Exploring the Ideas of Stanislavski's System
There are many ways we can use Stanislavski’s system when preparing
for a role as an actor. We can use ‘imagination’, ‘emotion memory’,
and we can split the play into ‘units and objectives’.
Stanislavski believed that “every movement you make, every word you
speak … is the result of your imagination.” Using ‘imagination’ makes
the role that the actor has to undertake more convincing. Stanislavski
believed that there were three types of imagination: actors who can
take the iniative to invoke their own imagination, actors who can be
easily aroused by the director and then people who just do not respond
at all. The easier it is for the actor to use their ‘imagination’, the
richer their characterizations will be when preparing for and acting a
role. The ‘imagination’ should be focused and based on observations
the actor has made so it will not wonder and become unrealistic. The
‘imagination’ fills in the blanks that the author has missed and so
they need to be very precise and use their ‘imagination’ to provide
extra detail to what has happened to the character not only on stage,
but before and after as well. This helps the actor to go on an
‘imaginative journey’, everything must be logical so that the acting
still seems real.
Stanislavski believed a play needed to be broken down into ‘units and
objectives’ so that the actor could better understand and interpret a
play. The ‘large units’ or ‘main episodes’ are identified and are then
broken down into ‘smaller units’, which makes the play more
manageable. The ‘units’ can be broken down into physical and mental
units. Each ‘unit’ is then given an ‘objective’. The ‘objective’ is
always a verb, and is also the core of each unit or what the unit
cannot be without or it will not make sense. The ‘objective’ should
always be truthful, so the actor can understand their main aim. It
should also focus on the character rather than the performance
conditions so that the actor knows how to perform rather than where
When simply broken down the elements; agent, purpose, scene, act, agency, translate as: Who’s perspective is being told? Wha...
The book I chose to do my book report on is "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". The book is about the most forceful indictments of political oppression in the Stalin era Soviet Union. It is a captiving story about the life in a Siberian labor camp, related to the point of view of Ivan Denisovich, a prisoner. It takes place in a span of one day, "from dawn till dusk" (pg. 111) . This book also describes his struggles and emotional stress that he must going through.
Thinkers and philosophers have been pondering misery since the dawn of civilization. At the dawn of humanity, humans existed to survive and reproduce; every day was a struggle. However, with the advent of civilization, humanity has moved further and further away from its original evolutionary drives, and it can be argued by secular thinkers that humans exist now to find happiness. Therefore, misery can be seen as the biggest obstacle to human happiness, yet misery itself is a mystery to many. Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents put forth the authors’ opinions on the origins of mortal misery, and suggest methods to solve the problem of misery. Although the two have differing views, both see
For this assignment, I chose to interview an individual whom I’ve named “Stan Polansky” to protect the anonymity of my interviewee. Stan is a 25 year old Polish man who officially moved to the U.S. roughly 3 years ago after moving back and forth from Poland and the US. Stan was faced with the difficult economic decision of deciding whether or not to pursue a career as a musician or in the jewelry business. Stan chose to attend a trade school and pursued a career as a jewelry repairman/ custom jewelry designer instead, making him now a third generation jeweler. Stan is currently employed at his family’s jewelry business. However, this decision did not come easy. Stan’s Polish culture and family played a large role in his decision. In addition,
We will discuss on the article of Intentional System Theory by a philosopher Daniel Dennett. The argument that we are going to use from this theory is about the intentional theory where Daniel Dennett thinks that both human and objects have beliefs and desires and from that the behaviors can be interpreted. From the article itself, Intentional System Theory is defined as an analysis of the meanings where people use the terms such as ‘believe’, ‘desire’, ‘expect’, ‘decide’, and ‘intend’ or in the terms of ‘folk psychology’ that we use to interpret, explain, and predict the behavior of other human beings including ourselves, animals and some artifacts such as robots and computers (Daniel, 2009).
Sociocultural theory was introduced by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner. Vygotsky believed that parents, caregivers and the culture at large were responsible for a child's cognitive development, especially in regards to the development of higher order functions. From this perspective, when children are participating in an activity with a peer, caregiver or parent, their actions are based upon the environment in which they learned to navigate social relationships. As children age, their personalities and capacities are further developed by their interactions in a particular society, determined by cultural and historical events. A sociocultural perspective would be utilized in a situation in which
price of shame" (Tolstoy, 135). Anna is struck by guilt and sobs in surprise when Vronsky describes what has happened between the two of them as bliss. She is disgusted and horrified by the word and requests Vronsky not to say any other word (Tolstoy, 136).
