House M. D. Essay

From the very start of film history, various genres improved and changed a great deal. In these modern times, the cross-over genre is especially popular. The focus of this essay, House M.D., is a medical drama, though not a typical one. House M.D. concentrates on an eccentric doctor of great intelligence and his doctors’ team (who never stop to mistake), trying and almost always successfully solving interesting and puzzling cases. In many ways the series fits the definition of detective fiction. To begin with, this essay will introduce the theoretical material to the reader. Subsequently it will describe the similarities of the elements of a traditional detective story and this medical drama. Then, it will center on one of the method the doctors use to help solve medical mysteries. Finally, the essay will describe some features of the main character. Since this essay will focus on the detective side of the series House M.D., it is important to define a few terms that will be used afterwards. According to J. A. Cuddon, detective fiction is â€Å"a form of fiction in which a mystery, often a murder, is solved by a detective† (Cuddon, 229). In other words, a detective story focuses on a crime which is usually unsolvable for ordinary people and only the clever detective manages to figure everything out. What is more, the difference between the â€Å"Golden Age† detective figure and the â€Å"hard-boiled† detective figure must be noted. Conforming to Aysegul Kesirli, the centre of a detective fiction is a masculine, strong, detective character (Kesirli). The â€Å"Golden Age† detective is the opposite: â€Å"the classical detective of logic and deduction is not engaged at all; he is there just for the sake of the puzzle† (Kesirli). So the â€Å"hard-boiled† detective is a power figure, general ly physically or mentally superior to others, whereas a detective of â€Å"Golden Age† is more passive and not as aggressive. As it was mentioned earlier, this essay will now focus on the similarities of the outline of the series and a typical detective story. One of the traditional elements of the detective story, as described in the Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopaedia of Literature, is â€Å"the seemingly perfect crime† (Merriam-Webster, 320). The episode this essay focuses on has its equivalent of a â€Å"crime†: â€Å"Nobody can figure out what is wrong with me† (Hunting, 00:01:40). The â€Å"victim†, or in this case the soon-to-be patient of Gregory House is of very bad health and other doctors could not help him. Thus, House gets a mysterious case, just like detectives get to investigate crimes in detective fiction. Another traditional element of a detective formula is â€Å"the wrongly accused suspect at whom circumstantial evidence points† (Merriam-Webster, 320). In the case of this episode, the doctors’ team mistakes the diagnosis, for example: â€Å"The results make sense. Calvin’s T-cells are at 200, that’s strong enough to fight infection.† (Cameron) â€Å"Fine. Parasite.† (House) â€Å" Nop. Stool sample was negative.† (Chase) (Hunting, 00:05:53) The diagnosis, or â€Å"suspect† in the detective fiction terms, for the patient is falsely diagnosed several more times. The third aspect of the traditional detective story is â€Å"the bungling of dim-witted police† (Merriam-Webster, 320). House’s doctor’s team is an alternate to the quiet foolish police force depicted in detective fiction (Figure 1). Figure 1: House’s doctor’s team (Hunting, 00:10:18) The team continues to come up with various possible diseases, though all this guessing was false. Only G. House at the end managed to find the right diagnose. The fourth element of the traditional detective story is â€Å"the greater powers of observation and superior mind of the detective† (Merriam-Webster, 320). House is superior to others intellectually with matters not only related to his work. For example, only by taking notice at behavior of his employees he figures out that they have slept together: â€Å"So you always use a condom?† (Cameron) â€Å"Uhh†¦Yeah!† (Foreman) â€Å"You?† (Cameron) â€Å"Working girls are sticklers. You’re not going to pull Chase?† (House) â€Å"I’m not an idiot.† (Chase) â€Å"Obviously not. Who doesn’t sleep with a drugged out colleague when they have a chance?† (House) (Hunting, 00:30:37) House’s logical assumptions and deductions are astonishing and truly remind, for example, of the â€Å"Golden Age† detective character’s Sherlock Holmes’ methods of solving mysteries. The last traditional element of a detective story is â€Å"the startling and unexpected denouement, in which the detective reveals how he or she has ascertained the identity of the culprit† (Merriam-Webster, 320). In this episode, House figures everything out by speaking with his friend, Wilson, about completely irrelevant things. He then explains the diagnosis to the patient and his father (Figure 2). Figure 2: House explaining how he came up with the diagnosis (Hunting, 00:33:48) House M.D., though a medical drama, in a way suits the detective formula quiet well. Only here the â€Å"victim† is the patient, the â€Å"mystery† is his disease, the circumstances differ from a real crime, and the â€Å"detective† is doctor House. What make this medical drama seem even more like a detective are the methods the team uses to solve the case of a patient. Undoubtedly, they question the patient first, then they do some researches and tests. But the most interesting method House’s team uses is looking for evidence. It is clear that detectives search for clues, for example, in the apartment of the victim, however, it is not so common in medical cases. (Figure 3; figure 4). Figure 3: Cameron looking for drugs in patient’s house (Hunting, 00:15:13) Figure 4: Cameron finding drugs in patient’s bag (Hunting, 00:17:46) Searching for evidence and clues in a medical case is uncommon, so it is one more aspect how House M.D. is similar to a detective story. Finally, this essay will shortly describe a few characteristics of one of the main characters in the episode. According to an article by Aysegul Kesirli, House is in many ways similar to the Golden Age detective Sherlock Holmes (Kesirli): in this episode the most visible similarity is the deductive method House uses to solve mysteries. For example, once looking at his soon-to-be patient, House claims: â€Å"Well, your shirt is gaping at the collar, means you lost weight; you’re flushed – that’s fever, and you’re short of breath. And finally there’s the KS lesion on your face. Means you’re HIV positive, you’ve progressed to full-blown AIDS.† (Hunting, 00:01:54). House took only half a minute to figure out and describe everything what was wrong with Calvin, the patient. Although this feature is common for the â€Å"Golden Age† detective Holmes, A. Kesirli considers House to be more of a hard-boiled detective type. In this episode Hunting, House provokes the father of a patient to punch him just to prove that his theory about the disease is right (Figure 5): Figure 5: House fights with patient’s father (Hunting, 00:36:08) House is not afraid to fight back or use physical force on a patient’s relative: he is neither afraid of authority or the law, nor he is trying to suppress his masculinity and aggression. So House has both features similar to a â€Å"hard-boiled† and â€Å"Golden Age† detectives. In conclusion, House M.D. fits the detective formula quite in many ways. The outline or the plot structure of the series and a detective story are alike. Also, the methods used by House in the episode are similar to those used by real detectives. What is more, the character of Gregory House is not a typical detective character, but rather a mix of qualities of two different detective fiction eras.

