Risk Management techniques

Risk Management techniques Risk Management Question: B) â€Å"We will never know if we have identified all the risks in a project† Given that the above statement is true; explain to a member of the Board of Directors the value of using Risk Management techniques for major project. Introduction â€Å"Every human endeavour involves risk; the success or failure of any venture depends crucially on how we deal with it† [1]. That means there is no perfect project in the construction industry in which all the risks can be identified and solved. Risk can neither be avoided nor be solved. It can only be mitigated and then either transfers or share to any other body which is a part of the project or just retain it. The success of a project depends on how well the project team analyse the risk. All the three parameters which determine the success of a construction project which are time, cost and quality are subjected to risk or uncertainty. It is the ability of the project team; right from the concept stage through out the implementation stage that how properly they are estimating the project by providing appropriate allowances for all those anticipated risks or uncertainties [2]. This report includes a detailed analysis of various risks that can occur in a construction project. It also includes how to identify, analyse and mitigate those risks by highlighting the value of different risk management techniques that are used now-a-days for major projects with the help of a case study of 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games. This report also explains about the systematic approach (project management techniques developed by the experts who are in the field of risk management for many years) of handling the risks. Neglecting the risk without taking that into in its context can turn a potentially profitable project to a loss making venture. 1. Risk in projects- a theoretical approach After a brief introduction, the author feels thats its time to explain risk in a broader frame and the management techniques to mitigate it. For that, all those management procedures need to be explained more along with the techniques used and substantiate that by using more examples. Before going into details of management aspects of the risk, the author needs to give a general idea about the difference between risk and uncertainty, and the risk classification in detail. 1.1. Risk and uncertainty According to Smith NJ, â€Å"the terms risk and uncertainty, if used rigorously, have different meaning but in terms of construction projects the distinction drawn between uncertainty and risk is of little significance† [2]. He defined risk and uncertainty as risk exists when a decision is expressed in terms of a range of possible outcomes and when known probabilities can be attached to the outcomes while uncertainty exists where there is more than one possible outcome of a course of action but the probability of each outcome is not known [2]. Uncertainty in other words can be defined as a situation in which there is no historic data or previous history relating to the situation [14] . â€Å"Perminova defines uncertainty, as a context for risks as events having a negative impact on the projects outcomes, or opportunities, as events that have beneficial impact on project performance. This definition stresses dual nature of uncertainty in potentially having both positive and negative influence on the projects outcomes†. [17] Risk involves both a threat and a challenge where an opportunity is a threat for those expects failures and a challenge to those predicts victory. It can be taken purely on the basis of probabilities or chances and at the same time, risk can be a well calculated one. 1.2. Risk classification According to Robert Flanagan and George Norman, risks are generally of different types that can be classified based on these criteria which are by identifying the type of risks, the consequences, and the impact of risk. Smith N J and Merna T suggested an alternate method of classification of risk which is Global classification and Elemental classification. The method, they suggested is to separate the more general risks which might influence a project but may be outside the control of the project parties from the risks associated with key project elements; these are referred to as global and elemental risks. The classification based on type of risks is usually done by assuming that the total risk is made up of market risks (Speculative risk) and specific risks (Pure risk). The specific risk, sometimes called as static risk, which is having no potential gain typically arises from the possibility of accident or technical failure, while for speculative risk, there is a possibility of loss or gain which might be financial, technical, or physical. â€Å"Moreover, a companys systematic risk can be spit into two components: business and financial risk†. Business risk is the result of a company trading with its assets, which is borne by the equity and debt holders and the financial risk arises directly out of the gearing process brings risk only to the equity holders.[14] The risk classification based on the impact of it can be subdivided into the environment risk, market or industry risk, company risk and the project or individual risk. This classification has done by considering the area with which the impact of the risk is affecting. The general environmental can again be divided into two parts: the physical and then the social, political and economical risks. The physical environment includes the weather and the natural phenomena like earthquake, landslips etc. Normally the risks involved in this environment cannot be controlled. By using the modern technologies, these phenomena can be identified well in advance and can take the measures to mitigate the effects of these phenomena. While in the other hand, the social, political and the economical environment risks are to some extent can be controlled. The government can control social, political and environment of a project to an extent [14]. Market risk depends on a lot of factors and it is very d ifficult to control it. Recession is a risk that almost all the companies are facing throughout the world also comes under market risk. These types of risks are very difficult to predict too, so the better method to tackle is to try to mitigate the consequence. Any company operates within an open market and the risk attached with the market can influence the company as well. So in a company itself, for different major projects, different management groups are assigned and thereby it can act as a separate group or consortium (joint venture with another company). By doing the there are chances for the risks with which the parent company is facing may not reach this group. But the company risks and project risks are intrinsically linked because the company must ultimately bear the consequence of the risky project. 