Othello's Thoughts by Nasya King

Othello's jealous rage did not all come at once, rather it was more of a descent into madness. In the beginning of the play it is revealed to the audience that Othello is cool headed and wise. HIs experiences as a soldier have created a sense of peace within him even in the presence of danger. When Brabantio called him out for bewitching his daughter, Othello could have been killed. However, he remained completely collected and simply told his story, which landed everyone on his side and left Brabantio alone in his entreat to punish Othello. When the Turkish attack was announced, fought, and won there was still no sign of extreme emotion from the brave soldier who’d fought cave cannibals and won many wars. However, all men have a weakness, and usually it is women and pride. When it came to Desdemona Othello became like a love sick puppy. He would always express his happiness at the sight of her, and through his words we see that Desdemona is one of the only people who does not judge or ask for favors from Othello. Their love for each other was pure and stronger than Brabantio’s anger, or the racist attitudes about Othello. However, this all changed once Iago began to advise Othello of Desdemona’s supposed disloyalty. With no proof (“yet”) whatsoever, Othello begins to not only believe Iago, but torment himself over those beliefs. AS stated above though, it didn’t happen all at once. In the beginning Othello Othello's jealous rage did not all come at once, rather it was more of a descent into madness. In the beginning of the play it is revealed to the audience that Othello is cool headed and wise. HIs experiences as a soldier have created a sense of peace within him even in the presence of danger. When Brabantio called him out for bewitching his daughter, Othello could have been killed. However, he remained completely collected and calmly explained how it was his bravery, and smooth voice that enchanted her. That and a sense of loneliness that was kind of sad. This supports why Othello felt so betrayed by Desdemona; he was able to keep everyone out of his personal life and his out of everyone’s. Desdemona was invited to share his hearts desires, pains, and grief; yet still she betrayed him. In Othello’s eyes this betrayal was evidence of the reason he didn’t let many people too close. He started out an introverted, calculated soldier, and ended up an aggressive, murderer.

Othello's Rage Video Click Here 

A Beloved Slave - Nasya King

The film Twelve Years a Slave is actually an adaptation of the book written by the man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The book version is a lot more detailed and matter of fact, but the movie, like most movies, is about the images and the emotions they evoke, not the facts. That is not to say the facts are not all there, but there tends to be a new bulk of slave movies coming out. This most people find pleasing because the movies raise awareness of what happened during times of slavery. However, that idea does not always materialize because people go see the movie and think that is where black people belong. (no not in slavery) They belong in a constant state of remembering and acknowledging their past as slaves and how to come up from that past. Most see the movie as a way to come up from the past and influence everyone to treat each other equally. The issue is that black people were around way before slavery, and any other people for that matter. They were kings and queens, genius inventors, doctors, scientists, and artists before those words were even created. In the article “Twelve Years a Slave”: Analyzing Slave Narratives on http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/twelve-years-slave-analyzing-slave-narrativesTwelve years a slave had one scene in the beginning and one in the end of Solomon with his family, then a mother getting her children sold. The movie actually just highlighted the known facts about slavery, and what does that accomplish? Those who see how terrible it is will think "I would never do that," or "it's a good tthing they're free now!" But the current state of black people is not better than the conditions of slavery. Maybe physically less tortuous. Instead the minds of black people are being either brainwashed or denied any initial stimulation at all. That is worse than physical slavery because in the mind of that black man he is not enslaved. That mental barrier is a factor Beloved holds to be somewhat true of slavery and post slavery. Morrison focuses more on the actual humanness of her characters which allows people to see real human struggles rather than one blanket of oppression that blacks were once under, but aren't anymore.

In Beloved, Morrison uses Sethe’s resistance to remember the bad things that occurred at Sweet Home as the mental block. Without thinking about such things as her milk being stolen or the bodies hanging from the beautiful trees. The prevention of these thoughts create a constant inner battle in Sethe. She wants her children to know about life and the world, but can’t tell them about her personal experiences with one of the most dangerous institutions in the world for her children to encounter. As a result, Sethe can never really nurture and help her children develop because repressing those memories daily only makes them pop back up at the most emotionally heightened times such as when your child is crying and needs advice. In Twelve Years, however, it was the opposite. Solomon was a very smart slave because, we assume, he was a freeman, and they are allowed to learn how to read and write. The issue with that is, all of that is mostly common knowledge or common sense. The Twelve Years a Slave characterization of slavery is surface level. It was basically a series of scenes where there was whipping, some type of abuse, or the great white shark (the white man that seeks out a black man who has skills and talents that exceed his own so he devotes his entire life to that black man to seemingly help him, but is really just riding on their hard work while they keep up appearances and make sure no other white people kill him) was hunting or had already captured the talented little dolphin that is Solomon. SO basically, slavery was bad because people got hurt, and then; oh now we can all be happy because one black man is getting out of the situation with the help of an amazing white angel. This almost happens three times in Twelve Years and it kept failing because the great white shark who gave Solomon help by way of privileges and the one who told him he’d send his letter were just using him. At least in Beloved Toni Morrison makes it clear that although Sweet Home was somewhat of a good life for a slave, it was far from a good life. Film directors should take advice from Morrison about how to portray the real depth of the lives of black people during and post slavery, instead of just slapping a bunch of gory scenes about physical pain together; which is only the surface of slaves suffered. Physical oppression couldn’t stop a lot of them, definitely not a pregnant and scarred Sethe.

