Service Analysis 6

Who are you?

(who, who, who, who?)

As I was at service I noticed that a key part was forming relationships with the kids. We are told at the beginning of service that their circumstances aren’t the best and that part of our job was to not only to teach them but also to be their friend. Part of being their friend was listening to them, having real conversations with them, and taking some of the load from home off their back. Another key part of being their friend was being genuine with the kids. We weren’t supposed to take on the role of tutor or try to be a role model, but to be ourselves. In Twelfth Night by Shakespeare there are few honest relationships. Obviously Viola causes problems by not being herself, literally, but also the other characters. They misuse and abuse each other, creating chaos for the whole group. I can relate this to my service because if I am not honest with myself and the kids I am serving I will not make a difference, or even more importantly, I wont be a friend and may actually burden the kids more than I help.

            Throughout the play Viola is disguised as her brother to somehow backwardly seduce Orsinio. She is not only fake to him but also to Olivia, the fool, Maria, Malvolio, and so on. Her trickery starts to mess things up. Along with her having a false identity Maria and Toby and Andrew pretend to be Olivia in order to prank Malvolio. This causes so much commotion and ends up with him in jail. In the end everything is revealed, like expected, but there was so much damage in the process.

            At Mother Seton we have an unspoken contract with the kids. They are honest with us and we are honest back. There’s a certain level of trust between us in order to make a connection and to make everything go smoothly. My companion, Kennedi, was very honest with me when we first met, and it was quite helpful. She told me she hated school, she knew she was lucky to be at MSA, but she didn’t like it or understand the work. She wanted to be a fashion designer, not at school. This was a shock to me because MSA is held with such high regards, but nevertheless I appreciated her honesty. Because of her telling me the truth instead of faking that she liked school and understood her work I could help her better. I decided to start using shopping metaphors when doing math homework (something my father did with me in grade school) and I started making games out of spelling and history. This helped make school a bit more enjoyable for her (I hoped!) and helped her learn at the same time.

            Another thing that was great was that because I wasn’t much of an authority figure, more of a friend, we could talk about social media and boys. It seems like something menial, but it really did help connect us. We bonded over amount of instagram followers and how annoying but cute some boys were. It was nice to have conversations like that because it took the pressure off her schoolwork.

            I can use what I’ve learned in Twelfth Night directly with my service. In fact, I didn’t really learn much, but more was reminded of the fact that I need to be genuine when working with people. If I am not myself and I am taking away from my work and being unfair. If I had been strictly schoolwork with Kennedi our relationship would have been totally artificial. Kind of like Malvolio and Olivia, he is strictly servant and in the end that messes him up a bit. The lesson of honesty and being one’s true self is key in any aspect of life but especially in my service work at Mother Seton.

I think the most interesting thing I've learned in this class is that there can be two sentence poems. Or even one-lined poems. And even poems that simple can be so complex and meaningful. From that I learned people are the same way, that they are more than their face value and can be very deep if I stop and give them a chance to express themselves versus disregarding them and simplistic.

Blog 6

Catherine McCormack

EN 101.16

Twelfth Night

November 20, 2013

The Pain of Love

            William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night deals with a complicated love triangle between Olivia, Viola and Orsino, and the troubles it causes between many of the other characters within the play.  Both a romance and a comedy, this play helps express the struggles that love causes on those who are in love.  Although this play has a happy ending, Shakespeare is able to show the pain that love can cause overall.

            Many of the characters within the play, especially Olivia, Orsino, and Viola view love as a threat, a challenge that causes them to steer away from their true self.  Love to them causes pain and not the joy that one expects to get out of love.  The play starts off with Orsino exclaiming that “If music be the food of love, play on: Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die” (Act 1, Scene I).  Orsino says for himself that he would rather be so full of music so he has no more room to love, for it makes him sick.  Olivia continues on with this negative idea of love when she compares the idea of love to that of a “plague” (Act 1, Scene V).  She feels as if being in love is the same as being sick with a deadly disease and would much rather continue to be in sorrow of the loss of her brother then have to deal with love.  These two cases put into perspective how unwilling Olivia and Orsino are when it comes to falling in love.  Viola oftentimes see loves as a diseases as well, for she is truly love with Orsino, one who has no idea who she is.  She goes out of her to hurt herself trying to “woo” Olivia for Orsino because she cares so deeply for him. 

