In Class Background Work For Krik? Krak!

• Author of “Krik? Krak!” is Edwidge Danticat. She is a Haitian–American novelist and short story writer. She was born on January 19, 1969, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• The Haitian revolution developed in form of a refugee crisis.
• “U.S. political leaders, many of them slaveowners, reacted to the emergence of Haiti as a state borne out of a slave revolt with ambivalence, at times providing aid to put down the revolt, and, later in the revolution, providing support to Toussaint L’Ouverture’s forces. Due to these shifts in policy and domestic concerns, the United States would not officially recognize Haitian independence until 1862.”
• France recognized Haitian independence in 1825.
• Toussaint L'Ouverture was a slave, who eventually became the leader of the Haitian slave revolt. He was crucial to the independence of Haiti. 
• In 1937,  the Dominican Massacre, otherwise known as the Parsley Massacre occurred. It took place in at border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was a mass killing, with more the 20,000 Haitians were murdered by Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican Republic’s dictator’s order. They wanted the Haitian’s to leave the boarder and not live in the Dominican Republic, due to Trujillo wanting the citizens to be only white. People of color, even if not Haitian, were also murdered. 
• Voodoo is a religion that originates in Africa. In the Americas and the Caribbean, it is thought to be a combination of various African, Catholic and Native American traditions. It is practiced around the world. The religion does not have a holy book, and it is community-centered that supports individual experience, empowerment, and responsibility. 
• Duvalier (Papa Doc) was a Haitian president for 14 years.
• Tonton Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian Paramilitary. 
• Jean Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) was a president of Haiti. He was in power from 1971 until 1986. He was the son of Papa Doc and succeeded his father. He was the youngest president. He instituted budgetary and judicial reforms, replaced a few older cabinet members with younger men, released some political prisoners, and eased press censorship, professing a policy of “gradual democratization of institutions.”

Notes: Krik? Krak! Children of the Sea

NOTES

KRIK? KRAK!

CHILDREN OF THE SEA

• Author uses “I” and “you”, as if they are directly addressing the reader.
• Many similes: ex. “Crying like a crushed snail”.
• The narrator constantly references nature: mountains, sea, red friery ants, crushed snail.
• It seems as if the narrator is older than whomever they are speaking to, as they reference their childhood: “ I helped you pull out your first loose tooth.”
• The narrator is lost at sea, crowded into a boat with 36 other people. He/she calls them “souls.”
• The narrator is a he. He is in love with a woman, who is not lost at sea with him.
• He says that she is probably married, but hopefully not to a soldier.
• This makes me think that they were probably involved in a war, in some way, and by saying that soldiers are almost not human, it shows that the author has most likely had a trasmautifv experierce, or realize the impact war can have on a soldier.
• The second story is from someone who is affected by the war. They stay at home, schools are closed. Army has taken over where they live.
• The format of the stories, one bold lettering, then one in normal lettering, makes me wonder if these are letters. They are addressed to “you” in every one.
• Is the person in the boat traveling to America?
• The narrator talks about simple pleasures, like their radio, which the other narrator mentioned, I believe they know each other.  
• There is a dark tone because the two narrators constantly mention things like killing, guns, soldiers, being lost, getting shot, prison, the morgue and demonstrating.
• The person on the boat left Haiti, although it is not Hati itself that they dislike, it is the war conditions in Haiti that they are escaping.
• The people in the boat are hoping the Coast Guard will find them.
• The girl in the other narrative, is struggling at home. She even says she wishes she, or her father, would die. It is clear that her father does not like the boy she is involved with (the boy on the boat.
• Civilization
• There is a lot of abuse from soldiers.
• People on the boat are running out of food.
• The girl and her family are located in Port-au-prince.
• Agwe: God of water
• Not letters, journal entries.
• The boat is leaking
• He is being forced to throw his notebook out.
• He does, and She survives with her father.  

Rough Draft #2

Abigail M. Zuckert

IB Literature and Performance

Mrs. Guarino

December 4, 2016

Rough Draft 1

Throughout the course of Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare, a main reoccurring theme in the play is the development of identity and the deterioration of relationships. Despite being a supporting character, Lord Capulet's change in character and his eventual collapse in relationship with his daughter, is perhaps one of the most evident. By using strict blocking, vocal tonality, and a wide range of emotion in my performance in scene VI, I was able to show Lord Capulet's chapter development and true intentions, while at the same time, highlighting Shakespeare's many literary devices, such as motifs and very dramatic moods.

