What Have I Done to Myself?

     For my final project, I would like to adapt stories from Wally Lamb’s Couldn’t Keep It To Myself: Testimonies From Our Imprisoned Sisters.  It would be interesting to stage a few of the stories written by the women in prison as monologues similar to Eve Ensler’s work.  While I have not read many of the stories from the book, it would be interesting and entertaining to the audience to use dark humor.  

     Each monologue would be performed by the same person; it would be a one man (or woman) show. This would add to the challenge for me, by focusing all attention on me.  I would not be relying on other actors and this would be my first time performing under these conditions.   This is what inspired me to write about this idea. (Well, that and the fact I wanted to take my performance as the Gods to a whole new level.) This would especially challenge me as I would have little time between monologues.  This would become extremely difficult in transitioning between the women.  The transitions would have to be thought out carefully.  To compare with the Gods, the Gods were supposed to be within one body and thus, the transitions were supposed to be quick and done onstage.  However, playing the women in prison would be much harder as the transitions would need to be done during blackouts.  This means I would have to change personality and character completely in a short amount of time between monologues.  To make the physical differences easier, I would wear a prisoner outfit the whole time.  To show the difference between each of the women, I would change my voice, the tone of the monologue, and my facial expressions and body language. 

     The stage would look simple.  There might be a chair or two and some individual props needed for specific monologues.   However, the main focus would be on the actor delivering the monologues. Without a script, I cannot say for sure how long the scene will take, but I will guess around ten minutes. The setup will most likely go as follows: introduction to audience about what they are about to see,blackout, monologue 1, blackout, monologue 2, blackout, monologue 3, blackout, then some way of concluding the performance. There can be more or less monologues depending on how much time each one will take up.  Therefore, the time and setup will be finalized with a script.

      Specifically for this project, this would be interesting as it is something we have not done in class so far.  Performing a one person show would be a unique experience-certainly one to end the year with.  This seems like the perfect time to experiment as there is no more stress of IB in this class.   We only have a few weeks left and I want to go above and beyond what I have already done. 

Image from Google Images

IB Done!!

        My IB exams went well.  I made a few mistakes that in hindsight just seem stupid.  There were three problems that have been brought to my attention so far- two during the exam and one hours after. During paper 1, the writing went well.  I felt pretty confident.  I wrote about a page and a half of analysis and 4 and a half pages of staging.  This also included three diagrams.  However, half way through the exam, right as I started the second answer booklet, I noticed that I had written “01” in the booklet instead of just “1” like the example.  I panicked when I noticed this because I was not sure if my answer would be read.  Once Mrs. Longacre assured me it would be okay, I continued and finished in time.  I felt confident until I realized later in the day that I mixed upstage and downstage.  I am hoping that the reader will at let know what I was talking about because I labeled the stage diagrams consistently with my descriptions. The next exam started well too.  As soon as I read the question, I had many ideas. Thus, I started writing immediately without making an outline.  My first ideas led me to believe that I had more to write about Naomi Shihab Nye, so I started with Emily Dickinson.  Here, my original belief was proven wrong.  I got really into analyzing “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.”  I wrote about Dickinson and her poem for about two pages before wrapping up and moving onto Nye.  As I started writing about Nye’s “Blood”, I quickly realized that I didn't have as many ideas as I thought.  I had to stop and reform my thoughts, which took a lot of time.  Even when I started writing again, my thoughts were unsettled and therefore, my writing likely contained more clutter than the first half.  I finished this essay on time too.  

        Overall, the exam went well. Writing in pen annoyed me less than I thought it would. I think I did a successful job.

Image from an IB Memes web page. Unfortunately I did not save the link as I found and saved it as a photo a long time ago. 

Practice Essay Notes

5. Patterns, aimed at the mind, the heart or the ear of the reader, are used by poets to
achieve their purposes. In the work of at least two poets you have studied, examine various
patterns and their effects.

1. Hope is a thing with feathers (Dickinson)

Slant rhyme + meter
--> Iambic meter? Tweet-tweet like bird?
      Smooth sounding
               Like bird? Soaring/freedom… Sound symbolism?
Emphasis on certain parts
Emotion/heart and mind
--> Melodic in a way
      Optimism
      Tone/mood

1. Blood (Nye)

Repetition of “True Arab”
-->Emphasis on background and emotion
No rhyme =harsher?
-->More real & less melodic?
Repetition of questions
-->First she responds, last ones are for reader?
     Thought-provoking
     Emphasize theme/make reader think about topic
Free verse
-->Patterns in structure are nonexistent

Death and Ambiguity

Dickinson’s poem that starts “Because I could not stop for Death-” displays some certainties, but also a lot of ambiguity.  Some certainty includes the way Dickinson characterizes Death and the overall journey toward eternity.  The largest source of ambiguity in the poem is who/where the narrator is.  

