Noah

Is Noah too young to understand the "unnatural" idea of a white boy showing affection towards a black family, or do you believe he has some understanding, but chooses to ignore it? I believe he is smart enough to understand, but still young enough to say things in which he doesn't mean to say.

Back to Kafka

Even though we finished reading Kafka a few months ago. . .

I was watching The Jungle Book and I realized that King Louie is a lot like Red Peter. King Louie tells Mowgli that he wants to be able to walk into a human village like he belongs and wants to learn to make "man's red fire". Red Peter, although he doesn't want to become a human, also wants to be able to fit in with the people around him. They  both have a thirst for human knowledge.

Reply to Sharrieff's Question

I believe the reason Mr. Stopnick chose to say he lost the 20 dollars is because he genuinely cared for Noah and probably did not want the problem to escalade any further. The tensions were already high between Noah and Caroline, and if Rose were to bring up the 20 dollar bill situation, Caroline may still had been angry about it thus leading to further problems. I believe the intentions of Mr. Stopnick were to defuse the situation by any means and hope for a quick solution.

Underwater Blues Article

This is an article that I found on The New Yorker, praising Tony Kushner's musical, Caroline or Change. It explains the little details and significance of lines, which I found helpful. Here it is

Tony Kushner's Childhood (video)

Kushner shows PBS an inside scoop on his life as a child growing up in Lake Charles, Louisianna.

The champion Math debator, the kid with an Afro and much more!

http://www.pbs.org/pov/tonykushner/additional-video-1.php

Reply to question

As a reply to Alayna's question about the quote, "there is only under water in Louisiana", I agree with Jess in the interpretation of the quote. "There is only under water" might be a metaphor for Caroline and her life. Everything in a sense is drowning her as if she is "under water"

She feels weighed down by either her job, her kids, and the loss of her husband. In a sense she is underwater figuratively and literally(under sea-level).

Question about Mr. STopnick

A question that I'd like to pose about Caroline or Change is on pg. 108 when Rose and Stuart are questioning Noah about the 20 dollars in the bleach cup, why does Mr. Stopnick say that he lost the 20?
Did he genuinely believe that the 20 dollars was his or was he trying to defuse the situation and possibly take some heat off of Noah?

pocket change

I'm sort of responding to Callie's post about the title's meaning, but I thought that the "or change" in the title definitely connects to the changes that came during the civil rights movement, but even more literally the change that Noah would leave in his pockets. Also, that time he left the $20 bill in his pocket led to the argument with Caroline, which showed the tense relationship between whites and the colored back then....and after regretting what she said to him, she realized that "pocket change change me"

Question

A question that I have from the novel that we may have touched upon in class but I dont feel like i have a good answer is that- What do you think the repeated line "there is only under water" mean? An example of this is from page 121.

The Art Of Risk & Reward Mastered By Tony Kushner

After hearing the symposium students the other day bring up the fact that Kushner took a real chance with his play Caroline, Or Change in regards to a White, Male, and Jewish man writing about the civil rights movement.

I think this was a risk that Kushner should be celebrated for, one many would not have taken. To get to the place that he is at in his play writing career he had to take some risks, most notably the one with Caroline, Or Change.

We heard from the symposium students that he did extensive research, which included interviewing multiple people who had a better grip on the civil rights movement then he did to make his play more believable and real.

This play obviously turned out to be a masterpiece from which he took a risk and he was rewarded from it. The fact that he took a risk, not blindly was one of the keys I believe to this success. He realized the risk he was taking and did not let his ego get in his way, as he took into account others peoples first hand thoughts to better his script. He did not go strictly off his first hand encounters which would have obviously negatively effected the play.

I think its pretty cool what Kushner did with Caroline, Or Change in the way he knew the risk and the grounds he was going into because of his situation and then assessed it and approached it in a way that he knew he could succeed in.

Poetry, Walt Fraizer, and Basketball

Well some might know I'm a Knicks fan and watch most of their games and a staple to the Knicks experience is the legendary basketball player turned color analyst Walt 'Clyde' Frazier.

