#11: American Drama Project

Independent American Drama Acting Assignment
Allie Specht, Anna Wirth, and Endya Brandon
AP British and World Literature
Ms. Wilson
October 29, 2013
I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course. 

Rationale: The prompt we selected was the 1977 prompt which entails a character looking back on their life with bitterness in order to show an overall theme. The feelings of bitterness are easily seen through all the characters and the theme is shaped with them. Through the harsh memories she comes to the realization that the greatest time in her life is when it’s all over. This theme is presented through their bitter outlook. We chose the final scene of Act one as one of the scenes because it allows for a transition into the rest of the play, and is a place where you can see A’s general negativity on her life. In this scene A has a stroke, and this sets up for the rest of the play as A has an out of body experience and looks at her life from an outsiders perspective. We wanted to show how she made this transition as well as show a crucial moment from the plot. The second scene we picked because it showed how B also has a bitter perspective on the past,and also show their relationship with their son. He is framing the scene and this helps to bring him into better context. The third scene was chosen because it is the most important scene of the play. It is the final scene and the monologue that A has is very critical relating to the overall meaning of the play. It is in this scene where A becomes the most rational and concludes the play with bringing to the forefront the fact that the greatest moment is the end. We chose to have dim lighting in many scenes to give them a darker and more negative feel in order to coincide with the bitter feelings of the characters. We also spot light the characters faces on some of the longer monologues to focus on the speeches and allow people to know the importance of what they’re saying. The focus of the play is always on the character’s speaking, not their actions, and we wanted to stay true to that in our rendition.
 prompt 1977. A character’s attempt to recapture the past is important in many plays, novels, and poems. Choose a literary work in which a character views the past with such feelings as reverence, bitterness, or longing. Show with clear evidence from the work how the character’s view of the past is used to develop a theme in the work. You may base your essay on a work by one of the following authors, or you may choose a work of another author of comparable literary excellence.
 thesis In Three Tall Women written by Edward Albee, the oldest character, A, looks upon her past with bitterness and regret, through her past selves represented by women B and C. Albee uses a stream of consciousness style of writing and direct dialogue expressing the idea that despite the expectations of your young self, the happiest time is when it’s all over. Albee creates an out of body experience for A so she can have an objective perspective on her past.
3 Scenes pg. 349-351 “The things we’re able…” to “I’ll call her doctor.” pg. 372-374“No! How did I change?” to “Thank you” pg. 382-384 “Is it like this?” to end
framework The son will frame the play and will give his perspective on his mother’s life. It will start with the son in a empty hospital room, or empty bedroom. “A” (his mother) will have just died and he is telling the nurse, maid, butler, etc about his mothers life.
 Synopsis Sheet A General Synopsis Three Tall Women by Edward Albee, tells the story of the life of a women. There are three women in the play, “A” “B” and “C”. “A” is an old women, “B” is a middle aged women, and “C” is young. Each woman represents the same person, just at different stages of her life. In Act I, A, B , and C are all separate entities who represent different people. A is an old, rich lady who own the house. She hired B to take care of her. C is there because she is from the law firm that handles all of A’s personal affairs. During this Act I, A tells the stories of her life and by the end of the Act has a stroke. Act II starts with a mannequin of A in the bed, and the three actors (A, B, and C) are all next to the bed. It is an out of body experience. During this Act, all three women represent different times in A’s life. C is the 26 year old version of herself, and is still happy and full of life. B is 52 years old and very cynical and angry with how her life is going. A is 91 (or 92) and is very close to death. During this Act they all discuss important moments in their lives. It ends with all three women stating what the happiest time of their life is. Playwright Background Information Edward Albee: Born in 1928 in Virginia Openly gay at 12 and a half Adopted parents owned theaters where he grew up dominant and oppressive mother, did not like the fact that her son was gay At 20, he left his family and moved to Greenwich Village. He never saw his father again, and wouldn’t see his mother for 