Final Blog

On the first day of this class, all I could remember was feeling really nervous. I did not know anything about acting. I knew that I wanted to do performances and act things out, but I did not know how to, plus I had a bad case of stage fright when I started this class. The first big performance that we did in front of the class, was a skit that we based off of the word "fence." It was so bad. Our acting skills were terrible. However, this first project that we did helped me to realize that acting was really fun. I enjoyed working in a group and I realized how much fun it was to create an original idea and perform it. As the months went by, my perspective on literature changed. When I was doing the reading homework, I started to imagine how these scenes would look on stage. I also payed more attention to the little details in the books that we read because I knew that these details would be important in the performances. I learned many lessons over the course of the last two years in this class. The first lesson that I learned was to listen. In order to create a great performance, you must listen to each others ideas. I learned this lesson this year in my IA when we were writing the script. Everyone in the group has to have input on things like the script, the stage setup, the lighting ect. This is so important because when multiple ideas are combined together, they create one great performance. Another lesson that I learned was that it is okay to fail as long as you keep trying and do not let it stop you. There were numerous times in the last two years where I messed up my lines or forgot where I was supposed to be on stage during a performance. However, because I did not give up on what I was trying to do, I was eventually able to succeed. I also learned that it is okay to be nervous on stage.  Everyone at some point gets nervous on stage, but it provides valuable lessons that help you to grow as a person. In my first performance I was nervous as anyone could be, but after it was over I realized that it was not that bad. Then when the next performance came up, I was less nervous. As I continued to perform I continued to not get nervous. This not only helped me in this class but in daily life. I started to become more outgoing. On the first day of this class, Ms Guarino asked us what we thought literature was and performance. She asked us how they were related. I really did not know what either really were because I did not think about it ever until I started this class. What I have come up with now is this. Literature is something that is original, that provides a message to the reader. Performance is how people understand that message and then turn it into something that people can see. They turn the words into actions so that they can spread that message that they took from the literature. I still do not know the full answer to these two things but I am still learning and I know that I will know exactly what they are and how they are related. I greatly appreciate the time that I have spent in this class. It provided many lessons and skills that I will be able to use down the road in my life. Thank you.

6. While some poems focus exclusively on a personal or private experience, others reflect on
the place of the individual in the larger human community. In the work of at least two poets,
explore the ways in which poems have conveyed the poet’s sense of the world beyond the private
sphere.

Naimi Shihab Nye has a very interesting writing style in her poetry. The reason for this is because she writes about her personal stories and her poems do not rhyme. On top of that her poems are extremely long. In her poems she writes a lot about Arab people because she is Arab. One of her poems that adress her Arab culture is the poem "Blood." This poem explains what a true Arab is. In this poem she is writing about her father and how he is a true Arab who is kind and caring. The reason why she talks about the true Arab is because of what was happenning with events like 911. People were confused as to what a true Arab was and what the terrorists were. An example of this is in the first line when she writes, "A true Arab knows how to catch a fly in his hands." The reason for this sentence is because she is trying to say that a true Arab wouldn't even hurt a fly. Another poem that she has written that reflects on her personal life was one about her father and how he told her stories when she was a little girl. In every story her father included a fig tree or just a fig but he always added it into the story. This is important because her father is trying to pass down his culture to his daughter. He does not want her to forget who she is and why that is a good and special thing.

Class Notes

Naomi Shihab Nye
- contemporary american poet
- no rhyme scheme/no meter/structure(free verse)
- narrative- tells a story
- autobiographical poetry (about her life)
- people and family
- connection
- nature
- world is not possitive all the time
- rooted in the history of right now
- 9/11 Israeli-Palestinian war

Emily Dickinson Blog Post

5.)
Emily Dickinson uses pace and rhythm very effectively in her poems. Her usage of this skill provides deeper meaning to her poems. Two poems that she does this in are "I am Nobody who are you?" and "To make a prairie." In "To make a prairie" the third line in that poem does a great job of slowing down the pace of the poem and forcing the reader to think about. In the beggining of the poem she says "To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee. One clover and a bee." These lines have a good pace to them but the next line is "and revery." Those two words make me stop and think about what she is saying. After that she say "The revery alone will do." In "I am Nobody who are you," Dickinson uses structure to control the pace of the poem. In the second line of the poem, she uses a lot of dashes for pauses in the sentence. "Are you - Nobody - too?" In this sentence we learn a lot of things about this poem. One of the things we learn is that the person writing this is talking to somebody else. Another thing is that they are a nobody who is trying to find a match. The third thing we learn is that the writer is shy because of the breaks in the sentence. These examples show how important pace is in a poem.

3 Questions

6.) One passage that contains a scene of pivotal importance to the theme is when Desiree realizes that Daniel and Andrea are going to get married. This is an important scene because this is when Desiree gives up on trying to marry Daniel. It is a known fact to her that they will be married and she becomes filled with anger inside.

Staging
- red lights
- all of the lines would be said with an angry voice. Maybe some yelling towards the end of this scene such as "How could he even marry her!"
- empty stage accept for a knife on the ground.
- no other characters because Desire is by herself.
- spotlight on Desiree and on the other side of the stage a spotlight on the knife.
" Daniel Beauxhomme had betrayed her! He had sworn to love her. Now he had pledged himself to Andrea Galimar. Now his life was hers to take. As her anger rose, she saw beneath her window a knife gleaming."

