Critically evaluate the contribution of psychological theories to our Essay

Critically evaluate the contribution of psychological theories to our understanding of the entrepreneur - Essay Example In the process the paper undertakes a comparison and contrast of the two approaches; critique on their use in entrepreneurial settings, for making decisions, and for commercial and business purposes; and a discussion of other factors besides traits and behavior that also contribute to understanding how and why entrepreneurs behave and differ in their rates of success. The paper concludes by answering the question of whether or not psychological approaches complement existing entrepreneurship theory. The traits approach, as the name suggests, focuses on personality traits and how those personality traits in the case of entrepreneurs help explain their nature, and their success or failure in their ventures (Rauch and Frese 2007; McCrae 1987). The cognitive approach, on the other hand, focuses on so-called cognitive processes as keys to understanding the psychology of entrepreneurs, and what makes for successes and failures. This school of thought basically also discounts the power of t he traits approach to make sense of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial behavior and dynamics, and argues for looking into the thought processes of entrepreneurs and the way they relate to behavioral outcomes (Psychology and Entrepreneurship 2013, slides 14-22; Barron 1998; Busenitz and Barney 1997). II. Discussion A. Traits Approach vs. ... On the other hand, studies which prove the fluidity of behavior of people in general in different situations put forth the conclusion that personality traits are not consistent at all, and that therefore they cannot be relied on as the foundation of an approach to understand entrepreneurs and their motivations (Mischel and Peake 1982; Psychology and Entrepreneurship 2013, slides 12-13). The same argument is posited by those who point to studies that say that in terms of personality traits entrepreneurs are not much different from other people who are not entrepreneurial (Baron 1998, pp. 275-277). Meanwhile, the cognitive approach moves away from personality traits and the language of the traits approach, to focus on entrepreneurial thought processes and cognition processes, and the way entrepreneurs make use of heuristic thinking, are prone to cognitive biases of all sorts, and focuses generally on an explanation of behavior rather than on the prediction of behavior for entrepreneurs . The cognitive approach is seen as overcoming the static and related biases of the traits approach, and is regarded as being more effective in complex, dynamic settings. Both meanwhile have some success in explaining the risks, financial considerations, and the kind of creative and open-ended thinking, as well as the cognitive shortcuts and biases, that go into entrepreneurial thinking (Psychology and Entrepreneurship 2013, slides 14-22; Barron 1998; Busenitz and Barney 1997). B. Critique on Use in Entrepreneurial and Commercial Settings, in Decision Making Decision-making between entrepreneurs and ordinary managers make clear that cognitive approaches, as well as

Strengs Concepts Of Ultimate Dimension And Ultimate Reality Religion Essay

Strengs Concepts Of Ultimate Dimension And Ultimate Reality Religion Essay Q 1. Briefly define and discuss Strengs concepts of ultimate dimension and ultimate reality. Choose one of these concepts and explain how it manifests in one of the three monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity or Islam and give an example to back up your explanation. According to Frederick Streng (1985), the ultimate dimension of religious expression is achieved when a person reaches a deep sensitivity of the ultimate reality and has an action plan to continue seeing that reality. The ultimate dimension is where a person belongs when he is working toward his ultimate transformation. The ultimate dimension can be the reality that a person sees as he develops his frame of reference to distinguish between what is right and what is significant for him. The ultimate reality is one of the common experience or expression of the ultimate dimension as it is the process for people to establish their values of life. When people decided what is right and what is significant for them, they build their identity and an understanding of the reasons behind their behaviours (Streng, p.6) . In turn, this ultimate frame of reference, which we called wisdom, allows them to further develop themselves into greater beings. The ultimate reality can be seen differently ac cording to different peoples perceptions. One of the means to reach ultimate transformation is through religion as it helps people to be aware of the cosmic order by performing scared rite or an ethical act. In Islamic traditions, Muslims need observe the Five Pillars of Islam which are to bear witness, to pray, to do almsgiving, to fast during Ramadan and to do a pilgrimage to Makkah. Those rites of worship are to train the mind into understanding Gods sacred laws through practicing the way of living like the Prophet Muhammad. The sacred laws, which were revealed by God through His chosen prophets, are to guide humanity to not fear or grieve (Ayoub, p. 69). They were first transmitted orally for centuries until they were written and organized into the Quran. Different interpretations of Quran and sunnah have encouraged the development of various religious schools such as Islamic mysticism. In extreme cases, some followers have proclaimed their direct relationship with God through r igorous asceticism and divine love. For example, in Rabiahs ultimate reality, the only way to understand Gods sacred laws is to love God so passionately that her entire focus is on Him and not in desiring for paradise or fearing hell. This method allowed her to distinguish what is real for her and what is not. This connection with the reality allows Rabiah to live beyond her limits and away from the destructive forces of everyday existence (Streng, p.3). No one has the right answer to what is the ultimate reality, but everyone builds their own definition when they reached the level of ultimate dimension. However, we know that seeing the ultimate reality can be a source of joy, goodness, balance or power (Streng, pp.7-8). Q 2. According to Streng, the cultural dimension of religion includes historical conditions. Briefly define cultural dimension and then discuss some of the historical conditions during the time of Jesus, as well as those during the rise of Islam and the life of Mohammed. All religions have been marked by their historical past The cultural dimension of religion plays an important role in influencing the development of a person and communitys expression of their ultimate values because it is the basic framework of references of a person or communitys historical, social ,economical and political systems at a given time and place. Those underlying contextual references affect how people organize the expressions of their beliefs, values and behaviours. During the time of Jesus, he was known to teach about God and heal people. He was referred to as the Messiah, which is defined as a figure, who helped the Jews overcome the national captivity and religious persecution they were suffering under the Roman Empire (Cox, 34). Romans had power over Jewish people because they were the ruling empire. Religion was absent in the society they