Group 5 - - From Story to Reality!

It was early Saturday morning as I pulled up to International Coffee Traders and walked inside for my group meeting. I was slightly overwhelmed and frustrated knowing that our group had almost no idea what we were doing and I had more than a bit of homework to accomplish. We all grabbed a hot beverage and sat down to discuss possibilities and nail down specifics. After several minutes of talking about everything BUT Marxist criticism and our presentation, the thought came to me that since Dr. Sexson says tangents are the truly important parts of conversations, we should just get up in front of class and go off about whatever we choose. On second thought, however, we came to the general consensus that improvisation would be a better alternative and more entertaining. So off we went in our separate directions to gather props and then rendezvous at Kirk Park.

No one would believe what took place at that park.....how can I explain the transformation that we all made from normal, "boring," college students, to critics and characters from the great novel "Don Quixote."All of a sudden it was no longer about a mere project, it became about taking on the characteristics of those characters that we were imitating. Don Quixote was spot on when he assumed that you could become like someone or something else simply through imitation. The line between who I was and who I was trying to be began to fade....Slowly I became less of myself and developed the mindset and the actions of Don Quixote's squire Sancho Panza. The things I said and did were not planned out or organized, they were random and explosive and somehow quite befitting of the little squire. Filming that day is something I will never forget for countless reasons; so many memories were made and laughs were shared, yet I learned more than I ever would have expected. I actually have to admit that it was worth putting in the time, even though, upon first hearing about another assignment, I was loathe to do it.



This experience taught me something very valuable about reality. We have often entered into discussion about stories that aren't "real" and how uneducated individuals consider them "useless" because they are so far fetched. What truly is far fetched though? Isn't anything possible if you "suspend disbelief" and allow it to become a part of your reality. I have learned that the answer is yes. A story such as Don Quixote is nothing short of far fetched and untrue if you choose to view it that way, yet, if you give it a chance, it can become so much more. Stories come alive if we let them, if we embody them, if we enter into them. Some may argue with me on this but I know that I experienced Don Quixote, I was not just an observer but a part of the story. I could have read that book a hundred times and not have understood it as much as I did when I acted it out. So...this is how I would now enter into a conversation with someone who asked me the all to famous question....

Uneducated/none English major: "Sarah, what is the point of stories that aren't even true?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Uneducated/none English major: "I just don't see how they have a point!"

Me: "Do you have a point?"

Uneducated/none English major:"Yes what does that have to do with this?"

Me: "Every story is true, it happened; in fact, these stories are as real as you!"

Uneducated/none English major:"You are crazy, you must be an English major."

Me: "Actually I'm not, I have just come to realize that the characters in every story are just as real as you and I. They may fill the pages of a novel, yet they can step off the page and walk beside you, offer you an apple, make you drink disgusting balm, fly with you on a fake horse that isn't really flying, and fight with you to open a bottle of champagne!"

Uneducated/none English major:"I still don't understand, you are not making any sense!"

Me: "Maybe you should join an English class on literary criticism, you could learn a thing or two (or a hundred). If you prefer, however, you can just stay in your state of ignorance. In the meantime I am off to find Don Quixote- I did, after all, promise to follow him to the ends of the earth!!

--The End