The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard Essay - 624 Words

In Tom Stoppard’s skilfully delineated play, The Real Inspector Hound, he seeks to merely parody the traditional crime fiction genre. The play does not criticise or parody at the expense of the genre but it is simply poking affectionate fun at it. Stoppard identifies the classic techniques used in crime fiction and exaggerates it to such an extent that it causes the audience to laugh at the ludicrousness of the genre. He parodies the typical layout and the archetypal characters used in traditional crime fiction stories. Stoppard adds to the amusement of the play through the use of parallel plots that absurdly and unpredictably merge, creating a classic yet twisted denouement. The Real Inspector Hound is a play that cleverly fulfils all†¦show more content†¦The wittily named character, Mrs Drudge is the first to enter on stage and takes on the archetypal domestic character in traditional crime fiction. She does this by keeping a watchful eye on all of the characters a nd giving useful information to the detective nearing the big reveal of the murderer. Mrs Drudge fulfils and exaggerates this role perfectly, saying things such as â€Å"I chanced to overhear a remark...† (pg. 45) and â€Å"I also happened to be in earshot of a remark†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 46) nearing the denouement. Simon Gascoyne is the classic red herring character who causes the audience to think he is the murderer as he has suspiciously appeared â€Å"in the neighbourhood from nowhere† (pg. 41) and as all the characters despise him. Cynthia or Lady Muldoon represents the Grande Dame type character who is typically depicted as an upper class socialite often linking all the characters together. Felicity Cunningham is the typical femme fatale type character who is both seductive as well as cunning. She often comes up with snide remarks such as â€Å"Yes, Simon is an old friend, though not as old as you, Cynthia dear.† (pg. 24). Major Magnus takes on the role of the mysterious military-bound relative as described by Mrs Drudge, â€Å"the crippled half-brother of Lord Muldoon who turned up out of the blue†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 17). Another main character in the play within the play is Inspector Hound who is supposedShow MoreRelatedThe Mousetrap, The Real Inspector Hound, And The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd1096 Words   |  5 Pagesstories is important because it allows readers with specific preference to distinguish and choose between different genres. This essay looks at the application of generic conventions in three crime fiction stories, namely The Mousetrap, The Real inspector Hound, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The author of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd includes murder mystery in her story. Murder of an influential and an honorable man – Mr. Roger Ackroyd – has taken place it mysterious because no one has seen itRead MoreTom Stoppard and the Crime-Writing Genre553 Words   |  2 Pagescontexts, a significant factor that has contributed to the genre’s endurance. Tom Stoppard’s play ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ is a post-modern text which utilises its absurdist nature to reflect the nihilistic philosophy of crime. The text simultaneously adheres to and discards the conventions of the crime genre through its employment of parody and its satirical characteristics. Tom Stoppard’s ‘The Real Inspector Hound’, first performed in 1968, is a one act play and dual satire of Agatha Christie’sRead MoreCrime: A Popular Genre in Literature and Films1232 Words   |  5 Pageseven ordinary people can become implicated in crime. The analysis progresses in chronological order, beginning with three film texts Double Indemnity (1944), Rear Window (1954), Psycho (1960) and culminating in an examination of Tom Stoppards 1968 play The Real Inspector Hound. Through examining the formal structure of the four texts and the ways in which they deviate from the norms of their genre and medium, this paper explores how formal experimentation effectively implicates the viewer and revisesRead MoreThe Real Inspector Hound. Essay1837 Words   |  8 Pages The Real Inspector Hound Contrasting settings, ideals and people dominate The Real Inspector Hound. Almost every character has an opposite, and is otherwise totally unique. Cynthia is opposite to Felicity, Simon is the contrast of Magnus, and so on. Tom Stoppard has included these contrasts for a variety of reasons and effects that combine to create the disturbing effect of the play incredibly effectively. But what individual effects do his characters create by Read MoreSamuel Beckett s Waiting For Godot1696 Words   |  7 Pagesway to irrational and illogical speeches. A godless universe, human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. The theatre of the absurd is sometimes defined it as a â€Å"working hypothesis†, a device, instead of a real movement. Martin Esslin in his book the â€Å"Theatre of Absurd† quotes that absurdist theatre has renounced arguing about the absurdity of the human condition; it merely presents it in being- in terms of concrete stage images†. He indicated too, the influence

