Charles Fraziers Cold Mountain Essay -- Charles Frazier Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain In Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier describes the epic journey home of wounded Confederate soldier Inman from Petersburg to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Inman’s physical voyage home is paralleled by the mental journey made by his sweetheart, Ada, in her transformation from ‘city girl’ into ‘mountain woman’. The story is woven around the experiences of Inman and Ada trying to rebuild their lives from the desperation and disaster of the war, all the while trying to find a way to see each other again--whilst they are so far apart. It also blends the horrors of war into their current lives, and the corruption that has scarred them forever. Inman and Ada’s respective ordeals help develop the themes of war, homeland, women and children which this essay aims to reveal. The motivation behind Inman’s desertion, when he â€Å"set his foot on the sill and stepped out of the window†, is not an issue that Frazier ever invites his readers to question. Having been surrounded by the dying, having witnessed the horrors of the first industrialized war which pitted countryman against countryman through the eyes of Inman, one feels deep sympathy. The horrifying battle scenes further add to the sense of the impermanence of escape offered by the war: â€Å"The fighting was in the way of a dream, one where you foes are ranked against you countless and mighty. And you are weak. And yet they fall and keep falling until they are crushed.† Frazier’s somber cataloging of the horrors of war creates enormous sympathy for his protagonist’s desertion, making it eminently justifiable. Inman’s disinterest in the issues of the war serves to show the lie of the common soldier’s involvement in the war. Frazier would posit that it is the job of the common soldier just to die, and in the most inhuman way possible: "Inman could hear the firing, but also the slaps of balls into meat. A man near Inman grew so excited, or perhaps so weary, that he forgot to pull the ramrod from his barrel. He fired it off and it struck a Federal in the chest. The man fell backward, and the rod stood from his body and quavered about with the last of his breathing as if he had been pierced by an unfletched arrow." Inman’s return home to a deeply changed place where he no longer has a role is indicative of the common fate of soldiers. What he has seen and done marks him out so distinctively fr... ...ich their mothers had been before their assimilation of each others characteristics. In the light of the horrors of the Civil War, and of Inman’s death after having journeyed home, it is also spiritually important for the novel that something of worth is seen as coming from all the hardship. There is nothing which could possibly equate with the magnitude of the birth of a child, offering hope where Inman’s wasteful death had seemed to banish it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Odyssey, closely alluded to in Cold Mountain, imposes a multitude of trial and tribulations on Odysseus and Penelope. Inman takes on the role as the modern American hero who is irreversibly changed by the circumstances of the war, enduring ‘rainy days’ and waves of hardship to return to his sole hope-giver, Ada. The individual experiences of the young couple liken to peeling an orange; each peel unveils images of the horrors of war, the romance with one homeland, the women’s strength and of the importance of children, all of which construct the themes that soundly define the novel. Biblography This paper aims to discuss the themes in the story "Cold Mountain", that is revealed through Inman and Ada’s respective ordeals.

Interest Rate :: essays research papers

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) carried out the zero interest rate policy. The decrease of the interest rate was expected to work for recovery of the Japanese economy. The interest rate was already very low and the analysts wonder its effectiveness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Due to the collapse of the bubble economy, the Japanese economy became sluggish and suffered from six trillion dollars debt. The increase of the government bonds caused the increase of the loan rte. It also caused the appreciation of yen and damaged the Japanese export companies because the stocks of the Japanese export companies were increasingly sold. Because the Japanese economy is largely supported by the Japanese export companies, this situation worked against Japan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In January, 1999, the Japanese government issued twice as much government bonds as usual. Soon later, the BOJ decided to decrease the interest rate to zero in short-term money market. Consequently, life insurance companies, which lent money to banks and earn money by its interest before, were forced out of business in short-term money market. Life insurance companies instead began to buy government bonds. Due to the increase of the demand of the government bonds the value of the government bonds remained the same even though the government issued bonds too much. As a result, the interest rate did not rise and money supply did not decrease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The zero interest rate policy was to some extent successful this time, but the interest rate cannot be decreased more than zero when the value of the government bonds decreases next time. Besides, most companies did not borrow from banks to invest new facilities even the interest rate is zero. Most companies had to downsize the organization and reduce employees and corporate bonds to survive in the recession. Even if they started new business and made new goods, Japanese consumers would not buy such things.

