Sound effects in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay Example

Sound effects in A Streetcar Named Desire Paper Tennessee Williams uses many types of music and sound as a way to communicate emotions of characters that can’t be expressed in words. A few examples of these are the blue piano, the Varsouviana polka, Its Only A Paper Moon and the other sound effects that magnify the dramatic situations in the play. In the very beginning of scene one, Williams tells us that the blue piano expresses the spirit of the life that goes on in Elysian Fields. It is noticed when Stanley tells Blanche that Stella is pregnant towards the end of scene two. When he tells her, the blue piano becomes louder. When Stanley is shouting Stella’s name after the poker night disaster, the blue piano is played again, showing Stanley’s raw emotion as he called for her. The blue piano is mostly played during moments of loneliness, hope and passion. Some of these emotions are shown when Blanche talks about the loss of Belle Reve and her family. The hope is expressed candidly when she gets the idea of contacting Shep Huntleigh who she thinks can help her and Stella escape the ‘desperate situation’ they are in. Desire and passion is conveyed when Stanley and Stella come back to each other in scene three and when Stanley sexually abuses Blanche. The Varsouviana was the song that Blanche and her young husband, Allan Grey, were dancing to when she told him that he ‘disgusted’ her after seeing him cheat on her with a man. He then ran outside and shot himself. This polka song plays only in her head when the subject of Allan’s death is brought up or if she has a feeling of regret. For instance in scene one when Stanley asks about her being married once, the polka music rises up. We will write a custom essay sample on Sound effects in A Streetcar Named Desire specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sound effects in A Streetcar Named Desire specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sound effects in A Streetcar Named Desire specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is also played when she has a hard time differentiating what’s real and what isn’t. Every time Blanche hears the polka music, she remembers that night and the guilt she feels for his suicide. The polka is played more often as we move forward with the play as if indicating that Blanche’s mental state is declining and getting worse as we go along. For example, when Mitch confronts Blanche about her past in scene nine. She suddenly talks about the Varsouviana, â€Å"The â€Å"Varsouviana†! The polka tune they were playing when when Allan- Wait! † In scene seven, Blanche is singing ‘It’s Only A Paper Moon’ while taking one of her hot baths. The song is about lovers and their imaginary world and that if they both believe in it, it’s not so imaginary anymore. Williams contrasted Stanley telling Stella about Blanche’s affairs in Laurel while Blanche was singing, â€Å"Say, it’s only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea – But it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me! † It’s like Stanley is trying to convince Stella of one truth while Blanche is implicitly implying that anything can be real if you want it to be. This is partly the reason she feels that entwining her lies with the truth is harmless, and that as long as it sounds better than the truth, it wouldn’t hurt anybody. The trumpet and drums are heard in situations that are slightly theatrical. For example when Stella says, â€Å"It will happen! † And impulsively kisses Blanche about her and Mitch getting together. Another important moment it comes up is in scene ten, when Stanley sexually abuses Blanche: â€Å"The hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly. † Plastic theatre is when the playwright uses props, sound and stage directions to show the experiences that the characters have gone through. In Blanche’s case, Williams uses the Varsouviana polka as a way for Blanche to vividly remember the night of Allan’s suicide. The polka tune also brings up feelings of regret that Blanche has about her actions of the time she stayed at the Flamingo Hotel. This is shown when Stanley gives her the bus ticket for her to go back to Laurel. An additional sound as plastic theatre are the ‘inhuman jungle voices’ that Blanche hears in scene ten and eleven. The voices convey her feeling in the situations the voices are heard. One of them is when Stanley is advancing towards her and she feels like an animal trapped in a corner. She feels like she is the prey and Stanley or the matron is the predator trying to catch her. The locomotives represent Stanley and his desire to bring down Blanche. Every time there is a discovery of Blanche’s embarrassing and shameful past through Stanley, the sound of a locomotive is present. When he overhears what Blanche really thinks about him, a locomotive is also present. Locomotives give out strong, dominating sounds, which mirror Stanley’s character. Therefore, without the blue piano, the Varsouviana or Williams’ use of plastic theatre and juxtaposes, the play wouldn’t seem so dramatic. The polka exaggerates Blanche’s declining mental state and makes the audiences emotions for her change from disrespecting her for her promiscuous past to sympathy because its not entirely her fault. In my opinion, I find Stanley’s dialogue juxtaposed with Blanche’s singing in scene seven the most intriguing use of music and dialogue compared to the others.

Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Essays

Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Essays Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Essay Symbolism in Lord of the Flies Essay Essay Topic: Lord Of the Flies Symbolism has always been the main theme authors portray in their novels and stories. In this dramatic novel, â€Å"The Lord of the Flies, William Golding displays his controversial ideas of society using many literary devices that play important roles throughout the development of his novel. Above all this literary devices, the reader sees that symbolism is the most outstanding in the different chapters of Golding’s melodramatic novel. The author brings out symbolism in chapter 10, â€Å"The Shell and the Glasses,† through three important things: the death of Simon, the shell and Piggy’s glasses. Death is a present reality in Golding’s novel, â€Å"The Lord of the Flies,† starting when one of the littluns die, after the first attempt to make fire in order to be rescued. The relationship between this group of boys and death is well developed by the author, and it helps him express the mental, spiritual and social weaknesses of human nature showing the reader the results of evil in humanity. The death of the boy with the mulberry-colored birthmark, Simon and Piggy’s death and also the attempt to kill Ralph are the most important incidents that William Golding uses to portray the degradation of these boys living in an island without law and justice. In chapter 9, â€Å"..,† the author brings out a crucial incident, and is probably one of the most important events in Golding’s novel. When it seems that Simon discover that the beast is not something to be afraid of, instead is a death pilot that is lying at top of the mountain. He decides to tel l the boys what he just discover to liberate them from the beast that is just part of their imagination. There is a religious symbolism that the reader can take from this situation. Simon represents Jesus Christ without sweat, when he comes to the boys bringing good news, like the son of God, who brings hope and freedom to a malicious and selfish world. But instead of receiving his offer,je Piggy’s glasses symbolize many things in this novel such as the boys firestarter as well as thoughtfulness. The glasses were used to start the signal fire which would hopefully catch the at