He is known for his rhyming through out the Knicks broadcast on MSG (sports station in NYC that broadcasts the Knicks), and his great vocabulary.

Some of his rhymes include:

Poasting and Toasting
Dishing and Swishing
Running and Stunning
Shaking and Baking

Below are two short videos hearing Clyde in action using his rhymes and vocabulary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrQtPe30Djg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxe3pxxcxSY

From listening to his commentary for years now I would say he drops at least 10-15 rhymes a game naturally. Its an art he has mastered.

I thought this was pretty cool connection because of the fact we are on Poetry this unit and looking at end rhyme, middle rhyme, etc.

I was reading an interview Kushner had with a member of the University of Chicago Arts Department and this response caught my eye when he was asked the importance of the arts being introduced to people in school. (He also uses a vocab word we had a lot, fun fun!)
"Absolutely. I think that if you’re going to be a playwright, I think it is enormously important to read history, to read political theory to read philosophy, to read psychology, and you know, to specialize in ... one subject with a kind of intensity that you do when you major, so that you’re not completely a dilettante.

You have enough opportunities to be a dilettante later on. Life really is dilettantism in a sense I mean, when you write, when he or she decides to attack a subject has to become. You acquire as deep a knowledge as you can acquire in the amount of time that you have to acquire it which is usually months or a couple of years. And that is not enough to gain a deep knowledge. Essentially you achieve the dilettante status.

Critical skills as a reader will stand you in very good stead as a writer and also in very good stead as an actor, or a director or a painter. Being able to read the text and interpret it effectively, confidently with acuity and discernment is enormously important for the arts."

If you want to read more of the interview, here's the link: http://www.courttheatre.org/m/article/q_a_with_tony_kushner/

Kushner's toughest scene to write

In this article Tony Kushner talked about what the hardest scene for him to write in the play was the buggy ride between Mary and Lincoln at the end of the movie. I didn't picture that scene as being the toughest to write because it was scene that was simple and not very busy like some other scenes in the movie.

I was thinking about Caroline or Change and the reasons for the title...Obviously the "Caroline" is due to the main character Caroline but I was also curious on the reason for the "or change". I figured it maybe has to do something with the changes that soon begin to happen in the civil rights movement that will start to affect her children as well as Noah, but I was wondering what everyone else thought?

Kushner and Brooks

In class we have been taking a lot about how Brooks puts racist tension into her writing and touches on issues in diversity and equality. I noticed that in Kushner also puts issues like these into his writing in "Caroline, or Change". Brooks and Kushner both mainly talk about differences in white people and black people, but Brooks also talks about woman's rights (we even mentioned in class that she could be considered somewhat a feminist), and about soldiers in war. Kushner touches upon religious diversity. Noah's family is Jewish, and although the family is comfortable with their religion (unlike Gregor), they still are insulted for it a few times. Even Caroline tells Noah in her rage that Jews go to hell when they die, even though she know what it is like to be treated unfairly because you are different.

Kushner's Identity

in an interview about Lincoln Kushner said...

"I think I used the lessons of being Jewish in a small Southern town during the civil rights era, and sort of transferred them. It took some time, but I learned many lessons about how to claim an identity that was an uncomfortable identity for people, and not throw a lot of yourself to the dispossessed, or dispossess an identity because it was despised culturally. The problem was with the culture and not with oneself or one’s group. So I used those lessons in coming out of the closet." This remind's me of Kafka's character George when he was talking about his difficulties relating to and accepting his Jewish identity.  He grew up in a time were his religion was not well accepted which must have made it even harder for him to accept it himself

Gwendolyn's Education

This is interesting
"Gwendolyn Brook’s attended three different schools as a teen—one predominately white, one all black, and a third that was integrated."

This further legitimizes her take on the reality of the segregation and the civil rights movement because she experienced every possible type of school segregation.  She was so enlightened about this historical time at a such young age.