were living in. The Romans held pagan views and did not accept a variety of religious traditions. Jesus challenged their tradition, and with that became an influential leader and an icon to humanity. He challenged the upper class people and told them that they did not have sympathy for the less fortunate of people. Therefore, the Romans eventually persecuted Jesus and his people. For instance, the Romans invaded Jerusalem and destroyed holy temples and places of worship, causing numerous Jews to flee the city, known as the Diaspora. Due to the fact that Romans held a superior militaristic force, they kille d anyone who was seen as a threat to their society. For example, Jesus crucifixion was ordered by the elites since his message of a new kingdom threatened the Roman political reign. Jesus righteousness towards women, prostitutes, and the poor were viewed as unacceptable by the Roman Empire, causing him to be condemned. To this day, Jesus struggle is admired and appreciated by many. Another example of historical events impacted on cultural dimension is the story behind the rise of Islamic faith. Islam flourished in the city of Makkah where it was a busy crossroad for trade and exchange of ideas. This cultural openness allowed the worshipping of various deities and acceptance of pre-existent Jewish and Christian cultural values or practices. The pre-Islamic Arabs viewed Allah as the supreme creator, but he was one of the many deities that Arabs worshipped. In addition, they believed that time was synonymous with death or fate; therefore, Arabs did not believe in afterdeath experiences and enjoyed life materialistic pleasures instead to live their lives to the fullest (Ayoub, p. 66). Politically, the country was divided among the leadership of numerous tribes. Therefore, a membership to a tribe is very crucial in gaining protection from persecution. It was under those circumstances that Muhammad was born and lived. Due to the initial influence from Christian and J ewish faiths, Arabs were already acquainted with the idea of monotheism and expectation of a prophets arrival to save humanity. Therefore, it was not surprising for those people to hear about his disapproval of idol worship of his people and experience of Gods revelation. However, Muhammads new ideology demanded religious, social and moral changes that challenged the tribes powers. Since his uncle passed away, Muhammad was also persecuted until he arbitrated between two feuding tribes and reunited them into one new Muslim community. Afterwards, this event marked the start of the growth of Islam and transformed many customs of the Arab community. Q 3. Define Strengs concept of the personal dimension of religion. As an example of this, discuss the Five Pillars of Islam, giving a brief description of each. Which Pillar does M. Ayoub associate with granted the status of protected peoples to non-Muslims? Explain why. According to Streng, the personal dimension of religion is defined as a persons own interpretation of a religious life. This internal process demands a person to form reactions, decisions and meanings towards the different aspects of religion from his life experiences(4). For example, Islam traditions recognize that humans can choose to totally submit to Gods will or to reject this faith. Therefore, it is a choice to recognize God and Muhammads way of life as a guide to Gods kingdom. There are Five Pillars of Islam, which are rites of worship representing the stepping stones of Muhammads transformation to a faithful servant of God. The first pillar is to declare that there is only one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. The second pillar is to perform obligatory prayers five times a day. The prayers followed a prescribed structure and wording originated from the opening surah and Quran. Ritual washing is performed before each prayer to remove impurities. Almsgiving is the third pillar which consists of offering money or other gifts to the poor and needy. This rite of worship is to purifies a person from greed and attachment to material possessions (77). The zakat is an obligatory welfare tax of 2.5 per cent applied on the surplus of income earned by Muslims. The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting during Ramadan to honour the special month when the Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. During this month-long fast, Muslims must not eat food, drink, smoke and have sexual relations until sunset in order to devote their mind to the worship of God. Finally, the fifth pillar is to do a pilgrimage to Makkah in remembrance of the experience of Abraham, whom the Quran recognizes as the father of all prophets and the first true Muslim (78). The pillar among the Five Pillars of Islam that is associated with granted the status of protected peoples to non-Muslims is Shahadah or bearing witness. This rite of worship consists of declaring that there is only one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are shared the common view that there is one God who is the sovereign Lord, creator and sustainer of all things(Ayoub, p.65). Therefore, everyone who is Christian or Jew is also considered as People of the Book and is allowed to obtain the status of protected people if they make a declaration of the shahadah to become Muslim (Ayoub, p.75). Muslims believe that the only one who can judge a persons faith in God is God himself and that people will only discover the truth on the Day of Judgement. Islam is characterised by its inclusive nature as it recognizes prophets from the Old and New Testament and believes that Muhammad was another messenger of God to give the final revelation. Muslims be lieve that God uses prophets and messengers to transmit His intentions through scriptures and implement his sacred laws in the communities(Ayoub, p.69). According to the Islamic tradition, there are differences between prophets and messengers. Prophets are the ones who need to transmit a message from God to his people while messengers are prophets who need to transmit Gods message and implement a set of sacred rules to help his people to be aware of their obligations to the one and only sovereign Lord and warn them against heedlessness and disobedience (Ayoub, 69) . The five main prophets are Noah, Abraham , Moses, Jesus and Muhammad . Therefore, the second declaration of Muhammad as the Messenger of God is important to assert a persons commitment to Islam. Q 4. