Author: joseb

Stimulus:

“7 Years Old”
Once I was seven years old, my mama told me,

“Go make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely.”

In both ‘Macbeth’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’ the protagonists both show extreme emotions throughout both, the play and the novel. Throughout both stories the protagonists show a variation of extreme emotions as they are going through positive and/or negative changes due to manipulation or being presented their futures (eg. Macbeth being referred to as the Thane of Cawdor by the witches and Scrooge being presented with the sight of his funeral where nobody turns up)

Act 1, Scene 3, Macbeth shows he is confused because the witches have given him the title of ‘Thane of Cawdor’ but he is only the ‘Thane of Glamis’. He shows interest through the way he asked to know more about what the witches were saying, he states “Stay, you imperfect speakers”, this shows interest and also suggest he wants to know more about what the witches are telling him, he also shows excitement which is portrayed by his interest, almost as if he is giving himself in to their manipulation even though he is yet seen as ‘hero’ as well as an honourable man by others in the play . This section was taken from, Chapter 1 (Marley)Page 8, Scrooge starts off by saying “I wish to be left alone” this shows that he is an anti-social person. He shows extreme hate when he says, “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, to decrease the surplus population.” this shows he is cold hearted and cares nothing about others which shows he only cares about his money and his health, he says he would rather poor people die so there are less people in need of jobs, food, money and care which means more for him. Both protagonists are on completely different mindsets at this point of both the novel and the play, one being a cold hearted and evil man (Scrooge) and the other being an honourable and respectful man (Macbeth). Macbeth gives us the impression as if he were going to change due to his reaction towards what the witches tell him. Shakespeare has done this to create a sense that something is going to go wrong, to show us that power can cause greed and selflessness, this relates to how Dickens describes the Scrooge, as he already has power as well money, because of this he cares nothing about others and does not even aim to help anyone in need, Scrooge’s character hugely relates to the era in which he live in, where the poor were seen better if they were dead.

Macbeth feels pressure as he imagines a dagger in front of him before he kills Duncan, he states “Come, let me clutch thee.” this shows that he gives himself over to the pressure and manipulation created by his wife and his ambitions to be king, this gives us the impression as if he is forced to grab the dagger and kill King Duncan when really it is just a picture that has been painted in his head by other people. Scrooge shows a sense of weakness and fright as he shouts “But don’t be hard upon me! Don’t be flowery, Jacob! Pray!” at the ghost, this shows that as well as selfless and cold hearted he can be broken down and made to beg for his well being showing an enormous amount of sorrow when he is put in the situation of the people he said should die if they needed to. Both protagonists are being presented with ghost like imaginated figures, things that only they can see, this is essential to the emotions they present towards their character, this sparks a sense of change in the protagonists for the good and one taking a turn for the worse, this shows that pressure and/or fright can affect a persons attitude towards human beings. Shakespeare has used Macbeths imagination to show what emotions Macbeth feels and how they are affecting him mentally, on the other hand Dickens presents Scrooge with a ghost to break his sour and evil character to show his true emotions and fears, these relate to eachother as both the protagonists are presented with figures that defy the laws of science.

“Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.” says Macbeth, at this stage of play Macbeth has turned heartless and weak when presented with power because of his ambition to be king, he shows that he is capable of killing anyone even his own best friend to achieve this as well as going that step further to kill the son of Banquo (his best friend), who was the only witness at the scene. He also explains it as “Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!” this gives me the image that all the pressure from his wife, his urge for power and his goal to be what the witches said, is like having scorpions attacking his brain from all different directions causing confusion and breakdowns. Scrooge is ‘shuddering from head to foot.’ this implies that Scrooge is being affected physically as well as mentally by the apparitions of the ghosts now, he then leads on to say “The case of this unhappy man might be my own.” he here finally admits and realises that he is a self-centred and evil and gives indications that he is going to change for the better. At this point in both the play and the story both protagonists come into realisation of what is going on in their minds and what is going on around them. Macbeth shows that he has realised what he has done to be where he is, but is still oblivious to the fact that he is doing it because of greed and manipulation. On the other hand Scrooge comes to realise that he is greedy and self-centred this is a major turning point in his character and emotions towards people in need.