How to Trace Your Family Tree in Mexico

How to Trace Your Family Tree in Mexico Due to hundreds of years of meticulous record-keeping, Mexico offers a wealth of church and civil records for the genealogical and historical researcher. It is also the homeland of one in every 10 Americans. Learn more about your Mexican heritage, with these steps for tracing your family tree in Mexico. Mexico has a rich history stretching back to ancient times. Archaeology sites around the country speak of ancient civilizations flourishing in what is present-day Mexico thousands of years before the arrival of the first Europeans, such as the Olmec, thought by some to be the mother culture of Mesoamerican civilization, who lived around 1200 to 800 BC, and the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula who flourished from about 250 BC to 900 AD. Spanish Rule During the early 15th century the fierce Aztecs rose to power, maintaining dominance over the region until they were defeated in 1519 by Hernan Cortes and his group of just over 900 Spanish explorers. Called New Spain, the territory then came under control of the Spanish Crown. Spanish kings encouraged the exploration of new lands by granting conquistadors the right to establish settlements in exchange for one-fifth (el quinto real, or the royal fifth) of any treasure discovered. The colony of New Spain rapidly outgrew the initial borders of the Aztec Empire, encompassing all of present-day Mexico, as well as Central America (as far south as Costa Rica), and much of the present-day southwest United States, including all or parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Spanish Society The Spanish continued to rule over most of Mexico until 1821 when Mexico achieved status as an independent country. During that time, the availability of inexpensive land attracted other Spanish immigrants who sought the social status afforded to land owners by Spanish society at that time. These permanent settlers gave rise to four distinct social classes: Peninsulars, or the ruling class, were people born in Spain or Portugal. To maintain the line, some men sent their wives back to Spain to give birth, to ensure that their children also achieved peninsular status.Criollos were people of pure Spanish descent who were born in New Spain. It was this group, with the support of mestizos and other lower classes, that initiated the 11 years of rebellion to claim independence for Mexico in 1821, in response to increasing taxes and regulations by the Crown.Mestizos were people of mixed blood (generally used to identify Spanish/Indian ancestry) who ranked lower than the criollos in New Spain’s social hierarchy. Most Mexicans today (more than 65%) are descended from this group.Indigenas are the native Indians of Mexico. Prior to Mexican independence, several classifications were commonly used by the Spanish to identify people with Indian ancestry, including: indio (Indian), mestizo (half Indian/half white), zambo (half-Indian/half African ) and lobo (three-quarters African/one-quarter Indian). While Mexico has welcomed many other immigrants to its shores, the majority of its population descends from the Spanish, the Indians, or are of mixed Spanish and Indian heritage (mestizos). Blacks and some Asians are also part of the Mexican population. Where Did They Live? To conduct a successful family history search in Mexico, youll first need to know the name of the town where your ancestors lived, and the name of the municipio in which the town was located. It is also helpful to be familiar with the names of nearby towns and villages, as your ancestors may have left records there as well. As with genealogy research in most countries, this step is essential. Your family members may be able to provide you with this information but, if not, there are steps to help you find the birthplace of the ancestor. The Federal Republic of Mexico is made up of 32 states and the Distrito Federal (federal district). Each state is then divided into municipios (equivalent to a U.S. county), which may include several cities, towns and villages. Civil records are kept by the municipio, which church records will generally be found in the town or village. Civil Records in Mexico (1859 - present) Civil registration records in Mexico are government-required records of births (nacimientos), deaths (defunciones) and marriages (matrimonios). Known as Registro Civil, these civil records are an excellent source of names, dates and vital events for a large percentage of the population living in Mexico since 1859. The records are not complete, however, as people did not always comply, and civil registration wasnt strictly enforced in Mexico until 1867. Civil registration records in Mexico, with the exception of the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, are maintained at the municipio level. Many of these civil records have been microfilmed by the Family History Library, and can be researched through your local Family History Center. Digital images of these Mexico Civil Registration Records are starting to be made available online for free at FamilySearch Record Search. You can also obtain copies of civil registration records in Mexico by writing to the local civil registry for the municipio. Older civil records, however, may have been transferred to the municipio or the state archive. Ask that your request be forwarded, just in case! Church Records in Mexico (1530 - present) Records of baptism, confirmation, marriage, death, and burial have been maintained by individual parishes in Mexico for almost 500 years. These records are especially useful for researching ancestors prior to 1859, when civil registration went into effect, although they may also provide information on events after that date that can not be found in the civil records. The Roman Catholic church, established in Mexico in 1527, is the predominant religion in Mexico. To research your ancestors in Mexican church records, youll first have to know the parish and city or town of residence. If your ancestor lived in a small town or village without an established parish, use a map to find nearby towns with a church that your ancestors may have attended. If your ancestor lived in a large city with several parishes, their records may be found in more than one parish. Begin your search with the parish where your ancestor lived, then expand the search to nearby parishes, if necessary. Parish church registers may record information on several generations of the family, making them an extremely valuable resource for researching a Mexican family tree. Many church records from Mexico are included in the Mexican Vital Records Index from FamilySearch.org. This free, online database indexes almost 1.9 million birth and christening and 300,000 marriage records from Mexico, a partial listing of vital records covering the years 1659 to 1905. Additional indexes of Mexican baptisms, marriages and burials from selected localities and time periods are available on FamilySearch Record Search, along with selected Catholic Church records. The Family History Library has most Mexican church records prior to 1930 available on microfilm. Search the Family History Library Catalog under the town in which your ancestors parish was located to learn what church records are available. These can then be borrowed from and viewed at your local Family History Center. If the church records you seek are not available through the Family History Library, youll need to write directly to the parish. Write your request in Spanish, if possible, including as many details as possible about the person and records you seek. Ask for a photocopy of the original record, and send a donation (around $10.00 usually works) to cover research time and copies. Most Mexican parishes accept U.S. currency in the form of cash or a cashiers check.

