At the start of the year I decided to try and make a robot. However, while I was thinking about making a robot, most of the work that I did this year actually circled around a club I was making after school.

Since the capstone should be something that reflects 80 hours of work, I decided to present on my club. I also think that a liberal-arts driven capstone demonstrates my time here better than a STEM focused one. The Dungeons and Dragons club was a group of people that were largely gathered first quarter and then socialized in their groups. Three separate groups were made, and they changed evolved as the year progressed. I was interested in fostering a community and making an enjoyable environment that people could relax in. D&D gives a framework for interaction and gives people a bond that other relationships can more organically form around. I’m proud of the community I’ve fostered, and hope that it will continue next year.

Sorting

This document outlines the process by which the groups were made this year. This also outlines a way that interest can be organized next year.

Y-Band

This document shows some of the preliminary community building.

Plot

This shows some of the work that I put into making an enjoyable experience for the group I was in charge of (I was in charge of one of the three groups, contributed to another, and the the third flourished without me).

Rules (more rules)

These are the rules that my group followed, but more than three other systems were integrated as the year progressed.

(info available upon request)

Future consideration

These are resources which might help groups work more easily in the future.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 2d ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1972. Print.  

D&D is a largely story driven game, and Joseph Campbell wrote guides to stories well. While D&D is a system that is largely driven by the players, the GM is the person who decides who they will run across and what they will encounter. Also, there are seminal events that happen in stories that can be adapted to the context of Dungeons and Dragons. It is interesting how characters sometimes stand out in games, by how the players value them and their importance to the story arc. Sometimes important characters are completely abandoned. The importance of using characters that instinctively stand out is just as much for the players to feel like they’re a part of the story as it is for the GM to help the characters build a story they’d enjoy.

Cook, Monte, and Sean K. Reynolds. Numenera. S. L.: Monte Cook Games, LLC, 2013. Print.  

The Numenera system has a couple of interesting benefits that differentiate it from many others. It is meant to be played like a pulp-science fiction novel (akin to Star Wars in many ways). While many of the themes are science based or science driven, the world itself has no science. There are no explanations for their miraculous devices, they simply function. Mechanically, this system gives a system driven on expenditure (not unlike the classic spell system of Dungeons and Dragons). Stylistically, this is meant to show how an adventure for a hero gets progressively harder through the story, regardless of the difficulties they face. Another interesting mechanic is that experience points (the way characters progress) are awarded when players discover things. This creates an environment where the players have to ask questions and explore the settings rather than solely focus on attacking.

Dungeons & Dragons,. '4'. Elemental Evil. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 May 2015.

This podcast shows a live stream of a D&D game that takes place during comic-con. It’s an intentionally entertaining game, something that is fun to watch and to (it looks like) be playing as well. The game is set up in a very theatrical way, with an open game board so that it’s easy to watch. The gameplay itself is comical, with large reactions and abstract encounters. Everything can be interacted with, and the GM does a good job of making sure that everything benefits you from having been interacted with. The players themselves are mostly writers and artists, so they have awesome backstories and the plot is well formulated.

"Horror Roleplaying Part 1. Setting the Mood." Dice of Doom. 21 July 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.

This source explains how to foster a different setting for D&D. More often than not, players don’t worry about their characters. They’re divorced from the game play and the experience is more to be enjoyed than to be thrilling. The post is written about what to do to set the mood. They recommend a room that is inhospitable; poorly lit or heated. They also recommend setting a more somber mood during game sessions. While this premise is fun it’s not likely to work at D&D at school. Most of the time, games are treated as games; not as anything serious. This is a fun circumstantial game play method.

Iron Kingdoms Core Rulebook. Privateer, 2013. Print.  

Iron Kingdoms is a tabletop RPG system that works off of 2d6 (two six sided dice). The idea behind the system is that rolling two dice gives a better probability (7 is the most likely number) rather than a d20 which has equal probability from 1-20. Iron Kingdoms is derived from wargames, so rather than using the grid setup which D&D uses the players measure directly from their miniatures in order to decide how far characters move. Another interesting part of this system is that spell casters aren’t limited in the spells they can cast a day but by the points of spells they can cast each round. This system works because spells do about as much damage as other types of attacks.

Mearls, Mike. D&D 5th Edition Players Handbook. N.p.: Wizards of the Coast, 2014. Print.

Fifth edition simplified many of the mechanics in D&D to try and make them more instinctive and less about hours of study. They got rid of many of the small modifiers (+2 attack from flanking, +2 to attack and -2 to armor on charge, separate armor class when surprised), and put everything into a new mechanic called advantage. Instead of adding small circumstantial bonuses to the attack rolls, the player rolls to dice and takes the higher one. Another simplification is the elimination of feats. In 3.5, a character gains a feat every two levels, which adds an amazing amount of diversity and complexity to the game. However, feats are troublesome to navigate and require specific paths to get to more beneficial abilities. 5th edition replaces that with greater diversity inside of each class.

"Pathfinder_OGC." Pathfinder_OGC. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. .

The Pathfinder system is built off of the open format game license. This allows for the Pathfinder core rules to closely mirror those of D&D while at the same time distancing themselves subtly. Some of these subtle differences are names of gods and some terms that each of the companies have copyrighted. PFSRD made more powerful characters than 3rd edition by letting species play a bigger role in development, and also by letting all of the classes have more abilities at first level. Also they have systems in place that allow for specialization into very specific areas. However, as the system expanded over the years, not all abilities were play tested and balanced in comparison to each other. This created a situation where extremely powerful characters could be built by stringing disparate material together.

Peterson, Jon. "History: Forty Years of Adventure." Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast, 19 May 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.  

Rather than explaining gameplay, this source focuses on the history of D&D. It outlines the war games that D&D came from, and how it was publicized through magazines prior to its release. However, this is a timeline for D&D, not tabletop role playing games overall. While it contains valuable information about how the setting developed and D&D propagated itself, it doesn’t show how other companies followed D&D to make similar games. Regardless, this source functions to show how long the game has been around and how many people and hours of work went into continually building the company, but it also shows through the number of items produced that there was a continuing market for theses games, and that each edition (while different) was purchasable in and of itself.

