Learning Management Systems (LMS) in Universities

Learning Management Systems (LMS) in Universities Abstract Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are the typically adopted technology and they provide a significant tool in supporting blended learning in universities. Therefore, these systems are being explored from various aspects. Educational technologists conclude that every university or even departments within the same university differ in its experience in adopting these systems. Department of Industrial Management, University of Kelania is adopting the LMS portal for supporting blended learning. This university administration raises considerable attention in assessing the actual extent of staff and student adoption of the LMS. In this regard this paper presents data collected from the surveyed 100 students at the Department of Industrial Management, university of Kelaniya regarding their LMS adoption. Keywords: Introduction The significance to the advancements of web-based technologies is the development of powerful software systems, known as learning management systems (LMS), have become a widely-used technology and a key instrument in supporting e-learning in higher educational institutions. As LMS offers numerous benefits to individuals and institutions, many universities have deployed some form of LMS. Students can access course materials independent of time and location. Significantly, it opens up fresh potentials for initiating academic innovations where students function as dynamic, control their own learning, develop critical thinking and become collaborative participants. In addition, LMS provides an automated mechanism for teachers in the management of online courses, allowing them to create, add, modify, customize, and reuse digital content and learning objects and tracking learner progress. Blended learning is defined as a combination (blend) of e-learning and face to face classroom learning environments (Graham,2006; Wu and Hwang, 2010; Murshitha S.M and Wickramarachchi A.P.R, 2015) Recently, blending learning has been increasing in higher education, as students are involved in collaborative learning and interaction with instructors and classmates (Wu et al., 2010). Almost all universities in Sri Lanka have developed their own LMS portal for the use of their own lecturers and students. The administrators of Sri Lankan universities are keen on assessing the actual status of faculty and students usage of the LMS as the acquisition or construction of such a system and its annual cost of operation are significant. Investigating and assessing the usage of LMS within a department and especially between different departments and universities is essential for its continuous use. The objective of this study is to investigate the status (extent of use) of LMS adoption in blended learning at university level. This research will be interested to both researcher and university community, as it will significantly contribute and improve the body of knowledge in the context of LMS adoption. Literature Review All learning management systems are not the same; they can be adopted in different ways. Different tools such as activity tools (Lesson, HTML page, Glossary, Assignments, Quiz, Choice, Database, Workshop, Wiki, Chat and Forum etc.), blocks (People, Calendar, Online Users, Latest News, Upcoming Events, Search, etc.) and filters (associated components to the activity tools and the blocks) are integrated in a single system which offers all necessary tools to run and manage an e-learning course. All learning activities and materials in a course are organized and managed by and within the system. Significant dedication in universities using an LMS is how to evaluate the actual extent of LMS usage by the staff and student. While the trends are towards more student centric learning tools, the research done has shown that yet the teaching staff is the key driver of an LMS usage. The need for a reliable guide of the extent of LMS usage becomes apparent when one considers the complexity of assessing to what extent an LMS is actually used within an university. In this direction, range of aspects of LMS adoption, implementation, support, and usage have been the subject of numerous studies (McQuiggan, C. A. 2007). Lane determined that the manner of LMS usage was largely shaped by the nature of the product as introduced to faculty [14]. Kincannon earlier studied the reaction of faculty to use of a C/LMS and determined that faculty expressed dissatisfaction at the time demands imposed by using it [13]. Amrein-Beardsley, et. al [4], Allen and Seamans for the Sloan Consortium [2], the Georgia Vista Implementation Enterprise Wide study [25], Harrington [12] and Morgan [19] all attempted to gain insight into C/LMS usage via student or instructor-supplied data, and to assess the level of faculty adoption of C/LMS via the use of surveys, determining that 96% of the largest institutions of higher learning were, as of 2006, using C/LMS to support online learning in addition to in-class courses. Vonderwell, et. al [26], Cramer, et. al [9], Mandinach [15], Tobin [23], Shiratuddin [22], and Bork [8] attempted to evolve methods for