Analyse how the author’s choice and presentation of setting helped develop a main theme

In Frank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes, the reader is taken to places such as Ireland and America to gain an insight on his childhood experiences in the 1930s and 1940s. McCourt's presentation of his childhood family status, Poor Irish Catholic childhood and the social alcoholic status which his father Malachy could not resist helps develop significant themes in the memoir. This is done to develop the themes of poverty and hunger which plagues his family. However, the purpose of this autobiography is to convey the hardship of life in Ireland and why Limerick holds such an important place in McCourt's heart.

The anti-English sentiment was very strong in Ireland as most of the adult characters in the memoir condemn the history of the invasion of Ireland and the repression of the Irish by the English. Due to this fact, the McCourt family were seen as outsiders from America and were therefore treated with spite.With incredulity and disgust people keep asking Malachi and Angela (parents) if their children are Yankees. When Angela, Franks mum went to St Vincent de Paul society for charity, she was greeted with suspicion as to why a woman wearing an American coat was asking for charity. When she later confides of the miscarriage of her new born baby, she is then treated with sympathy and given a docket for groceries. The place where you lived in Ireland also had an effect as to how people treat you in terms of respect and exploitation of opportunity. When Frank's dad takes him to the church to be an altar boy, the door gets slammed on their face when the man takes one look at Frank. Angela, the mum later states "Tis class distinction. They don’t want boys from the lanes on the altar. … That’s what it is and ‘tis hard to hold onto the faith with the snobbery that’s in it" and this shows the rejection of opportunity because they are poor. So the 'Yankee' and the 'people from the lanes' status made life difficult for the McCourt's family as Frank was denied opportunities imposed by class divisions. These limitations deprived Frank of furthering his education as he was rejected as a poor boy dressed in rags and living in the lanes.

In the desperate need for food, money and shelter, the catholic church is the solace where confessions can be made, sins be forgiven and a place to plead for charity for better living conditions. McCourt narrates this childhood experience with humour and without self pity stating that "It was of course a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.” The repetition of 'miserable' emphasises the extent of his unhappiness as a child growing up. Raised in the slums of limerick, Angela, Franks mother barely has money to feed her children, therefore having to plead in humiliation and desperation for charity at the church. As Angela continues to have more children than she can feed and sometimes enduring starvation, the children wears rags for diapers and had to beg for a pigs head for Christmas dinner. Frank continues to endure poverty as himself, brothers and mother walk along the roadside to pick up coals from the ground to light a fire to warm their house, because their father is too 'grand' or is too full of pride to go looking for coal for his family. So even though the catholic people depended on the church, it only provided them with temporary relief such as dockets for food, shoes and clothing after humiliating them about their poverty and forcing them to beg. Due to this embarrassment forced upon the women begging for charity, Frank decides to steal rather than beg to survive.

Malachy, Franks father is an alcoholic who tend to use his wages for a 'pint' in the pub rather than catering for the basic needs of his family. Due to this selfish act his family are forced to beg and get help from friends and strangers, sometimes having to go without food leaving the children starved and driving Angela to retreat to staring in the dying ashes in the fireplace. Malachy's dependency on alcohol drove his family into deeper poverty leaving his children with diseases caused by weakness and malnutrition. Irritated by the lack of responsibility, Angela confronts Malachy stating “Where’s the money? The children are hungry. You mad oul bastard, did you drink the money again?”. Not only does this show desperation of money but also the different roles that husband and wife plays. We see that drinking is one of the ways to escape the hardships of Irish life, for example the death of baby Eugene. This drinking habit is encouraged by Franks grandmother who explains that the drinking is a medicine that eases his suffering. However the onslaught of poverty caused by excessive drinking has detrimental effect on the family and since they depended on the wages of the man, hunger and poverty continue to plague the family.

To conclude, McCourt's memoir of Angela's Ashes is mainly set in Limerick in the era of the great depression during the 1930s and 1940s. The family's poor Irish Yankee family status, the miserable Irish catholic childhood and the loquacious alcoholic father helped develop themes of extreme poverty and hunger. McCourt's purpose in writing this memoir is not only to reflect his childhood experiences, but also to make the reader aware of the difficulties his family faced. Despite all the odds, Limerick holds an important place in Frank McCourt's life as it was the place he grew up.  