Custer :: essays research papers

Custer’s Last Stand The Tragedy of Little Bighorn is such a tale for over a hundred years. This is one of the most startling defeats in the Military history. More than two hundred cavalrymen were killed in battle on June 25, 1876. Is General Custer to blame for all this mishap with the loss of his troopers including himself? Who was the real person to blame? The details aren’t fully covered in the mystery of what happened at Little Bighorn. The Europeans came to battle with the Indians to conquer the North American land that hundreds of Indian nations had lived on for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. The Indians chief, Sitting Bull was a great military, political, and spiritual leader. He had a vision that the whites were going to battle with them. So the Indians were ready for battle. Who knows what would have happened if Sitting Bull didn’t get his visions. Would they be prepared? Would they have lost more men then they already did? It was a big concern to go to battle because of the loss of his people, but he knew that they were going to be successful with the challenge. The Europeans didn’t care about the Indians. â€Å"Everywhere that Indians live the whites speak of them as lazy, living off the Federal Government, drinking up their dole. It is essentially the same view of the Indian that prevailed in the seventeenth century.† This means that the whites felt strongly about the Indians not caring or being willing to pay for the natural resources that they were using up. All the whites cared about was the value of the land and the natural precious gold’s that came with it. General Custer and his men had been traveling for on going days without food and water. Lack of energy might have been the case for most of Custer’s’ men’s deaths including himself. Fresh trails were reported and on June 25th an Indian village twenty miles above the mouth of the little horn was reported about three miles long and half a mile wide and fifteen miles away. Custer pushed his command rapidly though they had made a march of seventy-eight miles in twenty-four hours preceding the battle when near the village it was discovered that the Indians were moving in hot haste as if retreating. Reno with seven companies of the seventh cavalry was ordered to the left to attack the village at its head while Custer with five companies went to the right and commenced a vigorous attack.

Ethical Dilemmas and Cultural Issues Essay

29 year old Sakura has been brought to counseling by a concerned neighbor because she believes Sakura is suffering from depression. She is listless and silent, and prone to staring in to space. During the course of the counseling sessions, it was discovered that Sakura’s husband has been violent towards her recently. Sakura is Japanese and has migrated to California two years ago, here she met and married an American husband. Sakura refuses to tell authorities because she is ashamed that her family in Japan would discover the failure of her marriage. She clearly tells the counselor that no one should know of the state of her relationship with her husband. A counselor is ethically obligated to inform authorities about the abusive nature of the relationship but she is also obligated to respect her client’s wishes. Framework for Ethical Decision Making (Velasquez, M. , Moberg, D. , Meyer, M. J. , Shanks, T. ,. McLean, M. R. , DeCosse, D. , Andre, C. , and Hanson, K. O. , 2009) Recognize an Ethical Issue Psychologists cannot break client-therapist confidentiality; Sakura has clearly expressed that her problems in marriage must be kept confidential and believes that her husband’s temperament is just being affected by his problems at work and the situation between them can be resolved. The counselor feels conflicted because the situation involves actual and potential risk for the client. Get the Facts Sakura is being verbally and physically abused when her husband is incited to anger by small things, like unwashed laundry or bland food. She sometimes gets bruises when her husband grabs he arms and shakes her or pushes her around. Sakura feels miserable at the state of her marriage but she was raised to be a loyal wife to her husband. The Japanese value a good marriage and frown upon divorce and marital problems. The Japanese believe marital problems must be resolved at home and must not be publicly acknowledged. This must be dealt with in therapy sessions sensitive to her culture and to her way of thinking. She must learn to value herself more than valuing the opinion of others. Evaluate Alternative Actions The counselor may decide to first try to convince Sakura of the unreasonable aspects of her situation. An establishment of a high sense of self-worth in therapy can ideally enable her get out of the abusive relationship by her own accord. However, when the danger is imminent and when it is clear that her husband is escalating in violence towards Sakura then the first area of concern would be to notify authorities to stop the abuse. Make a Decision and Test It The therapist can decide to tell the authorities about the nature of the situation, testing a decision can involve looking at the possible outcomes should the decision be executed. All other approaches must be considered; a useful exercise would be asking the question â€Å"what If I told someone I respect-or told a television audience-which option I have chosen, what would they say? † considering different perspectives is vital in making the choice. Act and Reflect on the Outcome Implement the decision, tell the authorities and monitor the outcome, Sakura must be guided in therapy and offered psychological support at all times. Reference: Velasquez, M. , Moberg, D. , Meyer, M. J. , Shanks, T. ,. McLean, M. R. , DeCosse, D. , Andre, C. , and Hanson, K. O. , (2009). A framework for ethical decision making. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Song: an Effective Technique and Material in Learning English

