Welcome to Kaela's journals.
Email me
see my professors
web page return
to my homepage.
Journal 1
Journal 2
Journal 3
Journal 4
Journal 5
Journal 6
Journal 7
Journal 8
Journal 9
Journal 10
Journal 11
Journal 12
Journal 13
Journal 14
Journal 15
Journal 16
2-23-01
Journal 1
Presentation Interaction
Why did the actors in the presentation
interaction act in the shadow's verse turning on lights like most entertainment?
I believe by acting in the dark, the actors intent was
to create the effect on the audience of being in the Matrix and Plato's
cave. What we were seeing looked real but is was not at all. We were only
seeing shadows of what was actually real. The audience believed what we
were watching was real only because we recognized the actions that we were
seeing. We are also educated enough to know the difference between shadows
and tangible images. Even though it looked like the shadows were real,
they were only the blackened images of real objects. The presentation was
just like the Matrix since it is a computer program, nothing is real just
the image of real objects. What we were seeing was not the real actors
just their silhouette. The difference is the people in the Matrix know
no better than to think what they are seeing is real. Luckily, we are smart
enough to know the difference between what is real and what is virtual
reality.As we sat watching the images we became the prisoners in Plato's
cave. We were not held by chains, but like the prisoners we had consequences
that we had to face if we left the gym where we watched the movie and performance.
The good thing with this is that we know as humans we are not just satisfied
with the just the shadows, or the movie would not be playing in the background.
There is no way that the actors could have put all 300 of the new students
in one room and done the same performance and still have kept all of our
attention the way the movie did. We demand more for our attention.
9-1-01
Journal 2
How does the word tank, from Tank in The Matrix, relate to the kind mistress,
Mrs. Auld in Douglass' Narrative?
I believe that the word tank from The Matrix directly
relates to the kind of mistress in Douglass' Narrative in many ways. First,
they are similar because when Douglass first met Mrs. Auld she was nice
to him and treated him as a regular human being, and with out thinking
that any damage could be caused, started to teach him how to read. From
her end she did not see the harm in this and thought that she was just
helping Douglass out by enhancing his knowledge. On Douglass' side this
was indeed favorable because it was helping him and allowing him to better
himself. But on the side of Mr. Auld he saw this as detrimental and said,
"Learning would spoil the best niggar in the world" (Douglass Chapter 6).
He saw this as so detrimental because he knew that the way slaves were
currently treated was wrong. As soon as the slaves were educated they would
find out that they should not be treated as unfairly as they were being
and that they could take action to stop their current treatment. If they
knew that slavery was wrong they would revolt and not want to be slaves
any longer, that would not benefit Mr. Auld. So to Mrs. Auld her actions
seemed favorable but to Mr. Auld her action were dangerous. Just as in
war for the side the tank is on (Douglass and Mrs. Auld) it seems good
and very justifiable because it is helping their cause and helping them
get one step close to their goal. As for the opposing side, (Mr. Auld)
the side where the tank is destroying things it seems detrimental because
they can directly see the damage it is causing.
9-9-01
Journal 3
When I first arrived and sat into my chair, I remember
thinking to myself, "I wish this wasn't mandatory." I then looked and saw
a funny gray-haired man on the stage and he began to speak. I could barely
understand him but somehow I managed to get that he would be playing Chaplain
Nocture in C minor, inspired by Greek tragedy. He said the piece was going
to be expressive and delicate. The music he played was incredible and he
was a very talented pianist. I could feel the delicacy and the joy that
he earlier had talked about. It was amazing. The concert was outstanding
and I am glad that I attended. As he went on he played Bach Prelude in
C minor, Scarlatzi in C minor, Shueurt, Lizst in E minor, Rachananuff's
concerto, and a few more. As he played the audience was memorized with
the sounds he was producing and at the speed that he moved his fingers.
He played in perfect harmony and the audience could literally see the passion
of his playing. It was obvious that Dr. Zeltser had dedicated many years
of his life to the piano and the study of music. He was very knowledgeable
about the pieces he played and it was clear that there was much more knowledge
to be shared that was held back due to the current audience of 250 college
students. He talked about how the recital and our course text are related
by telling us there is a direct connection between the music and behavior
of the Appolonian and Dionysian's. He said that the Appolian's music and
people represented clarity, precision, form, reason, logic, and order.
This was clear in the pieces that he played because they all had a constant
melody and there were no surprises in the music. Everything that was played
could be expected, had little change, and had one constant form. On the
other hand there was the Dyanisian which consisted of change, creation,
disorder, diversity, and frenzy. This music also represented the people
of this culture by being unpredictable and consisting of many changes.
