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​Pipelining: Should we go through with it? 

In my monologues I wanted to make it powerful enough that people could feel the emotion of the papers flooding out and drowning them in it. I wanted to raise certain points of pipelining that attracted the reader and let them know a little bit more of how different people feel about pipelining and their opinions. In one of my monologues the pipelining is stated from a locked up protester point of view. In another one a person who has a pipeline through their yard is explaining how they feel about the situation. And for the final one, a person that supports pipelining is rehearsing for an interview on her views of pipelining. 


Protester’s letter: “You don’t know what your doing. If this continues…” Bam! The sound of cold icy dark bars made of silver slamming. In this hallow cage, I sat on what felt like snow. In there were more of my protester friends and group. I didn’t understand why the best way to solve our, the people of America problems on pipelines were to just lock us up and to throw us in jail. There’s a reason why we where making such a ruckus about our views on these pipelines, we where obliviously tired of the way the government has been ignoring the signs on a new pollution and a quicker way to kill the earth. It was said that we the people also have a say in how we feel about a certain issue and if it’s right or not. Leaders and pipeline workers always say that it’ll create more jobs and a better economy but only after we defile the clean pure water that we drink from and strive off of. Not only would it have an effect on us, but aquatic life as well. Did the U.S forget that we already had problems with our oceans and the litter in it? We still haven’t fixed that problem, and while racing towards a new problem that’ll create an even greater issue on the beautiful earth. All we want is for these clueless money zombies to get a hold of themselves and put an end to this. There has to be a different way to get cheap oil. I’m tired of living in guilt knowing that while we get easy cheap oil, in return we’re hurting the very thing that thrives and lives for us. I thought all of these things while I sat there. It slowly but surely angered me. And since I couldn’t do anything more until I got released, I sat quietly while my hard work, and frustration screamed through my body motions that I made.

Person close to pipeline: While I sat to be interviewed on my opinion about the pipeline I emptied a bottle of water into a glass for the reporter. Sadly because of the pipeline, my water was contaminated and I could no longer drink from it. This problem caused me to buy bottled water since I could not longer use mine from the tap. She later asked me why I had no ice when she wanted to bring a chill to her water. I told her I had no ice because every time I went to turn on the water from the sink, some black stuff would come out along with the water, and I couldn’t freeze water if it was contaminated. She gave me a pity look that spoke to me so clearly. Why did I have to suffer from this? I could no longer live like everyone else. I now had to waste more money then usual to have clean water. She asked how I was able to live like this, and how long has it been. I told her that it’s been about a month and that I’ve been learning to cope with the situation though all I really wanted was to have fresh water that would trickle down my back so I could have a reassuring shower. I’ve hadn’t had one of those in a while too. I have ask at least one of my friends daily if I could use their shower or bath so I can stay clean and so I’m able to go to work without any rumors. It’s becoming hard to live with, I wish there was something better they could do.

Supporter: When people ask me, Nina Coffer, “Is pipelining wrong?” I laugh. It is not a bad thing. I work for a pipelining company in the Canada and it’s actually a good economically way to get more people working and off the streets. Pipelining isn’t going to necessarily cause the world to end. We’ll have more money as a country and we’d be able to pay back our debt that we have to other countries. Plus gas would be way cheaper and more people would be driving and doing more exciting things. And because gas would be cheaper, people would have more money in their pocket because of the dramatic change in economic issues. Plus even if a pipeline where to break or leak with the extra money, we’d be able to clean it up in no time. No more worries or complaining. The earth would be fine and we’d be rolling in DOUGH! I don’t know why people are complaining so much; the whole process is simple to do. All we have to do is take a tube, drill a whole through the ground and feed the tube down to wear the cheap stuff is at, and use mini bombs to blow it up. Yes it may get into our water and contaminate our one way of living but at least we’ll have money. Wait, that’s not right. If I go through it slowly, using mini bombs and contaminating our drinking water can cost us big time. It’ll be even more money trying to fix the water than the money we would be making if those thousands of people did get that job. I need to rethink what I’m going to say in the interview.

Mr. Block assigned us a project to write 3 or 5 monologues, that had different opinions on the Keystone XL Pipeline. My project had 2 men, and a women. The women was living in Texas with her family. The pipeline, (if built) would be underneath her property, which caused her lots of worries. She doesn't want it to be built. The one man I wrote about, is an environmentalist that was just arrested in front of the White House and is mostly proud of what he did. The other man I wrote about was a blogger, who was a little selfish on his opinion, only thinking about himself, then soon realizes the major impacts. I wanted to put all the statistics out there about the pipeline, and get different views on it.

Annoyed Mother

(Sits down at her desk) Ah, I finally get to sit down! (Pulls out the newspaper) Let’s see what the news is today…(reading the newspaper and turns to the news section) Ugh, another pipeline? This is all they do; dig up the ground near my land! Why don’t they dig somewhere else? If this pipeline leaks, I’m in trouble. I don’t want that pipe right below us! It could create toxic wastes and make my kids and husband to get sick; I can’t risk that. We’ve been living here peacefully for over ten years, and have never had issues. I feel like most of the time, these oil companies only care about their businesses. They don’t even realize how this could affect people like us! I ought to go down there and give the president of this company a little piece of my mind. Their excuse will be, “Oh, it creates more jobs for those in need, and now we won’t have to get oil from other countries.\\ Well, to me, there are plenty more, safer, and better jobs out there these! If I were working for this company, I would feel guilty. Workers like these are risking other people’s lives just to make a living. I’m done with this! Where are the comics? (Flips through paper angrily)

Behind Bars

 