17 years. Helped reinvent the post war american theater Wrote plays from 1958 to 2009 (32 plays) Primary characters: A: She is a very old woman in her 90s. She’s bitter, angry, forceful, and proud B: B is A's 52 year-old version, to whom she is the hired caretaker. She’s is very cynical, but is patient and kind to A. C: C is B's 26 year-old version. She is present on behalf of a A's law firm because A has neglected paperwork, payment, and such. She has all of youth's common self-assurance. The Boy: The son of the three women,. He doesn’t have any lines, but is in many scenes, just standing. there. The three women talk about him, and both A and B know him personally. Key Plot Moments A’s stroke allows for a transition into the second Act and starts the new scenario of the three women all being the same person The son walks in during the second half, and then the center of conversation revolves around him. His presence connects all three of the women. At the very end of the play, all three characters give their own opinion of what the happiest moments are in their lives. All their views are different because they are all at different stages of their lives. Key Quotes “When it’s all done. When we stop. When we can stop” (Albee 384). “I was talking about...what:coming to the end of it;yes. So. There it is.You asked,after all. That’s the happiest moment” (Albee 384). “No! How did I change? What happened to me!?” (Albee 372). “You all want something;there’s nobody doesn’t want something” (Albee 322). “God, remember the lies?” (Albee 363). “The things we’re able to do and the things we’re not” (Albee 349). “Double your pleasure, double your fun? Try this on for size. They lie to you” (Albee 372). Symbols/Motifs. C is the innocent. Has no experience in her life yet and is unaccepting of what is to come. B is the caretaker. She takes care of “A” and helps her as she reaches the end of her life. A is the mentor by the end of the play. She has experienced this life and can share her knowledge of it with the younger ones who are yet to experience it. The son is a symbol not only of their disappointment, but of the author himself, Edward Albee. The three women represent the stages of life that all women go through Themes Feminism, discussing the differences between why men cheat and why women cheat. As she gets older she has a greater acceptance for death, and for the cruelties of life. Everyone changes throughout their life, it’s inevitable. Stylistic Devices short and blunt diction long monologues Flashback rhetorical questions short sentences vulgar diction
 Script
 Title: Three Tall Women
Playwright: Edward Albee
 Cast: A-Allie Specht B-Anna Wirth C-Endya Brandon Boy-Jack Specht Introduction: I am my mother’s only son, and unfortunately I have seen more than I care too have. She was always waiting for a happier time, for happier moments, but all she got were more hard times, until she slowly started to fade out. She got older, meaner, more bitter with every concern of her life. Towards the end of her life she started to have moments where she would look at her life from an outsiders perspective, she went steadily through her past. Her life is not happy, her memories are not happy, as she comes to the end, the last moments, where she has no longer has to go on, that is the best. Scene 1: “A: (Propped up; eyes opening and closing from time to time, eyes wandering; very stream of consciousness) The things we’re able to do and the things we’re not. what we remember doing and what we’re not sure. What do I remember? I remember being tall. I remember first it making me unhappy, being taller in my class, taller than the boys. I remember, and it comes and goes. I think they’re all robbing me. I know they are, but I can’t prove it. I think I know, and then I can’t remember I know. (Cries a little.) He never comes to see me. B: (Mildly.) Yes, he does. A: When he has to; now and then. B: More than most; he’s a good son. A: (Tough.) Well, I don’t know about that. (Softer.) He brings me things; he brings me flowers-orchids, freesia, those big violets…? B: African. A: Yes. He brings me those, and he brings me chocolates-orange rind in chocolate, that dark chocolate I like; he does that. But he doesn’t love me. B: Oh, now. A: He doesn’t! He loves his...he loves his boys, those boys he has. You don’t know! He doesn’t love me and I don’t know if I love him. I can’t remember! B: He loves you. A: (Near tears.) I can’t remember; I can’t remember what I can’t remember. (Suddenly alert and self-mocking.) Isn’t that something! B: (Nicely.) It certainly is. A: (Rambling again.) There’s so much: holding on; fighting for everything; he wouldn’t do it; I had to do everything; tell him how handsome he was, clean up his blood. Everything come on me: Sis being that way, hiding her bottles in her night things where she thought I wouldn’t find them when she came to stay with me for a little; falling...falling down the way she did. Mother coming to stay, to live with us; he said she could; where