Dependent On Their Cell Phones English Language Essay

Dependent On Their Cell Phones English Language Essay Cell phones are a must have in the modern society. They have become so central to the daily life that most people find it really hard to do without them. Just by a swipe, everything from banking services to online shopping to payment of bills are done right there on the small gadget (Brown et al. 381-394). You can listen to music and also create cyber friendship. Yes these devices are reliable, yes they are convenient and yes they simplify life. But too much of something is unhealthy. People have become too dependent on them. In as much as they provide wide and far reaching advantages, they also have their downsides. People who are addicted to the cell phones are more likely to suffer from brain cancer, physical and psychological symptoms, have broken relationships and literally be isolated from the community life (Sellman 74-76). The purpose of this paper is to take this discussion in detail by answering the question why people have become too dependent on their cell phones. In doin g so, this paper begins with a brief history of cell phone origins and proceeds to tackle the advantages and drawbacks of the small gadgets in todays culture. It concludes with a brief summary of the entire contents discussed. History of Cell Phones The history of cell phones is somewhat long and not so certain, though many argue that it could have started around 1843 with the small research of Michael Farady. He had hoped to find a space through which electricity could be conducted. His findings were later to become the reference points of the 19th century scientists. In 1865, Dr. Mahlon developed what is believed to be the first wireless communication technology. He is also thought to have transmitted the first telegraphic message in 1866 through Earths atmosphere. In the 1940s, new devices were created based on radio technology. They were primarily a two-way radio communication. For instance, this was the time when police officers communicated with each other via a central base. In 1946, the Swedish police officers were able to use cell phones that were connected to the car battery. But these devices could only make (utmost) six calls before draining up the car-battery. In 1947, D.H. Ring developed hexagonal cells, though they were too a two-way technology. Soon after, another engineer came up with the cell towers technology, which enabled the devices to collect and convey signals in a three-way direction rather than two. Like the previous technologies, they heavily consumed battery and had to be connected to car battery. For example, the Swedish police cell phones weighed about eighty pounds. By 1967, cell phones were already in use in different places; however, the users could only make their calls from fixed cell areas. Besides, these cell phones could only handle a set range. Later on, Amos Edward Joel developed another technology that enabled users to make longer calls, but still from fixed cell locations. Proper cell phones first featured in the early 1970s. Dr. Martin Cooper is thought to have been the first inventor of these portable phones. Interestingly, he equally became the first man to make a call through a portable device. He also established the first portable cell phone station, and named it Motorola. This technology was approved by the U.S government (FCC) in 1983. The DynaTAC 800X only weighed twenty eight pounds compared to the previous devices, and was exceptionally small for its time (Rainer Cegielski 243). Since then, hand-held phones have been in constant improvements with new applications and models created almost every other time. In the 1990s, the 2G technology boomed the cell phone market. The hand-held devices were small and had an advance battery. What is available in the market today is the third generation cell phones. These phones are based on a 3G technology. Their innovations are extremely advanced (Rainer Cegielski 236-266). It was not until recently, however, that they became an integral part of human life. Like many other technologies that boost the superiority of social status, the small devices began as a class symbol of the selected few (affluent in particular). In 1983, for example, the Motorola model was sold in the market for 100 million U.S dollars. You can imagine how many people could afford that. Then somewhere out of the blue, the reserved affluent privilege changed when the devices became reasonably priced and accessible to everyone. Better still; the advancement in technology also saw the devices move from two-way radios to world coverage towers. People are now talking about the extremely advanced 3G technology (Brans 61-72). Why do People Rely on Cell Phones in todays Culture? People depend on cell phones in todays culture for a number of reasons. Essentially, the devises provide reliable advantages with few downsides. Never in human history, has a device influenced and transformed the means of communication as seen today. Cell phones have done it. They are inevitably intertwined into the human social life for good reasons. The cell phone technology has facilitated rapid communications and has made it possible to communicate with everyone from anywhere. Apart from the vocal communication, the technology has also enabled its subscribers to send multiple text messages to millions of people every single day if they so wish (Brans 61-72). What holds the society together and what supports its structures is communication. Without it, everything else is down. Accordingly, there is no device (at least not for now) in the modern world that facilitates communication better than the cell phone. For instance, just before cell phones boomed into the market, people relied majorly on landlines to communicate with their loved ones and also for official purposes. But the communication had to be on fixed locations because landlines were established on fixed areas. As a result, people on the move could not communicate over landlines. Cell phones, on the other hand, have made it possible to communicate with the loved ones and make official arrangements from anywhere even while on the move (Kavoori Arceneaux 85). The device has also brought revolution in the telecommunication sector. Statistical data in America, for example, reveals that over 74 percent of its citizens have used the hand-held technology to respond to emergencies. They widely use it to alert the police, call a doctor, report a car-crash or seek other forms of emergency responses. In addition, while parents could not initially keep in touch with their children while away from home, they can now check on them from wherever they are. Apart from calls and text messages, modern cell phones also facilitate data sharing. They can be used to transmit convenient and reliable information, but can also be used to store a great deal of data. With the large cell phone memory, people do not need to spend the whole day in book-keeping or having to deal with the computer drawbacks. Everything is right there in the pocket. Just a swipe and the information will be there. The cell phone technology has also enhanced the quality of life. It is no longer a luxury like many other technologies; it has become part of life. It is strongly woven into the social structures of the society. People need them for the quality life. Of course this is not to say people cannot do without them. They can if they so decide. Overall, the positive sides of cell phones are wide and far reaching. The e-mail messages, text messages, phone calls, cell-phone internet, data-sharing cards, music, phonebook, cameras etc., are brought together by the cell phone technology. Besides, the devices have also entirely transformed the telecommunication industry and brought the world more closer to the people. People are talking about cell phone banking services, shopping, paying of bills and fees, security devices and easy transfer of money, all because of the technology. The