Lesson 14

[Susan Willard]

Susan A. Willard Delivers Irony!

What I learned doing this assignment is irony that delivering insights is easier to do than I imagined.

What else I learned doing this assignment is, in my play, irony that delivered insights was already primed and ready to use, if my examples are appropriate.

New Ways / Insights Delivered – Experiencing Opposites:

1. New Ways / Insights Delivered:

Lying and getting the Truth: Telling the Truth and getting Lies.

· Experiencing Opposites:

· Walter questions the Clinic Clerk using the truth – He is looking for Oscar,

· The clinic clerk tells him lies – No she hasn’t seen Oscar.

· Walter questions the doctor using lies – he needs an appointment (but he is looking for information),

· The doctor gives him the truth – he can have an appointment.

· Walter tells lies to the doctor – he is having trouble remembering things, loses items, and he is confused about some situations,

· The doctor tells him the truth, Walter can have some tests run for further diagnosis.

2. New Ways / Insights Delivered:

Lying and getting the Truth: Telling the Truth and getting Lies.

· Experiencing Opposites:

· The nurse tells Walter the Truth – Walter doesn’t need any tests,

· Walter tells the nurse the Truth – He is really looking for Oscar.

· The nurse tells Walter the Truth – She knows Oscar but because of HIPPA laws, she can’t help Oscar, she is sure that Walter will find Oscar, but let her know if he needs anything in the future, she is sure she can help him then.

· Walter tells the nurse a lie – of course he will call on her if he needs to.

· In the end, Nurse/Agent – does help Walter, but he doesn’t know she’s an agent and he doesn’t ask for her help.

3. New Ways / Insights Delivered:

Going for wants and missing needs: Going after needs and losing wants.

· Experiencing Opposites:

· Father drops son off with grandson, so that he can pursue a big financially beneficial business trip, as a result he misses out on helping his dad and son when they need him the most.

· Behinds the scenes: Son sends Father clips of videos and some pictures without explanations throughout their journey as documentation of events in case they don’t make it. Son wants father there to help, but father never shows.

· Behind the scenes: Father calls wanting to know what the strange text messages are about, but the calls are unanswered. His need to know that his dad and son are ok grows as the journey continues.

· Behind the scenes: Father needs to get in touch with help, share text messages, allow agents, police, etc…. needing to arrive for help.

· Does he?

4. New Ways / Insights Delivered:

Doing wrong things, for the right reasons: Doing right things for the wrong reasons.

· Experiencing Opposites:

· Janitor overhears Walter and grandson’s conversation about Oscar, and asked if Oscar is ok. (Walter, the Janitor and Oscar are all casual acquaintances from The Sit and Sip Café). (He asked the right question for the wrong reason.)

· The janitor suggests if Oscar is getting tested, he could be behind the door labeled, “No Admittance Without Permission”, (manually, visually motioning to the propped-up door) non-verbally suggesting that they could see for themselves. (He gave the right information for the wrong reasons.) But Walter believes him.

· Later, the janitor rightly tells the doctor that Walter and grandson were trespassing behind the door, for the wrong reason, so they could get in trouble, not so they will be helped to find Oscar.

5. New Ways / Insights Delivered:

Doing something amazing and someone else getting the credit: Getting the credit for something you didn’t do.

· Experiencing Opposites:

· In the end, Walter and Landon have had an amazing journey, doing things no other persons had been able to do, but they are unable to get credit for doing anything, because they were unauthorized, taking situations into their own hands.

· While Agent – Nurse and crew take the overall credit – and run interference for Walter and Landon, keeping them out of trouble, but utilizing their information as the work of secret deep undercover plants within the organization that cannot be named.

[Bob Rowen]

Bob Rowen Delivers Irony!

What I learned doing this assignment are ways to draft an outline using irony to focus on and deliver certain desired insights in my developing story.

The New Way: As a permanent teacher, Wade Meadows has tenure and no longer serves at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees. The president of the school board asserts there are other ways to terminate a permanent teacher by claiming there was a violation of the teacher’s Oath of Allegiance. Wade is charged with using the values of the Radical Left to indoctrinate his students. Insight: Teacher tenure is simply due process that ensures teachers cannot be fired because of cronyism or local politics.

The school board bans the books from the school library that’s needed for Wade’s curriculum. Wade creates his own classroom library for his students. The school board ordered those books banned from Wade’s classroom. The New Way: During the same time, Wade makes arrangements with the County library to have the same books available in the reference section for the students to use. Insight: When books are banned, the footing of the curriculum becomes unstable.

The New Way: Wade is now motivated more than ever to teach history as it actually happened. The president of the school board has an entirely different view. Wade labors over developing lesson plans that encourages student critical thinking and debate. Insight: Schools must not censor history.