Non Verbal Communication Free Essays

NON- VERBAL COMMUNICATION Non- verbal communication is the single most powerful form of communication. More than voice or even words, nonverbal communication cues you in to what is on another person’s mind. The best communicators are sensitive to the power of the emotions and thoughts communicated nonverbally. We will write a custom essay sample on Non Verbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now When individuals speak, they normally do not confine themselves to the mere emission of words. A great deal of meaning is conveyed by non-verbal means which always accompany oral discourse – intended or not. In other words, a spoken message is always sent on two levels simultaneously, verbal and non-verbal. Non-verbal behaviour predates verbal communication because individuals, since birth, rely first on non-verbal means to express themselves. This innate character of non-verbal behaviour is important in communication. Even before a sentence is uttered, the hearer observes the body gestures and facial expressions of the speaker, trying to make sense of these symbolic messages. They seem to be trustable because they are mostly unconscious and part of every-day behaviour. People assume that non-verbal actions do not lie and therefore they tend to believe the non-verbal message when a verbal message contradicts it. This was proven in tests in which subjects were asked to react to sentences that appeared friendly and inviting when reading them but were spoken angrily. In short, people try to make sense of the non-verbal behaviour of others by attaching meaning to what they observe them doing. Consequently, these symbolic messages help the hearer to interpret the speaker’s intention and this indicates the importance of non-verbal communication in the field of interpretation. In daily conversations it often happens that we do not understand what the other person wants to say. Thus we ask questions such as â€Å"What do you mean by this† so that the speaker clarifies his message. The interpreter is deprived of this possibility and therefore has to fall back on other means allowing him to understand the speaker. This is the moment when non-verbal communication comes in, giving him subtle hints on how the message is to be understood. From the speaker’s point of view, however, there are numerous functions of non-verbal behaviour – even if he or she is not aware of them. Human beings use non-verbal means to persuade or to control others, to clarify or embellish things, to stress, complement, regulate and repeat verbal expressions. They can also be used to substitute verbal expression, as this is the case with several body gestures. Non-verbal communication is emotionally expressive and so any discourse appealing to the receiver’s emotions has a persuasive impact. Although many non-verbal means are innate and universal, (i. e. eople in different cultures have a common understanding of these cues), the contribution of non-verbal communication to the total meaning of a discourse can be culturally determined and differ in different countries. By some estimates, there are more than 200,000 nonverbal signs in human communication, and only 7 percent to 35 percent of communication is verbal. The nonverbal aspect of human communication is so important because it can convey complex thoughts better than words can — and also because it is an automa tic behavior, and therefore much more difficult to control than speech. Gestures:- {draw:frame} Gestures, like words, are a form of communication closely tied to culture and language. In fact, gestures are the nonverbal method closest to verbal communication, because there are specific meanings to the gestures. The fact that human physical expression is limited by our bodies’ capabilities means that gestures from different cultures can be similar in appearance. A body gesture is a movement made with a limb, especially the hands, to express, confirm, emphasize or back up the speaker’s attitude or intention. This non-verbal activity is regularly used in oral discourse. If a body act requires no verbal accompaniment, it is called an â€Å"emblem†. Examples are: hand signals such as waving good-bye, the â€Å"V† for victory sign or the â€Å"high five† signalling victory. While some emblems, for example a clenched fist, have universal meaning, there are others that are idiosyncratic or culturally conditioned. The use of the zero shape made by the fingers, for instance, does not mean the same thing in different cultures. Standing for â€Å"OK† in the UK, it may be a vulgar expression in South American cultures, sometimes embarrassingly so†¦ Body gestures are always perceived and interpreted together with facial expressions. Facial Expression:- {draw:frame} Facial expressions are one of the more powerful methods of nonverbal communication. They can convey mood, emotional or physical state, or identity. For example, flight attendants are taught that passengers will be more accepting and less defensive, even during negative confrontations, if the attendants smile as they speak. Police use facial cues to detect substance abuse, or to read suspects for signs of lying. All humans have mannerisms that convey information to strangers (such as friendly or aloof), as well as personal expressions that become familiar and identifying to others who know them. Nonverbal Communication with the Eyes {draw:frame} Eyes are particularly demonstrative in nonverbal communication. Besides conveying emotions, the pupils constrict when viewing something displeasing and dilate when viewing something pleasant. Eye contact is an important part of communication — good eye contact makes a person seem confident and credible. Touch is somewhat opposite of visual and audio cues in terms of how information is received, but the thousands of nerve endings in skin allow for things like pressure, temperature and texture to convey immense amounts of information. Touch also creates a communicative bond, such as between a parent and an infant. Body Orientation Body orientation is communication by the way a person sits, stands, walks or generally holds herself in a situation. It can indicate friendship or unfamiliarity, feelings of like or dislike, or perceived social standing. (Feelings of inferiority can cause a person to be tense or rigid, while perceptions of superiority make a person relaxed and loose. ) Posture is frequently thought to convey general feelings about a person or situation, while facial expressions and specific bodily movements offer more specific information about a relationship. Conclusion:- Non-verbal communication is not only crucial in a plain daily communication situation but also for the interpreter. Non-verbal communication can take various forms, each of which illustrates or replaces a certain part of the verbal communication. It includes many more elements than one might think at first. When interpreters are in a working situation where the audience will not see them, non-verbal communication can represent a problem. The udience might even be tempted to believe that the interpreters have not done a good job. In order to be able to work properly, interpreters need to make sense of non-verbal cues. This is only possible because a special part of our brain deals with the emotional part of the message. Not only intelligence but also emotional intelligence is needed for interpreting non-verbal elements. Whether non-verbal communication supports the interpreters in their task or presents a difficulty, it will always play an important role. How to cite Non Verbal Communication, Papers Non Verbal Communication Free Essays string(153) " one has their body fully turned to face the second, but he second person only has their head facing the first with their body facing another direction\." Many of us may think verbal communication or language is the sole type of communication that we use to commune with others. This is far beyond this case. You may not realize it, but he majority of communication that you use to commune is in fact nonverbal. We will write a custom essay sample on Non Verbal Communication or any similar topic only for you Order Now Nonverbal communication can be practiced though touch like shaking a hand or your eye contact which falls under Haptic communication. Nonverbal communication can be conversed simply in the image your body looks like, for example an old person versus child to the way you are dressed like a police uniform verses a half naked surfer.Physical environment plays a large role in nonverbal communication. This includes the space that is put between the senders and receivers and actual physical boundaries and environment such as furniture and artwork. One of the most influential forms of nonverbal communication in my opinion is someone’s movement and body arrangement which is referred as Kinesics. This falls under posture which can reveal someone’s attention as a receiver or sender to gestures which are non vocal physical movement indented to send out a message to the receiver. Some of us have heard a quote from our parents or close relatives â€Å"a first impression is a lasting one†. This is because the way you look has a major impact on how you communicate to everyone around you. Take for example the way someone dresses. In most cases you are going to dress for the occasion you are attending. If you happen to be a executive of a large company who represents many people, you are not going to stroll in a board meeting in a tank top and jeans. It will make you unprofessional by the means that nobody will take you seriously. Your actual physical body structure has a impact on how you communicate. A tall muscular man will in most cases have more authority and respect to a person or group as a leader then a scrawny little girl. Age also has an effect on nonverbal communication. If we go back many years when the lifespan of a human was rare over fifty or sixty years of age, we treated these elders with respect and accepted their wisdom and guidance. However this also comes with gender. There were few or none women elders at that time which brings to the fact that men were and still somewhat are treated with more seriousness. When speaking orally with someone, we may notice how we spaced ourselves ith the listener. For example it may become natural for us when speaking with a close friend, to allow them to stand closer to you then a customer that you are meeting for the first time to discuss business. The