The language of misunderstanding Essay Example For Students

The language of misunderstanding Essay David Mamets new play, Oleanna, is an urgent, upsetting examination of sexual harassment, a subject that has gripped America since the Clarence Thomas hearings. When the play premiered last October in Cambridge, Mass. (produced by Mamets own Back Bay Theatre Company in conjunction with the American Repertory Theatre), Mamet was attacked by people on both sides of the sexual battlefront. Your play is politically irresponsible, one female student challenged the playwright. You dont take a position. Your political statement is wrong. What has Mamet wrought? Is he just another macho playwright lashing out at guerilla feminists? Or does his play legitimately explore the gender gap? Or is it about two human beings who misread each other, tragically? As a playwright, Mamet answered the student, I have no political responsibility. Im an artist. I write plays, not political propaganda. If you want easy solutions, turn on the boob tube. Social and political issues on TV are cartoons; the good guy wears a white hat, the bad guy a black hat. Cartoons dont interest me. We are living through a time of deep transition, so everyone is unsettled. Im as angry, scared and confused as the rest of you. I dont have answers. We will write a custom essay on The language of misunderstanding specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now If Mamet believes an artist has no political responsibility, what then is the function of theatre in society? In his collection of essays, Writing in Restaurants, Mamet provides an answer: In dreams we do not seek answers which our conscious (rational) mind is capable of supplying, we seek answers to those questions which the conscious mind is incompetent to deal with. So with the drama, if the question posed is one which can be answered rationally, e.g., how does one fix a car, should white people be nice to black people, are the physically handicapped entitled to our respect, our enjoyment of the drama is incomplete we feel diverted but not fulfilled. Only if the question posed is one whose complexity and depth renders it unsusceptible to rational examination does the dramatic treatment seem to us appropriate, and the dramatic solution become enlightening. Currently running at New Yorks Orpheum Theatre with Rebecca Pidgeon and William H. Macy, Oleanna focuses on a female student who accuses an older male professor of sexual harassment. Although the plays polarized subject matter might lead one to expect an overtly polemical approach, Mamets use of language gives the play rich texture. Speaking past each other and often at cross purposes, the two characters get trapped in a tragic comedy of errors in which misunderstanding piled on misunderstanding builds a labyrinth of ambiguity. Formalized, repetitive, hypnotic, Mamets language is both real and surreal. In his hands, it ceases to be a transparent medium of communication, translating thoughts and feelings clearly and unequivocally from one mind to another. Instead, language spins its wheels and gets nowhere. Sentences refuse to complete themselves; they run on, loop back, start over, peter out, or suspend flight mid-air as the other character butts in. This stop-and-go creates an hallucinatory rhythm, a litany of broken sentences. Rhythm gives Mamets dialogue its undeniable theatrical punch. When asked about the difference between dialogue in a novel and dialogue on the stage, Mamet made the following observations: I grappled with this problem when I was adapting The Postman Always Rings Twice for the screen. Once you take dialogue out of a novel and delete the descriptions and the |he said |she said, once you put pictures with this dialogue, it collapses. The rhythm is wrong. The rhythm of a line of prose on a page is not the rhythm of a line of dialogue on a stage. If you break the rhythm, you break the meaning. Rhythm conveys meaning. Its puzzling. I cant explain it. But my ear hears it. Each medium has its own rules. .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 , .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .postImageUrl , .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 , .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:hover , .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:visited , .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:active { border:0!important; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 { 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; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:active , .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .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; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503 .