Death of a Salesman Act One Plot Overview

Death of a Salesman Act One Plot Overview The setting takes place in Willy Loman's house and yard and in various places he visits in the New York and Boston of today A melody is heard, played upon a flute Willy Loman a sixty year old salesman returns to his home in Brooklyn on night, exhausted from a sales trip. Linda, his wife tries to convict him to ask his boss, Howard Wagner, to let him work in New York so he wouldn't have to travel. Willy says he'll talk to Howard Wagner the next day. Willy tries to show Biff, his older son, the excellence in the business world. Willy talks to himself in the kitchen, while Biff and his youngest son, Happy who is also visiting. They were talking about their father babbling which include criticism of Biff's failure to live up to Willy's expectation. Willy becomes submerge in a daydream. Him and his son, now younger, who are washing his car. They communicate with their father, who has just returned from a business trip. Willy tells Biff and Happy that he is going to open his own business one day, bigger than the one owned by his neighbor, Charley. A younger Linda enters, and the boys leave to do some chores. Willy complains that he won't be able to make all of the payments on their appliances and car. He complains that people don't like him and that he's not good at his job. He approaches The Woman, who is still laughing, and busy

  • Word count: 537
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Essai litteraire

Grete is a significant character in this chapter because of her role in the death of Gregor. In the chapter before, she was given the power to take care of her brother, to the point that she used this power to the extent and decided everything for him. Progressively, Grete begins to neglect him, act against him and she showed less consideration for his feelings as a part of the family. This begins when the father comes home after Gregor has scared his mother and Grete doesn't try to defend him. Grete continuously views Gregor as more of a creature than a human until she referred to him as "it" and, finally, wonders whether the insect really is Gregor. Grete's betrayal of her brother is final and absolute. At the end, readers are faced with Grete's speech that is considered a climax of the novel. The metamorphosis comes here to an end because Grete gave up on the humanity in Gregor. "We must try to get rid of it" p.49, she realizes that Gregor is the problem and has to be gotten rid of. Grete condemns Gregor to death when she locks him into his `````````feelings for his family: "He thought of his family with tenderness and love. Grete's betrayal was just one more emotional shock Gregor had to face. At this point, Gregor experiences death as he was no longer finding the humanity in him that his sister somehow helped him find. Gregor's death represents the final image of "The

  • Word count: 645
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Augusto Boal and Jacques LeCoq have both had significant impact on theatre, and their philosophies and practical training have allowed their actors to be wellequipped for production.

Augusto Boal and Jacques LeCoq have both had significant impact on theatre, and their philosophies and practical training have allowed their actors to be well-equipped for production. The philosophy of Boal, that anyone can act, and using theatre as a tool of political activism, and the philosophy of LeCoq, on bringing back the emphasis on the body and movement in theatre have ended in different outcomes, yet both their philosophies were realised in production. Augusto Boal wished to use theatre as a mechanism for changing society. He wished to make people aware of the oppression occurring in brazil, and challenge people to make a change. He believed that anyone can act, and in order to do this he put his actors through a training regime of ‘de-mechanisation’ of the body – removing habitual movements in order to react to circumstance and interaction in a real way. One of the exercises used as a means to achieve this was the spinning disk, whereby two people walk into the circle and must ‘balance’ the spinning disk by matching movements. We did this exercise in class, and it was helpful in allowing focus to be fully on the person in front of you, allowing movements to be uninhibited. Boal’s philosophy and practical training, including de-mechanisation, sensory, muscular and memory exercises, are necessary for the kind of theatre he wished to create, and are seen

  • Word count: 794
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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A comparison of Brian Friels Philadelphia, Here I Come & Arthur Millers A View From the Bridge

