Our Countrys Good - Characters Reactions to the Play Essay Example for Free

Our Countrys Good Characters Reactions to the Play Essay The play tells the story of convicts and Royal Marines sent to Australia in the late 1780s as part of the first penal colony there. It follows Second Lieutenant Ralph Clarks attempts to put on a production of George Farquhars comedy play called â€Å"The Recruiting Officer† with a cast of male and female convicts. The play also shows interesting turning points for the convicts and their attitude towards the George Farquhar play, which now will be looked into more detail. When the play is first proposed: Upon arrival in Australia, the Governor-in-Chief Captain Arthur Phillips suggests an activity or a form of education for the convicts during their stay. Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark takes on the idea to perform a play and decides on the comedy â€Å"The Recruiting Officer†. Midshipman Harry Brewer likes the idea, but Captain Watkin Tench laughs at the very idea. Nevertheless, Ralph Clark calls upon the first convict Meg Long who is very old and smelly, and who has no idea that Ralph is talking about making a theatric play; she thinks he means something sexual by the word â€Å"play†. Even still, she tells Ralph Clark that she will do whatever he wants. Moments later, a Robert Sideway shows up and is very intrigued by doing a play and tells a story about when he used to pick pocket outside a theatre in London. He is very enthusiastic with his words â€Å"I beg you, I entreat you, to let me perform on your stage, to let me feel once again the thrill of a play about to begin†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Thereafter, another two female convicts arrive; Dabby Bryant and Mary Brenham. Mary is extremely shy, but has the ability to read unlike Dabby, although Dabby is very enthusiastic about the play. Afterwards, Liz Morden appears. She seems to be a very harsh lady and snatches the book from Ralph and says â€Å"I understand you want me in your play, Lieutenant. Is that it? I’ll look at it and let you know. † These words signal anger and pride, but still a slight interest in being included in the play. The reactions of the Royal Marines are in fact quite different. In Act One, Scene Six they hear about the newfound idea of making a play with the convicts. Major Robbie Ross is the one who is the most against the idea of having a play. He believes the convicts are there to be punished for their crimes, â€Å"You want this vice-ridden vermin to enjoy themselves? † Captain Watkin Tench is on Ross’s side and believes the convicts should do hard labour instead of leisure. The Reverend Johnson agrees that the play is unable to uphold Christian values and therefore decides that the play should not be allowed. He does not believe that the convicts can reform. The only neutral person in this discussion is Lieutenant Will Dawes who does not care if the play is there or not â€Å"Put the play on, don’t put it on, it won’t change the shape of the universe. † Only Ralph Clark and Governor Phillips believe in the idea of redemption and change for the convicts, and thus building up a society amongst them all. Therefore, the Governor allows the play to proceed as Ralph Clark intended. Whilst the play is being rehearsed: Many of the convicts are disappointed in the roles they have received and there is constant confusion of the disappearance of Kable and John Arscott, where some are indicating that they have escaped. The convicts appear to be having misconceptions about acting although they are trying their best to perform. Liz Morden who appeared to be a having a negative attitude towards everything, seems now to have a more formal way of speaking and is very enthusiastic about her lines, but only remembers them because they were read to her and therefore speaks very fast. She also seems to have gained a nicer approach to her inmates â€Å"Thank you, Lucy, I do much appreciate your effort. † Ralph Clark performs a major leading role in teaching the convicts how to read their lines and act it out at the same time. He is still very interested in the play. But Major Ross ruins their rehearsals when he enters and disrupts their play by accusing Ralph for the escape of Arscott and Kable â€Å"Five men have run away and it’s all because of your damned play and your so-called thespists. † After the incident, half of the convicts end up enchained and Ralph Clark is considering shutting down the play, but Governor Phillips explains that he should not. Liz Morden, John Wisehammer, John Arscott and Black Caesar are all in chains, but still continue to rehearse the play. This gives an idea of a newfound passion for the play and a new aim in their lives before they are hanged. In the second rehearsal, some convicts are still in chains and Major Ross does everything he can to disrupt the play. Ralph makes a fool of Ross by telling him to leave â€Å"Major, there is a modesty attached to the process of creation, which must be respected. † This makes Ross even more angered and turns it around on the convicts. He makes fun of the convicts who still try to rehearse passionately. The rehearsal is stopped by the sound of Arscott’s cries. Later on, we see that Wisehammer wants to become a famous writer and he tells Ralph that he has written a new introduction for the play. The convicts are now all very into the play and they rehearse with great passion. Even when all the convicts are not present, they are forced to act to different characters, but they are willing and able. There are also some deeper emotions going on between the convicts and between Ralph and Mary. Ralph gets jealous when Wisehammer kisses Mary during the rehearsals, but Wisehammer feels it is part of the play and it should be taken seriously. Later on in Act Two, Scene Nine, Ralph and Mary are rehearsing together and they grow fond of each other as they act. â€Å"What you please as to that. Will you lodge at my quarters in the meantime? You shall have part of my bed. Silvia. Mary†. Ralph uses the words of the play to indicate his feelings for Mary and they both undress. By the conclusion of the play: In Act Two, Scene Ten, the Royal Marines are discussing the innocence of Liz Morden, and as she will not speak they think she is guilty (of stealing some food). But Governor Phillips reminds her of the play and she then speaks. This directly means she feels an obligation to her friends, and that dying would matter. She now feels she has something to live for and that is the play. Her words have also become more formal and she no longer sounds like a convict â€Å"Your Excellency, I will endeavour to speak Mr Farquhar’s lines with the elegance and clarity their own worth commands. † The play has brought everyone together and everyone has become nicer to everyone. During the backstage before the performance they discuss how to take the bow, which displays confidence in their upcoming performance and everyone is now focused on the play. Even Dabby is â€Å"suddenly transfixed† but she still wants to escape after their first performance which will get Ralph into trouble, so Mary is against it. Everyone pushes everyone to participate and motivates them. Black Caesar has stage fright but is forced to do it by his inmates. Wisehammer recites his new prologue which is surprisingly good which indicates his passion for writing and for the play itself. In conclusion, all the convicts have been convinced by the end of the play and they now feel the magic that the play contains and it had brought them all together, during rehearsals and throughout till the end.

