Global Warming's Terrifying new Math By Bill McKibben Essay

Global Warming's Terrifying new Math By Bill McKibben - Essay Example Global warming has caused significant changes in climate patterns as it cause the earth’s temperature to rise above the normal, which is detrimental to the ecosystem. Humans are solely responsible for global warming as they engage in activities such as combustion of fossil fuels, and this emits carbon, which cause global warming (McKibben). Efforts to curb global warming have failed, and this is because industrialization has resulted to use of carbon dioxide and the emissions have continued to increase over time. The situation has been made worse because developing countries are trying to emulate the west by becoming industrialized, and this further increases the emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To reduce the carbon print, many countries have come up with policies that aim at reducing emission of carbon dioxide but the efforts have failed. Petroleum companies have been blamed for the big emissions of carbon dioxide they cause as the industry is profitable and imp osing regulations on them would reduce the incomes of countries. To protect the ecosystem from the adverse effects of global warming people all over the world and political leaders and environmentalists need to collaborate and advocate for people to reduce their carbon print so that the environment remains sustainable for future

Care of the Ill Adult Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Care of the Ill Adult - Essay Example The researcher states that it is worth noting that providing a holistic assessment to the patient during admission to the ward is one of the fundamental requirements of nursing. This is because, through holistic nursing, it becomes possible to ensure that unity of the body, mind, spirit, emotion, and the environment becomes guaranteed. This implies that nurses, who strive to offer holistic assessment, need to consider all the needs of every patient irrespective of the reason behind their encounter. According to Dossey, patient’s needs have the highest probability of being known and eventually diagnosed when holistic assessment is employed. This, thus, means that a patient, who receives a holistic care, stands to recover with a quicker rate as compared to a patient receiving non-holistic care given that true needs of a patient are easily identified. This happens, in cases where a patient is provided with an opportunity to think and expound on what care he or she requires. Throu gh this, the patient can work in harmony with the caregivers in finding the appropriate methods to achieve set goals. There are various factors that have to be examined in a holistic assessment, which, certainly are the primary cause of the current illness, as well as act as measures taken by the patient in managing the illness and the patient’s medical history. Factors that ought to be put under consideration are the patient’s social history and the perception of illness exhibited by the patient. With a view to discuss nursing interventions for a range of conditions invented from a patient scenario, this paper explores the case of Rosie who is a patient admitted to hospital for a total thyroidectomy with type 2 diabetes. In this regard, there are five conditions to be explored including the patient's assessment during the ward admission, medical condition, postoperative care, discharge details, as well as immediate care of the patient in the community. Â  In assessin g the communication skills of Rosie, the nurse shall consider investigating nonverbal communication of the patient. Through this, the nurse will work towards reducing the patient’s anxiety by allowing the patient to express fears. In this regard, the nurse shall provide an explanation of all procedures, and then link them up to the relevance of healing anxiety. In order to achieve this, the nurse shall consider the overproduction of catecholamine and cortisol occurring in response to stress and could possess the healing effect of the wound because of alteration in the tissue and immune system. Additionally, the nurse will also encourage questions and inputs of encouragement from the husband with due consent of the family members. Pre-op. In line with this, the nurse shall work towards providing orientation to the ward, giving out information to the patient, investigating allergies, providing baseline observations, urinalysis, Capillary blood glucose monitoring, carrying out b lood tests, providing the patient with medication, as well as managing anxiety and fears of the patient. Additionally, the nurse will provide the patient adequate emotional support, while considering issues including the Braden score, allergies such as drugs, history of DVT, iodine latex, tape, Patient ID bands, and the Nil by mouth for a given recommended time. Postoperative care of Rosie after the Thyroidectomy. Airway and Breathing management. In order to manage the breathing and airway conditions for Rosie, the effects of anaesthesia, rate of respiration, the depth of respiration, as well as the breathing work shall closely be monitored by the nurse. Moreover, the breathing sound of Rosie shall be auscultated while noting the existence of rhonchi.