Song: An Effective Technique and Material in Learning English English has an important role in many aspects of life. This statement leads us to the reason of why this language should be taught in schools. In Indonesia, English is used as the first foreign language that should be learned by the students even from elementary school until university. In using the language, there are many elements that have to be mastered, covering reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Song refer to a piece of music that have words and can be used in language teaching.It is suggested to include songs in language learning as well. The possibility of using songs in English as a foreign language class has been actively considered for the last two decades. It is considered because songs have many values in language teaching. Orlova (2003), states that it is possible to suggest that among the methodological purposes that songs are used in class, it is possible to rank the following: 1. Practicing the rhy thm, stress and the intonation patterns of the English language. 2. Teaching vocabulary, especially in the vocabulary reinforcement stage 3.Teaching grammar. In this respect songs are especially favored by teachers while investigating the use of the tenses. 4. Teaching speaking. For this purpose, songs and mainly their lyrics are employed as a stimulus for class discussion 5. Teaching listening comprehension 6. Developing writing skills. For this purpose a song can be used in a variety of ways. From the songs, we can learn many things such as vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, writing, and of course reading. Benefit of Song Griffe (1992: 4) points out some advantages in using songs and music in the language classroom.There are some categories mentioned by Griffe, namely in classroom atmosphere, cultural input, text and student interest. They are as follows; 1. Songs create enjoyable classroom atmosphere Dealing with classroom atmosphere, songs and music can be used to make st udents relaxed and provide enjoyable classroom conditions. 2. They can introduce the culture of the songs. Either songs or music is reflection of the time and place that produce them. When the teacher brings songs into classroom, he will also bring the culture of the songs in the classroom. 3. Songs can be used as textsSongs also can be used as texts in the same way that a poem, short story or novel provided in the language classroom. From explanation above, songs have many benefits. Some of them are songs can motivate the students and make them more confident in their ability to listen the materials. The Criteria of Song Selection The important thing about choosing a song to do with a class is to make sure that the lyrics are clear. It can be very frustrating for the students not to understand a word. The recording should also be a good one. Lynch (2008), provides three principal song selection criteria, as follows: 1.Use songs that are popular with the students whenever possible. Unfortunately, students frequently select songs for classroom use which are objectionable in some way making the song unusable. 2. Songs must have clear and understandable lyrics. Nothing is worse than a song almost nobody can understand. If you have trouble understanding the lyrics by listening, then another song needs to be selected. 3. Songs should have an appropriate theme. There’s enough bad news, negativity and violence in the world already. Songs with any type of negative theme should be avoided. There are plenty of positive, upbeat, even humorous songs available.It is realized when teaching the students; we should choose the songs with suitable level of difficulty. The suitability of the song is a particularly important issue. It should be known whether or not the students like the song. The use of Singing Procedure There are various ways of using songs in the classroom. The level of the students, the interests and the age of the learners, the grammar point to be stud ied, and the song itself have determinant roles on the procedure. Apart from them, it mainly depends on the creativity of the teacher. Some examples of these techniques are: 1. Gap fills or close texts . Focus questions 3. True-false statements 4. Put the lines into the correct sequence 5. Dictation 6. Add a final verse 7. Circle the antonyms/synonyms of the given words 8. Discuss Many experienced textbook and methodology manual writers argue that songs have a great educational value. It can’t be denied that children, teenagers, and adults like music. While they are singing it, they are also doing other activities like learning, remembering new vocabulary, studying to pronounce words, etc. So, let’s try to learn English by using song and get the result! BIBLIOGRAPHY: Griffe, Dale T. 1992. Songs in Action.UK: Prentice Hall International Ltd. Lynch, Larry M. (2008). Using Popular Songs to Improve Language Listening Comprehension Skills. http://esl4free. blogspot. com/200 8/02/can-music-improve-your-students. htm†¦. Orlova, Natalia F. (March 2003). Helping Prospective EFL Teachers Learn How to Use Songs in Teaching Conversation Classes. The Internet TESL Journal. http://iteslj. org/Technoques/Orlova-Songs. html Ditulis oleh: Kristin Rahayu, S,Pd Guru Bahasa Inggris di SMK TKM Teknik Purworejo Jalan Ahmad Yani No 8 Purworejo 54111 No HP: 085725038093 email: rahayu. [email  protected] com