else could she go? Did we like each other even? At the end? Not at the end, not when she hated me. I’m helpless, she...she screamed; I hate you! She stank; her room stank; she stank; I hate you, she screamed at me. I think they all hated me, because I was strong, because I had to be. Sis hate me; Ma hated me; all those others , they hated me; he left home; he ran away. Because I was strong. I was tall and I was strong. Somebody had to be. If I wasn’t then…(Silence; A still, eyes open. Has she shuddered a little before her silence?) (After a bit B and C look at one another. B rises, goes to the bed, leans over, gazes at A, feels her pulse.) C: (Looks over after a little.) Is she...oh, my God, is she dead? B: (After a little.) No. She’s alive. I think she’s had a stroke. C: Oh, my God! B: You better call her son. I’ll call the doctor. (C rises, exits right, looking at A as she exits; B strokes A’s head, exits left.) (A alone; still; silence.)” (Albee 349-351) Transition: When I got the call that my mother had had a stroke I felt obligated to go see her once again. Although we are no longer close I still had to go see her. She’s still my mother and despite it all I don’t want to see her dead. I know she hates me but the feeling is mutual. Scene 2: “C: No! How did I change?! What happened to me?! A: (Sighs.) Oh, God. C: (Determined.) How did I change?! B: (Sarcasm; to the audience.) She wants to know how she changed. She wants to know how she turned into me. Next she’ll want to know how I turned into her. (Indicates A.) No; I’ll want to know that; maybe I’ll want to know that. A: Hahh! B: Maybe. (To C.) You want to know how I changed? C: (Very alone.) I don’t know Do I? B: Twenty-six to fifty-two? Double it? Double your pleasure, double your fun? Try this. Try this on for size. They lie to you. You’re growing up and they go out of their way to hedge, to qualify, to...to evade; to avoid-to lie. Never tell it how it is-how it’s going to be-when a half-truth can be go in there. Never give the alternatives to the”pleasing prospects,” the “what you have to look forward to.” God, if they did the streets’d be littered with adolescent corpses! Maybe it’s better they don’t. A: (Mild ridicule.) They? They? B: Parents, teachers, all the others. You lie to us. You don’t tell us things change-that Prince Charming has the morals of a sewer rat, that you’re supposed to live with that...and like it, or give the appearance of liking it. Chasing the chambermaid into closets, the kitchen maid into the root cellar, and God knows what goes on at the stag at the club! They probably nail the whores to the billiard tables for easy access. Nobody tells you any of this. A: (Lay it on.) Poor, poor you. ... B: (Points to him.) That?!-gets himself thrown out of every school he can find, even one or two we haven’t sent him to, sense he hates you, catch him doing it with your niece-in-law and your nephew-in-law the same week?! Start reading the letters he’s getting from-how do they call it-older friends?-telling him how to outwit you, how to survive living with the fucking crystal ashtray if he doesn’t stop getting letters, doesn’t stop saying anything, doesn’t stop...just...doesn’t...stop? And he sneers, and he says very quietly that he can have me put in jail for opening his mail. Not while while you’re a minor, I tell him; you just wait, I tell him, you just wait; I’ll have you thrown out of this house so quick it’ll make your head spin. You’re going to fire me, he says, quietly, smiling; you going to fire me too? Just like you fired him? He’s good in bed, isn’t he! Of course, you wouldn’t know about bed, he says. He gets up, stops by me, touches my hair. I thought I saw some straw, he says; sorry. And he walks out of the solarium, out of the house, out of our lives. He doesn’t say good-bye to either of us. He says good-bye to Mother, upstairs; he says good-bye to the Pekingese, too, I imagine. He packs one bag, and he leaves. (To him; rage.) Get out of my house!! (Pause; to C.) Does that tell you a little something about change? Does that tell you what you want to know? C: (Pause; softly.) Yes. Thank you.” (Albee 372-374) Transition: My mother’s life was not a happy one. It was filled with regrets and she was bitter and it just got worse as things went on. I saw the progression, that’s why I had to leave. As she got older, she became worse. I don’t know if she’ll ever truly see things how they should be seen. Scene 3: “C: Is it like this? What about the happy times...the happiest moments? I haven’t had them yet, have I? All done at twenty-six? I can’t imagine that...I get to the point I can begin to think about looking back without feeling silly, though God knows when that will be!-not feeling silly-if ever. Confirmation, for example, that wonderful time: the white dress Mother made, Sis all jealous and excited, jumping up and down and sulking at the same time. But even now, you see, I’m remembering, and what I’m remembering doesn’t have to do with what I felt, but what I remember. They say you can’t remember pain. Well, maybe you can’t remember pleasure, either-in the same way, I mean, in the way you can’t remember pain. Maybe all you can remember is the memory of it...remembering, remembering it. I know my best times-what is it? happiest?