convenience, reliability and functionality perhaps explain the reasons behind the booming cell phone market (Rainer Cegielski 236-266). Drawbacks of Cell phones In as much as the cell phones have united the world, enhanced quality life and made life simpler, the devises have also had their dark sides. Most people have become too dependent on them. Cell phones are the first things they see when they wake up, and last things they touch before they sleep. People run for them in the market, but do not really pay attention to their side effects on ones social life or health (Makker et al. 148-157). In America, for instance, it is really hard sit together as a committee or family to deliberate on important issues for even an hour without having one or two people excusing themselves for other important calls. It is not true that those calls are urgent; it is all about obsession with the devises. Even scarier, nobody thinks about the impacts of the electromagnetic microwaves from the small devises. Well, according to the medical reports, they hinder ones ability to communicate, analyze or concentrate on complex activities. People who use cell phones while driving, for instance, have caused several accidents (Farmer 466-470). It is also true that people who rely too much on cell phones cannot solve problems that need prompt solutions. Everything for them is about swiping, and when they cannot then they cant do anything (Schlehofer et al. 1107-1112). Studies also show that children whose mothers were addicted to the small device during pregnancy have high chances (over 70 percent) of developing behavioral predicaments. The ADD and ADHD are typical behavior problems of such children. They also have problems socializing with their peers and extremely display emotional weaknesses. Further, the National Cancer Institute of America has revealed that there is a connection between brain cancer and mobile phone radiations (Sue 62-70). There is also a possibility that these devices, which were essentially made to enhance the quality of life and unite the world, could consequently destroy the very things they were supposed to construct. People are getting so obsessed with reaching out to those who are far away forgetting that there are people right in front of them that they can talk to. Even problems that can easily be resolved from within are simply taken far because one finds it rather easy to pick a phone and seek help elsewhere. It is also a major concern that children are increasingly withdrawing from their families because they have to main their cyber friendships (Sanchez-Martinez Otero 131-137). Cell phones have also been used to break relationships. If you are upset with your lover you just text and tell the person its over. Many people have also been caught up in cheating just by a simple phone call. Many marriages are also breaking up because spouses are too busy with the outside world than with their families. The devices have made people not to appreciate those they stay with. Ass a result of the mobile technology, people no longer communicate with each other in full sentences. No longer, for example, is simply text as lol. In effect, the medium has created a huge gap between the younger generation (dotcoms) and the older generation. To say it all, these gadgets have become an integral part of the daily life, but at a great expense (Kavoori Arceneaux 61-84). Are People too Dependent on their Cell Phones? Essentially, the purpose of cell phones is to make life easier and productive. If one wants to connect/contact a group of people, one simply goes to phonebook or opens email, then selects everyone he wants to share the information with, and right away clicks the send button. Within no minute, they are already on the same with the sender. This is the beauty of having a cell phone. It is true that people have become too dependent on cell phones. In as much as they have improved the quality of life, they have also become an epidemic in the modern society. But the problem is not with the cell phones. It is people who have taken the devices too seriously. Others depend on it too much. It is ridiculous to see how some people react, for instance, when they lose their cell phones. Its like they have lost the rest of their lives, or the world has come to an end. Others seriously get pissed off, while others its like they have lost a limb or an equivalent. These are the kind of people that cell phones not only play an integral part in their lives, but also central to their whole being (South 100/93). It is quite easy to identify those who are too dependent on the technology. Generally, this category of people will display serious mental and physical symptoms. Apart from distress, they will also employ the rhetoric of addiction and dependence when trying to demonstrate their experiences of going without a phone. Others talk about how scared they were when they lost their cell phones. Of course it is normal to be frustrated when one loses a property, let alone an important device like a cell phone. But it is total madness to literally shed tears, be lonely, call off life, or suffer from the major psychological effects. Nothing would make somebody panic or shiver if it is not an obsession (Sanchez-Martinez Otero 131-137). According to The World Unplugged Project, students who seriously depend on their phones cannot afford to stay away from their phones for more than 24 hours. At the end of day 1 of the research, all the student participants claimed to have developed psychological symptoms, while others literally displayed physical symptoms (Silk et al. 241-257). Another method of identifying those who are too dependent on the hand-held device is to withdraw the phones from them for a while and wait to see how they react. Obviously, they are those who would be imagining phone vibrations in their pockets even though they do not have them. Others would be receiving non-existent text messages when they do not even have the phones. The last group will make several attempts to pick their phones from pocket even when they were taken with their full knowledge. This is how much this category can be addicted to the small device (South 100/93). People have become so acclimatized to mobile phones that when they leave them behind they openly become frustrated. Walk into an examination room and hear how many phones go on and off when they are not even supposed to be there in the first place (Schlehofer et al. 1107-1112). Walk into an office and you will be rudely shocked into how much people are buried on their cell phones. Visit homes and you will see how people are isolated by the cell phones. It is all about obsession with cell phones. Conclusion Yes these devices are reliable, yes they are convenient and yes they simplify life. But too much of something is unhealthy. People have become too dependent on them to the extent that they can not do without them. It should indeed, be a great concern to everyone that these devices which were essentially made to enhance the quality of life and unite the world, could consequently destroy the very things they were supposed to construct. They have destroyed the community life, have destroyed relationships and have created problems that would have otherwise been avoided if they were not in use. In reality, people have seriously become too dependent on their cell phones. People cannot spend a day without them without showing negative physical and psychological symptoms. The reactions when people lose their phones perhaps tell it all. They will display patterns of frustrations, anxiousness, irritability, bitterness, insecurity, depression, restlessness, nervousness, loneliness, stressfulnes s, withdrawal and confusion. Others will be pissed off, while others will see no more meaning in their continued existence. But it is not just about the physical and psychological effects, dependency on the phone increases chances of getting brain cancer, behavioral problems and communication disabilities.

