Spring Festival Gala Essay Example for Free

Spring Festival Gala Essay A Comparative Study of the CCTV Spring Festival Galas, 1984-86 and 2004-06 Xiaoyan Xu Abstract The Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China. On every Lunar New Year’s Eve since 1983, the state-run China Central TV (CCTV), the only national TV station in China, has held a celebrating gala. This thesis attempts to examine the CCTV Spring Festival Galas as a case study of China’s statist nationalism. The research questions of this thesis are: what techniques and technologies have the CCTV Spring Festival Galas used to construct a Chinese national space? How have the CCTV Spring Festival Galas describe the Chinese national space? And what changes have taken place in these techniques and technologies as well as in the descriptions? To answer these questions, this thesis conducts a comparative research, comparing both the commonalities and differences between the galas of 1984-86 and those of 2004-06. Employing an interpretative textual analysis approach, it analyzes the videos of these six years’ galas and explores the political meanings of words and programs in the galas. This thesis finds that in order to imagine a united Chinese national space, the galas mainly represent China in terms of classes, ethnic groups and places. With the presence of minorities and people from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, the galas focus on the boundary of the Chinese nation to construct the unity of China. Furthermore, in order to construct the greatness of this united Chinese national space, the galas use heroes and sites to symbolize China. The presence of traditional elements helps create a temporal dimension of the Chinese national space. As a result of, and in response to, the socio- economic changes in the last two decades, the techniques and technologies used by the galas have changed. Besides the great changes in stage settings and technologies, the major changes in the techniques include: in the 2004-06 galas, hosts play a much more important role in interpreting the political meanings of the programs and presenting the state’s nationalist narrative to the audience, the Chinese Communist Party occupies a more central place in the galas, and home increasingly means individual family instead of the country of China. Correspondingly, the way the galas treat singers, actors, and hosts from Hong Kong and Taiwan has also changed. Acknowledgements The past three years have passed fast. At this moment, my heart is full of thanksgivings. I am especially grateful to: Dr. Timothy Luke, my committee chair, for his advising and helping me with revising this thesis for several times, as well as for his patience. Dr. Scott Nelson and Dr. Yannis Stivachtis, my committee members, for their support and suggestions on this thesis and future research. Dr. Christopher Clement, for his acceptance for my TA work and his kind flexibility for my responsibility during my pregnancy. Dr. Ilja Luciak, Chair, Department of Political Science, and Dr. Deborah Milly, former Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Political Science, for their great support. Pat, Kim, Melissa, and Karen, staff of the Department of Political Science, and Jenny and other staff of the Graduate School, for their great help. God, for giving me life and abundant graces. My parents and other family members, for their love and encouragements. Examples of these studies are Guan Ling, Zhixing Guiji [The Tracks of Knowledge and Actions] (Beijing: Beijing Radio College Press 2000); Xu Yingchun and Wang Ying, â€Å"Dui ‘kan chunjie wanhui’ chengwei xin minsu wenti de sikao [Some Reflections on Watching the Spring Festival Galas Becoming New Customs],† Shiting Zongheng [On TV and Radio], No. 1 (2003); and Wang Xiaoyu, â€Å"Chunjie lianhuan wanhui de ‘zhaohuan jizhi’ [The ‘Calling Mechanism’ of the Spring Festival Galas],† Meiti Piping [Media Critique] (Guangxi Shifan Daxue Chubanshe, 2005), Vol. 1, http://www. usc. cuhk. edu. hk/wk_wzdetails. asp? id=4891. 22 is Wang Xiaoyu’s study. 34 Based on the concepts of â€Å"TV community† and â€Å"collective emory,† Wang analyzes the â€Å"calling† mechanism that renders individuals to join the audience of the Spring Festival Galas every year. He argues that the high viewing- audience-rates of the CCTV Sp ring Festival Galas can be partly attributed to the â€Å"TV community† emerging in 1980sthat is, the phenomenon that many people gather together to watch the same TV programs. Wang argues that the CCTV Spring Festival Gala is creating a new and special â€Å"TV community†. Many families gather to watch a TV program together, along with eating the reunion dinner. What is more, people’s discussions on the CCTV Spring Festival Galas afterwards make the galas a â€Å"collective

