Theater and Improv Games for the Classroom and Beyond

Improv games are a great way to loosen up during drama practice or to break the ice at a party. Improvisational acting teaches you to think quickly and to read other people as you perform. Youll also sharpen your wit as you learn how to react to your audience. Best of all, you dont need any special props or equipment, just your imagination and the courage to step outside yourself.   Captains Coming Improv games like this one are terrific warmups that promote  teamwork and good humor. In this game, which is similar to Simon Says, one person plays the role of a ships captain. The rest of the group are sailors who must quickly follow the captains orders or be dismissed from the game. Orders can be simple or elaborate: Captains coming: Sailors line up in a row and salute the captain.Starboard: Everyone runs to the right side of the stage or room.Port:  Everyone runs to the left side of the stage or room.Man overboard: Sailors team up and pose as though theyre searching for the lost man.Mermaid: Stand on one foot, wave one hand, and say, Hi, sailor!Seasick: Run to port or starboard and pretend to be ill.  Swab the deck: Sailors pretend to mop and clean the floor.Walk the plank: Sailors stand single-file, their right arms extended and hands resting on the shoulder of the person in front. The great thing about Captains Coming is that theres no limit to the orders a captain can give. For added challenges, think of poses that require two or more people or divide the sailors into two groups and have them compete against one another. Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo! is another effective game for learning how to take cues and focus movement. It works best with groups that have room to move around. As with Captains Coming, this game requires a leader to call the cues and a group to follow whatever command the leader dreams up. As an added challenge, the group must repeat the action word six times in a whisper as they perform. After the sixth time, everyone calls out freeze! and holds still. Leader:  Yoo-hoo!  Group:  Yoo-hoo who?Leader:  You who  jump with ropes.Group:  Ropes, ropes, ropes, ropes, ropes, ropes, freeze! The leader then cues the next movement and the process repeats itself. If a person loses composure or breaks the freeze before the leader calls Yoo-Hoo again, that person is out. The last person remaining is the winner. Location, Location, Location The Location game can be done with as few or as many people as you like. Use it as a way to exercise your imagination as a solo performer and for learning how to act with others. Begin by having one or more actors develop a scene in a place that anyone can relate to, such as a bus stop, the mall, or Disneyland—without mentioning the name of the location. Have other players try to guess the place. Then move on to less familiar situations. Here are some to get you started: An atticA Ferris wheelA karaoke barAn orchestra pitUndergroundA high school yearbook clubA zeppelin The true challenge of this game is to think past clichà ©s and to avoid using language that gives away the action being performed. This improv exercise can also be played like charades, where teams must guess the activity. More Improv Games Once youve tried simple theater games, your troupe will be ready for more challenges. Here are a few more improv exercises: Tongue twisters:  It doesnt do students any good to be creatively warmed up if the audience has no idea what they are saying. Enunciation exercises  like tongue twisters provide a fun way to alleviate the dreaded mumbling, mush-mouth syndrome.Guess whos coming to dinner: This team exercise gives everyone a role to play. One person plays host, and the others are dinner guests. The only catch? The host doesnt know he or she is having company!The Harold: Developed  by theater director/teacher Del Close, this long-form improvisational activity allows more time to develop believable characters and organic storylines. Students riff off a suggested word, phrase, or idea through a mix of exercises. One improv piece can last from 10 to 45 minutes or more.Be an animal:  One of the best ways to develop out-of-the-box thinking is to have actors imagine themselves not just as other people but as an animal or even as an inanimate object. These drama activities offer proven ways to help participants get to know one another in a friendly, low-key fashion. They can also be used regularly as warm-ups  for your actors before you have them delve into more difficult improvisation exercises. Break a leg!

Moderator Definition

Definition: A moderator is a material that slows the speed of neutrons.Moderators are used in nuclear reactors to slow the neutrons enough to increase the likelihood of interaction with another nucleus to initiate fission. Also Known As: neutron moderator Examples: Water, graphite and heavy water are all commonly used moderators in nuclear reactors.

