Stagecraft in The Tempest Essay Example

Stagecraft in The Tempest Essay Example Stagecraft in The Tempest Paper Stagecraft in The Tempest Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Tempest Stagecraft is a theatrical term referring to the technical parts of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and shape of costumes, makeup, and recording and mixing of sound. Stagecraft is the part that differentiates a book from a play, or alternatively, the ability to make a story more realistic. Stage directions are one of the stagecrafts that a director would have to use in The Tempest. Stage directions are very important as without them it would just be like someone reading out a poem in a hall. A director has to think of stage directions for every single line. I will just give an example of a few in Act IIIii. On lines 2-3, Stephano says servant monster, drink to me. Over here it is obvious what Caliban has to do. There are many things that a director has to think about when Stephano says this line. He has to provide a bottle for Caliban to drink from and he has to command the actor to exaggeratedly drink and then maybe stagger around away from the bottle with a pained look on his face. Props are also very important as they make things more realistic to an audience than just pretending to drink out of nothing. This line is an example of an integrated stage direction, which makes it easier to make an action for the characters as the action is in the line of a play that the character is reading. In this line, it is more amusing to see it in a play rather than reading it in a book as an account of people clowning around is less funny than watching people clowning around. The next line, which is integrated stage directions as well, is when Caliban says on line 21 Let me lick thy shoe, over here Caliban has crossed over the line of normality and people would prefer to see this than read about it. People find it funny to watch someone doing something like licking a shoe, which doesnt happen in everyday life. Also watching someone do something like this reminds the audience of the power of alcohol and what it can do to you. Magic is another thing which watching on stage can make it look a lot more realistic. There is a lot of magic used in the tempest so the director has to make the magic look extra special to achieve the full potential of stagecraft. The playwright wrote the story to be a play so it should be easier to make the magic look better than an image that someone who is reading the play has in his or her head. The best example (to do with magic) of Shakespeares stagecraft is the invisibility of Ariel. It was mine art, when I arrived and heard thee, that made gape the pine and let thee out. Prospero is in total control of Ariel, Ariel is saying this to refer to the fact that Sycorax (Calibans mother) locked Ariel in a pine tree for 12 years and it was Prospero who let him out which is why Ariel is like a slave to Prospero. thy thoughts I cleave to This shows how Prospero has full control over Ariel and how Ariel can read even his thoughts. Within this stagecraft, the audience has to pretend that Ariel is invisible when they actually can see him. This is called suspension of disbelief. Without this knowledge in our minds that Ariel is really invisible it helps us to understand the joke of this scene and we can see why Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo are becoming so confused. By Shakespeare enabling the stagecraft of Ariels invisibility, we are reminded how really Prospero has all the power and how Stephano regal acts are not real, how Stephano is really not a true leader with real power. Stephano is being made a fool of in a couple of ways as he keeps on turning on Trinculo every time Ariel says thou liest and he keeps on showing parts of his unregal side I will supplant some of your teeth Stephano forgets his act and he turns on Trinculo like a mother protecting her cubs. This is an example of slapstick comedy; he starts slapping Trinculo like hes a clown on a stage. This also shows how again Stagecraft can make a play on a stage quite a powerful experience. Next is the subject of Metatheatre. Metatheatre is when a playwright includes a play inside their play, or an author including a story inside their story. It is also to show the audience that what theyre watching is a play and not real life. Normally metatheatre is used to teach a lesson to the audience. Metatheatre is used in The Tempest when Prospero makes a play for Ferdinand and Mirandas wedding. Its supposed to teach us that just like it dissolved into thin air when it finished so to life and everything around us is temporary and nothing can have too much power as one day it too will just dissolve or die or rot and fade away. It is mentioned in Prosperos speech about the great globe when he says our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air. This whole speech is an example of metatheatre as he is explaining to the audience how this play is not real and none of what they just saw was actually real although it may look like it. Another example occurs right at the end of the play when Prospero is about to give up his magic and he is speaking directly to the audience, asking them for an applause and cheers he says, But release me from my bands with the help of your aged hands. Gentle breath of yours my rails must fill, or else my project fails which was to please In this speech, Prospero reminds the audience that they are in a play and asks them to clap if theyve liked the play which they payed to see. Prospero reminds the audience of this because when someone is watching a play or a film, they sometimes forget where they are as they are too engrossed in the storyline of the film. Music is another aspect which manifests itself better in a play than a novel. When one is merely reading the book, one can only imagine what the tune of Ariel sounds like or what the scout em and flout em dance really looks like. Performance brings the musical reference alive. The raucous song and dance of the drunken trio: Caliban is the leader of the dance and this shows that even with Stephanos regal act, Caliban is really in control of the group! Stephano loses his regal ways whenever something out of the ordinary and it shown with the song, when he hits Trinculo and on line 218 when he says I do begin to have bloody thoughts. By watching this unfit behaviour for a king performed by Stephano, the Shakespearean audience can learn and appreciate about European power and Colonialization, they can also learn about natives like Caliban and how they live in their natural habitat. We can only see that Caliban is in control of the dance when we are watching a play, as this is not written in the script itself. Caliban towards the end of these scenes starts speaking from prose to verse and in iambic pentameters for example in his beautiful speech about the sounds of the island at the end of act IIIii when he says Be not afeared, the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not and although we can read this in a novel of the play it is still easier and more realistic to watch it in a play. Finally, I wish to consider costumes. In The Tempest the main point of costumes are the flashy trashy trumpery that appeal to Stephano and Trinculo. We see again here that watching a play is of course better, as one can see just how bad the clothes actually are and how much Stephano and Trinculo are not under control of everything. The main point of these clothes are to distract Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano. Whilst they are distracted, Prospero intends to plague them all. Once we see these clothes we know that this is going to be a funny scene and indeed it is. (The next part is also funny as the majestic Stephano and his followers are not really looking like kings at all, in fact they are looking more like tramps all wet from the swamp of mud smelling like horse piss. This is another example of costumes stagecraft) Caliban sees straight through these clothes but Trinculo and Stephano dont and they start trying them on. We see from this that Caliban is not as stupid as he appears and Stephano and Trinculo are as stupid as they look, it shows who is the cleverest of the three and it shows that all Stephano attempts to be regal have not worked and they are gone as quickly as they came with just one little distraction. These are just a couple of points on the theme of power and stagecraft used in The Tempest and there are also many others proving that there are clear advantages of telling a story by way of a play, than simply in a novel.