the assessment of student performance, or propose reasoned suggestions for the improvement of performance, when C/LMS software was involved in the process of education. Yet a glaring omission exists in the empirical measurement of the actual extent of usage of C/LMS by faculty derived from the databases supporting a given C/LMS, that is, regularly measuring the extent of faculty usage of the C/LMS as evidenced by the contents of the database supporting it, making it possible to detect and respond to trends. The lack of adequate means of assessing C/LMS usage has prompted some researchers to propose the application of data warehousing technology to the problem of providing a base of readily accessible faculty and student C/LMS usage data. Van Dyk and Conradie [24] proposed such an approach in 2007 in support of action research, defined by ZuberSkerrit as a critical enquiry by academics themselves into their own teaching practice, into problems of student learning and into curriculum problems[30]. The prototype data warehouse they proposed was intended to be used directly by instructors who were interested in studying the relationship between learning styles as defined and measured using the Felder index of learning styles [11] and student interaction with the C/LMS, and potentially conducting other similar ad hoc studies. Their prototype data warehouse was formed according to established dimensional techniques and In order to assess the usage and extent of use of LMS this research adopted Janossys, J (2008) assessment method that make it possible to assess usage between units of a university and between universities, drove the development and proposal outlined in detail in Figure 2.2 , which depicts a model for the derivation of a simple metric expressed as a number from 0 through 13. Figure 2. 2 Janossys LMS Usage Level and Metric Values       The formation of this model proceeds from the definition of five overall levels of possible C/LMS use. These five levels span the continuum from no use of the C/LMS by an instructor through a level which exceeds the capabilities of most C/LMS systems using the technology currently available to many institutions (Janossy,J., 2008). The Figure 2.3 provides greater detail concerning the functional usage represented by each metric value, proceeding from the lowest value through the highest: Figure 2. 3 A Level-Model for Assessing The LMS Usage among Staff and students Level 0 refers to no LMS usage. Thus, the lecturer does not create a course in LMS or does not activate student access to the LMS for the students in the course if a course is automatically created in the LMS. Level 1, refers to the very basic usage of the system only for uploading lesson content by the teaching staff and downloading lesson content or submitting assignments by the students. Level 2, refers to the usage of communication tool in an LMS. It includes the usage of modules such as email, discussion forum or chat. Level 3, refers to the usage of the testing tool (quizzes, pool or survey). For instance, students can take some quizzes and tests online, with some scores provided immediately possibly with feedback answers for incorrect items and similar. Level 4, is defined with a view to the current technological developments which require to share knowledge and to treat users as co-developers. Currently this was achieved by adding a blog module on the system but in the future there might be other modules to enrich this level of LMS usage. It is interesting to note that one could draw a parallel between the levels of this model and the theories of learning. In fact, the lowest levels of the LMS usage actually correspond to the more teacher centered approach which is typical for a basic level of learning and behaviorism. As we go upper in the level spectrum of LMS usage actually we move towards constructivism and social constructivism and end up in Level 4 which promotes building knowledge through sharing experiences and co-developing which on the other hand are some of the main principles of connectivism. Assessment of the LMS adoption in learning process. A total of 100 questionnaires are distributed and all of them are returned and usable. Table 1 summarizes the demographic profile and descriptive statistics of the respondents. Item Frequency Percentage Gender Male Female 38 62 38 62 Age or Level 20-22 (Level 2) 23-25 (Level 3) 48 52 48 52 PC ownership Yes No 84 16 84 16 Laptop ownership Yes No 94 06 94 06 Often of LMS use Regular Just-to download 30 70 30 70 Table 1: Demographic profile and descriptive statistics of surveyed students This section describes the answer for the research question, thus how is the status of LMS adoption in learning process? In doing so, descriptive profiles for each of the adoption variables are explored. Table 4.59 exhibits the descriptive profile of the five LMS adoption tools i.e. downloading lesson, chat, discussion forum, e-mail and assessment. Table 4. 