Socio-political Essay Online For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2513 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Literature Essay Type Essay any type Tags: Political Essay Did you like this example? Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was a German poet, playwright and theatre director. This project will look at the development of Brechts playwriting over time in response to the socio-political changes in Berlin, by evaluating Brechts work in the three periods of different political environments that Brecht was exposed to in Berlin. These should reveal how historical context and political stance shaped his work. Some reference will be made to the plays mentioned, due to their content and the different times in which they were written. Academic and contemporary responses mentioned in this project were mostly acquired at the Brecht Haus archive in Berlin on 14th February 2008. During the First World War, Brecht doubted in a school essay whether it was honourable to die for your nation and this feeling was heightened when he had to serve in the war as a medical orderly in 1918 (Rosenhaft, 1994). His first plays were written as the war ended; the working tit le of one of his first was Spartakus (later published as Drums of the Night), after the organisation of the German revolutionaries Luxemburg and Liebknecht. Brechts radical side is clear in his early plays; he talks about the decay and corruption of the bourgeois society that he felt a part of (Meech, 1994). Yet arguably at this point in time, Brecht was â€Å"a bohemian rather than a Marxist† (Schoeps, 1992). The polarisation of the Weimar Republic and the rise of fascism that resulted in stronger political beliefs and works in the late 1920s (Fetscher, 1980). Saint Joan of the Stockyards, an allegory on the workings of the stock exchange, is an example of this (McCullough, 1994). The Weimar Republic saw the increasing commercialisation of leisure activity with the rise of popular entertainment (cinema, sports, dance, jazz, etc) (Rosenhaft, 1994). The educated, bourgeois audience was being replaced by a broader audience. This cultural democratisation affected the role of the writer (Silberman, 1993). Some traditionalists sought new ways of asserting their elitism whilst others like Brecht began to develop a habit of production that submerged the authors subjectivity within a collective (Meech, 1994) as seen with the adaptations of Marlowes Life of Edward the Second (1924) and Man Equals Man (1926). The notion of aesthetic activity as production rather than creation, theorised by Brecht in his essay The Threepenny Lawsuit (1932) indicates this shift. Social changes have therefore directly impacted Brechts style of writing and theoretical concepts of theatre. Brecht was taught Marxism in the late 1920s twenties by Korsch and Benjamin, both anti-Stalinists (Esslin, 1959). Brecht supported the KPD, a mass party that to him seemed the only force capable of confronting Hitler, unlike the main Trotskyist organisation in Berlin with only 50 members (Windisch Brandon, 2006). He would not have had much opportunity to influence events othe rwise. Brechts turn to Marxism changed his approach to theatre. He rejected the naturalistic style that presented the audience with a perfect illusion of reality. For productions of Drums of the Night, he suggested hanging a banner above the stage saying â€Å"Dont Stare So Romantically!† Ironically, the need for a new form of theatre became obvious to him after his biggest financial success. The Threepenny Opera (1928) illustrated begging as an organised trade, with criminals working hand in glove with the police. But rather than shocking bourgeois audiences, the play was a huge success (Schmidt, 1992). Audiences loved music, while Brechts critique of capitalism did not attract much attention. Brecht was involved in the conflicts at the end of the Weimar Republic. One month after the premiere of The Mother (1932), police ordered that the play could be recited but not played. The production of another play was stopped because Nazis were assaulting the actors (Windisc h Brandon, 2006). Brechts vision of a more humane society changed with the rise of fascism (Silberman, 1993). He usually failed to represent convincingly the alternative order that could confront fascism, as seen in Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (1938), The Business Affairs of Mr. Julius Caesar (1938-39), and the Book of Changes (1935-42). As a Marxist, when the Nazis gained power, Brecht went into exile, staying close to the German border in Denmark and Finland to support the anti-fascist struggle until the war forced him to leave for the USA (1941). Until the end of WWII, Brechts plays rarely reached the stage. Yet the plays written in exile are his most famous today. Brecht expressed opposition to National Socialist and Fascist movements in Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good