(Talking to himself, holding onto the jail bar) Why me? All I ever try to do is make the world a better place. It’s not fair. I feel proud of myself for standing up in what I believe in, and more people should. I woke up on September 3rd, 2011 hoping to make a change. After marching for hours, it seemed almost useless, since most of us were being walked out in handcuffs afterwards. But, I was proud of myself, and felt like I sent out a message to lots of people. Maybe more people will try to make a difference. Most of these oil companies, don’t realize, or don’t care, that this could contaminate our water, including theirs! It’s running underground through lots of homes, which is also risky. People who are up for the pipeline, use the only argument they have, it will create jobs. There are so many more reasons on why we shouldn’t do this. As I said before, it could contaminate our water in millions of people’s homes. It also creates lots of pollution in the air, which can be toxic. Along with pollution, the pipes can leak and destroy our towns. (Sigh) How come people don’t realize what we’re doing to this country? Year after year, our country builds all sorts of new pollution guzzlers. We as environmentalists need to stand up for what’s right, and after we build this pipeline, it’s game over for the

 

Clueless Blogger

            Posting video on blog, sitting at desk

Hi, I’m Steve Morrison! If you read my blog lately, a lot of people have been asking me about the XL pipeline that has gotten people’s attention lately. See, I don’t have a problem with it. Most of the people, who don’t want it built, are the one’s who are worried that when it’s built near their property, it will leak and cause problems. Others, are just environmentalists who just like to stop everything. Look, I don’t have a problem with the pipeline. I live in Orlando, Florida, so therefore it will not be running anywhere near me. Also, what about all the jobs it could provide? Many Americans have been struggling to find work lately, and this pipeline can provide many jobs. Hey, it’s also cheap and reliable. Even if I didn’t want this pipeline to be built, I wouldn’t go all the way to the Whitehouse, protest for days, just to get arrested. No thank you! I guess I could see why many people aren’t in favor of this. I mean yeah, there is a chance it could leak, but I’m sure these pipeline people know what they’re doing! Hm, I guess they do have to cut down lots of trees to make room… and even more carbon dioxide will be released into the air for this process. Oh, gosh. Maybe I should try to, nah I don’t want to go crazy, but I don’t want to be harmful to the environment. Bloggers, I’ll get back to you later!

  

Protester Pamela Wilkinson:

 

(Standing with a picket sign that is clearly against the pipeline. She is standing in the middle of a crowd of people out side of the white house. She is being pushed and shoved by other protesters but she shrugs it off.”

            I am Pamela Wilkinson a very determined protester; I am fully against the pipeline. This will run in people’s backyards, your kid could be playing on this dangerous gas line just so we can get cheaper gas! Wait, they said the gas won’t be cheaper it will actually be more! The pipeline workers tried to rush the paperwork and make it so they could use a pipe thinner than its supposed to be. All of the companies involved are liars! They say it will emit no C02 when indeed gas does emit c02 and we are already 42 parts per million over the average we are supposed to have. This pipeline brings no good to anyone. We should all be protesting this monstrosity, because who does this help? It will ruin the world by all the co2 it will emit, and it will ruin on of Canada’s beauties…the tar sands. There are many other resources to retrieve energy, algae is a good natural free source of energy. Why don’t we come up with technology to turn algae into energy instead? I swear they don’t think when they make critical decisions like this; our future generations will regret their stupid opinions. They should add everyone’s opinions into consideration. If more people would hear about it then maybe they would be out here too! Protesting for our rights to have free speech. I don’t understand how people know about this and are just sitting at home and not doing anything about it. As soon as I heard about this, I was out here helping the cause.  

 

 

News reporter Sienna D. Truth:

 

(Sits at the desk and is playing with papaers, voice is a calm and nurturing tone.)

Good Evening Philadelphia, Welcome to news 2 day at 7. I am your reporter Sienna D. Truth here to welcome you with a harsh story. Its about the Canadian Tar sands oil, we the American people are trying to take it. We want to drill down and reach this oil, thus contaminating fresh water. Then put a pipe from the tar sands all the way down to Texas. Then after we polluted fresh water we will also pollute the air when we clean it at the gas reservoir in Texas. Then we will use this gas to fuel our cars and heat our homes. What will Canada get? Do they even have a say? Is this a good choice? Well those are some questions that will never be answered by officials but you can make a decision. I’ll list some more facts from both sides. The pro’s are that there are no significant environmental problems, cheap, reliable and it’s Over 100 billion barrels of oil. Con’s are over one thousand people have been arrested for this cause, it’s a North American beauty, making problems, and they even tried to hurry up the paperwork to make the pipe thinner and more dangerous. They will try to do it again. (raises voice and gets angry.) THEY ARE NOT GOOD PEOPLE! These are your facts from the lovely people here in Philadelphia. Live from the News 2 day station Sienna D. Truth signing out, Good night Philadelphia!

 

 

 

 

David Burkman Ceo of Trans Canada

 

(The man sits at a news desk, he has a deep and unsteady voice. Constantly looks over at the host, Diane Sawyer, to “confirm his answers”. His hands are shaking.)

Hello Diane and thank you for having me on the show. I am here to answer some questions from some very concerned people, they have been sending us letters and I thought now would be an appropriate time to read the answers. This comes from Sarah who lives in Alberta Canada. “I am from Alberta Canada and I have recently found out that the pipeline will run right underneath our neighborhood park and my house. This worries me deeply, I just want to know if this can harm me or my children in any way?” No, the pipe will be very deep underground and there is a very low chance that it would break. This comes from Dennis from Philadelphia he asks, “I live in Philadelphia and I know the pipeline or the proposed extended pipeline wont be near Philadelphia, but I want to know if the co2 that the dirty tar sands oil will emit will be lethal? The co2 in the atmosphere is already passed the acceptable limit, so will this top it off?” Well Dennis, if we thoroughly clean the oil and distribute it carefully then no it will not. The next question comes from Barbara from New Orleans. “I’ve heard all of the negative reactions to this pipeline project, so what are the positives?” A few positive parts to this project are that the energy consumption of the United States have gone up so much so fast that if we don’t take this it would be crazy! (stale chuckle) It’s over 100 billion barrels of oil that we should use. That’s all the time we have today, and thank you again Diane for having me.