59 Descriptive Profile of LMS Adoption Tools The conceptualization of students LMS adoption consists of five LMS tools namely, downloading lesson content, chat, discussion forum, e-mail and assessment. However based on the analyzed data only two LMS tools i.e. downloading lesson content and assessment were prominently adopted by students at Department of Industrial Management, University of Kelaniya. Downloading lesson content relates to the utilization of LMS for downloading notes that are uploaded by their lecturers. In this instance, lecturers impose the students to use this tool by uploading their lesson contents. In fact, findings of this study revealed that students downloading lesson contents was the highest in terms of mean compared to other LMS tools. Since being a student, one is always subject to lecturers decision. Hence, by uploading lesson content lecturers insist or impose students to use this tool and students without any questions must abide and adhere. Moreover, findings from lecturers questionnaire also indicted that all most all lecturers use this tool to upload their lesson content. Chat denotes to the utilization of LMS for the purpose of pedagogical chatting via LMS and students are being monitored by the administrator. Hence, they use this tool only for the above purpose. Findings of this study showed that chat tool recorded the lowest mean. There would be two reasons behind this lowest mean. The first reason is, normally students are being more interested and constantly engaged in chatting other than pedagogical one and use chatting tools such as facebook, twitter, skype, whatsup, viber, tango etc. The second reason is, a very few lecturers use this chatting tool as evident by lecturers questionnaire and they do not insist or impose the students to use this tool as they insist the students to download the lesson content. Discussion forum, relates to the utilization of LMS for the purpose of discussing on a certain topic with their peers and lecturers to enhance the critical thinking, analytical skills and exchange of their knowledge. Findings of this study showed that the tool of discussion forum also recorded lower mean. There would be two reasons behind this. The first reason is, as the respondents are the internal students, they have enough time for discussing face to face. The second reason is, according to the data derived from lecturers questionnaire only 25% of lectures use this discussion forum. Hence, students also do not give preference to this tool as their lecturers. E-mail denotes the adoption of LMS for communication purposes. This is also same as the previous two tools. Thus students use other mail accounts in yahoo, gmail for their e-mailing purpose. Assessment tool relates to the utilization of LMS for the purpose of assessing students through various sub assessment tools such as quizzes, short answers, multiple choice, essay questions etc. Results revealed second scoring for assessment tool in adopting LMS. This is because; students are being imposed by their lecturers to adopt this tool, as they are imposed by lecturers to download lesson contents. Findings from lecturers questionnaire indicted that 80% of lecturers use the assessment tool to assess their students. From the above discussion it is obvious that, subjective norm has a strong predictive power in determining individuals behavior. Thus, subjective norm in the form of lecturers acceptance and use of technology were found to influence students acceptance and use of the same. Thus if lecturers use or adopt LMS, students also believe it as important to them and they also imitate their lecturers and vice versa. Research Methods This study is descriptive in nature and self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. The questionnaire was divided into three sections. References Graham, C.R. (2006) Chapter 1: Blended Learning System: Definition, Current Trends, Future Directions in Bonk, C. J. and C.R. Graham (eds.) Handbook of Blended Learning, San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. McQuiggan, C. A. (2007). The role of faculty development in online teachings potential to question teaching beliefs and assumptions. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 10(3). Lane, L. M. (2007). Course Management Systems and Pedagogy. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://lisahistory.net/pages/CMSandPedagogy.htm Wu, W. C, Hwang, L. Y.(2010) The Effectiveness of e-Learning for Blended Courses in Colleges International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp.312-322 (2010)

Metternich System

â€Å"France made its revolutions and gave them their ideas, to the point where a tricolor of some kind became the emblem of virtually every emerging nation, and European (or indeed world) politics between 1789 and 1917 were largely the struggle for and against the principles of 1789, or the even more incendiary ones of 1793. † The principles of the French revolution lived on in every European continent; the French Revolution poured out its ideas and sent shock waves throughout Europe.Therefore this phenomenon together with the period of enlightenment, contributed to the rise of consciousness and of antagonism against the â€Å"Ancien Regime† (a general term for ‘The Old Order’ in Europe before the French Revolution of 1789, when most countries were ruled by absolute monarchs and the aristocracy were the dominant class). The