Matav Case Study

Strategic Crossroads at Matav: Hungary’s Telecom Powerhouse Assignment 1 What is Matav’s Strategy? Has it been successful? Matav, being the Hungarian Telecommunications Powerhouse, had secured their foothold in most of the communications market in Hungary, including business services, residential services, Internet and Mobile. Their parent company Deutsche Telekom wanted them to remain an integrated telecommunications company.Since their objectives were laid out in front of them, they were facing a stagnant fixed mobile market in Hungary with the only scope of expansion being the broadband market. So their primary focus was on competitive response to the core customer base, consolidating financial performance, increasing productivity and expanding the broadband market. The next step that Matav took in implementing their strategy was to split their vast company into smaller business units which could manage their market independently and sufficiently.International expans ion was on the cards as well. Belonging to a greater European powerhouse, they had all the man power and resources to help them step in to a new, less visited, European country where the telecommunications prospects were bright. I personally think that there was no other option but to expand their foothold in the rest of Europe and keep the domestic growth ascending with introduction of new technologies. The fixed line business was decreasing as it is and the competition had reached a saturation point.The strategy hasn’t been as successful as late since, the domestic competition has increased, Matav are losing foothold in the fixed and mobile market, contrary to the fact that they still are the number one Telecomm Company in Hungary. Does Matav have any competitive advantages in its domestic markets? Matav, off late, has faced a lot of domestic competition because the East European Market has seen a heavy increase in the small telecommunications companies’ bracket. The se small companies enter the existing markets and offer low price incentives which inevitably increases competition in the price war.Matav is a telecommunications powerhouse. It has the infrastructure, the ability, the foresight and the manpower to match any competition the foreign companies can offer. Matav is a well-established integrated communications company and has footholds in all the four markets of residential, business, internet and mobile. They already have a lot of customer market in the Hungarian environment. Familiarity with the local policies, business and customers makes Matav even more powerful when it comes to dealing with competition.It could add additional services by implementing new technologies on the current infrastructure to the current customer base and could also attract a lot of customers by giving bundled service like fixed and mobile or fixed and internet together. Do Matav’s international expansion plans make sense? Why? Matav was taken over by a European Telecommunications giant. The line was clear. Since the domestic market was completely overwhelmed by Matav, the only logical place to expand further was another European company. Matav is already an integrated telecommunications powerhouse.There is no new market it can create or develop within its own country to sustain development for it. There has to be competition and scope for expansion by introducing new technology into third world countries. This is very attractive when offered at a lower price than your local provider. Matav’s international plans make sense to me for precisely the same reason. There is scope for expansion and revenue in untapped markets more than expansion in tapped markets. Nevertheless, the domestic market should not be overlooked since that’s the main source of revenue and development for Matav.Matav was also losing foothold in themobile market. It needed to expand and look for new markets. This exhibit will show you why. If you w ere a member of the strategy group, what would you recommend to Andras Balogh? If I was a member of the Andras Balogh team, I would recommend continuing what the company was doing. On top of that, I would ask him to fix his gaze more upon the local market since lately, the competition was increasing drastically. Even if the international expansion makes sense, the company should not lose its foothold in the domestic market.Since the infrastructure and the man power already existed, new technologies should be researched and implemented since, if someone else comes up with it, we don’t want to fall behind the market. A new research division should be created which could work in collaboration with the german giants to implement and try new technologies. This team should constantly be in process of innovating and researching new technologies. They should also keep a watch on the new emerging technologies in the markets across the world.Another division should constantly keep chec k on the local market and try and implement and provide the existing customer base enough to hold on to Matav for the next generation of technologies. This division should constantly help provide information to both the research divisions and the international division about the needs and demands of the local market and what to expect. The international division should concentrate solely on expansion and should set up local divisions to help understand the local market. It should also make sure all the international markets communicate with each other.