Quick, Jeff. "Front Page." Sakuru. Pbworks, 1 June 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.  

This is a website explaining a specific world of D&D. Most of the rules are the same as other D&D systems, but the spells are slightly weaker and there are more miscellaneous benefits attributed to classes. Sakuru is heavily inspired by the work of Miyazaki, so the world is heavily based off of legends and slowly growing magical powers. Items that have been in use for generation begin to gain powers from the fact that they were used in those ways. Similarly, nature spirits come purely from the age and power that the elements have accumulated. By prioritizing found items, it encourages the players to explore rather than develop themselves. The website provides information about the world and system rather than a scenario itself in the hope that players will largely guide the way they interact with people. However, such an open scenario often causes a lack of drive that makes the game lack the long story arc Joseph Campbell would say we all instinctively look for.

Rhem, Scott. "The Angry GM." The Angry GM. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.  

The Angry GM is a blog that focuses on teaching GMs how to play their role more effectively. The role of GM is to lead the story; the person playing it is responsible for the setting and for the actions of all non-player characters. Since the job is so central, it’s the one that requires the most preparation and understanding. Angry GM talks about some of the ways stories can be made more engaging and for how GMs can prepare for what the group’s encounters will be. He does this comedically and through many curse words. However, this source also represents how a GM helping text can be written. They’re important, but it’s often hard to keep the attention of teenagers. Texts like this may help.

A giant metal behemoth span through orbit at thousands of miles an hour. Moth like in appearance, the middle was a cylinder roughly the size of the Hubble Telescope and each of its wings were thin layers of absolute darkness that covered a quarter of a kilometer.

EC21-2,750 began to warm up the laser in its central cylinder. Flying through space it was the pinnacle of modern technology*, and launching the first one (EC21-1) into space had almost driven it’s developers bankrupt. Its four large solar fans could unfold 500 meters out and 500 meters wide, and during lift off literally weighed tons. Nobody knew if the firing system would be adversely affected during lift off. It hadn’t been. It had functioned perfectly, and its 27,659th grandchild was about to follow in its footsteps.

Its large onboard battery didn’t heat at all as the orbiting stating prepared to fire its laser. That would be emitting frequency in infrared, and when it emitted a wavelength the station always made sure it was much stronger than that. The onboard computer of the station recognized the location and began firing the laser, a ray so strong that the eye couldn’t register seeing it and so tight a wavelength that it wobbled less than the nucleus of a hydrogen atom. A pillar of these threads of light punched through the atmosphere relaying the power to a station on the ground.

Energy Collection model 21 unit 2,750 had deposited its power, and mere seconds afterwards, EC25-2,483,950 also deposited its energy.

*Or it had been for about 6 months, but that was a year ago, so it was still moderately groundbreaking. Not like the EC10 class. Those guys were amazingly outdated.

Amelia looked at the the flower. Its petals were brown and slightly curled, as it lay in the garden. She packed the dirt around its base, and plucked a withered leaf off it.

The rest of the garden was in a similar state of disrepair. Plants that would normally be growing well were dying, and some plants had already assumed that it was fall and started dropping their leaves. She loyally crawled through the beds of plants, pruning and letting them devote more energy to things towards new leaves rather than those already withered.

As Amelia lay back she shuddered. Even in the middle of the day, the light felt dim. Turning in disgust she left the garden and moved into her house. Locking the door behind her Amelia moved inside, turning on the lights in every room, not because she was scared but… well, not not because she was scared. Generally she didn’t. Her parents had driven it into her that she shouldn’t keep the lights on, because they didn’t like paying the electric bill. Oh, and because it would kill the planet, but nobody liked mentioning that. Of course now she had to pay the electric bills, but if she wanted to pay a little more today she could. It was a liberating feeling.

As her computer began to download a video to watch in her downtime, its screen displayed the pre-downloaded news. More incidents of crimes taking place in the dark, of pot use changing to psychedelic mushrooms due to the scarcity of marijuana, and of a government official being bribed. No one cited the massive Energy Collectors as the reason for this, but almost all of the ads were purchased by the EC. Most ads on the net were these days. She furrowed her brow at the screen, but it quickly relaxed as the video began to play.

Amelia drove to work in her electric car. The prevalent use of smart cars may have horrified cultures of the past, but it was pragmatic after a time. ‘Gas Stations’ got discounts and bought electricity through bulk purchases, and also used a higher amperage than what was used in normal electric lines. They had no qualms that the world had switched over to electric.

As she stopped at a light, she saw a V of birds flying south overhead, preparing for the winter. 3 months early. While that was strange and unnatural, it wasn’t that surprising. It felt like fall, the days were shorter and it was colder than normal. As the light stopped, she saw one bird fall from the flock fall to the ground, crashing into a sidewalk.

Amelia looked at it again. She checked her watch. She did some math. The light turned green, and she crossed the street, pulled over to the side of the road and got out. The bird flapped a little.

She looked at it. Amelia didn’t know if she wanted to get close to it. Birds weren’t the most cleanly creatures, and if it was still alive it might bite. Or peck, since birds don’t have teeth… Regardless, she just kind of squatted next to it, looking down at its once flapping body. The bird didn’t move. Amelia moved her head closer, for a better look. The bird didn’t move. She kind of nudged it with her foot. The bird was moved, but didn’t react at all.

Finally at peace that the little bird wouldn’t somehow kill her, Amelia got down to looking at the details of what the little bird looked like. Sad was apparently the answer. Other than the fall having looked like it broke its wing, the bird looked completely starved, its little skeleton almost visible beneath its feathers.

Amelia sat there for a second, pondering of the strange events. The bird moving south early and the bird starving to death in the process was just strange. The bird had starved to death flying south for the winter. Except that the expectation of winter was a lie brought on by darker days, later sunrises and earlier sunsets.