Bourgeoisie class took full advantage of this period to bring across their needs and Ideologies but was rarely at the forefront of the revolution as the peasants were usually causing the riots. The Bourgeoisie played a more underlying role in this revolution.The people within the perimeters of the European wanted nationalism and liberalism. Napoleon Bonaparte also known as the â€Å"little corporal† came and restored stability and glory to France , â€Å"He was the man of the Revolution, and the man who brought stability. † Napoleon brought the French Revolution to its conclusion when he entered the French arena to restore peace by putting an end to the â€Å"Reign of Terror â€Å"and extinguishing the fire of the Bourgeoisie . His megalomaniac personality and ambitious thirst for battles made France a great power in Europe.This was illustrated in the series of battles he won, â€Å"Napoleon fought about sixty battles in his career and won all but a few of them, he rose to power because of his victories and fell because of his defeats. † Metternich’s influence came about before the en d of Napoleon’s regime. â€Å"Metternich was first appointed foreign minister in 1809 the Habsburg Empire was at its lowest point in its struggle against Napoleon. The French leader had forced the Empire out of its northern Italian territories, taken over the Austrian Netherlands and subsumed the Habsburg parts of Poland into the Duchy of Warsaw.Habsburg domination of Germany had also been smashed as a result of the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. This was a particularly powerful psychological blow to the dynasty’s sense of self worth: the Habsburgs had been Holy Roman Emperors for almost all of the previous 400 years and suddenly it no longer existed. To add insult to injury, this particular act of Napoleonic modernisation changed the title of the Habsburg Emperor from Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, to Francis I, Emperor of the remaining Habsburg dominions. One of the few times in history that a monarch has been devalued. Napoleon was defeated in 1815, after w hich the initiative was taken through the employment of the Vienna Congress of 1814-1815, to restore political stability to the fragile European which Napoleon had compromised. The Vienna Congress was chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, its objective was to address issues which arose out of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. This settlement lead to the redrawing of the continental map, in so doing establishing new boundaries of France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italian territories and Napoleon’s duchy of Warsaw.In 1815 when Napoleon failed to reassert his influence over Europe, the Congress of Vienna to all intensive purposes coped well with this problem. The Second Treaty of Paris further punished the French by reducing her borders to that of 1790, enforcing a large indemnity on her as well as forcing her to give back the stolen art pillaged from European Cities. This was a just punishment for France who had supported and welcomed Napoleon’s return. Additionally the Congress was against liberalism and nationalism which infiltrated into other European states from the French Revolution which they felt would disrupt their conservatism. First, it was necessary to build a security ring around the recent aggressor, France, and second, to provide the customary cartographical compensation for all the allied partners. † The Congress of Vienna also had to deal with the key matters of containing France, which was accomplished by strengthening those countries on the French border. The Austrian Netherlands was incorporated into Holland, and on France's southern borders, Piedmont, Nice and Savoy became one state.Of course these new single states, not one could contain France by physical presence alone and so the Quadruple Alliance was signed by the major powers for a further 20 years should France rise up again the Congress was very â€Å"lenient† towards France despite the fact that they had just been defeated. Their main purpo se was to restore the â€Å"status quo† and by doing this, they were able to ignore the demands for democracy and nationalism by the French people. Metternich made every effort to remove political or administrative power from local or subordinate levels and oncentrate it in a central authority was illustrated through his opposition of conservatism. He was of the opinion that that social mobility should be based on ascription not on achievement. Metternich was known for his advocation of strong, administratively efficient governmental organization which he felt was successfully portrayed by his ideal form of government the monarchs. This is captured when he said he opposed any other type of government and constitutional change which he felt would inevitably lead to chaos and revolutions.Metternich was aware that all of Europe was conscientious and was aroused easily by the ever present spirit of nationalism and liberalism inherited from the French Revolution. Consequently this is the sole reason for his objection of liberalism and nationalism becoming operational. â€Å"Metternich therefore