Fiddler on the Roof: Conflict in Generations

During the past week we have been viewing Fiddler on the Roof, a musical set in Tsarist Russia in 1905.  We've been introduced to the interesting patriarch of five daughters, named Tevye.  His attempts to keep his family and its Jewish religious traditions are thwarted by changes in the new generation.  Tevye is faced with strong constitutions in his eldest daughters, who have inherited much of his strong will; however, he is challenged by their desires and choice of husbands which in part, separates them from the customs of his faith.  With an edict from the Tsar, Tevye is then faced with expulsion from his village and his home.  Choose a central theme that is moving throughout the musical and discuss how that theme advances your understanding of a universal idea and what makes the musical the classic as it is.

NO BLOG THIS WEEK

The Shining: Psychological Horror?

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character's fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music, and emotional instability to build tenstion and further the plot. It creates discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the shadowy parts of the human psyche which most people repress or deny.  Explain how The Shining qualifies as a psychological horror by choosing specific events or actions that manipulate the audience's sense of fear.  What discomfort is created in the audience by what you perceive to be universal psychological vulnerabilities?

DR. PAMELA ALLEGRETTO-DIIULIO: Palestine and "Amreeka"

PLEASE POST RESPONSES AFTER THE PRESENTATION IS FINISHED:  
After more than a week of Palestinian culture, students should be prepared to piece together some of the sentiment and spirit of the Palestinian man or woman who has had to endure more than 60 years of occupation.  From the film, Amreeka, it should be obvious how the Palestinian is often a foreigner in their own land; however, there is great sacrifice in making a move to a new country too.  The Palestinian has often found him or herself ostracized, ridiculed, and alone among a world of people wrapped up in their own prejudices and often unable to welcome those they perceive as the "Other," a concept given by Edward Said, a Palestinian Christian who has been a spokesperson for the Palestinian up until his death in 2003.  With artists like Naji Al-Ali with his satirical cartoons of Hanthala, Ishmail Shammout and Tamam Al-Akhar, and poets such as Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian has sought his/her way through the voices of paint brushes and ink pens.  We cannot forget that the welcoming spirit of the Palestinian into their home means to be greeted by a delicious cuisine of tabooleh, hummus, Lebanese rice, grape leaves, and a host of delicious deserts like baklava and kanafa.  With all of this in mind, how can we relate elements of the film, Amreeka to the pieces of culture that Palestinians strive to keep alive through their traditions?  How can presentations like these help the world to realize the humanity of a people who have been driven in a large part from their homeland - and do you think that "home" for them is a spiritual place or is that physical land now called Israel a place that will remind them what had been before?

SOPHIE HERZING: SPAIN and Biutiful

Hola!  Como estas?  Well, our sixth presentation on the culture of Spain surely enlightened us even more than what we already thought we knew about the country.  Sophie illustrated various components of the culture with vivid and colorful slides depicting art, costume, and other interesting data.  How wonderful that we were able to invite the Spanish class for two days to our presentation.  Finally, the finale was quite tasty as we dug into the delicious tapas, gespachio, merienda, and flaun!  Your task this week is to write a one-sentence Spanish greeting to Sophie expressing your satisfaction in her presentation, naming your favorite or two favorite lessons, supporting it with reasons (use Google translator if you wish).  Then, explain how the film, Biutiful, illustrates different parts of Spanish culture as you have learned throughout the week.

KATHYRN ORDIWAY: ITALY and Angels and Demons

Che settimana fantastica della cultura, compreso il cibo italiano da Mr. e Mrs.Ordiway, e un film interessante che descrive la cultura italiana.

What a fantastic week of culture, including Italian food by Mr. and Mrs. Ordiway, and an interesting film depicting Italian culture.  Surely, there should be plenty to relate in your discussions this week about the various cultural elements (both traditional and modern) and how they might be applied to the film, Angels and Demons.  What cinematic film techniques have you noticed being used in this film?  It is time to joggle our memories of some of the technicalities of film making along with the more creative aspects of the cultural series in which this presentation participated.

Nick Skok: FRANCE and The Man in the Iron Mask

This past week we were exposed to some of the interesting French culture through the arts, music, history, and the interesting etiquette that is so much associated with the finery of French custom and cuisine.


