Death of a Salesman Stage Effects Essay Example

Death of a Salesman Stage Effects Paper In Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman reviews a life of desperate pursuit on a dream of success. The playwright suggests to his audience both what is truthful and what is illusory in the American Dream. Unusual in its presentation of a common man as a tragic figure, the play literally processes Willy Lomans way of mind. To accomplish this, Miller uses the sense of time on stage in an unconventional way to point up that, for Willy Loman, the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present. The play uses two different time frames simultaneously, one based in the present, and one based in the past. Past flashbacks are often triggered in Willy’s mind by symbols and motifs from the present, and often serve to develop the present situation and explain why characters are acting the way they are. Because the play is about Willys search rather than the socioeconomic environment in which his search takes place, the plays setting is meticulously devoid of detailed reminders of place and time. For example, in Act One, Bens remarks, the flute music, and the voice of the â€Å"woman† illustrate Millers concept that everything exists at the same time—at least within the human mind. From the beginning, the Salesman image absorbed the concept that nothing in life comes next, but that everything exists together and at the same time within everyone; that there is no past to be brought forward in a human being, but that he is in his past at every moment and that the present is merely that, which his past is capable of noticing, smelling and reacting to. We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman Stage Effects specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman Stage Effects specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman Stage Effects specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Arthur Miller did not divide his play into scenes within each act. Instead, the action is continuous, even when flashbacks occur. The play encompasses an evening and the following day, but the action is interrupted by or mixed with flashback or memories of a period approximately seventeen years earlier. Act one covers the author’s pre-play description of the set as well as the opening action. Music throughout the rest of the play sets the mood for opening stage direction. At times of promise of better things to come in the future, the music is gay and bright and â€Å"raw and sensuous during the woman scenes. The flute music is associated with nostalgia each time Willy begins to imagine a happier life in the past. The set design of Death of a Salesman was innovative since it allowed Miller’s characters to move between present and past, the real and the imaginary, without cumbersome set changes. Moreover, the set design helps Miller suggest the way the characters, especially Willy, live in the past as much as the present. Even Before the characters appear on stage, the audience sees the set design. Miller’s description of the set is important as it establishes the tone of the play. The set shows both the inside and outside of Willy Loman’s humble house in New York City. A â€Å"fragile-seeming† house, it is hedged in, surrounded by recently erected apartment buildings. Blue light falls on the house, giving it â€Å"an air of the dream,† while â€Å"an angry glow of orange† colors the edges of the set. The blue light around the set, indicating â€Å"an air of the dream† corresponds to Willy’s self-confidence (â€Å"I could sell them! †) in the face of what are intimidating, depressing circumstances. Simultaneously, â€Å"an air of the dream† may refer to all the characters’ anxious, dazed sense of being lost. The large apartment buildings are crowding Willy and Linda, beating down on them the same way many unrewarding years as a traveling salesman has weighed on Willy. The kitchen occupies center stage, flanked by a bedroom at a raised level on the right. Behind and above the kitchen is another bedroom, and a doorway draped with a curtain leads out from the back of the kitchen to an unseen living room. The setting is completely or, in places, partially transparent. Miller tells the reader that when the characters are in the present, that actors will respect the â€Å"walls† of the house and enter only through doors; in the scenes from the past, however, the actors will enter or exit by walking through the transparent walls. By using flashback and reveries, Miller allows the audience to get into the mind of Willy Loman and brings the audience into a sense of pity for him. Miller also uses a lot of motifs and repeated ideas through the play to give the viewers an idea of what Willy and his situation is all about. As far as plays go, the speech in Death of a Salesman does veer more to the realistic end of the spectrum than the unrealistic. Using a lot of colloquialisms and ellipses and dashes, make the speech seem more stunted and everyday like. Willy is fairly inarticulate and uses cliche phrases to express how he is feeling but this only serves to emphasize how this is a tragedy of a normal man. Vocabulary is naturalistic throughout, as is the rhythm and although the vocabulary and sentence structure is often simplistic, Miller was skillful enough to still make it powerful and effective. There are still hints at times, however, that this is a play and not a reality show, for example, when Linda says â€Å"Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person. † In parts of the play, the past and present both run at the same time. This is intentional however; the play was begun with only one firm piece of knowledge: Loman is to destroy himself. The structure of the play was determined by what was needed to draw up his memories like a mass of tangled roots without end or beginning. Willy lives closer to our experience than many protagonists; he is struggling with the pressures of twentieth century life: of money, of the city, of the family, of the job, while his weaknesses are those which ordinary humans share. Loneliness, the inability to decide exactly what one wants, the breakdown of communications btw the two generations, are all part of our lives to some extent. Miller shows that man is isolated, and, even though he struggles, the may be faced with impossible odds.

