Poem Reflection


Jonathan Velasquez 
IB Lit & Performance 
Ms. Guarino
Due : November 3, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQK2u7j026g&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2MrOkOXwcY&feature=youtu.be

This performance of, I Too, Sing America, emphasizes the original poem by using the same lines from the original poem. The actors are bringing the poem from paper to real life. However, the way that the poem is performed made you feel the poem more. For example, there is a part of the performance when the actor representing the white person, tells the actor representing the "darker brother", to go eat in the kitchen. Daylin responds by saying "NO!". The tone of his voice made me feel the pain the author felt when he wrote the poem. However, it also made me feel the confidence and courage the author had to rise up and not be pushed around anymore.

The performance didn't make me think differently from the original poem. I got the same message from the performance, as I got from when I first read the poem and took notes on it. Even though I did not get a different message from the poem, I did feel different after watching the performance. This is also because of the tone of the actor (Daylin). The 
bass he put into his voice as the poem went along, helped me feel the pain that kept progressing until it felt like courage. I feel like the performance accomplished the feeling of the poem, and how the author felt when he wrote the poem. Bringing the poem that was already powerful on paper, to the stage, really brought my opinion on the poem much higher.

The performance of, Boy and Egg, emphasizes the original poem by using the same concept as the original poem. The actors, Tom and Bowen, both did a great job of letting us understand the main message of the original poem. The message I got from the performance was that there was a boy that was so attached to this egg, that he lost friends by not sharing. Since Bowen did not let Tom see the egg, Tom responded by going to play with his friends, without Bowen. This emphasizes the attachment the boy had to the egg. However, there are differences between the performance compared to the original poem. There was a different type of tone in my opinion. The original poem had a sad tone, while the performance was quite humorous. The tone plays a big role in a poem and the performance. Since the tones were so different, I feel like the performance and poem were different. They had the same message, but the audience had a different feeling for each.

Because the poem was brought to the stage, I could understand the message of the poem better. When I first read the poem, I was a little confused. However, since they performed the poem using the same message, but in a way, I could better understand, I was able to understand the original poem better. I feel like performances always give a better understanding of the audiences. Acting something out gets the viewers attention, which also helps with a better understanding. I feel like all of these performances were well acted out. I would recommend these performances to a reader that is not quite getting the message of the poem the right way.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Act lll Scene l Notes

- Asagai comes to help pack with Beneatha at home. When they are packing Beneatha brings up the reason why she wants to become a doctor. - She wanted to become a doctor because when she was little, her friend busted his head open, but the next day she saw him, he was perfectly fine. She wants to help others juristically. - Beneatha starts debating on her dreams in becoming a doctor because she doesn't have the same desire of helping people that much. - Asagai talks about how he plans to move back to Africa to make positive changes for the community. He offers Beneatha to come, however, he leaves while she thinks over the choice. - Mr. Linder will not let the Younger family move to Clybourne Park because of their race. Since they are all so agitated, Walter Lee starts mimicking how a black servant talked in that time. He keeps going until he is so fed up that he leaves. Mama is surprised and Beneatha wants to disown Walter Lee as her brother. Mom helps change her perspective...
Read more

Act ll Scene lll

- The scene starts off the following Saturday, and this is the day that the Younger family moved into their new home in Clybourne Park. - Ruth is in a good mood because they are moving and she says that she wants to take a hot bath and then talk to Beneatha about her night out with Walter Lee the night before. - When Walter Lee enters the house he puts on a record/disc, and he proceeds by dancing with Ruth. While they are dancing, a white man appears to the door asking for Mama, but she wasn't home. He was a quiet, middle-aged man. - The white man proceeds to introduce himself. His name is Karl Linder and he is from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He then implies that the neighborhood, which was full of white people were "hardworking, but not racist". He then says that the neighborhood feels that "negros" would be happier in a neighborhood that consist of their own people. - Mr. Linder tells Walter that he will buy the house now before they m...
Read more

act 1 scene 2 notes

- On that Saturday morning, the whole family starts to clean up the house. - Walter gets a call from his friend, Willy Harris, who is trying to help Walter get the liquor store started. All he needs is the insurance check that his father gave to his mother.  - Beneatha is using a spray gun to get rid of cockroaches in the house. Travis doesn't like it, so they start arguring, and Beneatha threatens Travis by pointing the spray gun towards Travis. - Beneatha gets a call from a friend that goes to school with her. The man is African, and mama tends to feel that Africans are not religious enough for her likeness. Beneatha disagrees and gives the African man an excuse for that (politically). - Ruth goes to the doctor, and she told her that she was two months pregnant. Ruth believes that the child will be girl, however, mama says that the family doctor is a man, so she gets the feeling of suspicion. Then Ruth starts to feel sick again, nut mama helps her relax.  ...
Read more