Drama; the Crucible and Vinegar Tom

Introduction Vinegar Tom was written by Caryl Churchill, a feminist, in 1976 but set in the 17th Century. The play was inspired by the women’s rights act of 1970, and the discrimination of women. The title comes from the name of a horrible creature which is supposed to be a witch’s familiar. It is about how four naive and innocent women’s lives are affected throughout the Salem witch-hunts. Modernised song, dance and rhythm are used to combine the horror of the past and attitudes which have carried on to our world today. The plot includes lots of witchcraft and demonstrates clear discrimination of women at that time, outlining society’s rejection of people who have differences. Vinegar Tom was influenced by Bertolt Brecht, Churchill, like Brecht wanted people to think about what they had saw, instead of just engrossing themselves in an entertaining play, she wanted them to act on their decisions of the play, and not getting too emotionally involved with plot or characters. She does this by using epic theatre, so the audience thinks about what is happening, not what is going to happen, plus the use of non- realistic songs to break tension and add political comment. The play is relevant to today’s audience as it looks at how prejudice against women is still occurring. The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller in 1953 and set in 1692, based on the actual events which led to the Salem Witch Trials, leading to the deaths of over 150 people accused of witchcraft. The play was in response to McCarthyism: where a committee in America grew fearful that the communism would destroy the capitalist American way of life. They made witnesses come to answer charges that they were a communist and give names of other communists; Miller was made to appear before the committee. This was called McCarthyism; Senator McCarthy making the US government get rid of communists; mirrored in the play where women were accused because of unknown causes to bad events, they were then forced to name other ‘witches’, Adding to this Miller’s failed marriage with Monroe was partly because of his guilt and confusion from his previous marriage. This is represented in The Crucible, by Proctor having an affair with Abigail, behind his wife Elizabeth’s back. It all escalates, eventually Proctor is in court arguing his innocence, when he says, ‘I have three children – how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends? ’ I think this is how Miller felt when in front of the committee, now expressing himself through Proctor. These events helped Miller connect with the witchcraft trials two centuries before in Salem, influencing him to write ‘The Crucible’. The story is about young girls who after dancing in the woods get accused of witchcraft, Reverend Parris, both father of one girl and uncle of another, calls an expert who agrees that the girls’ strange behaviour is the devil’s work. This leads the girls to accusing others and being scapegoats for the problems in the community. The religious court does not rest until it discovers who the cause of all the evil is. The crucible is relevant to today’s audience as it looks at betrayal and how gossip can have devastating effects. The play is influenced by Konstantin Stanislavski, because Miller wanted the play to be naturalistic to reflect the real story. Stanislavski is primarily known for Realism, where he bases his methods on personal experiences, using ‘emotion memory’, getting actors to this of their own experiences to embrace an emotion, making the performance as close to real life as it can get. Also using ‘Given circumstances’, where actors are aware of the facts about the character, not only in the script but the social, historical and political facts. Plus Stanislavski influenced Miller to use realistic sets, keeping everything as realistic as possible. Social Cultural Historical Political The Crucible was based on puritan people in Salem 1692. Their society was theocratic, where God was the states civil ruler. The tragedy all began from a combination of economic conditions, jealousies and teenage boredom. Adding to this, not far away there was an Indian war, which guided the community to believe the devil was around. There were lots of possible causes for the witch hunts in Salem, first the religious society strongly believed in Satan and how he had people performing witchcraft for him; believing you can tell which people are witches by certain symptoms. Plus, because Salem was having so many problems, it appeared likely that the devil was at work; smallpox, Indian war. Secondly, teenagers had little freedom; working on the land and focusing on religion. Adding to this, old feuds and ideas of revenge arose. People saw witch hunting as a possible way of sorting out enemies, and gaining land and arguments over land ownership (most of the accused where financially better off) was a major contributor to who lived and died. Miller uses this to add context to the play, he mirrors the hysteria in Salem to the fear of being accused of