The Strategic Role of HR in a State Government Essay Example for Free

The Strategic Role of HR in a State Government Essay In a growing number of organizations human resources are now viewed as a source of competitive advantage (Human Links, 2007). For human resource to be competitive, it entails competencies that are â€Å"obtained through highly developed employee skills, distinctive organizational cultures, management processes and systems† (Human Links, 2007). The presence of these distinctive competencies marks most of the high-performance organizations. But the need for such organizations is not limited only to the private sector. Government organizations, particularly state and local governments, â€Å"are becoming increasingly accountable for results and the cost-effective use of taxpayer money spent on programs and services† (TechRepublic, 2007). Government organizations are like businesses; businesses that may not be run for profit but rather are organized to meet a social goal in an effective and efficient manner (Mathys, 2006). Such said, â€Å"Government organizations must be responsive, use their resources well, and provide good value to the user and account ­ability to the taxpayer† (Mathys, 2006).   It is in this context that strategic human resource management has become just as important in the public sector. Strategic human resource management has been defined as ‘linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation and flexibility’ (Human Links, 2007). The whole process of strategic human resource management includes the measurement of the impact of actions and decisions.   Pressures on governments around the world have contributed to the rising adoption of â€Å"performance management and measurement† – a focus on program and service outputs and outcomes, and on â€Å"managing for results† (TechRepublic, 2007). One method that has had significant demonstrated success to improve process efficiency, timeliness, and customer satisfaction in business is the balanced scorecard (Mathys, 2006). The Balanced Scorecard is a â€Å"performance measurement that seeks to combine strategic planning with performance measurement† (Rogers, 2007). Robert Kaplan and David Norton published works on the Balanced Scorecard in 1991 and considered four areas in assessing the effectiveness of an organization in meeting its vision and strategy. These four areas or â€Å"perspectives† include: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, and Learning and Growth. According to Mathys, Kaplan and Norton’s model explains that visions and strategies are translated into objectives, measures, targets, and initiatives that answer the questions in each of the four categories: Financial, the main question is: â€Å"To succeed financially, how should we appear to our shareholders?† Customer, the focus is: â€Å"To achieve our vision, how should we appear to our customers?† Internal business process focuses on the question: â€Å"To satisfy our shareholders and customers, what business processes must we excel at?† Learning and growth category focuses on answering the question: â€Å"To achieve our vision, how will we sustain our ability to change and improve?† Essentially, this framework â€Å"balances the value of strategic inputs (leading indicators) with financial outputs (lagging indicators) to enable an organization to improve the way it plans, measures and communicates success† (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). It is now being applied by hundreds of successful organizations, in the public and private sectors, to align people, strategy and performance (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). In 1999, the State of Illinois embarked on a strategic planning initiative (SPI) to initiate change using the balanced scorecard (BSC).   The initial goals were performance management and public accountability, which required viewing the Illinois public as a customer whose opinion of government performance was of paramount importance (Lang, 2007). The State of Illinois translated its goals and strategy into different measures of success Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, Human Resources Systems Development (learning and growth). In this context, the Human Resources (HR) Department has a critical role in facilitating the whole process of instituting a comprehensive public governance system using this measurement system. People management is an important function of the HR Department and can play an important role in an organizations financial performance as well as the service it offers its customers (Yahoo! Answers, 2007). People management includes managing recruitment selection, turnover issues, employee benefits, and acting as an information resource in HR issues for the organization (Yahoo! Answers, 2007). First, it is important that the HR department views the state government as well as its constituency as its customer. The HR Department ensures that loyalty among employees towards the organization is intact and also that the final constituents or the general population of the state government therefore are benefited. Second, the HR department looks into the other departments within the state government and assesses their goals and strategies as well in contributing to the achievement of the primary goal of the state government. This can be viewed particularly on learning and growth concerns such as how the various capabilities of various employees can be built up and enhanced so they can very well respond to the goals of the organizations, among others. This entails for example employing a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) tool so that employee capabilities may be surveyed, consolidated and aptly tapped. Knowledge of employee skills, abilities and aptitude could save the organization from investing on capability building trainings that do not address the real needs of employees. Third, in terms of internal business process, the role of the HR Department is to â€Å"indicate how much each employee contributes to the organization such as revenue generated minus the cost of salary, benefits and training† (Yahoo! Answers, 2007). This basically looks into the productivity of the individual employee as well as the consolidated output of such individual productivity levels with which the HR Department also has that function to design a merit and rewards system to increase again such productivity. This is vital to keep the bureaucracy lean. Fourthly, in financial terms, the HR Department shall be able to perform a rationalized system of recruitment because it sees fit which employees to hire based on the scope of work and job specifications. Aside from recruitment, HR also could do regular employee performance evaluations so as to determine which employee has actually continually met the specifications of the job. Again, this saves the state government from unnecessary hiring of staff and checking of redundancy, among others, since the staffing needs of the organization has been streamlined. With the HR Department using these four perspectives, it helps the government administration to keep â€Å"track the value of activities (e.g. human resource development) which previously had not been audited effectively and had not been regarded as contributors to the bottom line (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). As in many private corporations, HR Departments of state governments shall have to use hard data in measuring performance. This can be done by linking â€Å"employee competencies with behavioral objectives to align job specifications, recruitment, promotion, appraisal, and reward systems† (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). A number of HR measures or benchmarks can be employed to check on performance and these include: â€Å"Applications per vacancy, Internal promotions, Hours training, Peer group reviewing, Cross-functional projects, Knowledge sharing, Employee turnover, Cost per hire, Employee satisfaction,† among others (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). The HR Department can also assist the various departments of the state government in targeting and developing milestones that keep its focus on the goals.   The goals of the state government must be cascaded to every department with the help of the HR Department. In the end, some of the following questions may serve to measure the four perspectives: Customer/Constituency. What services have been delivered to the constituents in order to secure their welfare and how do these relate to people’s expectations towards the state government? Learning and Growth. Have the skills and competencies of officers and staff have been upgraded and in what manner? Internal Business Processes. What desirable levels of effectiveness and efficiency have been achieved in serving the constituents? Financial Resources. What revenue generating options have been tapped and which government services have already been provided at a reasonable price? In all these, the role of HR should be to facilitate rather than dictate the targets and outcomes. Keeping the measurements simple allows it to be more understandable and adaptable. If it is not seen to be fully integrated with the business imperatives of the Chief Executive it will not be given the attention it deserves by operational managers (Strategic Management Partners, 2007). List of References Chaturvedi, Siddharth. October 2007. Strategic Human Resource Management. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.humanlinks.com/manres/articles/shrm/htm. Lang, Sandra S.   January 2007. The CPA Journal. â€Å"Balanced Scorecard and Government Entities Moving Forward at the Illinois Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/604/essentials/p48.htm. Mathys, Nicholas. February 2006. Managing for Performance Results Series 2006. â€Å"Using the Balanced Scorecard: Lessons Learned from the U.S. Postal Service and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.† Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/MathysReport.pdf Rogers, Martha. June 2007. â€Å"Balanced Score Card Usage in Local Government Audit Shops.† Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.governmentauditors.org/content/view/311/123/. Strategic Management Partners. January 2007. Briefing Papers: Using the HR Balanced Scorecard. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.consult-smp.com/archives/2005/02/using_the_hr_ba_html. TechRepublic. October 2007. Whitepapers: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Improve State and Local Government Performance. Retrieved October 2007 from http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/webcast.aspx. Yahoo! Answers. October 2007. What is Balanced Score Card in HR?. Retrieved   October 2007 from http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070927202545AAwkQix.

