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Les Voisines Arianna Bardesono Outremont and Mile End/ October 2nd 2019

Les Voisines is an immersive theatre. Each individual is to walk through a specific path along with an mp3 audio and a map. We are to follow the instructions we hear through the mp3 audio. Not only do we hear instructions concerning our pathway; we are listening to a story at the same time. We move through the setting of the story along with the narrator and her story.

My expectations prior to the event were far exceeded. Because I had no idea of what to expect, or what sort of story was going to be told, I was immersed during the whole process. When reading a novel or a short story, you are able to enjoy it because you can use your imagination to picture everything. However, in this case, it’s as if you are in the story yourself. This aspect in itself makes the whole experience more memorable and enjoyable. I was surprised as almost everything seemed scripted. For instance, along with the story, the narrator said something along the lines of: “Now you should be at the corner of the street, let’s wait here for a moment and you will see a yellow school bus …” and there it was; the yellow school bus. The pace of the story and the narration along with the weather were all in sync. In moments where I was told I should be seeing something, I did. I believe that the unexpected side of the story made it more suspenseful which in return made me immersed. The only downside about this sort of play is that everything can affect the way you perceive it. The audio story itself won’t change, however, the setting and all its surroundings may change at any time. For instance; the weather, it could be raining, snowing, sunny, humid, cold, or windy. These aspects immensely affect the storyline as it can affect your mood and change the way you perceive everything around you. In my case, I wished I had dressed myself a little warmer.

There is obviously a big difference between traditional theatre and Les Voisines. We can already compare the fact that in a traditional theatre one would sit amongst an audience and watch people perform for the duration of the play. However, for Les Voisines, on the contrary, we are not sitting down, there is no audience, you are the only audience as well as the performer. Without you moving along with the story, performing what you are supposed to do according to the audio, the play is not completed. The duration and tempo are a reflection of your speed and accuracy to match the audio. I would recommend this genre of immersive theatre for people who want to try something new, something different that will absorb them into the play.

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The Handmaid’s Tale Margarette Atwood

I was quite excited about reading the Handmaid’s Tale as I’ve heard great reviews about it. I had no prior knowledge of what the book was about, all I knew was that it was a great hit and had won prizes and turned into a movie. After all the fuss about it, I got excited to read it and I had big expectations. I was not let down, the book was amazing in my opinion. I tend to get hooked on dark stories as they make me think and reflect about everything in the world in general, and The Handmaid’s Tale hit the right spot as it was a book about a dystopian society. One of the reasons I think this book portrayed a successful disturbing dystopian society is because the story is set in a society resembling ours, in the 21st century. However, the regime and administration were overthrown by an unknown party leading to a new society; a dystopian society. It is special because the main character Offred has had freedom her whole life until her society was overthrown and has to re-learn the manners or way of living of a new undesirable society. It is written in a style of present and flashbacks return to the past. We read about the present in the story but also about Offred’s past. The story reflects on freedom and feminism. It is also highly misogynistic as the women are separated into categories; Martha, jezebel, eye, angel, and handmaids. Each category of women has a designated purpose assigned for their lives. Martha’s are assigned to cooking and housework, Jezebel’s are women in brothels used for sex, Eye’s are spies, Angel’s are a soldier for the states, and handmaids have the purpose to give birth. The women are merely something to help you get what is needed, the women in the book no longer have freedom.

The Handmaid’s Tale was further on made into a series and I have had the chance to watch the first episode and give a review from my point of view. As I was reading the book, I imagined the setting to be ancient and old, perhaps because the story gave a feeling of going back through time. I picture each character to dress old fashioned and according to the book descriptions, to have color-coded dress-code.

After watching the first episode, I have realized many subtle differences with the book. The TV series deviated from my expectations as it was fast-paced, thus it lost its feeling of suspense. Besides, the beginning of the book and the series were very contrasting. For instance, the first line of the first chapter was: “We slept in what had once been the gymnasium” (Atwood, p.3). The first line alone imposes an uneasy suspenseful feeling making the readers question themselves and wanting to know more. However, the beginning of the episode began with a dynamic action scene where Offred, her husband, and daughter were running away from an enemy. In my opinion, this one scene alone took away the tension, the confusion, and the anxiety aspect of the story. One aspect that has been ruined in the story by watching the TV series is that we know that Offred’s husband has died from being shot by the enemies. In the book, however, we are unaware of his locations and whereabouts. In the book, there is a chance that he may still be alive as Offred always searches for him in hopes to find his dead body. In the episode, I felt like I was watching a woman simply suffering and live by the new rules. Although, in the book I perceive a stronger woman trying to live without giving in hopes of finding her husband or daughter. Furthermore, the characters were well dressed according to the book. Nevertheless, I believe that the actors playing the commander and his wife were the wrong choice. They almost seemed to be too young to be playing these characters, one could believe that they are the same age as the main actress for Offred. It did not give enough of an unbearable feeling when they were copulating, as the commander and his wife seemed young and clean enough, contrary to my imagination according to the book.