The New Way: Wade assigns what he calls “Current Events Write-ups” and then requires his students to present and debate their papers in class. The school board president is infuriated by Wade’s teaching methodology designed to circumvent the school board’s directives. Insight: Students who are actively involved in learning motivates them to engage in higher-level critical thinking.

The New Way: Wade cleverly teaches about how fragile democracy is by addressing what the Founding Fathers had in mind and why. Progressive Club student, Trevor Blake, believes democracy is currently being threatened and acknowledges Wade’s attempt to address it in class while attempting to avoid repercussions from the school board. Insight: Teachers need to have open and honest communication with students.

[Gordon Roback]

Roback Deliver’s Irony Assign 14

What I learned: Ironies abound in my story and I am grateful to the course for reminding me to bring the ironies to the forefront.

1. See my response to question two.

2. Five Ironies

1. Fanny left Poland to find freedom and equality but in Quebec she found another Poland.

2. In many ways Quebec is worse than Poland since they may murder you in Poland but at least they let you make a living. In Quebec, with the boycott, Fanny and family are left to starve.

3. The only two educated men in the village (who speak Latin and Hebrew and who have been to Europe) are Moses and the priest and they aren’t talking to each other.

4. While other peoples came to the new world to find religious freedom the situation in Quebec is forcing Fanny and her children to reject all religion.

5. The ultimate irony is that Fanny discovers Quebec is not Poland and Jews are not murdered for standing up for themselves.

[Andrea Gilbert]

LESSON 14 – ANDREA DELIVERS IRONY!

1. What I learned doing this assignment:

I will say this was a tricky way to look at my story. But once I found one bit of irony naturally occurring in the theme I could see more. The fun will be building out the scenes, so they flow as well as the examples given.

5 different ways to create irony in my screenplay and deliver insight.1. INSIGHT: Self-Actualization:

Jill is unaware that Skyler and Ami are parts of her psyche playing out roles in her comic book.

2. INSIGHT: Only through darkness does light have meaning.

Ami is love, light and magic while her family is planning to use her gifts as a commodity to increase their stature amongst reptilian war lords.

3. INSIGHT: Love & appreciation heals all wounds.

Ami, who is unconditional love, is paired with Skyler, an angry and vengeful teenager filled with self-doubt and grief. Ami sees the real girl beneath the anger and gets Skyler to trust her.

4. INSIGHT: We learn about ourselves in what we see in others.

Jill focuses on Skyler’s mistakes of perception and tries to correct her, not realizing she IS Skyler. When she does realize this, she receives a deeper understanding of herself.

5. INSIGHT: Emotional freedom requires close examination of one’s beliefs.

Skyler felt betrayed by Snow Blinder within the hypnotic journey Jill undergoes, sending her on a rampage of anger and revenge, just as Jill subconsciously felt betrayed by her father when he left Jill as a child and her mother. But they/she can’t know about the intentions of the actual man and how he felt or what he was thinking at the time, which had nothing to do with the girl. The story told about him and why he did what he did became a “story” in the mind – a defense mechanism to protect from hurt and pain. Once Jill meets “Snow Blinder” within the subconscious hypnotic journey and discovers the truth – the why – she is able to empathize, forgive and let it go.But Skyler has a harder time being convinced. She, as the shadow within the subconscious mind, was the first line of defense and bore the brunt of the hurt and betrayal. It will take more processing to get her to let it go.Ha, Ha....I don't know how this formatting happened....I just know I can't undo it it.😊

[Bill]

Bill Southwell Delivers Irony!

What I learned doing this assignment is that Scenes with irony are powerful for attention or entertainment, but they are not as easy to construct as the instructor implies.

Scene with irony 1: Charis is hospitalized in Standford Medical Center, which is a teaching hospital, and 4 intern doctors do routine rounds. Doctors come into the room, read the notes and charts on the clipboard at the foot of her bed, take temperature and blood pressure, and ask her questions about how she is feeling. None are familiar with her condition, Systemic lupus erythematosus, so she is seen explaining it to them. This is ironic because the young patient is teaching the doctors. They are astonished at her learning.

Scene with irony 2: Charis and Bill are studying in a basement room in the library. Charis is writing a poem and Bill, a physicist, questions her about the process of writing a poem. She explains that it is finding the right word, one that paints a picture and also has emotion. Bill ponders that and remarks, “in a way this is like ‘paint by numbers’. Yes, she says, except that instead of numbers the list are words from a dictionary. Bill says, “I see. So the words you select must convey the facts and feelings you want as you stand back and consider all the words.” Charis says, “Yes, that is a way of looking at it.” Bill says, “Wow, this is great insight. This is a scheme for generating art. I could create the Mona Lisa just by selecting the right color and brightness of each pixel.” This is ironic because Bill, whose background is a Wyoming farm, is expounding a creative theory for art, be it painting or poetry.

