Research Gaming as an Occupation Essay Example for Free

Research Gaming as an Occupation Essay This research paper attempts to focus on the topic â€Å"gaming as an occupation†. Specifically the paper focuses on the Formula 1, race car driving. Formula 1 is a sport that has millions of fans in all the corners of the globe and in my view a research paper on race car driving as an occupation would be interesting as well as enlightening. The objective of the research paper is to provide information on Formula 1 as an occupation. The paper focuses on the history of Formula one. How it started, when it started etc are the main objectives addressed in the history part. The paper will describe the salaries of different drivers as Formula 1 is one of the highest paid sports in the world. It will highlight the salaries earned by drivers in the business. It will focus upon the requirements of the sport, from age to physical fitness, from legal requirements to company requirements. Furthermore the paper will discuss the different stages a driver has to pass through, before he is qualified to become a Formula 1 driver. These stages include early training to a professional driver and the rigorous mental and physical training. Experiences of different drivers also narrate a different story about the world of Formula 1 racing and that is why such experiences will be used in the paper to provide insights. The paper also discusses the sport as a business. With time F1 has grown in to an industry earning huge sums of money in just one season for everyone, be it the constructors, the media or the sponsors. The paper then ends with a conclusion summarizing what formula one offers and requires as an occupation. INTRODUCTION AND THESIS: Formula 1 racing which is also known as F1 to many is the top class motor car racing certified by the Federation of International Automobiles. The word formula refers to specific rules that every team has to comply with. It dates back to European motor racing of 1920’s and 1930’s. The first formula one race was held in England at Silverstone in 1950 after the world war and a championship for constructors (those who provide the cars) first took in 1958. Today formula one has become a legend in the world of motorsports. The season consists of a series of races held at different places in the world and the championship is known as Grand Prix. It is held on proper circuits or city roads such as Monaco or Singapore. At the end of the season, two championships are awarded; one for the best driver and one for the constructor. Europe is like the headquarters of formula one. Most of the races take place in Europe and all the teams are Europe based as well. However in the recent years the scope of the sport has expanded and nowadays drivers from all around the world try to qualify as a formula one racer. To get the license of a formula one racer, a driver has to pass many tests and rigorous physical and mental training. The speed of a formula one car is approximately 360 km/hr which explains why stamina and strength and mental concentration are very important for these drivers. This is also one reason formula one racers are amongst the highest paid employees in the world and have a very large fan following. Based on the introduction my thesis statement would be: â€Å"As an occupation, formula one has to offer high wages, fan following, glamour and in return requires a great lot of physical and mental endurance in compliance with the requirements of the federation of International Racing. † HISTORY: Formula one is one of the biggest racing and television events of the world. As a sport it is as famous as football or cricket. The history goes down to 1950’s from where it all started. Europe was the base for motorsport racing and the era of 1920 and 30’s gave rise to motor racing as a professional sport. Thus motor racing got divided into many divisions based on engine specifications, constructors, car types etc. one of these was formula one. ‘The first formula one race was held at Silverstone, England in 1950 and a constructor’s champion ship was followed by in 1958. ’ (Bruce Jones, 15) The Formula in the name is a set of rules which all participants must comply to. This was a new formula which was introduced after World War II in motor racing. With the passage of time, the Formula saw many changes. Now it has totally modified into anew form because of the advanced auto mobile technology, the high speed engines and different track scenarios. HOW TO BECOME A FORMULA ONE DRIVER: To become a formula one racer, the drivers start from basic carting. As seen those who start at early ages, have been the most successful drivers in the history of formula one. The current champion Hamilton started carting at the age of 9. Carting is a basic cart with steering capabilities, acceleration and braking. This helps improve the driver’s skills in the art of steering, speed and brakes in closed circuits. After the driver is considered to be a qualified carter, he tries his luck in domestic championships or traditional European championships such as Formula 3 or Formula Ford. These races are the same as formula 1, but have lower car specifications and the circuits are closed and round usually. The top racers in these championships move to GP2. The Gp2 series started in 2005 though but the top three champions of GP2 since 2005 have been moving to formula one. Before GP2, formula two and formula 3000 were the criteria for qualifying as a formula one driver. Though mostly British F3 series is one of the best place where constructors look for formula one drivers. Also to be