OOOOOOOO who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Well the correct answer is Spongebob but I have a blog post due so I think I should move there and avoid my learning. So, to recap this project we had to answer our driving question; How can we use Shakespeare’s the ‘The Tempest’ and the history of New France to stage dramatic tableaus that help an audience understand the lasting effects of colonization. A tableau is defined by google as, “a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story or from history; a tableau vivant; late 17th century (in the sense ‘picture’, figuratively ‘picturesque description’): from French, literally ‘picture’, diminutive of table” SO, pretty much a bunch of actors on a stage not moving or speaking. Sounds gripping. Then, to answer our driving question, we added narration and one line per-character. That’s the big idea and here is how we got to that point.
We did a bit of an anthropology unit or lesson and I learned that judgment as a anthropologist is a hard thing to avoid but needs to be averted. It is an extremely common mistake made by all those who study anthropology. It requires practice and an open mind. We read examples from different aspects of a culture then read quotes that furthered those points. André Thévet made this mistake by recounting the lifestyle of the Native Americans as savage, without faith or laws, and with no religion. I would not have been as aggressive with my language but I know as a newcomer to anthropology I would have fallen victim to judging this culture. I did this when we were looking at the Snaidanac text. I had to reflect quickly afterwards and change my language for next time. The way I will avoid this next time I get the opportunity to is by thinking about the other cultures point of view. In other words, I will try to destroy my assumptions and put myself in their shoes. I can check this by quickly asking myself if I would be offended if
someone said this about my culture. I learned a lot about judgment in this field and hope
to improve and grow next time we annualize a culture or a people.
We also did a , “What Was Life Like in a Colony Skit Reflection Paragraph.” Heres mine.
“What really was life like in a New France colony? We started with this question and had to create a story centred around this. It was an interesting project to begin with, but with the addition of a skit with a pantomime element, it got even trickier. It was difficult to show our story without words. Especially with the church scenes. We centred our story around a family who had recently arrived in New France. They rented land from a seigneur, made bread, food, went to church, and many more daily tasks. They also had to deal with a tough first season in New France with the loss of a son and a shortage of crops. This was over the one minute mark but we were proud of our script, acting, and our slide show. We were very creative with our premise and story. We were the only group to show what the whole life was like for a family, not just one event. This helped my group to understand what life was like in a colony because we had to put our selves in their beaver-pelt-shoes. We showed ethical judgment in our play by showing that we did our research. One example of this would be displaying the head cheese, which was a French delicacy. The only way we would have known this was by researching daily life. In conclusion, we showed our learning to the best we could in the time we had, we researched and learned more about life in New France, and we all got an opportunity to show off talents in unique ways.” Here is our final skit.
https://youtu.be/8By-CGSTK_Q
That paragraph was mostly central to the actual performance. I also want to reflect on my learning during the reading and research. I worked really hard with my group, Emily, Emily, Anthony, and Ryan, to not lead and just keep up on track. My goal was to let people who don’t usually lead have a chance at leading. I think I did pretty well but I definitely could have done better by putting my iPad down and making more eye contact.
The Tempest active readings was a stepping stone and it helped me analyze the play. I thought it helped me but also it seemed a but tedious sometimes. I don’t think that we, for example, needed to look at the gods represented in the mask. I also did a good job at keeping up with the assignment due dates and they were all done on time.
The Play. This was our final product. We had THREE DAYS to rehearse this play. That included learning and practicing narration, doing the backdrops, costumes, poses, lines, and all around rehearsals. We probably did 5 full rehearsals…and then preformed. I worked hard to learn my lines and my narration, even though I was scared out of my mind. I had 2 days to learn my narration and I think I did a pretty good job even though I said one line twice. AND I got all the big points across. I helped out after I was done and before we started with organizing the offstage area and helping people with costumes. I learned that I can face my fears with public speaking and that the worst thing that happens is you mess up. Here is the final performance.
https://youtu.be/MDVzIv_xa0I
The driving question, as was, “How can we use Shakespeare’s the ‘The Tempest’ and the history of New France to stage dramatic tableaus that help an audience understand the lasting effects of colonization.” My clear and decisive answer is, “We can use Shakespeare’s the ‘The Tempest’ and the history of New France to stage dramatic tableaus that help an audience understand the lasting effects of colonization by making animated backgrounds, clear narration, and one simple line for each character.” I really hope that that’s not a run on sentence. 🤞
In conclusion…
Thank you for reading my post and have a great summer break! I’ll see y’all in grade 10