In the span of one episode of 45 minutes, more than half of the book had already been shown.

To begin with, I am going to compare the beginning scene of the episode with the book’s beginning.

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Why study literature

I believe that studying English literature is important, not only English literature but literature in any language in general. Many people will choose to study English literature perhaps because they want to become a teacher, a journalist, or a translator in the future; they will choose this field of study with a goal or career in mind. However, I believe that everyone should study literature. When studying English literature, you are surrounded by great books, articles, and essays, and all theses form of writing, all those books are full of the writing of people who are intelligent and articulate beyond comprehension. I believe it is necessary for people to be surrounded by such a mindset.

When studying literature you get to read a lot and by reading you are broadening your mind and perspective. You get to learn from intelligent and inspiring people.

You’ll never have the chance to speak with Elon Musk, Mark Zukerberg, Michelle Obama, etc; however, with books, it is the only way to get a glimpse of their lives to get inspired. The only way you can get to learn from theses inspiring people is by reading about them or watching interviews, still, reading is much more structured and straight to the point.

Not only do you broaden your perspective, but you get to learn how to write better. Inevitably, what you read about will have an influence on you, positive or negative.

When studying literature, your courses are composed of reading and writing. It is important to know how to write properly as it is the only way to convey your thoughts. When a person is able to write properly, he or she will most likely learn to speak properly. The more a person writes, the better he or she will get at writing. By writing regularly, you become more articulate and can convey your thoughts and emotions more professionally.

Anyone can have wonderful ideas, however, not everyone is able to explain and convey their message. You learn critical thinking by writing because writing is essentially formalized thinking. There is nothing more powerful than someone articulate who can think and speak, it is power, power of the best sort: it is an authority, influence, competence, and respect.

Thus, I believe everyone should regularly read and write to broaden their perspective and to be well articulated.

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Alice and the World we Live in

Upon seeing the title anyone would guess that it is related to Alice in Wonderland, some sort of remake and update, however, it was not. I was expecting to go see a remake of Alice in Wonderland at the theatre, but Alice and the world we live in was a different play. The theatre was actually about a wife trying to move on in life after the sudden death of her husband. Alice lost her husband to a terrorist bombing at the grocery store and she blames herself for his death as it was her idea to go grocery shopping. She later goes on a trip to go hiking on a mountain, a trip she had planned to go with her husband before he passed away. In the middle of her hike, she hesitates with fear and regret, at that moment she is going through a loophole of her past.

The play conveys a message of how death, grief, PTSD, and anxiety can affect an individual and their memories. In the middle of her journey, Alice has flashbacks of her past, she is constantly blaming herself for the tragedy of her husband. She realizes that if she alters her memories, perhaps things would be different in the present. Self-blaming has brought her to lie to herself and manipulate her memories. At the same time, she is dealing with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder), she repeats to herself numerous times: “be prepared, be aware, be ready”. The repetition of the phrase indicates that she has not moved on and is still affected by the attack no matter where she is his, she is in constant severe anxiety and stress. She is having a conversation with her dead husband, a hallucination of her husband, and they argue that their memories should not be altered. He tries to motivate and push her to continue her hike, to move forward and finish her journey. This can be seen as a message telling her that she has to move on in life no matter how tough it gets. It is a tough choice as Alice as the choice of going back the way she came from or moving forward, both are difficult decision and only she can choose her path. The play is very inspirational as it portrays real-life problems and morals that can be applied to everyone’s lives.