Mayor of Casterbridge essays

Mayor of Casterbridge essays The Thomas Hardy novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge - The Story of a Man of Character, delivers exactly what the title states. The protagonist of this novel, Michael Henchard, is the man whose character is on display and judgement. From first impression at the beginning of the novel, Henchards character is, at best, questionable, because while walking with his wife and baby daughter he is paying no attention to them and is ignoring them on purpose. At this point, while in a poor mental state, Henchard sells his wife, Susan, and daughter, Elizabeth-Jane. The real story begins here, because this is where the reader is going to learn what the title really means, it is when Henchard reinvents himself into the man we see in the novel. Contrary to the view shown to the reader of Henchard at the beginning of the novel and even the majority of impressions throughout, Henchard is a heroic character who has fate and his own flaws working against him. Despite the fact that Henchard does lose the battle in this story and ends in an unexpected environment, he is the hero of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Becoming the Mayor of a town named Casterbridge from a lowly hay-trusser, he is shown as a man who has accomplished much on his own hard work and resilience. He also wants to be a fair man by doing the right thing, for example, when he learns that Susan has come back he wants to make her his wife again. However, this also relates to the fact that Henchard wants to hold his name in good repute, in his eyes and the eyes of everyone else. The most obvious choice that Henchard makes about being concerned about his name is the instructions of his will at the end of the novel when his name does not have the same value it once did. That Elizabeth-Jane Farfrae be not told of my death, or made to grieve on account of me . . . (Hardy 325). Henchards name is...

Worksheet Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Worksheet - Article Example (5 pts) If the journal is independent, simply type â€Å"independent†. 7. Review the â€Å"About us† and the â€Å"Mission Statement† (statement of purpose) of the journal publication mentioned in question 4. If you located a scholarly society (per question 6), also review their mission and membership. Then, provide three reasons based on this review as to how you deem the information published or presented by the journal to be scientifically valid, accurate, and reliable. (10 pts) 8. Now that you have established that the information in your article is scientifically reliable (meaning that you can trust that it provides safe, useful health information for you) return to your URL (question 2) and read your article again for content. Type a 200-word summary of the content of your article without plagiarizing or quoting the article. Write solely in your own words. (12 pts) Research has shown that the ‘rotten egg’ gas known as hydrogen sulfide, also known as H2S, has been detected in the fluid of knee joints. The study compared amounts of hydrogen sulfide in those with two types of arthritis against subjects without arthritis. It was found that subjects with rheumatoid arthritis have significantly higher concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in their knee joints than subjects without rheumatoid arthritis. The research has opened the possibility that hydrogen sulfide could be used as a medication for those with inflammatory diseases. Further research is being conducted to figure out how to deliver safe levels of hydrogen sulfide to patients. Because anti-inflammatory drugs have many negative side-effects, delivery of hydrogen sulfide to those with inflammatory diseases would be a more natural option because hydrogen sulfide occurs naturally in the body. Rheumatoid Arthritis, or RA, is the most significant inflammatory disease. Thousands are diagnosed with RA each year and many people

