"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong". Is Biff's valedictory opinion of his father Willy's life correct in your view?

"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong". Is Biff's valedictory opinion of his father Willy's life correct in your view? In this essay I will consider the above statement and go through all the points of question related to it. I will then make an informed decision in the conclusion, as to whether or not I regard the statement as correct. To begin with it is important that we consider the relationship between Biff and his father, Willy. Both Willy's dreaming and his cruelty suggest that Willy lives in a world of his own. He seems to have unrealistic dreams of his own and his family's importance and in Biffs case he is puzzled as to why Biff is working on a farm and this leads to a great deal of conflict. Willy's views are liable to sudden change. One minute he says that Biff is 'a lazy bum' and then he says that he 'is not lazy'. It is clear that Biff is sensitive and caring and loves his family deeply, but at the end all he can do is to be cruel and force everyone to face the truth. This is why he reveals that he has been to prison for theft. Biff goes on to try and make Willy face reality in his terms. At one point he states quite clearly that it was his father who 'blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody' .It is the devastating statement that Biff and Willy are both 'a dime a dozen' or very ordinary, that shatters Willy's dreams. In

  • Word count: 1624
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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"Is the pursuit of Knowledge worthwhile?"

"Is the pursuit of Knowledge worthwhile?" Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study, the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned, Carnal knowledge. All three of these definitions are correct in defining "Knowledge." But the question still remains, is the pursuit of Knowledge worthwhile? There is a difference in having previous knowledge of something rather than pursuing it. The pursuit of knowledge is not worthwhile because it leads to corruption and useless information being processed. What would you call someone with no pursuit of knowledge? An ignorant person, or a person oblivious to the world? As any old Taoist walking out of the woods can tell you, simple-minded does not necessarily mean stupid. It's rather significant that the Taoist ideal is that of the still, calm, reflecting, "mirror-mind" of the Uncarved Block. An "Uncarved Block" is the ability to enjoy the simplicity of life and not to have to worry about the pursuit of Knowledge or why the world exists. The Uncarved Block allows people to free their minds from the worries of the common person. Instead of questioning things, they just accept and embrace them as they are and learn to deal with them, or in other circumstances enjoy them and love them. From the stage of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and

  • Word count: 517
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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In what way was the stimulus material developed though the drama process?

After getting a general understanding into Edward Hopper as a person I began to look into his paintings for ideas and inspiration. This became rather an enjoyable experience and each painting came up with the theme of 'loneliness'. I decided to use the location and content of each painting to create a spider diagram, and then develop the ideas from there, where I narrowed 5 ideas down to one. The painting titled Nighthawk seen below, created1942 is said to be regarded as one of his most definitive pieces of work. Upon looking at the picture for the first time I was taken back his ability to separate the café from the street behind using light. This for me created a microcosm of society highlighting everyone as an individual with there own problems. Upon studying this piece further each individual seem to be lost and a million miles away from each other, rather than on the next bar stool, but at the same time make them dependant of each other. When put into groups we each put forward our idea and stimulus, then choose the idea as group we wanted to go ahead with and develop. The group decided to use the idea and stimulus I gave. The initial idea I put forward was the picture and spider diagram, and the idea I had of a barmen who suffered from loneliness. As a group we developed the stimulus by creating short pieces to show the change in cultural fashions and beliefs from

  • Word count: 995
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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The Response Phase - How a class responded to the words - Fatal Shore

The Response Phase Fatal Shore The play of 'The Fatal Shore' was introduced to us with just the word put up onto an overhead projector. The class brainstormed their ideas of what they thought this meant, people came up with words such as death, sea, and sand, this was effective as it brought our imaginations into the work and everybody got a chance to listen to other people and adapt on their own ideas. When we had all thought up our ideas we were told what 'Fatal Shore' was actually all about, that it was brought about in Georgian England and that criminals were transported to spend the duration of their punishment away from England. We were given an example of a man, aged 20 years, who had stolen a silk bonnet and other goods, for this, his sentence was either hanging or transportation for 7 years. This was shocking to the class and it stuck in our minds, one pupil said that they couldn't believe they got sent away, for so long, for committing such minor crimes. We then got into small groups and each one was given a title to look at. The titles were: - Punishment, The Loneliness of Man, The voyage and Fatal shore. With these we had to use imagery, and interpret what we thought the title meant in a few still images. This was effective because we all worked well as groups and it gave us a better understanding of what went on, on the ship. We used a warm up exercise called

  • Word count: 1145
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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blood brother evaluation

Year 10 GCSE Drama Evaluation My group- Daniel, Carlos Alexandra (Sammy/Eddy) (Mickey) (Linda) The piece was structured with good use of; positioning, accents and off-text work. We really brought the characters to life by using costume and movement that would represent a seven year old child. The accents were as good as someone from Liverpool so that was a big plus to the overall performance. The Johnston's were a poor family and the costume showed the audience the contrast in class. Mickey, Linda and Sammy didn't wear anything fancy in the performance. WE grabbed the audience's attention with humour but we also highlighted more serious aspects as well such as Sammy bullying Mickey and Linda showing her initial dislike to Eddy. Our use of off-text work was effective because we said things that we felt a seven year old child would say that was not in the script. Like when Linda and Mickey explain to Eddy the time that they got caught by a police man. Eddy shoed them his delight which Linda thought was strange so she said to Mickey. 'Your friends a right weirdo'! Then Mickey stood up for him and said. 'Oh leave him alone'. We also used a dramatic pause after Mickey swore at Sammy. We planned our audience to react in a few ways. For example when Mickey swore at Sammy we expected our audience to be surprised. We wanted them to be sympathetic towards

  • Word count: 511
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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'Night in the country'.

