Blog #27

Post your thoughts about specific character interactions, lines, actions and more in the play.

What stands out to you? Why?

What stands out to me is how much work is involved in creating a play/production. Usually people just see the final performance but they don't know about all the work backstage and behind the final product. I'm impressed at all the work people have been doing to get this project done the best it can be. Also all the communication that has been going on between groups and all the team work.

What Acts or Scenes?

The scene that stands out to me is Act I Scene II when all the students introduce each other. This scene really stands out because almost everyone is rhyming when they introduce themselves and its the first scene that the audience gets to notice this is a musical and everyone is different from Tyler, or that's what he thinks. It is also a funny scene and makes the audience laugh. I also like the scene where "The Boys" fight Tyler by dancing around him.

What lines? Actions? Interactions?

I like when the coach starts talking to Tyler and then suddenly just starts yelling at him and being mean, also how she starts singing "Nobody Cares". I also like when Clem talks to Oliver and teaches him how to get people's wallets. What also stands out is the way "The Boys" try to act "tough" and are similar to the ones in "Grease."

(Aside from "be louder..." or "where does this go?") What constructive feedback do you have for actors, directors, managers, props, sets, etc. based on what you have seen?

I think the actors should watch the movies or TV shows their characters are based off to really see what their character is like. This will help them to really be their character and it will help the audience better notice what each character from our play was based off. They should also practice saying their lines in front of the mirror to see how they are showing their character.

Blog #19

As production managers we’ve been helping around every group and have had check-ins with everyone to make sure they know what they’re doing and to see if they need any help with their theater job. We also make sure they have what they need in order to make their theater job a little less stressful. So far we’ve helped the CFO and marketing crew with the kickstarter page.
We have also been taking notes during the group meetings where we write down due dates for each group that is ready to show the class what they have been working on.

1) Working with the CFO

Naxiely and I helped the CFO come up with ideas for our budget. Although right now the budget has been changed, this was the first draft in which the CFO needed help in coming up with an estimate of how our class would spend the money for our project. As production managers, Naxiely and I tried to help out our classmate by giving him suggestions and ideas.

2) Marketing Crew and CFO: Worked on a document where we came up with ideas for pledges.

PLEDGE $10+

-A ticket to the play

PLEDGE $25+

$5-Signed Playbill+Signed Photo inside

PLEDGE $50+$18-Signed Theater T-Shirt

$8-Copy of the Book

PLEDGE $100+

$8-A signed copy of the book

+ reserved front row seating for play

PLEDGE $300+

$18-Exclusive t-shirt

PLEDGE $500+

-Company logo or personal logo inside the playbill

PLEDGE $1000+

- A behind the scenes documentary DVD.

PLEDGE $1500+

-Company logo or personal logo inside the book

PLEDGE $2500+

-Colored version of company or personal logo on back of the book & playbill

*You receive the reward for the amount pledged plus the rewards below unless conflicting

8 items to give away.

Cost of the items for us.

Photo-$2

T-shirt-$18

Seating-$60 Book-$8

Playbill-$2

Ticket-$10

DVD-$2

As production managers, Naxiely and I helped the marketing crew and the CFO with ideas for kickstarter pledges. After having a meeting with the whole class and discussing what our pledges should be, Naxiely and I shared our notes with the marketing crew and CFO to give them ideas for the pledges.

3) Working with Project Manager

So far we have worked with the Project manager almost everyday. We have helped him with anything he needs and have helped him update the Calendar. Naxiely and I take notes in every class discussion/ meeting etc. and we write down all the due dates and important dates on the Calendar and on the board. We try to update Calendar as soon as we get new due dates or information to put in there. Today we updated the Calendar and wrote down the due dates for this week and part of the upcoming week.

Honors Writing #3 & 4

Hamlet DP Option

Hamlet is a very important play that has been around for more than 400 years now. It was written by William Shakespeare between 1599 and the early 1600s. William Shakespeare is known as the "most influential writer in all of English literature." He is worldwide famous for all of his work but critics say Hamlet "offers the greatest exhibition of Shakespeare's powers." Shakespeare uses a lot of literary devices and techniques in the writing of this play. He does a good job at making something that seems simple and ordinary have deeper meanings to something very complex, that is why some people don't understand Hamlet.