-haven’t happened yet. They’re to come. Aren’t they? Please? And...and whatever evil comes, whatever loss and taking away comes, won’t it all be balanced out? Please? I’m not a fool, but there is a lot of happiness along the way. Isn’t there?! And isn’t it always ahead? Aren’t I right? Aren’t I? I mean…all along the way? No? Please? B: (Comes downstage to where C is not-either right or left, leaving center open free for A later. Shakes her head to C, not unkindly.) Silly, silly girl; silly baby. The happiest time? Now; now...always. This must be the happiest time: half of being adult done, the rest ahead of me. Old enough to be a little wise, past being really dumb…(An aside to C.) No offense. C: (Looking forward: tight smile.) None taken. B: Enough shit gone through to have a sense of the shit that’s ahead, but way past sitting and playing in it. This has to be the happiest time-in theory, anyway. Things nibble away, of course; your job is to know that, too. The wood may be rotten under your feet-your nicely spread legs-and you’ll be up to your ass in sawdust and dry rot before you know it, before you know it, before you can say, This is the happiest time. Well, I can live with that, die with that. I mean, these things happen, but what I like most about being where I am-and fifty is a peak, in the sense of a mountain. C: (An aside.) Fifty-two. B: Yes, I know, thank you. What I like most about being where I am is that there’s a lot I don’t have to go through anymore, and that doesn’t mean closing down-for me, at any rate. It opens up whole vistas-of decline, of obsolescence, peculiarity, but really interesting! Standing up here right on top of the middle of it has to be the happiest time. I mean, it’s the only time you get a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view-see in all directions. Wow! What a view! (A moves downstage center, B and C stay where they are.) A: (Shakes her head; chuckles; to B and C.) You’re both such children. The happiest moment of all? Really? The happiest moment? (To the audience now.) Coming to the end of it, I think, when all the waves cause the greatest woes to subside, leaving breathing space, time to concentrate on the greatest woe of all-that blessed one-the end of it. Going through the whole thing and coming out...not out beyond it, of course, but sort of to...one side. None of the “further shore” nonsense, but to the point where you can think about yourself in the third person without being crazy. I’ve waked up in the morning, and I’ve thought, well, now, she’s waking up, and now she’s going to see what works-the eyes, for example. Can she see? She can? Well, good, I suppose; so much for that. Now she’s going to test all the other stuff-the joints, the inside of the mouth, and now she’s going to have to pee. What’s she going to do-go for the walker? Lurch from chair to chair-pillar to post? Is she going to call for somebody-anybody...the tiniest thought there might be nobody there, that she’s not making a sound, that maybe she’s not alive-so’s anybody’d notice, that is? I can do that. I can think about myself that way I’m living-beside myself, to one side. Is that what they mean by that?-I’m beside myself? I don’t think so. I think they’re talking about another kind of joy. There’s a difference between knowing you’re going to die and knowing you’re going to die. The second is better; it moves away from the theoretical. I’m rambling, aren’t I? B: (Gently; face forward.) A little. A: (To B.) Well, we do that at ninety, or whatever I’m supposed to be. I mean, give a girl a break! (To the audience again now.) Sometimes when I wake up and start thinking about myself like that-like I was watching-I really get the feeling that I am dead, but going on at the same time, and I wonder if she can talk and fear and...and then I wonder which has died-me, or the one I think about. It’s a fairly confusing business. I’m rambling. (A gesture to stop B.) Yes; I know! (To the audience.) I was talking about...what: coming to the end of it. yes. So. There it is. You asked after all. That’s the happiest moment. (A looks to C and B, puts her hand out takes theirs.) When it’s all done. When we stop. When we can stop.”(Albee 382-384) Conclusion: The end, the end is the only enjoyment, the end, when everything is over, there is nothing else to worry about, nothing else to reflect badly upon, there is nothing more. When there is nothing, when it all stops, that’s the greatest moment.
 Bibliography
 Works Cited: Albee, Edward. The Collected Plays of Edward Albee. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2005. Print.
Works Referenced: Albee, Edward. The Collected Plays of Edward Albee. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2005. Print.