The overall performance was awesome and I now have a better appreciation
of music and its makers.
Journal 4
Dionysian perspective.
Since this is a college and academics are the main focus, do you believe
that drinking on campus would aid or hinder the focus of academics?
Of course we think that drinking on campus would
aid the academic focus of the students at Centenary College. If the students
were able to drink whenever they wanted they would not be so stressed out
all of the time. The way things are around here now; students focus all
of their attention on success, social status, and grades. With all of that
comes a lot of pressure and anxiety but if students were allowed to drink
anywhere, whenever they were feeling a little stress they could just through
back a cold one and it would take the stress of there day right off of
there shoulders! This would also help with the pressure of social status
because if students could drink anywhere they would not feel so obligated
to join a fraternity just so they would have a safe place to drink. Also
it has been proven with extensive research that one or two beers a day
can improve health, and with improved health comes an improved mind, which
will in turn lead to more academic success. Also, if the students are healthier
then they will miss less class due to illness and one important key to
college is showing up for class. Another reason students should be able
to drink is because when they drink a beer while studying they can turn
duty into pleasure. If students think studying is pleasure then they will
do it more often and by studying more grades will improve. So of course
we think that drinking on campus will in turn improve academics on Centenary
campus.
Journal 5
Soap operas
Clytemestra can't sleep well because she fears that her son and daughter
will seek retaliation for her evil deeds. Stephanie find out that Brooke
is being used and can not sleep because she knows that Brooke is in the
middle of a horrible plan.
Chrysothemis does not believe that Orestes is dead and Electra sets
her straight and lies to her by telling her that he is really dead. Stephen
comforts Brooke by telling her a lie and that everything will be alright
when he knows that he is not telling the truth.
Electra is scared that she can not take over her mother by herself
so she gets other people involved. Stephen is just using Brooke to get
to Massimo because he can not get to him all alone.
Mossimo and Stephen make an alliance. Electra and Oreses make an alliance.
Electra tells her mother that she thinks she was wrong and horrible
for her killing her father. Stephanie tells Eric that he is a horrible
person for what he is doing to Brooke.
Clytemnestra begs Orestes not to kill her and to forgive her, only
because she is about to die. Eric tells Stephanie not to tell Brooke because
his plan is about to be spoiled.
Journal 6
Dr. Shoham was born in Lithuania. He lived in Palestine
for a while where he was a criminal lawyer. He did that for many years
then one day he decided that there was no point in putting people behind
bars and that something better could be done with his life. So he began
educating himself and writing books. He is the author of 78 books and is
a veteran of 7 different wars. He also speaks many different languages.
The topic of his speech was the Nazi Holocaust dealing with the issues
of concentration camps. The speech was very informative even though he
was hard to understand. Though his speech jumped around a lot he did make
good points and the audience could tell that he was very informed on all
of the subjects that he spoke about. The first topic was mythology and
how it is the link between nature and culture, person and society, and
society and transcendence. It also can help to explain the unexplainable.
Next, he talked about how Hitler was driven by the belief that he could
bring the nation to all be pagan. He also said that Hitler was a very powerful
man and that he could have destroyed Britain but he did not want to embarrassed
the country so he resisted. Next, he said that when the decision of Germany
to kill all of the Jews was made the high ranking Nazi official got drunk
and celebrated what was about to happen to their country. Then he went
into how Christianity is a form of Judaism and Hellanism. Then he said
that the only way to have Auswrtz be possible is if everyone got rid of
Jesus Christ. He also said that Jews considered themselves to be German
even though all of the evil things that went on because the language and
culture. That is what I got out of Dr. Shoham's speech and I think I could
have gotten more out of it but he was hard to understand and hard to follow
because of the way he jumped around in his stories. But overall I think
he gave a good speech and he was very informative.
Journal
7
Growth
At first nothing is there
but emptiness.
The ground is clear without
a trace of life.
Bare earth with fields of
darkness surround us
How could something so simple
be so wrong?
Then the ground begins to
resound with life
Out from the earth the grass
has come to shine
Suppose our emptiness could
e’er be filled?
The first blade pokes through
lighting up the field
Now growing outward to conquer
the land
Slowly realizing the conclusion
The empty void would never
be filled again.