Different Wars, Similar Outcome Free Essays

Wars that lay buried in history and wars present in the world today unite through the most common and blatant reality of war: violence resulting in imminent death. Literature often presents different perspectives of these wars that ultimately tie together and bring forth the actuality of war. Timothy Findley’s The Wars and Wilfred Owen’s â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† present a precise example of different pieces of literature that connect through the common theme of war. We will write a custom essay sample on Different Wars, Similar Outcome or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Wars and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† offer the unconcealed and harsh violence of war and through vivid imagery, these authors depict life at war. Additionally, both of these works contain the four basic elements of life – earth, water, fire, and air – to reveal that these four basic elements can represent death as well. Moreover, the theme of appearance versus reality impacts both works profoundly through the ruthless truth of war as compared to the credulous beliefs of war. Through these ways, a novel and a poem unify to unveil the truth about war and convince audiences of the violent reality of warfare. The violent nature of war is visibly illustrated in both The Wars and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†. Could Cold War Have Been Avoided? iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src="https://phdessay.com/could-cold-war-have-been-avoided/embed/#?secret=YDGRhcB2aS" data-secret="YDGRhcB2aS" width="500" height="282" title="#8220;Could Cold War Have Been Avoided?#8221; #8212; Free Essays - PhDessay.com" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"/iframe Death, the impending result of such violence, is an underlying theme that highlights both literary works and assists audiences in grasping the severe veracity of war itself. In Findley’s The Wars, death assists in emphasizing the overall violence imprinted by the war. â€Å"Half an hour later, Rodwell wandered into No Man’s Land and put a bullet through his ears. † (Findley, 135) Similarly, Owen’s â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† incorporates death to underline the extreme violence caused by war, when in line 15 and 16, the author watches in his â€Å"helpless sigh [as] he plunges at [him], guttering, choking, and drowning. (Owen, 15, 16) The presence of violence is also evident in both works between characters and victims of war. Robert Ross, the main character from The Wars, experiences this violence firsthand when, alone and defenceless, he experiences the brutality of war through rape. â€Å"His legs were forced apart so far he thought they were going to be broken. Mouths began to suck at his privates. Hands and fingers probed and poked at every part of his body. Someone struck him in the face. † (Findley, 174) In Owen’s poem, this brutality is described through the â€Å"white eyes† of the â€Å"writhing† victim of the war (Owen, 19). His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; if [one] could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs†¦ † (Owen, 20-22) This dramatic picture painted by both authors displays the terrible and violent effects of war as well as the fatal outcome violence trails behind. The violent results of war are represented through the use of the four elements of life in both works – earth, water, fire, and air. Both Findley and Owen describe the devastating outcome that these four elements that usually symbolize life can bring. Fire implies deep suffering and overall destruction in the battlefield, and as The Wars narrates, fire can become a damaging weapon. â€Å"The nights lit up with flames of a terrible new weapon†¦ it was something called a flame thrower†¦ fire storms raged along the front. Men exploded where they stood†¦ homes fell with their bones on fire†¦ She believed her country was being destroyed by fire. † (Findley, 131-132, 136) Likewise, â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† describes fire as â€Å"haunting flares† and as damaging â€Å"like a man in fire†(Owen, 3, 12). Fire, however, differs greatly from the earth, which embodies a trap in combat that slowly confines its victims. In The Wars, earth is portrayed as a grave in which its victims â€Å"drowned in mud. Their graves, it seemed, just dug themselves and pulled down. † (Findley, 70) Correspondingly, Owen’s portrayal of soldiers crossing through this earth is a picture painted with hardships, violence, and suffering. â€Å"Bent double, like old beggars undersacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge†¦ any had lost their boots, but limped on, blood-shod. † (Owen, 1-2, 5-6) Another element that forms a part of war is water and through Owen’s depiction, audiences