Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Drama - Essay Example â€Å"Well, all right. (Pause) Let’s see. (He reads.) I find that I am sexist. That I am  elitist. I’m not sure I know what that means, other than it’s a derogatory word, meaning â€Å"bad.† (Mamet, 2004). Also invasive in the play is the playwright’s use of the telephone, which never stops ringing and interrupting the characters, especially at key points of tension. â€Å"in class I†¦ (He picks up the phone.)  Ã‚  (Into phone:) Hello.  Ã‚  I can’t talk now.  Ã‚  Jerry?  Ã‚  Yes?  Ã‚  I underst †¦ I can’t talk now.  Ã‚  I know †¦ I know †¦ Jerry.  I can’t  talk  now† (Mamet, 2004). Mamet chooses the phone and office because they represent John’s threatened work life, and also, in the case of the phone, to introduce a sort of third, unintelligible, character. The use of the office changes between Act I and Act II of the play, but its purpose remains essentially the same: it is the space of tension in the play, as the audience tries to figure out what happened, and whether or not Carol was harassed. The office also informs the behavior of the characters, such as John’s patronizing, self-aggrandizing tone. â€Å"That I That I insist on wasting time, in nonprescribed, in self-aggrandizing and theatrical diversions  from the prescribed  text  that these have taken both sexist and pornographic forms here we find listed† (Mamet, 2004). When they are immersed in the world of the office that Mamet creates, the audience has to pay attention to the dialog and relationship between the characters. They are not distracted by different sets and a lot of decorations; the drama becomes the focal point. â€Å"All right?  Ã‚  I’m sure it’s going to be †¦ (Pause)  Ã‚  I hope so.  Ã‚  (Pause)  Ã‚  I love you, too.  Ã‚  (Pause)  Ã‚  I love you, too.  Ã‚  As soon as †¦ I will. (He hangs up.)† (Mamet, 2004). The office is also a space which, even though it technically remains the same, changes between Act I and Act II in terms of the way in which the audience sees

Religion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Religion - Research Paper Example A shaman is an individual considered as having access to, and power in, the world of malevolent and benevolent spirits, who normally gets into a state of trance during a ritual and practices healing and divination (Kehoe 3). Rituals play a significant role in establishing and sustaining group solidarity. In totemic communities, each descent group has a plant, animal or geographical element through which they claim descent (Baldick 33). Totems are at the peak of ancestor of clans. Clan members cannot kill or devour their totem, except after one year when the clan members assembled for ceremonies in honor of the totem (Baldick 33). Totemism is a religion wherein elements of nature perform as sanctified templates for society through means of emblematic association. They express their religion by using nature as a model for society. Each and every descent cluster has a totem, which inhabits a particular niche in nature. Also, social differences echo the natural arrangement of the environment (Baldick 34). For instance, the Ahimsa of the Hindu doctrine of nonviolence (a religion that is well known to practice Totemism) forbids the murdering of animals. Finally, totems express their religions through intimate association of friendship and defense between an individual and a natural object or a specific animal (at times, between an individual and different species of animals); the natural object can offer unique power to its holder (Baldick 34). Shamanism is comprehended by some individuals to be a prehistoric form of religio-magic or religion practiced by the aboriginals of the northern part of Asia and by all other aboriginals in other areas of the globe (Kehoe 56). This view is held by Kharuzin, Mikhailowski, as well as other Russian scholars (Kehoe 56). Others argue that Shamanism was merely one form of religious expression of the cult of the northern part of