A Sociological Look At Jaws Essays - Film, Fiction, Entertainment

A Sociological Look At Jaws The movie I choose to review was Jaws, which is one of my favorites and a timeless classic. A traditional story about man against beast takes place on an island that depends on its summer tourist business. When the summer season in threatened by a series of shark attacks three men are sent out to track down a great white shark. The three main (human) characters are Brody (Roy Scheider), the police chief, who came to the island from New York looking, so he thought, for a change from the fears of the city. There's Quint (Robert Shaw), a caricature of the crusty old seafaring salt, who has a very personal reason for hating sharks. And there's Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), the rich kid turned oceanographer, who knows best of all what a shark can do to a man, and yet is willing to get into the water with one The movie starts just before the summer boom with a girl running out in to the ocean for a midnight dip. She is undoubtedly attacked by a shark and when she is found on the beach the next morning the town officials dismiss the find as a boating accident. Chief Brody who is not convinced of that is was a boating accident fears it was a shark attack. With the safety of not only the islanders but also the coming tourist crowds Brody tries to close the island off the tourists until the problem is solved. The Mayor sensing what Brody is up to stops the Chief from cutting off the islands only means of income. The Mayor tells Brody that no one is sure what happened to the girl and no decision like this can be made with the evidence at hand. Brody unwillingly agrees. When there is another attack, this time on a small child and in broad daylight, a meeting is called to discuss what to do about the islands problem. The Chief decides t call the mainland for help but being an island of fishermen the locals have only on thing on their minds. This is where we get to meet Quint. Quint is convinced that the only way to solve the problem is to hunt it down. He offers his services, for a nominal fee of course. In the end the Mayor decides that the best way to deal with the problem is by offering a reward to anyone who catches the shark. In comes Hooper. He arrives just in time to see the parade of fishermen cast off in any thing thatll float in hopes of catching the prize shark. With chaos erupting all around Hooper asks to see the first victim. In studying the victim Hooper discovers that she definitely did not have a boating accident and that it was a shark much larger than any he has seen before. Down at the docks someone does manage I to reel in an impressive sized tiger shark. While everyone is giving out pats on the back Hooper is the one that finds out that the wrong shark has been caught. He states that while this species has attacked humans and is foreign to these waters the bite radius doesnt match up to the first victim. Being an outsider no one is inclined to listen to Hooper. To proven his point Hooper and Brody sneak down to the docks to cut open the shark. Among many strange findings none are human remains. This piques Hoopers curiosity and he drags Brody (who is afraid of boats and water) out on his boat to see what they can find in the waters surrounding the island. They come across a boat wreck and upon closer inspection they discover that the wreck is the work of the sought after shark. With the evidence theyve uncovered Hooper and Brody go to the Mayor and demand he shut down the beaches. With no physical evidence that the wrong shark has been caught the Mayor decides to open the beaches for the 4th of July. The 4th of July is a bright and sunny day but no one is going in the water. The Mayor, fearing the worst, coaxes on of his friends to make the

The Beneficial Effects of Clearcutting essays

The Beneficial Effects of Clearcutting essays The Beneficial Effects of Clearcutting The approaches of clearcutting presents major ecological questions especially in Florida. With the ever-present population boom into the state, more areas while be needed for growing communities. The two major approaches to clearcutting are through controlled fires which devastate naturally occurring microorganisms within the soil, or through simply leveling the land through man-made machines such as bulldozers and chainsaws. Clearly the most beneficial method, both financially and ecologically, is the use of man-made machines instead of fires. In todays society it is true that there is no big demand for timber. However, there is still a price tag for timber that is sold in todays market. Clearcutting that occurs in areas of little finacial wealth depend upon the sale of timber in there areas to keep their community stable economically. Not only does clearcutting provide money for communities it also provides jobs for less-skilled workers who can provide for their Ecologically speaking, clearcutting provides the least damage against biodiversity within an ecological environment. Controlled fires release an extraordinary amount of concentrated CO2 into the air. Depending on the area of the controlled fire, harmful smoke can be inhaled for miles from the area of the burn. Individual suffering from asthma and senior citizens who predominate in Florida would be affected from burning of wood. While trees would be cut down new trees of the same species would be planted to ensure that the no certain species would go extinct in a certain area. Another ecological benefit of clearcutting is that beneficial minerals would not be leached into the ground as would occur if burning were to take place. Scientific studies have proven that clearcutting slows the rate of mineral leaching. This could be due to microorganisms that live centimete...

What main aspects and impacts of the Thirty-Years-War are reflected in Assignment

What main aspects and impacts of the Thirty-Years-War are reflected in Grimmelshausen's Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus - Assignment Example novel written in satirical style Grimmelshausen depicted decline and collapse of his country’s population and peasants suffering from the cruel war. He wanted to show the peasants’ protest against injustice, lack of food, taxation, social and religious intolerance, and violence. The fact that Simplicissimus is full of progressive political argumentation shows that Grimmelshausen very well informed about politics and details of the war. As a person who participated in the war he described the events and draw small details very precisely. The novel is worth-reading and historically valuable. In spite of the fact that the author chooses no concrete heroes as protagonists, Simplicissimus, who is considered to be the main character of the book, tells the story of an innocent child who got experience in The Thirty-Years-War. In general he tells the life stories of people who participate in the war and should fight in order to survive, but in the end they are either physically injured or mentally traumatized. The book was written under the horrific impressions of the Thirty-Years-War and as it contains a lot of facts from the author’s life, it is considered to be an autobiographic novel. Simplicius tries to correct mishaps of the world and in the funny way tells the truth about all evils. After lots of misfortunes he decides to settle on an uninhabited island. He undergoes different stages of life (military service, triumph, wealth, disease, travels etc.), but finally, the character withdraws from the world. Like the author Simplicius was separated from his family and had to do a military service. The place of birth (Hanau), the siege of Magdeburg, the exploits in Westphalia correspond to the facts from Grimmelshausen’s life. All the events, which are documentary ones, have appropriate chronological order, because imaginary events are well documented. Thus, â€Å"Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus† is a great document in German literature, which presents