Responses to Creative Project Presentations June 2 2011

Group 25

The last day of class! The last presentation was a great way to end the quarter. I loved Group 25’s presentation. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was by far my favorite. Even with the boy showing up late, you can tell that you guys learned a lot from your presentation and put a lot into it. The world war one poems are so inspiring and eye opening. It was neat to see your take on many of their poems. I especially liked how you added a piece of artwork to the slide. Many of the presentations this quarter have put the works with pictures to show the meaning but your pictures did this and also offered other works from the same time period.  It was cool to see how the poetry and the artwork at this time were all so similar. It makes sense to see them together. My favorite poem was the poem about the soldiers that were buried beneath the poppies and then the beautiful artwork of the field of poppies. It was really cool to see how just from looking at the painting you really can’t understand the meaning and then you read the poem and it all comes together. You walk away with a better understanding, with a different perspective.  These presentations are such a great way to learn about poetry and literature. My gratitude goes out to our teachers for creating this different form of learning. I feel like this class has been a true Cal Poly class, learn by doing. What we all thought to be a lecture class turned into talking back and forth about works and watching our peers and learning from our peers’ experiences. The very last presentation of the day was also very inspiring, Mr. Marx. I loved what you wrote to explain the end of class, to explain the Bob Dylan song. It was a great way to end the quarter. 

I really enjoyed the presentation by group 25. They presented on several Bob Dylan songs and had a PowerPoint with slides of pictures that represented the lyrics that were being sung. I really liked this because not only do I really enjoy Bob Dylan in general, but it supplied me with background information I had never heard before. I loved the song Mr. Tambourine Man, and they thoroughly analyzed the lyrics. The pictures that went along with the songs were very moving and represented the theme of the songs. Overall it was an informative and interesting presentation. 

I liked Group 25's presentation the most out of group 21-25.  The group read several WWI poems while showing pieces of art on a powerpoint.  They read Rupert Brooke poem "The Treasure" accompanied by a powerpoint painting showing a soldier's portrait.  Then John McRae's "In Flanders fields" accompanied by painting titled "In Flanders fields".  Then Isaac Rosenberg's "Break of day in the trenches" accompanied by a semi-surreal painting of trenches with people running around barbed wire.  Then Charles Sorley's "When you see millions of the mouthless dead" accompanied by photo of a pile of dead WWI soliers with no faces visible.  Then Rudyard Kipling's "For all we have and are" accompanied by John Nash's painting "Over the top" where soldiers are climbing out of a trench - The trench contains dead bodies, soldiers climbing out look dejected.  Then Robert Bridges' "Trafalgar Square" accompanied by George Clausen's painting "In the Gun Foundry at Woolwich Aresenal", which showed a factory floor with sunlight going through the whole thing.  Then Wilfred Owen's "Anthem of a doomed youth" accompanied by William Opren's painting "Germans in Trench", which depicted two dead germans in a trench - no funeral pose/prep, just death in whatever position they were in.  Then Siegfried Sassoon's "They" accompanied by a painting showing a bunch of soldiers leaving a battle, all blind, surrounded by many more (dead?) blind soldiers on the ground.  I liked this group because they applied interesting visuals to poems that, for me, evoked different images in my mind.

Of the groups that presented their creative projects on the last day of class, group 25 and group 26 were the best. Group 25 gave us a look into two Bob Dylan songs. The group seemed to hit the nail on the head when analyzing both songs. The art they created to capture the songs were also very good, and especially impressive since they had not painted before. The paintings gave us an even better way to connect to the songs. I thought the painting of the road and blue sky captured the innocence of the song, and the other picture captured the experience of “Desolation Row.” Group 25 related eight poems to paintings and photographs from various artists. The images in all the pictures seemed to accurately reflect the thoughts and feelings of the poets during World War I. It also helped that they put the poems on the screen so we could follow along as they read. It was also helpful because as they described how the picture related to the poems, we could refer back and see exactly what they were talking about. The analysis of the poems that they presented seemed to accurately reflect the thoughts of the poets that they were discussing. I also thought the selection of photographs and paintings captured the essences of the poems. Both of these presentations gave us a better way to connect with the poets if weren’t able to from the previous presentations or readings of the poems themselves.

I thought that the last group to go, Group 25, did the best job addressing the readings in the appropriate manner. Each one of them picked their favorite war poem and then addressed it with a visual that they felt was meaningful. My two favorite were "Anthem of a Doomed Death" by Wilfred Owen and "They" by Siegfried Sassoon because of the pictures that the group chose for them. "Anthem of a Doomed Death" was accompanied by a visual with dead bodies in a trench during World War 1. It gave a sense of the trench as a grave, but with the bodies not groomed, just corpses with bad faces. The second one, "They", was shown with a picture of soldiers carrying dead bodies with their heads down. This picture did a great job of symbolizing the heroism before and after war. They are heros but after the war they have their heads down and they will be never be who they once were. Overall, I though Group 25 did an excellent job analyzing the poems and relating them to the pictures they chose.

The most meaningful presentation today was Group 25 by far. They compared World War I poems to various paintings and pictures of the World War I era. They presented their analysis and findings in an extremely clear manner and accurately brought up patterns that depicted irony and symbolism. I found the paintings they chose to correlate with the poems as very insightful and enlightening. There was even a painting that was created before the war in 1890 of young females playing in a field of poppies. I found this kind of interesting because I immediately questioned if their was a true connection, but then they astounded me with explaining the poppy as the flower of death. I also liked their analysis of the soldiers being faceless, therefore wondering if they matter or the reason for their commitment to fighting has been lost. My favorite comparison was with the poem “When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead” by Charles Sorley because it was a tremendously deep poem and they related it to an eerie picture of a mass amount of dead soldiers which was chilling in a way. The picture was taken in the middle of World War I and they pointed out that the soldiers had no faces or uniforms, therefore undermining the fact on why they are actually fighting and who they are fighting for. I really enjoyed these comparisons between the poems and paintings because they clearly explained the connections between the two and what specific metaphors and symbols were present. Group 25, your presentation was awesome.

Group 25 went above and beyond the necessary and allowed time! Their project was not original, but it did reflect a tremendous amount of effort, work and enthusiasm they had for the class and for the poems. I enjoyed their paintings paired with the poems, which added a nice touch to their presentation. A suggestion I would like to make would be doing only one poem per person. This would have been a more enjoyable presentation for the class, because it was to long and dry.

