As one of North America’s leading playwrights, Neil Simon has definitely been instrumental to the world of theater. He has experienced a somewhat shaky personal life, but he has found that this only adds to the texture of his work. He began his career working on radio and television, and found that writing for stage was significantly different than his previous experiences writing. His first attempts at theater were rough, but it didn’t take him long to achieve excellence. He has also achieved great success with his work in the film industry. He is very fastidious when writing his work, and also quite critical of both the final written product, as well as its resulting production. However, no matter how uncertain he is of his work, it is apparent that audiences worldwide appreciate his writings, and he has been awarded numerous times to prove it. It is quite clear Neil Simon holds a place of importance in the world of dramatic arts.
Born and raised in the Bronx NYC, Marvin Neil Simon was the second son of a traveling salesman. His mother Mamie, was largely responsible for the upbringing of the children due to this circumstance. His childhood household was quite unstable due to the absence of his father, and he has not truly escaped from this lifestyle. At age 28, he married Joan Baim, a professional dancer, and the first of three wives. The two had a daughter, Ellen, together. Seemingly happy for 20 years in marriage, Joan died unexpectedly. Shockingly, just over one month after Joan’s death, Neil remarried, causing doubt about the healthiness of the relationship before Joan’s demise. He wed actress Marsha Mason, who later appeared in a number of his works, including film versions of Only When I Laugh and The Goodbye Girl. The marriage lasted 9 years, and ended bitterly due to "undisclosed reasons". Five years after his divorce from Ms Mason, he coupled with Diane Landers, also an actress. He had a second daughter, Nancy, with the actress, as well as adopting a third daughter, Bryn. The two divorced just 2 years after the wedding. However, shortly after that, the couple remarried, and are living together currently as man and wife. His other relationships have been touchy as well. A bond with his brother was broken upon Neil’s sudden decision to end his television writing career and move on to script writing.
Olive, David. "Possibilities of Performance: New Ways of Teaching Dramatic Literature." Links & Letters 2 (1995): 9-17. UAB Digital Repository of Documents. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.
Neil Young’s music is impressive to me mostly because of the wide span of genres it encompasses, and as such, the large amount of emotions it conjures. What’s interesting to me is how he’s viewed so differently from person-to-person; some may think of him as a country-rock star, complete with cowboy hat and toothpick, while others think of him as a hard rock icon complete with ripped jeans and a raggedy shirt. It all likely depends on how your own musical journey developed; “Heart of Gold” and “Rockin’ in the Free World” are two of his better-known songs, yet each one is played on very different radio stations than the other. I remember diving deeper into his body of work and being amazed at how much ground it covered; there are songs that are the epitome of despair and desperation, and there are also songs that make you giddy with excitement. How can one man be such a jack-of-all-trades with his music and sound completely genuine and inspired every time? Logic would seem to dictate that such a person would only manage to be merely good at everything he tries, not great. Neil Young, however, is an exception to that thought process, always searching for his muse, thankfully documenting the journey for all to hear.
Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th ed. New York: Pearson-Prentice, 2010. 40-49. Print.
successful lyricist. Also, it was Ira’s interest in music that made their parents purchase the
Alan Bennett presents his characters in Talking Heads by writing the plays in the form of monologue. By employing this technique he has managed to create a rich and detailed World in which his stories unfold but, he only allows us to see it through the eyes of a single narrator. When reading a play that is presented in this manner it is possible to lose sight of the fact that you are only getting one person’s version of events and you may start to believe that you are having conversations reported to you verbatim. This is a clever mechanism because the narrators can often be unreliable and lead the reader to form opinions and draw conclusions that quite often turn out to be unfounded and false. The term “Talking heads is a synonym in television for boredom” (Bennett, 2007, p, 10) yet, these talking heads are certainly not boring, the settings may be drab and ordinary, the characters are not exciting or inspiring yet, the gossipy way in which the stories are told hooks the reader in. Fitting neatly into the genre of tragicomedy it is perhaps fitting that the ‘tragic’ comes before the ‘comedy’, certainly the dramatist infuses the plays with a rich dose of humour but the melancholy subject matter and the often quite sad and lonely characters always counter balances the laughs with a tinge of sadness.