Foundations of Risk Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Foundations of Risk Management - Research Paper Example The challenge in cyber security is that it affects different losses from loss of privacy to loss of even finances and it goes to the extent where crucial data can be lost. Hackers can be in the country or outside the country. The challenge is that this war is beyond borders and with the world changing fast it will be a huge challenge in America in the next decade. There are many factors that are contributing to this vice one of it is that it is a channel that terrorist can use so as to further their agenda. By accessing the security intelligence system terrorists may be able to gain some ground they can also steal crucial data that they may use to their advantage such as weapons manufacturing and analyzing the best time to attack (Huffman). The second most crucial factor is greed. There are many way people can access financial transactions using the internet. Banking industry is the most affected whereby hackers try to steal money electronically even though they have really tri ed to do their part the financial losses have been going on for a while. This is what makes America have enemies from within their country. Criminals who want to get easy money. The third challenge that is proving difficult is the lack of trust among countries. American government was recently accused by Germany of hacking their Prime minister cell phone. Such acts have brought about mistrust among trusted allies in the fight against cybercrime. Apart from America Sony entertainment a company subsidiary to Sony limited wanted to release a movie that brought out diplomatic battles where North Korea allegedly hacked into the system and stole all data from Sony then released confidential emails among the Staff to the public. This cannot be ignored as petty as it brought a lot of losses to the company. From a business angle Sony Investors must have been shocked by the turn of events that

Effective Meeting Management in a Team Environment Essay

Effective Meeting Management in a Team Environment - Essay Example In the formal presentation to the team, as the manager, one would present the projected sales volume with corresponding pro-forma expenses that would generate a particular net income for the month. From the solicited feedback and figures of actual sales, the presentation would therefore cover projected versus actual financial status of the new product’s performance for the first three months. Audience Analysis Milestone 2. Audience Analysis The team members are assigned different target markets to represent nearly regions within the vicinity of the organization. They are therefore, geographically dispersed domestically. However, since some areas are specifically identified to be predominantly occupied by distinct racial and ethnic background, the approach of the team member should cater to cultural norms and preferences that would entice the target clients to purchase the new product. The team member identified to focus on customers with diverse cultural orientations must know other languages (particularly spoken by the potential customers) and other preferences that could influence the purchase decision. As such, team members require competencies and qualifications on cultural awareness and diversity consciousness to be more effective in determining customer demand and in evaluating the target markets, as required. Presentation Milestone 3. Informative Presentation (See Attached PowerPoint Presentation) Meeting Agenda Milestone 4. Create a meeting agenda The meeting agenda appears below: FOR : Team Members for the Newly Launched Product FROM : , Product Manager RE : Agenda for Performance Evaluation of Newly Launched Product DATE : July 15, 2012 The following is the agenda for the Performance Evaluation of Newly Launched Product meeting to be held on July 20, 2012 at 3:00 pm. Venue is in the Conference Room. 1. Meeting Presided by Product Manager and disclose purpose of the meeting 2. Presentation of Pro-Forma Financial Statements (projected sales and i ncome for the first three-months (April to June 2012) identified per respective area) 3. Team Members to Report on Actual Performance of Newly Launched Product a. Gregory Smith, Sales Representative to report on Aberdeen (District 13) b. Susan Rodgers, Sales Representative to report on Berkeley (District 9) c. Timothy Brown, Sales Representative to report on Cape May (District 1) d. Nicole Maine to report on Denville (District 25) e. Catherine Frost to report on Lakewood (District 30) 4. Report on Problems and Challenges identified New product did not conform to customers’ expectations Adverse reaction and response from competitors Lack of customer awareness on the new product Lack of supply on target areas 5. Suggestions to Address Weaknesses and Problems Intensify advertisements and promotional campaign Conduct customer satisfaction survey Improve logistics Improve product features Change strategies in the marketing mix 6. Planning of New Strategies Time frame for planning: Week after meeting Implementation: 2nd Week after meeting Monitoring of New Strategies: 4th to 6th months (July to Sept. 2012) Next Performance Evalu

