Using Stimuluses to Make a Final Performance :: Acting Education Drama Theatre Essays

Using Stimuluses to Make a Final Performance For our drama portfolio we were given many different stimuli to work with that all gave us different ideas for our final performance. I choose two stimuli and used them to develop ideas. My first stimulus I would like to talk about is a sentence about poppies that was given to us. We took our stimulus and brainstormed ideas. We looked at different drama strategies to employ that would help us understand the text. The sentence, which was about poppies made us concentrate on the aspect of war. Therefore death was the main idea but not necessarily due to war but to other reasons. Poppies are red and red symbolises blood, death, danger, wrong and love. As well as the performance consisting of pain an idea would be to also portray love. So we were thinking of a performance with a contrast of love and death. Loss will convey the blood death and danger so we should use loss as a main element within the piece. However, we were forgetting what poppies actually are flowers. This obvious aspect should be included, as a poppy is obviously a flower and death is an obvious element within war. They are both stating the obvious and therefore some strategies should be used to gain ideas from this aspect of poppies. We used hot seating on someone who is a presenter at a garden show. We selected some sentences about flowers and thought of using narrating to say them. At the same we created some still images that were related to the text to investigate the link between the poppies and the idea of dying in war. We now had a few initial ideas that could be developed further and used within our final piece. My second stimulus was to be put in the position of a mother. I was told that my son had been missing in action and I receive a letter from him which is back dated two months ago. We took our stimulus and started to create ideas again. We took into account the time period and how life would be different then. We concentrated on the parent’s and son’s relationship and the parent’s priorities. What would be the most important thing in their life at that moment in time? There were many aspects to consider so we decided to use hot seating as our first strategy. We also had to consider the conditions the son was living in as it was set in the war. It was important for the audience to understand the atmosphere not only with the setting but within the

Historical Development of the 1960s Essay

Historical Development of the 1960s Introduction            Of the many historical eras, the 1960 era is regarded as one of the most controversial eras ever in the history of America. However, this was not the anticipation that most of American citizens had. At the very beginning of the 1960s, many believed that this was perhaps the most promising era yet. They even dubbed this era the golden age. The expectations of the people intensified in 1961 when John F. Kennedy took the office of the president. His charisma and enthusiasm won the hearts and trust of the American people. They strongly believed that his government would provide solutions to the major problems that they were facing at the time. However, to the surprise of many, the decade turned out to be the complete opposite of what they had expected. The president himself was assassinated, a chaotic storm characterized by protests by civil rights movements engulfed the country, and instead of the war in Vietnam coming to a halt, it intensified. This essay will strive to create an interconnection between these events which shaped up the 1960s. It will tackle incidents relating to the free speech movement, the Vietnamwar, the Black Panther Party, Rock-n-roll, and the women’s movement, also known as the feminist movement, as witnessed in this decade.            An issue that had been a thorn in the flesh of the American people was coexistence of the white Americans and the African-Americans. Though the slave trade had been abolished by this time, issues of discrimination were still rampant in society. The African Americans would hence dedicate themselves to fighting for equality for their people in this society. At the very beginning of 1960, some four black students defied the norms of society at that particular time and sat down at a white’s-only lunch counter. Their actions were succeeded by demonstrations at that counter every day, drawing the nation’s attention.            6 years down the line, the African-American community still wanted society to regard them as equal with the rest of the Americans and this led to the formation of the Black Panther Party. It was originally known as the Black panther Party of self-defense but the name changed. This party movement was however founded for the sole purpose of eradicating police brutality in African-American neighborhoods. However, with the rapid expansion of the party and the start of a publication, the objectives of the party had diversified. This diversification meant that the party was keener on social empowerment thus disregarding the exclusivity of race. This however sparked up problems within the party since the radical members differed in opinion with the members that were in support of their socialistic cause. This made the party’s political motive to be disoriented and the government at that time considered the party as a national threat.            The Black community of the United States was not the only entity that was fighting for its civil rights. Gender inequality was still a societal vice that America was struggling with. During this time, men were given more opportunities as compared to women in virtually every field and this led to the second wave of the feminist movement. The job market viewed women as the less productive species. One of the reasons why this notion was upheld was because the women needed time off when they delivered and most employers believed the assertion that women would quit their job when they got pregnant. More to this, the society had branded the man as the provider of the home. It was therefore argued that men needed jobs and better paythan women because of the fact that there were people who were dependent on them. Generally, society had defined the place of a woman as the home; whether she was educated or not.            In 1963, Betty Freidan wrote a book, The Feminine Mystique. This book highlighted the frustration of the educated housewives and how society had forcefully put them in a state of dissatisfaction. What shocked many is the fact that she defied society’s assumption that women found satisfaction in only serving their families. This book stirred a revolutionary movement, one which historians refer to as the second wave of the feminist movement. This movement saw society begin to give women more chances in schools, the job market and also in matters involving remuneration.            From the historical facts available from this era, it is evident that civil rights protests and demonstrations were the order of the day. Even students took the liberty of staging their own protests during this period. The Free Speech Movement was the name given to the protests that the students staged. This movement took place in 1964-1965 at the University of California, Berkley, when students were expressing their discontentment on the ban that the school administration had imposed on on-campus political activities. The students rationale for the protests was that this ban was infringement of their academic freedom and right to free speech. The students felt that they could do more than just confine themselves to books. The objectives of the movement had been put in place way before the movement began when students in the campus formed a political party that enabled them to get involved in off-campus political and societal issues.            The students used this platform to source funds from campus students to support civil rights causes. However, this right was exclusively granted to the political clubs in the school and this is what prompted the school to impose the ban on on-campus political activities. Though the students were doing this out of good will, society was of a contrary opinion. For this reason, voters gave the governor seat to Ronald Regan in 1966 whose campaign forte was to make good the mess that the Berkley students had made.            Events in this era were not just restricted to the local scene. The events that America was involved in during this era also crossed boarders. America had been in conflict with Vietnam since the 1950’s. With the election of J. F. Kennedy, Americans were hopeful that this conflict was finally going to come to an end following his campaign theme; his government had answers to America’s biggest problems. However, these hopes seemed to go down the drain in 1963 when Kennedy was assassinated. The hopes of the American people were now in Lyndon B. Johnson’s hands. His government had two wars to fight; the war against poverty, and the war in Vietnam.            However, Johnson had committed himself to establishing an anti-communist south-Vietnam, a trait he had inherited from his predecessors in their solidarity to the country. For this reason, he had to make a choice to forego the war on poverty to attend to the war in Vietnam. More to this, the president had gained the support of the congress and they gave him the authorization to protect the American soldiers and their allies by all means necessary. The prolongation of the war caused a divide in the nation. Some were in support of the war, others protested against the war, whereas others fled to neighboring Canada to avoid being drafted into the war.            Amidst all these events that were happening, people needed something to give them an escape from it all even if it was temporary. Entertainment was the surest way of attaining such. In this era, the most common form of entertainment was music. Rock-n-rollwas the most popular music genre at the time. The developments in this genre were referred to as invasions and were named on the basis of where they originated from. The British invasion occurred in the early 1960s. In mid 1960s, garage rock was unveiled. The genre was common in North America. The genre gained this name because it was played by armatures at the comfort of their homes in their garages. However, this genre barely made it past the 1960s as it was replaced by other genres. Conclusion            The 1960s era, as highlighted above was a rather event-full one in the American history. Though it may seem like the era did not live up to its expectation as the golden age, it can be argued that to some extent it did. This is because the events during this time acted as milestones especially with regards to civil rights issues. However, the prolongation of the war in Vietnam did injustice to the country as it caused a divide. In conclusion, the 1960s were not shy of historical events. References Fischer, Klaus P.  America in White, Black, and Gray: The Stormy 1960s. New York [u.a.: Continuum, 2006. Print. Source document