What factors enabled a group to demonstrate a distinctive sense of identity in Nazi Germany? What characteristics made the group's sense of identity distinctive?

A distinctive sense of identity emerged in Nazi Germany during the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler after 1933. Several factors such as reactions to the Treaty of Versailles, the weak Weimar government , economic collapse and Anti-semitism contributed to the Nazi identity. This identity was comprised of a fascist dictatorship that used terror and propaganda through Anti democracy, Anti communism, Nationalism and through One fascist leader- Adolf Hitler.

Germany was accused for starting world war one, and therefore had to accept sole responsibility in 1919. The peace conference was held in Versailles where the allies (Lloyd George- Britain, Clemenceau-France, and Wilson-USA)  also known as the 'Big 3' presented their negotiations. Clemenceau, the prime minister of France, however wanted revenge and to punish the Germans bitterly for the damage they had caused in during the war. France won the argument in this peace conference, so therefore Germany lost 13 percent of their land, pay heavy reparations of £6,600 million and lost 10 percent of their industry, along with 15 percent of agriculture. Germany lost their overseas empire, the Rhineland was now occupied by the French and on top of that had to sign an embarrassing war guilt clause. The treaty of Versailles was signed with much protest that many promised to overthrow it and this brought about the identity of the Nazis. The Nazi gave Germany hope as they promised to regain power and honour by abolishing this treaty, and not abide by the punishments laid upon them like reoccupying Rhineland.

When Germany got rid of the Kaiser's system of government, a new constitution named as the Weimar Republic was formed. This constitution was an attempt to set up a democratic government but it encountered alot of problems like proportional representation. Proportional representation favored alot of small parties and therefore no party got a majority as each got  a small number of MPs. This meant that governments had to form coalitions and at times disagreed with each others views. This made the Weimar Republic very weak as it could never be a strong government. The constitution also gave the President, the states and the army too much power, whilst the proportional voting divided the Reichstag. Political crimes and violence escalated during this political instability and both the left and right wing political parties rioted and attacked the state. Nazi identity emerged by taking advantage of the weakness of the Weimar Republic to create their own fascist form of government. The Nazi promised to bring strength and stability, law and order and strong leadership against weak government. Hitler's strong personality and powerful ideas seemed to be just what Germany needed as the Weimar republic appeared indecisive and incompetent.

When the German government did not have enough money to pay for the reparations, the printed more and more money that the government did not have. This meant that the value of money was much less and prices rose higher. Hyperinflation occurred in 1923 which made living very hard as money became worthless and there were extreme poverty. The onset of the Great depression also put Germany in an economic slump. The American loans used to rebuild Germany's economy was now stopped. Taxes were raised, wages were cut and employment arose. People who had lost their jobs suffered poverty, hunger and homelessness. The people of Germany were now very desperate and would listen to any political figure who would promise them a better future. The economic collapse enabled the Nazis to demonstrate their distinctive sense of identity by providing an explanation or promise for every problem. For unemployment the Nazis promised to get people work on road-building and public works. He also promised to abolish reparations which was a burden that Germany could no longer afford to pay. This gave the people of Germany hope and therefore led to the rise of the Nazis. 

The Nazi's Racial Policy mostly affected the Jews living in Germany. Hitler believed that the Aryan people who were blue eyed, blond Germans were superior to other races. Hitler claimed that Germany's past problems were due to the fact that the country was not run by racially pure Aryans. Anti semitism was a factor that enabled the Nazis to demonstrate the distinctive sense of identity. The idea was to get rid of Jews especially the ones from positions of power and isolating them from pure Aryans. Jewish homes, shops and synagogues were destroyed all in the means of making Germany a united racially pure Aryan state. Many Jews were persecuted at concentration camps were mass genocide took place. The 'Night of the Broken Glass' is a good example of anti semitism in Germany. Hundreds of synagogues were burnt, and thousands of Jewish businesses were trashed and looted. Jewish people captured were killed as police stood and fire brigade stood by and did nothing. It was called the 'Night of the Broken glass' because of the shattered glasses that littered the streets. So in this identity Hitler and the Nazis used the Jews as a scapegoat because many Germans blamed them for Germany's defeat in World War One.

