Tuesday, October 29, 2013
American Drama Assignment- Six Degrees of Separation (Blog Post #10 and #11)
MLA Title Page with AP Prompt Text & Academic Honesty Statement and Summary Sheet
Rationale
Script
MLA Works Cited
15 Storyboard Frames (5 for each scene)
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Life of Pi Creative Project (Blog Post #9)
Text: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Essence: Human nature contains two sides: peaceful innocence and violent savagery. Only when balanced and controlled can this duo act to benefit the whole and sustain life.
Synopsis: In Yann Martel’s award-winning novel Life of Pi, sixteen year old Piscine (Pi) Patel boards a cargo ship headed for the US with his family. However, a few days into their voyage, the TsimTsum sinks, killing Pi’s family and sending him into the open Pacific with only a lifeboat and an odd assortment of animals, amongst them a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Coexistence on the lifeboat proves a challenge and before long only Pi and Richard Parker remain; a fierce competition for dominance ensues in which Pi eventually triumphs. Having tamed Richard Parker, Pi continues to search for land. Meanwhile, his limits are tested by the hunger and relentless elements plaguing both himself and Richard Parker. During this journey, Pi discovers a side of himself beyond feasible imagination and is forced to confront a violent nature exposed by his interaction with Richard Parker and the obstacles of the Pacific. Near Life of Pi’s conclusion, Martel reveals another account of the events aboard the lifeboat. Involving only human inhabitants, this story seems far more believable than Pi’s retelling and brings up questions about who or what Richard Parker really is.
Prompt: 1978. Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character in a work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write an essay that explains how the incident or character is related to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the work. Avoid plot summary.
Thesis: In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, protagonist Piscine Patel’s extraordinary oceanic voyage is doubted when another more realistic version of the story is revealed. Parallels drawn between Pi’s original and its retelling expose a confrontation within the coexisting duality present in human nature and its savage quest for dominance.
Creative Project: A quote journal with illustrations of Pi embodying himself, Richard Parker, and finally the duo that leads to his survival and quotes distinguishing between the three stages.
Explanation with 5 quotes:
The essence of Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi revolves around the inherent duality of human nature and the balance essential to survival. Within each individual there resides an apparent everyday passivity; however, extreme situations may push us over the edge of this innocent façade and into a deeper animalistic savagery arising from raw desperation. In the case of Piscine Molitar Patel, an arduous journey across the Pacific and all the trials involved trigger the release of his violent alternate nature, embodied by the fictitious Bengal tiger Richard Parker. Throughout his voyage, Pi fluctuates between maintaining his usual peace-loving self and transforming into a violent and unrestrained alter ego. The imbalance between the two puts Pi at a constant risk of destruction: were one to overpower the other, the implications could be fatal. However, as he discovers more about each identity, Pi learns to control the two and manipulate certain aspects of both so as to assist his own survival. It is through this mental development within each individual persona and eventual mastery of both that the core of Martel’s story is revealed. This quote journal captures the essence of Life of Pi by separating the personas of Pi and Richard Parker through their actions and then linking certain element to illustrate a vitally advantageous combination.
In the beginning of Martel’s novel, Pi is introduced as a slightly timid, decidedly bookish, sixteen year old boy living a typical teenage life in Pondicherry, India wanting little more from life than “to love God” (69). This all changes with his plummet into the oceanic depths of the Pacific and the life-or-death crisis that ensues. However, much as his circumstances have changed, throughout the beginning of his stranded voyage Pi is very much the same boy he had boarded the TsimTsum as. The quotes on Page 1 of the journal portray Pi as he enters his journey. He is uncertain of his abilities and easily frightened by the sight of the weakest tiger, “a wet, trembling, half-drowned, heaving, and coughing three-year-old…”, throwing himself overboard with little deliberation (99-100). He believes his prospects at survival are dim and flights far before any notion of fight is conceived. Pi epitomizes his nonaggressive self even when faced with potential starvation. Though he had successfully caught a fish, “several times [he] started bringing the hatchet down, but couldn’t complete the action” (183). Pi later weeps for the fish he had killed, noting it was the “first living thing he had ever killed” and condemning himself “a killer” (183). This sensitive spirit seen in a young boy contrasts sharply with the coldhearted killer introduced in the following page of the journal.