Impact Of Ocean Acidification On Marine Life Environmental Sciences Essay

Impact Of Ocean Acidification On Marine Life Environmental Sciences Essay One of the main issues with ocean acidification is the impact that it will have on marine organisms over the coming years, and whether or not they are able to adapt to the more acidic waters? The impact upon some marine species may become more of a problem if they play an important role in the food chain, and therefore may eventually affect humans as fish are the main food source for some communities around the world. Research into ocean acidification has found that certain organisms experience reduced calcification or enhanced dissolution when they are exposed to elevated CO2. Many organisms rely on the oceans current pH in order to survive. The major benthic calcifying organisms on coral reefs are the corals, calcifying macroalgae, benthic foraminifera, molluscs, and echinoderms. Corals typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Part of this group includes the reef builders, these are important because as the name suggests, they build the reefs. They secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton and these skeletons can be used as bio-implants for human surgery. A coral reef is a community of many species, such as the corals, plants, invertebrates, fishes, and some other vertebrate animals, such as turtles. The lowering of the oceans pH reduces the ability of coral to produce calcium carbonate and with the conditions expected ocean acidification will compromise carbonate accretion. (Website, 2009) This causes corals to become increasingly rare on reef systems. A large number of species make up tropical coral reefs; however coral communities in cold waters are only made up of one or two species yet provide shelter for many other marine species. (Website, 2009) With ocean acidification reducing the number of coral and as many marine species use the coral as their home and for shelter, the coral reef communities would also be affected and become less diverse and carbonate reef structures will fail to be maintained. (Hoegh-Guldberg, O. et al, 2007) Coccolithophores are single-celled algae, protists and phytoplankton and are found in large numbers throughout the surface euphotic zone of the ocean and ocean acidification seems to have the opposite effect on them compared with other calcifying organsims. (Website, 2010) Coccolithophores are major calcium carbonate (CaCOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™) producers in the worlds oceans today accounting for about a third of the total marine CaCO3 production. Whereas ocean acidification reduces the calcium carbonate production in many organisms, studies have shown that it actually causes coccolithophores to increase their CaCO3 production. (website, 2005) Coccolithophores are distinguished by calcium carbonate plates which have an uncertain function and are called coccoliths calcareous nanoplankton, and these are important microfossils. (website, 2011) When coccolithophores make these plates they release carbon dioxide. Whereas some believe that because of this coccolithophores will actually contribut e to the rise in COà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, it is actually unclear of what affect the increase in CaCO3 production will have. This is because these organisms use CO2 during photosynthesis. It is the balance between calcification which produces carbon dioxide and the consumption of CO2 by photosynthesis that will determine whether coccolithophores act as a sink (absorbing CO2) or as a source of CO2 to the atmosphere. So the extra CO2 produced may simply be counteracted by the extra photosynthesis. (Website, 2008) An example of how ocean acidification affects certain marine species is the pteropod Limacina helicina. Their shell is made of calcium carbonate; however studies have shown that the shell is developing at a slower rate due to the lowering of pH. It is anticipated that by 2100 the increase of ocean acidification will slow the development of the shell by 30%. (Website, 2009) Aside from calcification, other organisms may suffer from other adverse effects. Such as physiological or reproductive effects or they may be affected by the negative impacts on food resources. An example of a species that is directly affected by ocean acidification on the lugworm Arenicola marina. There is a simple experiment that can be carried out to show how pH affects the lugworm reproduction simply by keeping the lugworms in seawater of different pHs; some at the current seawater pH, 8.2, some at a pH of 7.8 and some at 6.5. The results show (fig. 1) that as the pH lowers the reproduction of the lugworm is affected. The lower the pH gets the less successful fertilization is. If as predicted by 2100 and the pH of the seawater has lowered to 7.8 then the lugworms may struggle to adapt and therefore may decline in number. Brittle stars (Ophiothrix fragilis) may also see a change in their reproduction as they produce fewer larvae, because they are using more energy maintaining their skeletons in more acidic seas. This has a knock on affect as the brittle star larvae are a key food source for herring. It is clear that ocean acidification in time will have an impact on food chains causing problems for many other organisms that are not at first affected by ocean acidification. It is also possible that tiny algae such as Calcidiscus leptoporus will be unable to survive. These very important algae have been declining by 1% each year; some believe ocean acidification could be the cause as the acidity may make certain nutrients that the algae need less available or that it might even promote the growth of bacteria which damages the natural plankton growth cycle. Ocean acidification also affects the navigation and communication of whales and dolphins. This is because the seas are becoming noisier. As the acidi ty increases, sound travels further. Navigation is important to whales and dolphins as they use it for migration, which is important as they migrate to colder waters to feed and to warmer waters to give birth. It is not just the organisms that live in the oceans that are being affected. Marine mammals such as; polar bears, sea lions, seals, and walruses and also seabirds would see a knock on affect due to ocean acidification and the other impacts of climate change. The main issue is the effect ocean acidification has on the food chain because if one organism that is a main part of the food chain declines then the problem continues up the food chain. So if numbers of fish decline from a lack of food, then the birds that feed on the fish could also decline. However unlike many organisms affected by climate change, it has been discovered that seabirds can actually adapt to the changing environments. So the lower availability of their preferred prey may not be a problem as the birds seem capable of modifying their diets. (Grà ©millet, D. 2009) Ocean acidification will have a definite impact on marine life, as many organisms will be affected. The main issue that can be seen is the impact ocean acidification will have on the food chain, as primary producers may decline then so will the organisms that prey on them and so on as the trend continues up the food chain until it reaches the consumer. If ocean acidification continues at its current rate, by 2100 we could see a vast different in ocean ecosystems. Many species may decline as a direct result of ocean acidification, such as the coral reefs due to reduced calcification. The coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on earth; therefore many other organisms would be indirectly affected by ocean acidification with the decline of corals. The coral reefs also play an important role for fisheries and fishing communities in poorer countries, a decline of the coral reefs would see a decline in a much needed food source for many humans.

