Blog Feed
Macbeth Playbill (Autumn and Amelia)
My partner is Amelia Benamara and we choose to do the theoretical playbill because we felt that it would be a little bit harder than the other ones. Because we thought that it had more steps, due to getting the bios of all the characters, in this case we only got a few. We also got a few costumes for the main characters and we had trouble picking out a theater because when we picked out the theater, we had to look for some of the background information for it. We also took the time to look at different playbills (examples) to compare ours to an actual playbill. Something that was really difficult was getting the correct dimensions of the playbill. It was easy to get the size online but it was hard to figure out how to get those dimensions and create it while using Google Docs. While having it on Google Docs was a little bit hard, then I realized that if you took a piece of paper and folded it in half, it will create the perfect size for playbill. So what I did was create tables throughout the whole document then made the color of the table white to make it transparent to the paper. I only left the line down the middle to separate the two sides and show where the paper would fold. As we were doing this project, we kind of went out of order. We did most of it as we planned but we took some days off to do other projects, just to keep everything balanced out. We had so many things going on at once. However the calendar and list we previously made helped a lot with the organizations and keeping the whole project smooth.
The first thing we did was split up as soon as we started (after reading the details of what we need). Amelia worked on getting people’s names for the cast and created questions for their bio. While she did that I create a format for the project and after sending out the email together, then typed up the bios into paragraph form. Amelia drew most of the art work and I got some of the customs online. And we talked at least three times a week about the projects. Mainly about if we got all the pictures, Amelia was able to get everyone’s picture for their bio while I put the pictures in and made a new format. In the end we edited each other work a little bit show show the difference and express our true thoughts.
Working with each other was very easy because of the great communication we had going with one another. We would always remember to work on the document on certain days and would use the time we get in class very wisely. Also, we worked pretty well on time management, as you can tell by the pictures on google hangout and our well organized calendar is. We, as a team, respected each other’s choices and would always find a way to mix our ideas together as one. Amelia thought we did a pretty good job together on dividing the work up, equally. Everything was fair to both of us throughout the entire playbill creation. Overall, we think we made a pretty good team and had fun at the same time. So, we’re glad this project was enjoyable, instead of stressful. We are proud of the outcome!
These are some pictures of us working on our project in different classes during a work period.
We also spent a lot of time on Google Hangout. These are just some pictures of us working while being able to talk to each other about the project.
We also wanted to share some sample pictures of the project.
Here is the final project of the playbill. The first page is an ad for posters. The last page is blank because we couldn't get rid of it, we spent almost 40 mins trying to delete it.
Click the first picture down below to reveal the advertisement for the playbill. There might be some problems with seeing the other pages, so click the next picture to see the PDF of the actually playbill.
Macbeth Benchmark (Kiah and Harlem)
The Rationale
The process of creating the game board of Macbeth was surprisingly easy, but there were a few challenges we had to overcome. We chose to make a game board because we felt that kids love to play board games, and if they can learn and play games at the same time, they would be enjoying themselves while getting an education. Shakespeare and his plays can be hard to understand at first glance, so why not make on into something simpler, like a game? It also gave us a chance to use our creativity skills, such as the 3D printer, which we used to make the game’s pieces.
For the game board’s creation, we decided to make it look like the original game, Candy Land We made it look like Candy Land because we thought that Candy Land was a great game that people loved to play with their families, so we just figured that if the game looked liked Candy Land, they would want to play for a long time. From then on, we tried to make everything that goes along with Candy Land, like making the game board colorful and making the squares loop, twist, and turn. The game’s objective obviously had to be different than Candy Land, so we settled on was to show how Macbeth started as a soldier who was loyal to his king, the war zone, to an evil mastermind that wants to kill people who get in his way, at Inverness. Every piece on the board has a their own function, adding a challenge to the game and making getting to Inverness difficult, since Macbeth’s transformation from good to bad was the same exact way.
Originally, we weren’t planning on doing a game board box, but since we got an extension for the project, we decided that we could make our project a little better by making a box for it. To start, we got a shoe box and covered the whole box with brown paper, and then we ended up not liking it so much, so we wrapped it with red paper, and it looked a lot better. After, we both came up with our own sketches of the box front, then we chose which one was better and we drew it on the box. We decided on the sketch of the crown hovering over the hand with the blood dripping from it. The story behind the sketch was that it was snowing, and people normally put the hand out of the window and feel the snow on their hand, and it’s a happy time. We figured Macbeth is the complete opposite, so we made a crown instead of a cloud, to show that Macbeth wants the crown so he is holding his hand out for the crown. After we did that, we replaced the snow with rain, and then we made the rain into drops of blood. We did this because we realized Macbeth had to kill a lot of people for the crown, so the blood is coming from the crown into his hand. Lastly, we made the blood drip from his hand to the floor so it looks like it is too much blood for him to hold, since Macbeth killed so many people, it was too much for him to handle, therefore too much blood to hold.Macbeth Creative Project Koffi & Zimmerman
In creating this project, Eli and I wanted to do something different that we felt would truly portray our knowledge of Macbeth. We decided to make a newspaper in the perspective of a newspaper reporter that is to the everyday citizens in Scotland. We made this decision because we all know what happens in the castle, but by having the newsletter made in a citizen’s perspective we are revealing how citizens are reacting to the things that are happening in the book. It gives us the non royal view of the situation, we’re looking in on the royal family's life.
Our letter consists of things that we felt all newspapers have, like articles, a crossword, and an ad . Our headline article is about the crowning of Macbeth. We agreed that this would be the main article because a new king’s crowning would be very apparent, especially after the sudden untimely death of King Duncan. In addition we decided if the reporter was in this situation he would’ve wanted to make Macbeth the headline because he essentially has a major influence over the reporter life. Our second article was on the fleeing of Prince Malcolm and Prince Donalbain. This article went into depth about why the two princes left from the reporter's point of view. Our third and final article was about the death of King Duncan. In this article the reporter got in depth with the conspiracy behind why certain people would have a motive to kill King Duncan. The article also went on to explain how the murder would have been laid out, meaning how the murderer would have gotten into the king’s room.
Doing this project taught us that communication is important. Throughout the duration of this project we had long periods of time where we didn’t talk. This lead to us misinterpreting information and finishing the main aspects of the project. Luckily being done early isn’t much of a problem, but if we communicated better this misunderstanding could’ve been avoided. We also learned that having a written calendar is a great idea and one that we will use in our future projects. Having a calendar is like having a written contract that holds us both accountable to the work we do and do not finish on time.