Buddhism As A Path To Enlightenment

Buddhism As A Path To Enlightenment Buddhism is not about God or Gods, it does not supply a theory about what may happen in the afterlife, nor does it express views about creation; it is based in the world of daily living. Most religions have deep theoretical foundations they are built upon, and most people within such religions have faith that the theory is true. Buddhism does not address theories; it does not agree or disagree with any religion, but rather acknowledges religion as a means to live in a positive manner. Buddhism is about enlightening the person, regaining the compassion and wisdom inside, thus resulting in freedom from suffering. Buddhism is about living a life of peaceful serenity. Originating in a region near India over two-thousand years ago, Buddhism is becoming a religion that is revered and practiced worldwide. Buddhist spirituality is viewed as something from within, an innate goodness in all humans that has been lost can now be found through practice and meditation. Buddhists must motivate themselves, and rely on their own efforts, not those of a charismatic leader. If followers of the Buddha began to revere the man, they would become distracted from their task impeding spiritual progress. Mark W. Muesse, a professor of religious studies, reveals, Buddhist spirituality promotes a form of life that provides an antidote to the stresses of modern living. As a counterpoint to the haste and hurry, the noise and confusion of this world, Buddhism prescribes a life of quietness and tranquility, a life of contemplation and gentle awareness. (Muesse, 2002). Buddhists may have come from a variety of religions; for example, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and Atheism. To find true wisdom and compassion is to see the world as it really is, and live life without being the center of the whole. To be s uccessful, Buddhism teaches a person to actively practice, and work to channel the mindset of self-centeredness into one of compassion. Buddhism originated in India around the sixth or fourth centuries BCE, and is based on the teachings of also referred to as the Buddha. (Muesse, 2002). Siddharthas journey to find truth, spirituality, and learn how to solve the problems of suffering, led him to extensive meditations. Over a period of about seven years, he endured exhaustion and starvation while experimenting with various meditations searching for enlightenment, but made no progress. On the verge of death due to fatigue, he finally rested, had a nutritious meal, and then decided to meditate again until he found the answer to suffering. As the sky began to lighten following day, he too felt illuminated, happy, and relieved; after seven years of searching, Siddhartha reached the state of enlightenment. He then realized that in order to become enlightened, he must keep himself healthy so his mind would be fit. He set forth to teach others, regardless of caste, his enlightenment, the method of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Siddhartha traveled from city to city teaching the importance of not losing ones self by allowing passions to consume, but rather exis t without indulging in selfish cravings, leaving one free to be happy. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000). (Armstrong, 2001). The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and the Eightfold Path are the starting points for all Buddhist variations. This doctrine is Buddhas (Siddharthas) diagnosis and prescription for treating human suffering and finding true happiness. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000). Noble Truth one: Life Is Suffering. Birth is suffering, illness is suffering, aging is suffering, and death is suffering. When a person looks at life realistically, it is full of fleeting happiness followed by inevitable sorrow, the years go by faster, and faster, it is a no-exit path to death. Even when things seem to be at their best, it is not completely satisfying. People have come to want more and more from life and that is the core of the problem, egocentric desire. This is Buddhas diagnosis. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000). Noble Truth two: The Root of Suffering. Egocentric desires are the root of suffering; the selfish grasping after pleasures and evasion of pain. Self-centered yearnings can never truly be fulfilled, leaving behind feelings of irritation, frustration, and even anger. Anger is one of the main reasons for causing distress to others; it also will cause suffering within. People constantly engage in actions that cause anguish, either directly or indirectly. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000). Noble Truth three: You Can End Suffering. Knowing that going beyond suffering is possible through internal transformation is the point of this truth. Suffering and the causes of suffering are dependant on a persons state of mind, therefore, by changing the way one perceives the world mentally, also changes the amount of suffering incurred. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000). Noble Truth four: The Eightfold Path. This is the prescription, a means to find freedom from suffering. People can end their suffering and dilemmas by controlling the body and mind in a positive manner to help others instead of doing them harm, and by creating mental wisdom. Once this renewal is complete, a person can enjoy the state of Nirvana, free of problems. This is the path leading to the mental transformation, and cessation of suffering. The Eightfold Path is a guide meant to help people work out their difficulties, become liberated from suffering, and come across happiness. Right Views is the first step on this path to discover happiness. Once a person understands what is wrong and becomes familiarized with the transformation process, gaining the knowledge of what will need to be accomplished in order to achieve success, they will be pointed in the right direction. Right Intention is the second step. A person has to feel this is really what they want to do, and be willing to maintain this commitment along their journey. Dedication to this endeavor is necessary to become successful. The third step is Right Speech, meaning a person needs to listen to what is said, how it was said, and why it was said. Curbing the use of negative intonations, and derogatory remarks will contribute to the positivity inside instead of nourishing the negativity inside. Awareness and