Evaluate factors that influenced the effectiveness of each interaction Essay Example for Free

Evaluate factors that influenced the effectiveness of each interaction Essay In this piece of coursework I will be analysing and evaluating the factors that influence the effectiveness of each interaction in relation to the one to one set at a GP’s for a patient that has really bad back pains and is complaining about how sharp the pain is. I based the one to one interaction on a patient with back problems and they’ve come to the GP’s for something to be given to them. I thought of this because it’s something I went through and I thought it would be nice to let people know what process I went through and how hard it was. The first factor, I thought that influenced the one to one interaction was the patient and doctor taking turns while talking and not interrupting. Turn taking is a major factor that involves our everyday lifestyle and it’s helpful because you know you will get a turn at having your own say. Turn taking helps out a lot especially if you are with younger children or at a GP. For example, the patient came to her doctor and she told her doctor what was wrong with her and how much she’s in pain, the doctor listened to her while she was talking and didn’t ask questions until she finished talking then, the doctor answered all her questions and asked her own questions trying to figure out what was wrong about that patient and what actions will need to be taken for the patient to feel better. Towards the end the doctor referred the patient to her local hospital for an x-ray to see what’s going on. What’s good about turn taking is that everyone listens to each other and you don’t get interrupted also you know you’ll have enough time to talk while others have a chance to think about questions to ask you. The second factor I realised that influenced the one to one interaction was listening. Listening is letting people talk and you concentrating on just what they are saying, listening is a very important communication skill because if you don’t listen you may misunderstand something which may leads you to thinking differently and feeling insecure. Read more: Describe factors which may influence children’s development essay Listening was one factor that influenced the one to one interaction because if one of us didn’t listen while the other person was talking we may have not heard what they were saying or concentrated enough to understand what they were saying which can lead to giving wrong answers which could be a problem to the persons health that’s why when others are talking you always have to listen. For example, in the one to one interaction Emily was my partner and she helped me concentrate listening to  her because little things distract me easily so I had to make sure I listened to her also, we had our script which was used as a prop if we missed out something we carried on listening to each other while looking at what was said to not give the wrong answer. We listened to each other because we knew how important listening is and we were successful at getting through the one to one interaction without not knowing what was going on because we listened to each other. The third factor that also had an influence on the one to one interaction was respect towards each other. Respecting each other shows you give them pride and you are happy about what they are saying or doing also, respect comes from learning to care about people from older ages because we have to respect people to get along with life if we don’t respect then there could be consequences. Respect is very important because we all have to respect everyone no matter what their race, gender, age or features are we have to because we live in a society that moves with respect. For example, if we didn’t respect the army that looks after the country for losing their lives to make the world a much happier place and for us to be safe then that will be a major consequence because what’s the point of those people dying for us if we can’t have a little respect for them. The reason why I thought respect had a influence in the one to one interaction was because if we didnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t respect each other we wouldn’t have been able to understand each other and we wouldn’t have been able to do the doctor and patient script because a doctor always has to respect their patients no matter what happens they have to so does the patient too. An example of this would be, when the patient walked into the room I felt the respect from the patient by the way they answered me and facial expressions. This had a big impact on the interaction because it made it less awkward to talk with the patient and not only was the patient comfortable with asking questions to do with her illness but as a doctor being able to have enough respect from a patient to ask them what areas of the back hurts and being able to have a look at the patients back to check what’s wrong. The last factor that had an influence on the interaction was how professional I was. Being professional can be difficult because if you’ve always been in an environment that’s unprofessional and you don’t know where to use what language that can be an issue. So being professional was key in this interaction because I was a person that had a reputation,  that had power to help people and look after them. If I didn’t act professional the patient could have not taken me serious but I did. The reason why being professional was an influence in the interaction because I realised the more professional you are no matter where you are you will always be looked up to and that’s why I thought it was an influence because it made the patient feel secure with me, it made the patient understand no matter what happens I will always be supporting the patient which would make both of us happy. For example, the minute the patient knocked on the door I dropped everything I was doing and stood up and shock the hand then I made the patient feel welcomed and asked how they were then they started explaining what the problem was and the actions I was doing showed I was professional.