2. Project risk management critical analysis â€Å"Project risk management includes the processes concerned about conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis (both qualitative and quantitative), responses, and monitoring and control on a project; most of these processes are updated throughout the project†[3]. 2.1. Risk management planning: plans how to approach the risk bound activities in the project and to execute the risk management practices into those activities. Before going into the planning for risk management, it is always better to study the project as much as possible. According to PMBOK (3rd edition), while planning an approach for managing risk, it is advisable to consider these factors as well such as, environmental factors, organisational process assets and project scope statement (objective of the project). Risk management plan or method is the outcome or result of this planning, which is used for the identification of risk in the project [3]. 2.2. Risk Identification: The best way to identify risk is a group session or a brainstorming session with all the management experts who are the part of the project. This is the best method of gaining team input and bringing expertise to the project [2] [4]. The risk management plan which is obtained as a result of the first step (Risk management planning) can be used here to identify risk. After identifying all the risk, a risk breakdown structure (RBS) can be made, which shows the risk groups, risk categories and risk events at the lowest level. Then all these identified risks can be converged under two main categories, Internal and external risks. Internal risks, which consists of risks from the side of owners, consultants, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers while external risks are political, economical, social, cultural, natural and other risks such as delays in claiming insurance etc [5]. â€Å"Identification of the risk is considered as the first and the most significant phase of the risk mana gement process. It brings considerable benefits in terms of project understanding and provides an early indication of the need for risk management strategies†. It is impossible to know how far the risks are identified but it is likely that there will be some risks which are unknown. The purpose of identification itself is to use the combinations of different methods to try to ensure that the amount of the unknown unknowns is as small as possible [15]. The right time of doing this identification of risk process is in the appraisal phase, because then there are a large number of risks in the project, and the options for avoiding or mitigating risks are very high and at that time, the project is highly flexible. Different methods of identification process are used by different organisations. Examining previous projects data with similar characteristics which has got similar type of risks can be used to ensure that corporate knowledge is utilized. This option of identification is having only limited scope, but this can at least used to make a checklist of risks which has got more probability to occur [2]. â€Å"Interviewing the project personnel from each discipline and the staff from within the organisation who have experience of similar projects, ensures the corporate knowledge and personnel experience are utilized in the process of identifying risks† [2]. The benefit of doing this technique is that, the organisation can utilise the experience that these experts got from the similar pervious projects. Once these risks are identified, detailed analysis can be done, either by qualitative analysis or by quantitative analysis or by both. 2.3. Risk analysis: â€Å"The purpose of the risk identification is to quantify the effects on the project of the risks identified† [15]. The first and most important step in this phase is to decide which analytical technique to use. There are methods, at the simplest level in which each risk can be treated individually with no attempts made to quantify the risks or the probability of occurrence of this is not calculated. Much more detailed results can be achieved by adding various computation methodologies and by establishing the interdependency of the risks and then the calculation system will be more complex. The choice of technique will usually be based on the experience and expertise. 2.3.1. Qualitative analysis: Prioritising risk by analysing the probability of occurrence and impact in the project. For each risk that is identified, the team needs to assess its severity in order to decide what course of action to take [16]. Expertise is required in this step, because all those analysis is done based on the knowledge from previous experiences. According to Smith N J, a typical qualitative risk assessment usually includes these issues: a brief description of the risk, the stages of the project when it may occur, the elements of the projects that could be affected, the factors that influence it to occur, the relationship with other risks, the likelihood of it occurring, how it could affect the project [2]. According to PRAM, various techniques used for doing qualitative analysis are assumption analysis, by making a check lists and prompt lists, brainstorming, Delphi technique, use of probability- impact (P-I) table, interviews ands risk register [11]. This method is basically experience based and the usage of any of the above mentioned techniques is compulsory, otherwise, the experience of the senior staffs cannot be utilised and thereby the project will be more vulnerable to risk. 2.3.2 Quantitative analysis: analyse numerically the effect of these risks in the overall project. This is the step in