Both Eli and I are satisfied with the final product of our project. Before we started we established goals and we feel as though all those goals were met. Our project looks like a real newspaper that could have been written around the time of Macbeth. It has all the things we felt a basic newspaper should have. If we were to do this project again we would have added more of a creative element to the project. In our minds a newspaper seemed to have more of an artistic appeal than what our outcome was. Even though the newspaper was a good idea it was not as unique as we originally thought it to be.
We had several days during class and outside of school of just taking notes and annotating the things we wanted to use in our newspaper
We also had multiple sessions on google hangouts to share ideas and thoughts throughout the winter break
We had to communicate a lot outside o f class. These are pictures of how technology helped in the process of completing this project
This is our final product. The completed, official Scotland Post
Macbeth: The Least Tyrant King By Hamidou Doumbia,Antonio Derock
Hamidou Doumbia : Hamidou Doumbia — Science Leadership Academy
Antonio Derock: Antonio Derock — Science Leadership Academy
Google Doc:Q2 English Project - Google Docs
Macbeth: The least Tyrant King Rational
My partner and I chose to do a board game. We chose a board game because we both have a lot of good ideas for a good board game. We don't have any good ideas for the other choices. We also chose this project because me and my partner Antonio love playing games so we want to create our own game for everyone to play.
Our board game is going to have one route to the end. The end is going to be who can kill King Macbeth first, whoever does that, wins the game. Players are going to start at the part of the play when Macbeth meets the witches, and when he starts to go insane. People can only play as Donalbain, Malcolm, Macduff, and Fleance. Then you will have a card with a question, if you land on a question spot on the board, and you will have to answer it.. The card will have a number on the top left hand corner, and after you answer the question, you check if it's right. If you’re wrong you go back the number of spaces it says on the card. The board will be decorated with the theme of the medieval era/scenes from the story.
Our board game will have a spot for the cards and a little square for the characters to move spaces. On the board you will be going through the different acts we read. The question card will also state the act so you will know where we got the question from and it will have a question mark on the card. On the board it will be questions mark on the board if you land on the questions mark you will have to answer the question card. Also if you think the question isn't hard then you can try the Life or death cards. Life cards have a cross on the front and the death card has a skull. It is random so if you chose one card then you can go back if its wrong, if its correct you go up an act but death cards you stay at the same place or go back.You will get a personality card because thatt is how your character is decided. If you make it to the end you are the new king of Scotland and take the crown from the former king, Macbeth.
This is a picture of our card creation process and how we got our information.
This is our Brainstorm for the board and we created a spot where we will place our cards and the design which will fit our board game.
This is part of the board, a little example of the project. We also created pictures for each acts.
This is our final product.
I hope you will like our board game we really put a lot of time into this project. Me and my partner Antonio like our final project. This project took about two weeks to finish. Most of the time we worked on it was in class, home, and sometimes at lunch. It was really fun to work with my best friend Antonio DeRock.
Advanced Essay #3, Identity: The Journey of a Lifetime
Introduction
In the following essay, I reflect upon and analyze the different types of identity we are faced with in the world, and our journeys that help us to build onto that. Identity is complex, and it is certainly not concrete. There will always be pre-conceived ideas about ourselves due to the history and nature of our world, but then it is up to ourselves to deal with those ideas as we wish, and form the identity that we want others to find true about ourselves. This essay speaks on my own experience in identity, and how I have chosen to make sense of it.
*
We are brought into this world looking outward. The first specks of light gleaming into our eyes, the first bits of sound from the outside world entering our ears. Life is absorbed into us. We observe people, situations, social interactions, our surroundings. As we grow older, we begin to look inward. There comes a time where with everything we’ve collected and stored in our brain, we begin to connect it to this “self” that we discover. We are never-ending puzzles, and we pick up the pieces to it as we go along the way. But what happens when the pieces don’t fit in? When people hand us pieces, and tell us, “This is who you are, this is who you are supposed to be...this is what the world thinks of you,” then what happens then? Do the pieces stay as parts of us anyway? Building your identity is a constant battle between what you think of yourself, and other people’s judgement and expectations. It is up to us to fight for what we believe ourselves to be, so that one day, the rest of the world can see us for who we truly are.
One thing for me that I have found has shaped much of my identity is the people I surround myself by, that I converse and build relationships with- my friends. As I began to cultivate just a few strong friendships, I found myself learning life lessons that I otherwise would not have learned until much later. I know what a good relationship looks like, what a bad relationship looks like. I know how I should be treated, and the situations I may find myself in in the future. It all gives me time to think about life deeply now, and make the best of it when the time comes to make the real decisions that will impact my identity. But with all of the lessons I have learned, all of the pieces I have collected, I found that I couldn’t just leave them all sitting around. It was time to start connecting them, time to start focussing inward, finding where they apply to myself. To be honest, this is something I have started very recently, coming into this new year.
In focussing inward, I find that there are a lot of things make up my identity. Being both white and Puerto Rican, it’s not particularly easy to claim the Puerto Rican part of my identity. Many times people are shocked, as if they can’t even believe that that is actually part of my identity. “How could you possibly be Puerto Rican?,” I’ll hear them say. As if I didn’t already have trouble claiming that part of my identity, due to more personal reasons, people’s disbelief made it a lot easier to just ignore that side of me. Growing up, however, I realize that it is a part of me, and I share experiences with other people who are in the same position that I am. In a New York Times article written by Wesley Morris on self identity, he says, ‘‘Self-identified’’ means ‘‘I’ve seen myself and not because of anything you did.’’ It certainly takes time and dedication to tear down everyone else’s ideas about you, and although they will still remain there because we’ve been so conditioned to listen to them, we know the truth about ourselves.
It just wouldn’t be true to say, however, that the way that we self-identify is all that identity is. Identity is a lot more complex than that. I have decided that there are mainly three different types of identity: self, or private identity, public identity, and perceived identity. Public identity and perceived identity are not one in the same. Public identity is the information that we choose to share with others, the parts of our private identity which we are willing enough to be open about. Perceived identity is how others choose to view that information, and the identity that they wind up forming for you. It can be difficult to think about, that there are so many ways to view identity, but that’s a huge part of what life’s all about. We’re all on this journey together.