Disney case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Multinational Marketing Information Systems Term Paper

Multinational Marketing Information Systems - Term Paper Example The strategy usually involves a choice – to either standardize or adapt. Most of the time, the company chooses a strategy that is a combination of both standardization and adaptation. Standardization refers to the application of a marketing mix to the whole global market – the same solution applied in the company’s home (North American) market, for instance, is used likewise employed in its newly opened Southeast Asian operations, for instance. This obviously has its drawbacks at first glance. Total standardization seldom works across different countries because of differences in language, consumer preferences, culture, laws, marketing infrastructure, and competition structure. (Alimiene et al, 2008) On the other hand, seldom does the total adaptation of marketing solutions work for a multinational enterprise, either. In such situations, the company could not take advantage of the economies of scale, marketing expertise, and information acquired in the other markets where the company maintains its presence. The ideal marketing strategy is one that exploits the advantages of being able to address the cultural differences of foreign markets and separate products that comes with adaptation, while at the same time employing the economies of scale and global market knowledge gained through standardization. The diagram below is presented in order to better highlight the complications involved in multinational marketing strategy formulation. During product development, a stage of the business cycle wherein marketing information plays a determinative factor, the multinational company employs a variety of internal strengths that may emanate from different locations around the globe. For instance, in the example given the product concept is hatched in Singapore, approved in Houston, and designed in Singapore and Taiwan. The final assembly involves production plants in various regions of the world, for local markets.

