The Representation of Tricksters in the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt

Fraud, con-man, and hustler are all modern day terms to describe the age old character in African American literature known as the trickster. Today’s working definition of a trickster is one who swindles or plays tricks; often a mischievous figure in myth or folklore, who typically makes up for physical weakness through cunning and subversive humor. In African American literature the role of the trickster is a reoccurring theme, especially in the time period spanning from post Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance.During slavery and the years that followed the image of a trickster changed from a humorous amoral figure to a cunning and socially conscious icon. Charles W. Chesnutt is a primary example of an author, who faithful employs the trickster motif in many of his published works. Traditionally, the role of trickster often presents itself when there is a powerless group who longs to transcend an oppressive social order (Jefferies, Schramm 20). In African American literature, the trickster is often depicted as someone who has the ability to manipulate situations in his/her favor, despite having little or no power.Rhonda B. Jefferies states that â€Å"the primary goal of the trickster in is social nonconformity by redefining the norms of life and existence in mainstream American society (Jefferies, Schramm 20). † Since its origin in West African culture, the trickster figure has evolved from a folklore icon, mainly in the form or various animals, to an archetype whose behavior is both contradictory and complex. The tricksters reoccurring appearance in African American folklore, narratives, poems, novels and pop culture is no coincidence.It is the trickster’s pursuit of wisdom, cunning or power in an attempt to redefine social order that makes him/her such an attractive icon. The trickster character serves as an inspirational figure for the socially oppressed and has takes on many forms when expressed in past and present literature. Many Afr ican American folk tales, especially those from southern United States, include the appearance of a trickster. In â€Å"Brer Rabbit Tricks Brer Fox Again,† the trickster takes on a classic form of a clever but lazy rabbit.In this tale the rabbit becomes stuck in a well and finagle his way out by convincing the suspicious fox to help him escape. He manipulates the fox to get into the well under false pretenses. By convincing Brer Fox that there is an abundance of fish he needs help catching and transporting out of the well, Brer rabbit was able to leverage an escape, consequentially leaving the fox in his place. It is the rabbit’s quick wit that makes him a quintessential trickster figure in many folk tales across a number of cultures. However, Brer Rabbit is just one of many depictions of a trickster rabbit in folk tales and stories throughout history.A more modern depiction of a rabbit trickster is Looney tunes’ Bugs bunny. The ways in which Bugs utilizes his p hysical endurance and mastery of disguise to deceive his arch enemy Elmer Fudd is a playful interpretation when compared to those in African American literature and folklore. The integration of the trickster in modern culture, whether it be in the form of animal or man, is just one demonstration of the many ways in which this popular character transcends time and culture, to eventually become one of the most reoccurring archetypes in African American literature.Charles W. Chesnutt’s relationship with the trickster archetype is most evident in his collection of short stories with the characterization of Uncle Julius. Uncle Julius appeared in seven of the thirteen short stories that make up Chesnutt’s The Conjured Women. In the collection of stories, Uncle Julius often â€Å"conjures† up his tales from old folklore, in an attempted to persuade or manipulate certain situations to his benefit.The description of Uncle Julius interaction with the John and Annie, the n orthern white couple interested in buying the grape vineyard Julius inhabits, in the â€Å"The Goophered Grapevine,† is a classic example of Chesnutt’s employment of the trickster motif. From Uncle Julius first impression, the audience is under the impression that Julius presence is to provide theatric and entertainment rather than fact or insight. His â€Å"performance† begins with the eating of the scuppernong grapes and ends with his fantastical account on the vineyard came to be bewitched.John, the white northern gentlemen interested in buying the vineyard, is instantly skeptical upon meeting Uncle Julius disregard Uncle Julius account by stating â€Å"At first the current of his memory –or imagination- seemed somewhat sluggish; but as his embarrassment wore off, his language flowed more freely, and the story acquired more perspective and coherence (Chesnutt 607). † The use of the word â€Å"imagination† is a clear indicator that Uncle J ulius is believed to be telling fiction. John goes on to further prove his disbelief when he goes against Uncle Julius’ suggestion and buys the vineyard, and later makes a considerable profit off.John however does take sympathy for the man who had lived and profited off the land and hired him as a coachman. While Uncle Julius is one of Chesnutt’s more memorable characters, he is by no means the only representation of the trickster motif in Chesnutt’s works. Grandison, from â€Å"The Passing of Grandison† is another example of a trickster character from Chesnutt’s collection entitled The Wife of his Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line. In this story, Grandison is a slave from a plantation in Kentucky, who successfully deceives his masters, Colonel and Dick Owens, on a number of occasions.His first act of trickery is when he is being questioned by his old master by assuring Colonel Owens of his contentment on the plantation and his disgust with the anti-slavery ideals of northern abolitionist. Colonel Owens’ intentions were to select a slave his son could bring up north, who had proven to be resistant to abolitionist ideals and the prospect of running away. To Colonel Owens elation, Grandison’s answers not only confirmed his view of a mutually benefits of slavery but went above and beyond to demonstrate a conceivably genuine appreciation of the resources and lifestyle on the plantation.He went on questioned Grandison about the fairness of his treatment and the kindness of his master before promising him a bead necklace for his future wife and deeming him â€Å"abolitionist-proof. † Although the interaction described was only a brief portion of the story it proves to be a pivotal moment in the plot and leaves the audience to assume that Grandison is loyal slave with no intention of running away. But, as we later find out, Grandison was not at all ignorant to the ideals of abolitionism and actually aspi red to be a free man.He eventually achieves his goal as we see in the very last chapter but not without an unexpected twist Grandison then goes on to successfully deceive his young master, Dick Owens, and forges his loyalty several times during their travels to New York, Boston, and eventually Canada. Throughout the journey, Dick Owens provides the Grandison with a number of opportunities to escape by leaving him alone on many occasions and supplying him with money that he could easily utilize to run away. Once Dick Owens realizes Grandison too dense to run away, or so he thinks, he silicates the help of local abolitionist, by writing an nonymous letter. However, Grandison unwaveringly loyal puts a quickly sidetracks Owens ploy to liberate his father’s slave. Day after day Grandison continues report to his young master every morning and night, leaving Owen to pursue more drastic measures. So, Dick Owens decides to leave Grandison alone for a couple of days, with one hundred d ollars to his disposal, in a sly attempt to get Grandison to runaway. Upon his return, Dick Owens finds his efforts were unsuccessful, and with much frustration and annoyance decides to take one last attempt by venturing to Canada, where slaves are free.Nevertheless, Grandison faithfully follows his master orders and does not attempt to runaway, despite the fact there are no laws binding Grandison to Dick Owens in Canada. At this point, the young master decides to gives up his efforts and solicits three men to kidnap Grandison. During this exchange Owens escapes and return to Kentucky alone. Dick Owens concludes that Grandison is too ignorant to recognize his opportunity for freedom and goes on to marry the motive behind his attempt at nobility, Charity Lomax.Once again it is not until the final chapter that the audience learns; it was Dick Owens and his father who proved to be most ignorant. In the final chapter, Grandison surprisingly returns to the plantation tattered and exhaust ed from his journey back to Kentucky. He recounts his story of being gagged and dragged to the â€Å"gloomy depth of a Canadian forest,† where he was locked in a hut and given only bread and water. He appeases his curious spectators by ending his story with his heroic escape and return to the plantation, all the while never revealing his true motives.It is not until Grandison, along with his new wife, family and friends disappears that his intentions to liberate true intentions are revealed. Once thought to be a model servant, blinded by his obedience and loyal dependence, Grandison outsmarts both his masters, by playing into slaveholder stereotypes and common misperception of the south. Grandison’s successful escape with family and friends exposes him as the true trickster. Because of his convincing portrayal of an ignorant and content slave, and willful patients he was ultimately able to turn the tables on his masters and end up the victor in an unlikely turn of even ts.When comparing the presence of the trickster in â€Å"The Goophered Grapevine† and â€Å"The Passing of Grandison,† there are few parallels between the two stories. The general theme of a southern black man deceiving his white superiors apparent in both, but the similarities stop. The two main stories are vastly different in respects to how each trickster if portrayed. Because the audience in â€Å"The Goophered Grapevine† is warned very on early on to be wary of Uncle Julius credibility, he is at a disadvantage.However, Grandison has a very different introduction because he first enters under the impression that he is one of the most loyal and trustworthy slave on the plantation. On the one hand, we have Uncle Julius Characterization as suspicious figure throughout the story from beginning to end, and on the other hand there is Grandison, who appears to be a very pious, simple minded slave with no ulterior motives. Another difference between the two stories is that theatricality proves to be Uncle Julius main downfall, while somehow becoming Grandison’s greatest asset.The introduction and characterization, of Uncle Julius and Grandison, manipulates the audience perception and ultimately determines their success in deceiving and manipulating their audience for their own personal benefit. The trickster, whether presented in modern cartoon or in tradition folktale, is an archetype that continues to reappear in art and literature. The classic depiction of a trickster as a rabbit in old folklore and myths while common is not the only form a trickster may take.Overtime and across cultures, the definition of a trickster changes, but not so much so that it unable to provide an entertaining lesson. The appeal of the trickster to African American writers is the theme of an oppressed group overcoming the challenges of social norms. Charles W. Chesnutt is a prime example of the trickster’s mass appeal, in African American literature. By representing the trickster as Uncle Julius and Grandison in â€Å"The Goophered Grapevine† and â€Å"The Passing of Grandison,† Chesnutt adds to the long history of the trickster as an icon.Work Cited 1. Chesnutt, Charles W. â€Å"Literature Of The Reconstruction To The New Negro Renaissance, 1865-1919. † The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Ed. Henry L. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York, Ny: W. W. Norton &, 2004. 604-12. Print. 2. Schramm, Susan L. , and Rhonda B. Jeffries. â€Å"African American Trickster Representations in the Work of Romare Bearden. † JSTOR. JSTOR, Sept. 2000. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. http://www. jstor. org/stable/3193835