Group 25 did their presentation on the world war 1 poetry. They chose several of the poems and found paintings from the same era taht dealt with similar themes, or revealed something about the poem. I especially liked the picture of the poppy field that was the subject of one of the poems. The painting predated the poem, and the field was painted as a pleasant place, a scene that severely contrasted the setting of the poem. I also thought that that the painting that corresponded to Owen's "Anthem of a Doomed Youth" was a very effective choice. The painting was of dead soldiers in a trench, which looked very similar to a grave. This was went very well with the theme in the poem which was a comparison of a normal funeral to the type of funeral ceremony one receives at war.

I just wanted to start out by saying that all the groups this quarter were extremely creative and I was really impressed with what we as students are able to come up with. That being said I thought that group 25 was the best group of the day. The truly did the best job addressing the readings in the appropriate manner. I really like that each one of the group members decided to pick their favorite war poem and then addressed it with a visual that they felt was meaningful and I must say that they were powerful. My two favorite and I bet most of the class would agree with me were "Anthem of a Doomed Death" by Wilfred Owen and "They" by Siegfried Sassoon. Both of these were visual picture of war and were somewhat realistic to what it would have looked like. "Anthem of a Doomed Death" shows the gruesome sight of the bodies in a trench during World War 1. It gave a sense of the trench as being a grave which is what it was like then and for several people was their reality. The scary part was that faces that the dead bodies had on them which looked tormented. The second one, "They", was a sad picture of soldiers regrettably carrying bodies with their heads down. This picture though sad was a strong depiction of just how strong those soldiers had to be during and after the war. This picture actually really moved me and it truly showed that those men will probably never be the same ever again. I think that group 25 put a lot of thought and effort into this presentation and appreciated their analysis of the works and their images of war. Great job!

To be honest I was not particularly enlightened or impressed with most of the projects. As the last group of presenters, I would expect these projects to be more creative and thought out. However, I thought Mackenzie in Group 25 did a really great job reading the poems and explaining her part. She spoke very clearly and I was able to easily understand what she was trying to get across. The war poems and pictures were well thought out. 

Of the projects presented on Thursday (6/2), I particularly enjoyed Group 25's project the most. The group decided to link several World War I poems to paintings/photos that they found. My personal favorite was the poem: "Break of Day in the Trenches" by Isaac Rosenburg. The picture that was chosen to represent this poem is an odd painting of a dreary setting and mood. This mood coincides perfectly with the "druid time" described in the poem. The poem also mentions a "droll rat" which is seen in the painting, "inwardly grinning as it passes." The line that stuck with me the most was, "As I pull the parapet's poppy." The poppy, a symbol of remembrance and beauty in a dreadful place of trench warfare and death, is discussed in the poem as well as seen in the picture. The soldier in the picture is grasping onto the poppy from inside the trench. The image is haunting, and I believe that group did a very nice job of linking this poem, and the others that were presented, to powerful images in their presentation.

I really enjoyed all of the presentations on Thursday, but the one that really captured my interest was group twenty five's presentation. They were very clever in correlating the world war one poems with relative images that have the same theme and feeling to them. The poems chosen were very touching. They represented different views about war from misery to hope for a better ending. Probably my favorite image displayed was the one with the war factory and the workers in it building war equipments. It was a very dark, crowded, and probably nisy scene with lots of factory workers working in it. At the same time, there were tunnels of light through the windows shining inside the factory. This light symbolizes the hope that factory workers and soldiers had for a better future. That could be the one and only force that kept them alive working hoping for a bright ending of the war. The idea was very interesting and clever. There are feelings or meanings that cannot be conveyed by use of words. Choosing the appropriate images for each poem helped to complete the words used by the poets. I really liked the idea and cleverness of the presentation and enjoyed it a lot.

The group project I liked the most was Group 25’s project on World War I poets and artists. I thought out of all the projects, I could pay attention to it the most and found relatable messages to ponder about.  The poem and painting I liked the most was “The Treasure”, by Rupert Brooke. Brooke writes about how soldiers have all these happy memories that they hold on to so when they go through the horrors of war, they can do the things they do and move on. The Painting was a soldier that the group interpreted to be completive about his memories. I thought the poem and group did a good job portraying how soldiers go through the things that they do. I know that when I have to do very difficult things that I do not want to, such as studying to take a final, I think of the happy thoughts and reaching the goal of a bigger a picture. Even though studying for a final is on a completely smaller and different scale than soldiers going through war, I got the same message by the poem. I feel that people hold onto precious memories to get them through hard times. The painting was not as powerful as the poem itself, but it provided a nice visual aid to think about.

Group 26

The group that stood out most to me was group 26. They only had two group members and they managed to do a really good job. Their paintings I think, went really well with the the songs and I like how they contrasted each other. One painting was light and cheery and the other was dark and ominous. It was a great idea to play the songs while they showed the paintings. Props to group 26 they did a great job.

The most meaningful presentation to me was group 26. They painted two interpretations of Bob Dylans songs and tried to contrast it with songs of Innocence and Experience. I really liked how even though one of them said they weren't a painter but they still made a decent painting. Obviously she  put a lot of time into her painting. They also made their own touches on both paintings putting things that related to them like in "Desolation Road" giving it a more industrial Revolution feel. The two projects were large enough for the class to see every detail. Doing something this creative was awesome and unique. I thought it was a very cool way to take on Bob Dylan since so many of songs can be interpreted into one owns experience with the song. It opened a window into how poetry and music can be visually colorful and sometimes visual explanations are more clear than the words. My favorite painting was the more pleasant one being "Other One Morning Day." It was a beautiful setting that I think everyone could relate to somewhere in their childhood seeing something as pretty as endless grass fields. All in all it was a very cool presentation and I enjoyed both projects.

I enjoyed group 26's interpretation of Dylan.  By combining music and art, I was able to really visualize the meaning of the songs.  I also liked how they had a cheery song that was uplifting and put the class into good spirits as well as a dark song that really made us think.  Many of the recent works have been only one or the other, so it was refreshing to see the realist approach that incorporated both the good and the bad.

Group 26 was a simple yet effective creative project which I thoroughly enjoyed! I liked the artistic spin by painting portraits of  Bob Dylan's poems and how they made you feel. In my opinion this was the best presentation. KUDOS!

My favorite presentation today was group 26 who did the paintings inspired by Bob Dylan songs. Not only was this the most creative project presented today, it was also a great way to show a unique and personal interpretation of the music.  Not only did the paintings help the audience to understand the meaning of the lyrics and the overall feel of the song, the paintings also showed this information through the eyes of the presenter. I feel like the students painted the visual image that was created in their minds while they listened which was interesting and displayed a certain degree of talent, which I know I could not do. Also, I thought it was smart of them to play the actual songs first. This allowed me to paint a mental image of what I thought the song might look like, and then compare it to their physical paintings which was an interesting effect. This made me realize how differently each individual can interpret the same work of art and yet still be correct in their own ways.  Lastly, their presentation was a nice refresher from the standard power point of reading poems and then listening to songs with similar themes and comparing them. Definitely the most unique and enlightening presentation of the day.

