Gone In Thirty Seconds.
Gone In Thirty Seconds. One minute she was standing there, laughing, smiling, chatting, being her usual happy self. Then in thirty seconds it was over. There was the sound of screeching brakes, a cry of pain that words could not describe, a sickening thud. And then silence. A long mournful silence. Thirty seconds and it was all over. Laura was a bright, bubbly, happy 16 year old, maybe one of the happiest around. She had everything going for her. She did well at school, had the looks every girl wished for, a wide circle of friends and a boyfriend that thought the world of her. In thirty seconds she lost all of it. It was a couple of days after the GCSE results had come out. The holiday so far had been great, the weather had been constantly hot and sunny and Laura was living her life to the full. She was still taking in the feeling of freedom after the strain of the exams. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Laura, of course, had got straight As in her exams so it was time to celebrate her success and a new start at a new school for A levels. A big evening out had been arranged. Everyone met at Laura's house and danced around the room singing to Britney Spears whilst getting dressed up to hit the town. As the girls arrived the room filled with the chatter of exam results and the summer holiday. There was a strong feeling of relief in the air as
Laura Ashley Holdings plc - company overview
Laura Ashley Global organisation Laura Ashley Holdings plc has suffered differing fortunes since it was founded in the 1950s by Bernard and Laura Ashley. It has been involved in the designing, manufacturing, distribution and selling of garments, accessories, perfume, gift items, fabric, wallcoverings, bedding, lighting, and furniture. Famed for its floral prints, the chain was highly successful during the early and mid 1980s but things changed in the early 1990s when various management and structural problems as well as those relating to growth, distribution, and various external influences such as global recession surfaced Laura Ashley herself died in 1985. There is a notable difference in the organisation up to and after this year. Up to 1985, it was a simply structured, steadily expanding organisation operating in a non-complex environment (complexity arises when there are numerous complicated environmental influences [Johnson and Scholes, 1989]). In the months and years after, many changes took place. Laura Ashley went public in flotation, acquired other companies involved in areas such as knitwear and perfume, made heavier investments in manufacturing and information technology (IT), moved towards segmentation with Mother and Child shops, exclusively home furnishing shops and unit shops (franchise operations). The organisation moved gradually away from vertical
How far is it possible to feel sympathy for Laura and not Hedda?
Jasmine Seippel, IB06, English A1 Standard world literature essay How far is it possible to feel sympathy for Laura and not Hedda? Throughout both plays of "Hedda Gabler" and "The Father" one may feel that Laura and Hedda are both evil, manipulative characters, however in certain ways one may also sense that one character is seen to be more sinful than the other character. "The Father" is a play about relationships, between a married couple, between men and women and between father and daughter. The play is about a man who is manipulated by his own wife into convincing himself that he is mad and ends up being driven out of his own home by the suspicion that his daughter is not his own. "Hedda Gabler" is also a story about the relationship between married couples and lovers. Hedda is a bright and ambitious middle-aged woman. Hedda opts for a conventional marriage without any love involved. She marries with the idea that she will find complete fulfilment in her husband's career and finds out too late that this is unlikely to happen. "The Father" is regarded by some as a naturalistic play as it shows the audience how life truly is at some stages of life. The play also has allotted naturalistic features such as science and medicine, which are mentioned frequently throughout the play. This helps the audience to sympathise with the characters, in particular
The Glass Menagerie is described by its author as "a memory play" Discuss this view up to the arrival of the gentleman caller.
The Glass Menagerie is described by its author as "a memory play." Discuss this view up to the arrival of the gentleman caller. At the very beginning of The Glass Menagerie, the audience is immediately introduced to Tom as the narrator and how it is a memory play. Yes, I have tricks in my pocket; I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion. What is very unique about The Glass Menagerie is that the narrator (Tom) is also a character in the play and the playwright's voice. This emphasizes the fact that it is a memory play, because it is these very events that are memories and recollections of Williams. In his production notes, he talks of using stage to arrive at a "penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are" or things that he remembers of his past. Unlike a lot of traditional playwrights, Tennessee Williams is extremely specific in his stage directions, especially at the very beginning of the play. The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic licence. It omits and details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart. The interior is therefore rather dim and poetic. What is very peculiar about his stage
Drama and Theatre studies - The glass Menagerie - By T. Williams.
Year 12 assignment -Drama and Theatre studies. The glass Menagerie - By T. Williams. The glass menagerie is a play written by Tennessee Williams in the mid 1940's and is what many consider to be his best ever work. Like many of his plays, The Glass Menagerie is set in the south of Northern America and consists of five characters. The play is said to mirror Tennessee's life very closely as he was brought up with an overbearing mother, a disabled sister and devoid of a father figure in his life. The play shows the "Tom" character's struggle for independence and freedom from his current existence. The entire play is centred on two of the five characters, even though one of these characters, the gentleman caller, only arrives in the final scenes, and the father, who is illusive throughout the entire play but is mentioned and referred to throughout. For the performance piece, I played the character of Amanda, Tom's imperious mother. The scene that we performed was directly after a scene where Tom and Amanda had had a furious argument with Amanda and Tom both saying how they truly felt about how the other one treats and acts towards them. Our scene starts with lots of stage directions that truly build up the tension between Tom and Amanda that grows and grows with the silence and the physical distance between them, and is only broken by Tom breaking this strain of characters by
Examining the ways in which stage effects reflect the human emotions in Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie"
Melanie Parkes Examine the ways in which the various elements in this passage- the legends, the storm, the movement of the curtains, the sound effect of the murmur, the colours, and the thunder- create the atmosphere which underscores the emotions of the characters on stage. Throughout the Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses different techniques to help portray the individual emotions of the characters. Such devices as legends and sound effects build up to create what he called his plastic theatre, and this is evident in this passage from scene six. Williams purposefully portrays Laura as a weak and mild character and he uses her interaction with objects to depict this: "The kitchenette door is pushed weakly open and Laura comes in." The fact Williams uses the word 'weakly' shows that Laura is also weak herself, physically and mentally. If Williams wanted her character to be viewed as strong and confident he would have chosen a different adjective than 'weakly'. He later goes on to use the words 'trembling' and 'unsteadily' when referring to Laura's movement and physical aspects that further depict how he wishes her to be viewed as an unconfident person. Williams often uses screen legends to make the atmosphere of a specific scene more obvious to the audience: "Screen legend: 'Terror!'" Along with the legend 'Ah!' Williams lets the audience know what specific
"How does Tennessee Williams portray the theme of 'being trapped' in the opening three scenes of The Glass Menagerie?"