communism in the U. S. The Crucible is accurate to what went on in Salem 1692, but he changed some details to make it more accessible and relevant to today’s audiences; Abigail in truth was 14, but Miller thought this would distract away from the main plot, because it is socially unacceptable today for a man and 14 year old to have a sexual relationship, so he changed her age to 17; making the affair more realistic as Proctors life is supposed to make him look like a tragic hero A Contempory audience can relate to the play in the sense that everyone has been betrayed, or felt victimized at some point in their life, which helps the play have meaning and importance to the audience. Scenes which happened years ago, can still be reflected, one way or another, in today’s society. Similarly, Vinegar Tom links the ideology of witch hunts and hysteria and power with her feminist theme, about women’s sexuality, based around the 17th Century major English witch hunts and social changes. Churchill noticed how the poor have always suffered, and how silly the witches’ offences were. She wanted to write a play about witches with no witches in it, showing the prejudice against women and the humiliation they endured, about poverty humiliation and prejudice, how women accused of being witches saw themselves. The audience can also relate to Vinegar Tom, thinking about prejudices today, and how we can prevent them. Especially because she is a feminist writer, we think about the meaning of some of the prejudices we hold, and how women are treated back then and today, because there are still arguments today about women being equal to men, in religion and general society. In both plays, Salem warns us to improve how we judge people, and to rethink our prejudices. The crucible is strongly influenced by Stanislavski. Stanislavski was a realist who wanted performances to be as natural as possible. He founded the Moscow Art Theatre. His philosophy was that actors should be true to their given circumstances of the character -conveying internal thoughts and feelings. We did this by thinking about our past experiences, when we have felt jealous, alienated, or scared, this makes performance more authentic when we had to embrace these emotions. Plus, Stanislavski wanted believable acting, without exaggerating. Stanislavski also encouraged trial and error, so we kept practicing until we found appropriate emotion memories which stimulated the best response from the actor for the scene. Another way to create realistic acting was to put you in the circumstances as the actor; ‘given circumstances’. Using your imagination- you are the character you’re playing, as most actors haven’t actually experienced what their character has, so Stanislavski technique, the ‘magic if’ puts yourself in the situation. Circle of Attention’, another Stanislavski technique, the area of focus an actor should hold, without getting distracted, because if you become distracted, performance could look artificial. We used these techniques in workshops: ‘Given Circumstances’, making sure we were aware of the story properly, then thinking about how it must feel for everyone you knew to want you dea d, like the accused must have felt. Then putting this emotion into performance. ProctorDo you look for a whipping? AbigailI look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! In a workshop, we focused on Act 1, where Abigail and Proctor are discussing their relationship. First, I played Abigail in the above section; I portrayed her to be very frustrated. Then before I tried again, I thought about how Abigail must feel, a young girl who has unrequited love for Proctor, seeing him still stand by his wife, I would feel jealous and angry, frustrated that he can’t see how we should be together. My parents were murdered in front of me when I was a young child, and I have never felt love since, so Proctors love I cannot loose! My heart would be breaking. When I applied this new feeling to my performance, it became for realistic and emotionally powerful showing my devastation and heart ache as well as frustration, making me more vocally aware. This gave me insight to how Abigail feels and helped me to characterize her. Secondly, we imagined Elizabeth being a ‘fly-on-the-wall’. What her thoughts would be watching: shocked but almost pleased that Proctor is rejecting Abigail, and then we imagined Abigail’s thoughts in Act 4, when Proctor is in the cell talking to Elizabeth. This gave us real insight to link the characters objective and the motivation for their activities. Additionally, realistic sets would be used in the crucible to add a sense of truth, realistic like Stanislavski idea. Moscow Art Theatres’ philosophy was to make theatre a central concern. Vinegar Tom is written with influences from Brecht. Brecht studied Marxism, the political philosophy which analyses capitalism and a theory of social change; which links to how Churchill focused the play around feminism and social change. He wanted theatre to provoke thought, the audience to make decisions on what they