River Birch Is a Favored Yard Tree in the Southern U.S.

River birch has been called the most beautiful of American trees by Prince Maximilian, the emperor of Mexico when he toured North America shortly before his short-lived reign. It is a favorite yard tree in the southern United States and is sometimes messy to maintain if you are not hands-on when dealing with your yard. Betula nigra, also known as red birch, water birch, or black birch, is the only birch with a range that includes the southeastern coastal plain. It is uniquely the only spring-fruiting birch in North America. Although the wood has limited usefulness, the trees beauty makes it an ornamental highlight, especially at the northern and western extremes of its natural range.  Most river birch bark peels in colorful flakes of brown, salmon, peach, orange, and lavender and is a bonus for regions deprived of paper and white birches.  Ã‚   In his book, The Urban Tree Book, journalist, novelist, and publisher Arthur Plotnik entices amateur arborists to go tree peeping in U.S. cities. He gives vivid descriptions of trees he spots along his trek: Only the shaggy brown river birch seems truly adapted to cities, holding its own with urban heat blasts and the deadly borer. River Birch Habit and Range River birch grows naturally from southern New Hampshire south and west to the Texas Gulf Coast.  River birch is well named as it loves riparian (wet) zones, adapts well to wet sites, and reaches its maximum size in rich alluvial soils of the lower Mississippi Valley. Even though it loves wet ecosystems, the tree is heat-tolerant. River birch can survive modest droughts and does not compete with your lawn for water. River birch transplants easily at any age and grows into a medium tree of about 40 feet and rarely to 70 feet. River birch occupies large eastern north-south ranges in North America from Minnesota to Florida. The tree needs direct sunlight and is intolerant to shade.   River Birch Varieties The best river birch cultivars are the Heritage and Dura-Heat varieties. The Heritage or Cully cultivar was selected in 2002 as the tree of the year by the Society of Municipal Arborists. The trees wood has very little commercial value but is extremely popular as an ornamental tree that features salmon-cream to brownish bark that peels to reveal a creamy white inner bark that can be nearly as white as the white-barked birches. It is hardy  in  all U.S. climate zones, it is fast-growing, nicely forked, wind and ice resistant.   According to Michael Dirr,  horticulturist and a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, who praise the varietal in his book, Trees: Heritage river birch is an excellent selection with superior vigor, larger leaves, and greater resistance to leaf spot. Dura-Heat is a somewhat smaller cultivar that features creamy white bark color, better tolerance to summer heat, better insect and disease resistance, and superior foliage to the species. It typically grows 30 to 40 feet tall as a single trunk or multi-trunked tree. Leaves, Flowers, and Fruit of a River Birch The tree has male and female catkins, which are slim, cylindrical  flower  clusters that are grouped in 3s. The small cone-like fruit  opens and sheds small  nutlet  seeds in spring. What makes yard work a chore with the river birch are the falling catkins, fruit, and flaking bark that constantly litter the yard. The summer leaves have a leathery texture with a dark green upper side and light green on its  underside. The leaf edges are teethlike, with a double serrated appearance. The leaves are in the shape of ovals. In the autumn, the leaf color is golden-yellow to yellow-brown, and leaves have a tendency to drop quickly. River Birch Hardiness Zone River birch  is hardy through zone 4 on the U.S. Department of Agriculture zone map. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map identifies how well plants will withstand the cold winter temperatures. The map divides North America into 13 zones, of 10 degrees each, ranging from -60 F to 70 F. So, for zone 4, the minimum average temperatures are between -30 F and -20 F, which includes the entire U.S. with the exception of Alaska.