self-examination can help a person communicate in a more positive, harmonious way. Right Conduct is the fourth step, encouraging a person to be aware of their motives, as well as their conduct. Upon self-observation, a person may become aware of unconscious actions that incur negativity. Then reflect on those negative actions, discover the motivation, and work towards positive actions. The fifth step on the path to enlightenment is Right Livelihood. Most people spend the majority of their lives working; find inner peace in a positive occupation. A person working in a negative environment acquires negative feelings. These negative feelings can become overwhelming, and then aimed in the direction of others, in turn causing suffering. Right Effort is the sixth step. By exerting positive effort, a person will begin to notice positive changes within their life. Right effort also means to pace ones self; do not over examine every word said or action taken, as this can become disturbing over a short period of time. The seventh step is Right Tho ught. This step lends confidence in taming the mind. Thoughts, feelings, and sensations are erratic, and short-lived. Simpkins explained this simply, The concrete sense people have of themselves is merely a series of experiences that seem to blend together into one. In reality, the ego is nothing more than this series of experiences. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000, p.56). Right Concentration is the final step on the Eightfold Path to enlightenment. In this step, a person pulls together the skills learned from each of the previous steps and places them into the practice of meditation. Meditation, concentrated awareness, allows a person to see through the illusions, seeing the world as it really is, a direct perception. (Simpkins Simpkins, 2000). All religions incorporate meditations in with their faith in one form or another; such as prayer, reciting mantras, all the way to induced states wherein visions are seen, gibberish is spoken in the language of tongues, or voices are heard, which are usually the deities, spirits, or other supernatural beings for that particular religion. Buddhist meditations are different. Francis Story points out, The Christian who has seen Jesus, or the Hindu who has conversed with Bhagavan Krishna may be quite satisfied that he has fulfilled the purpose of his religious life, but the Buddhist who sees a vision of the Buddha knows by that very fact that he has only succeeded in objectifying a concept in his own mind. (Story, 1995-2010). Buddhists embrace two distinct types of meditation: dhyana, meditation that clears the mind, and prajna, meditation that fills the mind. Usually these two meditations are performed together. Several variations of Buddhist meditations exist today, some methods are fo r developing mindfulness and concentration, yet others focus on breathing and visualizations. Meditation enhances awareness, and by being aware, one becomes wise. Meditation also calms the mind, allowing a person to feel at ease while reflecting upon life with positive focus. The discipline that Buddhist meditations establishes in a person can be applied to life situations; it teaches clear thinking without bias, and concentration so the mind will be able focus intently on any given situation. Buddhism is a religion based on real life without theorizing about things that can never be solidified. It is a religion that holds no bias toward any other religion, nor do many other religions hold a bias for Buddhism. The doctrines within Buddhism urges the need for humanity to become humane again, to let go of selfish desires, negative intentions, and be thoughtful of all. Experiences, and a persons reactions to them, create the ambience of the path of life a person leads. Buddhism is the embodiment of peaceful existence in a world that has become wrought with despair and suffering.

Beware of Your Washing Machine and its Shiftless Partner, the Dryer :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Beware of Your Washing Machine and its Shiftless Partner, the Dryer Professor’s comment: This student’s writing embodies a peculiar configuration of literary polish, linguistic facility, playful authorial self-awareness, and unadulterated goofiness. It is proudly, but not without trepidation, that I submit this essay to 123HelpMe and unleash the elegant lunacy of Rob Geis upon an unsuspecting world. Around the world, across America, even here in town, there is a crime occurring—a robbery of unguessed proportions and most of us aren’t even aware of it.It happens every week, yet we blithely aid and abet the criminals, willingly, if unconsciously, destroying the evidence of their heinous offence. These criminals are everywhere. They can usually be found working in pairs. They lurk in the dark corners of our home, or even in well-lit shops. The patrons of these storefront locations cast furtive glances at one another, feeding coins into slots as they are slowly, quietly robbed of their most prized possessions. I am talking about, of course, a theft of laundry. The criminals are your washing machine and its shiftless partner, the dryer. Manufacturers of these devious devices paint them white in order to enhance their image of cleanliness and honesty, but behind this friendly exterior there lies a crafty heart. Laundromat models are even equipped with glass doors. Through these doors, we watch, hypnotized, as our belongings are spun away from us. While discussing this laundry larceny, I refer not to the occasional petty pilferage of the odd argyle sock, in which every washer/dryer seems to indulge. This well-known and carefully documented occurrence is merely the tip, as it were, of the iceberg. Long misunderstood as pure coincidence, the lost-sock phenomenon was finally explained in an episode of the cartoon â€Å"Ren and Stimpy.† In this episode, the two fearless adventurers travel to an alternate universe, where they find an extremely smelly planet, which contains, amongst other sundry items, all the socks that have ever disappeared from our world. In retrospect, this kleptomaniacal attitude toward socks should have tipped me, of all people, off a little sooner. I have come to realize that I have been granted the gift of the Virgo, which is my astrological sign. Virgos are renowned for their attention to detail, although there are a few unenlightened souls who refer to us as obsessive/compulsive at best and anal-retentive at worst.