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u209e982e7134688919d52ac94c078503:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Fire down below EssayThe rhythm of the language translates directly into the rhythm of the scene in performance. During a rehearsal for the Cambridge production, Mamet talks the actors through the violent final moments of the play: Filming Homicide, I learned the traditional bang-bang-bang way is wrong. Its too fast. Do it like a slow dance. Let the audience take it in. Be gentle with the violence. Then it terrifies. Then drive, drive, drive to the end. The blood sugar level is a little low. Let me hear those words full voice. This play is a protest. Protest from the bottom of your balls and the bottom of your ovaries. The last 90 seconds are the most important part of the play. Wrap it up, but dont tell the audience something they already know. To act is to do, Mamet says later, casting himself as the, Hemingway of directors. The difference between what is actable and what is not is physical. Emotions are not important in acting. An actor cant act angry. But a reprimand can be acted, and the reprimand will convey anger to the audience. You get at the inner thread of a play by what a character does. If you write a play correctly, you dont need stage directions. Let the script do the work. A director brings the actor in line with the text. And the director must always remember that on stage, as Stanislavsky found out, real palm trees from Yalta look fake. The purpose of theatre is to express, not duplicate. In Oleanna, Mamet also exposes the contemporary university as the graveyard of our culture. As an institution dependent on language for its very definition, the university is revealed as little more than a house of cards, subject to linguistic instabilities. A thicket of questions emerges from the play: How does one define an educated person? What is the purpose of education? How is it best accomplished? What does one need to know to face the 21st century? A top-notch diploma today can run $100,000 is it worth it? As universities raise their tuition, they resort to Madison Avenue marketing techniques to lure dwindling students, Mamet suggests. The halls of ivy are now patrolled, on the one hand, by the guardians of political correctness, and on the other, by semi-literate students who cant read Charles Dickenss long sentences, but who deploy a brilliant array of blackmail tactics to con a grade. This befuddled situation, notes Robert Brustein, artistic director of the American Rep and professor of English at Harvard, reminds me of nothing so much as an academic version of the Stalinist purges. Mamets play functions like one of Strindbergs steam valves, explosive and angry. On an archtypal level, Mamets play a sexual minuet of violence deals with the unending struggle for power between male and female. Deep within, men and women mistrust each other, and the relationship between them can never be easy, owing to primal fears: the male fear of castration and the female fear of male force and rape. The play unsettles spectators because it taps deep into the collective unconscious where these instinctive fears lurk just beneath waking life. This archtypal level gives Oleanna its muscle. The moment this mythological situation reappears, writes Jung, is always characterized by a peculiar emotional intensity. It is as though forces whose existence we never suspected were unloosed. With his back to the wall, the professor discovers brutality within him he never knew existed. Mamet sums up his play with questions, not answers. My play is about two people looking for answers and torturing each other. Both characters are in a state of flux. In this play the unthinkable, the unbelievable becomes real. The point of the play is, at the end, to ask, |How did we get here? The professor adores his students and prides himself on being a good teacher. How did he wind up thrashing a student?

Bronze Age Greece

Bronze Age Greece When Was the Greek Bronze Age?: Put Bronze Age Greece in Perspective: Major Intervals in Ancient History The Aegean Bronze Age, where Aegean refers to the Aegean Sea where Greece, the Cyclades, and Crete are situated, ran from about the beginning of the third millennium to the first, and was followed by the Dark Age. The Cyclades were prominent in the Early Bronze Age. On Crete, Minoan civilization named for the legendary king Minos of Crete, who ordered the building of the labyrinth is divided into Early, Middle, and Late Minoan (EM, MM, LM), which are further subdivided. Mycenaean civilization refers to late Bronze Age culture (c.1600 - c.1125 B.C.). Bronze Age - Glossary Entry The following paragraphs describe important terms to learn connected with the Greek Bronze Age. Cyclades: The Cyclades are islands in the south Aegean circling the island of Delos. During the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200-2100 B.C.) pottery, marble, and metal goods were produced that wound up in grave sites. Among these are the marble female figurines that inspired 20th century artists. Later in the Bronze Age the Cyclades showed influence from Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Minoan Bronze Age: British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans began excavating the island of Crete in 1899. He named the culture Minoan and divided it into periods. In the early period newcomers arrived and pottery styles changed. This was followed by the great palace-building civilization and Linear A. Catastrophes destroyed this civilization. When it recovered, there was a new style of writing known as Linear B. Further catastrophes marked the end of the Minoan Bronze Age. Early Minoan (EM) I-III, c.3000-2000 B.C.Middle Minoan (MM) I-III, c.2000-1600 B.C.Late Minoan (LM) I-III, c.1600-1050 B.C. Minoan Bronze AgeDark Age Greece Knossos: Knossos is a Bronze Age city and archaeological site in Crete. In 1900, Sir Arthur Evans bought the site where ruins had been found, and then worked on restoring its Minoan palace. Legend says King Minos lived at Knossos where he had Daedalus build the famous labyrinth to house the minotaur, the monstrous offspring of King Minos wife Pasiphae. KnossosThe Palace of Minos - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.comLabrysMinotaurDaedalus Mycenaeans: The Myceaneans, from mainland Greece, conquered the Minoans. They lived in fortified citadels. By 1400 B.C. their influence