1 comments about Critical Thinking and Everyday Argument (with InfoTrac ).

1. The author approaches critical thinking and argumentation in a way that allows the reader to easily place these concepts in their life. It is a solid read, packed with great information, and has some wonderful insights. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the subjects or studying them. This is a textbook worth keeping after the class is over!

5 comments about The Complete Book of Speech Communication: A Workbook of Ideas and Activities for Students of Speech and Theatre.

1. I was a little disappointed in this book overall. I thought it would have great activity ideas for my speech class, and they were just "average" or "so-so" ideas--nothing that workable or useful.



2. This book is absolutely great. It's creative, easy to read, and even easier to employ in the classroom! It can be used with multiple grade levels- middle school, high school, and beyond. I found it inspiring and would recommend it anyone associated with the public speaking / oral comm. training field.



3. I got this book to use in my ESL speech classes. With a few tweeks, I was able to apply the exercises in the book to Japanese students. Great new approach for the students.



4. Many of the things that a teacher is taught in school about what one should teach and how one should teach really aren't that useful once a teacher actually starts teaching. Not only that, but many beginning teachers struggling with teaching the things they want to teach in a way that excites students and causes them to want to learn. Speech classes at the secondary level are no different than classes anywhere else and public speaking/speech teachers struggle just as much as any othe teacher with how to make lesson practical and applicable in the classroom.
   
   THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION is a great tool for any speech teacher looking for ideas to use in the classroom. As a beginning teacher, I have found it incredibly valuable. I have found it especially useful in trying to create lesson plans and to find fun ideas for fillers to use at the end of a class. The book is full of ideas and covers many of the areas of public speaking from informative speeches, impromptu speeches, oral interpretation, persuasive speeches, reader's theatre, just to name a few. It's a wonderful resource.



5. This book was all I needed to create a fun public speaking course curriculum for middle school students. The layout was clear and easy to read. There were many interesting and fun activities/lessons which I could incorporate into the lesson. There were a lot of fun and creative ideas that made the students WANT to speak in front of a group! Great supplement for the classroom!

No comments about Antony and Cleopatra (Folger Shakespeare Library).

2 comments about The Intimate Act Of Choreography.

1. If you're taking a composition class or teaching a composition class, this book IS the thing to use. It teaches you the basics, what will work, what might work, what won't work.
   
   It's wonderful!



2. This book is a masterpiece of creative and technical inspiration for choreographers eveywhere. It breaks dance down to its most minute details, and slowly builds into a work of art. This book is truly at the forefront of dance literature.

2 comments about A Source Book in Theatrical History: Twenty-five centuries of stage history in more than 300 basic documents and other primary material.

1. So...what was Euripides like during rehearsal? Kind of cranky, it appears. What did they do for special effects in the 17th century? Quite a lot, actually: floating gods and goddesses, strange animals, they had it all. First-hand accounts will show you all this and more in a fascinating book for theatre lovers. I had read this during a college course years ago, and was delighted that it's still in print. A good read and reference for those interested in theatre, literature, and history, only slightly marred by occasionally poor quality illustrations.



2. The author divides the material in 14 parts: Antiquity, The Middle Ages, The golden age of Spain, Italian Renaissance, Tudor and Stewart periods, The age of Louis XIV, The restoration theater, Venetian comedy, Eighteenth century England, Weimar Classicism, Nineteenth Century England, The American Theater, European naturalism.- For each period, the author has collected more than 300 primary texts, through which we feel that the past is still next to us. The spectator's manners, the way of acting, the conditions of rehearsals, the reactions of the audience, all of them come to us through real documents. More than 80 pictures in black-and-white complete this very good edition. (The pictures are, unfortunately, not very well printed.) I really suggest this editon.

5 comments about Romeo and Juliet (Cambridge School Shakespeare).

1. If you are a teacher, I would look into buying another audio version of Romeo and Juliet. I have been using it as a tool to get the students to hear professional actors and to then ask them to use the same skills those professional actors use (inflection, emphasis, etc.) The problem is it is VERY difficult to hear...to the point that you have to sit 3 feet away to hear it at times. This simply does not work for a classroom.



