Angela Marie Bubash I am a...

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Angela Marie Bubash

I am a storyteller.

Education:

Summa Cum Laude 2011 graduate from

Truman State University

BA Theatre

(Acting)

BA English (Creative Writing,)

Instead, I always

found myself

most content in a

classroom.

Whether I was

teaching Italians

English or with my

Preschool class

who stole my

heart in Chicago,

I knew I was

meant to be

teaching.

When corralling 22 4-year-olds started murdering

my voice (a pretty important attribute when half

your income comes from singing), I knew it was

time for a new way. Besides that, I missed the

stories of my favorite writers: Fitzgerald, Miller

Shakespeare, to name a few. That brings me to

today: I am an actor, I am a teacher, but mostly I

am a storyteller. These paths have taken me

everywhere from Chicago to Iowa to Italy, but

for now… I am just happy to be home!!

I have always been passionate about telling stories. I believe that

everyone has a story, and those stories deserve to be told. For years, I

dreamed of becoming a writer. I was studying to become just that

when I fell in love with storytelling in an entirely different medium. As an

actor, I was able to tell stories in a more intimate way than ever before. Yet, I was never cut out to wait tables like most of my colleagues.

Overview

Shakespeare’s Hamlet Angela Bubash

British Literature Spring 2013

Rationale:

Ultimately, I want my students to learn the principles and value of really understanding

characters and their motivations. I believe this is so essential to study these concepts

because true understanding is the foundation of empathy. To practice these skills of

empathy and understanding, we will be studying Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. We will

be taking a deep look into the character and motivations not only of the title character and

protagonists, but equally to each of the players. After all, a student who can learn to

empathize with a fictional character- however rotten he may be- can certainly learn to

empathize with the humans around them.

Summary:

As a class, we will study all five acts of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Exactly three class

periods will be devoted to each act. As it is my ultimate goal that they learn to “step into

the shoes” of the characters, I will have do exactly that. Students will be a part of a

penpal system in which they will exchange letters taking on the perspective of opposing

characters in the script. They will, of course, have to respond to their pen-pal’s inquiries

and complaints. Class discussion will be heavily focused not merely on what the players

do, but why and what examples they see of those motivations in their world today, or

perhaps even in themselves. When an act is completed, the students will be required to

act out pivotal scenes of the text, with bonus points awarded to the best actors that day.

When the script is completed, we will have a “funeral day” in which the students will be

required to write an obituary for one of Hamlet’s many, many deaths. All their work will

be culminated in a summative assessment that will have the students pick any five

characters from the script and cast them supporting their choices by explaining why their

pick would be able to portray the major characteristics and motivations of the character.

Hopefully, by using their friends, family, or modern day actors to cast the script will help

them to take a look at how these characters relate to people in our own lives.

Essential Questions:

What can you learn and understand about another human being by placing yourself in

their shoes?

Common Core:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with

multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other

characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are

used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative

impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a

sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in

two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment

(e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of

Icarus).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9 Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source

material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or

the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).

COMMUNITY, PROCESS, CONSTRUCTING, AND CONVERSATION

Literacy Strategies:

Word Tournament with Shakespearean words

Write Around

Clues for You

NonStop Writing

RAFTA

Using art as inspiration

My own inventions include:

PenPal System: students write letter as a character to opposing character (portrayed by

another student) using NonStop Writing on first day of Act. Letters will be responded to

on Day 3 of studying that Act.

Oscar Challenge: Groups of students will take turns acting out pivotal scenes and

compete for the “Oscar” with their performances. Seeing and reading the scene two or

three times will help students pick up on some of the Shakespearean text they did not

notice before.

Length of Unit:

55 Minute class periods five days a week for four weeks.

Materials and Resources:

School-

The Script

Teacher-

Construction Paper

Drowning Ophelia art

Atmosphere for “Funeral Day”

Student-

Notebook Paper

Markers

Assessment:

Pre-assessment

Pen-pal letters written on the first day of studying an Act. Student will write letter to

student taking on opposing role. Student will respond to the letter on the final day of

studying that particular Act. Letters will be collected and assessed by the instructor to

see student understanding.