One of the characteristics of Nazism was the belief of anti democracy. Democracy generally involves elected officials, fair elections, right to run for public office, freedom of expression and the right to form opposition groups. Hitler had no interest in democracy because so far the democratic system of the Weimar government had been a failure and believed that Germany will thrive under one leader only; himself, Adolf Hitler with his fascist ideas. After failing to gain power by force in 1923, the Nazis went on campaigning in a more democratic way and the people of Germany responded well to the intelligent and intimidating speeches of Hitler. As soon as Hitler was elected democratically in 1933, he succeeded in destroying democracy and replaced it with dictatorship. Hitler believed that what Germany needed was a dictator who knew what was best for Germany and this characteristic made the Nazis sense of identity distinctive as Hitler carried out decisions which everyone had to obey with loyalty and any form of opposition was dealt with by the SA, whom were Hitler's special police force.

The national leaders of the Nazis were masters of propaganda and trained local groups in propaganda skills. The Nazis claimed that communism was a threat to the well being of the nation because of its support for class divisions and hostility towards businessmen. An example of propaganda to extend fear and hatred towards communist is the Reichstag fire. On the night of February the Reichstag building was set on fire and inside police found a Dutch communist who was arrested and charged with arson. That same night Prussian police arrested and imprisoned thousands of communist leaders. The next day Hitler persuaded President Hindenburg to pass an emergency decree suspending all articles in constitution for personal liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of assembly were banned. So the anti communist characteristics of Nazism eliminated opposition to their idea of a true fascist state by means of propaganda.


Another characteristic of Nazism was Nationalism. The Nazis believed that Germans were of pure Aryan master race with features of blond hair, blue eyes and certain dimensions of the shape of head and skull. The Nazis wanted all racially pure Germans to feel they were part of the 'Volk' or the 'people's community'. To create this community, churches, political parties or any other organisation which might divert people's attention from being involved in the Volk was abolished by the Nazis. Hitler wanted to win the hearts and minds of the people to do what he wanted them to do. This characteristic made the Nazis distinctive as there was no room for free speech and Nazis made sure that any ideas that opposed Nazism was banished. As the 'master race' Germans were encouraged to have more children in the other means of Nationalism. Since more than a million men had been killed in the First World War, they encouraged the nation to have more children by giving medals such as gold, silver and bronze to the family with the most children. The other races living in Germany such as the Jews, however did not fit this idea of nationalism as they were considered 'pests' and taken to concentration camps. Life was a struggle and the German Aryans were believed to be physically and mentally healthy.

The distinctive sense of identity for the Nazis was successfully established through the harsh Treaty of Versailles, the incompetent Weimar government, the collapse of the economy that caused lots of hunger and poverty. Anti Semitism was also a factor as Hitler believed that the Jews were behind Germany's humiliating defeat in World War One.m Characteristics such as Anti democracy, Anti communism and Nationalism made the Nazis sense of identity distinctive as they used terror such as sending Jews to concentration camps and propaganda such as the Reichstag fire to eliminate communists.

Demonstrate the importance of the opening scenes/ sequences from your studied film in foreshadowing later elements of the whole work.

The opening scenes of the South African film Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood was very important in foreshadowing later elements in the work. The first scene is of Tsotsi and his gang (Boston, Butcher and Die Aap) in Tsotsi's shack. We see Butcher and Die Aap gambling with a dice whilst Tsotsi is standing by a window looking out into the night with his back on the camera so we do not see him at first glance. Then they leave the shack and make their way to the train station of Johannesburg, a place where they pick out vulnerable people for money.