Possible effects of ginseng on blood glucose in diabetic patients Essay

Possible effects of ginseng on blood glucose in diabetic patients - Essay Example The plant is cultivated for its man shaped roots which form an important diet supplement in Asian countries and United States. Historical records reveal the use of ginseng root for effectively treating diseases with symptoms similar to diabetes. However, researches to investigate the antidiabetic effect of Ginseng root began only in the first half of 20th century. Studies conducted by Japanese scientists on the root of Ginseng in the 1920s led to reports confirming the traditional claims of Ginseng root being effective in reducing baseline blood glucose and alleviating hyperglycemia caused as a consequence of high intake of glucose. Ever since numerous in vitro studies, animal trials, clinical trials on the root and root extracts have supported the efficiency of ginseng in controlling blood sugar levels in diabetics and hence has been used for the treatment of diabetes (Xie et al., 2005). The constituents are ginseng root are 80%-90% organic and up to 10% inorganic with multiple acti ve ingredients namely saponins or ginsenosides, many carbohydrates, nitrogenous substances, phytosterols, essential oils, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, peptides and organic acids. The active ingredients reported in the extracts effective in reducing blood glucose levls have been detected with ginsenosides and polysaccharides. Ginsenosides has been identified as the principal active ingredient of the plant and its concentration is highest in the leaf, followed by berry and then roots. Besides, the profile of ginsenosides with six main ginsenosides isolated from root berry and leaf is also different. Thus it has been speculated that the relative proportions of the some of these ginsenosides determines the hypoglycemic efficiency of ginseng extracts (Xie et al., 2005). Thus hypoglycemic effect of ginseng extracts has been well documented and supported by experimental evidences. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the effect of ginseng on blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. METHOD PARTICIPANTS 5 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus with mean values of age, BMI and weight being 62, 29kg/m2 and 81Kf were selected after informing them about the procedure and probable results of the experiment and obtaining their written consent. It was ensured that the Diabetes patients were reasonably controlled and were on a treatment procedure involving the drugs sulfonylurea, and a combination of sulfonylurea and metformin; which was continued during the period of experiment. Each of the participants was provided with instruction booklet to ensure that the other conditions are maintained uniform during the course of the experiment. TREATMENT The patients were given two categories of treatments; one gelatin capsule with 3g ginseng given either 40 minutes before a glucose intake of 25g of 300ml glucose or simultaneous with same concentration of glucose; both taken orally. The control treatment involved identical administration of all ingredients as in treatment group except ginseng being replaced by a placebo capsule containing corn sugar instead of ginseng. Four treatments, two tests and two controls were given to each participant in random order. PROCEDURE Maintaining every other condition of diet, activity and medication constant, participants were administered the above doses at intervals of 1 week after 10-12 hours of fasting in the morning. Each test was preceded with regular check up and complete dose of routine

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Literature ans society Essay Example for Free