noted is that there are drivers who have made straight to formula one such as Michael Schumacher who came from simple Motor Racing. Thus qualifications are not a compulsion but obviously they do have an impact on the selection. THE PAYSCALE: As all other sports around the world, formula one is also a contract based sports. The drivers are hired on contract for a single season or for as many seasons as the constructors and the driver agree to. The earning there fore are on an annual basis. Last year’s champion Hamilton earned a one million pounds and is now on a five year contract with the constructor McLaren-Mercedese which is estimated to be worth approximately 70 million pounds and bonuses and endorsements are not included in this. Michael Schumacher according to the website Askmen. com earned a U. S. $67 million only from endorsements. From the tracks, his contracted pay was around U. S. $32 million only which is almost half of what he got from endorsements only. One cannot make an estimate on the industry average as the rates vary depending on the constructor that has hired the driver. Also usually the salaries are not announced that openly so whatever data is available is through what people or media find out form sources. Though based on estimation all the drivers on contract earn above a $5 million approximately as per the driving earnings listed on the website; ‘The F1 FAQ, 2008’. (Marcel, 01) REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A FORMULA 1 DRIVER: Age: As far as age is concerned, a formula one driver can even be fifteen years old. As obvious, the requirement of the sport is not age, it is skills in driving and how you show them on the track. According to an article by the BMW Sauber Team, the famous driver Nick Hiedfeld says that these days anyone can enter the formula one BMW team at the age of fifteen. As these young amateurs enter the Karting stage early, it is obvious that they will hit the Formula one track early as well. (BMW, 01). The retirement age is not very explicitly specified but generally drivers retire around 30 because they themselves realize that now onwards racing would not be tough, it would be hard. Physical Fitness: Physical fitness is something that a team never compromises when selecting a formula one driver. As the car moves on a speed of 360 km/hr, there is great force acting on the body of the driver. This force is termed as the â€Å"G force. † This G force exerts a lot of pressure on the body of the driver and requires endurance. Similarly the lighter the weight of the driver, the faster the speed of the car as in formula one everything matters, from the fuel weight to driver’s weight. The suit is also of leather to provide maximum protection and on a sunny day conditions sometimes become miserable for the drivers. Thus becoming a formula one driver requires extraordinary physical strength. Mental Concentration: Mental attentiveness comes along with physical vigor in order to become a formula one driver. A short lack of concentration and focus can cost the constructors their car and the driver his career. Accidents on such a high speed are fatal. Apart from accidents there are split seconds decisions required such as when to speed up and when to hit the brakes at the right time or to overtake at the moment or not etc. All these choices require focus and sharpness. FORUMS: There are different forums for the fans to discus latest news regarding the world of formula one. Most popularly used forums include the forum on the homepage of Formula one and the forum on the webpage of Planet F-1. These forums also provide the fans to discuss driver ratings and performances and their views about the championships or a particular ace etc. These forums are reviewed by teams at times and important decisions related to fans are sometime taken with the help of discussions on the forums. FORMULA 1 AS A BUSINESS: The formula one racing has evolved into a business, an industry. The tickets are allotted on basis of stands owned by the constructors. The tickets sold earn a great amount of sum for the constructors. Ferrari stands for example are estimated to earn around U. S. $300 million approximately for the entire season (Financial Times, n/a). Though this is the one of the highest earned sums in the industry it still shows how much money is generated in this business. The constructors then also earn from media partners and sponsors. CONCLUSION: To conclude, one can confidently say that formula one is no doubt one of the sports that people would definitely prefer as an occupation. The sport has everything to offer which one requires from his or her occupation. Money, fame, world tours and a star studded life are the benefits of becoming a professional formula one driver. The sport though requires a great deal of physical and mental effort but then again fame and fortune do not come easy. It has already surpasses the stage of racing, it has become a business and an industry worth billions of dollars. Works Cited Bruce and Damon Hill. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Formula One: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to Grand Prix Motor Racing 2007. MBI publishing company. 2007. Marcel Schot. The F1 FAQ, Atlas F1. 2000 http://atlasf1. autosport. com/2000/ita/faq. html ‘F1 Network’. BMW F1 Sauber Team. Dec. 4, 2006. http://www. f1network. net/main/s491/st108520. htm ‘The business of sports: Formula 1. ’ Financial Times. Sept. 25, 2008. http://www. ft. com/cms/s/0/57eb0d84-8922-11dd-a179-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=1d7d1f1a-2041-11dd-80b4-000077b07658,s01=1. html