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are often referred to as Biblical faiths. Define the origins of and describe the sacred text of each of these religions. Refer to the shared concepts of Creation, Revelation, Redemption and Covenant to discuss the differences and similarities among the three scriptures. The three religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism shared numerous similarities and differences in their teachings. The first similarity is that those three religions are monotheistic, which means that they believe in only One God (Epstein 24). Their holy books all somehow relate to the Christian Bible, since the Old Testament is actually the Hebrew Bible (the Torah), and Islams Quran contains many of the same holy figures, such as Abraham and his youngest son Ishmael as well as Jesus being a miracle (Ayoub 71). In my opinion, Judaism and Islam are more closely related than Christianity. For example, the rise of Judaism began with the story of Abraham and his sons, which resulted in the establishment of Israel. Also, all three faiths holy books, the Torah, Quran, and the Bible, shared the major concepts of the Old Testament and acknowledge Abraham as the founding patriarch who was the first to make a covenant with God (Epstein 12). Therefore, these religions all originated from a c ommon source and have evolved into separate faiths, although the core of ideology of their faiths is very similar. Judaism was around for a long time even before Roman religion, but the religion of Christianity was developed from Judaism by introducing Jesus as the son of God and the Messiah. Islam seems to be a combination of both religions Judaism and Christianity, except with the addition of the prophet Mohammed, who was the founder of Islam. Judaism and Islam share common practices like fasting , almsgiving and dietary laws, such as the prohibition of eating pork. Lawful food in Judaism and Islam are the same and mainly differ by name (Kosher for Judaism and Halal for Islam.). Similarly, both religions practice circumcision for men. However, all of these three religions believe in one divine God, the Father of all creations. This causes them to each celebrate various holidays such as Ramadan , Lent and Passover, in which they must complete a series of rituals and fasting to focu s in worshipping God. In addition, Christians believe that God has three personas, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but both Islam and Judaism disagree with the Christian belief in the Trinity and viewing Jesus as God because they believe that the idea of Jesus as God violates the idea of monotheism and was idolatry, which is strictly forbidden in both faiths (Ayoub, 69). Finally, all three faiths believe in the afterlife and are concerned with repenting their sins to free their souls from the Day of Judgment, when God will punish the sinners and reward those who follow his teachings(Ayoub,74) . Q 5. In Epsteins articles, he concludes that the cornerstones of Judaism are the belief in one God and Israels responsibility to God. Discuss this statement with specific reference to: The reason why Epstein states that the cornerstones of Judaism are the belief in one God and Israels responsibility to God because it was believed that God share a covenant with Abraham first who had the responsibility to influenced his people to give up in worshipping many deities and to worship in one God to have salvation. From the Book of Genesis, God promised Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations of the world would be blessed. Abraham was the one who informed Jews about the importance of circumcising their male babies in order to hold a covenant with God. Judaism along with Christianity follows the life of Abrahams oldest son Isaac. The Hebrew prophets are believed to be descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac (Ayoub 71). The Talmud contains the heart and minds of people seeking God and is founded on Scripture, which its teachings are in the direct line of development from those in the Torah, Prophets, and the Holy Writings (Espstein 24). Judaisms mission was to free individuals from their false beliefs and worship of other Gods and to focus on a monotheistic belief. Judaism accepts that God loves all races and that he chose the people of Israel to spread his word and teachings. The practice of Jewish faith was only attainable by the people of Israel since they were believed to be the direct descendants of biblical ancestors from God and were chosen by God to spread His word. It was very difficult to convert to Judaism at this time since you had to be born into a Jewish family to be considered a Jewish person. A religious practice that cherish the worship of one God is the Passover, which is a Jewish holiday commemorating the Jews escape from their enslavement in Egypt. The Bible states that God had sent out ten plagues upon the Egyptians before they released their Hebrew slaves, with the tenth plague being killing of any first-born son (book of Exodus). The Hebrews were instructed by God to mark their homes doors with the blood of a lam b, so that the plagues would literally pass over their homes, hence the holidays name Passover. The Egyptian Pharaoh finally liberated the Hebrews, but they left in a very big hurry and did not leave enough time for their bread to rise. This is why during Passover, Jews eat unleavened bread, or Matza. The Jewish holiday Passover mainly stresses the component of Redemption since it bears a reminder of the salvation of the Jews and how God helped to free them by instructing them on how to avoid the plague. It shows what kind of struggles Jewish people had to endure in order for Judaism to be accepted in ancient Egypt. Today, Passover is celebrated as a holiday or festival of freedom from enslavement as well as a festival dedicated to the one almighty God, the Lord. The book of Exodus states that all generations of Jews as an eternal decree will celebrate the holiday of Passover by eating unleavened bread for seven days.

Muscles In The Human Body :: essays research papers

The musculoskeletal system is made up of bones, joints, and muscles. This system gives the body form and support, and protects the body while allowing it to move. Basically, the muscles in this system perform three important body functions: the movement of body parts, maintenance of body parts, and production of body heat. These muscles all consist of a mass of protein fibers grouped together, and most are of mesodermal origin. And almost all of the muscle fibers you will ever have or need were present at birth. Nearly half of your body mass is muscles, the largest and strongest being in the shoulders, upper arms, hips, and thighs. There are over five hundred muscles in the human body.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muscle fibers are basically classified according to their size and speed of contraction. There are three main types of muscles. The first is skeletal. Skeletal muscle makes up the largest mass of muscle in the body, and is the type of muscle that is attached to bones and moves the skeleton in a conscious control, so therefore it is a voluntary muscle. Its contractions are short and strong, providing the force needed for movement. The muscle contractions produce and provide some heat needed in the body. Skeletal muscle tissue is made up of smaller fibers called myofibrils. These myofibrils are composed of even smaller protein filaments. These filaments can be either thick or thin. The thick filaments are made of the protein myosin, and the thin filaments are made of the protein actin. The arrangement of the myosin and actin gives skeletal muscle its striated (or striped) appearance. Each section of a myofibril is called a sarcomere, and is the functional unit of muscle. How muscles contract is directly related to their structure. The sliding filament theory is an explanation of how muscle contractions occur. This theory states that the actin filaments within the sarcomere slide toward one another during contraction. But, the myosin filaments don’t move. The second type of muscle is smooth, which is found in internal organs and blood vessels. It consists of collections of fusiform cells that don’t show its striations under even a light microscope. The most common function of this muscle is to squeeze, which puts forth pressure on the space inside the tube or organ it surrounds. Contractions of smooth muscle are weak and slow compared with the contractions of the other two kinds.