"How does Tennessee Williams portray the theme of 'being trapped' in the opening three scenes of The Glass Menagerie?" Entrapment is an important theme of The Glass Menagerie, the play is of Tom's memory living with his mother, Amanda, and sister, Laura, in 1930's America. These were not particularly happy times for many people due to the oppression. Tom, Laura and Amanda all appear trapped but not all by the same thing. Tom is trapped by the thought of his future and the present, Amanda is trapped in the past in the days she was a young girl and Laura us trapped in her own self-consciousness and lack of confidence. The Glass Menagerie is a memory play, so the characters are trapped within Tom's memory. Tom is showing the situation and personalities of his family, particularly his mother in ways that are emphasised in order to support his own feelings and justify why he left them. In the first scene Tom acknowledges this fact by saying 'it is sentimental, it is not realistic'. In Scene 1 Tom introduces himself and the play. First impressions of Amanda show her to be over motherly, she chides Tom for smoking too much and telling him 'chew your food'. Tom and Laura are not young, although they live with their mother they are old enough to know how to behave, Tom finds his mother's company hard to get along with. Amanda almost smothers her children, this pushes Tom
"Plays consist mostly of talking". In light of this statement consider the extent to which dialogue and monologue are used to advance the principle themes of the Glass menagerie.
THE GLASS MENAGERIE Essay Question: "Plays consist mostly of talking". In light of this statement consider the extent to which dialogue and monologue are used to advance the principle themes of the Glass menagerie. The Glass Menagerie, by playwright Tennessee Williams, uses dialogue and monologue, to develop the principle themes of the play. This is done to a certain extent and is not the only technique used. The use of imagery, contrast, and symbolism also establishes and develops the key themes of; the difficulty of accepting reality, fragility of life, escape and confinement, and the power of memory. The 'power of memory' is established at the start of the play through the monologue and inner thoughts of Tom, when he lights his cigarette and addresses the audience. The Glass Menagerie is a memory play; both its style and its content are shaped and inspired by memory. As tom states, "memory takes a lot of poetic license, and it omits details that are exaggerated". Thus, the play is drawn from a realistic experience and does not need to have conventions of realism in order for it to sound real. The story that the play tells is told because of the unforgiving grip it has on the narrator's
Laura almost always responds to the words and actions of others rather than initiating anything herself. Do you agree with this view of Laura?
Laura almost always responds to the words and actions of others rather than initiating anything herself. Do you agree with this view of Laura? Laura is a unique and fragile character, she is happy to live within her own environment but is immediately threatened by the outside world. Laura feels safest when she is isolated from the rest of the world, the apartment is not so much a prison but a refuge. However, despite feeling safest here Laura is still reserved in comparison to her brother and mother. Laura is forced to do things that she does not want to by her mother and usually doesn't speak until spoken too. It is easy to forget the Laura is there while reading the play as she is so quiet, it is possible that Laura's actions on stage are an important part of the play as she is so quiet. As Laura is such a quiet character she is unable to cope with conflict between her mother, Amanda and her brother, Tom. In scene one, page four, Laura is forced to attempt to change the conversation to avoid the bickering atmosphere, Laura rises saying 'I'll get the blancmange.' Until this point Laura sits quietly at the table. It could be considered that Laura initiates the change in conversation from Tom's smoking habits, allowing Amanda to repeat the story about her gentleman callers, however Laura only mentions getting the food as a result of her unease at the arguing and
A director of The Glass Menagerie has written that “all four of the play’s characters invite compassion and sympathy from the audience” - To what extent do you agree with this opinion?
A director of The Glass Menagerie has written that "all four of the play's characters invite compassion and sympathy from the audience". To what extent do you agree with this opinion? 9/3/03 All four characters of The Glass Menagerie play do evoke feelings of both sympathy and compassion from the audience, however, the degree of these feelings are tempered by the way each of these characters act and how they treat each other in the play. It is also important to mention the significance of that this view is from the director's perspective and so the way this person views and reacts to the play are going to be different from, for example, an actor in the play who actually experiences the situation each character is in when performing their role. Jim evokes feelings of sympathy and compassion from the audience by the way in which he constantly reminisces about his past in order it seems to comfort him about his depressing and disappointing present. "It said I was bound to succeed in anything I went into!" This evokes feelings of sympathy from the audience because it is clear that after such as a promising future Jim has failed to achieve what he hoped to become and so his potential and talent have gone to waste as he as only managed to find an unfulfilling job in a warehouse factory. This also