Comparing William Wordsworths Composed Upon Westminster Bridge and Wil

Compare and Contrast William Wordsworth's Composed Upon Westminster Bridge and William Blake's London William Wordsworth and William Blake wrote poems about London, but they presented their views from different angles. Wordsworth sees the beauty in London and Blake sees only the ugliness. William Wordsworth's "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" gives a step-by-step look at the awe-inspiring beauty of a London sunrise, whereas William Blake's "London" shows the dreary ugliness of London life by taking a stroll down London's streets. "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" affects the reader with a sense of wonderment at the beauty that is created with a sunrise. London appears to be the most beautiful place on earth during a sunrise. The sun bathes the city in light and gives the reader a sense of purity and cleanliness. "London" affects the reader with an opposite feeling. The reader sees the unsavory side of London in the faces of its citizens. The citizens of London are unhappy with their lives, but they accept it with resignation. It is appalling how the Church uses the small chimney-sweeping children to clean the soot of London and the poor become soldiers that die for the monarchy. The purity and cleanliness of London is lost when young women become prostitutes. The death that falls upon a marriage is often transmitted through the diseases a prostitute passes on. A sense of anger is felt at a life that allows such sadness and darkness to fall upon the citizens of London. Wordsworth and Blake use different techniques in their poems to present their views. Wordsworth uses personification to bring the beauty of the sunrise to life. London takes on human traits with "This city now doth, like a garment, wear! The beauty of... ...y emphasizing the dreary bondage of the London citizens in "London." Wordsworth's use of imagery and rhythm places the reader in a calm and peaceful situation. Blake's use of imagery and rhythm places the reader in an angry tension filled situation. Wordsworth's readers have the wonders of a sunrise unfold before them and beauty is seen everywhere. Blake's readers become angry at the ugliness and unfairness of life and bondage and resignation are seen everywhere. Both authors achieved their tasks admirably. Works Cited Blake, William. "London." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 729. Wordsworth, William. "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 1157.

Blue Remembered Hills Essay

The plot and background Set in the West country (Devonshire/Cornwall) in 1943, the playwright Dennis Potter explores the traumatic childhoods of 7 young children. Originally written for television in 1979, the play follows seven 7 year olds through an actual day of their lives. As the play takes place in ‘real time’ the whole thing is naturalistic and there are no non naturalistic techniques such as flashbacks or other theatrical devices to skip to different times. The play is set in a barn, a wood and a field on a summer’s afternoon. Over the two hour period the friends play and squabble, particularly victimizing a boy whom they call ‘Donald Duck’, the play climaxes when this character is left out of games and activities by his peers and therefore decides to play his own game†¦ a game of pyromania! Characters As I said earlier the play is ‘totally’ naturalistic, however there is one significant exception: the playwright Dennis Potter insisted that adult actors were cast to portray the children. He thought that if children were used the audience would lose the ‘true meaning’ of the story within the sympathy that they would feel for the child actors. The Boys John: Looks after Raymond, fair-minded, often challenges Peter. Peter: Bully, very strong, is not very clever. Raymond: Has a stutter, very gentle and sensitive, is dressed as a cowboy. Willie: Intelligent and he uses this to overcome Peter’s bullying, is easy going The Girls Angela: Very bossy, pretty and very flirtatious for a seven year old, very self-centered. Audrey: Always trying to be Angela’s friend, very plain, overshadowed by Angela. The victim Donald Duck: Boys don’t like him very much, girls allow him to play ‘house’ with them. Very lonely as everyone taunts and bullies him. He is abused. Important hidden characters Wallace Wilson: class bully, hear lots about him but never actually see him. Donald Ducks mother: Abuses him, plays part towards Donald’s depression and pyromania. Adult Actors Dennis Potter decided that for his play he wanted to cast adult actors to play the parts of the children, mainly because of the audience’s reaction to the plot. He felt that the audience would lose the ‘true meanings’ of the play, as they would sympathize with child actors. Potter took into consideration how child behavior differentiates when being watched by an audience, whereas adults would truthfully portray their emotions. My opinion In my opinion I think that Dennis Potters casting choice was a very bad decision. I see the play as more of a ‘joke’ than a serious piece of drama. The adult actors do not resemble children, but instead adults with mental difficulties, because of this I believe ‘Potter’ has done exactly what he wanted to avoid and took the ‘true meaning’ out of the play. Lesson 1 In our first lesson we began by exploring playing children, from womb to 2 years old. We turned off the lights to focus on the themes of loneliness and to focus on actually developing in the mother’s womb. I began in a tucked shape as foetus’ do we then turned the light on to represent the birth. From this point we were babies and infants developing gradually from 0-2 yrs. Examples of body language awareness Fetus: still, in a tucked position. Newborn: slight movement of limbs- visual and audio only. 3 months: As above, slight movement of head- side to side to explore surroundings – visual and audio only. 6-9 months: As above, able to roll over slightly-visual audio and kinesthetic. 12-18 months: Able to lift head alone and support self. Movement of all body parts now occurring – visual, audio and kinesthetic. 