Greek drama Essay

In this essay, a companion piece to The use of set and costume design in modern productions of ancient Greek drama, I will discuss the importance of theatre space in contemporary productions of Greek drama. Of necessity, I have limited my choice of productions to a set of (around) a dozen examples; all of these can be found catalogued in the database. It is hoped that the reader will be able to apply the basic ideas expounded here to a fuller range of productions than those alluded to in the text. Live performance takes place in a three-dimensional space. The study of any period of theatre history will reveal that there has always been a constructed evolution of theatre space, both formal and informal. In all cases, the audience member, the spectator, becomes part of the performance, and is therefore an integral part of the space itself; for contemporary performances, the theatre space and the spectator’s relationship to that space can range from a strictly formalized proscenium-arch stage to a make-shift performance space in a busy street or in an abandoned warehouse. Whatever the logistics of the acting space, there is always some kind of visual setting in operation: in the case of the temporary and impromptu street performance, the visual setting might just be a circle or semi-circle of passers-by with carrier bags and the background of a shopping-centre; it might be a green lawn and shady trees set before a castle wall for a more formal open-air production; the visual setting might be the black walls of an indoor ‘neutral theatre space’, so popular at the moment with postmodern stage productions; or it might be the glitzy painted scenery of a West End stage. The concept of space is a very important one in the theory of theatre practice, and is used to identify very different aspects of performance. The notion of space can be broken down into several categories: there can be a dramatic space – an abstract space of the imagination, i. e. , a ‘fictionalization’; there is stage space, which is literally the physical space of the stage on which the actors move (this can include extending the acting space into the audience arena). Another concept of space can be termed gestural space, which is created by the actors and their movements. Finally there is theatre space, the area occupied by the audience and the actors during the course of a performance and which is characterized by the theatrical relationship fostered between the two. The theatre space is product of the interplay between stage space, gestural space and dramatic space and, according to Anne Uberseld, it is constructed, on the basis of an architecture, a (pictorial) view of the world, or a space sculpted essentially by the actors’ bodies. The focus of this essay is with this fourth definition of space. What I am not concerned with here is the idea of diegetic or narrative space, certainly not in the strictest sense of the term ‘narrative’ (for example, a messenger’s speech in tragedy which often narrates an event which has taken place off stage). The narrative cannot take on too much importance in the body of the play without running the risk of destroying its theatrical quality; therefore narrative is often confined to static monologues. However, in recent years there has been an escalating trend in Greek tragic performance for re-thinking the concept of narrative in visual and spacial terms. This usually employs the dramatic staging of an event which properly should only form a narrative recitation, an idea most fully developed in Katie Mitchell’s version of the Oresteia in which the long choral narrative recounting the death of Iphigeneia was played out in abstract form in the theatre space (and employing that space to its best advantage too (DB id nos. 1111 and 1112)). The figure of the mute Iphigeneia – a character who is, after all, absent from Aeschylus’ cast-list – was integrated into the main action of the drama throughout, silently commenting on or endorsing the narrative element. THEATRE SPACE On entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses. The reception of that space becomes part of the total theatrical experience. There are several dimensions that affect the audience entering into a space for the first time and several questions need to be asked. How, for example, is the space entered by the audience? Do they enter through grand wide-open doors or do they climb narrow stairs? Moreover, where has the audience come from before entering this specific space? In other words, is there a space before this space? Once the audience has entered into the theatre space it becomes important to note how is the space divided. Where do the audience sit (or stand) in relation to the performance area, if such a formal space exists? Bearing these points in mind, let us now examine the relationship of theatrical space, design concept and audience reception in modern productions of Greek tragedies, for it is evident that several contemporary directors have utilized theatrical space to full advantage in order to manoeuvre audience reactions in particular ways. The French company Le Theatre du Soleil, under the leadership of director Arianne Mnouchkine, famously created in the early 1990s a remarkable production of the Oresteia which was preceded by Euripides’ Iphigeneia at Aulis and performed under the banner-title Les Atrides (DB ref. no. 152). Mnouchkine’s vision was to create a theatrical experience where past and present intermingled seamlessly; she realized that the audience had to be transported to another conception of reality. . Her concept of mis-en-scene was of a kind of historical construction-site, and this was realized as soon as the spectator stepped into the theatre itself, at least in its original staging at Vincennes. In a large reception hall outside the auditorium, a huge map of the ancient Mediterranean world, highlighting the voyages of Agamemnon, was suspended against a deep blue wall. Around the room there were books and photo displays of ancient Greek life; in addition, Greek food was prepared, sold and eaten on site. In this way the audience was prepared, nurtured, and coerced into accepting the ‘other world’ waiting for them beyond the foyer. On their way into the performance area, the audience had to walk through an antechamber and along a path above what appeared to be (on first sight) an unfinished archaeological dig which