2. The notes that John Andrews gives on all the Everyman Shakespeare editions that he edits are fabulous. I think his editions are the most user friendly for any actor, student, director and teacher. Some publishing house should get Mr. Andrews to do all the plays.



3. Poor Romeo.
   
   Watching Romeo meander his way through the play is like tailgating a drunk driver. At any moment he could crash, and in the end he overcorrects his assumptions by swallowing the poison, and in some ways his death must be a relief to his troubled mind.
   
   Romeo's status in the story changes with nearly every scene, whether by his own doing or by an external entity. However, his circumstance reflects in almost every case his willingness to succumb to his passions. From his love of Rosalind to his love for Juliet to his exile, he is a bundle of nerves. Taking a time out would slow the pace, and instead Shakespeare quickens it by transplanting Romeo's moment of joy with Juliet with a moment of action and consequence: the death of Mercutio.
   
   Giving Romeo the chance to be happy might damage his character. A great tragedy yet today. What makes it great is that the basic storyline pulls everyone in, and once the story captures, we can start to appreciate the minor characters, like Capulet and the Nurse.



4. Caution Scalawags: May Cause Pulmonary Failure!, July 29, 2004
   Reviewer: Professor Emeritus Percy Q. Johnstone (Darkest India) - See all my
   reviews
   Yes dear reader, it is I, Professor Emeritus Johnstone. As you may have
   divined, as Professor Emeritus of American Literature, I am well versed with
   dramatic writings from our sister nation, England. Now, many of you are
   unfamiliar with the work, as William Shakespeare is relatively unknown in
   the bumpkin-ridden land you call "The Colonies". However, you
   lucky few will discover a goldmine of quotes such as "Alack, Alack,
   Alack" and other favorites. But I, Professor Emeritus Johnstone,
   diverge. Yes yes. For those of you who wish to pursue the god-given purpose
   of the most noble art of teaching American Literature, you must be familiar
   with the works of Shakespeare. As you are stupid, and not a professor, like
   I, Professor Emeritus Johnstone, you undoubtedly do not understand, but no
   matter. The story of "Romeo and Juliet" is simple. it opens in a
   court yard in Venice where the political rebels, Pyramus and Thisbe are
   plotting to overthrow the evil fascist government (oh how I, Professor
   Emeritus Johnstone know that feeling. I confess, dear reader, that once I,
   Professor Emeritus Johnstone, lived in America until government stooges
   exiled me to darkest India for poliical subterfuge. Suberfuge! Bah!). Alas,
   Lord Capulet's men break into the meeting and arrest poor Pyramus and
   Thisbe, casting them into the darkest dungeon. Ah, but fortune smiles on our
   two heroes, for in the cell next to them are the "Star-burned
   lovers" Romeo and Juliet, who were imprisoned for plotting to overthrow
   the evil Capulet. Together, they escape the prison, kill all the
   fascist-swine guards, and blow up the prison, bringing us, dear reader,
   rather neatly to the end of Act I.
   Act II opens in Lord Montague's (Lord Capulet's chief of security) hall,
   where he has just made posters offering 5000 marks for the heads of the four
   rebels. Enter the villain (mustache and all) Tybalt (cousin to Count Paris)
   the bounty-hunter. Tybalt, in a scene that moved even I, Professor Emeritus
   Johnstone, gives a heartrending "soliliquy" in which he mourns on
   he pain of killing those whose politico agendas you support. Thus ends Act
   II. In Act III, we find...ROMEO WORKING FOR LORD CAPULET! He has become a
   traitorous lap-dog to the very system he despises (oh reader, how I,
   Professor Emeritus Johnstone, know this feeling!). Pyramus and his rebel
   army storm the palace, and in the final scene, Pyramus kills his traitorous
   lover, Romeo, driving a dagger through his jugular...only to find out that
   Romeo was a spy. Pyramus then jumps out the highest tower in penance to end
   the play.
   Genius. Every potential collegiate scamp should read this edition, for it
   has a preface by one of the greatest scholars of our age...none other than
   I, Professor Emeritus Johnstone.
   Hark, I hear my Biddy calling me to gruel and morning prayers. As Hamlet
   said, "Adieu Fair Readers!"
   