Critical Analysis on NIKE - 2220 Words

Critical Analysis of Nike History Nike began as Phil Knight’s semester-long project to develop a small business, which included a marketing plan. This project was part of Phil Knight’s MBA course at Stanford University in the early 1960s. Phil Knight had been a runner at the University of Oregon in the late 1950s. His idea for his project was to develop high quality running shoes. He thought that high quality/low cost products could be produced in Japan and then shipped to the United States to be sold at a profit. His professor thought that Knight’s idea was interesting, but not much more than a project. In 1963 Phil Knight went to Japan and had a meeting with a running shoe manufacturing company called Tiger. He†¦show more content†¦The problems seemed to be occurring in the Pou Chen Group Factory in Sukabumi, which is located about 100 kilometers from Jakarta. This factory started making Converse shoes in 2007, which was four years after Nike bought Converse. It has been reported that, â€Å"workers making Nike’s Converse brand sneakers in Indonesia said supervisors regularly physically assaulted and verbally abused them. Nike admits that abuses occurred but insists there was little it could do to stop it.† http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/09/nike-s08.html The Pou Chen factory is located in a place where the minimum wage is far below the national average. It has 10,000 workers who make Converse sneakers. Most of the workers are women, and they earn only 50 cents an hour. The amount that they earn is not even enough to cover their food and very poor housing. In this factory, the women are both physically and verbally abused. Nike’s own investigations have proved these complaints to be true. The company made a statement saying that immediate actions would be taken to deal with the situation. It is interesting to note that, â€Å"an internal Nike report, released to the Associated Press after it inquired about the abuse, showed that nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide failed to meet Nike’s own standards for contract manufacturers. Twelve are in the most serious category, ranging from illegally long work hours toShow MoreRelatedNikes Long Term Financial Goals938 Words   |  4 PagesHow imp ortant is it for the financial managers of Nike Inc. to use economic variables in identifying long term financial goals? For Nikes business model to continually flourish and stay profitable, the senior management team and strategic planners must continually monitor short, intermediate and long-term economic factors that will affect their operations. 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Managerial and Personal Effectiveness in Human Resources Management Free Essays

string(138) " the theoretical concepts and finally, the interactive effectiveness in guiding others towards the goal, the human aspect \(Katz, 1974\)\." Introduction My name is XYZ. I’m a business graduate and an entrepreneur by profession. I remember what it was like being a student. We will write a custom essay sample on Managerial and Personal Effectiveness in Human Resources Management or any similar topic only for you Order Now During my business graduate program that was spread across a span of 4 years from 2004 – 2008, I lead numerous teams and groups for our term projects. Over the years I realized that team leadership is one of my strengths. My projects would always reflect team spirit and team work. Employment History During my graduate program I always aspired and dreamt of working as an entrepreneur and running a business at my own terms. So, once I graduated I set off to set up my own magazine publishing company in 2009. What I loved about setting up my own business from scratch was the huge learning experience that I went through, with unlimited scope and a journey that continues. Working for other established firms is good, but then you are limited to a certain role in an organization where procedures are already set and where your scope is limited. In your own startup you get to experiment beyond a boundary and find for yourself what works and what doesn’t; the learning is immense. Job Description Being an entrepreneur is different from being a manager within a job. You’re not just an HR Manager or Finance individual or even just a Marketing Executive. A good entrepreneur has to ensure that he recruits and retains a motivated work force, attracts business, introduces cost efficient ways and earns a handsome profit for the organization. An entrepreneur is an all-in-one role for his/her respective organization. When I first set off to set up my own Magazine Publishing Company I had nothing but a little money to invest, some educational background and understanding of business and a business idea. My job responsibility for the past 3 years has thus been the development of this business. From getting business from advertising companies, to managing relationships with the retail channels and managing human relations, my job entails everything and more. Today, I manage a team of 12 people that include designers, writers and editors. I myself am the Chief Marketing Officer with most of my efforts geared towards business development. Reflection Personal Effectiveness | Ability to manage self and others Objective Analysis: When I first set up the organization I faced a situation all too familiar with most startups, the employee turnover rate was very high. Since companies take time in branding themselves as good employers, people generally treat startups like train stations, either just a platform to kick start their professional career or just a resting point between two jobs. It is very inconvenient for organizations, especially startups, to spend