was filled with recently unearthed life-sized terracotta human figures, resembling the famous Chinese terracotta army. The audience walked past this ‘archaeological site’ and entered the performance space from behind steeply raked seating-blocks; below the structure, the actors sat in little booths, fully visible to the audience, and applied their make-up and tied on their elaborate costumes. As they walked by, audience members were stopped by the performers who frequently engaged with them in some light conversation in a conscious effort to break the ‘us’ and them’ barriers of conventional Western theatre practice. Having crossed the ‘excavated’ transition space and the actor’s dressing area, the audience took their seats in the raised seating-blocks and waited for the performance to begin. They were aware of a low hum of gongs and other exotic instruments, and they could smell the perfume of burning incense. When the lights dimmed, the sound of a kettle drum rose to a thunderous roar and suddenly the dancers of the chorus rushed on from the back of the stage with exuberant shouts in a whirling blaze of red, black, and yellow costumes, as if the terracotta ‘army’ had come to life and had found its way up and onto the stage. The effect (and I experienced it myself) was breathtaking. Mnouchkine had succeeded in bridging the gap between the two worlds of past-theatrical and present-mundane and had persuaded her audience to accept the overtly theatrical conventions of her production. She also succeeded in transforming the theatrical space into a ritual space. Katie Mitchell’s productions of two Greek tragedies, one for the RSC (Phoenician Women, 1995; DB ref. no. 211) and one for the Royal National Theatre (The Oresteia, 1999 DB ref. nos. 1111, 1112) have been noted for their stark and minimalist use of theatre space. The audience entering Stratford’s The Other Place for the first performance of Phoenician Women were ushered into a bare black box and seated on hard backless benches. They were not provided with programmes, so that a familiar aspect of twentieth-century theatre-going was denied to them; instead they were handed simple sprigs of thyme, a kind of ritualistic gesture which was presumably intended to prepare the audience for the spiritual dramatic experience that awaited them. They were seated on three sides of the performance area which was backed on one side by a rudimentary kind of skene decorated with little lamps and terracotta figurines of ancient Greek and Near Eastern deities. This decorated back wall helped to transform the space into a place of holy ritual. Unfortunately, many audience members found the experience less than mystical, and critics voiced a common complaint that the design decisions about the use of the theatrical space were badly made. Nick Curtis of the Evening Standard noted that, There is little concession to comfort: the stringently minimalist design of Rae Smith and Vicki Mortimer extends to backless benches for the audience. For the Stratford Herald critic, Paul Lapworth, the emotional agony experienced by the characters in the tragedy was matched by the physical suffering of the audience, The pain . . . was . . . matched by the discomfort of the seating arrangements, the audience perched on blocks like tiers from a Coliseum. It was the least satisfactory adaptation in an otherwise fascinating renewal of an ancient dramatic experience. Others beside Lapworth attempted to justify Mitchell’s decisions to terrace the audience on uncomfortable benches by alluding to ancient theatrical tradition. Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph wrote a particularly virulent attack on the design decisions, but attempted to make sense of them: It would be dishonest to pretend that this is an enjoyable or even a physically comfortable evening. Euripides’ stark tragedy lasts more than two hours (sans interval) and the RSC has mysteriously decided to make the seats in the theatre even more uncomfortable by turning them into backless benches. I was all set to work up an indignant head of steam about this when a thought occurred. It can’t have been comfortable on the stone seats of Greek amphitheatres [sic] and in those days audiences sat through four different plays. Nevertheless, the use of theatre space in Mitchell’s Phoenician Women seriously marred the production’s other qualities. It was the discomfort of the performance that was remembered by most audience members, not the play itself. The public dissatisfaction with the use of space was clearly registered by the director who, despite any pretensions to artistic vision, was compelled to adjust her ideas when the production moved to The Pit at the Barbican in London in June 1996. As The Times critic Jeremy Kingston noted, Katie Mitchell’s . . . production is more audience-friendly in the basin-like pit than on the level floor in The Other Place. Learning from past mistakes, perhaps, Mitchell’s RNT production of The Oresteia was self-consciously more conventionally theatrical in its use of the theatre space. The black box of the Cottesloe Theatre was kept in its regular traverse stage orientation, with seating blocks erected on raised platforms on both sides of the acting space and mounted by black (comfortable) chairs. The upstairs gallery surrounding and overlooking the stage consisted of padded benches and high chairs. So theatre space is a very important element of the design process. It can successfully create a mood (as witnessed by Le Theatre du Soleil), but it must remain functional and comfortable. Directors and designers who do not acknowledge this are imprudent. An audience is prepared to undergo a transformation as it walks from foyer to auditorium, but there is little doubt that an audience will not put up with physical discomfort for too long. To justify pain by saying it was the common experience of the ancient Greek theatre-goer is perverse; it is probable that Greek audience members came fully prepared for a whole festive day at the theatre with cushions and blankets; besides which, audience etiquette, like that inherited by us from our Victorian ancestors, probably did not force the Greek audience to sit in reverential silence or stillness throughout the entire length of four plays. Each director and designer responds to space differently: famously, Peter Brook calls for an ‘Empty Space’, Josef Svoboda calls for a gigantic space, and