            The monologues are about the proposed Keystone Pipeline. There are three different points of views, environmentalist, vice president of TransCanada, and a resident living in Nebraska. There are three messages said by each point of view. My goal was to be on both sides of the Keystone Pipeline debate to describe both the positive and negative effects the pipeline has. I added emotion and feeling into the monologue depending on what role I am playing. Therefore, we can see why the pipeline has affected the character.

Our World

 

Hey, my name is Steve Dibs. Thank you all for coming and listening to what I have to say. I am an environmentalist and representing the Tar Sands Action. I have been affected from the pollution of factories and environmental problems. I was forced to move out of my area from where I lived for five years to somewhere new where there is less pollution. I am here to talk about the proposed Keystone Pipeline and Tar Sands gas. This pipe will start from Canada and extend to the center of the United States. This method of acquiring fuel is extremely dirty. It will release large amounts of carbon dioxide.

           

Start getting mad, aggressive

 

“Business groups say yes, arguing that environmental protection is simply too expensive for a battered economy” – NY Times. All businesses want is money, so they decide to remove areas where we can live for them to get cheap fuel. Let’s say a leak happened to happen and it destroys the capability of living in that area. It would make the government spend even more money on trying to fix the environmental problem. Businesses say it is expensive to protect the environment. We are protecting the environment, where the pipeline will be place, by doing nothing to it, so how are we spending large amounts of money for environmental protection?  

           

Slams hand on desk. Really mad!

 

“You have to destroy the world to get these fuels. You have to pollute the water. You have to pollute the air.” – Environmentalist: Tar Sands Action. Again, you have to destroy the areas where people are living just to make this pipeline for fuel. It is worse than other fuels. Tar Sands produce much carbon dioxide and is one of the dirtiest ways to get gas. “If we don’t change the way we see the world, if we don’t stop thinking of ourselves as superior, we’re not going to survive.” People have been affected by the pollution. People caught on diseases and have trouble breathing. People are going to die and it’s our fault if we don’t stop destroying the world.

 

 

Positives of the Keystone Pipeline

 

Hello, I am Ricky James. Thank you all for coming. I am the Vice President for operations of TransCanada. These Tar Sands oil are the most efficient oil we can achieve in the United States at this moment. It is cheap and right above our country. We are friends with Canada and buying oil from them would not only help us, but also help them. The pipeline would start from Canada and go to the United States. This will increase in a consistent amount of fuel for our country. There are many positive effects that the Keystone Pipeline could achieve.

 

“We are buying from an ally, we do not want to buy from foreign countries.” –Tar Sands Action Debate. We want to buy from an ally because we know them. If we buy from foreign countries, we won’t know what they will use the money for. War can happen, and we have been supplying them with firearms and equipment. We are well known with Canada and it is right above our country.

 

Points finger to audience

 

 “Cheap, reliable source for the United States.” – Tar Sands Action Debate. We need this to fuel our country. It will bring gas prices down and it will be affordable to most people. It is right from Canada and low cost for transportation makes it reliable. It is an abundant source of oil that will last us for good amount of years. We do not need to spend extra money on shipping oil back and fourth from country to another. We can get it directly through the pipelines.

 

It will supply thousands of people with jobs. With the state of the economy, many people are unemployed and are looking for a job. The Keystone pipeline will supply them with jobs, so that they can support themselves and their families. We are only helping our country.

 

 

Affected by the Pollution

Hey, I’m Johnny Young. I thank you guys for all coming and listening to my opinions about the proposed Keystone pipeline. I currently live in Nebraska. My family and I have been growing up in Nevada since we were young. Our family started there. We would always go fishing, picnics, and even camp out in the woods. It was amazing. Now I realize that TransCanada is going to put up a new pipeline to get fuels. Tar sands fuel. It is called the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

 

Voice gets weaker. You start getting sad

I do not support this pipeline. The environment is too beautiful to be destroyed. My family use to swim around the lakes near our homes, but now pollution has increased by such a large number; we can’t even swim in the water anymore. The government says we need the cheap oil? How about the people? We can’t even swim in the lakes anymore and you’re telling us that we need cheap oil? People are getting diseases from pollution. The respiratory systems of many people have been affected. Tar sand oil is one of the dirtiest oils. Imagine a beautiful forest be turned into a black wasteland with no life form in the area. How is that a good thing? It is not only an environmental issue for me, but also a personal issue.

 

Starts getting teary

I grew up in Nebraska. It was wonderful. I want my kids to experience the joy of swimming freely in lakes. I want them to have the same fun experience I did as a kid. I have to tell my kids no, whenever they ask to go swimming. They sit in the house all day and do nothing. Exercise is important for the youth; it keeps them stress-free and healthy. This is very serious for my family and even the people living near us. Think about the effects that the pipeline will cause. Families will be affected; the world will be affected.

 

This project’s purpose was to create three monologues from 3 different people and their point-of-view on the Keystone XL Pipeline. My goals were to create 3 people raising most of the important issues such as economic and environment. Also one of my goals was to raise unknown information.