which the chances for error is maximum because in this step only, the calculations of the identified risks are done. So this step requires higher attention. Based on qualitative analysis, a relative important index (RII) can be developed and using that detailed categorisation can be done [5]. The probability of a risk arising is a key factor in decisions on risk. Possible consequences of risk occurring are defined and quantified in terms of increased cost, increased time and reduced quality and performance, which can be analysed by using any of the quantitative analysis techniques, says Smith N J [2]. Various techniques used are Decision trees, influence diagrams, Probability analysis (Monte- Carlo simulation), Sensitivity analysis, Project evaluation and review techniques (PERT) and Control Interval and Memory (CIM) approach in which sensitivity analysis and probability analysis are the widely used techniques to do the quantitative analysis of risk in a project. Sensitivity Analysis: This technique determines the risks which have the most potential impact on the project. â€Å"It examines the extent to which the uncertainty of each project element affects the objective, when all other uncertain elements are held at their baseline values† [3]. The aim of doing sensitivity analysis is to identify those components of the projects whose uncertainty most influences the uncertainty of the projects outcome. Sensitivity analysis can be expressed by using different plotting methods like Tornado charts (a histogram method, which is useful for comparing relative importance of variables that have a high degree of uncertainty to those that are more stable.), Spider plots, and Risk-return graphs. This technique should performed on all the risks and uncertainties which may affect project in order to identify those which have a large impact on the economic return, cost, time and whatever are the objectives. Probability Analysis (Monte-Carlo simulation): Probability analysis overcomes many limitations of sensitivity analysis by specifying a probability distribution for each risk, and then considering the effects on the risks in combination. Random sampling is used where calculation of data inserted in an equation would be difficult or impossible [18] [19]. Monte-Carlo simulation by means of random numbers provides and extremely powerful yet conceptually straight forward method of incorporating probabilistic data. The basic steps are. * assess the range for the variables being considered, and determine the probability distribution most suited to that variable * select a value for each variable within is specified range; this value should be randomly chosen and must take account of the probability distribution for the occurrence of the variable. This is usually achieved by generating the cumulative frequency curve for the variable and choosing a value from a random number * run a deterministic analysis using the combination of values selected for each one of the variables * repeat a number of times to obtain the probability distribution of the result. The number of iterations required depends on the number of variables and the degree of confidence required, but typically lies between 100 and 1000 [20]. In normal risk management processes (RMP), one of the abovementioned analyses only is used. â€Å"The effectiveness and efficiency of quantitative analysis is driven to an important extent by the quality of the qualitative analysis and the joint interpretation of both†. [6] 2.4. Risk response: brings out the maximum possible outcomes from these risks bound activities to enhance opportunities and to reduce threats to the desired objective. With these outcomes, risks can be prioritised as high, medium and low risk according to the probability of occurrence and impact. Risk allocation strategies should be determined at the initial stages of the project by the client. The main characteristics of the available choices of risk allocation strategy can be grouped according to organisational structure or payment mechanism. The payment mechanism employed, price or cost- based, will determine the location of these contingencies [2]. The allocation of risk between parties to a contract should be identified prior to tender. The rise response, or its allocation, can take any of these four forms: Risk retention, Risk transfer, Risk reduction and Risk avoidance. 2.4.1 Risk retention: According to Flanagan. R and Norman G, risks that produce individually small, repetitive losses are those most suited for retention. Not all risks can be transferred, but even if they are capable of being transferred it may not prove to be economical to do so. The risk will then have to be retained. Besides, it is preferred to retain a portion of risk in certain circumstances [14]. Applying the probabilistic approach to cost estimates gives a range of estimates rather than a single value. Thus a series of contingency sums can be given which provide for different probabilities of protection against risk and uncertainty [20]. 2.4.2 Risk transfer: Transferring the risk does not reduce the criticality of the source of risk, but it removes it to another party. In some cases, transfer can significantly increase risk because the party, whom it is being transferred, may not be aware of the risk they are being asked to absorb. The essential characteristic of the risk transfer is that the consequences of the risks, if they occur, are shared with or totally carried by a party other than the client. The client should expect to pay a premium for this privilege. The responsibility for initiating this form of risk response therefore lies with the client, and he should ensure that it is in his own best interests to transfer the risk [18] [20]. As per PMBOK, contracts can be used to transfer liability for specified risks to another party [3]. 2.4.3 Risk reduction: The most common and efficient way of reducing risk exposure is to share risks with other parties. Risk reduction fills in three categories: Firstly, education and training to alert the staff to potential risks. Secondly, physical protection to reduce the likelihood of loss and finally systems are needed to ensure consistency. In contractual agreement, the use of management fee types of contract will remove the adverse attitude of contractors and should reduce the likelihood of claims from the contractor for direct loss and expense [20]. 