Utilizing Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Strand

Utilizing Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Strand I tried to maintain the story in following order: General background on steel MFRs before Northridge earthquake What happened after Northridge Earthquake and still what are the problems remaining? What are the approaches taken to solve the problem? Concept of Post tensioned connection Studies on PT connection with steel Alternative to steel strand (previous studies on SMA strand). Objective of this study. Feasibility study of utilizing superelastic shape memory alloy strand in post tensioned steel beam column connections for improved seismic performance Introduction: During the 1960s, welded steel beam-column connections were considered to be the most ductile system against earthquake. Therefore, a number of industrial and commercial buildings were constructed in the western part of united states at that time.   However, the Northridge earthquake of January 14, 1994, indicated that welded connections are susceptible to brittle fracture at the beam-to-column joints. This failure mode was observed even for structures subjected to a moderate level of ground shaking. Although, these buildings didnt collapse (which is desired by the building code), the connection behavior was not as expected. Further investigation revealed that similar damage was observed in a limited number of buildings during 1992 Landers, 1992 Big Bear and 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (FEMA-350). Studies have been carried out to investigate the reasons behind it. Based on the investigation, significant design changes was implemented to the pre-Northridge moment resisting frame des igns (Engelhardt and Sabol, 1997). Post-Northridge structures are designed in such a way that it is still expected to sustain damage during severe earthquake but without affecting the life safety limit (Chancellor et al. 2014). Residual deformation that may exist after the earthquake can require expensive repair works and in some cases the demolition of total structures. Depending on the scenario, the total cost of demolition or repair work can be a burden to the overall economy of a country. An example can be the earthquake of magnitude 6.5 that occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand in May 2014. The repair works required 40$ billion (New Zealands dollar) which was approximately 20% of the total GDP of the country. In another study, McCormick et al. (2008) showed that the repair of structures with residual drift greater than 0.005 rad is not economically feasible. Conventional moment resisting frames are designed to resist collapse by using the inelastic properties of nonreplaceable elements. Therefore, these systems can dissipate energy during large inelastic deformation but unable to recover the residual deformation. In this regard, research has been done to improve the performance by introducing reduced beam section (RBS) (Tremblay and Filiatrault, 1997), connection reinforced with cover plates (Engelhardt and Sabol, 1997), haunches (Uang et al. 2000), and side plates (Shiravand and Deylami, 2010). However, the existence of residual deformation after severe earthquake is still possible. To address this above mentioned issues, a new class of lateral force resisting system has been developed which can sustain severe earthquake with little or no residual deformation. This smart structure can return to its plumb position after load removal (herein referred to as a full self-centering), without any residual deformation. This new system is termed as post tensioned (PT) steel moment resisting frames. In this system, beams are post tensioned to the columns, which run parallel to the beams and pass through the column flanges, are used to provide self-centering to the moment resisting frames (Moradi and Alam, 2015). The reduction of residual displacement in PT connection is controlled by a gap opening mechanism.   Due to the gap opening between steel column and beams, a significant reduction in stiffness occurs, which is desirable. As the decrease in stiffness attracts less force to the connection (i.e. softening occurs without structural damage) by lengthening the structur al period (Chancellor et al. 2014). Past few years, several researchers have investigated and still investigating the seismic performance of self-centering steel moment resisting frames. Ricles et al. (2002), experimentally investigated the self-centering behavior of steel PT connection on five cruciform shaped specimens. The results showed that steel PT connection sustain small residual deformation compared to the conventional welded connection. Further study based on several affecting parameters such as flange