Person of Szechwan, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Mother Courage, for example, is torn between protecting her children from the war and ma king a profit out of the Thirty Years War (Leach, 1994). Key themes in the play include war as business, virtue in wartime and morality. None of those plays put simple answers to the moral questions they raise, and none of them are simple propaganda pieces. Rather, they show how the possibilities of the individual characters are limited by social conditions, and they force the viewer to think about the limits of â€Å"common sense† moral judgements (Windisch Brandon, 2006). Brecht focused on new representation. On the one hand, the formal reductionism of the parable plays from this period seems to function as a kind of protective shield against the impossible contradictions of reality, but on the other, the shift in subject and technique to more deliberate forms of distancing de-centres the text-audience relation by transferring the utopian imagination into the spectators themselves (Silberman, 1993). The prologue to The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1944) suggests the political and poetic utopia Brecht envisioned in his mature plays. Brechts invitation to return to the GDR, enticed by offer of own theatre and company, shows that although Brecht was not a member of the Communist Party, his allegiances were sincere (Esslin, 1959). The impressive Berliner Ensemble, visited on 15th February 2008, solely for the use of Brechts work and directing, and his work still dominates the theatre today (fieldtrip, 2008). He spent his last years defining and reworking his ideas. Although towards the end of his life Brecht wrote few plays, some famous poems have emerged from after the Second World War (Rundell, 1980). The Solution was Brechts commentary on uprising (1953) the GDR; he supported government measures taken to crush the uprising, including the use of Soviet military force, despite his concern for the protesting people as well. His allegiance to the communist regime is portrayed in The Days of the Commune, which is based on the proletariat revolution of the Paris Commune in 1871, which attempted to bring about a revolution through the working class. Brecht is often criticised for returning to the GDR (Fetscher, 1980). In fact, exile gave Brecht first-hand experience of the ‘freedom of the West. He was blacklisted out of 40 scripts he wrote, one was accepted for filming, and this was cut severely by Hollywood that Brecht withdrew it. Brechts commitments were leftist enough to provoke HUACs investigation in 1947 and the refusal of visas for travel to West Germany under US control (Kruger, 2004). Brecht also came into conflict with the Stalinist cultural bureaucracy. They forced him to make changes in several productions and even stopped two of them (Esslin, 1959). Brecht received support for his theatre in East Germany but he expressed private reservations about SED policy, especially after the workers uprising on 17 June 1953 challenged the partys claim to lead a â€Å"workers and peasants state† (Kruger, 2004). Brechts relation to the GDR regime remained contradictory. On the one hand, he said it would be better to have a bad socialism than to have none, he also disliked the dictatorship. When the Berlin workers uprising (1953) was repressed, he wrote a letter to the general secretary of the Communist Party in which he called for dialogue (Esslin, 1959). Only his last sentence backing the government was published. Hi call for dialogue, I believe, had two aims. Firstly, to reinstate peace amongst the campaigning people, as it seems unlikely Brecht would have spoken publicly against the GDR regime, despite his dissatisfaction with the scenario. Secondly, because of his pro-GDR regime status and his status as a GDR icon, his words would be more trusted by both parties. There is much argument over Brechts true thoughts regarding the 1953 uprising. In private, Brecht was more outspoken. In his unpublished poem The Solution, he ironically asks, â€Å"If the people had forfeited the confidence of the government, would it not be easier to dissolve the people and elect another?† Brecht intended his theatre to be a critique of society, believing that theatres function was to educate, and to achieve this he created his epic theatre theory. â€Å"A play should not cause the spectator to emotionally identify with the action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the actions on the stage†. Brecht wanted audiences to use critical perspective to identify social ills and therefore effect change, having described his plays as a collective political meeting in which the audience is to participate actively (Brooker, 1994). For this purpose, Brecht employed the use of techniques that remind spectators the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself called the alienation effect (Esslin, 1959). To achieve this, he ripped up the