The first shot is an extreme close up of two dice that has just been rolled by a hand. After this shot we see two men Die Aap and Butcher gambling in Tsotsi's shack. The symbolic meaning of the dice is of fate. This is important as in the game of life we do not know what will happen and that is evident, throughout the film when Tsotsi and his gang makes decisions solely based on luck. These young, uneducated gangsters do not take into consideration the consequences of  living on the edge and not knowing what is to happen to them as they gamble away their lives. When you roll a dice, it is the dice that is in control of what number it is to come up not you. In the same way in this film the fate of these gangsters are controlled by the decisions they make to do something. This scene foreshadows later elements of the film and some of Tsotsi's decisions. In the later parts of the film, Tsotsi is out on the rich suburbs as a rich woman gets out of her car to the gate to buzz her husband to open the gate. The woman seems to be having trouble buzzing her husband and Tsotsi takes this opportunity to steal the car. Luck is shown on Tsotsi's face as he silently approaches the car and gets ready to drive off. The woman stops buzzing the gate and she runs to her car screaming to stop Tsotsi. She opens the car door and Tsotsi shoots her. In less than a mile, after careless driving, a cry of a baby is heard and Tsotsi turns around to discover a little baby boy strapped on the backseat. The fate of the dice in this scenario is that Tsotsi saw luck in stealing a car but he never knew he would be in a position to shoot a mother, who happens to have a baby in the car.

During the opening scenes there is a close up of Butchers makeshift weapon tapping impatiently on  the table while gambling with Die Aap. This knife foreshadows later elements in the film as it is a common weapon found in the streets and often used as a preferred tool in killing as it causes little bleeding and is easy to stab into the skin. This knife was used by the provocative Butcher to kill an innocent vulnerable old man on the train. When the train reached its destination and stopped,all the commuters poured out undisturbed and into the platform to their separate ways. This shows the uncontrolled violence and crime that takes place in South Africa everyday and in a way for most people is seen as a normal way of life in every typical day as no-one stepped up to investigate what was going on. As one of the themes in this film is redemption, these acts of unjust violence is what Tsotsi later on aims to redeem himself from. The idea of change of heart is brought about when he stalks Morris, a man in a wheelchair who had assaulted Tsotsi by calling him "dog" after Tsotsi accidentally trips on him. Tsotsi decides to take revenge as he stalks Morris to an underground place. Feeling of unease is created by low rumbling sounds and the clatter of coins in a tin can. Tsotsi approaches him and asks "Why do you go on living like a dog?". Morris stuns Tsotsi with "Me, I like to feel the sun on the streets". With this Tsotsi comes in terms that you do not need power, status and wealth by means of violence to be happy or have a meaningful life.

 In the opening sequence, there is a long wide shot of Tsotsi's shack. in the mis en scene we see the silhouette of Tsotsi's back. As his back is on the viewer unlike the other gang members and he is set up as an outsider, someone who is different from the beginning. His status as a leader is shown when Die Aap asks "What are going to do today?", followed by the other gang members "yea Tsotsi what are we going to do?". This foreshadows later elements in the film as he makes the decisions and the gang does not function without him. As the leader and main character, he reveals to the audience his lost childhood, and by discovering the baby, he changes from a thug to a more humane person.

When Tsotsi and his gang left the shack, on their way to the train station in Johannesburg we get a more in depth analysis of the shantytown. There is a mid shot angle of Tsotsi walking in front of his gang, Die Aap on his right, Butcher on his left and Boston at the back. Tsotsi walk with an air of dominance as he looks straight ahead whilst his gang watch out for him on the sides and back. He wears a black leather jacket, a signature dress code which indicates how tough and rebellious he is as a gangster. This dress code foreshadows later elements in the film when he discovers self awareness. We know this as later in the film, after he had given the baby to its parents he was circled by police cars. He stood in the middle of the road with his arms raised signaling surrender. One of the things that stood out was his white shirt. the white shirt was now the indication of justice. All those times as a gangster with a black leather jacket committing unjust acts are over. With arms raised wearing a white shirt and standing alone in the middle of the road shows that he is willing to stand up for his actions and face up to consequences.