#10: Three Tall Women Video

#9: Creative Project and Explanation

Allie Specht, Anna Wirth, and Will Hoffman AP British and World Literature Ms. Wilson October 8, 2013 Creative Assignment Text: Yann Martel’s Life of Pi Essence: While the journey Pi takes to reinforce his faith in multiple religions may seem unbelievable, it is belief that makes his survival possible in the first place. The journey to self discovery is the greatest test of how strongly you hold onto your beliefs. Brief Summary: Life of Pi by Yann Martel is the story of a teenage Indian boy named Pi Patel. He has much interest in zoology and is a practiser of three religions, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. His family used to own a zoo, but they were forced to move to Canada and had to sell many of their animals in North America. As they were traveling across the ocean their ship crashed and sank, leaving Pi alone on a lifeboat with several animals, including a large Bengal tiger known as Richard Parker. Together they experienced a 227 day journey of survival and self discovery on the lifeboat, until they reached the coast of Mexico. Pi is questioned after the fact and reveals another story that is much more believable, and it is up to the reader to decide which one they want to believe. Prompt: 1978-Choose an implausible or strikingly unrealistic incident or character in a work of fiction or drama of recognized literary merit. Write an essay that explains how the incident or character is related to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the work. Avoid plot summary. Thesis: In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the depiction of Pi’s unlikely survival is used to examine both this rational and animalistic sides in order to reinforce his beliefs in the multiplicity of God. Explanation: In the notes at the beginning of the book, an old man tells the narrator, “I have a story that will make you believe in God”(ix). The game we created does just that. Our game has two paths that you can follow, an animalistic, and a rational, with both including questions of morality, faith, and survival. The game is based off of the game of Life, and it’s all about the journey. Throughout the game you are taken on a journey that in the end leads you to a reinforcement in Pi’s original belief, there is multiplicity in God and religion. Early in the book, we are introduced to the fact that Pi is a believer in three religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, and although he is scrutinized for it, his faith remains strong as he defends his choices by saying, “Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God”(87). His belief does not waiver at this point, but the true test still remains in his future. It’s not until Pi is lost at sea that this faith, as well as his morality, truly face a test. There are moments where his belief in God is tested extensively,as he describes that, “Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love-but sometimes it was so hard to love. Sometimes my heart was so fast with anger, desolation and weariness, I was afraid it would sink to the very bottom of the Pacific and I would not be able to lift it back up”(263). That is what we see in the cards for the game, you are forced to make decisions that in some cases pit survival and faith, or survival and morality against each other. If you are able to keep the faith, and reach the end of your journey first, you have won; you have reinforced the beliefs you originally had. Pi reaches his lowest point right before land is found, and it is here where he is tested most, and holding on has it’s own reward of true survival. He explains that, “It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God”(358). That paragraph ends and the next one begins with him finally arriving on land. After he is found on the shore and taken back to a hospital and questioned there by two Japanese men who are a part of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, who were investigating the original sinking of the ship. What Pi tells them is the story that we are told throughout the entire book, and they of course are highly questioning of it. They say several times how it is hard to believe certain aspects of his story because you can not see them, cannot prove