traditional five act structure of stat ic drama. Inspired by Russian revolutionary theatre, he looked for ways to interrupt the main plot (Windisch Brandon, 2006). For example, he used comments on the action directed to the audience, songs in between and projections of text with extra information. To undermine the natural curiosity of the audience, he used an announcer to summarise the scene before it was shown. This allowed him to show that the course of events is not simply given, and therefore demands choices and active intervention. The political side of his plays became harder to ignore. A good example is The Mother, which is set during the Russian 1905 revolution, showing a mother who wants to free her Bolshevik son from jail and how by doing so she gradually becomes convinced of Communism herself (Windisch Brandon, 2006). Brecht chose historical settings as another means of creating a distance between the viewer and the play. In Galileo Galilei, the struggle between the scientist and the Catholic Ch urch served as the scene for a debate on the tensions between individual beliefs and the way our rulers try to control our thoughts (Weber, 1980). Brechts has attracted immense controversy since his early theatrical successes in the 1920s, having been compared to Shakespeare (Laughton); Brecht is considered one of the great playwrights and directors of the 20th century. Over 50 years after his death, his plays along with those of Chekhov are the most frequently performed works (Fuegi, 1995). As Brook has emphasised: â€Å"Brecht is the key figure of our time, and all theatre work today at some point starts or returns to his statements and achievement†. But much praise for his ability and work is usually held up because of his Marxist views. This political allegiance has annoyed some critics like Willet, who has chosen to look upon it as something unfortunate but incidental to his achievements. Bentley also expresses his disappointment: Brecht â€Å"would be a be tter writer if he gave up Marxism†. Others oppose his work on the grounds that it is propagandistic and lacks the subjective sentiments accessible only through a more personal theatre of individual experience. Inevitably, commentators are forced to approach Brecht by addressing not only his plays but also his writings on theatre as well as the way he directed productions. Mostly they decide to deal with his technical expertise in isolation from his politics (Fuegi, 1995). Brecht is seen as a modern dramatist and poet worthy of careful study, and of no more particular interest except that he also happened to be political (Breuer 1992, Weber 1992). This purposeful attempt to neglect the political Brecht is frustrating because of its success in obscuring the relevance of his achievements, despite his surviving attempts by fascism to destroy its revolutionary content and undermine its significance. Most commentators have failed to understand the rationale of the method involved. But Brecht was quite clear about what he wanted and how he proposed to get it. When he referred to Marx as â€Å"the only audience for my plays that I had come across†, Brecht was describing a primary focus that is lost on his many critics. He did not mean that only Marxists could understand his plays. Rather it was Marxists alone who could understand what he was trying to do. Brecht comprehended how controlling cultural production had become under capitalism. His response was to do something about it by creating a theatre that sought to redefine the relationship between audience and performance (Trommler, 1980). Yet the historical illusions of modernism have become a problem of positioning oneself subjectively in a post-modern age when evaluating the subject of this study. Brecht was a communist without a party card. He could write only on commission from the party, their precarious status did not hinder him from criticising the policies of the party as we ll as praising its goals (Volker, 1987). His critiques were never simply blunt attacks, but were handled lightly with wit and satire. However, the party officials did not appreciate his critical irony, but preferred instead the sympathetic tracts of bourgeois authors. Brechts communist allegiances have also led to numerous attempts by the mainstream art world to degrade his legacy either by claiming that his plays are worthless Stalinist propaganda, or by claiming that they are worthwhile despite the politics (Windisch Brandon, 2006). Yet Brechts popularity has depended on misreading since 1928, when The Ballad of Mack the Knife song performed as part of The Threepenny Opera in Berlin became one of the most-recorded standards in the history of pop music. Brecht (and his composer Weill) might have wanted an art that hastens the overthrow of capitalism; instead they got covers from Darin and Sinatra (Tonkin, 2006). Depoliticising Brecht, however, is a difficult job he wrote plays with titles such as The Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie and Days of the Commune, and poems like The Song of the Class Enemy (Windisch Brandon, 2006). Brechts period in exile was a fight against material want, persecution, betrayal, and political disappointment (Volker, 1987). The last years of his life were spent in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), because he wanted another Germany based on the principles of peace and socialism. There, he was able to preserve his independence and artistic integrity. He welcomed the politicisation of art while vigorously defending his work against any state ideology (Volker, 1987). His theatre, the Berliner Ensemble, was opposed to the official GDR doctrine on art (Socialist Realism) and to the German Stanislavski tradition (naturalism) (Etkind, 1980). On principle, he rejected the use of art and theatre to conform to state requirements of taste. Brechts main contribution, then, is to be found in the innovativ e ways he devised for examining history and making the processes of history visible as changeable ones (Trommler, 1980). Brechts impact is not to be found in any recipes he may have provided but rather in the possibility of his writings to enable our own creativity in thinking about historical truths and processes (Silberman, 1993). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Socio-political Essay Online For Free" essay for you Create order

Antigone Iriola Analysis - 1129 Words

A pro-Antigone reader should admire Iriola because both characters have a tendency to create their own paths as opposed to blindly following men. Antigone directly defies Kreon’s decree that bans a proper burial for Polyneices, while Iriola does not join Kelemo on his activist mission. Woods suggests that Kelemo has already fled when the soldiers arrive at the house in Nimke, as they kidnap Iriola to retrieve clues about his location. Although there is no scene that outlines Kelemo’s parting, it appears that Iriola chooses not to join him – an attempt at being her â€Å"own woman† (Woods 24). Antigone also makes a choice – one that costs her her life. Fear does not deter her, however; she is determined to please the gods, as â€Å"Zeus was [not] the†¦show more content†¦It does not appear that Nigerian culture values survivors of domestic assault, as Nneka’s experiences remain secretive. Additionally, Nneka is forced to undergo sexi st traditions of mourning, including shaving her head. Her luscious hair symbolizes her identity in the story, and the regrowth of it represents the prosperous, Okpala-free life she plans on creating. The text supports this idea, as Nneka states, â€Å"I shall regrow my hair. Nurture it and delight in its growth† (Unigwe 80). Nneka strives to overcome sexism in her society and allow her identity as an independent woman to flourish, two themes that are critical to the plotline of Orlando. Conversely, â€Å"The Third and Final Continent† contains subtleties that exhibit the subject matter of Orlando. Although not directly about female empowerment, Mrs. Croft displays characteristics that reveal her strength. At 103-years-old, she has presumably lived without her spouse and other family members for a long period of time. She manages excellently for her age, as she remains able to prepare her food and serve as the home’s landlady. Moreover, Mrs. Croft has a stern personality, prompting the narrator to describe her voice as â€Å"bold and clamorous† from their first conversation (Lahiri 177). She barks orders at her male renters, who have all likely been as submissive as the narrator. Mrs. Croft

The Medieval World View Free Essays

Dametrius Sanders 003 Mrs. Pike November 26, 2012 The Medieval World View, ed. ed. We will write a custom essay sample on The Medieval World View or any similar topic only for you Order Now Candace R. Gregory, Carey Roberts, and H. Micheal Tarver (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) Peter von Sivers, Charles A. Desnoyers, and George B. Stow. Patterns of World History: vol. 1 : to 1600. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) Tammy Pike. Lecture Notes What are the cosmos and what do they represent. The Buch der Natur or the Book of Nature was written by Konrad von Magenburg depicts the cosmos as levels, steps that we have to take to reach heaven in a different way that nobody else sees it. There are so many different opinions on what the stars mean because the view of them has changed over time. So what are the stars are they just there or are they one of the levels we need to reach to enter heaven. According to Konrad Von Magenburg’s illustration of Buch der Natur is a book but he depicts the cosmos as humans on earth being the lowest level, then levels of the stars, finally the top level heaven the goals of all humans. Aristotle believes that â€Å"the earth is the center of the universe, and everything revolves around them† . This idea which is called Aristotle’s Universe was adopted by the medieval church