Natural Language Processing :: Computer Technology

Natural Language Processing To digest natural language implies understanding, a function that is uniquely human. To understand something implies to have senses that interpret the world such as emotions and awareness of our own physical experiences. When someone tells a story, we rely upon previous experience for interpretation. We form a reaction, our heart rate may change, we may start sweating, we may relax or tense, and feel certain emotions such as fear. Upon getting new information, a persons attitude may change or the way they think may change. A computer made of metal simply does not have the faculties to experience the world as we do. It can be programmed to respond in such a way that mimics a human response, but can not be considered to be really understanding what it is doing. Recall the story of Helen Keller, how she finally began to learn a language when she was given immediate experiential feedback. The teacher would pour water on her and then do the sign language for the word in her hand. The foun der of Toastmaster's organization started it on the premise that people learn in moments of pleasure, and structured the organization so it would provide just that. A computer would not have the senses to make such understanding of these words and experiences possible. In addition to its lack of cognitive ability, a computer can not form expectations based upon a situation. A political speech can be very serious, but when seen on Saturday Night Live, it will be interpreted as funny. A similar problem is the extra meaning conveyed by the tone of voice or body language. We could always program an exhaustive data bank with all the different possibilities of input, but the system as we know it could not search all of these within a reasonable period of time, nor could it adapt to future changes. One of the problems with natural language processing systems is that humans themselves are often not very good natural language generators or processors. We often apply our own bias and expectations to what we hear. Two people can make eye contact and set up a whole series of background such that they now what each other are talking about. That very fact may be a bonus for computer natural language processing because we can predict with certainty how the system will interpret the information and therefore have greater clarity than people.

A Description of the Graduate Record Examination

GREG subject test is used by very few universities for granting admissions. Universities usually use [email  protected] Subject Test for granting admission to the PhD program (sometimes for MS programs also) in Mathematics, Physics, Biological Sciences, English Literature, Psychology, Chemistry, etc. On the other hand, large number of universities do NOT use [email  protected] Subject Test for granting admission to the PhD program in the above mentioned fields of studies. Formats of [email  protected] : Two formats of [email  protected] revised General test are available : The computer based & The Paper based.Paper based format is available n only a very few countries. In India, only Computer Based [email  protected] is available. Who takes [email  protected] & When ? : Engineers, Architects, Doctors, Dentists, Biotechnologist, Science graduates, Physiotherapist, Pharmacists, Management graduates & postgraduates (MBA), computer professionals (MAC), Mathematicians, Psychol ogists, etc. Planning to pursue Masters or PhD programs, etc. The list is long. Almost 90% of the people who take [email  protected] are in their II or Ill or IV year of their college pursuing their degree in any stream such as Engineering or Science or Medicine, etc.Who accepts [email  protected] & how is it used ? Thousands of universities across the globe, more specifically almost all the universities in the USA & several in Canada use [email  protected] scores along with student's academic record in college, recommendation letters from Professors and/or employers, non-academic credentials such as projects, research papers, etc. To grant admission to their Masters or PhD programs. Several universities now also accept [email  protected] scores in lieu of GMTA scores to offer admission in their MBA programs. When & Where can one take [email  protected] ? : Unlike Indian college entrance tests such as GATE, CAT, etc. Imputer based [email  protected] is administered throu ghout the year at arioso Promoters (wholly-owned subsidiary of TEST) centers in India as well as at additional test centers in various cities such as Iambi, Delhi, Opal, Metadata, Allahabad, Achaean, Hydrated, Surgeon, Bangor, Kilowatt, Pine, Fedora, etc. At Promoters centers [email  protected] is conducted 3 times in a day, all weekdays & at additional centers on some selected days of the month. How many times can a student appear for [email  protected] ? You can take the [email  protected] once every 21 days, up to five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period.This applies even if you canceled your scores on a test taken previously. If you take the paper-based GREG revised General Test, you can take it as often as it is offered. Are there any US universities, which do not use [email  protected] scores ? There are several US universities, which do not require you to submit your [email  protected] scores. The admissions committee of these universities primarily base their admission decision on college grades, recommendation letters, etc. But some of these universities use [email  protected] scores to award financial aid in form of fellowships, Graduate assistantships, Teaching or Research assistantships, etc.Score validity [email  protected] scores are valid Upton 5 years from the test date. How can I appear for [email  protected] ? If you wish to take [email  protected] you have to first make your account at HTTPS://emigre. Test. Org/ grew/login/login. ]SP. Then you can proceed to fix your examination date by following the instructions. Please also remember to carry your valid passport on the test date as you will not be allowed to enter the test center without it. All other forms of identification such as school id. Or driving license or Dear card, etc. Are unacceptable. Test centers are available in all major cities of India.[email  protected] Test Fee The test Fee for computer based revised general [email  protected] in Ind ia is IIS$195 at present. Remember that in this test fee you can also send [email  protected] scores to four institutions (colleges/universities, etc. ) free of cost. If you decide later to apply to one or more of these 4 institutions, then you will not be required to pay IIS$27 per university to TEST to forward your [email  protected] score to these institutions. How are the [email  protected] scores reported to the universities ? Whenever you give your [email  protected], you can view your scores after about 12-15 days from your test date in your online emigre account.You can also print your score-sheet from your emigre account. The universities do not use the photocopies of the [email  protected] marks- whet and require the official scores to take admission decisions. To send official scores to a university, you have to go to your emigre account, where you will find your [email  protected] scores displayed as per the dates on which you appeared for [email  protected ] You can send all the scores to the universities or can use Corselets facility to send scores (by test date) of your choice by paying IIS$27 per university.Remember that in the test fee (about IIS$195 in India) of [email  protected] you can send [email  protected] scores to four institutions (colleges/universities, etc. ) free of cost. If you decide later to apply to one r more of these 4 institutions, then you will not be required to pay IIS$27 per university to TEST to forward your GREG score to these institutions. You have to choose the name of these institutions to which TEST will forward your [email  protected] scores at the test center on your test date, immediately after finishing your [email  protected] test.The complete list of the name of the countries, universities, departments will be displayed on your computer screen after you have viewed your score. If you do not use this free facility, you are losing IIS$108. Ask CHICHI for the name of these four institutions . When will oh get your [email  protected] scores ? After completing the computer-based [email  protected], you will be given the opportunity to Report or Cancel your scores. If you choose Report Scores, you will see your unofficial scores for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections displayed on your computer screen.Because of the Analytical Writing essay scoring process, you will not be able to view your Analytical Writing score at the testing center. If you cancel your scores, neither you nor any universities will ever see them and they will not be part of your reportable history. Your official scores will become available in our emigre account and sent to your score recipients approximately 10-15 days after your test date. Test Structure of GREG [email  protected] consists of three major sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing.In the first two sections, the test taker receives scores on scale of 130-170 in 1 point increment s (such as 150, 151 & so on) and receives scores on a scale of 0-6 in half point increments (such as 3. 0, 3. 5, 4. 0 & so on) on the Analytical Writing (AWE) section. Total score is on a scale of 260-340 (such as 300, 301 , 302 & so on) with AWE score stated on a scale of 6. 0. In addition, an unidentified unsecured subsection may be included and may appear in any order after the Analytical Writing section. It is not counted as part of the test taker's score.An identified research subsection that is not scored may be included in place of the unidentified, unsecured subsection. This research subsection will always appear at the end of the test. The overall testing time for the computer-based [email  protected] revised General Test is about 3 hours and 45 minutes. There are in all 6 subsections with a 10-minute break after the completion of the third subsection. The Analytical Writing section will always appear iris. The Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and unidentified or the unsecured subsections may appear in any order.The test-taker must treat each section as if it counts towards his score. Adaptive nature of the test : As per the official site of [email  protected] (mm. ‘. Greg. Org) the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections are section- level adaptive, meaning that the first section of the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures spans a range of difficulty levels, from easy to difficult. The first section is assembled such that, overall, the first section is of average difficulty. The difficulty level of the second section of each of the measures depends on your performance on the first section.For example, if for the Quantitative Reasoning measure you do very well on the first section, the second section of the Quantitative Reasoning measure will be at a higher level of difficulty. The scoring for the Quantitative Reasoning measure takes into consideration the total number of questions answered correctly acro ss the two sections, as well as the difficulty level of the section (similar process for the Verbal Reasoning measure). How the computer based [email  protected] is scored ? : The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning assures are section-level adaptive.This means the computer selects the second section of a measure based on the performance on the first section. Within each section, all questions contribute equally to the final