Formative Assessment

Written and oral feedback from instructor and peers during class discussions/Oscar

Challenge

Two Quizzes on reading comprehension from reading assignment

Summative Assessment

All their work will be culminated in a summative assessment that will have the students

pick any five characters from the script and cast them supporting their choices by

explaining why their pick would be able to portray the major characteristics and

motivations of the character. Hopefully, by using their friends, family, or modern day

actors to cast the script will help them to take a look at how these characters relate to

people in our own lives.

SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET

NAME: Miss Bubash MONTH: October YEAR: 2013

MON:

TUES:

WED:

THUR:

FRI:

WEEK ONE

Introduction to Act I Act 1 Act 1 Act II

Shakespeare Pen-pal as Claudius/ Word Tournament w/ Respond to pen-pal Pen-pal Polonius/

Who was he? Hamlet- nonstop

write

Shakespearean Oscar Hamlet- nonstop

write

Intro, to language Read Pivotal Scenes dialogue CHALLENGE

And Act I As Class Intro to Act II Quiz over reading

WEEK TWO

Act II Act II Act III Act III Act III

Four write-around Pen-pal Response Penpal as Ophelia Carousel Respond to Ophelia

On characters of Oscar (student should Brainstorming OSCAR

Hamlet, Polonius, Challenge Predict her course “Why is Hamlet CHALLENGE

Ophelia, Gertrude Intro. Act III Of action) acting this way?” Intro Act IV

WEEK THREE

Act IV Act IV Act IV Act V Act V

PenPal Laertes/ Clues for you to Respond to letters Penpal (nonstop) Penpal responses

Hamlet Respond to Art of

Ophelia’s Death Read Pivotal Present Summative Time to work on

Quiz on Reading! Scenes as a class Assessment Summative Ass.

WEEK FOUR

Death Day! Funeral Day! “Panel”

Students will take xtra Present Present Chooses final

time to act deaths Present Obituaries Final Final Cast

Watch Complete Assessment Assessment

Wrks of Wllm Skspre

Unit/Course Hamlet/ British Literature Topic Shakespearean Language

Rationale CC-Standards Addressed

By understanding characters and their motivation a student will learn to empathize… but they must understand what the character is saying first!

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Materials Prior Knowledge Needed

Script Notebook Paper

Students should have read at least half of Act I

Objectives (Skills/information that will be learned) Lesson Plan Format

*How to read and understand Shakespearean dialogue

*What are the characters talking about?

Concept

Student Centered Co-Op. Learning

Lesson Phase 1 (Demonstration / Lesson Details) Grouping

*Instructional/Q&A Period *Teacher will pick out trickier lines (for example, fishmonger) of the

dialogue, ask students to give best guess of meaning, then explain what it actually means *Explain difference between iambic pentameter and prose

Small Groups then Whole Class

Teaching Aids/Materials Needed

Notebook Paper

Script

Chalk/Dry Erase board

Lesson Phase 2 (Engage Student understanding)

Students will get in groups of four and find fourteen words that are either summative of the feeling or mood of reading assignment OR are simply quintessentially Shakespearean and then have a Word Tournament for favorites.

Whole Class will get together and battle for their favorite picks

Lesson Phase 3 (Summary of Learning / Relatable Application)

As a class, we will read the sections containing our favorite words and see if they have found new meaning

Activity (Independent activity to reinforce lesson) Assessment (Formative / Summative)

Write down words and phrases that are confusing in the reading- instructor will view.