Though the same person, life of the boat has forced Pi to adopt certain aspects of his Richard Parker counterpart. This integration of violence is emphasized most clearly in another fishing scene reminiscent of Pi’s first flying fish encounter. Here he has caught a dorado after a day’s work and kills it with “no problem”, taking the hatchet and “vigorously [beating] the fish to death” (185). He attempts to defend his transition from “weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a dorado” with the woes of hunger but eventually concedes that “it is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (185). This is extremely out-of-character but can be explained with the adopted savagery of his tenacious but uncontrolled Richard Parker complex. Violent as he is, Pi as Richard Parker pushes himself onwards when the individual Pi would have given up, so much that Pi admits he would not have survived if not for Richard Parker’s companionship. In the journal, Pi’s photo has been replaced with that of Richard Parker, symbolic of his transformation into a savage beast with an undefeatable will to live.
Richard Parker’s will and endurance forces Pi onwards in terms of survival but at a “terrible cost”: when attacked by another sailor, Richard Parker saves Pi, giving him “a life but at the expense of taking one” (251). With events such as the encounter with the French sailor, Pi realizes that certain aspects of Richard Parker must not be left uncontrolled and vows to train him, aware that a tame Richard Parker may be his only chance at survival. Richard Parker initially opposes this effort but eventually becomes compliant, feeling “a need to oblige” (274). It is shown that, if left alone, the persona of Richard Parker would devour itself. It must be combined with the peaceful nature of Pi himself in order to serve any purpose. Pi decides that instead of “running away from him”, he would “carve out [his] territory” and hold his ground, asserting his own values when challenged (202). In the journal, the combined photo of Pi and Richard Parker embraces two halves of a whole, two halves of Pi Patel. Though one may be less used than the other, both are clearly defined and the photo is seen in color as opposed to the grayscale images that previously left space for ambiguity.
Works Cited
• Davidtoc. "SparkNotes: Life of Pi."SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013..
• Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: a novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.
Essence: Human nature contains two sides: peaceful innocence and violent savagery. Only when balanced and controlled can this duo act to benefit the whole and sustain life.
Synopsis: In Yann Martel’s award-winning novel Life of Pi, sixteen year old Piscine (Pi) Patel boards a cargo ship headed for the US with his family. However, a few days into their voyage, the TsimTsum sinks, killing Pi’s family and sending him into the open Pacific with only a lifeboat and an odd assortment of animals, amongst them a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Coexistence on the lifeboat proves a challenge and before long only Pi and Richard Parker remain; a fierce competition for dominance ensues in which Pi eventually triumphs. Having tamed Richard Parker, Pi continues to search for land. Meanwhile, his limits are tested by the hunger and relentless elements plaguing both himself and Richard Parker. During this journey, Pi discovers a side of himself beyond feasible imagination and is forced to confront a violent nature exposed by his interaction with Richard Parker and the obstacles of the Pacific. Near Life of Pi’s conclusion, Martel reveals another account of the events aboard the lifeboat. Involving only human inhabitants, this story seems far more believable than Pi’s retelling and brings up questions about who or what Richard Parker really is.
Prompt: 1978. Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character in a work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write an essay that explains how the incident or character is related to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the work. Avoid plot summary.
Thesis: In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, protagonist Piscine Patel’s extraordinary oceanic voyage is doubted when another more realistic version of the story is revealed. Parallels drawn between Pi’s original and its retelling expose a confrontation within the coexisting duality present in human nature and its savage quest for dominance.
Creative Project: A quote journal with illustrations of Pi embodying himself, Richard Parker, and finally the duo that leads to his survival and quotes distinguishing between the three stages.