score. For each of the two measures, a raw score is computed. The raw score is the number of questions answered correctly. The raw score is converted to a scaled score through a process known as equating. The equating process accounts for minor variations in difficulty among the different test editions as well as differences in difficulty among individuals' tests introduced by the section-level adaptation.Thus a given scaled score of a particular measure reflects the same level of performance regardless of which section was selected and when the test w as taken. For the Analytical Writing section of computer-based [email  protected], each essay receives a score from at least one trained reader, using a six-point holistic scale. In holistic scoring, readers are trained to assign scores on the basis of the overall quality of an essay in response to the assigned task. The essay score is then reviewed by [email  protected], a computerized program developed by TEST, which is used to monitor the human reader.If the e-rater valuation and the human score agree, the human score is used as the final score. If they disagree by a certain amount, a second human score is obtained, and the final score is the average of the two human scores. The final scores on the two essays are then averaged and rounded to the nearest half-point interval on the 0-6 score scale. A single score is reported for the Analytical Writing measure. The primary emphasis in scoring the Analytical Writing section is on your critical thinking and analytical writing skil ls rather than on grammar and mechanics. Structure of the Computer-based [email  protected] revised General TestSection Number of Questions Allotted Time Analytical Writing (0-6 marks) (One section with two separately timed tasks) One â€Å"Analyze an Issue† task and one â€Å"Analyze an Argument† task 30 minutes per task Verbal Reasoning (130-170 marks) (Two subsections) 20 questions per subsection 30 minutes per subsection Quantitative Reasoning (130-marks) 35 minutes per subsection Unsecured Varies Research Verbal Reasoning (Score – 130-170 points (marks) The Verbal Reasoning section measures the ability of the test-taker to understand what one reads and how one applies his/her reasoning skills.The Verbal Reasoning section of the [email  protected] consists of 3 types of questions : 1. Reading Comprehension. 2. Text Completion 3. Sentence Equivalence Reading Comprehension : The test-taker has to read the passage and then answer questions following the pas sage. Reading comprehension passages are drawn from physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, arts & humanities and everyday topics. They are based on articles found in books and periodicals, both academic and nonacademic. The lengths of these passages range from 1-5 paragraphs.The test contains approximately 10 passages; majority of which are one paragraph in length and only en or two of which are several paragraphs long. Typically, about half of the questions on the test will be based on passages, and the number of questions based on a given passage can range from one to six. There are three types of Reading Comprehension questions: Multiple-choice Questions -? Select One Answer Choice : These are the multiple- choice questions with 5 answer choices, out of which test-taker must select one.Multiple-choice Questions -? Select One or More Answer Choices : In these type of questions, there are 3 answer choices and one has to select all that are correct. The erect answe r to these types of questions could be that either one, two or all three of the answer choices may be correct. Suppose two choices are correct and the test- taker has selected only one. He/she will not get any marks for this selection. There are no marks given for partially correct answers.Select-in-passage : The question asks the test-taker to click on the sentence in the passage that meets a certain description. To answer this type of question, one has to choose one of the sentences in the passage and click on it to highlight it. Text Completion : Questions in this subsection are based on vocabulary. Text Completion questions include a passage composed of 1 to 5 sentences with 1 to 3 blanks. There are 3 answer choices per blank, or 5 answer choices if there is a single blank.There is a single correct answer, consisting of one choice for each blank. The test-taker receives no marks for partially correct answers. Sentence Equivalence : Questions in this subsection are based on vocab ulary. Sentence Equivalence questions consist of a single sentence with one blank and six answer choices. These questions require the test-taker to select two of the answer choices. One does not get any marks for partially correct answers. For more details about this section of [email  protected] contact CHICHI or go to http://www. TTS. Org/Greg/revised_general/about/content/ quantitative_reasoning Quantitative Reasoning (Score – 130-170 points (marks) The Quantitative Reasoning section of the [email  protected] consists of four types of questions: Quantitative Comparison Questions Multiple-choice Questions -? Select one answer choice Multiple-choice Questions -? Select one or more answer choices Numeric Entry Questions Each question appears either independently as a separate single question or as part of a set of questions called a Data Interpretation set.All of the questions in a Data Interpretation set are based on the same data presented in tables, graphs or other dis plays of data. On-screen calculator is available. The Quantitative Reasoning section of [email  protected] assesses the test-taker for basic mathematical skills, understanding of elementary mathematical concepts & ability to reason quantitatively and to model and solve problems with quantitative methods.The syllabus (though not limited to) includes : Arithmetic topics include properties and types of integers, such as divisibility, factorization, prime numbers, remainders and odd and even integers; arithmetic operations, exponents and roots; and concepts such as estimation, percent, ratio, rate, absolute value, the number line, decimal representation and sequences of numbers.Algebra topics include operations with exponents; factoring and simplifying algebraic expressions; relations, functions, equations and inequalities; solving linear and quadratic equations and inequalities; solving simultaneous equations and inequalities; setting up equations to solve word problems; and coordina te geometry, including graphs of functions, equations and inequalities, intercepts and slopes of lines.Geometry topics include parallel and perpendicular lines, circles, triangles -? including isosceles, equilateral and 300-600-900 triangles -? quadrilaterals, other polygons, congruent and similar figures, three-dimensional figures, area, perimeter, volume, the Pythagorean theorem and angle measurement in degrees. The ability to construct proofs is not tested.Data analysis topics include basic descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, intrauterine range, quartiles and percentiles; interpretation of data in tables and graphs, such as line graphs, bar graphs, circle rapes, foxtrots, shatterproof and frequency distributions; elementary probability, such as probabilities of compound events and independent events; random variables and probability distributions, including normal distributions; and counting methods, such as combinations, permutations an d Venn diagrams.Inferential statistics is not included. The syllabus does not include trigonometry, calculus or other higher-level mathematics. For more details about this section of [email  protected] contact CHICHI or go to http://www. Test. Org/Greg/revised_general/about/content/quantitative_reasoning Analytical Writing (Score – 0-6 points (marks) The Analytical Writing measure consists of two separately timed writing tasks, which the test-taker has to type using a basic word processor software available on the screen while giving the test.The tasks are : One â€Å"Analyze an Issue† task to be completed in 30 minutes One â€Å"Analyze an Argument† task to be completed in 30 minutes The Issue task presents an opinion on an â€Å"issue† of general interest followed by specific instructions on how to respond to that issue. The test-taker is required to evaluate this â€Å"issue† and write an essay by taking a position and give examples to support his/her views. The Argument task requires the test-taker to evaluate a given argument according to specific instructions.The test-taker will need to consider the logical soundness of the argument by assessing its claims and evaluating the evidence it provides rather than agree or disagree with the position it presents. Individuals taking the computer-based test will use a basic word processor developed by TEST. The basic word processor contains the following functionalities: insert text, delete text, cut-and-paste and undo the previous action. Tools such as a spell checker and grammar checker are not available in the TEST software.Complete sit of â€Å"Issue† & â€Å"Argument† topics, out of which one â€Å"Issue† & one â€Å"Argument† will appear in the actual test as the two writing tasks are given at http://www. Test. Org/Greg/ revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/pool and http://www. Test. Org/Greg/ revised_general/prepare/analytical_writ ing/argument/pool Prepare for [email  protected] It is not very difficult to score high on computer based [email  protected] revised General test. The first step to score high on [email  protected] or even on similar tests such as the SAT or GMTA is to plan the whole preparation for the test.Planning includes answers to various questions such as (1) When to start the preparation for [email  protected] ? 2) How to prepare ? (3) Time duration the student will spend on preparing the individual sections, on learning & understanding the vocabulary, on giving practice tests, (4) How many times should the student give [email  protected] (actual test) ? , etc. It is important to make a Time Table so that one's preparation is structured and focused. When to Start preparation for [email  protected] ? Usually majority of the students Join CHICHI [email  protected] coaching classes in their II or I year of their Bachelor degree.Some Join in Ill or IV year with a few Joining after the completion of their Bachelor/Masters degree or when they are working full-time. Starting early is the key to success. If you concentrate on GREG in your Ill or IV year, then you will be left with no time to do all the things (such as projects, working on papers, etc. ) required to obtain admission and financial support in a top ranked universities. So, try to give [email  protected] by the end of your first year or latest by the end of second year, when the academic load is less, so that later, you can concentrate on your studies.Getting [email  protected] score early also allows you to consider other options too, such as campus placement, MBA entrance or even appearing for Subject [email  protected] or GATE. Several companies use Aptitude Test similar to GREG for campus recruitment. If you have prepared well for [email  protected], you can perform very well in these tests as the syllabus of these examinations matches a lot with the syllabus of [email  protected] Ideal ly you should start preparation, on your own, by contacting CHICHI in first year of your degree.CHICHI will guide you, what you should do at home besides the regular college work so that when you Join the coaching class for [email  protected] at CHICHI after I or II year examinations, you will be well prepared to more actively participate in class discussions. To understand when to start preparation of [email  protected] & when to write the est. first time, one must understand how the universities admission process works. The academic year in the universities in the USA (as well as in other countries such as Canada, Australia, UK) starts between Gag. 15 to Septet. 