Tuesday, September 24, 2019

RR#7: 'Proxima b' & Spencer, 152-169

Post your reading response to reading/s below. 

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  1. Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
  2. Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
  3. From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, choose Anonymous, then click "Publish."
  4. Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.

11 comments:

  1. I enjoyed when Spencer started describing what she went through with Meghan and Alan because I feel that that is something I always do. I have to know the facts and I feel like Alan that the more I know the more I can do and the better I write. I can also relate to Megan I love fiction but there has to be some literal aspects to what I read or watch. It has to make sense somehow. Reading Spencer allowed me to understand that plays shouldn't be exactly like life detail is great and all but not at the cost of your time and creativity.

    I found Proxima b amusing especially the bluntness of the Woman where she is talking to Judy and saying that cause the park was closed it shouldn’t matter she was taking up two extra spots, and when she makes the assumption that because Judy is Latina she has to be working a blue colored job and then Judy starts boasting about how much better she is than the Woman. I also enjoyed the moments when Judy was talking to the audience/ her boss’ and they both don’t seem to care. Judy had done so much research and gone to work on Christmas to talk to them and it all goes downhill. I did however didn’t really understand the relationship the two had they start off as strangers. The woman as an annoyance to Judy she was mad with her before the phone call and then at the end she’s singing the song. I don’t quite understand the shift.
    -Naidelyn Ramos

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  2. Sometimes outing an idea on paper can be a challenge. I like how this chapter talked about the difficulties of coming up and drawing out plays. I often find myself struggling to break down an idea and put it on paper. Visually, I can see it and it makes sense. Putting it down is sometimes difficult. Spencer talks about putting an idea into a sentence. He says that we should our idea and make it into a theme. By doing this, we can expand it and see the better picture. To me, this method is worth a try.
    Proxima B was interesting. At first I was a bit confused with who Judy was talking to. I read that at some points she talks to the audience ( Heinemann and Nagafuchi). I would sometimes forget that Judy was actually talking to the old lady. I like how the play shows the difference between the new and old generation. Judy being really rude to Mirta while she was just trying to set up her telescope. In the end, Judy stops pushing Mirta away and lets her lend a hand. Judy also seems to have a sense of entitlement. When she went off on her job and education, it sounded like she was showing off.
    -Juan Gloria

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  3. When having ideas, it is best to just have a journal on hand and write when the light bulb goes on. I liked the way Spencer breaks down the way on how not write a play when you have a lot of ideas in your head. Spencer mentions that first you define your idea (pg. 153). By doing this you write a specific sentence and elaborate on it, after you have defined you idea then you have to make it concrete and you will have your raw material for the play (pg. 155). This would have been a bit helpful for us way before we started writing our play.
    For the play PROXIMA B I loved the character you chose especially the character WOMAN. I could also feel the frustration JUDY had when trying to get her worked looked at after working so hard on it. I also liked the language that the WOMAN used a mix of English and Spanish. The only thing I was a bit confused on was when JUDY was trying to talk to these men/bosses. Was she on the phone with them or where they just passing by the park where she was at?

    -Valeria Garcia

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  4. I learned in the Spencer reading that if you are stuck and don't know how to start a play even if you have ideas in your head, just start by writing an "idea play". When I read this then I read "Proxima b I started to realize that if you had a thought or an idea, just start writing something down and allow the characters to dictate your next moves then you can revise as many times as you need to make it right. I can see you formulating an idea while either going to the observatory or knowing of it. I've been there several times and it is awe inspiring. I enjoyed the way you used Spanish humor to make your ideas go from abstract to concrete. The same way our reading tells us to write. You made the whole scene so real with the use of direct address monologue as-well-as dialogue with Mirta. I was hoping that Mirta would have turned out to be some renowned scientist from USC or UCLA easily recognizable by both the doctors whom Judy was addressing by using a wave or other subtle acknowledgement as that.
    Spiro Zagouris

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  5. Spencer’s thoughts on the Idea play are very interesting. When writing, it can be difficult at times to know where you’re going, so him giving the example with Kara was helpful to understand what the basis of a play needs. Just one sentence can be a guiding line for a play, even if the play will be revised and edited repeatedly in the future. I also thought that Spencer did a good job bringing up the fact that sometimes writers’ get lost in the details. The story in the main focus, and sure details can be helpful, but the audience doesn’t come to see the details but the heart of the story. I agree with Spencer when he says that it isn’t as important. Both Megan and Alan are shown as an example of what overthinking can do. It wasn’t until they just let go of the minuscule facts that the story was able to be brought to life. That’s why it’s important to stick to the theme of your play, even if it changes as you go on. Spencer mentions one doesn’t have to have the theme right away, it can happen during the process, but it’s good to have an idea of where you want the play to be going. I think that’s the most important lesson that I’ll be taking from the reading.
    -Kimberly Villanueva

