The Good Times are Killing Me

If you are looking for a compelling play for a young mixed-race cast, you may want to take a look at The Good Times are Killing Me by Lynda Barry. This play, published in 1993, offers two strong female roles in which teenagers can play teenagers  and a multiplicity of issues to discuss with cast and crew during rehearsals and with audiences in talkbacks. Format This is a two-act play, but it is unusual in that it is comprised of 36 short scenes or vignettes—26 in Act One and 10 in Act 2. The story is adolescent Edna Arkins’s story. She is the main character and she appears in every scene; she breaks the fourth wall and speaks to the audience before, during, and after interacting with the other characters. Each vignette has a title like RECORD PLAYER NIGHT CLUB or BEST FRIENDS that communicates the essence of the scene. The scenes—some only a half page long, some three pages long—reveal the story of friendship between two adolescent girls—one white and one black—in mid-1960s America. One vignette flows into the next creating a collection of scenes that reveal the difficulties of coming of age in the midst of family heartaches, personal growing pains, and racial prejudices. Cast Size There are roles for 16 females and 8 males. Broken down by race, the play calls for 10 white females and 6 black females, and 3 white males and 5 black males. Doubling in roles is possible, resulting in an overall minimal cast size of 16. Roles Edna Arkins: A white 12-13 year-old girl who lives with her family in a house on a city street that has slowly become integrated Lucy Arkins: Edna’s younger sister Edna’s Parents and Extended Family: Mom, Dad, Uncle Don, Aunt Margaret, Cousin Steve, and Cousin Ellen Bonna Willis: A black 12-13 year-old girl who recently moved into Edna’s neighborhood Bonna’s Parents and Extended Family: Mom, Dad, younger brother Elvin, and Aunt Martha Recurring Minor Roles: Two black teenagers named Earl and Bonita, and Cousin Ellen’s friend Sharon Ensemble: There are multiple scenes that would be enhanced by friends, neighbors, classmates, and other people. There are also several small roles—a teacher, a mother, a pastor, a Girl Scout leader and her daughter. Set and Costumes Most action occurs on the porches, street, yards, and kitchens of Edna’s and Bonita’s houses. Other settings are Edna’s basement, a campsite, a meeting room, a tough neighborhood, a church, and a school hallway. These can easily be suggested with lighting or a few moveable small set pieces. The time period of this play is critical to the story, so the costumes need to be early 1960s American clothing—mostly casual and inexpensive-looking. Music Songs and singing occur throughout this production, providing mood, underscoring emotions and actions, and contextualizing the story in 1960s urban America. Much of the singing occurs with the records that the characters play; some singing is a capella. The script identifies the precise songs and provides lyrics within the text or in an appendix. Content Issues Much of the content and language of this play seems so innocent given the 20-plus years since its opening night and its setting of 50-plus years ago. Even so, it’s worth noting that the play deals with marital infidelity, racial discrimination (One of Edna’s lines mentions the â€Å"No Negro Kids Can Come in Our House Rule.), and the accidental drowning of Bonna’s brother. The language is relatively tame, but the dialogue does include the words   Ã¢â‚¬Å"ass,† â€Å"boodie,† â€Å"pimp,† â€Å"butt,† and the like. There is, however, no profanity. Lynda Barry also published this story as a 144-page novel with Edna as the narrator. If you would like to hear Lynda Barry talk about her life work, please visit Accessing the Imaginary. Here is a video trailer of a high school production of the play.