Priority Sector Lending in India

Definition and more details5 Priority sector: A need5 Priority Sector Target: Financial Reforms Effect6 Effect of reforms on priority sector lending:6 Priority Sector: Specific sector guidelines8 Agriculture8 Small enterprises8 Weaker section:9 Other sectors9 Priority Sector: present status10 Participating Entities : Targets to be met10 Participating Entities : How much is achieved11 Public Sector banks11 Private Sector banks11 Foreign banks12 Participating Entities : penalties in case of failure in achieving the target12 Priority Sector : Advantages12Priority Sector : Major Issues13 Strategies Ahead13 Exhibits15 References18 INTRODUCTION Priority sector bank lending was mainly started by the government to reach the unbanked areas through regular banks which were till that time not much willing to go to rural and undeveloped areas. It was one most important tool in our financial policy to compel banks to increase their loanable customers. Before independence, banks were mostly privat ely owned and they used to lend only to the sectors in which they were assured of returns.According to the reports from 1940s, 79% of bank finances were made available to industry and commerce. Of that amount too, around 32% went to large industries of jute, cotton and sugar mills. When looking at the less rosy picture, the advances to agriculture sector stood a meager 4%. Post independence, according to RBI survey of 1954, in 1951-52, of all credit disbursal by credit agencies to cultivators, only 7. 3 % was from institutional credit agencies. Of this small contribution, the part of banks was only 0. 9%. Rest was given by government and cooperative agencies.From this statistics, it is clear that the rest of the credit was availed by the cultivators from non-institutional credit agencies. When the interest rates charged by these agencies was checked, they were found to be usuriously high with professional moneylenders charging 41. 9% interest rate while agricultural moneylenders cha rged 23. 9% interest rate which was 5-6 times more than the normal bank rate. It shows that if a farmer is getting loan at this interest rate, chances are more that he will never be able to repay it fully and fall in the vicious circle of loans.By getting working capital at such high interest rates, it was equally difficult to breakeven. So, agriculture and small and medium enterprises were in deep need for credit at easy terms. PRIORITY SECTOR DEFINITION AND MORE DETAILS Priority sector and its coverage area kept changing all through these years, mostly due to economic and political pressures. Although its definition can be divided in two parts i. e. pre-reform and post reform period.Pre reform period definition: â€Å"It included agriculture, Small scale industry (including setting up of industrial estates), small road and water transport operators, small business, retail trade, professional and self employed persons, state sponsored organizations for SC/STs, educational loans gr anted to individuals by banks under schemes, Credit schemes for weaker sections and refinance by sponsor banks to Regional Rural Banks. † About the post reform definition we will talk later in details when dealing in the section about priority sector guidelines. PRIORITY SECTOR: A NEED Population support and employment generation: According to the definition of priority sector it covers about 70% of India’s population by rough estimates. So, by making it mandatory for the banks to lend to priority sector, government is actually trying to cover a big part of population. Priority sector mostly includes agriculture and allied sector which employs largest number of people in our country. †¢Freedom from non-institutional credit: The priority sector cut out by government was mostly the one which was earlier taking loans from non-institutional sources and was always indebted because of usurious rates of interest.By creating priority sector lending, it was tried to make in stitutional credit available to a bigger section, at affordable interest rates. †¢Willingness of banks: Most of the banks were not willing to lend to this sector because of the risk involved here as well as more paperwork required to lend smaller loans to large number of people. They were happy lending to urban sector which was more reliable and trustworthy. They preferred lending to industry, commerce, trade and securities as their traditional loanees and who were supposed to default less. Location of banks: Banks were earlier situated mostly in urban area where the business was and so, it was geographically also difficult for them to lend to rural and backward areas where there was no banking network earlier. It was difficult to know about the credit history of borrower and the potential ability of loaned to repay the loan as well as potential of the project for which loan was to be given. So, they were skeptical about loaning to those sectors. †¢Institutional credit: By allowing priority sector credit to flow, RBI and government actually allowed large amount of institutional credit to flow in this area.So, as it became mandatory for the banks to complete certain target for priority sector, they started searching for viable projects and loaners who can successfully repay the loan. For this to happen branches were opened in rural areas and people were encouraged to take loan from banks. Many people availed loan under priority sector lending and got involved in successful enterprises. PRIORITY SECTOR: FINANCIAL REFORMS EFFECT After financial sector reforms, priority sector lending underwent lots of change.As earlier, it was only focused towards weaker and rural section of society but afterwards it included many new sectors as well as the definition of earlier sectors was widened to include more areas in them: Priority sector targets are: Table 1: Priority Sector Targets to be achieved by Banks Before 1991 After 1991 Total priority sector credit 40% o f net bank credit 40% of net bank credit Agricultural credit 18% of net bank credit 18% of net bank credit Weaker section credit 10% of net bank credit 10% of net bank credit Export credit – 12% of net bank credit for foreign banks SSI credit – 10% of net credit for foreign banksSource: Reserve Bank of India Banking norms EFFECT OF REFORMS ON PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING: A chorological sequence of changes in priority sector lending policy is given below which show how the definition of priority sector has changed in all these years: 1. 1992-1993: In the light of reforms, and many new industries coming up in all sectors, government and RBI decided to help out industry with credit facilities and asked banks to fulfill demand of small scale industries upto Rs. 100 lakh limit for setting institutional framework to rejuvenate potentially viable small scale industry units. . 1993-1994: The overall target of net bank credit to be given for priority sector remained unchanged but t he direct and indirect target for lending to agricultural sector was clubbed together to make a sub target of 18% for agricultural lending. But, in this system also, the indirect lending was not supposed to extend one-fourth of the total sub target. Lending above this in indirect lending, was not to be considered in priority sector lending. At least 40% of total credit was supposed to go to small scale and khadi and village industries within limit of Rs. 5 lakh.Foreign banks were asked to revise their priority sector advance target from 10% to 32%. Two more sectors were included in that i. e. advances to small-scale industries and export sector were made with each being 10%. 3. 1995-1996: In case of any shortfall in PSL (agricultural sector), banks were required to contribute to Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), which was set up under NABARD, the maximum of which was 1. 5 % of bank’s net credit. Shortfall in case of other areas, they were required to provide Rs. 1 000 crores for financing in Khadi and Village Industries Commision (KVIC).All the refinances which was done to RRBs by the banks was now to be considered under priority sector lending. 4. 1996-1997: In this year Union Budget provided Rs. 2500 crore for RIDF fund. Export credit target increased from 10% to 12% in this year. Credit advanced to priority sector increased this year very much. From the last year numbers, it increased from 30. 37% of net bank credit to 32. 4%. 