Jerzy Grotowski calls for an intimate space. The use of space has a profound effect on the audience; in ‘orthodox’ theatre, the lit proscenium stage contrasts with the darkened space of the auditorium and the effect is one of alienation: the audience is aware of a barrier between themselves and the performers, a concept that was entirely absent from the ancient Greek theatre experience. Interestingly, directors often toy with the notions of audience visibility and the breeching of the invisible ‘us and them’ barriers. Peter Hall’s famous 1981 National Theatre production of the Oresteia (DB ref. no. 207) climaxed with the Furies (transformed into the Eumenides) progressing up the steps of the Olivier auditorium as the lights rose to incorporate both masked performers and the audience into the ritual as the audience found themselves cast in the role of Athenian citizens. This was also the case in Katie Mitchell’s Oresteia (1999). In the second of the two parts, The Daughters of Darkness, the theatre space was transformed into the Athenian Areopagus and, accordingly, Athene addressed the seated and visible audience (lit by the house lights) as ‘Citizens of Athens’ and instructed them, This is the first case of homicide To be tried in the court I have established. The court is yours. From today every homicide Shall be tried before this jury Of twelve Athenians. And this is where you shall sit, on the hill of Ares. Not all uses of theatre space or conscientious attempts to break down audience boundaries are as successful. The (2000) production of Aristophanes’ Peace by Chloe Productions at London’s Riverside Theatre (DB Ref. no. 877), in the scene in which the chorus drags away the stone that keeps Peace hidden within her cave, encouraged audience participation by handing them lengths of rope and asking them to haul along with the masked cast. As the cast moved among the audience and coaxed them into action, there arose (from personal experience) a distinct feeling of unease among the passive spectators. In this sense, the attempt to open up the use of theatre space unfortunately failed. In conventional modern theatre performances, the lit proscenium stage or other types of organization of space often allow for a broad visual perspective, but any communication within that space is usually one-directional – from stage to auditorium. The audience members sit next to one another in the darkened auditorium, but there is no communication between them, nor do they necessarily see one another. Interestingly, Katie Mitchell’s use of live video images in her Oresteia frequently highlighted blocks of the audience or even individual spectators and projected their images onto a giant screen, reminding other audience members that they were part of a wider group of spectators sharing a common theatrical experience. Unlike the audience of ancient Athens in the Theatre of Dionysus, modern audiences rarely sit within the scenic environment. The notion of environmental theatre is taken to its furthest extent by Grotowski, who often has his performers address the spectators directly as they walk and sit among them in a space that is totally devoid of theatrical formality. This may not be an appropriate way to best stage Greek tragedies (although it could work well for comedies), where a formal distance of time and space between the actors and audience is often necessary. Of course, there are numerous other spaces for performance: the apron stage, the thrust stage, the arena stage and the surround stage. The apron stage format is one in which the audience sits on three sides of the acting area or part of the acting area. This type of organization was utilized by the Glasgow-based theatre babel’s five-hour triple bill, Greeks (DB ref. nos. 2510, 2524 and 2521), and by Katie Mitchell’s Phoenician Women. The thrust stage is an acting space located in the middle of the audience who are placed on two opposite sides of the theatre space, as used by Katie Mitchell in her National Theatre Oresteia. An arena stage is one in which the audience entirely surrounds the acting space. This can be an effective way of mounting tragedy, but it is not often utilized. An arena stage was adopted by the National Theatre’s production of The Darker Face of The Earth (DB ref. no. 1089), at the Cottesloe in 1999 where the audience was seated on four sides of the acting space, which consisted of a central pit surrounded by movable wooden boardwalks. In a surround stage, on the other hand, the audience sits in the middle and the dramatic action occurs around them. To a certain extent, this (brave) staging was attempted by Nick Ormerod in his design for a production of Antigone in 1999 (DB ref. no. 1091). Here the vast set extended into the auditorium of the Old Vic while additional members of the audience were seated at the rear of the stage. Additionally, performances can take place in a found space, such as a church, a warehouse, or any other space which does not have any other major specifically designed theatrical pieces (sets, etc) imposed upon it, or in a converted theatre space. These are specially found theatre spaces which are transformed by adding designed seating and/or architectural or scenic pieces that help locate the action of the performance. Mnouchkine’s Les Atrides is an excellent example of the use of such a space. The Cardiff-based Welsh language theatre company Dalier Sylw produced its 1992 production of Bakkhai (directed by Ceri Sherlock DB. Ref. no. 2604) in a sparse, largely unadorned, warehouse with no specific audience seating areas; the audience was promenaded around the space which was separated into different (often elaborately designed) locations (the palace at Thebes was a parched stone harem building, Mount Parnassus was a vast mound of wet earth and grass) and was only settled into fixed seating towards the end of the performance in order to witness the Bacchic frenzy. Increasingly, highly specialized spaces for hosting athletic events are being temporarily converted for theatre performances. A Cambridge student production of Trojan Women in 1998 (DB ref. No. 952), for example, set the action in an empty swimming pool, which was awash with blood by the end of the production. Purcarete’s Les Danaides (DB ref. no. 153) was staged in vast exhibition halls in Vienna, Avignon, Amsterdam and Birmingham. Because theatre space dictates so much of the emotional