The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration - 819 Words

In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (2012), Michelle Alexander empathizes on the issues of the complex of criminal justice systems which has a significant impact on people of color as The New Jim Crow. She also attaches significant to the racial dimensions of the â€Å"War on Drugs† because the convictions for drug offenses are only the most important cause of the explosion in incarceration rates in the United States. This argues that federal drug policy inequity targets groups of color, keeping millions of young, black men in a vicious cycle behind the bars. In the beginning, she develops her argument by briefly laying a foundation of the history of racialized control in the United States. To support her arguments in terms of the never-ending cycle of birth and death of slavery and jim crow through the reborn of mass incarceration. Moreover, she points out the pattern of invisible power, racialized social systems, controlling people of color in the United States. This racial caste systems brings black people returning to slavery and this pattern has been called the Mass incarceration. In chapter two, she describes the structure of mass incarceration by focusing on the War on Drugs issues. At early chapter two, she dispels the myth that the War on Drugs is aimed at ridding the nation of drug â€Å"kingpins† or big-time drug dealers† and that drug war is primarily concerned with dangerous drugs (Alexander, 2012). In fact, the War on DrugsShow MoreRelatedThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1370 Words   |  6 Pagesunrecognizable ways that fit into the fabric of the American society to render it nearly invisible to the majority of Americans. Michelle Alexander, in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness shatters this dominantly held belief. The New Jim Crow makes a reader profoundly question whether the high rates of incarceration in the United States is an attempt to maintain blacks as an underclass. Michelle Alexander makes the assertion that â€Å"[w]e have not ended racial caste in America;Read MoreThe New Jim C row : Mass Incarceration1361 Words   |  6 PagesBook Review Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness The premise of the ‘The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’ by Michelle Alexander, is to refute claims that racism is dead and argue that the War on Drugs and the federal drug policy unfairly targets communities of color, keeping a large majority of black men of varying ages in a cycle of poverty and behind bars. The author proves that racism thrives by highlighting theRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1199 Words   |  5 Pagesthose who did read her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness. Michelle Alexander stated that The most despised in America is not gays, transgenders, nor even illegal immigrants - it is criminals. That was an important quote since the stereotypical criminal in our racially divided America in most cases are those of color also known as blacks. This is why the criminal justice system in the United States promotes the mass incarceration of blacks that can be seen throughRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1477 Words   |  6 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness, by Michelle Alexander. The New Press, 2010. 290 pages. Reviewed by Ashlei G Cameron. Michelle alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate and legal scholar. As an associate professor of law at Standford law school, she directed the Civil Rights Clinic and pursued a research agenda focused on the intersection of race and criminal justice. In 2005. Alexander won a Soros Justice Fellowship that supported the writingRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1347 Words   |  6 PagesHunter Silver Dr. Kendall Smith English 103-4120 10 November 2015 High Incarceration Rates Due to Racism Racism effects the the high incarceration rates according to Michelle Alexander, the author of â€Å"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. This scholar writes about how the civil rights movement has been taken back by the mass incarceration of black Americans in the war on drugs. Alexander also explains how the severe consequences that these black men carry on afterRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1081 Words   |  5 Pages Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness outlines how the criminal justice system has systematically designed new methods of discriminating against African Americans. The book advocates for racial justice, specifically, for African Americans and contends they [African Americans] were targeted and subsequently incarcerated, by white voters and public officials, through the War on Drugs campaign. President Reagan and his Administration exploited racialRead MoreThe New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration Essay1797 Words   |  8 PagesJim Crow laws are regarded as part of the racial caste system that operated in the Southern and Border States in the years between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Under the series of the anti-black laws, African Americans were treated as inferior and second class citizens. The laws have been argued to have represented the legitimization of the anti-black racism in the US. The book The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is written by Michelle Alexander and originally published byRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration Essay1401 Words   |  6 Pages Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, examines mass incarceration in the United States, why the criminal justice system works the way it does towards minorities, the detriments associated with mass incarceration as it relates to offenders, and much more. In the introduction of her book, A lexander immediately paints the harsh reality of mass incarceration with the story of Jarvious Cotton who is denied the right to vote among other rights becauseRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration Essay1096 Words   |  5 PagesAlexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press, 2010. Study Questions for â€Å"The New Jim Crow†: 1) What is the relationship between the War on Drugs and the spread of crack cocaine through inner city neighborhoods in the 1980s? President Ronald Reagan officially announced the current drug war in 1982, before crack became an issue in the media or a crisis in poor black neighborhoods. A few years after the drug war was declared, crackRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1239 Words   |  5 PagesIn 2013, Michelle Alexander published her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, hoping it served as a call to action. Immediately this book received a huge amount of attention because of the controversial topics presented. This book opened a lot of people’s eyes to the term colorblindness, a sociological perspective referring to the disregard of racial characteristics. There is no racial data or profiling, no classifications, and no categorizations or distinctions

Iron Crowned Chapter 23 Free Essays

I decided it would be best not to mention the twins thing to Kiyo. As it was, I was having a hard enough time processing it. Twins. We will write a custom essay sample on Iron Crowned Chapter 23 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Twins? This was the ultimate â€Å"when it rains, it pours† cliche. I’d gotten pregnant through an idiotic slip, putting me right in the line of the prophecy I’d tried to avoid for so long. And now, just when I’d managed to coax an early test so I could nip this situation in the bud, I was faced with a potential situation that I never, never could have foreseen. Kiyo had been right. I should have terminated the pregnancy the instant I found out, before I knew more about it. It was becoming real now. Every detail I learned made it more substantial, giving more life to what I carried within me. It’s not too late. You don’t have to wait for the results. Maybe it’s better if you don’t. I’d boldly told Jasmine that I’d keep the twins if they were girls, but the reality of that was harsh. How would I raise two children? I didn’t know if I could handle one. How could I manage motherhood when half my life was spent in another world? How could I even keep working? Would I get a nanny – or force my kids onto someone like Tim or my mom? That latter seemed pretty unlikely. And then, of course, I was faced with the most mundane problem of all. Money. â€Å"You’re going to be in serious trouble if you don’t start working again soon,† Lara told me the day after I’d seen the doctor. She’d spent the night again and was sitting at my kitchen table with me. In front of her, a laptop showed an array of spreadsheets. â€Å"You’re still okay †¦ but it won’t last. Part of your money goes into the business’s account – the one I’m paid from. The other profits go to your savings. The first one’s running pretty low †¦ and if it goes empty †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We go into my savings,† I finished. She nodded. Her face was grim, a far cry from the giddiness she’d shown when she and Tim had stumbled out of bed this morning. A bitter part of me thought maybe I could pick up extra cash by charging her rent. I dismissed that, of course. None of this was her fault. â€Å"I know there’s †¦ stuff †¦ going on, Eugenie, but why can’t you start taking more jobs? You cut the workload before, and we still did okay, but now †¦ there’s next to nothing. Your savings can’t hold out that long. And what on earth did Enrique do that got us such a large bill?† I ignored that and simply stared at the numbers on the screen, my heart sinking. â€Å"I’ve got a lot of equity in the house.† â€Å"What?† Her jaw nearly dropped. â€Å"You’d risk your house instead of just taking on more work?