing sales of 4 billion dollars a year and our health risks are growing at an even faster rate! To further investigate this situation, we must understand the problems we face so that we can analyze the causes, in an attempt to solve for less than healthy water. In order to see the harm that bottled water has on the public, we need to define the problems with bottled water and investigate it’s impending health risks. To do this, we must clarify what defines bottled water. According to the International Bottled Water Association, "Water is classified as ‘bottled water’ or ‘drinking water’ if it meets all applicable federal and state standards, is sealed in a sanitary container and is sold for human consumption" (FAQ’s 1). Bottled water also cannot contain sweeteners or chemical additives and it... ...er." Current Research in Magnesium. John Libbey & Company Ltd.: London, 1996. Mason, Paul. "Calculations of deaths caused by magnesium-deficient bottled water in California." 17 June 1994. <http://www.execpc.com/~magnesium/bottled.html.> (29 September 1998) ---. "Citizens Petition For Mg Fortification." The Magnesium Website. 30 September 1995. <http://www.execpc.com/~magnesium.> (6 September 1998) ---. "Evaluate Your Bottled Water." 8 July 1997. <http://www.execpc.com/~cc/ccwaters.html> (8 September 1998) "Newsletter of the Healthy Bottled Water Association." <Healthy Water Association> (1 June 1997): 1-5 United States. District Court. Case No. C-97-20686 JF. 15 September 1998. Verhovek, Sam Howe. "It’s Wet. It’s Bottled. It Sort of Tastes Like Water." The New York Times Online. 1998. <http://search.nytimes.com> (8 September 1998)

An Introduction to Genre Theory Essay

An Introduction to Genre Theory Daniel Chandler 1. The problem of definition A number of perennial doubts plague genre theory. Are genres really ‘out there’ in the world, or are they merely the constructions of analysts? Is there a finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite? Are genres timeless Platonic essences or ephemeral, time-bound entities? Are genres culturebound or transcultural?†¦ Should genre analysis be descriptive or proscriptive? (Stam 2000, 14) The word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for ‘kind’ or ‘class’. The term is  widely used in rhetoric, literary theory, media theory, and more recently linguistics, to refer to a distinctive type of ‘text’*. Robert Allen notes that ‘for most of its 2,000 years, genre study has been primarily nominological and typological in function. That is to say, it has taken as its principal task the division of the world of literature into types and the naming of those types – much as the botanist divides the realm of flora into varieties of plants’ (Allen 1989, 44). As will be seen, however, the analogy with biological classification into genus and species misleadingly suggests a ‘scientific’ process. Since classical times literary works have been classified as belonging to general types which were variously defined. In literature the broadest division is between poetry, prose and drama, within which there are further divisions, such as tragedy and comedy within the category of drama. Shakespeare referred satirically to classifications such as ‘tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comicalhistorical-pastoral†¦ ‘ (Hamlet II ii). In The Anatomy of Criticism the formalist literary theorist Northrop Frye (1957) presented certain universal genres and modes  as the key to organizing the entire literary corpus. Contemporary media genres tend to relate more to specific forms than to the universals of tragedy and comedy. Nowadays, films are routinely classified (e. g. in television listings magazines) as ‘thrillers’, ‘westerns’ and so on – genres with which every adult in modern society is familiar. So too with television genres such as ‘game shows’ and ‘sitcoms’. Whilst we have names for countless genres in many media, some theorists have argued that there are also many genres (and sub-genres) for which we have no names (Fowler 1989, 216; Wales 1989, 206). Carolyn Miller  suggests that ‘the number of genres in any society†¦ depends on the complexity and diversity of society’ (Miller 1984, in Freedman & Medway 1994a, 36). The classification and hierarchical taxonomy of genres is not a neutral and ‘objective’ procedure. There are no undisputed ‘maps’ of the system of genres within any medium (though literature may perhaps lay some claim to a loose consensus). Furthermore, there is often considerable theoretical disagreement about the definition of specific genres. ‘A genre is ultimately an abstract conception rather than something that exists empirically in the world,’  notes Jane Feuer (1992, 144). One theorist’s genre may be another’s sub-genre or even super-genre (and indeed what is