time, money and effort in recruiting, hiring and training employees only to have them lured away by, what many might consider to be more attractive buyers in the market for labor. It is much costlier to replace employees than to retain them (Herzberg, 1987). As a new business I lacked the resources to be able to pay higher than the market rate or to offer luring financial incentives. I thus tried to motivate people through more intrinsic incentives. About 6 months had passed since the business was set up but the situational had not particularly improved since employees would join the organization but leave before their probation period would end. The additional costs of finding new resources, having them trained and then having them quit when coupled with the recession underway wasn’t particularly one of the scenarios I had dreamt of as the CEO. Subjective Analysis As a student, I had always been automatically been trusted as the group leader and the skill was something that came naturally to me. However, it was the first time that I had to consciously put my skill to test and make an effort to be a good leader. When I assumed the task of ensuring that the employee turnover rate would go down and the overall team spirit among all organizational members would rise, I was thrilled, perhaps, because I believed to be good at it. Upon conducting a situational analysis of the company and measuring factors that might be held responsible in the company having a low retention rate, high turnover rate and generally lower levels of morale, I realized that perhaps I was underestimating the importance of extrinsic incentives that could have helped to achieve maximum managerial effectiveness. Having failed in motivating employees through extrinsic factors, I looked deeper into what could have been the issue. Growth should be a mutually beneficial and mutually attained characteristic for any organization and its employees. As a manager I had overlooked something very important, I failed to see how important it was that an organization’s strategic plan should be able to support and match with an individual’s plans. For managerial effects to gain maximum effectiveness, organizational goals need to be made coherent with an employee’s personal goals. Reflective Analysis When it comes to problem solving situations like these, Personal effectiveness can be categorized as one’s ability to solve the following 4: adaptation, goal attainment, tension management and integration (Sutton Ford, 1982). The process of Human Resource Management and applying management to oneself is a part of management known as Self-Management. It is important to note that one cannot simply hope to manage others if they cannot manage their selves. Any study of management is fruitless unless it is accompanied by positive changes in one’s personal life (Malik, 2010). Effectiveness can best be explained as the outcome of a manger’s effort in trying to cope with a scenario or situation by properly achieving the desired results or meeting the set goals or targets in every organizational aspect. Personal and managerial effectiveness comes as an outcome of three main aspects, the personal knowledge of skills and qualifications needed to come up to the technical aspect, the understanding of the theoretical concepts and finally, the interactive effectiveness in guiding others towards the goal, the human aspect (Katz, 1974). You read "Managerial and Personal Effectiveness in Human Resources Management" in category "Essay examples" Achieving effectiveness in the management of all the above mentioned three dimensions will provide the recipe for productivity and efficiency by developing self and others. To achieve effectiveness in personal management the manager is expected to be doing everything just right. The important point here is that personal effectiveness is the key to managing others and one’s self in the organizational environment. Personal and managerial effectiveness matters most in an organization in situations where the chances of progress are most direly needed and wanted. However, little attention seems to have been paid to managerial effectiveness in comparison to some other aspects of organizational dynamics (Srivastava Sinha, 2004) Career Development Objective Analysis When I had a team of 10 people with me, I tried to motivate them through intrinsic motivators. I did what I felt would have been the right thing to do and I focused the organization’s efforts to intrinsic rewards. The first of these efforts was an office get together where my intention was to get the employees socialize with one another. Then we announced the employee of the month and it proved to be a double ended sword. To be precise, unfortunately, the efforts were not entirely fruitful and the employee retention rate didn’t significantly improve over a significant period of time. I noticed that many of my employees belonged to the first and second stage in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the organization was moving towards a more intrinsically rewarding organization. Subjective Analysis Initially, I was quite confident about the efforts I was putting in to motivate employees. I was positive that they will produce desired results. I arranged an office get together to let the management and employees meet in an informal, friendly environment. It went well but wasn’t exactly a success. I did see several bored faces and overheard a conversation or two where people felt like they were dragged to a party while they wished to spend some quality time at home. Next, I tried to announce the employee of the month. It did motivate the person who was awarded since he performed better in the months that followed but I noticed that it brought the morale of several