Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead:

"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" is a play set around the themes of Shakespeare's Hamlet. As they wonder along on their journey they run into an acting troupe who offer them to participate in their show. This is where the real story begins as we are thrusted into this dreamlike state of the film.

Personally, I have no idea what this play is about on the surface level. It touches on so many different themes in my eyes that are even relevant today. The main theme I am aware us is the theme of chance and decision making. In the film they rely a lot on luck to make choices. They tossing of a coin signifies what is right and what is wrong. As a person who is relatively indecisive I follow this pattern a lot, although I understand how silly it can be to rely on luck for a lasting decision.

Another theme I find within the play is the inevitability of death. We all know that we're going to die at sometime, however we often don't know when, where, or how. The play reminds us of this, and that somewhere these details are already written into our story books, we're just waiting for that scene to come forth. 

The last thing I think of with this play is the blurred balance of being on a stage versus going about your daily life. Shakespeare himself is known for saying "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms." This theme was all over the movie. It would go from logical angles and plots to quickly shift even by walking into a different room, when you couldn't tell what world they were in in that moment.

Newsweek

It's not super clear what the permanent symbols in the story are. It's arguable that a displacement of emotions could be categorized in such a way. It was expressed repeatedly that the boys were afraid, but didn't know how to let them out, or channel them. They all had clear variances with their reactions, though they primarily were centered around drugs, girls, and façades.

This story takes me back to thinking where I was on September 11, 2001. I was seven years old and in 2nd grade. I was still new to the school, so I didn't really know any of my peers well enough to have the same sense of camaraderie as the boys in the story. I remember that I was in math class, and the teacher put on the tv as we all watched. That same day President George W. Bush was at the neighboring elementary school, reading along with one of the classes there. It wasn't until years later that I realized how intense that day was, and the dangers surrounding his presence at the time. Actually, the most prominent memory, or conversation, stemming from that day is that the President was reading his book upside down.

To adapt this story into another medium, the first step is definitely to cut out some of the filler information. Animation is increasingly growing as a medium for storytelling. It is no longer purely to captivate the attention of children. Now it can be used to narrate a storyline without the need to hire multiple actors, and on a lower budget. By removing the descriptions of characters, places, or other imagery to be replaced with illustrations, the story can be simplified and shortened to appeal to a wider audience. People no longer feel like they have time to read a full story. The faster they can receive information, the more likely they will care.

Perhaps She Dreams (Stop and Stare assignment)

What lies behind the eyes of a painting
A face of burdened expression
As it shall remain for the rest of her days
A woman of faith you can tell by her jewels 
Wisdom has traded her brunette hairs for greys
Perhaps she dreams of a love long lost
A fair prince that has charmed his way into a grave
Is it a prayer she chants for her children?
Is it a curse to be placed on an enemy. 
Is she simmering in a green haze of jealousy 
Or is she drowning in the sea of dark blue that surrounds her. 
Is her dress stained red with the blood of revenge?
Will she ever choose to wear it again?

I Awaken (Dreamscape Exercise)

I awaken in a field of yellow flowers.
I scan the landscape,
Lost,
Confused,
Bewildered by the sense of familiarity.
Cautioned by the pungeant scent of danger.
The sky is washed in pink and golden guess.
The clouds mist over the blue mountains in the horizon.
Swaying from side to side I see her.
The mistress of my nightmares.
Butchered hair a muddy grey.
Face of  sloth,
And body of a wildebeest.
Chills creep down the nape of my neck,
Down the curvature of my spine,
Raising every hair in an uproar of heightened senses.
The louder I hear her song,
The faster I force myself to run.
Faster.
Faster.
Louder.
Louder.
We're now standing face to face.
I see you.
How do you see me.
I Awaken,
It starts all over again.

Hitting Budapest

What are the primary features of this world--spatial, cultural, biological, fantastic, cosmological? 