amount of physical spaced needed solely depends on the relationship you have with your listeners. This communicates many emotions like aggression, affection and fear. These zones are divided into four sectors circling with you in the center. From going closer to you to farther from you, they are intimate, social, personal, and public space.With intimate being your closest zone, you only allow a select group to make contact with you. â€Å"Your invading my personal space† is a prime example of this. Many will become threatened and develop hostility toward a stranger who walks up directly to you without identifying themselves first and violates your intimate space. Imaginary space we put between people is not the only type of method we use to communicate to others. Actual physical objects plays a role also, for instance buildings, office spaces and trophy rooms. Many industrialized countries have always competed with each other to have the biggest and tallest objects.Whether it would be skyscrapers to roller coasters to cars. It communes dominance and pride to posses things like these. You walk into a well known sport player trophy room and see there rows and rows of trophies they have acquired over the years, it communes great respect and accomplishment for what they had done. Another example is walking into a executive office of a big business. You see elegant furniture, colorful paintings and a grand high office chair behind a shiny desk with a name tag. This clearly displays power, fame and prestige.A significant attribute to nonverbal communication is the movement and body position known as kinesics. This term was founded in 1952 by anthropologist Ray Birdwhistel who was involved in filming people interacting in social situations. Under kinesics is posture. Your human posture simply referrers to the way your body is in position. This can be more easily recognized while the person is standing still such as when standing upright, sitting down, kneeling and lying down. Posture in nonverbal communication advertises your sense of involvement, mindfulness and goals in a variety of ways.The direction the body points to is where the mind wants to go. Body angles say everything about a conversation. When two people to engage in an intimacy position, they face each other head on. When two people are engaging in a non threatening conversation, they are positioned in their social space facing each other at an angle but if a third party member decided to join this conversation, one of two things may happen. If the original two decide to accept the third into their group, all three turn to face each other in a triangular formation signaling evenness among the group.However if the original two do not openly accept the third into their conversation, they will not shift their position toward the third thus signaling that they are not invited. If they are willing to acknowledge the third person is there however, they might consider to turn their heads towards them, but there foot position will not change. This example of turning your head to face some one to acknowledge their presence can also be used in example where two individuals are in a conversation.The first one has their body fully turned to face the second, but he second person only has their head facing the first with their body facing another direction. You read "Non Verbal Communication" in category "Papers" This signifies that the first person is trying to hold the second person’s attention, but the second person is signaling that they are in a position to leave but still acknowledging the first persons presence. Another characteristic that falls under kinesics and goes hand in hand with posture is gestures. Gestures are nonverbal expressions such as hand signals and facial expressions. We use gestures on a daily basis to signal a variety of things. Short quotes are expressed though gestures or also known as emblems such as hello and good bye by simply waving your hand. These can easily be identified and translated into verbal statements and is widely shared within your society. In many cases gestures are needed when talking verbally is forbidden, unwise or wont make a difference towards the receiver. In a noisy crowd, if you want to communicate with your friend from a distance, yelling at each other will not get your message to your friend. However making a pointing gesture in a direction is an excellent way of signaling to your friend where you want to meet.This also goes with sport teams on a field. When a coach is pointing at players then to specific spots for those players to go and defend, it is much easier then for the coach to walk up to each player and explain to them verbally where to position themselves. There is an entire language of gestures that represents words and emotions for individuals who cannot communicate what so ever verbally and in some cases even visually. This is knows as sign language. Each gesture in sign language does not represent a letter or a written alphabet but a certain meaning. When having a verbal conversation, we are using or had used a gesture.Using gestures while speaking can be know as â€Å"beat gestures†. They are used to keep up with the mood of the speech and acknowledge the sender and receiver. Simple