can see how this element can serve as a life-ending source. † As under a green sea, [he] saw him drowning. † (Owen, 14) The Wars also demonstrates that water can be a powerful element that is capable of engulfing completely its surroundings during times of conflict and war. â€Å"On either side, the ditches are filled with fetid water. Everything is waterlogged. Even bits of grass won’t float. (Findley, 69) The final element used in both The Wars and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† is air and in both works, this holds great value and significance. Owen illustrates that during war, air can serve as a deadly killer that tragically ends one’s life. â€Å"Gas! GAS! Quick boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling fitting the clumsy helmets just in time†¦ through the misty panes†¦ I saw him drowning†¦ guttering, choking, drowning. † (Owen, 9-10, 13, 14, 16) The Wars also portrays the fatalities that the usual life-nourishing air can bring forth in times of fighting and loss. â€Å"The smoke from the brazier burned his eyes. He was fearful of the fumes from the coke. Men had died in their sleep down the line in a dugout with no ventilation. (Findley, 90) When all these four elements of life are brought together during times of tension and wars, they can slowly, painfully, and tragically end lives. As seen in The Wars and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est†, these elements possess enough power to kill the lives of many in just an instant in the battlefield, leaving behind nothing more than fallen corpses and overall suffering. Wars and battles signify great suffering along with substantial loss. Findley and Owen successfully represent these two major themes of war and more importantly, both works are able to illustrate the most unforeseen theme of war: appearance versus reality. Owen flawlessly exemplifies this theme by revealing the cold reality of war and the violence that is â€Å"obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud. † (Owen, 23) â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† brings forth the powerful message that the realities of war are far more destructive than thought by anyone before and if people knew of the unrestrained truth, â€Å"[they] would not tell with such high zest the old lie: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. (Owen, 26-28) This saying, that it is sweet and right to die for your own country, is viewed as a lie to the author’s eyes most likely because he knows the cruel reality of war and not the much talked about and happy reality of war. This happier reality of war is portrayed in The Wars through Robert and his desire to go to war, thinking it w as an escape. â€Å"Robert envied him because he could go away when this was over and surround himself with space. † (Findley, 19) What looked like an escape from the violent death of Robert’s sister, however, was in reality a doorway to a brutal path of violence resulting in his own demise. The open space this character dreamed about became his prison and later on lead to his violent death. â€Å"There were flames all around him†¦ looking down at Robert after the flames had been extinguished, he was barely able to recognize that Robert had a face† (Findley, 192). Robert as well as the character in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† both see the charm of war melt before their eyes and both come to the realization from first-hand experience the cruel realities of war. The callous reality of war is seen throughout the world, whether it is represented through present day wars or wars that complete part of history. Literature presents diverse viewpoints of war that unite through extreme violence resulting in significant deaths. Owen’s â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† and Findley’s The Wars portray ideal examples of literature connected through the lucid actuality of war. Both works provide a vivid and gruesome description of the massive violence perceived in war. This immense violence carried out in war is represented through the four elements of life – earth, water, fire, and air – which are characterized in the battlefield of each literary work as elements that represent death as well. Furthermore, the theme of appearance versus reality influences both The Wars and â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† intensely through the cruel truth of war as compared to the unsuspecting and naive beliefs of war. Overall, both literary works serve their purpose in depicting the horrid reality about war and both accurately portray the war in a way that audiences can clearly see the violent actuality of war. Unknowingly, these two pieces of literature connect and foil one another in the description of wars and their violent veracity. How to cite Different Wars, Similar Outcome, Papers