Hamlet starts of with a scene that captures the reader’s attention and makes them want to read more. It leaves the reader with questions and anxious to figure out why the ghost is there, what happened, what is going on and that makes them go on and keep reading and as soon as they find out the answers they see another conflict so then they want to keep reading to see how that problem gets solved and so on. While reading the play Hamlet, I noticed how William Shakespeare used many layers in his play. For example, how he has different layers of conflict. The main conflict in the play was Claudius killing Hamlet's dad, the king, and Hamlet wanting to get revenge but then we have other conflict in the play like Hamlet killing Polonius and then Laertes wanting to get revenge against Hamlet. Also, Ophelia going crazy and dying and then Claudius and Laertes planning how to kill Hamlet. Shakespeare does a good job of connecting all the minor conflicts to the major conflict so that they all make sense and so that the overall play makes sense and flows together. Shakespeare has a way of making something have a simple meaning when you just read over it, but once you analyze what you just read and really think about it and connect it to other parts of the story you really see that it is way deeper than you think and it all starts to make sense.

Shakespeare uses many characters in Hamlet to make the story more complex and realistic. There are about sixteen characters in Hamlet, Hamlet being the main character of the play and the one involved in most of the major and minor conflicts. In Hamlet all the characters make up a part of the play and they each are very different from each other. By reading Hamlet, we really see the personality of each character and the way they act. We can also see a character foil between Laertes and Hamlet. Laertes contrasts with Hamlet and that way highlights various features of Hamlet's personality.

Hamlet has a variety of themes that all tie up together to the final play. We can see revenge as one of the major themes because throughout the whole play we can see that Hamlet's only goal was to get revenge for his father's death by killing his uncle. We can also see this in Laertes when his father dies. We can see love between Hamlet and Ophelia, Gertrude and Claudius, and we can see love between Laertes and Ophelia. We can also see death. For example, Hamlet's dead father, and then everyone that dies at the end. We can see unnatural things like the ghost. In this play we can also see the theme of what is the significance of life and what it is to be part of this world like when Hamlet has conflicted feeling about suicide he says, "How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!" Saying that he really didn't see a purpose in life.

Shakespeare is also able to write so many things with simple settings like the outside and inside of a castle. He is able to really use the setting well to make the play a lot more realistic. Shakespeare has a very interesting way of writing that keeps the audience reading. He put part of the things going on in the play outside of the play like when the play starts Hamlet's dad has already been killed and the reader finds this out when they keep reading.

The way Shakespeare writes makes the play a little more hard to understand. He doesn't just make the characters talk the way we talk now and goes right to the point, but he uses a lot of words and sort of analyzes what he is saying. He writes like a poet and makes his words flow. Like for example in the famous line Hamlet says, "To be, or not to be?" He knows the right words to use and how and when to use them. All these and many more elements and literary devices make Hamlet one of the best and most famous plays of all time.

Theater Reviews

There are many things and elements that are sometimes combined to make a great play. It is important for the people making the play to have these elements in mind in order for them to also make a great play. In “Mother Courage” Hilton Als, in an article in The New Yorker, analyzes acting and how for “Streep, acting seems to be less about stardust than about architecture. Each character is built precisely, according to its creator’s specifications. For her performance in Tony Kushner’s brilliant adaptation of ‘Mother Courage,’ Streep constructs a house that is gray and lopsided a thespian’s version of van Gogh’s sad bedroom. Her grandeur is merely a facade she seems to be telling us and she is as committed to the job at hand as any other conscientious working actress.” Characterization is very important for every play and story because characters are the ones that make up a story. In plays, it is important for the characters to be good actors and not just act their character but be their character and actually get in the role they have so that the play seems more realistic and not fake.

