Aida Play Analysis Essay

The musical Aida was written by Auguste Mariette based on Giuseppe Verdi’s Italian-language opera. 2nd Flight Productions using the stage at Chantilly High School performed the musical. The musical was based on the legend of Aida, the Nubian princess who was captured as a slave to Radames, the captain of Egypt. The performance is divided into two acts and it started with Radames fianci , Amneris, as a statue during the present times in a museum. The museum displayed a tomb with the carvings of a man and a woman buried together. Amneris’s statue begins to sing and tells the tale behind the tomb. The set for the museum was sufficiently constructed for the story. The tomb was realistic and the background sets of Egyptian writing were appropriate to the feeling and style. However, at first it was difficult to grasp who Amneris was when she sang because she was position center right and maybe a little down right of the stage. There were no other props that clearly indicated that she was part of the museum and that she was a statue. There was a back narrow parallel platform that elevated her separate from the ground. The ensemble members were the museum tourists observing the artifacts. However they were on the ground level and there were no indications of them acknowledging her as a fellow artifact of the museum. Throughout the play, Aida is a strong character who deeply cares about her people. In the plot she hides her identity as the Nubian Princess to save her people. The actress did an amazing job portraying those characteristics. Her voice was powerful and so phenomenal that each song she sung moved me. Every emotion she evoked moved the audience through her acting and her singing. There was moment where the actress belted out a song that described the struggles of being a princess of Nubia. Her body language was like a building wearing away and her facial expressions revealed pain and sorrow. Another moment that was very effective was when she finally accepted her love for Radames. Her body language was playful, her voice was light and her facial expression was soft and more youthful. She was the best and most excellent actress in the play. The lighting had its good effects and bad effects. During serious moments, the lighting was used well and isolated the light towards the main characters. However, when the music became lively, the lighting was in all different colors, similar to a disco lighting, which I found unnecessary and sloppy for a historical musical. The costuming was decent as well but I expected more from a community theatre company. The costumes would be acceptable for a high school production but not a community one. The slave clothes were fine and tattered; however, the fabric was new and it appeared new from stage. Since the setting is in historical times, the fabric must invoke that. The costume for Aida throughout the play was in a shiny fabric that was glittery. This was an anachronism since the setting, again, is in historical times. The ensemble was probably the poorest aspect of the play. In every act they were in, they were never in synch with each other. No one seemed to listen or hear each other. The ensembles made careless mistakes with their hands fidgeting, their eyes not focused and the acting did not seem like acting. In acting, the actor must have a purpose or goal to evoke good acting; however the ensemble did not do that. They moved around with unmotivated movement. Their dance, however, was stronger than their acting. At times they were no in synch but they did decent on their dances. I wished that the ensemble danced with more diverse movements. The dances seemed a little parallel and conformed to the same movements at times. The ensemble men were Radames soldiers in the beginning and did a dance routine that had the characteristics of a march. The performance of the ensemble however, was poor. Their entire routine was not in synch and it was sloppy. In order to portray as soldiers, they should have had more cut and dry movements that were sharp and strict. However, they performed as if they were relaxed and bored. It was more of a casual walk than a march. Towards the end the soldiers did an impressive break dance when the song lifted from its austere melody, however I found it unnecessary. Overall the musical was satisfactory as a community musical. The background music was appropriate, the main actors were excellent in portraying their characters and the songs were sung on key. Although there were many errors in setting, and ensemble members, the director succeeded in telling and portraying the story of Aida in a reasonable fashion.