set his face against any constitutional change. Comparing revolution in turn to a hydra ready to swallow everthing up, to a fire, to a flood, and later to the cholera, hostile to the sovereignty of the people and constitutional government. As such Metternich’s principles opposed the ideology of liberty, equality and fraternity. The spread of Metternich’s ideology throughout Europe he tried to ensure that this objective was not materialized. Another great political idea development by Metternich was the Holy Alliance in 1815; this alliance was created by Tsar Alexander I, members of this alliance included Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The Holy Alliance was implemented to maintain the status quo so that the bourgeoisie were hindered from infiltrating into the upper class.Additionally the Quadruple Alliance of April 22, 1834 formed between Spain, France, B ritian and Portugal, was aimed at ensuring the victory of liberalism, at accomplishing a collective security and protecting the existing peace and balance of power. Social factors is seem as a factor that resulted in the revolutions. The 1820’s revolution damages were widespread as the first bout of unrest was experienced. Revolutionary upheavals began in the Italian states of Naples,Piedmont and Sicily.These revolutions â€Å"occurred because the political systems reimposed on Europe were profoundly, and in a period of rapid social change increasinglyinadequate for the political conditions of the Continent, and because of economic and social discontents were acute as to †¦outbreaks virtually inevitable. † They felt that the Metternich system disregarded their desire for liberalism and nationalism. In 1818, the church was restored to supremacy, regaining its influencial power in Naples this angered the people and the resentment against the leadership grew.The libe rals were inciting members of society to stage revolutions in efforts to gain freedom and oppose the leadership of the Kings whose rulings reflected the ideologies of the Metternich system. A proletarian and socialist revolutionary movement â€Å"was chiefly visible in the countries of the dual revolutions, Britian and France. † The most notably results of 1830’s revolution was the â€Å"modifications of left-wing politics. They split moderates from radicals and they created a new international situation. In doing so they helped to split the movement not only into different social but into different national segments. The 1820’s and the 1830’s revolution both failed miserably because of little cooperation among the revolutionary movement and due to isolation of territories which preferred to stay alienated instead of forming union between the territories. The economic factors must now be considered, Metternich’s system amended the administration t hroughout Europe. As such the changes fostered by the Vienna Congress in particular was a major handicap for some countries. The Vienna Congress rulings were catastrophic to France who had to repatriate seven million francs and relinquish some colonies from the Italian providences to Austria.Primarily because of the personal interest Metternich had in Austria such drastic effects were taken, therefore it can be stated that the major powers of the Vienna Congress made decisions to their individual advantage. Germany was another state who suffered immense losses just as France in efforts to settle international disputes. The territories bought economic stability as it increased the size of their purses and their power on the international arena. The Metternich system assisted in the financial prosperity of some nations while it crippled the acquisition of economic stability of other imperial powers.Metternich fetish of restoring the monarchy of many countries was a financial burden on many countries whose desire was to be included in this grand change. The economic hardships were responsible for many of the revolutions in Europe both before and after the Metternich’s rule. The congress of Aix-La Chapelle in 1818 had a major concern about what should be done with France in terms of allowing them to attend future congress meetings and more importantly if they should relieve them of their military occupation.The congress came to a unanimous decision on both issues where they allowed France to return to future meetings and the military occupation would end. â€Å"Metternich also frustrated Russian hopes of facilitating a Franco-Russian alliance as a counter to the Austrian-British alignment. He achieved this by sowing the seeds of mistrust between the two powers. The Congress of Aix-La-Chapelle therefore coped well with the problem facing it in 1818. † There was another meeting in 1820 that took place in Troppau which was convened to discuss the matter s about the uprising In Spain and Naples.Each of the main powers at the congress had a different view about how the matter should be handled. Metternich made the decision to take action in Naples as it posed a great threat to Austrian influence in Italy. Alexander who represented Russia at the congress wanted to send troops into Spain to restore the monarchy (Ferdinand) while Casltereagh (Britain) thought that Naples