            There are often examples of love, however, can lead to violent measures even more so than the negative feelings that each character feels. Olivia tries to kill Viola, dressed as Cesario, who she is in love with, because she felt as if Cesario had betrayed her, stating that Orsino is allowed to do “Even what is please my lord, that shall become of him” (Act 5, Scene I).  Olivia takes extreme measures both in expressing the pain she feels when thinking about love, and when she feels betrayed by love.  These characters fear the idea of love because it brings so much struggle and pain in their life.  Olivia and Viola have both been through pain, Olivia loosing a brother and Viola thinking she lost a brother, they both know what pain is and because they feel like love is painful as well, they do not want to get involved with it.

            The struggles and pain that love causes within this play can relate to service when the students’ parents work long hours and put themselves at risk in order to give their child everything they can.  The love that these parents have for the children is so great that they are willing to go through the struggle of long work hours and strenuous jobs in order to provide their kids with the life that they deserve.  The teacher that I work with told me that a number of these parents work two jobs, double shifts every day just so they can provide for their kids.  Because of the love they have for their children, they go through the struggle of working all the time and the pain of not getting enough sleep or enough money for what they do just so they can provide enough for their kid.

Event Analysis #6

Zach Martin

Professor Ellis

EN 101

11/20/13

Love and Setting up The Future

William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the works of David Yezzi share a lot in common. Central to acts I and II of Shakespeare’s play is the idea of love. Also, it is very clear that Shakespeare is setting up later acts of his play by creating possible conflict with the disguises of Viola and Sebastian. Similarly, the topic of love was discussed in David Yezzi’s “Modern Masters” lecture. Yezzi’s poetry contains a wide variety of content. He also talked about apotropaic magic which relates to Shakespeare setting up later acts of his play. Each writer touches upon similar themes in their works.

In the early parts of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night it is very evident that love is a main theme. Within the first thirty pages of the play, we are introduced to a very complicated and Shakespearean web of love. The Duke of Orsino, one of the main characters, is in love with a woman named Olivia. It just so happens that Olivia is enamored with Cesario (Viola in disguise) while Cesario is in love with the Duke. This love triangle is even further complicated with the characters of Sir Andrew and Malvolio who are both interested in Olivia. David Yezzi talked about love in his “Modern Masters” speech when he talked about his play The Ghost Seer. In this play, a son discusses his perpetually troubled relationship with his father. He feels as though his father does not love him or really support his career decisions. At the end of the play, the father dies and the son realizes that he didn’t actually love him.

Also evident from the beginning of Shakespeare’s play is the fact that Shakespeare is setting up further conflict in the play. He did this by putting characters in disguises that everyone in the audience knows won’t last for the entirety of the play and will create drama. For example, Viola will never be able to stay disguised because she will eventually need to reveal herself to the Duke because she is in love with him. Also, the fact that Sebastian is in disguise will create tension because he looks just like his sister Viola. This is similar to the idea of apotropaic magic that David Yezzi talked about in his lecture. Apotropaic magic is when someone does something to prevent something else from happening in the future. In one of Yezzi’s poems, a man buys his wife flowers every night after work. We find out that he does this in order to ensure that she doesn’t get mad at him in the future. Both Shakespeare and the man in Yezzi’s poem are trying to manipulate things in order to set up the future.

Both authors offer their own views on love. Shakespeare’s plays offer a more romantic and helpless form of love while Yezzi shows us a darker side of love where a son cannot love his father anymore. Also, each author shows how current actions can be used to manipulate the future. Despite writing almost a half millennium apart, David Yezzi and William Shakespeare surprisingly write about some of the same themes.

Heading into EN 101, my expectations were pretty low. In high school, English was my weakest class and I absolutely dreaded it. However the class was, surprisingly, a breath of fresh air. What surprised me most was how much I took to and could identify with the poetry and prose that we read. I really enjoyed the wide array of literature that we read and I feel as though it is interesting and even relevant to my own life. This class broadened my horizons, and taught me to really dig down deep and dissect the words in a piece of literature to find meaning. 