“Life is nothing more than an illusion” says Macbeth, this shows us that he has given up and that he has seen life fly by as if it were an ‘illusion’, he then states “It’s like a poor actor who struts and worries for his hour on the stage has come to an end and then is never heard from again.” this shows that he sees what awaits him, he sees that his time has come to die after everything he has done, he shows sorrow as well as arrogance as he then makes the decision to fight against the mob the seeks to kill him for what he has done. On the other hand, Scrooge has completely changed his mindset as he has come to realise that he must enjoy what and who he has in the short time he has before his time ends, this shows that his encounters with what is presently going on around him and with what awaits him has emotionally changed him for the better as his attitude towards christmas and everyone around him changes. Scrooge shows that he has changed the way he treats people as he says “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow,” this shows that he has learnt from the his encounters and shows extreme love and consideration for what he has. Shakespreare portrays Macbeth as an oblivious character that does not realise that he has been manipulated throughout the play and does still not comprehend that what he is doing is not what he really wants, it’s what his mind desires and what his wife has made him believe, on the other hand towards the end of the novel Dickens portrays Scrooge as a man who may have a hard shell, but once cracked he is a soft caring and loving man who sees the world for what it is and not for what he wants it to be. These link as both characters have come in to realisation of what power, money and greed can/has done to them and how they have change because of what they have been present with throughout both the novel and the play.

Throughout both the play and the novel characters show extremely strong emotions towards the things they are presented with, which vary between hatred, greed and fright, as well as their personal beliefs which change towards the end of both the stories. Towards the beginning of both, the protagonists show strong emotions and characteristics towards their beliefs, as both progress, they are presented with situations that change their opinions of their beliefs which cause there to be a drastic change of emotions towards everything they have. In the end of both, the protagonists show completely mindsets compared to where they started, where our image of them was completely different to the one we have now.

Oh! What a Lovely War

WW1 was a war which many know it as where “Lions were led by Donkeys”. Propaganda was an essential way the government got men to enlist, propaganda was just full of lies and ways of deceiving people out of there money and telling them to donate their savings to supposedly give the soldiers better living conditions when in reality the were just buying more weapons and paying for more propaganda. Most of the time men went in blindly with just little information given by the government which comes back to the point “Lions led by Donkeys”.

The image above shows a letter written by a soldier to a loved one, this could represent possibly the last time said loved one could have received a letter from the soldier. this letter could be used as a stimuli to represent how propaganda about WW1 was all fake and how life in the army was not the ideal life.

MAIN IDEA: The main idea of our final performed piece is to get the message across that the propaganda and the generals depicted war as a privilege and said that you were likely not to die and would come home safe when in the reality of things being part of the army was the worst thing due to the conditions. For example the trenches were of poor conditions, they stank of dead bodies, they were muddy and infested with rats as well as causing trench foot which made matters worse when it came to fighting. Being a part of the army also came with the terrible treatment the soldiers got from the generals and/or commanders. To present these facts we are using the protagonist to write a letter to a family member describing all the negatives of war and how propaganda was all a lie.

CHARACTERS:

Present: Jose (narrator & present protagonist) – my job is to act as if I was just told to go over the top (leave the trench and enter no mans land) and to start writing a letter to my mother describing how I feel and start talking about my past (acted out by Karver followed by a soliloquy/ spoken thought) i then resume talking about how I miss my past and how I miss wanting to be a hero, I then changed drastically to talking about where I am going to end up once I go over the top and start about being dead and talking about seeing my mother at a funeral (acted out by Karver followed by a soliloquy/ spoken thought)

Past and Future: Karver (child protagonist & dead protagonist)

DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES: We will create dramatic techniques by using Past, Present and Future scenes to create the sense of a flashback as well as being able to present the audience with a visual representation of what the main protagonist feels, we will also be using light and audio to create a more effective visual effect to create the effect of pathetic fallacy.

REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES:

• getting into character (few minutes eyes closed and put yourself in that situation)
• both people saying the same line with the same emotion and physicality get into the same character

STORY BOARD:

• Soldier is told that he will be going over the top
• Has moments of panics
• Grabs his booklet and starts writing a letter to his mother
• He then mentions his past which moves on to a different person playing a younger version of him
• The person playing the past is playing with army figures and leads on to give a soliloquy
• Then the main soldier starts talking again finishing of talking about his past
• He then moves on to his future
• The same person that played his past is now playing his future which is him dead at his funeral
• He then gets up and gives a soliloquy and lays back down
• The main soldier starts speaking again and mentions its his time to go and leaves the book behind on the empty stage… Showing its significance.

Significance of ‘A Christmas Carol’ book: The use of this book is to portray a protagonist living in the present and looking back at his past and looking into his future.