I enjoyed all the presentations from Thursday's class. The most influential project for me was Group 26. I really liked how they took songs by Bob Dylan and created paintings out of their interpretations of the song. I thought they both did a really good job at interpreting the songs and both paintings were really good considering she said she have never painted before. I liked how one of the paintings was an interpretation of an innocent song and the other was more about experience. I thought this was a really creative way to relate songs to art and I thought both of them did a really good job!

For this week’s project response I wanted to talk about Group 26. It was really creative to make a painting to represent their interpretations of the songs by Bob Dylan. I know how much time and effort went into creating these paintings since I used to paint all the time. I appreciate the effort that was put into this project presentation. Even at a glance, the themes of innocence and experience were palpable. The light and bright feeling of the painting, which portrayed the single highway and field, gave off a vibe of serenity. It was also good that you put yourself into the painting and your interpretation of the song. For the painting to represent experience, it definitely gave a dark feeling. It fit well with the excerpt of the song that was played in class. I thought this was a very creative way to interpret Bob Dylan’s music and it was something that had not been done before. Good job on the painting and interpretations.

My favorite group to present today was the first group, group 26.  This group only had two members and did something very original.  They each created a painting and showed it to the class.  One painting was happy or innocent as they said, while the other was depressing or experienced.  They related both of their paintings to different lyrics in Bob Dylan songs.  I really liked how this group played small clips of each of the inspirational songs.  This helped me to understand what they had created and also be able to think about it on my own.  I also really enjoyed how they connected Bob Dylan back to William Blake; that was very cool.  There presentation made me really start to analyze music written by artist and trying to find the meaning behind it.  After listening to my radio in the car and listening to many hit songs I began to contemplate whether or not artists are as creative as they once were.  I feel like most artist sing about sex and drugs or getting drunk and partying.  Although this is a subject most people can relate to at some point in their lives, it isn’t all that meaningful, at least not like Bob Dylan’s poems.  I also thought this group did a great just of displaying their knowledge to the best of their ability to the class.  It can be very hard to interpret someone else’s words, but they did a great job with it.

The presentation that resonated with me the most was Group 26 and their interpretive paintings of two Bob Dylan poems.  I felt that the painting of “New Morning” with the radiating, white sun and the big, blue, country sky represented the simplicity and innocence of nature as depicted in the poem.  I also enjoyed the painting of “Desolation Row” with the factories, fires, and the eerie night sky.  There connection back Blake’s Innocence and Experience poems also added to the overall presentation.  I was especially impressed the female presenter’s painting since she revealed that she had never painted before.

The group that stood out to me the most in today’s presentations was group number 26.  This group created two different paintings that were inspired by two Bob Dylan songs.  The first painting was influenced after New Morning by Dylan, which was quite impression for someone who has never painted in their entire life.  After playing the record the line that stood out to me the most was, “so happy to see you smile, under sky blue.”  This is because it illuminates the feeling of innocence the painter was trying to attain.  The painting consisted of a road leading into the horizon line, with a bridge over the running river.  It also had a huge blue sky that met the large green pastures at the horizon line, creating a very cohesive composition.  I liked how she was also inspired by her childhood from growing up in a rural area with long roads.  She made it very easy to capture the simplicity of nature with a loved one.  Desolation Row by Dylan inspired the next painting, which was also an impressive piece.  Since the song had a theme of “keeping people from knowing too much,” and illuminated the idea of factories at midnight that’s what was painted.  It had a very dark and ominous tone that seemed almost eerie to the viewer.  It was complete with smoke stacks, a castle, and fire burning in the foreground.  It also displayed the songs impression of people being oppressed by “super-humans.”  All in all, it was very entertaining and impressive artwork.

Group 26’s presentation was the most meaningful to me because I was thinking about creating a painting for my presentation, but my group decided against that idea.  I have no real training when it comes to painting, but I enjoy doing it none the less.  I admire Group 26’s efforts to to interpret Bob Dylan’s songs by being different and creative with their presentation. The first painting depicted Bob Dylan’s song “New Morning”.  Listening to the song really brought out what the painting was depicting.  The combination of song and painting instilled feelings of happiness and beauty in the observer.  The sun drawn in the upper left corner of the painting was absolutely beautiful; the way the sky faded from light to darker simulating the effects of the real sun. The animals in the painting brought out the song’s upbeat and lively tone. The second painting represented the song “Desolation Row” by Bob Dylan.  This painting emulated the experience of the world by mimicking the song’s lyrics.  I enjoyed his interpretation of the lyrics; depicting large factories and very small people to represent society’s oppression.  Right after looking at the painting, I could tell that it was depicting a night time scene.  Sure enough, the song spoke about the midnight hour.  I personally would not have interpreted the phrase bring kerosene from a castle as literally as he did.  I would have interpreted it figuratively in the sense that a castle might represent royalty or power, and kerosene could represent death and demise of the people.  

The two members of Group 26 went above and beyond in the creativity aspect of the project. Especially considering that one of the members had never painted before, they did an excellent job. This was the first piece of artwork that has been brought into class, and I know they spent a lot of time perfecting it. It was really neat to see how they interpreted the lyrics of Bob Dylan into such a personal visual piece. The innocence/experience theme really came through when the two paintings were juxtaposed on the chalkboard. I also give them a lot of credit for bringing the paintings to class - I know that it can feel very vulnerable to bring personal work into a classroom of your peers! Great job, I hope you keep these paintings!

All of the presentations were very interesting, but the presentation I enjoyed the most was the one presented by group 26.  This project captured more of me than any other because the members of the group actually painted fairly large detailed pictures of their interpretations of a couple of Bob Dylan songs. The paintings were very good from how little experience each member had in painting. They helped me visualize the song and develop a picture of it in my mind. It was awesome to hear that the group was trying to depict the theme of experience and innocence, which had been ever so present in many of the writing we have read over the quarter. I thought the paintings were able to show these differences very well. Over all I was glad to hear a presentation on Bob Dylan since we were just beginning to cover him in the final part of the quarter. I was happy to see both sides of Bob Dylan; one side a happier more cheerful stanza in the song New Morning and the darker stanza from Desolation Row. This presentation was very unique and added a very personal note to the presentations that has not been present before them. It was a very refreshing performance and an excellent way to examine the works of Bob Dylan.