6

Adam Safi

Professor Ellis

English

11/19/13

William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or, What You Will, and Oliver Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest explore the relationship between identity and love. In Twelfth Night Viola pretends to be Cesario, she falls in love with the Duke her employer, while her male alter ego catches the eyes of Olivia, whom the Duke is in love with. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Jack the main character pretends his name is Earnest, so Gwendolen will marry him. Over the course of the play Jack’s secret is brought to light, but soon he finds out his name was Earnest all along. Both Shakespeare and Wilde use theatre to explain how superficial things, like a name, can play such a large role in deep relationships.

Twelfth Night, a story that details a lady who pretends to be a man, and in the process interrupts a Duke’s fantasy over a noble woman named Olivia. Ultimately a love triangle forms, Olivia loves Viola who loves the Duke, while the Duke is obsessed with Olivia. Eventually, Viola’s secret comes out, which parallels Wilde’s play where Jack pretends to be Earnest. Eventually, it comes out that Jack is not Earnest, which influences his relationship with his fiancé Gwendolen. The idea of a name or an identity affecting a relationship illustrates how little superficial things alter deep relationships.

Wilde and Shakespeare want us to realize that superficial titles don’t make us the people we are it is more our personality. In the case of Viola after the Duke trusts her she should reveal her true identity but she doesn’t, which digs her hole deeper. The same goes for Jack who continues to perpetuate the lie that his name is Earnest. Both Jack and Viola’s secrets come out, and teach us that lying about one’s identity never helps. However, due to Jack and Viola’s character they maintain their relationships even though they lied.

Shakespeare and Wilde teach us that identity should not be important in a relationship, rather one’s character should matter most.

Event Analysis 6

Lindsey Dzielak

EN. 101.16

Dr. Ellis

November 20, 2013

Strong Basis

The play “Twelfth Night, or What you Will” is comprised of many different messages and relationships. Shakespeare portrays many unique types of relationships and the significance of each. The two that I think are most important are the relationship between the clown and Olivia and the relationship between Viola and the Orsino. Shakespeare portrays the clown as honest and brutal to Olivia through the use of humor, and that is something no one else can do in such a time. He also bases the only open and honest relationship that Orsino is involved in on a lie and false identity. The “Twelfth Night” is effective in portraying the importance of the truth and strong relationships.

            Shakespeare depicts Olivia as a weak, dramatically depressed human being. This portrayal is important for her relationships because she does not want to listen or talk to anyone. Feste is the only one who can be blunt with her and tell her what she needs to hear, because he is normally the one who will always make her laugh, therefor never betraying her. Feste tells her, “The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother’s soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen” (Act1, Scene V). He is allowed to say this to her, when know one else can because of the type of relationship he has created with her.

            This type of relationship is essential because you cannot go through life thinking everything you do is okay. It is important to have some sort of structure of right and wrong. In RYP it is essential to let the students know when they are doing something wrong or when they have a bad attitude or are bullying. You have to be able to reach the students on a personal level in order to get the message across. This is one of the hardest things to do at RYP. It is difficult because the students may not understand you. Also, they may believe you are just doing it because you have to. You have to show them you believe in them as well as want to provide them with structure. This aspect of connecting to them on an honest personal level is also portrayed in Shakespeare’s play through Orsino and Violas relationship.

Orsino is a melodramatic coward who thinks he is in love, when in actuality all it is, is superficial feelings. Once again, the characteristics of Orsino are crucial in understanding how valued and true the relationship between him and Viola is. Viola, as Cesario, allowed Orsino to open up to her. She detached her personal wants to help Orsino. Because Viola is so strong and unselfish Orsino was able to open up to her. He says to her, “Cesario, Thou know’st no less but all; I have unclasp’d to thee the book even of my secret soul” (Act I, Scene IV). This shows the Orsino trusts Viola enough to let him in on more than anyone knows about him and Viola still does what he asks even though she loves him.  This relationship, even though based on lies, shows how sometimes things aren’t always about you. You have to put others needs in front of yours. Orsino should have told Olivia he was in love with her, and Viola should never have faked her identity, becase Orsino fell in love with Cesario, not Viola. This creates an unsteady basis for a relationship.

In RYP, creating a solid relationship is very important for the students. They need to be able to trust you, they cannot overlook the fact of lying, nor should they. The students should not have to question what you tell them. If you omit the truth just once, that causes a loss of all faith in the relationship. It also makes them think that it is okay to lie because you, as their role model, are.