At the end of the opening sequence, there is an extreme long establishing shot of the inside of the train station. The station is vast, modern and clean. In this shot one of the major concern is to highlight the issue of AIDS. We know this because of the huge billboard display quoting "We are all affected by HIV/AIDS". The vast interior is also a place to scope out victims. This station is important in foreshadowing later elements in the film as it tells us how serious AIDS is in South Africa. Tsotsi lost his mother because of this disease and we know this through the flashback. There was a flashback of Tsotsi's mum laying sick in bed telling her son to come over to her. Tsotsi's dad comes into the room angry yelling at the mother that she is too sick and demanding Tsotsi to leave the room. Tsotsi hesitates between his mum wanting to show love to her son and his father wanting him to get out. When Tsotsi runs out of the room, he looks back to see his dad kick their dog, breaking its leg. this shows what an abusive and violent dad he had. this gives the viewer an understanding as to why Tsotsi chose the hard, aggressive, gangster way of life because he had grown up alone with no one for support.

To conclude, the opening sequence in the film Tsotsi is important and therefore foreshadows later elements in the whole work. Techniques such as camera shot, dialogue and mis en scene are used to help viewers understand the significant ideas portrayed. The elements at these opening scenes foreshadow the themes of redemption, self awareness and lost childhood in Tsotsi's journey of life. The issue of HIV/AIDS is also addressed in South Africa.

Analyse techniques used to establish the settings in a film and explain the importance of the setting as a whole.

The film 'Tsotsi' directed by Gavin Hood is set in Post Apartheid South Africa. This film focuses on areas such as the shantytowns and the Johannesburg suburbs. This is done to show the extent of the effect the Apartheid had had on the Blacks that were confined to the slums during the apartheid and the other significant amount of blacks that are now upper class and living in the suburbs. The issue of HIV/AIDS is also addressed.

Shot types and the mise en scene of the train station are used to establish the economic and social situation of the South African society. The establishing shot of the train station is extreme long shot, high angle and is focused on the inside of the station. This shot shows the vast interior and also both the rich and poor people in the same environment on their separate journey by train. The mise en scene emphasises how clean and modern the station is. We see a wide billboard hanging from the ceiling which states 'We are all affected by HIV and AIDS'. This sign educates outsiders the impact AIDS has on South Africa and the impact it has on people like Tsotsi, the main character in film. Tsotsi's parents passed away with AIDS leaving him orphaned at a very young age. Through these camera shots and mise en scene, the director helps educate viewers about AIDS in south africa and the social status of the poor and rich people.

Music and soundtrack are also important as they are used to help viewers understand a certain mood and/or culture of the poor in the Soweto shantytowns. At the early stages of the film, there is a scene of Tsotsi and his gang shuffling along in the street. The soundtrack of 'Mdlewembe' was associated with this scene. The director uses this particular music to build a sense of suspense. We know this because the tone of this soundtrack was very intense, full of bass, had very strong tempo and it was upbeat. Due to the adrenaline rush given off by the tone, we feel that this gang are up to no good. Also this music is an example of Kwaito music which is common on the streets of the shantytowns. The music is a way for these people to speak out about their hardship and this is noticeable as we see shacks piled on top of each other and rubbish strewn around everywhere.

The mise en scene is one of the most significant techniques used to contrast various settings in this film. This contrast is between the middle class or upper class suburbs and the shantytowns. We notice that the suburbs have well aligned streets, with streetlights. The suburbs are a clean area with lots of green and well groomed trees. Their buildings are made of cement and wood surrounded with security camera and electronic gates. At the shantytowns, the setting is very different. Their buildings are made of corrugated iron and bits of metals put together to form a shack. There are no streelights and the streets or walkways are covered in dirt and rubbish. The director usese this contrast to tell viewers that there are parts of south Africa that is rich and there are parts were shanty towns and slums still exist. It also highlights how in the suburbs, the need for security is much greater to keep away intruders or villains living at the back of their priced suburban area. According to history during the apartheid the black people of south africa were confined to the slums as a way of separating them from the whites which made them feel dehumanised. So the mise en scene in the shantytown points out that even though the apartheid is over, many blakcs are still extremely poor and have to live without clean runnning water and electricity.