saw, instead of apathy. Brecht wanted the audience to be entertained without getting too emotionally involved. He did this by keeping things minimal- sets and costumes, using narrators to tell the audience what is going to happen, multi-character, montage scenes, epic theatre, songs to break tension and letting the audience remember they are watching actor’s not actual characters. Plus Churchill includes songs, which is a music influence from Brecht, entertaining songs to break tension, but with serious ideas behind them. In a workshop we explored scene fourteen: We decided to use epic theatre to exaggerate the alternation between characters and to make more amusing. In my pair, we decided to start off at the back of the stage and move forward at each line, acting what we said. Margery: ‘struck me in the head’ – jack literally strikes her in the head. Adding comedy and exaggeration, distancing the audience but keeping them connected to the themes. Plus we used minimal props to symbolize set. This kept the audience entertained still, but reminded them they were watching actors in a play. Characterization/ Interpretation: We each chose a character from The Crucible and selected some speech for them. Then we had to create a freeze frame stance and say their lines, the rest of the class then debated who we were: Parris’the devil lives on such confidences, without confidences there could be no conspiracy, your honor! ’ I stood in this position, non verbally portraying myself to be Parris –>> Leaning forward, as Parris leans towards destruction, with hand gestures, palms up almost in prayer, to show Parris’s religious side, showing my eagerness to persuade/ make a point about Proctors life and that devils don’t exist. Plus making eye contact with the person whom he’s talking too. Facially, I looked concerned but angry/frustrated. Vocally I sounded confident, sure of myself, Parris’s power, he feels guilty that he helped to create the appearance of witch craft so the first clause I said calmly and quiet, but then gained pace and volume. This had a powerful impact, showing Parris’s confidence and regret. Vinegar Tom we characterized Ellen in Scene Nine by trying her with different personalities, then deciding which one fit best. The three ideas we came up with were: †¢ Old lady – fragile, soft voice, quiet but firm, glasses, squinty eyes. †¢ ‘Hippy’ – Stood tall, confident, happy young voice, feminine, talked faster. ‘Witch’ – Hunched back, croaky voice, stutter, open-aware eyes, slow creepy voice. We decided the old lady worked best, as it made her look wise and knowledgeable but without making her look evil. The hippy looked to young and felt to naive for the character. Next we thought of the circumstances for Alice, she is young, single, her mother is an alcoholic- Joan, who Alice cares for. She wants to go and see the witch trials in London, ironically, as she gets hung in the end. Susan thinks Alice always talks about men. She doesn’t say she is lonely, but I think she wants a man to love her, for companionship. I like the use of language in Scene twenty-two Vinegar Tom, the alternation between Sprenger and Kramer, Brecht’s Epic Theatre to reduce tension, making it comical but at the same time keeping us involved with the story and facts about what is going on. Both characters say approximate equal amounts. Scene Twenty-One Sprenger: He’s Kramer. Kramer: He’s Sprenger. Kramer/ Sprenger: Professors of Theology Kramer: Delegated by letters apostolic Sprenger: (here’s a toast, non-alcoholic) Kramer: Inquisitors of heretical pravities Sprenger: we must fill those moral cavities Kramer: so we’ve written a book Sprenger: Malleus Maleficarum Kramer: The Hammer of Witches Sprenger: It works like a charm Kramer: to discover witches Sprenger: and torture no hitches. Kramer: Why is a greater number of witches found in the fragile feminine sex to men? Sprenger: Why is a greater number of witches found in the fragile feminine sex to men? Kramer: ‘All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman. ’ Ecclesiastes. Non verbal Communication/ Interpreation: gesture, facial expression, movement, mime, freeze frames, physical theatre We watched the beginning of The Crucible, a film, the director elected to show the children going to the woods to dance. We thought this gave too much away too soon, so began thinking of other ways to begin the play and develop the appropriate atmosphere. We decided to experiment by doing a selection of still images about the ideas in the play; this is a Brecht idea, letting the audience know more before they have watched the play, but we wanted to set the scene with an original impact. We needed to communicate non-verbally, considering facial expression, gesture and levels. The tableau we did was the cross on the floor (physical theatre to create cross) with characters on blocks looking down at it; symbolizing the corruption of religion on the Salem society. Secondly we had all the characters on stage pointing at each other, at different levels, on chairs, floor etc; representing blame and