So, Keystone XL pipeline. (Angry) Why doesn't anyone see the good in this? All people look at is the bad. Even some other members of Congress are against this. (Easing tone) I mean people underestimate that TransCanada and us have a plan to keep this as clean as possible. We have monitors running for oil leaks 24/7, 365 days a year if that's what they're worried about. That's not all though; this will create about 100,000 jobs. (Excited) People will finally work again and stop freeloading off our money. Available jobs can put people out of poverty. With the pipelines coming, we can then transport oil through it to a refinery in Texas. Don’t tell me that you would rather get our oil from overseas like the Middle East… We trust Canada more. (Excited) Now best of all, with the profit we make, we can work towards paying our huge debt off and rebuilding our economy. How can you argue with that? Don’t listen to environmentalists, all they do is scare people and look at the outdated plan that we already perfected. Like who does that? (Really hostile, aggressive) SO TRUST US ON THIS! DON’T LISTEN TO ANYBODY! WE WANT MONEY! (Play it off)...I’m sorry about that, I don’t know what came across me. Sometimes I wonder about Americans though; they use up all this energy but don’t like the way that we get most of it. Why don’t they cut down their use? It’s all right though; I hope you see that this plan is as genius as how we see it. You’re with me right? (Aggressive, hostile) RIGHT?

Job Opening?

I just found out there’s a possible job opening for about 100,000 people. (Excited) I’m so psyched! I’ve been unemployed for a little over a year. (Worried) I can’t live off unemployment and my wife’s money. It’s a job for a proposed pipeline that will need workers to install it. Online, it said that there can be an environmental problem with this, but what can you do? If you see something up for grabs and you really need it, wouldn’t you take it? Or you would pass it up for another job? (Worried) Maybe it is a bad idea; I would be one of the people responsible for the climate change caused by this crazy idea to connect a pipeline from Canada to Texas. People would be without clean drinking water, wildlife would die, and I would be breaking the earth. But then if I don’t take the job, someone else will. Leaving my family and I closer to being broke. What do I do?! What do I do?! What if this is the only job opportunity I have? What if I do take this job but I don’t do it right?! I would be responsible for spills and other things affected from that. Then again, I could help bring more oil into the US, so we could be more independent on foreign oil. Now, 1:30 in the afternoon in my own living room, I can sense myself turning psycho. I maybe really am psyched… So, without asking you, I will make my own decision and not apply for the job. (Has it all figured out tone) I’m sure there are plenty of other jobs that are open. I mean I didn’t go to college, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t. Besides, what if the proposal doesn’t go through?

 

They Don't Care About The Earth

It seems like some people don’t care about the climate change problem that we are facing, and how beautiful our environment should be kept. There is a plan now to make an addition to an already existing pipeline called “Keystone XL”. This pipeline will start from Alberta, Canada and go through Saskatchewan, Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska to Texas. It’s going to be used to transport 800,000 barrels of tar sand oil everyday. This pipeline is underground too! Oil spills in our soil can ruin many crops. (Aggressive tone, slam table) Doesn’t congress know that? How do they not think about this? They’re creating jobs, but in the meantime putting people out of them. Oil spills can even affect drinking water. What about all the energy needed to transport those pipelines to where they need to be, the energy needed to dig the dirt to put the pipelines in, and then having to bury it again? I am most certainly against this! I’m always on my computer reading more about this, and the list of bad effects this has keeps getting bigger. Also, I’m protesting about this every chance I get because this proposal can be passed anytime. Now think about all the resources we’re going to be using! The pipeline stretches almost 2,000 miles long, and is 36in in diameter. Do we even have that many resources? That’s right; just ruin the environment to ruin it even more! Here’s another point I want to bring up; the pipeline goes through an active seismic zone, so it’s very likely for the pipeline to crack or leak. (Interested tone, look in the eyes) So tell me this; would you let this go through?

I hoped to say the pipeline is a good way to get energy but it could be really harm full and that maybe they should reconsider the way of billing it and they should make it away from any life or fresh water so there not destroying the natural land by carving it up for a spill prone pipe.

Bob
I like the job I have and I get to make a lot of money by just repairing and placing rivets in to the slots in the pipeline I make a very well amount of money 100$s a week I get to play with my kids a bit and I get to spend time with my wife I like how there giving me a good health care plan and I have good time but and I have a lot of time to chill out but I still wonder why the company is giving the oil to America when some people in Canada are still cold after they work to build it then I may not get enough oil to keep my house running and I better get more money for building this pipe line and my health care better go up for me just in case I die while building it also I don’t like how they don’t give any more money to the workers for helping building it also all my American friends may need to move then they won’t like me very much so in about to not help the with this pipeline because its not helping me any more.
 
Lee: I was just sitting there when I got the notice that there was a construction project that would go through my back yard so now I got to move to somewhere else so they can build but this house was in my family ever since I was born I don’t think I can just let them take it from me I wish they could just find a new place for this pipeline I was born I this house and I lived here all my life I should make a potation and I should start a funded riser but then agene at the end of the day what can one person do to stop the building of the oil pipeline of them but I always wanted to see the world and this could be my chance so this pipeline I just may be able to deal with it, so its not that I’m ok with the pipeline its just that ill be fine with moving and not needing to worry about my house.

​ This project was centered on getting in the heads of different people and their reactions to the Keystone Pipeline. It gave us an opportunity to add our creativity to a very real issue in this country. I was hoping to have 3 different, unique feelings from each character. I wanted my monologues to create my characters to be torn in how they feel. One fact I wanted to reveal was the safety waiver that would allow the pipeline to pump at higher pressure and be made of a thinner steal.

The Dotted Line 

A woman sits down with an application and swallows so that it’s seen very well.

Well this is it. I can’t stand to watch my daughters lose out on everything because their mother can’t support them by herself.

She takes a deep breath showing her exhaustion from the problem she’s dealing with. Well, I guess I should start looking over this.

She begins searching the application in front of her.