their existence. What he ends up doing is telling them a more chilling, yet realistic story, that parallels the original tale. In the end, neither story can truly be proved, and so in the final written report, one of the men, Mr. Okamoto writes, “Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal Tiger”(401). They choose to believe his original story, even though either story leads to the same result. Just as in the game, both paths will lead you to the same reinforcement. The choice to believe the unbelievable story parallels Pi’s overall journey. While the story holds no proof and is easily questioned, so is the belief in God; Pi has faced terrible circumstances that have caused him to question his faith, but in the end he has held on and chose to believe, just as the investigators believe the first story in the end (Wood 2002). You can choose to believe whichever story you want while playing the game, but in the end, you have to have kept the faith to end the journey. The Game Of Life OF Pi What do you believe? Based off: The Game of Life DIRECTIONS: The Game of Life of Pi is a fantasy game directly based off an interpretation of Life of Pi a novel by Yann Martel. In an attempt make the game player believe in God, we created two card question sets. While the player progresses they don’t know where the two paths are truly leading to. At the beginning of the game the player needs to choose a place marker (either Richard Parker or Pi Patel). This place marker will represent the path they will take(look for the labels). The two paths are indicative of either the rational story or the animalistic, unrealistic story. As the player moves through the board they will find themselves experiencing both sides of the game and in order to progress further you need to answer questions that reveal (for example), underlying themes, plot, characters action, meaning in death, etc. This will eventually lead you to believe one story over another. All games have some way to win.The Game of Life of Pi is no different. Players race to the ending. This means you answered the most questions correct and ultimately finished the storyline, thus revealing many elements of the book, as well as the essence. In order to achieve this goal players must go in order from birthday year, the person with the date closest to the beginning of the year goes first and the rest follow suit, in a clockwise fashion. The players draw cards from their selected paths deck and proceed through the game. Once one player has finished the game concludes. Places first and second are the only ones counted. At the end of the game you total up the rest of the players questions correct to find out who the second place winner is. The two players share the same realization that Pi Patel experienced (without all the days on the boat). Players should be left with the realization that Pi’s belief in God and all his religions has helped him through his journey and without it he would not have survived. Now let’s play! Select a Piece. Find your path. Go in order. Most importantly, learn!

#8: Comparison/Contrast Summer Reading Paper

The Namesake Compare and Contrast Essay

Allie Specht

AP British and World Literature

Ms. Wilson

October 2, 2013

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.

            In both The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and the movie version directed by Mira Nair, a family, whose parents are originally from India, experience the journey of finding their way in America. Their eldest son, Gogol, struggles to find his way, trying to lead himself away from home, while his parents try desperately to keep him there. During one particular part Gogol recalls a memory shortly after his father’s death of a time when he and his father, Ashoke, traversed the rocks at a breakwater off of Cape Cod when he was young. Within this part a paradox is presented between Gogol and Ashoke’s respective journeys. As Gogol’s father’s journey has ended, Gogol’s own journey is beginning. With the final words of that part spoken by his father, “Remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go.”(187), Gogol is reminded that even though obstacles may lie in his way, he has gone this far with and learned from his father, and is now prepared to take on his own journey.