Chilhood memories of Frankie Lennon and mine

Reading     Frankie Lennon   feels like you become part of the story, you feel connected and involved at every scene that unfolds. The characters she introduces makes it more vivid and real, you can’t help but think of your own family and relatives that have been part of   your past and shaped your own present life. You begin to look back at your own childhood and adolescent years and recall the many struggles you went through to become the person you are now. It makes us think back and wonder how we got over the conflicts and complications and been able to confront them. Readers connect to the stories due to similarities in culture, race, sexuality, and childhood.The author said in an interview, and to quote her:â€Å"†¦I narrate stories starting with my childhood and take you with me on my turbulent life journey and struggle to find freedom from the many prisons that bind me.I tell stories that make you think and re-evaluate issues. I offer the reader the chanc e to see and experience my naked feelings, conflicts, fears, and struggles and you get the chance to experience my trials and tribulations along with me. It will be exciting, funny, and heartbreaking. And it will never be dull.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"The   Mee   Street Chronicles: Straight up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life is a turn pager narrative of blunt memories in her struggle to live her own life and sexual identity. The book passes through generations dealing with sensitive issues like racism, oppression, homosexuality, and   Ã‚  alcoholism   that   still   exists in our society today. It lets us enter to places never seen before but will make us aware of our own feelings, in what we love and fear of, of our desires and what we value in life. The book mirrors that presents to readers what has happened and still happening in our lives.   Many people identify and unconsciously reflect with at least one story in the book. In a special way, it surprised and touched re aders on their own personal journey.Like the author, we also preserve our memories through journals, diaries, photographs, and keep it in our hearts. We become proud of these memories because it is what our identity is all about. We pass them on to our children to tell them who we are to reveal secrets setting us free from denial. This book reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles. We may think we are strange and has a dark past, but who doesn’t? It inspires to move on no matter how bad it seemed or what people have done or said or how bad it appeared. Others out there also   went through the same difficulties and survived. Others who repeat the same mistakes just when they have lifted themselves up, and picking themselves back in shape and has finally found their way.In it, stories on childhood life were depicted like it was your own. Significant characters were portrayed as if they were your own family. It is amazing to relate because you have your own aunt , gra ndmother, uncle, and cousins who can be irritating and unpleasant when they are around you, on the other hand you truly adore. People who in one way or another   have contributed in shaping your life as a whole.One chapter in the book entitled â€Å"Adversaries† narrates some fragments on the childhood events in the author’s life. At a very young age she could still remember clear details and accounts of family members and various emotions in facing her auntie and the tensed encounters that prevail between them. You feel a little bit at the edge of your seat as words and emotions are revealed that causes you to be anxious and empathize with the girl..Somehow, upon reading this particular story, I was able to relate to the characters and circumstances that the author encountered.   Similar   events and people I grew up with. I remember these people and what they signify had an impact in my life, may   it   be   Ã‚  good or bad memories. Reading through it br ings back memories of kids being punished for reasons not explained very clearly would sometimes make you think now that it was senseless. Folks back then were not even aware that we kids need to be treated fairly sometimes. They just come lashing out of nowhere and give you spanking for all the world to see. I had my own taste of that ‘cruelty’ back then.   I   experienced   some old school discipline where I can get so ashamed of myself for something I have done wrong, just because the ‘crime’ is against the elder’s rules.  Characters like â€Å"Auntie† were also part of my so called privileged childhood. My mother’s sister would sometimes go on a vacation in our house and would stay for a long time I think for decades and my life miserable. I remember her as the lady who keeps an eye on me, scary sometimes because she would watch every move I make. She was so stern and uptight and she is so particular about being proper.She m ade a great deal of impact in the whole household with her continuous bickering, comparing her life to my mother’s. What’s worse is we have to bear with her and leaves us no choice, but   be under her rule when my parents are away for a few days. I did my best to please her and make her feel that I liked her though I was faking it. I pretended hard to be somebody else just for her to accept me and have a harmonious relationship altogether. She is now a ‘stigma’ among us cousins and her grand kids because of   the character she played in our lives.The author in the story had to go through that kind of misery.   The emotions she felt in some instances and the way she describes ‘Auntie’ in detail like her appearance, reactions, and attitude made me think back and reminds me of my own aunt. I   was touched so much by the incident that her aunt would bad mouth her father. I cannot forget the way my aunt would back-stab my mother and insult her in front of us and for other people to hear. She compares her life and her way of   raising her kids to that of my parents. She boasts of a better life and material things compared to my mother who has to work harder for a better life.My aunt and I did not talk too much. I tried the best I could to avoid her, not to be in the same room with her   and even look her in the eye. I was not sure if it is because I was scared of her or hated her. She, like Aunt seemed to be so powerful to make us frightened of her.   Picturing Aunt in my mind while reading makes me feel scared just by recalling how my own aunt was.However, unlike the author, I was never confrontational. I never talked or fought back. Frankie had the courage to stop Aunt from hitting her. I had my share of hard spankings courtesy of   not only of my aunt, but in some instances from my own parents. But I just take it as part of growing up and that is how I should be disciplined. Sometimes I would ponder, regrett ing that I did not question or prevent it from coming or could have ran away.If only I had the choice and wishes come true, I could have spent more time with my mother and have spent more loving moments with her. I could have understood it better if the she did the spanking herself.REFERENCE :Sundararaj, A. ( 2007, March 14). How to Tell a Story, A Beginner’sGuide to Storytelling. Interview with Frankie Lennon. RetrievedMay 23, 2007, from   www.howtotellagreatstory.com/byot/byot70.html – 60k- Chilhood memories of frankie lennon and mine Reading     Frankie Lennon   feels like you become part of the story, you feel connected and involved at every scene that unfolds. The characters she introduces makes it more vivid and real, you can’t help but think of your own family and relatives that have been part of   your past and shaped your own present life. You begin to look back at your own childhood and adolescent years and recall the many struggles you went through to become the person you are now. It makes us think back and wonder how we got over the conflicts and complications and been able to confront them. Readers connect to the stories due to similarities in culture, race, sexuality, and childhood.The author said in an interview, and to quote her:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦I narrate stories starting with my childhood and take you with me on my turbulent life journey and struggle to find freedom from the many prisons that bind me.  