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  6. I always enjoy reading from Spencers book just because I think he does an excellent job in explaining concepts.I really liked the advice he gave Kara on page 153 which was to make a complete sentence from her idea and once you have it, you have your theme. I think that's a smart way to start if you just have an idea but don't know where to go from there. I also liked how he told her to make the theme concrete and then went on to ask a bunch of specific questions. On Page 157 he wrote, “Create an image that is as real for you as an actual experience might have been.” I do like that but my question is, when does it get to be too much or can it even get to be too much?
    I'm not a big fan of history, so when I saw the subtitle “Its History” I was dreading it but i'm actually surprised at how much I learned. I didn't really know anything regarding history in plays so it was pretty cool seeing how it's not even really based on historical facts and accurate information but more on the meaning it has to you as a writer.
    Proxima B was very interesting and was amusing in moments. I really liked how Mirta was just “woman” in the play. It showed how Judy saw her, as insignificant with no name. I liked how you could see the differences in generations. I feel like the younger generation tends to focus more on their achievements and want to show off how special or how high ranked they are, yet they feel empty inside.
    -Rebecca Muniz

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  7. Spencer said, “A theme needs to be a sentence, a complete sentence” (Pg.154) when talking about the idea Kara was trying to make into a play. This sentence made me think about my works for this class so far and made me realize that I don’t really have a theme for two of them. Perhaps they weren’t necessary since they are exercises to help us improve our playwright skill, but I will eventually need to write a play. Now I am trying to think of possible themes I can play around with. Spencer then mentions how Kushner, the author of the play Angels in America, made a personal connection with certain characters, which helps me get a better idea of themes I can better work with. Having that personal connection would definitely make things easier. In fact, when I read Proxima b I had flashbacks to last year when me and a professor had some minor discourse. So when Judy was getting the cold shoulder from her superiors, I somewhat could relate. I didn’t get the could shoulder like her but those scenes made me think about how I would portray my experience. It really got my creative juices flowing.
    -Abel Arredondo

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  8. I really liked how Spencer explained the desire to write an idea play. He states. “... Even when you get the urge to write such a play, it may be due to an impulse that is really experimental… it’s worth investigating that impulse.” (157) I think this quote gave me more of a confidence booster on what exactly I should be doing on my writing and creating them into something more vivid. I normally like to stow these ideas away and not truly act on them kind of like a lock and key, but throw away the key. It gave me more of a desire to impulsively act on my ideas. In a way, with Proxima B, this is a great example of Judy’s character acting on her findings by approaching her higher-ups. Seeing Judy act on something quite literally worth investigating helped me better understand what I could be trying to achieve and strive for in my sense of writing. Then, I was kind of confused when Spencer said you can have a theme or you don’t really have to have one (155). I know the development of a theme can come about before, during, or even lightbulb at the end, but I can’t really pinpoint how there’s really a “heart” to the play when there’s the possibility of not having a theme. With Proxima B, I found it easy to find many themes/underlying themes throughout the process of the play such as gender roles/sexism, pride (Judy with her work), and work struggles in general, so I just want to understand the concept of not having a theme.

    -Faith Ortiz

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  9. The Spencer chapter was really interesting to me. I often find myself with these lofty themes that I want to put into a play, but I can't put concrete scenes that convey what exactly what I want. Even still, the characters that I put into it just feel like a means to an end since that's how they feel to me. I thought putting an image to it kind of went in the right direction for me. The more interesting was the historical stuff. The play the Jewish guy wanted to do sounded like a really good play. The characters kind of write themselves in a way. You don't have to even create scenes. I like that certain things are already decided. It gives the playwright more time to show how important the events are to the play and in life.

    I liked the play we read. I thought the humor was on point. I didn't understand the ending shift in tone. I thought the guys putting down Judy was a nice touch though. It added a social justice sort of tone. The characters were real and I thought it tied the themes together even if I didn't know what the actually theme.

    - Ricardo Martinez Jr

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  10. I enjoyed Spencer’s reading because I feel like it was very helpful and encouraging. He goes into detail on how if we chose to write a play based on a random idea, we should be able to stick to it and develop the idea. He basically says that there’s really never a bad idea on what to write about, as long as we commit to our idea and have an overlying theme to flesh it all out. He goes into other style of plays that we can write and it helped me when he says that if we choose to do a play based on an event that already happened, we don’t have to follow the exact story. This helps since it gives us some freedom and allows us to put our own creativity into our writing. Though I took a lot from this reading it was a little confusing when he would contradict himself saying one thing but then saying that it’s ok if we still did it. I could see what he was trying to say but it still was a little confusing. Proxima b seemed to have a theme on sexism and how in today’s society we can treat elderly people pretty badly. I could also see how social status may affect ones view on someone lower than them. Overall, I liked the dialogue between Mirta and Judy and seeing them interact with each other.
    -Ruben Quintero

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  11. I really liked the play "proxima B". I especially liked how when Judy was having a conversation with male charecters we only read Judy's dialogue but still understood what was being said in the conversation like when she was talking to stan. "Stan. Hi, baby! No. No. I'm fine. It’s just getting colder, real cold. Down to the thirties, yes I know. No, baby; I forgot my jacket in your car this morning. I’m so stupid, I know. Sweetie, what time will you get here? I could really use one of your pep talks right now. This day has been--What?! You can’t? our poi" I thought this was a very clever way to not waste words but still tell the story of whats going on. i liked the humor and actually laughed when the woman was saying "nalga fuchi." I also like the Spanglish throughout this play and what also seems to be in a lot of your other works. So I'm assuming that is like your subtle trademark/style that you try and sprinkle into the majority of your writings and I like the consistency of how every time that translanguage is being used it's being used in a realistic way. I can hear my grandma or mom saying those words.
    -Eduardo Guerra

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