Kushner

I thought it was interesting how in the assembly Kushner mentioned how is dad played the clarinet and they described Noah's dad as a clarinet. That just shows the relationship between the story and his real life. I also thought it was interesting how the reason he made the play a musical was because of how big the influence of music was in his life.

Noah symbolizing reliance on the father?

It is clear during Caroline or Change that Caroline relied and loved her husband. I was thinking during class today when discussing Noah what if he symbolized the father. For example Caroline lashes out at him just as she did her husband, and also she breaks off her "friendly" relationship with Noah as she broke off her marriage with her husband. It is also clear that her husbands love was something she desired and needed; thus could Noah possibly fill those shoes now like Caroline's children do?

Dream of Californication

Well, I know this doesn't have much to do with what we are currently are doing, or have done in English this year, but last year on our English blog we would post recommendations and things to do with English. I'd like to recommend a show on Showtime called "Californication". Naturally, there is a lot of sex, drugs, and "interesting" situations, but there is also great beauty and brilliance in the show. The main character, Hank Moody, is a NYU graduate who is a famous writer. He wrote a novel that went big called "God Hates Us All" which was later turned into a shitty corny movie called "A crazy little thing called love". He then stopped writing for about 5 years, where the show first starts. He has a daughter Becca, but is no longer dating the Mom. He still loves the mother, and always did, but is at times hard on people. He is brilliantly witty and sarcastic, but is also what some would consider a "train wreck". He is a heavy drinker, and is very hard on himself, continually self loathing. He is a very lovable character, and is actually a very well hearted man, and a loving father. Season 6 just premiered, and its on at 10:30 p.m Sunday night on Showtime. Hank is a bit Kafka-esque, and there are many literary references made throughout much of the episodes. I enjoy the show very much and I recommend it to anyone who isn't afraid of the sex and drugs that come along with much of the LA/ Malibu scene.

Caroline, or Change Thoughts

When we were first talking about Caroline, or Change, we had talked about how Tony Kushner had grown up with a maid and that this play was based off of her. But this play almost depicts Caroline as always being rather rude and marose. But for some reason Tony Kushner's old maid said she adored the play and was very grateful. This doesn't really seem to make any sense to me and I am interested into hearing your guys' thoughts on this...

Caroline or Change, and J.D. Salinger

As I was thinking last night I remembered a short story we read last year, "Down at the Dinghy." This story I felt was very similar to Caroline or Change. It had a maid, and the the family was Jewish, and there were issues of racism throughout the short story similar to Caroline or Change.

Tony Kushner Interview

I found a cool interview with Tony Kushner while trying to find out some cool facts about him. The interview starts about a third of the way down the page. What I liked most was when Tony described his history in acting and all the questions revolving around that sort of stuff...

Interview

Star Wars relies on Kafka :)

Ok so without embarrassing myself too much I wanted to tell you guys about this awesome connection I found.... sooooo I am a big star wars fan... and there is pixar animated series on cartoon network that i watch with my younger cousin.  In one of the recent episodes there was a clone character named Gregor who went missing in battle, got anemia, and then tried to rejoin the army.

So I was listening to a star wars podcast this morning and one of the writers of the series was discussion the name of that character  (most clones have names like "Blaster" or "Scope", things related to battle) and he said that this character was going through a metamorphosis phase throughout the episode and so when they were decided what to name him, quote "they relied on their good friend Kafka" hahaha I know we aren't on that unit anymore but I just thought it was cool

Kushner + Israel

Over vacation, I traveled to the Middle East and spent part of the vacation in Israel. I found some articles about Tony Kushner's views on Israel and Palestine and was hoping someone else would find these interesting too!
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/arnold-ahlert/no-honorary-degree-for-israel-hater-tony-kushner-2/
http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2011/05/tony-kushner-has-tantrum.html

Vocab Quizlet Link

Here is the link to the quizlet I was talking about in class.

I cuit it up so its all the words 1-110.

Emmett Till videos

Martin Kent's Civil Rights Heroes: Part 1

Martin Kent's Civil Rights Heroes: Part 2