Throughout the course of scene VI, Lord Capulet, Juliet’s father, becomes very upset with Juliet. As she tells him that she will not marry Paris, he becomes frustrated, and ultimately tries to force her to marry him. Lord Capulet’s language and emotion develops from simple to very complex, which indicates his mood during the scene. As Lord Capulet’s language intensifies, his anger and frustration with Juliet amplifies. Shakespeare establishes this the moment Lord Capulet enters into the scene by having his attention be primarily directed to finding out how Juliet is feeling. Further, Shakespeare shows this by having Lord Capulet confronting her on her sadness: “How now! A conduit, girl? What, still in tears? Evermore showering?” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 128-129) By having Lord Capulet acknowledge that Juliet is upset, Shakespeare reinforces the idea that Lord Capulet was initially concerned about her happiness to the reader. However, once he learns that she is refusing to marry Paris, he has a sudden, and dramatic, change in character. This is what makes this scene vital to the entirety of Romeo and Juliet. In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare portrayed Lord Capulet as a devoted father, one who respected and considered his daughter's wishes when making decisions on her behalf. However, in this very scene, Shakespeare manages to change that dynamic.

After Lord Capulet quickly realizes that Juliet is refusing to obey him and will not marry Paris, he begins to direct harsh language at her, calling her names such as “baggage” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 155) and “disobedient wretch” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 159). In return, his character begins to change as his anger and frustration is clearly highlighted. In addition to his jarring vocabulary, Lord Capulet gives Juliet an ultimatum in order to show how detrimental he is willing to be in order to get his way:  “I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday, Or never after look me in the face.” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 160-161) By giving her an ultimatum, Shakespeare establishes how desperate Lord Capulet is to make peace within his family after Tybalt’s death. By manipulating his own power as head of the Capulet family, Lord Capulet acts as a catalyst for Juliet’s own character change, which is another reason why this scene is crucial to the play. Once Lord Capulet informs Juliet of the possible repercussions she will face if she doesn't marry Paris, she changes from her once happy-in-love stage, to a more desperate character, which in return, changes her motives completely. Prior to this scene, Juliet only had to worry about Romeo’s safety, but now, she must face the very real possibility of having her hand forced to marry someone she doesn’t love. This scene is the turning point for both Lord Capulet and Juliet, one in which their characters change and are faced with newly formed conflict. Because Lord Capulet is willing to put aside Juliet’s wishes, the reader is able to learn more about his character, and how he has changed up until this scene so far in the play; once a loving father, he is now transformed into someone who disregards the happiness of his own family.  

For our scene, I wanted to have blocking that would add emphasis to the many literary devices that Shakespeare included in his writing. When my character, Lord Capulet enters the scene, he is worried about Juliet being upset and wants her to be happy. In order to show that I was concerned about her feelings, I kept my voice low, placed my hand on her arm, and tried to make eye contact with her during my first lines. It was apparent to me that the lines “How now! A conduit, girl? What, still in tears? Evermore showering?” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 128-129) clearly showed his concern for her well being, so I thought that these three acting choices would show my characters compassion for his daughter. However, what stands out to me most from this scene is his shift from compassion, to frustration. That being said, when Juliet informed me that she was refusing to marry Paris, I had to change the way I stood, my body and facial expression, and my volume. The more Juliet would tell my character that she would not marry Paris, I became stiff. The reason for doing this was so that when Lord Capulet would eventually yell at her, I could explode volume and blocking-wise, by using strong movements and hand gestures to emphasize my speech. Additionally, when calling Juliet names, I stressed the harsh sounds in each word to make them stand out, and as a way to shock the audience, my scene partners, and to prove how fuel with anger my character truly was.   

One of the most important aspects I wanted to establish in our scene was the difference in social levels between my character, Lord Capulet, and Juliet, played by Betty. I knew that a prime opportunity to do this was when I confronted Juliet with my ultimatum. To show his dominance over his daughter and his higher social status, I asked my scene partner to fall to her knees on her line, “I beseech you on my knees” ( Act III; Scene VI; Line 158). When she did this, I made sure to have very straight posture and to stand as tall as I could. I refrained from moving, as now I was able to symbolize how Lord Capulet is socially above Juliet, simply by standing over her and by looking down upon her. By looking down at Juliet as she was on the floor, I was also able to allude to the fact that Lord Capulet begins to think less of Juliet once she refuses to do as he pleases. By manipulating  my posture and positioning, I was able to show the lack of  communication between the two characters and how my character felt superior compared to Juliet.