Hunting a Different Game - A flash Fiction by Nasya King

Anneke was tall and strong. She walked with the grace of a jumping white tailed dear, and the power of a two ton moose. Her mother, ill with Molaria, sent her out for water everyday after all of the other kids were fed and outside studying lessons with Mr. Montsu. Today the sun was out. A light breeze was the only relief from the hard, sweltering ground that absorbed heat so easily. "Don't be too long sweetheart, I don't want to have to come out after you." Her mother's voice was so weak, yet her smile a cool rag on a hot head. Anneke smiled back painfully. She was well aware her mother's bed would always be occupied until it was empty forever, the muslin it was made from on fire and the disease which ravaged her mother's body burned away. Anneke grabbed the old but clean water jug, forced her eyes to turn away from her mother, and started her journey to the Big River five miles south. As usual, the thought of her mother's death occuring before her return pumped Anneke's legs without her consent. She never wanted to run, knowing it meant at least a fifteen minute break on the return and a slower stride afterwards. She just couldn't help thinking of her mother dying alone. She had accepted that she would go soon, but promised to hold her head in her arms, wipe the sweat, and sing her to sleep. As Anneke's break time approached she heard herself singing the song she would sing to her mother. Howver, she realized she was changing the words. "Pretty bird, beautiful with sunshine in your eyes. Wonderful bird full oif joy, full of life." At that moment she became awasre of the most magnificent bird she'd ever seen. It's feathers were bright red and green and yellow, with a black beak. She also heard gunshots over head. Anneke was young, but a smart girl and knew gunshots meant trouble. Having sung her mother's song to the bird, she felt as if she'd given it a death sentence. Tears streamed from her eyes as she tried to shoo the bird away. It continued to stare at her. Anneke lifted her skirt and began to climb the smooth trunk of the massive Baobab tree. She was not in the right mind to see anything die right now. As she got closer to the bird so did the gunshots. "Get out of here birdy, are you stuck?" She saw that it wasn't. It simply sat perfectly still. When Anneke got right up next to the bird she saw that it was fake and lifeless. She now understood that the pale men who's gunshots and clunking boots were approaching weren't bird hunters. She attempted to get down as quickly as possible, but halfway out there was another loud blast, and she fell. The kids went back in from their lesson but nothing was prepared for lunch. They heard their mother singing, "Pretty girl, beautiful with sunshine in your eyes. Wonderful girl full of joy, full of life."

Cameron Clow

Brazil

Multimedia

AN ODE TO THE ACTRESS

     Actresses, according to the circumstances of the age and nation in which they appeared, were called in the earlier epochs of the world, counselors or philosophers: an actress essentially comprises and unites both these characters. For she not only delves into the mental processes which drive the behavior of her situationally bound character but she uses that character, and their story to comment on social mores in order to guide her audience to revelatory ways of thinking, and her roles are the beams of awakening morning light of each new day. Not that I assert actresses to be philosophers, in the gross sense of the word, or that they can understand the cause of awesome phenomena of the world as surely as they can translate their affects: such is the pretense of superstition, which would make acting an attribute of philosophy, rather than philosophy an attribute of acting. An actress participates in life, reality, and truth; as far as relates to her conceptions, lies and frivolous emotional reactions are not. The acting forms which make use of over dramatization, and the fane of certain persons, and flashy settings. are convertible with respect to the highest acting techniques without injuring it as acting; and the work of Meryl Streep, Claudius Aesopus, and Araros would afford, more than many other actors, examples of this fact, if the limits of this essay did not forbid citation. The creations of sculpture, painting, and instrumental music are illustrations still ore decisive.
     Playing off of the habits and circumstances of a character, lying, being over dramatic are all just the instruments and materials of poetry; they may be called acting by that figure of speech which considers the effect as a synonym of the cause. But acting, in a more restricted sense expresses those arrangements of situation and circumstance, and especially specific situation, which are created by the divine faculty, whose throne is curtained within the realities of man. And this springs from the nature itself of situation, which is a more direct representation of the uncontrollable drives and motivation of our daily lives, and is susceptible of more various and delicate combinations, than color, form, or motion, and is more plastic and obedient to the control of that force of which it is the creation. For situation is subconsciously produced by the realities of the playwright, and has relation to individual experiences alone; but all other materials, instruments, and conditions of art have relations among each other; which limit and interpose between conception and expression. The former is a mirror which reflects, the latter as a cloud which enfeebles, the light of which both are mediums of communication...
       Actresses are the hierophants of truthful storytelling; the freight trains between a flat situation to a full life; the actions which express what they, personally, want not; the messengers who bring news of battle, and know not what they stir; the truth which is swayed not, but sways. Actresses are the unacknowledged counselors of the world.

The Eyes Are Just Gateways (Chapter 25)

              The first time I saw the title of chapter twenty-five I thought it was just going to be another lesson on reading between the lines or interpreting the symbols in the text. I was pleasantly surprised when the author took a completely different direction. Instead of abstract interpretations of the example text that I would be trying hopelessly to understand, the author engaged me with sensible ways to approach text so that the reader can actually live in the world of the story. Why is this important? According to Thomas C. Foster, "It seems to me that if we want to get the most out of our reading, as far as is reasonable, we have to try to take the works as they were intended to be taken." I completely agree with you Tom. As a playwright I have learned it is crucial for the reader (actress) to dive into the world you have created. It is impossible to truthfully become Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar if you think about the word ambitious in the contemporary meaning. Ambition is praised these days, but in Rome 44 B.C. it was a reason to be stabbed by a group of men that you consider to be your friends. This very specific example just    goes to show how one simple word can change the entire meaning of a story.