Sometimes when everything gets confusing, and all of the pieces of my life are scattered all over the place, I’ll go back to a time of peace. Around eleven o'clock at night, the moon shining full and bright behind some clouds. Even a few stars scattered through the otherwise pitch-black sky. I can hear the ocean’s waves crashing in the distance, a familiar, soothing sound. Smaller waves crash onto the shore, creeping up to my toes and swallowing my ankles whole, until eventually the cold water recedes back into the depths. I get chills up my spine that make the strands of hair on my arm stand up. I look up at the moon and feel it looking back at me; and in that moment, I feel as one with the world, and both me and the world know who I am.
Handcrafting your own Mask
The goal of my paper was to shine light on the topic of African American males conforming to the ideas and viewpoints society has on us. Reflecting on my paper, I believe I did a phenomenal job at getting my point across of how we only confirm the thoughts and stereotype of society when we commit murders and do other things that negatively impact our communities. I believe that everyone on this planet has a chance to be great in life regardless of the preconceived dilemmas set against them. But in order to be great you have to be different; create your own identity. Writing this paper was something that came pretty easy due to the fact that this directly applies to my life and how I’m perceived.
Question I am investigating: How does society construct or destroy feelings of identity and belonging?
“Wassup Lew. Where you going, yo!?” he shouted as he galloped across the street as if it was his light.
“What’s up Tyreke. I’m headed to the Library. What are you getting into tonight?” I responded.
“Oh you that type nigga!? I didn’t even know we had a library around here! Why the hell you going to the damn library?”
“What do you mean, Tyreke? The type “nigga” that cares about his future?! I retorted as I stormed away…
The feeling I got after this moment was dreadful. I didn’t understand what was wrong or abnormal about an African American male who cares about his future. I couldn’t grasp the idea of why more African American males cared about their future. Then it hit me; I felt like I could answer this question. I was surprised at how simple the answer was actually. I came to the conclusion that us African American males were victims; victims of ourselves and of the system. By this I mean that blacks hold other black back from prosperous, positive lifestyles and so does the system.
The system being how things work and are structured in America. All the way from 1746 (when blacks were first enslaved 1) to now we have conformed to the lense that society sees us in. We are viewed as these beasts who have no control over what they do.
“In that first year, my first away from my hometown, I was to become thoroughly familiar with the language of fear. At dark, shadowy intersections, I could cross in front of a car stopped at a traffic light and elicit the thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk of the driver--black, white, male, or female--hammering down the door locks. On less traveled streets after dark, I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with people crossing to the other side of the street rather than pass me. Then there were the standard unpleasantries with policemen, doormen, bouncers, cab drivers, and others whose business it is to screen out troublesome individuals before there is any nastiness.2” Personally, each and every line in this quote is a stereotype of this black man. Throughout the whole journal, he had not displayed any actions to warrant these “precautions” taken against him. And that’s what leads me to believe it’s a racial and sex problem.
This is half of the problem. The other half is how us blacks respond to these acts of “safety”. I see why people are scared of us. We confirm every stereotype they have about us. Out of the 21 black males who have been murdered this year, 18 have been murdered by another black man.3 This is a prime example of conforming to the lense society uses to view us.
By Tyreke saying “Oh you that type nigga!?”, he was boxing himself in; taking away a source of knowledge that could propel him to create his own identity instead of wearing the social mask handcrafted for our kind.
“Progress is impossible without change
and those who cannot change their minds
cannot change anything.”
~ George ShawThe Great Macbeth- Doniesha Hinson & Sydney Rogers
Sydney and I chose to create a game board as a way to reflect our knowledge on the Macbeth play because we thought it would be both interesting and informative.The game is a mixture of a trivia game and a common Candy Land style game board. We decided to make the game this way because we figured it would be more interactive than a simple, long and boring old-fashioned game. We thought this would also be a good way to get people thinking outside of the box.
One way we proved our understanding of the play was by using trivia and prophecy cards to embrace the usage of the paradoxes, the prophecies and the tragedies that occurred throughout the play. The two main characters frequently used throughout the game were Macbeth and Banquo. We chose to use those to characters in specific because they were, in our opinion, the two protagonists of the play.
Some of the “prophecy cards” featured include the paradoxes Banquo received from the three weird sisters. We incorporated these specific paradoxes because in the game you can either move forward or backwards. Either way you moved you were always closer yet farther away. In addition we included events that Macbeth came across all through the play. Such as when he became King or when he killed Duncan. We involved events like these because they were the most significant in the changing of characterization we saw in Macbeth.
Another way we demonstrated our knowledge was by making a “metaphoric” board. The board is colored red to create the bloody atmosphere portrayed in the play. Further, the board has 8 spaces titled “Banquo”. This represents the last apparition Macbeth saw — Banquo’s line of infinite Kings. Moreover, we included 3 “Macbeth” spots that represent the repetition of 3’s. There were 3 main witches, 3 prophecies, 3 apparitions and the repeatings of idiocy. Idiocy is the act of really stupid behavior. Macbeth killed Duncan — which in our opinion was insane — this drove him to begin hallucinating weird things. (ex. II.2.44-46 “Still it cried, ‘Sleep no more!’ to all the house; ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more.’”) This quote is also foreshadowing the ending of the play where Macbeth is murdered.
Last but not least, we created a dungeon space. It is similar to the Monopoly’s “JAIL” section and plays a similar role. We included this space on this game board because it refers back to “The Stanford Experiment”. As time went on Lady Macbeth turned Macbeth from good to evil. He was influenced once and took the power to his head, which left Lady Macbeth uncontrollable of his actions. Additionally, Lady Macbeth created a mental prison for herself. She held on to dark secrets and information which made her start to act jittery and insane.
Overall, we generally determined that this would be the most efficient way to show our creative skills and comprehension of the wonderful yet dreadful “Macbeth” play.
My Partner's Blog: Sydney Rogers
https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1wnJPhjgUVbLXqpfXVsqFDILSZcmgUAHUqsELl6AARS8/edit?usp=sharing
Becoming Macbeth- Leo Cassel-Siskind, Raymond Rochester, and Brendan Hall
Our group made a game about Macbeth’s life. In the game you become Macbeth and make the decisions we saw he had to make in the story for him. You begin the game by reading the first scenario and question and then choosing one of the answers. Each answer will be a link to a new slide where you will read another scenario and answer another question. Eventually you will reach a point where you win and stay king forever or die and someone else becomes king.