technique, style, mode, formula or thematic grouping to one may be treated as a genre by another). Themes, at least, seem inadequate as a basis for defining genres since, as David Bordwell notes, ‘any theme may appear in any genre’ (Bordwell 1989, 147). He asks: ‘Are animation and documentary films genres or modes? Is the filmed play or comedy performance a genre? If tragedy and comedy are genres, perhaps then domestic tragedy or slapstick is a formula’. In  passing, he offers a useful inventory of categories used in film criticism, many of which have been accorded the status of genres by various commentators: Grouping by period or country (American films of the 1930s), by director or star or producer or writer or studio, by technical process (Cinemascope films), by cycle (the ‘fallen women’ films), by series (the 007 movies), by style (German Expressionism), by structure (narrative), by ideology (Reaganite cinema), by venue (‘drive-in movies’), by purpose (home movies), by audience (‘teenpix’), by subject or theme (family film, paranoid-politics movies). (Bordwell 1989, 148) Another film theorist, Robert Stam, also refers to common ways of categorizing films: While some genres are based on story content (the war film), other are borrowed from literature (comedy, melodrama) or from other media (the musical). Some are performer-based (the Astaire-Rogers films) or budget-based (blockbusters), while others are based on artistic status (the art film), racial identity (Black cinema), locat[ion] (the Western) or sexual orientation (Queer cinema). (Stam 2000, 14). Bordwell concludes that ‘one could†¦ argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can  mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find An Introduction to Genre Theory acceptable’ (Bordwell 1989, 147). Practitioners and the general public make use of their own genre labels (de facto genres) quite apart from those of academic theorists. We might therefore ask ourselves ‘Whose genre is it anyway? ‘ Still further problems with definitional approaches will become apparent in due course. Defining genres may not initially seem particularly problematic but it should already be apparent that it is a theoretical minefield. Robert Stam identifies four key problems with generic labels (in relation to film): extension (the breadth or narrowness of labels); normativism (having preconceived ideas of criteria for genre membership); monolithic definitions (as if an item belonged to only one genre); biologism (a kind of essentialism in which genres are seen as evolving through a standardized life cycle) (Stam 2000, 128129). Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings) and/or form (including structure and style) which  are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them. Alternative characterizations will be discussed in due course. The attempt to define particular genres in terms of necessary and sufficient textual properties is sometimes seen as theoretically attractive but it poses many difficulties. For instance, in the case of films, some seem to be aligned with one genre in content and another genre in form. The film theorist Robert Stam argues that ‘subject matter is the weakest criterion for generic grouping because it fails to take into account how the subject is treated’ (Stam 2000, 14). Outlining a fundamental problem of  genre identification in relation to films, Andrew Tudor notes the ’empiricist dilemma’: To take a genre such as the ‘western’, analyze it, and list its principal characteristics, is to beg the question that we must first isolate the body of films which are ‘westerns’. But they can only be isolated on the basis of the ‘principal characteristics’ which can only be discovered from the films themselves after they have been isolated. (Cited in Gledhill 1985, 59) It is seldom hard to find texts which are exceptions to any given definition of a particular genre. There are no ‘rigid rules of inclusion and exclusion’ (Gledhill 1985, 60). ‘Genres†¦ are not discrete systems, consisting of a fixed number of listable items’ (ibid. , 64). It is difficult to make clear-cut distinctions between one genre and another: genres overlap, and there are ‘mixed genres’ (such as comedy-thrillers). 