Another element that might be very important in some plays and stories are satires. Satires add more to the story and make the overall play interesting for the audience. In “The Book of Mormon,” we can see a good example of a satire that is also a musical, like our play. This play was written by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, who are best known for creating the animated comedy “South Park.” Both the TV show and the play are examples of satires and this has helped them be around for a while now and has made them popular too. In The New Yorker article John Lahr says, “The show is smart enough to test the waters of outrage but not brazen enough to take a genuine plunge. The satire is more about the Mormons’ buttoned-down, bushy-tailed style than about the substance of the religion.” Satires are important to not only add humor to plays and to make the audience laugh but also to give the audience new perspectives on a topic. It helps them see the different opinions people have and different ways they see a topic. Not all people agree with one thing and that’s why it is important to give the audience different perspectives. In using satires, the playwrights have to make sure that the satire is clear and that people will get it because if they don’t it won’t make sense to them and they won’t even laugh so there would be no point in using a satire.

The setting is a very important part of every play or story. The setting is so important that it could affect the story if its not the right setting. For example, if you are talking about chicken and animals and trees and open space then the best setting would be a farm and not a factory in the future, it could be but you have to have a good explanation of why that makes sense. For example in “Lucky You” we can see how the setting influences the movie. “The picture takes place before and during the World Series of Poker in 2003, the year the Internet players—the non-pros—marched in on the Las Vegas tough guys sitting in the heavily draped Bellagio casino, taking money from one another as they waited for the competition to start,” David Denby said in The New Yorker article “Games of chance.” Another example would be in Hamlet, in the beginning of the play the setting was at a castle in the middle of the night close to the sea, foggy and hard to see and with that setting the vision of seeing Hamlet’s dead father’s ghost becomes more real and makes it more likely that it happened.

I think in our own play we can use all of these elements but just make sure we use them right. I feel like we already have characterization in our play but maybe we could fix a few things like give certain characters a little more lines so that we get to meet them more and see who they really are and how they act in certain situations. We can use satire if we really wanted to and I think we already kind of have it in there because we are kind of making fun of musicals and show it from a perspective of a character that doesn’t know he’s in a musical. We could probably develop a little more on that satire. I think for setting we are good because we know most of it is going to happen at a school but maybe we can also develop more on that.

Blog #17

What are the absolute best parts of your class' play?

There a few parts of our play that I really liked. One that I really liked was how some of the characters in the second scene rhymed when saying who they were, I thought that was really good. Also, how every character differed from each other. They all had their own personality and it was pretty easy to notice who was who. I also liked how the playwrights added the characters from different stories, like Doris is the offspring of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I liked how the songs that are there so far go with what the characters are saying and talking about before the song and its not just like a random song. I also liked that our play is funny like when the counselor is talking to Tyler and also the coach and just everything in general.

Check out your class' script. Cite the specific scenes, lines, and literary devices used.

Some of the literary devices I've seen in our script are characterization, rhyme, and conflict. I was able to see characterization through out the whole play like when everyone introduces each other and then how everyone has their own special character. I was able to see rhyme in scene 2 when the characters in the classroom introduce themselves. Like when Oliver says who he is he says, "The names Oliver, the tenth to be exact, when I get hungry you best get back. I'm quite shy and I can be quite sweet, but I'll shank you for a piece of meat." Then also Donny says, "I'm the head honcho, the guy to know, the emperor of cool, the star of the show, make me mad, and you'll be sorry, got a trunk full of knives in my red Ferrari." I was able to see conflict through most of the play. First because Tyler does not want to move, then because he doesn't fit in the new school and then when they steal his wallet and then also when his parents don't listen to Tyler. For example, in scene 1 in the very beginning of the play Tyler tells his mom, "Baked goods don't exactly compensate for the four years of hell that I am about to endure."

Blog #12

As we progress in the Theater Project, the playwrights think that doing the play about the musical with Tyler in it might be the best choice. I do like this idea but it might take more work to get it done. I also think that even though it is a musical, we shouldn't put a lot dancing and singing in it. What I mean by this is that we should avoid having people dancing and singing through out the entire play. It is okay to have people dancing and singing and music but also have other things going on. I think we should also watch examples of plays that are musicals like Chicago or The Producers.