What
I did over Fall Break
My fall break applies to King Henry in many ways. First, I found out that
one of my really good friends back at home was getting into a lot of stuff
at college that she should not be getting into. The initial freedom of
being away from her parents has gone right to her head and now she is out
of control. In the same way that Canterbury and Ely thought the King, judging
by his past could not turn out so good, I never thought that my friend
could turn out so wild. Also, just as Henry had a successful trip from
England to France I had a very successful trip from Shreveport to my home
in Dallas. Though he was going to fight a war and I was going to visit
my family we both made our destinations safely with no problems along the
way. Then once I got home safely I was talking to my father about how I
was discouraged with the way the gymnastics team is here and he gave my
some inspirational words. He made me feel better and gave me some ideas
of how maybe I could be the one to take charge and make some changes in
orde to unite the team. His inspirational words reminded me of how when
Henry's soldiers were discouraged he talked to them and gave them some
inspirational words of encouragement. Sometimes the only thing people need
is some motivation and they can do anything! Another great thing that happened
over my break was that the gymnastics team had a meeting and remembering
the words that my father had given me I stood up for myself and told everyone
about the ideas that I had and to my surprise they went over well. Most
of the team was receptive and I was really proud of the way the team is
now open to be more united. I think this is probably how the soldiers felt
when they won the battle against the French. They were feeling discouraged
but they stuck with it and remembering the inspirational words given to
them by their leader they tried their best and in the end everything turned
out for the better.
Journal 9
In attending the Shendandoah
Shakespear Express performance of King Henry V, I noticed many differences
in the present day theater and the way that the Shendandoah actors performed.
First, the lights were on, which is unusual. They did this because when
Shakespear's original plays were performed they were performed in the open
Globe Theater which used the sunlight as lighting. Now usually theaters
incorporate the lights into the directing to strengthen the mood but the
Shendandoah actors did a great job without the outside help of lighting.
Next, the back stage was open for the audience to see. The actors could
be seen behind stage and their actions there were incorporated into the
play. Also, there were only around 11 actors. This is different because
in current theater each actor only plays one part where in this play actors
played many different parts. They did this because Shakespeare's actors
traveled and it was to hard to find good actors wherever they went so they
just learned many parts. This is difficult because they have to be very
distinct in their acting abilities not to confuse the audience. Another
thing is the audience was on three sides of the stage. Since there was
no back stage the audience could sit all around the stage and the actors
did not have to worry about being seen by the audience and being a distraction
since the backstage actions were already incorporated into the acting.
Journal 10
Seeing CK
Williams receive the Corrington Award and read from his own work was a
great pleasure. One of the poems that he read was titled "War." The discussion
of his introduction to this work was very short and it just let the audience
know that it was written about his son and one of his friends playing in
the backyard. His son's name is Jed and his friends name is Ha Woei. He
also talked in his introduction about the fact that he has another poem
titled "War" that when he titled it he forgot that he had already written
a poem with the title "War." Just a silly mistake on his part. The poem
"War" is written about two little boys playing war in their backyard in
France. One of the little boys plays like he shoots the other one and the
one that got shot falls dramatically to the ground and acts like they are
dying, then the dead one gets up and it is now his turn to do the shooting.
They do this over and over until it is time to go inside and go to sleep.
It is not until they go to sleep that they make peace. This partnership
is ironic because even though they are enemies they are partners in war.
The bigger picture here is that even though the boys are playing like war
is just a game and having so much fun with it, war is actually very real
and it is in no way a game.
Journal
11
For the Frankenstein assignment, I indiscriminately viewed the two movies
Gods and Monsters and Frankenweenie. It is amazing that two movies that
both have to do with Frankenstein could be so different. In the movie Gods
and Monsters the plot was about a homosexual director that who represented
Frankenstein. In the book and movie booth Frankenstein and the director
had parents whom rejected them. They both also were rejected from the world
just for being who they were. The director was rejected for being homosexual
and Frankenstein was rejected for his outward appearance. Both of
them did not like life and the director though that death was better than
life unlike the monster who would rather live alone in the icebergs than
die. In Freankenweenie instead of a human with a dismembered body resembling
a monster there was a dog that had a disfigured body created by a young
boy. Frankenweenie has the same plot as Frankenstein but was directed towards
a younger audience so it left out the gruesome details that the book included.
All of these books and movies were written along the same plot line and
it is interesting to see how each director got a different interpretation
and how many variations could be made to fit an audience.
Journal
12
What was the main difference between Electra
in the book and Electra on stage?
Electra in the book did not seem so crazy
and out of touch with the world, on stage her performance was solely screaming
and crying.
Did you enjoy the character of Electra that
you imagined in your head or the character that you saw on the stage?
I enjoyed the character that I imagined in
my head because I pictured a girl in despair an longing to see her long
lost brother but, not a girl who was completely out of control.
