ngourtown


 * Your text offers suggestion on two basic approaches to acting, ie. the internal and the external. Chose either one and take the scene between Emily and George as your reference point and develop a fragment of "inner monologue" OR tactic concerning interpretation underlying a short section from the scene. I suggest the men choose to deal with George and the women choose to deal with Emily, although if you wish you may choose to develop an "inner monologue" or "external tactic" for either character. You may use up to 500 words for this module, given the complexity of the requirement. Be sure you let me know exactly which section of dialogue you plan to use for developing your answer.**

I decided to answer this prompt by creating an internal monologue as I perceived was present in Emily’s mind as she spoke the words written in the script. I based the inner monologues on my personal experiences as a female, Emily’s background as provided by the provided section of the play as well as generalizations that I made using indirect characterization of Emily. The internal dialogues I created are based off of what I read from the script. The comments such as Emily “arguing nobly, ” “The complete prig,” and the way she says her words as in “W-wh-a-t” hint at her character. I also made judgments based on our familiar backgrounds. Personally, I would want to be taken care of, so I understand where Emily comes from when she wants George to stay even though she doesn’t make it apparent. This scene is when Emily and George are spending time together at the store as they discuss their future, particularly focusing on George’s future with education. They run into a disagreement during their conversation.

__Emily__ – “Why George. I don’t see why you have to decide right now – It’s a whole year away.”

Oh my. I don’t know what to think anymore, is this a good or bad thing? What if people begin to think that I made him quit school to be with me? I really hope his family doesn’t disprove of me and that George is making this decision because I told him to do it. Maybe I’ll just tell him that he shouldn’t make a decision this big so fast so that I won’t have to carry the burden on my shoulders forever. Of course, I am really liking his decision. I hope he doesn’t reconsider his decision because I really badly want him to stay here with me. I’ve waited for us to get together for this long and I don’t think I can wait much longer. I don’t want to get ahead of myself but goodness, I can already see us spending every day together. Should I tell him? Having him is the best thing that could ever happen to me. Wait, is that too much to tell him right now? I would really love knowing that I will have him and not having to worry about losing him anytime soon.

In this text, it is difficult to discern whether or not Emily is being genuine in her concern for George. I think that she feels overwhelmingly happy that George is willing to stay back for her, but doesn’t want to seem too selfish, so she tells him to slow down in his decision. Even though Emily says these words, I highly doubt that she truly means them.

__Emily__ – “I always expect a man to be perfect and I think he should be.”

Wow, I can’t believe that he actually thinks that I’m willing to let him off of the hook. He shouldn’t have made the mistake in the first place. Any man of mine should not be making any such mistakes. I mean, look at me, I haven’t made any mistakes and on top of that, I’m a female. Guys have it so much easier and still, he is making mistakes. I’m not cutting George any slack for his mistakes, there is no way that I am. Wow George. It seems like I don’t know as much about you as I thought I did. What do you think? A man shouldn’t have to be perfect? You’re obviously mistaken.

I think the feelings behind Emily’s words here are to hold up her pride and stand her ground. She is confident in her opinions that stem from her upbringing, as she explains to George. I also think that in a way, Emily is trying to set the ground for the future in letting George know what she believes in.

__Emily__ – “Well, my father is and as far as I can see, your father is too. There’s no reason on earth why you shouldn’t be, too.”

Any man of mine should be perfect, it’s what I deserve. I don’t want to sound too harsh because then maybe he will change his decision to stay and reconsider me. I don’t see why he is not perfect though because our fathers are perfect. Because my father is perfect, I expect him to be perfect as well. His father has set a good example for him to be perfect, so why isn’t he? My father has raised me to believe that all men are perfect, so why should I expect any less?

At this point, Emily experiences pure shock at George’s response and directly asserts that he should be just as perfect as well. She is not letting George off the hook. Emily is probably thinking of many past experiences with her father where he proved that he was perfect.

__Emily__ – “Well, you might as well know right now that I’m not perfect – It’s not as easy for a girl to be perfect as a man, because, well, we girls are more – nervous. Now, I’m sorry I said all that about you. I don’t know what made me say it.

I CANNOT believe that he turned all of this around on me. There is no way that he actually expects girls to be perfect. I’m just going to tell him right here and right now that I’m not perfect. He shouldn’t even expect me to be perfect! Why am I so careless? I should have never told him about any of his mistakes, it wasn’t my place. And now look at all of the trouble that it has caused. All of this is too much for me to handle, I should have kept my mouth closed. What's important here is George. I have spent all this time admiring him from afar and in this moment, I could potentially lose him. I want love and I want a relationship, George can give me all of that. I wish I could rewind time and go back. Why do I have such a big mouth? This is a complete disaster.

__Emily__ – Now I can see it’s not the truth at all. And I suddenly feel that it’s not important, anyway.

Oh forget all this fighting. I can’t stand the thought of not having him. Maybe I am being too harsh after all. I guess it is ridiculous to expect that much from man. What was I thinking? Oh gosh, have I ruined everything? Let me hope that he looks over my demands. They were way too high. Why can’t I learn how to think before speaking? I hope we can overcome this hurdle and very quickly, at that. That was a close one. I need to be more careful in my conversations with George. Being as completely honest as I was can definitely cause harm to our relationship. I need to use more caution. I can see how my reasoning and logic was flawed.

This conversation between George and Emily is essentially their very first fight after having figured out that they share mutual feelings for each other (page 52). Emily has just finished telling George that she feels the same towards George and has been watching his actions as well. Emily, in particular, wavers back and forth. At first, she takes an assertive stance about her opinion and is rather harsh on George. When George responds, Emily quickly rethinks her initially approach to speaking with George and regrets even having spoken to him in the first place. Emily experiences a change of heart and wishes she could take back everything that she has said against George because she realizes that all she wants is him. She is thrilled beyond belief that George is willing to stay in town and farm just for her. Her discussion with George about staying clearly has an inner monologue as Emily’s true thoughts cannot be shared with George, having just affirmed feelings for one another, Emily does not want to be seen as that selfish to ask for George to stay with her. She doesn’t want George to think badly of her because that would rattle the beginning of their already shaky relationship. I believe that even when Emily is putting on a brave face when discussing how perfect a man should be, she is quivering inside and hopes that George will not leave her for being so demanding.