Going through each of the final projects again was nice, as even though we more or less digested the material already through the oral presentations last quarter, the Neatline exhibits were the intended medium of presentation.
Max's presentation on hostile environments in literature was incredibly interesting. When I initially heard the subject matter, I thought that the presentation would be focused upon authors in governments/regimes with heavy censorship, but the focus on literal, generally inhospitable environments is just as enlightening. I thought that incorporating the letters concerning an earthquake was a nice touch, but without reading the source material itself, I'm uncertain as to whether or not I would call it a story per say.
Jenna's presentation on tragic lovers was also fascinating. I'd wager that most people are familiar with the trope of tragic lovers, with Romeo and Juliet likely being the most well-known, but the trope itself is much more prominent than I initially thought. The other story with tragic lovers that I am familiar with is Orihime and Hikoboshi, represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively. It was through the presentation that I also noticed how often that tragic lovers take center stage in a plot; in fact, the only prominent story I can think of in which they do not take center stage would be Antigone, as I would argue that the central figure is Creon.
Bailey's presentation on challenging authority had a very similar subject matter to my own presentation. That being said, the stories selected had a general theme of the government/unjust tyrant receiving their dues eventually, and there being honor in giving your own life to bring about such an end. In stark contrast with this, the stories I selected were moreso mutually assured destruction, and even though all parties involved did suffer, the stories did not depict any semblance of righteousness or sacrifice, only misery all around. In that aspect, it was interesting to see how the very slight tweak between the topics of challenging authority and civil disobedience could result in a thematic difference of stories resultant during research.
Lastly, I would like to touch upon Avery's presentation on theatrical performances with a focus on political protests. I thought it was odd that The Cherry Pickers would be cited as the first aboriginal play while being created in 1968, but I guess it's the first modern indigenous play just as Things Fall Apart was the modern quintessential African novel. As an aside, I thought that the Noh masks were a great take on theatre, which use a lot of body language and expression in every action, to simplify facial expressions into singular caricatures.
I never really thought of the mask in theatre to mean the reduction of facial expression before. I thought it would be more akin to the idea that one must hide themselves to impersonate this fictional character and this mask is the physical representation of that impersonation and the lie that they must hide from reality.
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