George Bush :: essays research papers

GEORGE BUSH The votes were in; the election was over. On the 20th of January 1989, Republican George Herbert Walker Bush became the forty-first president of the United States. After serving two previous terms as Ronald Reagan's Vice President, he defeated Governor of Massachusetts Michael S. Dukakis to earn his new title. Bush had become President at a time when many Americans were uncertain about their country's future. The federal government was intensely in debt due to prior years of budget deficits. Imported foods were more valuable then exports which questioned the United State's economic standing. Foreign policy was also a topic well discussed by Americans. Bush seemed to be doing a good job with it all and in the midst of his presidency a second term seemed to be a sure thing for him. However, the 1992 election marked the end of his reign; he lost by a great margin to democrat William J. Clinton who may I add was later impeached! George Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Prescott Bush worked in an investing firm, but ended up moving his family to Connecticut where he later on developed a strong interest in politics which led to his position as Senator of Connecticut. Bush had three brothers and one sister who were all brought up strictly and well-mannered. He attended private Greenwich Day School and exclusive Phillips Academy where he was indeed popular. Along with his good grades, Bush was president of the senior class, captain of the baseball and soccer teams, and also played varsity basketball. After graduating prep school in 1942, his original plans of attending Yale University had been delayed due to the U.S. interest in World War II. He enlisted in the U.S. National Reserve where he received flight training and became the Navy's youngest pilot. In 1942, he flew the U.S.S. San Jacinto in the Pacific Ocean where he took part in d angerous fighting. His plane was shot down, but luckily, unlike his two crew members, he was rescued by the U.S.S. Finback, a U.S. submarine. Bush was recognized for his brave, heroic efforts by receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, and after recovery served at the Oceana Naval Air Station until the end of the war in August of 1945. Shortly before the end of the war, George Bush married Barbara Pierce, a lady he once met at a Christmas dance.