In addition to the techniques already mentined, costume helps to establish the differece in the two class divisions. The two characters that emphasise this division is Miriam who lives in the shantytown and John, the upper classs black man who lives in the suburbs. The clothes Miriam wears are earthy coloured and traditionally patterned. It is not the kind of  clothes that has a brand on it and can be bought at a fashion retail outlet. It is the type of cloth that are sewed by hand and found in a tailors shop. Miriam also wears colourful head scarfs which are quite symbolic to African women as they show pride and strenght. John, the upper class man is seen wearing European style clothes which are modern and quite expensive. This style of clothing emphasise his status of wealth and his disregard towards his traditional costumes which he considers poor and out dated.

The importance of the setting to the film as a whole was to establish the issues such as the huge gap between the rich and the poor in south Africa and also the huge impact AIDS has on these people. Issues such as desperation for money, envy and resentment of the upper class's wealth, puts the shantytown dwellers in an economically segregated community which leads to the need of security for the upper class living in the suburbs.

In summary shot types, mise en scene, soundtrack and costume were the key techniques used to establish the setting in the film 'Tsotsi' directed by Gavin Hood. These settings were important to the film as a whole because it helps the viewers understand certain issues such as the social and economic segregation, poverty in the shantytowns and the serious issue of HIV/AIDS.

The Responsible

The never ending trail of life's symptoms
Some were responsible for the creases on her face

She is an owl
Some were responsible for the owlness in her
Eyes so empty it engulfs any light that ventures its path
As it looms back and forth
Left to right. Right to left

A lost duckling
Some were responsible for the genocide of her cries
Legs leading to the gaping cave with NO EXIT
Drenched tongue licking a piece of bone
On a silver platter

A life with no purpose
Some were responsible for her sunken heart
And as she craddle the stones on the pavement

We were all responsible for stepping on her

Analyze how symbols have been used to develop your understanding of ideas in TWO short written texts you have studied.

In the poems 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy, symbol used to develop our understanding of the idea of love is 'an onion' and in 'This is love' by Karlo Mila, symbol used is 'a plant'. These symbols are extended metaphors used to express the reality of love.

In 'Valentine', the symbol of an onion is "a moon wrapped in brown paper". This tells us that in order to get to love, some work has to be done. If you take a look at an onion, it is first covered with brown coating. To get to the actual onion, you have to peel off this coating. The peeling off this coating, finally brings you to the actual onion, the kind where you can actually do something with it like eat it. You would not find anyone eating an onion with the brown skin still on, so in the same way a moon wrapped in brown paper is definitely worthless and dark. This is not to say that love is worthless and dark, but rather in order to get to it, you have to find a way of peeling that brown coating to get to the good part of it where you can actually embrace it with light.

However 'Valentine' also states "it will blind you with tears". With this quote Duffy is been absolute about the idea of love not been all happiness, joy and laughter but rather there are times when tears has to be shed. The little strong sting from an onion juice makes you cry in the same way, a little misconception with love can definitely blind you with tears. If you think about it more, when you cut a little slice or piece of an onion there are small amounts of onion juice. Now depending on the way you cut it, if you cut it mercilessly with careless attention then you will send bits of onion juice in the air, they will sting your eye and then with no control, your eyes starts watering. How does this connect to love? If you do not cut your love properly with a careful eye, respect and attention, then your love will be blinded fulled with uncontrollable tears.

In 'This is Love', the symbol of a plant is "seeds sown in the hopeful spring". In this case, the seeds been sown is the beginning of love in the hopeful spring. This gives us the impression that we plant love, hopeful that it grows. This emphasizes some kind of risk of doing something and just hoping that the end result is positive. This quote is also followed by "hiccups of hope". The 'hic' is the little unexpected moments of doubt, time spent wondering if the love (seeds) will blossom in the end. It could also mean little hints of flourishness and happiness, which is more on the positive side.