Strikes essays

Strikes essays The book Three Strikes reflects on three different labor strikes in the early 1900s. Three different authors have comprised this book to show the different ways that strikers have handled their struggles. One important lesson of labor history is that when workers get together they make a very powerful team to deal with. Another very important lesson in labor history is that strikes can make major companies crack or attack. When a company cracks, it gives in to the demands of the striker. When a company attacks, the company will physically get rid of the strikers or deliberately hurt them. This book gives stories on both of them and shows what happens at the end of the strike. There are many other ways that laborers have challenged corporations. Sit-downs were used in the Woolworth strike, and probably worked better than the conventional strike. The truth is many different kinds of strikes for different laborers have happened, but the reason for the strike is always the same. One thing that needs to be established to have a chance at winning a strike is a strong following from publicity. Another agent that helps in a strike is when you have some kind of political leader helping. The coal miners strike was one of the most violent things that have happened to this country. This big company decided to take force on their workers. The Ludlow massacre was a terrible tragedy in the mix of a strike. This strike took a grueling fourteen months. During this strike, fighting for better wages and working conditions may have cost them their lives. One major thing that happened in this strike was The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company had some help from the state. Violence went back and fourth and no one could say who started the first act, but it was not an even match. (Zinn 21) The strikers set up tent colonies in Colorado. Big corporations seem to always get support from the government which gives them an unfair adv...