Literature ans society Essay The literature of an age, and its social set up keeping and reacting one over the other. Literature influences the society; society is reflected in Literature and in this way, in all languages and at all times there has been a close interaction between the two. Literature of any age cannot escape the influence of the social scene and therefore is found reflecting the society of the age when it is created. The poet, the dramatist, the novelist, the essayist are all the product of their age and their-age openly and clearly gets imaged in their compositions. That cannot be helped, it so seems. Take  the example of two literatures — English and Hindi. Chaucer is called the father of English poetry and actually English literature in its form and language which kept on developing and improving, begins from him. His most representative work is the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and then the Canterbury Tales. All the characters painted in these tales are the true representation of the types of such people as they were in his times. While Chaucer is a reflector of those characters and their types of his age — he is virtually and truly described as the chronicler of his age — his characters whether a  Knight; the Prioress; the monk, the fat fryer, the sailor, the squire, the priest — all are truly the representatives of their types in the contemporary society as they actually were. Chaucer is a painter as well as a critic of his society. Shakespeare — the greatest dramatist of English language — one of the greatest of all languages brings in ‘ghosts’, ‘witches’, and ‘courtier’ and ‘fools’ in his plays which were as per the liking of his audience and a part of the English Society of his times. That is what is rightly said about Shakespeare that in addition to the normal three ‘unities’—  Time, Place and Action in drama, he brought about the fourth unity — ‘unity with the people’. That encomium clearly Shakespeare being influenced by the society of his age and in his plays he, though never gave any message or pronounced any philosophy, but that is always there — the triumph of the good over the evil. This was the message that was most needed to his age after all that had happened earlier — Henry VIII —the king having been killed, Mary Tudor — a despotic, arrogant, a cruel ruler and then a benevolent, all embracing middle-path follower queen — Queen Elizabeth. As is the king so are the people — is an old but true saying and Shakespeare reflects that hilarious sometimes, but somber and philosophic at the other in his plays. Hulton was very much the product of his age. A truly puritanical person; a deeply religious man, he gave to his age which was battling with belief and disbelief — the message of God’s triumph over Satan. The Eighteenth century of English literature is a true product of the age. The social scene had degenerated into debauchery and license after the Restoration of Charles II who brought along with him all that he had enjoyed during his exile and adjourns in France and the literature of that period reflects all that was happening in the society. Alexander Pope’s ‘Rape of the Lock’ is a reflection of the so-called lascivious high society of and pungent satire too, on all that was too much too bad for the society. Thus Pope is a reflector as a corrector of his age. So are Addison and Steele as essayists. Balzac, Zola, Maupassant of France had cast their influence on every Wycherley, conserve and later Restoration dramatists who had gone to the lowest depth in describing social disparity and this is how literature reflected the age. The French Revolution — a very significant political and social event of Europe had as its basic tenets — Equality, Fraternity and Liberty — and these tenets and the revolution did cast its spell all over Europe and England and the English poets could not escape that influence. Wordsworth was moved by the humanitarian aspect of the revolution in the earlier phase but later its bloodiness and violence disillusioned him and all this is reflected in Wordsworth’s poetry — ‘poet of man’ and in his later poetry. Shelley was moved by the revolution’s ‘spirit’ of revolution and Byron by its fighting spirit. Tennyson was a true representative of the Victorian age and sang of the glories of the Empire while his nature poetry gets influenced by the advancement of Science in the later nineteenth century. He did not remain a ‘priest of nature’ as Wordsworth was because where science advances religion declines. Charles Dickens saw the backside of industrialization — the poor getting Poorer and the rich richer — the sufferings of the poor are ignored and his novels reflect all this. The First World War (1914-19) created a group of who sang of the glories of war, of chivalry and  Sacrifice for the nation and then there is the post w poetry and post-war drama — Bernard Shaw dramatist known for his pungent satire, pricking the balloon of romanticism associated with war heroism and love in his ‘Arms and the Man’. Eliot comes on the literary stage to deal with the utter disillusionment of the age in his ‘Wasteland’ all this about English Literature. Similarly in Hindi Literature, when Prithvi Raj Chauhan was fighting valiantly with Mohammad Gori Chandrabardai — the warrior poet was singing of the glories of war and his hero in his ‘Prithvi Raj Raso’. Then came the Bhakti Kal — the period of Bhakti — the country and the nation had fallen under the Muslim yoke and there were class conflicts on the basis of faith and religion. There came on the literary scene, Kabir, who preached anti-fanaticism; pricked the bloated balloon of superstitions and blind faiths and admonished both ‘mullahs’ and ‘Pandits’ and showed the way of God. Tulsidas found the Hindu society divided into factions ‘Shaivas’ and ‘Vaishnavas’ and showed the path of love, brotherhood and mutual respect for all Gods and presented the ideals of a son, a brother, a wife, and a devotee. The triumph of Ram — the incarnation of the Good over Ravan, the symbol of Evil is an eternal lesson given by him to the society — whose lessons remain revered even till today. The period of comparative social peace created a set of poets who indulged in pleasing their patrons — the Kings — as their courtiers and songsters. Their poetry is full of amorous sports in which they make Krishna a Radha and the Gopis their actors — a very wrong a vitiated depiction — unbecoming of those great. This was done just to gratify their patrons — the sensuous and sensual kings. This is how the social scene was reflecting itself in literature. Then, comes the modern age. The British were ruling India and there were classes close to the ruler and classes suffering at the hands of the officials and at the hands of the so-called elite of the society. There were classes created — the superior, the downtrodden — the imperialists and the nationalists. Prem Chand — the great novelist unravels this class fight in his novels and thereby, not only reflects the society of his times but gives a lesson too. His novels, his short stories — all have a lesson to give. There was Bhartendu Harishchandra — the poet the harbinger of the modern age and thought, who successfully caricatured the classes — social and religious — thus reflecting the social scene with a point to reform it. Thus goes on the scene. Maithili Saran Gupta — the Gandhian poet sings of the glory of Ram, of the glory of Lord Buddha, of the glory of other mythological heroes his thrust throughout being to awaken the masses and enlighten them into cordial social contacts. The national fervor reverberated through the veins of the Psyche under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and poets  after poets, writers after writers sang of the of our ancient land and its culture. Jai Sanker rasad, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, the poets; Dharmvir Shrilal Shukla — the novelists brought into focus the inequalities and imbalances that plagued the social scene and through their thoughtful and sometimes highly satirical way brought to the fore the social and political malaise through which our present generation passing. This true presentation has been with a purpose — to awaken the social conscience to the problems that dog the people. Literature thus has been holding the mirror up to Nature on one hand; reflecting all traditions,  trends and tendencies while rising up the finger of caution too to guard against all that goes against the basic values of life. Literature and Society have remained and shall remain ever intertwined and the more they so remain, the more solid would the foundations be laid for a sustained growth; a well-coordinated growth and a corrected social order Literature has to play its part as a reflector and a corrector of society and society has to inspire men of letters to keep themselves on their guard towards their mission of social good.