other employees down to a great extent. Having gained considerable experience since then, now as I look back I realize where and what I missed. Had it been then, perhaps I could have designed a more effective strategy, the strategy of career development. Reflective Analysis Career Planning and Managerial Effectiveness Career plan holds substantial importance in the management of Human Resources. Employers need to realize the existence of their employees’ concerns and help them achieve their career plans in order to attract and retain the best talent. Career planning can thus act as a crucial tool for employee motivation (Pat hargreaves, 2000). The end objective of career planning is to prepare the employee for a journey that could be mutually beneficial for him/her and the organization s/he ends up working for. Career planning thus plays the role of a synchronizer between the missions and goals of the organization and the aims and aspirations of the employee. If these two start moving in harmony; the benefits of it are enjoyed equally by the employee and the employer[1] (Schein, 1978). Employee Motivation The end result that one needs to achieve from effective managerial practices is boosted employee morale and a high level of employee motivation prevailing in the organization. It’s true that at the end of the day, all of us work because we have bread and butter to earn; for the salary we get in return. But then; there are people who would go for a lower paying job, because it gives them more authority and decision making power, or somewhere where the work environment is friendlier and open to ideas. These are all, but, some of the factors that are known as the motivators. Motivation is a drive to do or not do something and that drive can be as individual as the person[2] (Lindner, n.d.). The best thing about Career planning as an employee motivation tool is that unlike other incentives the strategy does not â€Å"assume† anything. Proper career planning and development programs call for the employers to officially interview and ask for each individual to express their individual goals and aspirations in life. A company can thus better adhere to these goals when they clearly know it, match those with some of its own goals and create an environment that synergistically nourishes both the organization’s and the employee’s goals[3] (Douglas McGregor, 2006). Leadership Objective Analysis An entrepreneur has to be leader; s/he has to have the vision to be able to guide a group of people towards the long term organizational goals. I’ve always learned and experienced that setting SMART targets for yourself and your subordinates is perhaps the most effective way of achieving a target. I therefore, set a target for the company to break even in one year. We had to make up for the fixed costs of setting up the business, setting up the company website and other fixed costs. All the while, we had to make sure we effectively start covering our operating costs. As a leader I conducted regular meetings with the team and made it very clear how the success and the achievement of the target were important for each member of the organization. I ensured clear and constant channels of communications among team members, resolved team conflicts where they occurred and appreciated and encouraged team members wherever I felt that any effort was being made. During the team discussion I would have an ideal way of going about achieving an objective but I was open to other people’s opinion too. Once or twice did it happen that a team member tried to impose their ideas and completely reject mine, however ultimately it was my word that was acted upon. We were able to achieve our target on time and within budget. Subjective Analysis I was thrilled to lead a team of 12 people because I had not led that many people in the past and it obviously meant that I had a challenge to counter and that it would be an opportunity to stretch myself a bit. Of course I felt nervous, because previously even with the worst scenario I wasn’t exactly answerable to someone. This time however, my entire career and investment depended on my success. On our orientation where I assigned roles, changed responsibilities for a few and defined rules to abide by, I felt resistance from my team members. Maybe it was something that I just felt because it got better later on as they began to feel comfortable with me and so did I. But that might also have been because I realized change wasn’t easy after all and that people are always resistive to change. When organizations are adapting and going through change, a lot of skill is requirement to manage this change. Coaching is thus an extremely integral part of management in order to prepare the workforce on how to cope with the change[4] (FRIED, 1987). I therefore, played the role of a leader and a manager as well as a coach. Reflective Analysis Leadership plays an integral role in an organization and can at most times be a deciding factor for the success or failure of many (Bass, 1990). Good leadership can help the team and the entire organization through challenging times into good bright times. Every leader is a manager however, not every manager is a leader. While a manager tries to makes the best out of the limited resources s/he has in order to meet objectives, a leader tries to create opportunities with a unique vision. Having said that, what exactly is leadershipIs every leader equally effectiveOf course not A leader can suppose several roles and in many different ways. A leader could be authoritative or s/he could be really friendly and down to earth who encourages participation. A leader could also be a guide who assists his/her team where and when needed. In my role as a leader, I believe to have