2.4.4 Risk avoidance: â€Å"Risk avoidance involves changing the project management plan to eliminate the threat posed by an adverse risk, to isolate the project objectives from the risks impact, or to relax the objective that is in jeopardy, such as extending the schedule or reducing scope. Some risks that arise early in the project can be avoided by clarifying requirements, obtaining information, improving communication, or acquiring expertise.†[3] 2.5. Risk monitoring and control: tracking and monitoring the identified risks, identifying new risks, executing risk response plans, and evaluating their effectiveness throughout the project life cycle. The process of risk management can be grounded on a clear understanding about the nature and scope of decision making involvement in project management and a natural framework for examining these decisions is the project life cycle. For successful implementation of the project, a regular monitoring procedure of risk is essentially required in all the segments of this framework like conceptualisation, planning, design, construction, termination and disposal of a project. Risk Monitoring and Control is the process of identifying, analysing, and planning for newly arising risks, keeping track of the identified risks and those on the watch list, reanalysing existing risks, monitoring trigger conditions for contingency plans, monitoring residual risks, and reviewing the execution of risk responses while evaluating their e ffectiveness. The Risk Monitoring and Control process applies techniques, such as variance and trend analysis, which require the use of performance data generated during project execution. Risk Monitoring and Control, as well as the other risk management processes, is an ongoing process for the life of the project [3] These abovementioned processes can be effectively explained by using a case study. The case study explains the typical risks that a major construction project is always exposed to and through this case study the author wants to prove that even if the management team has done a detailed analysis of risks, they can never say that they have identified all the risks because still there are chances for some risks being left out as unidentified. 3. London Olympics 2012 a case study The reason behind 2012 London Olympics to be taken as the case study is that, the author feels it is better to consider a live or recent project to discuss the risk management issues than an old project because in a live project only, there is a scope to find more risks which the management team left out without considering like the recession in this case, which is left unattended by the management group is the biggest treat the project is facing. According to the report by Comptroller and auditor General, National Audit Office (NAO), the management team of the London Olympics has considered six major issues as their major risks that need to be considered to the successful delivery of the project. They are (1) â€Å"Delivering the project at an immovable deadline (2) The need for strong governance and delivery structures given the multiplicity of organisations and groups involved in the Games. (3) The requirement for the budget to be clearly determined and effectively managed. (4) Applying effective procurement practices. (5) Planning for a lasting legacy. (6) The installation of effective progress monitoring and risk management arrangements† [7]. Since this project is a major one and all these risks need severe attention, the management team planned various risk management techniques to tackle each risk individually to keep all of them under control at any time through out the project. The author finds it very essential to explain each of these abovementioned risks and the methods used to mitigate them in detail, to substantiate the value of risk management techniques to a member of the Board of Directors. 3.1. Delivering the project at an immovable deadline The Olympic project consists of a lot of individual but interdependent projects. Effective project management works on the basis of the three parameters- Time, cost and quality and if there is any change that happens to any of these parameters can affect the other two[7]. So that implies delay in delivering any of the elements of the project puts pressure on cost and/or quality. Normally to release pressure from cost and quality that arises due to the delay in delivery of the project is to weaken the negotiating position. But in this project, these adjustments are not possible. Because any delay can affect the theme of the project. So to get rid of all these issues, they planned the project very well initially and kicked the construction off by starting the individual; non-interdependent (self dependent) works at the same time and by achieving all the milestones in construction at regular, pre-assigned intervals. Then they arrange the meeting of the representatives of all the major stakeholders and make sure that all of them are satisfied with the work done to attain the milestone within the given time. 3.2 The need for strong governance and delivery structures given the multiplicity of organisations and groups involved in the Games. According to the Comptroller and audit generals report, there are three major stakeholders to this project- The Government (represented by some bodies), the mayor of London and British Olympic Association. In addition to this, some other bodies are involved in delivering or funding the games. The management group deals with the risk of the need for strong governance and delivery structures by maintaining a clear focus on the need for timely decision making individually and collectively on a programme where there are multiple stakeholders and interests. The international Olympic Committee requires the host cities to organise the games and the management department decided to set up an Olympic delivery authority (ODA) to deliver the venues and the infrastructure and then to stage the games. From the previous experience they had in the past, they set up another body called LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is responsible for operational and s taging aspects of the game. The Olympic Delivery Authority prepares the site, builds new venues, delivers the Olympic village, infrastructure and transport projects. The only thing the management team needs to make sure is the combined effort of both the organisations in delivering the project. The technique of setting up two organisations by the management department was found successful so far, from the timely delivery of the milestones [7]. 