I thought that group 26 was the most creative in there project and presentation. I really enjoyed their painting that they had created and thought that they presented a great interpretation of each of bob dylans songs. I believed that playing the song  while we were observing the painting was a great idea. It really gave us to justify why each of them painted each painting the way they did. Each one put a lot of thought and creativity and each showed when i was viewing the art work. I really enjoyed this because they took a different approach than most of the other groups. It is always pleasant to to see variety in the presentations.

Out of Thursdays presentations I got the most out of group 26. They did a great job on expressing Bob Dylan’s Songs. The two paintings that were presented were amazing and as I listened to the song and stared at the picture it practically came alive. New morning was the first song, one that I was not very familiar with. I did take a course on music of the 60’s and 70’s where I was first introduced to Dylan and fell in love. It was also amazing that the painting was her first, It inspired me to think about trying things that I have no experience.  Deselation Road was the second song and it tied in well with the theme of the course. The first being innocence and the second experience. The painting were a first in the class and it was a stand out touch. Great Job!

The presentation that I like the most was by Group 26.  I think their paintings were phenomenal and really helped relate to the Bob Dylan songs they chose as well as their own experiences.  It was also impressive how they did the project with only two members.  The first song was “new morning” by Bob Dylan.  They explained how the new morning represents the innocence in life and the beginning of a new day.  The first painting was very bright, uplifting and it showed the sunlight, river, blue sky, trees, and grass as depicted in the song.  The picture shows the happiness and bliss of the innocent.  The next song was “Desolation Row” by Bob Dylan.  In this song there isn’t a real distinction on what desolation row actually is.  But the group portrayed it as a place where they keep people from knowing information, and a place where people are oppressed.  This represents experience, as the painting is dark and gloomy.  It showed small huts where struggling people would live, factories in the background and a fire in the front to show the kerosene that they needed to grab from the town to survive.  The painter tried to show how superhumans try and keep others from knowing what they do.  Overall the group did a great job relating the Bob Dylan songs to their paintings they created to represent them.  All of the presentations did a good job relating the class works to their projects.  The reason I chose this group over another was due to the outside work of the paintings, even though they weren’t experienced painters.

I throughly enjoyed group 26 today. I thought that it was amazing that they both stepped out of their comfort zones and did something completely brand new. It was also cool too see a new kinda of presentation. The paintings look really good, and seeing as I have zero artistic ability, I wish I could do something like that. I also thought it was interesting to see a song depicted in a painting from a single person's point of view. By doing this we can see how many different interpretations there are of one single topic. 

The group I enjoyed the most was Group 26. The two members provided paintings interpreted from two Bob Dylan songs they picked out. They did a contrast between innocence and experience so that the paintings were noticeably dissimilar. The first painting based off of the innocence was of a blue sky, a large green pasture with a river running though it, along with a bunny and animals among the picture. The speaker then went on to explain how she derived the picture from the song with the simplicity of nature and the happiness in beauty as well as incorporated into it, some of her own personal touch with experiences from her home. I enjoyed that she added the personal feel to it and similarly I was very impressed that she had never painted before as it was an extremely well painted picture. The other painting illustrated a dark, daunting scene of factories at midnight with people scattered throughout the picture. I liked how this member of the group took a real literal approach of the song, with the factories and darkness but also put his own personal touch - which was his interpretation of the "desolate road" since it was vague in the song. I liked how the group incorporated the song first before explaining how they depicted the song into their painting because it really gave a clear idea of where the inspiration came from. All in all, I was thoroughly impressed with the group's paintings and presentation.

Group 26 was the most memorable and meaningful presentation today.  They really stepped outside their comfort zones and did something that no other groups before them had done.  With most groups sticking to the traditional read and analyze something, group 26 did a great job being creative and giving their personal feelings towards the Dylan songs.  The first painting was based off of the song, New Morning, and was painted with a good combination of literal interpretations and past personal feelings.  I liked how she was able to find something that reminded her of her childhood and tie that into the song with a colorful painting.  While listening to the song, it was very easy to see the connections between the repetitive elements of the song and the key features of the painting.  The second painting, based off of Desolation Row, created a very true and accurate representation of the song.  I especially liked some of the subtle hints like the small people and the road leading off in the distance that no one knows where it goes.  Another great aspect about the presentation in general was the fact that they were able to tie it into the recurring theme of our class, innocence vs. experience.  The first song (and painting) was light, cheerful, and innocent, while the second was dark, and perhaps more truthful or experienced.

I really liked the presentation of group 26 as they came up with a new approach to present their project. I thought that the pictures were well painted and really reflected the atmosphere in the two songs by Bob Dylan, “New Morning” and “Desolation Row”. The nature painting was just as refreshing to look at as it is to listen to the song “New Morning” with its relaxed melody and cheerful lyrics. Also, the simplicity of the painting goes along well with the simplicity of the lyrics. The second painting with the factories, the darkness, the castle and the fire managed to capture the mood of the song “Desolation Row” with its rather depressing and dark lyrics. The presentation also showed two sides of Bob Dylan’s work, a happy and a sad side, or, going back to William Blake, an innocent and an experienced side. I thought this was a nice parallel and drew an interesting connection between two authors that lived in very different times.  

Out of the four presentations given today I thought that Group number 26 was my favorite. Group 26 was my favorite because of the uniqueness of the project. They painted their own paintings that demonstrated the way they interpreted two Bob Dylan songs. Before they talked about the paintings, they had us listen to the songs which I thought was very helpful to get us in the same moods that they had been in while painting the pictures. The first painting that was discussed was an outdoor landscape theme. The painting was inspired by Bob Dylan’s song, “New Morning”. It portrayed a sense of innocence with the blue skies, and the sun and the single road down the middle of the painting. When I looked at that painting I saw happiness and laughter which of course led me to the theme of innocence which we first discovered in the beginning of class while discussing William Blake. The second painting discussed portrayed a sense of experience. The colors used were dark and gloomy which made me think of sadness and therefore experience… that not everything you do will result in a happy ending.  At first glance, I was able to tell many differences between the two paintings which I think is what group 26 meant to do. I thought this was the perfect presentation to have on the last day of class because they talked about Bob Dylan who was our most recent author and they tied in William Blake who was our first author. Even though this group only consisted of two people I thought they did an excellent job at getting their point across. They definitely understood what needed to be done for this assignment which made their presentation entertaining to watch.