The Below Link is a website that has a variety of links of websites of how to write musicals:

http://www.kenlyen.com/gpage37.html

The Below Links are websites on how to write a musical:

http://www.songwriting-software.com/writing-musicals.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2103460_write-musical.html

The Below Link is about a group of kids that were part of a musical and it talks about their hard work in making the musical possible:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/how-to-make-a-musical/2011/07/13/gIQAXHn0TI_story.html

The Below Link is a website that talks about musicals, their history and what they are and examples of them:

http://www.musicals101.com/musical.htm

The Below Link is an article of easy steps for making a musical:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Musical-Movie

Blog #11

This week the project manager, the production manager and I have been working on the master calendar for at least the first month as we start this project. For now we have the basic plan of what we will be doing for October.

PowerPoint

Calendar

Blog #8

What stands out most to you about the overall Icons project? Why?

It stood out to me how all the people in our class had a different icon. We never, as a class, had a problem because a lot of people were doing the same icon or were talking about exactly the same thing. Everyone had their own personal definition of an icon and everyone had different ideas for their own project. This stood out to me because even though we are all similar in some ways we still like way different things and think way differently. Also, we all took the project we were given and took it in different directions.

How do you feel about the experience and your work now that the project is nearly complete?

I felt like this was a pretty good project where I learned a little more about everyone and I even learned a little more about myself and the important people in my life. I felt accomplished when I read my artist statement for the last time and when I picked the final picture to use in my project. It felt good to have written my artist statement and after a long process of drafting and revision finally looking at your paper and feeling accomplished.

What are your thoughts as we get closer to publishing our first book?

I think the book will turn out really good because everyone had very nice, creative and interesting pictures and also very good artist statements. I am excited to see how the book turns out and I am looking forward to looking at my classmates' work.

Blog #7

What were the best elements of the Icons work that you have seen exhibited in the Commons and on the blogs?

The best elements of the Icons work that I have seen exhibited in the 11th grade commons are probably the pictures and use of writing tips in the artist statements. I was impressed as I looked around at the different pictures because most of them were very creative and professional and they really connected with what they were talking about in their artist statement and it connected with their icon or icons. Also, many of them were taken from different angles and had different light and brighteness and some people even had costumes and props in their pictures which made the pictures look very nice and interesting. As I looked through the artist statement I noticed that many people used different writing tips in their writing, for example the "make meaning early" one and also "the loop."

What stood out to you and why?

There were many pictures and artist statements that stood out to me while I looked through people's work but one that really stood out to me and that I really liked was Jazmine Miller's artist statement. Jazmine's artist statement had really good transitions, it had lots of information because she was talking about Rosa Parks so she really talked about who she was and gave us information about her. She also had a good comparison between her grandma and Rosa Parks and how they both connected to her and her life. She had lots of detail and flashbacks and memories. I also liked how she used the concerts, not pancakes writing tip because she started with a memory and she ended really good too and this held up the middle. She also used the make meaning early writing tip and overall I thought it was a really good artist statement.