Scene with irony 3: Charis is in the dialysis unit of the hospital, Bill at the side of her bed slumbering. He realizes she is not breathing. Crash carts, panic, doctors rushing around and Bill is ushered out while they attempt to resuscitate her. Meanwhile her 2-year-old daughter is playing with her painted spool family. These two scenes alternate. One has shrill music the other quite humming and the child spool is positioned near the mother and father spool, along with the dog spool. This continues and the doctors in the hospital scene are not having success. The daughter scene concludes with her inadvertently knocking over the mommy spool.

[James Clark]

Jim Clark delivers Irony

Profound Moments of Irony Day 14 Lesson 23

What I learned from this assignment: By asking “what if” questions then applying a “compare and contrast model to the scene, I can develop and insert irony into the scene.

Irony: Identity

EXT – RUTH’S RV SITE – DAY

Ruth hears footsteps on the gravel and looks up. In front of her stands Clifton wearing clean and pressed “Dickies” style work clothes. The buttons of the shirt are perfectly straight and line up with the belt buckle which lines up with the pants placket. The patch on his shirt says “Maintenance”.

RUTH (CONT’D)

Hi. Sharp “gig line”.

Clifton shrugs and speaks with a southern drawl.

CLIFTON

Habit. Hey. I’m Clifton. I handle the maintenance here in the park. Welcome.

RUTH

OK. Would you like some lemonade, Clifton?

CLIFTON

I’ll take a rain check. Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow I’ll be shutting the water off to your space for a couple of hours to repair a leak.

RUTH

I’ll save you some lemonade. I’m Ruth.

CLIFTON

Thanks. Your plates say you’re from Michigan.

RUTH

Uh huh. You?

CLIFTON

Oklahoma.

RUTH

Still call it home?

CLIFTON

Not really. My kids are there, but not me.

Irony: Credit

MAUREEN

You were a nurse right?

Ruth nods.

MAUREEN (CONT’D)

I started as a nurse but moved into Administration.

RUTH

Gotta lot of respect for Hospital Administrators. Where’d you work?

MAUREEN

Army.

RUTH

My son was a Navy Corpsman. Marine Recon. Iraq. Thanks for your service.

Maureen bristles. She finishes her Bloody Mary in one gulp. She holds up the empty glass to the waitress and points at it.

MAUREEN

Service doesn’t mean a thing.

SANDI

Maureen!

RUTH

Why wouldn’t it?

Maureen looks at Ruth, purses her lips, turns away and looks out the window.

MAUREEN

No matter.

Irony: Win/Lose

INT. POWDER ROOM – NIGHT

KARLA

…Ann left him in ninety seven just after their son was killed on a Special Ops mission. She’s never stopped blaming Clifton for it. You’re the first woman he’s been out with since.

RUTH

Twenty five years?

KARLA

Yeah. Don’t let that “aw shucks” Oklahoma drawl and his good looks fool you. He’s a stoic. She broke his heart. He retired three years later.

Ruth nods.

KARLA (CONT’D)

Ya’ll aughta know that he was involved in major combat situations – especially Viet Nam. He has scars inside and out. He hides it well – until…

Ruth reaches out and touches Karla’s arm.

RUTH

Thanks. I understand. Do you think PTSD was a factor in his marriage?

KARLA

If the Army had done a better job of helping him cope and if his marriage had lasted, he would have ended up with four stars. (BEAT)

The military is tough on a marriages.

RUTH

Yeah, I’ve heard.

Irony: Motivation

INT. CLIFTON’S RV – DAY

Ruth stands just inside the door.

RUTH

Clifton?

No response. Indistinguishable talking continues. She walks to the back. The bedroom door is closed.

RUTH (CONT’D)

Clifton?

Shuffling sounds. Door opens. Clifton is dishevelled and unshaven. His eyes are bloodshot.

CLIFTON

What’re ya doin’ here?

Ruth goes into nurse mode automatically. She touches his hand.

RUTH

What’s going on?

No response from Clifton. He shuffles back to his bed and collapses into it pulling the covers up over his head. Ruth follows him into the bedroom and sits in a chair next to the bed.

RUTH (CONT’D)

I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to sit in this chair until you’re ready, however long that takes.

CLIFTON

(MUMBLING/WHISPER) No need.

Irony: Deal

INT. MARGIE’S FAMILY ROOM – DAY

Margie’s on the couch. On the coffee table are several photo albums and Walter’s pipe. On the floor next to her feet is an old, tattered cardboard box. She’s slowing going through a photo album in her lap. She reach’s the end, sets the album on the table and picks up the pipe. She strokes the pipe, brings the bowl to her nose and takes a deep breath. She holds the pipe in her lap, closes her eyes and smiles slowly.

She opens the box and pulls out items one by one; a baby blanket, a knit cap, a teddy bear, a baby book. She flips through the pages of the baby book – it’s empty.

(BEAT) Margie stares at the Oscar on the mantle.

MARGIE

Okay.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by  James Clark.