† A terrible image came to my mind: me, trapped in some small apartment with two screaming babies. End it, just end it. â€Å"It’s just an option,† I pointed out. â€Å"A safety net. And speaking of which †¦ Did you talk to Enrique?† Lara nodded. â€Å"I did. I’m going to do a little administrative work for him on the side.† â€Å"Good.† One less thing to feel guilty about. â€Å"You’ll be okay then.† â€Å"This isn’t about me! I don’t understand. Why can’t you just take a couple of jobs? I’ve got reams of requests! There are easy ones, like that ghost the other day.† I tried to hide my dismay at that. â€Å"I haven’t been feeling well, that’s all. And this is kind of a physical line of work.† Lara’s blue eyes scrutinized me for several seconds. â€Å"Then maybe you’re the one who needs to be looking for another job.† â€Å"No!† I exclaimed. â€Å"This is what I do. It’s the only thing I do.† â€Å"But if you’re sick – â€Å" â€Å"I’m fine. I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow and then †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I faltered. And then what? â€Å"And then I’ll be fine. Back to work. My appointment’s at noon, so hell, you could schedule something later that afternoon. Find me a troll or a banshee.† She sighed. â€Å"I didn’t mean to upset you.† â€Å"I’m not upset.† But it was a lie. My volume had increased without my realizing it, and I felt flushed. Lara rose, shutting the laptop and picking up her plate. â€Å"Just get yourself better. We can figure this out then. Do you need a ride or anything tomorrow?† â€Å"I’m not that sick,† I told her. And, of course, I could always have my unlicensed teenage sister drive me. â€Å"We’ll be back in business again soon, you’ll see.† Lara gave me a tight smile, trying to hide concern but failing. She wandered off to Tim’s bedroom, and Jasmine sat up on the couch, where she’d overheard everything. â€Å"That’s a good idea, you know,† she said. â€Å"Sell this place. Just move to the Otherworld with the kids.† I started to rebuke her but paused. It was an option. I’d have plenty of daycare there – a whole castle of babysitters. My daughters would be raised like royalty. They were royalty. But raising them there meant they’d probably lose whatever humanity was in them. They would be gentry for all intents and purposes. Was that what I wanted? It was already happening to me. â€Å"They may be boys,† I reminded Jasmine. â€Å"Then it’s back to work.† Kiyo called that night, wanting to know if I’d heard anything. I told him it was too soon for the results but that I’d let him know when the doctor called. It was a small lie. As I’d slipped to Lara, I was actually going back to the office for the results. Twins had popped me into a high-risk category, apparently, and along with delivering the results in person, they’d wanted to do another ultrasound. I didn’t want Kiyo around for that, obviously, but I wouldn’t have minded him coming over that night. I wanted the contact, the love. Most importantly, I wanted to feel like he wasn’t repulsed by me in my current state. When noon came the next day, I went like someone going to her own funeral. My mind was blank, unable to focus on anything, and Jasmine probably would have been a safer driver. She’d come along; there’d been no discussion. Neither of us spoke on the drive over, and I could see she was wound just as tightly with tension. Whatever happened, it was going to be big. â€Å"Soon,† I murmured as we walked in. â€Å"Soon this’ll be over, one way or another.† Or not so soon. The office was running behind, and it was like the continuation of some cosmic joke. I’d been counting down the seconds until this moment, and now the wait was indefinite while Dr. Sartori caught up with his schedule. Admittedly, I’d never felt angry at doctors who fell behind. I figured it just meant they were giving needed time and care to their patients. Maybe he was tied up because some other woman had discovered she was having a world-conquering monster. â€Å"Eugenie?† The sound of my name made me flinch. A nurse smiled serenely at me. â€Å"We’re ready for you.† It was a repeat of before, changing into a gown and getting on the examination table. This is it, this is it. Dr. Sartori was back, but a different tech worked today. Her name was Ruth, and she had a kindly, almost grandmotherly air that felt reassuring. Like she could maybe fix all this. Dr. Sartori had a file of papers he began flipping through as Ruth lubed up my stomach. Again, I stared, still having a hard time believing there were two living beings in there. â€Å"Well,† he said. â€Å"I have good news.† Jasmine made a sound that almost sounded like a laugh. A bitter one, that is. Like me, she knew there was little that was going to be good here. In fact, things soon got worse. A knock sounded at the door, and the nurse I’d seen earlier stuck her head in. â€Å"I’m sorry to interrupt you,† she said. Her eyes fell on me. â€Å"There’s a man here who says he’s your boyfriend and that he was running late for the exam.