and sensory impact on the spectator, directors seek the most appropriate space possible for each production. When considering a space a director must address a number of important issues, deciding, for example, if the audience and performers should be formally separated from each other and whether the spectators should be observers of or participants in the performance. The director must decide upon the number of entrance and exit locations to be used and whether the entrances will be the same for actors and audience. In addition, a director will engage with the emotional and psychological feel of the space and decide if it should feel open or confined, friendly or hostile. Once the guidelines for these spacial elements have been developed, the director is ready to explore the other visual sign systems: proxemics, picturization and blocking. PROXEMICS Proxemics is a recent discipline of American origin wherein the organization of human space is systematically analysed. As a study of space as it relates to physical distances, notions of proxemics are of fundamental importance to the director. In the theatre, the first step towards designing the production’s mis-en-scene is to determine the nature of the space that the performers will use. The ground plan of the space determines the possible movement of the actors and the special relationships of the characters, since the physical distance between people can relate to social, cultural, and environmental factors. Changes in those spaces can therefore stress character and plot development. A director uses proxemics in his/her manipulation of space and spacial relationships among the setting, objects, and actors. A stage space that is enclosed and cluttered with objects and performers creates a very different mood and atmosphere from one that is open and contains only one simple piece of setting and few performers. Together with the designer, the director will draw up a production ground plan to indicate the proxemic potential of the actors and the theatre space. The ground plan has to be a pictorial representation of the acting space, indicating entrances and exits; it must outline the set, indicate the location of doors, the floor area, any ramps, platforms, pits or trapdoors. The ground plan should also indicate the whereabouts of freestanding props and furniture. Below, a ground plan for the second part of Katie Mitchell’s Oresteia at the National Theatre, indicates her proxemic use of theatre space: The theatrical space consisted of a thrust stage measuring 9. 9m x 12m, with seven main entrance/exits for the actors: one main entrance through the huge steel door at the far end of the acting space and six entrances dispersed around the audience seating-blocks. At the opposite end of the performance area from the great door was a high and narrow platform reached by a stepladder. A trapdoor in the stage covered with a metal drain cover served as the grave of Agamemnon. In the ‘Eumenides’ section of the play, a section of the stage covering was removed to reveal an oblong pool of water. Behind this was a raised rostrum with steps on which stood the ‘statue’ of Apollo. The acting space, seating blocks and surrounding curtains were coloured black. There were several set pieces: upstage left of door was a piano and piano stool. There was a long table (actually composed of two tables) which was unadorned in ‘The Home Guard’ but surrounded with dining chairs in the opening half of ‘The Daughters of Darkness’. In Act II the same two tables were placed together to form a square. Ten chairs (which had first been set upstage, below the high platform, into neat rows and which had been used to seat the sleeping Furies) were placed around the edges. According to Edward Hall (‘The Father of Proxemics’) there are three types of space: fixed-feature space, semifixed-feature space and informal space. In the case of fixed-feature space, the parameters of the acting space are defined by permanent features such as walls, columns, and doorways. A good example of fixed-feature space is, of course, the ancient Greek theatre itself, which had an open thrust acting area (the orkhestra), two fixed levels above (the stage and the roof of the skene) and fixed entrances (into the skene by one or more doors and into the orkhestra via the two paradoi). Furniture and scenic pieces appear to have been kept to a minimum in the Greek theatre, and the playwright often created a change of dramatic location (i. e. scene) through dialogue alone. The acting space used in Les Atrides was also a fixed-feature space, consisting of a bare and sparse open acting area which had no curtains, no flies, and no wing-space, just a huge expanse of a dry, parched-looking sandy floor surrounded by a crumbling blood-splattered wall which was broken up by recesses and a double-doored gate upstage. It looked very much like a bullring. In fact, the acting space was an enclosure within an enclosure: the crumbling wall that enclosed the stage was itself enclosed by a huge wooden wall painted blue like sky or sea, in the middle of which was another big gate that sporadically opened to reveal an expanse of blackness beyond. John Napier’s set design for John Barton’s RSC production of The Greeks at the Aldwych Theatre in 1980 (DB. Ref. no. 138) can also be classified as a fixed-feature space. Enclosed within a fixed proscenium arch, his set was a permanent structure, which comprised of, A large black platform with a scooped-out area in the middle, worn by sun and usage. The Times Education Supplement critic, Bernard Crick, described the permanent structure as, [A] clean, uncluttered, open and steeply raked stage, basically a rectangle with a circle in it that can suggest, at different times, an arena, a meeting place, a secret grove. . . . There was a bare stage, except for a few bushes by a golden mask of bloody Artemis mounted on a totem pole. Dionysis Fotopoulos also created a fixed-feature space for the design of Tantalus (DB. Ref. no. 2578). Also enclosed behind a formal proscenium arch, a basic circle (or pit) of sand surrounded by curved metallic walls served to function as a modern-day beach on a Greek island, the palace of Mycenae, the Greek camp, the city of Troy, the corn fields of Phthia and many other locations. For The Clytemnestra Project (a working of Iphigeneia at Aulis, Agamemnon, and Electra. DB ref. no. 1029) at the Guthrie Theatre