I tell stories that make you think and re-evaluate issues. I offer the reader t he chance to see and experience my naked feelings, conflicts, fears, and struggles and you get the chance to experience my trials and tribulations along with me. It will be exciting, funny, and heartbreaking. And it will never be dull.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"The   Mee   Street Chronicles: Straight up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life is a turn pager narrative of blunt memories in her struggle to live her own life and sexual identity. The book passes through generations dealing with sensitive issues like racism, oppression, homosexuality, and   Ã‚  alcoholism   that   still   exists in our society today. It lets us enter to places never seen before but will make us aware of our own feelings, in what we love and fear of, of our desires and what we value in life. The book mirrors that presents to readers what has happened and still happening in our lives.   Many people identify and unconsciously reflect with at least one story in the book. In a special way, it surprised and to uched readers on their own personal journey.Like the author, we also preserve our memories through journals, diaries, photographs, and keep it in our hearts. We become proud of these memories because it is what our identity is all about. We pass them on to our children to tell them who we are to reveal secrets setting us free from denial. This book reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles. We may think we are strange and has a dark past, but who doesn’t? It inspires to move on no matter how bad it seemed or what people have done or said or how bad it appeared. Others out there also   went through the same difficulties and survived. Others who repeat the same mistakes just when they have lifted themselves up, and picking themselves back in shape and has finally found their way.In it, stories on childhood life were depicted like it was your own. Significant characters were portrayed as if they were your own family. It is amazing to relate because you have your own au nt , grandmother, uncle, and cousins who can be irritating and unpleasant when they are around you, on the other hand you truly adore. People who in one way or another   have contributed in shaping your life as a whole.One chapter in the book entitled â€Å"Adversaries† narrates some fragments on the childhood events in the author’s life. At a very young age she could still remember clear details and accounts of family members and various emotions in facing her auntie and the tensed encounters that prevail between them. You feel a little bit at the edge of your seat as words and emotions are revealed that causes you to be anxious and empathize with the girl..Somehow, upon reading this particular story, I was able to relate to the characters and circumstances that the author encountered.   Similar   events and people I grew up with. I remember these people and what they signify had an impact in my life, may   it   be   Ã‚  good or bad memories. Reading throu gh it brings back memories of kids being punished for reasons not explained very clearly would sometimes make you think now that it was senseless. Folks back then were not even aware that we kids need to be treated fairly sometimes. They just come lashing out of nowhere and give you spanking for all the world to see. I had my own taste of that ‘cruelty’ back then.   I   experienced   some old school discipline where I can get so ashamed of myself for something I have done wrong, just because the ‘crime’ is against the elder’s rules.  Characters like â€Å"Auntie† were also part of my so called privileged childhood. My mother’s sister would sometimes go on a vacation in our house and would stay for a long time I think for decades and my life miserable. I remember her as the lady who keeps an eye on me, scary sometimes because she would watch every move I make. She was so stern and uptight and she is so particular about being prop er. She made a great deal of impact in the whole household with her continuous bickering, comparing her life to my mother’s. What’s worse is we have to bear with her and leaves us no choice, but   be under her rule when my parents are away for a few days. I did my best to please her and make her feel that I liked her though I was faking it. I pretended hard to be somebody else just for her to accept me and have a harmonious relationship altogether. She is now a ‘stigma’ among us cousins and her grand kids because of   the character she played in our lives.The author in the story had to go through that kind of misery.   The emotions she felt in some instances and the way she describes ‘Auntie’ in detail like her appearance, reactions, and attitude made me think back and reminds me of my own aunt. I   was touched so much by the incident that her aunt would bad mouth her father. I cannot forget the way my aunt would back-stab my mother an d insult her in front of us and for other people to hear. She compares her life and her way of   raising her kids to that of my parents. She boasts of a better life and material things compared to my mother who has to work harder for a better life.My aunt and I did not talk too much. I tried the best I could to avoid her, not to be in the same room with her   and even look her in the eye. I was not sure if it is because I was scared of her or hated her. She, like Aunt seemed to be so powerful to make us frightened of her.   Picturing Aunt in my mind while reading makes me feel scared just by recalling how my own aunt was.However, unlike the author, I was never confrontational. I never talked or fought back. Frankie had the courage to stop Aunt from hitting her. I had my share of hard spankings courtesy of   not only of my aunt, but in some instances from my own parents. But I just take it as part of growing up and that is how I should be disciplined. Sometimes I would ponder , regretting that I did not question or prevent it from coming or could have ran away.If only I had the choice and wishes come true, I could have spent more time with my mother and have spent more loving moments with her. I could have understood it better if the she did the spanking herself.REFERENCE :Sundararaj, A. ( 2007, March 14). How to Tell a Story, A Beginner’sGuide to Storytelling. Interview with Frankie Lennon. RetrievedMay 23, 2007, from   www.howtotellagreatstory.com/byot/byot