Throughout the 20th century, many countries were ruled by totalitarian leaders who were ready to commit many horrible deeds in order to achieve their goals. Josef Stalin, the leader of Soviet Union between 1924 and 1953, is the perfect example of a despotic ruler, who was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. He believed that communism would transform the Soviet Union into a perfect nation, with an ideal society where everyone would be treated equally. However, in order to achieve this perfection, all external and, more importantly, internal enemies had to be destroyed. Instead of a perfect nation, Stalin created a system, which was based on fear and denunciation, where killing of the so-called "enemies of the nation" became a sport, where Stalin's representatives competed against each other on the basis of the number of "enemies" killed. Throughout almost three decades, millions of innocent people were either killed or put into labour camps. The author of the book himself, was sentenced to eight years in a concentration camp for his anti-Soviet views, which he expressed in writing, and through the characters of his novel, Solzhenitsyn portrays his personal beliefs. Most of the characters in "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" are innocent people, who have never done anything reprehensible. Among them is Gopchik, a sixteen-year-old boy who was sentenced to 10 years in concentration camp for giving milk to Ukrainian nationalist rebels, and Aleshka the Baptist who received twenty-five years for his religious beliefs. The protagonist of the novel, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, is a simple man without any heroic qualities. He is a former carpenter who was sent off to the battlefield during the World War II. After being captured by the Germans, Ivan and five of his fellow soldiers were able to escape and return to the Soviet military base. However, three of them were killed instantly, mistaken for German soldiers while the fourth soldier died from wounds a couple of days later. Although Ivan Denisovich was not shot, he was arrested and accused of being a German spy. Even though he was innocent, he had to confess during the interrogation, because he understood that he would be shot immediately if he did not. As a result, he was sentenced to ten years in a Siberian concentration camp for betraying Soviet Union. The Soviet labour camps represented a small-scale totalitarian nation, where wardens were the despotic rulers who frequently abused the prisoners.
The psychodynamic approach focuses on what is occurring inside an individual’s head to get a better sense of how the client views the world. This theory is based on the interactions of drives and forces within the unconsciousness and personality within a person. According Freud, a person’s behavior is organized to satisfy drives and needs, which behavior is motivated by internal or psychological forces, which can cause an imbalance in the internal forces to motivate behavior. The concept of human nature in the psychodynamic theory is based on two distinct hypotheses, psychic determinism and dynamic unconscious (Henderson, 2016). Psychic determinism centers on the implication that the mental process are determined by the unconscious whereas
Thus piece was created just after photography had gained momentum. The piece was thus created as a reaction towards the times, to show freedom from realism, as photographers has cornered the market at the time. So, Wassily chose to take a slightly abstract approach to an actual location to express this artistic freedom. As can be seen in the painting, Wassily seems to express her joy with vibrant colors taking the main spotlight of the painting, with minor details to augment the scenery. As Wassily stated himself, “Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammer, the soul is the piano with the strings”. This statement shows that Wassily holds color to a high standard, as can be seen in the piece. His broad paint strokes help augment the overall beauty of the painting
The social structure of George Orwell’s 1984 is based on Freud’s map of the mind and the struggles between the id, the ego and the super ego. The minds of these individuals living in this society are trained to think a certain way. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis can be applied to Orwell’s 1984. Using Freud’s psychoanalytic approach, 1984’s main character Winston Smith is portrayed as the one who goes against the ideas of the Party. In a Freudian point of view, Winston’s character represents a mind where the id is the driving force and where the ego and superego are ill developed in the views of the Party. Freud describes the psychoanalytic process as something that is normally used to treat patients with metal disorders, and in the eyes of the party, Winston is seen as one that has a mental disorder. The procedure that Winston undergoes directly parallels Freud’s psychoanalytic process.
Flow is not a tangible reward for doing well in an activity, it is not a state of being you can achieve from a drug, or a type of mindset that certain people have. Flow is a state of consciousness. But before Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi can define flow, the definition of consciousness must be presented. Consciousness is the awareness of ourselves and our environment. This is so important to know because what breaks the threshold to achieve flow is when one is not conscious of himself or the environment. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, flow is a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time,
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, born in 1821, would become one of the greatest writers in Russian literature. Fyodor received an education in engineering in St. Petersburg, but decided to follow a literary career. He was a person who wrote how they felt about certain topics, and felt that everyone should know about the government. Dostoyevsky joined the underground group, the Petrashevsky circle, the to bring out the truth in these books, which were forbidden in the public. Through these themes, Dostoyevsky wrote about many topics.
In Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, the underground man struggles between two opposing beliefs. The first acknowledges that his fictional existence has been predetermined, subject to his author’s conduct. The is the underground man’s insistence that the only possible world humans can live in undetermined world which extols and situates free will within a human. In order to try and solve this problem, the underground man turns to writing, to try and be honest with himself, probe into why he is this way, and to not reject any truth that comes forth, horrifying or not. Through this exercise, he comes to realize that his self awareness sheds light on how little control he has over his actions even though he continues to believe in free will. This understanding within the underground man, and acceptance from the reader, engenders with humility brings forth what I believe to be a humbling message to the now indurate reader, who, after reading Notes from Underground, returns to their own, undetermined world with a new sense of duty.