The primary features of this world stem around the importance of men. Men make babies. Men provide for the family. Men should come first even in life. That is the culture these children have been born into. They concern themselves only with survival, not with the inappropriate or negative effects of their home environment.
What is the world’s ethos (the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize the world)? 
They romanticize the idea of living in Budapest. They dream of moving away any place they deem to be less harsh of a reality. They believe that the only way to make it out is through cleaning up after others. They justify stealing because they are doing it for survival, not simply for the thrill.
What are the precise strategies that are used by its creator to convey the world to us and us to the world? 
The main strategy in this story comes from the use of description and colorful language. The author makes up visualize the neighborhood. She describes everything in detail from the shapes and sizes, and colors of guava fruits to the experience of passing waste through the childrens bowels. Nothing is off limits.
How are our characters connected to the world? 
The characters know that this is their reality. They may never make it out of the slums, but they dream of it. They want to live like those in Budapest. They want to move away to America and plan to study hard to achieve this goal. They want to do better for themselves, but the societies around them are toxic. They see a woman waste food while they starve and it angers them. They are angry with the world for not seeing their stuggle, and they want out.
And how are we the viewer or reader or player connected to the world?”
We are outsiders looking in. We are the people living in the beautiful houses. We see our neighbors struggle. We know that there are plenty of people in this would that would even be happy with our leftovers. Instead of truly trying to help, many of us run and hide in our comfort zones and pretend like theres no problem at all.

            

Even the Queen Lusts, for A Good Man is Hard to Find

Are there any female characters in the work that you identify with?
I probably most closely find a relative connection with the main character in Lust. Through out history, women have been told that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. They were forced to remain "pure" or "untouched" in order to be considered desirable. Even if a woman was robbed of her virtue she was the one punished most harshly. Even today if a woman decides she loves her body and wants to wear something that she feels sexy society calls her a slut and tells her that if she wants respect she has to dress less provocatively. People forget that we were all born naked. To show off skin is normal. It should be celebrated that people have released enough insecurities to allow themselves to embrace their sexuality. She and I share the same idea that liking and having regular sex shouldn't result in a "He's the man" for one sex and a "What a total slut" for the other.How are relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles) portrayed in the story? 
In the story A Good Man is Hard To Find, the men are seen as the ones in total control. While driving down to Florida it is the father figure that is calling the shots on everything from the routes they take to the stops they make. When they meet The Misfit, the first thing he does is take away the head of control to show how chaotic the following events would be. He proved that this was his show and that there would be no competition at all. Both men commanded respect. Both men had to have their way.What are the power relationships between men and women in the text?
I think the best story that represents the power of relationships between men and women would be Even the Queen. Although there is only one male figure in the story, the women talk about the struggles they faced to manipulate their bodies. On one had you have the cyclists, who feel like the miracle period-stopping drug was put in place by men as away to take away a woman's femininity. They failed to realize that it was feminists who had to lobby and fight for the drug to be FDA approved.All of the women in the story were in positions of power. The grandmother was a treaty negotiator for the UN. The mother was a judge. The sister was a mother. All of them had strong roles that are of the utmost importance in society. The main male figure, the mother's secretary, was forced to listen in to get a male perspective, and as a male I could understand the discomfort he experienced while listening to the women speak about menstruating.

Westerns

Growing up I never cared much for westerns. To me they portrayed a terrible time in American history where the "heroes" often abused women and minorities. I was sure that the whole lot of them were rotten until I saw True Grit.

My favorite character in True Grit would have to be our protagonist, Mattie Ross. I feel like if I were in her situation I would do exactly the same as her. I wouldn't let two men that I hired tell me I couldn't tag along if I wanted to. I won't let a man give me a bad deal on a trade because he thought I wouldn't know any better. I would fight for what I believed in, and deal with the risks to get what I wanted in the end.

The American mythology imposed by Western films, glorified drinking, womanizing, and protecting your town. There was always a bad guy that would come into a city. They would begin causing trouble, robbing banks, raping women, being terrible people. Then comes in a man on a horse known for shooting bad guys. He always was a little rough around the edges, devilishly handsome, and faithful to the woman he loved.

Westerns told us that when things went bad, the only way to settle things was a shoot off. Everyone in the town would crowd around these two gunslingers and watch to see who had the fastest draw, because what else were they going to do? Other than shootouts the other crowd gathering celebrations involved hanging people, dancing, and bar fights.