3.3 The requirement for the budget to be clearly determined and effectively managed. One of the main risk which has got more probabilities to go wrong and which needs efficient management hands and effective techniques to deal with. So a very strong financial management set up is a prime requirement here. The need of maintaining comprehensive and accurate asset registers, which helps to transfer the asset later on at the end of the project and the need for strong contract management arrangements, with comprehensive contract records and payments made only in accordance with certified work carried out, is also of prime importance to keep in track with the income and expenditure of the project. Finally the actions required to manage this risks are setting up a budget for the project and making sure how it is funding, being sure about how the cash flow needs will be met, being clear about the costs associated with delivering the games and how to capture this amount on a consistent basis [7] [8]. 3.4 Applying effective procurement practices. This is one of the main issues as far as a major project is taken into concern. The author feels so, because fixing a procurement route for such a large project is very difficult. To get a main contractor who is doing the major share of work for a big project is equally difficult. By considering these aspects, the management team started doing the procedures well in advance, so that they got enough time for doing their analysis works done for fixing the procurement route, to do the qualification processes for selecting the main contractor and to negotiate with the preferred team about the various aspects of the project. Along with this, the management team makes sure that the application of procurement practice was effective by being clear about the respective roles and responsibilities of the Olympic Delivery Authority and its Delivery Partner, and ensuring that the arrangement enables the Authority to contain its operating costs as planned. They gained confidence in the approach t o procurement by awarding contract in an open and fair way and by applying best practice [7] [8]. 3.5 Planning for a lasting legacy. Since the project is very big and requires a lot of money, the management needs to make sure that the assets that are constructing for the games should deliver the maximum service. Planning for a lasting legacy, they planned the entire development of the city of London by adding these assets to it for future purposes. So this can also be considered as one among those crucial risks. They mitigated this risk by developing robust plans for the Olympic venues with the clear focus on whole life costs, to avoid the risks of these facilities being under-used or unaffordable after the games [7]. 3.6 The installation of effective progress monitoring and risk management arrangements. A major issue for any construction project, no matter whether that is a small project or a large one, it affects very severe if there is no effective progress monitoring techniques and risk management arrangements. Especially for a high investment project like this, it is very important because of the interest of the public in the project. They managed this risk by providing a risk register for every stakeholder at different stages in developing their own risk strategies and registers to identify and manage the risks specific to delivering their responsibilities. At a particular programme level, the authority collates all of them and makes a database for registering risks and prepares action plans to mitigate them. Although they have done all these lengthier procedures to find out risks and to eliminate it, the project is still not completely out of risks. The main threat the project facing now is the risk developed due to global economic recession. The financial set up of the project might get affected because of this risk. Now their main objective is to save the project from this risk and they are currently working on the issue which is about how to reduce or mitigate this risk. Being government is the main stakeholder and the project is a prestigious one, they will somehow manage to finish this project within time, but the cost will still remain as unknown and that itself is the risk that the management team left out with identifying after doing this detailed analysis of risk. This is the reason why they say â€Å"we will never know if we have identified all the risks in a project†. 4. Benefits of Project Risk Analysis and Management As per PRAM, benefits of using risk management can be classified into two: Hard Benefits and Soft benefits. Hard benefits are relatively easy to express and with enough effort it would be possible to measure the amount of benefit. But soft benefits are much less easy to quantify but, can give rise to dramatic performance improvement. These two can be explained in detail as â€Å"Hard benefits Enables better informed and more believable plans, schedules and budgets. Increases the likelihood of a project adhering to its plans. Leads to the use of the most suitable type of contract. Allows a more meaningful assessment and justification of contingencies. Discourages the acceptance of financially unsound projects. Contributes to the build-up of statistical information to assist in better management of future projects. Risk analysis enables objective comparison of alternatives. Identifies and allocates responsibility to the best risk owner and soft benefits Improves corporate experience and general communication Leads to a common understanding and improved team spirit Assists in the distinction between good luck/good management and bad luck/bad management Helps develop the ability of staff to assess risks. Focuses attention on the real and most important issues. Facilitates greater risk taking, thus

How far and in what ways do the opening three scenes constitute a suitably problematic opening to Measure for Measure?