in 1992, set designer Douglas Stein created a proscenium arch fixed set that consisted of a sixteen-foot curved rake that resembled a hill or cupped saucer which was backed by two simple semi-circles of white starched curtains that extended the concentric circles of the stage up to the fly tower. Together they created a strong notion of a horizon. The inner circle at the center of the stage was given a polished black gloss so that it shone and contrasted to the white curtains. The overall effect was of restrained, almost Japanese, elegance. As Dramaturg Jim Lewis noted in his production notebook, There will be no mistaking this environment for a realistic setting. It is a sacred space in which actors will perform; the audience is included in this space, invited to observe the action of the plays along with the chorus. A semifixed-feature space identifies a performance area in which there are design elements (furniture, props, scenery pieces) that have size and/or bulk but which can be moved during the performance. This was a noticeable feature of Katie Mitchell’s Oresteia, in which a simple trestle table became the focus of major dramatic action: in ‘The Home Guard’ it became a catwalk for Agamemnon and a place of sanctuary for Cassandra, while in ‘The Daughters of Darkness’, as the action moved into the palace at Argos, the table was placed downstage (in the same position that it had occupied in ‘The Home Guard’) so that it dominated the action of the following scenes. It was surrounded with dining chairs and covered with a dazzling white tablecloth and napkins and set with elegant crockery, glass and silverware. The table played a vital part in the staging of the latter half of the ‘Choephoroi’ section of the play since it was here that the royal family sat to receive their foreign guests (Orestes and Pylades) and it was here that the ghosts of the dead Agamemnon and Iphigeneia (and the murdered old man of the chorus of ‘The Home Guard’) joined their living relatives for supper. When the bloodlust began, the order of the dining table was literally overturned and glasses, crockery and furniture were strewn across the acting area. The corpse of Clytemnestra was laid on the table and it was from this position that her ghost was reanimated at the end of Act I. In direct contrast to the fixed-feature and semifixed-feature spaces, an informal space is an open space with no structural definition at all. Open-air and promenade productions fall under this heading. An example of this kind of staging would be the Australian director Greg McCart’s production of Oidipus the King set within a basalt quarry and played at sunset (DB ref. no. 156). PICTURIZATION AND BLOCKING The theatrical process comes to life for the audience when they observe stage ‘pictures’, either in movement or in static formation; in other words, the audience witnesses either a series of frozen moments or a flowing sequence of movements which results in a constantly changing and developing significance to characterization and/or plot. ‘Frozen moments’ can be classified under the heading picturization (although the terms tableau or tableau vivant may be just as applicable). This is a major feature of Oriental theatre, particularly Japanese Kabuki productions, where the formalized frozen pose is given the name mie. Not surprisingly, picturization has been a major visual facet of ‘Orientalist’ productions of Greek tragedy, in particular Mnouchkine’s Kathakali-inspired Les Atrides and Ninagawa’s Kabuki-style production of Medea (DB ref. no. 177) and Suzuki’s Noh-style Trojan Women (DB ref. no. 1086), his Kabuki Dionysus, and his hybrid East-West Clytemnestra (DB ref. no. 1028). The nature of Greek drama, given the inherent elements of the chorus, is especially given to the creation of moments of picturization. The movement of actors around the stage is known as blocking. It is important that the director, sometimes in collaboration with the designer(s) and choreographer(s), using the ground plan as a tool and visual aid, ‘blocks’ the play in the early stages of rehearsal. Good blocking should allow the actors to be visible to the audience and enable characters to move around and on and off the stage. Blocking should also contribute to the communication of emotion and to plot development by tracing character relationships and focusing the action to give emphasis to an event or series of events. For Greek drama, the notion of blocking is intimately connected to the issue of choreography; in fact, the two are almost inseparable. This merging can take the form of strict ‘dance routines’ such as the powerfully evocative Kathakali steps employed by the stunning chorus of Les Atrides, the Oxford Playhouse corps de ballet of young girls in Helen Eastman’s production of Iphigenia at Aulis (DB ref. no. 966), and the Aboriginal chorus in Greg McCart’s Oidipous the King. Alternatively, the merging of blocking and choreography can result in carefully controlled movement utilized for comic effect, such as the Keaton and Chaplinesque slapstick routines of Dictynna Hood’s 1997 Birds (DB ref. no. 854), or the controlled wheel-chair manoeuvrings of Katie Mitchell’s chorus of war veterans in The Home Guard. Donald McKayle, the choreographer for Tantalus, recalls that movement, gesture, blocking and dance were indistinguishable and that, There are no set dance pieces in ‘Tantalus’. The dance is part of the dramatic fabric. It gives colour and weight and variety to the words. There are so many words. Sometimes the dance extends to one or two minutes but often it lasts just a moment or two. Sometimes I give movement a vocabulary to the actors to utlize within a scene. It’s a fascinating experience of underscoring dialogue with gesture as well as sound. As we have seen, space is central to the performance’s meaning(s). Directors acknowledge that the size, shape and layout of a theatre space directs, even dictates, a performance’s mise-en-scene. Some directors, like Greg McCart and Ceri Sherlock, even choose to look outside the traditional theatre space for an appropriate place to bring a concept, a script, performers and audience together. For others, like Katie Mitchell and Nick Ormerod, a more conventional theatre space is chosen, but used in imaginative new ways. In either case, however, space is seen as a pivotal element in the directorial relationship between the performance and its spectators.