18-24 months: crawling to explore surroundings kinesthetically; Using objects to pull selves up. It is at this age we felt that we would be capable of interacting with other actors, by both voice and body language. I and Connie chose to play typical childhood activities (clapping games and pulling hair) and squabbling. We then continued our childhood explorations by spontaneously improvising a classroom scene. My drama teacher acted as a year 3 teacher and my peers and I as the year 3 class. We all interacted well with each other creating stereotypical characters and situations Our task was to build a ‘den’ in competition with the other team. We used stacked staging to act as a tower and I played a princess. We chose a fairytale scenario to portray childhood imagination. This also helped us maintain high energy levels which are compulsory for playing children. We used appropriate vocabulary such as ‘founded that firsted tho’ and ‘you are the bestest’ to show the simplicity of children’s language at 7 years old. We improvised arguments with both our own group and our opponents over props and spacing. We also chose to incorporate a fairytale storyline into it and take an opponent from the other team hostage. We also showed how our moods changed quickly e.g. falling out and then making up again. As I was acting I could find many similarities in my own and others performances in comparison to ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ characters. Hayley(me): Very similar to Angela. I remained seated at the top of our pretend towers dishing orders out and generally being very bossy. I also portrayed her flirtatious side by settling a row between 2 boys over who would be my prince â€Å"why don’t you both be princes then you can both kiss me!† This links to Angela because she is also very bossy and flirtatious. Warren: very similar to Raymond. He stayed well away from the arguments and instead chose to play alone with his pretend guns. Sophie: very similar to Audrey. Backed up everything I said (Angela). Held doll when I was climbing etc. Wanted attention constantly. Evaluation I think my performance as a 7 year old was well thought through. I used appropriate body language (free and wild) and voice (high pitched and squeaky) to portray my desired character. I think my performance was strongly influenced by my 7 year old brother and 5 year old sister. I managed to keep in role by keeping my energy levels high to feel more like my character. I enjoyed this performance even though I normally dislike spontaneous improvisation tasks. I learnt how important it is to keep up energy levels and momentum when performing as children, I strongly believe that this performance has helped me get the feel and prepare for childhood performances in the Blue Remembered Hills scenes. Lesson 2 Character exploration and Still image In our second lesson we were to perform a role play, reenacting a selected scene from the play. This was to allow us to empathize with the characters and familiarize ourselves with their relationship with each other. I selected the scene with Angela, Andrea and Donald Duck in the barn. We chose to stage this in the round to portray Donald’s isolation, the ’round enabled the audience feel close to us acting ‘feeling’ the tension. We used appropriate proxemics. There were a variety of characteristics to my role. It is in this scene that pathetic fallacy is used a lot as Donald’s emotions are portrayed by the grubby, battered barn. Physicalisation As I was playing the part of Angela I was aware that her personal characteristics would be very different to my own. I was familiar with Angela’s bossy, controlling ways from previous lessons. To portray her characteristics I did the following things: This posture showed that I was over confident. As you can see I had hold of the baby the whole time, although it was an effective way to portray status and authority it particularly helped me by restricting me with my hand gestures. I intimidated Donald at the end of the scene by using positioning and movement to my advantage. > I used good levels to show status > Positioned my body as someone with confidence would > Used very static and energetic movement to adapt to a 7 yr olds characteristics. I also used movement effectively when intimidating Donald. I circled him to show how my character controls the scene. I used centering which is a good technique to show a character physically. As this means that my character is ruled by a particular part of the body, I chose to use the arm holding the baby. When I walked, this arm would lead etc. This also emphasized my status due to possessing the doll. My facial expressions changed throughout the scene mainly because of the themes and emotions varying. My facial expressions always portrayed my hubris: which is my overconfidence. For example- concern ‘Oh dear. Poor, poor Donald’ (denoted from text) My expression was very interested and showed that my attention was solely on Donald. This showed the caring and imaginative side to Angela : I was also the ‘mommy’ which may have encouraged me to over-exaggerate. Another example- Anger and intimidation â€Å"Quack, Quack, Quack† (denoted from the text). My expression was very bold and frustrated. This showed my nasty streak. Chosen prop in scene: Doll Obvious choice as it helped me adapt to my character and her age. It helped me with my Physicalisation by restraining my body to certain movements. Helped me portray my authority, Relationships with others Angela shows her authority over Audrey and repeatedly gets her own way. â€Å"Course I be. I got the babby, aint I? It chunt your doll, Audrey† This dialogue portrays the authority in their friendship. The fact that Angela has the doll and is therefore able to play the mother proves how she has everything Audrey wants. Angela also gets a lot of attention from the boys which is why she gets jealous and frustrated when Audrey gets the attention from Donald, because of this Andrea copies Angela to ‘fit in’ The majority of the time the 2 characters get along with each other very well, especially when they play ‘house’ and get to play the main parts. However when Donald interacts with Audrey, Angela gets angry at him and bullies him: she becomes very violent towards him. The proxemics shows the audience how the characters feel about each other. This means the way that space is being used to communicate meaning. Communication Lesson 3 We used hot-seating in our 3rd lesson. Hot-seating is where one person takes on the role of a character and answer questions asked by the rest of the group in the way they believe the character would respond. Hot-seating is used to gain a deeper understanding of a specific character. Below are some of the questions we asked ‘Donald Duck’ along with his answers. Any Brothers and sisters? Did have a baby sister but died from smallpox 3 years ago. Who’s your best friend? I like the girls because I can play house with them. Was your father violent? No my daddy didn’t believe in violence he was a Christian, an honest man. Favorite color? Red like blood. Does your mum hit you because you’re naughty? I aint no naughty boy she just gets cross at me sometimes that’s all. Why are you more comfortable around the girls? Yes because they let me play and they don’t fight like Peter does. Denoted means information taken straight from the script. Connoted means to imply and read between the lines. D- Has shoes but no socks. Timid and anaemic C- poor, not nourished, not cared for? D-Collects empty jam jars for money. C- Look after himself. Independent. D- Doesn’t like smacking of the baby â€Å"not in my house† C- Past experiences? Treat kids nicely. D- talks about blood a lot when playing house with the girls†¦Ã¢â‚¬ blood all over the saw. Blood