Choose any 2-3 customs that you enjoyed learning about this past week and show how they  were or were not enhanced through the film, The Man in the Iron Mask.  It may also be interesting to use some of your knowledge of the cinema (from your yellow cinema packets) to illustrate some of the conventions of film-making (camera angle, mise en scene, lighting, music enhancement, choreography, costuming, etc.).  


Finally, offer your insights into Nick's presentation and provide as always, advice for future improvements.


Good Luck

Ryan Struble: INDIA and Slumdog Millionaire

This past week, we explored the interesting and exotic culture of the country of India.  Ryan took us on a journey through the streets of Mumbai (previously Bombay) as we were captivated by the enormous poverty and abuses of the forgotten childhoods that are so common in India - through the film, Slumdog Millionaire.  As a result, we've become a bit more acquainted with the traditions, clothing, cuisine, religion, social and gender roles of the people.  Decide on a focus (any of the sub topics) from the week-long presentation and explore this to a larger degree (through research or from your experience).


Likewise, explain the value of the presentation as it relates to your learning experience this past week.  Do offer in addition, any advice for improvement in presenting the culture of India.

Alexandra Coppolo: AFRICA and Blood Diamonds

This week you all have the opportunity to show how much you have learned about the fascinating culture of Africa and to relate it to your impression of the film, Blood Diamonds.  Incorporate what you can about the many aspects of culture including art, music, food (yum yum), clothing, housing, and certainly as many components of the African culture that interests you the most. Make sure you organize the blog into two parts:  1) How did Alexandra utilize the various facets of the African culture to help you understand something significant about the continent?  2) Select some of the lecture material from the power point presentations to discuss at greater length.

Samantha Hoh: Japanese Culture and Memoirs of a Geisha

After a full week of Japanese culture and the viewing of Memoirs of a Geisha, offer your complimentary feedback to Samantha and also feel free to suggest ideas that may have enhanced what was already presented for her project.  Evaluate how well each segment in all five days of presentation have blended together to highlight a taste of the exoticism that we witness. How well does the film, Memoirs of a Geisha, illustrate a segment of Japanese culture?  What have you learned about Japanese culture that you did not know earlier?  From your American perspective, what are some of the aspects of Japanese culture that are significantly different from our own?  Does the film portray these details accurately?

Alexandra Coppolo: Film Genre: Drama: The Count of Monte Cristo

In our last film presentation of this third quarter, Alexandra has presented us with an interesting representation of the genre of "drama" which often has a blurring of the boundaries among other genres. A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes.  Your task is to relate how the film, The Count of Monte Cristo has accomplished this.  How has the presentation by Alexandra enabled you to understand the distinction between drama and other genres of film? 

Kathyrn Ordiway: Genre (Musical): The Phantom of the Opera

After being introduced and entertained by the film version of the Phantom of the Opera, we are left pondering the numerous parameters of such a fine production.  One of the areas that might be valuable to explore are the multi-layered points associated with the psychological appeal of the production.  Consider how the audience psychologically responds to the film and/or the stage production if you have seen both.  Also, consider the psychological extremes that are evident on the part of the phantom himself.  How does his psyche contribute to his own failure to "force" Christine to love him?  Finally, how does Kathyrn's presentation unveil the characteristics of a musical production and how has your understanding of a musical production been enhanced as a result of her choice in film?

Nick Skok: FILM GENRE: Epic/Historic

In the historic type of film, the viewing audience is presented with generally a realistic situation or event that is highlighted with the blending of other genres or elements of fiction to create a foil for the emotional reaction to the often horrific reality of the story.  For instance, although Pearl Harbor is certainly a historic film genre, there are elements of the Romance genre incorporated in it. Your task for this discussion is to discuss your observations of Nick's presentation as it relates to the film, Pearl Harbor.  Keep in mind that historic films generally rely on elaborate props and sets, a variety of actors, heroes, and a large budget. We often wonder after the viewing of such films as to how accurately they may have depicted the historical event on which they are based.  You might also want to respond to one of the quotations made from the preview of the film: "we keep building refrigerators while our enemies build bombs."