            One of the main differences between the book and the movie are the images presented. Lahiri uses gothic imagery, “They walked along the water to the left, heading toward the lighthouse, past rusted boat frames, fish spines as thick as pipes attached to yellow skulls, a dead gull whose feathery white breast was freshly stained with blood.” (186) “rusted”, “spines”, “skulls”, “dead”, and “blood” are all words that have a darker feel, that symbolize decay, and this is what Gogol and his father are seeing on their journey down the rocks. These represent the obstacles faced on the journey. But there is still a light at the end of the tunnel; the words of decay are juxtaposed with words like “yellow”, and “feathery white breast”, showing that there is reason to continue; they are all leading to the lighthouse. The lighthouse, which symbolizes guidance for Gogol, is what they are heading towards, and Ashoke is helping him get there. Ashoke is Gogol’s mentor; he is leading him through it all. Now, as Gogol remembers this moment after Ashoke’s passing, he knows he can begin his own journey. “we went together”, Ashoke has shown him the way, Gogol’s own journey is able to begin without Ashoke because he has learned from his experiences. He knows how to handle the obstacles and Ashoke has already provided him the direction he needs. Lahiri also says in the book, “They paused to regard a cracked wooden buoy painted blue and white, shaped like an old parasol. The surface was wrapped with thin brown strands of seaweed and encrusted with barnacles. His father lifted and inspected it, pointing to a live mussel underneath.” (186) The decaying words such as “cracked”, “thin brown”, and “encrusted” are representative of how Gogol struggles with his father’s death, his mentor is gone, and now he is on his own; a frightening challenge. But Gogol is able to look beyond that and see “a live mussel underneath”. Gogol is still there and he has learned from Ashoke. Underneath all the sadness is a new life, Gogol beginning on his own journey, alone.

            In the movie however, there is no lighthouse, no gull, no mussel. Nair makes up for the losses of these symbols with the setting and costumes. The juxtaposition delivered through the imagery in the text, is also exhibited in the movie. The overcast sky, and the jagged black rocks, is juxtaposed with the white of the crashing waves, and the red and yellow colors of Gogol’s clothes. The ocean represents the unknown, the journey Gogol is about to embark on by himself. The ocean is rough, dark, and deep and there is fear of the unfamiliar for Gogol. But the movie shows young Gogol in bright colors, holding hands with his father, and he is able to realize that it is not as daunting as he thinks. His father had told him to “try to remember it always,”(187) speaking of that day, and Gogol understands now that this memory is pushing him to continue on and flourish in his journey.

The scene ends with a point of view shot, showing the ocean that lies out in front of them, the unknown that now lies in front of Gogol. In both the movie and the book, this scene is placed towards the end. It is beginning to bring some perspective to Gogol, allowing him to come to terms with his father’s death and accept the road that is now in front of him. It is a hard time for Gogol and his family, but the experience with Ashoke having already been presented, the ocean is no longer as frightening. It now holds an exciting new journey for Gogol to experience on his own.  In the book, Gogol is leaving home after he has been there for several weeks helping his mother cope with his father’s death before the memory is presented. It is here where his journey starts and the reflection on this moment allows him to have the correct perspective. The camera angle used in the movie demonstrates the all that lies ahead of Gogol.  

The paradox of Gogol’s journey beginning as Ashoke’s ends is shown by both Lahiri and Nair in The Namesake book and movie, respectively. While some of the images presented differed, the juxtaposition of those displayed help to reinforce the overall paradox. Gogol is able to embark on his journey because of the experience he and Ashoke had together, the experience that had taught him how to handle his new journey on his own.

The Namesake Mis En Scene Analysis Essay

Allie Specht

AP British and World Literature

Ms. Wilson

October 2, 2013

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.

In the movie, The Namesake, lighting, sound, costume choices enhance the universal them of the journey that is expressed in this part of story. Both the lighting and sound is calm and serene, it helps to deliver the message that was originally expressed in the book. The costume choices are symbols for the journey and help to show how things have changed.