Night :: essays research papers

In 1944, in the village of Sighet, Romania, twelve-year-old Elie Wiesel spends much time and emotion on the Talmud and on Jewish mysticism. His instructor, Moshe the Beadle, returns from a near-death experience and warns that Nazi aggressors will soon threaten the serenity of their lives. However, even when anti-Semitic measures force the Sighet Jews into supervised ghettos, Elie's family remains calm and compliant. In spring, authorities begin shipping trainloads of Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex. Elie's family is part of the final convoy. In a cattle car, eighty villagers can scarcely move and have to survive on minimal food and water. One of the deportees, Madame Schà ¤chter, becomes hysterical with visions of flames and furnaces. At midnight on the third day of their deportation, the group looks in horror at flames rising above huge ovens and gags at the stench of burning flesh. Guards wielding billy clubs force Elie's group through a selection of those fit to work and those who face a grim and improbable future. Elie and his father Chlomo lie about their ages and depart with other hardy men to Auschwitz, a concentration camp. Elie's mother and three sisters disappear into Birkenau, the death camp. After viewing infants being tossed in a burning pit, Elie rebels against God, who remains silent. Every day, Elie and Chiomo struggle to keep their health so they can remain in the work force. Sadistic guards and trustees exact capricious punishments. After three weeks, Elie and his father are forced to march to Buna, a factory in the Auschwitz complex, where they sort electrical parts in an electronics warehouse. The savagery reaches its height when the guards hang a childlike thirteen year old, who dies slowly before Elie's eyes. Despairing, Elie grows morose during Rosh Hashanah services. At the next selection, the doctor culls Chlomo from abler men. Chlomo, however, passes a second physical exam and is given another chance to live. Elie undergoes surgery on his foot. Because Russian liberation forces are moving ever closer to the Nazi camp, SS troops evacuate Buna in January 1945. The Wiesels and their fellow prisoners are forced to run through a snowy night in bitter cold over a forty-two mile route to Gleiwitz. Elie binds his bleeding foot in strips of blanket. Inmates who falter are shot. Elie prays for strength to save his father from death. At a makeshift barracks, survivors pile together.

Passion to Profession

Customer Service What is customer service? Customer service is the process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or service. â€Å"Customer service is not about you or your company, it is about the customer. – It is about the customer's wants, needs, and expectations. † (Bolden, Colon, 2010) Often, customer service occurs while performing a transaction for a customer such as making a sale or returning an item. It can take the form of personal interaction, a phone call, or by other means. It is an important part of our job and should not be seen as an extension of it.A company’s most vital asset is its customers and without them, we would not and could not exist in business. When you satisfy our customers, they not only help us grow by continuing to do business with you, but recommend you to friends and associates. Every single contact with a customer can either cultivate or corrode the relationship with a customer. This includes every letter or email t hat is sent out, every ad that may run and every phone call made. Working as a Medical Assistant in a doctor’s office is direct contact with patients in many aspects. Similar essay: HR Profession Map ExplainedThe customer service starts from the moment the patients walk into the office. Many patients have questions and concerns about their treatments, illnesses, tests, lab results, financial status, etc. , and it is the job of a medical assistant to effectively serve the patient to their satisfaction. My career goal is to teach in the Allied Health field and customer service is a must. The three-fold Bachelor’s degree I am now working on at Florida Technical College consists of Health Service Administration, Health Information Technology and Medical Assistant.It will equip me to teach clinical and practical skills to Medical Assistants and other health professionals. In order to accomplish my goal to teach, it is imperative that I learn effective customer service skills. When dealing with students, customer service means going the extra mile, helping students with their questions and their thirst for knowledge. It also means making sure tha t when it’s time to start the clinical practice; each student understands technique and the importance of following rules and guidelines. In all sense, teaching requires good communication and customer service skills.Teachers provide a service, provide the community with educated people, provide the students with a safe learning environment, and provide the students with useful and relevant education. Teachers do not only teach class, they send out emails, post updates on blogs, have a website on a server; they motivate the students to learn what I know they need to learn. In order to be a good teacher, you have to develop a program that is suitable for your students. You must prepare activities which can enhance the physical, intellectual and cultural abilities of students.A teacher can do so much better in their career and in accomplishing their educational goals with their students if they would add a little customer service strategy to their teaching. Communication Commun ication is a two-way process of reaching a mutual understanding in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. (Graham, Paul, 2006) Communication involves means such as listening, speaking, writing and reading. All these means can be used for an active communication process.In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. Many times, one of the biggest challenges people face when developing customer relations skills is empathy. If we are empathetic, it helps us better understand a person or situation, enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and is imperative in leadership. In my personal experience in the medical field, communication has always been very important, and has also gone hand in hand with empathy–the ability to identify with and understand somebody else's feelings or difficulties.Good customer service cannot exist without communication. When I worked as manager of an assisted living facility in Lewiston, Idaho, my job was communication between the elderly residents and their families, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and healthcare and social service agencies. Many times I was liaison between the resident and Medicare/Medicaid. Effective communication required phone calls, conversations with residents and family members in order to make important healthcare decisions, formal and informal memorandums to staff and/or management, and formal professional letters.In all essence, customer service and communication cannot work individually. Communication in all its aspects is imperative for effective customer relations. References: 1. Bolden ,Colon. Jun 28, 2010. Customer Service Tips-The Best Way to Treat People. Retrieved from: http://www. articlesbase. com/customer-service-articles/customer-service-tips-on-the-best-way-to-treat-people-2738621. html 2. Graham, Paul. 2013 Web Finance Inc. Retrieved from: http://www. business dictionary. com/tips/customer-service

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