Australian Constitution – Essay

– Like the American political system, the Australian system is divided into two levels (federal and local), For instance the FED cannot tell the local government how to make their local laws and regulate their government and the local can’t do that to the FED. – The Australian Government is different from the United States though in that it has a Parliament like the British.The government is made up of the Prime Minister and his cabinet and at any time the Parliament (which is just like the American Congress) can remove the Government or force it to call an in which neither level can change the power of the other nor make laws that the other has rights over. election. – Also the Australian Constitution does not say that a politician’s term has to be fixed like an American politician’s does. For instance the President will without a doubt serve a full four years baring impeachment or assignation, but in Australia Governor-General or Prime Mini ster can be kicked out at anytime – The U.S. Constitution clearly describes the separation of powers. The members of the executive branch cannot sit in Congress and so forth, but in the Australian Government has what they call an independent judiciary system where the government and parliament are not separated. The ministers can be members of parliament and the Prime Minister can dissolve parliament if he so chooses. – Like the U. S. the Australian Constitution is written down and is entrenched and very hard to change.Their constitution does most everything the American one does including separation of powers, division and powers of the different branches of government, has a form of supremacy clause which says commonwealth law is supreme over state law, and the last chapter deals with amending or changing the constitution. – Where the U. S. has a President who is head of the executive branch, the Australians have a Queen and her representative the Governor-Gen eral, who in many ways is like a president in that he is the Comand in Chief of the military.The Governor-General can however dissolve both houses of Parliament if they are deadlocked and he can appoint sitting time for the Parliament. As discussed earlier the Australians like the British have a Prime Minister. – Like the American Constitution the Australian one has a preamble but the constitution itself is divided into chapters, parts, and sections that deal with each specific form of government with the first being Parliament. The preamble is divided into parts where the rest of the constitution is in chapters with sections within each chapter. Overall the Australian Constitution is very much like ours in that it has to deal with the same problems that we do. It has sections that deal with race, equality, elections, and many other things. It seems that while the Australians seem to be more British in their political set up, they are in fact very much like us as well. While the country is trying to decide whether to be more like a monarchy as always or change into somewhat of a republic, their constitution remains unchanging and the Supreme Law of the Land.

Applications of Machiavelli Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Applications of Machiavelli - Essay Example Since a corporation is viewed as a human being sometimes, he may forget to look at the grievances of his employees. If a manager does not understand the grievances of his/her juniors then it becomes very difficult for them to address their challenge. If this does not happen then the leader is likely to face rebellion and therefore a good leader must have his fingers at the pulse of his/her employees. John and Johnson Company have applied this option through its strong business ethics principle. The company exhibits strong business ethics whenever conducting its business. While collaborating with the manufacturers, John and Johnson ensure that there is a strong client-customer relationship. It feeds the manufacturers with the required information on the products customers require, defining their features and characteristics. Additionally, the company ensures good relationships with its customers, especially in meeting their needs and responding to their queries. Thus, it observes mora ls and ethical business relations with its customers. It avoids the use of child labor, provides the customers with safe products, and even educates the customers on the various products they provide to them. The author believes that any good leader to be successful must be able to maintain an air of power. He proposes that the leader should always have the last word despite listening to advises from various sources. He is insists that it is not good for a leader to let others know what he/she is thinking about. Another important lesson that we learn from Machiavelli is that good managers should be able to appeal to people’s passions. Just like a good leader, a corporation should strive to gain human loyalty. This will help the leader gain recognition, reliability, and loyalty from his/her juniors. In the business arena, this is called the principle of marketing which involves creating a strong brand image. John and Johnson Company has managed to create a good brand image whi ch is attracting and maintain loyal customers to their company. There are various definitions regarding branding. According to American Marketing Association, branding refers to the name, sign, symbol, or design that is meant to identify a good, product, and services and distinguish from one seller to another. According to this definition, branding is not just the concept of marketing your product and making it known but it is the concept of differentiating a product or a service from one seller to another. According to the American marketing Association, a good band must be able to deliver the intended message clearly in addition to confirming the credibility of the product or service. A good brand should also be able to connect your target prospects emotionally and motivate the buyer in addition to concreting customer loyalty. Since time in memorial, brand has been seen as a part of the product to cause fashion. With this in mind, communication strategy towards the brand, has been working on exposing brand image of a certain product. According to (Aaker & Joachimsthaler), the traditional way of branding was only concerned with building the brand image, which according to them was only leading to short-term results. According to (Kapferer), a brand is supposed to be disclosing hidden qualities of the product or the service that people cannot come into contact or see. Moreover, Machiavelli teaches the value of always watching our back as good managers. In his