2 Specific genres tend to be easy to recognize intuitively but difficult (if not impossible) to define. Particular features which are characteristic of a genre are not normally unique to it; it is their relative prominence, combination and functions which are distinctive (Neale 1980, 22-3). It is easy to underplay the differences within a genre. Steve Neale declares  that ‘genres are instances of repetition and difference’ (Neale 1980, 48). He adds that ‘difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre’ (ibid. , 50): mere repetition would not attract an audience. Tzvetan Todorov argued that ‘any instance of a genre will be necessarily different’ (cited in Gledhill 1985, 60). John Hartley notes that ‘the addition of just one film to the Western genre†¦ changes that genre as a whole – even though the Western in question may display few of the recognized conventions, styles or subject matters traditionally associated with its genre’ (O’Sullivan et al. 1994). The issue of difference also  highlights the fact that some genres are ‘looser’ more open-ended in their conventions or more permeable in their boundaries – than others. Texts often exhibit the conventions of more than one genre. John Hartley notes that ‘the same text can belong to different genres in different countries or times’ (O’Sullivan et al. 1994, 129). Hybrid genres abound (at least outside theoretical frameworks). Van Leeuwen suggests that the multiple purposes of journalism often lead to generically heterogeneous texts (cited in Fairclough 1995, 88). Norman Fairclough suggests that mixed-genre texts are far from uncommon in the mass media (Fairclough 1995, 89). Some media may encourage more generic diversity: Nicholas Abercrombie notes that since ‘television comes at the audience as a flow of programmes, all with different generic conventions, means that it is more difficult to sustain the purity of the genre in the viewing experience’ (Abercrombie 1996, 45; his emphasis). Furthermore, in any medium the generic classification of certain texts may be uncertain or subject to dispute. Contemporary theorists tend to describe genres in terms of ‘family resemblances’ among texts (a notion derived from the philosopher Wittgenstein) rather than definitionally (Swales 1990, 49). An individual text within a genre rarely if ever has all of the characteristic features of the genre (Fowler 1989, 215). The family resemblance approaches involves the theorist illustrating similarities between some of the texts within a genre. However, the family resemblance approach has been criticized on the basis that ‘no choice of a text for illustrative purposes is innocent’ (David Lodge, cited in Swales 1990, 50), and that such theories can make any text seem to resemble any other one (Swales 1990, 51). In addition to the definitional and family resemblance approach, there is  An Introduction to Genre Theory another approach to describing genres which is based on the psycholinguistic concept of prototypicality. According to this approach, some texts would be widely regarded as being more typical members of a genre than others. According to this approach certain features would ‘identify the extent to which an exemplar is prototypical of a particular genre’ (Swales 1990, 52). Genres can therefore be seen as ‘fuzzy’ categories which cannot be defined by necessary and sufficient conditions. How we define a genre depends on our purposes;  the adequacy of our definition in terms of social science at least must surely be related to the light that the exploration sheds on the phenomenon. For instance (and this is a key concern of mine), if we are studying the way in which genre frames the reader’s interpretation of a text then we would do well to focus on how readers identify genres rather than on theoretical distinctions. Defining genres may be problematic, but even if theorists were to abandon the concept, in everyday life people would continue to categorize texts. John Swales does note that ‘a discourse community’s nomenclature for genres is an  important source of insight’ (Swales 1990, 54), though like many academic theorists he later adds that such genre names ‘typically need further validation’ (ibid. , 58). Some genre names would be likely to be more widely-used than others: it would be interesting to investigate the areas of popular consensus and dissensus in relation to the everyday labeling of mass media genres. For Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress, ‘genres only exist in so far as a social group declares and enforces the rules that constitute them’ (Hodge & Kress 1988, 7), though it is debatable to  what extent most of us would be able to formulate explicit ‘rules’ for the textual genres we use routinely: much of our genre knowledge is likely to be tacit. In relation to film, Andrew Tudor argued that genre is ‘what we collectively believe it to be’ (though this begs the question about who ‘we’ are). Robert Allen comments wryly that ‘Tudor even hints that in order to establish what audiences expect a western to be like we might have to ask them’ (Allen 1989, 47). Swales also alludes to people having ‘repertoires of genres’ (Swales 1990, 58), which I would argue would also be likely to repay  investigation. However, as David Buckingham notes, ‘there has hardly been any empirical research on the ways in which real audiences might understand