reinforcing plate, shim plate, number of PT strand, angle size, and gage length are considered by Garlock et al. 2003, 2005. The effect of floor diaphragm on the self-centering behavior of steel moment resisting frames were investigated by Garlock et al. (2007). A performance based design guideline for self-centering PT connection was also outlined. In design procedure, the interaction between the floor system and the self-centering PT connection was considered. Dobossy et al. (2006) proposed a method for asses sing structural limit state probabilities for a self-centering frame (with top-and-seat angles). Monte Carlo simulation was used for generating demand curves. The possibility of exceeding a limit state at each floor of the structure was determined based on the demand and capacity curves.   Herning et al. (2011) used a reliability based method to evaluate the likelihood of reaching the limit state of PT strand yielding. A predictive relationship between the beam-column relative rotation and the story drift was proposed. Based on the results, the response of three nonlinear models of prototype self-centering frames was found to be adequate to thousands of synthetic ground motions. The probability of reaching the limit state of strand yielding ranged from 0 to 15%. The self-centering capability of PT connection can also be improved by using smart materials such as shape memory alloys (SMAs). Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is a class of equiatomic metal showing mechanical properties not present in materials usually employed in engineering application (Fugazza, 2003). In most cases NiTi is referred to as a shape memory alloy. But some other alloys show the same characteristics of NiTi alloy. If not stated otherwise, NiTi will be used as SMA throughout this paper. The importance of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) in civil engineering application is increasing rapidly due to its capability of large strain recovery, absence of residual strain upon unloading and high energy dissipation ability. This exceptional property can be used in post tensioned steel beam column connection. The idea of implementing shape memory alloy on post tensioned connection has already been investigated by a number of previous studies. Ocel et al. 2004 considered two partially restraine d (PR) connection to investigate their performance during static and cyclic loading. Martensitic phase (Shape memory effect) was used in both connection. The tested connection was capable of dissipating large energy without any strength degradation up to a drift level of 4%. Using SMA tendons, about 54% and 76% of the beam tip displacement was recovered with or without simulated dead loads, respectively. Ma et al. (2007) presented a highly ductile steel beam column connection by using shape memory alloy bolt. The bolts shanks are 1.2 times longer than the conventional steel bolt. These bolts provide the ductility to the connection by absorbing inelastic deformation. After the deformation phase, it can regain its original shape by recovering 94% of the total deformation. Desroches et al. (2010) studied the behavior of shape memory alloy (SMA) on both austenite and martensite phase. The superelastic SMA bars were found to be responsible for reducing the residual deformation and marten sitic bars were efficient in controlling peak deformations. Ellingwood et al. (2010) evaluated the performance of steel frames with or without SMA connections based on probabilistic framework. Four interior steel beam column connection incorporating different types of SMA (i.e. martensitic NiTi and austenite NiTi) and steel tendon, were investigated by Speicher et al. (2011).   The connection incorporating superelastic NiTi alloy was able to recover up to 85% of its deformation after being loaded upto 5% drift. The objective of this study can be categorized in two phase. In phase one, an attempt has been made to reduce the strand length of existing PT connection without affecting the performance of the connection. In parallel to this study, the objective of phase two was to use shape memory alloy with reduced length. A recent study done by Chowdhury et al. (2017) show that the reduction of PT strand length directly affect the stiffness, strength and moment capacity. Besides, PT connection loses self-centering capability due to the yielding of steel strand. This is due to the high stress concentration in steel and its low strain capacity. In this regard, shape memory alloy can be an efficient alternative due to its large strain capability (recoverable strain up to 8% for NiTi). The cost of NiTi alloy is a major concern during its application. Therefore, reduced strand length will reduce the cost without affecting performance.

