My play, "Trifles" by Susan Glasspell

Today, I acted my part in the play, "Trifles". The play is about a small-town murder where a man is hung in his attic. The police try to investigate it, but find no clue that can be used to make a case. However, as the men are prancing around, the woman (Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale) figure out that Mrs. Wright killed her husband because he killed her canary and was imprisoning her in his house.

I thought my character (the County Attorney) was a fool of a detective. He couldn't figure out the motive behind Mr. Wright's death.

I thought the whole play was alright. The plot wasn't too bad with a simple: revenge for my bird! I thought the plays were more exciting to watch then to read, like the graphic novel "Persepolis".

I thought the whole journey of Marjane and other poems and plays were an interesting mix to discuss about how reality. You can't just tame everything. I mean it's alright to have answers to most things, but some things can just be left to discussion. Why fuss over every single thing like the poems and control? If everything had an answer, a single answer, then the whole world should just be left idle. IT WOULD BE BORING.

By the way, thanks for sticking with me on my rantpage (rant+rampage = rantpage). Hope you enjoyed my opinions!

MAN IN A CASE & Sound of a Voice

Today, I read this short play called, "Man in the Case". I thought this story was pretty entertaining for a little bit.

Short summary =====BBZZZZTTT======

- Byelinkov and Varinka are to get married soon. The man is reputable and famous throughout town.

- He forbids her to ride a bike and makes her return it.

Alright, so there is this man that is truly loved by this innocent young lady. She seems proper and fit for this educated and responsible man. However, it seems like he has a problem with her being more "powerful" with her display of riding her bike through town. He seems unable to ride the bike. I guess he does not approve of the idea that the lady should display more power, or appear to be too free, from the control of the man. As seen from the ending, the guy tears up his note and seems to be some manipulating, control-freak man.

Another play we read was "Sound of a Voice".

Summary ===BBBZZZZZTTT=====

- Lady named Yokiko lives up in the mountains all by herself.

- Man comes to visit her, and plans to kill her because of rumors saying she is a witch.

- Man falls in love with lady, and vice-versa.

- Lady hangs herself when man tries to run away, and man plays her instrument Shakuhachi.

I think this story was also about men being too stubborn of having full control over their woman. In the play, this guy falls in love with a woman, who beats him in a sword fight. He somehow regains his pride by scrubbing away a stain she had in her house. I think a man should be helpful to a woman, but full control is way out-of-bounds. Like Persepolis, there seemed to be a need for the man in Muslim culture to have full control over woman: clothing (appearance), marriage, driving.

Poetry and Persepolis......HMMMMM

Today, everyone in class was discussing about the poetry in our reading packet. Poetry is good and, if given time, can be enjoyed by many people.

What I felt:
I thought the poems were nice. I think I liked some excerpts, some lines from some poems:

"Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins
           "...tie the poem to a chair with rope
            and torture a confession out of it.

            They begin beating it with a hose
            to find out what it really means."

"Ars Poetica" by Archibald MacLeish
           "A poem should not mean
            But be"

I thought these were pretty real. It's something I think everyone is guilty of doing: teachers and students. People try so, so, sooooooooo very hard to analyze the meaning, the message hidden in between each line. Of course, a poem can be interpreted differently by different people. I just don't know why there needs to be ONE ANSWER to every single poem. Like this:
          "The rain falls from the sky
            the once infinite blue, serene and still,
            now filled with gray and puffs.

            The rain falls toward ground
             trees, people, cars, animal.

             On a journey full of mysteries."

I bet if I ask several people, each person might have different explanations or none at all. But you know what is the right answer? I'll tell you. I DON'T KNOW. Why? Why don't I know the answer to my own poem? It's simple, I just made that up right now. Anyways I made it without any purpose, unless you count making it to prove to you that there is no need for a message.

Words = freedom. Words = liberty. Words = making you happy.

For Marjane, her ability to speak openly about herself--to express herself-- is taken away by her new government. Where is the nonsense going to stop? There is no freedom in her new government. Just rules and regulations.

*BOING, HAPPY HEERRREEE TO JUST MAKE YA HAPPY

More Presentations

What is a Hijab?

Basically, a veil worn by Muslim woman to cover their facial features.

In Persepolis, Marjane and the other woman in her society are forced to wear the Hijab by the new government. If a woman does not wear a Hijab "police" force, comprised of woman, can unjustifiably arrest and punish her for "breaking" the law. Also, there was an incident where officials proclaimed that a woman's hair can be too sexually attractive to men and must be hidden away. 

HOWEVER, I learned that the Hijab is now worn by choice. Muslim woman can now choose to wear the Hijab as a practice of her religion. In addition, a video was shown where the hijab was a fashion style.

Faith

Fashion

Presentations on Oct. 30 -- What I've learned

Pedro & Me:
There was this drama about a couple young adults living together like reality television. One of the actors named Pedro is diagnosed with AIDS that was contracted through sex with another man. Yes, he is gay, homosexual, etc.-- and any other terms you use to identify a man who loves another man. One of his friends acting with him found out and made a documentary about his friend Pedro.

Pedro was diagnosed with AIDS. Instead of being embarrassed, he steps up and tours schools around the country to tell people more about AIDS and how to prevent others from getting it. I mean even his fellow actors in the show were afraid of Pedro at first, until they were told more about the sexual transmitted disease.

