In The Heart Of Robin Hood – High School Production Learning Outcomes

LO1: Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

In Grade 11, I was part of a High School production called ‘In The Heart Of Robin Hood’. This was my first time being a part of a High School production. I played one of Prince John’s second-rate guards (they thought they were good fighters but were actually terrible). Even though I didn’t have a big role in the play, I was so grateful to be a part of this production as I really want to do something in the field of theatre and performance after graduating high school. In the past, I auditioned for other plays like Aida, but was never able to land a role. This was a completely new experience for me and gave me insight into how a play is put together behind the scenes. Being a part of Robin Hood helped me to gain more respect for those putting together shows. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and dedication to create a good performance. As an audience member, you only see the finished product of a show, which took months to practice and rehearse. You don’t really think about how much time the cast, director, lighting crew and sound crew invested into making a good production. Before being a part of Robin Hood, I already knew creating a show takes a lot of effort, but knowing and experiencing it first hand are two very different things.

It never occurred to me how much patience was required in the making of a production for those with minor roles. We were often required to sit and wait quietly for extended periods of time, while the director worked with other cast members, which was challenging for a lot of people. Thankfully, patience is one of my strengths and this wasn’t a problem for me.

Despite my love for theatre, being a part of Robin Hood was also a challenge for me as I have stage fright. I love theatre and want to work in the acting industry, but I don’t like drawing attention to myself or being the centre of attention in social situations. In order to be successful in this field, I have to find a balance between these two opposing forces and be comfortable and confident with the attention. However, this is very much out of my comfort zone. Having the presence of other actors on stage in Robin Hood gave me the support to feel confident in myself and helped me develop resilience. It is through my involvement with this production that I learnt I actually enjoyed being pushed a little out of my comfort zone. I love the thrill, excitement and exhilaration I feel when I perform in front of an audience, despite it terrifying me at the same time. With more practice and more experience, I imagine this becoming easier. Where some might shy away from this feeling, I feel drawn to it and want to overcome the fear. I want to continue to be involved in putting on productions and hope to gain experience with more important roles. I want to overcome my stage fright and become more relaxed and confident with an audience.

Antigone

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

At the start of Grade 12, I was part of the student directed performance Antigone. Despite having some experience in High School productions, being a part of Antigone was still a completely new experience for me, being that it was student-led as opposed to teacher-led. The COVID pandemic had a great impact on school life in general, but particularly on theatre performances. This year, the usually large High School production had to be divided into smaller productions, with smaller casts to comply with the COVID regulation protocols  There were four shows in total. I was really excited to have auditioned and been given a speaking role in the play, Antigone. Student-led productions are a lot more hands-on for the whole cast compared to the productions put on by the teachers, like In The Heart Of Robin Hood. We were often asked by the Director, as cast members, to devise our own scenes, enabling us to create intricate motifs and movements. Afterwards, we would all come together and try to create a nice, cohesive moment. We were all required to collaborate well, being respectful of all contributions from the cast and collectively decided on the direction of the play. It was important to recognise that each member brought something new to the group. Bouncing ideas off each other was an effective way to problem solve any issues we had, trying to create a specific intention.

PW Reflection 2

The group I joined planned to travel to Jaipur to help teach at I-Indias school institution. It was a really disadvantaged community. I-India is a GC which works towards giving street kids a proper education. I joined a group of 4 who had already started planning for the trip to Jaipur. We were quite a well-organised group that worked well and communicated effectively with each other. The workload was divided equally amongst members and we were able to meet deadlines and submit all necessary documents on time. However, as I joined this pre-existing group late, I did initially face some challenges and found it awkward to find my place as a useful member. I felt lost as I didn’t know what stage they were at or what still needed to be completed. I lacked confidence in my ability to add value to the team. 

Owing to my reluctance to use social media, communication was also a bit of an issue for me in the beginning. The group used Instagram as the main platform to share information and until I brought myself up to speed on how to use it properly, I was missing out on a lot of important information. Understandably, this was a source of frustration for the group as they assumed I was getting messages. Equally, it was frustrating to me because I wasn’t aware that this was how communication was being distributed. I was more comfortable with WhatsApp and thought this was how the group would communicate. As they were able to find my instagram account (that I never use!) and add me, they assumed I was checking it regularly and read the posts.

From this experience I have learnt that I need to be a better communicator and become more familiar with social media applications. 

Learning About The Disabilities

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

  • Learnt about the different disabilities children may posses:
    • include symptoms and what the best way to help them is.
    • Helps us improve our skills in how to best support the children and their needs

Tips To Writing A Good Paper 1

Today, we practiced writing introductions for the Paper 1. I learnt if I am to write a good essay introduction, I must trust my instinct on what the pros or poem is about.

 

I am a bit of a perfectionist

  • trust insticts on what pro/poem is about, – sometimes I get stuck on this and as a result, I get fixatd and waste precious time
  • I am a little bit of a prefectionist, shouldn’t be fixated on a section for too long – just quickly jot thoughts down and move onto the next section so I can finish my essay on time

PW Reflection 1

Preparations for the Grade 11s annual project week trip started on Tuesday the 26th of November, 2019. Initially, I wanted to travel to Gili islands with some friends to work with the NGO Gili Eco-trust. I was really interested in working with this NGO as they aim to protect the coral reefs and their inhabitants. It was also a scuba diving trip which sounded like a lot of fun. I have never scuba dived before and I wanted to push my boundaries by trying something new. I wanted to challenge my fear of the open water and the unknown. However, after discussions with doctors about my sinusitis condition, I was unfortunately not able to join this Project Week Group. I was really excited about the prospect of this trip and was hugely disappointed when I unable to participate. I then had to find another group which proved to be another enormous challenge as there was a limit on numbers within groups and everyone had already formed and were happy with their groups. It took me weeks to find a suitable group to join. I only knew one person in the new group. This brought up feelings of exclusion and isolation but this gave me the opportunity to meet new people and challenged me to work with strangers.