Breaking Down Barriers with Positive Feedback Essay -- Education Feedb

Breaking Down Barriers with Positive Feedback Each one of you is faced with the challenge of giving feedback each day. Whether it is on a stimulating topic in class or something as simple as telling a friend whether or not you like the outfit that they have on, giving feedback is something that everyone has had experience with. However trivial this process may seem, it is imperative that one understands its importance. This semester I took a course called En101, or College Writing. In this class we are required to give feedback on essays and articles. Giving negative feedback is often easier than giving positive feedback. In fact, most people would probably admit that giving positive feedback is very difficult for them. The same things applies in my College Writing class. Most students find that the most difficult thing to do in this class is to give feedback without saying something negative. However, we all have to learn how to give positive feedback, or be prepared to face the consequences. For instance, imagine what woul d happen if your best friend asked you whether or not he had a good chance of dating a girl that you know. If you laugh in his face, he may never speak to you again, and if he is really sensitive and truly values your opinion, he may never date again. Okay, so this example may seem a little extreme, but have you ever sat down and really considered the effect that your words may have on someone? Perhaps now is the time to do so. If you are someone that has no idea how feedback can truly affect a single person's ideas or feelings, I invite you to sit in on my eight o'clock morning class for College Writing. As the students shuffle in, half asleep, a few nervous classmates sit quietly at their desk... ...sten to you. Once you begin with a negative comment, it is difficult to repair the damage. It is even more difficult for the people that have gone through life not really understanding how to give feedback correctly. However, maybe these people can surprise everyone by learning how to give positive feedback. It is amazing how much a nice comment can mean to someone, especially authors. After all, authors are very sensitive people. They have worked hard on creating their paper, and generally do not like to hear negative things about it. However, when you phrase your comments just right and create a positive atmosphere, you will be surprised at the difference. So as you move on to read another essay or go meet a friend consider the power of your words. And if your friend really has no chance in dating that girl, find a better way to say that than laughing in his face.

The Case for Torture :: Michael Levin Ethics

I seek to provide an analysis on Michael Levin's article on "The Case for Torture." This article mainly articulates that the use of torture is necessary in order to safeguard the lives of the many innocents and is justifiable. In his given example, he argues that the mass murder of millions of innocent people by a terrorist justifies the use of torture to stop such an extreme barbaric act. Indeed this is a question of moral on the action of inflicting pain. Take a look at the scenario of a war. We will never say that it is immoral to let out soldiers kill or inflict pain on the enemies in a war because we know that it is the only way to safeguard our nation's sovereignty and the lives of our people. The motives are very clear as mentioned. Thus it is justifiable to let our soldiers kill those who intended to harm the lives of our citizens. When a terrorist has clearly intended to harm the lives of millions, why is it not justified then, to inflict pain on the terrorist, with the mot ive of wanting to protect the lives of many more innocent people? Surely it is! Take a look at this argument: Constitution seeks to protect the interest of one's rights. To torture a person is to breach that protection of interest. Therefore, Torture is unconstitutional. Torturing is however, unconstitutional only when the motives behind it are deemed reasonably immoral. We should then of course not inflict pain mainly just to force the other party to confess the truth to a matter if he does not wish to. But what if the truth will then lead to the location of say, a timed-bomb, which will then be diffused in time to prevent an entire office block to collapse, bringing with it a thousand or more lives? Should the constitution then continue to protect the terrorist against such torture? The author said that millions of lives outweigh constitutionality. Surely it is not justiable for a constitution to uphold the rights of a terrorist, but at the expense of the thousands that, t oo, holds the right to live never asked to be placed in such danger. Again, the moral of one's action must be reviewed in such cases. On a personal note, I feel that to sacrifice one that is convicted, in exchanged for the many innocents, is a permissible one.