She stopped her pondering to check her watch, and saw that she had to stop her pondering for a bit more time than that.

Taking out her cellphone, she snapped off a quick picture of the bird, and then on a spur of the moment decision she picked it up and put it in her trunk before going off to work.

“Ms. Smith!” Johnny said “Is this right?”

Amelia smiled down at him, if you could really call a smile that thin a “smile”. It was a grimace stretched out and curled up at the ends.

“Indoor voices Johnny” Amelia rebuked “But yes, that’s correct good job.”

Johnny smiled back, completely missing Amelia’s annoyance, and dumped all the puzzle pieces back onto the floor so he could put it together again. She made eye contact with the other teacher across the room. Mrs. Clifford looked back, and nodded. The kids were getting a bit too loud, and it was time to begin the next activity.

Mrs. Clifford stood in front of the class, and smiled gaudily.

“Okay everyone, it’s drawing time! Ms. Smith is handing out paper, make sure to say thank you, and today we’ll draw about the last time you saw a shooting star. Draw yourself and the star in one picture, and then we’ll draw what you wished for in the next one. Yes Daphne?”

“What’s a star?”

Amelia swooped in next to Daphne to handle the miniature crisis.

“Stars honey, the lights in the sky that come out at night?”

Daphne furrowed her brow.

“I don’t remember seeing lights at night. It’s just dark.” Daphne said.

“I’m sure you just go to bed too early for it.” Amelia replied and straightened to walk away.

“I haven’t either!” Said Johnny, “And I didn’t go to bed until ten last week!”

The other kids looked at him with slight awe. He puffed up his chest in pride.

“I’ve seen them,” floated the dreamy voice of Sarah from across the classroom “but not for awhile. I think they just don’t like coming out any more”

“I don’t know what to draw” Johnny complained, “can you show me pictures”

“Draw dots on the sky, with yourself underneath it.” Mrs. Clifford intervened, “And then draw your wish on another paper.”

The kids finally settled down and started making drawing.

“Do they really not know what stars look like?” Amelia

“I don’t know.”Mrs. Clifford replied.

“I know that they need to know.” She said, her mouth a smile. A tight smile.

Amelia had decided that a mass email to all of the parents at school over their children’s ignorance was bad idea, but she still could try and remedy the problem. She was about halfway through creating a website for public awareness when she found another website made to do the same thing, and she learned that she hadn’t been halfway done with her website. In fact Amelia might never have been able to accomplish what the Association Against Energy Collectors had with only the online ‘make your own website’ kit she had been using for free. The AAEC homepage was stark and annoyingly devoid of graphics; except it had a tiered forum system that allowed people to share information globally, super-regionally, regionally, and locally. Of course she joined immediately, and in a moment of weakness she used her actual name.

All of the forums had pictures of strange behaviors by animals, stories about societal breakdowns, and the question of why energy wasn’t free. Of course all forums had their share of mystics who hated Earth’s separation from the stars and people who complained about the economic plight of the Middle East in a post-oil world, but internet trolls were always a result of open discourse.

As Amelia followed the information, she realized that there wasn’t any single place that compiled all of the information. While of the forums had similar information, none had any real numbers, none stated things politely, and none gathered information about world wide similarities. Slightly annoyed, she clicked the email box in the corner of her screen and sent an email.

The information on the local forums included birds migration and crime rates, but the primary focus was on a local rally. Apparently there was a public relations department of the EC was close by, and the rally there was supposed to support civilian sunlight rights. It was important, but was really just a stepping stone for a larger rally that would be happening at EC headquarters themselves later in the year, which also was thankfully close. The thread was mostly about what signs people should carry. After a moment of thought Amelia posted that they should just carry birds in.

As Amelia was just about ready to hibernate her computer and start work on a lesson plan, she received a reply from the system admin.

Amelia Smith,

While we appreciate your drive, we don’t have anyone to devote to that. As a mainly volunteer organization, AAEC would be happy to post your articles, if you actually write them.

Amelia checked her watch. She had some time, and she had Excel on her laptop. She could get some work done.

Amelia checked her watch and leaned on her car. It was about an hour before the rally was scheduled to start, but she was composing herself. For the last three and a half weeks she had been posting reviews of the global condition, and for about half that time she was getting global feedback. Feedback at all was more than Amelia was expecting, but she was getting enough that she had to set up a different email account for it, and she got it to be hosted by the AAEC. The local forum had started calling for her by name whenever there was a question, and she had been uncertain on how to present herself for the rally. She had taken the safest route and dressed business casual, not how she normally presented herself, but first impressions were important.

“Excuse me?”

Amelia looked up startled. A news car had appeared in front of her and a bright eyed news caster was looking at her with a gaudy grin. The joys of electric cars was like constantly opening a present, surprising but not always in a good way.

“The rally’s not for an hour. This can surely wait until then.” She said straightening herself.

The reporter froze. He looked at the news car, and the camera mounted above it, and then back at her.

“Well then preliminary comments? How about your name, and how you’re associated?”

Amelia looked at him, and sighed. This is what the whole rally was likely to entail.

“I’m Amelia Smith, and I work on the-”

“You’re the one who writes the instructional part of the website!” The newscaster jumped in “I’ve read all of your posts! Is it really true that over 100 species of migratory birds are currently starving by beginning migration early?”

“Yes,” Amelia thinly smiled “otherwise I wouldn’t have posted it. I gathered pictures from across the global forums and had 5 birdwatchers and a zoologist identify them. Four more were identified, but only half could agree on them, so they were not included.”

“And you personally are interested in this because of children?” the newscaster continued undaunted.

Amelia sighed, and began answering questions. The newscaster not only seemed to enjoy every piece of information she gave him, but ask for more. She had more though, a result of trolls on the internet asking too many annoying questions, and she used her experience as a preschool teacher to say the facts simply.

“Thank you Ms.Smith for your understanding of the AAEC, we will be back later for the rally.” He grinned. As suddenly as the newscaster swooped in, he exited.