The setting is simple. They are traversing a breakwater, a path of rocks leading out into the ocean, surrounded by water on three sides. It's winter, everyone is bundled up in scarves and hats, the sky is overcast and the ocean appears gray. The setting contributes to the mood of the scene, it adds to the feeling of nostalgia and provides a simple place for an important scene to be delivered.

The lighting is dull, colors are not illuminated and you’re really seeing many different shades of gray. This adds to the mood of the scene, it’s nostalgic for Gogol, as he looks back on this memory shortly after his father’s death. The natural lighting choices enhance what Gogol is feeling, he realizes that his father has reached the end of his journey and this memory helps him to be at peace with it. The overcast sky gives the dull natural lighting to the scene.

The costumes reflect the setting of the scene well. They are all dressed in winter clothing, scarves, coats, and hats, which helps to reflect the mood of the passage already being presented. They’re presented in typical American clothing and this shows how far they’ve already come on their journey. But the connection to home is also shown. Ashima still has the dot in the middle of her forehead so the costumes and makeup show that even though they have come a long way in America they still hold the connections to their true home.

 The lighting partnered with the sound help convey the calm and accepting feel experienced by Gogol. The diegetic sounds in the scene consist of Gogol, his father, and his mother, talking, the gulls chirping, and the waves crashing onto the rocks. The waves especially give a serene feeling to the scene, and the non-diegetic sounds of music playing in the background also enhance this feeling. The music is simple and slow; it paces the scene and is perfect in the background setting the overall mood.

The camera angles in the scene show how the journey has progressed. For most of the scene the camera is looking at Gogol and Ashoke, or viewing them from behind. As you see them from behind, you see how they’re making their journey, how they’re continuing down a rough path. As you look at them you can see the relationship between Gogol and his father, and why this memory is important to him. But at the end of the scene we see a shot of their point of view. This shows the end, the rocks that lead out into the ocean, where they can go no further. This is symbolic of how Ashoke’s journey has come to an end, and seeing this allows Gogol to come to peace with it. Ashoke had been making a journey across difficult paths his whole life. The rocks symbolize the journey he had to make in America and they show how it has reached its end. Gogol can see how he has had his own struggles throughout his life and that that is simply part of the journey.

The Namesake Analysis Essay

Allie Specht

AP British and World Literature

Ms. Wilson

October 2, 2013

I have read and understand the sections in the Student Handbook regarding Mason High School's Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I am certifying that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act, which could include a "0" on the paper, as well as an "F" as a final grade in the course.

            In “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri, the universal theme of a journey is examined throughout the book, and specifically on pages 185-187. In this passage we see vivid imagery used to describe a memory of Gogol, and the memory is laid out to us as if it were a journey in miniature. Gogol is remembering a trip out to the harbor with his father. The passage is symbolic of the journey that both Gogol and Ashoke experienced throughout the book.

            Gogol’s memory comes at a point in the book shortly after his father’s death. Ashoke has reached the end of his journey and brings Gogol back to the small journey they once took together. “He had expected his father to turn back, but still they had continued, stepping onto the sand.”(Lahiri 186), the memory is presented as a journey, they journey out to the rocks, across the beach and the sand, and continue until there’s nowhere left to go. At this point in the novel Gogol’s father had reached the point where he had nowhere left to go, and we are reminded of this as Gogol recounts this memory. The imagery presented in this passage is extremely vivid, as it says, “They paused to regard a cracked wooden buoy painted blue and white, shaped like an old parasol. The surface was wrapped with thin brown strands of seaweed and encrusted with barnacles.”(Lahiri 186) The imagery allows you to be in their shoes and experience what the journey was like, and why it meant so much. The passage and chapter conclude with Ashoke telling Gogol, “Remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go.”(Lahiri 187) There is nowhere left to go for Ashoke, he has travelled with Gogol on the journey as far as he could, but now it is up to Gogol to finish his journey, and he realizes this with the memory, a memory of home