genre, or use this understanding in making sense of specific texts’ (Buckingham 1993, 137). Steve Neale stresses that ‘genres are not systems: they are processes of systematization’ (Neale 1980, 51; my emphasis; cf. Neale 1995, 463). Traditionally, genres (particularly literary genres) tended to be regarded 3 as fixed forms, but contemporary theory emphasizes that both their forms and functions are dynamic. David Buckingham argues that ‘genre is not†¦ simply â€Å"given† by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change’ (Buckingham 1993, 137). Nicholas Abercrombie suggests that ‘the boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable’ (Abercrombie 1996, 45); Abercrombie is concerned with modern television, which he suggests seems to be engaged in ‘a steady dismantling of genre’ (ibid. ) which can be attributed in part to economic pressures to pursue new audiences. One may acknowledge the dynamic fluidity of genres without positing the final demise of genre as an interpretive framework. As the generic corpus ceaselessly expands, genres (and the relationships between them) change over time; the conventions of each genre shift, new genres and sub-genres emerge and others are ‘discontinued’ (though note that certain genres seem particularly long-lasting). Tzvetan Todorov argued that ‘a new genre is always the transformation of one or several old genres’ (cited in Swales 1990, 36). Each new work within a genre has the potential to influence changes within the genre or perhaps the emergence of new sub-genres (which may later blossom into fully-fledged genres). However, such a perspective tends to highlight the role of authorial experimentation in changing genres and their conventions, whereas it is important to recognize not only the social nature of text production but especially the role of economic and technological factors as well as changing audience preferences. The interaction between genres and media can be seen as one of the forces which contributes to changing genres. Some genres are more powerful than others: they differ in the status which is attributed to them by those who produce texts within them and by their audiences. As Tony Thwaites et al. put it, ‘in the interaction and conflicts among genres we can see the connections between textuality and power’ (Thwaites et al. 1994, 104). The key genres in institutions which are ‘primary definers’ (such as news reports in the mass media) help to establish the frameworks within which issues are defined. But genre hierarchies also shift over time, with individual genres constantly gaining and losing different groups of users and relative status. Idealist theoretical approaches to genre which seek to categorize ‘ideal types’ in terms of essential textual characteristics are ahistorical. As a result of  their dynamic nature as processes, Neale argues that definitions of genre ‘are always historically relative, and therefore historically specific’ (Neale 1995, 464). Similarly, Boris Tomashevsky insists that ‘no firm logical classification of genres is possible. Their de- An Introduction to Genre Theory marcation is always historical, that is to say, it is correct only for a specific moment of history’ (cited in Bordwell 1989, 147). Some genres are defined only retrospectively, being unrecognized as such by the original producers and audiences. Genres need to be studied as historical phenomena; a popular focus in  film studies, for instance, has been the evolution of conventions within a genre. Current genres go through phases or cycles of popularity (such as the cycle of disaster films in the 1970s), sometimes becoming ‘dormant’ for a period rather than disappearing. On-going genres and their conventions themselves change over time. Reviewing ‘evolutionary change’ in some popular film genres, Andrew Tudor concludes that it has three main characteristics: First, in that innovations are added to an existent corpus rather than replacing redundant elements, it is cumulative. Second, in that  these innovations must be basically consistent with what is already present, it is ‘conservative’. Third, in that these processes lead to the crystallization of specialist sub-genres, it involves differentiation. (Tudor 1974, 225-6) Tudor himself is cautious about adopting the biological analogy of evolution, with its implication that only those genres which are well-adapted to their functions survive. Christine Gledhill also notes the danger of essentialism in selecting definitive ‘classic’ examples towards which earlier examples ‘evolve’ and after which others ‘decline’ (Gledhill 1985, 59). The cycles and transformations of genres can nevertheless be seen as a response to political, social and economic conditions. Referring to film, Andrew Tudor notes that ‘a genre†¦ defines a moral and social