Tennessee Williams is one of the best play writers in American history. Tennessee Williams's life experiences has been used as subject matter for his dramas. Tennessee Williams uses his experiences and express them through plays. His life experiences are used over and over again in the creation of his dramas.
Tennessee Williams is widely known as one of the greatest playwrights in American history. Tennessee Williams's personal life and experiences have been the direct subject matter for his dramas. He uses his experiences and universalize them through the means of the stage. His life is utilized over and over again in the creation of his dramas.
There are many factors that lead people to use violence. They use violence when they are stressed, angry, feeling hatred, drink too much alcohol, use drug. Children are more likely to grow up as violent men if they are influenced by their parents, brothers, sisters and friends, all of whom use violence.
As a child Dylan was comfortable being the center of attention, often writing creative poetry for his mother and on occasion singing. Dylan had no formal music lessons, but none the less he began to compose. Later at age 14, he took up the guitar and shortly after formed a band, one of many he played the guitar in. Always plunging ahead, performing to his up most potentional, Dylan absorbed his surroundings as a source of inspiration. Even during his early efforts Dylan responded very positivly to mainstream musicians, such as country star Hank Williams. Yet, he responded especially well to early rock stars such as Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. In the summer of 1959, after graduation Dylan began to work at a cafe, where he began to pay increasing attention to folksingers such as Judy Collins and Jesse Fuller. Finding an instant connection with their songs, songs relevant to social issues. Dylan was drawn into both the musical style and the social message of these indivisuals.
A kid does not just start out violent; many factors contribute to the shaping of a violent teen. Where you grow up and who you live with play a major part. If you live in the rough side of you...
There is no one causal factor, or single identifying marker that determines violent behavior in individuals. While studies show characteristics associated with violent offenders, no single variable predetermines such offenses. It is instead a number of factors that come in to play, that have shown an association to such reactive aggressive behavior. Factors such as environmental demographic (Hughs, 2008) (Barnes, 2012), biological and genetic predispositions to mental illness (Miller & Barnes, 2013), prenatal brain development (Michalska & Kinzler, 2011), abuse, psychological factors, and many other variables that somehow coincide to create a recipe for such violent actions. Strides to determine these factors, and what sets the stage for such pathology is as important as it is controversial. The closer we get to arrive at possible causal factors, the closer we are to preventing such acts from happening, and providing help and better treatments for those with such disorders early on.
Lapine’s off-Broadway experienced definitely helped him create his style of writing, which in turn rubbed off on Sondheim even after their time as collaborators was over. Lapine felt that he championed visual theater with less reliance on text to tell the story (Stempel, ...
The aggressive personality is defined as an “individual’s whose overall style of interacting involves considerable, persistent, maladaptive aggression” (counselingresource.com). Evolutionary, biological and environmental factors are contributing components of the aggressive personality. Human beings ...
nurture debate. Many believe that either nature or nurture is the cause of certain rebellious behaviors, but I personally believe that in most cases, it is a combination of both. Biological factors and outside influences can both cause criminal behavior. Children are born with pre-determined characteristics due to genetics, and just as levels of intelligence and other traits can be hereditary, I believe violent tendencies can be hereditary too. However, I believe that even if a child is born with those tendencies, they are not likely to display them unless influenced. If a child is raised in an unstable, abusive environment, or if they often associate with people who display violent behaviors, those factors can trigger their restrained traits to the surface. But if the child is raised in a healthy, stable, environment it is less likely to happen. If there is an inborn tendency for criminal behavior, it will usually only be expressed in the right
In conclusion, the famed twentieth century playwright Arthur Miller is a complete modernist. Throughout his many works, he uses modernist ideas of the worst of human nature to create very strong characters that establish and work in the roles he makes for them well. All of these points can be further exemplified by the literary criticism of Christopher Bigsby, Harold Clurman and anonymous who all help to show further the path of modernism that Miller undertook in the creation of his many landmark plays. Overall, Arthur Miller’s influence as a modernist playwright not only had an effect on the entire theatre industry but also much of the modernist literature of the entire twentieth century as well leaving a profound image of what modernism truly is on American culture.