The glass Menagerie By T Williams Essay Example

The glass Menagerie By T Williams Essay The glass menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams in the mid 1940s and is what many consider to be his best ever work. Like many of his plays, The Glass Menagerie is set in the south of Northern America and consists of five characters. The play is said to mirror Tennessees life very closely as he was brought up with an overbearing mother, a disabled sister and devoid of a father figure in his life. The play shows the Tom characters struggle for independence and freedom from his current existence. The entire play is centred on two of the five characters, even though one of these characters, the gentleman caller, only arrives in the final scenes, and the father, who is illusive throughout the entire play but is mentioned and referred to throughout. For the performance piece, I played the character of Amanda, Toms imperious mother. The scene that we performed was directly after a scene where Tom and Amanda had had a furious argument with Amanda and Tom both saying how they truly felt about how the other one treats and acts towards them. Our scene starts with lots of stage directions that truly build up the tension between Tom and Amanda that grows and grows with the silence and the physical distance between them, and is only broken by Tom breaking this strain of characters by saying the first sorry. We will write a custom essay sample on The glass Menagerie By T Williams specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The glass Menagerie By T Williams specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The glass Menagerie By T Williams specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer There is very strong sub- text to the scene that is shown more in the stage directions then in the text. The sub- text being that Amanda was truly hurt by the things that Tom had said to her and is genuinely terrified that she will once again be left another loved one, but this does not mean that she is scarred because she will miss her son solely as a mother, but because the more manipulative, self centred side of her will miss him as the provider and the bread-winner. This sub- text is apparent when she turns the conversation from Toms love of the movies to how he should completely forget about his own aspirations and dreams and concentrate more on his job, most young men find adventure in their careers. which is paying for the house which he coincidently he shares with his mother and sister. The main plot in the scene is not set and changes from Tom apologising to his mother, to her trying to talk to him about Laura, to them both ultimately arguing about what they where arguing about in the previous scene. I played the character of Amanda to demonstrate the plot and the sub-text by using the dialogue and the stage directions that are given and exaggerated them slightly as the play is that of memory and is not a realistic play. I used facial expressions to display the way I felt about the way the conversation was going and to show the way that my character was feeling, such as the look of embarrassment when she asks Tom, promise me son that you will never be a drunkard. I think that while asking Tom this Amanda has an uncomfortable look because that is how she feels, she thinks that Tom may dismiss her worries as a load of over the top dramatisation that his is so used to seeing from his mother, or because she is revealing one of her biggest fears to her son, that stems from her husband leaving her, and will also expose an extremely venerable side of her that her son has probably never seen to her before. The start of the scene is one of the most important parts, as it is the part that has the most stage directions in it. The stage directions that were given told me that I should play Amanda as a hard character, I showed this by turning away from Tom as soon as he entered the room, and saying like this throughout, until he apologised. When he did apologise I remained facing away from him because even though Amanda was crying, Tom had given her the higher status by making amends first, and I feel that Amanda is a character that would want to hold on to the higher status for as long as she could, and by turning away from Tom she is keeping him in suspense as to how she is going to react to his request for forgiveness. The staging of the scene is very simple as the entire play is a memory and is therefore very selective. The set for this scene is a small dining table and two chairs. All of the props are mimed as directed at the very beginning of the play. The audience were end on as we felt that they could then see all of the facial expressions and gestures better in this type of staging. The only entrance made is from Tom as we thought that is would be better if Amanda was already in the scene, that way the audience would be able to see the contrast between how she behaves and her body language is before Tom is in the scene, and how she is and how they are towards each other after he has entered. There is a moment at the very beginning of the play where there is no dialogue but lots of stage directions. This creates a very tense atmosphere as neither of our characters was doing a lot of movement, but because they have just had a dispute and you can see that Tom is going to make an attempt to talk or apologise to Amanda it builds and builds the tension so much that with every failed attempt Tom makes, the atmosphere is at breaking point, until Tom actually speaks and it is somewhat of an anti-climax as all of a sudden all of the dramatic tension is lost and Amanda cries. This section as an opening to the scene also shows pace as well, as the pace in the beginning is very slow and almost not moving at all, as where in the middle of the scene where Tom and Amanda have started arguing again the pace is very quick with lines overlapping. This also created a tense atmosphere between our two characters but in a different way to the start of the scene. The moment in the middle of the play where Amanda changes from the nicer Amanda back to the familiar aggressive Amanda, I made a long pause to show that a change had occurred, and also to allow time for the audience to take in what had happened in the scene and what would happen. I tried to make the change in her personality clear also by using lots of facial expressions.