Gloria Anzaldua

In the essay How to Tame a Wild Tongue from Borderlands/La Frontera, Gloria Anzaldua paints a moving portrait of the search for identity in a world that refuses to allow one. The physical borderland between the U. S. and Mexico helps create, but is also secondary to, the psychological â€Å"fence† that a person is put on when they are denied a culture and a place in society. Anzaldua talks about the dilemma she faced about her own language and how she represents herself through her chosen language, the confusion about their race, and what troubles she faced when teaching about Chicano literature.Anzaldua discusses her experiences growing up between many cultures. As a woman of many identities, she has suffered oppression because of whom and what she represents in an American culture that is threatened by anyone who is not of white color. When she talks about the several languages she had to speak to get by these barriers, she encountered most issues with those of Anglos. Anglo s were considered the England or English people.Anzaldua states, â€Å"On one side of us, we are constantly exposed to the Spanish of the Mexicans, on the other side we hear the Anglos’ [constant] clamoring so that we forget our language (454). She explicated the different ways Spanish people spoke, from standard Spanish to Chicano Spanish (in which consonants were dropped in some words or leave out initial syllables) to Tex-Mex (where words were English but with Spanish sounds). Anzaldua expressed it as a result of pressure on Spanish speakers to adapt to English.Another issue that Anzaldua points out was the Chicanas or Latinas having low estimation of their native language. Women felt uncomfortable speaking to their Latinas or Chicanas because throughout their whole lives they were absorb into the different native tongues from generations, what school taught them, or what the media demonstrated. But Anzaldua doesn’t want to contradict herself in that form. She take s pride in her language, before she does herself (451).When Anzaldua first taught high school English to Chicano students, she was on the verge of losing her job just because she wanted her students to read Chicano literature. But even before reading Mexican literature, she was always interested in the Mexican movies and music; but those Chicanos who were slightly Americanized, or as they say agringado Chicano, felt ashamed being caught listening to their music. There was also great difficulty in acknowledging that there is more than one way of being: people fear that which is different, even though its existence s the â€Å"other† is what defines them. The Mexicans would define themselves either as Raza when referring to Chicanos or tejanos when we are Chicanos from Texas. But it’s not enough to say you’re Hispanic to the Mexicans. If you were asked â€Å"what’s your ethnicity†, would you say you’re Hispanic: just to represent your culture or would you tell your true nationality? In finale, â€Å"yet the struggle of identities continues, the struggle of borers is our reality still,† says Anzaldua (456).

Ai Weiwei was born during the Cultural Revolution in China...

Ai Weiwei was born during the Cultural Revolution in China of 1950s, he inherited a lot of his political knowledge from his father who was a poet called Ai Quig. Ai Quig was then later exiled with his family to re-education camps on the out reaches of a desert in 1958 for questioning government authority. After the Cultural Revolution, Chinese citizens were allowed to travel outside their borders again in 1970s. As a young man, the place that Ai Weiwei dreamed about going to was New York. He went to New York and was exposed to its western influences, its liberty and freedom of expression (Springford, 2011).Using photography Weiwei recorded and documented everything that inspired him. Weiwei visited galleries and art museums that exposed†¦show more content†¦It involved taking 1001 Chinese people on a trip to Kassel, to give them a holiday experience. Each person was given a bed with sheets and blankets, an antique chair to sit on near the bed and a black and white suitcase t o carry their luggage in. For many it was their first time to travel out of China, for others it was their first time to travel. With this project Weiwei uses his theory on â€Å"experiences create social change†. Everyone of Weiwei’s quests had a part to play in his installation, by becoming exposed to the world around them and to experience a more physical sense of freedom. At the end of the trip each person got their portrait taken in black and white, which was then placed together to form a giant mass of photographic wall paper. Weiwei even recreated their beds that they slept in as an installation. With this artwork Weiwei makes a comment on his memories as a traveller to New York when he was allowed to leave the country for the first time. He became exposed to influences and cultures that were far from Chinese culture. Figure 1: Ai Weiwei, Fairytale Template: Part of installation (wood, steel, fabric, plastic, and bamboo), 2007, 200 x 781 x 545 cm, Kassel (Philipson, 2012). In 2008 an earth quake erupted with in the Chinese province of Sichuan. The Chinese government neglected to build more stable school buildings in that area which