Did you imagine when you read the book that
the mother would be wearing a bright red dress like the one she wore on
stage?
No, I imagined her wearing a seductive dress
but I never imagined that it would be so low class.
What was the most
important prop used on stage?
The most important prop used by far was the
rain as the play came to an end. It was used in my opinion to show that
since a life, the mother, had been terminated that a whole new chapter
in every one's life was about to begin.
Why do you think the rain was not incorporated
into the written version of Electra?
I believe to read the written words that it
was raining while all of this final action was occurring would not have
had the impact that it had on stage. Some things like that you see
could never be replace by words.
Journal
13
I believe that Lauren Thrift
said it best when she said, "Rose
Van Thyn helped bring the Holocaust to life for Centenary students."
Even before any student knew whom Rose Van Thyn was or what she represented
we prepared ourselves for another foreign speaker that we could not understand.
But once we saw her sitting in her living room set up we started to think
how real the actual holocaust was. We imagined her having gone through
this, sitting in our living rooms telling us her story. When reading the
book about the holocaust and learning about it in school many of us never
really stopped to think about it how real this was, or the people involved
in this horrible act and how closely we are related to them. We could have
just as easily been in their shoes. As Rose Van Thyn spoke and the crowd
began to listen more and more students were memorized with the stories
she told and all of the emotion behind them. I do not know if I went through
the same horrible acts if I could be as strong as she was to come and talk
to us about it. She told her story with class and left out all of the information
that was inappropriate for stage. She left us all more informed than we
were when we came and touched each one of our hearts. I doubt many students
who attend will ever forget the story that she told.
Journal
14
I visited the Jacob
Lawrence exhibit in the Meadow’s Museum. This was an excellent exhibit
and the museum turned out to be much more than I expected. The exhibit
was said to be from the private collection of Dr. Walter O. Evans of Detroit.
The exhibit was made of many different art works all by Jacob Lawrence
and they were all beautiful. The series is from The Legend of John Brown
and the Genesis Creation Sermon and the paintings tell the story of John
Brown and his attack at Harper’s Ferry. This exhibit relates to our reading
of Maus because in both of these works a drawing represents a huge historical
event. It just goes to show how no matter what the event; every one has
their own perspective on it. It ranges from where someone is standing to
the persons past experiences.
Click
here to see some of Jacob Lawrence's works.
Click
here to see other journal entries on this subject.
Journal
15
Wit
This play was mostly
set in a hospital room of the University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer
Center. This setting was very real and awakening to its audience. Although
during parts of the play the plot moved along a little slow, the over all
play was a good performance. This was a very unusual production but the
cast did an excellent job in its performance. All of the actors were prepared
and represented their characters well. This performance of the play showed
its audience the significance of compassion and how valuable life is. At
first I was a little weary but in the end I was glad that I attended this
MLP’s production of “Wit” and I did recommend it to some of my friends.
The play consisted
of flashbacks where the audience got the chance to view the past life of
the professor Vivian Bearing. In the flash backs the audience got the impression
that Vivian did not relax much and spent her entire life staying busy.
She never really stopped and took a moment to herself. Then shortly before
her death she met with an old professor named Ashford. Ashford read Vivian
a child’s story, The Runaway Bunny, in order to get through to her, and
made the point that she needed to live life with the heart of a child.
Even though this was a very important life lesson it was unfortunately
only learned a few minutes before her death.
To
view a different Arts in Context event click here.
Journal 16
In this first semester of college I have learned a lot of things. But in
regards to the English class I feel that I have learned many important
life long concepts. I have learned how to make a web page, which if it
were not for this class I would still be blind to. Also, I have learned
how in every book you can find something that relates to something else.
Another thing that I have learned is how to be a better writer. I feel
after being in this class I am more confident in my writing and can write
more efficiently now. Also, indirectly I have learned what awesome student
resources that the Centenary library has to offer students, all the way
from the computer in the library to the writing lab. I have also found
that the First Year Experience events have not been as bad as everyone
said that they were going to be. I found that even though most students
complained about how long every event was and that they did not want to
go, after they went most of the students enjoyed what the program had to
offer. I am glad that I attended the events that I did and I think that
I made me expand my horizons a little more and I am glad for that. Finally,
I have learned that when you have a really good English teacher that every
one likes, you will make your self look like a fool if (in front of the
president of the school) you say, “I think this class is too easy for me,
and I don’t think I should have to take it.” I have enjoyed this class
and your teaching style.
To
see what others have learned click here.
To my home page.
To
see my paper 4.