Further, I believe that a main, turning point in the scene is when Lord Capulet threatens Juliet with the possibility that he may never acknowledge her if she refuses to marry Paris. Because of the major impact this has on Juliet, I chose to bend down onto her level and deliver my lines as slowly, and as steadily as I could, in hopes the audience would be able to catch every word I said. In addition, I altered my once hysterical voice to match that of a calm speaking tone. This, in addition to changing to a downtempo, allowed me to create a more dramatic sense of tension between myself and Juliet. I was able to show how serious Lord Capulet became by keeping eye contact and no longer yelling, but calmly speaking to Juliet about a matter that would in fact, cause Juliet to be anything but calm. By giving Juliet the ultimatum, Lord Capulet proved that he was willing to push aside her feelings in order to get what he wanted.  

Looking back at my group’s performance, I am very pleased with our end result. As I watch my own execution of scene, what I like most was my blocking and range of emotion. However, I do see room for potential improvement. One area where my performance fell flat was in my own confidence on stage. I believe this got in the way of my acting, which as a result, negatively impacted my ability to portray Lord Capulet as a ruthless figure when angry.

Sample Course Work Papers Evaluations

For the first paper, “Act I, Scene III….” I chose to give them a one for the analysis of the literary features of the text. I gave them a one for a few reasons. The first is that the author only included one short paragraph that focused on the literary devices, and in addition, they lacked evidence to support their statements. Then, in the paragraph that comes next, they started off by examining the literature, but then fixated on the blocking they chose for the scene. If they were to focus on the literature, and be able to support it, they would have a much stronger analysis.

For this paper’s exploration of the chosen approach to the text, I graded them a five. This was the strongest aspect of the paper. I thought the author did an good, and for the most part, a thorough job of realizing and explaining how and what made the scene as dramatic as it was. They were clear, to the point, and examined many specifics with strong supporting examples to make their point.

Finally, I had to give the author a two for their use of language and structure. Although the language was not as much of an issue, the structure of the paper was. I feel as though this is the writer’s greatest weakness. Despite having all of the right ideas, the writer did not organize his/her paragraphs adequately. Many paragraphs jumped back and forth between analyzation of the text and between blocking.

For the second paper, “Richard III, Shakespeare”, I thought they did a wonderful, and completely in depth job of analyzing the literary features of the text. I gave them a 4. They used specific examples and quotes to support their argument. However, the reason why I did not give them a five was because there were still moments when they could have benefitted from using quotes to support their statements. In addition, the writer stated many times how a character felt in the scene, but did not have a quote to show how they knew that. Overall, they did a good job with a fair amount of quotes, staying on topic, and analyzing the literary devices well.

Next, I graded the exploration of the chosen approach to the text as a seven. I thought the writer clearly explained why they did what they did on stage. For example, when they wrote about how they portrayed Margaret's range of emotion, they not only made it apparent for why they choose their acting choices, but how the audience would be able to benefit. In addition, they do mention multiple times how their blocking will help the audience understand the characters emotions. Finally, they did a good job evaluating their own performance without mentioning other actors. They mentioned what they learned, and what they took away from the experience.  

The only area I felt the writer fell flat was in their structure and language. Although they did not struggle with organization of the paper in it's entirety, they had many syntax issues. If they would be able to fix some of the awkward phrasing in their sentence, the paper would flow more when being read.

Rough Draft 1

Abigail M. Zuckert

IB Literature and Performance

Mrs. Gaurino

December 3, 2016

Rough Draft 1

Throughout the course of Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare, a main reoccurring theme in the play is character development and the deterioration of relationships. Despite being a supporting character, Lord Capulet's change in character and his eventual collapse in relationship with his daughter, is perhaps one of the most evident. By using strict blocking, vocal tonality, and a wide range of emotion in my performance in scene VI, I was able to show Lord Capulet's chapter development and true intentions, while at the same time, highlighting Shakespeare's many literary devices.

Throughout the course of scene VI, Lord Capulet’s language and emotion develops from simple to very complex. As Lord Capulet’s language intensifies, his anger and frustration with Juliet amplifies. Shakespeare establishes this the moment Lord Capulet enters into the scene by having his attention be primarily directed to finding out how Juliet is feeling. Further, Shakespeare shows this by having Lord Capulet confronting her on her sadness: “How now! A conduit, girl? What, still in tears? Evermore showering?” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 128-129) By having Lord Capulet acknowledge that Juliet is upset, Shakespeare reinforces the idea that Lord Capulet was initially concerned about her happiness to the reader. However, once he learns that she is refusing to marry Paris, he has a sudden, and dramatic, change in character. This is what makes this scene vital to the entirety of Romeo and Juliet. In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare portrayed Lord Capulet as a devoted father, one who respected and considered his daughter's wishes when making decisions on her behalf. However, in this very scene, Shakespeare manages to change that dynamic.