Mila also states that "love is the watering, the watching, the pruning, the tending, the providing of new buckets and the finding of new doorsteps". This metaphor is strongly linked to how we take care of plants. We water our plants so it does not die, we watch it to make sure no one comes and take it away and we prune it to make it look perfect. With love, we water or shower it with romance so it does not die, we watch it carefully to make sure we stay honest with each other, and that no one comes in between that bond and we also shape it in a way that we show that affection towards each other to obtain that perfect look. 'the providing of new buckets' is the adapting to changes and coming up with new solutions to mend it and 'the finding of new doorsteps' is the new stages we take on in life. Just like how a small plant outgrows its bucket, love grows and we need new buckets to put it into.

To conclude, in the poems 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy and 'This is Love' by Karlo Mila, an idea they both discuss about is love. Symbols like 'an onion' is used in 'Valentine' and symbol of 'plant' is used in 'This is Love' as an extended metaphor to make us understand that love is something you work for and take care of with a careful eye.

The Pace Of Modern Living Destroys Happiness

I firmly agree that the pace of modern living destroys happiness. This is due to the increase amount of obesity through poor diet, introduction of social networking sites and increase demand of infrastructure. However, the introduction of technological advances in our modern society does make life a little easier.

Developed countries have a more modernised approach to living compared to developing countries. This is because they have been able to adapt to various changes to the environment, thus making it easy to predict that people living in developed countries are much happier. One of the factors that proves this wrong is the obesity.This medical condition is the result of excess fat been stored in your body which leads to reduced life expectancy. The increase in the amount of obesity is hardly surprising in this modern world where supermarkets, restaurants and fast food outlets seems to appear out of nowhere. This kind of modern lifestyle is inconvenient knowing that we can eat whatever and whenever we want. All it takes is to step into McDonald's, order our favourite burger and within minutes your heart thumps into the anticipation of that greasy yet delicious burger. The temptation of so many fast food outlets makes it so irresistible to stick to a more healthier traditional diet. This is a fact because in developing countries, obesity hardly exist. This is because people living in developing countries, tend to stick to staple diets such as foods high in starch and carbohydrates. People living in modernised easy-to-get-food often find themselves consuming food filled with chemical additives, preservatives and saturated fats.

The introduction of Social Networking sites has not only made socializing easier, but also a common playground for sexual predators and serial killers. In fact our modern way of life is going at a much faster pace, than we can catch up. Widows find comfort in chatting up strangers to make themselves feel better, strange men find these sites an opportunity to steal identity of other people and stalk them and teenagers find these sites a playground in which to play pranks on their fellow mates. How sad is it, that we are more willing to sit opposite a computer all day to simply make conversations to one another rather than meet up and chat like 'the good old times'. This way, you could have private interactions with one another without the fear of identity theft, hackers and sexual predators. Also sites like these encourage us to abandon the normal way of communication. Communication in a sense where we can hear each other laugh, see each other cry and are able to provide a shoulder to lean on when in need.

Global Warming is taking a serious toll on our universe. All of which mankind is to be blamed. Modernised way of living is to build grand mansions, fancy hotels and big industries which acquires trees to be chopped off. To grant the wish of such a living, trees are chopped off creating deforestation and putting native animals that naturally inhabits that area and putting them at risk of exposure. How selfish really can we be? The desires of such modern luxuries only makes us want more and more and in the end we put ourselves at risk of global warming. It might make us happy knowing that we can show off our industries and mansions, but does the face of our planet share that happiness with us? NO. It really is not worth sacrificing trees to reach high demands of such infrastructures. Surely Africans who still live in mud houses are perfectly content with themselves?

However the introduction of technological advances in our modern society does make life a little easier. Some of these technological advances are cellphones, wireless laptops, internet and GPS navigator in cars. The use of these products does makes us happy, but only if we can afford them! Using a cellphone does make life easier through the use of txt and pxt and we are able to connect to the internet without the hassle of wires using wireless laptops. Internet opens up the world to us in just one click and we can count on finding our way in a foreign country by relying on high tech GPS navigation in our cars.

To conclude, I stand by by my agreement that the pace of modern living destroys happiness. This is due to poor diet temptation leading to obesity and introduction of social networking sites that are a threat to our private lives. Increase in demand of infrastructure brings about deforestation causing the rise of global warming and the exposure of native animals been forced out of their natural habitat.