THFM 2020 Midterm

What does “performance as a broad spectrum” mean to Richard Schechner?

Anything can be performance based off of the many different contexts we find ourselves in

What are some examples of performance as a broad spectrum?

Performance types consist of plays, sacred events, or even social events such as everyday experiences, each one of these moments has a specific context, where we can find ourselves playing a role, even if it is being the audience

Define role and context

“When is it acting or performing?”

A various contexts we experience in our daily lives

Give a personal example of role and context

I play the role of a student a daughter, and a sister, the context of university impacts my work ethic as a student, the context of home applies to my role as a daughter to my parents, and being a sister is applied in the context of being with my brother at his apartment.

What is a definition of “Performance is a way of Knowing”?

“What is performance?”

By engaging in the act of performance, the performers feel into the meanings; they breathe life into words and experience tensions, emotions, and contextual factors that motivate words and actions.

What are some examples of performance is a way of knowing

A salesman puts on a social performance, a telling of poetry is an aesthetic performance, and it could be through saying “hello” so someone and reading the emotions

Define a claim of fact, give an example

To say something is or is not (this could be true or untrue), an example would be: “this cat is fluffy”

Define a claim of value, give an example

To say something is good or bad (this may be true or untrue) "This cat is great”

Define a claim of policy, give an example

To say a course of action should or ought to be taken “this cat needs to be pet”

The Continua Scale, and how it applies to MLK’s “I Have a Dream Speech”

Public ← → Private

Factual ← → Fictional

Planned ← → Spontaneous

Formal ← → Informal

The Vectors

Location, time, relationship and agency

How do the Vectors, and how they apply to Reagan’s “Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger: Address to the Nation”

Location: From the White House, making it clear this is an official address.

Time: This speech occurred hours later after the space shuttle Challenger exploded, showing how quick the government was to make a statement about the accident.

Relationship: Reagan builds a sympathetic relationship with the audience, as he speaks as an American in pain from this terrible accident, while he gives his support

Agency: With his quick response, it shows his agency to respond to such a loss and how he can show his support as well as sadness to the American people

Modes of Focus

Open, Closed, Inner-Closed, Semi-Closed

Elements of Poetic Impulse

Indirection, Primitiveness, Compression, Manipulation of Time

Elements of Emotional Presses

Expression, Impression, Depression, Compression, Suppression, Repression, and Oppression

Elements of Modes of Address in Poetry

Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Poetry, Epic Poetry

Lyric Poetry

Large use of “I” with an undefined persona, they are often highly emotionally charged.

Dramatic Poetry

The speaker of the poem is a character or characters, usually written in the present tense and has a clearer persona.

Epic Poetry

Discourse moves back and forth between a narrator speaking and characters speaking for themselves, the presence of a narrator telling about something that already happened, and then, time seems to shift and the character or characters start speaking as if in the moment

Certainties in poetry

The aspects of the text undoubtedly existed

Probabilities in poetry

Implied but not explicitly stated

Possibilities in poetry

Can never be priced nor disapproved

Sensory Images

Visual, Auditory, Olfactory, Gustatory, Tactile, Kinetic, Kinesthetic, and Thermal (hot AND cold)

Time in Literature

Epichronic/Mythic time (above), Anachronic (past memories), Synchronic (present time), Metachronic (ahead of time), Catachronic (below time, being weighed down)

Epichronic/Mythic time

Above time

Anachronic

Past memories

Synchronic

Present time

Metachronic

Ahead of time

Catachronic

Below time, being weighed down

Expression

Speaker displays openness, exuberance, linguistic precision, candor—a sense of freedom and release.

Impression

This is where the speaker takes care to place an impression or image to be remembered in the mind of their listener, the speaker uses vividness of image of detail and signifies something as important by capturing a quality. “I hate you, you snake”

Depression

This is where the speaker is responding vocally and physically to a sense of being “crowded in” or reveals a sense of emptiness and being weighed down. Displayed through pondering.

Compression

This is where the speaker interjects an image that is a complete distillation of their experience, it is concise and to the point but implies a meaning that evokes much more emotion. Often tied to a gesture.

Suppression

This is where the speaker knows that they must not speak, the speaker knows they must not speak and cannot be uttered, and deliberately chooses not reveal it. Characterized through halting speech.

Repression

This is when the speaker is unable to express because they do not know how to express what is going on for them, this is characterized by holding the words in.

Oppression

This is where the speaker does not express because of the presence of an overwhelming opposing force, the speaker shows a sense of confrontation.

Open Focus Mode

Occurs when the performer addresses the audience directly by looking into their faces and speaking to them, used in public speaking

Closed Focus Mode

This occurs when the performer places the person whom they are addressing on stage with them and does not acknowledge the presence of the audience. Used in theater performance.

Inner-Closed Focus Mode

This occurs when the performer is speaking to themselves

Semi-Closed Focus Mode

This occurs when the performer chooses to address an absent other by looking beyond the heads of the audience

Indirection Impulse

For the expression to move us in a poetic way, the expression needs to make meaning through indirect means (metaphor, similar, gesture, allusion, behavior, symbols)

Primitiveness Impulse

It needs to make meaning in a fresh and novel way its poetic quality diminished if it employs an over-used expression. The word derives its meaning from the same etymological root

Compression Impulse

For the expression to move us in a poetic way, it needs to express its
meaning in a concise, pithy, and to the point way. The brevity in word or deed speaks
volumes.

Manipulation of Time Impulse

For the expression to move us in a poetic way, our experience
of time is in some way altered. Time is arrested momentarily, or it may be compelled to
move more swiftly, or it may place our focus on the future or the past, or elongate the
present