Importance of Literature Essay

Literature reminds us of stories, epics, sacred scriptures and classical works of the ancient and modern times. Literature is defined as the body of written works of a language, period or culture, produced by scholars and researchers, specialized in a given field. Why is literature important? Let us see. As stated in the quotation by C. S. Lewis, literature not only describes reality but also adds to it. Yes, literature is not merely a depiction of reality; it is rather a value-addition. Literary works are portrayals of the thinking patterns and social norms prevalent in society. They are a depiction of the different facets of common man’s life. Classical literary works serve as a food for thought and a tonic for imagination and creativity. Exposing an individual to good literary works, is equivalent to providing him/her with the finest of educational opportunities. On the other hand, the lack of exposure to classic literary works is equal to depriving an individual from an opportunity to grow as an individual. Prose, poetry, drama, essays, fiction, literary works based on philosophy, art, history, religion, and culture and also scientific and legal writings are grouped under the category of literature. Creative nonfiction of the ancient times and literary journalism also fall under literature. Certain extremely technical writings such as those on logistics and mathematics are also believed to be a part of literature. Some of the great literary works like the Bible and Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, among others, provide society with the guiding principles of life. Ancient poetic works by poets like Homer, Plato, Sappho, Horace and Virgil, Shakespeare’s sonnets and notable poetry by W. B. Yeats, John Keats, Wordsworth, Tennyson and William Blake are timeless. The Lord of the Rings, The Godfather, A Tale of Two Cities, James Bond series are some of the best-selling books of all time. The Adventures of Pinocchio, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Winnie-the-Pooh were some of the greatest works in children’s literature. The relatively recent Harry Potter series made record sales across the globe and carved a niche for J. K. Rowling. However, a discussion about children’s authors would be incomplete without the mention of all-time popular authors like Aesop, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Mark Twain. It is through reading such great literary and poetic works, that one understands life. They help a person take a closer look at the different facets of life. In many ways, it can change one’s perspective towards life. Lives of brilliant achievers and individuals who have made a valuable contribution to society, are sketched in their biographies. These works give the readers an insight into the lives of these eminent people, while also serving as a bible of ideals. Literature serves as an enormous information base. Research works by famous inventors and literary works by notable scientists often narrate stories of their groundbreaking discoveries and inferences. Ongoing developments in the fields of science and technology are documented so that the world can know about them. Several ancient scriptures relating stories of human evolution and narratives of human life in those times, have been of tremendous help to mankind. Thus, literature has always served as an authentic source of information from all around the world. True, languages are the building blocks of literature. But the study of literature cannot be restricted to only studying languages. In fact, literature cannot be confined to an educational curriculum. A degree in language and literature is perhaps unable to provide one, with everything that literature can offer. Literature, is definitely, much more than its literary meaning, which defines it as ‘an acquaintance to letters’. It, in fact, lays the foundation of an enriched life; it adds ‘life’ to ‘living’ Literature is also a mode to express public opinion in variety of genres. It is also a part of tradition, one we pass on to our future generation. It tells us of our rich culture and gives us a sense of pride in our country. Literature is the lighthouse of any culture and to know any culture better we must know its literature as it gives us a true picture of the culture and its development. The extant remains of the literary texts of earlier civilizations throw light on our past and gauge our development. Literature enriches the mind and reading as they say makes a man perfect. Today there are books available on a variety of subjects, books meant for education, books meant for entertainment and books meant for self- development. There is a book for each one`s choice. All said and done, literary enlightenment of a society is the true measure of its development and progress and India is a land with a rich literary heritage and one that people all over the world look up to for guidance. | Art is an extremely private experience, yet, it is meant to be shared with the public. Society, as a whole, examines the art produced and has the right to approve, disapprove, acknowledge, ignore, praise and abuse it. The public or society has not remained constant over the years. In the time of the Renaissance, for example, only a select few were â€Å"society. † They commissioned art, were patrons of the arts and their artists. Today, almost anyone can share in the experience of art. They can attempt to create, view and act as a critic. Does art make the world a better place, or is it quite useless? This is a very ancient riddle, and no one has solved it yet. A similar question – has art truly had any impact upon society? Has it fashioned or molded minds? Has it shaped opinions and altered how people feel or think? Is it practicable in or relevant to society and its individuals’ daily lives? Art reflects life. It is a portrait of history, whether it is history of the current moment or an event in the past or something of the imagination. Art has captured an event, clarifying its existence and representation to society. The portraits of the French Revolution by David, Benjamin West’s portrayal of the death of General Wolfe and Poussin’s recreation of the Rape of the Sabine Women all strive to provide a version of historical events. Society, in turn, can accept or reject these portrayals of true events. Sometimes, as in the case of Goya’s depiction of the French behavior during their conquest of Spain, art inspires a deep hatred of a certain nationality. |