My favorite presentation was the first group to go group twenty-six. This was the first group to rely on personal artwork rather than digital visuals and I thought that was a refreshing change. I thought it was brave of this group to put personal artwork on display for the class and the paintings showed that they had put a good deal of work into them. I liked how the group really focused on Dylan’s words and translated them into a painting. They focused on details in the songs the way Mary Oliver focused on the details of nature and displayed those details visually. The painting of the country road had details right down to a rabbit and a groundhog mentioned in the song and also managed to include a personal connection with the cows. I also liked the connection the group made to Blake’s innocence and experience in making one painting light and peaceful and the other one dark and oppressive. Overall I think this was a very creative way of making a connection to Bob Dylan’s work.

I enjoyed group 26 the most out of all the presentations although the group 27 was interesting as well. Group 27 informed us that Bob Dylan was a painter; I did not know that, cool fact. Also, they played “Mr. Tambourine Man” one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs. Anyway what I liked best about group 26 was that they actually painted canvas! I have never painted canvas before and don’t prize myself as being an artist, but neither were they! It was apparently their first time even though they were really good. It was interesting to see what they pictured the Bob Dylan songs each chose. It is almost like the Kreutzer Sonata in that Beethoven tried to get into the listener’s head and make him feel what he was feeling. You can never tell what someone else is feeling from a song unless they show it, which is often a rare occurrence. It was a pleasure to see and get a really good feel of where Bob Dylan took the presenter when each was listening to their song. I thought the sky was very well done as it faded away from the sun in the picture depicting “New Meaning.” I found the depiction of “Desolation Row” to be very intriguing. It as I was saying before a song will bring different pictures to the listener, especially a vague song such as this. As I listened to the song a similar picture came to me; dark sky and factories spewing smoke, representing money controlling society over character controlling society. Well-done group 26!

From today's presentations, I found Group 26 to be the most influential to me because of how they presented and what they said about their presentation.  This group only contained two people so it was harder for them to distribute the information across the audience for us to understand but they managed to do it visually which really helped.  The two both painted pictures in which the drawings represented two of Bob Dylan's songs.  These songs both had different meanings allowing the paintings to be so different yet similar in ways.  One painting was all bright and colorful showing meaning to the lyrics of the song by depicting the innocence of someone and their lives.  The painting was bright and colorful to show the happiness in one's life and how it is stress free with nothing to worry about.  The lyrics to Bob Dylan's song showed the upside of a happy and innocent life representing that there is little goodness in the world.  The second painting represented the second song this group played and it was the complete opposite of the first song and painting.  The second painting was drawn representing experience in which it was pure dark and dull.  This painting showed ways of life in which one is full of experience having a life of stress and unhappy and all alone.  The group described this linking it to Bob Dylan's song saying how life is hard and complicated with many obstacles to face.  It showed the impact of war upon people and what their lives can become.  This group did a great job on showing the meaning of Bob Dylan's songs through a way the audience could understand and visually see clearly.

I liked Group 26's presentation best of group 26-28.  First of all, I liked the tangible nature of having the paintings there in front of us instead of on a screen through powerpoint.  Also, the fact that they were painted by the presenters was 1) impressive and 2) made the presentation feel more authentic and cool.  The first painting was inspired by Bob Dylan’s son “New Morning.”  It had big blue sky, a road with a car on it going to a vanishing point on the horizon, a river going through the painting horizontally, grass everywhere, and a few cows and trees here and there.  The painter let her personal experience growing up in a rural area influence the painting a little, but otherwise took the song fairly literally.  I felt like the song matched the painting pretty well, both literally and by feel.  The second painting was based on Dylan’s song “Desolation Row.”  It featured a dark cloudy sky, an open kerosene fire in the foreground, a factory spewing smoke, dark silhouettes of tiny people, a clock tower showing midnight, and a castle in the background.  I felt like, while the painting matched the song pretty well, it didn’t quite match as well as the first painting.  Literally, it was a good match, but feeling-wise, the song didn’t sound as depressed and scary as the painting looked.

My favorite project from the last round was group 26.  The members of the group created paintings depicting two of Bob Dylan’s songs.  The first was of “New Morning”.  While I am not really familiar with Dylan’s music, the portion of the song that was played seemed to match her painting.  The song describes being on the open road under the big blue sky and her painting definitely embodied that.  I liked that she imagined her hometown when she listened to the song and incorporated that inspiration into her work.  She pointed out that the song talks about a rabbit, which she included in the picture.  The second was of a stanza from “Desolation Row”.  This painting was of a dark dingy industrial scene.  The stanza describes a castle, kerosene fire, and of course desolation row and all of these elements are included in the painting.  I liked that the group members choose these songs specifically to having contrasting paintings, which follow the innocence and experience theme.  Tying the Bob Dylan material to Blake’s works was very fitting since it was the last day of class.  They also mentioned choosing “New Morning” because of its nature theme, following the style of Mary Oliver.  It was interesting to see a group make a tangible product for their presentation.  No other group did this and I thought it was very cool that they raised the bar.  Being one of the last groups they had a lot of competition to contend against and they definitely brought a new perception to the class material.    

Group 26 analyzed two of Bob Dylan's songs. The two group members did paintings that portrayed what the songs were saying. One of the members said that it was the first time that she had painted before and her painting was beautiful. Another member of the group painted a piece that portrayed Bob Dylan's song, "Desolation Row". This song was much darker than the first and the students did a great job using cooler colors in the blissful song and warm dark colors in the grim song. In the painting for Desolation Row it was really clever how the student made the people in the village look very small to portray how they were in comparison to the government officials. The buildings with smoke coming out of them are portrayed in the song as well, the artist made them dark and mysterious looking which is how they are described in the song. I was very impressed with the talent that the students had with painting and analyzing Bob Dylan's son.