The reason we made a game like this was so everyone could have a fun interesting experience where you get to become Macbeth. It’s a unique experience to try to make the decisions that Macbeth had to make. While many people in the class were saying that the decisions Macbeth was making were stupid now they have the chance to be put into the same scenario with one major goal and the odds strongly against them like they were for Macbeth.
While we made a way that you could make the decisions Macbeth did there are also many ways to select a new approach in an effort to become king. One of the major things you could do began from the first question you see; do you take the witches seriously? Should you select no you have taken a whole different course than Macbeth and the questions you are asked are different. Instead of following a Macbeth approach where you can decide to kill the king and you focus much more on Malcolm, because he becomes king (as his father of course made him heir). You focus on becoming his prince so that you eventually take over and you also get the option at a point of killing him as to become king. All the things that took place here are what we expect would happen had Macbeth made this decision.
If you take the witches seriously it becomes a lot more straightforward. You can decide if you should kill the king or wait for fate (just like Macbeth did in the story). If you decide to kill the king you can second guess yourself like Macbeth did for a little bit or just be tough and kill the king. Then should you kill the king you move on to Banquo and you must decide if it is necessary that he be killed. He could be your best friend, but he could also be a threat. The next thing that will come up is Macduff. He doesn’t attend your celebration as well and you have to decide if he should be killed. If you don’t he goes off to England to find Malcolm and comes back to fight you. Finally you have the choice of whether or not to help your people. If you don’t, everyone hates you even more than they already do and turn on you. If you do help them they rise up and beat England. This entire part is similar to the book and should you stray from what Macbeth does the results are very predictable.
The entire game can take between three and ten questions depending on your choices. Normally it will be somewhere in the middle. The odds of winning are very low, because Macbeth’s odds at becoming king and remaining king are very low. We also wanted to include a reward. Should the class win the game when we present, our group will bring in some prize (dessert) to be handed out the next day or two days later at lunch. The final thing we wanted to do was make a video around each scenario for the classes entertainment and to enhance our overall project.
My partners pages:
Brendan
Black Boy In White SCHool
Being black while going to a private school is like being an exotic animal at the zoo. You’re a spectacle for the people there, because they rarely see black people. Because of your race’s rarity in these areas, stereotypes are given and expectations are laid out for you that you don’t understand or simply disagree with. For some, coming to these schools provide a challenge like no other:Increased workloads, more tests, etc. However, the most difficult part isn’t the class work, but rather what happens outside of class. If you’re not good at the sport assigned to you stereotype, it’s even harder to fit in than if you had. If you don’t act like your stereotype it’s hard to even be socially accepted. My only example can be my personal one, from when I went to private school.
Body paragraphs:
I’d been going to private school since lower school, but none had been like the middle school I ended up transferring to. The school was called Chestnut Hill Academy, or CHA and it was built like a college campus. Possibly the most memorable event i’d had at CHA was when I was waiting for my father to pick me up. A boy, A.J came up to me and I glanced over, unsure of what he was going to say. He was kind of popular, being a varsity player in every sport he played and even played on the high school team for baseball in middle school. “Do you like, wash your hair?” He asked. I was appalled and responded “Well yeah, it’s hair...do you?”, hoping he was joking but knowing he wasn’t. “Well I heard you couldn’t like wash your hair for years to get dreads. How do you wash it?”, he responded. “I use shampoo like you.”. We went back and forth like this for awhile until I got tired of answering his questions and tried to cut the conversation short. Apparently I wasn’t quick enough, because now he felt comfortable to give me a nickname. “Mophead. Yeah, that’s what you are, a mophead!”. If i’d been a little older, this wouldn’t have affected me at all, but at the tender age of 12, it felt like a punch in the gut. What right did this random boy have, to prod at my culture and completely disrespect what I wore around as my pride and joy? I was a hotheaded kid, and had already thought of a response to his branding, but my father pulled up so I left without a word. This wasn’t the only time stuff like this happened, and I’d even had a teacher with dreadlocks like mine who was asked the same questions. He was stronger than me though, and knew how draw the line between joking and strictness. He soon became my advisor, and through him I learned to numb myself to the stereotypical, borderline racist comments spewing from teacher and student mouths alike.
This book, A Hope In The Unseen is a story about a young African American boy who miraculously gets into an Ivy League college and follows his story from the process beforehand to his college life after getting in. The first time the author talks about Cedric Jennings as a student is in the beginning of the book, as an introduction of sorts. “Cedric Jennings is not, by nature, a loner, but he finds himself evermore isolated, walking a gauntlet through the halls, sitting unaccompanied in class, and spending hours in this room.”(page 5)
I chose this quote because it spoke to the lifestyle the protagonist had received when he decided to try to be his best self. This scene is still in public school, but you can tell that based on the way he’s described, he’s an outsider. It is made clear later in the book that it’s because the other kids are afraid he thinks he’s better than them, and because of that they try not to associate with him or if a they do, insult his intelligence. However, when he gets to Brown University, a different, but equally as isolating encounter awaits the protagonist
When I went to SCH, it was fairly eye opening for me about finding myself. I noticed that overall, black people going to white schools has always been a life changing moment, and not always for the better. Going to these schools puts you in between two worlds, and you can never fit perfectly in either. At home, people begin to think you’re bourgeois, or simply trying to be better than them, while at private school, people think you’re a spectacle. One to be poked, prodded, tested, but not to make friends with. There will be the rare occasion where there are people who you’ll be friends with, but it’s not always the case. I was fortunate to be one of the people who did make friends at my school. However, In A Hope In The Unseen, Cedric struggled to make any friends and went through his entire high school years with only the support of his mother and his faith in church. Through the corroboration of these two sources, I believe that the only true way to find and hold onto your identity as a black student in a private school or even just being the best student you can be is to find what makes you happy and then the rest will follow (friends, jobs, camps, etc.).That, in a nutshell, is a peek inside of the world of a preppy black student.
Advanced Essay #3: Society vs. Environment
My goals for this paper were to give a single real life story that could characterize and explain my thesis. I wanted to expand on the scene of memory and try to take the reader through the journey of society's impact on immigrants. Overall I think I got the story I wanted to tell and was able to connect it to my thesis. The story also helped shape parts of my thesis that were not yet fully constructed.