An Overview of In-Car Information Systems Essay

An Overview of In-Car Information Systems - Essay Example However, these devices, which have little to do with the actual driving of the car, are becoming more and more advanced - presenting many problems for designers and users alike. The permanently increasing complexity of in-car electronics and the rapidly growing amount of sensors, actuators and electronic control units, make the data increasingly more difficult to keep secure, correct and failsafe. In a recent survey carried out by Goldman Sachs in America, there are approximately 200 million cars in the United States and an incredible 500 million passenger hours each week is spent inside them. In another survey, Delphi Automotive research found that more than a third of PDA owners use their PDA's whilst driving and that almost half of all US motorists would like the facility to access their e-mail whilst on the road.2 Car makers are, of course, nervous about motorists not paying attention to the road and having accidents, as well as the remote possibility of a glitch in the add-on electronics triggering a brake seizure or engine shutdown. The possibility of expensive lawsuits against them is a risk that they do not want to take. This threat has, until now, made most mainstream manufacturers shy away from providing too much computer control in their vehicles. In recent years this has led to a surge of activity in the development and sale of add-on products by third party manufacturers for vehicles to provide entertainment, navigation and comfort controls. Now the trend seems to be for car makers to provide much more complicated electronics as standard in even comparatively cheap models. All of this has predictably created a huge debate as to whether this type of electronic aid should be allowed to be used whilst driving the car or at least whether these aids are wanted or not. Studies into driving safety are, of course, not new. Driving whilst Drunk or under the influence of drugs has for many decades been seen as a serious problem on our roads and can result in a ban for the offender, if caught. More recently though with the widespread use of mobile phones, legislation has been put in place in order to make our roads safer. As of the first of December 2003, the use of mobile phones whilst driving in the UK has been made illegal due to an increasing number of mobile phone related incidents on the roads. Many now argue that tuning in a car radio or programming a GPS system whilst on the move is just as dangerous whilst driving, though no laws exist currently in the UK to restrict the use of these whilst driving. In America, many cities and states have similar laws regarding mobile handsets and many arguments on the safety of in-car electronics have been made. The New England Journal of Medicine, for example, published an article in 1997 claiming that cell phone users have the same chance of accidents as drunken drivers and also warned against concluding "that cellular telephones are harmful and that their use

Herodotus Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Herodotus Life - Essay Example The essay "Herodotus Life" tells about the important aspects of Herodotus life such as his impact on Athens where Herodotus went and, therefore, it had a pool of intellectual brains making it have unique galaxy of talent eventually thereby making it grow more powerful. He was born as a Persian subject, and he continued to be so until he was approximately 30 to 35 years. At the time he was being born, Halicarnassus was under the rule of queen Artemisia. He thoroughly got Greek education that made him embrace the three essential subjects to a Greek which include: liberal education, music, gymnastic training, and grammar Herodotus had shown initial acquaintance with the largely Greek prose literature. He later turned to literature where he commenced the course of reading thus rendering him one of the instructive and charming writers of the ancient times. According Goodwin asserts that he traversed the European Greece and the Asia Minor due to his inquiring disposition. His traveling was typically in the period of 464-447 BC. He visited Egypt and the Athenians where he was recognized as a learned Greek. While in Egypt, he saw the Persian skulls that were slain by the Inarus. He resided in Samos for 7-8 years and it was during this time that a tragedy struck in his native town that made him return. The tyranny of Lygdamis went from bad to worse and at last, he was expelled from the foreign land. He went to his native city upon the enjoyment of the free citizen rights unto which every Greek set a very high value. He later went to Athens, which was a center of intellectual life and boasted of a galaxy of talent comprising of Pericles, Euripides, and Sophocles. It was here that he was welcomed but remained an idler, dilettante, and without any political duties. At the age of forty he continued with his journey and it is presumed that he got employed in Crotona or Metapontum. Herodotus was a literary genius as he wrote about the wars between the Greek an d the barbarians, a history of the struggle between Greece and Persia but he omitted the histories of Cathage, Phoenicia, and Etruia. Herodotus was also a great humanist who saw and respected the universe in the experience, actions of human kind, and the underlying idiosyncrasies of the regional beliefs and customs. In a 700 page book Herodotus tried to shows us that a well informed Greek requires to learn about nations, geography, cultures, fauna and flora, and the mythical origins. He died approximately at the age of sixty. The predominant voice of antiquity tells us that he may have died at Thurii where his tomb was shown in the later stages (Abe Books, 2009). The 9 books authored by Herodotus make him to be regarded as very distinguished writer of history. This s because the major themes in Herodotus’ books include: relatedness and unity of historical events over numerous generations; variety and universality of human existence and experience; incomprehensible destiny and interrelationships among different things (Goodwin 1996). Questions 1 The impact of the Persian war was that Athens and Sparta though they were great allies, it caused them to drift further apart. According to the Abe Books (2009) argue that Athens is where Herodotus went and it had a pool of intellectual brains making it to have unique galaxy of talent eventually thereby making it grow more powerful. On the contrary, Sparta grew jealous of Athens because of their lean resources. Herodotus went to Athens to regain his Greek citizenship and political rights that he had lost in Halicarnassus. As a consequence of the war, the government fell, trade dropped as the Scythians obtained their wealth from the slave trade which they controlled from the north of Greece through Cimmerian, Chersoneses, and Gorgippia. Also, it led to the city states to fight against each other. However, irrespective of the war, culture was still very important and creative as it had been insisted by Herodotus to be important to any learned Greek (Souza 2005). Question 2