all over me. Blood everywhere. Blood, blood† C- Used to seeing it? Psychotic, fascinated by it. D- Lets have four sugars eh? C- Not normally got it, Rationing. Treat for him. D- imitates authority by banging up and down shouting for his tea. C- men dominating?, not used to power. D- Enjoys playing with the girls†¦he hugs himself with glee, rocking slightly C- Nice females: is different to usual, don’t really fit in with boys, attention D- Doesn’t like being called Donald Duck. Goes into a psychotic frenzy as girls jeer and pull his hair. He howls but is totally submissive. C- Used to violence? Hates it because his name is not friendly, derogatory term. D- Donald wouldn’t show Willie his jam jars until he threatened to kick his head in. The boys think he is a weed and a cry baby â€Å"one punch and he’ll give in† C-They know past history, again evident from Angela in the barn. They use it against him. D- He’s got hold of a box of matches by going through his mam’s handbag. The boys discuss how she knocks him about, he sets light to the coal shed after she locks him up in it. C- Pyromania, get rid of bad memories. Fire is something he can control, shows status, redeeming feature. Development section We were asked to get into groups of 4 and elaborate and create a piece of drama around the stimulus below. We decided to use flashbacks to portray Donald’s emotions. Flashbacks represent and explore the background and emotions of a character or a story; we used this as we believed this to be an appropriate way to portray Donald’s motives. As flashbacks are used to provide information about a characters past to explain a present situation. We chose to pick scenes where Donald was being abused and victimized by a variety of different people. We portrayed a life of sadness and abuse in all of our scenes. We also used imaging to represent Donald’s feelings beneath the surface of his actual character. 1st Flashback We showed the thing Donald most longs for†¦his Dad. We tell the audience through dialogue how his father went to war and Donald begged him not to go. 2nd Flashback We showed how mother abuses him and how he is really scared of her. 3rd Flashback Here we denoted from the text. Audrey â€Å"smack er one Donald† Angela† Yes, and if he hits me I shall tell is mam. Her’ll skin him alive won’t her? She hits you with the poker, don’t she? Both â€Å"Quack, quack,† ( hit him etc) We then got Donald to show how he longs to be loved and accepted; he begged and showed the audience his innocence. † please, please don’t, you promised† we then went silent to add a contrast of noise and tranquility. However this was again totally contrasted by Peter shouting at him. 4th flashback Peter: â€Å"where them jam jars, dem girls told me you ad um!† Donald: â€Å"No I aint ad no jars† Girls enter and create a sound collage ( soundscape) â€Å"yes you did, you ad 10 jars you said† â€Å"Dont lie you said† ‘Liar† etc., etc. The soundscaping (Sound collage) was used to emphasize and build a dramatic ending . Soundscaping is where the voice and body is used to create sound associated with the atmosphere. We used a tableau at the end. Also known as a freeze frame or still image: characters freeze as if it is a photograph. We used positioning and levelling: > Surrounded Donald to show his isolation > Peter and girls stood up to show authority > Donald sat down to show his lower status compared to the others At the end all characters froze and we used direct address (where character speaks directly to the audience): this created dramatic irony. It could be argues that this is a soliloquy as it was also a thought spoken out aloud. Donald: â€Å"All I wanted was my dad† Throughout our piece Donald remained on stage rocking and continuously repeating his speech in the stimulus, this emphasized his emotions and gained him sympathy from the audience. When not acting the remaining cast kept our backs to the audience and remained still and focused. This lesson we had to prepare a short piece of drama based on scene 6 of Blue Remembered Hills. The squirrel scene includes all of the boys apart from Donald. We used the script and kept the scene totally naturalistic as this is the way that Dennis Potter intended. We began by getting into groups of 4 and planning our piece. We had to decide who was to play which character. I played Raymond, Rebecca played Willie, Reece played the antagonist John and Tom was the protagonist Peter. An antagonist is the character who has some kind of conflict with the main character (in this scene the main character is Peter). A protagonist is the main character who has some kind of conflict with another character. Another difficult choice was choosing the most suitable staging: After studying all of the good and bad points of every staging, we decided to use a thrust stage. We thought this would be most fitting as it makes the audience feel close to our performance, feeling all o our emotions with us. It also allowed us to use the top of the thrust as a focal point to position the squirrel. As the scene was set n the woods we decided that we needed something to act as tree-stumps not only to set the scene but to also help us with our Physicalisation as we were able to sit, stand and ‘hang’ off them. This also provided us with levels. We began our scene differently to everybody else, instead of beginning with the actual killing of the squirrel we decided to start after this where all of the characters are silent and full of guilt. We used ad-lib (adding our own speech) at the start of the scene to build tension and portray the boys feelings of uncertainty and regret. As we began our piece with an anti-climax it emphasized the themes within the scene such as sadness and lament. We then ran the scene using the script. Throughout the scene it was compulsory that we changed our voice to suit our character. As the play was set in the West Country in 1943 we not only had to change our accent to suit the place but also our spoken language (during ad-lib) to suit the era. Our tone, pitch, pace and volume all changed throughout the piece along with the mood: for example at the begging where there is a major anti-climax our mood is sad and our spirit is low therefore our voice must portray our state of mind. I spoke at a very slow space, with a very low pitch, volume and tone; this was to emphasize the themes of sadness and regret. However, because Raymond has a stutter I found that it was particularly difficult to add all of the voice changes as well as the stutter. As I was a 16 year old girl playing the part of a 7 year old boy there was an awful lot of thinks I had to consider in relation to my physicalisation. My posture was no longer feminine and mature, it was slouched and wild. My movement as a 7 year old was never ending; I constantly had to keep moving, whether it was slow when sad or quick when happy. My group also chose to use repetition of movement in our piece to emphasize a specific characteristic of