5. 1997-1998: The scope of priority sector lending was increased for road and water transport operators, with number of eligible vehicles increasing from ‘not more than six’ to ‘not more than ten’.The credit limit for housing in rural and urban areas also increased upto Rs. 5 lakh. 6. 1998-1999: In this year, the interest rate subsidy for loan in PSL was taken away on the argument that now priority sector lending is also commercially viable for banks. Banks were also given the option to inve st the PSL shortfall by lending to NABARD/SIDBI, so the restriction of not lending to profitable sector was slowly being taken away. 7. 1999-00: Banks were asked to lend to NBFCs and MFIs under priority sector, to enable them to lend to rural and weaker section.INSTITUTIONAL AND NON-INSTITUTIONAL CREDIT IN INDIA Before independence, the credit which was available to farmers was just non-institutional credit or in other words private money lenders. But, after independence, government took major steps to uproot this problem which was eating up the poor population and was hampering with the country’s economic growth. In 1951, institutional credit accounted to 92. 7% of the total credit availed (Refer Graph-1) where as all these reforms positively impacted the credit scenario in India making the Non-institutional credit accounted to be 38. % in the year 2002. Graph 1: Trend of Institutional and Non-institutional credit in India PRIORITY SECTOR: SPECIFIC SECTOR GUIDELINES AGRICULT URE 1. Direct finance: Finance given to individual farmers (including SHG & JLG) for agricultural and allied activities are included under this sector. This includes short-term loans for raising crops, advances upto 10 lakh against pledge of agricultural produce for maximum 12 months period, working capital and term loans, for purchase of land, to indebted distressed farmers, for pre and post harvest activities.Loans given to partnerships, corporate and institutions for agricultural activities, and upto 1 crore for most of the activities mentioned above also come under direct finance. 2. Indirect finance: It covers vast range i. e. corporate, Primary agricultural Credit societies, Farmers service societies, Large sized Adivasi Multi Purpose Societies, cooperative societies, and for the construction of warehouse, agricultural input dealers, arthias, NCDC, NBFCs, NGOs, MFIs, RRBs and overdraft upto 25000 for no-frills account in rural and semi-urban areas. SMALL ENTERPRISES 1. Direct finance: a.For manufacturing enterprises, for small enterprises the upper cap for taking loans is less than 5 crores, while for micro enterprises it is upto 25 lakh only. b. For service enterprises, for small enterprises it is upto 2 lakh, while for micro enterprises it is only 10 lakh. c. For khadi and village industries it is upto 60% of small enterprise segment. 2. Indirect finance: a. It is made available for the person involved in marketing activities of artisans, village and cottage industries. b. Under this Loans made by NABARD, SIDBI and commercial banks to NBFCs and cooperatives involved in this sector also come.WEAKER SECTION: In weaker section, small and marginal farmers with less than 5 acres land holding, landless labourers, artisans, village and cootage industries, beneficiaries of SGSY, SC, ST, DRI, SJSRY, SLRS, self help groups, distressed poor, minority communities etc are included. They are given loans under priority sector loans. OTHER SECTORS Retail trade : Retai lers involved in essential commodities, consumer co-operative stores, private retail traders, upto the limit of Rs. 20 lakh. Micro-credit : For poor indebted borrower of non-institutional credit, it is given against collateral or group security.The upper limit for it is upto Rs. 50000 per borrower. State sponsored organization: It is for scheduled castes/tribes for extending credit for purchase of input or for marketing of output. Education: Within India the maximum cap for education loan granted is 10 lakh, while outside India it is 20 lakh. It is applicable for individuals as well as NBFCs. Housing: a. For purchase and construction of houses, the maximum loan allowed is 20 lakh. b. For repair of houses, the maximum loan allowed is 1 lakh in rural India and 2 lakh in urban areas. c.For government agencies for construction of dwelling units, or for slum dwellers, upto a maximum of Rs. 5 lakh is allowed. PRIORITY SECTOR: PRESENT STATUS PARTICIPATING ENTITIES: TARGETS TO BE MET The Re serve Bank of India from time to time has issued a number of guidelines/instructions/directives to banks in lending credit to Priority sector. In priority sector various banks that are involved are- public and private sector bank under domestic banks and foreign banks. There are separate targets to be met for all the banks which are set by the RBI.RBI issues a master circular containing all the guidelines for incorporation of priority sector lending. If the targets are not met, then various penalties are to be borne by them. The targets set for the domestic and foreign banks working in India are already mentioned before in Table-1. The total advances that a domestic bank has to offer for the priority sector is 40% where as for foreign banks working in India is 32 %. These advances are further bifurcated into the advances provided to agricultural sector, small scale industries (SSI), export credit and weaker sections.However, domestic banks don’t have to contribute to SSI and foreign banks don’t have to contribute to agricultural advances and weaker sections. Over the years, the advances provided to this sector are increasing in gross value and some other sectors like education, housing, retail trade which were not the part of this sector previously were also included. The trend observed during the last three years is explained in the graph provided below. In the year 2006, the advances offered by the public sector banks were Rs. 409. 745 thousand crores where as private sector provided Rs. 06. 556 thousand crores. Then in year 2008, these advances increased to Rs. 605. 965 thousand crores and Rs. 165. 225 thousand crores by public and private sector bank respectively. This marked a growth rate of 48% in public sector and 53. 5 % in private sector.Source: Reserve Bank of India- Trend and Progress of Indian Banking 2008-09 The share of various sectors i. e. agriculture, SSI, education, housing have also registered a change as shown in the figure gi ven below. The share of advances provided to agriculture sector is more or less same where as the dvances provided to SSI has been replaced by small enterprises, housing and education where housing accounted for 30% of the advances and education accounted for 25% of the advances. Source: Reserve Bank of India- Trend and Progress of Indian Banking 2008-09 The rationale of including these sectors was to provide the holistic development to the poor people. It was understood that it’s not just the credit requirement which has to be fulfilled but also the education which would ensure the socio-economic development of the society. In all, those sectors which can impact large section of populations are to be a part of priority sector.But, how efficiently are banks able to achieve these set targets – is still questionable. PARTICIPATING ENTITIES: HOW MUCH IS ACHIEVED PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS Exhibit-1 shows the targets achieved by public sector bank. The public sector banks were ab le to meet the target of 40% till 2005-06 but in 2007 they fell short by 0. 