15 (unlike India, where it starts from July).Different universities have different start date of their academic session. Usually the admission process starts about 10 months before the actual start date. So, a student who wants admission in August 201 5 (also called as Fall semester/ quarter) will start application pro cess to apply for admission in from November 2014. For applying to any university, the student has to complete and then submit an online application for admission to the university. The application deadline dates of universities vary a lot. Some universities will have admission deadline dates as early as Novo. And some will have as late as July 1. But usually most of the universities have DCE. 1 to Jan. 15 as their admission and financial aid (scholarship) deadline dates. So, a student wishing to obtain admission in a university starting from Fall 201 5 session should try to get best [email  protected] scores (assuming that the student gives the test twice) before Cot. 014 & latest by DCE. 2014. How much time does it take for the student to prepare for [email  protected] ? The time duration to prepare for [email  protected] varies from student to student but usually it takes about 3-4 months to prepare for [email  protected] along with college studies.Some students take long er and some are able to prepare for [email  protected] in duration of 4-6 weeks also. How to prepare for [email  protected] ? CHICHI has been conducting [email  protected] coaching classes for more than 19 years. Several students in past years have secured scores of 2320+ out of 2400 (previous pattern), 1 550 (old pattern) out of 1600, to 334 (the new computer based revised general [email  protected]) out of a total score of 340 leading them to obtain admissions & scholarships in top-ranked US/Canadian universities. CHICHI Small Batch Size : 10-20 students. Smaller batch size allows CHICHI teachers to give lot of individual attention and personalized training.All kind of students coming from various local colleges to coming from various parts of the country, from a newly opened college to various Its, NITS, BITS, NINJA, Anna university, Jodhpurs university, University of Iambi, Pine university, LIMIT, TACT, etc. With grades ranging from a low of 45% (4. 5/10) to a high of 90 % (9. /10) Join our [email  protected] classes. Some are weak at English, while few have a fear for Math. We make every effort to give individualized help to each student in the class and make sure that everyone participates equally in class-room discussions.Highly experienced Instructors : Our teachers have a combined experience of more than 20 years of teaching [email  protected] They not only have extraordinary teaching skills but are very sensitive to the individual needs of each student. You will often find teachers at CHICHI spending hours with our students solving their difficulties and boosting their confidence. Inspire of the dedication & passion of our teaching faculty, regular written feedback is taken from the students to see, if we are missing on anything and if any changes are required.These feedbacks are invaluable for us to grow and better our services. What is included in our Fee ? : The fee for [email  protected] coaching includes [email  protected] coachin g notes, complete coaching, all tests, usage of library, mock tests, etc. TOEFL [email  protected] training, notes, tests, etc. Are offered FREE of cost to GREY GMTA/SAT students. Course material : CHICHI through years has developed, updated and researched into thousands of pages of course material. This is added further by our excellent library, which has almost every book related to [email  protected] available in the entire world.We have amazing books. For e. G. A whole book will be dedicated to Just teach you how to solve the Reading Comprehension questions of [email  protected] or a book on just the vocabulary part of [email  protected] or on the complete Analytical writing section. Innovative approach to teaching : Whether it is solving questions related to complex and difficult to understand passage or memorizing & understanding thousands of words, we have developed through years very innovative ways to handle these problems. Details of how we teach is given at the en d of this section. Fee Validity : 5 years.Several students Join CHICHI right after their class I year but give their final [email  protected] in their II or II year. The students have to practice on mock Computer based tests, very similar to the actual [email  protected] tallest a month before their actual [email  protected] date. The fee paid at CHICHI for [email  protected] coaching is thus valid for next 5 years from the day a student enrolls at CHICHI so that the students can continue to obtain help & guidance at CHICHI without any hesitation. Batch Timings : CHICHI [email  protected] coaching classes are held in the evening (2 hours every day) & morning at timings convenient to the students.

Roman Sports Essay - 1882 Words

Roman Sports I chose Roman sport because there are many Roman sports all of which are very interesting. For example chariot racing a violent but exciting sport. From the name you would imagine a horse and chariot going round and round a course but it was more than that : they rammed each other hoping to smash the other racers chariot. In each lap you never knew what might happen. I also chose roman sport because I think gladiatorial fights would have been amazing to see and I know quite a lot of information on them. Due to my interests in the fights I have watched many documentaries and read many books on them. The sports I will write about are gladiatorial fights and chariot racing. In both†¦show more content†¦Modern stadiums are not as good-looking as Roman circuses and feel as if the person who built them didn’t care about looks, just how much it would have cost to build it. The teams There were four different teams and each team had its own stables, trainers and backers, who made great profits out of their investments. The four different groups were the reds, the whites, the blues and the greens. Each would have its own different set of supporters including emperors sometimes, who often became fanatic. Often fans would announce their loyalty to a group e.g. â€Å"partisans of the blue† in the same way some people today would call themselves the fans of the blues (Rangers) in football. Chariots and Crew Romans chariots were constructed carefully specially to be fast. They made sure the chariots were as slim and weightless as possible. Unlike roman army chariots which were larger in size and reinforced with metal racing chariots offered little or no protection at all and were reinforced with wood alone. Drivers had to balance themselves on the axle because there were no handles or bars to hold onto. The chariots themselves were usually pulled by four horses but it was not unheard for them to be pulled by six or seven horses. The horses pulling the chariots were of course very highly trained and if they were very fast would be worth a lot ofShow MoreRelatedSports And Sports Of The Roman Empire1362 Words   |  6 Pageshotspot for Roman entertainment. The Roman citizens considered the games to be thrilling and anticipated them highly. The book The Colosseum states, â€Å"Sports played an essential part in the Roman Empire. With their ability to assimilate, the Romans transformed the ritual nature of Greek sports into a spectator entertainment†. The Romans, by turning Greek sports into spectator sports, influenced these sports by including their ideal values and virtues. The athletes and sports of the Roman Colosseum wereRead More Sports them and Now: Roman times Essay939 Wo rds   |  4 Pages SPORTS THEN AND NOW ROMAN GAMES AND MODERN TIMES nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Throughout history, sports have evolved into todays organized professional elite sports. Through certain periods in history sports were very different then they are today and meant very different things to the cultures in society of those times. During Roman periods people did not take part in organized team sports as they do today. In modern times most of the popular sports of the day have professional counterpartsRead MoreCorrelation Between Motivational Factors For Athletes And Athletes1328 Words   |  6 Pagesand or facets are quite similar if not identical to the factors and or facets associated with those athletes. Going forward, there will be an in depth examination of the correlation between motivational factors for athletes and those of sport ministries. Sport ministries can be defined as, activity put on by an organization that occurs during a person’s leisure time, that has a specific purpose and or deliberate intention of assisting individuals become conscious of their need to have a â€Å"working†Read MoreThe Use of Illegal Drugs in Sports Essay examples1565 Words   |  7 PagesThe Use of Illegal Drugs in Sports â€Å"He’s at the 40, the 30, the 20, the 10, the 5, TOUCHDOWN!!† Can you imagine the joy of having 100,000 people chanting your name and cheering as loud as they could just for you? Now try imagine having all of that, then having it taken away because you tested positive for illegal drugs. This is the harsh reality for several professional athletes. They get a small taste of greatness but instead of working harder they take a drug and immediately notice improvementRead MoreDescriptive Essay About Sports And Football1054 Words   |  5 PagesSport comes from the Old French desport meaning leisure, with the oldest definition in English from around 1300 being anything humans find amusing or entertaining.[9] Other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions, including ones that require exercise.[10] Roget s defines the noun sport as an activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement with synonyms including diversion and recreation.[11] Nomenclature The singular termRead MoreThe Transcendence of Cultural Barriers Through The History of Sports1738 Words   |  7 PagesEven though not every person likes sports, sports transcend all cultural boundaries because the history of sport dates back to the dawn of humanity. The ideology of sports transcending cultural barriers exists in the world today. As evident in the Olympics and several other sporting games across the world which unite a diverse culture range we can look at the empirical evidence as proof of such ideas. The impact of sports reaches much further than serving as entertainment or recreation. Some peopleRead More Parental Violence and Youth Sports Essay2176 Words   |  9 Pages Participating in a sport at an early age can be essential to the overall growth process during a child’s upbringing. Whether the participation is through some sort of organized league or just getting together amongst friends and playing, the lessons learned from this can help teach these kids and provide a positive message to them as they develop. There is a certain point, however, when organized sports can hinder progress, which is when adults get too involved and forget about the underlyingRead MoreWho Had More Influence On Shaping The Athletics / Sports853 Words   |  4 Pagesathletics / sports past and present in the western world: the ANCIENT GREEKS or the ROMAN EMPIRE? Explain your choice in detail. In the Western World, the people who had more of an influence on the shaping of athletics and sports in the past and the present happened to be the Roman Empire. Although most to all of the sporting activities and views on athletics did originate from the Ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire had a monumental impact on not only the advancement of sport andRead MoreCombat Sports in the Ancient World: General Aspects of Ancient Combat Sports2625 Words   |  11 Pagesto the ancient combat sports, he proceeds to provide a basic outline to the world of ancient combat sports in a series of sections within the chapter, including: The definition of a ‘combat sport’ and its relation to recreation and training; similarities amongst combat sports, training methods and common practise; the premise of athletic festivals, and the organization of said competition. The first area that Poliakoff studies is ‘General aspects of the ancient combat sports’ is the definition ofRead MoreGymnastics Research Paper896 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"to be naked†. The Greeks used gymnastics for entertainment, performing naked. When the Romans conquered Greece, they took over the sport. They used it for its functional uses. The used the wooden horses to practice the quick mounting and dismounting of their actual horses during battle. Which later became the men’s event that we know today as pommel horse. Awhile later, Roman Emperor Theodosius banned the sport. It was not seen or used again until the late eighteenth century. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