Society is characterized as a person, a person who is a bully and a nurturer at the same time. Society constructs and deconstructs the person's feelings of identity and belonging. Society has the ability to mold a person’s identity and belonging through new environments, experiences, and interactions. These tools are also used to “deconstruct” a person’s identity and belonging. What I mean by this is that society can twist these environments, experiences, and interactions into something that makes the person feel unsafe and exposed. I grew up with parents who immigrated to this country and who went through many obstacles to succeed. I saw and have heard stories of how society had destroyed their feeling and sense of belonging. I have also seen society construct and build their identities. Immigrants tend to feel the effects of society’s judgement much more. Not being comfortable in the space you find yourself in, whether it’s not knowing the language, politics, or dynamics of the space you are in, aids in this feeling of aloneness and wanting to fit in.
My father was born and raised in Iran, he at the time had no idea that he would end up living the rest of his life in the United States, away from the rest of his family. Nor did he ever imagine the circumstances which lead him to leave his country. In the 1970’s Iran experienced a revolution, boys above the age 16 were drafted to war with no say. In hopes of saving their children, my father’s parents sent their sons to study elsewhere. My father studied in the United States and often traveled to Italy to visit his brothers who had relocated there. Although he had never seen my mother, he knew of her and they often talked. One day he invited her to the U.S., this was the first time they had ever seen each other. After many visits they got married and my mom made the permanent move to the United States.
I honestly do not know how she did it. She had no friends, knew no one except my father. She had learned english in school but being thrown into this world was not at all the way she expected it would be. It was a harsher place and very big, with no one to talk to who would truly understand what she was going through she felt society tear down her walls. Her sense of belonging was taken away from her. Life around her was completely different than what she had grown up to understand and assimilate to. In the Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini writes “You’ve always been a tourist here. You just didn’t know it.” She felt like an outsider, she spoke through a broken accent which identified her as an immigrant and acted with different mannerisms. Even though society decided to take her sense of belonging away, it aided in building her identity.
My dad had made many Iranian friends in college, which is not surprising because when a person immigrates to another country they tend to find others of their ethnicity. We see this in big cities, such as New York which has Chinatown and Little Italy. Here in Philadelphia we have clusters of one culture or ethnicity. Culture plays a huge role in the way that society affects a person's sense of belonging and identity. By surrounding himself with those of culture he was able to hang onto his country and his family. My mother had studied Farsi, the language people speak in Iran, in college and was fluent in the language. I often think that this saved her sense of belonging in this country. My dad’s friends had also married, however their wives were also from Iran. But because society had affected them in the same way as my mother, she was able to connect and finally find someone to go through this experience with.
Society constructs and deconstructs the person’s sense of belonging and identity. We see this happen to those around us everyday. Some are more affected than others. But each person can come out with a more positive outcome. There will always be a negative in the world we live. People will judge others but people will also help get others through societies maze. My mom had her sense of belonging taken away. She came to a place where society played by a different set of rules. But through this maze she was also able to construct her identity and build it to one that can succeed not only in the environment she grew up in but the one she moved to.Macbeth Project Q2 Amado Alfaro-Allah, Ethan Larrebee, Sean Johnson
Here it is the finished project it took a while but with everybody's help we made it possible it was mostly just typing and taking pictures. But it was super fun to let our creative ideas flow into this small pamphlet that contains all our hopes and dreams. It was really fun to work with the guys it was very interesting of having Ethan and Sean as partners because they're 2 very different people kind of like opposites.
Amado Alfaro-allah
Ethan Larrabee Slate Ethan
Sean Johnson Slate Sean
Rational
Macbeth Rational
The reason why we chose to do a playbill is because we thought it would give us a chance to show our creative freedom and are adaptation of Macbeth. The reason we choose to make it in a pamphlet way is because it can show a lot of things in a flip book style. The people we choose to to act in our play are very different from a typical cast of people because we thought that these peoples personalities would fit better in the extreme characters in Macbeth. The actors were chosen from there acting history. For example when we picked Michael Cain as King Duncan we thought of his role in batman and how he sort of acted as a mentor or parent for him. The purpose for this playbill is to get the audience excited for the play and make them feel like Macbeth is a really big deal to anybody who has read it. The reason for our ads is to get the reader of the playbill into art and to make them recognized the potential of any kind of art that we have.
This is a picture of us working on the Macbeth project and brainstorming ideas for our actors and other ideas for our playbill. It took us a while to find an appropriate list of actors that were at least semi-decent.
This is me writing the cast of characters and finishing there descriptions of why we put them in the play. It took a while for us to make reasons for our actors and for us to explain why they would be in our play. Also why they would be these characters it was, very difficult for us to get in the mindset.
This a photo of me trying to draw something good for the playbill but I couldn’t figure out so I spent awhile trying to draw something good.
This a photo of what me and my brother were working on to actually put into the final product it took us a while to figure out what would be the best fit as an ad.
Here is a photo of me working on the rational it is difficult to work on it because I had to fish for photos I took on the school days and figure out our whole process and how to do it in the right format.
Believe it or not I took all the photos I used in the pamphlet while walking with my family and when I saw these locations and I thought they were totally appropriate for Macbeth.
This play is brought to you by the local art studio BLACK CAT BANDIT without there support this play would not be possible please help support their art after the show. There will be a support box after the show. (by Elogio Alfaro-Allah and Amado Alfaro-Allah) (Elogio Alfaro Allah) (Amado Alfaro-Allah) | Macbeth summary The premise of the play is that our main character Macbeth is told that he is gonna be king. So during the play we see his struggles as king as the change we see him change the action is like no other and it is very exciting. Throughout the story there are a lot of different problems Macbeth runs into for example; he is very conflicted for most of the play when he is told a prophecy by three witches and now he is unsure whether to kill the king to be king or not do anything and not knowing whether he should stand by not knowing if the prophecy was true or not. This play will have you on the edge of your seat, wishing for more.
| A playbill by the Three Kings brings you...