Comparing and Contrasting the Epics of Homer and Virgils Aeneid Essay

Comparing and Contrasting the Epics of Homer and Virgil's Aeneid Books I and II of Aeneid are an account of Virgil's adventures narrated by him. He includes the actions of the gods in his point of view. The tone of the epic is tragic and sympathetic. Books I-IV is Aeneas wanderings. "In the first half of the epic, Aeneas tells the story of the siege of Troy and his escape, causing Dido to love him. Venus and Juno contrive to isolate Dido and Aeneas in a cave during a hunting trip, and there the two lovers consummate their affair. Aeneas leaves Carthage for Italy at Mercury's prodding, causing the heartbroken Dido to kill herself. "(spark notes) Aeneid is considered a secondary epic more concerned more with duty than his own happiness. There is a simile in Book I of Aeneas as a hunter of deer and in Book IV where he is a figurative hunter of Dido. There are many recurring words in the Aeneid. There are also no repetitions as with Homer. The are many parallels in the epics of Homer and Virgil. The description of the storm in the Aeneid reminded me of the Odyssey. Aeneas watches as the storm approaches and throws his ship off course. Poseidon, the god of storms at sea, throws Odysseus ship off course many times. Both Aeneid and Odyssey make reference to their mothers. There are also various disguises in both epics. "Book 1 Aeneas and his Trojans are seven years into their journey home from the Trojan War to Italy when Juno, queen of the gods and arch-enemy of the Trojans, has Aeolus, god of the winds, blow up a violent storm which drives their ships off course. Aeneas, with some of the Trojan fleet, lands in North Africa Aeneas is a nearly broken man, but he pulls himself together and encourages his people. The scen... ...e ongoing construction of Carthage comes to a halt. Juno and Venus arrange for Dido and Aeneas to have to shelter together overnight in a storm-bound cave. Jupiter sends Mercury, the messenger of the god, to remind Aeneas of his duty to travel on to Italy. Aeneas is miserable, but accepts that he must follow the will of the gods. Dido begs him not to leave her, and ultimately commits suicide as the Trojans set sail, cursing them with her last breath and vowing her people to eternal war with those of Aeneas." (enotes) Sources Cited and Consulted Lawall, Sarah The Norton Anthology World Masterpieces Seventh Edition Volume 1 W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. Copyright 1984 Mandelbaum, Allen The Aeneid of Virgil, Bantam Books Publishing,Copyright 1971 http://www.enotes.com/aeneid/4131 (c)2000-2004 eNotes.com LLC http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/aeneid/facts.html