our character: for example Raymond continuously went to the back wall of our stage to cry. This could also symbolize how Raymond is always at the back, away from all of the action. My positioning of Raymond was well thought through, I remained behind my other actors to show how I was the one against harming the squirrel as I was furthest away. I think that as I played a 7 year old boy well it has proved that I am versatile. Because we were to perform in our classroom we were unable to use lighting, sound or costumes. However if we were able to use them I believe that they would tremendously improve my piece. Costume colours Willie-Greys, whites and light blues to symbolize that he is plain. John -Greens, because it is a neutral colour for a neutral character. He is quite jealous of Peter being the strongest. Peter- Bold blacks and reds, as he is a bold character. Sinister. Raymond-Cowboy costume. Shown below. I believe that some recorded effects would have made our piece have more realism about it. A sound of rustling trees and the chirping of birds would have helped set the scene yet kept it realistic. Lighting would have kept the various themes and focus fluent throughout. I would have chosen the below gobos to set the scene During the ad-lib at the start I would have a white spotlight on the squirrel to make this the focal point for the audience: the white would represent its innocence I would use a red fresnel spot when Raymond says the word ‘dead’. The red would symbolize the death and blood. The fresnel spot is a lot softer like the mood than the par can for example. In our final lesson our task was to produce our own script including the character of Wallace Wilson. My script Silence. Donald sits alone, curled up tight, head down. He is shaking vigorously, rocking back and forth with continuous chanting. Donald: come back Dad, come back Dad†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Suddenly, loud shouts and banging is heard off stage. Donald s startled and freezes immediately. (Offstage) Wallace Wilson’s mum: Gerrout! Gerrout thou feivin get! A loud smack is heard offstage, followed by a cry of pain. (Offstage) Wallace Wilson’s mum: Thou wouldn’t dream of stealin’ my matches if you Da’ were ere. A tall scruffy boy is seen entering stage right. He sits on the opposite side of the hay to Donald. Wallace is totally unaware of Donald’s presence. Donald remains silent and alert as Wallace Wilson begins to sob. Wallace Wilson: we†¦wel†¦well e’s not! Your ere ‘nd I dun’t lie you†¦ I dun’t like you at all! I†¦I wish you were dead. (pause) Donald: (whispered) I fink like that sometime, but I dun’t mean it like†¦ I dun’t mean it at all Wallace Wilson: (anxiously) He†¦Hello? Donald: Me Mam ‘its me sometime you know†¦ but I know she dun’t mean it like†¦ it cuza me Dad†¦Jap’s ‘ave got ‘im. Wallace Wilson: Jap’s ‘ave got ya Da’? Donald: Yh 2 year now. Wallace Wilson: (hesitantly) mine too. (Awkward silence) Wallace Wilson continues to wipe the tears from his eyes. Donald lies on his back and gazes up towards the ceiling deep in thought. Donald: Does thou mam drink the clear stuff ‘eh? Wallace Wilson: Yh, Yh she do. She says it ‘elp ‘er like but it don’t. Both boys remain silent and both reflect on their home situations. They become more relaxed in their environment however tug on their clothes to feel more secure. (Suddenly Donald breaks the silence) Donald: She use the poker like? (Short pause) Wallace Wilson: (Softly) Yh. Donald: Belt? Wallace Wilson: (softly) Yh. (Short pause) Donald: For nothin’. Wallace Wilson: For nowt. (Really long pause) Donald stands up Donald: so†¦ thou got any matches? Wallace Wilson: erm†¦ well yer I ‘ave†¦ I just gotta†¦ A young, pretty blonde girl enters stage right. Angela: Who be dere? Wallace Wilson turns and looks in her direction. He quickly wipes his eyes and changes back to his usual boisterous self. Angela: Oh†¦Oh Wallace thou din’t know it were you like. On the name of ‘Wallace Wilson’ Donald realizes whom is actually on the other side of the hay and quickly scarpers stage left. Angela flirtatiously plays with her hair Wallace Wilson: I were ’bout t’ start a fire like†¦ I got me matches. Wallace reveals a box of matches from his back pocket. The end Setting We decided to set our scene in the barn as we felt that this could act as both characters refuge. We felt that comparing the most powerful character with the most weakest would be very effective in terms of similarities and comparisons. Costumes I would like to experiment with costume and maybe dress both characters in the same way. I would dress both characters in dirty clothes, light blue and white in colour. The light blue would symbolize both boys’ sadness and the white their innocence. Dressing hem both similarly would further emphasize their similarities. Sound and music As this scene is totally dependant on he emotions being portrayed through sound it is compulsory that we kept unnecessary sounds to a minimum. Silence was the most effective form of sound, as it symbolized how both boys had suffered in silence. Silence also made the scene awkward and built up tension. Make up I wouldn’t use any ‘fantasy make up’ however I would use a mixture of ‘straight make up’ and ‘character make up’ to add dirt and wounds and scars. Masks Masks could be worn by both characters at the start of the scene and then removed when the boys feel comfortable opening up about their lives. This would make the audience aware of the boys’ feelings towards each other. Lighting At the beginning where Donald is alone and rocking, I believe that a stropescope (where lighting flickers to a rhythm would be really effective. Throughout the piece I would use a fresnel spot as it would create a soft effect as it spreads the light more gently. Another advantage of using this lighting is that it can be focused on a character at an important time. I would use either a white (innocence) or blue (sadness) cinemoid (gel). Levels Both boys were sat down to show they are not very powerful or confident. Both stand up at the end however to show how they have become confident in each others company. Set and Props A haystack (or substitute) to symbolize the barrier between the boys. Movement We wanted very little movement to show the tension and awkwardness between the boys. Voice Use both high and low volume depending on the characters mood and confidence. We also changed our tone depending on our confidence. We used appropriate spoken language in our piece. Staging I believe there to be 2 effective staging Proscenium arch and traverse. Proscenium arch This enables the audience to see both sides of the haystack, and both boys actions and reactions to each other. However the audience is not ‘close’ to the scene. Traverse This is effective as the audience feel ‘close’ to the actors this enforces the tension upon them. Although the audience are nearer it is quite possible that they are unable to see both characters due to blocking.