A car pulled up, and a heavily bearded head popped out.

“Is this the rally?”

Amelia sighed.

The rally had gone well.

More people had shown up than she had predicted would, and they all actually seemed invested in the cause. Throughout the event Amelia had stood in the back watching and checking to see if everything went according to plan. It did, being rather simple. Most of the protest was composed of yelling and waving dead birds on sticks (She gave all of her birds out to the others. They smelled.), but to end the protest they lit sparklers that represented the stars. They aptly burned brightly for seconds and then disappeared. Then a specifically chosen group of protesters went into press release building and had a sit in. After all, is it really a protest without a couple of arrests?

At the start of the protest Amelia had decided to be amiable, and had introduced herself to the earliest protestors. They had all already known of her, and didn’t seem too offput by her actual appearance. Nonetheless, Amelia had appreciated her business suit. As more people showed up, Amelia had withdrawn to watch and to antisocially rest. However, a crowd of people followed her. Instead of introductions taking place, the new protestors would instead introduce themselves, and meet Ms.Smith. Ms. Smith would then either start a conversation or smile a tight lipped smile at them and continue her moments of isolation. Regardless of whether she chose isolation or society, she was always able to rejoin the community the moment she wished. Being able to choose felt good.

Leaning back in her chair she smiled. It had been a good day, and proof was laid out on the computer screen in front of her. The news networks and daytime TV had latched onto the AAEC protest as a way of keeping viewers awake with their sensationalist stories of countercultural warriors. Amelia guessed that conclusion made sense. They were against one of the most taken for granted companies that existed. Energy collectors had stopped wars, started wars, and prevented global warming. A group of corpse waving fanatics that went against such a superpower could really only be seen as laughable. However, at the very least it gave the group notoriety. The local thread had just become a buzz of new greetings and moving pictures from the protest.

Ms. Smith didn’t post anything about it in her section though. Her section of the website was devoted only to the most important global issues. Public forums would have to be enough for the bragging.

A pop up appeared in the top right of her screen. She had gotten an e-mail from the AAEC headquarters.

Amelia walked into the pre-school for the last time. Her smiles were uncharacteristically honest as she talked to the kids. They kind of fawned back, not saying any real full sentences, just exclamations tied together into something that made sense somewhere in their heads. The points sometimes got across. She smiled anyway.

Before the day really began she pulled Mrs. Clifford aside.

“I can’t be here anymore.” She told her. “I know it’s unprofessional, but I have leave in the middle of the year.”

“I’m not sure I understand. You’re leaving? When? Why?, unless it’s too personal.” Mrs. Clifford calmly interrogated, swapping glances between her and the classroom of kids. She kept a placid smile on her face.

“I was offered a job at a not-for-profit organization. AAEC, it does work that will hopefully let the kids see stars again.”Amelia responded.

“Not teaching... to help children... certainly shows a certain imagination.” Mrs. Clifford said, lifting the edges of her lips into a smirk.

“It’s temporary! When things change I won’t be needed anymore.”

“That’s not going to work.” Mrs. Clifford turned her full attention to Amelia “Lifestyle choices have the tendency to change your life. It may be possible for you to return, but… well you’re always welcome here.”

“Thank you. But I think the AAEC really needs me.”

It was a mess. The constant compilation of data that was necessary for her job made Amelia’s eyes ache. The feedback was a constant rush and even trying to reply to one in three email she received was impossible. An even bigger mess was preparation for protesting at the EC’s main headquarters.

The headquarters were in the middle of a megalopolis, and when they sent out a memo they received nearly two thousand replies. A march on the central headquarters would be the biggest thing that the AAEC had ever done. It just wasn’t equipped to prepare for it. The actual organization had tens of thousands of members world wide, but it only had about a hundred employees. Of these only a percentage were in the area, and of these only a small percentage was Ms. Smith, but she felt like she was burdened with all of the work.

She knew that she was actually only working on different tasks than the others, they just seemed infinitely more frustrating. Amelia had been tasked to be the PR person for the group. While other members would work towards finding housing for traveling members and locating parking for the locals, Mrs.Smith was gathering media attention. Apparently her part of the website was the one most heavily viewed by non-members, and she was lucky enough to have been featured on several TV shows. These TV shows generally ‘allowed’ her to also talk a little about her cause before hand, adding an extra layer of stress. She wasn’t exactly a talky person, and the media coverage added to her frequent blogging made her feel exposed and exhausted.

Except that she had a way to deal with this situation. Amelia opened her email and looked at all of the emails she was sent every day, and she felt supported.

“Where are the stars?”

‘Gone’ was the answer the screaming crowd tried to say, but when hundreds of people scream at once words stop working. A wave of sound hit the man with the microphone, but that was kind of how it was supposed to work.

Standing in the back Ms. Smith didn’t participate, but just replied to whoever talked to her. At first this meant responding to protesters who wanted to meet her, but it eventually became the news network. The biggest change was when the birds came out.

A whole mob of people carrying dead birds stinks. The air was foul with their stench. The crowd around Ms. Smith parted slightly and a cop walked up to her.

“The rally itself is fine, but having this many dead bodies around may be unsafe. I have to ask you to stop them.” The cop said, mindful of the protesters around him. In the path he caused in the crowd, cops followed him.

“We didn’t bring the birds, they already were here. Dead. They starved themselves flying south for the winter in the August. We’re merely displaying what was already around.” Ms. Smith replied.

“The reason behind them being dead aren’t my job. I’m just letting you know that the protesters need to be told it’s a safety issue for them to be held up like that.” the straight faced cop replied.

“If that’s what you have decided, then you should tell them.” Ms. Smith said

The cop looked at the crowd around him, and then at the crowd of thousands screaming closer towards the AAC headquarters. He looked at her.

“I think that you have to tell them.”

“I’m in no position of authority over them, I just raised awareness of the protest. I’m not carrying a bird. If you want to stop them you should.”