Will collect small groups word tournaments

Strategies Homework

Word Tournament

Finish reading Act 1

Instructional Framework Initiating

Unit/Course Shakespeare’s Hamlet Topic Character Development


This is a chance for students to explore character rationales and motivations early in the script. As they look at these characters given circumstances at this point, they may be able to better see (and understand… EMPATHIZE) how they developed from Act I and how they will develop later.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex char develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone


Script Notebook Paper Read at least half of Act II


- Who are Polonius, Ophelia, Gertrude and Hamlet?

- What is their relationship with each other?

- What makes them who they are?

Concept

Student Centered

Co-Op. Learning


- Instructor will review previous night’s reading

- Will read bigger “character” scenes as class

Whole Class / Small Groups



Class will break up into small groups each taking on one of our focus characters and participate in a write around discussion


Students will present their major points of discussion to the class. Class will, in turn, have the opportunity to respond.


Students will be asked to reflect on aspects of character they hadn’t considered before. Should journal about ideas before leaving classroom.

Write-arounds will be collected and assessed by the instructor.

Strategies Homework

Write-around discussion

Finish reading Act II

Instructional Framework Constructing Additional Notes

Unit/Course Shakespeare’s Hamlet Topic Act III- Review!


This will be a chance for the student’s to get inside the characters shoes

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.


Script Notebook Paper Completed reading Act III


-Respond to Ophelia’s letter as another character -Successfully act out a scene for the class to promote a greater

understanding of character and scenes

Direct / Presentation / Concept

Student Centered

Lecture / Co-Op. Learning / Problem Solving

Lesson Phase 1 (Demonstration / Lesson Details) Grouping Students will respond to Ophelia’s letters from three class periods ago as the character their partner chose to address.



Notebook Paper Script

Lesson Phase 2 (Engage Student understanding) Students will get together in groups and prepare a scene to perform in

front of the class Students will vote on best performances including “Best Scene” “Best

Actress” and “Best Actor for bonus points


Students will journal about Oscar Challenge using Nonstop Write Instructor will preview Act IV


JOURNAL- Who successfully portrayed a character from the script? What made the performance successful? What qualities did they bring to the character you imagined in your reading?

Bonus points awarded to winners of the Oscar. Both sets of letters collected.

Strategies Homework

- Penpal System (RAFTA)

- “Oscar Challenge”

- Nonstop Write

Read first three scenes in Act IV

Instructional Framework Utilizing Additional Notes

Reminders!!

Unit/Course Shakespeare’s Hamlet Topic The Suicide of Ophelia


The students should look at art to help draw their senses closer to Ophelia’s death. I also want students to look at suicide in our society.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).


Suicide article, poster board, markers, art of Ophelia Read Act IV


- Awareness of Suicide in our society - Discuss Ophelia’s death through art - What drives someone to take their own life?


Student Centered

Lecture / Co-Op. Learning

Lesson Phase 1 (Demonstration / Lesson Details) Grouping - Students will read article about why people commit suicide

- As a class we will read the scene that talks about Ophelia’s death aloud



Suicide article, poster board, markers, art of Ophelia

Lesson Phase 2 (Engage Student understanding) - Students will get in three groups and look at three different art

works of Ophelia and use the “Clues for You” strategy to discuss

ideas on poster board and respond to each other


- Students will comment on other groups poster boards and journal


JOURNAL – What drives someone to take their own life? Why did Ophelia

Strategies Homework

- Clues for You

Have a day off to be mindful of struggling hearts.

Instructional Framework Initiating Additional Notes

Reminders!!

Sir John Everett Milais

Alexandre Cabanel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alexandre_Cabanel,_Ophelia.JPG

John William Waterhouse

Unit/Course Shakespeare’s Hamlet Topic Funeral Day!!!