and to challenge this view of the Universe was not merely a scientific issue; it became a theological one as well, and subjected dissenters to the considerable and not always benevolent power of the Church. So making people think that God put the earth at the center of the everything and the church being the peoples connection to God putting all the power into their hands. Ptolemy was different he added to Aristotle’s view of the universe but he calculated and researched to make his own ideas as well. Ptolemy came up with â€Å"that the heavens go in a uniform circular motion and the objects in the heavens are made from perfect material, and cannot change their intrinsic properties†. These ideas together became known as the Ptolemaic Universe. He also wrote about the cosmos in his book called â€Å"Almagest† in a way Ptolemy and Aristotle had the same views and ideas about the heavens its just more scientific advances in Ptolemy’s time . Even though today people don’t see the cosmos as the heavens or a level to become heavenly beings we still try to discover what the stars hold. The meaning of the stars today really doesn’t mean anything to Christianity or the church. So is Konrad von Magenburg right or wrong are they a level. Is heaven right beyond them and all we have to do is pass certain tests to reach it. But the stars are something that we really want to discover but we as humans no longer think that the heavens lie beyond it. How to cite The Medieval World View, Essay examples

The Pros and Cons of the BPO Sectorâ€Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a weekly journal over the duration of the 12-week teaching period that documents a critical analysis of their learning process. Answer: Introduction: In the present competitive business environment, every business is looking to provide best possible services for the fulfilment of business objectives. For that reason, I believe popularity of outsourcing has increased over the past few years. I feel that utilization of business process outsourcing helps businesses to maximize the effectiveness of the operational procedure. Now, during the conduction of research study, I had enough opportunities to understand the way BPO helps businesses in accomplishing all the requirements of the operational procedure. The development of study 1 and 2 had allowed me to identify the trend regarding the usage pattern of the BPO over the years. Now, I feel that proper understanding of the BPO will help to identify all the pros and cons in an effective way. In assessment 3, I will share my overall learning experience during the completion of 12 weeks teaching session. Week 1: The Nature, Process and Strategy of the Business Research During the completion of assessment 1, I have developed clear aims and objective to identify contributions of BPO sector in the Australian market. For that reason, I feel that it has helped me to gain practical knowledge regarding the best possible way to structure a particular research study. Moreover, I have focused on understanding the risk factors associated with the utilization of the BPO process. Therefore, I feel it will help me to understand the operational process of the BPO sector in Australia. For that reason, I feel that it will definitely create long-term impact on the quality of the research activities. Week 2: Research Design, planning and Process I have used mixed research methodology for identifying the pros and cons of the BPO sector. As a result, it has allowed me to capture both quantitative and qualitative data about the research topic. Utilization of mix method has induced me to develop two separate set of questionnaires, which has helped me to differentiate between qualitative and quantitative data. Moreover, I have also identified the kind of impact both qualitative and quantitative data can have on the operational procedure. For instance, collection of qualitative data has helped me to evaluate both verbal and non-verbal communication of the respondents. I have identified evaluation of non-verbal communication is critical for successful fulfilment of the qualitative data collection procedure. On the contrary, quantitative data collection process has allowed me to select different types of statistical tools and technique. Therefore, I feel that quantitative data will help my statistical knowledge and analytical skills in a major way. Now, I feel that gaining of practical knowledge from the employees and managers will help to cover all the details associated with the BPO procedure in Australian market. The research study has also induced me to develop a clear timeline for each activity. For that reason, I have developed Gantt chart for specifying required time for all the activities in an effective way. I have assessed the best possible way to accomplish all the requirements of business research are through the appropriate development of Gantt chart. Hence, I feel it will definitely help to cover all the