Definition and Examples of Platitudes in English

Definition and Examples of Platitudes in English Definition A platitude is a trite and obvious observation, in particular, one thats expressed as if it were fresh and significant. Adjectives: platitudinous and platitudinal. Verb: platitudinize. A person who habitually uses platitudes- or clichà ©s- is (among other things) a platitudinarian. Platitudes can be instruments of gentle criticism, says Karen Tracy. Platitudes are  especially useful in the context of public argument, for they promote the sense that a speaker is addressing a policy concern rather than actually criticizing or attacking a person (Challenges of Ordinary Democracy, 2010). Etymology: From Old French, flat, dull Pronunciation: PLAT-i-tood Related Concepts Platitudes are similar to some other terms, but can also be mixed up with some of these terms. Some of the related concepts and language terms are: CatchphraseChunkClichà ©CollocationDead MetaphorIdiomPet PhraseProverb Examples of Platitudes Youre as young as you feel.Crime does pay.It doesnt matter what youre doing, as long as youre having fun.Love will always get you through.Crime doesnt pay.He/she who laughs last, laughs best.Everybody needs somebody.Alls well that ends well.Honesty is the best policy.Life begins at 50 (or 60).Its okay to be silly.You have to act your age.Acting your age is for old people.Love what you do.Do what you love.The secret to a long life is doing what you love.Who cares what other people say? Observations About Platitudes There are already some four-star platitudes on the list, some old sayings, some repeats, and a few opposing ideas. (Jay Douglas, Stalking the Story. Alpha Books, 2011)His subjects are intriguing, but Coles is embarrassingly conventional and unreflective. He writes in platitudes (about lifes ironies, the dilemmas of our time, the richest nation in the world, peoples darker side, Freuds superior cast of mind, etc.). (William White, The Library Journal Book Review, 1975)He was fond of thinking in platitudes- but to him, all platitudes were profound and had the freshness and vigor of original thought.Like bubbles, he said to himself, human life is as momentary as a bubble.(Khushwant Singh, Posthumous. Not A Nice Man To Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh. Penguin, 2000)Everybody can repeat the platitude that the mob can be the greatest of all tyrants. But few realize or remember the corresponding truth which goes along with it- that the mob is the only permanent and unassailable high pries t. (G.K. Chesterton, Charles Dickens: A Critical Study, 1906) Anti-Intellectualism in Politics: Inspirational Platitudes and Partisan Punch Lines Instead of bringing arguments to the public deliberative sphere, [American] presidents are increasingly inclined to declare and assert, offering us a predictable inventory of inspirational platitudes and partisan punch lines. I turn first to George W. Bush and his use of inspirational platitudes as an instance of argument by declaration, then to Bill Clinton and his use of partisan punch lines as an instance of argument by assertion. It may appear at first glance that these two anti-intellectual strategies are polar opposites of each other. Platitudes articulate the obvious and are therefore assumed to be universal, while partisan punch lines are strategically one-sided and therefore particular. Both, however, are united by their rejection of the weighing and judging of reasons. Both are proffered as foundational beliefs that cannot be argued for or against. Self-evident truths can be declared without justification, just like partisan punch lines are asserted strategically to preempt consideration of the other side. Both paradoxically transmit ambiguous meaning in categorical language. Indeed, that is why partisan punch lines are often dressed up in the ambiguous language of platitudes. Phrases such as liberty, support our troops, and freedom in Iraq are often deployed as coded conservative punch lines delivered as creedal platitudes that cannot be denied, while fairness, universal health care, equal employment opportunity are the liberal analogs of projects that are self-evidently unobjectionable. (Elvin T. Lim, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush. Oxford University Press, 2008) The New Rhetoric of Civility The new rhetoric of civility misunderstands the role of argument as a social and socializing process. In so doing, it dissuades the public from embracing and refining argument as a means to achieve civility. In seeking a cure to incivility, todays discussions have characterized argument as a disease, when its cultivation might actually offer the most efficacious cure...If we fail to redeem ourselves through rhetoric, we condemn ourselves to recycling platitudes about civility. And through those platitudes, the new rhetoric of civility will continue to perpetuate the very stereotype about argument that, ironically, have led to todays calls for civility.(Rolf Norgaard, The Rhetoric of Civility and the Fate of Argument. Rhetoric, the Polis, and the Global Village: Selected Papers From the 1998 Thirtieth Anniversary Rhetoric Society of America Conference, ed. by C. Jan Swearingen and Dave Pruett. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1999) Platitudes in Drama That an idea is not available dramatically until it has become a platitude is itself one of the most platitudinous of dramatic platitudes. But there is a considerable difference in the mere availability of a platitude and the conversion of the platitude into lively and engaging drama. Good drama, in point of fact, consists in so veiling a basic platitude with the vari-colored gauzes of imaginative beauty that it shall be but vaguely perceptible to those who give it eye and ear. The greater the dramatist, the more successful he is in deceiving his audiences as to the existence in his work of the platitude. He is, in a way of speaking, a prestidigitator of platitudes: one whose infinite legerdemain of metaphor, fancy, wit, and surface originality is successful constantly in making the ever-present platitude seem to disappear. (George Jean Nathan, Materia Critica. Alfred A. Knopf, 1924)

Week 5 refrace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Week 5 refrace - Essay Example In an organization, especially an account’s practice such as mine, leaders and disciples often trade places several times a day. In some cases, such an arrangement is referred to as distributed leadership. Across the board, the traits of authenticity, coupled with the dispositions of integrity and fidelity that vary between individuals, form the basic principles in the pursuit of conceptualizing good in my organization (this conclusion was drawn after rigorous action research (AR) that took form of interviews of members in informal settings conducted during the course of my dissertation module). Ben-Yoav, Hollander, and Carnevale (1983) discussed argumentatively the difference authenticity makes to a movement initiated by a member who aims to promulgate relationship building between members or project an action within the member community of the organization. The followers, in order to assist with the protagonist’s motion, must witness for themselves the goodness of his intent in order to be willing to follow and subsequently play their role as supporters when the situation leads to that. The focus of my paper is to assess the legitimacy of this statement. The aim is to highlight the ethical frameworks which develop into principles which help direct the participants to collaborate amongst themselves, as opposed to defining the ‘inside’ groups and the outside collaborators which proved deceptively hard to completely define. Thus, the underlying qualities of a leader were assessed in light of ethical and moral justness. In order to achieve this, the focus has been primarily placed on the communicative bridge called leader authenticity, a concept that dictates the flow of conscience amongst members which then enables them to follow their leader’s word (widely believed by the majority to be the best way to incite support and action with the prevailing cultural norms, subject to unforeseen changes). This notion translates to the fol lowing understanding,