'Night in the country' If you would stay over night in the country, and are a city dweller you would probably be stunned with the silence. In the country there are hardly any lights, except near the towns and even those are few. The country life is all drawn out and easygoing. There are lots of things that could happen in the country. There could be a forest fire or a building fire, which would light up the night sky and break the stillness and peacefulness that reigns in the countryside in the night. In the countryside you would expect an easygoing day, but lots of shocking things could happen that you wouldn't expect to happen in an urban lifestyle. A robbery could take place, and you wouldn't expect that to happen in the country. So don't be fooled by people that haven't even been to the country or haven't stayed in the villages overnight. It's not just things to do with humans; it could also be between animals. For example an ox could suddenly gore a cow or even a human (if it has been angered enough.) A night in the country can be mysterious, frightening, haunting and alarming. If one is unadjusted to the long wide fields, and the dark threatening forests, the country can indeed be terrifying. Every crack of a twig could be a bear, every hoot a ghost, and every rustle a man at your back with a knife. Of course these feelings are fictitious, and generally untrue, but

  • Word count: 1148
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Drama Coursework - The Interrogation

DRAMA COURSEWORK THE INTERROGATION We worked in a variety of groups to build the context of the drama through improvisation. The theme of the project was being trapped or alone in isolation and as students, we had to unravel the plot. We used skills such as monologues, freeze frames, flash-forwards and flashbacks, and non-naturalism to explore the background and future of the central character. The drama teacher went into role as a prisoner and performed a monologue. The prisoner had been locked in a room, they could see a one way mirror, and a camera and they were in a straightjacket. They were scared and aggressive this was shown by a wide eyed look and tense body language. This made the audience want to know why the person was there, what would happen to them, what was the photo and why was it important, and who was watching them? It made me feel curious and intrigued, as it appeared that the prisoner was being kept alone in a room without anything happening to them yet still being watched. I also wanted to know what the photo was. When we reran the monologue in groups we had to make certain decisions about the prisoner that would affect the running of the story. We decided that the prisoner was being held against his will in a military testing base. Before being taken there, he was being held on a life sentence at a maximum-security prison after being

  • Word count: 769
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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"Blood Wedding" By Federico Garcia Lorca.

EXPLORATORY NOTES "Blood Wedding" By Federico Garcia Lorca Plot and Sub-Plot From the surface the plot of Blood Wedding is a very simple one. The Bridegroom is to be married to the Bride. The Bridegrooms mother initially expresses doubts having lost both her Husband and one son to an ongoing feud with the Felix family. However, Leonardo, a member of the Felix family and old time love of the Bride's, begins to re-find his feelings. Having married and fathered a son since breaking up with the Bride, his position is difficult to say the least. On the day of the wedding of the Bride and Bridegroom, Leonardo arrives early and explains his feelings to the Bride, that she only left him because he was poor. She vehemently denies this, but nothing can dull their passions for one another. However, as she explains "I'll shut myself away with my husband, and I'll love him above everything." The wedding goes ahead. However, at the party after the wedding the Bride and Leonardo run away together. Once discovered the Bridegroom sets off in pursuit of them. The Bride and Leonardo escape to the forest, being hunted by the Bridegroom, aided by the Moon. Leonardo tries to tell the bride to return to the Bridegroom, but their love is too strong. The Bridegroom finds them and both himself and Leonardo are killed. (Indeed the play, had it been written by a more liberal Shakespeare may

  • Word count: 1942
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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"Explain the meaning of authority in relation to the public services"Authority:This can be defined as the power or right to give orders or make decisions an example of this being used is

Task 6: "Explain the meaning of authority in relation to the public services" Authority: This can be defined as the power or right to give orders or make decisions an example of this being used is "he has the authority to issue warrants". Authority is what maintains discipline; it enforces rules and regulations (helps to maintain it). Authority can come from one person or a group of people. Authority can have different meanings depending on the context in which it's used in, it can mean: ? When somebody's opinions is accepted because they have better knowledge on the subject area ? The right to enforce obedience on others ? Or when a person in authority passes power onto another person, then people follow the commands given. How I would personally define authority: I would personally define authority as the quality that allows you to hand out orders and have people followed them due to the respect they have towards you. Authority in the public services: It is vital that authority within the public services in maintained. Police Complaints authority: There is a commission in charge of complaints made about any of the 43 Police forces in England and Wales. This is knows as the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), this is an independent commission, it was setup by the government back in 1985, The PCA doesn't only investigate complaints about the police force it also

  • Word count: 2217
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Tom Stoppard's play The Real Inspector Hound - Plot and subplot

Plot and subplot The play opens with two critics called "Moon" and "Birdboot". We can see a dead body on the main stage. Moon and Birdboot are having a conversation about another Critic called "Higgs", and how "Moon" is the stand in for Higgs and is never taken seriously. Also they are talking about how "Birdboot" has taken one of the actresses out the night before the date and how "Birdboot" is getting at angry at "Moon" as he has a wife and he wouldn't possibly do anything to in danger that marriage he is obviously lying, or bending the truth. Then A Character called Mrs Drudge who is the "Helper" at the Manor. At first she is just cleaning around the stage and she does notice the dead body behind the chaise longue. Whilst cleaning she moves the Chaise longue so that they dead body can no longer be seen. Then she heads straight for the radio and turns it on just in time to hear a "special police message." Within in that we find out that there is a madman on the run in Essex near where Muldoon Manor is. Within in the message a strange man who is acting very suspiciously and matching the description of the madman on the Radio. He also doesn't see the dead body. He leaves the room without Mrs Drudge ever knowing that he was there. Then we return to "Moon" and "Birdboot" who carries on the conversation that "Birdboot" is an adulteress and is having "a romance" by the

  • Word count: 2105
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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