Academic Writing - Logical Fallacies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Academic Writing - Logical Fallacies - Essay Example The question that ‘Why don’t you love me?’ is an example of this as Marissa is assuming, by the nature of her question, that her father does not love her, asking him why he does not. As Archie (2009) notes, the assumption of the complex question can only be known from the context. Not all cases where something not generally granted is assumed are fallacious because not all such passages involve arguments. Clearly, there is no good way to respond directly to the question being posed, only to identify the presupposition or assumption of the question. A corrected version of this question might be: â€Å"If you love me, why won’t you let me use the car.† This corrected version of the question focuses back on the issue of the car, and away from whether or not her father loves her. This is an example of a straw man, which as Kahane (2005) writes, involves a misrepresentation of an opponent’s position, or a competitor’s product, or goes after a weaker opponent or competitor while ignoring a stronger one. The argument Marissa is using is an Her Dad looked at her lovingly, â€Å"No, Marissa, I don’t think you’re a child. I just don’t think it’s safe for you to take the car to a party.† She snapped, â€Å"Because it’s not safe? Well, you better take away our kitchen knives, because they aren’t safe!† example of a straw man because it misrepresents her opponent’s, her father’s position on the issue. Because the two people know each other well, Marissa can anticipate her father’s objection, which she mischaracterizes to serve her own purposes. Like an advertiser misrepresenting the competition’s products and services (Kahane), Marissa has constructed a false reality in which her opponent makes a bad argument. To correct her mistake, Marissa ought to incorporate the possibility that her father does not think she is a child by starting her sentence with an â€Å"if†, like in the following: â€Å"If you don’t think I am a child, let me take

Ask Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ask - Essay Example She says â€Å"She wasn’t at all serious when she had to be and nice when it requires. Interpreting her conversation wasn’t difficult. She made is clear that I wasn’t professional enough to be promoted† Did the vice president use the leadership styles in addressing the issue of the banker? 3. It is apparent that the banker was not happy because the vice president didn’t seem to pay attention to him/her. He/she says â€Å"When we started discussing the case, she was less interested and no eye contact was made between us (her eyes were always on her Monitor and very minimal on me)† Did the vice president use the correct communication style in addressing the banker’s issue? 4. During the conversation, the manager thought â€Å"I have been working for three years straight learned everything I can and how can I learn to become a fully-fledged manager if neither you nor the other managers have time to teach me anything to further assist me.† Could the banker’s feelings and thoughts have influenced the outcome of their conversation? 5. In terms of managerial skills, the vice president told the banker that he/she wasn’t professional enough to be promoted. What does the banker need to know about leadership before being promoted to a managerial post? The said subordinate is alleged to have gone against the rules of the company by disclosing important financial information. According to what transpired between him/her with the financial manager, the following insight questions can be deemed appropriate. 1. The manager is alleged to have jumped into conclusion even before conducting his own independent investigation on the alleged misconduct of the sub ordinate. Are these assumptions by the manager indicating good managerial skills? 4. The subordinate is seen to engage the manager in some heated conversation. He asked the manager â€Å"Is this always your leadership style?†

Organizational behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Organizational behavior - Essay Example This gives the individual participators a sense of personal achievement (Heller, 1999). In addition, competent persons who can perform irrespective of absence of effective leadership can reach higher heights if there is effective leadership to guide and motivate them. Bright ideas, best interest, and sound business knowledge are key ingredients to a successful business, but these are not enough. Effective leadership is required to bring people together with an aim to achieve common goals of the organization (Yourarticlelibrary.com, 2014). Effective leadership is inevitable for making things happen in the consistently changing market dynamics. An organization must invest in effective leadership in order to remain relevant in a business environment with ever changing competition, profile of people joining the organization, legal, political, and social-cultural environment (Stanfielf, 2009). In addition, organizations face challenges that are specific to them. Strategies need to be developed to deal with these challenges. Effective leadership is fundamental in the formulation of appropriate strategies and implementation of these strategies to propel organizations in the right direction. If there are two teams of equal competence, but one team lacks effective leadership, the team with effective leadership will certainly win over the team that lacks effective leadership (Adair, 1983).Effective leadership at all levels of an organization increases the chances of survival of an organization. It also enables to sustain the g rowth of the organization and realization of organization’s full capacity (Fenimore and Nirenberg, 2004) Effective leadership is characterized with empowerment of employees through inclusion in decision-making, enhanced communication and consideration of individual needs and rights of the employees. The subsequent effect of effective leadership is enhanced employees commitment to the