Marketing the Fashion Product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing the Fashion Product - Essay Example The essay "Marketing the Fashion Product" talks about the successful marketing strategy of the biggest clothes retailer in the United Kingdom Marks and Spencer (M&S). The lingerie market has grown steadily over the past decades with the United Kingdom experiencing consistent growth. M&S have grown consistently with new designs, innovative practices to record huge volume of sales in the last 5 years. â€Å"The total UK lingerie market was worth an estimated  £2.93bn in 2010, increasing by 17.8% over the 5-year review period.† M&S underwear brands consist of ‘Autograph’, ‘Per Una’ and ‘M&S Woman’ for women. For men it is ‘Autograph underwear’, ‘collezione’. Marketing has always been the nucleus of any business. There is no other alternative to reach the customers than a proper marketing plan and execution. The companies need to reach out to the customers and offer them the best services and quality at competitive prices. It is not necessary for M&S to provide cheap products as quality is the key to the underwear market segment where comfort counts. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction. The 7P marketing mix is a scientific account of the key areas of marketing which are Product, Price, place, promotion, packaging, positioning, and people. The idea of marketing mix is the same idea as mixing a cake. A baker will alter the proportions of ingredients in a cake depending on the type of cake he/she wishes to bake. The proportions in marketing mix can be altered in the same way and can differ from product to product.† (GCSE,2001) Product selling is a critical area where the customer habits and trends decide whether they want to purchase the product. Quality and innovative design are key factors where the marketers need to equip themselves with answers to critical questions as to the marketability and the acceptability of a product. Product demand and the trend of the market will decide on the sale of the product. M&S have the uniqueness in them where their innovative designers are constantly researching on the aspect of giving the customer an out of the box design. The body shape wear designed by their experts were special for the customers where they welcomed it and very soon it became the trend setter for the underwear brands. Apart from the core product selling, after sales services are also an important segment of product selling as it gives an element of trust to the company. Price is the second P of the

Marks by Linda Pastan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marks by Linda Pastan - Assignment Example The speaker’s days and nights are all devoted to her family and she passes her life in getting different kinds of marks for all her doings by her family. She seems like an average housewife whose duty is to take care of all her family members. It seems that she has no personality of her own but only that, which is assigned to her by her family. She talks about her family as to what they think about her. The dramatic situation in the poem is categorizing of the woman according to educational marking schemes by her family members who are not mature at their own places. The central metaphor in the poem is the marking of the women according to different criteria of the family members. The poem is given the title ‘Marks’ and the poem talks about educational marks all over. The poem’s theme is about the life of a housewife who has to do her duties in order to get more marks by her family members.

Application of Adapted Therapeutic Exercises Assignment

Application of Adapted Therapeutic Exercises - Assignment Example Application of these exercises has not been an easy thing to do and especially in the beginning. It takes a lot of willpower to go through such an experience but the results are worth all the troubles, the pain and tears throughout the course of exercise. I have been able to gain physical ability and can be able to carry out my work effectively with little or no assistance at all. The exercise provides assistance and ability that was previously thought to never exist in me again due to my condition. I can now be able to not only assist myself with the chores but also assist others more easily and with less pain than before. Describe your thoughts, feelings and attitudes experienced by being intimately involved with the client population at the centre of achievement, and/ or anything else that profoundly impacted you as a result of the exercises The exercises changed my attitude and reaction towards people with disabilities. Previously, I considered all people with disabilities are invalids and outcasts of societies who cannot be able to do anything for themselves without any form of assistance. This has however changed after witnessing firsthand the miracles the adapted therapeutic exercises can do to people. I have witnessed people completely transform from dependants to being independent in just a couple of months and this has brought joy and hope to such a population. Interaction on a daily basis with this population has changed my thoughts about them having self-pity and lack of hope in their lives. I have learnt that not all people with disabilities are wallowing in hopelessness and having pity party, many have accepted their fate and on the road towards positivity in their lives and they have therefore taken the step by engaging in the adapted therapeutic exercise which is not only good for the body but for the mind as well and especially in accepting their condition. How has your experience as the centre of achievement impacted upon your perception of how accessible and/ or inaccessible your everyday environment and environmental conditions, in general, are for people with disabilities?     Ã‚  

Structure of the Hospitality Industry Assignment

Structure of the Hospitality Industry - Assignment Example Therefore, the responsibilities relating to the functional areas such as marketing, customer relationship management, HRD and finance in an undertaking need to be reoriented in tune with the global changes in the industry. The organizational structure of different organizations in the hospitality industry is based on the facilities available. However, the structure also varies with the star categorization of the luxury hotels, type of ownership like a partnership or limited company, the number of hotels in the group and affiliation with the international hotel chains. World Hotel Rating (WHR) project labels hotels by features such as family or child-friendly. Some hotels are operated on franchisee basis. The internal control systems in the case of firms with one or two hotels under the same management will be very simple. However, in the case of hotel chains or hotel groups with international operations, the systems would be very elaborate with risk management controls in place. Many small-sized organizations prefer Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) status with a view to avail tax benefits. As against flat structure noticed in small organizations, the chain of command, the delegation of responsibilities and authorities, hierarchical levels and managerial decision-making process in the case of hotel chains or groups consisting of several business activities considerably vary depending upon the size and diversity. The management structure is also influenced by the environmental factors relating to the businesses, categories of services offered and technology used. The industry covers a wide range of services such as tourism, theme parks, event management and tourism related services apart from lodging and catering. The organizational structure of a  company which provides various services has several divisions such as Hotel, Tourism, Theme Parks and Travel.   There are various departments within each division, for example, in the case of Hotel Division the departments include Housekeeping, Health &Sports, Restaurant, Room Service, Event Management and Front Office.   The departments such as Accounting, Advertisement & Media, Marketing, and HRD are common to all the divisions.  Ã‚  