   Bitterly,
   --Professor Emeritus Percy Q. Johnstone



5. What a boring love story - I wasn't impressed. Bizarre plot, long tedious read.

1 comments about Another Opening, Another Show: An Introduction to the Theatre.

1. As an intro book, this has all the right ingredients to capture the imagination of those who are new to the mechanics of theater. With illustrations, photographs, and easy-to-understand text, this book has it all. It explains everything from 'flying fish and dying villains' to Aristotle's three unities to where to get your broadway tickets... For the greenhorns to theater, this book will definitely kick-start your imagination. A great book.
   There are some sections (such as that of the Guthrie Theater) which need to be updated, but they will definitely cover that in the next edition.
   Who doesn't love illustration and photographs!? This book has a lot!

3 comments about Theatre Management.

1. If you are a serious theatre management student or professional, this is the first book you need to have on your shelf. It is the definitive "Go To" book for all things related to managing theaters and shows, at all levels of the industry.
   
   For example, box office operations and advertising are just as important to Broadway theaters as they are to school and community theaters. The dimensions are different of course - a million dollars a week for the pros, or a thousand dollars a week for schools and communities. But those dollars are equally critical for the economic health of each venue and producing organization. As a result, the book's discussion of box office operations is very relevant to all venues and organizations.
   
   However, just because various performing arts have many things in common, does not mean that solutions to their various concerns are freely interchangeable. Thus, Conte has chapters that focus on the various performance levels - commercial, non-profit theaters, and so on. Within special chapters, the problems and challenges of each type of operation are reviewed in detail.
   
   Conte has a down-to-earth approach to arts production, borne from years of hands-on management experience. Conte says that, in spite of the numerous examples he provides, this is not a "how-to" book. I respectfully disagree. There is so much information contained in this book that any theater manager or producer can learn and use methods and means to accomplish almost any managerial objective. To get a start at achieving anything, the resource to begin with is Theatre Management. As an academic resource, Theatre Management is a veritable encyclopedia of all theatre management.



2. A COMPREHENSIVE TEXT- SUITABLE FOR THE CLASSROOM OR THE PRODUCTION VENUE; HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. LITERALLY IT HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO PUT ON A PRODUCTION- WHETHER IT BE THEATRICAL, MUSICAL, OR DANCE.



3. If you are serious about theatrical management, this book is an invaluable asset. I mean that in every sense of the word. Completely up-to-date and excessively thorough.

5 comments about Audio in Media (with InfoTrac ) (Wadsworth Series in Broadcast and Production).

1. If, as this book claims, is a beginner's guide offering a nontechnical approach, than I am the Queen of England. I have an advanced degree, am published myself and work as a college professor in another field, but for all practical purposes, this book might as well as be in another language. If this book is truly for beginners, it would avoid sentences like "There are two parallel signal strengths, channel and monitor. In the I/O section, equalization and other signal processing can be delegated to the monitor system for auditioning without effecting the signal being sent to the multitrack recorder, or the signal can be sent to multitrack recorder, or both." Sure.
   
   The editors at Wadsworth should have caught this, but my guess is no editor ever read it. Expensive and frustrating.



2. This text is a broad-based approach to audio for radio/TV/film, and music recording. The emphasis is on audio for production students rather than for engineers, and the text covers informational, perceptual, and aesthetic aspects of sound as they apply to each stage of the production process-from planning to post-production.



3. This was my college text for Broadcasting in 1984/85 and I taught Radio Production from this book. I am a video editor (Avid) and a freelance audio engineer having mixed/recorded over 500 music performances. I STILL reference this book. It is easy to understand, direct and thorough; maybe the only textbook you might keep.



4. I have had Stanley Alten for a professor and he knows what he is talking about. He is the know-all be-all of sound. His books are easy to read and to understand and great for people learning sound techniques.