The cop looked at the crowd. He looked at the 20 cops behind him. He looked at the crowd. He looked at Ms. Smith. “I never said that they should stop. I just said they should know that it is unsafe.”

And then he left.

Two days after the protests began the company let it be known that they were willing to make a deal. Of course, they weren’t going to negotiate with the whole mob, but they were willing to negotiate with twenty people.

AAEC hadn’t quite prepared for this possibility, but a crack team was quickly made. Amelia and a couple of other important public AAEC figures were included, as well as more of the actual organizers and a few members who were lawyers.

The group all walked together into the building, and were met by a man with a smile and a handshake.

“I’m Greg Wharton, the current CEO of the company. I hope we can come to an agreement. But where are my manners! Negotiations will happen at a more proper location. If you would follow me…”

Mrs. Smith turned her nose up upon entering. The Energy Collector headquarters were unnecessarily opulent, made more pompous by the CEO’s constant jabbering. It was a 10-story building with a green roof, and every floor was unnecessarily packed with electronics. The floors were TV screens, windows live streams of views worldwide, and most functions in the building were automated. In spite of the constantly working electronics, the rooms were kept cool through constantly running central air.

Energy Collector was extremely proud that their technology meant that electricity couldn’t kill the planet, and found it necessary to flaunt their power as much as possible.

Greg took the group up an elevator, and the whole entourage exited onto the green roof. Bare grass was underfoot, and Greg led them to the edge of it and looked over the fence at the gathered mob. He turned around and smiled.

“You’ve gathered quite a force. Media coverage is flocking over this mess, and we don’t like it. We are willing to acquiesce to some of your demands.”

Mr. Tarn stepped forward.

“Our organization demands more equal orbits of satellites, a recognition of people’s right to sunlight, and an effort on behalf of the company to lighting our streets after dark.”

Amelia smiled.

“My company is willing to create community help programs to help after dark.”

“I don’t think you understand Mr. Wharton. These are our final demands, we can’t step down any farther than this. The people have expectations.”

Greg sighed.

“The reason I brought this meeting to the roof was to be unobserved. Because we all have pressures on us, expectations, and we shouldn’t feel the need to have all of those met at the diplomatic table.” Greg turned and made eye contact with every member of the delegation. “Most people don’t know it, but Energy Collectors operate almost completely on profit. Once a satellite is reached, it’s pretty much self sustaining. What cuts in price people have seen in electricity is pretty much superficial. It costs us almost nothing to make.

“Now what to do with all of that money… Until now, we have mostly just stockpiled our billions, knowing that they might become useful. Now we see a use for them. My investors aren’t going to be willing to create cutbacks in our programs. We can create nature reserves, create lights, fund schools; all of these options are preferable to cutting our income by a single percent. However, we are willing to make a deal with you.”

“This year, our billion dollar industry is fed by most of the world. Cars feed it, companies depend on it, and we understandably get some money. We are willing to not get all of it this year. I have talked to the shareholders. If this deal works, we are willing to take one percent out of our yearly income… and give it to the twenty of you.”

The group blanched. Amelia looked at all of them in shock, and knew that the group’s answer should be clear.

“Profit or income?” Mr. Tarn asked.

Surprised, Amelia stared at Mr. Tarn and then walked to the roof and looked at the protestors below as Wharton and Tarn quibbled. The rest of the group also became embroiled in the definition of a percent, Amelia could feel the greed radiating from the group.

As the group was starting to calm down, she called out  “Mr. Wharton!”

“Yes Ms. Smith?” he asked, strolling up to her “Any specific questions?”

“What about the children?”

He blinked. “What about them?”

“Will they be able to see the stars?”

“We can set up a TV station or something,” he laughed “maybe an interactive website. Is that all?”

Amelia sighed. She lunged at him.

Greg step backed shocked, and put his hands out, pushing her away. Amelia let herself be hit, and be pushed away. And Ms. Winters smiled.

She stumbled backwards, and for a moment she felt the fence on her back. Then it gave way to a feeling of weightlessness, as the edge of the roof retreated.

En el principio, sólo había el Franklin. No había un mundo y no fue otras lugares. Sólo había el Franklin.

Habia una vez un hombre llamado Lehman quien vivió en el Museo Franklin, un lugar de tristeza y miedo. Aunque el lugar fue muy grande, no había otras personas. Tiempo era solo un momento, no el futuro ni el pasado. Lehmann sabía que podía hacer algo. Aunque no sabía que hacer la processa de pensamiento creó tiempo de el Franklin.

Esta fue el primer acción de Lehmann, pregunta.

Lehmann quería saber más pero no sabía nada. Buscó en el museo para soluciones a las preguntas del mundo y el universo. Vio de la verdad de estos, pero quería más. Buscó el museo para soluciones a preguntas de la vida. Vio de la verdad de vida, pero quería más. Lehmann buscó en el museo para otras personas. Y el Franklin dio ellos a él.

Esta fue la segundo acción de Lehmann, investigación.

Los sueños de Lehmann se manifestaron en dos seres, Jeremy y Sheriff. Creó para él necesidades. Lehmann sabía pero no fue un problema para él. Usó los personas para hacer nuevas ideas y otro planes.

Esta fue la tercer acción de Lehmann, colaboración.

Lehmann y el grupo necesitaba más de sus experiencias. Necesitaba un acción para impresionaba los poderes de el Franklin. La sabiduría de Lehmann dice el que fue un propósito para las personas. Sabía aunque Jeremy no hacía mucho más de hablaba esto fue la fuerza Jeremy. Con la autoridad de Lehmann y la mágico de Jeremy, hicieron un presentación que dio ellos sus libertad. Un mundo se creó de los palabras y reglas de el Franklin para Lehmann.

Esta fue la cuarto acción de Lehmann, presentación.