7%. There were 28 banks in total, out of which- seven banks failed to achieve the target (Allahabad Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank, IDBI Ltd. , State Bank of India, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Patiala).However, only 8 banks were able to meet target of agricultural lending and only 7 for weaker sections. PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS Exhibit-2 shows the targets achieved by private banks in lending to the priority sector. Out of 26 private sector banks, four banks (Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. , Centurian Bank of Punjab Ltd. , Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd. and Karnataka Bank Ltd. ) didn’t achieve the target as stipulated for the priority sector lending. However, only three banks were successful in meeting agricultural credit target and no bank met the target for weaker sections. FOREIGN BANKSExhibit-3 shows the targets achieved by foreign banks in lending to the priority sector. Out of 29 for eign banks working in India five banks (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citi Bank, HSBC Ltd. and Mizuho Corporate Bank) did not achieve the target. However, only Seven banks (Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Citi Bank, HSBC Ltd. , JP Morgan Chase Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Shinhan Bank) were not able to achieve SSI target and three banks (American Express Bank, Bank International Indonesia and Mizuho Corporate Bank) were not able to achieve the export credit target.The banks which failed to achieve the target have to pay the penalties decided by the RBI. PARTICIPATING ENTITIES: PENALTIES IN CASE OF FAILURE IN ACHIEVING THE TARGET DOMESTIC BANKS Domestic banks which fail to achieve the target have to contribute to Rural Infrastructure development Fund (RIDF) established with NABARD or funds with other financial institutions, as specified by RBI by giving them one month’s notice. The particulars of this fund are decided in the beginning o f financial year. Interest rate and period of deposit are also to be decided by RBI.FOREIGN BANKS Foreign banks which fail to achieve the target have to contribute to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) or funds with other financial institutions, as specified by RBI . The particulars of this fund are decided in the beginning of financial year. Interest rate and period of deposit are also to be decided by RBI. Non-achievement of meeting the priority sector targets are considered while granting regulatory approvals for various purposes. PRIORITY SECTOR: ADVANTAGES 1.Financial Inclusion – It provided credit availability for small-marginal farmers, and to those sections which were previously deprived of taking any credit from the institutions. 2. Previously because of high default rate amongst the weaker sections,the institutions were reluctant to give credit to those people which forces the farmers or the weaker people to go to the money-lenders who charged them h igh rate of interests (varying between 10% to 50%). Mandatory lending to priority sector has eradicated this problem and ensured advances by the institutions. 3.Poverty Alleviation – If the timely credit is provided to small households, they can give more inputs to their produces which will result in better productivity. In effect agricultural GDP grows, which helps in upliftment of both the primary and secondary sector which are dependent on small scale industries and agriculture, directly or indirectly. It generates more employment, hence, resulting in poverty alleviation. 4. Social Inclusion – Poorer sections previously were deprived of participating in various community activities. The rise in their livelihood has given them a strong support to participate in various social activities.PRIORITY SECTOR: MAJOR ISSUES 1. High Non-performing assets – Since borrowers are not able to repay the loan on time, have created a fear in the banks and provoke them to make slow disbursement of loans. 2. Quantitative targets –Since, the stringent targets has been set by RBI, this has resulted in lowering the quality of delivering targets. 3. Government interference – Due to the regional Government intervention, the more influential people get the loan, and the poorer still get ignored. So, rich gets more richer. 4. Transaction cost – Handling disbursement of huge quantity of small loans requires more time and labor. 5.Low absorption of credits -This occurs due to lack of capital infrastructure in agriculture and other small scale industries. 6. Low Profitability -Low rate of interest charged from the borrowers makes this sector vulnerable. STRATEGIES AHEAD 1. Initiatives by Government a) Recovery of Non-Performing Assets †¢Establishing Debt-recovery tribunals – this will act as a mediator between the bank and borrower and will help bank in better recovery from the borrowers. †¢Internal audit before sanctioning of l oan should be done. b)Strengthen the cooperative bank network to increase credit advances to the farmers. c)Link crop-insurance with loan amount.This mitigates the risk for Lender and borrower. d)Promote group lending to people – group lending develops a collective responsibility amongst the borrowers which decreases the default rate. e)Government need to promote rigorous extension activities for promoting modern agricultural techniques for increasing production. f)Strict actions needs to be taken against the banks for not meeting the priority sector criteria. 2. Initiatives by Bank a)Banks should increase the term and delay the installments under term loan in case the borrowers are not able to repay in time. b)They should not charge compound interest on the loan amount.In a nutshell, Government need to strengthen backward and forward linkage both to provide inputs, increase productivity and develop markets. EXHIBITS Exhibit 1: Target achieved by Public Sector banks Exhibit 2 : Target achieved by Private Banks Exhibit 3: Target achieved by foreign banksREFERENCES †¢Priority Sector lending information (2010). Retrieved on August 4, 2010 from-http://www. rbi. org. in/scripts/FAQView. aspx? Id=8†¢Trends, issues and strategies (2010). Retrieved on Aug 5, 2010 from-http://www. academicjournals. org/jat/PDF/Pdf2009/December/Uppal. pdf†¢Planning Commission reports on labour and employment (2010). Retrieved on Aug 5, 2010 from-http://books. google. co. in/books? id=qOOmWsfqfe4C&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=priority+sector+lending+appraisal&source=bl&ots=HZTEbRCSVo&sig=QtcebyqWJ5xWqkZ_TMdmPzCp4-4&hl=en&ei=KbFaTLK7DISXrAe9u52-DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEsQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false†¢All India Debt and Investment Surveys (2002). Retrieved on August 6 ,2010 from- http://www. rbi. org. in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView. aspx? Id=298†¢Trend and Progress of Indian Banking 2008-09 (2009). Retrieved on August 6, 2010 from- http://www. rbi. o rg. in/scripts/AnnualPublications. aspx? head=Trend%20and%20Progress%20of%20Banking%20in%20India

Film Critique for “the Golden Compass”

Film Critique for â€Å"The Golden Compass† The Motion Picture of â€Å"The Golden Compass† is based on Philip Pullman’s novel â€Å"Northern Lights† (The first part in his novel trilogy â€Å"His Dark Materials†) and was rated pg-13 (indicating that the material within the film could be unsuitable for children under the age of thirteen (Murray, 2012)), the movie was released to theaters in December of 2007. This movie has been categorized as a Family, fantasy adventure (Carraro & Weitz, 2007); however, there have been serious debates about the religious aspects of the story, whether or not it should be geared for younger audiences and how the film eviscerated the novel’s version of the story’s backbone (Rotten Tomatoes, 2012). Also read this  com/voices-freedom-critique/">Critique of Stuff Is Not Salvation I will be reviewing all aspects of the movie including the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, impact of society on the film and vice versa, the genre and the overall textural themes to get a full understanding of the film and to show that in a whole, it was a very good story and was a fun movie to watch. The director’s vision of the story is how a film comes to life. Their purpose is not simply to help the writer tell the story but also to make the audience care about the story by giving the story meaning† (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, sec. 2. 