rumours. Finally, there was a abstract image of a dance, with Elizabeth looking at Abigail and Proctor dancing, showing the juxtaposition of the innocent dancing girls on the final impact of the affair. I would include these images before the play to give the audience a taster of what is to come, to grab their interest and make them think about what they could mean. We used physical theatre in an exercise for Vinegar Tom, using our bodies as the set and props. For example, for scene 1, on the roadside, a few of us stood back to back with arms out; we were a sign post, and others used levels to create plants as it was a rural area. Visual/ Spatial We considered a few types of staging for Vinegar Tom and the crucible; in-the-round, Proscenium Arch and thrust. In-the-round staging wouldn’t fit with Brecht’s ideas as it is too realistic and the audience would feel really involved for Vinegar Tom. Plus, it would be difficult for the action to engage everyone in the audience, as there would always be a section which couldn’t see. I don’t think this would be best suited as it involves the audience too much. Alternatively, it would be good for The Crucible as it involves audience and creates an interesting, realistic atmosphere. But I think it would get too complicated when lots of characters are on stage; too busy to see clearly. Thrust staging like in-the-round, is intimate, and can still have blind spots. Although it can have more props and is easier to perform without blocking views too badly. Again, I don’t think this would suit Vinegar Tom s it would include the audience too much, but it would suit my interpretation of The Crucible as it IS intimate with the audience and includes realistic, props and staging. Throughout The Crucible there is a variety of locations, so it is difficult to choose a stage, particularly Act 3, The ‘Bird’ Scene because all characters are important to see, this is why I chose Thrust Staging, personal and realistic, and more room to see more action. If I were to direct this scene, I would have it diagonally, so action can be scene by all 3 sides. First, I would have Hale higher up then the other characters, this gives him authority. Abigail and Proctor are spaced so Abigail can be seen looking over at Proctor, as well as Elizabeth. The relationship between all three characters on stage is a triangle, like the love triangle they used to be in. ADD CELL SCENE LAYOUT? SOUNDS Proscenium Arch distances the audience from the drama, this links with how Brecht wanted the audience to remember they are watching a play. Plus the actors can address the audience directly, another idea of Brecht. Plus the simple set can be moved around easily. This is the stage I would choose for Vinegar Tom. Scene Nineteen JOAN and Ellen are hanged while MARGERY prays. MARGERY: Dear God, thank you for saving us. Let us live safe now. I have scrubbed the dairy out. You have shown your power in destroying the wicked, and you show it in blessing the good. You have helped me in my struggle against the witches, help me in my daily struggle. Help me work harder and our good harvests will be to your glory. Bless Miss Betty’s marriage and let her live happy. Bless Jack and keep him safe from evil and let him love me nd give us the land, ahem. [pic] AUDIENCE If I was to do this scene, on a proscenium arch, I would have Margery in the foreground and the girls in the background. This keeps attention on Margery, but the audience can relate her monologue to the hangings, putting it in context. After ‘glory’, I would have a pause, then the hanging. As the girls step down from the block (as they ‘hang’) I would have Marg ery go down on to her knees for prayer, ‘Bless†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This simultaneous change of levels would draw the audience in, thinking about how Margery’s prayer and the hangings are related. Ellen and Joan’s backs would be to the audience so that their hangings are more symbolic then emotional. I think Vinegar Tom could be modernized, and the actors could wear modern everyday clothes, this is a Brecht technique, reminding the audience they are actors. I think The Crucible can’t be modernized, it is the history of 1692, so characters would be wearing clothing (picture) from that period of time, using the slang and dialect from that period. ———————– The book title is violent. ‘Hammer’ is a destructive word, like the destruction of witches. Non-alcoholic makes them sound innocent and good, which is the contrast to their ideas and book on witches. Academic lexis, implying they are knowledgeable; so their book will be truthful and correct. The repetition emphasizes the fact that most witches are female. Informal introduction, comical stand up style, introducing each other. Scene twenty-one is like an Aside, a speech to the audience, but in the style of a comical stand up or advert. They alternate lines to add interest and capture people’s attention. Rhyme for comic effect, combining Kramer and Sprenger as one person. Reference to philosopher suggests wisdom. [pic] [pic] [pic]