Students will have to look for the good in the most despicable of characters as we hold a funeral service for them and they read their obituaries they composed for homework


Student’s Obituaries, Mood Setters Having read the script in its entirity


Empathize and mourn for our fallen characters Get a deeper look at who they are


Student Centered Lecture / Co-Op. Learning / Problem Solving


Instructor, acting as minister of funeral procession, will solemnly and ceremoniously recap the deaths of each of our fallen characters

Whole Class / Pairs / Small Groups



One by one, student will read their obituary to the class


Students may engage in brief reception where they may enjoy snacks as long as they continue to mourn the deaths of their characters as they converse- they may also use this time to ask instructor any last minute questions about summative assessment


Journal- “What character are you saddest to see ‘bite the dust’” Obituaries collected

Strategies Homework

RAFTA

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS DUE TOMORROW!!!

Instructional Framework Initiating / Constructing / Utilizing Additional Notes

Reminders!! SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

ATTENTION!! MAJOR HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER HAMLET A

AND YOU ARE THE NEWEST CASTING DIRECTOR

What You Need To

Do:

1. Cast any five

characters from the

script. May use

famous actors or

those yet to be

discovered (i.e.

Friends, teachers in

this school, etc.)

2. Provide picture and

at least one

paragraph justifying

your choice. USE

MAJOR CHARACTER

MOTIVATIONS AND

OBJECTIVES.

3. Be prepared to argue

for your choices in

class. A final vote

from the panel (your

classmates) will

determine cast list.

Things to Consider:

1. Main objective and

circumstances of

character. How does your

actor embody these

attributes?

2. Character/Actor

relationships with each

other

3. Character Appearance

Total: ___

+2 for any casting picks that made final cut

+____

Final Grade: /100

Student provided

five pictures and

exhibited

originality and

creativity in

choices

Student provided

five pictures and

made sensible

choices

Student provided

four or five

pictures and made

choices without

much thought

Pictures were

missing and

choices were bland

and not well-

thought through

Student put great

thought into

character

motivations,

relationships, and

attributes that

were mirrored by

chosen actor

One element of

character was

missing in

descriptions

One or more

elements of

character were

disregarded

Character choices

were not properly

supported

Excellent sentence

structure

Perfect Grammar

1-3 mistakes made

in grammar and/or

sentence structure

4-9 mistakes in

grammar and/or

sentence structure

10 or more

mistakes in

grammar and

sentence structure

Student was able

to make

compelling case for

character choice

Student had good

facts, but failed to

present them with

gusto

Student did not

put forth much

effort in argument,

but still had the

facts

Student was

unprepared and

did not make a

case for his/her

choices

Overview

Argumentative Writing and Miller’s The Crucible Angela Bubash

American Literature Spring 2013

Rationale:

Ultimately, I want my students to explore and discover the power they have within

themselves that can be unleashed with solid argumentative writing. The ability to write

argumentatively is a skill that will benefit them not merely across subjects, but, indeed,

throughout their lives. Most of the students will at one time or another feel passionate

about something. I want to show these students the power they have to protect or even

fight for these things. I can think of no better way to illustrate this than with Arthur

Miller’s The Crucible. In this brilliant play, a girl no older than the students, themselves,

drives the city of Salem to expel of dozens of lives on the claim of witchcraft. She drives

the puritanical town to the historical tragedy known as the Salem Witch Trials with

nothing more than a little bit of drama and an argument. It is my intention to put my

students in the courtroom with Abigail. Perhaps some will be distressed by the stifling

puritanical lifestyle and argue on her behalf, others will inevitably want to spare lives.

No matter their position, they must pick up their pens with a purpose.

Summary:

As a class, we will study Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as a means of propelling us

towards argumentative writing. I believe by raising the stakes of their arguments to this

dramatic extreme will help them to discover just what argumentative writing can

accomplish. We will begin the unit by studying the historical event of the Salem Witch

Trials. Hopefully, this will make Miller’s piece feel all the more relevant and real.

Simultaneously, we will study Toulmin’s basic conception of argument. As we read the

play, we will discuss how much the characters utilized the ideas of evidence, warrant,

backing, claims, qualifications, and rebuttals. Then, we will discuss how their arguments

might have been strengthened with the proper use of these tactics. In one class, I would

like the students to rewrite the courtroom scene using these tactics and determine if the

outcome would have changed. Hopefully, this will prepare them for the day I will have

them collect data and evidence from the text and use this to make a claim of their own.