and Spain were continental problems and as a result were not a concern of the British.The end result was the signing of the Troppau protocol which was a great success for Metternich as he gained the support of Russia and isolated France. As Metternich gained the support of Russia, he somewhat lost the support of the British. â€Å"However on the whole the congress system itself had failed to cope with the problems of Spain and Naples. The question of Spain would remain a problem even after the Congress of Verona in 1822, and the Troppau agreement had split the major po wers in two. The system could not cope without a general agreement by all the major powers.The main problem was, all the major powers had differing opinions and interests, which made certain a general agreement on a course of action was unlikely. Without such an agreement time would run out on the lifeline of the system. † The Congress met for the last time in Verona, 1822 to discuss the fact that Spain was still facing problems and there was a revolution that was taking place in Greece as well. â€Å"It might seem as though the Congress had coped well with the problems it faced but this is misleading.The Spanish problem, had been a problem since 1820 and was still not solved. Metternich who had pressed for the signing of the Troppau protocol would still not summon action to be taken. † The congress system finally met its end in 1822. Some historians have argued that the system itself was a failure, however in my opinion this was not the case. Metternich accomplished a lot during his time such as his defeat of Napoleon and the formation of the Vienna Congress. â€Å"The Congresses stretching from Vienna to Verona had to contend with a number of issues and t was not surprising given the nature of the system itself that certain problems would split the powers in attendance. After all the motivation behind the creation of the Congress Meeting was to deal with France, and not to deal with revolutionary uprisings. How could the Congress system deals with problems it was not designed to face. † There were multiple views on all of issues which arose after 1818 and up to 1822 could not be accommodated. At Vienna and Aix La Chappelle the powers in attendance came to a general agreement, but there would be a time when no such agreement would be possible.This can be seen with the Troppau protocol which split the powers in two. â€Å"After the congress of Troppau time was effectively running out on the life line of the congress system. Britain no long er wanted to be involved in continental affairs that did not concern her directly and the other European powers had a mutual suspicion of one another's ambitions and interests. Forces of political intrigue were working behind the scenes to isolate powers and force an agreement on a certain course of action. †

Compare and Contrast High Fidelity Novel and Film Essay

High Fidelity, the novel written by Nick Hornby, and the film adaptation, directed by Stephen Frears, both portrayed the vital information for the plot however, Hornby was able to convey the ideas better through literary techniques. The novel was adapted into a feature film in 2000 starring John Cusack as Rob and directed by Stephen Frears. The movie was accurate in portraying the novel to a certain extent. The film was able to successfully represent the main ideas of the original novel but when it came to the minute details, it was lacking the contributions of the story that gave it a certain tone that the Hornby, was trying to convey to his audience. The most noticeable differences are: the importance, or the unnecessary significance, described of Rob’s previous girls other than Laura; the visual similarities of the characters of the novel to the characters of the film; and the use of literary techniques and filming techniques that add emphasis to the story in different ways from the novel and the film’s perspectives. The opening prologue that sets the tone for the novel describes the top five break-ups that Rob has encountered in his life, making a point not to include Laura, his recently ex-girlfriend, because â€Å"those places are reserved for the kind of humiliations and heart breaks that [she is] just not capable of delivering† (13) . Rob spends the opening of the book talking about his top five break-ups, but after that he only references them again when he was trying to figure out what went wrong in each of his relationships prior to Laura. This is different in the film. The film tries to place more importance on his previous break-ups and relationships than is absolutely necessary. The novel talks briefly about the break-ups in the prologue, but the film draws out Rob’s explanation of the failed relationships trying to give the perception that they are incorporated into Rob’s everyday life. In the film, Rob narrates about his failed relationships while going through his daily routine. He narrates to the audience of each of his top five worst break-ups in times throughout the day where a normal person would carryout their daily routines. Doing this in the film gives the audience the impression that the ex-girlfriends are going to pose as important characters throughout