Saturday, March 21, 2020

A Dolls House - 1973 Production with Claire Bloom

A Doll's House - 1973 Production with Claire Bloom The Bottom Line This treatment of Henrik Ibsens play, A Dolls  House, by director Patrick Garland and actors Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins, is especially strong. Garland manages to transcend the plot contrivances which I found, on reading Henrik Ibsens play, to make the story almost unbelievable, and instead, create characters and a story that seem real. A surprisingly hopeful film to enjoy for itself, this would also make an interesting film to use in high school, college, or adult classes to explore issues of gender roles and expectations. Pros both Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins create sympathetic charactersdepicts woman on a pedestal in its positives and negativesemotional depth of Noras transformation and her husbands reaction ring truefictionalized and historical settings may make discussion of feminist issues feel safer to somemakes a somewhat-contrived plot seem believable Cons some plot coincidences a bit too contrivedhistorical and fictional settings may, for some, make the feminist issue easy to dismissfor some women, that this is written by a man might be a negative Description Henrik Ibsens depiction of 19th century men and women in marriage and friendshipDepicts Nora Helmars attempt to find her identity, beyond the constricting pedestalAlso depicts her husband Torvald Helmers attempt to salvage his own identity at work and home1973 production directed by Patrick Garland, screenwriter Christopher HamptonClaire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins star as Nora and Torvald HelmerDenholm Elliott, Ralph Richardson, Edith Evans,and Helen Blatch play supporting roles Review - A Dolls House The basic plot is this: a woman of the 19th century, pampered first by her father and then by her husband, acts out of caring and that act then subjects her and her husband to blackmail, threatening their security and future. How Nora, her husband, and Noras friends attempt to deal with the threat depict different kinds of love. Some loves transform people and bring out their best and the best in their loved ones others make the lover and loved one smaller. I remember the first time I read Henrik Ibsens play, A Dolls House, in the late 1960s, just when the feminist movement was rediscovering past literary treatments of gender roles. Betty Friedans more straightforward treatment of the ultimately-unsatisfying constrictions of womens traditional role seemed to ring more true. In reading A Dolls House then, I was disturbed by what I read as contrived characters Nora always seemed quite the silly doll, even after her transformation. And her husband! What a shallow man! He didnt evoke the least bit of sympathy in me. But Claire Bloom and Anthony Hopkins, in director Patrick Garlands 1973 treatment, show how good acting and direction can add to a play what a dry reading cannot.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

3 Types of Headings

3 Types of Headings 3 Types of Headings 3 Types of Headings By Mark Nichol Headings are second-generation headlines, words or phrases that introduce sections of a piece of content and thus help a writer organize the content into smaller components. This post describes three categories of headings and their functions. 1. Question Headings A question heading, as you might have guessed, is a heading in the interrogative case. A question heading like â€Å"How Do Widgets Make Your Job Easier?† directs a reader’s attention because it implies that the text that follows the heading will answer that question. Question headings are useful in content that serves as an informational resource, such as an instructional procedure, a troubleshooting guide, or a website’s FAQ (frequently asked questions) page. But they can also serve to organize more qualitative information intended to expand readers’ knowledge, such as headings that ask the difference between various political systems, religions, or philosophies. 2. Statement Headings Statement headings are those that include a noun and a verb, forming a complete thought. Newspaper headlines are the model for this form: â€Å"Widgets Make Your Job Easier† is an example of a statement heading. Statement headings are ideal for straightforward content when question headings aren’t appropriate or desired. They express a fact or an opinion, and they signal that the content following them will provide details that support that fact or argue that opinion. 3. Topic Heading A topic heading consists of a single word or a short (or not-so-short) phrase that serves as a label identifying the topic of the content that follows: Sample topic headings include â€Å"Widgets,† â€Å"Benefits of Widgets,† and â€Å"How to Use Widgets to Make Your Job Easier.† Topic headings can introduce functional content, but they’re the type of heading best suited for leisure reading content intended to entertain rather than inform. Topic headings can be the most challenging to write because they don’t necessarily provide much information. The first two examples, above, for instance, aren’t very specific; only the third one matches the sample question and statement headings for utility. Topic headings do invite more creativity, including wordplay and alliteration, but â€Å"Workout Widgets† and â€Å"Widgets and Gadgets,† for example, might require more context, like an image, or a transitional sentence at the end of the previous section, to be of much use. Also, note that the more conceptual a topic heading is, the less likely it is to support an online search, because it probably includes fewer keywords than an equivalent heading formatted according to one of the other heading styles. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidPrecedent vs. PrecedenceWhat the Heck are "Peeps"?