This will be the first step towards the summative assessment in which the students must

compose a Closing Argument for the court. They may choose to support Abigail’s

claims of witchcraft, defend Goody Proctor from the gallows, or even prosecute Abigail

for slander, but they must support their argument using all the elements of Toulmin’s

concept.

Essential Questions:

How can you use the power of argument to make a difference in the world (for better or

for worse)?

Common Core:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of

substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from

alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear

relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying

evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner

that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1c Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major

sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and

reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1d Establish and maintain a formal style and objective

tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are

writing.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1e Provide a concluding statement or section that follows

from and supports the argument presented.

Literacy Strategies:

Carousel Brainstorming

Exit/ Entrance Slips

Write Around

NonStop Writing

Length of Unit:

55 Minute class periods five days a week for two weeks

Materials and Resources:

School-

Script

Computers for research

Teacher-

Construction Paper

Student-

Notebook Paper

Markers

Assessment:

Pre-assessment

Students will have a Nonstop write in which they will reveal everything they know about

the Salem Witch trials and, more importantly, discuss how they believed such a bizarre

tragedy came to be. Quick writes will be examined by teacher.

Formative Assessment

Students will rewrite the final court scene using Toulmin’s aspects of argument. Their

scenes will be performed for class and will receive feedback and score from teacher

based on how well they incorporated the elements of the argument.

Summative Assessment

All their work will be culminated in a summative assessment that will require the student

to compose a Closing Argument to be presented for the Court of Salem. They may take

any position they which, be that defendant or prosecutor, for any character of the script.

It is important they make a claim and use backing, evidence, and warrant while still

managing to address any qualifications and make appropriate rebuttals. Students who

chose opposing sides will read their essays for a jury of their peers. Together, we will see

if our class will manage to avoid the Salem Witch Trials.

Unit/Course Argu. Writing and The Crucible/ American Literature

Topic: Making a Claim


By examining the rigidity of Puritan life, the history of the Salem witch trials, and brainstorming the evidence of Scene 1 and Scene 2 at the Proctors, the students will work toward making a claim--- the foundation of their arguments. Furthermore, they must understand why the characters make their own claims in the script.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish

the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1b Develop claim(s) and

counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.


Script/Construction Paper/Markers Students should have read at least half of Act I


*Understand history behind Salem Witch trials and Puritan life *Explore data and motivations in first two scenes

*Students make their first claims

Concept

Student Centered

Co-Op. Learning


Students will individually participate in a Nonstop Write in which they write everything they know about the Salem Witch Trials and, more importantly, discuss how they believed such a bizarre tragedy came to be.

Small Groups


Article on Puritan life

Article on Salem Witch Trials

Scene 1 of The Crucible

Scene 2 of The Crucible Lesson Phase 2 (Engage Student understanding)

Four groups will be made for Carousel Brainstorming. At one table, there will be an article about the Salem Witch Trials, one will be an article about Puritan life, one will have the pages from scene one, and the last will have scene 2. Students will brainstorm about what strikes them and what DATA they find in the scenes about whether or not witchcraft is afoot.


Exit slips- using the data they collected from Carousel Brainstorming the students will answer the question: Is Abigail telling the truth? This will act as their first claims


JOURNAL – who’s story do you find most sympathetic in the script? Who do you want to FIGHT for?

Will collect Nonstop write, Carousel Brainstorming,

Strategies Homework

Nonstop Write Carousel Brainstorming Exit Slip

Finish reading Act 1

Instructional Framework Initiating

Unit/Course Argu. Writing in The Crucible/ American Literature

Topic Act III- Toulmin’s Argument


Students will explore how a solid argument could have changed the fates of the people of Salem

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.