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My Presentation: Article on Comic Novels:
I thought my presentation went well. I liked the article that Kevin and I used to discuss how comic novels are being integrated into the school environment. I think the class thought it was pretty awesome too. Who knows? Maybe comic novels will be used more in the future to help people learn more effectively.

BUT FOR NOW, I like to enjoy reading or watching Japanese graphic novels (Yes, I believe anime--Japanese cartoons-- are applicable because most animes are based off graphic novels. And like all novels, I believe some manga/anime have real nice themes and messages behind the whole story line.

Persepolis p.62-102

The Sheep...BAAA-AA-AAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAA-AAAAAA:
I thought revolutions were meant to bring a better future, but instead people were leaving the country, like some of Marj's relatives and friends, in fear of incoming danger. Well, sadly the danger does occur: family friends die, Anoosh is imprisoned and is executed, etc. In this chapter, God slowly disappears from Marjane's life because of the reality of death and danger brought by the religious war.

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Making it short:
- War can make people's faith in religion waver.
- War is instant and can take you by surprised.
- The new government brainwashes children: new national anthem and dance, boys given key to heaven and forced to go to war.



I know what your thinking. THEIR BACKWARDS TEACHING IS TOO STRONG.


AHH MAN, WHY AM I SUMMARIZING? Alright, enough with that monotone ya-da, ya-da. Let's talk about some REAL stuff.

LOGIC  =/=
Iraq invades Iran for a religious reason: God, right? Then what's all this killing, persecution, and containment being forced upon the people by this new government, religious order. who proclaim they bring "peace" to their country?
What is the deal with these people? Women are forced to wear veils, education is canceled or severely filtered, and children are brainwashed to believe in their new "country"?

Persepolis p.18-61

The Water Cell...blub-blub-blub-glub:
Marj's parents become active in demonstrations and teach her that the Shah was not appointed by God. Instead, the Shah overthrew the emperor of the time with England's support in exchange for future prospects of oil. She found out that her grandpa was a prince and was often tortured in a cell full of water. I think she's a pretty funny kid because she takes a long bath in order to know what her grandpa felt when tortured for his Communist beliefs.

Persepolis:
Those revolutionists were pretty drunk and crazy with their beliefs for a better form of government. Marj's dad witnessed the revolutionists calling an old man who died of cancer: a martyr of the war, a hero, and one of the many victims of the murderous king.

The Letter:
Marj learns from her father that her society prevents/bans the marriage between persons of different social standings. Her family's maid named Mehri fell in love with the neighbor's son, but the neighbor's son rejected her when he learned that she was a maid. Marj tried to cheer Mehri up by convincing her to go to the demonstration together. However, they both got slapped hard by Marj's mom when they got home.

The Party:
The King tried his best to create a democracy, but in the end it didn't suit him and he was exiled. Although everyone was happy and had a enormous party, there were still conflicts in Marj's society: for-against Communism.

The Heroes:
After the king left, all the revolutionist prisoners were freed and rejoined their family. Some family friends enlightened them about the torture practices used on the prisoners: a deformed foot from electricity, pulled-off fingernails, iron burns. It goes to show you that war brings the worst out of humans in order to achieve a "better" future.

Moscow:
Marj was able to meet up with her uncle Anoosh. He was one of the many war prisoners during the Iranian revolution. He gave her a duck made of bread, and she treasured it as if it was made out of gold. These kids were proud of having a family member that were imprisoned because they were recognized as heroes in the revolution. It's the most craziest fact to be proud about. I think the revolution made the people's ideals/values change quite a bit--in the weirdest of ways.

Persepolis -- The Veil & The Bicycle p.1-17

Happy: Jonathan, is change always good? It seems like the revolution in the novel, the Iranian one, is killing people.

J: Well Happy, I guess you can say change can be both good and bad. How can I explain this? So, when Marjane, the author, talks about the veil she shows that it was more of an oppressive act made by the revolutionaries.



Happy: Yeah, the kids were forced to wear the veils by their teachers, and the girls were separated from the boys at school.



J: Yeah, so you could say the revolution brought some useless, and unnecessary, rules to the Iranian people.

Happy: Why did they need to have a revolution?

J: Ehhh, well I guess the Shah was not doing a great job, and the people thought a revolution would make everyone's life better.

Happy: Then that Shah guy must be really bad since he made the theater burn with all those people inside.

J: I guess? I mean only a really powerful guy could order the police and firefighters to not save those people inside. I think that was pretty disgusting of the Shah to do that

J: Oh Happy, did you understand that bicycle thing Marj was talking about? It was a bit...weird.

Happy: O.O uhhh... Maybe the revolution failed in a way because the people didn't pedal the bike correctly?

J: That kind of makes sense. The people must be at fault.

Happy: pffft, I think that old man was funny by the way. He had a super long beard like Santa Claus. I wonder if he says "HO HO HO"?





J: Happy, that was God that Marj believes in. But I wonder if her god still likes her since he disappeared after she went crazy about wanting to go to the demonstration. Maybe it was to show a lost in faith?

Happy: I think they are all dumb. Why have war when everyone could just give each other fish? Wouldn't everyone be happy if they all got fish? I would. I would have a fish buffet. Oh, how happy I would be. *drool.


J: Happy, come back~. How about we get some lunch then. You did make me hungry with your fish talk.

Happy: Alright! FISH!!! I want fish!!!