Paper(s) of Deadline Day 2 of 10
Mar. 23rd, 2010 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
resaThree pages down and not too bad either! They're not perfect, of course (oh vocabulary, where art thou?), but I think I've got my mind on the task and my argument works. Kinda. Eh. Anyways, have a look!
2.1.2 The Interviews
What is also important for the understanding of how these two plays work, is the point in time when they were written, or, more specifically, when their stories were told to the authors.
Blank and Jensen inform the reader in the introduction of The Exonerated that it was in the year 2000, when they “traveled across the United States, sat in people’s living rooms, and listened as they told [them] what it was like to be innocent and on death row” (The Exonerated, 7). Afterwards, they also looked through the public records, newspapers articles, and TV footage (cf. The Exonerated, II). Most important is, however, that at the time that the real people standing behind the characters of The Exonerated gave the interviews, they had already been out of prison for years and had had some time to deal with their experiences. The opposite is true for Guantanamo. The authors write that the interviews used as the basis for the play were given not even a month after the British detainees were released from Guantanamo prison in 2004 (cf. Guantanamo, 5).
Every person depicted in these plays has been the victim of injustice and has experienced great emotional trauma. Without a look at a psychology textbook, it is safe to say that the exonerated people’s level of reflection differed greatly from the detainees’ at the point of time when they gave their interviews.
What is also important for the understanding of how these two plays work, is the point in time when they were written, or, more specifically, when their stories were told to the authors.
Blank and Jensen inform the reader in the introduction of The Exonerated that it was in the year 2000, when they “traveled across the United States, sat in people’s living rooms, and listened as they told [them] what it was like to be innocent and on death row” (The Exonerated, 7). Afterwards, they also looked through the public records, newspapers articles, and TV footage (cf. The Exonerated, II). Most important is, however, that at the time that the real people standing behind the characters of The Exonerated gave the interviews, they had already been out of prison for years and had had some time to deal with their experiences. The opposite is true for Guantanamo. The authors write that the interviews used as the basis for the play were given not even a month after the British detainees were released from Guantanamo prison in 2004 (cf. Guantanamo, 5).
Every person depicted in these plays has been the victim of injustice and has experienced great emotional trauma. Without a look at a psychology textbook, it is safe to say that the exonerated people’s level of reflection differed greatly from the detainees’ at the point of time when they gave their interviews.
Furthermore, it feels like I'm finally doing something really worth my while again where my studies are concerned. But... When did I develop this much of a political consciousness? I like it, hell, I'm proud of it! But to me, it kind of emerged out of nowhere. I've never considered myself much of anything, a romantic or, haha, an outsider if anything at all. Now, I'm getting more and more politically conscious, becoming a humanist, and a feminist to top it all... That's me, that's me evolving, but... All the people you can set off with "having opinions" on your own. Maybe I want that, a tiny little bit, because I enjoy a good discussion a lot. But I've been an outsider, a loner for such a long time that I see myself struggling hard between keeping my mouth shut to please and to belong, and speaking my mind, doing, if there is, the right thing.
Anybody else thinking about politics lately? What do you think goes wrong these days?
I have a very strong opinion on the death penalty and Guantanamo prison because of the obvious reason which is my term paper. If you want to know more about it, ask away. (I've refrained from rambling too much here on the content so far, because I didn't want to bore you unnecessarily. But if you'd want to know, I'd be happy to tell.)