MACBETH
By Amado Alfaro-Allah Ethan Larrabee Sean Johnson |
Costumes of Macbeth description Since all of this takes place during the elizabethan era all of the costumes are fairly simple, but also full of variety. For example during that time period all of armor was very common on warriors and divine dresses would be worn by woman.
| Macbeth Characters/Cast
| Macbeth Locations Witches hut entrance I picked and took this photo for the witches hut because the stone looks really nice with all the nature surrounding. It fits the motif of nature in Macbeth perfectly. Macbeth’s castle of Dunsinane hill. The reason why I took and picked this photo is because the for and eeriness goes great with the prophecy that when the trees come to dunsinane hill Macbeth will be slain. Forest where Banquo gets slain took this photo and picked it because I feel like the eeriness of the forest goes great with the vibe of Macbeth. |
Here it is the finished project it took a while but with everybody's help we made it possible it was mostly just typing and taking pictures. But it was super fun to let our creative ideas flow into this small pamphlet that contains all our hopes and dreams. It was really fun to work with the guys it was very interesting of having Ethan and Sean as partners because they're 2 very different people kind of like opposites.
Banquo Murder Scene!- Justin Stewart and Ashton Reigner
Rationale
How the video came to life!
For our project, Ashton and I chose to do a Video Scene Depiction. We reenacted the scene, The Murder of Banquo. This scene takes place on Act 3 scene 4. We had to recreate the scene in our own words by using the language of Macbeth. We chose to pursue this scene because it is one of the most action packed scenes in the play and we thought it would be interesting to act this scene out. We start the scene with the three murderers, Ashton, Brendon, and, Leo. They were sent by Macbeth, Zaire, to Kill Banquo, Justin, and Fleance, Raymond. The third murder approaches the two original murders. He explains that Macbeth has sent him to help them with the deed. Suddenly, One of the murderers notices Banquo and Fleance approaching them. The murderers confronts Banquo and Fleance for a show down! But the numbers were too much for Banquo that lead to his downfall and Fleance escapes.
Original idea
When we first decided to do this project, we wanted to design a board game for the whole class to play. We didn’t have any ideas for the objective of the game. This was our initial plan but it went downhill. We then decided to do an even more interesting project for the both of us. This is when we decided to do a Video Scene Depiction. Ashton suggested to do the murder scene of Banquo. Then we both agreed to pursue that scene. But there was some obstacles we needed to overcome. First we had to redo our Check point #1 since we changed our idea. After we did that, We also had to find extra support. So we asked our friends to make appearances in it as well. Now that we had our actors and our scene, We also needed to design a script. After we designed the script it was time to create the film!
Supporters
For our video, We had supporters to play some extra roles. I would recommend giving them extra credit for being supportive to other students. They were willing to take time out of their own project schedule to be supportive to their fellow classmates. The names of these supporters are Raymond, Brendon, Leo, and Zaire. We all agreed to help each other prepare each other’s projects. We all wanted to take time out of our own project to help each other. I personally believe that every one of these supporters should receive extra credit because of their encouragement, Commitment, and, Leadership.
Conclusion
In conclusion, We enjoyed doing this project and we hope you will prepare another project in the future. For the next book we will be reading, We should have different options such as writing our own version of the book or creating a continuation of the book. If we do get another creative project, I would recommend giving us the same amount of time as you did for this project. I would also recommend putting us in groups of four just in case it is a major project. I enjoyed doing this project because, it helped show the teamwork of the project.
Macbeth The Musical: Christina Santana & Myah McCoy
Listed below are pictures of our process and our Rationale. To view our program click on the last picture, and it will direct you to the pdf download.
My Partner’s Blog: Myah
Rationale
The purpose of our Macbeth Creative Project was to demonstrate our understanding of the book Macbeth in a unique and creative way. We could demonstrate this by creating a musical, playbill, board game, video scene description, theatrical playbill, etc. Christina and I decided that we were going to do a musical to demonstrate our understanding of Macbeth. We thought that a musical would be the most interesting way to recreate the story in a sense of singing and acting. Our musical consist of all five acts in the story. The characters that sing in the main two songs of our musical are The Three Witches, Banquo’s ghost, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Various Lords. In Act 1, The Three Witches are singing their song “The Fortunes” to Macbeth and Banquo as they tell them each their three fortunes. This is the opening act in the musical. We choose to include this scene because this is where Macbeth’s personality and mindset change and will progress from then on throughout the book. Now that Macbeth knows that he will be king of Scotland, he is willing to do anything to make that happen because of his vaulting ambition. In Act 3, Banquo’s ghost singings the song “A Ghost Hath Come” to Macbeth because he is trying to understand why would Macbeth hire murderers to kill him. We wanted to included this scene because this is where Macbeth has one of his many inclusions and shows his true state of mind.
The two main songs in our musical are “A Ghost Hath Come” and “The Fortunes” . The Fortunes is sung by The Three Witches and A Ghost Hath Come is sung by Banquo, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and Various Witches. The lyrics for “Ghost Hath Come” show Banquo explaining his feelings about Macbeth knowing that he hired murderers to kill him. He feels confused, betrayed, and heartbroken that his closest friend would do such a thing. Christina and I wanted this song to have a sad and depressed tone to it so the audience can feel Banquo’s ghost emotions towards Macbeth. The lyrics for the song “The Fortunes” show The Three Witches telling Macbeth and Banquo their three fortunes. This song unlike “Ghost Hath Come” because it has a completely different tone to it. The tone of this song is comical and fun. It’s also much faster than Banquo’s ghost song. I wrote it like this because I wanted the witches to have a different approach to the musical. In the play the witches are creepy and scary, so I wanted them to come off as fun, creepy, and comically in our musical.
Other than the actual musical we also had to create a program for our musical. The program consists of each Act in story following various scenes from that act that Christina and I really felt stood out for us. All the scenes in the program have a song title based on what that specific scene is manly about. We decided to make it like this so when the audience reads our program they can have a better sense of what’s going on in the musical. The program also gives a brief description of each act and the scene that goes along with it. It also has the characters and setting in that scene and act. Lastly, our program includes the lyrics of our two main songs so the audience can follow along when the characters are singing. This will make the audience have a stronger connection with our musical. Therefore, making our theater(The Dagger Rimmed Crown & Co.) business succeed.