How to Form Subject and Object Questions in English

How to Form Subject and Object Questions in English The following rules apply to question formation in English. While a number of more advanced ways to form questions in English exist, simple English questions always follow these rules. Generally speaking, there are two types of questions: object  questions and subject questions. Object questions   Object questions are the most common types of questions in English. Object questions ask when, where, why, how, and if someone does something: Where do you live?Did you go shopping yesterday?When are they going to arrive next week? Subject questions Subject questions ask who or which person or object does something: Who lives there?Which car has the best safety features?Who bought that house? Auxiliary Verbs in Object Questions All tenses in English use auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs are always placed before the subject in subject  questions in English, with the main form of the verb being placed after the subject.   Yes/No questions begin with the auxiliary verb: Auxiliary Verb Subject Main Verb Do you study French? Information questions begin with question words such as where, when, why, or how. How often did you visit Paris when you lived in France?How long have you lived here? Auxiliary Verbs  in Subject Questions Auxiliary verbs are placed after question words who, which, which kind of, and which type of in object questions. Drop the helping verb for present simple and past simple, as in positive sentences: Who/Which (kind of/type of) Auxiliary Verb Main Verb Which type of food provides the best nutrition?Who is going to speak at the conference next week?What type of company employs thousands of people? Finally, subject questions generally use simple tenses such as present simple, past simple and future simple. Object Questions Focus  on Tenses While its possible to form subject questions in each tense, the following examples focus on the use of object questions in a variety of tenses, as they are much more common. Present Simple/Past Simple/Future Simple   Use the auxiliary verb do/does for present simple questions and did for past simple questions plus the base form of the verb. Present Simple Where do they live?Do you play tennis?Does she go to your school? Past Simple When did you have lunch yesterday?Did they buy a new car last week?How did she do on the exam last month? Future Simple When will she visit us next?Where will you stay when you get there?What will we do?! Present Continuous/Past Continuous/Future Continuous Use the auxiliary verb is/are for present continuous questions and was/were for past continuous questions plus the present participle or ing form of the verb. Present Continuous What are you doing?Is she watching TV?Where are they playing tennis? Past Continuous What were you doing at six p.m.?What was she cooking when you came home?Were they studying when you walked into their room? Future Continuous What will you be doing next week at this time?What will she be speaking about?Will they be staying with you? Present Perfect / Past Perfect / Future Perfect Use the auxiliary verb have/has for present perfect questions and had for past perfect questions plus the past participle. Present Perfect Where has she gone?How long have they lived here?Have you visited France? Past Perfect Had they eaten before he arrived?What had they done that made him so angry?Where had you left the briefcase? Future Perfect Will they have finished the project by tomorrow?How much time will you have spent reading that book?When will I have completed my studies?! Exceptions to the Rule - To Be - Present Simple and Past Simple The verb to be takes no auxiliary verb in the present simple and past simple question form. In this case, place the verb to be before the subject to ask a question. To Be Present Simple Is she here?Are you married?Where am I? To Be Past Simple Were they at school yesterday?Where were they?Was she at school? This is the basic structure of all questions in English. There are, however, exceptions to these rules as well as other structures. Once you understand this basic structure, its also important to  continue learning about how to use indirect questions  and  tag questions.   Remember that questions are one of three forms for each sentence. There is always a positive, negative and question form for each sentence. Study your verb forms and youll be able to easily use each of these tenses to have conversations and ask questions effectively.

Comparison of Three Books about Vietnam War Essay

Comparison of Three Books about Vietnam War - Essay Example While different authors appreciate the occurrences during the war, they portray the war and the US interference in different ways. This paper will examine three such books, comparing the description of the Vietnam War in all the books. The Vietnam War was a memorable event in the history of the US. A People's History of the United States In the book, A People’s History of the United States, Zinn presents the history of the Vietnam War in a simplistic manner that common people can appreciate. Zinn provides this history through the eyes of the common folk instead of the economic and political elite. For instance, he focuses on the US citizens’ resistance to the Vietnam War, as well as the people of North Vietnam who though deemed insignificant, were able to defeat the US-backed South. Zinn terms the US involvement in the Vietnam War as a mission in futility. He exemplifies that regardless of its military and technology superiority, the US was unable to defeat Northern Vie tnamese whose main weapon was human strength and tactical thinking capacity. According to Zinn, US victory in Vietnam was impossible because North Vietnamese dejected colonial imperialism after Japan’s failed attempt to capture Indochina. He argues that the US was fighting a war it could not win. This is because the people of Vietnam favored the government led by Ho Chi Minh and were against Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime. This allowed the people of Vietnam to maintain high morale throughout the war. On the other hand, morale among US military fighters in Vietnam was quite low because most of the American soldiers revolted against the atrocities they inflicted, like the My Lai massacre. Zinn describes the Vietnam War as a war between â€Å"the wealthiest and most powerful nation in global history† and â€Å"a nationalist, revolutionary movement in a peasant nation†. This description paints the picture of a fight akin to a cat and mouse fight where the insignifica nt revolutionary people fought against a mighty nation such as the US. Normally, one would expect that the stronger party in the fight wins, but in the Vietnam War, Zinn asserts that it is the small, insignificant humans who won against the technology of the US. In addition, Zinn speaks of the impact the US citizens had on the culmination of the Vietnam War. Zinn talks of the impact of the US movement against the Vietnam War as having, â€Å"played a critical part in bringing the war to an end†. Nonetheless, Zinn attempts to dispel the common belief that US opposition to the Vietnam War was amongst college students and intellectuals from the middle class. He uses statistics from the war period to show evidence that considerable opposition also came from the US working class. For instance, poet Robert Lowell refused to attend a luncheon at the White House, while singer Eartha Kitt spoke out against the war in the presence of the first lady. Zinn maintains the stance that it is the common people that brought change in Vietnam. The assertion â€Å"the revolutionists fought against the Japanese† and defeated the superior nation speaks of the impact of Vietnamese on the going on within their country. Zinn’s description of the war also holds that the troops also opposed the war, citing refusals and desertions to progress to war, as well as movements like Vietnam Veterans Against the War, which subsequently covered US invasions