The Road: Opening to page 35

1. Describe the tone, mood and atmosphere of the opening pages of the novel. Examine the dream in the opening pages as a way of establishing a sense of foreboding.

The mood and atmosphere in the beginning of the book is very dreary, dark and desolate . It gives a sense of unease as there is no one around except for the man and the boy. Not a sound is made. The fact that the man states that it’s not safe on the road anymore now that it is day sets a very dark and foreboding atmosphere.

The dream in the opening sequence establishes a sense of foreboding by describing the cave they are wondering in as “the inside of some gigantic beast”. It’s as if they are trying to find a way out, to escape the beast. The shadows created by the light also make it seam as if the darkness surrounds them and they are trapped. However, it’s the creature within the cave which rally brings out a sense of foreboding as they can see it’s bright white eyes clearly in the darkness. They know the creature is blind because of it’s shite eyes, but the man can’t help but feel as if it will find them using their other senses and attack.

  • doesn’t trust his dreams
    • p 268

 

2. Find details which describe the landscape in these pages. Overall, what image does McCarthy create of the devastation of the earth in this world?

  • “nights dark beyond darkness and the days more grey each one than what had gone before”

The image McCarth creates is a world full of darkness and danger. The days are bleak and the nights are filled with danger and the unknown. The novel also states that the man has a motorcycle mirror attached to the cart so he can see if there is any danger behind them. It’s as if there is no more happiness in the world, only a sense of danger and need to survive.

  • everyday, it’s seems as if the world is giving up
    • man feels as if world is getting darker
  • McCarthy’s language is quite baron and bare:
    • the devoid of poetic techniques and bluntness emphasises how horrible this world is
  • “God-less” – world is so dark, even god is not there
    • God usually symbolises hope and faith, it being a “God-less” world means that the people have given up on hope and faith
  • Fire: hope or general perseverance?

3.  What kind of journey are the man and his son on? Where is the evidence for this?

  • They are on a journey for survival. On page 4, the man states that they were moving south for the winter as they wouldn’t survive another winter in their current location. They’re moving south get get warm.
    • migration: reducing them to animals, not a journey they are taking willingly
    • one of necessity, must keep moving to survive

4. Describe their relationship using evidence to support your ideas.

The man and boy have a father-son relationship. This can easily be seen in the first couple sentences of the novel, where the man goes to put his hand on his son to make sure h’s still alive and breathing. This relationship is further proven when the boy asks what his father would do of he died, to which he replied “i would die too,” so he could be with his son.

  • The boy has a lot of questions of what is going on and the man answers – gives us an insight into teh world they live in
  • They have a strong, protective bond, the boy relies on man for survival, boy is the only thing the man has
  • Man takes care of boy and makes sure he lives
  • There a lot of times where the boy is taking care of the man in a way the man doesn’t imagine
    • kid cares for him and wants to protect him from himself
      • “that’s not true, i worry about things too.”
  • Care’s about the boy enough to teach him how to effectively kill himself should anything happen to the man
    • kid would be safer if he was dead, there would be no more suffering
    • Man almost did it himself once to “save him”

5. Memories of the past come to the man’s mind – what kind of memories are they? What importance might they have?

The memories the man has are ones full of how things used to be, of the “better world”. They are ones filled with happiness and life, which is a complete contrast to his reality. These memories serve him as a reason to keep fighting for survival, so that maybe, one day, the world won’t be so bad anymore.

6. What do you notice about the narrative style of writing? What might be the reason for choices McCarthy makes stylistically? Look at the effects of crafting such as: use of imagery, poetic and metaphoric features, syntax and punctuation, other?

  • Each paragraph is like a short snippet of everyday life for the man and the boy. This way, it really allows the reader to easily come to terms with the situation the characters are facing and what everyday life is like.
  • Some of the main literary devices that stand out for me is the use of diction, imagery and structure. The words used in The Road are simple enough to immediately understand what is happening as well and easily conveys the atmosphere and mood set. The use of imagery also helps with setting the scene as it is easily able to convey that sense of foreboding and unease felt within the novel. It is also able to easily convey the feeling of happiness when describing the man’s dreams. The use of structure is also really effective as each paragraph/scene is short, which forces the author to choose words which would quickly describe what is happening, before moving onto the next scene. It’s used as if to illustrate everyday life and the hardships they face.

 

  • McCarthy sets up that humans make rational decisions, which is untrue
    • they have to think rationally in order to survive, but even that is based on irrationality?
      • Irrationality that hope is there driving force
  • There are always some people who manage to survive even the worst of times – interesting how McCarthy doesn’t show us the ending
  • Hope is engrained within us since we were kids because of stories
  • Innocence vs experience: difference between children and adults
    • kid is hopeful and wants to help everyone he can
    • man is more suspicious of people and knows how to survive
  • Wants the boy to carry on in resilience

Sylvia Plath

For the past few lessons, my class and I have been looking at and annotating poems by Sylvia Plath, who lived from 1932 to 1963.

  • wrote about her internal struggles
  • confessional poetry as a movement: freeing, able to express ones self

Her poetry, possible lines of inquiry, themes, confessional poetry as a movement.