the main character’s journey, which is not in true accordance with the novel. Along with the remembrance of Rob’s top five worst break-ups, the films also imposes emphasis upon Marie LaSalle, an exotic and mysterious artist that Rob has a one night stand with. The novel speaks of Marie in passing, only recognizing her as an artist that Rob had a one night stand with who was the deciding factor in Rob’s wanting to be Laura because he loved her. On the contrary, the representation of Marie LaSalle in the film is that of a potential fling of Rob’s that almost created a love triangle between Rob, Marie, and Laura, a different plot line than what was intended by the novel. Nick Hornby went into great detail about how the characters looked, specifically referencing Rob’s relationships. When comparing the descriptions Hornby gives of each woman that Rob was in a relationship with in the novel to the actresses that were cast to play those roles in the film, there are no similarities other than the lines they spoke. In the novel, Rob describes Laura to have â€Å"her hair cut, same as usual, very short, sixties short, like Mia Farrow, except – and [he’s] not just being creepy – she’s better suited to this sort of cut that Mia. It’s because her hair is so dark, nearly black, that when it’s short her eyes seem to take up most of her face† (121). In the film, however, the actress cast to play Laura, Iben Hjejle, is a blonde with shoulder length hair that does not have big eyes, rather, she has a very strong jaw bone and small eyes. Although the novel was only written a short five years previous to the making of the film, changing the look of Laura in the film may have been done to better suit the style of the early 2000s rather than that of the mid 1990s and to also make a better distinction of the different settings in the novel and film. The looks of London in 1995 were much different than those of Chicago in 2000. The novel wanted to better capture Laura’s style of the 1995 skinhead movement of the European fads, as described in the novel, whereas the film was trying to portray Laura as being more of a punk in modern society trying to break into the working class. Laura was not the only woman in Rob’s life that was not translated correctly from the novel to the film; the description of Maria LaSalle was also lost in translation when trying to create her to be an on screen character. In the novel, Rob describes that â€Å"Marie is pretty, in the that nearly cross-eyed American way – she looks like a slightly plumper, post Partridge Family, pre-L. A. law Susan Dey – and if you were going to develop a spontaneous and pointless crush on somebody, you could do a lot worse† (77). Describing Marie as being similar to an actress from the American television show the Partridge Family gives the impression that she is an all-American woman, given that the audience has an already perceived knowledge for American television shows. Rob is interested in Marie not only for the fact that she is a musician, but also that she is an exotic figure in the eyes of a British man. American women in Europe are just as exotic and mysterious as a non-American woman coming to the United States; men are infatuated with the unfamiliar, thus drawing Rob to Marie. The novel intertextualizes Marie to have looks similar to Susan Dey, who is a white female with a sort of free-spirited style closely related to that of a hippie, leading the audience to believe that Marie LaSalle was an average American, white woman with an Indie style. In the film, however, Lisa Bonet is cast to play Marie LaSalle; she has mixed skin and the style that is closely relatable to Alanis Morissette, who also has a free-spirited style but in a darker manner than Susan Dey. Because the film was not set in Britain, there was a need to find an actress who had exotic looks from the perception of the average American. The film was successful in portraying Marie as an exotic and mysterious character to the American culture thanks in large part to the acting of Lisa Bonet, but the film was not fully able to portray Marie LaSalle as being as unfamiliar to the American culture unlike the portrayal of her in the novel. What made the novel relatable to the audience was the intertextuality that was used to help portray Rob’s ideas so that the audience better understood what he was thinking and relating his situations to. Being that a film is not able to have a continual background of narration, it used music to help portray Rob’s ideas. Using background music as a character in the film helped to better translate the ideas and inner dialogue of Rob that cannot fully be portrayed in the film. In both the novel and the film, he was such a big believer as music being an essential part to a person’s life so this also bettered the adaption of Rob’s character from the printed version to the film. The intertextuality in the novel that was not easily noticeable in the cinematic version was Hornby’s instances of relating Rob’s life to major films easily identifiable to the audience, for instance, when Rob relates his life to the movie When Harry Met Sally. At one point in the novel, Rob is questioning happiness and says