Some Monarch Butterflies Dont Migrate

Freedom And Freedom Of Freedom - 1260 Words

Freedom is one of the major aspects that we as Americans look at in perspective, in the United States today, freedom meaning â€Å"the ability to achieve one’s preferences.† In other words, the more you get to do what you want, the freer you are. Obviously, all societies have to limit the freedom of their citizens; being free to steal and kill is not a virtue, of a person or a nation. When freedom is justly abolished it is a complex issue. One suggestion has been that governments may limit the behavior of their citizens on the grounds that prohibiting some forms of free behavior will maximize the overall freedom of the citizenry. One initial stab at measuring freedom would be to examine how much of its population a country imprisons. The more citizens behind bars for exercising their preferences, the less the citizens are able to do what they want, and so the less free they are. â€Å"Under this measurement the United States fares rather badly, as the U.S. imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than any country in the world, and while the U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population, it has about 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.† (Davidson, 63) Political rights enable people to participate freely in the political process. This includes the right to vote and compete for public office and to elect representatives who have a decisive vote on public policies. Civil liberties include the freedom to develop opinions, institutions, and personal autonomy without interference fromShow MoreRelatedFreedom And Freedom Of Freedom885 Words   |  4 PagesDid you know that freedom helped our forefathers shape America throughout the centuries? Freedom is a way to describe independence and a way to self-govern oneself. Freedom is what united the thirteen colonies and gave them the courage to fight for their freedom. Ever since the day settlers set foot on American soil to the day the Declaration of Independence was signed to declar e America as an independent nation. Colonist knew that freedom would be the key to create a diverse nation in which it allowedRead MoreFreedom And Freedom Of Freedom1864 Words   |  8 Pages Freedom, a loosely used word to describe something that us Americans, enjoy on a daily basis. Freedom, as defined in the Oxford Online Dictionary as being in â€Å"the state or fact of being free from servitude, constraint, inhibition, etc.; liberty.† America, prior to gaining independence in 1776 from Great Britain, was not referred to as a free country. The colonists, were under constant control of the British, even half-way around the world. Freedom during this time period prior to 1776 did not experienceRead MoreFreedom And Freedom Of Freedom872 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is freedom? Many people have a different view of freedom. Some people can see freedom politically, financially, or freedom of expression. The meaning and views about freedom had changed throughout history. Due to European s social crisis, which causes many poor colonists to leave England for North America. Many early European settlers came to North America because they wanted more religious freedom, to set up their own colony, and have a better government. ...as in a well governed and ChristianRead MorePrivacy, Freedom, And Freedom Of Freedom1303 Words   |  6 PagesWithout directly stating in The Bill of Rights that we have a right to privacy, I believe we can all draw our own conclusions to what some of them mean. Such as the first amendment that states that we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press. The very definition of freedom according to Defnition.com states â€Å"the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.† To me the first amendment means that we have the right to privacy of ourRead MoreFreedom Of Speech : The Freedoms Of Freedom Of Speech937 Words   |  4 PagesFreedom of speech now a d ay’s means being able to have the right to express one’s own opinions without restraint. The United States of America is an open country for any U.S. citizen to be free to say what one would like. By citizens having freedom of speech, it gives the people the right to use hate speech. Freedom of speech belongs to every person in the United States. Here lately citizens are witnessing the rising concerns with hate speech. Unfortunately, hate speech is protected by freedomRead MoreFreedom : Freedom Of Speech And Freedom Of Speech1167 Words   |  5 Pagesdetermining how much freedom the citizens in a society has. Throughout history we have seen many different type of governments that include North Koreas’ dictatorship to the United States that has a government based on principles of democracy. In societies that have democratic governments such as the United States, England, France, and many other western European countries, the citizens have a high degree of freedom of speech. In addition, these people are allowed to have a high degree of freedom of thoughtRead MoreFreedom Of Exercise And Freedom975 Words   |  4 PagesFreedom of Exercise One of the key principles the United States of America was founded upon was the idea that religious freedom was an inalienable right. Many who sailed to new world were pilgrims who believed the land was a promised land, sacred. They also believed the new world would allow them to escape religious persecution. When the Constitution was developed in 1787, the First Amendment addressed the relationship between the government and religion stating, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respectingRead MoreFreedom Of Freedom Essay753 Words   |  4 PagesFreedom of speech, press, and religion is like a traffic light. The by-laws are always changing and everyone must obey them. What is freedom? Freedom is the act of doing what one pleases without the fear of government intervening or restraining the action. So, if our freedoms are restricted, are we really free? Personally, I do consider the freedoms of the Bill of Rights counts as freedom. It is however, an opinionated topic and just like th e by-laws of the amendments, everyone’s backing case willRead MoreThe Importance Of Freedom On Freedom816 Words   |  4 Pagespreservation; and reason bids me look on him, as an enemy to my preservation, who would take away that freedom which is the fence to it.† Locke explains that others become involved with preserving life in another in order to secure one’s own liberty. Thus, it is also important to preserve liberty within mankind to keep oneself free. This idea of helping another keep one’s freedom and fight for freedom as a majority in order that all may inquire individual liberty, is depicted within the modern groupRead MoreFreedom And Freedom Of Speech Essay2518 Words   |  11 Pages Many people come to the United States looking for freedom and liberty and where their essential rights are protected under the Constitution. However, freedom should not be taken for granted as for every rule there may be limits. The First Amendment of the United St ates’ Constitution states that â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to

Drama and Theatre Studies structured records Free Essays

string(88) " for humorous effect a few were interpreted by the audience as humorous without intent\." ‘Use of space’ explored the broad topic of social and professional satisfaction and happiness. In order to highlight the universal implications of our piece, we decided that it was necessary to use diverse characters allowing the audience to identify with aspects of each persona’s issues. Initially, we brainstormed several different problems that could affect an individual’s happiness in the work place, and came up with the fundamentals for five characters. We will write a custom essay sample on Drama and Theatre Studies structured records or any similar topic only for you Order Now The original basis of my character came from my own anxieties towards life. During devising we were contemplating university choices and starting to arrange our lives after college. As a group we all felt anxious and many felt a lack of direction. This insecurity we felt towards leaving the secondary education system, led to the creation of Pamela (the character I played. ) After discussing Pamela’s initial characteristics, focusing on her feelings of anxiety and confusion we had to decide her plot. Her lack of control and direction led us to create her objective to gain a secure role in the work place to solve her anxieties. After creating the fundamentals of each character we discussed as a group their characterisation. The role of Pamela primarily emerged through a series of role-plays. Firstly, I performed as her character in different situations allowing me to develop her personality. The remaining members contributed as supporting characters in the role play and often suggested ways to present her. I feel that my understanding of Pamela’s persona emerged during the staging of her box monologue. Through this monologue we hoped to communicate to the audience Pamela’s feelings of anxiety and confusion towards her professional future. As a group we felt the most effective way to portray this was through the use of physical theatre, therefore, the remaining members of the group adopted the role of a maze in which Pamela was metaphorically trapped. During the staging of this sequence I had to deliver my monologue whilst struggling through a figurative maze. As a performer I was sensitive to my characters claustrophobic feelings allowing me to successfully communicate her anxieties to the audience. Throughout the staging of this monologue the remaining group members concentrated on the performing space I was given. Although it was frustrating for me to be contained to a very small performing area, it allowed me to sympathise with my characters feelings of confinement and eventually resulted in a very successful portrayal of Pamela. During devising our characters, we were aware that each individual had to adopt a dream persona in the ‘fantasy’ scenes. We hoped to communicate to the audience contrasting characteristics in these persona’s, to highlight their desire to escape the frustration they feel towards reality. Whilst creating the character Angela’s ‘fantasy’ persona we analysed the reality Angela. Angela shows boredom towards her monotonous