Job description: Oversees the repair and maintenance of pipelines. Verifies pipeline safety. Responsible for scheduling and repairs of maintenance. Coordinates with other management staff to ensure efficiency in preventive maintenance and new pipeline installation.

She pauses to collect her thoughts.

Seems easy enough. Let’s get to the important part, the salary.

She begins again, search the document.

Okay… yeah… here we go…

She finally recognizes the section she’s looking for.

If employee completes the above tasks without issues, said employee may make up to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year.

She gasps out of pure shock.

This would make everything easier on us. There has to be some catch.

She again scans the document.

It’s important to take note that signing on the dotted line abides you to this contract stating that you will go off to live on site for two years. Two years? Two years without my girls? I guess this is what it came to. It’s crazy because here I am, about to sign on this dotted line that could fix everything, and I’m still debating whether or not to. I can’t stop thinking about the research I did on the first Keystone Pipeline. TransCanada predicted that it would leak once every seven years, but it leaked twelve times in the first year. I have two huge issues with this information. One, I’m going to be part of a company that lies and cheats to get what they want. Do I really want to help destroy? Two, the people who let it leak, most likely had my job. Maybe that’s why it’s available now.

She nods her head no while stating: Everything is telling me not to sign the dotted line…but I have to.

She finally signs the document.

Handcuffed To My Beliefs

Handcuffs are placed on a woman wearing an environmentally friendly t-shirt. She is proud of what ever she just accomplished. The police officer walks away mumbling something.

In an aggravated voice she yells: Oh yeah I bet you’re sorry!

She is seated where someone comes to question her. She begins to calm down.

You’re asking if I’m upset at the fact that I got arrested?

Laughs to herself

In a stern but caring voice: You’re kidding right? I wake up every morning and tell myself, I will do anything to help the world that I’ve been blessed with. Ever since I was child I have always been told to respect the environment. Science class always taught me that plants were living organisms too. Don’t they deserve a chance? I think so; therefore I joined dozens in front of the White House today. The reason I joined them was because all I kept hearing from TransCanada was that pipelines are the safest form of transportation when compared to other forms and rarely leak. When they do, they only leak a small amount.

Her face changes from serious to somewhat confused.

Wait, so they don’t really leak, but when they do… it’s a small amount? Well isn’t it easier not to have leaks at all because when it does leak, carbon dioxide is released from this dirty oil.

Her calm voice turns to aggravation again.

Is it really worth it to kill the little bit of beauty we have left? Also, it’s safer compared to other transportation methods, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. Look, it’s simple. People need to realize that we need to protect what we have. Since I’m aware of the limited amount of Earth we have left, I will continue to stand and protest in front of The White House. I’ll continue getting arrested. I believe in this. And I intend to fight for what I believe in.

Don’t Trace It Back To Me 

A Texan woman enters with a brief case.

Honey, I’m home!

We now see her at the kitchen table. She is facing her husband who is unknown and unseen to the audience.

My day? It was quite interesting.

She giggles to herself.

You remember the pipeline we saw on the news? Ya know, the one that they’re planning to start up in Canada and end down here in Texas?

She stops and listens to him.

Yeah, the one your cousin Derek was protesting for in front of The White House. Well today, the company came into our firm. Yeah, my little firm. Apparently, they needed some sorta safety waiver so ole’ Bruce gave it to me. I reckon he finally noticed my hard work and put me on a big important case like this. So anyway, they come in asking for this waiver to allow them to use a thinner steal and to pump at higher pressure.

Her face becomes surprised instead of content.

Can you believe it? They’re already tryna cut corners! Well then, ole’ Bruce told me that my job was on the line if I didn’t write up this here document. I couldn’t believe it!

She starts to look ashamed in her story.

I wanted to say no. How could I, though? I hardly know anything about this pipeline. Who am I to say that’s horrible? I mean Derek was telling me last week how the carbon dioxide from this oil is deadly and the whole environment is gonna be screwed up. But, this man that came in today told me how many jobs are gonna be available. And just think, now we won’t have to get everything from those foreign countries. Well, I’m not gonna decide what side I’m on so I just told them to make sure that the document didn’t trace back to me writin’ it.

She begins to smile at her husband and giggle.

Stop it, I’m not a bad person! Enough about my day, watchya make for dinner?

​My goal for this project was to show how this may affect others if this pipeline is accepted and to put the people for the pipeline in the people against the pipeline shoes and vise versa. For my project I did one of my monologues from a canadian residents point of view so that people could realize where the pipeline is going to have to run through and see how it could potentially effect a persons life and some of the many dangers of this pipeline. Then I also put myself in someones shoes is could be for the pipeline and talked about all of the good things this could do for the economy and how it may open up more jobs and a lot of the good things the pipeline could be used for and could do.

(sitting at a desk writing a letter)  Dear my fellow Americans this is your president of the United States Barrack Obama and I am here today to talk to you about the XL pipeline. For starters I understand people are trying to get me nervous by protesting in front of the white house and getting arrested, but I would like to tell you that I am not nervous at all and I don’t have much say in the choice to accept or deny this pipeline as of right now but I would like to tell you that I am for the pipeline. This is because I am trying to do what’s best for the economy, because by getting this pipeline we will have more money because we wont have to spend a lot on oil and then this will make more jobs so then maybe the US can get out of some debts and more people can have more money. With more money we might be able to cut down on crimes because we could open up more areas for kids to go after school and during the summer and we could get more cops on the streets to make sure that we can make sure to reduce the amount of street crime. I understand that this may cause some environmental issues as for the fact that the pipe may leak into the aquatic that we on going to run the pipeline through and if this happens we can and will lose some fresh water and maybe even some aquatic life but overall we are trying to see what we could possibly do to prevent this from happening. What the people of the united states need to realize is that this will save us money and make the economy better and could help us win the war, because with more money we can get more and better weapons and the big gas companies will pay more for the oil from us and we could possibly get out of the debt that this country has. That is all I have to say for now my fellow Americans I will have another letter when I have more information.

