Read Play English Begets

McPhil | 02/01/2009 - 20:34


English
Begets

By

Phillip McDonald  

 

 

Teacher:           Welcome
class to your first English lesson.

                        Language
without print is merely sound without form.

Now tell us something about
yourself. 

 

Students:            Huh
wa um ah dah na keh.
Wah.

 

Teacher:           At
least you have a good grasp of syllables. Remember the golden rule of writing
is honesty. Our first exercise is to write a few paragraphs on

what English means to you. 

 

Students:         “ ~*# c ^!?x(Pow!)*d{<,>fx +#(-)=
fk!!! ~o~(Wack!)*;t: btcih!”.

 

Teacher:           I’m
ok; luckily my colon has plenty of padding. Yes well your use of your
one word vocabulary was well well placed for maximum impact. Now, let’s
turn our attention onto reading, shall we.

 

Students:            “*#~/`>*=”
Huh, wat ya sa? Whr? Huh?
Wah wah - Hrrr.

I can... jmup...
pdduels in my lttlie... egnnie... taht culod

 

Teacher:           Your
thirst for knowledge is plainly evident. Let’s work on our spelling, for it is
the magic to open any door.

 

Students:         Oepn, saseme, undichperabble. Wah Wah.

 

Teacher:           Very good,
slightly ajar. Now class could you please hand in last week’s punctuation
assignment.

 

Students:        
Look who’s tlkaknig, Mr Cpaiatl wlil satrt, and Ms aosprtphoe  wlil calfriy who blenogs wehre?And to whom
is the qesuiton! xelciamed  Mrak cmomas,
drwanig a braeth to say I hvae siad enuogh, flul sotp. Colon: And his brohter
Semi; intrejceted impilacting a smumary of elaboraet centense devison.”

 

Teacher:           Excellent progress. Your improvement
punctuates my breath. Now creative writing expresses your true voice.

 

Students:         The spoken word is what you
say

                        on the
out-side

The written word is sound on page

 from
with- in

Thoughts shared is fluid ink

                        for your
soul.

Teacher:

(Students.)       Brilliant as I expected.
Now for the end of year honor roll call.

                        For you are no longer name without sound, ink without paper or  knowledge encrusted.

Helen, Helen Kellar are you here. (I
hear ya, Miss Sullivan.) A
nd Sheila Kellar are you present. (I am now I see Miss.) Guy Kellar, (I know, I know now Miss.)
My there are an awful lot of you,
aren’t there, oh and by the way thank you for the apples they are what keeps me
coming back. Class dismissed. – NEXT! Albeeeeee!

 

END PLAY

 

ALBE – Adult Literacy Basic
Education.

Wha Wha (water) were Helen
Kellars first words.

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Author: marcie
Date: 04/01/2009 - 06:43

Hi Phil

Please excuse me if I'm being thick but could you explain a little what this is and what you want from us?


In plain English
Author: McPhil
Date: 04/01/2009 - 10:10
McPhil's picture

This play is an expression of my experience from studying English last year.

The purpose is nothing other than for entertainment, and to get some feed back as to whether people enjoyed it.

Regards 

McPhilm

 


Sorry - I think I'm still
Author: marcie
Date: 06/01/2009 - 08:36

Sorry - I think I'm still being a sleepy. I meant I just couldn't see how you intended it to be presented. Some seems to need to be aural and some is essentially visual, so I wondered what sort of genre you were aiming at - stage? Film or TV? Or is it just to be read, as here? It's not really a play is it, as it's so very very short.

I think I still don't really understand, to be honest. Is it about Helen Keller? If it's the first lesson, when did they get a punctuation assignment? Or does it encompass a whole year?

Thankfully, I don't have any classroom experience remotely like this to relate to! I'm sorry if you did - it sounds woeful. I hope it was meant to.


What is your litmus test
Author: McPhil
Date: 15/01/2009 - 20:57
McPhil's picture

Thank you Marcie for your feed back.

It is short read play. Most people fear learning English, for them It is a litmus test of their intelligence. This is why they feel like a Helen Kellar. My class mates were mostly first time English students. The play is a stylised condensed year.

Your comments do highlight that when presenting any piece of theater/story/performance the audience needs some back-ground information to set the scene.

 Regards

Phillip


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