examples would be a smile. A sender smiles signals the person is enjoying what they are saying or a receiver smiles indicating they are both listing and enjoying. With eight thousand muscles currently working in your face, more then seven thousand facial expressions can be created. The overall appearance of the face is a multitude of signs from many sources, such as the bony construct, shapes and positions of structure, and color and consistency of the skin.Facial expressions created by muscular actions have their origins in the earliest ancestors of the human species, but this jargon continually evolves and grow through both biological and social mechanisms. The facial muscles fabricate the changing facial expressions that carry information about emotion, mood, and thought. Smiling is one of them. Showing round eyes and raised cheeks and an open mouth signals that you are happy. Fear would show round eyes, raised eyebrows and open mouth. Anger would show a lowering of the eyebrow and mouth. A disgusted expression shows a wrinkled nose, lowered eyelids and eyebrow and a raised upper lip.Sadness would show sagginess around the eyes and mouth and surprise would show widely raised eyebrows, open eyes and mouth. As you can tell some of these emotions share the same features, this is why it is sometime hard for a receiver to tell what you are trying to communicate. All of these expressions are shared universally though different cultures and societies. There is an entire language of gestures that represents words and emotions for individuals who cannot communicate what so ever verbally and in some cases even visually. This is knows as sign language. One can say a more permanent gesture can be eye contact.Eye contact is important in its quantity because too little may or too much may indicate communication barriers. Eye contact in while communicating and in relationships shows intimacy, attention, and influence. Coinciding with facial expressions, there is no rules against eye contact, however you may have heard people telling you that it is rude to stare at strangers. How ever in many places in the united states it is perfectly acceptable to glance at strangers you are passing on the sidewalk with either a gesture of a nod signaling that you know of their presence or even a quick â€Å"hi† before looking away right away.Still eye contact has its uses in certain places. Many will not make eye contact while riding a subway or bus station with strangers but have more when sitting in a college classroom. Americans in general feel uncomfortable to gaze on another stranger or not, it is too intense for them. Yet too little eye contact can communicate a loss of interest, negligence, and even mistrust. This can be viewed as negative response towards people. Some may have heard the quote â€Å"never look into a person who doesn’t look into your eyes†. But of course this is all culture based.In some asian countries, have no eye contact with your sender or reciever indicates a kind of respect and authority. Haptics plays a unique role in nonverbal communication. This type of communication is practiced though touching. Haptics covers all kinds of touching on both the sender and receiver. Touching each other such as grasping hands, shaking hands, kissing, back slapping, high fives and pats on the shoulder. Shaking hands dates back to ancient Greece to signal to each other that they are peaceful and hold no weapons. Shaking hands has a list of different meanings.Meeting, greeting, parting, offering, congratulations, expressing gratitude or completing an agreement. Shaking hands varies from society to society. Adapters in Haptics is type of touching you do to yourself such as licking, picking, holding, and scratching. These send out messages to the receiver to reveal your intentions and feelings. The meaning of the touch depends on the situation and relationship. Touch is a tremendously important sense for humans and other animals alike not only to bestow information about textures and surfaces, but for relationships as well.Hugging your mother versus patting your dad on his back are both common haptic communications. Haptic communication can be sexual. Kissing is a prime example of sexual orientation in countries like the united states, but no where close in some middle eastern countries where kissing is a form of everyday greeting. Touching skin to skin is a process that is said to be vital with infants in their developing stages. A baby cries, you go and pick it up and it will sometime automatically stop crying at once. The prime reason is that it felt comfort against another body.Retaining a sense of touch out performs a child’s sense of smell and sight many times over in the process of growing up. There has been cases in United States homes where babies were properly nourished in a healthy household environment have died because of lack of touch. Babies need that tender loving care and human bodily contact to survive. Touching between adults is treated differently but very much a function of culture. Societies that practice many forms of social touching in conversations like the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Latin America who routinely embrace and hold hands are called high contact