Principles of advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Principles of advertising - Essay Example However, the vast variety of brands and products may also be the companys biggest weakness as it makes it almost a certainty that some items will not become popular. It also makes it difficult to give all of their products enough attention when it comes to staying up-to-date with market changes. Regardless, PepsiCo has the opportunity to increase sales at almost any time simply by exploiting their strongest markets through raised prices and the introduction of new, well-researched, and desirable products. The biggest threat to the continued growth of PepsiCo is the Coca-Cola Company, whose focus on beverages has kept it on top of the market. PepsiCo is a strong company with a lot of power and much to offer the public. Moving forward, they will likely be focused on overtaking Coke. The only way to accomplish this may be to become less diverse, so that more time and resources can be given to their top

Determination of Exchange Rate Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Determination of Exchange Rate - Coursework Example The initial period was 1870 to 1914 where most countries adopted the gold standard where gold was used as domestic money. The above gold standard was a uniform exchange rate regime, though some countries constantly used silver while other countries gold inconvertible currencies (Ehrmann and Fratscher, 2004, p. 105). The start of the First World War interrupted this exchange rate era thereby bringing in the second phase that was 1914-1946. Under this second period, there were many changes as many countries saw great variations of currencies used among countries and the over time. Exchange controls were initiated with most countries utilizing the floating exchange rates (Escobar, 2012). It was noted that in the late 1920s, the efforts to restore the gold standards as were before the war began aborted (Deaton and Duprietz, 2011, p. 152). The exchange rate policy was dominated by the Breton Woods agreement that was signed in 1944 between 1946 and 1973. Through this pact, countries agreed to commit themselves to convertible currencies that could be converted to the current account and the fixed exchange rate (Chinn and Hiro, 2005, p. 301). The pact enhanced eschew of exchange controls and fixing the exchange rates due to the negative lessons that were experienced after the world war (Bagella, et al. 2006, p. 1152). Despite the increased application and use of the Breton Woods pact, Kenen (2000, p. 111) posits that the arrangement was strained since the 1960s and in 1973, fixation of exchange rates was officially abandoned by most countries in Europe and Japan thereby ushering in the next period of exchange rates that has been in application since 1973 to date where countries use floating exchange rates (Chinn & Hiro, 2005, p. 303). 2.2 Types of Exchange Rates 2.2.1 The Nominal Exchange Rate Regime The nominal exchange rate is the exchange rate of a given currency whose value is not averagely weighted in relation to the major currencies across the globe (Cooper, n.d. : 21). The weights of the currency are determined by the domestic country that places its currency in a given pool of global currencies that are measured by the balance of trade between these countries. The nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) is the relative value of a domestic currency as compared to major global currencies such as the U.S. Dollars, the UK Pound and the Japanese Yen among others. A high NEER implies that the domestic currency has a more value than the foreign currency while a lower NEER implies that the domestic currency has a less value as compared to the foreign currency. As noted by Eichengreen and Leblang (2003, p. 804), the nominal exchange rate refers to the exchange rate of a given currency in relation to the given foreign currency. 2.3 Real Exchange Rates Galindo (2006, p. 64) note that the real exchange rate can be distinguished from the nominal exchange rates since real exchange rates refers to the cost of foreign good relative to the cost of domestic products. It provides the required competitiveness in the market and it is necessary in explaining the behavior of trade and national income in a competitive global economy. The real exchange rate is usually volatile and it keeps varying based on various business environment factors (Ickes, 2004, p. 16). The big fluctuations in the real exchange rates could lead to improved welfare to an economy, though this is not