Blog #6

His Teachings, My Lessons
Cristina Michel

"You have to kick the ball with the inside part of your foot because if you kick it with the front you might get hurt or kick it wrong," my brother said as we played soccer three summers ago. The sun was over the horizon with its rays shining their last minutes. The darkness of the night was starting to set upon the sky as the cold wind blew through my hair. I ran faster and faster with the ball between my feet as my brother tried to take it from me. My heart beat faster every second and my eyes stared straight at the goal. All I could think of was scoring that goal to make my brother proud. Suddenly, as I was about to score he took the ball and started running to the opposite side and as soon as I looked back he had already scored a goal on me. "See that's why you have to watch out for the people around you and be faster! You have to be fast!"
We all have or had at some point someone we look up to, someone we would like to become or just someone we admire. For me that person is my older brother, Caesar Michel. Caesar was the one that taught me how to play every sport I know and was the one that encouraged me to join a soccer team. He is the only one in my family that shares my great passion for soccer. Every time he has time he plays with me and helps me get better at it. He believes in me and knows I can be good at anything I put effort and time in. Sometimes when I'm feeling like I'm not good at soccer and that I should quit he lets me win just to make me feel better. He always makes sure I'm laughing and if I'm not, he'll ask me what's wrong. He knows me well enough to know when I have a problem.
Caesar has always been inspired by my dad because of "all the lessons and teachings he gives us," Caesar said. He tries to do whatever he can so that we have a great education and so that we are healthy and happy. When I sometimes think of my brother I think of my dad because in pictures of when my dad was little he looked a lot like my brother. My dad has always been inspired by his dad because he says he was very honest and generous. My grandpa loved his family as much as my dad loves us. When I ask my dad a question he is always honest, he says things directly and straight without changing anything. I can also see this in my brother. Every time my dad can, he donates to people in need, which is something that I’ve also seen my brother do. Caesar has taught me so much throughout my life that I know I can teach everything he has taught me to my niece and nephew. I have also started teaching my niece how to play soccer and I always tell her everything my brother would tell me. "Kick it with the inside of your foot." I hope that I will be as good of a teacher as my brother and dad and grandpa were. I also hope my niece and nephew pass on those teachings and lessons to their next generation.
My brother has always inspired me to do well at school and play sports. He has always been my helper, no matter what question I have, he'll try to answer it the best he can whether it is a question about my homework or a simple question about whether my clothes match or not. He has always been my friend and even though, like every brother and sister, we fight but soon get over it as we start to laugh and forget about it. I am very lucky to have him as my brother. “I was born to protect you,” he usually says when he notices someone has hurt me or sadness over my face. His bright eyes and his smile that tells me “Everything is okay.”

Blog #4

The two icons I'll be talking about are my brother and my dad. These are two main icons in my artist statement. They are the two main icons in my artist statement because I am inspired by my brother and my brother is inspired by my dad.

Caesar Michel (My Brother)

1.

(In the picture: My brother and I on my 6th birthday.)

2. Quotes said by my brother:

-"I was born to protect you."

-"It is always worth trying."

-"Our dad has always inspired me because of the great person he is and all the teachings and lessons he gives us."

3. I will try to incorporate more dialogue in my artist statement and use some of his quotes because so far, in my artist statement, I only write about how he protects me and how he's a great brother but not about how he is like or the things he says. I feel like adding dialogue to the artist statement will help the story be more interesting and it will better describe how my brother is like around me. Also maybe write some of our conversations and maybe describe some of our childhood memories. I was thinking of maybe starting the artist statement with a flashback of a childhood memory and then that would describe how he's been there all of my life.

4. These 3 resources come from the book the current seniors wrote last year. These resources/artist statements helped me think of more ideas for my own artist statement like adding dialogue, a memory and other things.

-"My Brother, My Keeper" by Monika Consunji

-"My Inspirational Bro" by Brandon Rojas

-"My Right Hand" by Raul Escobar

Jorge Michel (My Dad)

1.

(In the picture: My niece and my dad.)

2. Quotes always said by my dad:

-"Life is full of problems, you just got to find your way out of them."

-"Do things right and it will always pay off some way or another."

-"Education is the key to life."

3. I will try to write more about my dad in my artist statement because so far I only wrote a little how my brother is inspired by my dad but I didn't really go in depth and I didn't write how my dad also inspires me. I feel like I should also go into depth on how my grandpa inspired my dad and how my brother, dad and grandpa all connect to each other. Also explain more why my brother reminds me of my dad and say all the things they have in common. Also, talk about all the lessons my dad has gave my brother and I and how he has taken care of us and helped us and how my grandpa helped him. This will help the continuum of my artist statement be more clear.

4. These 3 resources are websites and students' work that I looked at to give me more ideas on what to improve in my artist statement.