world’ (Tudor 1974, 180). Indeed, a genre in any medium can be seen as embodying certain values and ideological assumptions. Again in the context of the cinema Susan Hayward argues that genre conventions change ‘according to the ideological climate of the time’, contrasting John Wayne westerns with Clint Eastwood as the problematic hero or anti-hero (Hayward 1996, 50). Leo Baudry (cited in Hayward 1996, 162) sees film genres as a barometer of the social and cultural concerns of cinema audiences; Robert Lichter et al. (1991) illustrate how televisual genres reflect the values of the programme-makers. Some commentators see mass media genres from a particular era as reflecting values which were dominant at the time. Ira Konigsberg, for instance, suggests that texts within genres embody the moral values of a culture (Konigsberg 1987, 144-5). And John Fiske asserts that generic conventions ’embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular’ 4 (Fiske 1987, 110). However, Steve Neale stresses that genres may also help to shape such values (Neale 1980, 16). Thwaites et al. see the relationship as reciprocal: ‘a genre develops according to social conditions; transformations in genre and texts can influence and reinforce social conditions’ (Thwaites et al. 1994, 100). Some Marxist commentators see genre as an instrument of social control which reproduces the dominant ideology. Within this perspective, the genre ‘positions’ the audience in order to naturalize the ideologies which are embedded in the text (Feuer 1992, 145). Bernadette Casey comments that ‘recently, structuralists and feminist theorists, among others, have focused on the way in which generically defined structures may operate to construct particular ideologies and values, and to encourage reassuring and conservative interpretations of a given text’ (Casey 193, 312). However, reader-oriented commentators have stressed that people are capable of ‘reading against the grain’. Thomas and Vivian Sobchack note that in the past popular film-makers, ‘intent on telling a story’, were not always aware of ‘the covert psychological and social†¦Ã‚  subtext’ of their own films, but add that modern film-makers and their audiences are now ‘more keenly aware of the myth-making accomplished by film genres’ (Sobchack & Sobchack 1980, 245). Genre can reflect a function which in relation to television Horace Newcombe and Paul Hirsch referred to as a ‘cultural forum’, in which industry and audience negotiate shared beliefs and values, helping to maintain the social order and assisting it in adapting to change (Feuer 1992, 145). Certainly, genres are far from being ideologically neutral. Sonia Livingstone argues, indeed, that ‘different genres are concerned to establish different world views’ (Livingstone 1990, 155). Related to the ideological dimension of genres is one modern redefinition in terms of purposes. In relation to writing, Carolyn Miller argues that ‘a rhetorically sound definition of genre must be centered not on the substance or form of discourse but on the action it is used to accomplish’ (Carolyn Miller 1984, in Freedman & Medway 1994a, 24). Following this lead, John Swales declares that ‘the principal criterial feature that turns a collection of communicative  events into a genre is some shared set of communicative purposes’ (Swales 1990, 46). In relation to the mass media it can be fruitful to consider in relation to genre the purposes not only of the producers of texts but also of those who interpret them (which need not be assumed always to match). A consensus about the primary purposes of some genres (such as news bulletins) – and of their readers – is probably easier to establish than in relation to others (such as westerns), where the very term ‘purpose’ sounds too in- An Introduction to Genre Theory strumental. However, ‘uses and gratifications’ researchers have already conducted investigations into the various functions that the mass media seem to serve for people, and ethnographic studies have offered fruitful insights into this dimension. Miller argues that both in writing and reading within genres we learn purposes appropriate to the genre; in relation to the mass media it could be argued that particular genres develop, frame and legitimate particular concerns, questions and pleasures. Related redefinitions of genre focus more broadly on the relationship between the makers and audiences  of texts (a rhetorical dimension). To varying extents, the formal features of genres establish the relationship between producers and interpreters. Indeed, in relation to mass media texts Andrew Tolson redefines genre as ‘a category which mediates between industry and audience’ (Tolson 1996, 92). Note that such approaches undermine the definition of genres as purely textual types, which