Script Notebook Paper Completed reading The Crucible


-Understand Elements of Toulmin’s argument -Find evidence and make rebuttals against claims made about

witchcraft in final court scene of The Crucible

Presentation / Concept

Student Centered Lecture / Co-Op. Learning

Lesson Phase 1 (Demonstration / Lesson Details) Grouping Instructor will present elements of Toulmin’s argument including, claim, evidence,

warrant, backing, rebuttals and qualification


Teaching Aids/Materials Needed Notebook Paper Script


Students will get together in groups of four and participate in a Write-Around in which each student makes a claim about the script, the next provides evidence, the next makes a rebuttal, and the next finds evidence for the rebuttal.


Students will rewrite the final court scene using the evidence they discussed in write around for the defense. Students will perform the scenes for class.


JOURNAL- How could a solid argument have changed the fates of the people of Salem?

Performances will be assessed by instructor based on use of evidence to support claims.

Strategies Homework

Write Around Drama in the Classroom Final Assessment!

Instructional Framework Constructing Additional Notes

Reminders!!

Unit/Course Argu. Writing in The Crucible/ American Literature

Topic Presenting Final Assessment


Students will step in the shoes of someone residing in Salem and FIGHT FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.


Paper copies of students’ assessments Having read the script in its entirety


Be able to argue orally based on written work

Presentation

Student Centered Co-Op. Learning


Instructor, acting as Judge Danforth will solemnly and ceremoniously recap the lives at stake, who is on trial, and why

Whole Class

Teaching Aids/Materials Needed Students written final assessment


Two students, who have chosen opposing sides, will give their closing arguments and be able to make rebuttals against their classmate using textual evidence.


Class will act as a jury and discuss who they believed won their case and why.


Journal- “What did I do in my case that Reverand Hale did not? Was I successful in my argument? What am I capable of?”

Summative assessment collected. Bonus points awarded to students who “won their case”

Strategies Homework

RAFTA Drama in the Classroom

Relax!! We’ll study something a little more upbeat next class.

Instructional Framework Utilizing Additional Notes

Reminders!!

BREAKINGNEWS Rev. Hale has left the Salem Witchcraft case!

The lawyer to take his place:

YOU

Which means...

You must

compose a

closing

argument

Your argument can:

Defend Any Character You Wish

OR

Prosecute Any Character You Wish

Be ready to present your argument to Judge Danforth and the Puritan Jury.

The fate of Salem rests in your hands!

Your argument must:

Be three to five pages in length

Incorporate all the elements of

Toulmin’s theory of argument

e pages in length

• Incorporate all the

elements of Toulmin’s

theory of argument

Iowa’s Dirty Little Secret

ISearch Introduction

Angela Marie Bubash

Fall 2013

I was 19 when I landed my first real “gig.” The Sondheim Center employed the likes of Robby

Benson (the voice of the Beast from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and the Justin Bieber of the 80s),

Karla DeVito (the female voice in Meatloaf’s infamous “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”), and several

other names you would recognize if you paid close enough attention to your Playbills. It was an

amazing opportunity, but there was a catch: I would be spending my summer in Fairfield, Iowa.

Upon my arrival, it did not take me long to realize this was not your typical Field of Dreams

Iowa. The basic framework of Fairfield was much like any stereotypical small town. The city was

centered around a town square and you could leave your wallet at a diner all day and no one would

touch it, but beyond that, Fairfield was littered with peculiarities. In lieu of stop signs, street corners

were marked with dress forms draped with anything but a dress, restaurants and grocery stores served

exclusively “natural” dishes, and residents sauntered about the streets with a glazed look in their eye as

if they were in a constant state of meditation. It once struck me as odd that a town with a population of a

mere 9,447 people would have any interest in housing a theatre company. Little did I know, that this

town was made up of 9,447 marijuana smoking, art loving, organic eating hippies.