life. Through her character we hoped to communicate to the audience the necessity of having hobbies and dreams. The fantasy Angela emerged through the improvisation of a Latin American soap opera. We created the vivacious and dramatic character Maria who starkly contrasted Angela. As a group we agreed that the performance of Maria should be melodramatic and exaggerated to further contrast Angela’s tedious reality. It was important to introduce a character for Maria to interact with to inject more energy into the scene. Through discussion we settled with a clichi love story and decided to introduce a male character who Maria is having an affair with. It was essential for this scene to maintain intense energy levels to contrast with the previous office scene. Firstly, we researched typical novella characters to influences our roles. I suggested that the group members in this scene (Helia and Payam) should highlight the sexual attraction between the characters. Initially this provoked awkwardness between Payam and Helia; therefore, we felt it was necessary to introduce an activity to make the two more comfortable with each other. We used several team building exercises to make Helia and Payam more physically comfortable with one another; the most successful was the leading the blind exercise. Through this exercise the participants were forced to be more sensitive towards each other, in partners one partner was chosen to lead the other blindly by the tip of the nose. Through constant contact and reliance this was very successful in making Payam and Helia more at ease. Similarly, it helped to distance the novella character to the actor. Through exaggerated physicality and melodramatic acting techniques the actor was dissociated with the character. Costumes successfully contributed to the portrayal of my character in the murder mystery fantasy. I played a stereotypical, stock detective character originally based on the Agatha Christie character Hercule Poirot. Initially I struggled to effectively portray this character because it was such a contrasting role to my reality. Physicality was a very important aspect of this character because of the desired effect we hoped to achieve. We had chosen to use melodrama and clichid anecdotes, therefore, it was important that the audience drew parallels between my character and Poirot for comedic effect. Through further independent research I discovered Poirot’s defining feature was a French trench coat, and I decided to rehearse wearing this item. Surprisingly, the trench coat allowed me to connect with Poirot’s physicality and personality, through wearing the coat my characterisation improved and allowed me to successfully perform as a response to Poirot. How the group planned for a range of responses from the audience. Initially we intended to present a serious production highlighting the importance of life satisfaction parodied through working life, based in an office. However, during the initial devising stages we decided to introduce fantasy scenes to contrast the monotonous office scenes and highlight the significance of dreams and ambition. As a group we showed interest towards comedic genres and felt that these would juxtapose the natural and static nature of the office scenes. However, although many of our fantasy scenes were intended for humorous effect a few were interpreted by the audience as humorous without intent. You read "Drama and Theatre Studies structured records" in category "Papers" Fortunately, we decided to perform a dress rehearsal to a mock audience to gain an understanding of the successful aspects of humour the results were unexpected. Through devising the silent movie fantasy scene, we were expecting humorous results due to the slapstick nature of the comedy, however, we had to take into account the clichi and overexposed format of the silent movie. As a group we discussed the possibility that the audience would not react well to this scene due to the lack of originality. Throughout popular culture for the past fifty years in some opinions this genre has been exhausted, therefore we had to be prepared for an underwhelming reaction towards this particular scene. In order for the humorous response to be successful we decided that the content of our silent movie had to be obviously inspired by original content. As a group we decided that we were not going to aim to be original in this scene but aimed to create a polished and skilful tribute to silent films. It was important for us to consider different attitudes towards comedic genres. In particular silent films and slapstick comedy often generate various opinions. Through discussion we discovered that in our group of five alone there were several different opinions regarding slapstick comedy. Personally, I contributed an annoyance towards the genre explaining that I found it tedious, patronising and often crude. However, contrastingly, Payam presented his enthusiasm towards slapstick comedy and defended his fondness towards slapstick comedians such as Lee Evans and Charlie Chaplin. Therefore we were initially prepared for an audience varied responses to the slapstick moments throughout our piece. This discussion led us to consider our target audience. Due to the content of our play we discussed that it transcended a fixed target audience, any age group could respond to the implications and the messages we were hoping to portray. However, because of the universality of our play we discussed different attitudes towards aspects of the play. Firstly, we evaluated that a younger audience would react better towards the humorous aspects especially ages between 12 and 19, therefore we decided to target the humour to this age group. We initially decided to do this by exaggerating our humorous stereotypes and characters physicality to the extreme. However, during a viewed rehearsal run it became apparent that our characterisations needed to be exaggerated, especially in our silent movie scene. Through discussion we came to the conclusion that older audience members would react well to the stereotypes used in out murder mystery fantasy. In particular the detective stereotype took inspiration from the fictional character Poirot. Generationally, we were aware that a younger audience member would be alienated by the introduction of this stock character because they would not be able to identify with the original. The characterisation of the detective also played a large reliance on the audience members, creating a pantomime like effect. Whilst playing the detective character I often made eye contact with the audience and projected jokes to them, therefore their reactions were very important at these stages. We used lighting to gain more audience reaction during this scene by up lighting the audience subtly allowing the performers to see their reactions and in turn play off their reactions to the humour. During the novella fantasy scene, melodrama was employed. An argument between Carlos and Maria the Latin American characters led to Maria slapping Carlos around the face. This prompted a shocked reaction amongst the audience because they were not expecting it. Difficult reactions from the audience- racist generalising Latin American, stereotyping French maids, stereotyping in general we had to be sensitive towards the audience whilst approaching these scenes. Explore the impact of social, cultural and/or historical conditions on your devised piece. – Vicki Marks. Our devised piece ‘Use of Space’ is socially and culturally influenced by traditional conventions of popular culture. Foremost, we decided to exploit the familiarity of these conventions to highlight social perils. Most poignantly we decided to highlight the implications of a female in the workplace and comment on the fact that women still earn substantially less from their employment than men. We chose to emphasize this by going against traditional clichis. Primarily, the character of Nicky symbolised an ambitious business women hoping to succeed in the workplace. To highlight her characters struggle to be successful we altered the traditional female clichi. We felt that typical stereotypes of women came from medieval genres; furthermore the clichid format was a damsel in distress being rescued by her knight in shining armour. For this social comment to be accessible to the audience we simply chose to invert the roles of the typical damsel in distress and knight in shining armour. This resulted in highlighting the fact that women are capable of metaphorically ‘rescuing’ themselves, in turn reaching success without help, showing the capability of women and hopefully promoting sexual equality in the workplace. Additionally, through our research into the presentation of women in conventional medieval drama, we learnt the historical relevance of female roles. In a traditional damsel in distress story women are patronised and demeaned. To emphasise the inequality between the sexes we chose to use contrasting levels. For example we chose to place the damsel on higher levels than the knight; this allowed the damsel to take a more commanding role. However, throughout we made constant references to the traditional format through humour, by showing the characters awareness of the reversed roles. I feel that this was very effective because we were culturally aware that a modern day audience would be aware of the clichi allowing it to become humorous in itself. Whilst devising another characters fantasies we settled on the concept of a traditional Latin American soap opera. We chose to use this format to contrast the tedious nature of the characters work life. This idea initially was influenced by the popular television series ‘Ugly Betty’ showing clips of traditional Latin American soap opera’s or novellas. This genre was particularly useful because of the melodramatic acting techniques used, to give this scene authenticity we chose to have the characters speak a few words or phrases in Spanish and maintained a Spanish accent throughout. Surprisingly, the use of accents and clichid Spanish phrases created a comedic effect, the audience reacted well to this humour. To further the humorous effect we exaggerated the Spanish personalities getting inspiration from the Mexican cartoon character ‘Speedy Gonzales’ which allegedly depicts a stereotypical Mexican. Through popular culture we were aware of many of the love clichis also apparent through this scene, in particular the over poetic declaration of love using the analogy of the ‘fake red rose. ‘ Initially, we wanted to explore the format of a silent film in order to highlight the importance of communication, but were anxious to use such a challenging convention on stage and were worried that the audience would become confused. However through research we were able to adopt this style very successfully. Silent movies were made before technical advances allowed an audience to view a film with both images and sound. We wanted to make our silent scene as authentic as possible therefore through our research into silent movies we noticed the projection speed and decided to significantly slow the scene down; some scenes were intentionally slowed down further in order to accelerate the action, particularly in the case of the slapstick moments. One of the main messages of our production was the importance of job satisfaction. There have been many recent surveys and articles surrounding job prospects and the amount of people dissatisfied in their current job placements. We therefore decided to show a group of characters that want to break free from the confinements of an unsatisfying job to highlight the importance of passion and dreams. We feel as young adults embarking on our working lives and starting to make important decisions