(standing outside of obamas office typing on a phone)  Hello everybody out there I’m one of Obama’s many security guards and from what I hear he is against the XL pipeline because of the environmental effects it can have. I also think that the people are putting a lot of pressure on him so he might be against it for that reason to. Me personally I am against this XL pipeline because there are to many risks and too much harm that could be done to the environment. For starters we could lose a lot of fresh water and that could also cause I to lose some sea life that we eat so it could make a lot of seafood extinct because if the oil is in the water long enough it will kill everything that’s in the water with it. Also since this oil is dirtier then the oil we already have it can pollute the air and then that might not be good for global warming and it wont be good for humans because if the air gets more polluted it may effect the trees and without tress humans cant live because we wouldn’t have enough CO2 so then we could die. So for all you people who want this pipeline you should think about these things because I don’t think that you realize how bad this is for the environment it not all about the economics it more about how this will effect the people and not about the amount of money we could possibly have.

(laying on a bed writing)  Hello everyone this is a local Canadian resident and I want to talk to you fellow Americans who want this pipeline to happen, if this happens this could ruin my house, life, and family. If this pipeline is approved they will have to put it through peoples backyards including mine and since this oil is dirtier then regular oil if it leaks out it will destroy my house and could possibly kill the people in it. Also I don’t know why Canada would sell oil that we could use and it could save us money instead of selling it to the united states now were going to have to spend more money on oil and have less money for are economy. Also this could endanger a lot of lives because of how many people’s homes this pipeline would have to run through a lot of peoples property and we could lose some great landmarks. So in my final statement I just want to say that you Americans should think about how this will affect everyone and not just yourselves before you accept this pipeline. I think you people who are for this pipeline should put yourselves in my position and realize how much this would affect you especially if you have a family  

 

For this project students were asked to create an artistic piece that was alluring, captivating, provocative, and represented the short story read by the student. There were no specific guidelines as to what type of art had to be used to represent the story. Freedoms such as this one, allowed for a range of creativity. This piece would then be accompanied by others in a Short Story Fair, where peers would be able to view and hopefully take interest in the story that the piece was representing. 

The piece that I created was a representation of the story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by, Joyce Carol Oates. My initial thought was to create a trailer, but that idea was taken by another student so I was forced to think outside my usual idea box. I then remembered that in literature, one of the most powerful tools is one'e lens. I decided that I would do a charcoal drawing of an eye, and surrounding the eye would be the quote that I felt would provoke thought and interest. That quote was,"Her name was Connie." To accompany the image, I went back to one of my earlier ideas of creating a soundtrack. I combined quotes from the story with different songs that fit the tone of the story at different moments. To listen to audio, the viewer would simply put on the headphones that were coming through the pupil of the drawing and push play.

I could this project be a bit challenging because it called for me to step out of my usual box of ideas. I spent hours combining through songs and riding and emotional roller coaster with Garageband. At  the end I was able create a multimedia product that was interesting, provocative, and stood different from the rest.

The Soundtrack can be listened to below.

​Cyndi Lynn (Felicía) Sheridan
Español 3 - Srta. G
El 2 de Octubre

Extra Crédito:
What did you learn?

 

Throughout this assignment, I have learned many different vocabulary words and understand how to read more sentences in Spanish. This was an amazing experience because I feel more confident in my Spanish ability. I still actually have my Facebook in Spanish because I think I am able to learn more than I already have. I can’t wait to see what else this experience can provide me with.

I learned what a lot of the buttons or places to go meant in spanish that I use daily on Facebook. Since I know how to get from place to place on Facebook it wasn't hard not knowing all the spanish. I knew that me gusta obviously meant like, so if I were to like something on Facebook I knew what I would click.Also with family on Facebook under all the names were hermana or hermano or tia, tio it was just cool seeing a different language and understanding what it meant. It was interesting getting notifications and having everything in spanish. It was a fun experience! Something else that I noticed, was I get texts on my phone from Facebook so when I changed my Facebook into spanish the texts I got were in spanish. I forgot I made my Facebook in spanish when I received a text and I got confused. It was a cool experience and I learned new spanish words!

​We had to create a song based on where we came from. We had to have at least two verses and a refran (chorus). It had to be 10 to 15 sentences. Then we had to record us singing to it. For a higher grade we could make some type of video. I learned that I know more Spanish then I think I do. And it may seem hard to write a song in Spanish and then sing it, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought. I am proud of me being able to actually make verses to make up the song. Probably make it longer, and better. I don’t like my voice so I would try to find a way to make it good with out me singing.  (I can’t sing.)

Me encanta Filadelfia

Tiene muchas cosas buenas

Tiene filetes de queso, las águilas, y los Filis también!

 

Mi familia es de Europa

Mi madre es de Nueva Jersey

Mi padre es del norte de Filadelfia

Soy del centro de la ciudad de Filadelfia

 

Me encanta Filadelfia

Tiene muchas cosas buenas

Tiene filetes de queso, las águilas, y los Filis también!

 

Me gusta come todo tipo de comida.

Me gusta dormir hasta tarde.

Escucho mucha música buena

Me gusta salir con mis amigos.

 

Me encanta Filadelfia

Tiene muchas cosas buenas

Tiene filetes de queso, las águilas, y los Filis también !