Importance of Critical Thinking

It was Francis Bacon who said â€Å"knowledge is power† and indeed it is. We all want to know, to gain knowledge. That’s why we go to school for a large portion of our lives, why we read, watch and listen to all we can when we are awake and sometimes even when we are asleep. But what exactly is knowledge? While there isn’t a single standard definition, the oldest accepted definition was given by famous philosopher Plato; â€Å"Justified true belief. † The pursuit of knowledge I define as research. So how does one reach the goal of attaining this justified true belief?I suggest the use of critical thinking skills as a means to that end. Linda Elder defines critical thinking as follows; â€Å"Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. † That is, a method of thinking developed by a person that would allow this person to reason at the apex of his/her intellig ence, objectively. Critical thinking is an important apparatus in seeking knowledge as it addresses issues like uniformity, bias and partiality.As human beings we are naturally selfish. The phrase â€Å"looking out for number one† comes to mind. The point is that we want for ourselves. Similarly in seeking knowledge on a particular subject matter, we tend to take into consideration only the evidence that suits our opinion, which supports our stance on the issue. Critical thinking requires that we move past our biases and examine every bit of evidence with sound logic, in order to after an objective analysis, arrive at a fair conclusion. Also, when we do research, our findings are often partial or incomplete.With the application of critical thinking skills we would overcome that obstacle as thinking critically requires us to bring together and evaluate all the necessary information. So we would not only assess the pros as it relates to something, but also the cons. Nor would w e analyze one party’s view and ignore the opposition. Everything relevant would be appraised, making our pursuit complete. Lastly, the idea of uniformity. Format and order are very important in conducting research. We must be able to see a continuum or sequence in our methodology.Critical thinking is a process, therefore there are stages involved such as evaluation and inference. Our thoughts would not be jumbled nor would our ideas seem scattered and random as might be the case when we don’t dig deeper beneath the surface of a concept and reason on a higher plain. The application of critical thinking skills would undoubtedly result in coherence. To conclude, the importance of critical thinking as a tool in the pursuit of knowledge cannot be denied as our usual mode of reasoning is damaged and it is just the tool for the fix. â€Å"Those who know how to think need no teachers. †- Mahatma Gandhi.