Secrets.

In the 3rd Unit of the Drama course, we studied the term Matriarch. We read A Raisin in the Sun to gain a better understanding of race and class in the 1940s. By reading the play, it made me understand the meaning of matriarch. One character from the play was Mama, the matriarch of the family. She supported her family and did everything she could to make them happy. The purpose of this Action Project was to write a traditional Greek chorus about A Raisin in the Sun. We came up with a guiding question for our Action Project, and interviewed people to see what their response was and used that as the voice of the chorus in response to a character in A Raisin in the Sun . My guiding question was "Is it okay to keep secrets?" I came up with is guiding question because I wanted to talk about Ruth from the play. In the play, Ruth kept a secret from her husband Walter which later caused problems between them. The purpose of my chorus is to teach others not to keep or hide secrets from someone that you care about because later on it's going to come back and hurt you more. Overall I really enjoyed this course. It was so amazing having a class that taught me about women and how we are seen in society and what are “roles” in regards to gender. Each play that we read taught me something new and I really like that.

A Double Life.

The second unit in Drama is called Doll, we learned many different definitions of a Doll and how a woman who is seen as a Doll can have different roles. We read Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House to gain an understanding of social and gender roles in Europe during the 19th Century. For the second Action Project we had to write a play, using Nora the main character in a Doll's House , and a chosen historical. I picked Elizabeth Blackwell, I also picked a character in The Little Foxes. During this unit I learned a lot about woman and how we are suppose to have certain rules because of our gender. This unit really taught me a lot and I enjoyed it so much. 

Traditional Woman.

The title of this course is Drama, which is the third Humanities course in the "Global Stories," track and is my last Humanities course as a Sophomore. The Drama course is an investigation of feminism through plays. In the first Unit called "Shrew" we read In the Taming of the Shrew to gain an understating of roles in the 16th century. In the first Action Project 1, we created a sonnet that addressed one of the main characters in "The Taming of the Shrew." I picked to write to Bianca, who was seen as a traditional woman. Her role in the play was to obey the men in her life and everyone loved her for that. Once Bianca got married she changed, showing her husband and others in her life that she wasn't going to be told what to do. She showed them that she had her own voice. I think what Bianca did was right because in a marriage, the couple should treat each other equally and no one should rule. Overall, I really enjoyed the first Unit, and can't wait to see what the others are going to teach me. 

Bianca you were so quiet everyone was in love with you
you were seen feminine and beautiful
men thought you were obedient and
would make the perfect bondmaid
but you were the bomb that was made
Your father loves you
He sees you as the perfect daughter

Yeah you were quiet but you
played the game better than Kate could

You were smarter than Kate now you
have the man you love
the freedom to speak what you think
Kate thought you were the better woman
You were seen as a “traditional woman”

Am I your bird? they thought you would follow all of their rules
I mean to shift my bush; but you showed them who ruled
Gamesome is what you played
while turning heads you were turning them away
And then pursue me as you draw your bow. 

Keep up having your strong voice
Have your merriment
Show women that they can have power too
It’s good that you stand up to what you believe is true
You are welcome all.