Group 26 was my favorite. They used a very different approach to interpreting the two Bob Dylan songs in using paintings. I liked how they compared it to innocence and experience. I really liked the paintings they were very creative and portrayed the meaning of the songs. They chose the song New Morning and Desolation Row. I thought that the painting that was drawn for New Morning really encompassed the innocence of the song. How he talks about a rabbit running across the road and roosters crowing which is very fluffy and happy which she portrayed very well in her painting. It made me feel happy when looking at the painting and I thought that it really went along with the song. After listening to the song you really get a happy light feeling because it sort of makes you see the small things about morning that people in the city normally don't even care about. I also like the darkness of the other guys painting because it really went along with the song. Even just hearing the title seemed gloomy. I felt that him making the people small was a great addition because I feel like the people are being over powered by the growing cities. I feel like his painting really portrayed how the constant construction and industrial factories that have been built over the years are oppressing people of the world in a sense that they are becoming like robots working in an industrial world. They are pretty much on desolation row where they have no voice in what is happening to the world. I really like their paintings and their interpretations of the songs. Good Job Group 26! :D

I think that group 26 did an awesome job with their creative project. Bob Dylan has artsy and deep songs, and I think that each painting represented this aspect very well. They first song that was presented was called “New Morning”. I really liked how the presenter explained that she incorporated aspects from her home and personal experiences instead of just doing the song literally. I find it interesting that she explained that it was difficult to find a happy “innocent song” from Bob Dylan, since he generally writes about social unrest. The second song was called “Desolation Row”. I think that this painting also represented the song well. It was really dark and dreary, and made a big impact, just like the song does. The presenter put a lot of thought into the drawing of each aspect of the picture, such as making the people look super small so that it shows how oppressed they were. I like how they also connected their paintings to the main theme of the class “innocence and experience”. The “New Morning” painting was representing innocence, and the “Desolation Row” was representing experience. It is cool that literature from the 1960’s (Bob Dylan songs) can be directly related to William Blake that was way before this time. I am very impressed with the artistic talent. The presenter who painted “New Morning” mentioned that she had never painted anything before, so she obviously has an intrinsic talent that she just discovered! This group did a very good job!

Project 26 was astounding. The paintings were original and very well done. The fact that neither presenter had ever painted before and their two pieces of art were so well done was amazing. Even from a seat near the back I could still tell that a lot of time and thought went into each piece. I also felt that the paintings were an excellent representation of the songs and I liked the contrast between the two. They really captured the juxtaposition of innocence and experience with the two paintings. I enjoyed the explanation that each presenter gave on how they came to decide on what the visual experience the songs had. It is very hard to represent a sound or a feeling with a painting, especially when the lyrics are not describing a specific place. Both presenters not only created good art, but also managed to take a song and make it a place. I especially liked the desolation row painting because it is a great song and I felt the painting did it justice. It is such a foreboding song and the picture of the fire smoke and the factories captured that feeling perfectly. Overall this was my favorite presentation of the entire class and the presenters did a perfect presentation of the songs.

Out of all the presentations on Thursday, I thought Group 26’s was the best.  I liked the fact that they did something completely different. Not only was it creative but it was a very good interpretation of Bob Dylan’s two poems “New Morning” and “Desolation Road”. The first poem “New Morning” was described as a “happy, fluffy” song. The painting focuses around the big blue sky, and the surrounding rural landscape, flanking both sides of an endlessly long highway.  The imagery invoked from the poem was reminiscent to memories of home for the painter. It was interesting to listen to how the painting was created, from the long dividing highway to the animals. The second poem, “Desolation Road” was described as a gloomy scene; it showcased large factories towering over the people with big billowing stacks of smoke. I liked how the painter of this pictured related the fire pit in his painting to the book burning in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The scale of factories to people was used to convey the oppression of humans to factories which can be interpreted as a way of keeping people from knowing too much. After comparing the two paintings to the poems, the group took it further by comparing it to Blake’s innocence and experience. Overall it was a very good presentation that displayed two of Dylan’s poems in visual images.

I thought each group did a great job on Thursday, but I especially enjoyed Group 26’s project. This group decided to paint artwork to correspond to Bob Dylan’s music. I loved this project because it was so different and unique compared to other student projects throughout the quarter. They were the first and only to use paint instead of a PowerPoint. One painting was inspired by Bob Dylan’s song “New Morning”. She painted a landscape that reminded her of home. The song was about a fresh start and had a happy, uplifting tone; so, she chose to paint a sunny day, with vibrant green fields, a rushing, intense blue river, and happy animals roaming about. The painting reflected the song very well, and she even said it was her first time painting so I was very impressed. The second painting was inspired by the song “Desolation Row”. This was an eleven minute song so he chose to focus on one particular stanza. This stanza had a dark, serious tone and was interpreted to be talking about oppression. He painted a dark, dreary scene of factories. He thought factories were a good and accurate symbol for oppression. It was at night time so the sky was filled with the toxic smoke, the buildings were huge, and the colors used were all dark. I thought he captured this dense, complicated song very well. I also liked the contrasts of the two paintings. The first is so happy and the next so serious and heavy. I thought this showed how complex Bob Dylan was as an artist and poet. And, overall this groups did a great job.

I liked the presentation of group 26 the best. The presentation was based on two Bob Dylan songs, New Mourning and Desolation Road. The group had painted pictures that they felt the song was saying. The group also put some of their own thoughts and experiences into the paintings. The method of paining the song I feel makes it more tangible to the audience and gives everyone a starting point to discuss and experience the song. Personally, I am a tactile learner and having the paintings there made the songs really come to life.

Group 26 did a very unique project presenting the two paintings. They were very well done and were a great way of analyzing and relating to the songs of Bob Dylan. As music is an art, I appreciate that they took an artistic approach to their project as well. It was very helpful to be able to look at the paintings while listening to the music.

I found the paintings that group 26 did to be fantastic. It was different, creative, and original. I enjoyed the sunny "new morning" painting about the blue morning song. It looked very happy, nature loving, and pretty. The Desolation Row painting was also very nice with the details of the factory, smog, and darkness. I also liked how they tied in the innocence vs experience theme of the class into the painting and their interpretation of the songs. While the guy said "um" and "so" a little too much, he was clear in his interpretation.

I enjoyed all of the presentations on June 2 but the one that stood out to me the most was group 26.  Both students in the group decided to interpret Bob Dylan songs, "New Morning" and "Desolation Way" respectively, through paintings.  This was the first time I remember seeing a group present something so genuinely creative and carefully thought out.  Both students drew from both personal experiences and the song lyrics to create their master pieces.  One of the students admitted to having no previous painting experience and you certainly couldn't tell it from her finished project!  Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by the effort and creativity put forth from group 26.  Great job, both of you!!

In the last round of presentations, I thoroughly enjoyed each approach the groups took to the project. But, I especially thought that the first group, (or pair I should say) 26, did an excellent and original job with their project. The paintings they did to relate to two of Bob Dylan's songs were absolutely incredible. I could not believe that the painting of the field and the road that the girl did was her first real painting. I really enjoyed the song that she chose, "New Morning." I think it captured the essence of her painting perfectly. I was just amazed that they took the time to do such a project and I think they did a really great job!