walmart :: essays research papers

Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices gives an edge over other retailers. †¢ Efficient IT infrastructure enables to smoothen inbound and outbound logistics. †¢ Distribution efficiencies reduces the dependency on the suppliers inefficiencies. †¢ Wide range of products provides customer anything and everything under one roof. †¢ Current dominating market position gives advantage in market development and penetration. †¢ economies of scale of scale Weaknesses- †¢ The weakness is that their overhead is expensive to run store facilities all over the world. †¢ Hierarchical corporate structure may impair decision-making. †¢ In an attempt to succeed by means of low prices, may possibly portray Walmart as a cheap store. †¢ Market maturing †¢ Concentration in a low margin industry †¢ †¢ Zoning issues are the store real estate problems. Just because a company has the ability to build a huge store anywhere it wants to, it does not necessarily mean that it is possible to build one anywhere it wants to. The real estate issue becomes more evident in crowded cities such as Japan where there is a major concern over the availability of real estate. Opportunities †¢ Expansion into emerging International markets †¢ Societal trend towards environmental friendly and American –made products †¢ Move toward value for money products in the slower economic growth Threats- †¢ Even though Wal-Mart is the largest retailer and most successful, they can still be threatened by many factors ranging from their main competitors, environmental, and economic factors. †¢ In many places in USA, Wal-Mart has faced the Anti Wal-Mart activists. According to them having Wal-Mart in the neighborhood kills the local retailers, increases the property taxes to pay for sewage, roads, utilities, and sidewalks. †¢ Regulations and political stability in the international markets †¢ Exchange rate fluctuations †¢ A union problem for ex.Germany has one of the highest degrees of unions and this has a profound effect on hiring, retaining, and laying off employees. Once an employee is hired, it costs more in Germany to keep the employee on payroll and to lay off the employee. German workers are one of the highest paid workers in the world. †¢ Capital intensive for expansion †¢ Challenges The main challenge for Walmart in the years to come is to make sure they continue to keep their customer’s and associates satisfied. In addition, to be a profitable corporation for their investors who own stock in Walmart.

Ben & Jerry’s Company Analysis †Short Essay

Companies like Ben & Jerry’s could definitely be affected by high inflation because of the consumer spending. When the consumers are forced to pay higher prices for products or services that are a necessity, they cut back on products or services that are a luxury. Luxuries that are not a necessity to live like gasoline for vehicles or gas to heat homes or even food will not be bought. Any company that sells a luxury item that is not a necessity to live can be affected by high inflation. With inflation, the price of everything goes up. With that said, the price for companies to buy supplies goes up, meaning that in order to cover their overhead, they will need to find a way to make that money back which could mean layoffs or raising the price of their goods or products. In a recession, companies like Ben & Jerry’s could also face the possibility of being negatively affected because of the demand of consumers. Very much like inflation, recession has the same effect; the consumers do not want to spend their money on luxury items. With the recession, there are more people unemployed who are just barely getting by, therefore, will refuse to spend any money on something that does not decide whether they have a home or not, which includes a luxury item like ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s could also be affected because of their stock prices. During a recession, the price of stock usually declines. So, their revenue would be affected as well as their stock, which would result in bad overall performance of the company. Speaking from personal experience, any luxury item that I absolutely do not need, I do not buy. I simply cannot put myself in a position to not pay a bill because I want to â€Å"treat† myself. With all this said, Ben & Jerry’s provides a reasonably priced luxury item that I would consider a â€Å"feel-good† luxury item. Everyone loves ice cream, young and old. Consumers still need to have a quality of life with the changing economic conditions and if buying an affordable luxury item gives them that, they are going to splurge and buy it. Unlike other luxury items, such as getting clothing and spa appointments, the consumer still gets to feel good and not go broke. Ben & Jerry’s makes a one of a kind product, their flavored ice cream, which makes it an easy buying decision for the consumer. The text book also explains that McDonald’s is not hit as sensitive to the economic conditions for the same reason. Their food is reasonably priced and the consumer still gets to feel like they are â€Å"treating† themselves to restaurant food without breaking the bank. Ben & Jerry’s has social, product and economic condition missions that make them popular in their industry. Not only do they care about making a profit, but they care about their people, environment and planet. They have mission statements for each of these and they follow through. As a consumer, I would rather buy my luxury item from a company that cares about something other than making a buck like their competitors. They make their ice cream to support causes like the recent Imagine Whirled Peace flavor that hosted a competition and donated money to them to support their peace cause. They also have a foundation that gives grants to non-profit organizations that are working for progressive social change. They hold fund-raisers and rally days. They provide hope, awareness and celebration. They also use naturally and humanly produced ingredients as part of one of their missions as well, which is something that would usually increase the price of any products, but with this company, it is just part of their offering. All in all, they provide more than just ice cream to the consumers which makes them less vulnerable to the economic shocks.

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.