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THE ESTATE OF MENDACITY: AN INTERPRETATION OF WILLIAMS'S MOST AMBIGUOUS CHARACTER
Title
THE ESTATE OF MENDACITY: AN INTERPRETATION OF WILLIAMS'S MOST AMBIGUOUS CHARACTER.
Creator
Bowlen, Daniel, Shafer, John, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
ABSTRACT I performed the role of Brick Pollitt at Lake Mirror Theatre in Lakeland, Florida from April 20- April 30 2006. The role of Brick Pollitt provided me with several acting challenges as well as multiple subjects to research. The most challenging aspects of portraying the character of Brick Pollitt are his alcoholism, issues of sexuality, and tormented familial relationships. Brick Pollitt journeys in the period of one day through major challenges in two key relationships. He moves from...
Show moreABSTRACT I performed the role of Brick Pollitt at Lake Mirror Theatre in Lakeland, Florida from April 20- April 30 2006. The role of Brick Pollitt provided me with several acting challenges as well as multiple subjects to research. The most challenging aspects of portraying the character of Brick Pollitt are his alcoholism, issues of sexuality, and tormented familial relationships. Brick Pollitt journeys in the period of one day through major challenges in two key relationships. He moves from dominance in his relationship with Maggie to capitulation and from isolation in his relationship with Big Daddy to mutual understanding. BrickÂÂ's relationships are further complicated by questions surrounding his recently deceased best friend Skipper and drives (alcoholism) that may be perceived as self destructive. My preliminary work has led me to believe Brick is in search of peace (ÂÂ'the clickÂÂ') in a tormented life (Williams, Cat 2.47). The nature of the torment needs further research for definition. Some critics argue Brick's sexuality is ambivalent, and he is repressing homosexual drives. Equally possible is arguing the homosexuality was restricted to Skipper. Making a decision about the definition of this relationship is key to making choices within the play because the friendship was so important to BrickÂÂ's perception of himself. Brick believed his relationship was the ÂÂ"one true and pure thingÂÂ" in a life filled with ÂÂ"mendacityÂÂ" (Williams, Cat 2.50). ÂÂ'MendacityÂÂ' is Bricks reference to his disgust with ÂÂ"lyinÂÂ' anÂÂ' liarsÂÂ" (Williams, Cat 2.50-51). He is lost without this anchor for his life and it has impacted his ability to interact with the world around him. Determining BrickÂÂ's sexuality in my portrayal will be central to my process while I also embrace research into related areas of behavior. To supplement my research of alcoholism and BrickÂÂ's sexuality, the following topics: • A Psycho-Analytical study of the character Brick Pollitt and his ÂÂ"archetypalÂÂ" relationships with Maggie, Big Daddy, Skipper, Gooper, and his place in society. • The evolution of the character Brick Pollitt through various scripts and screenplays. From WilliamsÂÂ's first script through to dealing with the Hays Code. A study of Tennessee Williams life history and the influence on the play. • The history of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof from its Morosco Theatre Broadway debut in New York City on March 24, 1955, followed by its film release in 1955 starring Paul Newman, Burl Ives, and Elizabeth Taylor. Any successful portrayal of Brick Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof demands intense focus to individual relationships within the ensemble. The central theme of the play is ÂÂ'mendacityÂÂ' (deceit) (Williams, Cat 2.50). Brick uses this word to describe his disgust, but the ÂÂ'mendacityÂÂ' of his human relations in the aging and decaying Southern society is what troubles him (Williams, Cat 2.50). Discovering the ties between family, ÂÂ'mendacityÂÂ', and society are relevant to the execution of the play (Williams, Cat 2.50). I believe depiction of Brick Pollitt in this Pulitzer Prize winning American Classic will best present my abilities achieved in the Master of Fine Arts Program
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Date Issued
2010
Identifier
CFE0002981, ucf:47981
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002981
STRESS AND PERFORMANCE IN UNCERTAINTY-AVOIDING INDIVIDUALS: AN INTRODUCTORY LITERATURE REVIEW
Title
STRESS AND PERFORMANCE IN UNCERTAINTY-AVOIDING INDIVIDUALS: AN INTRODUCTORY LITERATURE REVIEW.
Creator
Stowers, Kimberly, Salas, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Uncertainty avoidance as a cultural construct has been known to affect worker stress and performance in organizations, but a review of these findings has not been done up until this point. In effort to clarify the relationship between uncertainty avoidance and stress and performance, a comprehensive literature search was performed. Findings from articles on this topic have been presented. In addition, organizational practices for accommodating uncertainty avoidance and other cultural...
Show moreUncertainty avoidance as a cultural construct has been known to affect worker stress and performance in organizations, but a review of these findings has not been done up until this point. In effort to clarify the relationship between uncertainty avoidance and stress and performance, a comprehensive literature search was performed. Findings from articles on this topic have been presented. In addition, organizational practices for accommodating uncertainty avoidance and other cultural dimensions have been explored. This review shows that uncertainty avoidance appears to be linked to higher stress, while its relationship to performance appears to depend on other factors. Best practices for accommodating uncertainty avoidance tend to include enhanced communication and structure. Ideas for future research on this topic are discussed.