Measure for Measure as a play is deeply renowned for being a' problem play†; that is to say, there are many unresolved items and unanswered questions throughout. Therefore in order to make the opening ‘suitable ‘ for a play of this calibre, the opening must also be ‘suitably problematic† in order to pique the audience's interest sufficiently to ensure that they will be just as intrigued by the rest of the play as they are by the beginning. The play's moral dilemma mainly concerns the Duke, who can be seen as manipulating others' lives without the slightest bit of regard for the consequences. It is unsure how we are meant to consider him, because even after these initial scenes enough doubt has already been raised about his motives to make the audience rather suspicious. In this play, the first three scenes contain just as many, if not more unanswered scenarios, which help to ensure that the play commences as it means to go on, and hints at the events to follow. At the start of Act 1 Scene 1, due to it being the very first scene, you would think that the play would have a clearly defined beginning, so that the audience are able to be fully aware of all the events taking place, and to a certain extent be totally omniscient of what is happening. Instead, here, it seems that nobody apart from the Duke has the inside story behind what is happening. This is most clearly proved by the beginning of the play commencing mid conversation. The Duke refers to his and Escalus' ‘commission', yet throughout the rest of the play the exact details of this are never mentioned; this means that the ordinarily all-knowing audience is unsure of what is going on. The context of why the Duke chooses Angelo is also indefinite; although Angelo almost pleads with the Duke to ‘let there be some more test made of [his] metal', the Duke simply tells him to stop evading his duties, and take over. This can be seen either as a test or as the Duke merely using Angelo to take the blame for any cruel but necessary actions. The word ‘metal' here is a clever pun, which is being used either to highlight the possibility of the word ‘mettle' being substituted for it, or to show the weighing up of the coins, of judging weighed up with kindness. It shows how deeply the Duke is aware of the double meaning of his actions, and how they therefore are being perceived by the outside world. Another puzzling issue is the reason for the Duke claiming that his departure must be ‘of so quick condition'; this is problematic enough for this issue to be recalled later in the play when the audience see the Duke pretending to be a friar so he can survey what happens, but still without giving a firm reason for having done so. This gives a further clue that he is testing Angelo, although all the same no concrete proof is ever given for this conclusion. However, even if he is testing Angelo, the question that must then be asked is why the Duke has chosen Angelo to test. Escalus is surely a much better choice, and this can be shown by the fact that the Duke chooses Escalus as the one to give him advice, or not even that just a second opinion on whether he has chosen the right person. Of course, the Duke is the one who makes the main decision, and regardless of what Escalus' opinion is, the Duke is the one who controls the entire situation. In this circumstance, his motives are deeply ambiguous, as they are indeed even in the rest of the play. It is confusing why he chooses to disguise himself as a friar, since at the time of the play being performed, Catholics were not usually trusted at all, let alone with the inner workings of someone's life. However here Catholicism is referred to throughout; whether it is because Isabella is a Catholic nun of one of the strictest orders, or because of marriage (which is another suitably problematic issue on its own), nonetheless it is a key fragment of the play's content. In Scene 2, we come across for the first time some of the examples which prove the existence of Vienna's underworld. Lucio, Pompey and the other Gentlemen are prime examples of this; however it is truly unclear as to what the audience are meant to think of them. By all means, they do use such coarse expressions as would be expected to be heard from the worst characters, such as â€Å"French crown† referring of course to syphilis. By the mentions of sexual diseases, the audience therefore presume them to be the negative characters of the play; however it is unclear as to whether all morally ambiguous behaviour should also be condemned. This issue of whether sexual promiscuity should be perceived as the worst crime, and therefore punished as such, is referred to again and again from both Angelo, the strict enforcer of this law, and Isabella, Claudio's sister, who despite her strict beliefs still wishes for the law to be more lenient in this case. Shakespeare therefore never clearly defines what the audience should think; whether they should think that sex outside of marriage is a vice and that Angelo's strict new law is doing the3 right thing, or whether they should listen to Mistress Overdone's opinion that Claudio was ‘worth five thousand' of his fellow sexual deviants. However Claudio's actions did not allow him to continue living as a free man he was now condemned to having to spend time in jail for a crime which in the eyes of some was not a crime at all. It is particularly problematic because he believed that he was officially married, and therefore it was permissible to have a child with his ‘wife'; it is only that the marriage was not completely formalised at the time that led him to be punished. If the committer of this crime had been someone else, rather than this otherwise generally upstanding citizen, this punishment of Angelo's would not have seemed so severe. In this case however, the audience finds it very difficult to judge, and this moral dilemma continues throughout the rest of the play. Isabella's opinion on her brother's problem with the law is also very puzzling. She begs and pleads with Angelo to spare her brother's life, but this can be seen as being rather sexually provocative and calculating, as if she is aware of precisely what she is doing and what effect this will have on Angelo. Later in the play Angelo ends up blaming himself for everything and Isabella succeeds in manipulating him. But here Isabella, after coming for the express purpose of seeking a pardon, and saying that she will succeed, quickly then says ‘I had a brother'. The imperfect tense there shows that in her mind, if he is not to be pardoned he is already dead. She goes from one extreme to the other; from being very open with her feelings, to reflecting Angelo, with ‘snow-broth' in her veins, a strict view on life, to even manipulative and cleverly calculating. This is rather problematic because the audience is more used to the characters' motives being clear-cut and easy to understand, unlike Isabella's complex multi-layered personality. This is a problem play, but it can be seen that the characters being unable to be understood in one step too far from just the events of the play being problematic. Measure for Measure is a Shakespearian problem play, which sharply addresses some of the issues of the law of the day when it came to the balance between justice and mercy, or the attitudes towards non-witnessed marriage. However this play takes it one step further than there simply being difficulties to overcome; most of the play's background is in fact completely unknown. Whole conversations, except for their conclusions, are omitted, characters are not clearly described, reasons for peoples' actions are unknown, and even motives are unclear. However when these three scenes are put in context with the rest of the play, it goes from being overly problematic to in fact just suitably so. The issues raised here are not created just to confuse the audience, but to provoke a well thought out mental response from them, prompted by the characters' opinions. These problems are referred to constantly throughout the play, and help to give it the conclusion that it has; not completely resolved of course, but as much as could be expected from such a problematical play.