5.) One passage that provides an an effective introduction of an important character is when Daniel's father Gabriel went to the peasant village to bring him home from his accident. Gabriel is a very rich and important man on the island. In this passage it shows how powerful he is over everyone especially the peasants. Everything that Gabriel does is easy for him because he is so rich.

Staging
- all of the peasants crowded together following Gabriel but not being too close.
- peasants bow their heads while Gabriel holds his head high
- peasants wearing old dirty colorful clothes
- Gabriel wearing a nice black and white suit
- bright lighting because it is the daytime outside
"It was a carrier - and it had come for him. The carrier landed and was surrounded by dozens of wet, curious men who had never before seen a helicopter. (after Gabriel picks up Daniel) He climbed in and then they were off. The visit had taken less than ten minutes."

8.) One passage in the book that deals with a fantasy or dream is when Desire is dreaming about leaving the peasant village and living with the Grande Hommes. In the beginning of the book, Desiree constantly daydreams because she is bored with where she lives. Her mother does not like it. It worries her.

Staging
- Bright lights because she is daydreaming
- other peasants work around her
- Mother Euralie constantly reminding Desiree to focus on her tasks
- props . would be things like shovels and rakes, buckets, hay, baskets full of fruits and vegetables
"The peasant girl blushed. She no longer knew what she had wished for. Had it been for rain? Or had her wish to do with the car that had just gone by? More and more her wishes, dreams - day and night - were tangled. She no longer knew where one began or the other ended."

Exam Practice Questions

5. Select a passage from a novel you have chosen to study which provides an effective introduction of an important character or characters. How would you use staging, design and acting to ensure that this introduction would have dramatic importance for the audience?

The most important introduction in this book is when Desiree is introduced to the audience. She is the main character in the book so it is important for her to be introduced to the audience in a meaningful way. The staging would very simple. Desiree would be laying on the ground in the center of the stage. Nobody would be around and there would be no props or set pieces.  The reason for this is because Desiree is in a dream. There would be a spot light on her. There would be a lot of sounds. One of them would be rolling thunder. The other would be big crashing waves. The reason why I would use these for her dream is because I would be trying to show the audience what happened to her when she was a child and she survived the big storm. For the lights I would want to have them flash to represent lighting. Desiree would be asleep but I would have her scream two or three times in this scene to show that she is scared. Then after a minute or two I would end this scene. The way that I would do this is while Desiree is dreaming is I would have all of this stuff going on and then at the end Mama Uralie would yell as loud as she could saying "Desiree wake up!" Then Desiree would get up and go with Mama Uralie. I think that doing these things would ensure that the character Desiree would have dramatic importance with the audience. 

Question #1

1.    Select a passage from a novel you have chosen to study where the appearance of a character in a specific setting raises unsettling questions for the reader. Outline how you would stage this appearance and setting for an audience, paying particular attention to elements of intrigue and/or surprise.

 

One passage from the book My Love My Love or the Peasant Girl, that shows a good example of when the appearance of a character in a specific setting raises unsettling questions for the reader when Papa Ge takes over the body of Lucifus. I would do many things to stage this appearance and setting for the audience. For the appearances I would start with Lucifus. Papa Ge has taken over his body so his eyes would be red. He would be wearing a trench coat and he would have a cigar in his mouth so that the audience would recognize him as papa ge. He would wear a black shirt and black jeans to resemble Papa Ge but he would not wear a robe the way that Papa Ge would is his own form. Lucifus would also have on black boots to complete his costume. For his appearance he would have a beard and he would have to be tall and strong so that it would be believeable for Desiree to be afraid of him. His preseance on the stage would be very strong and the audience would feel it as soon as he entered because of his size and his costume. His character is meant to be intimidating. 

Desiree's appearance is very important in this scene because she is so beautiful that Lucifus would not touch her. So for this scene she would be wearing a white gown and her hair would be nice and she would look very pretty. Her facial expressions would have to be very good because she is deathly afraid of Papa Ge. She might scream when she sees him because he is trying to attack her. There is no dialogue in this passage of the book so the actors would have to do a good job of stage directions, facial expressions and silent communication so that the audience will understand. 

The way that I would stage this is Desiree would be running around in the garden and pool trying to find a butterfly. Then the lights would dim and Lucifus would enter onto the stage. Desiree would be facing the audience while he walked up behind her. In the scene I would add some sound such as a drumb beat every time the Lucifus walked closer to Desiree. I think that he should walk slowly behind her so that the audience gets more time to understand who it is that is on the stage with Desiree. This should get the audience interested into whats about to happen. Some questions that I think this would raise are, is Desiree going to die now? Is Papa Ge here for her soul because she said that she would give it up for Daniel? 

This scene is so important in the book because it shows that Papa Ge can find her and get her at anytime in any place. This should let the audience know that Papa Ge is going to get his promise no matter what. The keys to raising these questions in the audience's head are the lighting and the sound. These are two elements that create a feeling. If the lights dim, the audience should get that feeling of what is going to happen. The music should let them know for sure that something bad will happen. These are some of the thingd that I would do to stage this appearance in a play.