Spring+Break+Project


 * The Existential Spring Break Project List**

1. Create a short story that captures the spirit of existentialism. Consider the freedom one can feel when they no longer live their life afraid of dying; instead, they enjoy the time and experiences in the present moment and stop worrying about past/present/things out of their control. See 'Oscar' by Alicia Doorey



2. Prepare a monologue that you will perform in class. Consider the monologue 'Credo' that I have posted for you as a good starting point for brainstorming. In this monologue, the young woman comes to terms with the many things in her life that are outside of her control and decides to live by a new 'credo'. Read this review by the New York times where the monologue 'Credo' is discussed as one of the more relevant discussions on finding comfort in this hostile world. // Mr. Lucas's "Credo," directed by Kirsten Sanderson, is a brief exercise in the quirky, whimsical fatalism that informs most of this playwright's work. In it, a lone woman looks over the recent events of a minefield of a life and tries to find some source of consolation. The excellent Marcia Jean Kurtz, with a vulnerably unguarded face, strikes a plaintive balance between wan hope and nihilistic collapse. The words she is speaking, it seems, become her only shield against dissolving altogether. //

Read the full [|Credo Explanation]

3. Direct a well developed existential storyline into a short movie. Consider our power of choice and how so often in this life, that power is compromised because of the pressures and expectations around us. Remember, this is your life-your only life-and if you are not happy, change it. If you don't like it, leave it. If you want it, go for it. And if you don't, well then you have nobody (not parents, teachers, friends) NOBODY to blame but yourself. Think about creating an original take on this existential idea and consider how a little bit of existentialism might just be what we all need to remind us of our true spirit.
 * Video can include really important conversations about life and purpose.
 * Video doesn't need audio (you speaking). The focus can be strictly on acting, thinking, living.
 * Very, very necessary to add existential themed music.
 * For this activity, every participant must play a major role or a number of minor roles to earn an equal grade.
 * This can very much be a simple video of all your friends living your life in 2010, the last year you will spend together because this is a very existential time for you. Everything changes in two months. Everything. This might not be just a project you need to do for English, but a project that you have to do so that forever you can have these experiences captured in time.

4. If you examine graphic art, you will see that most artists are pursuing the existential path in the creation of their most influential characters. Batman and the Joker are two prime examples. Calvin and Hobbes works well too. See the Garfield example below. For your project, create an existential graphic art storyline. This philosophical 'comic book' strip should capture an existential story about living life according to a personally invented code. Minimum: ten scenes.

5. Create a scrap-book photo album that captures your life and what you love, appreciate, and celebrate right now (your pivotal turning point year of your life). Give the book a title and a message on each page to complement the picture. Consider photographs capturing happiness, peace, love, pain, loss...the emotions that we know are real because our feelings are the only aspects of life that we know as true. But we also know that these emotions will change, as does everything in life.

6. Write and compose an existentialist-themed song that you will play for the class.