† My mouth went dry. â€Å"Kiyo?† I managed. â€Å"That’s him. I’ll go get him.† She’d taken my ID of Kiyo as confirmation and acceptance. I opened my mouth to protest, but she was gone. I started to tell one of the others to go stop her, but by that point, Ruth’s paddle had made contact. The screen again showed shadowy forms, and the sound of those rapid heartbeats filled the room. â€Å"There they are,† said Dr. Sartori. â€Å"We can wait for your boyfriend before getting to the results.† â€Å"No, we – â€Å" The nurse returned with Kiyo, who was all charm and smiles as he introduced himself. â€Å"Sorry I’m late. I had the time wrong. Lara corrected me.† That last part was to me, and despite the pleasant expression on his face, I saw a hard look in his eyes. He didn’t like the deception. I had kept this from him, lying about when I’d get the results. How had he found me? Lara had known the time but not the place. For a moment, I thought Jasmine might be playing a game, but her face showed shock and wariness at his arrival. She was as surprised as me. The referral, I realized. He’d read it before and knew which doctor I was seeing. â€Å"Well, then,† continued Dr. Sartori. â€Å"Now that we’re all here, we can go over everything. You can rest easy about your family history. No trace of anything abnormal in either one. Both of the fetuses’ genetic tests came back fine.† It was a sign of Kiyo’s self-control that he said nothing because I could have sworn the word both? was on his lips. His only reaction was another sharp look at me, his expression growing darker as he realized what I’d been hiding. The doctor and tech were watching the monitor, so they didn’t see what Jasmine and I did. â€Å"And you know †¦ you know the gender?† I asked. Dr. Sartori nodded. â€Å"You can’t actually see it on the ultrasound now, but the one Ruth’s got a close-up of now †¦ that’s a girl.† I exhaled in relief, and yet †¦ somehow, I knew what his next words would be as Ruth shifted to the other amorphous blob. â€Å"And this one’s a boy.† Silence so cold and so heavy fell that I couldn’t believe neither of the office’s staff noticed the lack of joy this news was receiving. â€Å"A girl,† said Kiyo. â€Å"And a boy.† Dr. Sartori nodded, flipping through a few more pages. â€Å"Based on what you’ve told us and what we can see, we’re putting your due date around the end of October. Although, with twins, you’re at a higher risk for early delivery, so we’ll be seeing you more often than in a normal pregnancy. And while this test gives us a lot of info, it doesn’t tell everything, so you’ll have others soon. You haven’t had any pain since the CVS, have you? Any reactions?† â€Å"No,† I said flatly. My eyes were on those images, my world dominated by those heartbeats. â€Å"Good. You’ll still want to take it easy to avoid any miscarriage risk.† He went over a few more issues, told me when to come back, and then asked if we had any questions. I half-expected Kiyo to ask for an abortion then and there, but he was still biting back his words. It was going to be a for later conversation, I knew. Ruth cleaned me up and then retreated with the doctor. They gestured Kiyo along with them. â€Å"It’s crowded,† said Dr. Sartori good-naturedly. â€Å"You can meet up in the waiting room to schedule your next appointment.† â€Å"Yes,† said Kiyo, eyes boring into me. â€Å"We’ll talk out there.† I forced a pained smile, and Jasmine turned anxiously toward me the second the door shut. â€Å"He is pissed,† she said. â€Å"I know. You don’t have to tell me.† I pulled on my clothes, my limbs feeling leaden. â€Å"Oh God. I can’t believe this is happening. Why? Why did I defy the odds? It was a one in three chance. One in three!† My voice was turning hysterical, as I begged this teen girl for answers. â€Å"All girls. All boys. Either was more likely than this. Why couldn’t it have been one of those? Why couldn’t we have had an easy fix?† Jasmine’s face was solemn. â€Å"But you do. You said if one was a boy, you’d still have an abortion. You said you’d do it.† There was a challenge in her voice. I finished putting on my shoes and looked away from her. The monitor was black, the room silent, but I could still hear the heartbeats in my head. If I had an abortion to ensure the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled, I’d be taking an innocent life. My daughter – that concept was still crazy to me – had no part in this. It wasn’t her fault her brother was destined for blood and destruction. Really, was it even his fault? There was hardly anything to him yet. Just a shadow. And a heartbeat. How could you dictate the future of someone not even born? How could you know what he would turn into? Was anyone’s potential really set in stone? And how could I be the one to kill that potential? How could I silence that heartbeat? Either of them. â€Å"Eugenie?† Jasmine’s voice was puzzled. â€Å"You’re going to do it, right?† I lifted my eyes from my feet. â€Å"I – I don’t know.† â€Å"You have to.† A new voice spoke in the room. My skin tingled, and suddenly, Deanna materialized before us. I jumped. In light of everything else that had been happening in my life, she’d kind of gone off my radar. I’d left her in Enrique’s hands and assumed that everything was settled with her when she hadn’t answered my summoning. â€Å"What the hell?† I demanded. â€Å"What are you doing here?† So much for her moving on. Deanna looked like she always did, wearing that desolate look ghosts so often had. â€Å"You have to,† she repeated, ignoring my questions. Her expression grew bleaker. â€Å"If you don’t get rid of your children, Kiyo will kill you.† How to cite Iron Crowned Chapter 23, Essay examples