John Miller s Death Of A Salesman Essay - 1521 Words

Riseman’s analysis presents the other side of life in the Consumer Republic. At a societal level, the GDP was shooting up at record speed, massive public projects like the highway system improved American infrastructure, and American influence all around the world was rising. Yet to the individual citizen or family, the realities of an increasingly materialistic society brought new questions that often had disillusioning answers. Works such as the film â€Å"Rebel Without a Cause† and Arthur Miller’s â€Å"Death of a Salesman† provide commentary on the social problems that formed in the changing American society. One can see that the effects of the consumer focused nature of the postwar American economy rippled throughout all aspects of American life. Another dimension to the social redefinitions occurring in the Consumer Republic was manifested in the increasing cries of systematically oppressed peoples, such as African Americans, Women, and the LGBTQ com munity. The postwar years were defined by a vast increase in wealth and a government with new power to direct this wealth in powerful ways. It is unsurprising that given these circumstances, racism, both implicit and explicit became abundantly clear as these groups of people found themselves living lives very different from the newly minted American Dream of homeownership and suburban bliss. While the focus of this paper is not on the specifics of these social movements, it is important to note that the economic climate gave clearShow MoreRelatedArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman And John Steinbeck1500 Words   |  6 PagesArthur Miller in his play Death of a Salesman and John Steinbeck in his novella Of Mice and Men portray characters in light of hopelessness and not achieving the American dream. Although the play and the novel are different, they share clear similarities. Characters in both texts want to pursue the American dream. 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Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915 in Harlem New York City to Isidore and Augusta Miller (GradeSaver). After graduating from high school, Miller worked a variety of odd jobs including hosting a radio program; this was before the University of Michigan accepted him. At school, he studied journalism, became the night editor of the Michigan Daily, and began experimenting with theater and writing plays. He lived throughRead MoreOf Mice And Men By John Steinbeck1452 Words   |  6 PagesThe novella â€Å"Of Mice and Menâ₠¬  by John Steinbeck (published in 1937) and the play â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller (published in 1949) both focus on the idea of the American dream creating a better life for oneself in a land of opportunity. However, both texts question whether this dream is achievable or just an illusion which is unattainable. Steinbecks novella â€Å"Of Mice and Men† tells the tale of two migrant ranch workers, George and Lennie, with a dream of getting their own farm. 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Now, at the time yes, I was involved in theater but not as passionate as I am now-so when I saw it I was interested. It was the first time that I was actually interested in English class. When we started to read the play in classRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman And The Crucible2615 Words   |  11 Pagesbeen perfect times. Arthur Miller’s writing style focuses on how his characters deal with external and internal problems and how their reactions to these problems reflect their characterization. Arthur Miller uses external conflict, internal conflict, and indirect characterization, in Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, to show how ideas of society do not always agree with the ideas and beliefs of others which can lead to a fatal action. 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Analysis Of The Film The An Inconvenient Truth

em{An Inconvenient Truth }em is a documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about the endeavor of Al Gore, former United States vice president, to convince the audience that global warming is a severe problem that has influenced the environment and the way humans lived. The film combines apocalyptic rhetoric with other environment rhetorics, including scientific rhetoric, utilitarian rhetoric and aesthetic rhetoric, to persuades the audience apocalyptically that unavoidable and irreparable environment problems will occur and gives the audience a feeling of powerlessness. And the film, at the same time, tempers apocalypticism to encourage audiences to confront the global warming and to convince audiences that they have the ability to help solving the problem. hskip 3em The film uses apocalyptic rhetoric and scientific rhetoric. According to the description in Laura Johnson s rhetoric review, scientific rhetoric involves statistics and processes, often using charts, graphs, and the photographs to illustrate data (Johnson 32), and apocalyptic rhetoric gestures in some way toward future disaster (Johnson 33). To show that the global warming has great influence on shifts in seasons, Al Gore s slides cited a diagram of a study from the Netherlands about active periods of birds and caterpillars (An Inconvenient Truth 51:45). This logo warns the audience to notice the fact that the global warming has affected ecological niches and let the audience imagine that more and moreShow MoreRelatedAn Inconvenient Truth Research Paper1374 Words   |  6 PagesAn Inconvenient Truth â€Å"You look at that river gently flowing by. You notice the leaves rustling with the wind. You hear the birds; you hear the tree frogs. In the distance you hear a cow. You feel the grass. The mud gives a little bit on the river bank. Its quiet; its peaceful. And all of a sudden, its a gear shift inside you. And its like taking a deep breath and going, Oh yeah, I forgot about this.  