Group 26's presentation spoke to me the most. We always say that words can paint a perfect picture open to interpretation, but it is one thing to have a tangible and physical representation that follows the words. Group 26, although there were only two of them, they went out on a limb and painted pictures of two Bob Dylan Songs, "Day of Dreams Come True" and "Desolation Row." They perfectly captured the contrasting views of innocence and experience, further looping the themes of Blake into their artwork and Dylan's songs. The first painting was what was most intriguing to me, with her personal experiences from her hometown of rural demeanor. Overall, I thought that it was interesting to see them both out of their comfort zone artistically, and to actually have "painted a perfect picture."

Group 27

Group 27 also have a good presentation. I didn't like that they read directly from the screen, not adding any extra information and their power-point was a little to crowded. Their presentation was interesting and cleared up some issues about the songs.

My favorite presentation of the day was Group 27’s presentation on the Bob Dylan songs Mr. Tambourine man and Like a Rolling Stone. This presentation showed the background behind these two songs. Mr. Tambourine man was a song about the political and social revolution of the time. It was Dylan’s way of taking the stance of innocence on the issue. The song Like a Rolling Stone was about a girl that Dylan knew named Edie Sedgewick. According to the group, Edie was a girl that got wrapped up in the socialite lifestyle and became a drug addict. The song is Dylan telling her that it is time for her to live like everybody else, since she had apparently lived a privileged life up to that point. It was interesting to hear that Bob Dylan was considering quitting music because he was angry about his own public image. According to the presentation, the song was like a muse to Dylan, and was the reason that he stuck with his music. The group made a correlation between her and Lindsay Lohan which goes to show that, despite many huge differences, there are also many similarities in the culture from the 1960s to today. It is easy to think that all of the social revolution is over now, but recent events in the middle east are very similar to some of the things that Dylan talks about in these songs.

Group 27 was the most put together out of the groups presented. They had a very professional power point, as well as an interesting spin on Mr Tambourine Man. The comparison of Eddie Sedgwick to Lindsey Lohan was comical. Overall a good presentation.

I personally found group 27’s presentation interesting, informative, and entertaining. I liked how they included some brief background information on Bob Dylan I did not know prior to this presentation that he was also a painter. It made me realize how truly artistic and talented he really is. I found the information presented about Tambourine Man to be helpful I liked how they compared it to Blake’s Songs of Innocence. The information about the time period that the song came out was also very interesting and very helpful in understanding the song and the true meaning of its lyrics. I found the pictures of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement to be very relevant to the song and the time period in which it was produced. I liked how before Like a Rolling Stone they included background information of what Dylan himself was going through. I especially found it interesting that this song was the reason he didn’t stop singing. I found it very interesting that Columbia records was reluctant to release a song that later became such a huge hit and is now a classic. I had no idea that this song was about an actress. I really liked how they included some information about her as well. Group 27’s explanations of the songs and the background information about the time period and Dylan helped me to truly get a solid understanding of what the lyrics really mean and the impact that Bob Dylan had on his generation. They did an excellent job and I enjoyed the slideshow of pictures shown as the songs were played.

Group 27 had an interesting presentation. They combined two songs by Bob Dylan ("Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Like a Rolling Stone") with images from the era the songs were written. It gave a historical perspective on the songs and made me think more of the time frame the songs fit into. I do not think that Dylan is necessarily only for that generation or era, but it brought home where he is coming from. The pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr and Lyndon Johnson and the civil rights movement were not something I would have thought to associate with Dylan (who I associate with the peace movement and free speech). I especially liked the second song with pictures of the woman who inspired the song. I did not know any of that history and the song clicked into place for me. Good job Group 27!

I enjoyed group 27's project the best. They were the only group to cover Bob Dylan and I appreciated the freshness and originality that presented. I have never been very familiar with Bob Dylan, so to get an in-depth presentation of his background made me start to become more intrigued with his music and story. Their project took me back in time and the images they presented solidified Dylan's themes and provided a concrete background of the era. I never fully understood the impact Bob Dylan had on society, and group 27 really taught me something new and something that I will be able to take with me after this class ends.

The group project that I enjoyed the most was Group 27, who presented two songs of Bob Dylan's with music and interpretation.  First of all, their power point was really well done.  It not only got their point across, but it looked good and was easy to read and see.  I also liked the two songs that they chose.  Because they are two of Bob Dylan's most popular and famous songs, I thought it was appropriate to analyze those because they are the ones people are most likely to know or hear.  I also feel like both of those songs are easier to listen to and can always be applicable to our lives in this decade.  I really liked how the group gave historical context on the songs.  I was easier to know what to listen for, and the slideshow of the pictures made the songs more powerful.  They also did brief but spot on analyses of both songs.  I really liked how they first presented what they thought of the song and the components that makes it effective in delivering a message, but they didn't overwhelm the listener with too much analysis.  They allowed the listeners to draw their own conclusions with a little guidance, which you might describe as dylan-esque.

Although all groups who presented on Thursday were great, Group 27 stood out to me the most, probably because of the songs they presented. “Like a Rolling Stone” is an incredibly famous song, and one that I had heard many times before, but never really put much thought into in terms of who wrote it, who sings it, and what it’s about. One thing that really strikes me about Bob Dylan’s music is that I’ve always thought his songs are pretty happy, cheery, and upbeat, but the more we analyze his songs in class, the more I’ve realized that they’re nothing really like this, and the lyrics are about serious, real life issues that many people have to deal with. This song is no exception. According to Group 27, the song is about Edie Sedgwick, who was an absolutely beautiful woman, and how she had all the potential in the world, but ended up essentially throwing it all away as she got caught up in the fame, fortune, and glamour of celebrity life. There were multiple references to the contemporary example of Lindsay Lohan, and I think the comparison is spot on. Lohan was another woman with a ton of potential, but got caught up in the Hollywood lifestyle and essentially has thrown it all away with her actions. It’s upsetting, but at the same time, is something that is absolutely real, and happens all the time.

Group 28

I really enjoyed group #28's project on To the Lighthouse by Virginia Wolfe. I thought their skit was very original and they did a very good job presenting it. I like how they brought the characters from the novel to life and update them with a sort of modern twist. I also liked how the used the characters to talk about the WW1 poets and used quotes from their poems to fuel the conversation. I also liked how they added some humor to the skit by playing off the soup incident. The main thought that I took away from the skit was that glorifying the dead from war only fuels the war and the violence and therefore adds to more killing of innocent men, women, and children. I thought their skit was very well done, and it made me look at the WW1 poets in a way I hadn't before.