Explanation with 5 quotes:
The essence of Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi revolves around the inherent duality of human nature and the balance essential to survival. Within each individual there resides an apparent everyday passivity; however, extreme situations may push us over the edge of this innocent façade and into a deeper animalistic savagery arising from raw desperation. In the case of Piscine Molitar Patel, an arduous journey across the Pacific and all the trials involved trigger the release of his violent alternate nature, embodied by the fictitious Bengal tiger Richard Parker. Throughout his voyage, Pi fluctuates between maintaining his usual peace-loving self and transforming into a violent and unrestrained alter ego. The imbalance between the two puts Pi at a constant risk of destruction: were one to overpower the other, the implications could be fatal. However, as he discovers more about each identity, Pi learns to control the two and manipulate certain aspects of both so as to assist his own survival. It is through this mental development within each individual persona and eventual mastery of both that the core of Martel’s story is revealed. This quote journal captures the essence of Life of Pi by separating the personas of Pi and Richard Parker through their actions and then linking certain element to illustrate a vitally advantageous combination.
In the beginning of Martel’s novel, Pi is introduced as a slightly timid, decidedly bookish, sixteen year old boy living a typical teenage life in Pondicherry, India wanting little more from life than “to love God” (69). This all changes with his plummet into the oceanic depths of the Pacific and the life-or-death crisis that ensues. However, much as his circumstances have changed, throughout the beginning of his stranded voyage Pi is very much the same boy he had boarded the TsimTsum as. The quotes on Page 1 of the journal portray Pi as he enters his journey. He is uncertain of his abilities and easily frightened by the sight of the weakest tiger, “a wet, trembling, half-drowned, heaving, and coughing three-year-old…”, throwing himself overboard with little deliberation (99-100). He believes his prospects at survival are dim and flights far before any notion of fight is conceived. Pi epitomizes his nonaggressive self even when faced with potential starvation. Though he had successfully caught a fish, “several times [he] started bringing the hatchet down, but couldn’t complete the action” (183). Pi later weeps for the fish he had killed, noting it was the “first living thing he had ever killed” and condemning himself “a killer” (183). This sensitive spirit seen in a young boy contrasts sharply with the coldhearted killer introduced in the following page of the journal.
Though the same person, life of the boat has forced Pi to adopt certain aspects of his Richard Parker counterpart. This integration of violence is emphasized most clearly in another fishing scene reminiscent of Pi’s first flying fish encounter. Here he has caught a dorado after a day’s work and kills it with “no problem”, taking the hatchet and “vigorously [beating] the fish to death” (185). He attempts to defend his transition from “weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a dorado” with the woes of hunger but eventually concedes that “it is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (185). This is extremely out-of-character but can be explained with the adopted savagery of his tenacious but uncontrolled Richard Parker complex. Violent as he is, Pi as Richard Parker pushes himself onwards when the individual Pi would have given up, so much that Pi admits he would not have survived if not for Richard Parker’s companionship. In the journal, Pi’s photo has been replaced with that of Richard Parker, symbolic of his transformation into a savage beast with an undefeatable will to live.
Richard Parker’s will and endurance forces Pi onwards in terms of survival but at a “terrible cost”: when attacked by another sailor, Richard Parker saves Pi, giving him “a life but at the expense of taking one” (251). With events such as the encounter with the French sailor, Pi realizes that certain aspects of Richard Parker must not be left uncontrolled and vows to train him, aware that a tame Richard Parker may be his only chance at survival. Richard Parker initially opposes this effort but eventually becomes compliant, feeling “a need to oblige” (274). It is shown that, if left alone, the persona of Richard Parker would devour itself. It must be combined with the peaceful nature of Pi himself in order to serve any purpose. Pi decides that instead of “running away from him”, he would “carve out [his] territory” and hold his ground, asserting his own values when challenged (202). In the journal, the combined photo of Pi and Richard Parker embraces two halves of a whole, two halves of Pi Patel. Though one may be less used than the other, both are clearly defined and the photo is seen in color as opposed to the grayscale images that previously left space for ambiguity.
Works Cited
• Davidtoc. "SparkNotes: Life of Pi."SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
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