Alan Bennett Talking Heads
In Bennett's monologues the main character faces an important decision
which will affect the course of their lives. I will go on and explain
in this essay, the play writer's use of literary techniques -
including setting, theme and characterisation- which may make the
decision seem correct or not. Talking Heads was originally produced
for BBC television but has recently been used as a collection of short
stories. Each of the characters portrayed, is played by an actress
that has been previously associated with Alan Bennett e.g.:Thora Hird
who plays Doris worked on a BBC Radio 4 programme - Deadringers .It is
safe to say that Alan Bennett tailored some of the material, to suit
the actors, own individual style of acting.
Each literal technique plays its own vital part of the story and to
begin with I am going to look at how setting takes shape in the plays.
Most of Bennett's work is focused primarily in the North of England,
mainly Yorkshire, partly because that is where he grew up and a
Northern perceptive is shown throughout the monologues. While
Bennett's "Englishness" and "Northerness" (terms by no means
synonymous) are evident to see, they are no more nationalistic nor
restricting."
But at a closer view, the three stories I am studying are set mainly
in a few areas- A Chip in the Sugar is quite spread out over a
distance(Lancashire, Durham and Yorkshire), whereas 'A lady of
Letters' and 'A Cream Cracker' are set in the house of the persona.
Setting greatly influences the characters behaviour and attitude,
because they are Northerners, they are very traditional people who are
stuck in their ways, and of course this opens the North- South Divide
argument. We British (par...
... middle of paper ...
...alks Graham
thinks to himself- "Leonard you expose your self in Sainsbury's
doorway. Like mother said Tesco you can understand".
This is an excellent example of humour in Talking Heads but also an
sample of what British comedy is about - humour where we answer back
with a sarcastic comment! .So Bennett's humour is typically of British
comedy throughout the 1970s.The fact that we do laugh, is because of
his biting turn of phrase and Bennett's talent for delivering his
barbs with brilliantly chosen wit.
To conclude
Alan Bennett has truly delivered a great piece of work, which will be
remembered for its humour and classics perceptive of British life. His
use of techniques and word choice, are not only funny, but thought
provocative, by making us think about the issues which plague our
society today. To sum up Talking, Heads, in one word - "Brilliant".
O Brother, Where Art Thou, a film written and directed by the Coen brothers, is a modern day interpretation of Homer’s ancient epic the Odyssey. The opening credits of the movie quote the invocation of the Muse from the first lines of the epic: “Oh Muse sing in me, and through me tell the story of the man skilled in all the ways of contending, A wanderer, harried for years on end”. The film follows Ulysses Everett McGill (portrayed by George Clooney), a depression era Odysseus, and his men Delmar O’Donnell (Tim Nelson), and Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro). The three men are escaped convicts, running from the law through the Deep South in an effort to reach home and split a (truly non-existent) treasure. The leader of their group, Ulysses Everett McGill (from here on referred to as Everett), is a smooth talking self-professed lawyer with extreme egotistical issues. Pride is a theme in both the movie as well as the original epic. In both the Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou his pride is the source of many dilemmas. The visual symbol of this pride throughout the movie is Everett’s Dapper Dan pomade.
shall firstly do a summery of the play and give a basic image of what
the play. It looks at the person he is and the person he becomes. It
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story written in the first person about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The title of the book, Speak, is ironically based on the fact that Melinda chooses not to speak. The book is written in the form of a monologue in the mind of Melinda, a teenage introvert. This story depicts the story of a very miserable freshman year of high school. Although there are several people in her high school, Melinda secludes herself from them all. There are several people in her school that used to be her friend in middle school, but not anymore. Not after what she did over the summer. What she did was call the cops on an end of summer party on of her friends was throwing. Although all her classmates think there was no reason to call, only Melinda knows the real reason. Even if they cared to know the real reason, there is no way she could tell them. A personal rape story is not something that flows freely off the tongue. Throughout the story Melinda describes the pain she is going through every day as a result of her rape. The rape of a teenage girl often leads to depression. Melinda is convinced that nobody understands her, nor would they even if they knew what happened that summer. Once a happy girl, Melinda is now depressed and withdrawn from the world. She hardly ever speaks, nor does she do well in school. She bites her lips and her nails until they bleed. Her parents seem to think she is just going through a faze, but little do they know, their daughter has undergone a life changing trauma that will affect her life forever.