Martin King and Henry Thoreau Essay

Martin King and Henry Thoreau both write persuasive expositions that oppose majority ideals and justify their own causes. While this similarity is clear, the two essays, â€Å"Letters from Birmingham Jail† by King and â€Å"Civil Disobedience† by Thoreau, do have their fair share of differences. Primarily in the causes themselves, as King persuades white, southern clergy men that segregation is an evil, unjust law that should be defeated through the agitation of direct protesting, and Thoreau, writing to a more broad, non addressed audience, and focusing more on the government itself, contends that at its present state, with the war with Mexico and the institution of slavery, that one should do as he does and refuse to pay government taxes that support such evil practices or â€Å"traditions.† While both Thoreau and King prevail in establishing a firm impression for what they strongly believe in, they each succeed in their persuasive efforts through different means. Chiefly, in the way that King draws emotional appeal with the usage of a burning passion and devotion, and Thoreau, while still making it evident that he is devoted in what he believes in, draws more emotional appeal through being more distressed and concerned than naively hopeful and optimistic. However, similarities remain to be as numerous as differences as both Thoreau and King bring credibility or ethical appeal to their assays essentially with allusions to Christ and the Bible. First, King’s emotional appeal is what above all contrasts his essay with Thoreau’s. As virtually everything else; the theme of disobeying â€Å"unjust laws†, their admiration for the â€Å"minority’s viewpoint, and even, coincidently, where they wrote their essays – prison, is all the same. King makes two references to conversations shared with his children. Once with his little girl who wants to go to the public amusement park and is quickly developing â€Å"tears in her eyes† as her father has to sadly explain the reality that black children aren’t allowed in â€Å"Funtown.† Promptly once again, King refers to being forced to somehow â€Å"concoct† an acceptable answer to his five year old son’s question – â€Å"why do white people treat colored people so mean?†. King does not stop there with his ability to throw his readers into the harsh emotional realities that he had to face. While answering the same question of â€Å"why we can’t wait† in regards to protesting, King refers to the tragic sadness of how his wife and mother are almost  never granted with the respectable title of â€Å"Mrs† and how his own name has virtually been transformed from â€Å"Martin Luther King† to â€Å"Nigger Boy John† in the heartland of discrimination in the South. The rhetorical use of detail is King’s second element that he takes advantage of to draw such tremendous, but necessary emotional appeal. With his despairing response to the clergy men’s appraisal of the policemen’s ability to maintain â€Å"peace† and â€Å"order† when he asserts with great detail that maybe they wouldn’t be so â€Å"warmly† supportive if they would have been in the streets to witness the police slapping Negro men and boys with â€Å"sticks† and pushing and cursing old Negro women and girls in such a cold-hearted and cruel fashion. Furthermore, King’s account of what the South would be like if blacks sided more with the Black Nationalists than himself brings emotion to all that contemplate his perception of streets â€Å"flowing with blood† during the central time of the otherwise inevitable â€Å"racial nightmare.† Thoreau, on the other hand, never consents to revealing such frightful nightmares and makes only one brief reference to his children. Instead, Thoreau draws emotional appeal through many different techniques in the art of persuasive writing. Most predominantly, with despaired and concerning rhetorical questions such as when he asks about established government’s viewpoint on great men, â€Å"why does it always crucify Christ and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?†. And again when he provokes the question of how men assert their grievances when he asks â€Å"How can a man be satisfied to entertain and opinion merely and enjoy it?†. As stated above, Thoreau and King’s great persuasive similarity is in the way they give their essays ethical appeal. They both repetitiously make use to references of the Bible. King first asserts that he is in Birmingham for the same reason that â€Å"the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the Gospel of Jesus.† Once again, in comparing his â€Å"civil disobedience† to that of Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego when they refused to obey the worship laws of Nebucadnesser. Finally King affirms to not being offended by the criticism of being called an â€Å"extremist† by the thought of how many great extremists there where in the past, such as â€Å"Abe Lincoln†, â€Å"Martin  Luther†, and â€Å"Jesus Christ.† Thoreau in the very same manner and with many of the same figures, continues with his own set of biblical allusions. He subscribes to the verse of Christ and the Herodians when they ask him about his stance on taxes and Christ replies to give Caesar â€Å"what is Caesars†, and to give God â€Å"what is God’s.† And then, more broadly, Thoreau poses the question of why after eighteen hundred years of being written, no legislator in America or anywhere else has taken advantage of the â€Å"science of legislation† revealed in the New Testament. In conclusion, both Thoreau and King succeed in establishing their points on the benefits of civil disobedience. I feel that King does succeed farther with his inclusion of more passionate emotion and easier to understand, heartfelt metaphors. Though it is debatable that the scientific and matter of fact tone Thoreau uses ultimately make his case more credible by establishing his work as not only a great personal exposition, but also a considerable scientific exposition that could be considered among the ranks of Thomas Paine’s â€Å"Common Sense† or even Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince.†

Practice in Identifying Indirect Objects

An indirect object is a noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of a verb is performed. This exercise will give you practice in identifying indirect objects in sentences. InstructionsEach of the following ten sentences contains an indirect object. Identify the indirect object in each sentence, and then compare your answers with those on page two. Give Marie the prize.The taxi driver charged us twenty dollars.I wished my friends a happy new year and headed back into the house.After washing the dishes, I told the children a bedtime story about otters and eagles.Preetha often lends her brother money, but he never pays her back.Mikey handed me a note from his mother explaining his absence the day before.The young man built his family a house in an isolated hollow near White Bluff.Lynn bought her uncle a Western-style gray felt hat at the Franklin Sporting Goods store.Kate passed him the canteen, and he took a big drink of the cold water.Last fall our church group sent the missionaries mops and pails and building supplies. Below are the answers (in bold) to the exercise Practice in Identifying Indirect Objects. Give Marie the prize. The taxi driver charged us twenty dollars. I wished my friends a happy new year and headed back into the house. After washing the dishes, I told the children a bedtime story about otters and eagles. Preetha often lends her brother money, but he never pays her back. Mikey handed me a note from his mother explaining his absence the day before. The young man built his family a house in an isolated hollow near White Bluff. Lynn bought her uncle a Western-style gray felt hat at the Franklin Sporting Goods store. Kate passed him the canteen, and he took a big drink of the cold water. Last fall our church group sent the missionaries mops and pails and building supplies.