excludes any reference even to intended audiences. A basic model underlying contemporary media theory is a triangular relationship between the text, its producers and its interpreters. From the perspective of many recent commentators, genres first and foremost provide frameworks within which texts are produced and interpreted. Semiotically, a genre can be seen as a shared code between the producers and interpreters of texts included within it. Alastair Fowler goes so far as to suggest that ‘communication is impossible without the agreed codes of genre’ (Fowler 1989, 216). Within genres, texts embody authorial attempts to ‘position’ readers using particular ‘modes of address’. Gunther Kress observes that: Every genre positions those who participate in  a text of that kind: as interviewer or interviewee, as listener or storyteller, as a reader or a writer, as a person interested in political matters, as someone to be instructed or as someone who instructs; each of these positionings implies different possibilities for response and for action. Each written text provides a ‘reading position’ for readers, a position constructed by the writer for the ‘ideal reader’ of the text. (Kress 1988, 107) Thus, embedded within texts are assumptions about the ‘ideal reader’, including their attitudes towards the subject matter and often their class, age, gender and ethnicity. Gunther Kress defines a genre as ‘a kind of text that derives its form from the structure of a (frequently repeated) social occasion, with its characteristic participants and their purposes’ (Kress 1988, 183). An interpretative emphasis on genre as opposed 5 to individual texts can help to remind us of the social nature of the production and interpretation of texts. In relation to film, many modern commentators refer to the commercial and industrial significance of genres. Denis McQuail argues that: The genre may be considered as a practical  device for helping any mass medium to produce consistently and efficiently and to relate its production to the expectations of its customers. Since it is also a practical device for enabling individual media users to plan their choices, it can be considered as a mechanism for ordering the relations between the two main parties to mass communication. (McQuail 1987, 200) Steve Neale observes that ‘genres†¦ exist within the context of a set of economic relations and practices’, though he adds that ‘genres are not the product of economic factors as such. The conditions provided by the capitalist economy account neither for the existence of the particular genres that have hitherto been produced, nor for the existence of the conventions that constitute them’ (Neale 1980, 51-2). Economic factors may account for the perpetuation of a profitable genre. Nicholas Abercrombie notes that ‘television producers set out to exploit genre conventions†¦ It†¦ makes sound economic sense. Sets, properties and costumes can be used over and over again. Teams of stars, writers, directors and technicians can be built up, giving economies of scale’ (Abercrombie 1996, 43). He adds that ‘genres permit the creation and maintenance of a loyal audience which becomes used to seeing programmes within a genre’ (ibid. ). Genres can be seen as ‘a means of controlling demand’ (Neale 1980, 55). The relative stability of genres enables producers to predict audience expectations. Christine Gledhill notes that ‘differences between genres meant different audiences could be identified and catered to†¦ This made it easier to standardize and stabilise production’ (Gledhill 1985, 58). In relation to the mass media, genre is part of the process of targeting different market sectors. Traditionally, literary and film critics in particular have regarded ‘generic’ texts (by which they mean ‘formulaic’ texts) as inferior to those which they contend are produced outside a generic framework. Indeed, film theorists frequently refer to popular films as ‘genre films’ in contrast to ‘non-formula films’. Elitist critics reject the ‘generic fiction’ of the mass media because they are commercial products of popular culture rather than ‘high art’. Many harbor the Romantic ideology of the primacy of authorial ‘originality’ and ‘vision’, emphasizing individual style  and artistic ‘self-expression’. In this tradition the An Introduction to Genre Theory artist (in any medium) is seen as breaking the mould of convention. For the Italian aesthetician Benedetto Croce (1866-1952), an artistic work was always unique and there could be no artistic genres. More recently, some literary and film theorists have accorded more importance to genre, counteracting the ideology of authorial primacy (or ‘auteurism’, as it is known in relation to the emphasis on the director in film). Contemporary theorists tend to emphasize the