Art Consumption in Ghana by African Americans Research Paper

Art Consumption in Ghana by African Americans - Research Paper Example The exploration of patterns of consumption is one which can lead those associated with the art of Ghana to have more connections for the indigenous expressions. Consumption of Art of Ghana The African art that is in various regions of the world is known to associate directly with the identity of culture and social status. The consumption which occurs with the Ghana art is one which directly links to the identity of the African culture. The exploration of this is based on a creation of African art that creates a direct link to the roots of African – Americans. The circuits that are known to identify through the art from Ghana directly associates with the anthropology of the region. Those that have the art are directly linking to a space of African art that links to the roots of culture and society. This is furthered with the understanding that the African – American link to Ghana is directly associated with the perception of art that is a part of the heritage of those in the United States (Stoller, 2003). Not only is the consumption based on the anthropological links to social and cultural identity. ... The art form of culture that is associated with this attracts African – Americans that recognize the philosophies and functions that are a part of the cultural ideologies. The consumption then becomes linked to a variety of dimensions, including the philosophical, traditional, cultural, social and belief systems that are a part of the heritage and roots of all Africans. It is noted that the continuous growth of consumption of art from Ghana is attributed to the link to the heritage of the area (Adjaye 2003). Growing Interest in Artifacts The basis of consumption that is associated with the culture of Ghana is one which is continuing to grow with the philosophies of African – Americans that link to this. The African – American identity is continuing to grow toward recognizing the beliefs and philosophies through the artwork, combined with the ideologies of meaning of culture. As the culture is emerged and recognized among African – Americans are other ideol ogies which attract individuals to the artwork. Many believe that by consuming more of the work, knowledge of the heritage and history is available. This combines with the information which is readily available about the indigenous cultures and which links to African - American heritage. As these links continue to emerge into society, a stronger sense of consumption emerges as a recognized identity from African – Americans. It is expected that the knowledge will allow the links to history to continue to build the amount of consumption by African – Americans (Rovine, 2001). The growing consumption is not only identified with more knowledge about the heritage and traditions that African – Americans claim as their own. There is also an

Take home exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Take home exam - Essay Example This is in contrast to their previous life where they were cosseted and cared for by their parents. They face the dilemma of struggling like other street children something that they were unaccustomed to previously. They face the dilemma of stealing as the rest of the street children or working for their survival. The children also face a dilemma when their aunt, who was helping in caring for their sister, who was a toddler, lives for Stockholm. They are left with the responsibility of being parents despite their ages. This results in the death of their sister due to a fever, since they were not able to purchase medicine. This shows the severity of their suffering since fever can easily be treated. Their quest for survival necessitates them to work for a prostitute, who gives them money for distributing her flier on cars around the city. The major dilemma that the characters face in the movie is when they meet their parent’s killer. They are face with the dilemma of seeking re tribution or forgiving the perpetrators. At first, we are made to believe that Gulistan wants to kill the perpetrator, but the situation plays out differently with the character choosing otherwise. The movie is tragic, and the death of the parents of these characters shatters their futures. They lose hope of achieving their dreams and are instead living only for survival. In the end, the characters are not able to solve the problems they face as orphans. Genre is a crucial element in films. Students study the genre theory in order to facilitate the student to categorize films. This is crucial for film student since they need to have in depth knowledge, in cinematography. The students will be able to critically analyze films and contextualize the content of the films. This is because they will look beyond the content of the film but will instead consider the other cover aspects of the film. They will also have a deeper understanding on the cultural aspect of

Homer - The Odyssey Essay Example for Free

Homer The Odyssey Essay It is surprising that Odysseus, a master of stratagems, can also be reckless and impulsive? Throughout the Epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus is determined to be a survivor and return to Ithaca with a status appropriate to his own sense of excellence. Odysseus is not going to make any suicidal heroic stands on the battle field and refuses to compromise a very narrow sense of integrity. On the contrary, he is ready to use any stratagem to get home. Odysseus lies, accepts insults, disguises himself, represses his emotions and even conceals his true identity in order to get through his journey. Odysseus is impulsive and reckless. The Epic, is only the story it is due to Odysseus being a character of impulse and recklessness. He creates opportunities for events and challenges and also the opportunity to return home as a heroic icon. Odysseus was surely a master of stratagems. Cunning, strong, skillful, courageous and patient. The King of Ithaca, leader of his people. He was both these things before he departed for Troy. Although he was a great king, admirable, and resourceful, at times Odysseus was also reckless and often acted impulsively. The roles of being a hero and a leader were always implied. In a search for glory and glamour Odysseus sought out danger, mocked death and ways prepared to accept an honorable death. He also risked the lives of his men. This was most evident in the Cyclopes saga, where Odysseus persisted in entering and remaining in the cave despite the pleas of his men to take what they could before the giant returned. He chose to be too greedy, because of his actions six of his men died. Odysseus could not resist the temptation of boasting to Polyohemus who had blinded the Cyclops, again despite the pleas of his men. Not knowing what he was playing around with, not just his life but the lives of his crew as any one of those boulders could have struck the vessels and destroyed the lot of them. Later, Eurylochus was to refer to this episode with the Cyclops when he virtually attempted suicide by resisting Odysseus plan to take the whole crew back to Circes palace. Why are you looking for trouble going to Circes palace, where she will turn you into pigs? We have had all this before, with the Cyclops, when our friends found their way into his fold with this foolhardy Odysseus. It was the mans reckless folly that cost them their lives(Homer 1991, book 10, line 430) There was a lack of trust between Odysseus and his crew at times. Odysseus lack of leadership and recklessness was clearly pointed out on the island of thrinacle. The crew broke their oath and disobeyed Odysseus commands about eating the cattle of Hyperion. This incident underlined their weaknesses and Odysseus iron will and self control-but also showed the limitations of his leadership. On the other hand, there is evidence of care and concern by Odysseus for his crew. He was a man of stratagems but at times acted purely on impulse which resulted in consequences that only made himself look reckless. A man who clearly had the ability to lead by example, as a king and military leader, he had the inspiration, confidence and loyalty. This is seen throughout the text many times. On his journey, though, circumstances were somewhat different, the individualism and egotism of the hero as well as his failure to communicate effectively on several occasions created distrust. A man of tremendous courage, although he made those impulsive decisions he did care for his crew. Without Odysseus being this character there would be no story, and The Epic probably would not exist today. This man was chosen to be a king and a leader of a crew for a reason. He may have gotten a little caught up in the glamour and glory at times, however he was appointed leader and king by the gods above. If the crew had been just as impulsive as their leader, and followed his commands then they to would have returned to Ithaca with their leader.