On one hand, Dickinson narrates from the perspective of a human who sees death everywhere and is calmly waiting.  This person sees death on the playground, in adulthood, in their old age, and in graveyards/at funerals.  At the end, this person faces death directly.  Here, they have passed through the stages of life (youth, adulthood, old age) and are at eternity, meaning it is finally their time after seeing death from a distance for so long.  It is a subtle ending that in essence portrays a simple death.  This is a peaceful and calm way to read the poem.

On the other hand, the narrator could be a passenger in the carriage with death.  The way death is described illustrates the narrator’s knowledge of death. The narrator describes death as “[knowing] no haste” and “[civil]”. Here, Death is personified, giving the illusion that the narrator knows Death personally.  How could someone who has seen death, but never met him know describe him like this?  This narrator has also seen death everywhere.  In this case, the carriage has picked people up in the schoolyard, the fields, and the setting sun.  Again, each of these represent a phase in life.  Each one is referenced in the third stanza.  The schoolyard represents a child dying.  The fields represent the people who are at a stage where they work.  Therefore, these people are most likely adults.  Finally, they pass the setting sun which represents old age. Following this, the next stanza describes clothing which is used to represent a funeral.  From here, eternity is described.  This way of viewing the poem and the narrator is less peaceful than the first.  Because the narrator knows death personally, it might be assumed they are dead and now they are watching more people die.  The way the narrator describes each phase of life could be seen as a pattern like they are viewing the cycle repeatedly.  This is darker and almost hopeless.  

The pacing with the dashes adds a lot to the second way I discussed.  It breaks it up into short chunks as if the narrator has spoken about it again and again.  For example, in the third stanza, Dickinson describes three phases of life with little description of each.  The alliteration is also significant to the poem.  When Dickinson uses alliteration she uses it in pairs.  For example, “grazing grain,” “setting sun,” and “my labor and my leisure.”  The repetition of the sounds could add evidence to the narrator being a passenger because of the repetition of picking up dead people.  It could also be a clue to the ambiguity.  In the last example specifically, (“my labor and my leisure”) the narrator is describing two things that are related like how both ways of viewing the narrator are related to the poem.  

Overall, the ambiguity in this poem allows the reader to view the narrator in a different way, creating their own idea of the tone and mood. This could impact the message the reader takes away about death.  Due to the ambiguity neither is right or wrong allowing both types of readers to enjoy the poem.


Side note: I apologize for the length- I wanted to make sure the organization made sense and I could not see how this would work in three paragraphs.

No Production's Perfect-Even on Broadway

        

I have read “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” both in the form of a novel and in the form of a play.  It is about a boy named Christopher who has an unspecified mental disability, most likely a form of autism. (It seems like Asperger syndrome.)  The story starts with Christopher finding his neighbor’s dog dead.  From here, Christopher goes on a journey.  He wishes to find the dog’s murderer.  What seems out to be a simple task, takes him completely outside of his comfort zone.  He starts by visiting neighbor’s houses and talking to strangers.  Following this, his father reveals he is the murderer, so Christopher leaves home to travel to his mother’s house.  As a person afraid of strangers and is unfamiliar with travel, he struggles in the train station.  He eventually makes it to his mother’s house.  Overall, Christopher is an dynamic character.  

The Broadway show of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” was good.  I loved the stage and lighting effects.  I did, however, dislike a few aspects.  

The stage was by far my favorite part of the show.  At first glance, the stage design is simple.  It looks like a grid both on the walls and the floor.  A rectangular prism is present on the edges of the stage, which is used as a bench.  Finally, there is the outline of a dog present in centerstage.  The stage is used for every setting throughout the story.  This was done by using spotlights and digital lighting effects on the stage itself.  For example, the part where Christopher is visiting his neighbors uses both techniques.  Spotlights and other stage lights show the audience where Christopher is while the lighting built into the stage outlines each house. Another part where the lighting was when Christopher would slip into one of his nervous moods.  Here, numbers would appear on the floor around Christopher as if they were spilling out of him.  A few other of my favorite lighting effects included the constellations that were displayed on the walls, and when Christopher drew on the floor.  Furthermore, the stage worked well with the lighting effects.  The stage had many doors and openings that were not noticeable until Christopher opened them or the setting changed.  As I previously mentioned, the stage was simple at first glance.  Then there were several changes that revealed more and more. The entire stage was used during the show, which is good.  The production took full advantage of the stage they were working with.  