-http://www.npr.org/search/index.php?searchinput=storycorps

-http://dp.hightechhigh.org/~rscherer/alumni/aforsythe/Eleventh%20Grade/Humanities/AmericanIcons.html

-"My Right Hand" by Raul Escobar

Blog #3

Caesar Michel (My Brother)

1.

2. "I was born to protect you."

"It is always worth trying."

"Our dad has always inspired me because of the great person he is and all the teachings and lessons he gives us."

3. I will try to incorporate more dialogue in the artist statement and use some of his quotes. Also maybe write some of our conversations and maybe describe some of our childhood memories.

4. "My Brother, My Keeper" by Monika Consunji

"My Inspirational Bro" by Brandon Rojas

"My Right Hand" by Raul Escobar

Jorge Michel (My dad)

1.

2. "Life is full of problems, you just got to find your way out of them."

"Do things right and it will always pay off some way or another."

"Education is the key to life."

3. I will try to write more about my dad in my artist statement and connect it more to my brother and grandpa. I will try to write more about how my brother reminds me of my dad.

4. http://www.npr.org/search/index.php?searchinput=storycorps

http://dp.hightechhigh.org/~rscherer/alumni/aforsythe/Eleventh%20Grade/Humanities/AmericanIcons.html

"My Right Hand" by Raul Escobar

Blog #2

Caesar Michel (My brother)

1. What does this icon represent to you? Why?

My brother represents my helper, my brother, my protection, and my great friend. My brother represents my helper because he always tries to help me and no matter if its a question about my homework, college, school or just a question about whether my clothes match or not he is always willing to help. He represents my brother because like other brothers we sometimes fight and things like that but at the end we start laughing about it and forget about it. He represents my protection because he always protects me against people or things that could hurt. He also represents my great friend because all of my life he's been there in the good and bad times with me and I remember that when we were little we would always be playing around the house and still now we go play soccer every time we can. He was the one that inspired me to play soccer and he was the one that basically taught how to play most of the sports I know.

2. How did this icon become important to you?

My brother became important to me because of all the things he's helped me with and taught me through out my entire life. He's one of the most honest people I know. He is always giving me advice to help me succeed in life. My brother is a very important person in my life and sometimes I don't know what I would do without him.

3. Who or what did this icon inspire?

My brother inspired me to start playing soccer. He also inspired me to do very good at school and to in the future go to a good college. He inspired me to do more sports.

Mayra Rivas (My sister)

1. What does this icon represent to you? Why?

My sister represents my second mom, my role model, and my really good friend. She represents my second mom because she's been there my entire life because she's my oldest sister and every time my mom and dad would go on a trip, my sister would be the one that would take care of me. She would buy me clothes and take me to places and make food for us. She represents my rode model because I've always looked up to her because she's a really great person that will always give without expecting something in return. She'll always give money to the homeless and give her clothes out for donation. She a very kind person and I have learned so much great things about her. She represents my really good friend because I know no matter what I can just to talk to her about anything and I know she will always give me the best advise she can and help me.

2. How did this icon become important to you?

My sister became important to me because as long as I can remember she's cared about me and cared about how I am and even now that she doesn't live in the same place or even close to me she still calls me every week and asks me how I am and every year on my birthday she'll send a gift and call me.

3. What have you learned from your icon?

I've learned a lot of different things from my sister. She taught me how to write, she taught me how to swim, and most important of all she taught me to become a better person. She taught me to give to the people that need and to give without expecting anything.

4. Who or what did this icon inspire?

My sister has mostly inspired to try to accomplish my goals no matter what and always do the best that I can. She has also inspired my other sisters to study a lot and work hard for what they want.

San Francisco

1. What does this icon represent to you? Why?

This place represents where I was born, where my parents met, where some of my siblings were born, where most of my dad's family lives and were my sister lives. There are just some many memories of San Francisco and for my entire family San Francisco represents a very special place. We all love San Francisco.

2. How did this icon become important to you? This place became very important to me because this place is were my family basically started and I love spending summers visiting San Francisco. Its the place that when I go I feel like home and I can just think back to so many stories I've heard from there before.