In RYP this semester I found one of the most surprising things was with one student who had been in the US for 3 years and had lived in NYC for most of the time. He, having gone to school the whole time he was here, still does not know how to read. He is in high school and can speak English almost better than anyone in RYP, but the fact that no one in the past has taken the time to teach him to read is disturbing. He is a bit of a troublemaker, but he is very nice. All someone had to do was get to know him and evoke a sense of trust in the relationship. He is easily frustrated, so he just needed to know that the volunteer with help him no matter what and even if he only learns a few words that it is still progress. I think that it was a great thing for him to move to Baltimore simply because of the time and effort the volunteers and teachers give to each student.

Blog #6

Matthew Smith

English 101

Dr. Ellis

November 20^th, 2013

The Head On Approach 

            William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night comically depicts a classic love triangle, where everyone involved isn’t quite sure who is who and what is what.  Viola, fresh with emotion over the loss of her brother, disguises herself as a male servant to enter the servitude of Duke Orsino.  Through this act of deception she is able to gain the Duke’s trust, who then uses her as a courier to win over the heart of Lady Olivia.  While the major theme that runs throughout the play is that of mistaken identities and deception, it also shows us the effects of lying and the mess it can create.  Both this play, and my service every week, are trying to teach that lying often only makes things worse, and that by facing any situation head-on it can be solved. 

            In Act I Viola quickly comes up with her plan to, “conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent.”  Viola is a highly independent and strong willed woman, which is part of the reason she is quickly able to adapt to her new situation.  However she does not consider the long-term affects of her plan, as she wishes for the Duke to fall in love with her through lies.  The situation is more complicated when the Duke sends Viola to proclaim his love for Lady Olivia, “yet, a barful strife – Whoe’re I woo, myself would be his wife” when it is really her she wants him to fall in love with.  Attempting to have the Duke fall in love with her through lies will most likely fail her, as the Duke will only really get to know Cesario not Viola.  When something is initially based off of a lie, its makes it that much harder to bring the truth out, as first impressions are typically some of the longest lasting. 

            Additionally, the Duke himself practices some form of deceit as he continues to send messengers to Lady Olivia in place of himself.  Asking those he sends to “be clamorous, and leap all civil bounds, rather than make unprofited return” the Duke says to ignore any social norms there may be as long as you come back when Olivia loves him.  Olivia does reject the Duke though, but since it is merely a messenger who tells him this, the rejection doesn’t feel real and he merely sends the next messenger.  If the Duke had been told off directly it would have been much more disappointing, but most likely he is not ready to deal with the rejection.  However, by going himself his love for the Lady would also be much more real to her, as she see’s who he really is and that he is not just hiding behind those he sends to her so often.  If the Duke faces the situation head-on and makes it his burden then the rewards he desires will likely come, but the defeat will also be much worse.  Shakespeare is trying to tell us though that no matter how hard it may be you must take the risk of being rejected and put everything you have into the situation, by never trying you’ll never succeed. 

            Everyday throughout my service experience I witness the young Pre-K kids going through these exact situations.  They have not yet learned the negatives of lying, and use simple defenses such as tears or running away to avoid any issues they may have caused.  Even when you see them do something wrong, their first instinct is always to try and deny it was them, or to blame it on someone else.  When they get in trouble, it’s much easier to cry or go sit to the side of the gym than to face the situation head on.  This however is just the nature of kids, and they can’t be blamed for it, but they must be taught how to act different.  While it will likely take a few more years for all of them to realize these lessons and have them set it, you need to start as early as possible.  Just as the play shows us, deceitful actions never lead to good results and they will almost always affect someone.

            The idea of service was actually quite a shock to me when I first came into this class, as I had no clue what a service learning class was or that this was one.  But I’m extremely glad that it was and that I took the opportunity to make the most of it.  It has been the only class this year that has tried to invoke a sense of community, which is great.  Not only by expanding horizons and learning about our surrounding Baltimore community, but also a sense of classroom community.  In most classes I only get to know those around me or those who I work with on projects, but this class stressed that we all participate and get to know as many names as possible as we are all in it together.  Both of these were surprising to me, but I think it was the best way to approach to course, as everyone has their own thoughts or ideas as to what different short stories or poems mean to them.  Just as in Twelfth Night it’s always best to be honest and face the realities from the beginning, helping to form a community, which I feel we did our best to accomplish.