Essay on Renting Hearts Essay Example for Free

Essay on Renting Hearts Essay Science fiction is a genre, whose stories take place in an imaginary environment where science, and in particular the technological development has undergone more or less significant changes with effect on both society and individuals. Science fiction is based on more or less imaginative themes of science results and ways of looking. The topics are often about high tech future societies, space travels, time travels, creatures, end of world, different universes etc. [1] The short story takes place in the future where the technology has taken over, and where people can buy their happiness for money, and that human now just can go to a rental shop and get a new heart in order to avoid pain When you fall in love, often you will get or end up with a broken heart. It happens for almost every one, who gets in relations with other people. But in this short story, you can get out and rent a new heart, and meet other relations without having any fear of getting hurt. The short story is about a person that has been in love with a lot of people, and then tries to not getting hurt. When he/she is getting hurt by the relations she/he goes through, he/she keeps going to the â€Å"rental place†, every time he/she falls in love, so instead of dealing with some of the pain and letting it get worse, he/she just visit the rental place and rent a new heart. There is no information or any descriptions about the main characters sex, but I would say that it is a teenage boy because he does not appear to be dramatically, and does not describe the actions detailed, as a girl would do generally. The main character is a teenager, since a typical teenager would say â€Å"And our love was going to last forever, which at our age meant six months. † It starts with his first love with Jacob, where he was very much in love with him, and they were happy for each other. â€Å"†¦ first heart. Jacob was as solid and golden as a tilled field, and our love was going to last forever, which at our age meant six months. Every time Jacob touched me, I felt my heart thud wetly against my lungs. But in the last, Jacob left him which broke his heart. . A year later he meets Anna, who is a girl. She tells him to go and rent a heart so he may be able to fall in love, because he is afraid to fall in love, since his heart has been broken before. Renting hearts made him not to feel any pain again, because of this opportunity to rent a heart. Teenagers are often confused, and a lot of things don’t make sense, especially love and relations. They fall in love quickly, and as they fall in love, they can easily fall off again. Throughout the short story, he meets both men and women, which says that he is bisexual. It may also be quite normal in this society, in the future, where you in fact can simply buy a new heart, where it is possible to try anything without noticing any consequences, otherwise it may be because he is confused about his own sex and therefore he is trying to figure out his relations to both men and women. The main character seems to have it difficult to find a balance in his life, because he cannot live without being with a regular partner, or without having someone who loves him. He cannot even manage to break up with a partner, and naturally calm down, and it is pretty hard for him, where he will feel sorrow for a long time, which he cannot stand, and therefor has to switch his mechanic heart, to get in better conditions and save himself from the pain. Another problem with the main character is that he cannot incorporate his feelings, especially with regards to be an open person towards his relations properly. He fall in love, without looking for his partners criteria, and even don’t find out if the partner matches his expectations, but will instead end up in relation without any feelings and without any fear of falling in love and get hurt. I don’t think that he lives under a safe environment with values such as family, friends or work, or a stable structure. That is what I assume. He is actually locking himself out of the truth, and he knows that his actions are wrong, so he make himself renting hearts as a facade but is still feeling bad about his life because everyone who rent a heart will realize that pain isn’t just in the heart, but also in the mind, and it cannot be obviated.

Desirees Baby Analysis of Racism

Desirees Baby Analysis of Racism We live our life within the boundaries of our belief systems and moral guidelines we were raised with such as social classes and race .The story tells about love, slavery, and racism victimizes everybody without equivalent consequence. The story is heaped with ironies. The narrator uses symbolism and irony to convey the themes of half-blood, racial hatred, unequal gender roles, and social ladder. Irony and symbolism are also used to enhance the story, captivating the minds of the reader until the very end. Foreshadowing his belief that Desirees   ancestry is possibly African-American . As the child begin to get older her skin pigmentation darkens and Armand feels as the baby is not his child Monsieur Valmonde grew practical and wanted things well considered: that is, the girls obscure origin. Armand looked into her eyes and did not care. He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana? Armands makes you feel as since the child had African-American heritage he dont want any responsibility for the child be name after him . Desiree mother feels like there was a racial indifferences between the child and the parents after she took the child to the window to see if it was the lighting in the home . This is not the baby! she exclaimed, in startled tones. French was the language spoken at Valmonde in those days. This comparison between Desirees baby and Zandrine could be that she feels the they are both bi-racial. At this point Desirees notices the difference in her the baby herself, When the baby was about three months old, Desiree awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace. It was at first too subtle to grasp. It had only been a disquieting suggestion; an air of mystery among the blacks; unexpected visits from far-off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming. One of La Blanches little quadroon boyshalf naked toostood fanning the child slowly with a fan of peacock feathers. Desirees eyes had been fixed absently and sadly upon the baby, while she was striving to penetrate the threatening mist that she felt closing about her. She looked from her child to the boy who stood beside him, and back again; over and over. Ah! It was a cry that she could not help; which she was not conscious of having uttered. The blood turned like ice in her veins, and a clammy moisture gathered upon her face. She stayed motionless, with gaze riveted upon her child, and her face the picture of fright. She confronts her husband for understanding,   Ã‚  Ã‚   Armand, she panted once more, clutching his arm, look at our child. What does it mean? Tell me.   Ã‚  Ã‚   He coldly but gently loosened her fingers from about his arm and thrust the hand away from him. Tell me what it means! she cried despairingly.   Ã‚  Ã‚   It means, he answered lightly, that the child is not white; it means that you are not white. She questions what Armand says and provides evidence to the fact, It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand, you know they are gray. And my skin is fair, seizing his wrist. Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand, she laughed hysterically. Armand burns everything that belonged to Desiree and the baby in a huge bonfire. Perhaps as a ritual cleansing of the African American blood, that had tainted, LAbri, his sheltered place.   Some weeks later there was a curious scene enacted at LAbri. In the centre of the smoothly swept back yard was a great bonfire. Armand Aubigny sat in the wide hallway that commanded a view of the spectacle; and it was he who dealt out to a half dozen negroes the material which kept this fire ablaze. While gathering things for the fire he discovers a letter from his mother to his father revealing that it is he that definitely has the Negro blood; although Desirees parentage is unknown. The last thing to go was a tiny bundle of letters; innocent little scribblings that Desiree had sent to him during the days of their espousal. There was the remnant of one back in the drawer from which he took them. But it was not Desirees; it was part of an old letter from his mother to his father. He read it. She was thanking God for the blessing of her husbands love:   Ã‚  Ã‚   But above all, she wrote.   I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.