5. The most important in this book is that you can find anything about sound. I mean 1) fundamentals in sound 2) technology from past to future and 3) aplications. This book speaks of any thing in sound for any aplication (TV, studios, acoustic ect)

5 comments about Machinal (Royal National Theatre).

1. I watched this play performed at a local college. The actors did a wonderful job bringing the story to life, however, as much as I enjoyed the presentation, the play itself was a failure in the message it attempted to convey.
   
   I sigh and shake my head at this being considered a feminist play. For a woman to consider the main character anything other than a weak little girl is depressing.
   
   The main woman agrees to marry a man she finds repulsive, never saying no to anything, not even saying no during their honeymoon, leaving us never knowing what would've happened if she had actually RESISTED this man she claims to hate. She has a baby, who she also hates and won't take care of. Then she sleeps with a guy that says from the beginning that he sleeps around a lot and that he's leaving to Mexico. Losing her lover to Mexico doesn't seem to faze her at all, instead, she giggles and asks if she can have his flower in the window.
   
   Instead of divorcing her husband or doing anything about anything the way an intelligent, STRONG, woman would do, she accepts everything that comes at her, and complains about it the whole time. She complains about submitting when it is she who CHOOSES to submit.
   
   Finally, she kills her husband, seeing this as the only solution? Honestly, are we really going to overglorify murder? Are we trying to justify a woman killing because she was too weak to ask for a divorce? It's insulting to the human being and insulting to our society to think that is commendable behavavior.
   
   If this dumb girl is supposed to be a woman's role model, I feel bad for women everywhere.



2. Sophie Treadwell's seminal play, whilst set in the late 1920s, continues to have relevance today. In following the plight of a girl who, through circumstances largely beyond her control, ends up in the electric chair, Treadwell reminds us of inequities that still exist in society: the differences between the Haves and the Have-Nots, the continuing struggle for women to be recognised in both an economic and social sense, and the constant battle of love versus convenience. Dramatically, her work offers a range of options for interpretation, and a multitude of challenges for daring actors. Grim, powerful and ultimately unforgettable.



3. Having worked in the theatre, though I think more than that, being a fan of theatre and a student of literature, my take on reading plays is kind of odd. I usually dislike it. I have always felt that plays are meant to be seen and experienced. More to the point, the beauty of plays is the marriage of the playwright's vision with that of the director's and then watching this new product -- hey, let's go with the metaphor - this "baby" come into its own through the actors. Of course, when I do read a good play, I get to direct in my head and it's a totally different, yet enjoyable, experience in and of itself. I think this was a good play and I very much enjoyed reading it. This play, in particular, I found easy to read and while depressing, entertaining. It features some incredible insight to the nature and status of not only women in the 1920's, but the whole of the human condition. The main character, Helen or YOUNG WOMAN, is such a little mouse that it's a stretch to imagine her becoming so crazy with desperation that she'd jump from quivering wreck into an affair and then into murder. Young Woman's inner monologues, however, are fantastic and bridge the divide between who this character really is and whom she is forced to be. As far as reading the play, I would recommend it to anyone interested in expressionism or feminism.



4. Less a 'feminist' play than a play about the human condition as a whole, Treadwell's 'Machinal' recalls the work of Ionesco, Strindberg and Pinter: the human being as pawn in a senseless and hellish society. The ending, in which Helen rebels against the abstract prayers of the jail's priest, recalls the conclusion of "The Stranger", although I would consider this a far superior work. By the conclusion we cannot help but feel for Helen, a shy but passionate woman rejected and imprisoned, essentially, by her dull husband, her needy mother, and her contemporaries. I can't say this is the most uplifting play I have ever read, but it is one of the most intense.



5. Having taught this play a number of times at the college level, I find it one of the most accessable examples of expressionism available in print. It's great to read while watching a film like Metropolis (Fritz Lang's expressionist masterpiece). In reference to an earlier review, the play may seem simple and mundane, but when read in its historical context (and when seen in a brave production) it's what theatre is all about... engaging, moving, and socially/politically active. The fact that it's by a woman and about a woman, in a period dominated by the male perspective, simply makes it more fascinating.