The presentation I liked the best was that of group 28. It was nice to have a presentation that did not use PowerPoint or computers or a slideshow (a nod also to group 26 and the great paintings they both did). The skit was humorous and used the characters of Mr. Ramsay, Charles Tansley, and Augustus Carmichael from To The Lighthouse well. I liked how they incorporated the opinions and lives of Virginia Woolf’s characters with the poems of the World War 1 poets that we read in class. The skit was able to incorporate the poems in ways such as Mr. Ramsay’s son Andrew, and how he went to war and died. I thought that was pretty ingenious. Augustus Carmichael being on opium was the part that added the humor for me and his funny random rants about the poems kept the story flowing and brought more World War 1 poets and their works into the skit.   All in all, my favorite group and the one of the most creative was group 28 (but As I said before I also admired group 26’s originality)

My favorite project today had to be the skit by Group 28. The three really surprised me with their creativity and humor. At first I thought they seemed really unprepared, but they quickly proved me wrong. It’s hard to be one of the last groups to go because you have seen all the other groups go and there are clear expectations of you. That and your presentation has to be unique and a lot more entertaining and reflective than the first few groups to get the same grade.  I found their casual approach and clever insights into the readings and I feel as if I wasn’t the only one who thought so. I particularly liked the character, I think it was Carmicheal from Virginia Wolfe’s “To The Lighthouse”, who high on opium “just wants some soup” and will remember that scene a lot longer than anything thing else I saw that day. They obviously put a lot of more time into planning there skit than they let on, and that made it a really fun project to watch.

Group 28 was the least professional and put together out of the groups presented. Their dialogue was weak, inappropriate and upsetting. You can tell those "dudes" did not take the project seriously, and for some reason found mocking heroine abuse and use of vulgar language to be comical...It wasn't.

I most enjoyed the presentation by Group 28.  These three boys performed a skit including the characters of Mr. Ramsey, Augustus Carmichael, and Charles Tansley.  However, they used these characters in a unique way.  While taking on the personality and style of Virginia Woolf’s book characters, they also tied in the poetry by the WWI British poets.  This was extremely creative!  This group took information from this poetry and talked about the death of Mr. Ramsey’s son.  (His son died in the war).  This was very interesting because the group didn’t just reiterate a scene from the book but included a completely different source.  This took some serious thought and creativity.  Their approach allowed the audience to make connections from To the Lighthouse to the British poets book and understand Mr. Ramsey’s son a bit more (who was rarely mentioned in the book.)  I really enjoyed how Augustus Carmichael was just sitting on the floor pretending to be high on opium.  The script included humor which kept the audience’s attention.  I laughed every time Augustus Carmichael was interrupted by either Mr. Ramsey or Charles Tansley.  Mr. Ramsey and Tansley would probably be having this sort of argument as well which made it even more entertaining.  All in all, I extremely enjoyed Group 28’s presentation because it also gave me ideas for our final (since they connected two different sources)!  Thanks Group 28 for giving a presentation that no other group did: through script!

The group that I got the most out of on our last day of class was group 28 with their skit that integrated poems from WWI into the discussion between Augustus Carmichael, Mr. Ramsey, and Charles Tansley. It was entertaining and funny while still being insightful. I thought it was a clever idea to use characters from Virginia Wolf’s “To the Lighthouse” and make them have a conversation about each of their opinions on the war. My favorite character was Augustus Carmichael because he was a comedic relief and kept the presentation interesting. They embodied the characters well and used the character’s ideals from the book to use in their skit.

For the last day of presentations I felt that Group 28 I had the most interesting presentation.  The group's skit was very thoughtful and creative, as well as quite funny.  This group was one of the only groups to take on the novel "To The Lighthouse." This book was not an easy read and I commend group 28 for taking on the task of getting into character.  The skit included Mr. Ramsey, Carmicheal, and Tansley.  They did a really good job at getting into character and revealing the attitudes of each of these men.  By focusing on one subject; war, the class was able to see how each character differs in their views and how they stand behind their beliefs.  Overall I thought the presentation linked well to our final project assignment, and after group 28 presented I feel much more capable of taking on the final!

The group that I thought that did the best job was group number 28.  Acting as characters from Virginia Wolf’s, “To the Lighthouse,” they did their interpretation on what would happen if a couple of the characters met a few years down the road.  I really liked this presentation because it kept me interested throughout the entire thing.  The way they used the different character’s personality and came up with witty sayings they might have said really caught my interest.  Being the last day of class, I expected the presentations to be of high quality, and they were.  The paintings that group number 26 did were phenomenal (especially when it was her first time painting).  But group 28 to me signified the “creative” aspect of the project.  It takes a lot of guts to make up a script and act it out in front of the class.  You don’t know whether everybody else has the same interpretation and if yours is even on the right track.  I give them props for that. Overall, you guys did a fantastic job,  you were creative and held my interest.   

I enjoyed group 28’s presentation on Thursday. Their skit was insightful and interesting and I liked how they took themes for different books or poems that we read in class and tied it all together. It was unique to use characters from the book To the Lighthouse to analyze poems of soldiers in this presentation. They did a nice introduction to each of their characters; each reading a brief description about both beliefs and attitude towards the other characters. I also really liked how they disagreed with each other; this was a great way to further analyze the poems and gave the scene more depth. Also, it was a good transition when Ramsey’s character’s desire for reading influenced his responses in the discussion. Overall, I think the characters were well developed which allowed room for humor, and the topic was interesting enough that there was a clear conflict that captured the audience. I wish the speakers had memorized a little more or read slower; I feel like I missed a few key points throughout the presentation. All in all, well done guys!

Out of all the presentations presented on Thursday, Group 28 stood out the most. The reason their presentation stood out the most was because they chose to perform a skit. Almost every, if not every, presentation this quarter used a PowerPoint or film, so it was nice to see something different. Group 28’s performance was very creative and I applaud them for thinking outside of the box. Portraying the characters in The Lighthouse and analyzing the British WWI poems was an amazing idea! After reading their script when it was posted on the class website, I felt that this group did not slack off when it came to analyzing the poems. I believe they captured what the poets were trying to illustrate. Acting as the characters in The Lighthouse, I also got a better understanding of them. To be honest, The Lighthouse wasn’t the easiest assigned reading from this quarter, so Group 28’s presentation helped clear a lot of things up. Finally, I appreciate that the group kept the audience’s attention by using more casual and modern dialogue. It was very humorous. Great Job!

My favorite group presentation was done by group 28. Their use of a skit was different from most and they preformed it really well. Not only did they show the light of their characters, Mr. Ramsey and others, it was also insightful into possible final ideas. They used poetry recited by one character and analyzed it through either Mr. Ramsey of his friend. They discussed poems such as They and Our Soldiers. It was my favorite because to me the war poetry is very powerful and it important to have in looked at in different lights.