Refrain 

La musica estallido 

Personas danza

Todos disfrutar se quieren

Eso es mi barrio

(Repetir 2x)

Verse 1

 

Puertoriquana y morena 

vengo en filadelfia

me gusta la comida 

de me custombrés 

Verse 2

En Filaldelfia

La lámpara brillante brillar 

Con fiestas en la semana

Y la Puertoriquana desfile

Filadelfia es la estar lugar

 

Refrain 

La musica estallido 

Personas danza

Todos disfrutar se quieren

Eso es mi barrio

(Repetir 1x)

​I learned what a lot of the words I would look at everyday, or expect to say, would be if they were translated to Spanish. The overall experience was fun, a lot of the buttons were memorized, but because you are so used to Facebook, it is easy to memorize the words on the buttons if you were to keep the language set on Spanish for longer than 24 hours, like I did. 

"C'mon, your supposed to be the best."

"No, I’m not. Who are you to tell me what I’m supposed to be?" That's what my eyebrow said, arching like a frightened cat. I'd heard it many times before but never in a serious way. It was always in a joking manner, a manner that got old after the six-thousandth or seven-thousandth time- I lost count. It was cold in the counselor’s office, a small room on the second floor of my aging school. It was also unbearably quiet. Usually the sound of my kind, and mild mannered counselor hard at work would restore a comfortable volume. Not now though, as it was only my 5th grade teacher and I facing off about the recent drop in my GPA.

I don’t know where or when my last name came from, but it must have stuck considering no one decided to change it. I can understand why though, I mean it’s and awesome name to have! It never gets old to see the

awkward “really?” face people make when I introduce myself. And on rare occasions, when people assume I misspoke meaning “Beast”, “bet” or my favorite,  “Brest”. And the puns… the endless, puns. Always from older people though, rarely from kids my age. I think we realize how lame it is to make fun of someone’s name especially when it’s not even really all that impressive. I wonder if my ancestors faced the same thing.

         I guess I can’t blame them. They’re just trying to get a quick yuck and maybe cheer me up in the process. Not this time though, I could tell in his eyes that this was for real. He actually expected me to somehow be better then everyone else in my class! As if my name somehow had supernatural powers to affect the universe. What a joke! Does a guy named Miller have to love beer or work a textile? What about a black guy named White, or a white guy named Black? Or a depressed person named Feelgood! I wanted to give him a huge chunk of my mind after a long speech about how “I’m better than how I’m performing” and how he “sees great things in me”. But all that managed to stumble from my lips was a humble

“Okay”.

         I suppose an unrecognized sense of title comes with one’s name. Studies show that a name is automatically considered in a persons natural stereotyping. I’m not saying racism is natural, but what I am saying is that you must be aware of how people see you and of first impressions. Don’t allow yourself to be bottled within your own title, but instead force people to see you for what you do instead of what your called.

 

 

- Anthony Best

 

This project was fun, we got to work on a song to together and got to sing a song that mean something to us. We both were happy because we got to sing a song that we can relate to. We were able to express our life from back home in many ways in the song. This song is mainly about us coming to the U.S.A and how our life was different when we were in Africa. We really enjoin doing this project.

Nosotros Africáno, más fuerte!

Mi nombre es Rugei Tú Es Mabintuu

Nostroso de oeste África, nació y se crió

‘Africa es muy diferente de América

El cocas nosotros comemos. Y el cocas que hacemos.

 el arroz es la comida principal

 

Estamos africano, más fuerte!

Estamos africano,más fuerte!

Estamos africano, Vamoso!

Africaaaaaaaaaa Nosotros Donte. Awooo!

Estamos africano¿yo no oyes tu?

Estamos africano, más fuerte!

Estamos africano,más fuerte!

Estamos africano, Vamoso!

 

preguntar sobre africa y  nosotros te contaremos sobre nuestra historia

“¿Qué es África?”

de la patria donde vida los primeros seres.

different lenguajes, differente culturas pero comparten el mismo pais

 ¿Qué es eso?

ÁFRICA!

 

Nosotros Africáno, más fuerte!

Nosotros Africáno,más fuerte!

Nosotros Africáno, Vamoso!

Africaaaaaaaaaa Nosotros Donte. Awooo!

Nosotros Africáno, ¿yo no oyes tu?

Nosotros Africáno, más fuerte!

Nosotros Africáno,más fuerte!

Nosotros Africáno, Vamoso!

 

En el africano nosotros vivi con mi aborata y aborato

Nosotros vivi ir de vacacione con nuestro aborato y aborata.

Nosotros van el ecuela de sieta a uno p.m

No public ecula en el africano.

 

Llegada a Americano fue difícil,

nosotros vivi a el aeropuerto,

ir de vacaciones el control de seguridad.

Nuestro sientense en la ventanilla

Nosotros despegar

Y atterrizar en de American.

America fue muy frío y hermoso

​     Do you play basketball? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question. It’s because I’m tall for my age over 6’2’’ and only 15. One day last summer I was in the driveway playing basketball with some friends. This was kind of new to me because I'm more of a baseball guy. However, ever since my growth spurt last summer, people assume that I have to be a good basketball player.

 

It was 10 to 12 and my team had 10 points. I ran and dodged players until I got to the 3-point zone. With 5 seconds left in the game, I had a clear shot and there were players rushing at me I took the chance and shot the ball through the air. It hit the rim and circled and circled… and missed.

 

The players on the court were surprised.

“Yo how did you miss that you’re the tallest one here” My friend Mike said

“I told you I’m more of a baseball person I don’t play basketball a lot”

“Your 6 feet tall”

“I know I’m just not that good at basketball I told you already”

“Oh yeah you did, Oh well I’ll see you tomorrow”

“See you”

 

      It’s been happening a lot lately. Most of the time I just tell people no I don’t play basketball and they just drop the subject. I love being tall most of the time and the cons aren’t just that question I have to duck to get down the steps at dad’s house and I can practically hit my head on anything. But some pros are I can reach most stuff and I can get on any ride at an amusement park.