Samantha Hoh: SHERLOCK HOLMES (Mystery)

Those from the last few generations have been entertained by the exploits of the famous British detective, Sherlock Holmes.  As the decades pass, new films depict the same character with the benefit of newer technology to appease the more contemporary audiences.  As part of one of the newer audiences, your task is to relate some of the elements of the "MYSTERY" genre discussed by Samantha, to the film.  It is valuable to note any specific techniques used by the director or choreographer too.  One often used devise is to transition one scene to another just as witnessed when Blackwood was hung and died.  The last scene shows Blackwood, eyes closed and dead.  The immediate next scene opens with Sherlock Holmes asleep, but waking.  Discuss Samantha's presentation, her choice of film to illustrate "mystery" as a genre, and your observations about cinema as it relates to this film.

Ryan Struble: FILM GENRE: ROMANCE

Ryan presented a wonderful film, "The Titanic" and provided an interesting background to the film.   Your task is to use some of your notes from his lecture and from what you witnessed in the film to elaborate on the finer points of the "romance" genre.  Likewise, this film could easily cross borders into another genre.  You might want to approach this discussion too, setting up specific parts of the film that might lend themselves to another genre.  Give your feedback to Ryan and write a well-developed analysis from your perspective, of the film and how it fits so properly into the genre of "Romance".

Sophie Herzing: FILM GENRE (Thriller)

Many genre-specific terms and characteristics were discovered this week through Sophie's week-long presentation on Thriller-type of films.   With the application of this genre to The Spiral Staircase, we have a realistic sense of some of the complexity involved in the film industry.  Creating a film certainly consists of more than a few actors and a realistic setting.  Using any of the material you learned this week from the presentation, focus on one or two elements and develop a blog that extends the definition of "thriller" movies.  You may have a favorite thriller film that you may mention and apply some of the elements of this genre to that film. Finally, explain how Sophie's presentation has enabled you to review thriller films in a perspective you have not done previously.

Science Fiction as a Genre

What is Science Fiction?   Explain some of the elements that distinguish this genre from others.  Certainly we cannot reply totally on The War of the Worlds for our definition of Science Fiction, although the literary account and the original film have illustrated some of the features we find in the genre.  Explain your experience with Science Fiction - what are some of the stories you've read - what are some of the films you have seen?  Does Science Fiction have any redeeming qualities as far as social or political significance or does Science Fiction simply entertain us?

Charlie Chaplan - The Great Dictator

The Great Dictator was Charlie Chaplin's first dialogue picture.  Discuss some of the conventions of the play that you believe advances the audience understanding of the film.  Use some terminology from your handouts on cinema.  Discuss various components of cinema and relate it to this film.  How does this film compare to what we view in cinema today?

Tartuffe, the Hypocrite

As we study the French neoclassical play, Tartuffe, we are introduced to one of Moliere's famous characters whose social flaw is that of a hypocrite.  Although we have two acts to complete in the play, we can now begin to see the unfolding of the play as revealed through the characters, most of whom do not trust Tartuffe.  We wonder how it is that some can be so caught up into trusting Tartuffe's trickery.  Likewise, what is it that reveals his true character to others almost from the beginning?  As we ponder these thoughts, let's move away from the play itself and relate the role of a hypocrite in our own lives.  Think of someone you know personally (no personal names please) or someone of a celebrity status that most of us would know that could be classified by you as a "hypocrite".  Instead of writing all the typical reasons of why this person might be a hypocrite in your understanding, think about how their role affects other people in your family, your friendships, or if choosing a famous figure, think of how this person's actions and words affect the larger society as a whole.  How is it that this person reveals him or herself as a hypocrite? An example might be a political figure such as the North Carolina senator, John Edwards who was a candidate for the president of the USA.  He promoted family values; however, he was discovered to have had an affair with another woman with whom he fathered a child - causing his wife to separate from him before she died of cancer.  Another example might be that a student is teacher friendly,  yet joins a group that is ready to castigate the teacher for unfair rumors/reasons).  Is there ever any redemption?  Can a hypocrite redeem him or herself?  Approach this topic from whatever angle you wish.

Print and Film as it relates to Macbeth

After reading the tragedy of Macbeth, you have now been exposed to the film for a director's interpretation of the events leading up to Macbeth's death.  After considering the various events and episodes of the play, which scene in the film was of a particular surprise or shock to you?   How did the director of the film differ in his staging of the scene compared to what you had imagined through reading?  Be thorough in your discussion.  Write a one-page response; afterward, make sure you respond to at least two other posts (1/2 page each).