Despues la presentación, tendrían sus libertad de el Franklin en acción pero no en espíritu. Un tiempo más el grupo congregó. Lehmann y Sherif dijeron cuentas de necesitaban reflexión. Realizaban que necesitan un grupo de personas sacraficiar cada año. El grupo hicieron un reflexión, pero Sherif no pudo aguantar la reflexión y su cerebro fue roto. Lehmann llamó para tristeza y pena. Sherif sería un parte de Lehmann y porque Sherif la mártir, Lehmann pudo se escapó el Franklin finalmente. Lehmann prometí mantener Sherif cerca de él siempre y mantener Sherif seguro.

Esta fue la quinto y final acción de Lehmann, reflexión.

Me llamo Pablo. Mi patria es Chile pero no estoy orgulloso de esto. Soy una persona  conservativa, un persona quién la clase obrera le llamaría un momio. Soy una parte de la clase alta, tengo mucho dinero y mucho respeto para otros. Yo tengo una historia de muchas fiestas, pero ahora tengo algo para luchar. Necesito luchar por capitalismo porque los comunistas tienen la fuerza ahora. El gobierno tiene intenciones comunistas. Así lo veo la clase obrera robé la país. El hombre quien tiene la presidencia esta aliado con el USSR. No sé la razón por la cual lo eligieron a él.

La pintura es de una mujer en fuego caminando por un pasillo. La mayoría de los colores en el cuadro son anaranjado o marrón y todos son abogados. Las paredes del pasillo tienen estatuas de soldados. Los soldados son soldados históricos y tienen ropa vieja. También, el pasillo no tiene un techo, un cielo anaranjado con nubes marrones está sobre el cuadro. Cerca de la parte más alta de el pasillo hay ventanas. La mujer es la parte de la pintura más surrealista y tiene luz detrás ella. Lleva un vestido largo y su pelo suelto. En una mano tiene una poción y en la otra no tiene nada y la mano está abierta.

El tono de esta pintura es cansado. Las personas son estatuas, y nunca las personas o algo tiene emoción y son inútiles. Pero como yo lo entiendo, esta pintura se llama “La llamada” y desde mi punto de vista es un llamada para atención¡ Ella es una alarma para una amenaza, tiene una poción de fuerza en una mano por lo tanto el fuego de ella es la luz de esperanza! Las similitudes entre ella y la estatua de libertad son muchas.

Los soldados en las paredes necesitan empezar un guerra. Las paredes van como un castillo porque no tienen techo y tienen pocas ventanas en las altas partes de la paredes. Este es el lugar final para ayuda, y las personas necesitan luchar contra el mal. Ahora son manifestaciones, pero necesitamos un golpe de estado.

Aunque no me gusta mucho la pintura, estoy en parte de la clase alta. Necesito ver este pintura en temas de dinero. Muchas pinturas de Remidos Vara son muy caras, y respeto esto. Tiene mucho valor para mi.

Vi esta pintura porque me pareció muy brillante. Los colores de la pintura captaron mi interés. La luz de la mujer captó mi atención, por la fuerza que ella tiene. No estoy de acuerdo con la pintura, eso no es una llamada. Los personas duermen, nos necesitamos despertar.

Pancho Villa fue un General de la Revolución Mexicana. Antes de la revolución fue un bandido. El gusto caballos y motocicletas.

Una oda a Pancho Villa

Rapido, valiente, soldado

Cuando yo te veo pienso en la responsabilidad de libertad y que debemos hacer.

Me haces que yo hace para justicia

Tú, mi miedo y inspiracíón

Parents: Dictators of Love

(Chennai Express, “Taming of the Shrew”)

Yeah, I say my title twice. 'Cause I'm awesome.

Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare was a masterpiece of its time, like most of Shakespeare's works, and the plot was heavily driven by a fathers involvement in his daughters’ marital status. This method of thought is closely tied to the modern Indian movie “Chennai Express”. In Taming of the Shrew, the character Baptista sets multiple challenges for potential suitors of his young and beautiful daughter, while in the movie “Chennai Express” the father, Durgeshwara, merely puts up a constant ever changing wall of intimidation so that only the suitor who is willing to keep up and succeed through the changing conditions will be allowed to marry the girl. Though the way that the fathers display their protection is different, both are trying to assure love for their daughters by dissuading suitors.

“That is, not to bestow my younger daughter before I have a husband for the elder.”

Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 50-51

Baptista is a loving father, who merely wants what’s best for his daughters. However his eldest daughter, Katherine, is slightly sadistic, and enjoys the pain of others. In the second scene she’s in, she’s annoyed that she’ll be forced to marry. To release her anger,  Katherine ties her younger sister up, drags her around the house, and then slaps her in the face when she talks back. Naturally, all of the suitors were terrified that someone would have to marry her before anyone could court Bianca. Yet Baptista doesn’t seem to worry at all about his younger daughter losing any suitors because of the task he set before them. Baptista wouldn’t willingly try and harm his daughter’s prospects, he is instead trying to guarantee that only the ones who would actually attempt a risky task for his daughter would be able to get her.

In this scene Rahul meets the extended family of Meenalochni for the first time. In this scene the Rahul is introduced to Durgeshwara, or Durge,  as her fiance. Durge carries with him a passive intimidation, which serves the purpose of keeping anyone beneath him away. For Rahul, this is meant to assure that he is worthy even of being near Durge or his daughter Meena. Baptista had a more active interaction with the suitors while Durge is displaying a passive intimidation. Partly this is due to Baptista having multiple ellegible suitors for his daughter, while Durge had few. However, it’s also heavily dependant on Baptista merely being a merchant, while Durge was in the role of a local king. Baptista was passively intimidating class wise, but Durge had the military power to ensure that if he disliked someone they would be imprisoned for as long as he wished. Both fathers had different ways of intimidating suitors that weren’t good enough.

“Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both that can assure my daughter greatest dower shall have my Bianca’s love.”

Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 135-136

Tangballi is a local leader who was arranged to marry Meena. Unbeknown to him, Durge had recently changed his mind and allowed her new suitor Rahul her hand in marriage. Tangballi arrived with the intention to marry Meena and was personally delivered information of this change directly by Durge. Durge did this as a test, to see how Tangaballi would react under such pressure. If he didn’t love Meena enough to try for her, he wouldn’t be worthy of her. Both Baptista and Durge are setting tests to see how suitors will act, but again Durge takes a more passive role, while Baptista takes a more active one.

Tangballi decided that the best way to prove his worthiness to Meena was to kill her suitor Rahul. Durge takes an active stance in this by preventing anyone from interfering with the fight. He even prevents his daughter from having a choice in it. He is purely interested in who is willing stake their life on the decision. Both Baptista and Duge have suitors battle, but they make the suitors fight on fields that the father is comfortable on. The merchant Baptista makes them fight over money, while the local lord Durge makes them fight to the death.

In both “Taming of the Shrew” and Chennai Express, though the focus was on the main characters, the plots were mostly shaped by the decisions of the parents. The actions of the characters are made to placate or impress the elders, and every move the elders make causes rippling consequences throughout the story. They both come from different stories, “Taming of the Shrew” being focused on the the trials faced by characters, and Chennai Express being focused on the interaction between the lovers, and the parent is more passive.  Both Baptista and Durge try and protect their children by setting tests for them, tests that range from tests of love and reactions to pure merit, whether it’s in the form of a fight or of the amount of money available.

Works cited:

Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

Netflix. Perf. Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. Netflix. N.p., 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013

Micah Getz inscrita en el registro civil de la ciudad Norristown en el estado Pennsylvania el doce de noviembre de 1996. Origen de nombre es hebreo.  Vivo en Filadelfia, pero cinco años pasado viví en Masachusets, y once años pasado viví en California. Mis padres llamaron Sarah y James. Tengo un hermano.

Soy blanco y alto y flaco. Soy un chico. Yo soy rubio o moreno y yo tengo pelo largo. También, yo no sé por qué, pero mis cejas son negras. Yo tengo ojos azules, para mi ojos otros ven yo necesito dormir. Sin embargo yo tengo ojos males. Se puede ver porque yo necesito gafas. Tengo un pendiente en el oído izquierda.

Yo hablo ingles, y mi ingles es American. Se puede ver yo soy un estudiante porque yo llevo una mochila. Para mi ropa se puede ver yo no tengo mucho dinero, y para mi teléfono celular se puede ver yo tengo dinero normal. A veces yo llevé un reloj de pulsera. En general yo llevo una sudadera con capucho, cuando hace frio. Se puede ver yo tengo frío.

Mi profesores y yo llevamos bien porque yo soy un estudiante bueno. No me da miedo el Señor Reddy porque él es tacaño con los grados y es autoritario, pero no es antipático. Sin embargo, me da miedo Señor VK. Señor VK es inteligente, pero él es un poco loco. Quiere ser simpático y cuidado, pero a veces no es muy sensible o sensato. Él es amable y nosotros lo pasamos bien clases, pero... me da miedo Señor VK.

Me da riza el Señor Baird porque no es serio en la clase. Me molesta el libro "The Things They Carried". El libro dice nada, y dice nada importante. Nosotros leemos el libro en la clase Inglés. Yo estoy agobiado en la clase de Español , pero Señorita Manuel es muy simpática. A veces me da riza la Señorita Echols porque ella quiso ir gracioso. Pero ella es muy ruidoso y muy serio con la clase. Es muy bueno por la clase. Ellas es un buen profesora y nosotros escuchan a que ella dice. Sin embargo ella es demasiado simpática ir gracioso. Y ella no es sarcástico, pero la situación es muy irónico.

También yo tengo mis amigos. A veces yo estoy agobiado porque tarea o proyectos o clases. No es importante, porque ellos son muy simpática y gracioso. Ellos no son tranquilo tradicional, pero, con tiempo, yo no estoy agobiado.

Yo soy sarcástico y inteligente, también yo soy amable y simpática. Mis compañeros dicen yo soy sensata, pero yo no sensata. Yo tengo mala memoria para tarea y a veces no soy cuidadoso.  En el futuro, quisiera ir a colegio bien y ir la países diferentes y leer tres libros bien en un día. A veces me molesta mucho tarea, pero yo sabe yo necesito tarea. Sueño con dormir para tres semanas, o tener un hipopótamo.

Me molesta tiempo. Tiempo es demasiado rápido! También me gusta discutir. Cuando personas son mentirosos o disimulan la verdad, yo estoy feliz. Al contrario, me gusta disimular la verdad. Valgo mucho información y la presentación de información. Me gusta la clase historia más que me gusta la clase inglés porque en inglés nosotros escribimos a escribir. En la clase de historia nosotros escribimos porque nosotros decimos información.

También me gusta información falso. Por un lado me gusta leer literatura fantástica. A veces yo busca la Internet para citas de libros o comícos. Por otro lado me gusta jugar muchos juegos, video juegos, Dungeons & Dragons, y otro juegos fantásticas.

De vez en cuando yo estoy agobiado, porque… yo no se. Yo estoy cansado, yo tengo demasiado tarea, yo no se. Y a veces yo estoy muy cansado, por muchas días. Al contrario a menudo yo estoy muy bueno, y todo es facil. Yo hago mi tarea muy rápido y yo escucho en mi clases.

Me nombre es Micah Getz. Me máscara es de la iguana porque a veces yo estoy agobiado y yo tengo ojos más grandes. Por un lado la iguana ve en muchas direcciones en un momento que es agobiado pero la iguana es tranquil. También me gusta el color verde. Por el otro lado yo quiero una mascara que es no mas espantar a los otros.

"I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,

And he grows angry. Now, whether he kill Cassio

Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain. Live Roderigo,

He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him

As gifts to Desdemona.

It must not be. If Cassio do remain

He hath a daily beauty in his life

That makes me ugly. And besides, the Moor

May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril.

No, he must die. But so, I hear him coming." Othello, Act 5, scene 1, line 11-23

Directions:

Start by addressing audience. Facts are being stated, not thoughts to oneself. Start slowly, this whole soliloquy will speed up.