My Partner’s Blog: Myah
Q1BM2: Macbeth Choose Your Own Adventure - Kwan Hopkins and Jack Sugrue
My partner, Jack, and I decided that it would be really fun to write an Macbeth version of a "Choose Your Own Adventure". We felt that this was a very creative approach to this project. We found an amazing resource to help us with this kind of thing and it really set what we were going to do in stone. We started off thinking that there should be only the main story line and every time that there would be a decision to be made one would be either one that progresses the story or one that ends the story. We decided against that because it really takes a lot of the creativity out of the "Creative Project".
The purpose of this project was to find ways to make Macbeth even more interesting than it already is. We thought "What better way to show this than to create our own tellings of how Macbeth's life may or may not have gone?" To fully understand how this project works, one should have a creative and open mind so that they can see the other sides of Macbeth's story and not get upset. Many readers of Macbeth think he deserved what happened to him at the end of his story but others do not. Either way, anyone could get upset at the creativity that comes out of our Adventures.
We decided to use Inklewriter to help create our book. We used Inklewriter because it is for making interactive stories and that's exactly what we wanted to do for our benchmark. While it's not collaborative, we used it because it was our best option to complete this task. Since Inklewriter is not collaborative, we thought that we should find a way to work together or this. We thought that we should use Google Docs to type out our scenarios together. Then, we would copy and paste them into the interactive story.
Another idea that we just had to integrate into out "Choose Your Own Adventure" book was a line that comes up very often in our stream: "IT'S OVER." When the reader has made a bad decision, they will most likely be killed. So when they are killed a picture of Kwan comes up with the caption "It's over." We decided to do this because it adds even more creativity to our book and it's really, really funny. We want whoever's reading this to be able to enjoy themselves and see that even Macbeth is something everyone can enjoy.
Writing a "Choose Your Own Adventure book" seems to have been a fun experience and a great productive use of our time. Not only were we able to review things that we read in Macbeth, we were able to have fun while doing it. We were able to create something. We chose to do this because it seemed to be very different from all of the other options. We think that that this is truly one of the reasons that we decided to create this interactive book and hope that everyone who reads it will be able to enjoy it.
You can find our story here.
Bajirao Mastani-Mako Mori Test
The movie Bajirao Mastani, is a newly released movie from Bollywood. The movie was based on a true life story of Mastani, a princess, a warrior, a court dancer. Mastani in real life, was born 1699, Bundelkhand. Mastani was a princess, but was also a warrior, trying to protect her homeland. She met Mastani, a male warrior in the battleground, and ask of him to help her. She grew to like Bajirao. She then left her home, to go find Bajirao, who had already went back to his homeland, after helping her homeland. She did not follow by the rules, she set her own, venture out after what she wants. It was about her life, and the control she had of it, instead of the typical thought when it come to princesses. It was not about Bajirao, the person she went after, that lead her to a whole new land, but what she believed in, and how she get what she wants.
The movie passed the Mako Mori Test. The Mako Mori test consist of three things.
“ -A film having at least one female character.
- That character having her own narrative arc.
The narrative arc can not be about supporting a man’s story.”
Bajirao Mastani, had more than one female character. Mastani had her own narrative arc, that does not support a man’s story, even though she did fought for the love she had for Bajirao. She did it out of what she want, what she believed in, she went through great measures, that women at that time would not do. She was also a warrior, who actually went to was with Bajirao. It was about her, taking control of her life, as a powerful woman.
My anti-gender bias film test would be…
There’s a female with leading role in the movie.
Female being able to be independent.
Female fight for what they believe in.
Female who have her own narrative arc.
The movie Bajirao Mastani and my own test.
The movie would still pass, it pass each and everyone of them. Even though the name of the movie is Bajirao Mastani, Mastani and her lover Bajirao. The main focus is on the power Mastani had, going against all odds. Of going to a new kingdom, having people want her dead left and right Protecting herself and her baby. It was how the character Mastani portrayed as one of the strongest characters in the movie.U2-#8 (Benjamin Seing)
The
video we watched was called "Growing Up Online"
The show was about the online usage and the people behind it. All of the social that the children was using was doing stuff behind their parents back. Some people were doing games and talking gossip on others. Some students were being teased and made fun of, yet some people suppress these issues and some may hurt themselves.
The most memorable thing that I remembered was the part when the kid in school was made fun of and was thinking of suicide. He was taking with another person online and searching how commit to suicide. He would search how to tie a knot that he hang himself to. After he passed, his father went to his laptop and talked the people he chatted recently and searched his history to find out why he has done such thing.
What I felt that it is important to watch the video is because the world and generation today is filled with internet and online usage. We needed to see the first hand experience of the problems that the people were facing. These things may help the parents to control the internet and the online social media.
To keep my future family safe from the dangerous acts, I can always lock Safe search on. For the ones for online social media, keep an eye out for the ones they follow and check their devices casually.
If our family were not to talk about the safety, then there will be a situation that will linger in the safety. The thought about safety will at least be a magnet when using the internet when they do use it. It will keep the family from separating and have still a physical connection.
My advice for parents that don't know about these possibilities is to show and explain what consequences their children will face and the fear they might contact to.
Él Triángulo De Amor: Doniesha, Imani, Lauren, Hamidou
In this show, you will see that Blanca really likes Pablo and gets distracted by his handsomeness. She likes him so much that she can even speak clearly when he is around. However, Pablo does not like Blanca but he likes her best friend, Liliana. What a change in events! In the end, everyone is friends-- or are they? Tune in next week for the next episode of: Él Triángulo De Amor!!
U2-#8 - Seng, Meymey
What TV show did you watch in class?
The TV show that we watched in class was "Growing Up Online".
What was this show about?
This show was about how technology affects people differently. For example, it may make other people get cyber-bullied, while others feel like being online is like their safe haven. Also, this show tells us about how it affects schools and education. Having laptops for everyone in the school really increased the drop-out rates and the academic rates. Although, the kids could get distracted online. Even with this, adults took the turn to look at it in a positive way, that the kids learning how to multi-task is good. A third thing that this show tells us about is how technology separates kids from their parents.
What is the most memorable thing to you about this show?
The most memorable thing to me from this show was how business meetings are taken place in a 3-D game called "Second Life". The reason behind this is to save money from having to travel into an actual meeting. The concept of this is okay, but I think they take it too far. Second Life is made for gaming and having a business meeting in a game takes out the seriousness. Also, when they say wait a second, they have to change their avatar's outfit for the meeting was a bit too far because they are taking it as if it was real life. Another thing was that they had to move their meeting to another table because it was able to fit everyone in better. I would say that these things are a bit too much because they're treating it like a game.