Ã¢â‚¬â€œAl Gore, An Inconvenient Truth - Inconvenient Truth â€Å"You see that pale, blue dotRead MoreAnthropogenic Global Warming1356 Words   |  6 Pagescarbon dioxide survey. Al Gore would later state that this was the foundation for all of his work. Mr. Gore would then go on to win the noble peace prize in 2007 for his work on a documentary called the inconvenient truth. The film would also win the prestigious academy award for best documentary film (2007). Mr. Al Gore was also the winner of the Roger Reveille Award 03/06/09. The United Nations also plays a significant role for supporting the belief that manmade global warming is the greatestRead MoreA Convenient Appeal: The Image of Urgency in an Inconvenient Truth1142 Words   |  5 Pages2006 documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore uses a combination of appeals to logic and emotion to stress the urgency of the global warming crisis to an audience of everyday individuals. Gore’s logical appeals emphasize the danger and significance of global warming in a cogent, engaging multimedia platform. Rather than monotonously expounding upon detail after detail, he uses interactive visual aids to clarify his claims. As Stefan Lovgren, in â€Å"Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Movie: Fact orRead More Global Warming and the Media Essay1500 Words   |  6 Pageswill learn to search for scientific information regarding important issues for themselves. (P1) The media’s constant over-coverage of global warming is desensitizing the public to the very real problem of global warming. (P2) In the movies, An Inconvenient Truth and The Day After Tomorrow, global warming was portrayed in two very different ways. Desensitization and Demoralization As American citizens, we are bombarded everyday with information about the world. Because global warming is one of theRead MoreTransformations: Emma and Clueless1297 Words   |  6 Pageschange and revolution† as noted in extract one, to a time reminiscent of â€Å"the reluctant emergence of America onto the world stage as a result of two world wars† everything and nothing at all has changed. The paradoxical situation we face on a close analysis of both contexts is that though Austen and Heckling lived almost 200 years apart their perceptions and criticisms of the world and the world itself are uncanningly similar. Both composers explore attitudes surrounding gender roles, social hierarchiesRead More An Investigation into the Portrayal or Truth Within the Documentary Genre1896 Words   |  8 PagesAs documentary by its very nature introduces itself as factual, concerns exist as to where the boundary between the truth of subject and the fiction produced by its creator emerges. As anything that has been edited has by definition removed certain aspects and enhanced others, there must be at best an innocent naturally occurring bias formed from individual perception, and at worst purposefully manipulated misinformation. Through researching various sources, I intend to discover the difference (ifRead MoreThe Industries Experiment On The Planet2507 Words   |  11 Pagesthese spaces, the five bodily senses -- sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste -- helped to identify how each location felt overall. In addition to the raw data collected, further analysis was undertaken using information obtained i n class. Ideas within the course were applied to the three locations, and an analysis of the course content was applied to everyday problems concerning environmental issues that stem from greenhouse gas emissions caused by mega industries. The world’s largest and mostRead MoreFeminism s Role As A Vehicle For Social And Political Commentary Essay1662 Words   |  7 PagesThis fact can be attributed to its ability as a cultural medium to educate and entertain. Over the past several decades the social-political movement of feminism has been adopted in many literary works. The concept of Feminism is concerned with the analysis of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially regarding their social, political, and economic situation. As a social and political movement, feminism’s primaryRead MoreEssay about Global Warming: A Dangerous Reality1439 Words   |  6 Pagesexperiments to un derstand the causes and effects of global warming and they have searched for solutions. They have warned others about the dangers of pollution and human activities and have urged others to do something about it. Films, such as Al Gore’s documentary â€Å"The Inconvenient Truth†, have also raised international public awareness of climate change and have re-energized the environmental protection movement; however, some politicians, government officials, and scientists have opposed this theory. TheyRead MoreVsdgvfyhb2024 Words   |  9 Pagesemphasis on my thoughts on the public school systems of America, and not nearly enough rhetorical analysis of the documentary. I wrote what felt like millions of drafts and printed them all out and scribbled all over them. I also used Bridget as resource and took her ideas and comments into considering my final draft. Overall, I tried to focus the paper much more on a rhetorical analysis of the film instead of my own opinions on the issue (those can come in Inquiry Three!). Waiting for â€Å"Superman†