Compare and Contrast of Present Australian Food and the Past free essay sample

The culture of inclusiveness is well reflected by native Australia cuisine. Since British settlers arrived in Australia, thousands of human beings have immigrated to Australia with diverse customs, which made a significant contribution to the modern food culture. Australian food culture has been deeply varied by multicultural influence. There are large differences in diet, food technology, as well as eating habits between past and present with the evolution of the food culture. Diet In terms of cuisine, there are some important changes throughout history. Before the arrival of European settlers, the diet of Aboriginal tribes was Australian edible plants, and hunted local animals (Bruneteau, 1996). However, the culture shock was profound, after British colonized Australia in 18th century. New settlers conveyed new thought of food to this country. Traditional British dishes make an obvious influence during that period (Roberts, 2007). As more and more immigration, large number of different culture shocked Australia food culture. We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast of Present Australian Food and the Past or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page People can hardly found some features of food in the past. Moreover, with advantages of multicultural society, Australian cuisine has fused amount of cuisines from other countries. A unique food style has been designed by Australians (Roberts, 2007). Therefore Australian national food has almost replaced by several cuisines from other culture. Nevertheless, an unique food culture has been produced gradually. Food technology Another aspect where changes have taken place is food technology. For example, food facility has been complete transformed. In the past, Australia people cook with woodstove. Mark, 2002) However, microwave oven, electric oven, gas stove and hundreds of applications has been used in the kitchen now. People are not limited to cooking without proper tools. The type of facilities today can satisfy most requirement. In addition, refrigeration technology completely transformed traditional food storage. Food can be stored for a long time, but the quality of the food will not change. Even in long-distance transportation, food can not be addled during the trip (Symons, 2007). Another contribution of refrigerated technology is the creation of ice food which provides more choices to design new cuisines. Technology changed the food culture, as well as peoples’ life Eating habits In addition to Australian cuisine and food technology, there was an important change in eating habits. In early times, Australian people cook food without considering the taste and appearance (Blowers, n. d. ). The invention of the television, as well as cocktail parties, in the 1950s changed this eating habit. People choose biscuits and snacks which are easy to grasp by fingers (Blowers, n. d. ). However, bottled water and low-carb snacks become popular in the later 40 years, as Australians began to pay attention to the quality and health life. A healthy diet was initiated accompanying the change of people’s consideration. Nevertheless, it did not last long yet. ‘The TV show Sex and the City sparked a designer cupcake trend and we clamored for artisan foods, particularly bread, cheeses, chocolate and coffee. ’ (Blowers, n. d. ) Finally, Australian eating habit has changed to a huge extent. From the past to present, Australian people learn different eating habits from other culture, and choose the most suitable one to improve. In the end, a unique eating habit was formed. (Roberts, 2007) Conclusion In conclusion, this essay focus on three aspects, food variety, food technology and eating habits, and compared the past and present of food culture of Australia. It is not difficult to restate that Australia’s food culture has changed. First of all, as one aspect of transformation, cuisine varies depending on the influence of colonization and immigration. Another aspect of change is linked to food technology. Food technology has been changed not only in food facilities but also in food storage. Eating habits were also varied at different periods.