Lending System Essay

a. Description of the System As the world moves a global competitive and more complex electronic place, lots of establishments still are using the old way of doing process. The best thing to consider is the assurance that the clients are getting the satisfaction of the services provided by the company and also the creating each member a friendly environment. The existing loan or lending transaction processing system of some related companies is just manually operated. It takes a few days or even weeks to be processed. This can be obsolete because of the presence of the computers, which could facilitate any transaction at faster rate. Actually the companies merely use computer for the documentations and not for their system. In fact, they only use word and excel which are generally used Microsoft office works and not a specific task. That’s why; the computer does not help them a lot to make their process faster and accurate. Thus, the lending system will provide a better way to facilitate those transaction and queries and also the process happening in the company. Automatically checking the status of members/staff and clients are included that will prevent both of them to consume a bunch of time. In that case of lending system that will provide a speed up in the process of transaction processes for lending companies. If the system will be successful the staffs or clerks will reduce the works and the clients will not be bored to wait until the transaction will finish. This can also aid the problem of technicalities and errors provided by the manual system, so it will be efficient to them. b. Statement of the Problem The study attempt to know if the computerize lending system can help the lending/loaning companies speed up the process of their transactions with their clients. This study need to answer the following questions. 1. How helpful is a computerize lending system to a company? 2. How can a computerize lending system fasten the works of the clerk of a company? 3. What are the possible disadvantages of using a computerize lending system? 4. Is the time consumed by a computerize lending system faster than the manual one? 5. Is the computations of computerize lending system more accurate than the manual computations? c. Objectives of the Study 1. To make a functional lending system that can makes the work of employees easier. 2. To build a lending system that can be use by most lending companies. 3. To fasten the work of a company’s clerks and all employees involved. 4. To add some functions that is not usually seen at most computerize lending systems. d. Significance of the Study The significance of making the manual system computerized is to fasten the works of the employees because of faster computations, faster transactions and better information storing by making the confidential transactions secured. It can also be used to see the information and transactions made by their clients. e. Scope Our system can save and see the information of the clients, can be use the lending transaction function by most of the lending companies, can be use to see the transactions made by their clients. Our systems also have an authenticating procedure to limits the employees that can view the transactions. f. Limitations Our system is only limited to be executed to a computer and cannot be run using any other devices like smart phones, tablets and old model computers. Our system can have a server for multiple transactions using several client computers but cannot be use for online transactions.

Cultural Segregation And Black Culture - 811 Words

Cultural Segregation There is a strong cultural segregation between white culture and black culture. A child’s name can be used to measure cultural items. A name defines a person and implies many factors in their life. A person or employer can perceive and make many assumptions of a person just by knowing their name. Some people who do this are viewed as being racist, closed minded, or even prejudice. Although the black power movement had a positive effect, it also had a negative effect since it increased the cultural gap between whites and blacks. A name may just be a name but every story has a name like every name has a story. The story that a name tells makes all the difference of a person getting a call back or not. Black parent(s) are more likely than any other ethnic group to give their child a unique name. The idea of unique names rising up the surface started around the early 1960s, which was a defining time for black people. The Black Power Movement sought out to acce ntuate African culture and reject prejudice claims of black inferiority. This caused there to be an overlap between white and black names. The root of this phenomenon was of blacks being judged or discriminated for â€Å"acting white†. To represent their communities and culture people who were white or black gave their child â€Å"distinctively white or distinctively black names†. For the black community, showing unity and embracing black culture avoids discrimination amongst their â€Å"own kind†. If a blackShow MoreRelatedThe Reasons Behind Self Segregation1376 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Self-segregation is defined as the conscious decision to form groups and services separate from society based on gender, income generated, religion or ethnic groups (2014). 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