Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Young Men & Fire by Norman Maclean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Young Men & Fire by Norman Maclean - Essay Example Many years later, Norman Maclean tried to re-enact the race up the hill and piece together the events of the Mann Gulch fire. In Young Men and Fire, he recounted his visits to fire research centers, discussions with the fire's survivors, and exploration of the canyon itself. His poetically written investigation into the events of Mann Gulch sought lessons from the fire while presenting pieces of beautiful writing on every page. The book is extremely compelling and use of language is both touching and elegant. Young Men and Fire combines a captivating primer on fires and firefighting, a powerful, amazingly real reconstruction of a tragedy, grief and human character. It is a magnificent drama of writing that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living. Maclean's quest for the truth that becomes an exploration of his own mortality, is more inspiring even than his journey into the heart of the fire. His description of the conflagration frightens, but it is his efforts to turn the story of the 13 men into tragedy that makes this book a classic. The Mann Gulch fire occurred when a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, spread out of control. The fire was first spotted by a forest ranger around noon on August 5, 1949. James O. Harrison, the recreation and fire prevention guard for Meriwether Canyon Campground had quit his former job as a smokejumper to find a less dangerous profession. On this day however, he fought the fire on his own for four hours before he met the crew of smokejumpers who had been dispatched from Missoula, Montana, in a C-47. Foreman Wagner Dodge led the team towards the Missouri River. The fire however, spread faster than anticipated and had already cut off the path to safety. The men had to turn around. When Dodge realized that they would not be able to outrun the fire, he started an escape fire and ordered everyone to lie down in the area he had burnt down. The other team members hesitated and hurried towards the ridge of Mann Gulch instead. It was a mistake. Only two of them managed to escape through a crevice and found a safe location, a rock slide with little vegetation to fuel the fire. Two other members survived with heavy injuries but died within a day. Unburnt patches beneath the bodies indicated that the rest of the team, including Jim Harrison, suffocated before the fire caught up with them. Later 450 men fought for five more days to get the fire, which had spread to 18 km (4500 acres), under control. Wagner Dodge survived unharmed and died five years later of Hodgkin's disease. Lessons learn ed from the Mann Gulch fire had a great impact on firefighter training and over the years the science behind fire rampage continued to develop further. Numerous factors shape fire growth. In the case of Mann Gulch certain aspects led to one of the most violent of fire hazards, a blowup. This is a sudden increase in fire intensity or rate of spread strong enough to prevent or upset fire control measures. Blow-ups are often accompanied by violent convection and may have other characteristics of a fire storm. Sometimes flare-ups can occur where there is a sudden acceleration of fire spread or intensification. Unlike a blow-up, a flare-up lasts a relatively short time and does not radically change fire control measures. The most violent fire hazard is a fire storm, a violent convection

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Walt Disney Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Walt Disney Company - Research Paper Example The fact that Walt Disney had already gained popularity during this period benefitted the government of United States in projecting a favorable American image for the world. Walt Disney, during the period of World War, produced propaganda content for every area of the U.S government. Walt Disney was used as a means of promoting the brand image of U.S.A in every conceivable way. The company’s films were used to enhance the morale of the American supporters as well as to train the fighters. The animated content used in Disney’s films was used to achieve this purpose. According to an estimate, approximately 90% of the company’s workers were engaged in this propaganda business, directly or indirectly (Andrew 2009). Furthermore, it is estimated that the company produced more than 68 hours worth of expensive war-related films during the period (Andrew 2009). Apart from promoting the U.S and its allies in its own movies, the company was also requested to animate certain content that was developed by a Colonel of the U.S Army. Films produced under this banner include â€Å"Prelude to War† and â€Å"America goes to War† (Watts 1997). However, this is not the first time that the company was used as a tool for propaganda. In World War 1 also the company was used to promote American interest. For instance, an animated film, whose content was designed by a Colonel, was used to train the workers in U.S Army (Andrew 2009). It was believed that these animated filmstrips were a more effective tool than mere lectures or live demonstrations, simply because it engaged the audience (armed workers) more effectively (Watts 1997). Also it has been argued that these animations were used to create settings that were otherwise difficult to achieve with the camera. One of the most critical components of Disney’s success was perhaps the incorporation of humor in its film content (Gabler 2006). Furthermore, the company’s artists are accredite d with the art of capturing customer’s imagination and producing content that enabled effective learning. Because of the fact that the company was able to fabricate the factual, lackluster information into a more entertaining and color manner, Disney benefitted from enhanced viewers attention who not only involved their minds but also their hearts into the movies. The company itself admitted that it had produced movies containing half truths and anti-Nazi element. The propaganda conducted by Disney can perhaps be divided into three main categories of propaganda for the Navy, Air Force as well as specifically targeted propaganda content in its cartoons (Uelmen 1991). As far as the propaganda content for Navy was concerned, the company produced content whose primary purpose was to teach various tactics to sailors through the movies. As far as the content for the Treasury department were concerned, the company was asked to promote the payment of income taxes by the U.S nationals . This was promoted through the cartoon Donald Duck, where the lead character demonstrates the contribution of income taxes to the war effort in the book named â€Å"The New Spirit† which was considered a significant part of the American heritage (Uelmen 1991). The film of this book received enormous media attention which yet again demonstrated the yields to Disney of promoting nationalist interests. This film also