Good vs. Evil in John Steinbecks East of Eden :: East Eden Essays

Good vs. Evil in East of Eden "God saw that all he had created was very good. You are part of gods creation, and he is pleased with how he made you. If at times you feel worthless or of little value, remember that god made you for a good reason. You are valuable to him." ( Genesis 1:31) I believe that all things created are at first good. The Bible gives pages upon pages of quotes and stories on the battle of good versus evil, but in the story East of Eden we are given what might be the greatest question of it all, and that is if the main character Cathy a.k.a. Kate was born good or evil. Kate was born and brought up an only child. At first Kate was a normal child and no one thought anything of her. When she got a little bit older Kate began to do things other children wouldn't normally do. At one point she was caught in her Barn with two boys and her tied up. Her mother and father punished her for this and whipped her until she was good again. Kate was doing great things, she was doing things that made her look like a perfect child. One day though Kate made a plan to kill her parents by locking them in the house while she sets it on fire. Kate did this and immediately got out of town. This is when Kate made her and ended up with Adam Trask another main character. Adam fell in love with Kate and ended up marring her and moving into a ranch with her. Kate the whole time stayed silent and not very sociable. She became pregnant gave birth to twin boys. Right after the boys were born she went on a mad rampage and shot Adam in the shoulder and ran off to be a whore. She told Adam she was Evil and didn't want anything to do with him or the boys. Kate ran away to a whore house and there she tortured and blackmailed many important men in the community. These man could not stop coming back, as though she had some power over them. All the while Adam was home trying to deal with the heart break of Kate leaving and her almost killing him.

Death Essay -- essays research papers

Death is the termination of lie and its related clinical signs and has been defined in several ways. Death has various stages, signs, and actors affect it that has physiological and ethical responses. It is the nurse’s responsibility to facilitate coping to the dying and the family members, friends and significant other of that person dying.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death is defined in various ways such as Heart-Lung Death, Whole Brain Death and Higher Brain Death. Taylor, Lillis in her book states that Heart-Lung Death is : â€Å"The irreversible cessation of spontaneous respiration and circulation†, this definition emerged from the historical idea that the flow o body fluids was essential or lie. Whole Brain Death is defined as â€Å"The irreversible cessation o all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem†. Higher Brain Death is defined as â€Å"The irreversible loss of all ‘higher’ brain functions, of cognitive function and emerged from the belief that the brain is more important than the spinal cord and critical functions are the individuals personality, conscious life, uniqueness, capacity, judging, reasoning, acting, enjoying, and worrying†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The clinical signs of impending or approaching death includes the following: inability to swallow; pitting edema; decreased gastrointestinal and urinary tract activity; bowel and bladder incontinence; loss of motion, sensation, and reflexes; elevated temperature but cold or clammy skin; cyanosis; lowered blood pressure; and noisy or irregular respiration. The client may or may not loss consciousness. The indicators o imminent death is outlined by authors Black, Hawks and Keene states that, â€Å"Certain physical, cognitive, and behavioural changes occurs as a person enters the active dying process. The human body, like any other living organism, seeks survival; in doing so, it oten alters normal physiology. As the body begins to dieblood is commonly shunted to the brain and the heart, the two most common important organs. Thus, peripheral circulation is limited, leading to mottling of cyanosis. Because the kidneys are no longer perfused adequately, there is a dec rease in urine output. Slowly, all body systems become involved in the dying process. Tachycardia and diminished dodo pressure are observed in acute phase of decompensation of the cardiovascular system. The respiratory system... ... The middle-aged often become preoccupied with death as age approaches whereas older adults ear lingering, incapacitating illness and realizes the imminence e death. While the individual is suffering the primary loss, the family and/or significant other must deal with not only the individual reactions, but also with the current loss. The family con provide a support system for the way in which the individual may deal with the loss. They mutually share feelings and openly communicate both negative and positive emotions related to death. In contrast the family in some way is responsible for the death and may thus eel guilty. They may express feeling of anger, shame, overprotection, withdrawal, and identify with the loss or they may feel helpless or hopeless. In assessing the family reaction the nurse should identify the prior interaction style of the system†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although socio-economic status does not influence the degree of emotion experienced, the support system available to channel the emotions is affected. Financial resources – including insurance policies, pensions and saving may provide the dying individual with more options to deal with the death.

Analysis on Marx’s Historical Materialism Essay examples -- Political

As one of greatest figures in human history, Karl Marx introduced not only Communism but also historical materialism to us. According to historical materialism, the mode of production would determine and foster mankind’s ideas, values, and beliefs. Many opponents of Marx attacked his â€Å"impossible† Communism but neglected his contribution in defining the relationship among important production elements. This paper would explain the theme of historical materialism and probed the relationship between consciousness and mode of production. Then, this paper would analyze how division of labor affect mode of production and conclude that historical materialism was realistic and applicable. Marx defined historical materialism in the preface of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy that, â€Å"it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, on the contrary, their social existence that determines their consciousness.† In contrast to idealism, which prioritized the value of human ideas, historical materialism insisted that the existence of human kinds pushed the productions; and mode of production shaped human consciousness in return. The contradictory between Idealism and historical materialism lie between whether it was evolvement of consciousness steering for societal changes or the other way around. While choosing one of them as individual political philosophy, it was very similar of answering question, â€Å"which came first, chicken or egg?† Personally, I favor for historical materialism for â€Å"consciousness is determined by your beings† seems rational as well as logical. So what is consciousness? According to Marx, â€Å"Consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men is t... ... future stage would follow Marx’s blueprint or not. This beautiful image was worth of dreaming. Comparing with Idealism, which stressed the human ideas’ capabilities in shaping societies, I felt historical materialism was more realistic and applicable. Despite the communism’s unclear future, the equation between mode of production and consciousness (or ideas and values) was very understandable and logical. I was convinced by the theme of historical materialism, which was â€Å"life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life.† (Marx 155) Works Cited Brooks, Mick. "What Is Historical Materialism." Maxism. 14 Nov. 2002. Web. 25 May 2012. . Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. "The German Ideology." The Marx-Engels Reader. Ed. Robert C. Tucker. New York: Norton, 1978. 146-200. Print

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.