Assignment/Activity Title - Unbroken Project
Year— Freshman
Skill— Writing
Portfolio Category— Social Awareness
After reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, we were assigned an English project
on it.
Before we began, we were split into different groups based on our learning
techniques (we took a test). Out of the multiple groups
(bodily-kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, spatial, etc…), my dominant learning
technique placed me in the linguistic group along with Neida and Camille.
The project gave us pretty much free
reign, as long as it related to our learning techniques – for example, the
logical group could have chosen to chart Louie and Phil’s journey through the
sea.
Our group, the linguistic group, had a few given examples – we could write and
perform a skit based on Unbroken, we
could rewrite the ending, or we could write weekly/daily journals as if we were
Louie or Phil during the story. Since we had already finished the
book and it sounded tedious, we immediately threw out the idea of writing
journal entries. We toyed with the idea of the skit,
but eventually we realized that although we would have fun writing one, it
didn’t necessarily mean we would be good performers of it.
Which left us with a clear-cut project. We were going to write an alternate
ending to Unbroken.
Now, all three of us were – and are
– exceptional writers (and humble). But our ideas differed, almost as soon as
we started. I wanted to make a sharp turn and kill off both characters, whereas
Camille wanted a generic happy ending. Neida didn’t really voice her opinion. I
wrote first, and let Neida and Camille follow my agenda. I played with the idea
of a mirage – for instance, maybe the land they spot is real, until they pass right
through it. I wanted to shock the audience, so when I started writing things
became very bad very quickly for poor Louie and Phil. I threw lack of food at
them, multiple storms, all sorts of things – and left them a pistol with two
shots (with the intent of a suicide scene later). I took the liberty of killing
off Mac. I did an extremely good job of setting the tone of the book…until
Camille got her hands on it. As soon as I left off, the skies cleared. Phil and
Louie found an island, Phil returned home. Louie settled down with a native
girl, and led a normal life. Neida helped with the ending, where Louie begins
his running career anew.
Although I was disappointed with the
dramatic turn in fortune, it was exceptional righting. The reason I listed this
as Social Awareness, besides needing another, is because it made me aware of
other people’s views –that not everyone has the same dark side as me. That
people have different perspectives on life. And the moment that really struck
me, was this project. Kudos to Neida and Camille.
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