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Mythic:

If I am being honest I went to the theater play with a mindset that I did not want to be present at all. Earlier that day, I had just come from a long trip from Toronto, I remembered perfectly wanting it to be over as soon as possible. I was considering skipping it, however, I am glad that I did not do so. This type of musical play was the first time for me and I truly enjoyed it. All my fatigue suddenly disappeared as I watched the performers perform their dances and songs. The performers were spectacular and amazing for being able to dance and sing for such a long period. Everyone was a skilled artist that portrayed their role more than perfectly. To be able to catch your audience in such a way, to me, is what makes the play successful. I usually don’t enjoy musicals such as Glee or La La land, despite that, I was entertained and amused by the play. It did not feel like I was only watching people sing and dance, like a usual musical. Instead, I had the feeling that I was watching a movie airing live. The decoration, outfit, and acting were marvelous. This has been by far my favorite play. Besides, I admired the fact that the producers used modern terms and situations to help present an ancient Greek story. I believe that by doing so, they have capture more of the audience’s attention and made it more relatable. Relatable in a way that makes everyone understand the story. For example, even if you did not know or understand the original Greek story, you would understand it this time in the format that was presented.

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The Profession:

The profession for graduates in English studies may vary, there are multiple opportunities. For those who will graduate with an English degree studies without a clear career path or goal in mind, it may be hard to pinpoint what they’ll be able to do in the future. English studies are not a degree that will necessarily bring you to a specific job, for instance, in comparison to those who are doing a bachelor's degree in engineering or in nursing. For them, they will become a certified engineer or nurse and start working almost immediately. When it comes to English studies, you often had to further your studies or to specialize in something such as a translator. In my case, I chose to study in English because I wanted to become an English teacher abroad and perhaps a Cegep teacher in the future. I understand that to teach English at a higher level of education, I myself, needed to achieve those levels of study. In my case, I would need to continue my studies into a master's degree and possibly and doctorate’s degree and I am ready for that. Another reason which pushed me to study English is that I believe that in order to bond and create relationships, one must be able to communicate in a structural manner that eases communication. To be able to convey and understand feelings, one must first be able to express them. The things I can do right now to help me achieve my goals of one day becoming an English teacher would be to get some volunteering experience. Perhaps by doing so, it would be easier for me to get an intern position in the future which would, later on, lead to a permanent job. Prior to the in-class presentation about the profession, I had already made a basic plan for my future. Nonetheless, I have concerns for my classmates who are still unsure of their future. I believe the presentation was rushed and sometimes provided useless information. However, I am still thankful for their time and the information sheets they have provided us with useful resources.

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Poetry reading:

The poetry I chose is called “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes. I’ve inserted a picture of the poetry below. I chose this poem because I believed it had a strong meaning behind it. The way I analyzed it was that it was a story of a young black man who was telling his story of inequalities and racism. He tells his story through an assignment assigned by his English teacher. When telling his story, he makes believe that he comes from a prestigious University perhaps the University of Colombia, however, he is from the lower status. In the poem, he often says he lives in the “Y”, which can be guessed as the YMCA. He emphasizes that he is separated from the community of his university. First, by stating that he is the only black man of his class, and second by talking about his home the “Y” as “down there”, down the hill, and his university as “up there”, up the hill. One of his lines says: “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or for me” and I could only see this as a revolution to prejudice and stereotypes. Furthermore, he continues by describing himself like any other normal human being: “Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love. I like to work read, learn, and understand life….” The important sentence is the one that follows: “I guess being colored doesn’t make me NOT like the same things other folks like who are other races.” This sentence is important as it proves that there were stereotypes and perhaps probably racism towards him because he was “different”. I believe this poem touches the topic of power and imbalance, that there shouldn’t be because sometimes both parties actually don’t want to have anything to do with each other.

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Work (read or write) somewhere you don’t usually work for 60 minutes:

I went to study at the Bibliotheque National du Quebec a Montreal. However, this time it was different than the previous times. Instead of finding myself a desk at the quiet section I went to the third floor of the library and sat on the floor by the window side where the sun was present and the rays of sunshine were beaming in. We were not meant to sit on the floor as there was no desk but the sun was too inviting to not sit there. The window side of the library is now one of my favorite places to study. I believe it was all thanks to the sun, the brightness and its warmth, it made me feel comfortable and concentrated. I was reading my book in the sunlight while listening to some instrumental music and I have never felt so peaceful in my life. I would compare the feeling that I experienced to be the same as reading a book by the beach, even though I’ve never done so in my life, I would imagine I’d be the same type of feeling. The type of feeling where you can easily fall asleep or doze off, not on purpose, but because you can feel the safety, the tranquility, the relaxing vibe, and you just feel centered with your mind at ease.