CUE LIST
AUDIO & LIGHTS
Wait to hear line, “YES SIR!” (jose):
Fade into red light
(MAINTAIN RED LIGHT)
Wait to hear line, “I can just remember when I was a kid” (jose):
Fade into complete darkness
When heart beat noises begin during the darkness:
Flash red light correspondingly to the heartbeats (8 beats)
Wait to hear heavy breathing:
Fade into white fully & partially blue
Once Karver has completed his soliloquy and sits:
Play propaganda radio wav.
Once the audio stops :
Fade down white and fade up red
(MAINTAIN RED)
Wait to hear line, “I dont want see myself after this…”:
Fade from red into fully white & blue
Once karver has sat down after soliloquy:
Play lost post wav.
Once audio finishes:
Fade all lights into red
Once jose has finishes his soliloquy and rips letter out and puts book down:
Fade the lights completely black
Play gun shot sounds (flash white lights to re-crete gun flashes)
Wait 10secs after audio stops:
Fade white light on
(MAINTAIN FOR 10 SECONDS)
Fade into complete darkness

After having done dressed rehearsals I have learnt that I must develop how I present my emotions through actions, I have also learnt that I must have what I am going to talk about memorised. After doing dressed rehearsals I have learnt that communication is key and must have good communication with my partner.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/11/london-rioters-2011-anger-inequality-distrust-police

This article portrays the opinion of a rioter. The riots kicked off because a group of friends were angry because of the unjust murder of their friend, a friend who was killed by a police officer for no given reason. They had the right to stand and protest but what was not right in my eyes was how they damaged peoples property to get their message across. Many youths and adults across London started rioting, it is perfectly natural to feel rage because of injustice, but there are better ways to express that anger. “I learned that only through constructive political action can we achieve the promise of a better future in which we are able to clothe, feed, and house our families in” this sends a very good message that things can be succeeded through legal terms and through doing things right, not by galloping around like lunatics theiving and vandalising.

Power can only be levelled with power, not by running around stealing and scarring the streets. Many of the younger generations started rioting with the excuse “the police abuse the power they have on us” this might have been true but to have thousands of youths looting and thieving this cannot be the response. I agree with the fact that youths felt like protesting, but why i do not agree with is how the thought they would get their message across, there were also a group of people that lototed for the fun of it and to get free things, many of them were caught but many got away with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of merchandise, merchandise that had nothing to do with protests.

Things to a turn for the worst when businesses were being set on fire and being burnt after being open for many years, this is just a stupidity in my eyes, businesses that possibly took years to develop were being thrown into the dust because of youth that do not know what boundaries are, this was unfair on the owners as they had to pay the price for what the government had supposedly done to the youths. In the article it says that a girl of about 13/14 years of age stole just a pint of milk, her reason was the government did not help her homeless family and they had no money for food. I partially agree with what she did as she was trying to find an alternative way to feed her family, but I also disagree with her actions as she was putting herself in danger, dangers such as fires, rocks being thrown and police plastic bullets. She was not doing it to cause havoc, she was doing it for her families well being which is understandable.

The writer (rioter) states he had been rioting because of the depression he was going through at the time, as well as living on the streets and having just recently lost his job, he then lead on to saying that he gave himself in for his actions, which were throwing a yogurt, throwing a shopping trolley and passing on stolen goods. It is understandable that the rioter was depressed and was going through a hard time in his life, but he could have found another alternative to make his situation better, such as, see a therapist, apply for a new job and many other things instead of following the crowd which lead him into becoming a criminal. I disagree with the decisions he made, even if they were not major they were still wrong and still made him a criminal. He did the right thing by giving himself in to the police, this shows that he recognized his mistakes and was ready to accept his punishment, which was 75 hours of community service.

He says that he served his community service in a church every Saturday, but even after his commmunity service hours were over he still continued helping out the church because he says that he wants to out himself in the same position as the people who cleaned up after the riots, this shows that he regrets his actions and if he didnt give back what he did when the riots happened, he is giving it back now but in a different way. He states that he now runs a youth club at the same church that helps teens that are in the position he was in during the riots to realise what the right and wrong decisions are and gives them ideas of other ways they can get there message across. I strongly agree with his choice of starting a youth club, he shows that he has learnt from his mistakes and has changed,  but also seeks to change the lives of the youths that are in the same situation he was in to create a better living environment.

Overall my opinion on this article is that people did not just do it to create havoc or to gets free goods like the media presented it, but that people are affected by the decisions of the government and they found that rioting was the only way they could get the message across, it also shows that people did feel remorse for what they did and they were willing to accept their punishments.