Why/Why not - is it important to watch shows like these?
I think that it is important to watch shows like these because it allows us to see parents, teachers, and children's point of views about technology. It shows us the bad things that can happen online and it shows us to be careful of the reality that goes on.
How will you keep your future family safe online?
I will keep my future family safe online by setting a time limit for them online and taking their electronic devices when they go to bed. I will also be honest with them and tell them about what can happen online and hope for the best.
Why is it important to talk with your family about internet safety
It is important to talk to my family about internet safety because you will NEVER be able to know everything that someone does online. So, there's only so much you can do, and that's telling them the truth about what can happen.
What advice would you give to parents that don't know how to keep their children safe online?
Some advice that I would give to parents that don't know how to keep their children safe online is to just talk to their kids and tell them about the things that could happen online. Also, to not to ask them for their personal passwords and stay on them every time their online. If they do this then the child will feel integrated and not want to share with their parents. This is extremely bad because you want your child to be able to talk to you.
U2#8 - Myah McCoy
In class we watch Frontline's Digital Nation. The show points out many different things about the internet. One of them was teens growing up online. Teenagers are coming more and more amune to the internet. It can become addictive. Some teens in the video were addicted to social media others were addicted to video games. The most memorable thing that stood out to me was when one of the teenagers said that "when your're online you can anybody you want". This stood out to me because it's so true. Nobody knows who you really are online, it's a escape from reality. It's important to watch videos like these because it makes you realize hoe much we really do use the internet everyday and to not become addicted to it. It also makes you aware of all the dangers the internet can bring if you're not careful. I will keep my future family safe online by having a family computer in the living. Everyone will have their seprate account on the computer and everyone will have a hourly limit on the computer. I will also talk to them about all the dangers that are on the internet so they can be more aware. The advice that I would give to parents that don't know how to keep their their children safe will be to talk to them about the dangers of the internet. Also to have a hourly limit on how much time they can be online.
http://www.crazy4computers.net/uploads/8/0/8/1/8081888/6352317_orig.gif
U2#8-Elbakhadaoui
Frontline: Growing up online
It was about the internet and what parents think about it and what they think about how teens these days are using it.
The most memorable thing about this show was when a kid was convinced by his friend to kill himself and a website.
It is important to watch shows like these so we can learn about everyone's point of view about the internet and the different ways people decide to use it.
Make sure they don’t talk to people they don’t know and not to post anything stupid.
It is important to talk to your family and friends about internet safety because it can also keep them safe and they can give you good advice.
I would tell not to be too protective but just enough to know that they’re not talking to strangers so they should give their children advice then let them do what they need to do.
Growing Up Online - #8
1.What TV show did you watch in class?
Growing Up Online
2.What was this show about?
It was about how high school students and the dangers of them basically growing up in such a technology friendly era.
3.What is the most memorable thing to you about this show?
The most memorable thing about this show was when the mother of a high school student informed her kid's friends parents about a video showing the inappropriate behavior of them on a train. The mother received many different reactions from the parents from "thank you for informing me" to "get out of our business. It surprised me because what parent wouldn't want to know any trouble there kid is getting into.
7. What advice would you give to parents that don't know how to keep their children safe online?
Growing Up Online
2.What was this show about?
It was about how high school students and the dangers of them basically growing up in such a technology friendly era.
3.What is the most memorable thing to you about this show?
The most memorable thing about this show was when the mother of a high school student informed her kid's friends parents about a video showing the inappropriate behavior of them on a train. The mother received many different reactions from the parents from "thank you for informing me" to "get out of our business. It surprised me because what parent wouldn't want to know any trouble there kid is getting into.
4. Why/Why not - is it important to watch shows like these?
It is important to watch shows like this because it aware you of all the dangers that lurk online from social media to games themselves.
5.How will you keep your future family safe online?
To keep my future family safe online I would establish early on the rules of online to build it into them early so they know their rights for their wrongs. I would also create parental controls to restrict bad things from happening.
6. Why is it important to talk with your family about internet safety
It is important to teach your family about internet safety so, again, they can be aware of dangers that lurk online.
7. What advice would you give to parents that don't know how to keep their children safe online?
I would tell that to make there children aware of the dangers and for them themselves to learn dangers so they know how to prevent it.
U2 #8 Reflection Media
In class we watched Frontline's Digital Nation. The show was about a couple of teenagers who viewed online as a their own digital reality. They were able to really be themselves on the internet without any real physical judgement. The most memorable thing that stood out to me was the ending part when "Autumn's" parents begin to accept her for who she is and who she really wants to be. It is very important to watch shows lie these because it is REALITY! It gives you a feel of people's everyday life. It makes you feel for them and basically just lets you know that there are people out there who are struggling with these types of problems. My future family will remain safe online by following rules and regulations that I set for them. (ie. Tell an adult if there is anything that makes you feel uncomfortable) Also, I will be really strict with enforcing those rules. I believe it is important to talk about internet safety with your family even though people don't do it. It is important because at the end of the day you want to keep your family safe and at well-being. Make sure you check in on your child's online activity even if you have to do it on a sneak.
U2-#8 Amaris Ortiz
In class, we watched Digital Nation, which was a show about the dangers of technology. The most memorable thing to me about this show was that the teachers or principals could see what was on the students’ computer screens. It is important to watch shows like this because it shows kids what to do and what not to do while using the internet. I will keep my future family safe online by making sure that they now about the precautions when using the internet so that they do not run into trouble later on online. I would tell parents who don’t know how to keep their children safe online to make sure they trust that their kids, know what they are doing on the internet, and to not constantly be checking what they are doing.
U2-#8 Jowon Dorbor
- What show did you watch in class? We watched Digital Nation.
- What was this show about? This show was about the different outcomes of using the internet in different ways.
- What is the most memorable thing to you about this show? This most memorable was the websites that kid have access (How To Have a Successful Suicide ).
- Why/Why not - is it important to watch shows like these? It's important because parents need to know how much of an influence the internet can have on their child.
- How will you keep your future family safe online? By making them thing of the outcomes of the action they make.
- Why is it important to talk with your family about internet safety? It's important because anything can happen from poor usage on the internet.
- What advice would you give to parents that don't know how to keep their children safe online? Advice is to have rules. What you should/should not do.