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Work for 30min, do a physical activity for 30min and work for 30min:

I have tried this little challenge of working for 30 minutes and doing a physical activity for 30 minutes and repeatedly doing so for as long as I can. Maybe this method is supposed to help people concentrate more efficiently. Perhaps boost the person’s level of serotonin, increase their energy level and help their brain with memory and to be healthier just before studying or doing work or homework. I have tried it, and in my personal opinion doesn’t help, instead it makes me feel rushed as I have a timer on me. I am the type of person that when they’re studying or doing homework they zone out. They zone out in a way that they get so concentrated, so absorbed that they forget the time passing by until they are finished with what they are doing. So by consecutively alternating between doing physical activity and doing homework, I got less work done, it just didn’t work for me. It was like cutting my concentration in the middle when it was at its peak to do something else. I believe that multitasking doesn’t make a person more efficient, only spread out and stressful. Doing one thing outstandingly is better than doing five things poorly. Furthermore, I am a person that goes regularly to the gym for health benefits, at least three times a week. I understand that to profit from all the health benefits by going to the gym, one must workout regularly and consistently. When I did the challenge, I did not feel challenged at all. I felt like it was half-assed and lazy for both the physical activity and homework.

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Work for 30min meditate for 10min, and work for 30min:

Once again, I experimented with different study methods and this time, this one was quite similar to the one where I had to do physical activity and study. Instead of a physical activity in-between my studies, I meditated. Now I’m not sure if its because I don’t know how to meditate but I believe my meditation periods were sort or recitation periods but in my head. I can’t meditate like how people usually meditate, to just follow your breathing pattern and to think of absolutely nothing. It’s impossible for me to not think of anything because I am an over-thinker. I will think about every small detail and make up scenarios in my mind. By “meditating” in between my studies session I felt more concentrated and peaceful. It does make a difference when you get up from your desk and sit comfortably just to relax. I used my 10 minutes of meditation to just go over the materials I studied. As I said, it was a recitation period where I briefly went through my materials to know what I’ve retained and learned. The reason why it went this way is that I am the type of person who once is concentrated at doing something, I will keep on doing so until I am done with it or too exhausted.

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Proofread a Friend's Essay

I study English literature in the hope of becoming better at writing. One of my goals is to go to teach English abroad. With this goal in mind, I downloaded an application called “HelloTalk” which is essentially an application made for people who want to learn a new language. I want to teach English in Japan so I want to learn Japanese as well, what this application does is it matches you with people that want to learn your language and vice versa. For instance, I will be put into a community of Japanese people who want to learn English, I help them with their English and they help me with my Japanese. Through this application, I have met many people and made new friends. I had the opportunity to phone call and face-time these fellow students. I have helped students with their essays by proofreading and correcting them. I helped a friend write a letter to her host family as she was moving to Toronto. My experience in helping others with their English, whether it is by proofreading or listening to their English, was extremely fulfilling. It felt satisfactory in a way that I finally felt that I was actually helping someone. I believe it to be one of the greatest feelings.

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Go to a Play: - November 21st 2019 - Persephone Bound - D.B. Clarke Theatre 1455 De  Maisonneuve

The play was called Persephone Bound. Prior to the theatre play, I, for some unrelated reasons thought that it was related to the play Mythic. Perhaps because both titles have an unusual and mysterious title. Upon my arrival I was handed a pamphlet in which I saw a page in the middle, it stood out because the writing took the two-whole pages. In the middle was written: ‘’ I am determined to be seen’’- Persephone, and at the top right corner was written: ‘’Sexual consent is where a person has the ability and freedom to agree to sexual activity. Sex without consent is rape’’- Consent is Everything, www.consentiseverything.com. My first thoughts upon reading this I for sure thought it was about some sort of feminist act in relation to rape, I wasn’t so thrilled. However, I’m a woman myself! I should be intrigued, I should want to learn more and be able to empower more women around me. That was not the case, I didn’t like to get involved into complicated things like politics and economy. I thought I was about to watch a play about a political issue between men and women, thus, I was not so ecstatic about the play.

The play turned out to be nothing of the sort. It was a demonstration of the after-state of a rape. The turmoil of emotions a rape victim has to go through, whether it be to move forward in life or to fight for justice. It presented to the rape victim the options that were open to them, which most of the time were unpleasant. I believe it did a great job in portraying the state of mind of the victim. I noticed myself being annoyed with the character who played the judge. But to my realization, I was only irritated by him because he portrayed is character extraordinarily well.

The actors were outstanding, especially Persephone. Not only did she represent the character well, she did an amazing job in her acting and performance skills. The idea of the setting, performance, and music were perfectly in sync. I don’t think anything could’ve ruined the play other than the uneducated students from Concordia University who kept being disrespectfully disruptive.