cultures.In the United States however, it is more rare if any at all. But even so haptics vary on the same subject. Going back to the handshake, which changes on the occasion depending on the kind of message the send and receiver are hoping to achieve. It could be a very tough grip handshake signaling dominance and a degree of intimacy, or it could be a soft and slow handshake acknowledging comfort or love. A blunt form of haptic communication can be though actual physical violence and abuse. Hitting, kicking, scratching, choking and even rape. All signals hate towards another so they express their sense of touch through these aspects.We yawn, grunt, burp and cry, hesitate and practice sarcasm. These all fall under nonverbal communication knows as paralanguage. All these vocal emotions effect the outcome of the communication that is released to the receiver. Someone says â€Å"good afernoon† to you in the most boring and coarse tone you have ever heard. You then know that this afternoon is far from good for this person. The accent of the words have a lasting effect on their true meaning. â€Å"Its not what he said, it’s the way he said it†. Human and animal voices alike when speaking a sentence for humans and emitting an animal’s personal call all change due to paralanguage.When dealing with nonverbal communication, one aspect has to be applied in all areas it falls under. Nonverbal communication is culturally motivated. Always has been and always will be. Communicating nonverbally you will sometimes feel that you can get your message across to the receiver easier and more efficiently. This is why nonverbal communication completely dominates over verbal communication on getting the message across.WORKS CITED Axtell, Roger E. Gestures The DO’s and TABOO’s of Body Language Around the World. New York City: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. , 1991. Becze, Elisa. â€Å"Nonverbal Communication can say alot about you.   Staying On Top  April 2007. (2007): 30. 14 Nov. 2010 http://ehis. ebscohost. com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=10hid=5sid=552921b6-8af9-4b56-81dc-3375346bda61%40sessionmgr15 Cohen, Bryan. â€Å"Posture, Height and Weight, Age and Gender. †Ã‚  Bodily Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication. 19 Nov. 2010. eHOW. 6 Sep. 2010 . â€Å"Eye Contact. †Ã‚  Beyond Language. 20 Nov. 2010. Prentice Hall. 1993 . â€Å"Exploring Vocal Paralanguage. †Ã‚  The Human Voice. 20 Nov. 2010. University Of California, Sana Cruz. http://nonverbal. ucsc. edu/voicerev. html. Givens, David. â€Å"PROXEMICS. † 15 Nov. 2010. Center for Nonverbal Studies. 998 http://center-for-nonverbal-studies. org/proxemic. htm. Hagar, Joseph. â€Å"The Expression†¦. †Ã‚  Introduction To The DataFace Site: Facial Expressions, Emotion Expressions, Nonverbal Communication, Physiognomy. 18 Nov. 2010. 2003 . Herring, Roger D. â€Å"Nonverbal Communication: A Necessary Component of Cross-Cultural Counseling. †Ã‚  WHAT IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION? Vol. 18, Issue 4. (Oct9): 1. 16 Nov. 2010 . Hopkins, Lee. â€Å"Paralanguage. †Ã‚  Nonverbal communication – an overview. 21 Nov. 2010. Solucija. 2002 . King, Shirly. The Glorious Touch of a Baby. 20 Nov. 2010. Parent. net. . Nonverbal Communication. 15 Nov. 2010. Wikipedia. How to cite Non Verbal Communication, Papers

Art Is Indefinable free essay sample

Art is Indefinable Art Is indefinable because of its constant evolution. This evolution has taken place because art inherently has an aspect of human contribution and, therefore, Is subject to progression in ways as numerous as its very creators changes. There are two main reasons that illustrate the fact that art Is Indefinable. These reasons are that art has a changing role in society, and that the various production methods of art endlessly transform. The first of the reasons Is crucial because It shows that art, as a result of the human artist, will necessarily change when Its human maker changes.This Is what allows for art to have a specific time setting In which It will have a particular meaning and Importance. Thus, because of the Infusion of an artist Into their art, the piece will In some degree convey a glimpse of a changing social environment. This environment may never be relevant again after that specific point In time, Indirectly Illustrating history and change. We will write a custom essay sample on Art Is Indefinable or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The second reason for illustration again focuses on how the involvement of procedural evolution does not allow for the permanent defining of art, in this case in regards to the applied art production methods.Most recently computers have evolutionists some forms of art. It has also created a new movement through the application of technology in new and unique ways to the creation process. If art had been permanently defined prior to this new use of computers it would have stifled what has become a new and exciting branch of art, and as a consequence could have limited future productions from unimagined advancements. An inflexible and permanent definition of art as a result of the aforementioned reasons is detrimental to the progression of art that is crucial to its very continuance.