Hugh Burgess 5RY 7/5/2012 A comparison of Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come & Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge Both Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come, and Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge bear a resemblance to each other as plays, particularly in certain areas. For example, both plays are set at a similar time, in similarly isolated, and to a certain extent impoverished setting. Dramatic tension is used to great effect in both plays, to hold the audiences attention. The key moment, or climax also plays an integral role in both plays, and in both instances, these moments ultimately determine how the play is resolved. Also, stage directions in both plays are very similarly structured, as both Miller & Friel use very specific and intricate stage directions. Philadelphia, Here I Come is set in Ballybeg, a small town in Donegal, in the heart of rural Ireland. It is a quintessential small town community, very close, introverted with an air of inescapable predestination. A View From the Bridge is set in Red hook, Brooklyn, a tough impoverished area of New York, home to immigrants and the masculine culture of the longshoremen. Red hook is similar to Ballybeg in the sense that it too appears to have sense of inescapability and a predestined future, which is due to the poverty within Red hook. Both settings inspire dreams of escape in the play the

  • Word count: 837
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Theatre Analysis. In this excerpt of his book True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor David Mamet is discussing the importance of habitual behavior in relation to success in theatre

Sophie Karbjinski Response to 01.09.201 Theatre – HL “Habit” – David Mamet Wordcount: 467 In this excerpt of his book “True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor” David Mamet is discussing the importance of habitual behavior in relation to success in theatre and our daily lives. In my opinion, he does this in a very mechanical kind of way, matching certain places (e.g. “rehearsal”, “home” and “the stage”) with certain activities (e.g. “work”, “reflection” and “action”). This might work as a technique of creating places of concentration and inspiration for some people, but will definitely not work for everyone; therefore Mamet shouldn’t be stating it as a generally applicable formula for successful acting and theatre. Another deficiency of his theory is that he solely takes into account the technical part of theatre, giving immense importance to qualities such as bounteous punctuality and knowing your lines by heart. I do believe in the importance of these practices, seeing as they support the development of meaningful theatre, but by no means are they responsible for its creation. Being on time and knowing your lines will create space and time for you to settle in, calm down,

  • Word count: 631
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Acting Styles in 'Ruby Moon'.

Assignment: Research Investigation (Ruby Moon) How do acting styles impact the communication of the playwright’s true intentions? Introduction: Playwright Matt Cameron has devised various performance style aspects within the play Ruby Moon. These different acting styles allow Matt Cameron to convey his true intentions. Matt Cameron focuses on the theme of Tragedy. Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude. The tragedy is presented in the form of action, not narrative, as Matt Cameron has depicted. Ruby Moon arouses pity and fear in the audience as it witnesses the action. It allows for an arousal of this pity and fear and creates an affect of purgation or catharsis of these strong emotions by the audience. The tragedy shown in Ruby Moon is serious, the various dark themes deals with profound problems. These problems are universal when applied to the human experience. In Ruby Moon there is an element of inevitability in the tragedy. There must be a cause and effect relationship from the beginning though the middle to the end. Through acting styles this is shown in the development of Ray and Sylvie. Though this is Absurdist Theater, a logical outcome is not necessary. As the audience we believe the conflict will be resolved through the final stages of grieving. The tragedy involves the audience in the action. In a sense we

  • Word count: 1941
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Comparing "Romeo and Juliet" and "Macbeth".

DA1118 STAGING POSTS (2010-2011) ASSESSMENT: Essay For this essay I decided to select one the most famous writers in the world, Shakespeare, and two of his best-known plays, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Around 1590 he started to work as a play-wright in London. Shakespeare then become one of the most famous writers in England and in part of the world. During his career he lived to reigns the one of Elizabeth I and James I (Enotes, 2011. Shakespeares biography.[online] Available at: http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-biography [Access on 18 may 2011] ). The two plays were written practically at the same period of time Romeo and Juliet was said to be written in 1954 the year in which King Henry the IV was crowned in France. While Macbeth was written and played for the first time in 1606 the year in which England, country in which Shakespeare lived in, agreed in adopting the Union Jack as its flag (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/romeoandjuliet/ [Access on 18 May 2011]). Macbeth as I said wrote before was written in 1606, practically at the start of James I reign. James I was a supporter of Shakespeare's acting company and the story of Macbeth reflects the relationship the two had. He reflects the good kingship of James and the way he was bust developing England (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/macbeth/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).