5 para. 1). This film’s story is about a girl named Lyra Belacqua (played by Dakota Blue Richards) who is about twelve years old. Residing in a universe parallel to our own ruled by the Magisterium, people’s spirits reside on the outside of their bodies and walk beside them as companions in the form of animals (the type of animals depends on the person) known as â€Å"Daemon s†. Lyra was brought up as an orphan living amongst scholars at the Jordan College in Oxford. Lyra’s need for adventure hits a little closer to home than she had hoped when she realizes the hushed whispers of adults and members of the Magisterium speaking of dust and children who are going missing start to become pieces in a puzzle that lyra is determined to solve and with any luck, remedy the troubles that are being caused. Aided by colorful and unusual characters such as the Gyptians (comparable to what we know as gypsies), witches, an armored bear by the name of Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen) and an airman named Lee Scoresby (played by Sam Elliot), Lyra must use the golden compass (also known as an Alethiometer, it was secretly given to her by her uncle, Lord Asriel to reveal the truth of any question she asks the compass) to find the truth and save the children being kidnapped by the gobblers (the kidnappers are a part of the Magisterium). The actors in this film did an amazing job in the roles they played. Marisa Coulter (played by Nicole Kidman) makes for a gorgeous, classy, prestigious, intriguing and scary villain. Kidman’s Kidman not only plays the leader of the gobblers but it is also found out later in the movie that she is also Lyra’s mother. Then there is Lord Asriel, A well-dressed handsome man who plays Lyra’s uncle (however, we find out later that he is in fact Lyra’s father) and a well-known explorer. He studied and did research about the mysterious â€Å"dust† and the Arctic North (Carraro & Weitz, 2007). Lyra’s character plays a pretty and hard-headed stubborn girl who is hell bent on stopping the gobblers and Mrs. Coulter from cutting the children’s deamons away from them and she also has serious ideas about locating and finding the purpose of the dust. There is also Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby who appear to have known eachother from sometime in the past. They are both head strong characters and willing to fight for the greater good and aid Lyra in her travels to stop the gobblers. Iorek is a Big armored polar bear and Lee is and older airman. The cinematography used for this movie was quite extensive. There were 1,100 to 1,200 CG [computer-generated] shots, average for a film like this, but the level of complexity far exceeded most, there's an animated character in just about every one of those shots† (Miller, 2012, para. 4). So this made making the film more extensive as far as the cinematography goes and there were many different shots ranging from close-u p (there were many close-ups of several characters throughout the film), mid-range shots (especially when there was more than one character on the screen at any given time), as well as distant or long range shots (like when Lyra rode the rmored bear through the snow to find out what was in the cabin away from a camp site she was staying at). There were also shots angled upward (such as when Lyra and her friend were sitting on a rooftop together) and downward angled shots (such as when a mechanical spy bug was slapped to the ground and there was a downward angle shot of it lying on the ground) (Carraro ; Weitz, 2007). The cinematography used in this film suited every aspect of the movie. Everything moved through the film very smoothly and the cinematography really made the scenes pop and kept me on the edge of my seat. The film editors for the film â€Å"The Golden Compass† are Anne V. Coates, Peter Honess and Kevin Tent. Anne V. Coates is a very well know veteran film editor â€Å"with an editing career of 63 years––and still counting––Coates arguably has been working in cutting rooms longer than anyone else in film history† (Lewis, 2010, para. 1). However, Coates was removed for the editing of the â€Å"The Golden Compass† early on in the editing process and actually stated that even though she learned a great deal from â€Å"The Golden Compass† and it was an amazing experience working with large quantities of editing with special effects, it was actually a frustrating process for Coates due to the amount of work involving the special effects people as opposed to just editing a standard film with much less special effects being used (Connolly, 2011). Peter Honess, known for editing such movies as â€Å"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets† and â€Å"Troy† as well as Kevin Tent known for editing such movies as â€Å"The Descendants† and â€Å"Sideways† were brought in on â€Å"The Golden Compass† to finish up the post production editing for the film. While the finished product the film had many audiences asking when they would see the sequel to the film, there were many critics talking about how â€Å"the end result is a bumpy road, with many emotional highs but also quite a few lows, and a saga that despite good ingredients lacks narrative smoothness or fluidity, reaffirming that Weitz is not the right director for the job† (Levy, 2012, para. 22) not to mention the several parts of the film cut due to the mass controversies regarding religious groups. The editors of this film did not receive their due credit because of the direction of the film and the cutting that was required to make the film â€Å"suitable† for public audiences. It took an amazing amount of people to create all of the different forms of sound used in â€Å"The Golden Compass. † Ranging from the Foley editor, the sound mixer, to the sound effects editor, there are many more people that were just needed for sound work alone. There are quite literally 56 different jobs for this movie, just in regards to sound for the film. This just goes to show you the amount of work that is put into the making of a film. I am going to discuss the three major elements of sound used in a film which involve the score, sound effects and Dialogue (Goodykoontz, ; Jacobs, 2011). Alexandre Desplat is the brilliant composer of the â€Å"score† (music used in the backgrounds of scenes) that is utilized in this film and is used throughout the films entirety. In fact, â€Å"Desplat follows Shore's lead in the incorporation of a surprisingly detailed and large collection of themes, weaving them into the narrative with such efficiency that a person familiar with the film can easily follow the action through the score† (Clemmensen, 2008, para. ). Experiencing the music used for the score is truly amazing, even by itself. There is also a whole lot of use of sound effects throughout the film and a small handful of people working on them. A big part of the reason so many sound effects were used in this film is because so many of the characters used in the film were CG (Computer generated) so it was impor tant to recreate the sounds that these characters would have made had they been real. Again, Ioreck the polar ice bear is a prime example of this. When Iorek and Ragnar (The polar ice king) get into their battle to the death they are not only both created by computers so there very presence require sound effects but there is a lot of sound effects used with their armor clanking together throughout the battle scene. While the sound effects do play a very substantial role in the making of this film, they appear flawless and really added to the depth of the film. The dialogue is also beautiful in this film. The characters have sort of English accents (which suits the London type setting). The dialogue used suites the characters well down to the way they are dressed. However, on a side note, I find it odd that they are from an alternate universe that has an impeccable resemblance and feel to our very own London, England. Lyra and her friends speak as if children would, grammatically incorrect and the adults speak prestigiously and very dignified (most of which are scholars). In its entirety, the all the use of sound was very well utilized and complimented every aspect of the film. Director Chris Weitz was really excited about making this particular film because he is a really big fan of the books the movie was based off of. With a budget of 180 million dollars for the film, Chris Weitz knew that there was going to be a lot of work needed to be put into the film. â€Å"It's really hard to make a movie,† Weitz says. â€Å"It's hard enough to make a small, bad one — trying to make a big, good one is definitely a challenge to your physical and mental stamina† (Edwards, 2007, para. ). While there are many who wonder as to whether or not Weitz was the man for this particular job, mainly because Weitz is best known for his raunchy comedy movies such as the â€Å"American Pie† series, Weitz was such a huge fan of the trilogy he was confident that he could get the job done right (Edwards, 2007). Unfortunately, due to the mass controversy of this film it is difficult to discern why this movie was so disastrous when looking at how it did in th e box office. Some blame Weitz and his lack of knowledge in the field of special