      

While the lighting was amazing, I do have one complaint to the tech crew: the mics needed to be louder.  The sound effects coordinated well with the lighting and plot, but at times, even when there was no sound effect or music, I found myself struggling to hear the dialogue.  This being said, the dynamics of being loud and quiet as well as the lighting allowed the audience to picture the world through Christopher’s eyes.  

This was another one of the best aspects.  The audience was able to see the world as Christopher see it.  This is important because many people in the audience do not understand why Christopher acts the way he does.  By showing the audience Christopher’s world, it allows them to make sense of the story and what they are seeing.  The staging helped make this come to life from the book/script.  Because the audience was shown the world through Christopher’s eyes, there had to be a narrator.  I liked how Siobhan played this role, however I felt she was confusing.  In the beginning, it was easy to distinguish the narration and when she was playing the teacher.  This was due to the book in her hand when she was the narrator.  I felt the book should have continued to be present throughout the show.  Later on, when Siobhan was narrating, the actress was not holding the book.  This made it more difficult to understand her role. Even if she was not reading from the book, I feel the book was still a necessary prop.  

    Overall, I enjoyed the show.  It was worth the long bus ride.  There were some problems that I did not foresee because it was a Broadway show (like the mics).  I thought it could have been executed a little better.  All in all, I am sad the show is closing and am happy I got to see it before it did. I can’t wait to go back to Broadway next month to see “School of Rock.” 

         

Sources: Google Images

In class writing- Dickinson

The structure is one stanza with 12 lines.  It uses many dashes which as we discussed was not common during her time.   The dashes break up the writing as she is listing things in nature. One rhyme is consistent throughout the poem.  "See, bee, sea, harmony, and simplicity all rhyme, but none of the other lines really rhyme.  There appears to be one sentence, marked by a period at the end.  However, it can be several little ones. Every time Dickinson writes "Nature is.." It is a complete thought, but after two she lists things so the sentence would continue.  I would say there are about 5 sentences.  "Nature is.." a repetitive phrase.  This adds emphasis to nature.  The religion of "nay" before some of the "nature is.." also add a sense of building of adding more.  This follows until the end where we (as humans) are related to nature.  In the last four lines, Dickinson is saying that we know what nature shows us, but we are powerless against it.  Therefore, nature is powerful.  The listing and the repetitive phrases build up to this point where she writes that nature is powerful.  The poem is powerful itself.  The tone is calm but almost informative.  "Nay" not only adds a source of growing emotion, but also a debate in the sense she repeats herself adding on.  This also adds the effect that nature is more powerful.  She is trying to understand, but she is at the will of nature in a way.  From this, you can tell that Dickinson enjoys nature.  The tone is sort of inspiring and dreamy.  It shows a love and passion for nature.   

The poem is explaining nature as a powerful almost undefinable, positive force.  Humans cannot change nature, but it is so vital to our lives.  Nature is described as a positive thing, yet we cannot control it.  This adds a sense of peacefulness because humans try to obtain control of everything. Here,  she thinks it is good we don't have control.  "Nature is heaven... Nature is harmony." It could almost be seen as an escape from control.  She is saying, later in the poem, nature is simple, but we cannot control it. This relates to nature and harmony because it is the way it is due to the absence of humans.  This also relates to Dickinson as a person.  She does not like being around other humans.  She likes nature because it is untouchable.  She probably wishes she were more powerful and untouchable like nature.  She often writes about nature, most likely for this reason: nature is an escape from other humans.  

Themes- In class writing

1) Religion

Religion is used to describe the enjoyment of the figs and how the figs are obtained. Religion has a very positive connotation here.

"I'm talking about a fig straight from the earth – 

gift of Allah! -- on a branch so heavy 

it touches the ground. 

I'm talking about picking the largest, fattest, 

sweetest fig 

in the world and putting it in my mouth."

2) Love/Memory/Longing

Love is the coming together.  The author often writes about memories about her loved ones and mentions missing them.

“You and I on a roof at sunset,

our two languages adrift,

heart saying, Take this home with you,

never again,

and only memory making us rich.”

3) Emptiness/a subtle lack of togetherness/hopeless

It seems there is a void when the author describes the earth.  It seems almost incomplete as if we are the one but not really ever together. It seems to show hopelessness and helplessness. 

“It is possible we will not meet again

on earth. It is possible we will not meet again

on earth. To think this fills my throat

with dust. Then there is only the sky

tying the universe together.”