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

International Business - Essay Example who pointed to the small current-trade between Canada and Mexico, Mexican competition with Canadian goods in US markets and the supposed failure of the then existing Canadian-US trade agreement. Today, after sixteen years does the Canadian experience confirm the fears of the critics or did NAFTA live up to the expectations? For Canada, the NAFTA is an improvement on its previous trade agreement with the United States – the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) - in a number of respects. Canada now has an extension of duty drawbacks and greater discipline over standards, which should reduce border conflicts with the US. I would like to underscore, as well that the best part of the agreement in my opinion is that Canada, along with the US and Mexico have the same low or zero most favored nation tariff on imports such as computers. This old custom union model has huge advantages because rules of origin are not required for trade in that product within the union. In addition, Canada also reaps some benefits in the area of agriculture. Between 1991 and 2002, Canadian exports absorbed by the United States rose from 39 to 67 percent. (Volrath 2004) The Canadian oil is also gobbled up exclusively by the United States along with its underlying strategic political mileage for the country. On the economic side, investments also poured in, particularly those from foreign companies who want to access the NAFTA market. In a way, this fact provides an argument against those NAFTA critics who argue that investment is lost to Mexico due to cheap labor. As it is, there are countries and firms who prefer Canada over Mexico because the country’s labor pool is skilled and educated; and over the US, because of the appeal of lower costs and a moderate tax regime. This is underscored by the tremendous rise in the foreign direct investment in the country. Annual figures during the first seven years of NAFTA reflected an average of $21.4 billion investment s for the country, almost