 

      I can’t blame them, actually I don’t know who to blame I thought I got my height from my dad but I’m taller than him and it can’t be from my mom because I’ve been taller than her since 7^th grade, so I don’t know.  Now wherever I go people take one look at me and instantly think that I play basketball. I guess that when people see one person who looks a certain way they set expectations for that person without knowing anything about them.

 

      I’m kind of good at basketball just not as good as other people would expect. I like baseball and soccer. Sure I could probably dunk the ball if I wanted to but I don’t play enough to know how especially if I cant reach the rim.  I’m used to it now but it’s still annoying when so many people who know I don’t play keep thinking I play. That’s just wrong in some cases. It’s a stereotype all tall people must be good a basketball that can mess up a friendship before it starts. For example If a coach saw me and drafted me onto his basketball team and I make friends before a game once I start playing and people see that I’m bad at this then I would start to lose friends. To sum this up I don’t like the stereotype that all tall people are good at basketball because it can ruin things like friendships before they start.

 

 

2. This project was probably my most "active" project ever. We had to make a song about where we were from, and the good thing was, you could have interpreted it however you wanted, whether it be intellectually or physically. For a little extra umph in your project, you could make a video to incorporate with your song. In this project I actually learned how to become a better photographer and what to look for when trying to make a montage of one specific idea. I also learned that I am a lot better at spanish than they were last year. I am really proud of how well I was able to speak in spanish and flow, as well as the fast tempo I used in the song. That is not edited, that is actually me rapping in spanish! If I could change this project, I would want to get some footage of me and my bro Mat in, but the video of Philadelphia is on of the main highlights of my spanish video. I think it goes really well with the music and what the music represents. 

Somos dos uno cinco en el ciudad

Nosotros venimos de Filadelfia

Somos dos uno cinco porque nosotros jugamos

Americano Futbol porque somos hermanos

Jugamos fuera deportes, como basketball

Porque vivimos en el ciudad de amor y fraternal

 

Yo vengo de Phoenix Arizona

Después tres años yo fue a Nevada

Tuve cuatros años

Me mudé de Nevada

Y me mudé a Filadelfia

Ahora tengo dieciséis años

Y yo vivía con mis abuelos

Ahora vengo escuela

de SLA

Y vengo de libertad

Porque vengo de Filadelfia

Y somos… (CHORUS)

 

Somos dos uno cinco en el ciudad

Nosotros venimos de Filadelfia

Somos dos uno cinco porque nosotros jugamos

Americano Futbol porque somos hermanos

Jugamos fuera deportes, como basketball

Porque vivimos en el ciudad de amor y fraternal

 

Mi nombre es Mateo

Estoy de Filadelfia

Puedo obtener dinero

Yo vivo con mus tres hermanas y mi madre

Yo vengo mi familia

Yo vengo fútbol de Americano

Yo vengo mi la vida de niño

Porque yo es un niño en mi familia

yo vengo de videojuegos

y me encanta lo yo vengo de

 

Somos dos uno cinco en el ciudad

Nosotros venimos de Filadelfia

Somos dos uno cinco porque nosotros jugamos

Americano Futbol porque somos hermanos

Jugamos fuera deportes, como basketball

Porque vivimos en el ciudad de amor y fraternal

 

 

 

​ What is your song supposed to communicate?
Wanted to communicate who I am and where I am from.

What are you especially happy about with your first draft?
Yes because I took my time and made sure that every grammar was right. Also, I had got help from my peers.

What would you like to improve about your refrán?
I want to make it more detailed. Felt as thought my refran wasn't creative enough.

What did you learn?
More of learning words over again and getting them familiar in your brain. Also writing songs that involves spanish words that I never knew.

What are you like/dislike about your product?
I like that I used a spanish instrumental and made it my own. Some things I think that I dislike are the way I pronounce some words.

If you were to do this project all over again, what would you change?
Would write about something else that would make my song more creative, also challenge my self more.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2196173/Yo%20Vengo%20De.mp3

In this project we created songs about where we are from. I learned how to use garage band and how to say where i come from. I am especially proud of being able to produce the song. If i could change something i would maybe make it longer? 

vengo de America
la tierra de el libre
es no perfecto
pero es mi casa

vengo de un amor por fútbol
mi número es dieciocho
fútbol es mi pasión
pasión por la vida

Vengo de cheesesteaks
en la ciudad de Filadelfia
donde la gente se ríe
las personas vivan libres

vengo de America
la tierra de el libre
es no perfecto
pero es mi casa

I learned that I don't have to write all my poems in english (the poem turned into a song). I am proud that I could put together meaningful lyrics and that it made sense. I would probably change some of the difficult parts to sing in spanish, because in english it's much easier to hit certain notes in spanish (because of the different vowel sounds). 

De La Alma: 

Yo vengo de los arboles y el río cafe 

Calles y corazones de piedra del adoquín (2x)

Somos de la luna y el sol 

Pero una vida nueva es que queremos 

Dondé no hay casas almas y rotas 

y las almas no necesitan almas nuevas 

Porqué el sol es una día nueva y la luna es la noche

con las problemas de ayer 

¿Dondé está el paz? (2x) 

Yo vengo de los arboles y el río cafe 

Calles y corazones de piedra del adoquín (2x)

Hay almas muertas en el río y 

nadie sabe por qué

Hay almas muertas en tú corazón y 

nadie sabe por qué 

Pero, ¿Dondé está ellos ahora? ...

Ellos son en nuestra corazón

Yo vengo de los arboles y el río cafe 

Calles y corazones de piedra del adoquín