effects, some blame the media and the Catholic church for the role they played in trying to have the movie stopped and some blame New Line Cinema (the production company) for forcing Weitz to water down the script due to trying to appease people who were worried and controversial of the religious (or lack thereof) aspects the film would bring to the big screen. In doing so, Weitz said that he did not have control over the films style or editing. Chris Weitz states that New Line Cinema felt they could not be a part of a film that caused controversy in the religious word but that the film would have been very different if he would have had the final say and cut of the film. Essentially in the long run Weitz was asked if he had regrets about the film, Weitz reply was â€Å"It's the greatest professional regret that I have. â€Å"He compared directing to being Charles I of England, quipping: â€Å"Parliament can always cut your head off† (Nissim, 2011, para. 4). The impact the movie had and still has on society is extraordinarily controversial. Because the movie is a fantasy adventure there were large quantities of people who took the movie at face value for its non-stop adventure and intriguing storyline. However, there were larger quantities of people who felt as if the movie was controversial due to the religious aspects people took from the movie. Bill Donohue (president and CEO of the Catholic League) stated that â€Å"these books denigrate Christianity, thrash the Catholic Church and sell the virtues of atheism† (FoxNews. com, 2007, para. 3). However, due to the controversies that arose from the announcement of the film’s production, the religious aspects of the film were stripped from the script. â€Å"Some atheists and fans of the books aren't happy, either. They say the studio has caved to pressure from the Christian right by sanitizing the tale for the big screen† (FoxNews. com, 2007 para. 8,). Pullman (the author of the book based on the film) was pleased with how the movie was done. He stated in an interview that â€Å"this must be the only film attacked in the same week for being too religious and for being anti-religious — and by people who haven’t seen it† (FoxNews. om, 2007, para. 16). The genre of this film is a mixture between family, fantasy, and adventure. While deemed a family film, it is not geared for younger children in regards to the story because it does involve children being kidnapped and adults removing the essence (spirit or as they are called in the film daemons) of life from the children. As stated previously, the film was rated PG-13. The film also depicts (although in non-detailed manner) the children’s essence (often interpreted as spirit) and referrers to them as daemons (pronounce dee-mons). So the movie may be considered offensive to religious families. However, in a whole, if the age group is right, it is a fun family movie. The fantasy of the film is magnificent excluding the actual town they reside in which seems rather of the norm, of (like I have mentioned before) a London set town and streets. There are a lot of characters and creatures in this film that are solely done by CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) and they are absolutely amazing. The daemons (spirit or essence) that walk around with their humans are of all different forms of animals creatures depending on the character of the individual. Lyra’s daemon however, can change shapes to appear in any form because she is still young (changing from a cat to a moth and even an ermine), adults daemons settle into a single form and no longer changes. There is also Iorek the polar ice bear who wears a magnificent coat of armor made for him alone. Last but not least, the adventure parts of the film. We watch see Lyra in her home town with her friends and the stuffy scholars (adults) she is surrounded by. We soon see Lyra get to experience life outside of the Magisterium (the school) with Mrs. Coulter. When Lyra discovers that Mrs. Coulter is the head of the gobblers (the kidnappers), we see her escape and start her mission to save the other children from the gobblers and from them taking the children’s daemons from them. We see an amazing polar ice bear fight between Iorek and the polar ice bear king in which is a fight to the death and even a small war between witches, and Gyptians and even few flying (what looks to be) pirate ships called air ships. This film truly fits its genre. Taking a look at this film from a formalist approach shows us the in-depth aspects of the film (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2011). The structure of the film is balanced in regards to the aspects of use of fantasy and adventure used in the story. The fact that the storyline is based in parallel universe, the background of the town that the characters reside is lacking. It looks like a small town in England as opposed to what one would expect a town might look in a parallel universe like say, compared to Hogwarts in the â€Å"Harry Potter† movies and the magical world used in those films. However, the use of the daemons and magical creatures like Iorek the polar ice bear bring us to a better understanding of the â€Å"magical† feel of the world. The use of the characters to progress through the story made the film easier to follow in the respect that the actors playing the characters made the film come to life. Essentially, the film was good, but was better not having expectations (having not read the â€Å"His Dark Materials† trilogy) going into the film. I personally felt that the movie was well done, but I too, went nto the movie not knowing of the controversy surrounding the religious aspects of the film and was unaware of the film being based on a series of books. The overall textual theme of the film was fairly well laid out. The story was told in a manner in which you expect to see more of the story later down the road (in a sequel that would not be made). There are several discussions regarding dust throughout the film that obviously plays a majo r role but is not explained in depth in the film. The Mise-en-scene used throughout the film fits together well with the storyline. The characters, backgrounds and props used throughout the film carried the story in and out of the adventures we see Lyra embark on and allow the audience to experience a world not yet explored. The villain (Mrs. Coulter) was portrayed in such a way that the audience loves to hate and the hero’s (Lyra, Iorek and Lee) made the adventures progress and fun to follow. The camera use throughout the film is impeccable. With all different kinds of shots ranging from close-up scenes of the characters to mid and long range shots as well as jump-cuts from scenes of Lyra on her adventures to the villain trying to attempting to locate Lyra. The overall theme, while lacking in some aspects of background (in the town the main characters reside) and explanation of certain aspects such as the dust which seems to be very important and how and why the daemons, were there and there importance because it is shown at one point in the film that the children can survive without their daemons if removed correctly. The movie was entertaining and tells enough storyline to not be confusing. In conclusion, this film had a lot of aspects of society and controversy and in turn the lack of storyline working against its success. The money and hard work that it took to make this film should have been an enough to put this film on top where it should have been. But because the director had set out to make a film based on the story of a book and the studio decided that too much controversy would rise if the story was told like the book, the true religious aspects were stripped from the film and so the true storyline was stripped as well. But like I stated earlier, if the audience goes into the film with no expectations and no previous history of knowing what the film was supposed to be about, the film is well worth the watch. Reviewing all aspects of what the movie has to offer; from the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, impact of society on the film and vice versa, the genre and the overall textural themes, this is truly an adventure that will keep you watching and enjoying the family film with every fun character from the interesting and exciting Lyra to the big polar ice bears that battle and the beautiful villain that we love to hate. This film was extremely fun to watch.