extended to Asia Minor, but they disappeared between about 1200 and 1100, at which time the Hittites also disappeared. Heinrich Schliemanns excavations of Troy, Mycenae, Tiryns, and Orchomenos revealed Mycenaean artifacts. Michael Ventris probably deciphered its writing, Mycenaean Greek. The connection between Myceaneans and the people described in the epics attributed to Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, is still debated. Who Were the Mycenaeans? Schliemann: Henirich Schliemann was a German maverick archaeologist who wanted to prove the historicity of the Trojan War, so he excavated an area of Turkey. Schliemann Linear A and B: Just as Schliemann is the name associated with Troy and Evans with the Minoans, so there is one name connected with the deciphering of Mycenaean script. This man is Michael Ventris who deciphered Linear B in 1952. The Mycenaean tablets he deciphered were found at Knossos, showing contact between Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Linear A has not yet been deciphered. Linear A - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.comLinear B - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.com Graves: Archaeologists learn about the culture of ancient peoples by studying their remains. Graves are a particularly valuable source. At Mycenae, wealthy warrior chieftains and their families were buried in shaft graves. In the Late Bronze Age, warrior chieftains (and family) were buried in decorated Tholos tombs, round stone subterranean tombs with vaulted roofs. Shaft GravesTholos Tombs Bronze Age Resources: Crete The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Neil Asher Silberman, Cyprian Broodbank, Alan A. D. Peatfield, James C. Wright, Elizabeth B. French Aegean Cultures The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996. Lesson 7: Western Anatolia and the Eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age

Qualitative analysis of FedEx and UPS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Qualitative analysis of FedEx and UPS - Essay Example Qualitative analysis of FedEx and UPS. In this report, the performance of both the companies is reviewed in terms of management structures, business operations, work culture, company’s mission and vision statements, responsibility towards the environment and community, strategic moves, ability of facing the challenges and strategies implemented to gain competitive edge. With the help of these factors, worthwhile information has been gained that provided sufficient data about making a wise verdict about investment. FedEx supersedes UPS UPS has been the market leader in the industry for decades but it faced strong competition from FedEx’s e-commerce strategy that revolutionized the way in which packages, letters and other items are delivered worldwide. FedEx developed the concept of highly efficient and valuable logistics and delivery system so that the customers are provided easy access to the details of their packages. UPS introduced an innovative service â€Å"Supply Chain Logistics Services† to regain its lost market share from FedEx. Both corporations are always in the state of tug of war and try to supersede other by exceeding the expectation level of customers. FedEx shares are attractive than UPS FedEx management structure along with other aspects of business operations highlight that the organization has an integrated and well-developed logistics system supported by flexible and innovative work culture which will ensure that the company is able to sustain its position in the market for long time. Since FedEx has a bright outlook, the company should purchase its shares and reap the benefits of investing the capital in a profitable stock. FedEx versus UPS (Delivery and Logistics Industry) The delivery and logistics industry is growing by leaps and bounds and customers these days are looking for the companies that can provide the fastest delivery of parcels, packages, documents and goods around the world. As a result of the emergence of Internet technology, the players of this industry have started their online businesses so that the customers can have access to detailed information about the status of their orders with utmost ease. Businesses that have an online presence are gaining many customers worldwide. Customers are becoming knowledgeable and they search for websites for any organization they come across, hence having an online presence such as the organization’s website is extremely important for all organizations. Shopping or having online services is easy and convenient for the customers and hence some customers prefer online shopping to a very large extent. In today’s world, the logistics world has become popular and an integral part of many corporations as they allow them to undertake their global transactions easily and conveniently (Ellis, 2010). Every player in the respective industry has received huge amount of popularity and there is a lot of publicity about the attitude of the indus try towards the efficient working systems in the sector so that they can provide quick service to the customers. The players have even taken considerable steps for highlighting the fulfillment of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) promises that are proving to be beneficial for the society as a whole (Li et al., 2006). Becoming an organization that is socially responsible is extremely important in the business world today as customers develop a positive image for the organization that has corporate social responsibility in them. Brief Background of FedEx and UPS Frederick W. Smith started the Federal