Perhaps you are wondering what interest these eccentrics have in a small, Midwestern town.

Surely, they are better suited for a place like Portland or Soho or, more likely still, somewhere in the

seventies. The answer lies just a little bit North of Fairfield at the Maharishi School of Time

Management. Since that first summer in Iowa, I have spent seven months of my life in Fairfield. Yet,

more questions and less answers occupy my mind as it regards the Maharishi school. This is what I

know for certain:

1. The Maharishi school provides every level of education from Preschool to University. Its

students range from the age of four to the very elderly.

2. All students are taught and required to practice transcendental meditation, an Indian

tradition.

3. Many of the students were once very wealthy individuals, who were persuaded to give up

their possessions to the University.

4. All doors and directions of travel are towards the East, forcing the students to make

strange and inconvenient circles everywhere they go.

In general, the Maharishi students, while strange, were kind and perfectly harmless.

Harmless to us, at least. One Monday evening, a group of us lounged in a producer’s living room

when the choreographer ran in. “Get in the van,” Adam demanded, “I have to show you something.” It

was not long- it takes approximately three and a half minutes to drive out of the town’s limits- before we

were surrounded by the familiar backdrops that were the outskirts of Fairfield: cornfields, Organic

farms, more cornfields. We drove for quite some time then suddenly, things were not so familiar

anymore. In the middle of the open wilderness laid a series of lush hotels and elaborate mansions.

“Belongs to the University leaders,” Adam explained. It seemed incredible that a University that so

adamantly preached the value of poverty should live lives of such luxury, but this was not the scandal

intended for us. No, what we were about to see was far more disturbing.

Metal. Metal that twisted into a chain linked fence. Metal that contorted into bushels of barbed

wire. Metal that made up the barrel of a guard’s shot gun. Rest assured, it is not common for Iowans to

guard their crops with firearms; then again, there were no crops to be found here. Beyond the high,

barbed wire fence laid dozens upon the dozens of tiny, white houses all standing in perfect symmetrical

rows like a barracks. Then, we noticed something that noticed us quite a long time ago. Shadowed by

the night sky, several women in dark burkas clung to the fence and followed our van madly with their

eyes.

That night, we encountered what the University calls “pandits.” With the promise of a free trip to

America and the chance to earn wages, however slight they may be, Maharishi University ships

hundreds of people from India to the confines I encountered that late Monday night. There are currently

850 pandits kept in captivity in Fairfield, and for what purpose? World peace. Pandits are forced to

spend eight hours a day chanting, in hopes that they will spread positive energy throughout Iowa and the

world. Their day is consumed by transcendental meditation and philosophy, leaving but a single hour

free for recreation.

Naturally, I thought I had stumbled upon a huge secret in Fairfield. When I approached a few girls

who had been educated through Maharishi University, I was horrified to find that this was not the case.

In fact, they laughed, and even began to tell me stories about pandits trying to escape the barracks and

driving into town on farming equipment. The rogue Indian, they assured me, was quickly captured by

the police and put back in its place. “Doesn’t that prove they are there against their will?” I inquired of

the girls, but I never received an answer, only more questions. How does one escape the pandit system?

Why does this practice go unnoticed by our government? What will become of these bizarre, modern

day indentured servants?

It is my intention to find the answers for the questions I seek. To do so, I must first look at the

research that came before me. Oprah did a piece on the pandits, and though it seemed to me she

repressed her feelings out of respect for those who granted her an interview, it seems an excellent place

to start. I also greatly look forward to the possibility of conducting interviews of my own. A small town

such as this should make the mayor simple enough to reach. I would like to know his extent of

knowledge on the subject, and how this practice can continue to exist on legal terms. Finally, I would

like to conduct an interview with some of the University leaders, themselves. Through them, I hope to

understand who exactly they recruit for the pandit system, what they hope to accomplish through them,

and what one must do to escape the system and return home to their families abroad.

Angela Marie Bubash I am a...

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