importance of the semiotic notion of intertextuality: of seeing individual texts in relation to others. Katie Wales notes that ‘genre is†¦ an intertextual concept’ (Wales 1989, 259). John Hartley suggests that ‘we need to understand genre as a property of the relations between texts’ (O’Sullivan et al. 1994, 128). And as Tony Thwaites et al. put it, ‘each text is influenced by the generic rules in the way it is put together; the generic rules are reinforced by each text’ (Thwaites et al. 1994, 100). Roland Barthes (1975) argued that it is in relation to other texts within a genre rather than in relation to lived experience that we make sense of certain  events within a text. There are analogies here with schema theory in psychology, which proposes that we have mental ‘scripts’ which help us to interpret 6 familiar events in everyday life. John Fiske offers this striking example: A representation of a car chase only makes sense in relation to all the others we have seen – after all, we are unlikely to have experienced one in reality, and if we did, we would, according to this model, make sense of it by turning it into another text, which we would also understand intertextually, in terms of what we have seen so often on our screens. There is then a cultural knowledge of the concept ‘car chase’ that any one text is a prospectus for, and that it used by the viewer to decode it, and by the producer to encode it. (Fiske 1987, 115) In contrast to those of a traditionalist literary bent who tend to present ‘artistic’ texts as nongeneric, it could be argued that it is impossible to produce texts which bear no relationship whatsoever to established genres. Indeed, Jacques Derrida proposed that ‘a text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without†¦ a genre. Every text participates in one or several genres, there is no genre-less text’  (Derrida 1981, 61). Note *In these notes, words such as text, reader and writer are sometimes used as general terms relating to ‘texts’ (and so on) in whatever medium is being discussed: no privileging of the written word (graphocentrism) is intended. Whilst it is hard to find an alternative for the word texts, terms such as makers and interpreters are sometimes used here as terms non-specific to particular media instead of the terms writers and readers. 2. Working within genres John Hartley argues that ‘genres are agents of ideological closure – they limit the meaning-potential  of a given text’ (O’Sullivan et al. 1994, 128). Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress define genres as ‘typical forms of texts which link kinds of producer, consumer, topic, medium, manner and occasion’, adding that they ‘control the behavior of producers of such texts, and the expectations of potential consumers’ (Hodge & Kress 1988, 7). Genres can be seen as constituting a kind of tacit contract between authors and readers. From the traditional Romantic perspective, genres are seen as constraining and inhibiting authorial creativity. However, contemporary theorists, even  within literary studies, typically reject this view (e. g. Fowler 1982: 31). Gledhill notes that one perspective on this issue is that some of those who write within a genre work in creative ‘tension’ with the conventions, attempting a personal inflection of them (Gledhill 1985: 63). From the point of view of the producers of texts within a genre, an advantage of genres is that they can rely on readers already having knowledge and expectations about works within a genre. Fowler comments that ‘the system of generic expectations amounts to a code, by the use of which  (or by departure from which) composition becomes more economical’ (Fowler 1989: 215). Genres can thus be seen as a kind of shorthand serving to increase the ‘efficiency’ of communication. They may even function as a means of preventing a text from dissolving into ‘individualism and incomprehensibility’ (Gledhill 1985: 63). And whilst writing within a genre involves making use of certain ‘given’ conventions, every work within a genre also involves the invention of some new elements. An Introduction to Genre Theory As for reading within genres, some argue that knowledge of genre conventions leads to passive  consumption of generic texts; others argue that making sense of texts within genres is an active process of constructing meaning (Knight 1994). Genre provides an important frame of reference which helps readers to identify, select and interpret texts. Indeed, in relation to advertisements, Varda Langholz Leymore argues that the sense which viewers make of any single text depends on how it relates to the genre as a whole (Langholz Leymore 1975, ix). Key psychological functions of genre are likely to include those shared by categorization generally – such as reducing complexity.