that: â€Å"surely people who are happy should look happy, at all times, no matter how much money they have or how uncomfortable their shoes are or how little their child is sleeping; and people who are doing OK but have still not found their soul mate should look, I don’t know, well but anxious, like Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally† (257). In the film, music becomes an aid to better understand the tone and storyline of the scene. I Want Candy† is playing in the background when the film is flashing back to show Rob’s first relationship with Alison Ashworth. This is done to try to express the immaturity that Rob is stuck in at that moment. Since the film cannot have a continuous narrator and the novel does not have a soundtrack, each uses what the other cannot in order to enhance the intended tone and original ideas portrayed in the novel. In conclusion, the fact that the film changed the setting was a major contributing factor of the differences and misconnections of the novel to film. Because the setting was not in England, there was a need to make a transition from British pop-culture and British perceptions to American pop-culture and perception so that the film could be more relatable to its American audience. The use of techniques that can only be used in certain artistic mediums, such as soundtracks and intertextuality, helped to better translate the novel to a film. In all, the film was able to present the ideas and plot in a restricted way but still in an entirety that Nick Hornby was able to do with more detail in his novel.

Culture Of The Middle East - 4300 Words

Introduction I explored the culture of the Middle East because I find it very interesting and different from my own. I feel as if many people hold a strong negative feeling against people from the Middle East because of terrorist attacks in the past. Middle Eastern culture is different from American culture and some people are not culturally aware so they do not understand Middle Eastern culture, therefore, people judge off of what they know. After visiting and researching the Middle East I have came to change my views as well as well I am now culturally aware of some Middle Eastern cultures and traditions. My views have grown more positively since I am more aware of what Middle Eastern culture consists of and how it is different from my own. More people need to become more cultural sensitive and aware of different cultures besides their own so they can rid ignorance of different people. I wanted to look at different parts of Middle Eastern family structure, social norms, and gender differences in marriages and in society. I wanted to look at how people outside of Middle Eastern culture view Middle Eastern Americans. I was also interested in the victimization and passiveness Middle Eastern women and the gender differences between males and females living in Middle East as well as how feminism can change political views in the Middle East. I am also interested in looking at the political views and how much of religion influences the Middle East and how it differs fromShow MoreRelatedThe Culture Of The Middle East1476 Words   |  6 PagesIt is noted that every Middle Eastern Country are publicly fascinated of the Dabke dance. Each of the Middle Eastern nation claims they are the best at dancing Dabke. They also claim to have to have invented the dance (Hussein, 2016). However, there is the truth and reality behind the dance. Dabke is also referred to as Dabka or even Dabkeh. It is those names that the Middle Eastern people refer to the actual dance that is nor mally used by different dialect. The dance is universal irrespective ofRead MoreEast Asian Films And Its Impact On The Middle Asian Cultures1076 Words   |  5 PagesEast Asian films offered a glimpse into a world I had never seen; a world that appeared different from my own background, but nevertheless intrigued me. A simple anime show led to the discovery of Korean dramas, and resulted in the culmination of a Korean minor five years later. Although I lacked the financial resources to actually travel, film served as my first exposure to different East Asian cultures. I would be remiss if now, as a student at Georgetown University, I did not take the opportunityRead MoreEssay about Islam: The Rich Culture of the Middle East936 Words   |  4 Pageswhat sect he belongs to. 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Most people only expose themselves to information that matches their own opinions and beliefs. Instead of learning and exploring new things about the world they stick to what they know becauseRead MoreWomen And The Middle East And North Africa1148 Words   |  5 PagesThe diversities within North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia (cultural, religious, political, etc.) play a crucial part in the status of women and the key features of gender roles in these particular geographic regions. The Middle East and North Africa share commonalities through Arabic and Islamic culture. Establishing equalities for women amongst the current social and political c hanges of Middle Eastern and North African societies stands as a difficult obstacle to overcome, but in