project of the play, of which is touched upon in Act One. It is this
acts of the play, and I'm looking forward to writing it in the way I
In the short story “Cornet at night” by Sinclair Ross, Tom Dickson is a young farm boy who lives on a farm with his parents. He is very naive and has not had a chance to experience the outside world for his own. He knows only what he learns from the farm and school, but now that he gets to go on a small adventure on his on, he grows up in a variety of ways. One way in which Tom grows up is when he goes to town by himself. He has gone before, but with the security of his parents with him, and for a young boy to go to another town “eight miles north of here” is a large task for such a young boy, thus showing one way that he matures. To illustrate this, as Tom rolls into town with Rock he says, “I remember nothing but a smug satisfaction with myself, an exhilarating conviction of importance and
On the surface David Ives’ “Sure Thing” is a play about two strangers who meet, fall in love and live happily ever after. When analyzed in more depth, the play is actually about the struggle that exists between one’s desire to be an individual and the need to conform, to a certain degree, in order to be part of a couple. The play exposes and discusses the tension that exists between the value of being an individual and value associated with being in love. Love holds the promise that you will always having someone there for you and that you will always have someone to share everything with. However, to realize this love one has to make sacrifices in the process and potentially change who they are.
The scenery shows realistic sets in the play. The text is very episodic that show the parts of the events in a story. The conflict shows a rough experience of growing up with adults, who are treating the orphaned boys very abusive and having some troubles on where they belonged. Peter, other boys, and Molly have some kinds of conflicts about being a leader and succeeding the mission where the Lord Astar (Molly’s father) have to send to Molly. The conflict has already resolved when they have completed their mission and kept their group safe. It also affects my overall experience that the conflict between different characters did show different perspectives on how they lead and express their experience of leadership in their mission. The space of the theater was small, but it’s large enough for the actors to perform and for the audience to see. The scenery designer Andrew Breithaupt of this play did show a specific place and time. For example, the beginning shows the ship and what era is it. The scenery is also very real locale in the play, and it’s very appropriate views toward the audience for non-professional and school play. The scenery of this play did show more realistic-moving type, but it did move some parts of the scene that I see in the play. Also, it showed the surprising element of changing the sets than the scene. Costume Designer Amy Zsadanyi-Yale did give the clues about the timeline, personalities of every character in the play. But I believe that the costumes should get focused on connecting the situations in the play. For example, an orphanage that the nameless boy (Peter) and other boys lived should have ragged-looking or something damage into the costumes so it can create an effect on costumes from the scene. The costumes show the conflicts and interpersonal relationships, but I should consider that the social groups in this play should look something different from the orphanage and upper class. Lightning and
The play is based loosely on fact but more importantly it is set in a
Within the first act of play the representation of the social classes begins to unfold. Shakespeare ...
represented in the play, too. In this term paper I will try to give a
Throughout history literature has changed into many different forms and styles, it has also stayed the same in many different ways, literary techniques and elements are key to a good piece of writing, a perfect example that shows us just this is in, A Midsummer Nights Dream, where we will further explore the different literary elements that were used most notably the plot. The plot of a story lays out the foundation and the background for the entire play to come, we'll compare and contrast this element and look at the different sub elements which are produced. We will define similarities and difference in these elements form both the play o the film. Taking a look at things such as climax, play incidents, and the conflict will all give us a better understanding of how it affects the similarities and difference of the film versus the play.
Setting is a major part of the theme in a work of literature; however, the theme is also influenced by the characters , point of view, and plot. The time and physical location along with details of the setting are interconnected with the morals and attitudes of the characters throughout the piece. There can be many hidden ideas demonstrated throughout a work of literature from the setting. Trifles accomplishes this very effectively, displaying many underlying points from locations in the play and using many different props. While conveying the thoughts and emotions of the writer, the setting can also provide more information about the conflict of the work. The details of the setting of Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles provide clues for solving the murder of John Hossack.
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