adopted the role of a participatory leader. However, I was strict and authoritative in my own way too. I would invite people when a decision was to be made and a direction to be selected and I respected people’s opinions and choices but once a direction would be set, I expected people to comply by it. More than any two of the above I was also a coach to my team. There can be two main reasons why someone might want to coach somebody; these could be improving a person’s skill set by ultimately improving their performance and helping them in improving their self-image and making them believe that they have the ability and the desire to achieve something (Campbell, 2007). Learning Outcomes | Final Reflection Generally speaking, Entrepreneurs never consciously try to harm their organizations. They being human beings, just make mistakes which can at times have drastic impacts. I, as an Entrepreneur, a manager as well as a team leader obviously would not have wanted my organization to bear any loss whether big or small. While I was successful as a team leader, I did fail as a strategist when it came to motivating employees for the first few months. The loss accounted to the mistakes that I made as a leader and a manager and that has accumulated into the following learning outcomes referring to each of the points discussed above; As a leader, always indulge in positive criticism that does not humiliate the employee When giving a negative feedback, focus on the solution and how the person can improve rather focusing on the weaknesses Make employees a part of decision making and planning Relate organizational goals to each individual’s personal aspirations and make them see how s/he can achieve his/her goals by achieving organizational goals Listen carefully to employees and improve channels of communication between you and them Slowly seep into the role of a coacher but don’t impose yourself on your employees. That being said, personal and managerial effectiveness is an on-going process that one continues to learn as we move up the ladder in our careers. Effectiveness is achieved and is the most fruitful for an organization when you succeed in motivating and managing people through self-management. You are successful when you have a team of loyal employees because there’s no better asset on your balance sheet than a loyal work force. References Bass, B. M., 1990. Bass Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership.Free Press. Campbell, E. M., 2007. Impact and the art of motivation maintenance: The effects of contact with beneWciaries on persistence behavior. [Online] Available at: http://www.management.wharton.upenn.edu/grant/GrantCampbellChenCottoneLapedisLee_OBHDP2007.pdf [Accessed 2012]. Douglas McGregor, J. C.-G., 2006. The Human Side Of Enterprise. McGraw-Hill Professional. Herzberg, F., 1987. One More Time: How Do You Motivate EmployeesHBR, September. Katz, R., 1974. Skills of an Effective Administrator. Havard Business Review. Lindner, J. R., n.d. Understanding Employee Motivation. Journal Editorial Office. Malik, F., 2010. Productions and Operations Management. 1.1 ed. s.l.:s.n. Pat hargreaves, P. J., 2000. The human resource development handbook.Kogan Page Publishers. Schein, E. H., 1978. Career dynamics: matching individual and organizational needs. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Srivastava, M. Sinha, A. K., 2004. Individual Characteristic for Managerial Effectiveness in a Competitive Environment: An Exploration. Conference on Global Competition Competitiveness of Indian Corporate, pp. 119-131. Sutton, R. I. Ford, L. H., 1982. Problem-Solving Adequacy in Hospital Subunits. Human Relations, Volume 35, pp. 675-701. [1] http://books.google.com.pk/books/about/Career_dynamics.html?id=UyqB19IEM5gCredir_esc=y [2] http://www.joe.org/joe/1998june/rb3.php [3] http://books.google.com.pk/books/about/The_human_side_of_enterprise.html?id=0Td-U8yTjVECredir_esc=y [4] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1987.tb00605.x/pdf How to cite Managerial and Personal Effectiveness in Human Resources Management, Essay examples

Culture alongside a text Essay Example For Students

Culture alongside a text Essay However, if the viewer of the film reads the anthropological text before watching the film, he or she may very well be able to decipher the actions of the natives without aid from an instructor. The footage of the fight allows the student to see the full extent of the chaos involved in the ax fights the Yanomamo take up to settle disputes. The emotional intensity cannot be captured by words on paper, regardless of how eloquent the anthropologist may write. A film is necessary to convey the emotions and reactions of the natives as they would be in a real situation. From the raw footage, though, there arises a problem. The chaos of fieldwork that is represented in the 11 minute first section of The Ax Fight brings to the forefront the problem of anthropological interpretation, which the other two sections of the film address (Biella, n. d. ). Depending on the goals and personal beliefs of the anthropologist, the outbreak of fighting may be interpreted in multiple ways. Chagnon conducted follow-up interviews and researched the villages history and marriage ties to come to his interpretation of the days events. Thus while his interpretation is well-backed and highly likely to be what truly occurred, another anthropologist may see it quite differently. The third section demonstrates how raw film footage, appropriately trimmed, slowed down, and expanded, can provide empirical evidence needed to make a credible interpretation (Biella, n. d. ). Because Chagnon is in fact the author of the ethnographic text and a collaborator on the Yanomamo series, the interpretations are similar