After Lord Capulet quickly realizes that Juliet is refusing to obey him and will not marry Paris, he begins to direct harsh language at her, calling her names such as “baggage” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 155) and “disobedient wretch” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 159). In return, his character begins to change as his anger and frustration is clearly highlighted. In addition to his jarring vocabulary, Lord Capulet gives Juliet an ultimatum in order to show how detrimental he is willing to be in order to get his way:  “I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday, Or never after look me in the face.” (Act III; Scene VI; Line 160-161) By giving her an ultimatum, Shakespeare establishes how desperate Lord Capulet is to make peace within his family after Tybalt’s death. By manipulating his own power as head of the Capulet family, Lord Capulet acts as a catalyst for Juliet’s own character change, which is another reason why this scene is crucial to the play. Once Lord Capulet informs Juliet of the possible repercussions she will face if she doesn't marry Paris, she changes from her once happy-in-love stage, to a more desperate character, which in return, changes her motives completely. Prior to this scene, Juliet only had to worry about Romeo’s safety, but now, she must face the very real possibility of having her hand forced to marry someone she doesn’t love. This scene is the turning point for both Lord Capulet and Juliet, one in which their characters change and are faced with newly formed conflict.

When my character, Lord Capulet enters the scene, he is worried about Juliet being upset and wants her to be happy. In order to show that I was concerned about her feelings, I kept my voice low, placed my hand on her arm, and tried to make eye contact with her during my first lines. I thought that these three choices would show my characters compassion for his daughter. However, what stands out to me most from this scene is his shift from compassion, to frustration. That being said, when Juliet informed me that she was refusing to marry Paris, I had to change the way I stood, my body and facial expression, and my volume. The more Juliet would tell my character that she would not marry Paris, I became stiff. The reason for doing this was so that when Lord Capulet would eventually yell at her, I could explode volume and blocking-wise, by using strong movements and hand gestures to emphasize my speech. Additionally, when calling Juliet names, I stressed the harsh sounds in each word to make them stand out, and as a way to shock the audience, my scene partners, and to prove how fuel with anger my character truly was.   

One of the most important aspects I wanted to establish in our scene was the difference in social levels between my character, Lord Capulet, and Juliet, played by Betty. I knew that a prime opportunity to do this was when I confronted Juliet with my ultimatum. To show his dominance over his daughter and his higher social status, I asked my scene partner to fall to her knees on her line, “I beseech you on my knees” ( Act III; Scene VI; Line 158). Now, I was able to symbolize how Lord Capulet is socially above Juliet, simply by arching over her and by looking down upon her. By looking down at Juliet as she was on the floor, I was also able to allude to the fact that Lord Capulet begins to think less of Juliet once she refuses to do as he pleases.

Further, I believe that a main, turning point in the scene is when Lord Capulet threatens Juliet with the possibility that he may never acknowledge her if she refuses to marry Paris. Because of the major impact this has on Juliet, I chose to bend down onto her level and deliver my lines as slowly, and as steadily as I could, in hopes the audience would be able to catch every word I said. In addition, I altered my once hysterical voice to match that of a calm speaking tone. This, in addition to changing to a downtempo, allowed me to create a more dramatic sense of tension between myself and Juliet. I was able to show how serious Lord Capulet became by keeping eye contact and no longer yelling, but calmly speaking to Juliet about a matter that would in fact, cause Juliet to be anything but calm.

Looking back at my group’s performance, I am very pleased with our end result. As I watch my own execution of scene, what I like most was my blocking and range of emotion. However, I do see room for potential improvement. One area where my performance fell flat was in my own confidence on stage. I believe this got in the way of my acting, which as a result, negatively impacted my ability to portray Lord Capulet as a ruthless figure when angry.

In Class Grading

A. 3
B. 3
C. 3
D. 3

Thesis Statement?

By using strict blocking, vocal tonality, and a wide range of emotion in my performance in scene VI, I was able to show Lord Capulet's chapter development and true intensions, while at the same time, highlighting Shakespeare's many literary devices.