Why I Selected a Career Path as a Special Education Teacher Essay Example for Free

Why I Selected a Career Path as a Special Education Teacher Essay A career in special education offers challenges and rewards, and plenty of opportunities for those interested in the field. Special education teachers have a wide range of choices which determine the specifics of their tasks. They have the choice of working with children of any age, from infancy through high school graduation, for instance. They might choose to work with physically challenged children, or they might choose to focus on children who are mentally or developmentally challenged. Special education teachers help children grow socially and emotionally as well as intellectually. They attend to the special needs of challenged children, and teach their students basic life skills suitable to their level of development and learning capability. Special education teachers require a special set of interpersonal skills. They must be patient, organized, motivating, positive, passionate, flexible, tolerant and compassionate. They must respect, even celebrate, differences among people. They must be assertive and resourceful enough to obtain the services their students need. They should be good at analyzing situations and solving problems, and they should have strong leadership qualities and a good sense of humor. As a special education teacher, I believe that it is of the utmost importance for our society to value and provide for those less capable, especially disabled children. I also believe that as an educator, I should provide a positive example from which others can follow and learn. Therefore, I will provide a small scale societal model in my classroom. If others observe that disabled children are capable and desirous of learning, they will have less fear of including and incorporating them into society on an everyday basis. In return, productive and happier people will reward our society. Through providing accommodations, resources and the means for disabled people to participate, fewer handicaps will develop which hinder both the disabled and society in general. Teaching is my passion, and I pursue it with a great deal of energy. I continuously look for ways to improve my teaching, through innovative materials and processes. I always ask my students for suggestions on how to improve the class, and every semester, I incorporate some of their suggestions. I want the students to view their learning experience in my class as something different, something that holds their interest and helps them to learn. I want them to look forward to the class, to come to class ready to learn.

Flower Imagery in The Stone Angel :: Stone Angel

Flower Imagery in The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence uses flower imagery in her novel The Stone Angel to represent Hagar's way of life. There are two types of flowers, wild and civilized. These two types of flowers are associated with the educated, controlled way of life and the material way of life. In summer the cemetery was rich and thick as syrup with the funeral-parlor perfume of the planted peonies, dark crimson and wallpaper pink, the pompous blossoms hanging leadenly, too heavy for their light stems, bowed down with the weight of themselves and the weight of the rain, infested with upstart ants that sauntered through the plush petals as though to the manner born . . . But sometimes through to hot rush of disrespectful wind whtat shook the scrub oak and the coarse couchgrass encroaching upon the dutifully cared for habitations of the dead, the scent of the cowslips woud rise monentarily. They were though-rooted, these wild and gaudy flowers, and altough they were held back at the cemetery's edge, torn out by loving relatives determined to keep the plots clear and clealy civilized, for a second or two a person walking there could catch the faint, muskey, dust-tinged smell of things that grew and had grown always, before the portly peonies and the angels with rigid wings, wh en the prarie bluffs were walked though only by Cree with enigmatic faces and greasy hair. (p. 4-5) Hagar was the lucky one in her family. She was able to go to college where she learned how to be more cultivated and civilized and how to act like a lady. Nothing seems to be natural about her, she criticizes everything that seems to be wild or out of control. When Hagar marries Bram Shipley, she is content and in love. It was spring that day, a differnt spring from this one. The poplar bluffs had budded with sticky leaves, and the forgs had come back to te sloughs and sang like choruses of angels with sore throats, an th mars marigolds were opening like shavings of sun on the brown river where the dadpoles danced and the bloodsuckers lay slimy and low, waiting fo the boy's feet. And i rode int blacke-topped buggy beside the man who was no my mate. (p. 50) After the wedding, Hagar becomes determined to change the way her husband behaves.