that will shape our futures, it is very relevant that we have shown our anxieties towards working life. Work related stress is also socially rife especially in western culture therefore; through one of our characters we showed the importance of maintaining hobbies outside of a job to hopefully indicate that money is not the most important thing. Use of Space is an escapist piece; the fantasies represent each character hoping to escape the constraints of their tedious, impassionate lives. Dream worlds are a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation whereby a character (or group of characters) is placed in a marvelous and unpredictable environment and must overcome several personal problems to leave it. The dream world also commonly serves to teach some moral or religious lessons to the character experiencing it a lesson that the other characters will be unaware of, but one that will influence decisions made regarding them. When the character is reintroduced into the real world (usually when they wake up), the question arises as to what exactly constitutes reality due to the vivid recollection and experiences of the dream world. How acting techniques or design elements and the use of dramatic form were consciously employed to achieve intended effect. The dramatic form of ‘use of space’ was inspired by abstract theatre. Our devised piece does not follow a typical chronological time sequence; it has a warped sense of time due to our introduction of ‘fantasy’ scenes. Dreams allow the repressed parts of the mind to be satisfied through fantasy and let the mind express things that would normally be suppressed in the waking world. Dreams may also offer a view at how future events might proceed; this is similar to running future events through the mind, for instance a work presentation or a job interview. As a group we identified dreams as an interaction between the unconscious and the conscious. Therefore we wanted to highlight the contrast between reality and fantasy. To begin with we discussed using contrasting lighting effects to show an obvious transaction between reality and fantasy. To express the abstract, fantasy scenes we felt the audience would react well to pink colour fill lighting. This was successful because, the unnatural pink lighting allowed the audience to be aware of the abstract format of the scene. We also relied on the audience’s familiarity with clichi dream scenes shown in popular culture. Dream worlds are a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. Lighting is often used similarly when representing a dream, often flashing lighting is used and mists to show the audience the unreality. As a group we took this into account and decided to use soft lighting throughout the ‘fantasy’ scenes by using a flood effect to fill the whole stage. Flash lighting was also used subtly during the transaction from a reality scene to a fantasy scene. We decided as a group to only use subtle flash lighting during the transition because we did not want to reproduce the clichi formats of a dream sequence, we felt that this would undermine the intended serious messages we were trying to relay to the audience. Firstly each fantasy scene is triggered by an action and a simple freeze frame to link the office reality to the dreams. This use of gestus was an acting technique developed by Bertolt Brecht which reflects the characters emotional conflict through a brief frozen action. Gestus was employed during the transaction from my characters monologue to her fantasy scene. As a group we discussed our desired effect of the gestus and decided to show an obvious link between the character’s emotional conflict and the freeze frame, for the audience’s accessibility. We therefore decided to each come up with a simple freeze frame highlighting the principal emotions of my character, due to the lack of direction my character was feeling we chose to physically interpret the emotion confusion. Coincidentally, each member of the group similarly replicated a curled up freeze frame with their hands clasping their heads. As a group we decided that this composition showed the audience the characters basic feelings of confusion. Sound plays a big part in our production. Our opening scene begins with a metronome to highlight the artificial nature of the office scene and the rhythm of a monotonous life. We decided to open with a metronome to cause a feeling of anticipation through the audience; the ticking rhythm exaggerates and builds tension therefore immediately engaging with the audience before the action begins. The metronome rhythm also acted as a beat to keep our opening routine in time. The beat and the routine showed the audience the typical rhythm of an unsatisfying job. Due to the intimacy of our staged environment we decided not to use microphones because we wanted the sound to be raw and natural even in the fantasy scenes to accentuate the fine line between dreams and reality. This also made the audience feel close to the actors and therefore able to relate to the performers more easily. However to contrast this effect we chose to show all costume changed on stage employing the popular Brechtian technique Verfremdungseffekt through using this we hoped to communicate that the audience’s reality was, in fact a construction. During the silent movie scene we used clichi silent movie music. We wanted to stay authentic to a conventional silent film therefore we had a pianist. This music contributed to the atmosphere and gave the audience vital emotional cues. Silence is also an important tool in our production because it is in contrast to the loud interludes of music for example in the silent movie fantasy. Silence was often used after intense sections of dialogue or monologue. For example during my characters monologue the volume levels of my voice were used to create intensity building up to a climax. The silence during my characters gestus freeze frame is poignant because when the sound is taken away the audience begins to focus more on the movement and the emotion of the character, the silence intrigued them. There are many different characters and settings in our play; therefore we decided that our set should remain very neutral. We designed our set in a deliberately ambiguous way, so we could move easily between fantasy and office scenes. We decided that altering the layout of the stage and the set between each scene would prove noisy and would distract the audience’s attention. We were however very aware that a permanent set would become boring and the audience would lose interest, nevertheless we decided through rehearsals and a practice production that the intensity of the action made up for the lack of set changes. We used two black oblong boxes as the fundamentals of each scene, occasionally changing the positioning of them to create a different atmosphere. We chose not to have a specific setting contributing to the representation of free-flowing images within the characters mind. However, we decided to introduce an element of decaying society preoccupied by work ambitions and promotions through the use of broken computer monitors, keyboards, mice, and disks positioned around the stage. This gave the stage an overall look of disarray and immediately introduced the audience to the conflict within the characters in the production. How research material was gathered and used within the process. – Vicki Marks To begin the devising process our group was presented with five quotes that took inspiration from different aspects of life, this supplied us with an excellent starting point for developing a challenging piece of theatre, however our initial responses to the stimuli shaped our early work and many aspects were later changed as the piece matured. Firstly each member of the group decided separately which quote inspired them and worked towards abstractly analyse the meaning of these quotes. As a group we were drawn towards the quote â€Å"fear is a dark room where negatives are developed. † We felt that this quote gave us enough scope to produce a brainstorm surrounding the analysis of it. After analysing the quote through a brainstorm we decided to focus on the idea of fear. These fear aspects of the quote lead our group to research and gain an interest surrounding common phobias. As an initial response to phobias we decided to explore phobias that restrain and dominate everyday life. As a group we were interested in the psychological effects of irrational fears, through discussion, we realised one of our member’s arachnophobia and decided to research real life stories showing the influences of phobias. We began to gain an understanding of the psychological effects of living with an irrational fear, this allowed us to contemplate the way a person living with a phobia views the world. This topic particularly appealed to our group because three of the members were studying a course in psychology and took a specific interest in phobias. Through research we were drawn to highlighting different perceptions of the world, this is initially why we decided to show a dream or fantasy of each character. I was currently studying Margret Atwood’s dystopian novel â€Å"A Handmaid’s Tale. † And inferred parallels between dystopian societies and living with a life altering phobia. As a group this led us to discuss the concepts of normality and initially directed us to create a dystopian society to base our phobic characters in. However, we felt that through creating a dystopian society we were overcomplicating the piece and decided in order to create an accessible message we would have to simplify the plot. Many of our responses to the quote were detached and impersonal; therefore we decided to take a more personal approach to the analysing the quote. We wanted to create a more abstract approach to analysing, consequently, rather than brainstorming we played a word association game. Our earlier research indicated to us the potential of exploring fear; for that reason we opened by associating responses to the word ‘fear’. This resulted in a discussion of our apprehension and anxiety towards our futures, each member of the group was in the process of applying to university and planning the next step of their lives. It was important for us to follow our dreams and mistakes in choices at this stage worried us and we were sensitive to the idea of being stuck doing something we were not passionate about. This discussion allowed us to infer parallels between our fears towards losing our passion and job satisfaction in the work place. This led us to create a work place scenario, highlighting different characters problems with the way their lives have transpired. Although we had created an initial scenario we had to decide how to highlight the importance of job satisfaction and dreams. This is where our ideas surrounding an exploration of dreams and fantasies linked in with our running idea. How group skills contributed to the development of the drama. – Vicki Marks As an ensemble, we had many different approaches to the production of our devised piece. Firstly, after the initial discussions of the basic structure of ‘use of space’ we decided that each member should separately prepare an initial suggestion for a fantasy scene. Subsequently as an ensemble we modified each member’s idea to fit the characters objectives incorporating each group member’s requirements. Two of the four fantasy scenes required only two characters, therefore allowing the two remaining members to direct. This particularly put pressure on the team and initially certain members of the group did not respond well to being directed, however, we had to be flexible whilst blocking a scene and be open to criticism and changes. Considering the ensemble approach to