requirements of future academic requirements in an effective way. In-depth evaluation of the BPO process in Australian market will help to assess all the changes in recent years. During the development of literature review, I had focused on capturing appropriate secondary information about the research topic. For that reason, I had to use different types of secondary sources like peer review journals, Google scholar, online library and other platforms. Therefore, it has enhanced my practical knowledge regarding the best possible way utilize secondary information for the successful completion of the study. In the literature review part, I had consciously tried to include opinions, theories and models of different past literatures for adding value to the overall study. Therefore, I feel learning from this 12 weeks session will help to fulfil all the future academic challenges in an effective way. In the literature review section, I have focused on highlighting the gap of the literature for selecting the necessary areas that studies need to cover for the successful completion of the study. For that reason, I feel that development of assessment 1 and 2 will help to enhance my critical evaluation knowledge, which will definitely help in my professional career and personal life as well. Week 3: Literature Review and Writing Business Research My professional career goal is to become senior manager in customer service department within a prestigious organization. I always like to talk with people from different cultural and geographical background. Therefore, I feel working in a top BPO organization will allow me to interact with different types of people on a regular basis. For that reason, I feel that gaining experience about the way BPO sector in Australia works will definitely help to cover all the areas in an appropriate way. In this study, I have focused on assessing the way operational procedure change has changed over the past few decades. Therefore, I feel that it will definitely help me to adjust in a working environment in BPO sector. Moreover, proper understanding of the operational procedure will help me to take much more effective decisions as manager. During the completion of assessment 1 and 2, I have covered all the areas associated with the business research activities. Therefore, I feel that learning fro m these to assessments will definitely allow me conduct effective research in future as well. Now, proper understanding of all the risk and positive factors will allow me to identify the best possible way to enhance the efficiency level of the operational procedure. Conclusion: The above evaluation has evaluated the fact that understanding of all the factors associated with the business research procedure. I believe successful completion of all the activities associated with the business research will help to enhance my professional career as well. The BPO sector in Australian market has grown over the past few years in a significant manner. Therefore, I believe proper understanding of the BPO operational process will help me to adjust in the professional world in an effective way. Thus, to conclude it can be mentioned that learning from 12 weeks sessions has definitely created positive impact on my theoretical and practical knowledge. References Brockbank, A. and McGill, I., 2012.Facilitating reflective learning: Coaching, mentoring and supervision. Kogan Page Publishers. Eppich, W. and Cheng, A., 2015. Promoting excellence and reflective learning in simulation (PEARLS): development and rationale for a blended approach to health care simulation debriefing.Simulation in Healthcare,10(2), pp.106-115. Gaevi?, D., Mirriahi, N. and Dawson, S., 2014, March. Analytics of the effects of video use and instruction to support reflective learning. InProceedings of the fourth international conference on learning analytics and Knowledge(pp. 123-132). ACM. Gould, N. and Taylor, I., 2017.Reflective learning for social work: research, theory and practice. Routledge. Krogstie, B.R., Prilla, M. and Pammer, V., 2013, September. Understanding and supporting reflective learning processes in the workplace: The csrl model. InEuropean Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning(pp. 151-164). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Richards, P., Collins, D. and Mascarenhas, D.R., 2012. Developing rapid high-pressure team decision-making skills. The integration of slow deliberate reflective learning within the competitive performance environment: A case study of elite netball.Reflective Practice,13(3), pp.407-424. Rivera-Pelayo, V., Zacharias, V., Mller, L. and Braun, S., 2012, April. Applying quantified self approaches to support reflective learning. InProceedings of the 2nd international conference on learning analytics and knowledge(pp. 111-114). ACM. Ryan, M. and Ryan, M., 2013. Theorising a model for teaching and assessing reflective learning in higher education.Higher Education Research