The Legalization Of Gay Marriage - 1269 Words

It appears people are less frequently getting married to hide being gay than in the past. Now it has be-come more prominent socially. The legalization of gay marriage has led to more people feeling comfortable coming out. There are definitely still people that hide being gay due to family, friends, or religious lack of acceptance. This could af-fect treatment of patient if they do not fully tell the physician their full sexual history. In the video, one of the characters said, â€Å"everything in its own time†. A person should not be pressured to come out, he or she can take their time and come out when the time is right. If a younger person is not comfortable having this conversation or is afraid to come out then it is important for the†¦show more content†¦This tape is a little old so what Ellen was experiencing was less accepted during that time. Ellen was actually one of the first people to come out as a female celebrity. Now days the ideal of normality has expan ded. Back then people where more worries about losing their shows, sales, records etc. if they are out publically. Today some gay people may still feel a little less comfortable displaying their lives for everyone, such as family pictures placed out on desks. There might still be a bit of a double standard. Give your own comment on the group discussion: It was interesting to hear about Ellen’s history as an actress coming out from some of the older students in the room. Some of them could remember when she came out and how big of a deal it was to everyone. Now days, growing up haven known Ellen as a popular talk show host and actress it is hard to image the publics initial reaction. I think this is a good example of how times have changed a bit and the general public has become more accepting. Ellen’s experience also shed light onto different factors that might affect one’s decision to come out, such as its effect on one’s social life or career. How do you think this film clip will assist you in approaching and treating your patient in a holistic man-ner: The video showing Ellen’s character on TV struggling with coming out to her friends showed just how hard it can be for a patient. There is a lot of emotional stress involved with theShow MoreRelatedLegalization Gay Marriage1099 Words   |  5 PagesLegalization of Gay Marriage What is the definition of marriage? The dictionary states it as being the legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife. However, times are changing as the gay life style becomes more accepted by society it is time to allow all couples regardless of sex to enjoy equal protections, rights and benefits under the law. Perhaps, it makes the most sense to consider arguments against same sex marriage to realize why it should be legalized; these arguments touchRead MoreThe Legalization Of Gay Marriage1527 Words   |  7 PagesAnna Aiello Professor Jessica Lugo College Writing 1 25 September 2015 The Legalization of Gay Marriage A New York Times article honors that on June 26th, the United States declared same-sex marriage a right nationwide. â€Å"Love wins,† chanted the crowd outside the Supreme Court (Liptak). The Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrated the new feeling they received of love equality. For many years, homosexuals companions have been deprived from their right to become legally united. ThisRead MoreThe Legalization Of Gay Marriage1749 Words   |  7 PagesThe Legalization of Gay Marriage: A Step to Equality Imagine a world where heterosexuals are the minority. Straight people would be the ones fighting for the same rights as homosexuals. 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If our government, as it claims, is secular in nature, then it would be wrong for it to base its treatment of individuals outside the boundaries of what is naturally understood as the right of every man, woman, and child, to pursue a lifestyle that is fulfilling. By the same token, white people, black peopleRead MoreAbortion, Gay Marriage, And The Legalization Of Marijuana2946 Words   |  12 Pagesgatherings, private debate, and especially political races. Whether you know it or not, if you assimilate into society in anyway, you probably have an opinion on some issues in today’s culture. Some major topics in today’s news are abortion, gay marriage, and t he legalization of marijuana. These issues have increasingly divided us as a society, and have also infiltrated into our political affiliation. The two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, have never been able to see eye to eye on theses issues