devising we wanted each member to experience directing each scene, this also allowed us to incorporate more than one member’s objective for a particular scene. Therefore, we often resorted to switching roles mid scene to appreciate the way each member would perform certain characters and situations. I feel that this successfully allowed us to create two dimensional characters and by including aspects of everyone’s ideas created an overall satisfaction towards each scene. Each member of the group had a monologue allowing the audience to understand each individual characters state of mind. The preparation of a monologue is often very personal, initially, Helia and I scripted each monologue, but we worked as a group throughout the blocking and performing, however, this proved difficult. Due to the individual approaches of a monologue, taking control of scripting them was ineffective. This approach resulted in confusion and the monologues were less emotionally effective, because members struggled to connect with them on a personal level. Therefore, firstly, we each took our monologues separately and worked on the content through closely analysing our characters objectives and intentions. After we were happy with the essential content of our monologues we worked as a group to develop them. Group timing was essential during the silent movie fantasy, due to a lack of dialogue the scene required carefully choreographed action, which required the group to work carefully in relation to one another. At one stage of this scene, Helia was required to jump on Payam’s back and knocked to the ground. In order to prevent any injuries we applied a partnering system, involving a free member of the group shadowing Helia, providing support during the initial stages of rehearsals. During the later stages of devising the murder mystery scene we became uninspired with the outcome An evaluation of the ways in which ideas were communicated to the audience. – Vicki Marks Throughout the devising process we focused predominantly on comedic genres, to allow the audience to access the central messages through humour. Although we were aware of the comedic value of each scene it was difficult to predict the audience’s reactions, therefore we decided to perform it to a small audience during our rehearsal to evaluate which areas of humour were successful and which were less effective. Consequently, we realised that many of the melodramatic fantasies such as the silent movie were physically being underplayed resulting in a misrepresentation of our desired style. This resulted in a member of our group to employ a technique that we had used on a physical theatre work shop. Performing our characters physicality on levels from one to ten, ten being the most physically expressive allowed us to evaluate which level of physicality was successful. As a group we decided that the audience reacted best towards the silent movie scene when we employed a physicality level of ten. Due to lack of dialogue, physicality and expression allowed the audience to follow the storyline whilst also creating humour. As a result of working with a limited number of actors it was necessary to multi-role; however, through multi-rolling it is often easy to confuse an audience. We therefore decided to employ the Brechtian technique of changing our signifying costumes on stage. This allowed the audience to understand the style of our piece, and the abstract nature of the fantasy scenes. We also decided to place each change of costume on stage from the opening scene to intrigue the audience and allow them to become more involved in the action. We also had to take into account the wide range of characters we used. For example in one fantasy scene Payam took on the role of a Spanish soap character and during the next fantasy scene his character changed to a medieval knight. As a group we realised that a change of costume would not be sufficient to demonstrate to the audience a change in character, therefore we had to ensure that each actor varied their physicality according the role they were playing. As a group we consciously casted many of the characters as stock characters and stereotypes, allowing us to successfully communicate to the audience a significant change in role. Naturalistically it was difficult to vary each member’s character therefore by using melodramatic genres we were able to separate each members character. Originally, we intended to highlight the importance of job satisfaction through juxtaposing the office scenes with the fantasy scenes. We hoped to communicate to the audience the monotonous routine of being unsatisfied in a job. In order to convey this to an audience we decided to use opposing theatrical styles for the fantasy and office scenes. We decided on a naturalistic approach for the office scenes to highlight the dissatisfaction of the characters, similarly we decided to use abstract and melodramatic genres for the fantasy scenes to show the positivity. The accessibility of the humour in our piece relied on the audience’s knowledge of the common clichis we drew inspiration from. I feel we did not fully take into account the age range of our audience and miscalculated the universality of the clichis. After discussing with our audience their reactions towards our piece many of the younger members did not understand the humorous aspects on every level. For example in our murder mystery fantasy we took inspiration from the popular detective character Poirot, however many of the younger To open our piece we decided to have each character on stage the composition involved my character facing the audience frozen in a spotlight and a visible shadow of the four other characters in the background, to show individual stories and the universal message that applied to each character. t. How rehearsal and the production process contributed to the final performance. – Vicki Marks During the rehearsal process, we encountered many difficulties with the staging of certain idea’s and aspects. Initially we had decided to each perform a separate monologue as our office characters to highlight the objectives of each individual, we felt that it was important to portray to the audience an interesting insight into the characters feelings and wanted each monologue to project different forms. After the initial scripting of the monologues, we brainstormed the different approaches to staging them. Fortunately, each monologue adapted distinctive structures which allowed us to manipulate and create visually appealing scenes. During the staging of Payam’s monologue initially aimed to block the physical placement, this required him to be free to travel across the stage, and therefore, a remaining member of the group read his monologue whilst he attempted to block it. Surprisingly, this created an interesting effect of daydreaming; therefore we decided to continue having his monologue projected from off stage. At one stage during our rehearsals we were challenged to find an original and inspiring way to present our idea. We had already decided that we wanted to contrast reality and fantasy. We had devised the fundamentals of ‘office scenes’ created to depict our original character Dylan’s disconnection with a dystopian society. Because we had created a leading character we struggled to introduce equal roles. Therefore, we decided to create a structured brainstorm addressing our themes and the ideas we hoped to communicate. Through this we discovered a situation where Dylan’s disconnection with society linked to a modern day scenario. Dylan’s alienation towards an unfamiliar society was transformed into a group of office workers unsatisfied with their situations. Luckily, through former improvised scenes we had created characters which fitted this scenario. Throughout the devising process we were interested in developing an interpretation of parallel universes. We were initially drawn to this idea through different interpretations of phobia’s and the way an individual interprets fears. This idea led one member of the group to compare parallel universes to dreams, and fantasies. As a group we decided that we were interested in highlighting the importance of following your dreams, therefore began to research different fantasies and dream scenarios. We began to discuss different genres and settled initially on medieval clichis drawing on the typical female fantasy of being rescued by a knight in shining armour. As a group we decided that our acting techniques should mirror this genre therefore we settled on melodrama. Previously, we had only attempted naturalistic acting techniques, and as a group we were aware of the contrast between naturalism and melodrama. In order to familiarise ourselves with this acting technique we attended a physical theatre workshop, it was apparent to us that in order to effectively portray a melodramatic genre we would have to introduce exaggerated physicality. Initially this felt unnatural to most of the group members due to our back ground in naturalism, therefore, the support we received from the workshops group leader was very helpful. We benefited from the group leader knowledge surrounding physical theatre and he introduced us to a technique which allowed us to exaggerate the physicality during rehearsals. How the influence of ideas of other playwrights and/ or directors, designers and performers have been used. Originally, we hoped to achieve a depressing and desolate office scene highlighting the impassionate emotions of the characters. We initially decided that the characters would remain deadpan to express their negative attitudes towards their work environment; however, we wanted to employ a more exciting abstract format to express this further. We therefore turned to ‘Machinal’ by Sophie Treadwell which one of our group members had previously studied. The opening scene to Machinal is a powerful expression of a monotonous office scene. Treadwell uses an expressionist form employing repetitive dialogue and action and harsh audio effects to create a tedious and mechanical impression. Inspired by Treadwell’s use of repeated dialogue and action we began to improvise scenes using similar techniques. Firstly, we chose words and phrases linked to an office environment and repeated them, overlapping each other and increasing in volume throughout to create an intense atmosphere. Unfortunately, due to the small group, this did not achieve our desired effect. This then lead us towards a more physical representation, as an alternative to repeated dialogue we chose to highlight the routine of the office through repeating typical office actions. The use of stylised actions reminded a member of the group of a performance of ‘absolute beginners’ through which the director had expressed the rigidity of the office through women typing in unison creating a routine effect. Considering the size of the group we were not enthusiastic to have each character simultaneously performing one action, we therefore, took inspiration from the over exaggerated nature of each movement. Instead of using a routine we highlighted a sense of artificiality by introducing a metronome to emphasise the mechanical and artificial nature of the scene. Characterization was very important to the success of our performance. Because we had chosen to show many stark and stereotyped characters throughout it was important to exaggerate the physicality of the characters in certain places. Physicality was expressed most poignantly through the silent film fantasy. Because this was such a challenging format to express due to the lack of dialogue it relied fully on each actor’s physical representation of the character. Inspiration was originally taken from Charlie Chaplin. Through research we learnt that as