Understanding of character (Phoenix): Phoenix is a wise army veteran, in which Achilles looks up to and seeks advice in, Phoenix is shocked with the choice Achilles is planning to take as well as his personality, being in the situation he is in. Achilles is trying to relieve the weight has he on his shoulders, but what Phoenix does is contradicts Achilles’ plans thinking of Achilles’ safety knowing what Agamemnon would do if Achilles makes that decision, as well as Phoenix having the news of Priam (the king of troy) being dead after an uncalled and unloyal attack on troy.

Choice of costume: My choice of costume was:

• Camouflage combat trousers: To represent that he is a military veteran
• Black non-creased bomber jacket: To represent having authority or being more prestige is his dressing
• Black camouflage trainers: As they are in a war zone meaning very formal shoes would not have been worn due to the condition they would be in after a day

Use of semiotics:

• Coffee: The coffee represents

At the border – The right word

“At the border” is a poem about a girl who had to evacuate Iraq as the was a civil war going on, and she is now returning to her homeland after living in Kurdistan for many years whereas “The right word” is a poem about a woman that doubts her words because she does not how to describe a child after the devastating event of 911.

Both of these poems are about people that have been affected in the past by conflict but one of the poems (At the border) is about the poet being happy because she is finally returning home and the pride the poet feels about finally being where she is meant to be, and the other hand the other poem (The right word)  is about a woman who sees a little boy that is Arab looking and discriminates him because of the 911 bombings but realises her choice of words are wrong and lets him in her house.

At the border is written in first person and it is a girl who sounds like a teenager explaining how she is returning home to her country after having to live in Kurdistan

No moon, no stars, nothing but the dim, yellow glow from the street lights above my head and the sound of the gravel crumbling under my feet to take me home. Everything was still. A feeling grew inside of me, a feeling so strong that my head felt like it was imploding, but I couldn’t explain it. I felt a presence, an unexplainable presence, a presence nothing like the one of a human being or any living thing, but a spirit, a spirit that filled the air, making it thick and hard to breathe. Everything was still, so still you could hear a pin drop from metres away, so the chances of it being a spirit dropped to a minimum. Could it be the heat playing with my head. The air was packed, it felt crowded, I felt like as if I were in a box, the more I moved the more uncomfortable it got. The humidity suffocated my lungs. The iron polluted water hung heavy on the surface of my skin. I wanted to get back home. I was oblivious to the signs given by my surroundings, so I carried on. I saw what looked like the outline of stairs, they were wet, they smelt as if a fox or a dog had urinated on them, but I carried on avoiding any sort of contact with my surroundings, I got to my floor and headed for the door.

I got in and as I opened the door a wave of cold hit my chest knocking me off balance… It felt good but it was unusual, it was as if something didn’t want me there. I put everything down and closed the door. I saw something move in the pitch black background, it was just shadow but a shadow with the figure of a human. The shadow seemed disturbed, it moved around aggressively, knocking things around, but it was still impossibly hard to see, I swiftly moved to the kitchen expecting to see someone. Nobody… I reluctantly glanced out of the window half expecting something bad to happen, but nothing did. The lights flickered, things moved. It wanted me gone, my parents were working so who could I tell, I tried calling them but the phone signal went. I felt trapped, boxed in, for once i realised how an animal in a zoo felt, I didn’t how to explain it but I wanted to leave. I bolted for my room, avoiding anything I hit on the way. I stumbled in and slammed the door behind me. I dropped to the floor and after that traumatising experience my head was not functioning right. I curled myself up in the corner of my room, hands over my ears, eyes on my knees, I wanted to block myself out from everything.

I felt as if something was looking over me. I put all my nerves aside and forced my head to raise slightly, my tear flooded eyes could just about make out the silhouette of a hunched over being, it couldn’t be described, I just froze ,I didn’t move, my muscles stiffened, I just prayed that I could end. With no-one else in the house I felt like everything was over, that this was the last of me. I lost all hope and I felt my eyes close and my mind black out. Everything was quiet, I now wished I was blind and deaf, so I could have never experienced what I had experienced on that night. All of a sudden I felt something firmly grip my shoulder, I heard my name, I broke into tears. I was getting shaken, I looked up as the tears on my face ran off and I saw the most relieving thing ever… My dad. He helped me up, I hugged him with no hesitation, I thanked him for ending all the pain and confusion. It was late, everyone was back from work and no-one knowing what had just happened.