Customers For Life By Carl Sewell Essay free essay sample

, Research Paper # 8220 ; Customers for Life # 8221 ; Carl Sewell s book Customers for Life is devoted to learning the bourgeois of today ways in which they can turn erstwhile purchasers into clients for life. He states that every client has the ability to be deserving 332,000 dollars to your concern if you can maintain them for life. Mr. Sewell is the figure selling luxury car trader in the state. He started from the underside and manipulated his car concern into a 250,000,000-dollar concern. In his book he explains the things that he has found to work for his concern in great item so that you may besides use them to your concern. The full book revolves around these 10 commandments to client service: The Ten Commandments of Customer Service 1. Bring em back alive. Ask clients what they want and give it to them once more and once more. Make non seek and think what the clients want, merely inquire them. They are more than willing to state you. You should do it easy for the client to state you what they want by giving them a short questionnaire. Most significantly, you do non desire to tease the client ; if you bother the client, they are non traveling to be happy. 2 Systems, non smilings. Stating please and thank you does non guarantee you ll do the occupation right the first clip, every clip. Merely systems warrant that. There are two major constituents of a system. The first being to make the occupation right the first clip and the 2nd one is holding a program in topographic point to cover with things when they go incorrect. Bing nice to the clients is merely 20 % of supplying good client service, the other 80 % of good client service is supplying the client with what they need and want. 3. Underpromise, overdeliver. Customers expect you to maintain your word, but instead than simply maintain it, transcend it. You neer want to bear down the client more than the estimation. To guarantee that this will go on, construct yourself a shock absorber so that you will be able to present the goods at a lower cost if possible. This will do the client like making concern with you ; therefore he will pass more money with you. There is the possibility of being able to bear down the client the hyperbolic sum, but this is non a good thought. Keeping the difference is non every bit good or every bit profitable as maintaining the client. You can swerve a sheep many times, but you can merely clamber it one time. 4. When the client asks something, the reply is ever yes. When a client asks if you can make something for them, the reply is ever yes, supplying the petition is someway related to your concern. Even if you can non calculate out instantly how to make what they ask, the reply is still yes. Make non bear down excess for things that a friend would make for another friend, you will more than do up the money in future concern. Help your client. 5. Open fire your inspectors and human dealingss section. Every employee who deals with clients must hold the authorization to manage ailments ( to a point ) . Inspectors make people sloppy. If you know that person is look intoing your work, you may be less likely to look into it yourself. Having a human dealingss section allows you to go out of touch with your employees and your clients. 6. No ailments? Something s incorrect. Promote your clients to state you what you re making incorrect. 96 % of unhappy clients neer say anything, they merely do non return. You need to promote your clients to talk their heads so that you can acquire an thought of what that client is experiencing. This will enable you to rectify the state of affairs instantly and one time once more regain that clients respect and trust. 7. Measure everything. Baseball squads and football squads do it, you should excessively. You need to mensurate everything that s relevant to the employee. You can non state people to make their best and them hope that their best is good plenty. Both you and the employee have to cognize how they are making and where they and the concern can better. You need to raise the degree of acceptable public presentation when your ends have been met. Unless you are systematically acquiring better, person will go through you by. You besides need to restrict the figure of ends that you set for your employees. If you give them excessively many things to concentrate on, they won t be able to concentrate on anything. 8. Wages are unjust. Pay people like spouses, offer them a piece of the net incomes for their section. Give your employee some inducement to overachieve and most normally will. This will take to larger net incomes, better efficiency, and greater productiveness in your overall concern. It will besides do the employees feel of import. 9. Your female parent was right, manners truly are of import. Show people respect and be polite. Having good manners and utilizing them neer hurt anyone. Being nice to people is more efficient, more effectual, and makes everyone experience better. You need to do more an excess attempt to make small things for people such as clasp unfastened doors and carry their purchases to their autos. This is something that people really much appreciate and retrieve. 10. Nipponese them. Learn how the best truly make it ; do their systems your ain. Then better them. The Japanese have developed the best systems for acquiring the most out of their employees and fulfilling clients. Borrow their thoughts and utilize them to break your systems. You must be afraid to tweak these thoughts so as to do them even better, cipher says you have to travel straight by the book. Some of the most successful concern people today have gotten there by flexing the regulations to acquire in front. Mr. Sewell is speedy to indicate out that these regulations are perfectly worthless if your concern is non doing a net income.