  • Word count: 1200
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Research Investigation: commedia dell'arte masks. It is believed that the use of mask in commedia dell'atre originated in 1570 with Andrea Calmo, the actor and author who was inspired by the Venetian carnivals of the time.

Theatre IB: research investigation: Oonagh English Commedia dell'arte Masks According to italian theatre historians, such as Roberto Tessari, Ferdinando Taviani, and Luciano Pinto, Commedia dell'arte, which literally translated as improvised comedy, developed as a response to the political and economic crisis of the 16th century in Italy and, as a consequence, became the first entirely professional form of theatre [1]. It is believed that the use of mask in commedia dell'atre originated in 1570 with Andrea Calmo, the actor and author who was inspired by the venetian carnivals of the time. She created Pantaloon who is the one of the most famous characters of commedia dell'arte today. She went on to create the spanish captain 'Il Capitano'. Although her characters were initially unmasked, Andrea wished that the spirit of the Italian carnival ( which celebrates the epiphany [2] ) would be represented in her plays and therefore she introduced the masks and thus created the commedia dell'arte that we know today. [3] The carnival of venice. [1] Records of commedia dell'arte performances date back as early as 1551, where they were acted by professionals outside on temporary stages with costumes and masks. But as it was so popular with the nobles, many performances were also done indoors at court for

  • Word count: 1184
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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Teen angst monologue

I don't get it, why is it when you become a teenager everything gets so complicated and baffling? I mean, why are we supposed to know how to wear make up, get on diets, wear tight clothing, control our "calorie intake" and the list goes on and on and on. Is there some unwritten law that when you become a teenager you move into the realm of insanity? Well it's as if I'm on one crazy roller coaster ride that's taking forever to end. Think about it... You're supposed to "party" in order to be cool, listen to songs with lyrics filled with one word repeated over and over again like the "baby baby baby" song and what's with Kesha, no one wakes up in the morning and feel like p' diddy and you definitely don't brush your teeth with some jack daniels. Hold on, jack daniel's is a person right? Huh? (break) Hang on let me google it. Oh jack daniel's is brand of some hard liquor. How can you feel like a g6? Ugh and things don't stop there, I'm supposed to wash my face BEFORE I exercise to prevent build-up. No, I'm supposed to wash my face AFTER I exercise to prevent break-outs. I'm NOT SUPPOSED to eat chocolate because it causes pimples. Wait, I'm SUPPOSED to eat chocolate before I take a test, because it's great, "brain food." Scratch that, I guess dark chocolate is an exception. Then again, I'm SUPPOSED to have lots of foods hat are rich in iron to help my circulation. Hold on, now,

  • Word count: 544
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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one woman show

A bibliography history of Empress Wu Empress Wu Zetian Tang Dynasty China (625-705AD) Only woman to be emperor of China History is full of women who stepped outside of the box. The box is full of tradition and expectations of behavior of women. Empress Wu is such a woman. Wu Zhao, also known as Wu Zetian or Empress Wu, was born in 625 A.D. She is the daughter of an influential noble at that time. She was taught reading, writing and dancing at an early age. At the age of 14, because of her beauty and intelligence, she was chosen to serve the Emperor Taizong as a concubine. Life in the palace was not easy as it should have been. Many people may think that the concubines lived in relative peace, because they had everything they wanted. However, this was not the case. It is a fact, that to be able to survive in the palace, one must obtain power. Every concubine tried their best and used many kinds of methods to gain as much power as possible. So did Wu. She was always looking for a way to impress the emperor and draw attention to herself. She would stop at nothing to gain power. At the age of 26, she became the head of the hundreds of concubines. But her goal was to be the empress. At that time, she had birthed a baby girl, suddenly, an idea came to her. She decided to kill her own child to make it appear that someone had done it. Then she ran to the emperor

  • Word count: 1408
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Drama
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