Is Facebook Response for our Loneliness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is Facebook Response for our Loneliness - Essay Example During her last days, she looked for companionship from fans whom she met through Internet sites and fan conventions. When news of her death got out, she was the subject of over 16,000 posts on Facebook and more than 800 tweets. In â€Å"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely,† published in the May 2012 edition of The Atlantic magazine, Stephen Marche looks at the phenomenon of Facebook and how it affects our relationships as human beings. In a similar way to most of us, Vickers’s network of communication had increased yet decreased at the same time. Many of us can be easily accessed but yet we live in isolation. In recent years, technology has moved us to a way of life (technology) that we wholesomely rely on. In the extreme, several miles of fiber-optic cables were installed between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and New York Stock Exchange in order to increase the speed of transmission during trading by three milliseconds (Marche 2012). But, in spite of absolute and instant c ommunication, we can suffer from loneliness. The more the new socializing modes, the less of an actual society exists. The more the connection, the lonelier we become. As of last year, Facebook had over 800 million users and revenue in excess of $3 billion (Marche 2012). The company further aims to be the largest internet IPO ever. Although it is the first site to have more than a trillion page views in a month, the way in which it is used is causing harm to its users without them knowing (Lushing and Atwan 45). Even Facebook’s owner, Mark Zuckerberg, who is one of the youngest billionaries in the world, experiences loneliness like the rest of us. As can be seen in the film The Social Network, his loneliness is evident when he sends a friend request to his ex-lover and then waits for a response while refreshing the page (like many of us have desperately done). Unlike the Friends circle in Google+, which suggests that people only include his or her real friends, Facebook has c reated a cyber world that includes people with whom we have never interacted. This depicts the interference that Facebook has brought about in relationships—it promotes the isolation that it was designed to overcome. Many people thought that Facebook was developed as a solution to people suffering from loneliness. This innovation seemed to be a solution at the time; however, recent studies show that loneliness rates in American have significantly increased. Additionally, isolation has increased unhappiness in the U.S. To understand the real effect social media forms have caused, we need to realize there is a difference between loneliness and being alone. Being alone is a beautiful thing. On the other hand, loneliness is a sad thing; it is also a psychological condition. Analyzing data from Dutch twins in 2005 showed that they both had similar genetic conditions as they did psychological problems (Marche 2012). Nonetheless, loneliness is difficult to explain. The UCLA loneline ss scale is the best tool to measure the loneliness of a person. Studies using the scale have shown that loneliness is increasing rapidly within a short time. A leading American study shows about 20 percent of Americans suffer from loneliness (Marche 2012). Single people suffer from loneliness more than married couples who are confidants. Another study found that active believers who perceived God as helpful and nonfigurative were less lonely than those who saw God as wrathful. Due to increased rates of loneliness there is a fear of an epidemic across Europe, as suggested by health experts. Loneliness and bein

Inter-Religious And Inter-Racial Marriages Essay

Inter-Religious And Inter-Racial Marriages - Essay Example Respect for each other is paramount, especially so in the case of inter - religion marriage. (Meera Chowdhry, 2000, Family Matters, Inter - Religion Marriage, www.boloji.com). Marriage is a partnership between two members of the opposite sex. The usual roles and responsibilities of the husband and wife include living together, having sexual relations only with one another, sharing economic resources and being recognized as the parents of their children. The Bella Online's marriage editor Ms Kristen Houghton's, opinion about marriage is that the institution of marriage encompasses in its ambit numerous factors. The main factor affecting marriage is Religion. A person's religious or spiritual beliefs should be either the same or at least congenial to that of one's spouse. This is so because a person's religious beliefs are an integral part of a person and if there is a difference of religious opinions, then the marriage may be affected adversely. (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27452.asp, n. d. ) Meera Chowdhry, 2000, Family Matters, Inter - Religion Marriage, www.boloji.com states that, "Religion is a way of life. We by the virtue of being born in a certain religious backdrop learn to follow a way of praying or accepting God as Christ or Krishna and so forth. Thus following the teachings, I do not see the teachings of Krishna any different from that of Christ. How does it matter then which religion is older It is more important to have a harmonious relationship with one's spouse." The author is saying that religion is usually determined by the family into which one is born. Further, there is not much disparity between different religions. The main import is to follow the teachings of the religion, which one follows. From the perspective of marriage, it is much more important for the husband and wife to have mutual understanding and respect for each other than to concentrate on the differences in the personal religion that they follow. From the foregoing, we can conclude that happiness in marriage is more dependent on mutual understanding and mutual respect than it is on religion. It is the belief of many people that introducing two contradictory beliefs into a marriage is inviting marital strife, which could increase the rate of divorce. Further, many people also believe that having parents of two different religions causing psychological stress on the offspring as they are often effectively forced to choose one parent over the other. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interreligious_marri ge, n.d). A person professing a different faith is considered inferior and ineligible from the point of view of matrimony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interreligious_marriage, n.d.).Having the same, religious and spiritual beliefs are part of the essential criteria, for many people seeking a partner in marriage. Many people feel strongly that the person they are going to marry should be of the same religion, have the same traditions and customs and the same intensity of belief in God as they themselves do. For most people this is an integral part of their idea of marriage. However, there are still others who marry someone who belongs to a different religion. Such people have to overcome opposition from their families on entering a matrimonial alliance of this type. Despite all this, if true love prevails in the relation between husband and wife, then such trifles as which spouse's religion is superior or inferior will be relegated to the background. This statement is based on common experienc e. The offspring born to such couples will learn to respect religion irrespective of the particular