a Silent film actor he emphasized his body language and facial expression so that the audience could better understand what his character was feeling and portraying on screen. However, simply watching and attempting to replicate Chaplin’s style was not enough. As a group we decided to participate in a ‘Jet’ physical theatre company workshop. This not only allowed us to work on our physicality as performers in general but gave us excellent scope to improve our silent film scene. Costumes were not hugely significant in our performance. We did not want to over complicate things and circumstantially our performance consisted of many short scenes and an array of different characters, similar to the conventions of epic theatre employed notably by Bertolt Brecht we decided to do all of the costume changes on stage. These changes only consisted of small variations to costumes such a hats a jackets that symbolised each character Brecht employed the use of techniques that remind the spectator that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself, which he called the Verfremdungseffekt. Such techniques included changing costumes on stage. Through this Brecht hoped to communicate that the audience’s reality was, in fact a construction and, as such, was changeable. Another Brechtian technique used in our performance was the use of song. We decided that this allowed the audience to distance themselves from the action hopefully making the social comments throughout more accessible and setting the abstract theme from the beginning notably the entire performance was strictly episodic and many scenes were in isolation from each other. Each fantasy scene is triggered by an action and a simple freeze frame to link the office reality to the dreams. This use of gestus was also an acting technique developed by Bertolt Brecht which reflects the characters emotional conflict through a brief frozen action. Gestus was employed during the transaction from my characters monologue to her fantasy scene. As a group we discussed our desired effect of the gestus and decided to show an obvious link between the character’s emotional conflict and the freeze frame, for the audience’s accessibility. We therefore decided to each come up with a simple freeze frame highlighting the principal emotions the character. The initial idea to dress each character in their own variation of full black was inspired by a performance of ‘attempts on her life’ at the national. The director Martin Crimp chose to dress each character in their own interpretation of completely black. We adapted this idea to our performance because it allowed each character to show their own individuality whilst still highlighting the monotony and dull nature of the office and their negative emotions towards their situations. We took a large amount of inspiration from the melodramatic acting techniques employed by soup opera’s. We particularly focused on the style of acting used in traditional Novella’s or Latin American soups. Whilst approaching this style we researched the soup opera ‘Days of our lives. ‘ To help us adopt similar persona’s. How the stimulus material was developed through the drama process. To begin the devising process our group was presented with five quotes that took inspiration from different aspects of life, this supplied us with an excellent starting point for developing a challenging piece of theatre, however our initial responses to the stimuli shaped our early work and many aspects were later changed as the piece matured. Firstly each member of the group decided separately which quote inspired them and worked towards abstractly analyse the meaning of these quotes. As a group we were drawn towards the quote â€Å"fear is a dark room where negatives are developed. † We felt that this quote gave us enough scope to produce a brainstorm surrounding the analysis of it. After analysing the quote through a brainstorm we decided to focus on the idea of fear. These fear aspects of the quote lead our group to research and gain an interest surrounding common phobias. As an initial response to phobia we decided to explore phobias that restrain and dominate everyday life. As a group we were interested in the psychological effects of irrational fears, through discussion, we realised one of our member’s arachnophobia and decided to research real life stories showing the influences of phobias. We began to gain an understanding of the psychological effects of living with an irrational fear, this allowed us to contemplate the way a person living with a phobia views the world. This inspired us to contemplate feelings and emotions surrounding living in a different mindset to the norm. We therefore decided to create five different freeze frames, abstractly exploring the physicality of emotions. How to cite Drama and Theatre Studies structured records, Papers

Barry Hines in writing a Kestrel Essay Example For Students

Barry Hines in writing a Kestrel Essay I am going to explore the theme of bullying in the novel Kes. The novel is set in the north of England (Yorkshire). The social context of the novel is that the society offered them very little. Most of the children only got jobs in coal mines so the community was full of coal miners. The economic context of the novel is that they are quite poor. People left school at the age of fifteen before the raising of the school leaving age. Students like Billy felt that school and society offered them very little. The writer explores many different themes in this novel; some of these are to with people feeling imprisoned, family conflicts, freedom, nature and education.  However the theme of bullying is of particular importance because Billy is subjected to a wide variety of different forms of bullying which almost crush his spirit and his sense of humour.  The novel opens with Jud; Jud is Billys older brother, so we have been told in the novel. Jud is the kind of person that likes to get his own way at home. As soon as Jud comes in to the scene we are shown the way in which he bullies Billy. This begins by the alarm going off for Jud. Jud is in a bad mood. Jud physically bullies Billy this is shown in the novel when  He swung his fist under the blankets and thumped Billy in the kidneys,  This is a very bad place to hit someone especially someone as small as Billy he can suffer really badly and would be in agony.  He also verbally bullies Billy this is by telling him things that had happened to him that he was not pleased with such as growing up to become a coal minor and getting up early in the morning. Another few weeks lad, an thall be getting up wi me.  The reason that jud is like this is maybe because, Billy is smaller than Jud. Jud can not do anything to change the way in which he lives. He does not have power in his own life, he has no money, he hates his job, and he wants to make someone suffer, so he uses Billy as a scapegoat.  In the assembly we are shown the way in which they use institutional bullying.  Hymn number one-seven-five, new every morning is the love  This sounds sarcastic because this is the opposite of the life they normally have.  While the hymn was going, Pupils tried to stand up for themselves by coughing and making the head angry No one really saw who it was, so when the teachers picked out the students, they just did it randomly as if they knew who it was even though the pupils protested and it was not even some of them but instead the head lied and said he saw who it was. Dont argue lad, I saw you.  When Billy arrives at school he is immediately bullied by his teacher because he falls asleep in assembly. The head teacher humiliates the children he shouts at the pupils for little unnecessary things. The pupils are the victims.  Ill make you sing like youve never sung before. The head is bossy and threatens them. But although this is the case the Head still seems powerless. It is shown by his role.  The smallest boy is bullied by smokers; they force him to take the cigarettes. When he tries to tell the head about the message he was told to pass on the head does not listen to him, and instead punishes him along with the others. .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 , .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .postImageUrl , .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 , .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:hover , .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:visited , .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:active { border:0!important; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:active , .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798 .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .udc8eb40fda0dca185d64d2194ce42798:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Educating Rita: Frank and Rita's Relationship EssayIm sick of you boys, youll be the death of me.   so for want of a better solution I continue using the cane, knowing full well that youll be back time and time again for some more.  Please, sir  Quiet, lad! And get your pockets emptied!  The head finally discovers that the smallest boy has the cigarettes so he smacks all of them on their hands with the cane  Head uses cane to conflict pain/humiliation. Wants to dominate through fear. The head does not care about what they have to say. Not caring about any of the students. He wants to make sure nothing gets out of control, quite afraid of what will happen if they do get out of control. As you can see the head master wants to feel in power. Mr Sugden is particularly cruel to Billy and bullies him physically, mentally and emotionally this is in his pe lessons.  I bet that was stimulating for him, wasnt it?  Every lesson its the same old story, please, sir, Ive no kit.  The teacher mimics him, makes a joke out of him. Mr Sugden shows his anger towards Billy by throwing the ball at him with a lot of force and wanting to hurt him very badly.  Then he purposely humiliates Billy by giving him shorts for pe that are way too big for him, and makes him wear them.  What are you talking about, lad? You can get them on, cant you?  Finally Mr Sugden makes Billy suffer by forcing him to shower in freezing water an example of his physical strength is:  Sugden back-handed him hard across the cheek, swinging his face, and knocking him back into an avenue of clothing. When Billy goes into the shower, Mr Sugden does not care if Billy gets ill.  In the playground, MacDowall, another student, tries to bully Billy by insulting his mother but Billy defends himself and is supported by Mr Farthing. He bullies the bully back to show him how it feels to be bullied. Mr Farthing is a different kind of teacher he actually listens to what Billy has to say.  The worst bullying Billy experiences is when Jud kills Kes, Billys only friend, just because Billy did not place a bet for Jud.  I think that Billy goes to the cinema as a source of comfort. This is the last memory he has being happy with his farther. All of a sudden an abrupt change of mood, his mum is having an affair and then his dad leaves. Then the memory is over. Billy wants to escape in to a better life. Where Kes is alive, Billy is powerful and Jud cant do any thing to Billy or Kes. But there is no escape. Billy returns to the same situation. The writer creates sympathy for Billy by showing that he can survive no matter what life throws at him. He shows that Billy is resilient, that he does not get defeated by anything.  My own personal response to the novel is that, Bullying is in the whole society. And that there is not many choices given to anyone in the society to become anything of themselves. I have not actually experienced this myself but it did make me think about people and life. It is a harsh society.