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFH0004450, ucf:45125
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004450
Using Hashtags to Disambiguate Aboutness in Social Media Discourse: A Case Study of #OrlandoStrong
Title
Using Hashtags to Disambiguate Aboutness in Social Media Discourse: A Case Study of #OrlandoStrong.
Creator
DeArmas, Nicholas, Vie, Stephanie, Salter, Anastasia, Beever, Jonathan, Dodd, Melissa, Wheeler, Stephanie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
While the field of writing studies has studied digital writing as a response to multiple calls for more research on digital forms of writing, research on hashtags has yet to build bridges between different disciplines' approaches to studying the uses and effects of hashtags. This dissertation builds that bridge in its interdisciplinary approach to the study of hashtags by focusing on how hashtags can be fully appreciated at the intersection of the fields of information research, linguistics,...
Show moreWhile the field of writing studies has studied digital writing as a response to multiple calls for more research on digital forms of writing, research on hashtags has yet to build bridges between different disciplines' approaches to studying the uses and effects of hashtags. This dissertation builds that bridge in its interdisciplinary approach to the study of hashtags by focusing on how hashtags can be fully appreciated at the intersection of the fields of information research, linguistics, rhetoric, ethics, writing studies, new media studies, and discourse studies. Hashtags are writing innovations that perform unique digital functions rhetorically while still hearkening back to functions of both print and oral rhetorical traditions. Hashtags function linguistically as indicators of semantic meaning; additionally, hashtags also perform the role of search queries on social media, retrieving texts that include the same hashtag. Information researchers refer to the relationship between a search query and its results using the term (")aboutness(") (Kehoe and Gee, 2011). By considering how hashtags have an aboutness, the humanities can call upon information research to better understand the digital aspects of the hashtag's search function. Especially when hashtags are used to organize discourse, aboutness has an effect on how a discourse community's agendas and goals are expressed, as well as framing what is relevant and irrelevant to the discourse. As digital activists increasingly use hashtags to organize and circulate the goals of their discourse communities, knowledge of ethical strategies for hashtag use will help to better preserve a relevant aboutness for their discourse while enabling them to better leverage their hashtag for circulation. In this dissertation, through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Twitter discourse that used #OrlandoStrong over the five-month period before the first anniversary of the Pulse shooting, I trace how the #OrlandoStrong discourse community used innovative rhetorical strategies to combat irrelevant content from ambiguating their discourse space. In Chapter One, I acknowledge the call from scholars to study digital tools and briefly describe the history of the Pulse shooting, reflecting on non-digital texts that employed #OrlandoStrong as memorials in the Orlando area. In Chapter Two, I focus on the literature surrounding hashtags, discourse, aboutness, intertextuality, hashtag activism, and informational compositions. In Chapter Three, I provide an overview of the stages of grounded theory methodology and the implications of critical discourse analysis before I detail how I approached the collection, coding, and analysis of the #OrlandoStrong Tweets I studied. The results of my study are reported in Chapter Four, offering examples of Tweets that were important to understanding how the discourse space became ambiguous through the use of hashtags. In Chapter Five, I reflect on ethical approaches to understanding the consequences of hashtag use, and then I offer an ethical recommendation for hashtag use by hashtag activists. I conclude Chapter Five with an example of a classroom activity that allows students to use hashtags to better understand the relationship between aboutness, (dis)ambiguation, discourse communities, and ethics. This classroom activity is provided with the hope that instructors from different disciplines will be able to provide ethical recommendations to future activists who may benefit from these rhetorical strategies.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFE0007322, ucf:52136
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007322
Role Ambiguity: Defining the Elusive Role of the Special Education Teacher Who Works in Inclusive Settings
Title
Role Ambiguity: Defining the Elusive Role of the Special Education Teacher Who Works in Inclusive Settings.
Creator
Slanda, Dena, Little, Mary, Martin, Suzanne, Pearl, Cynthia, Boote, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of special education teachers who worked in inclusive settings. Given the increasing number of students with disabilities receiving special education services in the general education classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), there is a critical need to understand the dynamic role of a special education teacher who works in inclusive settings. Federal mandates have required special education teachers working in inclusive...
Show moreThis phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of special education teachers who worked in inclusive settings. Given the increasing number of students with disabilities receiving special education services in the general education classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), there is a critical need to understand the dynamic role of a special education teacher who works in inclusive settings. Federal mandates have required special education teachers working in inclusive settings to rethink their roles (McLeskey, Landers, Hoppey, (&) Williamson, 2011) and restructure their approach to providing specially-designed services. Further, these roles are dependent on those who interpret and implement policy and access to finite resources. This study used a phenomenological research method to examine the roles and responsibilities of special education teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants (N = 7). A thematic analysis resulted in five overarching themes. The five themes included: (a) supporting students with disabilities within a support facilitation model; (b) role ambiguity of the special education teacher; (c) the lack of roles and responsibilities of the special education teacher within the MTSS framework; (d) the changing role of collaboration and communication; and (e) the challenges impacting the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education setting. This study exposed the multiple facets of school and district policies that directly affected special educators' roles and responsibilities, as well as the emergence of a new role as a support facilitator.
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Date Issued
2017
Identifier
CFE0006796, ucf:51821
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006796