if not identical between the book and the film. However, had the film collaborators been different from the author of the text, as in many cases they are for a certain culture, the interpretations would have more than likely differed by some degree, ranging from a small disagreement to a complete re-interpretation of motives and subtleties. This may in fact be more useful to the student, as contrasting interpretations would allow the student to see different representations of the same culture, forcing him to analyze each rather than blindly accept the one representation first given. In the case of the Yanomamo culture, a different representation proves to be difficult to come across as not many, if any, other anthropologists have ventured to study the Yanomamo as extensively as Chagnon has. Nonetheless, a visual representation, regardless of the difference or lack thereof of interpretation, is essential to a complete understanding and knowledge of a culture. While a visual representation, whether it is a film or photographs, is needed to arrive at complete understanding of a societys culture and way of life, a visual aid alone does little in respect to fostering a deep level of understanding from the student. Indeed, neither raw film nor raw field notes can be decoded without context (El Guindi, 2004, p. 227). Without previous knowledge about the Yanomamo culture, the film serves as little more than a case study in internal conflict within any given society. In order to utilize the film as part of an extensive, deep learning of Yanomamo culture, the ethnographic text must be read first, not the other way around. With no cultural context in which to place the fight that erupts, little is learned about kinship and marriage ties from the film. While Chagnon does explain the essentials of the raw footage to create a basic understanding of what is going on, he has less than nine minutes of screen time to describe what he considers to be the most important people, actions, and motives. Only twelve people of the over 50 people involved in the film are identified by name or genealogically (Biella, n. d. ). Of course, identifying all fifty persons would more likely than not to confuse the student rather than facilitate learning. .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a , .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .postImageUrl , .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a , .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:hover , .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:visited , .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:active { border:0!important; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:active , .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8925ad3efe0be0ddf74b53ce5801986a:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Hoover v. rosevelt EssayIt must also be kept in mind that The Ax Fight is a visual representation of one specific aspect of the Yanomamo culture and does not even touch on other various features, such as the radical divide between the sexes, or go in depth on the kinship patterns and marriage ties. It is not intended as a representation of the culture as a whole. Other films, such as Kypseli, attempt to capture the essence of a culture in its entirety. For these types of films it cannot be argued as strongly that it is necessary to read an ethnographic text beforehand, as the film is basically the text in visual format. However, the film is just as necessary in respect to accompanying the learning of a culture through a written account. The visual aspect of the film, and any film for that matter, adds detail that would take thousands of words to describe. Indeed, the first 11 minutes of The Ax Fight are described in 380 paragraphs of text in Gary Seamans Blow-by-Blow Descriptions (Biella, Chagnon, Seaman, 1997). Clearly a visual representation adds valuable meaning to a written account of a culture. The example of The Ax Fight is a fine example of the importance of a visual representation alongside the study of an anthropological text, and this argument can be easily extended to all ethnographic work through common sense. Regardless of whether a student is a visual learner, auditory learner, etc. , having a variety of ways to learn about a culture is the best way to arrive at a complete understanding of the nuances of that society as well ones own decisions on how he or she feels about certain aspects of any given culture. A film adds another perspective to the information that is obtained from a text. Detailed descriptions are seen in reality rather than imagination and what may have previously not been understood, is now understood. In my own case I did not fully understand the cultural custom of the ax fight until I viewed the film depicting an actual occurrence of such an event. The anger on the faces I saw and passion in the womens cries could not be conveyed through the text. This applies to almost all anthropological texts, and the visual representation proves to be essential in the understanding of a culture. References Biella, P. (n. d. ). Introduction by Peter Biella.Retrieved December 1, 2008, from University of California Santa Barbara, Dept. of Anthropology Web site: http://www. anth. ucsb. edu/? projects/? axfight/? updates/? biellaintroduction. html#PART%20I. Biella, P. , Chagnon, N. A. , Seaman, G. (1997). Yanomamo Interactive: The Ax Fight (Version 1. 1a) . United States of America: Thomas Learning, Inc. Chagnon, N. A. (1997). Yanomamo (5th ed. ). Case studies in cultural anthropology. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College. (Original work published 1968) El Guindi, F. (2004). Visual anthropology: Essential method and theory. Walnut Creek: AltaMira.