I have rubbed this young quat almost to the sense,

And he grows angry.

At this point relax, go into neutral, look off to the side, keep the front facing the audience, but do not look at them. This is a part to be conducted as if pondering a plan by speaking it aloud, since that was going on. Keep a slow, kind of questioning tone, to show the pondering nature.

Now, whether he kill Cassio

Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,

Every way makes my gain.

Speed up. At this point Iago doesn't like what he's thinking; communicate that by speeding up slightly, getting louder, and maybe screaming the last word.

Live Roderigo,

He calls me to a restitution large

Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him

As gifts to Desdemona.

Look up and speak towards audience. Spoken to the audience for affect, as well as that Iago is now trying to make a statement, not thinking. When thinking he's talking to himself, when making a statement he's making a statement to the audience. Lines should be read in short definitive sentences to convey the seriousness of his emotions, while following obvious punctuation clues. Like a stone rolling up hill, slow down your speech until stopping. This way this part and the previous one have a speed like a ball rolling down a hill, only to have it stop before it can get up the next one.

It must not be. If Cassio do remain

He hath a daily beauty in his life

That makes me ugly. And besides, the Moor

May unfold me to him—there stand I in much peril.

No, he must die. But so, I hear him coming.

Journal 2

I chose the super secondary characters, the rumor mill, the people who don't even get names. Obviously they are rarely told anything other than "Leave us", but there were situations like with the soldiers in Scene 2, where Othello tells the soldiers of his love of Desdemona. The characters are merely audiences for their betters.

They see in the first scene the interaction between the back up characters and Brabantio. They see most of what's going on, up until Iago and Montano. They continue to be present until the second scene, where they start leaving at only crucial moments, like when Iago talks to Montano, and they only start to see the occasions again when Othello enters. From then on, Desdemona's attendants are the only see anything, and they only see foreshadowing of problems twice, first when Desdemona talks to Cassio, second when Othello attacks Desdemona in front of the visitor.  They also see, as the soldiers, the end of the experience when Othello kills himself.

The characters generally just do what they're told, and seem to be rather subservient. It's rather disappointing.

Journal 3

Brabantio is a character that is rather simple. He has what he wants and knows what he doesn't want. He wants to keep his daughter's honor intact, and he doesn't want to be bothered by anyone. Most of what Brabantio does is to keep his daughter safe. His wife was loyal, giving him more allegiance than even her father. She never actually shows up, which is slightly suspect, and brings the question of whether Desdemona's mother is alive. If not, that could be a contributing factor to Brabantio's over protectiveness, the strain of being a single parent. Another factor that may or may not exist is that Brabantio may have taken his wife in a similar fashion to how Othello took his. If he's a playboy, that may contribute to his fear for his daughter. 

His familial background probably impacts this. As a noble, he is born to think that he is better than everyone else. In many ways Brabantio is better; he has money, he’s a politician (senator) with all that entails (he has the looks, the charisma, and the false bravado that is looked for), and he has an amazingly beautiful daughter, who probably inherited some of that from his beautiful wife, who died a peaceful yet somewhat tragic death. Which is basically what everyone wants out of life. However, that can be ended in many ways, and he’s constantly on guard for that. As he gets older, he wants to make sure nothing around him changes, because it preserves the memories of his golden days.

He seems to be rational, the only reason he does something weird is because Iago pushed his buttons. He doesn't even seem that racist, it's just that the way Iago introduced the topic automatically brought up that connotation. Overall he seems like a good guy, who gets put into a really awkward situation and feels angry.

Journal 4

I am planning on wearing a pajama shirt! In the first scene Brabantio was just woken and is grumpy, so I'm hoping to bring a sort of grumpy tiredness that I know I would have. I guess I won't move that quickly either, but the fact that my daughter's purity is on the line might motivate me to move a bit faster. I have the rationalizations planned out, but how exactly I will execute it will depend on the performance itself, as until the actions are taken, nothing is set in stone. On what my group will present to stand out, we haven't particularly discussed this. We didn't know it was a requirement, and we rarely se each other during lunch periods. However, I do have an idea of what I would say is our specialty as a team, and that I our clear speaking, and our enthusiasm for our characters. Max knows how to act the fool, I know how to be grumpy, and Jaime knows how to pretend to be honest.

Post play Reflection

I think that the line “The worser welcome, I know thee Roderigo,” is a good line. Partly because I said it, true, but also because it introduces Roderigo’s character. Before this point, he is being duped, the audience can tell that, but it more of a sympathetic feeling that is generated for the evil sidekick. After all, Iago is deluding him. However this line allows for the audience to see Roderigo as a creepy guy who hangs around Desdemona too much, which is exactly what he is. It shows that Roderigo is detested by those around him, which bring the thought that the must have done something detestable. While Iago has a couple of speeches this act, he is best seen in the other things that happens, making the defining of Roderigo the pinnacle of the scene, plot wise. When performing in the play, I realized that Brabantio hadn’t been as much of a jerk who was racist and hated Othello, as someone who was honor bound, and didn’t like the idea of anyone near his daughter that wouldn’t raise his status significantly. No one would be able to raise his status enough for it to be worth losing his daughter.

I found this out a lot while practicing for the performance, but I now find it sad that our group didn’t do everything we could. One mistake was actually walking out after the performance. By the time we realized what had happened and walked back, the next performance had already started so we couldn’t get in. Another issue is that I didn’t face out towards the audience, one of the basic rules of acting that I should have respected. The biggest issue might have been losing my paper. Since I had to “borrow” it off of Pahomov’s desk each class and then sneakily return it, I hadn’t been able to practice my lines as much as I liked, nor was I able to memorize all of my lines. Also it would have made this assignment easier, because I would have been able to choose a better quote, and I’m also not sure whether the quote I used had been correct. This is mostly my fault, but it was also because we were working with interpretations of the text so I couldn’t just quote from the book. I had to work from what I had memorized, which as previously stated, isn’t a lot.